Not a lot going on around here… just work and trying to keep up with the crazy weather. Very unusual temperatures for the beginning of April – most days very cold and windy…below 0 C and winds gusting to 100 kph … lots of broken branches, ice storms; but not as bad as further north, ½ million people without power and up to 3 feet of snow; the occasional warm day … up to 18C; it’s been absolutely crazy!! Hopefully soon it will warm up and we can get around to cleaning up the yard, plant some flowers, etc. . And 4 months today will be our cruise to Alaska… that should be fun!!
The war between Russia and Ukraine continues to drag on despite the ceasefire that Donald Trump is trying to broker. Ukraine agreed to the terms set out by the U.S. for a 30 day ceasefire but Russia keeps dragging their feet and asking for impossible amendments to the treaty. Both sides did agree to an ‘Energy Ceasefire’ – in which both sides technically agreed to cease attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure and also in the Black Sea to free up shipping lanes. However, Russia has committed many violations and still targets power plants in Ukraine with missile and drone strikes. The other day Russia attacked a restaurant in Kryvyi Rih (hometown of President Zelensky) with missiles – no military target anywhere near but 19 civilians, including 9 children, were killed in a nearby playground ☹. Putin has no intention of acceding to the ceasefire; he is just buying time to increase the military (there has been news that they want to increase the military by 150,000 soldiers this year – they need that many more during a ceasefire?) and make plans for possibly invading Europe. Poland, Finland, and the Baltic States are not being mislead by talk of a ceasefire happening – they are all withdrawing from the Ottawa Treaty which aims at eliminating anti-personnel mines being used… they will be mining their borders in anticipation of Russia invading. Lithuania has already said that they expect an invasion in September of this year ☹. Meanwhile, Ukraine has seen some success in holding off the Russians at their eastern borders; and they have continued their incursion into Kursk and have started operations in the Belgorod region. And, in an interesting aside, two Chinese soldiers were captured recently; and there are indications that there are many more Chinese involved in the fighting despite China maintaining a neutral stance in the war. On a good note, since Ukraine agreed to the terms of the peace treaty, the U.S. has resumed military supplies and intelligence reports to Ukraine.
President Trump continues to terrorize the world with his tariffs. On April 2 he announced that there would be a base 10% tariff on all imports from more than 150 countries – Canada, Mexico, and Russia were excluded – but many countries had higher tariffs imposed – the latest being China, 104%, Vietnam 46%, Thailand 36%; and Switzerland 31%. Canada and Mexico had a 25% tariff imposed on steel, aluminum, and vehicles. Most countries have countered with reciprocal tariffs of their own. However, if Trump doesn’t back off and recall the tariffs there is a good chance that there will be a Global Recession and a ‘Nuclear Winter’ that will take many years to recover from. Thousands of jobs will be lost and many companies will go bankrupt – the last time anything like this ever happened was during The Great Depression of the 1930’s. Good job, Donald, good job ☹.
Trump continues to make baffling decisions – even his fellow republicans don’t understand what he is doing – and he is even talking about the chance of him seeking a third term as president which is against the constitution. I don’t think he will last that long – there is even talk of getting him impeached – but he has already caused so much harm in his first 100 days that it will take years for the country, and the world, to recover. He is doing a lot more idiocies – but I am tired of talking about this idiot so lets move on.
Campaigning has been going on the last couple of weeks for the Canadian election - it will be held April 28. The last polls taken have shown the Liberals to have a 10 point lead over the Conservatives if an election was held today. If that happens Carney and the Liberals should win a majority government 😊.
The ceasefire of the war in the Middle East that started Jan 15 is still ongoing. However it appears to be on rather shaky ground. Israel has entered the Palestinian territory’s northern section and expanded their ‘security zone’ by moving thousands of troops into the area. As of Friday hundreds of residents have left the area and 17 civilians have been killed.
As we have been home all month since the last cruise a lot of home cooking has been going on – new recipes and old ones - Chicken Curries; Smoked Meat and Chicken Paninis; Steaks; hamburgers; sausages with gravy and mashed potatoes; Beef Rendang; Sweet and Sour Pork with Pineapple; Chicken Fried Chicken and Chicken Fried Steak ; Shepherd’s Pie; Seafood Chowder, home made coleslaw; and smoking started last weekend: Brisket; and Pork Ribs. Soon it will be time for smoking Chicken Breasts and Meat Loaf 😊. Served with home made coleslaw and Seafood Chowder 😊.
On the Netflix front: We watched all 3 seasons of ‘Les Invincibles’, a French-Canadian comedy drama about 4 men who have reached a mid-life crisis and sign a pact that they will all leave their girlfriends at the same time – if anyone violates the pact he has to pay $1000 to each of the other men. By signing the pact they swear to be themselves, free and young in a cruel world dominated by feminism. The story line incorporates their lives into a comic strip populated by themselves as superheroes and their ex-girlfriends as super villains. A lot of comedy and a lot of drama ensue as the four men (Carlos, Remi, Steve, and PA – the originator of the pact) try to get their new lives in order while not having to pay up the fine. We watched ‘Adolescence’ a British drama about a thirteen year old boy who is supposedly guilty of killing his classmate and the effect it has on the families involved. ‘Adolescence’ was the most watched Netflix show in the past few weeks and #1 in Canada. However, with the series only having four episodes, I found that with few exceptions the script lacked coherence, was extremely slow, and came to an unexciting and inconclusive end. So, for me… it ranked ‘meh’ out of 4 stars 😊. I watched Season 2 of ‘High Tides’, a Belgian series about the events that shook the small beach town of Knokke and the messed-up teens and their families involved. At the end of last season the local billionaire Patrick Vandael had been shot by his young daughter, Olivia. His spoiled son Alex was involved with Louise (who had been in a mental institution prior). His wife Eleonore wants to take over the family business and have Alex eventually run it. Daan, the son of the Vandael’s nanny Claudia, becomes involved with Alex and Louise. Claudia, who actually took the nanny’s position to find out who killed her sister at the Vandael’s, has a brief affair with Eleonore, and then in this season Thomas, who is the caretaker and lover of the Vandael’s matriarch, Jacqueline. As it turns out, Thomas is the son of Jacques, a successful businessman and former partner of Patrick, and wants to exact revenge on the Vandael family for his father’s death. Confusing, no? Entertaining, yes 😊. ‘High Tides’ is about differences of social class and the extremes that people will go to to maintain their place in society. Season 2 wasn’t as good as Season 1, and the ending was inconclusive.. but a Season 3 has already been started filming 😊
On to Sports:
On the NHL front – The regular season will be over in a month’s time and the Maple Leafs are currently 46 – 25 – 4 good for a 2nd place tie in their division with Carolina and only 9 points behind first place Washington – the Leafs have already secured a playoff spot, and the Seattle Kraken are 31 – 37 – 6 only ahead of 3 teams for last place in their division – the Kraken may qualify for the playoffs – in 2030😊.
On to golf … four weeks ago was the Players Championship Tournament – Corey Connors finished 6th😊. Three weeks ago was the Valspar Championship – Corey Connors finished 8th; so 3 top ten finishes for Connors in the last 3 that he played – he is now 7h in the FedEx Championship points standings 😊. Two weeks ago saw the Texas Children’s Houston Open – it was won by Min Woo Lee of Australia by one stroke over Scottie Scheffler – Lee takes home $1.7 million. Two Canadians finished in the top 10 : Taylor Pendrith tied for 5th for $337K U.S. and Mackenzie Hughes finished 10th for $259K U.S. 😊. Last week was the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio… only 3 Canadians played and two made the cut ….Adam Svensson, and Corey Connors who rs finished tied for 18 and moved up to 6th in the Fedex standings. Next week will be the Masters in Augusta, Georgia – there should be 4 Canadians entered – Connors, Pendrith, Taylor, and Mike Weir who won the Masters back in 2003.
NFL news – not a lot going on until the draft that starts on April 24. However, a couple of interesting trades have taken place. In a surprising move Sam Darnold will be moving to Seattle this season from Minnesota as the new quarterback; Russell Wilson will be moving from Pittsburgh to the New York Giants; and not surprisingly Aaron Rogers hasn’t been picked up by anyone yet.. but there are rumours that he may go to Pittsburgh.
Have a great and safe month … we will see you in a bit!! 😊