Post 3079 - Wednesday

Home for the evening. Just as well. It is supposed to rain like a frig muffin tonight.

It is supposed to rain so much, Noah will look out his window and go back to bed. The ark can wait.

I have seen pictures of Maine, taken today. They showed cars nearly submerged, but on downtown streets. It is my hope that this will not happen here.

Had our Toastmasters meeting tonight. Due to a quirk in scheduling, we had 3 meetings this month, and we meet next week, too.

After the meeting was over, I drove to where Patricia was. I drove around and around and around before I found a parking space. She was in the library, enjoying a sandwich. She finished, we drove home, and I finished my Frank column and sent it off to my editor. Deadline met for another 2 weeks. Now, I have to start working on my next column. I have a blank page in the notebook that I use that says Frank 527 on it. Nothing underneath it. Only have 2 weeks to fill that page.

I hope you get the issue. There is content there that I guarantee you will not see anywhere else.

I think I will make sure that the hatches are battened down. I worry about things like that.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3078 - Tuesday

No. Still not yet. I have to write a long post about this past weekend's Deep Roots Festival, but I can't get to it this evening.

Why?  Well, I am heads up against my latest Frank Magazine deadline, which is Wednesday night. I have produced a rough draft this evening, but I have to spend my lunch hour on Wednesday revising and editing it before I send it off to my editor.

As always there is content in there that you will find nowhere else. I guarantee it.

About to watch The Grinder, starring Rob Lowe. Sounds like a scream.

I guess I will go watch it.

Remember, while I am watching the show, I will be thinking of you.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3077 - Not Yet

Late. Will write more about Deep Roots on Tuesday.

I promise.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3076 - Sunday

Hi.

We are back from Deep Roots. My god, what a wonderful time. Wall-to-wall music on Saturday and Sunday, plus several hours each on Thursday and Friday.

There are many highlights. The only lowlights were some acts that didn't compare well with the ones we loved. One lead singer for one group reminded me of my brother-in-law so much that I was put off on their music. Maybe I wasn't being fair.

I took a lot of pictures over the last few days. I will put a few  of them up here and more of them on my Facebook. I have promised one lady in particular that I will write more about her, but it is quite late and I am having a hard time focusing.

I promise to write more about all this stuff on Monday. Look for it then.

I will turn in shortly.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3075 - Saturday

Past 10.

We spent the bulk of the day in Wolfville, enjoying various Deep Roots events. We are only back here now because we decided to leave during the intermission of tonight's concert. The two acts we did see were not our cup of tea, and Catherine MacLellan and Sylvia Tyson are both performing Sunday morning, so we will see them then. The better part of 12 hours of music and performance today was plenty.

Hard to believe that the event is over Sunday afternoon. It has been mostly excellent so far. We will be sure to go again in 2016.

We had breakfast in town this morning at the Front Street diner. Very good. And late this afternoon we decided to stay in town for dinner, so we supped at Jo's Food Emporium. It's been there since the 1977, but I had never set food in the place until today. Don't ask me why. Some questions do not have answers, and some answers do not have questions.

After dinner we went to the Acadia campus so that I could do some research for my next Frank magazine column. The column is taking shape and I think this material I am working on now will prove to be interesting to my readers.

Newbie really missed us. He met us at the door. As I type these words, he is on the back of the chair resting against my head. Patricia is leaning back in the La-Z-Boy chair watching Reba on CMT.

Went to the dollar store in Wolfville today, three times. It is closing in a few days, although the owner is hinting that he will be moving to another location in town before long. Up to 70% off most things in the store, so I got a tire gauge, a paint roller a couple filled salt and pepper shakers and a few other things, for less than 4 dollars. I also noticed that they had batteries for cordless phones, so I went back two more times and got two different batteries that I hoped would fit in the phone here whose battery is toast. Barely a dollar each with the discount. But they both turned out not to be the correct size. I am pretty sure that the correct battery doesn't exist at the store, but I may take the battery with me to the store tomorrow and try one more time. Do you have any need for cordless phone batteries that have 3 cells? Turns out I have a couple for sale, cheap.

I think I will turn in. Been a very long day, and tomorrow promises to be even longer.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3074 - Friday

Hi.

Very late. Turning in soon.

We are back from Wolfville. The nearly 4 hour concert tonight consisted of Amelia Curran, Jonathan Byrd, Sin and Swoon, and Ariana Nasr. I liked them all, but Jonathan Byrd was by far the best of the lot.

We had spent the day around the house. I mowed the lawn. It now looks presentable again. There is nobody else around to do the lawn, or at least nobody in the family who gives enough of a crap to do it. If I didn't mow it, it would not get done, and it would look pretty haggard after a while. Patricia was inside doing some cleaning up. Sometime mid-afternoon, I took a nap.

The roast beast I bought on Thursday was tossed into a crockpot around noon. By 5pm, though, the roast and the veggies in the crockpot were nowhere near done. I unplugged it and when we got back tonight I cut up more carrots and put them  in and plugged it back in. It will cook on low all night long. We should have a pretty good lunch tomorrow.

Also on Saturday we will attend several more performances at Deep Roots, including a song writer's circle that includes as one of its participants, Ms. Sylvia Tyson. I can hardly wait.

I think I will turn in. Saturday promises to be even busier than today.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3073 - Acadia Questions

Hi. So, we are back from the opening concert of the 2015 Deep Roots Festival. The concert tonight featured Old Man Luedecke and Matt Andersen. Well, Matt and a bunch of his friends, including the Hupman Brothers and others. Excellent show.

We sat up in the balcony at Convocation Hall at Acadia University in Wolfville. I had only been there maybe one other time since I graduated from there in '88. And I am sure I had never been in that section   of the venue until this evening.

It gave us a unique vantage point. We were able to look over at the huge chandelier suspended from the  ceiling. At that angle I could see something I had never been able to see before. On one of the lights on the chandelier was "'25".

It is a tradition of the graduating class at Acadia to purchase some kind of gift for the university. Because, of course, you work your rear end off to get your degree and spend many thousands of dollars doing so. And, sure, you owe them a gift at the end of all that effort. Anyway, if you walk around the campus you will see benches that have a label on them stating they're a gift of the graduating class of whatever year. If you look atop Convocation Hall at the clock, you will see that I believe two of the faces that instead of "7" it says "77". This means that the clock, or at least the faces, was a gift of the graduating class of 1977.

It is not hard to surmise, therefore, that the chandelier was a gift of the graduating class of 1925, a full 90 years ago.

I graduated in 1988. Do not ask me what we bought for the university. It's not like anybody asked me what I thought.

This gets me to wonder: is there a list somewhere of all of the gifts of all the graduating classes going back to when this tradition started, which I now know was at least 90 years ago? Are all of these gifts still extant? Did someone destroy the gift from the graduating class of 1943, for instance? Did some urban renewal-bent university president a long time ago cause to be razed some university property, part of which would have contained the gift from some long-ago graduating class, and maybe the president didn't even realize it, because he didn't know that the gift was even there? Were some of these gifts in such a state that they had to be torn down or ripped out or something? Do people even know what all these gifts were, and where they are? Who would know what these gift were, or are, or where they were, or are?

I over think too much. I should stop now.Hi. So, we are back from the opening concert of the 2015 Deep Roots Festival. The concert tonight featured Old Man Luedecke and Matt Andersen. Well, Matt and a bunch of his friends, including the Hupman Brothers and others. Excellent show.

Friday the festival picks up at noon. Guess I should turn in so I can be ready for everything.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3072 - Wednesday

Deep Roots starts in mere hours!

I am off work till Monday. Much of that time will be in the valley enjoying the awesome music festival known as Deep Roots. Can't hardly wait.

Been a long day. But I am excited at all the wonderful music facing me over the next few days.

Not much else is going on, but then again, it is Deep Roots time, so what else could be going on, anyway?

All that remains is to find a way to trick Newbie into his carrier Thursday morning. That is always a challenge. Wish me luck, will you?

I think I will turn in. Big day tomorrow.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 3071 - Stuff

Two days to Deep Roots! So excited.

So, during my lunch hour, my bodyguards and I took my Frank Magazine pay cheque to the bank. I wanted to go by myself, but the sheer size of the cheque convinced them I should not go by myself. The money is resting comfortably in my bank account. I know you were worried.

I haven't mentioned it because it comes and goes, but my left hand is pretty sore tonight. When I move it in a certain way, a certain set of poses, it pains me quite badly. I hope it isn't a carpel tunnel thing. Last thing I need. I am left-handed and therefore use that hand a great deal. No jokes, please. I am sensitive.

You know, that last sentence brings up some unpleasant memories. Until my hand starts aching too much, I will discuss them here. More than a few times in my life, I have been accused of being sensitive to things like criticism. I guess I am guilty. If someone treats me like crap, yells at me, belittles me, berates me, I get upset. I tend not to get that angry, though. I internalize the feeling, which I gather is not good for one's mental health, or even for one's stress level or self esteem. But I have seen too often what happens to people who try to defend themselves against these attacks. They are labeled as trouble makers, or they have a bad attitude, or they are defensive. Or they are "sensitive".

Drives me crazy. Name me one person, other than a masochist, who enjoys being yelled at, or treated poorly. Tell me about the human being who welcomes a barrage of verbal abuse. Who's the dude who wants that kind of treatment? So, why, then, pray tell, is it wrong to label someone like me as sensitive, like it's a bad thing? It just means I don't like it when someone frigging yells at me or tries to put me "in my place".

By the way, I make the full distinction between some boss shrieking at me because it makes him feel like a real man, and what we call constructive criticism. "Bev, you need to learn to do this task better. Here's how", is an example of constructive criticism. I welcome that. "Bev, you really frigged up this task. What's the matter with you? Are you stupid?", is not helpful other than to make the speaker feel superior to me, and to make me want to end things.

That is what gets me upset: Some joker who thinks he is better than I am because his station in life relative to mine is arbitrarily better, and who won't let me forget about it.

Yes. I am sensitive. Big deal. I am proud of it. You should be sensitive, too. Everyone should be. It is one more thing that separates us from the bastards who want to tear away every last shred of our dignity and self-respect.

Your thoughts?

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

PS Did I mention that Deep Roots starts in two days?

Post 3070 - Monday

Three days to the Deep Roots Festival!!

In other news, I got my monthly pay cheque from Frank Magazine today. Usually the way it works is that my editor emails me to say that the cheque is ready. Since Patricia works across the street from where the Frank offices are, she usually picks up the cheque, and today was no exception. The editor writes "Bevboy" on the envelope, and inside is the cheque for the several thousand dollars that they pay me every month.

I am trying to get in the habit of going for lunch time walks. I am hoping to meander to the bank on Agricola Street tomorrow and cash the cheque there.

What else is going on? We watched the season opener to The Big Bang Theory tonight. Raj had very little to do, once again, other than to behave in a way that makes us think that the character is struggling with his sexuality.  They have been coy about this since the show started. He dates infrequently, and most of his friends are male. Why not have the character realize, or admit, that he is gay and be done with it?

Castle started up again tonight, and I am all aboard for this ride. They have thrown out the crime-of-the-week procedural elements and have made Beckett out fighting some vast conspiracy. Of course, she didn't tell Castle anything about it. There are problems in that marriage.

Gotham started season 2 this evening. If things continue this way, the show will be much better this season. They promise the show will be much less procedural and more serialized, and so far they have my attention.

And The Bald Spot, or the Blind Spot, or The Wet Spot, or whatever it is, the show about the naked woman with the tattoos, was something we watched this summer when the pilot was leaked online. We liked it then, but I am not sure if I will keep watching it. Only so many hours in the day.

Hey, did I mention that Deep Roots starts in 3 days?

Is it Thursday yet?

See you tomorrow, my friends.

Bevboy

Post 3069 - Sunday

Well, Patricia is back from that Becoming an Outdoor Woman thing. She has learned to do things like how to field dress a deer, how to skin a hare, how to prepare a pheasant to the point where you can cook the thing, and perhaps, how to remove a man's balls at 20 paces. She is the love of my life. You know that, right?

We just spent the last few hours watching the second half f season 4 of "Longmire". Shame on A&E or canceling it last year, and bless Netflix for picking it up. Without having to deal with sponsors and commercial interruptions, they can structure the episodes organically and not have to fit in some kind of cliffhanger every 15 minutes to bring people back from commercials. The show flows 10x better this way. And each episode is about an hour long, so just having 10 episodes is not that big a deal. And since the season ends on a sort of cliffhanger, I have to hope that there will be a season 5.

I am heading into another short week. Three days this week. Thursday, the Deep Roots Festival starts in Wolfville, and we will be there for the whole damn thing. Can hardly wait. Check out the website if you wish.

We have been going for a few years now. The highlight event for me was probably in 2013 when we saw Jesse Winchester. Excellent show. Excellent performer. And it turns out that shortly after he finished that tour of this part of Canada, he returned home, learned he had cancer, and was dead within a few months. I sure am glad I had a chance to see him. He was world-class.

This year we will see Matt Andersen, Old Man Luedecke, Andy and Ariana, Amelia Curran, The Hupman Brothers, Terry Kelly, Catherine MacLellan, Sylvia Tyson, and many more. Lots of music and performers over 3 days. Not much sleep, though. Can hardly wait.

I guess I should start getting rested up.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3068 - Saturday

Very, very late.

I kept napping today, much more so than I meant to. I had every intention of listening to David Myles interview Bruce Gouthro on the East Coast Music Hour today, but I fell asleep. Guthro was gonna talk about his second career as the lead vocalist for Run Rig, the famed Scottish band that is nearly unknown over here but is as popular as you know what in Europe. Missed it. Rats.

(I just spent a few minutes trolling the CBC site. Apparently one can stream the show, here. )

I was down here in my home office a few hours ago when Patricia called me, out of the blue. She was having a break from skinning hares and pheasants and watching videos where somebody field dresses a deer, and thought of me and called me. How very sweet.

It is funny. I have rested so much that here, at nearly 1 am, I will likely be up for several more hours. I will spend time on Sunday getting back to my regular schedule just in time to return to work on Monday morning.

Think I will go read for a while. Have fun. See you on Sunday.

Bevboy

Post 3067 - Friday

Hi. Past 10pm.

One of those hot days at work today.  The sun was beating against my face. A few times, I had to catch myself from falling asleep. I was happy when the work day ended and I could drive home. After I fed Newbie, I lay down for a few hours. I ate something, and now I am down here entertaining you.

Man, talk about it being a small world. My friend Jodi Delong, famous writer about gardening if nothing else, was in Newfoundland this week. She chanced into the place where my other friend Roger Keel works. One thing led to another, and they revealed they both know me. Here is some proof:

I love coincidences like that.

When I get up in the morning I will tackle the laundry around here. I have a bunch of things to do actually. So, while Patricia is knocking back becoming an outdoor woman, I will be here, becoming an emasculated Bevboy.

Sigh.

You guys have a good evening. I will see you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3066 - Thursday

Past 10pm. Turning in shortly. Well, maybe I'll watch another episode of "Scandal" first.

I got a one line email from my editor at Frank today. He thanked me for my most recent column and stated that it was a good one. That feels good. I tried something different this time, actual satire, and I hope you check it out when it goes live on Monday. There is also other content that you will not find anywhere else.

Patricia goes off to BOW tomorrow morning, so I will have the weekend to myself. Once again, I am unable to decide which whores to invite over while she is out of town. The blonde ones? Brunettes? There is a sale on strawberry blondes over at the whore store in the part of the city where I do business. Maybe I'll go with that.

I think somehow Newbie knows that Patricia will not be around. He is all over me tonight. He is next to me right now while I type these humble, sub-par, slightly pathetic words. He is waiting for me to finish this post so I can turn in and so he can tenderize my flesh with his claws. Soon, my pet. Soon.

I have been spending a lot of time thinking about my mother today. She died suddenly on January 14th, 8 months and a couple of days ago. I think about her every day anyway, but it has been a persistent thought today. I keep wanting to call her and see how she is doing. I know I can't, but I want to anyway. Sigh.

And, on that sad note, I think I will call it a night. Newbie has been sharpening his claws and is giving me that come hither look of his. Oh, dear.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3065 - Wednesday

Hi. Past 10:30.

I just sent off my latest Frank Magazine column to my editor. I hope he likes it. I hope you like it when it goes live on Monday coming.

I had Toastmasters this evening. We are down to bi-weekly meetings. For those of you reading this who are from Yarmouth, that means we meet every two weeks. If a month has 5 Wednesdays in it, then we meet on that 5th Wednesday, and then a week later, and then two weeks after that. Make sense?

Only a few people showed up tonight. We would have canceled the meeting had it not been for two guests who showed up. At the end of the meeting, she announced an intention to join the club.

I did table topics tonight. This is where you practice impromptu speaking, speaking off the cuff with little or no preparation. My theme tonight was Valley terms. These are words and phrases people utter down there. People had to read those words and then tell us what they meant. The Cape Bretoner in the audience got nearly all of them right.

A couple examples:

Bob War - Short, twisted cable. An example in a sentence. "Boy, you stay away from that bob war fence!"

Bard - Past tense of "to borrow". "John bard my pick up truck."

Rats - Entitlements. Things enshrined in constitutions. "People have got to stand up for their rats."

Flares - The pretty part of certain plants. "When yo wife is mad at ya, you should buy her some flares."

Tar - A rubber wheel. "John bard my pick up truck and brung it back with a flat tar!"

Warsh - To clean thoroughly, usually with soap and water. "Don't forget to warsh behind your ears, John!"



There are quite a few more, but you get the gist of it.

After the meeting was over, I picked up Patricia, not in my pick up truck, but in my 2008 Grand Prix, the one with 154 000 kilometers on it. She was at the library, which has become her go to place for fun times. We drove home. I had a shower. We watched an episode of "Longmire" on Netflix. And then I came down here to finish my column and write this post.

Writing this post must make your day, because when I miss a day, I catch all kinds of friggin' heck from you. I do the best I can, folks. I am only one Bevboy. You have to accept that. Remember last year, when I fired all my ghostwriters? I can't go back to that model, because the quality was suffering too much, and I care too much about you to let things slip again.

Patricia will be away at the Becoming an Outdoor woman thing this weekend. Trying to find something to do that's fun and for which I will have to apologize if she finds out about it at a later date. Send me some examples. K?

On that fun-filled note, I guess I will call it a night. Another long day tomorrow. At least the weekend is in sight.

Bevboy

Post 3064 - Tuesday

Tuesday night. 9:24 or so.

When we get home we typically don't intermingle with our neighbors very much. We're not standoffish. We just keep to ourselves. So when a neighbor told us this evening that they were planning to throw out some long-past-their-due-date house "pests", we couldn't help but pay attention.

It's just the two of us here, three if you count Newbie (which we do). I can tell you that as nice as I am, I would be very hard pressed to accept someone who wanted to stay with us for an indefinite period of time. A weekend, maybe. Something like that. But for two months? No friggin' way. Kick 'em to the coib, says I.

I worked through lunch today to produce a rough draft of my next Frank column. I printed it off here at home tonight and will revise it during lunch tomorrow and after I get home from Toastmasters tomorrow night, will give it a final polish and send it off. There will be content in this column you will find nowhere else. I guarantee it.

Patricia has turned in early. I have a long day tomorrow as well. I think I will join her.

You have a good evening, my lovelies. See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3063 - Vindication!

Past 10pm. Turning in shortly.

As much as I messed up dinner Sunday evening, I made up for it tonight. I made a beef stirfry. Patricia announced it delicious. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

"Longmire" season 4 is now on Netflix. Just 3 episodes in, we are hooked again. The show is somehow more compelling now that the producers don't have to worry about structuring a show around commercial interruptions. The stories can flow organically. And I have noticed that the episodes run 55 minutes or longer. They may be making only 10 episodes, but those episodes are longer.

My next Frank column is due in a couple of days. Working on a draft of it now. Hey, I have an idea. When the new issue comes out next week, why don't  you go to the store and BUY an issue of it, rather than just read my column at the check out? It might be fun for you.

I am going to keep this short and sweet, even though I'm tall-ish and bitter. You have a good night, and I will talk at ya tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3062 - Sunday

Hi. "Fear the Walking Dead" starts in about 3 minutes, but I am going to pvr it and watch it later on this week. If I think of it. If I feel like it. Two episodes in, and the show is at best a disappointment. At worst, it is a stunning disaster. The kind where you expect some zombies to stop, wave at the camera and say, "Hi, Mom!" We will see if the show improves, but I am not hopeful.

Anyway, Patricia returned to the house around 6:30. We ate something I prepared, but it sucked, so let's not talk about it any more. And the cup of tea I prepared for her sucked, too. The milk had turned. I made  fresh cup of tea and managed to mess that up, too. So I poured the contents of that cup into a fresh and empty cup, and that was acceptable. I can't seem to do anything right today. Or this weekend. Or lately. Or in this lifetime.

It is the end of another 3 day weekend. I sure could get use to these.

Think I will cap off another lovely evening by watching an episode of "Scandal".

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3061 - (Very Late) Saturday

Hi. Pushing one am. I really should turn in soon.

Or, maybe I won't. I am becoming addicted to "Scandal" and am binge watching it on Netflix. I am about half way through season two. Season four was just released to Netflix in the last few days, so I figure I can keep watching it several episodes a day and be close to caught up by the time season five commences on ABC.

I returned to the city around supper time. I had a lazy morning and that stretched into the afternoon. At one point, I took a nap. Newbie hopped into the bed next to me and stretched out and we both fell back asleep. I am glad I took him with me Friday morning. I think he was, too. I don't think he likes to be alone. Of course, as I type these words in my humble home office, he is upstairs in the living room, resting away.

Patricia returns to the city sometime Sunday afternoon, or early evening. I didn't do as much around the house as I said I would, so I can imagine I will be busy  bustling in the kitchen and dining room when I get up.

Well, maybe after another episode of Scandal

Or, hmm, maybe two.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3060 - Friday

Hi. Welcome to the Valley.

I drove up this morning. I had some business to take care of this afternoon. I have spent the time since then kicking back and relaxing over some episodes of "Scandal".

I decided to bring Newbie up with me. He is at the point where if I present him with his carrier, he doesn't run off any more. He doesn't leap into the carrier, but if I gently nudge him by the backside into the carrier, he doesn't fight me either. He will still mewl in the car but even that is not as bad as it was. I am guessing, given how much he has been hanging around me. Unless I try to cut his nails or something, he has been plopped between the keyboard and the monitor.

I usually stay here for the entire weekend, but not this time. I have too much to do in Halifax this weekend. This means I should turn in shortly so as to get a relatively early start to my day.

I have been half-listening to "q" on CBC the last little while. New host Chad (replacing the reviled Jian Ghomeshi) just interviewed someone from "The Warriors", the 1979  movie about a New York gang that has to return to its home turf by going through the turf belonging to other gangs. Apparently the film is one of those cult things, and people quote it all the time. Since I haven't seen the movie, those references would just float blithely over my head. However, the film sounds intriguing enough that I think I will check it out.

Which brings me to this: Tell me about a cult film you like. A relatively obscure movie you really like and that you want to share with my 4.7 readers. You can reply to this post via a comment, email me here, or reply to my Facebook posting.

Get back to me with your thoughts. I look forward to hearing from you.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3059 - Thursday

Hi. After 10.

I took a sick day on Wednesday. In keeping with my policy, I do not write a blog post on a sick day. Since I was back to work today, I am writing tonight.

I have Friday off. I will be spending part of that time in the Valley. I have a few items to take care of down there and I can't put them off.

Patricia remains at the cottage. With a media player and some portable hard drives and thumb drives full of movies and tv shows, along with an HD  TV I acquired a few months ago for cheap, she is practically at home. I mean, there is no Netflix there because there is no internet connection, but there are worse

Even though there was a special summer issue of Frank magazine, which is on sale now, I have been working on my next column. There has been a lot of radio news. Most of it, people will already know about, but I think I will put those items in anyway.

I think that I will turn in for the evening. Long and important day tomorrow.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 3058 - A Good Movie

I don't watch them as much as I used to, but I do love movies.

Last evening, while poking through a usenet indexer, I found a film called "Calling Chicago", made in 1951 and released in '52. It is a about a man who's on a downward spiral. Alcohol has taken away his job, his self-respect, and  how his wife and daughter are leaving him.

He gets a telegram the next morning telling him that his daughter had been in a car accident outside of Chicago. The wife will call him 24 hours later with more information. The only problem is that at that very moment his phone is being removed for want of payment, and he lacks the 53 dollars necessary to get it re-instated. The phone guy cuts him a break and says he will be back the next morning for sure to remove the phone, buying the man some time.

He goes to a bank, who refuses to lift a finger because the bank manager has a bunch of other sob stories from other people. The manager says buddy should go to a charity.

He goes to the local charity, who tells him that it would take a few days to get him the money. They tell him to go to a finance company. He does that, but because he lacks suitable collateral and a job, they can't help him. Also, the loan request is too small and too risky. Why doesn't he go to a local charity?

The next 24 hours of this man's unravelling life are about how he tries to raise the funds at least to make a long distance call to Chicago from LA. When all hope is lost, strangers who have no need to help him, do so.  But sometimes it is better not to know something than it is to know it...

I had never heard of this film before in my life, but having seen it tonight, it will stay with me for a very long time. I had never heard of Dan Duryea before, but he had a long career as a character actor, and I want to see more of his work. His wikipedia page tells me that he is unjustly overlooked. He plays this character with a lot more dignity and respect than you would expect, given that the character is a broken-down drunk who can't catch a break.

From reports, Duryea was a great guy, and a wonderful father and husband. His gravemarker is online at find a grave. Here it is:

I love finding these older films, the kind of film that even long-time movie fans are unfamiliar with. A few stalwarts know about the movie. Now, so do I. And so do you.

I hope you check out "Chicago Calling". It has the Bevboy seal of approval.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3057 - Monday

Hi.

It is pushing 10pm. I really should turn in soon. Back to work in the morning.

This morning, before it got too hot and humid and muggy and so on, I went outside and stained the back deck to my house. I did the railings and the walk area and the steps, other than the runners because I was running low on stain. I had just enough stain left to do the walk area and some of the posts on the side steps to the house. I think I should invest in another gallon of the semi-transparent stain so that I can complete the task, but at least the job is 95% or so done. A second coat for the back deck would be a good idea.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow. I am hoping it does if only to show me how good a job I did staining the decks. I need affirmation.

Another Labour Day weekend is behind us. I am not sure where the time went. I wish I had got more labour done around the house, but them's the breaks. When you have a house there are always things to do. Wish I could snap my fingers and have it all be done.

Patricia is having a ball at the cottage. Claims she doesn't miss me. I know she does. Or, at least, I tell myself she misses me because I find it comforting to believe that.

I think I will call it a night. A very long day tomorrow, one which will not be over until many hours after I get home from work.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 3056 - Sunday

I am not a very religious person. I believe that people have the right to whatever belief system they want to have, but that right doesn't go as far as you shoving those beliefs down my throat. However, I will defend your right to your belief system.


I do believe very much in having a day of rest, a day when I can kick back and not do much. And, trust me, as I get older and closer to my inevitable dirt nap, my body lets me know it appreciates those days.

I guess that is why I didn't get up today until noon. It also helps me understand why I ended up taking a nap 4 hours later. And now it is pushing 11:30. My plan is to turn in shortly and get up early tomorrow so that I can stain my back deck before it gets too hot.

The front deck was done on Saturday morning. I put something over the entrance to the deck to keep people off it while it was drying. 36 hours later, it looks really good. Rain should nicely bounce off the deck for the next year or so, especially the walk area, which has two coats of semi-transparent stain on it. This time tomorrow, the back deck will be done, and I will have done something with the side steps as well. That is now the oldest part of the infrastructure attached to the house. The cost of replacing those steps with something newer is more than I can manage for the time being, so I have to make do for another couple of years. But the eventual plan is to have the side steps wrap around and meet with the back deck. I would like to have that area have a raised side to it enhance privacy. I could go out there and read a book or something and nobody could see me.

After the deck is done tomorrow, and I have applied what stain I have left to the side steps, I will then hope for rain just to prove I did a good job.

I guess I will turn in and read a couple more chapters in that Andrew Mayhem novel by Jeff Strand. It is a hoot so far. You have a good evening. Be good to each other. And I will see you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3055 - Saturday

Hi. Late. Very late.

No, I did not to go the AC/DC concert in Moncton this weekend. Instead, Patricia went to the cottage. I hung back and stained the front deck. I started working on the side steps as well. On Sunday morning, whenever I get up, I will tackle the back deck, which is over due as well. With what ever stain is left, I will work on the side steps and maybe even the shed, which both need the treatment.

I took a very long nap this afternoon. I am not sure why. I decided to take a "short nap", but was unconsciousness for most of the afternoon. I woke up in time to watch the supper time news. I have spent the last couple of hours in my home office, and will turn in shortly.

Spoke with Patricia earlier this evening. She was having fun there. She will be there for the next week. I may or may not join her this coming weekend. Depends on what has to be done here, and what has to be done in the Valley.

I think I will call it a night. And I would appreciate not having to experience the usual joke. Which starts with, "It's a ...". It is something that people mention over and over. Every generation thinks it has made up this joke. Ha ha. Silly people.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3054 - Friday

Friday night. 11:30. Do you know where your children are?

The long weekend is here. Sometime early-ish Saturday morn, Patricia will pile in her car and go to the cottage for a week. I will remain here and do the things I said I would do earlier this week. Ha ha. Seriously. No. I mean it this time.

After work today I went to the dollar store across the street from my work. There, I purchased several paint rollers and a broom handle to attach them to, all in an effort to simplify my work this weekend. Using just a paint brush to apply the stain will take a dog's age, maybe even a cat's age. 

Newbie has been nudging against my right arm while I have been typing these miserable words. He is a needy little critter. I wonder if he was a woman in a previous life?

I think I should turn in. Will be a very long day on Saturday.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 3053 - Thursday

Late.

Got my car back at lunch time. Another 750 smackers down the tubes.  But now, at least, I have a car that sounds nearly silent as it runs. The pieces of the exhaust system that were replaced were in poor condition, and now I in theory have a car that should run quite well for quite some time. I hope. After spending 1200 dollars on the car just this week, it wants to be running well.

Patricia will be at the cottage next week, while I hang around here. I have a honey do list that is growing by the day. The main priority will be to stain the two decks, plus the side steps. I can probably get that done in a day, but it depends on the weather and my stamina. Wish me luck.

Today when I walked to the Midas auto shop to pick up my car, I decided to dip into Mary's Place, a diner on Robie Street. I saw Andre Livingston having lunch with some colleagues. He was the former owner of the Halifax  Rainmen basketball team. Not long after I got back to the office I heard that there will be a new team in Halifax in a few months, and that Livingston will be a part of it. Was I just one table away from overhearing something really cool? I will never know. I was too busy eating my chicken kebabs.

Watched another 1.5 episodes of Ray Donovan tonight. Patricia was dozing off, so we will watch the rest of it tomorrow night after work.

And, 4 days later, I still haven't watched the current episode of "Fear the Walking Dead". The pilot was so disappointing. They announced the second Walking Dead series 2 years ago. I am sure there was some development and pitching of the concept before that. So I feel confident in stating that they had 2 years to work on the show, and they come up with this monotonous crap. Even the parent series had some major dragging episodes last season. Time will tell if the show improves, but I have no confidence that it will.

I guess I will turn in. Another long day tomorrow.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 3052 - Wednesday

Late.

Had a good Toastmasters meeting tonight. I did my ice breaker speech. 24 years ago, when I did it the first time, I called it, "My, Myself and I". I decided to keep that title this evening, but changed the content. Went over well, but it would have been better with more preparation. It showed, and it was pointed out to me.

Have to get up early tomorrow morning so that I can drop off the car before work, again. This time I am getting a new muffler and some other pieces of the exhaust replaced. $750. Because I am made of money, as you know. What will break down on the car next time?

Not much else is going on, because for something to be going on costs money I can otherwise spend on my car.

You guys have a good evening. See you tomorrow. And don't forget to tell me what you're wearing.

Bevboy

Post 3051 - Tuesday

I am still waiting for you to send me your pics with the official Bevboy's Blog slogan, which is, "Bevboy's Blog. Are YOU one of the 4.7?" Get to work, people.

We went to East Side Mario's for dinner tonight. The pasta dish came with salad, apparently bottomless salad for I had two plates, which meant I had no room for the pasta. Guess what I am having for lunch on Wednesday? You'll never guess. I am having pas... oh, you guessed. Never mind. Ahem.

We watched another episode of "Ray Donovan" this evening. Why did we wait for 2 years to start watching it? Captivating show. Check it out if you haven't.

I will be presenting my ice breaker speech at Toastmasters Wednesday night. I hope that it doesn't suck too much. That is what I am going for. Glorious mediocrity.

Took my car in to the shop today for some maintenance work. Over $500 later, and it still needs a partial exhaust system replacement, which is another $750. Cars are another way God tells you that you make too much money.

I think I will turn in. After all, sleep is free.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy