The Big Show

21 Aug 24

01:00 hrs

     The show is over and we are back at the hotel. First, the day started with another tour of the town. It was a driving and walking tour. Some of it was the same as what we had discovered on our own and some of it was quite different. Our guide was a native of Edinburgh and she had alot to explain. Good on her. 

     The highlight was the Tattoo in the castle's esplanade. We walked up to castle, which has bleacher seating installed for 9,000 persons. These seats take room or months to install and just as much to remove. They are put up and taken down each year. Where they are stored is anyone's guess. The show started at 21:30 and lasted about two hours. It was a salute to naval forces with massed pipe bands, drum and bugle bands, drill teams and a lone piper. To clear the stands and walk home took about 45 minutes. If you ever have a chance to see the Royal Tattoo is strongly suggest you see it. You will not be disappointed. In the mean time look it up on YouTube. 

New Friends?

19 Aug 24

06:45 hrs

     Hello Kidlettes!

     Today we are switching locales. One hotel for another. As we arrived two days before the tour we couldn't get into the hotel the group was booked into. Not to worry we moved over and met the group.

There are six couples. I'm pretty sure we're the youngest of this Senior's Motor Coach Tour. One couple is from Aus, we're from Canukistan and the rest are You-Alls. Well, three pairs are You-Alls and the last couple ensured that we knew they were from Texas.  Needless to say, to keep the peace, talking politics is off the table.

     We had a group supper and prepared for the next day of touring the city and the Royal Tattoo.

     Nite Y'all.

Around the Castle

18 Aug 24

20:00 hrs

     Today we started of with breakfast in the hotel. Eggs Benny with shaved salmon. Mind you, it was Atlantic salmon which is actually a steelhead since it doesn't die after it spawns. Yes it is a salmonid, but it is not a salmon. My Better Half had the same but with English bacon. She found it less salty than the bacon at home, a little smokey and slightly sweet. (Which reminds me, that I'm going to try to make my own bacon when I get home.) 

     With breakfast done we headed of on a Hop On/Hop Off bus. There are three looping routes through Edinburgh. We purchased a two day pass so we could check out a number of sites before the planned tour actually starts. The bus has a 1/4 covered upper deck with a tour guide identifying local landmarks with interesting tales to go with them. For instance, I  the 17th and 18th centuries grave robbing was a common crime in Britain. However, if the robbers only took the body and left the clothes and any belongings (jewelery, keepsakes, etc) behind no robbery would have actually been committed. Only the body would be removed and it would be taken to a middleman who would deliver it to a medical school where it would be used for classroom disection. To prevent this ghastly intrusion the deceased's loved ones could pitch a tent next to the grave to protect it or hire a guard to do the same. A newly buried body had to be protected for thirty days. After that the body would be too decomposed for use by the medical schools. The person hired to watch over a loved one had to be there all night and the shift was referred as the graveyard shift. 

     The Edinburgh Castle sits atop a mountain near the centre of town. We were informed it was an ancient volcano. We went on our own to see the military museum held within its walls. Very cool. We're going to be going back to see the Tatoo in a couple of days.

     A local directed us to Grey Friars Kirk where Bobby, the wee Scotty terrier lays. If you don't know the story you're not as old as I am. Also, the Kirk yard has some very old residents from the 1700 & 1800's including characters like Tom Riddle who were immortalized in the the Harry Potter series. JK Rowling denies using names from the graveyard. She's lying. After the Kirk we sought out the Pipers Rest where we had apont and a bite. I had the steak pie while my Lobster had the pasta. Those two items were pretty much the only things that did not contain haggis. After supper we were done for the day so we headed home to rack out.

And Away We Go!

16 Aug 24

07:45 hrs

     Hello Kidlettes, 

     It's your long lost scribe. Remember me? Things have been busy and I was under the impression that no one really gave a shit about the words that I occasionally penned on various topics. However, I was querried on when the cookbook was coming out and Why? I wasn't publishing anything on the blog page. 

     

     You're reading it? Alright then.

     Yes, the cookbook, How to Cook Your way out of a Wet Paper Bag, s now available on Amazon. My Better Half and I went over it numerous times editing, formatting and editing some more. I uploaded it and immediately saw that it didn't look right. Headings were on the wrong page making the page numbers out of whack. Back to the drawing board. Eventually we got everything lined up. The upload looked great and we ordered several proof copies. I was away at the Sage's Place when I got the call. The copies had arrived but there was an issue. All the page numners were in the bottom right hand corner on bothe the right hand and the left hand page meaning the left hand page number was buried near the spine of the book. Not good. This final problem was corrected as soon as I returned home.

     My Lobster and I are on another trip. This time we have jetted off to The Land of Nessie. After a flight to Cowtown via an overnight jaunt to The Western Pearl (due to the WestJet trip rescheduling) we arrived in the capital with eyes wide open. The first day we walked our feet off exploring the downtown area. Not only did we circumnavigate the castle we dodged through the Fringe Festival crowds. Tomorrow is another day.

May the 4th be with you!

03 May 24

12:15 hrs

     Tomorrow is May the 4th and is a ay on words from the Star Wars mantra "May the Force be with you!". Do you realize that Star Wars is almost 50 years old! How does that make you feel? Old? I should say so. And before that was Star Trek, which is over 60 years old. AMAZING! 

     Yes, some of the dialog and techniques are now outdated but these classics are still worth watching. This morning I started watching Smokey and the Bandit. Do you you remember that one? Another classic and still just as funny. Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed and Jackie Gleason. If you can't laugh during this movie you're probably dead.

On the Road Again

27 Apr 24

06:35 hrs

     I am laying in bed, snuggled against the cool spring temperature with my Lobster beside me. We have taken the Mobile Wayward Inn down Island for a weekend getaway. There's a campsite that is in Totem Town that we've stayed at before. It's most of the way to Capital City, about an hour out. This gives us the opportunity to visit my Cuz'n and her Lobster. In addition to this, the Onion had to come to Capital City to complete some official paperwork so we're going to have brunch with her, prowl the labyrinth of FanTan Alley and peruse a bookstore.

28 Apr 24

13:15 hrs

     We are now home safe and sound with pretty much all of our goals accomplished. We met up with the Onion and went for brunch at Fuego's. We had been there several times over the years but this time the food seemed to be lacking something so we won't be back. There was one book I spotted that I would lime to get but I'll wait til it's in the Big Box Store at half the price. IMO, no first edition hard cover book is worth $50 or more, and that includes G.Lee's Big Book of Bass which was listed at $100 Cdn, unless it's some ancient tome from Willy Shakespeare or Chaucer.

     We met up with my Cuz'n and her Better Half at their place. It's always good to touch base with family. We played some cards - Screw Your Neighbour - which yours truly took both games. It was dark and drizzly on the drive home to the campsite but we were in no rush and took our time.

     This morning we has breakfast played two games of crib, which I lost and then proceeded to pack up. It didn't take us long and we were on the road by 10:00 hrs. The wind and elevation was against us and the Ram ate more fuel on the return leg. We also had to dodge competitors in the annual Snow to Surf race who were cycling along both sides of the highway. A pretty dodgey thing to be doing when large vehicles hauling even larger units right alongside your head at 80 km. Hmmm...do I swerve into the oncoming lane or do I clip the cyclist into the ditch? Decisions, decisions. 

     Mortality raised its ugly head last night when I saw a post from a Brother in Arms who reported that a former crew member of ours has passed away. He was younger than myself, I think. It seems that fallen friends are accumulating fast. Last year it was a former M/Cpl and another the year before that. If you have a network of former friends I would ask you to keep in touch with them. Phone calls are best. 

Projects

06 Apr 24

19:15 hrs

     Howdy Folkes,

     Another project has been completed here at the Wayward Inn.  My Better Half had a vision of extending the Catio out onto the lawn so our three fuzz balls can experience the great outdoors without being tied to a fixed point and safe from being picked off by one our resident big birds of prey (it happens a couple times each year). The main cage was a steel chicken coop that my Lobster saw on marketplace in River City. I was tasked with building a tunnel that would privide the kitties with safe travel between the Catio and the Annex. It is constructed of pine 1 x 2's with 3/4 inch mesh wrapped around it. The tunnel is 134" x 15" x 18" and was built in two sections. There is a hinged door at the Catio entrance to the tunnel.

     I hope they're happy!

11 Apr 24

08:30 hrs

     Today is the anniversary of the Oma-nator's passing. My Lobster and I were beside her when it happened. It was a release.  The last three weeks were hard on everyone but my Better Half bore the brunt of it as no one else could attend to Oma's needs as well as she had. Unless of course, if she has gone to palliative care but that was against her wishes which was to be in her home when it happened. It's surreal that she is physically gone but we think of her every day. Her room has been transformed twice. First, as a spare bedroom/games room and now more of just a games room as the Sr. Couch Monkey has brought in a huge gaming table for his group of Nerds to use.

     The Juice is dead at the age of 76. I heard it was cancer. Good. I hope it was painful, too. I doubt if there was a deathbed confession but as sure as the sun rises in the East there is a special place Downstairs for him for all eternity. 

     The Jr. Loin Fruit had his work interview yesterday. It was online. I hope he made a good impression as he is really ready to move ahead on his career path. Due to the military trade he has chosen he had to sign a NDA attesting that he would not record, photograph or divulge any of the questions that were put to him nor any of his responses. Sounds pretty Secret Squirrel to me. You may think it's pure BS but I assure you that this is often true. I was once on a training course Down East and at the start of one particular lecture the presenting officer informed the room that his lecture was for members of the Five Eyes community only. He then canvassed the room to find out who all was in attendance. Canucks, You-Alls, some Austin's and.....a few Chicanos. 

     "You'll have to leave."

     "?Que."

     "Your country is not a signatory of the Five Eyes Agreement and therefore you, and your staff, cannot attend my lecture."

     "Si Senor."

     After the lecture I reflected on what I had heard and there was nothing that could not have been gleaned from open outside sources. However, as this lecture was sourced from Five Eyes material the presenter had no choice but chuck out the Mexicans. I even told him so. His response? He was fully aware of the facts but rules are rules. 

12 Apr 24

08:45 hrs

     Yesterday my Lobster was taking Mr. Wilson out for a walk on a harness. They had started in the backyard and had moved to the front when suddenly he stopped and was looking into the bushes.

My Lobster looked and there was Jack the Escaped Convict. Somehow he had pushed his way out of the screen door on the Catio despite the dozen door holding magnets. Now in Jack's defense, he wants to be able to walk around the yard like the Orange Blunder but he refuses to wear a harness and when Wilson comes back in from walk Asshole Jack beats him up because he's jealous. Extra security was required and fast. First, I installed an over centre pin lock which I thought was pretty strong. But with his granite skull and iron will determination he managed to pop that open. So, back to Home Despot I went. I picked up two gate hooks and installed them on the screen door. One on either side. So now, either one must be engaged to keep Sir Jack contained. He doesn't like it. Tough shit.

13 Apr 24

09:15 hrs

     Yesterday I started the inspection o  the Mobile Wayward Inn. It's been a while since we had put it toady real use and now we are hoping to get out some more. 

     Everything was clean and dry on the I side. I pulled the batteries and had to top them off with distilled water. Both were down and needed to be recharged. I'm hoping the inverter is okay. When we had first purchased the unit I drove a Ford Sport Trac, which had been wired for our monstrous tent trailer. Now, unbeknownst to me, the grease monkey who did the wiring had done the job incorrectly. Oh, it worked great with the tent trailer but when we bought the travel trailer I quickly found out that there was a problem. 

     My Friend from Over the Hump had come to assist me in getting the unit home from the dealership up the highway. All went well. No issues at all. But, as I was backing it in at the Wayward Inn, with him ground guiding me, he noticed that the lights were not working correctly. Left was right, right was brakes, brakes were running lights. Weird shit. So, I contacted the company that had wired the truck. Now, that should have been a simple job as the trailer plugs are pretty much plug and play. Obviously not. Everything had worked right because he had rewired the truck AND the tent trailer as a single unit. Once hooked up to the travel trailer, which was clean from the factory, things were wrong. The original mechanic had retired and the new guy said to bring the truck and trailer down so he could perform a diagnostic on them. While enroute the wiring over heated, melted and shorted outlocking up the trailer brakes as I was heading down the hill into town. I was dragging 4500 pounds of dead weight leaving rubber on the road. I stopped the rig, set the parking brake and when I saw the melting wires I quickly disconnected the trailer from the truck. The trailer brakes released. 

     It took the guy three days to figure out what had gone wrong and in the end he simply removed the existing plugs and started fresh. He more or less had to as the trailer connector was fused. What I didn't know was the inverter, which converts 120VAC to 12VDC, had been pooched as well and over the next seven or eight years we suffered from dead batteries (at $$$ per battery). It took me some time to figure this out as I'm not a travel trailer mechanic. Once I did I contacted the dealership as to how much a replacement would be. Oh, really? That much, huh. And, how much for the installation? Okay. Next time kiss me first!

     I went looking for the inverter and found the part number, looked it up on Amazon. It was 1/3 of the dealer price and when it arrived I called my Friend from Over the Hump and he drove to the Wayward Inn to assist me in the installation. That cost a sandwich and a beer. So, if this inverter is screwed, and I'm hoping it's not, I'm quite sure that I can install a new one myself. I'll keep you informed.

     The editing of the cookbook has been completed and my Better Half is having me go through the editing to give it my approval. I'm adding a few more photos as I go but I can't think of a photo for the front cover. I think I'll put myself on the back cover, though. If you have any ideas drop me a line.

15 Apr 24

06:30 hrs

     It has now started. 

     The first criminal trial of a former Prez of the Hugh-ess. Any bets on when or how often he's going to be nailed for contempt of court?

     I'll get the popcorn.