School Grades

 Phillies 8 - Blue Jays 7

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Too messy for outside work today so Mardi and I made ourselves useful in the greenhouse.

What you are looking at are foil wrappers for the Lily pots.  They come in stacks of 500 (the right of the picture) and our job was to separate them (not the easiest trick) and stick bar code tags on each one.  We hung in for three hours and finished maybe 1,400.

Then the other folks stick a Lily pot in each one and put them in labelled cardboard boxes, 6 to a box.  From there, they head to the cooler until it's time to ship.

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Got a really good item from Steve today.  I'll share it.

A first-grade teacher, Ms. Brooks, was having trouble with one
of her more precocious students. The teacher asked, 'Harry,
what exactly is your problem?'
Harry answered, 'I'm too smart for the 1st grade. My sister is
in the 3rd grade and I'm smarter than she is! I think I should
be in the 3rd grade too!'
Ms. Brooks finally had enough. She took Harry to the principal's office.
While Harry waited in the outer office, the teacher explained
the situation to the principal. The principal told Ms. Brooks
he would give the boy a test.
If he failed to answer any of his questions, he was to go back
to the 1st grade and behave. She agreed.
Harry was brought in and the conditions were explained to him and he happily agreed to take the test.
Principal:
'What is 3 x 3?'  Harry:'9.'
Principal: 'What is 6 x 6?'  Harry:'36.'
And so it went with every question the principal thought a
bright 3rd grader should know.
The principal looks at Ms. Brooks and tells her, 'You know, I reckon Harry can go to the 3rd grade.'
But Ms. Brooks is still skeptical of the little bugger and says
to the principal, 'Not so fast, let me ask him a few
questions.. 'The principal and Harry both agree.
Ms. Brooks asks,
'What does a cow have four of that I have only two of?
Harry, after a moment: 'Legs..'
Ms. Brooks:
'What is in your pants that you have but I do not have?'
The principal wondered why would she ask such a question.
Harry replied: 'Pockets’ ... to the Principal’s great relief...
Ms. Brooks:
'What does a dog do that a man steps into? 'Harry: 'Pants.'
By now, the principal is sitting forward with his mouth hanging open..
Ms. Brooks:
'What does a man do standing up, a woman does sitting down and a dog does on three legs?'
Harry:
'Shake hands.'
The principal is now trembling with apprehension as Ms. Brooks asks the last question......
Ms. Brooks:
'What word starts with an 'F' and ends in 'K' and indicates a great deal of heat and excitement?'
Harry: 'Firetruck.'
The principal breaths a huge sigh of relief and tells the teacher,
"Put the little shit in 5th-Grade, I got the last five questions wrong myself”!

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Laugh a lot and stay well. 

Just 2% of GDP

 Blue Jays 9 - Yankees 2.  Watched this one through the computer.  Incredibly clear detail.

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We've talked about how difficult it is to time plants such as Easter Lilies to bloom when you want them to.  Well, that's nothing!

Our "Christmas" Cactus is terribly confused these days.  A few years ago it decided to advance its blooming date to Hallowe'en, probably to celebrate the anniversary of my and Mardi's first date.  But, after blooming last Hallowe'en, it's now blooming again for Easter.

Twice the bang for the buck (to quote that stupid Amazon commercial)!

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I'm trying to digest and make sense of the news that the Liberals and the NDP are in a new relationship.  On the one hand, it probably won't make a big difference to the lives of Canadians.  We may get some more governmental goodies but that's what we have come to expect so it's not a big deal.

On top of our previous debt, and the hundreds of billions more that have accumulated as we blithely spent our way through the economic costs of the pandemic, the promises to the NDP will simply add a few hundred billion more.  But who cares?

Well, it seems to me that one upshot of this "marriage" and its political priorities is that there will be no money left or available to meet our defense responsibilities.  Excuses and double speak are coming.

Sorry Ukrainians.  Sorry NATO partners.  Sorry world.

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Stay well.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

 Blue Jays 3 - Detroit Tigers 1.

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Is anybody else a bit disgusted with the Amazon add that mocks sex education?  The one where the mother has a serious conversation with her daughter - "You're at the age now where you might start feeling certain urges." - that then talks about the urge to spend money, which Amazon can solve.  Pathetic.

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Spent a bit of time at the greenhouse getting back into shape mulching gardens and raking gravel off the grass.  The gardens are in better shape this year than they've ever been, thanks to last fall's efforts.

Inside the greenhouse, the efforts to get the Lilies to the cooler continue.

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Stay well.  

A TV Day

 Birthday greetings go out today to sister-in-law Lynn, and to my niece Ethel's son, Jeff Marshall (not sure, but I think the term is great nephew - I know that I'm a great uncle!).

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Today was a TV day.  Spent the afternoon watching the Valspar Golf Tournament.  Canadian Adam Hadwin was on the leaderboard and finished tied for 7th.

The Tuesday golfers had a separate email thread going on where they discussed the elastic cuffed pajamas that Justin Thomas wore in the game yesterday.  And they speculated on how such attire would look on one of our vertically challenged golfers.  Sorry you weren't all included - it was a skit.

Then it was a Blue Jays spring training game.  They're going to be fun to watch this year - hopefully World Series bound.  New 3rd baseman, Matt Chapman, is a great addition.

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Tomorrow I plan to do something more useful.. Stay well.

Day Off

 Drilling self tapping screws into the steel frame of the greenhouse door yesterday used some shoulder, back and butt muscles that were previously inactive.  So I'm feeling it a bit today.  Going to take it easy.  Of course, the fog and the rain factored into that decision as well.

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Glad to see MLB back on the tube.  Watched "Blue Jays in 30", a recap of their spring training game.  Something to look forward to in between the war news items.

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Stay well.

A Nice Night Out

 Headed to the greenhouse today.  Fixed a greenhouse door and cleaned up some more gardens.  Beautiful weather and I managed to stretch my work day to an impresssive two hours.  Getting old is a pain in the ass, and other places.

David is taking loads of Lilies to the cooler non-stop.  Won't be much of a lull before that process is reversed and they come back for shipment.  But, some plants evade the process.

It's a race to get them to the cooler on time.

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Moderna has applied for approval for a fourth dose of their vaccine.  Mardi and I will be in line when that happens.  Need to be well protected from the anti-vaxxers!

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And tonight we headed to Maureen and Matt's for dinner and cards.  Nice to reconnect with good friends.  

Matt cooked up a fine meal of corned beef and cabbage and Mardi baked a cake (Bailey's was an ingredient )😋.

And I won at cards!

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Take care.  Stay well.

St. Patrick's Day

Today we're all Irish.  Happy St. Patrick's Day.

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And today is the first day that the garden centre is open.  Still a lot of Lilies to move out, but we're started.

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I mentioned Ed Strecker in yesterday's post.  Some of you have heard the story I'm about to recount, but others haven't, so please bear with me.

I've known Ed and Rose for many years, starting with our Optimist affiliation and including golf outings before his hip quit working.  One of their daughters taught autistic children and ran a dinner/dance to support autism.  My wife and I had attended in the past.

Back in 2003 Ed called me to see if I was going to attend the dance that was coming up.  I told him that I would love to, but Jean and I had separated eight months previous so I would need a date.  And I added "If she is a golfer that would be even better".

Ed paused for a moment and then asked "Do you know Mardi Bullivant?".  I had been introduced to Mardi when she and Jean had been working on the same charity event, but my first encounter with her had been years earlier, at a Dofasco event, when our eyes met from across the room.

It was just a brief moment, but years later we both remembered that event and even what each of us was wearing that night!

So I called Mardi and invited her to the dance.  She said an immediate "Yes!" (Ed had forewarned her that I might call).

In my typical idiot manner I blurted out "Well, that was easy!".  To which, in her typical Mardi manner she responded "I can say no if you want".  I do put my foot in my mouth quite often but this time I managed to stammer my way out of it and the date was set.

The next morning I picked the tickets up from Ed and called Mardi again to let her know that dinner was included.  And then I said "Tomorrow (Hallowe'en) the weather is going to be beautiful.  Are you available for a golf game?".

We golfed at Scenic Woods where she let me win a close game, she invited me back to her house for dinner, and I helped hand out candies to the goblins before heading home dazed and hopelessly smitten.

Thus began the teenage years that I had missed.  And that magic continues to this day.  Love you Mardi.  Thank you Ed!

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Tell someone you love them and stay well.