Allan

snow

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It started snowing again today.  Yay!

I actually don’t mind snow.  I don’t mind walking in it, driving through it, or shovelling it.  I certainly enjoy looking at it.  People sometimes say, “When it’s winter, I complain about the cold.  But, in summer, I look forward to winter.”  I don’t think I do.  I actually enjoy winter.  No noisy hot-rods driving up and down the roads, coffee tastes better for some reason, and I look forward to meals much more than in hot weather.  On the down side, I don’t get to work on any projects, and daylight disappears pretty quickly.

architecture on Ritalin

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Holy cow.  How true.

This Is Your Brain on Architecture

Sarah Williams Goldhagen presents scientific evidence for why some buildings delight us and others—too many of them—disappoint.

Can anyone design a more depressing looking building?  Maybe Arthur Charles Erickson?  (The University of Lethbridge resembles a prison inside its halls.)  I thought for a moment – “What else has that cold, lonely, depressing look?”  What popped into my mind was Robson Square in Vancouver.  Oh – Mr. Erickson again.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m not really into hobbit houses, either.  But surely some warmth can enter architecture, can it not?  We’re creating environments to be in.

food poisoning (or, crap)

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I had some food poisoning today.  Well, not sure if poisoning is the right word.  I made some soup and included some dried foods left over from Korea.  Bad thing to do.  I rushed to the toilet several times.  Unfortunately, I had to cancel one class today but caught the second one.  On the way home, the fuel light turned on in the van.  It reminded me that I hadn’t eaten much today, so I stopped at Wendy’s for a wrap.  When I arrived home, Mother asked, “Do you have to go again?”  I took this the wrong way, thinking “the toilet”.  I replied, “Not sure yet, but thanks for asking.” She meant, “Do you have to teach again?”  Ah, then “no”.  Then Floyd asked, “Did you get rid of all that crap?”  Again, I was thinking “sitting on the toilet”.  “Uh… not sure yet,” I again replied.  He meant if I threw out the dried food in the cupboard.

to SIN or not to SIN

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Good gravy.  I’ve been contacted four times in the past 24 hours by a machine claiming to be from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.  The recording states that my Social Insurance Number has been compromised.  Good gravy!  How gullible do you think I am?  Here’s an announcement from the actual OPC.  Don’t be fooled, people!  Hang up!

headache

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I’ve had a headache off and on for the past three weeks.  I’ve had enough Tylenol to kill a horse.  It’s been down to 1 out of 10 since yesterday.  It’s ramped up to about a 6 some days.  It really would be nice to get rid of this.  Causes?  Stress, the accident with the Soul (whiplash), caffeine withdrawal, something I ate or drank … hard to say.

fall

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I bought new tires for the Chrysler Town & Country.  They’re not all season tires like before, like what we’ve all gotten used to.  If you look closely at your all season tires, you’ll notice they’re not rated for snow.  I now have all weather.  They have the little picture of a snowflake on the tire, designating them suitable as a snow tire.  I got them at Mo-Tires here in Lethbridge.

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breakfast out

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I got up this morning and wandered into the living room to greet M&F.  “Happy birthday,” I said.  I beat them to it.

I’m at Starbucks having a complimentary breakfast – not complimentary from Starbucks but from Mom.  “Thank you,” I said.  “What for?” she said.  “Breakfast,” I said.  “You went out for breakfast?” she asked.  “Not yet,” I replied.

We’re also supposed to go out for dinner this evening.  They asked where I wanted to go.  My first suggestion was Cora.  Floyd informed me that it was only open for breakfast & lunch.  I’ve never heard of a restaurant only open for breakfast & lunch, unless it was a in an industrial area or a lunchroom at a company.  My second choice – Denny’s.  Don’t laugh – they always have a chef on duty.  Apparently Mom had a bad meal there once – a deep fried dish – so she turned her nose up at it.  I think I’ll let them decide.  Probably Smitty’s!  Hmm.

cleanup

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I’m back from Rosedale, BC.  I brought back a 4×8 U-Haul trailer stuffed full of things, like a band saw, Glenn’s memorabilia, Father’s antiques and collectibles, tools & electrical things, books & photo albums, and various other things.

Unfortunately, everything that was in the shop was covered in a layer of rat poop, dust, grease, and dog urine.  Laura had been looking after the property for two years since Father passed away, and no upkeep was really done in the shop.  I’m now in the throws of finding homes for all the stuff I brought back, but much of it had to be taken to a car wash to pressure wash all the poop and grime off.

The garage here is pretty much full of either things I brought back or the teardrop trailer I’m working on.  My room is also full of stuff from the house.  Laura packed all the stuff up into boxes and stored it in the crawl space under the house.  It amounts to about 20 cardboard boxes of stuff (dishes, photos, Glenn’s collectibles, etc.).  So for the next few weeks I’ll be dealing with all this stuff.