Month: September 2024

Now that Mexico has a woman president, Claudia Sheinbaum, and if Kamala Harris wins the US election, all we need now is for Justin Trudeau to step down and have Chrystia Freeland get elected as Prime Minister in Canada, and women would rule North America. Ooh! sexy! The guys at the pub suggested that they already rule the North.

If Kamala wins I can see trump planning his next campaign and trying to find out if they eat cats and dogs in Butt-Crack Alabama. This would come after months of whining, crying and yelling that the whole thing was rigged. And, after recovering from losing to not just a Democrat, but to a black woman to boot. Oh, the shame!

If women do rule the North, and we can only hope that they do, there will almost certainly be no tariffs on nail polish removers as they are essential to the well-being of half the population of North America. Steel, cars? Sure that’s a man thing, they don’t care about that.

Heaven help us if they are all wearing the same dress at a NAFTA conference. Duck and cover, WW3 is about to start.

And there’s no need to worry about a nuclear war, The President wouldn’t be pressing the big red button as her nails would get in the way. Heaven forbid that she breaks one doing so. I see a need for an official big red button pusher.

But of course, I jest; not about the trump thing, I’m serious about that. Women should rule the world like they did back a few thousand years ago. I partially read a book called “The Challis and The Blade.” Very interesting. It started to bog my tiny brain down halfway through so I had to give it up, but I got the gist and it made a lot of sense. Try it, I hope you do better than I did. And please tell me how it ended, it’s been driving me crazy.

Apparently, it’s not me after all!

We were talking to Mike and Fern the other day who mentioned they had two friends with the same symptoms as me: shortness of breath, dizziness and high blood pressure. So my conclusion that I had a virus seems more plausible now. I did say before, that I would make a great Doctor with my diagnostic skills.

I found an amazing article about tequila that justifies us drinking it. As usual, I don’t believe anything without first verifying it, so I asked Rosalie and she said it’s true. So, there we are!

When we had Covid a few years ago, I had a cough that wouldn’t go away. After two weeks I decided to try the Mexican cure: two shots of tequila, two nights in a row and sure enough I haven’t coughed since. However, one sip of tequila, or any other liquor and I start sneezing. So there’s no chance of me sneaking a sip on the quiet as Rosalie does.

Now Rosalie has been checking out Mezcal. Apparently, it’s even healthier than tequila. We haven’t tried it but will as soon as we get back to Melaque. Mezcal is made only from three-times distilled Agave whereas tequila has some additives. One kind, Mezcal de Pechuga does have strange additives such as chicken breast, fruits, nuts and herbs. The chicken is suspended above the mix on the final distillation and drips into the mix until only the bones are left. It sounds disgusting but has a unique flavour and is more expensive than regular mezcal.

I have had a schisis (a partial retinal tear) in my eye for about fifteen years. It doesn’t affect my sight but the ophthalmologist keeps an eye on it. (Ha Ha.) When I went to the optometrist for a test to get contacts, he checked me out and immediately called a retina surgeon in Victoria to make an appointment for a consultation.

The drive was two and a half hours long and the surgeon said the same as the ophthalmologist in Nanaimo; we should keep an eye on it. It was a waste of time. I think the young optometrist in Nanaimo panicked. The day wasn’t all wasted as we had a great visit with Rosalie’s sister Marina.

It’s good to be driving again. Rosalie did a great job but I was uncomfortable hiding under the dash. She usually needs the bathroom as soon as we start driving so I tell her “You better go before we go or you will want to go after we’ve gone and won’t be able to go until we get there.”

We assume that Alan our pet squirrel has either gone on permanent vacation or passed away. His/her kids, however, are still around and have fun waking us up at 6 am by dropping green pine cones on the metal roof of the trailer. It sure makes a din.

It’s getting cooler and wetter so it must be close to Melaque time. I got out my trusty list of things that need to be done before we go. It’s quite extensive so I had better get started soon. The longer list is for our last day when we have to put the car and the trailer away for the winter. It will all get done eventually and it will be worth it once we get back to our home down there.

After the party last week, the diehards were sitting and having a few last drinks when a St Bernard dog wandered in with two puppies. Only Chris and I saw two pups but everyone else saw only one. Maybe Chris and I had too much tequila but apparently, the other one had taken off home.

They both looked hungry so Laura brought a bowl of food which Mum gobbled up really fast. The pup trying to feed off Mum was whining as it wasn’t getting anything.

Chris and Laura seemed to have everything under control so we went to bed. And then the fun started. They told us the story later.

They went back to their trailer and posted a message on Facebook trying to find the owner. At one point Mum took off home and Chris followed them out of the park, until it disappeared up a neighbour’s driveway. Then he came home again thinking it was all over. After a while Mum showed up again but this time with five pups.

They herded them onto their enclosed deck and finally an owner was discovered. She asked them to hold the dogs until morning, which wasn’t going to happen as the dogs were bouncing all over the place and it was hard to keep them all together.

Eventually, the owner showed up to retrieve them. She said that there were originally eight pups but three had been sold that day. She thought maybe Mum had escaped to go look for them, dragging her whole tribe along.

Laura made the mistake of saying the dogs had looked hungry and the owner took offence, insisting that they were well looked after. They had looked hungry to us.

They were really cute pups and I think Laura would have liked to keep one but she already has a cute little Shih Tzu called Jax.

Update:

I was enjoying a cup of tea on the deck this morning when who should show up? Yes, it was Mum and four of her puppies. Mum sniffed around for a while and then took off with the herd of pups tumbling over themselves to keep up. Very cute.

Time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana.

Time is flying fast It’s Rosalie’s seventy-fifth birthday and she made the absolute best of it. First, we celebrated it at the Melaque party. She got some gifts thank you, even though we asked people not to bring any.

Then on the actual day, we had lunch at the Lanzville Pub with Peter and Suzie, Ray and Yvone, Walter and Valerie. Rosalie and I shared a bottle of wine and had an awesome meal. There were lots of laughs and everyone had a great time.

Afterwards, we dropped in to see Dave and Barb to see how Dave was recovering after his hip surgery. He must be doing well as we are taking him to the pub on Thursday.

That evening we went over to Jim and Ylda’s place and had more laughs as well as more wine and tequila. Altogether a great day.

This seems to be a bad year for fruit flies. I set up three devious traps full of apple cider vinegar and saw them drown by the dozen. However, the promiscuous little beasts must be bonking like crazy as we still had lots flying around.

So Mrs Google must have the answer. After taking care of basic things like putting food away and emptying the garbage, she suggested a spray bottle with IPA in it. I thought the idea was to get them drunk and then beat them up. But no, they meant Rubbing alcohol. Oh, too bad it sounded like fun.

Anyway, I loaded a spray bottle and prepared for the massacre. Sure enough, they died like flies. So, the next morning I got up with confidence that there would be no more left. I put on the lights and there they were sitting on the spray bottle and the edge of the traps looking bored and not in the least bit afraid. They were probably sorting out their partners for the next night and finding more ways to piss me off.

I’m not a morning person

They seem to be diminishing a bit, so maybe I’m making some headway. The sad part is that I know they will be back next year.

I seem to have trouble with small things: Spiders, Chihuahuas, fruit flies, Rosalie….

Because we are ancient it qualifies us for the federal dental program. Ooh cool! So we decided to find out what our tax dollars are giving us.

This guy needed help

After phoning around a bit to find a dentist participating in the program we eventually found one in Qualicum Beach, so booked an appointment for each of us.

Our teeth get cleaned in Mexico where they do a good job but don’t do an in-depth exam so this was a lot more intensive. The first appointment was only for an assessment and any treatment would come later.

I found out that I had a few cavities under old fillings and was happy they found out as one was close to needing a root canal. Rosalie found that she could have a problem with the implant she got in Mexico so it was a good thing that we got on this program otherwise it would have been very expensive.

A deductible had to be paid so it cost us about $100. We are okay with that. So now there are some appointments lined up but most are after we get back in April.

One of my favourite pastimes here is yelling at people who go over the 5 km limit in the resort. It’s fun and gives me a chance to exercise my vocal chords. Some people listen but a few don’t so, often they get yelled at by security across the street from us as well. One guy came roaring by riding a pink handicap cart doing about 30 km, I yelled and he didn’t slow down so security had to have a word with him.

There are three good reasons for not speeding in the resort: We have great-grandkids here and don’t want them hurt, Speeding creates a lot of dust and thirdly it’s a park rule.

We sit outside in the evening and watch TV on a little 24-inch set. After rearranging the deck to have more room, I saw the perfect spot for a big-screen TV. I suggested it to Rosalie and got a very cold look. After a little whining and snivelling, she agreed that I could look on the Facebook marketplace for a used one.

I got the look!

I found three but only managed to communicate with one person in Courtenay. The TV was a 55″ so I made an appointment for 11 am on Saturday and we went to look at it. It was plasma which I didn’t really want as they are so heavy. Also, it wasn’t plugged in so we couldn’t see it working. The young lady selling it looked honest and was only asking $100 so we decided to take a chance.

After getting it home, Mike across the road helped me to lift it onto a table so that I could set it up.

After plugging all the cables in and setting up the soundbar, I held my breath and turned it on. It worked great! It’s not a smart TV but we have a Firestick and that’s all we need, so we are happy with the whole deal. Even Rosalie was pleased so I sent a Text to the lady thanking her.

Does anyone want to buy a 24″ TV?