June, not Altair

Apparently there was a mild earthquake in my vicinity last night. My apartment complex is adjacent to train tracks and while my building isn't adjacent, when a heavy freight train passes it shakes my building ever so slightly, much like, I am sure, a mild earthquake would.

This evening I am going to see the Canadiens play, along with my three children who are presently aged 20, 17 and 13 years old.

On Sunday, sadly, the Als lost to the Argos who will meet the Bombers at the Grey Cup this coming Sunday in Regina.

I saw the Wakanda movie yesterday; it seemed mostly to be a tribute to Chad Boseman movie. December 16 is when the second, water based, Avatar movie comes out. I'll probably AVX that one.

Labour or Labor

Yesterday was Labour Day weekend here in Canada while also being Labor Day weekend in the United States. I did nothing special to take advantage of the long weekend.

I have been watching very closely and very much the US Open where I saw Frances Tiafoe beat Rafael Nadal yesterday. Today and tomorrow are the quarter finals. Of the matches today, the one I want most to see is between Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia. The former an up and coming American who is young (18yo) and looks to be a top performer in the future, the latter a French woman who is playing exceptionally well over the last few months.

I read 'The Zero Stone' by Andre Norton over the weekend. I quite enjoyed it. A science fiction novel, though it was written in 1968; it still is readable in today's age. Now I am about two sevenths of the way through 'Terror' by Frederic Pohl and so far so good. I may have mentioned this before - I go to visit with my parents every other week and when at their house I have been taking books. The idea is to help them declutter their house for their eventual leaving of the house. As a result I have a stack of books that I am going through. Well before the internet and mobile devices, my father would buy a science fiction book to read on his train ride to/from work and once done, buy another. So far I have read 51 of these books, have 53 in a stack here that I have not yet read and I believe I have less then half of what was all of the books I'll be getting.

My work schedule for the month of September has been published; as it is a support job where specific coverage is needed at specific times, my team has to adhere to the schedule to which we are assigned. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I work 9h-17h. On Wednesday 9h30-17h30 and on Friday 10h-18h. Given this late start on Fridays I am thinking of making a weekly visit to the Swiss Vienna Pastry shop to see about getting perhaps a few croissants or other breads and or treats to enjoy that morning and over the weekend. The shop opens at 9h and I easily have the time to walk there and back to be home in time for my start at 10h.

I have attended quite a number of sporting events so far in 2022 but at the moment have exactly zero future sporting events scheduled. For the remainder of 2022 I may go to one Canadiens game and I will definitely go to the ISU event here at the end of October.

all that ends upside down

Not all of the items on the list are made parenthetical.

If that list were unmasked, it would make available all of the underling thoughts that once were made of spastic movements under undulating light fixtures.

To even admit there is a list is a weakness this author succumbs to only at the oddest of moments during the briefest of times. Fortunately, the list itself won't make its items known.

Tuesday of the week is tomorrow. Who cares if it isn't anyone else's Tuesday?

Canadiens are playing tonight. So is NFL Thursday Night Football. I plan to watch both at same time with audio on the football, mostly, as I really like Buck & Aikman and their announcing skills.

No one else would know the truth if I didn't count to eleven. So I won't.

image

Yesterday morning I decided to go to the Canadiens game last night. I bought my ticket online and had a mistake in my email address. I had to wait until 9h to call them to get it corrected, so I did, and eventually I received the email that told me how to get the ticket.

There is a train that goes into the city that leaves from where I live at 17h23 and gets me to the Bell Centre at 17h50. It is very convenient that the terminus train station is embedded within the Bell Centre. It wasn't clear to me which would be the best entry to use, so I wandered around the building and picked an entrance that didn't have a long queue and got in without a problem. First was to show proof of vaccination with a photo ID. Second was to show the ticket on my mobile device that allowed me entry and then third was to pass through a metal detector scanner for security purposes. I then went to my left for perhaps 200m and saw no sign of steps or escalator to get me up to the 300 level of seating. So I backtracked and about 200m to the right of where I came in I found the escalator up.

I ended up having to walk perhaps 3.4 radians around the oval of the arena to get to my section, so I chose an incorrect door if my goal was to pick the door closest to my seat. Once I found the exact section and seat I had bought, I went back to the concourse and bought a slice of pepperoni pizza and a Coke (~16$) and then took it back to my seat to eat, and drank the Coke a few sips at a time throughout the game. Here is what the view down to the ice looked like from this early moment, about 50 minutes before puck drop.

Perhaps 10 minutes before the start of the game, the person sitting to my left arrived. He was a solo spectator like me, he spent a significant amount of time, during the game, on his mobile device, and from what I could tell, he was chatting with one or more people. He was a fairly big man and sat in a way that was somewhat inconsiderate with respect to how widely separated his thighs were, bumping up against me through the whole game. With about one minute before the game started the man and son pair sat to my right, the son closest to me, of smaller stature than I am so none of this bumping thigh business.

As the game started I easily overheard these two guys speaking with each other, in the row behind me and one or two seats further to the left than I was. Their conversation throughout the game wandered through various topics, sometimes about the game, sometimes not. At one point they were talking about VR technology and how it is advancing; one of them said it could be this would be commonly used in work situations; the other said that by the time that happens, he would be too old and would have aged out of the kind of work that would require it.

Just at about the second that the first period ended, the guy to my left stood up and passed in front of me and the two to my right to exit to go to the concourse. I simply stayed in my seat through the first intermission. He ended up doing the exact same thing for the second intermission, while I did the exact same thing too; staying in my seat.

At various times the camera crew director would choose cameras focused on individuals or small groups that would be shown on the big screen. When I saw them, they all were having so much fun, smiling, dancing, being happy. It would be nice if I could share this experience with someone.

During the evening there was an ad for a Genesis concert happening in two weeks. I haven't ever been a big fan of Genesis but I do like their music. I do not like their music enough to pay 175$ to attend the show, that being the least expensive ticket.

The middle period of the game was a sleeper, with not a lot of good play going on from either team. The third period was a little more exciting as my team tied it up at 2-2; but sadly we couldn't get the winning goal before regulation elapsed. We had plenty of chances, but time and time again, I've noticed this through all of the games this season I've watched on TV, the players on my team shoot and miss the net.

An LA King got the game winning goal in overtime.

I stayed in my seat for about 10 minutes after the game was over so that there were not as many people to contend with on departure. Instead of taking the metro from right where the Bell Centre is, I walked up to the Peel metro station and took the metro to L-G from there, and then the 211 bus left just a few minutes later and I got home uneventfully.

not all of the ups are lefts

A symbol and a bucket of kelvin swallowed the least magnificent of the derivative of the swollen egg plant shaped scintillating Ganymede sized antelope.

I read a book about colonizing Ganymede. Looks fun.

At this very moment the third period is just moments from beginning between the Canadiens and the Kings in LA. The Kings are leading, 2-1.

A right knotted elbow fissure was the surliest of sentient beings who made cake out of honesty and anxiety. I should know.

If I was to count the number of steps that I took on the way from Mexico to Singapore, I'm sure I would have learned how to breath under water at great depths. I suppose I could have taken the horizontal elevator, otherwise known as horlift. Fortunately, my sombrero floats.

That bucket of kelvin was mostly devoid of Celsius or other forms of measurements of temperature. The swollen egg, on the other hand, was on the other hand.

climbing a tree only to find an octopus

Heh, so that top deck card that was reduced to less than 3/7ths has now been reduced to 0/7ths. J plans have been rescinded, and J future nullified. I'm trying not to feel too disheartened and am having moderate success.

In other news, yesterday I received my second dose of vaccine against the SARS-CoV2 virus. My first dose was Astra Zeneca/Oxford and my second was Moderna. Two weeks from yesterday (July 13) I will be considered fully vaccinated.

In still other news, the Canadiens play game two against the Lightning after having lost 5-1 in game one. Hopefully the Canadiens can find a way to win tonight to split the two Tampa games.

squaring the circle while twirling the diamond

Of course it isn't the first time I talk about a compatibility matrix.

May not be the last time, either, though who can predict the future with any accuracy beyond what will take place in the next few minutes.

It turns out that the procons I listed from the J perspective ended up being turned into a compatibility matrix. I shouldn't have been too surprised; a little disappointed, yes, but not surprised. A sub 3/7ths fraction of the initial plan is now the top card of the deck. I'd offer to shuffle, but the reflection may not help me carry a tune.

In other news, of course, it has to be specspor related, the first game of the Stanley Cup playoffs is to start momentarily as I type this sentence.

If you have any windows, don't get used to the idea of being a door.

X gen song sing

On June 24th I heard my first cicada song; last year it was July 9th.

Today is the first day the Canadiens play against Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup finals. It has been quite a run where the Canadiens were the underdogs against the North Division leading Maple Leafs in the first round, sweeping the higher placed Jets in the second round, and winning in game six against the league leading Golden Knights. So being the underdog in all three rounds, the team is again the underdog in the finals.

When the garden gnomes know what is the best way to tackle imbecility, there is hardly a valid reason to ensure the crust on the toast is banished. As an introduction to a paragraph bereft of meaning, the garden gnomes sighed imperceptibly. A winning J would be on my mind if it wasn't for the tooth ache I failed to register while ironing my socks. Winning a J would be all I can think about except for the very small snail I happened to find in my left anterior pocket. Seeing the Bluejays is a very different kind of J, but as a specspor, wouldn't work out.

Soon after submitting this post I'll be walking over to see about getting my second dose of a SARS-CoV2 vaccine. I received the Astra Zeneca/Oxford dose exactly eight weeks ago. The recommended minimum separation of doses as dictated by the government is eight weeks, so today I will go to the walk-in clinic and see if I can get an mRNA vaccine as my second dose.

Twice, not the left side

I'm on thin ice.

Could be losing my job if I don't pick up my pace.

I hope to become an annotator at my work place. That will make my life easier.

In other news, it was supposed to have rained today, even just a little, but it did not.

In still other news last night the Canadiens eliminated the Leafs in the first round of the NHL playoffs; tomorrow night the Canadiens play the Jets in the second round.

Finally, I'm looking forward to when I can retire, I hope I can do it in just a few more years.

when the leaf didn't count to pie plate

 I am loathe to talk about the weather, but, what can one do, it seems to change now and then.

I equate it not too dissimilarly with the time of sun rise and sun set; we haven't any control over these items, yet, they change every day.

 It is the second intermission of game five between the Flyers and the Canadiens and the Habs are leading 3-2. Philadelphia is ahead in the series, 3-1, and so if my team wins, we'll still be behind, 3-2.

 That is a lot of 3-2, I suppose if you mathemetized it, that result would be one.

 I haven't worn a wrist watch in minutes. A rather large number of minutes.

It seems that a quadratic equation as applied to the density of recently made apple sauce using polo-red apples that had been picked sixteen days previously did not solve to a solution that was recognizable to anyone who knows that shoes go on before socks, and not the other way around.

My children all start school on either August 31 or September 1 this year, beginning the 2020-2021 school year. This year's school year begins rather differently for most students worldwide; this is not different for my own children. The younger two will be going physically into their school for somewhat normal school days while the oldest one will have virtual classes all except for lab sessions for a few of the science courses.

My own 'work-from-home' work policy remains in place for the foreseeable future; I think it may be only once there is a widely spread and applied successful vaccine that a return to work in physical presence will resume. I may go in to work once a month. We shall see.

brocoli and the next nearest

So yes, I experienced yet another instance of SLI this morning.

The new NAFTA, or the USMCA, or the CUSMA; or the MCUSA... whatever it will be called, looks like it will be ratified within the next three to twelve months by the three participating governments.

I got to watch the Canadiens play last night against the Penguins. The first period was unmotivated by both teams, though Pittsburgh got a goal. The Canadiens came out roaring in the second and scored three goals. In the final period Gallagher got an empty netter to have the Habs win 4-1.

After this week I have one more before I get to have two weeks off. This is good; though, I haven't really any plans to take advantage of the time off.

when going deeper into muck you find

Tomorrow I am eligible to give blood again as 56 days will have passed since my last donation.

I will not be giving blood tomorrow as I have to leave work early to then retrieve C-Ling so that the two of us can then go to our bi-annual dental cleaning and checkup. The appointment is at 14h50 so I'll have to leave work early, retrieve her from school and head straight to the dentist.

The Canadiens are playing again tonight against the Rangers in game four of the first round. The Canadiens, favoured in this series, is ahead, two games to one. I have not been able to watch any of the games so far, and tonight's game will be no exception.

The federal minister of finance, the premier of Ontario and the mayor of Toronto met today to discuss what can be done about the exorbitant rate increases concerning the price of real estate. The media last week indicated property values went up 33% in the hottest Toronto markets as compared to last year. I do not know what can really be done about this that would also not have unforeseen side effects that would haunt a subsequent generation. Fortunately, I do not live there.

sandwiched between eleven and smoke

My daughter, the middle one, C-Ling, has a part in a play, 'A Pirate's Life for Me' that they performed yesterday for their school and are performing this evening to a general audience made up mostly of parents and family.

I asked her yesterday evening how the first show had gone. She said it went terribly - many of the main actors forgot lines, the singing was out of tune, actors came on or off the stage not at their cue times and movement on the stage wasn't as it should have been. She said that during their most recent rehearsals it had gone much more smoothly.

Hopefully the show will go better tonight.

In other news the NHL playoffs begin this evening for my home team, the Canadiens are playing the Rangers.

GO HABS GO!

Yes, the ceiling is moderately high

It is Super Tuesday in the United States of America today.

What that means for those of us who do not live there is very little.

It looks like Donald Trump will do well today, given what many of the political analysts have written in the last day or two.

It is less clear to me who between Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton will do better today. I suppose I will know tomorrow.

I watched the first half of The Oscars on Sunday night and then came back to it part way through to see Lady Gaga sing her song. I was impressed that Mad Max did as well as it did. I enjoyed the movie but didn't think of it as Oscar worthy compared to others in the past that have won. As for Lady Gaga's performance, I thought it was fairly abhorrent. She sang the National Anthem at the Super Bowl earlier this year and I thought that that performance was light years better.

Though I haven't an official diagnosis, it looks like I have a moderate case of Schizoid Personality Disorder instead of being on the Autism spectrum. It was a mental health nurse that suggested this based on an interview I had with her yesterday morning. To get a proper diagnosis I'd need to go through a very detailed and costly evaluation. It doesn't look like there is a purpose to this so it won't happen - having an official diagnosis is of no use to me.

If work isn't too busy today, I will be going to give blood. I was eligible to give again on February 22nd (last week on Monday) but didn't manage to go then, but today it should be good.

We're getting a storm here over night tonight with between 15 and 25cm's of snow falling starting in the evening, and then heavily over night and then continuing into the morning tomorrow. Right now it is sunny and -14C.

The Canadiens lost to the San Jose Sharks last night. I just read an article stating that the Habs haven't won in that arena since 1999. They started off this season with an amazing run, but have been mediocre ever since.

barbarism made a plenty like the silk

The Canadiens won both of their games over the weekend, so that was good.

It ended up that the horse won over the cat. Good news for Peyton Newton, bad news for Cam Manning.

Vigilance doesn't always pay off. Even the vigilant can miss something. I should know.

Our primary credit card bill generally runs from the 10th of one month to the 9th of the subsequent month. This means that tomorrow is the last day of the current transaction period. If my wife and I do not end up charging anything significant over today and tomorrow it means that our final bill for the period will come out about 1400$ under budget. This is good.

quadratic equations in my sleeve

When the rain falls up and the snow falls sideways and the barometer is dropping and the humidity is rising you can claim that weather is the topic, but whether or not this is true is the topic.

I did not accidentally cut any part of my left hand in the last seventeen hours. I am rather pleased about that.

I really need to get the Stephen Wright script I've prepared into my head as the talent show at the company Christmas party is coming soon (December 5) and I want to be sure I can give a smooth delivery. There are two and a half pages and I've got it so that a keyword in one 'one-liner' gives me the catalyst to recall the next one, which in it has it's own keyword that then helps with the next, and so on. I am finding this method is working well for me, but still, I need to really get it down so that I can give the best delivery I can.

Work is a little overwhelming these days, even with TG happening in the US of A, I haven't had a lot of time to do 'catch-up' work.

On the bright side, the Canadiens beat the Rangers last night.

If I was to have soup right now, I think it would be pea soup.

When windows don't do as doors

Curiously, G-bot was practicing the conjugation of être and avoir last night for pretty much all of the tenses while C-ling was practicing the same two verbs just for the passé composé tense. Both of them have learned this in the past, but early in the school year, it seems every school year, they practice them again. At the same time I was quizzing these two I was also listening to V-8 reading her Grade 1 books. Her reading is coming along nicely.

We haven't yet worked out Halloween costumes for the kids. This is something we tend to put off though I wish we could find the time to do it sooner as usually as a last minute thing it is more challenging.

There is no substitute for substitution.

The Canadiens won last night, their fifth game in a row. It also happens to have been only their fifth game of the season, so that have thus far gone undefeated. I heard on the radio last night that this is the first time ever in the history of this team that the team starts 5-0. That's pretty amazing considering the quality of teams in the past.

Don't forget to remember something.

it's a crapshoot, lawn bowling

As far as weekends are concerned, there is one very keenly anxious to start.

I have plans this weekend that include not being in a place where I can watch game five between the Canadiens and the Lightning, which sucks for me, but the plans may prove interesting anyhow.

There is a rip in my tights so I couldn't wear the pretty floral strapless I had planned today. Oh, well.

If you plan on anything this weekend, I hope it works out.

consciousness reeks like

Sadly, the Canadiens didn't have the oomph last night to knock out the Senators. Game five is on Friday, but we (my wife and I) have plans to go out to dinner with a friend and her family to celebrate her (the friend's) birthday. We are going to Casa de Mateo, a Mexican restaurant that on Friday and Saturday nights has a Mariachi band that wanders through the restaurant.

If the game goes into overtime, it is possible that we'll be able to catch the end of the game at a nearby bar.

Today is another Fast day on my intermittent fasting plan. I just have a simple turkey sandwich I'll eat at 12h30 and that's it for food consumption today.

rain, rain, please stay, wash the grime away

We're getting our first serious rain of the spring as finally it has become warm enough to fall as liquid rather than as crystal. 15-25mm of it will be falling since it started around 9h30 this morning until when it is anticipated to end tomorrow mid-afternoon.

This rain will make all of the grass in people's yards go green.

Telepathy as a blanket that reminds Lutheran notaries of their matching sock colours needed the sound of snapping fingers to awake. I should know.

The number one is often represented as a single vertical rectangle whose length is significantly great than its width.
The number fish is rarely represented.

Please, do not forget to remind yourself of something you ought to have remembered.

Oh, and the Canadiens won again last night, again, in over time. Dale Weiss scored the tying goal near the end of the third period, and then again he scored about eight minutes into overtime. In the first period the Ottawa players banged into Canadien players logging 29 'hits' and they scored their only goal. In the second the Canadiens out-shot the Senators rather impressively. In a best of seven series, we're leading 3-0.