A wee bit of a Rant!

28 Mar 18
06:15 hrs

     A former co-worker who stubbornly remains living out on the frozen prairie has recently - and joyously I might add - stated that there is a new pro hockey team in Seattle, which could be named the the Seattle Kraken.  Of course, there will be a plethora of nubes who will pronounce it with a long "A" sound as in the word "brake".

     My point is that the last thing we, in North America, need is another bloody pro sports team. Did you know that for a new NHL franchise team to buy into the league they have to pony up $500 million dollars. And that is in USD. Can you imagine what good things can be done with that money? The world can be far better off with more clean water sources for Third World countries than another bunch of testosterone laden muscle men chasing a piece of rubber on a slippery surface. Don't get me wrong. I like sports of all kinds. I may not play a lot of them. But, I like them.

     The rant is over.

29 Mar 18
07:15 hrs

     Yes, this is a holiday weekend. For those of you who are Christian or Jewish it is an important time for renewal and rebirth. A great number of the Millenial generation probably has no clue as to the reason for this holiday. For them it's just a nice long weekend.

     The Sages were planning on going to Cowtown to see my L'il Sis and other relatives. They were delayed by a day but I think they pressed on. The Weather Channel was calling for freezing drizzle in the area. Easter is never a good time to travel over the mountain passes going east or west. With a simple change in elevation rain can turn to ice and snow then back again quite easily.

30 Mar 18
08:45 hrs

     I just talked to Li'l Sis and she informed me that the Sages made it to Cowtown. They are for going visiting one of the relatives due to I'll health. Of course, the old adage of calling someone to let them know you are safe after a long trip does not apply to them. I suppose they believe that no one would worry or notice. At this end we had no way of knowing if they were home, in Cowtown, trapped by a avalanche in The Pass or over a bloody cliff. Hey Sage's. ..how about following your own advice!

     Li'l Sis has two new feline fur balls and only one of the Sages has any time for them. Naturally, the fur balls are trying to convince the other Sage that they are cute and cuddly. This situation has made me realize that all cats belong to the Jehovah Witness faith because they purposely seek out those who are farthest from acceptance and try to convince them otherwise. How's that for a radically clear idea?

     We were planning on having our friends over for an Easter get together but two are not well. Age is catching up to them. Chef Blaine is still going to prepare a roast  done on the Flame Pit and a Cuban dessert. Sous Irene has prepped a side already. We'll take a couple of plates over to them. It's the right thing to do.

     I told my Lobster that I love her and that she keeps me young. After a long soulful look,  she replied, I guess I'm not doing such a good job."

     I'm still waiting for the last instalment of "So There I was" to be edited but in the meantime I am working on "Who let the Goats out". Never a dull moment at the Wayward Inn.

Project Completed

18 Mar 18
08:18 hrs

     Work on the Mobile Wayward Inn has now been completed. The floor was resurfaced, trim installed, a new power inverter (the likely cause of the persistent electrical power supply and distribution issues), one new battery and a battery isolation switch with new cables. All that is left is to de-winterize the water system and, if possible, have the vehicle electrical coupling changed (with the new hitch the cable is a wee bit short).

     The Loin Fruits are now of an age where they no longer want to go camping with us and I'm not going to make them either. They know how much fun it is to go out with the Mobile Wayward Inn but I can see spending more time around a campfire with my Lobster - sans Couch Monkeys. Everyone could do with a little more campfire therapy.

19 Mar 18
06:30 hrs.

     The start of another busy week. The Sr. Loin Fruit starts his new job on Tuesday.  Hazah! The Jr. Couch Monkey has an early class today. My Lobster is off to brighten the day of some gloomy people - it's a Gift that she has. And yours truly, Dear Readers, will try to keep his nose clean and out of trouble while keeping the streets safe from the nasty four legged beasties.

20 Mar 18
05:45 hrs.

     I have noticed a lot of new buildings going up in the Valley. Lots of residential and some commercial. Unfortunately the residential properties are not rentals which are much needed and there are already many commercial properties that are sitting empty. The problem is our city fathers can only see $$$ from building permits and property taxes even if the building sits unused. For the speculators, putting up these shells are a straight tax right off and therefore profitable.  Eventually, when the building gains an occupant or is sold it will be even more profitable.

     A win/win, right? Wrong!

     The citizens of the Valley end up losing with all the empty buildings. Sure money is made during the construction phase but once empty the jobs are gone. Those construction workers could be out of River City or Hub City or the Capital Region or even from the Mainland and they are not spending their wages here in the Valley. They're taking it home.

     My Better Half and I watched a movie on Netflix last night. Well, she watched it and I saw most of it. It was called BURNT. A movie about a Michelin level chef clawing his way back into the industry. Sure, it was produced by the Weinstein Company with Chef Mario Batali providing culinary consulting. It is a good movie and if you are enamored, like I am, with the world of the higher end of the food scale then you will really enjoy it. Here in the Valley there are quote a few really good restaurants and maybe four or five outstanding eateries and possibly one incredible destination.

     Some have asked why Chef Blaine has never tried to achieve this level of expertise.  He states that maybe in another lifetime but for now he is happy to feed the guests at the Wayward Inn.

     Enjoy.

Uninvited Guests

14 Mar 18
06:30 hrs

     For those of you, Dear Readers, who have been following this diatribe for any length of time you know full and well that the ethos of Wayward Inn is to be welcoming to all walks of life. We have even stated that the Wayward Inn is a safe haven for those in need and assistance, along with guidance will be rendered. That being said there are some who are not welcome at the Wayward Inn.  Vladimir Putin along with the Tangerine Tyrant and most politicians for that matter, members of the press, door-to-door purveyors of religious ideals, raptors (the NBA team the flying ones are cool), fleas, giant centipedes, a wolverine that is high on angel dust, Klansmen, goats and vermin.

     Last autumn my Better Half and I were sitting out back, hoping the Albertans next door would curb their kids, when she spotted a creature racing across the top of our back fence.

     "Look! A mouse!"

     Our two cats were certainly interested but one quick glance told me that this was not a mouse but a rat. After checking around the raised planter I found a hole where it or they had been coming under the fence. I waited until two days ago to set the trap and baited it with the world's best vermin bait...peanut butter. Sure enough, yesterday I was rewarded with a foot long rat that was promptly bagged and Tossed into the trash. I had thought of tossing it into the Albertans yard but they now have a new four legged canine noise maker and I would not want to harm it. I reset the trap but neglected to bait the trap fully. This morning the trap was sprung with no carcass so I re-baited it and reset it. Time will tell.

     Speaking of unwanted vermin, Britain is punting out nearly two dozen undeclared intelligence agents as a reprisal to the poisoning of a Russian double agent who was working for the Brits. For the Russians, the use of poison to eliminate opponents on foreign soil is the preferred method above all others. The Bits have begun to investigate another twenty some odd other mysterious deaths of foreign nationals that had been previously ruled as accidental.

     Another unwanted individual would be Rep. Saccone (R) from Pennsylvania. In a special election the undeclared winner is (a) Lamb. Mind you there are still a couple of absentee in ballots to be counted but even if you divide them equally (the) Lamb wins. If nothing else this is a huge loss to the Tangerine Tyrant's base. A year after he had handily taken the state in the general election with promises of restarting the coal industry, among other things, the electorate is quite obviously displeased. More to follow.

     For those of you who reside in the Valley  I am sure that you are aware that the Snow Chickens will be arriving in a couple of weeks for their annual training session.  With their arrival there will be the annual return of the  noise complaints from those who consider the air demonstration team to be unwanted guests. Well Kidlettes, the air base and it's noise generating visitors were here long before you were and if you live near an air field you can expect to have aircraft noise just as you can expect to be enjoying the scent of nature if you live near a farm.

This will NOT be pretty!

07 Mar 18
05:05 hrs

     At long last there has been some headway made at the Wayward Inn.

     Our Sr. Couch Monkey has been so engaging and helpful since he left college we sometimes wonder if it's been a case of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He has spent the past couple of weeks upgrading his basic job skills with a group in town called Blade Runners. They facilitate people to get basic first aid, food safe, whmis and a bunch of other letters. Once done the applicants are placed into work experience slots hopefully in fields of interest. Blade Runners also pushes the applicants to pump out the CV's and distribute them. Now that this is all said and done the Elder Loin Fruit has been placed in a field of his liking and he starts this afternoon. Yeaaaaaah! He also has a position on hold in the service industry.  DOUBLE YEAAAAAAH!!

     Our Jr. Loin Fruit has grasped the importance of not getting sucked down the rabbit hole on his computer. He was always using Google Docs for his homework because he could work on it here and pick up where he left off at school and vice versa. But, if the Net goes down your screwed because all of it is in The Cloud. Well, skeezicks pull your head out of the cloud and out of your ass too. Here's a brand new copy of MS OFFICE so now you can do your homework at anytime. Save it on your hard drive and back it up on a jump drive. This was something I tried to impress upon the Sr. Couch Monkey when he was doing his English 12 through Distance Ed. After five months of taking the course he informed us that he had 85% of it completed. When I had checked with the school he had turned in only one assignment.

     So I sez to my son, the flesh of my flesh, "Where's the rest of the work you have done?"

     "I had sent it in. They must have lost it."

     "But, you saved a copy of your work right?"

     "Yeah Dad, it's in the Cloud."

     "Well, pull it out of the Cloud and re-send it to them because as of right now they have just one assignment from you. Now, if you have done the work, and you say that you have, then let's make sure they get it."

     "Okay, Dad."

     A couple of days later I checked with the Distance Ed staff and they had recieved nothing. My Best and Brightest now tells me that the Cloud must have glitches because he can't find it.

     "Well then, you did save all of your work onto a jump drive before saving it on THE CLOUD, right?"

     "No, Dad. I didn't."

     "Well, unless you can pull it out of THE CLOUD" you will have to do it all over."

     And, he did.

12:25 hrs

     The fuel prices have gone through the roof, starting on the Mainland. This will certainly impact travel, especially for tbe commuters. One caller on CBC indicated that if the Hugh-Ess wants to put a tariff on materials - aluminium and steel - coming over the border then WE should tariff the crude oil heading South of the 49th Parallel. Sounds good to me.

     The Oma-nator has gone back to the Nation's Capital but her presence still lingers as I was subjected to watching the end of The Bachelor.  Yes, Dear Readers have some pity on me.

08 Mar 18
06:45 hrs

     Today is International Women's Day, the day that is supposed to used to recognize and promote the women around the world. This isn't like Mother's Day where you drop a dime and call mom to see if she of she's still playing bingo at the seniors centre on Thursday afternoon.   No, this is much more important. I would like you, Dear Reader, to take the time and reflect on the plight of women around the world where they have no rights. Places like Saudi Arabia, where a husband can legally behead at high noon in the middle of a traffic circle his wife for any suspected transgressions. Where hundred and hundreds of girls are taken at night from their villages to become slaves and the tribal womb for the Boko Haram. Yes, think about this when you hear of the plight of the hard done by like Paris, Chloe, Ivanka and all the rest. The self promotion of their petty issues is enough to make me want to puke coat hangers.