Posted on May 15, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with 2 comments

Fruit of the Vine

 

 

“Bottle of wine, fruit of the vine;

When ya’ gonna let me get sober;

Leave me alone, let me go home;

Let me go home and start over”

The Fireballs 1968

 

Seems like a good way to start Thursday talking about wine. I suspect a fair bit of the grape will be consumed this long weekend along with some suds and rum. Speaking of rum, I was talking to someone the other day who was having the damdest time shaking a scratchy throat. I have told her on several occasions that gargling with rum ( preferably dark ), would fix her right up. Worked for me back in my rum drinking days. Oh yes, you have to swallow the rum. If it doesn’t work, wait a few minutes and try it again. It may not fix your throat but you’ll still feel better. Any other home remedies?

I wrote a story a few weeks back and almost forgot about it until I saw someone talking about wine on FB. This weekend would be as good a time as any to publish the story called “ Bottoms Up.”  It’s the story about a boozer who hits the jackpot. He made so much money on his “investment” that he was able to buy a brand new truck. Stay tuned.

You will be happy to know that there will be no further stories about gas, gas prices, lineups at the pumps etc. I received a restraining order ( only joking ) from the gasoline dealers association who are tired of me poking fun at them. High gas prices are no laughing matter.

I just saw this and had to add it to this post. Do you absolutely worship the bagpipes? Lots of you do. I like the bagpipes and the three week period surrounding the Highland Games just about gives me my annual quota of bagpipes. Anyways , there are two guys in a bar and one says to the other, “ let’s drink until the bagpipes sound good.” Another classic is the bagpiper standing on the street corner with his case on the ground looking for tips. The sign posted behind him on the wall says , “ Pay or I’ll play.”  “Will ye no come back again” …. to my website, all you hard core bagpipe players?

Nagging leads to shortened life expectancy. So say a recent study out of Denmark. If you are a man and are nagged by your significant other , over a suitably long period of time, you will die sooner than the un-nagged. Not my words. I will interpret the findings of the study in the upcoming story “ Nagged to Death.” My editor changed a few words! Just sayin’!

Hope you have a terrific long weekend.

 

 

 

Posted on May 1, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with 10 comments

Happy Days Are Here Again

    Eyes opened. Check. Feet hit the floor. Check. Was able to walk to the bathroom, use the bathroom and shower… unattended. Check. Ate breakfast. Check. Walked to work. Check. So did most of you. So what’s the big deal? The big deal is that most of us never give this a second thought. Like so many other things in our daily orbit, we take it for granted. That is, until someone pulls the rug from beneath us. It is human nature to complain. I met and chatted with a few people this week who have unimaginable health challenges under their roofs, and they hardly complained at all. Preachy Week45 Len says, oh so gently… do not take anything for granted. Fill up your gratitude jar.

I heartily applaud the “Happy Antigonish” initiative. ( see the picture above ). The town looked great yesterday,  festooned with yellow balloons and yellow streamers. God, in her infinite wisdom and charity, blessed the organizers with a sun dappled day. There was a lot of traffic and hopefully the merchants were rewarded with lots of sales.

Thanks for the amazing feedback on the Credit Union story which was posted on my website on Tuesday. I think some people were surprised that I should write such a story when the Credit Union can be seen as competition for me in my day job. But you know something, we need all businesses to succeed to make our community grow and prosper, especially businesses that have a social conscience. I will continue to line up on cheque day!

The sequel to “Adding Fuel to the Fire” will be coming at you soon. As you will recall, in that story I carefully explained how gas prices are calculated. If you missed this, go back and check it out. I fully expect to get a call from the Economics Department at St.F.X. as a guest lecturer to go into my theory a little bit deeper. Now that we know how prices are determined, how do we explain the phenomenon of lining up at the pumps the day before a price increase? The Psychology Department will surely come a calling once I tastefully ( and somewhat sarcastically ) describe this in the story, “ Pandemonium at the Pumps” coming soon at Week45.

Is it possible for a woman to train her husband/partner?  People can train dogs so surely it is in the realm of possibilities to train a man? I don’t know who’s going to be more upset with me when I “unleash” this story… men or women. I am an “equal opportunity” offender.  “Off Leash Men” explores this sensitive subject.

I make my debut in the Cape Breton Star this week as the first edition of a new weekly paper rolls off the presses. I will post my initial story on the weekend. It’s called “My Cape Breton Passport.”

Have a great week.

Posted on April 17, 2014 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

Boston 2011

 

 

Three years ago, I stood at the start line of the Boston Marathon. I was excited, frightened and relieved to be at this historic place. Of the three, relief was probably the strongest emotion. There is an incredible amount of time and effort that goes into preparing for this race. And when race day looms, it is hard to concentrate at work and sleep becomes difficult as you try to imagine the task in front of you. When you finally cross the start line, all of the pent up anxiety leaves your body as you leave the historic town of Hopkinton heading for downtown Boston.

I want to salute three friends who are making the journey this weekend: Cathy Langille, Lisa MacGrath and my long suffering (former! ) running partner, Charlene Druhan. Please join me in wishing them all the best.

I have a couple of brand new stories that I will debut at the Week45 Express fundraising show next Thursday ( 24^th. ). Got your tickets yet?  Ticket sales are coming along nicely and the program is being printed. All of the participants are keen and I’m sure will deliver a first class show.

There are still a lot of people travelling south. No wonder. It’s still winter. I hope spring wasn’t this past Tuesday. I have been talking with lots of people who’ve already made the trek somewhere warm. There are some common themes. At some of the resorts in the Carribean, some forms of nudity are acceptable. From all indicators, the people who are naked or partially naked should be fully clothed. And how about the dudes ( usually men well past their prime ) who think it’s still sexy to parade around the pool deck or the beach,  in their leopard skin Speedos. God. No wonder they let you drink as much as you want any time of the day or night.

This is a big week for Catholics and if you are unlucky enough to sing in the choir, you get to go to every church service. All joking aside, the church music at Easter is magnificent. Over the centuries, many of the great composers performed their works in the great cathedrals of Europe.

So, let’s see. I’ve covered the Boston Marathon, nudity at all inclusive resorts and Easter liturgical music. Sounds like randomness personified.

Have a great Easter weekend. I will be publishing a new story on Saturday.

Week45 never rests.