Yup … even later than usual… 
. It’s been pretty busy around here lately 
. We finally had our basement windows replaced … the house is now 100% renovated … and the pest control man came around and sprayed the outside of the house for bugs and set rodent traps, etc. We haven’t seen a bug inside the house for over three weeks now. Lots of yard work going on … trees have been trimmed, grass has been mowed down for the winter … and the annual bagging of leaves has begun. Sixty bags so far have been taken to the recycling depot … last year it was a hundred and five bags … and we will probably busy for the next two or three weeks. Autumn used to be my favourite time of the year … crisp temperatures, the trees turning beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow … so pretty to look at!! The fields behind us have been harvested of soy beans, combine harvesters are starting to gather the animal corn … the sky turns that particular shade of blue that you only see at this time of year … beautiful!! You look up at the trees on your property … the leaves change colour, the yard is freshly mowed … and then later that night … whoomph!! … you wake up, look outside … and a tree is bare, the ground covered in fallen leaves … fall leaves, not autumn leaves. So you spend all day raking, bagging, and driving to the recycle site, come home dead tired, go to bed …. And whoomph!! … another tree’s leaves have fallen all over the yard!! … and so it begins again… I figure another fifty or sixty bags to go!!
COVID cases appear to be increasing again … but I don’t think that the various governments will be imposing restriction again, they are just telling people to be safe – get a booster shot, wear a mask, take normal precautions, etc. A lot of companies are trying to get their employees back into the work place ... as opposed to working remotely from home … but not everybody wants to go back, myself included. For me it’s a waste of time to drive 60 kilometres to work only to do a zoom meeting in the office which is basically the same as doing it from home. But I’ll probably have to go in at least once a week anyways . On the bright side we’ll be heading off to Mazatlan in a little over a months time … it will be our first real vacation in almost three years time .
The war in Ukraine keeps turning in favour of the Ukrainians. However, the Russians are using a new tactic … using Iranian drones in massive bombings and missile firings against the hydro, power, and fuel infrastructure of Ukraine – it is estimated that 30 % has been damaged so far. However, it was announced today that Ukraine are knocking out almost 85 % of the drones before they can do damage. It’s an attempt by the Russians to freeze out and demoralize the Ukrainians during the coming winter . The Ukrainians are making serious inroads into the Kherson region … and the Russians appear to be panicking and evacuating the area by the thousands … but can you ever really trust a Russian? It seems strange that the Russians … who so far in the war have had absolutely no regard for civilian or military lives (their own or Ukrainians) … want to evacuate civilians from Kherson for humanitarian reasons. So I figure it’s one of several reasons :
- They are evacuating their own troops (and weapons) under guise of being civilians and can’t be targeted
- They are creating an empty buffer zone to entice the Ukrainian troops to recapture the area and then:
- Blow up a hydroelectric dam and flood the area, drowning the Ukrainian troops
- Drop a tactical low-grade nuclear weapon on the area, kill the invading troops and create a ‘no-mans-land’ as a buffer between Ukraine and the recently annexed territories in the Donbas
Today the Russians announced they have evidence that the Ukrainians are planning on using a ‘dirty bomb’ (low-grade nuclear) against the Russian troops and then blaming it on Russia. How stupid does Russia think that the NATO allies are? That statement got treated with the scorn that it deserved, but it makes me wonder … is Russia really that desperate that they will go ahead and do it? If they do … NATO should respond immediately … but conventionally … against Russia and stop this farce of ‘a military operation’. Oh, and have someone kill Putin … that man is insane.
… Lots of cooking (as always) going on: We have had the usual chicken curries; beef and pork rendangs; steaks; burgers; roast pork or roast beef with roast veggies; Fresh Pastas with Meat Sauce and / or Meatballs (homemade of course), Shepherds Pies; Chicken and Steak Salads; and Pork Tacos, Quesadillas, and Beef Birria on the Mexican side. I’ll be smoking a beef briskets this afternoon on my day off . On the Netflix front we finished watching ‘The Blacklist Season 9’ – it was just okay . As usual they kept changing the script writers every episode, there was little or no continuity from the previous seasons (lots of plot errors) and the acting, for the most part … sucked . … With the exception of James Spader, he’s always good. I believe Season 10 … which will show up sometime next year … will be the last. We watched a couple of other series … they must have been forgettable because I can’t really remember what they were … but then … finally … on Paramount they put all 10 seasons of the Love Boat (1978 – 1988) on!! We have the first four seasons on DVD but for royalty reasons and licencing the last six seasons have never been made available. So, here we are … at the end of Season 5 . I actually sailed on the original Pacific Princess (also known as ‘The Love Boat … My Ass’) on its fourth last sailing back in September 2002. I finished watching ‘Kleo’ and then binge watched all 39 episodes of a Mexican telenovela, ‘High Heat’, a murder mystery about fire men and their hoses. It was silly … and pretty implausible … but I enjoy telenovelas, and this one was pretty good, so … hey, I liked it!! I watched ‘Holy Family’, a Spanish mystery drama. Very strange … but it had two of my favourite actresses in it – Najwa Nimri and Alba Flores, both from ‘Locked Up’ and ‘Money Heist’ – so it was well acted … even if it took me four episodes to understand what was going on. My next series to watch will probably be ‘High Water’, a Polish drama based on real events that happened during a horrific flood in Wroclaw, Poland back in 1997. I was in Wroclaw four years later in 2001 and there was still visible damage from the flood.
The baseball regular season ended … and Toronto made it to the playoffs!! … And promptly got swept by Seattle … who got swept by Houston. The day after Toronto lost a whole bunch of blue jays showed up at our bird feeders in the back yard for the first time … coincidence? … I think not .
Regular season NHL started a few weeks ago … Toronto has played 6, won 4; Seattle Kraken have played 7, won 2. Still a long way to go … Maple Leafs will probably make the playoffs in April … and choke; Seattle will just choke long before the playoffs.
On to golf … the regular season is just starting up … the U.S. won the President’s Cup, both Canadians (Connors and Pendrith) didn’t win a single match ; the Canadians haven’t really been playing well in the other 4 events … with the exception of Mackenzie Hughes!! He won the Sanderson Farms Championship for only his second win in 6 years and a payout of $1,422 M U.S.!! Rory McIlroy won this past weekend at the CJ Cup in South Carolina for a payout of $1.89 M U.S. … he’s now number 1 in the world rankings. The Butterfield Bermuda Championship is next week … Canadians usually play fairly well over there .
NFL news – Week 7 is just finishing up, lots of upsets; Tampa Bay lost to Carolina; Green Bay lost to Washington; L.A. Chargers lost to Seattle!! Seattle (4-3) now in first place by themselves in the NFC West!! Geno Smith is doing brilliantly; Seattle’s 2022 draft picks are the best since 2013 (went on to win Superbowl LVIII that year)!! … And Russell Wilson in Denver … has pretty well tanked . It just goes to show, not always about one person, but about the whole team. … And whether Seattle keeps winning or not … they seem to be having the most fun of any team and just enjoying playing football!! Of course … Pete Carroll is having a blast, being the oldest coach (71) and cheerleader out there!! I will try to update more often … and I really have to catch up on Netflix reviews. Have a great and safe week … pray for Ukraine … we will see you in a bit!!