Checkered Lounge Pants

Driving down the road to Kingsville the other day, my beloved Val seemed quite unsettled about the fact that we were, soon, passing by her 40th birthday and zooming in on Xmas and there was no snow to be seen anywhere in our neighbourhood. Now, that really is not all that unusual in our neck of the woods, but she seemed right agitated. Never really gave it much tought, but, while in Montreal this week, I snapped a pic from my hotel window towards Westmount, and, "loe and behold" it is December 17 and ne'er a flake to be seen. Have a peek, see? It occurred to me , as well, I called my folks in Winnipeg a few days ago, and they reported the weatherman was forecasting rain. RAIN.........RAIN. Be still my heart, well Santa really has arrived, when folks in Winnipeg are not freezing their butts off in December. Or has he??? Can you beleive that? Now I dont recall the last time I did not have a white Xmas, but I do want one. It just dont seem Kosher to have Xmas without snow

Hey all, what a weekend. WOW. had some chores to complete in Toronto regarding work and getting these signs up in 18 cities, but once the job was done, it was time for some play. Tons of tinis and good dining was the order of the day. Danny Michaluk from Winnipeg, spared a few hours to give us (my beloved Val accompanied me for the weekend) a tour of Chinatown down on Spadina and, then, walked with us down to Kensington Street and we frequented a few bars that were not much bigger than a post stamp and the beer was not much more expensive, either, and shops that I can only describe as , ecclectic. We scored some good deals and even managed to squeeze in some last minute gifts for Xmas. Great deals, man-o-man, I mean GRRRRRRRREAT deals as some tiger once said. Anyhow, the weekend ended much to quickly, and it was time for everyone to catch their trains and planes and head for home. Ahhhhhh wee laddie, the good times end much too quickly.

Heyyyy Mannnn, only 24 days until Xmas, eh? I can actually say I started my Xmas shopping this year. I normally spend the day before doing the necessities gifts and Boxing Day getting the "out-of-towners" gifts. What made me think of that??? Oh Yeah, the sea of red (as in Santa's suit) in Montreal. I am finishing the week up at the bargaining table for one of the National railwyays, amongst, the heady aura of the Liberal convention to select a new leader. Red scarves, red buttons, red posters, red shirts, red red red red. Its been a real attraction for the Union colleagues to expound on their individual theories on the eventual outcome for the leader of the BIG RED MACHINE (not to mention all the shots about the new "Nation" the Tory party "established"). For the most part, its been more of an amusement of celebrity watching for me. One of my colleagues was determined to take Ken Dryden's autograph back home to her family. I took a great deal of s