Posts from the “Modern life” Category

Squirrel!!

Posted on July 23, 2014

Gee wizzers. As soon as I start actively thinking about getting my unshrinking butt back into the weight loss track, I get an email from the FitBit folks telling me about their new personal weighing device – the ARIA™ WI-FI SMART SCALE. I can choose a colour (white/black), pay $129 USD and get a device that will track my weight, body fat percentage, and BMI then sync all of the statistics to my computer. Now if that doesn’t strike naked fear into your towel-wrapped hearts, what does? Sure, it’s a good thing to know that information from time to time, but every damned day? TMI, as the kids would say. Too much information. Probably enough to drive me to drink (more). Instead of feeling…

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Categories: Argument, Modern life

Tagged: staying the course

Flying high; Still stuck

Posted on July 22, 2014

It’s been weeks since I wrote about mindfulness or weight loss. Not because I haven’t been mindful. In fact, I’ve been obsessing about whether I’ve subconsciously given up. I’m still committed to my Fitbit and I’m trying to increase my step count, but walking fast in the heat isn’t that much fun. Mind you, the day we went to the Stampede grandstand show, I racked up almost 15,000 steps. For a few heady days, I was #1 among the three of us comparing activity. I’ve slid back to #3 in the step-standing. I did qualify for another badge, which made me feel that all was not lost. Since January, I’ve climbed 4000 floors. Not too shabby, I say. My slide/stall began when I stopped…

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Categories: Cooking & food, Modern life

Tagged: getting back on track

Frying Time

Posted on July 21, 2014

We’ve been waiting for the Lifestyle Windows installers to arrive with the nine windows and two sliding glass doors that were supposed to be installed today. Nothing yet. I knew they had a door to install this morning, but what the hell is so complicated about installing a door? What a waste of time. I could have gone to work. THis all brings to mind a wonderful line from the Fairy Godmother in one of the Shrek movies: “Now you’ve done it. I need something sweet, deep fried and dipped in chocolate.” I was going to do some sewing, but I’m not in the mood for having workmen upstairs and downstairs as I’m trying on half-finished garments. I was going to do some writing…

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Categories: Argument, Modern life

Tagged: first world problems, time

Ooopsies

Posted on July 20, 2014

Edit, fact-check, verify. Do your research then check again. Got it. As writers, those are the exhortations we regularly hear from the ‘experts’. And of course, they are correct. So when a recognized national media outlet prints up tens of thousands of issues of the Saturday sports section with a glaring editorial error my 12-year old grandson could have picked out, I have to laugh and grimace at the same time. After my mental romp with cowboy Wes Stanton (changed his first name from Chet and selected a surname that wasn’t too cringingly double-entendre), this gaffe was just too much to resist. We’ve all made the occasional boo-boo. I can’t type ‘from’ without first inputting ‘form’. ‘The’ always comes out ‘teh’. Clumsy fingers. I…

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Categories: Modern life

Tagged: typos

Immolation/Satisfaction

Posted on July 19, 2014

Good grief! Hub swapped out the used propane table under the BBQ, figuring it would be easier for me to carry – which it was. He assembled Mr. Heater this morning and fired it up. Small but mighty. The damned thing sounded like a jet engine, which isn’t a bad thing if you’re taxiing for take off to some exotic location. Even better was the fact that the invisible cone of heat frizzled the toughest thatches of quack grass. Yowza! I flame-bombed the front steps, standing back to admire the tiny puffs of smoke rising lazily into the air. Then I realized that I had to sweep up the dried grass clippings because they, too, were starting to smolder. Just when I thought I…

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Categories: Modern life, What I'm Doing

Tagged: Mr. Heater, setting fires