It has been a month since I’ve updated – again ☹. The time passes so fast and there is so much going on that I keep saying that I’ll update tomorrow … no, the day after … no, and it becomes a month!! I was studying for another certification (CCSP) even though I said I wouldn’t; I write later this week – apparently this one has an even lower passing rate than the CISSP so I’ll see how I do. We finally got some rain over the last two weeks so lots of yard work to do – cut the grass one day and it’s back again two days later!! But at least I get to do some tractoring!! … And some mouse hunting ☹ One likes to live in the barbeque, another in a kitchen cupboard. Haven’t tracked the little buggers down yet – just a matter of time – but at least the kitchen one has moved out; just don’t know where yet. … At least I haven’t had a repeat of last month when one tried to jump in my lap while I was driving!! The past four weeks has seen some pretty hot temperatures – day and night – but it seems to have got back to normal; hot during the day and cool enough at night; guess winter’s right around the corner. We get some pretty spectacular sunrises in the early morning :). ... And Doug the Dog doesn't get overheated and can spend more time outdoors!! Hopefully we will cut winter down by a few weeks – Mexico (twice) in December / January; Caribbean cruise in February. We went to the Aylmer Fair this past weekend – fairly small compared to some I’ve been to in the past, but it was still enjoyable. We got to see cows being shaved, llamas llamaing, goats goating, tractor pulls and people riding the midway rides, etc.. It was something different to do. Got a new set of horseshoes for our horseshoe pit and a bocci ball set – by the time we get to go on the cruise we’ll be bocci ball pros!!
COVID cases are still increasing – and Monkey Pox is still on the rise. Kelly and I have both had our second booster shot; apparently the third booster will be available soon. Travel restrictions keep going up and down ☹. Hopefully they’ll be gone by the time we go on vacation. The price of gas is also going down – with any luck our air fares will drop a few hundred dollars 😊.
The war in Ukraine is still going on – the Donbas appears to be at a stalemate; the Ukrainians have made some advances around Kherson – they’ve blown up three bridges and have marooned a Russian army group on the western shore of the river; Russians are bombing prisons holding captured Ukrainian soldiers – and trying to blame Ukraine for it!; the war is still a mess, but I believe Ukraine will not only win, but get back Crimea and the Donbas. Note: 7 Russian fighter planes were destroyed at an airbase in Crimea – the Russians are blaming it on someone carelessly smoking near the planes!! China has intensified its’ military ‘drills’ around Taiwan – I wouldn’t be surprised to see them invade by the end of September. North Korea has ramped up it’s missile testing – something strange is going on there; COVID has hit them pretty hard, Kim Jong-un was extremely ill (but managed to cure the rest of the country somehow – it’s a miracle!!) and has been missing lately – major announcements have been done lately by his sister Kim Yo-jong. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he’s dying and the sister will take over (you heard it here first, folks!!).
… Lots of cooking (as always) going on: We have had the usual beef and chicken curries; steaks; burgers; Roast Pork / Roast Beef with roast veggies; Shepheard’s Pie; Greek Chicken / Steak Salads; Pork with Oyster Sauce; Pork Tostadas (with corn tortillas of course); Pineapple Stuffed Chicken (again); … and Smokin’!! Brisket was on sale the last two weeks – bought two 17 pounders, smoked 8 pounds and will be making Montreal Smoked Meat, Pastrami, and smoked brisket with the rest!! Bought a seven pound pork loin roast – smoked that as well!! On the Netflix front we finished watching ‘Homeland’ - finally; eight seasons – the first 3 were good, the next two passable, and the last three – horrible!! The scripts were all over the place with very little continuity; the acting (with the exception of Claire Danes) wooden and / or atrocious; and the film sets (South Africa for Pakistan; Budapest for Moscow, etc.) pretty confusing. We started watching ‘Animal Kingdom 5’; I’m not a big fan – without Smurf the storyline is just flailing along. … And the acting (with the exception of Shawn Hatosy as ‘Pope’) is pretty wooden and forced. … And Leila George playing Young Smurf – that was a horrible casting call ☹ I’ve been watching German series on Netflix for a change – I’ve run out of Spanish ones). I rewatched all 3 seasons of ‘Babylon Berlin’ – excellent police / crime / mystery that takes place in 1929 Berlin just before the big stock market crash. I only found out at the end that they have filmed a Season 4 that should be on sometime this year! … and that the series was based on 8 novels that follow Detective Gereon Rath up until 1938!! I’ve bought all 8 books and I’m reading them now!! I also finished ‘Dogs of Berlin’ – a modern day police / drug war / gang war drama; it was pretty good and Season 2 should be coming next year 😊. One more German show to go – ‘Oktoberfest – Blood and Beer’ which surprisingly enough is based on blood and beer during Oktoberfest in 1900 😊 It’s a good period drama – lots of great costumes and over the top acting !!
On to golf … the regular season has come to an end – the first round of the Fedex Championships – Fedex St Jude – was this past weekend. The top 125 golfers with the most Fedex points got to play with only the top 70 moving on to the BMW Championship next week, and the top 30 finishing the week after. Will Zalatoris won – finally, his first PGA Tour win – for a $2.5 million U.S. and first place over all in the standings. First place in the final championship playoff is worth $20 million U.S.!! Six Canadians made the top 125, Nick Taylor didn’t make the cut; Adam Svensson blew up and didn’t make the top 70 (finished around 90th) and the other four will be playing next week – Connors, Hadwin, Hughes, and Pendrith. With the way they played this time round I’ll be very surprised if any of them make the top 30 next week ☹.
NFL news – pre-season just started, first game out of the way. Seattle lost to Pittsburgh; they were down 14 – 0 after 1 quarter but caught up to 25 – 25 in the last quarter and blew it with 1 minute left with Drew Lock being sacked and fumbling the ball. But, they looked actually pretty good and played much better than most people expected (except me of course, I still believe they will go 10 – 7 over the regular season 😊 ). Seattle still hasn’t picked a starting quarterback - it looked like Geno Smith had the edge … but after the way Lock played (not withstanding the stupid turnover) I would say Lock should start. … I promise to update next week (unless I fail the CCSP exam and commit harikari )… have a great and safe week … pray for Ukraine … we will see you in a bit!!