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Free Pho &
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
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Meanwhile, Tuesday, day off, a few chores done before I flushed it down the toilet.
Books, done, I went light, big books, "The Complete Charles Dickens..." heavy to carry, light on the cash. But they took them.
An email from a local restaurant, I'm due a free Pho, "won", I downloaded their app and then never used it, probably a win-back on their promotions front. So - for lunch, Pho it is. Pho is good. And after Pho I get an email promising me a free dessert, but that will have to wait until next week.
Neighbour, "Kramer" needs a hundred dollars to invest in her online crypto scheming, she'll e-transfer me the money. "Sure" I say and duty obliged wait for the transfer. It's not forthcoming. She comes over and I am a little sauced and confrontational and mention it. No money arrives. Now - not a big deal, I never lend money (anymore, not since Sam at Da Guido's) with the expectation of return, but this woman has perverted the word "borrow" to such an extent I feel obliged to correct her.
She's not pleased. She's down thousands borrowing from the Bank of Rod, and Rod's been a little too lax in collecting. Bank of Rod owes the Bank of Alberta thousands due to Rod's easy lending policies. Bank of Rod is exhausted.
Neighbour is not happy.
Fortunately she walks out before things get ugly. They were already ugly, just getting more so, I hate dealing with money, find it vulgar, as must she, but sometimes things have to be said.
Today, work, another shift picked up, I have bills, need to work more so neighbours can "borrow" more, and bills of my own long overdue, so - Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho...
Big Cats in Britain
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 13
This has been a thing since long before I lived in Britain, and continues to be a thing even now.
Big cats, Melanistic Leopards, Pumas or wildcats, supposedly from the 60's when they were kept as pet and then set free...
Amazing to think that a viable population of big cats could survive undetected in a such a highly urbanized area the size of Great Britain, roughly 1/3 the size of Alberta or Saskatchewan.
Links: https://www.discoverwildlife.com/news/new-dna-evidence-confirms-presence-of-big-cats-in-the-uk & https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/big-cats-in-british-countryside
Maybe Bigfoot is real after all? I need to talk to Mrs. Notkenny Hicks...
And this gives hope for the Thylacine, "Tasmanian Tiger", frequently reported as sighted but no evidence has been forthcoming. That would be a success story.
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 38
Fine, a bit long, great casting, loved the scene where Brad Pitt drives into the ranch and is assaulted by the longing glances of pubescent teenage girls. And a fine bit of meta-violence when the Mansons come to visit.
Amusing, Tarantino did well. But - no epiphanies or revelations here, merely Hollywood promoting Hollywood, and in that sense a bit self-indulgent and reminding me of Babylon...
Visit, boy not daughter...Rossland
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 55
The boy comes for a visit on Wednesday, he's on a short break from planting. Dinner, steak and potatoes, the steak a ribeye, expensive, big, and I'm not particularly a fan. I prefer tenderloin. More discreet portioning sizes. The boy (Man)(Son) is doing work where quantity matters, so I have to accommodate.
Thursday, for lack of other plans and pandering to his interests we head in a roundabout way to Rossland. Thrift shops in Salmo, Fruitvale, Trail on the way. Nothing found.
In Rossland we stop at the Ferraro's for their much hyped sandwich. Beef dip. Cut into 4, I only need a quarter. And he's impressed. I offer another but - well, he's considering it...
There's a play - matinee - "Gold Rush Fever", a burlesque/vaudeville style performance at the old Miner's Hall, we're tempted to go, but he's just back from the Edinburgh fringe and considering the 90 minute run time and probably empty theatre (making an early escape impossible without being rude) we give it a pass and check out the Museum instead. I've never been.
The show - I didn't see, but I've seen enough. Maybe it was great, but it was a calculated gamble, and on a more leisurely day or with visitors not so savvy I might have whittled away the day but the boy's a little too bright for this. And don't throw up a small community burlesque against the Edinburgh Fringe. Unless it's Nelson.
These museums, all of them the same. The mining history, artifacts, equipment, the people that did what, etc, etc. "Nancy Greene" - whom he knew from Sun Peaks (and the legend is no longer the reality), well, it's again the dull repetition of things I've seen a thousand times before only because of my interest in the local geology it's a bit of a "MUST DO". He's kind in that he humours me in this.
They have a hall with mineral specimens, more just rocks, and mostly from places all around the world. Which does me no good whatsoever, I'm looking for local minerals, gems, gold ores. The rest are irrelevant. There's a beautiful quartz spray or cluster, from Riondel, the mine there has long been closed and while I've combed the tailings - found some points, but nothing like this, and it inspires me to visit again. The entrances have all been sealed, but there has to be a way underground some place...
And then I find the cabinet with the local specimens. One cabinet, small. Visible gold in Granite and Quartz, enough visible gold to realize that I need to metal detect the area, these pieces would sound, and a pound of this would yield an ounce.
Then there's the ore, a coppery-gold-shining-chalcopyrite blend that contains both gold and copper, looks spectacular but not the bonanza I need. I'd still take it.
Then towards home, Nelson, and just out of Rossland he's realizing the folly of leaving that second sandwich at Ferraro's only I've planned an Elk Bolognese for dinner still another one of their sandwiches would not go amiss...
We rediscover Peter Caine, who has the most amusing videos about his Bigfoot experiences, listen to him like an audio podcast while eating dinner, he'd fallen off my radar for a bit then began showing up on Facebook. The man is Legend.
Then to the Royal (Pub, Nelson, BC) where we have a couple of drinks before I abandon him. Thursday night, Line Dancing, sure, it's Country and Western but he should check it out. Without his Pa.
Which he does and I next see him Friday late morning for coffee before heading back to Fernie. And he has no words, still shaking his head at the night before, he showed up, took part, still incredulous, this town, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. True.
And he's back to Fernie and that night I get the call, I've misread the schedule and end up being an hour late for work. Which brings us into ordinary time...
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