Winter walks with Bennie

Bennie continues to grow up and surprise us with new...things. I think I'm helping him build some bad habits - rats.

Black Friday - Roku for me; gifts for others

Like everyone (?) shopping Black Friday I take advantage of sales to get some stuff I've been waiting for. I was fiddling with my desk set up and thought it would be nice to have a Chromecast so I could watch Netflix without having to connect the Surface or Note10 to the monitor. Scouting around online I decided it was finally time to get a streaming stick or something to my monitor a streaming screen. Black Friday sales were the perfect opportunity.

Minimizing our energy footprint for winter

It's easy to have a low energy footprint in summer. Electricity is more than covered, there's no need for heat and walking is a pleasure. And I have SUVskam. The Macan has pretty good gas mileage for an SUV but it's still an SUV...arrgggg.

Galaxy Active2 Review with Accessories

While I got the 42 mm Galaxy Watch when it came out, I found it a bit heavy and the rose gold finish to be little restricting when changing out bands. When the Active2 came out and it had a speaker I decided to give the 40mm option a try. It's lighter and smaller which is a bonus for smaller wrists like mine. While it has a smaller battery, it recharges quickly. I usually top up the charge while eating breakfast.

Galaxy Note 10 accessory review

Winning combo

I dropped my S8 a few weeks ago and replaced it with a Note 10. That means the hunt was on for a case. I also wanted to have a cardholder and took the opportunity to try a PopSocket. The winner in this whole thing was Amazon followed by Best Buy.

Alberta has a long way to go to qualify for equalization payments

AB vs 2 have not provinces

Hot topic around our house is Alberta demanding some of that sweet sweet equalization money and threatening to separate if they don't get it. Big talking points are "we pay for Quebec's cheap daycare" and "Newfoundland should have voted CPC - don't hire anyone from NL" We're pretty fact oriented so I did some research and crunched some numbers.

Bennie may be leaving puppyhood. Maybe.

New happy place

I have a bunch of Bennie photos and I haven't updated for a couple months and Bennie has changed quite a bit OR we've settled into a routine we can live with. I have to admit, I wondered if it would ever happen.

Retirement project - with magnets!

I have a phone wallet I love that uses magnets to stabilize a case with the wallet. It has annoyed me no end that my magnetic Spigen ring won't stick and it seemed like more than a positioning issue. I suspected fun with magnetic polarity but didn't have time to figure out a work around. Now I do!

Post Election thoughts

Thankfully the election is over and I can stop seeing smarmy political faces interrupting Property Brothers. Now it's time to get to work. There were good ideas floated by all the parties. Can the parties work together or are they too concerned about their base?

Shiny new things - planned and unplanned

I was doing pretty good budgeting my allowance so I replaced my Galaxy Watch with a Galaxy Watch Active 2. Then I dropped my phone on a rough cement driveway.I wasn't even worried initially because I knew it hit the case edge. It must have hit a stone as it landed the second time. Budget blown

Eating, weight and health

Food - everyone eats it but...choices! The red meat paper highlighted just how difficult it is to get good nutrition research (as well as now the bias that goes with research funding disclosure). A really good overview of the red meat deal is provided by Science Based Medicine.

Time for a new tree

When we first moved into our house we planted a tree in the front yard. We had wanted a clump birch but a weeping birch was planted by mistake. Weeping birches are not as hardy and ours started shedding big time in the last couple years. We got an arborist to do an assessment - we could take the tree down now or wait 5 years. We decided on now since we were replacing the tree.

Today was the big day!

Time for more reviews

I really don't feel like we spend that much money on "stuff" but we do😟 Here are three more new things I've been been using.

Random retirement stuff

Today was gorgeous. Warm and sunny with a light breeze to speed the drying out of fields that farmers desperately need. Crops are a good couple weeks behind (heck even our apples are) so things could get dicey in Ag.

In spite of  being well funded for retirement we do talk about whether we're paying for something we're not using. Today it was cable TV. I know a lot of people have cut the cable but I still watch TV. The bundles are really annoying but the cheapest way to go. We almost upgraded our hardware but the channels proposed were not the channels we wanted so...no. We also have CraveTV, Netflix and Prime🙄 Since we can't agree to do without them they're staying but I will be taking over Prime so I can get the books part. I canceled my Spotify; I like the service but I'm ok with ads and shuffle. Madison is keeping me on SiriusXM.

Next we spent quite a long time chasing a 100W power leak. Our baseline consumption is quite high. We thought it was the fridge but finally did the breaker thing to try to pinpoint it. Surprise - it was in the garage. Apparently the battery charger for the electric yard stuff keeps cycling. We agreed it can be unplugged most of the time especially since we're at the end of the season. We can always plug in to charge in the morning yard work is planned. Did really well with solar in spite of missing 2 panels. One has a defect and the other needs a cable extension. We switched away from our 18.75¢/kWh plan to the 6.5¢/kWh plan for the winter. With the shorter days there is no use getting premium price on solar exported to grid. We're on track to produce the 5200 kWh the system was sized to produce even with the cloudy summer. 

Took Bennie on a lovely walk. He met a bulldog named Daisy. First he barked ferociously but I asked if she was friendly and closely monitored the interaction - she was very docile. I offered her a treat then gave Bennie a treat from the same slobbered on hand. Then he quietly sat a little ways away from her and looked at me. Lots of treats for being a good pup. He also encountered some reclining bikes, scooters, strollers dog walkers and a guy teaching a young girl to fish. Rods are scary so I headed over so he could see them too. He also did some deep wading. Bennie's socializing is coming along. Yesterday was Fall Fest. I had planned to take Bennie last year as part of his socialization but it was canceled due to cold and snow. Better late than never I hope.

New Retirement Gig

I always wanted to contribute by volunteering after retirement but I feel the nature of work has changed and, more than ever, I want to make sure I'm not filling a position that should be paid. So I signed up with BookSirens to review indy authors and small publishers and complete free reviews that can be pushed to Goodreads and  Amazon. It's possible I would post here and link to Twitter.

I did this because I love to read. One of my earliest memories is going to the Vancouver Library brand at McDonald St and I've made sure to have a library card in every community I've lived in since then. Reading is an escape and every story has expanded my horizons.

According to BookSirens I am a lenient reviewer and there's a couple reasons for that. I read stories when I'm in the mood for that theme. That means a story has to suck me in from the first page. I may give a chapter or so but I have no problem abandoning a book if it's not for me. The other is I do try to be kind. Someone has crafted a story. As long has it's coherent and engaging enough to finish, I'll give it a 3. Many times I'm blown away by the skill of the writer and their team (editor, etc). At the moment, I'm still digesting To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers. To present 4 distinct worlds in a novella and make a space crew four disparate yet consistent characters. Wow.

Anyway, I'm off to read😁

End of summer this and that

September 1 and Labour Day weekend must mean the end of summer. We can finally stop waiting for the hot spell that never really came and appreciate cooler sunny days. I've been baking crisps from our earlier ripening apple tree and Fred's been busy making pepper sauce from the greenhouse harvest. I got a bit of a break from contracting so I have to pick up those threads again.

A tale of three slippers...and barking

We went on a short road trip with Bennie and visited both sets of parents. We've been working with him on guarding and he's been working on getting shoes and socks and parading them in front of us for a response.

Politics and me

Talking with my dad when we arrived for a visit and he's decided to stop watching news other than, I assume, local evening news. He says he's been much more relaxed since then. When visiting with the in-laws the first thing I asked was if I could turn down the radio. MIL has switched from CBC to Calgary talk radio. Any conversation ends up at odds because there is no agreement on facts to even start from.

Paper Towels - Sustainability is hard!

Today we had a discussion about paper towels. We had gone to Home Depot and I thought I would get paper towels while there. I didn't end up buying as I could get them cheaper elsewhere but this was the first time Fred had seen how much they can cost and he was floored. No more paper towel. It's costing us $100s per year.

Quick reviews

The hardest part of being retired is I am still a huge consumer. I'm trying to focus more on small items to help stay in budget. If I do spend big - I expect high quality and reliability. Here are my most recent 3 purchased items.

Bennie's Bootcamp

So innocent looking

After the last time Bennie bit me I looked back and realized he bites us a lot and it's moving beyond a puppy thing so we got a behaviourist recommendation. One behaviour to address is him barking when he hears other dogs and becoming uncontrollable when they actually get close enough for him to notice them. People walking differently, either because of disability or accessories (like strollers) can also prompt barking. The larger problem is Bennie has a strong sense of ownership - the source of bites. Our neighbours love to visit with him through the fence. They are unlikely to trigger an episode but ...

One year of retirement down! Hopefully many to go.

When we say we're retired people ask if we miss work or we're traveling a lot. No and no. Actually, I kind of wonder how people have time to work with all the things there  are to do! To be fair, my job, in later years, consisted of collating and reporting data and immediate responses to questions so I'm used to finding productive (or not) things to do.  Spouse's was more project oriented so he's used to sorting his time out. Like many people our age who are retired we have side gigs - they just aren't required for financial support like they may be for younger people.

Bennie's first Kayak

It seems like project and kayak weather didn't come together until now. Last year he was really too little; this year I've been working with him on swimming (he's great at wading). The weather was forecasted to be nice so we tested Bennie's tolerance to life jackets. We each have a different colour so it's easy to know if they're all there*. Today the weather was nice so off we went to a nearby lake. Bennie wasn't in a kennel for the short trip. He sat on the backseat and took awhile to relax but he doesn't seem to mind motion. If Duffy wasn't in a kennel he curled up as far under the driver seat as possible.This was looking good for kayaking.

New Amazon Prime Service in Canada - Prime Reading

Yes, this pic is skewed

The main reason I have an Amazon account is for the e-books. I've been a digital consumer for almost 2 decades starting with my first Sony Clie. Spouse has a Prime account for free shipping so we've been using Prime Video and Prime Music by logging in through their account. Most purchases are done through their account but the other day I wanted some dog stuff so I pulled the trigger on the free Prime trial...just in time for the Prime Reading launch.

Millennials

https://xkcd.com/2165/

I've wondered for awhile just who is included in the "Millennial" cohort. I know I'm supposed to be late Boomer and I match my horoscope better than the boomer stereotype. Activities Millennials are getting maligned for seem like a reflection of 70s flower child ideals. Turns out Millennials are the people entering the work force for pretty well the last 20 years that I've been doing safety training and would include MY kids. I was a teen in the 70s and managed to dodge the financial downturns of the 80s through luck more than good management.

How would I hope my kids turn out? Through those "participating trophies" we fostered they would learn that showing up counts and acceptance that everyone has valuable skills that should be encouraged and recognized. Having seen parents struggle with employment (we were the first wave of random downsizing and job loss through efficiencies) they would learn not to put off enjoying life. Speaking of works - I expect them to be cynical about loyalty to an employer (see random layoffs) so find the rules and follow them; that goes hand in hand with follow the money because, again, random layoffs in the name of profitability. Kindness, environmental awareness and people willing to take advantage of those qualities to make money off them.

What did I observe over the years of working in a manufacturing plant of mostly millennial men working shift work? Everyone want's defined roles at work and OTJ training. Most of the guys got along well enough with their parents to work with them and in turn became quite involved fathers. If you pay them, they will work. Aside from gossip, they got along pretty well. The main difference over the years is a willingness to follow rules as long as they are enforced. That rules thing can be exhausting for management because they want to pretend there is a rule based meritocracy but they can't really answer questions when they don't walk the walk. And wanting risks assessed because they have a life outside work.

All in all I'm not concerned about Millennials shaping the world.

Real life conversations

In the past few weeks we've had 2 garage sales (3 days), visited both sets of parents and saw all siblings. It was a lot of fun and now we're back to routine stuff.

Garage sales are interesting, for ours there was a lot of just chatting. One person came to ask us about our solar panels. We talked a little politics because the new provincial government discontinued the solar rebate when they discontinued the carbon levy and rolled the residual funds into general revenue. We agree that we didn't mind the carbon levy because the administration was so transparent; not sure about the Federal one. Some of the people who live in the multi-home unit behind us came to see what we were culling and a couple from our cul-de-sac came to see what we had for sale and check out the new greenhouse. There were people we didn't know as well - one bought our boat. Yay!

We were concerned about our visit to Medicine Hat because there was a "no dogs in the house" rule for a few years so we really pulled back on visits due to the expense of hotel stays. This time Bennie was allowed in the house and he was very good. As the new member, he was often the topic of conversation and there was a lot of travel news. I did trip into a weird taxes conversation. We were buying milk at the store and I noticed on the bill there was a deposit. When I commented I hadn't known they were returnable, I was told that is really was more like a tax. I changed the topic.

Then it was off to the coast to visit with my family. It's full of political conversation because my dad listens to the TV super loud and comments. I was surprised to find out my RCC attending Dad seems pro-choice and my brother got stopped by the cops when he was a kid and told he must live in Surrey because he looks East Indian!?! Dad's wife was chatting about first meetings. My brother's wife and her friends first thought he might be Thai. I was asked what people where I live think I am. I replied - someone who tans really well😁. (When I was a teen people thought I was Mediterranean)

Garage sale redux was a 2 day affair. Again, visitors! A fellow I worked with ages ago dropped by; he's moving to BC (Kootenays) I am a little jealous. Someone else was interested in solar. They were surprised to hear our system was only $15K (pre-rebate) and had a 7 to 10 year ROI after which free electricity! We talked climate change a little and they felt there were many routes to our destruction and clean energy is attainable so...

It was fun to socialize so much and we even sold some stuff. Nothing came back in the house and we donated some stuff that didn't sell and stored the rest in the garage. Bennie was calm in the house as people came and went.

Bennie is just over 1 year old!

Bennie's personality is totally different than other dogs we've had and it's really blossomed as he gets older. I'm struggling between enjoying the bouncy dogo that lets me brush his teeth and dealing with the thief that gets aggressive so we're going to some personal training.

The main problem is he growls if he get's an object too long (aka becomes his). We recognized with awhile ago and I started interrupting his eating more and hand feeding. He sleeps in a kennel and we make him sit or do something for rewards but I've been really bad at daily training. Still he was showing improvement until we got to my Dad's. They aren't used to keeping doors closed and Bennie is having a field day grabbing slippers and socks. But the other day I was taking a paper towel from him and he turned and snapped at me. That was it, he was in his kennel for a time out.

Since I'm getting help, I want to stop with the barking at other dogs. Milo and Duffy used to do that; Milo stopped once we were walking just us but I think it was because he couldn't really see the other dogs. Bennie starts carrying on from quite a ways away and I can't tell if he's under or over confident when approaching new things.

This timing will work perfectly for us. We'll be home all summer and Bennie's eager to learn. Traditionally I've taken the pup to obedience training. With Bennie we went to a puppy class before Christmas but I missed the structured spring classes. Now we'll both be getting instruction at the same time.

Climate realists - the question is what can be accomplished at a personal level

I tripped into a climate conversation when visiting family. I mentioned that oil company scientists used models that predicted 400+ ppm of CO2 in the air. I thought the accuracy of modelling was interesting. Back in the '80s greenhouse effects were pretty well known but it seems like people equate the '80s with the 1880s (where the greenhouse effect was also known).

A story of a greenhouse build

Since we're not moving to the west coast, a greenhouse is the next best thing for extending the growing season. While we checked at Wayfair in the end we got a greenhouse from B.C. Greenhouse because they had 5 layer poly glazing. They supply very complete directions. We also called to find our underground utility locations and were surprised it was so close to the planned greenhouse location.

Solar Power Redux

In Alberta, our electric utility bill is broken out in to Administrative Fees* and Energy costs. Our Admin fees are further broken down to distribution elements but it's still annoying how little our cost /kWh really matters. With solar, since we get a credit for producing electricity on to the grid, I was much more interested in being able to predict our bill to determine how much we actually save with solar panels. Predicting is how we'll figure out our ROI as we need to know how much we didn't pull of the grid as well as how much we get from putting on the grid.

More Shiny Things - Galaxy Buds first look

I've been searching for a pair of BT in ear buds for quite awhile. I've had the ones with the cable and tried a couple of the 2 individual styles including the original IconX and some Airpod dupes by fun 7. The Galaxy Buds sounded perfect for my needs - just reasonably good sounding playback - no health monitoring or storage needed.

I drove a Cayenne for 5 days then got my Macan back...

2019 Porsche Cayenne

I recently had my Macan in for service that spanned over a weekend so I got 5 days with a 2019 Cayenne. Did lots of highway driving as well as driving around town so I got a very complete impression.

I liked having a black vehicle; I wouldn't have thought of purchasing that colour before. I also like how the tan interior has changed. The dash and leather above the black accent pieces are black and it looks very sharp. The stereo sounded great and the dash screen is huge and glossy. It seemed to have some proximity sensors as I didn't have to actually touch the screen to trigger it. Nav maps are bigger but not more informative. The myriad of buttons the Macan has on the console has changed to a labelled touch panel. The Pano roof controls have also changed and seem more intuitive to me. It has 5 gauges, instead of the 3 in the Macan, yet the warning messages were smaller and overall it was hard to see all the screens the way the steering wheel was adjusted. The active cruise control didn't have the difference in speed (you and the vehicle in front) that the Macan has and overall wasn't as informative.

But what about driving? This version (I didn't see the specs) has great pickup, cruises at speed (too) effortlessly and stops on a dime. I found it easy to find a comfortable seat adjustment for me (5'4" / 165cm) - not the case with the last Panamera I drove. Handles well but felt like a big vehicle to me. Mileage was ok, you don't notice because it has a huge gas tank.

We were thinking of getting the Cayenne e-sport hybrid because we can put it in electric for around town but have the security of hybrid for longer trips. Having this Cayenne for an extended period certainly didn't discourage the purchase b-u-t Porsche has announced the Macan will be the 3rd EV they produce. I love my Macan and am not itching to change - even after driving a new shiny. There is more road feel, it feels small and nimble for driving. I like how my (18 way) seat hugs me and how isolated the driver feels from casual contact. It is the right size for our family of 2 human and a dog with space for 2 kayaks and luggage. I even like all the clicky buttons. And did I mention the exhaust sound.

Reproductive Health - Helping people have healthy families

The more people talk about abortion the wilder the accusations get. The latest is that all conceptions end in a live birth that is then judged by a woman and doctor as to whether it's a keeper. A ridiculous accusation considering the resources that go into promoting a healthy pregnancy for both the mother and fetus as well as efforts of neonatal units to ensure the best start for infants. Every pregnancy ends; not all in a live birth even if it goes to full term.

It's a shame there's such magical thinking around pregnancy because there's some really fascinating stuff going on. We understand conception well enough to harvest oocytes, fertilize them and place embryos in the uterus with a success rate of ~40%. When I went through IVF the success rate was ~15%. Ultrasound monitoring can catch a lot of developmental problems that can help prepare parents for children that need extra attention or even perform fetal surgery! 

Here's how we learned a lot about embryo development - parallel systems

The transition of fetus to infant is even more astounding (turns out there is quite a difference). A fetus lives in a sterile, fluid and is dependent on a woman circulatory system for all nutrients. An infant breathes air and turns on (for lack of better wording) their digestive and immune system. Sometimes development is incomplete and the infant can be helped in a neonatal unit and sometime the infant doesn't survive.

About that artificial uteri I've been waiting for. If it ever gets developed there would still be pregnancy failure but men who are so concerned for their offspring could have the embryo transplanted, bring them to term and raise them as single parents. In the mean time, insisting that women have to "take responsibility" for conceptions while ignoring the role of the man providing the sperm is an indicator of a group that considers women as subhuman entities only good for topping up the gene pool. For every 6 week heartbeat bill there should be a 6 week+1 day paternity test to split the cost of maternal health care and loss of earnings, child support and any disability incurred from pregnancy.

Canada doesn't have an abortion law because there is no reasonable argument for holding women hostage by the state if women have equal human rights. From the judgement

...the primary protection cited was women's right to “security of the person.” One of the judges also found that the abortion law violated women's rights to “freedom of conscience” and “liberty."... 

Even so there termination rates are comparable to any developed country. Turns out sex education, family planning, pregnancy leave and child care support do a good job of reducing abortion rates without resorting to restrictive laws. 

Carbon Levy - A Personal Impact Story

A lot has been said about climate change and getting individuals to buy into reducing their lifestyle to lower personal impact. Drive less, lower heat, recycle. It's gotten us plastic pollution everywhere and rising carbon dioxide levels. The reality is, effective change doesn't happen without government intervention.

New Tech setup and Surface Go update

Monitoring electrical use has made me very aware of what is turn on and how much energy it uses. things we have done to reduce energy range from free to minimal to expensive. Free included turning off a ceiling fan and an amp we had on all the time. Low cost included changing out incandescent lights for LED when the carbon levy subsidized them and installing motion detection switches for rooms where we tend to forget to turn off lights. Expensive includes using smart plugs and changing out my tech set up in the den.

Bennie's almost Eleven Months

Time for another Bennie update.  He's passed through adolescence mostly...I say as he has an area rug flipped up to play with.

High Quality Food Can Be Hard to Find

Food had been in the news lately as disease prevention.

Time to shorten winter

It's with mixed feelings that we go this year. Usually it's the end of a busy time at work for me. This year we have Bennie and an Alberta election.

First Impressions of the Microsoft Surface Go

We were in Edmonton so I took the opportunity to visit the Microsoft Store, check out the Go and finally purchased it. I knew there was a special offer that included Office 365 and a maintenance agreement but there is an offer that includes the type case at no cost and up to 50% off for accessories.

Milo has left this reality after 16 and a half years

Milo has been with us for so long he seemed invincible. Over the past year he's had a lot of old dog health events along with puppy arrival incidents. While I've been living with the dread of losing him - looking back on photos from the last year reaffirms I did the right thing by him through his aging. Up until the end he was able to enjoy life, going for walks, reminding us to share food and making sure we knew the weather conditions in the morning by taking him off the deck for bathroom breaks.

Midnight musings after the Al Noor shooting

So many things come to mind after the shooting but foremost is the leadership being shown by PM Ardern who truly seems to be a reflection of the New Zealand people.

Update on oldster Milo and puppo Bennie

Things just haven't been great for Milo lately. It's been cold so hanging outside has been minimized and walks rare. Milo was at the vet because he looked like he was in pain. He's now on urinary health food and I'm keeping him on Metacam because he's a lot less mobile when he's off it. He's been off in his own world quite often and unfortunately means he's now forgetting that inside soft surfaces are not grass. He's inherited Duffy's pee pants. Luckily he doesn't care😀

Bennie is starting to leave his adolescence. He's not as bitey as he was last month so my hand is healing and tissues are a little safer. I've been doing a lot of take it/leave it with his food at meal times along with patting him and hand feeding. He has active times - chewing the carpet is pretty appealing after breakfast - but I put that down to cabin fever. He's still out in the sun during the day but it's hard to be out playing with him for more than 5 minutes. We're learning stuff as well! Bennie reminds us daily that dogs have a very strong sense of fairness and status.

Now that Milo is feeling better he's playing with Bennie for short periods. Milo mostly barks at him and does some stiff legged chasing while Bennie will take a very long path so he burn off some energy before bumping Milo from behind. Most of the time they just hang out. Warmer weather is coming and more outside time will be appreciated by everyone.

Tax time ... again

This year I finally took the opportunity to download my tax documents from the CRA into a fresh return and, like Samsung Pay, why I didn't do this sooner. As someone who started doing taxes when you had to look numbers up on a chart (not even calculations!) I have to wonder why anyone with a computer wouldn't use tax software to file on line.

Solar Power - Doing our part for climate change

I read an article that says only 30% of Albertans accept the effects of climate change in spite of the flooding, local fires (Ft. Mac) and not so close fires delaying harvest. I am now afraid to use the phrase with neighbours!!

The Luxury of Time

I think (hope) we all understand that feeling we have enough time is a luxury that we don't understand until we have it.

Media space updated! Yay!

When we moved into our place in 2000 we knew we wanted an open basement, dedicated media space, room for a pool table and 2 guest rooms with a bathroom away from the media space. Well we got it but it wasn't quite what we wanted. Fast forward 18 years and we finally decided to do something about it.

Cosmetics and decluttering

I am a makeup fan; I always have been. I've been watching a lot of beauty videos for entertainment but they really are a big commercial. I've ended up buying a lot product that I may or may not use... rats. I had no problem meeting the limit for Sephora's VIB level which is just wrong when I don't use a lot of skin systems or appliances. How many eye shadow palettes can one purchase?

I'm going to stop buying stuff if I don't try it first. A first step was to actually take some time at Sephora and I got really lucky. The day I went the store wasn't that busy and my dad and brother weren't in a particular rush. I wanted to get a more pigmented lip gloss/oil product and to get my ColorIQ done. I was undecided between the Kaja Heart Melter Lip Gloss Stick, Sephora's Melting Lip Clicks and Bobbi Brown Crushed Liquid Lipstick in seemingly similar colours. Getting to swatch them all and have someone available was invaluable. The differences in colour were subtle but important as they all felt similar on the lip. I ended up with the Kaja product and it's perfect with the pinker (on my lips) undertone. And it doesn't make my lips peel. I did get my ColorIQ done so should I decide to go with concealer/foundation etc route I know where to start.

CBC reported that Canadian consumer spending will be lowered. I was also reading that thrift stores are getting a lot of goods because people are decluttering. I've been very stringent about clothing but  I'm being more critical of my beauty purchases. I can return stuff but I don't like to because I should have been more careful.

iOS apps vs Android - Why iOS still has more features

Jerry Hildebrand asked why the difference in Android vs iOS apps after all this time. It's not just a single operating system with one set of support; I think it's user expectations.

Originally the base seemed to value free apps over apps with more than minimal functionality. And I mean minimal functionality. There was the constant accusation of "bloat" whenever an OEM included innovative features. Never mind the features were useful and/or later incorporated; they weren't part of Google's version of Android.

Then there's updates. I'm in no rush for an operating system update. Samsung (who I've gone away from then returned) was doing major updates for supported devices after the newest Galaxy S device was available with the newest OS version. Yes it's quite awhile after Google releases but Samsung often has features to be tested and I've had an updated brick my device once in 10 years - between Eclair and Froyo.

Android users have always seemed more negative about their devices than Apple users and very vocal about it. Most Android users will never know what they're missing as they don't access an iPhone to check or they will switch to iPhone. Choice is good.

Sometimes music just takes you back

Blue Rodeo was the cool down song at spin today. Boy does that take me back. It was my theme song when we were leaving Calgary. It was not a happy time for me; I had a research position I really enjoyed, I liked our house, neighbourhood and circle of friends. Yet, our circle was dispersing as post docs moved for permanent positions.

The end of the song ... the same snow is fall into the deep dark wonder of the waves of my heart ... along with the theme of leaving a relationships prompted me really think about what I wanted and where I was going. Change was coming, was I going it alone at least for awhile? Could I live with myself if I didn't?

And here I am over 20 years later. Plugging along, enjoying life with a partner with same core values. I did the right thing:)

Retirement - boy we talk a lot

One thing I've found about retirement is we talk a lot about stuff. All kinds of stuff for as long as we want because we have a much looser schedule and can find out what the other person means. Many times DH comes into a topic a little later than me and he asks my thoughts as he reads about it. Topics range from MAGA hat vs Indigenous Leader (parenting fail), to the new Canada Food Guide (overall good idea), to carbon tax (should be called a user fee).

Today's topics were the dedicated sexual assault court in Quebec and city water fluoridation.

The Court discussion was short and we pretty well agreed (before reading the article) that court workers from judges to lawyers to clerks need more mentoring and specific training to overcome biases. To me my thoughts are more nuanced.  Consent has been law for well over a decade but some judges still ask really dumb questions like - why didn't you close your legs. I would ask, every time you refuse a drink, do you have to hit it out of the hand of the person offering? But in the end, how much does that matter.

The fluoridation discussion was more interesting because we didn't really know the fundamental integrity of teeth. I pointed out our parents had much worse teeth than we did (all of them have at least some false teeth). DH thinks with proper diet there would be less cavities, I thought teeth would naturally wear down (which now that I think about it is irrelevant). We agree keeping teeth in mouths without fillings is important and since we can't rely on food selection and proper brushing, something simple like fluoride supplementation is a public good. I actually agree with the counsel member quoted in the article. This should be a science based public health policy rather than something left up to communities.

I'm glad our talking has sort of settled. For awhile I felt DH talked excessively but now I'm better used to it.

#Retirement, #CurrentEvents

There is no silver bullet when it comes to weight

What have you noticed after losing weight that no one mentions? I am cold unless I am being active or in direct sun at 25C. Even when I was menopausal I wasn't hot all the time (just inconvenient waves).

Finally using Samsung Pay - what took me so long?

1) GPay was working just fine
2) Winter coats + smartwatch payment = Meh
3) Phone to verify card; who has time for that?

Remedial Training for Bennie

We had a bad day with Bennie yesterday; he ate 2 tissues (at different times) and some hair. Problem is he bit at me when I tried to get it. Back to training.

How to keep in touch as we disperse from G+

There are a couple services you can use to let people know where you will be. I'm going to focus on the free services for About.me and the wheretofind.me experience.

Retirement - tech edition

I had said before I was refraining from purchasing at the moment so it's time for more fiddling. I really want to hold off since sales are pretty well over and there could be some really interesting things coming in the next year if CES is to be believed.

Bennie is definitely in adolescence

What a cutie. He's almost full grown as you can tell when he's by Milo. He's also gained a B-U-N-C-H of undesirable traits. From excessive barking to jumping on people (we were getting to sit for pats) and simply not doing anything unless there's a treat involved.

What do I mean about excessive barking? He barks in the middle of the night after he's been put in his kennel. If Milo has dreams, Bennie hears them and barks (sigh). There's also the wind, leaves, people across the road that he can see from the deck and other random things.

Thankfully he loves peanut butter. When Milo went through this stage he didn't like treats and didn't play with toys! Time to get back on the daily training horse. He was doing so well I drifted away from it. Bad me. Now I really have to work on not repeating the command and having yummy treats before I tell him to do anything so we can build back that success.

#BookofBennie

The Difficulty of Cooking

Food we've made

The other day we were wondering what to have for supper and ended up with a spinach, mushroom, tofu stirfry with a coconut curry sauce. Quicker that ordering out...for us.

Leadership is taking responsibility

So many times there is no clear path to responsibility of decisions because of group. Fairly or not, government doesn't work like that. There is a final signer, either royalty or an elected official that begins a new phase. It's especially clear in the US where people specifically vote for the President unlike Canada, New Zealand, Australia, etc


https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/house-democrats-reform-package-1.4967263

#ns #smh