More whinin’ n complainin’ than commentin’ n explainin’ this edition…
Last Monday At 5:00 Ayem….
….I did a last minutebulletin in “F/N” about the Maple Leafs getting beat out of the NHL playoffs in the 1st Round to the Blue Jackets from Columbus….yet I ‘barely made mention’ of the Leafs long-suffering fans. After re-reading it last week I figured I need to offer condolences to my pal up in Marathon and the rest of the Leaf faithful who some how/some way remain that way….faithful….often to a fault. They stick with their team to be sure….like few other professional sports fans, in spite of Rotzy explaining WHY Tronna keeps losing….since 1967 (their last Coupe Stanley) to 2020….so I figured maybe it’s tyme for a ‘refresher course’. The oldsters may have forgotten, and the young ones may not even know of Harold Ballard. Well, when Hal died, his ghost settled in Maple Leaf Gardens (aka MLG, aka The Carlton St Cashbox) and told everybody ”the Leafs will NEVER win another Stanley Cup as long as (he) owned The Gardens”. Well, a number of years back the Leafs left MLG for their new home down by the lake, The Air Canada Centre (now The Scotia Centre?) but Ballard hopped on a southbound TTC Red Rocket, and, word has it, immediately settled into an ACC luxury box! He’s been ‘spotted’ several tymes by maintenance staff, sometymes having a scotch with his long-tyme buddy King Clancy. And it says here the ghost is still controlling the team, because they’re no closer to a Cup Parade down Yonge St to their new digs than they were in The Gardens. But….you just wait until next year, eh?
(Still More) Stuff On Masks
The comments/complaints (dare I say ‘bitching’?) about them doesn’t stop….and that’s just what’s coming outta Rotzy’s mask-ed mouth. It’s funny….but not really funny, if you get my drift….but I’ve been hearing this one ad on the radio a lot lately (from a laser eye clinic) about how people ‘smile with their eyes’, but yours truly hasn’t as of yet figured how to spot folks doing this. In fact, to me most of them look angry…or like they’re dealing with some paranoia. Maybe it’s just me, or perhaps it’s because my glasses are so damned fogged up from my own mask. (*keep this one under your hat, OK?, but one day last week at Zehr’s Mkt I couldn’t see where I was going, tried to go around a lady with my cart in the pop section, misjudged the turn and drove into the shelf, sending a couple dozen cans of Presidents Choice Orange Soda rolling all over the aisle! By the bye, I also happened to be going the wrong way up the aisle….s–t, I coulda been arrested!….so mum’s the word on that too! The lady was kind enough to help me put the cans back on the shelf and I got the hell outta there toute suite. All because of the damned fogged glasses! By the bye, we got the following info digging into the “F/N” Medical Research Dept. * ‘Paper’ masks are only good for two hours….not two weeks! Hence in 120 minutes it has gathered enough mucous/snot/germs/dust and cetera it likely should be burned rather than thrown away! (the olde guy was guilty on that….wearing it too long). **Do NOT keep your mask in your ‘scuzzy’ pocket….maybe a ladies purse is just as scuzzy? ***Do NOT put paper masks in the laundry….actually the washing machine isn’t too bad the dryer really plays havoc with them….even on ‘gentle’ cycle. ****I heard something through the Skyline Living grapevine about us perhaps having to wear masks anywhere/everywhere on the property. Well, a number of residents are already doing that….maybe some even wear them to bed?….but let’s not go there. Anyway, Rotzy wants no part of that all-the-tyme stuff, thanks just the same! On the other hand I don’t want the readership thinking I’m sounding ‘anti-mask’/’negative’ or anything like that! Nope. Far be it from me. You know the drill….stay safe….stay well!
I Met The Duke….
….last Friday. Not Duke Wellington….Miss Ella’s favourite band leader passed on decades ago. Not The Duke Of Earl….for all I know Gene Chandler is dead too. And certainly not any Duke connected to The Royal Family. I’m speaking of The Duke On Park, which is a British bar/pub/grill just two minutes south of 555 Harris Place down Park Road. For some reason/or not we’ve never eaten The Duke’s food, but Fri being our weekly Take Out/Order In Night for almost 2 years now, after numerous recommends we figured we’d give it a try. Union Jacks everywhere and a VERY British atmosphere, ’tis. Rotzy went for Fish (2 pcs) And Chips and when I saw it/them I was sure they’d caught Moby Dick! And it was A-1. Miz. Jo can’t eat haddock (allergies, etc) so she ordered Toad In The Hole….unfortunately she was not all that thrilled with it, so The Duke might be ‘parked’….or ‘Chopped’ as they say on The Food Network….joining a couple other eateries who were scratched off our lengthy list.
Readers Write
And they didn’t hold back last week….check ’em out! *From a billboard in Anytown, USA….”We are asking Rioters (also Looters and Arsonists) to ‘work from home’ and destroy their own property”. ‘Thanks in advance’. **If I had only known in March it would be my last time in a restaurant, I would have ordered dessert. Damn! ***My local pub is literally 6 minutes walk from my house, yet my house is a 56 minutes walk back from my local pub. The diffference is staggering!! ****I heard a news report last week that said (some) Toronto restaurants are going to make an 18% tip for their food and drink ‘mandatory’!!..it’ll be printed right on the bill for heaven’s sake!! What if my N/Y strip loin steak is WELL done rather than RARE?! What if my cold gaspacho (tom. and cuke soup) isn’t cold?! What if there is a hair on my bowl of vichyssoise?! Hey Reader….you NEVER have to tip at A&W, McD’s, Wendy’s or Fast Eddie’s. I remember everybody raising hell when it (gradually) went from 10% to 15%. But 18%!!….AND to print it right on the bill….that takes a lot of cajones! I’m betting these spots are ‘trendy/fancy’ and cetera and Rotzy will also wager there WILL be people who’ll pay the new going rate without batting an eye…that’s T.O. Anyway, ‘bon appetit’. (*you think Brant’s Ford will follow suit? nah.)
*Thought Of The Day…People who confuse the words ‘burro’ and ‘burrow’ don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground.
