I'LL BE ALRIGHT, IT JUST TAKES TIME

With a number of stops in Goderich this morning I decided to leave Pheebs at home.  I didn't like the thought of her having to wait and wait in the cold car.  I had a 10:30 appointment at the TD Bank and that took a little longer than expected.  Things went well and although we didn't have any assets there we didn't owe any money either.  I was surprised to find out that I still have a handsome line of credit at that bank.  I'm not sure if I ever did use it and it's been valid since around 2004 I think.  From the bank, I headed a few streets over to what is now called 'Service Ontario'.  The Subaru ownership is in both mine and Kelly's name and I have to get that changed to my name only before our Auto Insurance company can make the necessary changes to our policy.  But, upon entering Service Ontario I saw a line of people waiting and more seated.  I have no patience for line-ups and quickly exited the building.  There's no hurry to get this ownership changed so I'll try again next week, and maybe the next week, and maybe the next week.  Following my aborted trip to Service Ontario, it was up to the Goderich Hospital I went to pay the ambulance bills but the administration office was closed due to the holidays.  I'll do that next week but it was when I entered the hospital that an unexpected wave of sadness came over me.  It was the medical smell of the hospital itself that triggered the memory of Kelly's last days there nearly a month ago before being moved to Hospice.  On the way to the administration office, I looked down the hallway to where ICU is located.  Kelly had been there and then moved to a room across the hall.  I felt tears in my eyes....... I steeled myself for my next stop and headed off to Walmart to pick up a few things.  Imagine my surprise when I found Walmart not to be packed with Walmartians scurrying around all over the place.  Got my stuff and got out of there.  Grabbed a decaf coffee to go at Tim Hortons and then an A&W double buddy burger.  Best burger for the buck.  Subie was an absolute mess so from A&W I headed for the carwash and gave her a good wash job.  How nice to have a clean-looking car again.  I was back home shortly after noon still feeling a little down about the hospital experience earlier.  It stuck with me for the rest of the afternoon and I couldn't seem to shake it.  I'll be alright, it just takes time.  I sure wish the Sun would come out.........

Al's Music Box:)) Let Em In is a song by Wings from their 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney and reached the top 3 in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. It was a No. 2 hit in the UK; in the U.S. it was a No. 3 pop hit and No. 1 easy listening hit.  In Canada, the song was No. 3 for three weeks on the pop chart and No. 1 for three weeks on the MOR chart of RPM magazine. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.  It can also be found on McCartney's 1987 compilation album, All the Best!  A demo of the song, featuring Denny Laine on lead vocal, was included as a bonus track on the Archive Collection Reissue of Wings at the Speed of Sound.  The song starts with the sound of a V. & E. Friedland Maestro Westminster Chime doorbell, an electro-mechanical doorbell with a unique "vibrato resonating" feature before the rhythm begins. The lyric namechecks several famous people, between friends and relatives of McCartney who, without a justified reason, knock on the door or ring the bell of his house and he exclaims "Let 'Em In". They include McCartney's paternal aunt Gin, his brother Michael, and Linda McCartney's brother John. Phil and Don of the Everly Brothers are named (the duo had a hit with "Keep A Knockin'"), along with Martin Luther, who famously hung his "95 Theses" on a church door. An Uncle Ernie is also named, being the character Ringo Starr sang in the London Symphony Orchestra's recording of the Who's rock operal Tommy.  "Let 'Em In" is also notable for the false fade out, which, however, becomes loud for the last two notes of the song. The song makes use of the piano, drums, and brass, including a trombone solo, and wind instruments, featuring flutes, as well as backup vocals from Linda and other members of Wings. Cash Box said that it was a "better, more substantial tune [than 'Silly Love Songs' and that "McCartney's voice is at its best, and the rhythm of this one is dangerously addictive." Record World said that "with a loping beat and a brisk military drum sound, this should be another chapter in McCartney's success story."

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A man was watching TV and enjoying a beer. "Don't go," he yelled at the screen. "Do not enter that building. Walk away. Argh, you stupid man!"  His wife called from the kitchen, "What on earth are you watching?"  "Our wedding video."

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I opened my birthday card and loads of rice fell out.  I knew right away who sent it... It was my Uncle Ben.

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WIFE: "There's trouble with the car. It has water in the carburetor."

HUSBAND: "Water in the carburetor? That's ridiculous."

WIFE: "I tell you the car has water in the carburetor."

HUSBAND: "You don't even know what a carburetor is. I'll check it out. Where's the car?"
WIFE: "In the pool."

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Some Yoga Knowledge::

1. Why do vegetable lovers love practicing yoga regularly?  They always want to find their inner peas.

2. How did my instructor know I was serious about yoga?  I told her I would be as flexible as possible.
3. I didn't believe yoga would fix my posture…But I stand corrected.
4. What did the instructor say when her yoga student couldn't touch her toes?
She said, "Yoga-to try harder tomorrow".
5. Why did the bagel struggle in yoga class?
It couldn't find its center.
6. I've been practicing yoga for decades.
Yep, it's been a pretty long stretch.
7. What do you call a bagel that has mastered yoga?  A pretzel.
8. What is the most romantic yoga pose?
Pro-pose.
9. Why does everyone love yoga teachers?
They bend over backward for you.
10. What do you say at the end of a squirrel yoga class?  Nutmaste.
11. What do a cow walking backward and a yogi have in common?  They both say oooooom.
12. How does the yogi order a pizza?
Make me one with everything!
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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner

AT AN RV PARK WEST OF ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO

AT SALVATION MOUNTAIN EAST OF NYLAND CALIFORNIA

Al's Art Gallery

LIKE I SAID TO PHEEBS, I THINK MOM'S PLAYING TRICKS ON US GUYS AGAIN"

Due to medical appointments and circumstances in both our lives, my good buddy Richard and I had not made it out for one of our twice-monthly Thursday morning coffee runs for a month or more.  However, the stars finally aligned again and I picked Richard up this morning.  It didn't take us long to cruise through McDonalds in Goderich and grab a couple coffees and carrot muffins to go.  We had a lot of catching up to do because there had already been a lot of water under the bridge since the last time we were out. However, not missing a beat we picked up right where we left off last time with our in-depth conversation.   Our travels on this cloudy 34F winter's morn took us northeast of Goderich over around the Ben Miller area and northeast of Bayfield. 

 DRIVING CONDITIONS WERE GOOD THIS MORNING WITH BARE DRY ROADS AND UNLIMITED VISIBILITY

I was home again close to noon.  With slightly milder temps upon us, I grabbed my snow shovel and headed out into our backyard to open up some paths to both sheds and the burning barrel.  I sure needed the exercise and it took me close to an hour to get that heavy wet snow moved but at least now the pathways are finally shoveled in and it will be easier for me to keep them open unless we get another big overnight snow dump like we did in early December.

I WISHED WE WOULD HAVE A BIG THAW TO MELT ALL THIS SNOW SO I COULD GET A JUMP START ON THE SPRING CLEANUP BY GATHERING UP ALL THESE BROKEN BRANCHES FROM THE BIG SNOWSTORM THREE WEEKS AGO

I've been kind of ignoring the iPhone 15 here because I knew it was going to cause me frustration in trying to learn stuff with it.  No, it's not a negative attitude, it's a realistic attitude because I know how difficult it is for me to learn new stuff these days. But, despite that, this afternoon I sat down with the phone and a couple YouTube tutorials by Rich Bowlin.  I spent probably 40 minutes trying to understand something, anything.  But, no luck.  I was just as much in the dark at the end of that 40 minutes as I was at the beginning.  I might just as well have spent that time with a hammer, a few nails, and a couple pieces of wood trying to build a rocket ship to fly me to the Moon.  I had an idea I would end up frustrated with all this new smartphone technology, and I did.  I just don't seem to have enough brain cells left in the technology department to understand even the simplest basics of getting started.  The nice lady at the Bayfield Library last week made things look so easy but by the time I got home, I was mired in a techno fog.  I think I'm flogging a dead horse here with this iPhone idea.

Another sign from Kelly.  We have a slightly elevated doggy stand that holds two metal dishes.  One for food and one for water.  I prefer a porcelain bowl for water so that sits beside the stand.  I use one metal dish for Pheebs food and the other dish sits empty.  At the kitchen counter yesterday I glanced back over to Pheebs dish stand between the kitchen and living room to see if she had eaten all her breakfast.  She had.  But I noticed immediately there was only one metal dish in the stand where moments before there had been two as per usual.  What!!  Where was the other dish??  Had I taken it to the sink to wash?  No!!  Had I set it on the kitchen counter or table?  No!!  Looking all around I could not locate the missing dish anywhere.  I was convinced Kelly had something to do with this:))  Later in the afternoon, I went over to pick up the remaining dish to put Pheebs supper in and guess what.  The missing bowl was sitting inside the other bowl and that is why I didn't see it and couldn't find it.  I was convinced more than ever that it was a sign from Kelly because I would not have, and did not set that metal bowl inside the other bowl.  I had absolutely no reason to do that.  Zero, Zilch, no reason!!  Like I said to Pheebs, "I think Mom's playing tricks on us guys again":))

 THIS IS PHEEBS DISH STAND

TWO METAL BOWLS 'ALWAYS' SIT SIDE BY SIDE

 AND, THIS IS WHAT I SAW.....THE MISSING BOWL IS SITTING INSIDE THE BOWL ON THE LEFT AND 'I DID NOT PUT IT THERE' AND I'M QUITE SURE PHEEBS DIDN'T EITHER

Al's Music Box:)) Early Morning Rain by Peter, Paul, and Mary sometimes styled as "Early Mornin' Rain," is a song written, composed, and recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. The song appears on his 1966 debut album Lightfoot! and, in a re-recorded version, on the 1975 compilation Gord's Gold.  Lightfoot wrote and composed the song in 1964, but its genesis took root during his 1960 sojourn in Westlake, Los Angeles. Throughout this time, Lightfoot sometimes became homesick and would go out to the Los Angeles International Airport on rainy days to watch the approaching aircraft. The imagery of the flights taking off into the overcast sky was still with him when, in 1964, he was caring for his 5-month-old baby son and he thought, "I’ll put him over here in his crib, and I’ll write myself a tune."  "Early Morning Rain" was the result.  

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Tony had just finished reading a new book entitled, 'You Can Be The Man of Your House.' He stormed out to his wife in the kitchen and announced, 'From now on, you need to know that I am the man of this house and my word is Law. You will prepare me a gourmet meal tonight, and when I'm finished eating my meal, you will serve me a sumptuous dessert.  After dinner, you are going to go upstairs with me and do as I say. Afterwards, you are going to draw me a bath so I can relax. You will wash my back and towel me dry and bring me my robe.  Then, you will massage my feet and hands. Then tomorrow, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?'  His Sicilian wife Gina replied, "The funeral director would be my first guess."

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"I hope you didn't take it personally, Reverend," an embarrassed woman said after a church service, "when my husband walked out during your sermon.""I did find it rather disconcerting," the preacher   replied.  "It's not a reflection on you," insisted the church goer. "Ralph has been been walking in his sleep since childhood."

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Knock Knock
Who's there?
Vivaldi!
Vivaldi who?
Vivaldi books, there's nothing to read!

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Vlad!
Vlad who?
Vlad to meet you!

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Voodoo!
Voodoo who?
Voodoo you think you are!

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Waddle!
Waddle who?
Waddle you give me if I go away!

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Wade!
Wade who?
Wade till next time!

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My girlfriend asked me for something that goes 0 to 200 in 2 seconds for her birthday.
Apparently, she wasn’t asking for a bathroom scale.

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kellys Corner

 OUTSIDE OF LONDON'S VICTORIA HOSPITAL A COUPLE SUMMERS AGO

KELLY AND CORA SLIDING DOWN A SAND HILL OFF OGILBY ROAD WEST OF YUMA ARIZONA

I THINK THAT IS IVAN'S CAT HAILY CORA AND KELLY ARE TALKING TO NEAR BOUSE ARIZONA

Al's Art Gallery