Solstice Sentiments

It’s Saturday Morning and I’m listening to Pipedreams from NPR while I leisurely browse the Web and catch up on E-mail.  If you’re reading this I’d appreciate a note to let me know that I’m not just blathering to the ether. 

 

Here in Oakville, Ontario by the lake the Waterfront Festival is going strong without me—at least they have ideal sunny temperate weather for event.  I like to avoid crowd scenes and the thought of unreserved seating for a popular rock star frightens me. 

 

Work

 

Countdown to retirement 13 months and not a day too soon.  Can’t say as I enjoy a 4:00 AM to Noon shift.  I end up getting my major rest as an afternoon nap so that I can enjoy my evenings despite an alarm that goes off at 2:30 AM.  This week when I arose at 5 PM on Thursday I’d lost track of which day it was.  I often awaken thinking I’m late for work until it dawns on me that it couldn’t be light at 4:00 AM.  Since I last made a serious attempt at catching up here the lighting in the oldest section of our office was revamped—it’s now so bright in there as to be blinding.  After two and a half weeks I threw out the mess of fluorescent tubes the workmen left behind believing they had no intention of picking them up; having them around was a hazard as they were getting broken by careless individuals.  Friday the poor snook who finally showed up got a bit of a blast from me when he came to pick them up.  The interior of our workspace is being repainted yet again.  Why I’m not sure as I’ve been busy putting up all the posters, bulletin boards, and notices that littered it in the first place.  Canada Post has joined the ranks of employers monitoring employee use of the internet—no more hockey fights.com.  With summer upon us new homes are going up like crazy and Monday we initiate 10 new Community Mailboxes or close to 400 new homes.  All our routes are full and we are working on number 57 and 58.  I can’t imagine what’s going to happen when they start building north of Dundas to 407. 

 

On the thirteenth of June I got up to Milton to pick strawberries.  There’s no way of getting there without passing through road construction and a trip along Derry Rd proves why Milton is one of the fastest growing communities in Canada.  Springridge Farm is no longer out in the country—fortunately the prevailing westerly wind keeps the construction dust off their berries.  John Hughes retired a few years ago as professor at Guelph University’s school of agriculture and is even now in the process of passing the torch at the farm to his son and heir Tom.  Farmer John’s pride is obvious.  The proud grandparents are also busy sharing pictures of the third generation. 

 

I’m still busy occupying my free time with DVD’s.  Many reviewed on my sister blog.  Splurged to pick up discounted sets of the entire Buffy the Vampire Slayer Series.  Should keep me out of mischief for the summer.  Spent $188.00 to have my 25-year gold watch ‘revised’ by Birks.  Hopefully it gives me 10 more years of trouble-free service—the batteries are free.  I’m still struggling to keep up with the podcasts I download to iTunes. 

 

The blurb below on the Safety Village below was occasioned by a visit there for a Meet and Greet with the new Superintendent of Police for Oakville.  Must confess I still have trouble keeping track of the various ranks and even more with the revolving door of officers who fill them.  Also picked up a plaque marking over 5 years service to a community policing committee. 

 

Watching Endless Summer made me wish I was twenty again and healthy and wealthy enough to go surfing.  Mind you the thought of surfing 30 foot waves in two feet of water over razor coral is just a bit intimidating. 

 

The rant below is prompted by the forced update I will be making to my Lavasoft Ad-Aware Software.  Mind you I bought the SE version 5 years ago before they came up with the idea of subscription fees and have had a “free ride” ever since but they’re terminating the updates at the end of this year so I decided to update while the offers were good.  How much trouble removing the old version and installing the new will occasion may be the subject of a future rant.   My computer has been trouble-free of late and I’d like to keep it that way.