Is “Christmas is adding another layer of anxiety to people” a bit of Rotzy thinking at this time of the year?
Rotzy’s Got ‘The Blues’….
No, no, no, no…..not the oft ‘seasonal’ Christmas Blues that seems to run rampant at this tyme of year….of course heightened by this pandemic….or the likes. Nope….I’m talking about some real, more Sirius Blues!!….(pron. bah-LOOZ) Well, that is, I HAD ’em….for a week or so. The bah-LOOZ that is. But I done LOST ’em (*see below). This past Tuesday ayem if my memory serves me well. I’m talking about ‘SIRIUS*XM (*tm)’, OK? But, I digress. As I’ve said, I’ve been getting to know Edna The Equinox….hereinafter referred to as ‘Edna’, OK?….since Miz. Jo and I became a ‘one vehicle family’. Well, as the readership may be aware, Rotzy’s ‘from the olde school’, which means the 2015 Equinox Manual shall remain in the glove box, whilst I ‘learn by doing’ and/or ‘trial and error’. Anyway, I was ‘tinkering around’ with buttons and knobs and up onto the screen comes ‘SIRIUS*XM’….complete with a couple thousand stations/channels/what-have-you. Whoa! Now, for the last three years we’ve only had access set to TWO radio stations….92.9 The Grand F/M and 740 Zoomer AM…plus an ‘advertisement’ for ‘SIRIUS’*….but now I was looking at the whole enchilada!! Including B.B.King’s Bluesville 88 F/M,,,,named ”88” for Riley’s song ”Rocket 88”. Well….Rotzy ‘got the bah-looz’ and so Rotzy ‘pounced’ on it/them! But good!! So….SO….I find myself listenin’ to ‘Saffire The Uppity Blues Woman’, then Big Mama Thornton doing ‘Hound Dog’….followed by the Kings….B.B., Freddie and Albert with SRV (Stevie Ray Vaughn). A ‘whole mess of bah-LOOZ’….and then, after a week of being ‘in heaven’ (musically) I ‘lost’ ’em (*see above) S–t! To quote B.B.himself, ‘The Thrill Is Gone’!! And I’m frantically turning dials/switches/buttons but all that comes on screen is the SIRIUS FM advertisement….and I said (to myself) “Hey Toad, do not despair, it was likely just a week-long promotional deal….you know, a ‘freebee’ to try and sign y’all up! No sweat man, because you not only got to enjoy the freebie, but you also figured out the disc (CD) player…you even scooped that great Ray Charles CD from the ‘giveaway table’ in the 555 H/P Lobby. So, get over it, Toad…..maybe you wanna hum a few bars of Elvis’s Blue Christmas”?
Readers Write
‘E/V’s was/is a hot topic these days….’E/V’s being the short version of Electrical Vehicles. Yours truly forgets from whom my email arrived here at “F/N”HQ, but no matter….it was a VERY well written item (albeit rather long) and a whole LOT of thinking and mentally trying to plan ahead for its’ eventual happening. Rotzy is NOT a fan of this plan. At all. So….SO….let’s talk about North America….only…..and cars and small trucks….only….OK? Not trains, planes or boats/ships. A percentage of them? Sounds fine to me ….we’ll work out how many and a deadline….altho Junior Trudeau is committed to make Canada a ‘world leader’ aiming for ”ZERO Emissions” by the year 2040. Say what?….”aim high and your deeds will grow”?? That will NOT happen. Period. Here’s one for the P/M to answer….between 2030 and 2035 all gas-powered cars and small trucks are gone….replaced by E/V’s…..where is the electricity gonna come from to operate them?? If you say/said ‘windmills’….pick up a ‘Dunce’ hat and go stand in the corner with Justin and the rest. And whilst you’re there perhaps Junior can tell you ”what on earth”….oops, bad choice of words….”(he) plans to do with the millions upon billions of DEAD batteries, from AAA to the size of your ice box. Put them WHERE?! Meanwhile, one fellow pictured houses along a street, all using electricity all day long, Mom and Dad both arrive home from work, each plugging their car in for the nite, like all their neighbours do/already did. Poof! That would be a helluva fuse to blow, eh? And ‘brownouts’ galore. **Memo to the P/M….you/we will NOT get 100% emmission free!….so get a new plan!! (*but don’t axe David Suzuki for any input) Also…..pay attention now!!!….if China and India (you know….those ‘developing countries’!) don’t get on board for this ‘greening process’ and comply, or even try, to improve THEIR sorry-ass situations, forget it….because anything/everything positive that Canada does or doesn’t do will be totally negated by their inaction. Got it??!!
More Blues….
….only this tyme I’m not talking about bah-LOOZ….the guy on BB King’s station the other day explained ”even tho the lyrics behind many/most bah-LOOZ songs is often sad, listening to/hearing the tune actually makes you feel GOOD” and Rotzy couldn’t agree more!! Well, these blues are just good, olde-fashioned ‘blooze’. And Rotzy had a ‘wake-up call’ this morning (Sat) whilst having a puff with my ayem coffee at about 5:00….you want a GOOD dose of the BLUES?….the non-musical ones?….You sure you can handle it? Well then brother/sister, listen to The News! That’s what I did. CBC Radio Canada….89.1 FM ‘World Report’. Within two minutes I heard about 100 + tornado deaths in Kentucky…..then a MAJOR COVID update….new cases reported in Ontario….1300 Thursday and 1450 yesterday. How much worse this new variant OMICRON is gonna be than Delta. On, and on, and on, and on it went. Hoping for a ‘reprieve’ when sports came on, but the Raptors lost. Again. Blues all around. Anne Murray knew what she was doing 30 years back when she sang ”we really could use a little good news today”. Hell it’s even much more meaningful today. Riding down on the elevator here at Harris Place with a couple who live up on the 7th floor, we got to talking after marveling at the warm temperatures last week (it was +17 in Brant’s Ford on Friday) the conversation got around to ‘the future’ and what’s in store. The guy asked “Ready for Xmas”? I replied “Getting there…tree up, decorating tomorrow”. ”Jeez, with the COVID numbers going crazy again, looks like maybe another ‘limited Dec 25th’, you think?” “Bet on it”. “When do you ‘spose we’ll be back to ‘normal’ ?” ”We ARE normal sir….welcome to the NEW normal. Then he coughed a ”Far cough” adding ”no way!” “Way!! If YOUR ‘normal’ means ‘the way we were’….forget it”. ”S–t. What a fine kettle of fish.” “And the ‘new kid (variant) on the block’, OMICRON, is just getting started! Imagine! Hey….have a good day!”
Stuff
We started setting out some of Miz. Jo’s knitted things on the ‘giveaway table’ (which was/is already looking quite festive) down in the lobby….’tis the season, you know….HO! HO! HO!….and they’re going like hotcakes. Or should I say ‘Christmas cakes? Between late yesterday aft and now (Sun.11:00AM) folks have helped themselves to a couple dozen Jo Bears*tm, some kids’ mittens and matching Bear/Car Blanket Combo’s, just in tyme for some little ones’ Christmas. **Monday 5:00AM Bulletin…It’s ALL GONE! EVERYTHING!!** Got my new glasses Tuesday….they’re great! Miz. Jo had her appointment Friday and her new ones will be here by Xmas….and she’s very excited about them. *After dropping her off here at 555 Harris Place Rotzy was off to the Navy Club for the final BGG (Brantford Guy Group) Meeting of 2021. A fine turnout, a few new Presidents installed….very little business (new or olde) on the agenda….but definitely more laughing, hand shakes and pats on the back. See y’all in January. I was a tad later than usual on Saturday’s buckboard run, yet as I approached The In And Out Store at the Lynden Mall, there they were again this week….the Anti-Vaccers!….13 or 14 of ’em, a Motley Cru indeed with their poorly made signs getting hammered by the 90 k/mh winds. In fact, one smallish woman looked like she was a jib sail coming loose. Anyway, Rotzy’s into a bit of a dilemma….they gotta be acknowledged as ‘Dink Of The Week’, but could/would/should it be as one OR individually. Lemme know readers.
*Thought Of The Day….Life was much easier when Apple and Blackberry were just fruit.
