Post 3308 - Thursday

About 9:45.

We left for work a bit earlier this morning. We went to breakfast at the Smitty's off Spring Garden Road. It used to be Martello Lane. Before that, it was part of Tower Road. Now, it's called Cathedral Lane. On the news this evening, I learned that this change can be implemented if all the land owners agree to it. Turns out that there are only 2 land owners on that lane: the church, which moved for the change; and a rental company, which owns a large apartment building, and which rents out retail space on the first floor. So, now, all the people who live in that building have to tell their friends where they live. The retail outlets have to produce new advertising at significant cost spelling out where they are. And because they rent, they had no damn say in the renaming of the lane in the first place. Madness.

Anyway, breakfast was especially good. I recommend the Smitty's on Tower Road Martello Lane Cathedral Lane.  You should go.

Work crawled along today. At one point, my Bulova watch seemed to be moving backwards. But, the time to go home finally came, and we drove back here. My eyes were gritty, so I closed them. 

Tomorrow morning, we will pile in the car and go to the cottage for a few days. There is work to be done there, plus I will be working on my true crime column.

I put this on my Facebook last night, and now I will post it here. If there is a Nova Scotia-based unsolved crime you would like me to report on, and which is upwards of at least 10 years old, then tell me about it, and why I should investigate it. Your best bet is to email me here. My internet connectivity will be spotty over the next few days, but I promise to respond upon my return. 

My true crime binder is growing by the day. I can only do so many columns per year. But I will look at your case, I promise.

I will also have content here on this blog all weekend. The miracle of the internet!

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3307 - Aww!

The new Frank Magazine has hit stands. My 3rd true crime column is in it. It is another missing persons cases one going back to 2001. You should go read it. Buy a copy, and read the story. I worked hard on it.

The father of the missing man wrote me this evening, thanking me profusely for the piece. His ex-wife liked it a lot, too.

That really feels good. I know that I am getting paid money for these pieces, and I am using it on silly things like getting my water bill paid off on time for a change; but there are intangible aspects of this job. Twice now, I have had family members write to thank me for getting their loved ones' stories out there again. I can only hope that, in getting the stories out there, that maybe we can get some leads and some tips generated for the police to follow up on. I know the families would love to see these old cases reach some kind of resolution.

I am still working on cold cases and missing persons cases. I have been answering emails and Facebook messages this evening about two that I am working on. This long weekend, I plan to kick back and relax at the cottage; but I will also be taking a laptop with me and will be working at least one case, and maybe even two.

I think I will turn in a bit early tonight. Been a long day.

See you tomorrow, my lovelies.

Bevboy

Post 3306 - The Birds Call Their Name!

Cheep! Cheep! Or, rather, "Cheap! Cheap!"

I have written before about how covers of mystery magazines were recycled and re-used over and over. I showed you examples. You can click on the "MSMM" label associated with this post to read that earlier article.

I have found another sort of example.

Here it goes:

This is the cover for the May 1978 issue of Mike Shayne's Mystery Magazine, which is just a cropped edition of a cover from 1980 and another year, and which was in turn used several years earlier for the cover of Charlie Chan's Mystery Magazine.

Here are the other examples I have been able to find:

So, now, 4 magazines using the same damned cover. The guy who drew that original cover must have been paid a mint, thereby forcing the publishers to defray that cost over the course of the next several years.

As you can see, in the first pic, Buddy is reacting to something. You know that he's reacting to a guy shooting at him. But, initially, you have no idea what he is reacting to. Maybe there was an unexpected pizza delivery or something. I wonder what the other dude, the one on the floor, feels about it, having been cropped out of existence?

If I find any more examples of this damned drawing being used elsewhere and elsewhen, I will let you know. I think I will be successful.
Bevboy

Post 3305 - Monday

9:30

One of those busy days at work. I had a task to work on that, while not that difficult, was very time consuming, gobbling up the better part of my work day. 

The new issue of Frank Magazine is up. I have about 4 pages in it: my media column takes up nearly 2 full pages; my true crime column takes up nearly a page and a half; and I have a page of content about the Information Morning birthday party from this past Friday. Plus, two of the four letters in this issue were about my true crime column from last issue, taking up nearly another half page. Plus, I was honoured to see that my true crime column merited a strong mention on the cover of the metro cover. I don't know if they will be on the alternative/other parts of the province covers. 

I have been making my copious notes for both of my columns in a simple, even humble, Hilroy coiled notebook, courtesy of a Staples back-to-school sale in 2014, when they were literally 5 cents apiece. I bought several of them, and have been filling one up at a time ever since. But I am taking so many notes about some of these true crime cases that I think that maybe a binder with looseleaf might be a better approach. I get that I should be keeping all this stuff online, but there are times when I am without an internet connection and have to go old school. That means picking up a pen, preferably one with blue ink, and affixing the business end of it to a piece of paper and writing in a mock cursive format. 

I recently found samples of my handwriting from when I was in high school. Teachers would rail at me about how poor my handwriting was. It got worse, far worse, in university. In order to take notes, and lacking any knowledge of shorthand, I just wrote as fast as I could, leaving out letters, and replacing "ing's" with a simple squiggle. When I went back to re-read it, sometimes weeks later, I would have to figure out the words from the context, and I was mostly successful with it. Nobody else was.

People would occasionally ask to borrow my notes, because I seldom missed a class and was always writing furiously. Nobody ever asked me more than once. One guy figured out I meant "secondary" because I had written "2nddary", and I wish I could have given him a gold star, only I was too busy taking more notes. 

And then there was the girl in my 1986 Fantasy course who I figured out, far too late, had a crush on me. In an attempt to get me to notice her, because her sitting behind me burning a hole in my back with her stare wasn't working, she borrowed my notes and then called me at home to get me to "read" them to her. I attempted to do so, rang off, and collected my notes the next day. My goodness, I was a stunned hombre back then. I mean, any time a girl sits behind you in class for a couple of months and burns a hole in the back of your head with her stare, and borrows your notes and then calls you to help her decipher them, then that's a sign, brother. That's a sign.

While we're on this silly topic, can you think of a time when a person tried to get your attention, and you were just too stunned to notice? I can't be the only one. Can I? Well, can I?

Anyway, I may transfer my notes from that Hilroy notebook with the coils, to an actual binder. Let's move up in the world, says I. It can't hurt. 

Nearly 10pm now. I think I will turn in.

You have a good day. See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3304 - Sunday

Hi. Back in the city.

I returned mid afternoon. Once I unloaded the car, I lay out on my front deck, a cold compress over my eyes, and rested. But it was uneasy.

There was a spooky, creepy old van in front of the house next door. It had an Alberta license plate. The windows were boarded over. It was in a condition that made me wonder if it would even run. When the owner got in and drove off around 3pm, I was happy, and went back to my rest.

I am showered and shaven and ready to return to work in the morning. Yay for that.

I think I will turn in.

See you tomorrow, me hearties.

Bevboy

Post 3303 - Saturday

Past 11pm.

I am in the Valley for the weekend. I got here this morning. I had every intention of mowing the lawn, but the grass is dry and will look burned if I mow it. Maybe in the morning, but we need rain.

I ended up driving into Canning this morning and then into Kingsport, discovering that it was the Gala Day weekend. I hung around for a few hours, buying some lunch and some stuff at yard sales and watching the parade. Along the way I met some folks; we ended up talking about a missing persons case that I have been working on. They provided some information that jibes nicely with some other information I have been reading about. I wonder if I can expense my trip to Kingsport, now? Hmm.

I got back here to the house. Ate something. And tonight, around 9, I drove back to Kingsport for the fireworks, only to learn that because of the tinder dry conditions, the province has forbidden all outdoor fires, including fireworks.  I returned here, read some stuff, and am writing this blog post.

Tomorrow, back to the city. Sigh.

You have a good evening. See you tomorrow. Keep smiling.

Bevboy

Post 3302 - Friday

The weekend is here! The weekend is here! The only thing that would make it better would be to look at the Sear's Catalogue and find the pages with the bra's. Good readin', there!

It has been a long week. I will finish that week by doing some stuff that has to be done, and by working on my next true crime column for Frank. Interviewing people is time consuming and I have to accommodate their schedules, which is why I have to work on several cases at once.

The next issue of Frank goes live on Monday morning, and hits newsstands on Wednesday. But I am really looking forward to a brief article that will come out after the long weekend, when the editor lists the top ten stories for the month of June. It is based simply on web traffic; the most hits. Now that I am writing for them again, I want to see if any of my columns make the grade. I will let you know.

I have a long day tomorrow. Think I will turn in.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3301 - Finally!

Let's get this out of the way.

Before shots:

After shot:

Yes. I got my hair cut.

I don't think I have a lesson here other than maybe to get my hair cut a little more often than I do. It was insanely long. I finally got the deed done by the young man in the photograph, Jaleel at Fine Lines in Lakeside.

My hair was getting long. I kept piling on the product to keep it in place in recent weeks. It was becoming so hard to handle that I knew I had to do something.

With some trepidation I approached the place on Kempt Road, the place I told you before, the place with that yappy woman in it. The one who hacks and stabs and cuts with all the zeal of a starving man attacking a pork chop, and talks your ears off while she's doing it. I went in there, and was relieved to see her working on another client, and that the place was too busy to accommodate me at that moment. I skipped out, elated.

After work, Patricia had a couple of appointments, so I drove homeward, and decided to return to Fine Lines in Lakeside. I had a good experience there last year, and with Patricia not with me, I could go in there and not feel guilty taking my time to have a leisurely hair experience.

Jaleel took great care of me. Turns out that his mother named him after Jaleel White, actor who played Urkel on "Family Matters" all those years ago. Also turns out that he is from the Valley, so we exchanged the secret Valley handshake that because you're not from there, I cannot share with you. I am very happy with the result, though. A lovely head of hair. On the floor of the barber shop.

Afterward, I went home and ate something and watched the news and konked out on the recliner until 8:30. Started washing the dishes. Patricia called and asked me to pick her up from where she was at, so I did. We returned home. I finished the dishes. And here I am writing this silly blog post.

Patricia wanted me to get this hair cut because we're going to an art gallery thing tomorrow night and she didn't want me to get confused with some of the bohemian artists who will doubtless be there.

Gotta get up extra early in the morning to get some pics at the Information Morning birthday party. 

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3300 - Wednesday

Happy post 3300!

A very long day. I just sent off my latest media column to my Frank editor. My true crime column was sent in during lunch and is ready for publication next week. The media column will also be in next week.

I must be tired. I was messaging someone this evening and forgot the name of a jock in the local radio market, one who I should know. I must be getting silly in my old age.

Tomorrow, I need to do some more work for my next true crime column. I work on a few of them at once.

I think I will turn in. Got some news at work today that makes me think that tomorrow won't be much fun.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 3299 - Tuesday

Nearly 10:30.

Patricia returned to the city this evening. I came downstairs to my home office around 8 to work on my Frank deadlines. I got some additional information about a previous column, and produced an update that I think fleshes things out more, and which I hope will be included in the next issue.

I also have been working on my media column. There is information in this column that nobody else has. I guarantee it.

Other than that, it has been an uneventful evening. Just one full of work and writing and re-writing.

I think I will re-boot my home media server and turn in. Long day tomorrow.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 3298 - Monday

Nearly 10.

I have spent this evening getting a draft of my latest true crime article into my Frank editor, and preparing for tomorrow's recycling day. That is a major affair to me, as it means deciding what I am getting rid of. The main thing this week is back issues of the Toastmaster magazine, some going back to the 1990's. I just can't keep that stuff in the house any more. I don't have the room, or the desire, to keep it. I am also throwing out some books. I have also bundled up quite a few boxes. Halifax rules dictate that boxes must be broken down and lashed together with twine or string or something of that nature. Have about 6 bundles of those to go out, in the morning.

I do not condone littering or illegal dumping of any kind, but my god, they don't make it easy to be an honest man, do they? If I were to take things to the landfill on a day other than my regular garbage or recycling day, I would have to pay a fee to get rid of it. And when I abide by the rules and throw things in the proper bags, not too full so that the guys don't throw out their backs tossing them onto the truck, et cetera and so on, then it is just so much work and hassle. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Patricia remains at the cottage. She decided this morning to take one more vacation day, Tuesday. So, she will be coming back tomorrow, likely in the afternoon. We will both be at the cottage for the Canada Day weekend, a scant 10 days hence.

I am working on my media column for my Frank deadline. It's a two deadline week for me. Next week, I have every intention of delivering another true crime article. One a week, until I get a nice stockpile and can enjoy my July vacation without having to worry about a damned deadline.

It's funny because as soon as I finish this media column, I immediately start working on the next one. Sisyphus, meet this big rock. Roll it up that hill for me, won't you? There's a good fellow.

(No, I'm not complaining. Just explaining. Two different things.)

I am supervising the washing machine. It is just going into a cycle where, it it gets off balance, the machine will shake itself to pieces. I will put them on the clothesline in the morning before I go to work.

I think I will call it a day. Been a long one, and tomorrow promises to be one, too.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 3297 - Sunday

Past 9:30.

I spent a few hours today working on that missing persons case. I am hoping to send it in to my editor on Monday evening at the latest.

It has otherwise been a quiet day. Patricia remains at the cottage this evening, having spent several hours doing a rough cut of the lawn down there. When we are up over the Canada Day long weekend, we will lower the blade one or two levels and cut the lawn that much deeper. Will probably take the better part of an entire day's work to do that. I actually don't mind doing that. I can be out there for hours and hours, mowing away, lost in my thoughts. It is one of those chores that some people fine to be drudgery. I don't like to mow the lawn here in Halifax and hire a young man to do it for me. But there is something about being at the cottage, riding the lawn tractor, that relaxes me. It is the strangest thing.

Over the weekend, a friend recommended the film "Rolling Thunder", which came out in 1977. I watched it Saturday night. It stars William Devane, who is one of those actors the envy of other actors, because he's one of those actors who always seem to get a lot of work. He was on "The Grinder" this past season. But I digress.

It's about a Vietnam war veteran who returns home after having been in a prison for 7 years where he was tortured a few times a day, and discovers that his wife, believing him to be dead, is marrying his best friend. Meanwhile, some bad guys want the hundreds of silver dollars he was given by a grateful town for his years of torment, and maim him and kill his family. Delightful story. Then, the vet seeks out on a plan of revenge. Good film. I recommend it, also, as long as you realize it was made 40 years ago by Roger Corman's production company, and therefore has a low budget and looks it.

I think I will have a shower and turn in. A long day awaits me, in just a matter of hours.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 3296 - Saturday

Past 11:30pm.

I went to the Nova Scotia Archives today. My goodness, was an imposing place. I registered, which was a painless process and was directed to the 3rd floor, where a couple of archivists showed me how to access the newspaper microfilms I sought.

I was there for the better part of 3 hours. I found nothing to aid me in my research into the missing persons case I want more information on.

Dejected, I returned home. I ate something. And I crashed on my recliner for a few hours. At some point, Newbie joined me. We awoke a few hours later.

Patricia is at the cottage this weekend, having all kinds of fun mowing the lawn down there, and not letting me forget about it. I am trying to do some things around the house so that when she returns on Monday, she will think it loots passably better. We'll see if I succeed.

I think I will turn in. Been a long day, and not as productive as I had wanted it to be.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3295 - Friday

The weekend's here. The weekend's here!

Patricia will be out of town for the balance of the weekend. I will be spending a big chunk of Saturday writing and researching a few missing persons/unsolved murders cases. There is no shortage of them, even in this small province. I have been writing them for less than a month now, and I have learned so much about pacing and writing these things, from my editor. The product you see in Frank Magazine is far better than what I would have been able to give you here, on the Blog. Trust me. You are missing out on something. This is the best work I have ever done, and I am no braggart.

When I get back here tomorrow, I will have to tackle some chores around here, and keep Newbie company. He sits next to me on this computer chair, bumping his head against my right arm in an attempt to get me to pet him. So, excuse me for a moment...

He lets me hold him for a moment and then wriggle free, like I did when I was 13 and my dad wanted to hug me. Gross, Dad!

Say, on my Facebook, I have put up the video of me seeing happy birthday to my father, on June 4, 2009, on what proved to be his final birthday.  I remain grateful to myself, if that makes any sense, for taking a vacation day that day and buggering off to the Valley to be with my parents and taking them to lunch, and getting the server to shoot that video. I'm not grateful for my singing voice, though.

Here it is, if you want to see it.



Simon Cowell would crap all over me for it, but it came from the heart.

Long, busy day tomorrow. I think I should turn in.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3294 - Thursday

Drained.

I just got off the phone with the father of the missing man whom I mentioned last evening. We spoke for over an hour. He gave me plenty of good information that will inform my article for an upcoming issue of Frank Magazine.

These stories are so heartbreaking. I don't have any kids. But if I did, I would be devastated to lose a child, and in particular to have one go missing, and you have no idea what happened. These families are made of stronger stuff than I am.

Tomorrow is Friday. And, unless my math is off, that means that the day after that is... Saturday! The weekend. I am looking forward to it.

I think I will have a shower and turn in.

You guys have a good night. See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3293 - Wednesday

Nearly 10:30.

A very long day. Work was troublesome for reasons that had nothing to do with me, for a change. I had a thing after work, which meant that I couldn't go with Patricia to the sneak preview of "Central Intelligence", starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. She took a girlfriend instead. By the time I got finished my thing in Dartmouth, I returned to Bayer's Lake and hooked up with them at Chapter's, a short ride from the "Scotia Bank Theatre". Which used to be the Cineplex Odeon multiplex in Bayer's Lake, until it rebranded.

We got home around 10. As soon as I got through the door, my phone started chirping, informing me of Facebook updates, emails, and the like. I don't pay for a data plan on this private phone of mine. Maybe I should. A couple of those emails were relatively important.

Thursday night, I will be on the phone with the father of a Nova Scotia missing person. This young man disappeared after leaving a gay night club a number of years ago; no trace of him has ever been found. Unlike some other parents of missing persons, this father has been looking forward to talking to me, and I have had to put him off for a couple of days now, which I shouldn't do. He saw the article in Frank 2 weeks ago about Mark Clarke and has likely read my article about the 1955 murder of Michael Resk. He knows that I am taking this stuff very seriously and want to get the news out there about these missing persons and unsolved murders. So I will talk to this man tomorrow night and spend a bunch of time at the NS Archives on Saturday, researching this story and a few others. This part time job is hard work!

I think i will turn in. Like I said, this has been a long day.

See you tomorrow, my lovelies.

Bevboy

Post 3292 - Things That Make You Go Hmm

Please regard the following:

I think it's funny. I think it says something about men and women and how they perceive each other. I don't see how it's a big deal.

Enter Martha Cody.

We were FB friends for some time. She unfriended me. I sent a new request a couple of days ago. She was trolling my FB page a couple of hours ago and didn't like this one little bit. She said, "Then live alone. This is not funny. Stop being the problem. Help women achieve equality."

I am not even sure what that means.

I mean, those are English words and everything, but they are arranged in a way that I cannot parse. 

She wasn't done yet. 

She wrote on my timeline (since removed), words to the effect that my latest wasn't funny and that it wasn't nice. Something like that. It's gone, and so is she.

My goodness.

I had no idea that the above meme would cause any kind of problems whatsoever. In these days of Donald Trump saying whatever he wants, of some folks getting ripped up over who should be allowed in women's washrooms in the United States, of some comments about what happened in Orlando Saturday evening, why should this innocent little meme should cause someone to tear in to me, unfriend me, and likely make her spend the rest of her evening bad-mouthing me?

Martha Cody was on the tv for years and years, most notably at Global news. She left, and I recall hearing her for a time on... KOOL FM, I think it was. And I spoke to her on the phone a few years ago, we talked about an interview. I guess that's not gonna happen, now. 

Did she overreact? Am I being an obtuse so-and-so? I think I need some help with this one, folks.

Have a good evening, folks. 

Bevboy

Post 3291 - Monday

Hi.

I'm sorry I didn't write all weekend. I didn't mean for that to happen. But the last two nights, I conked out early. Tonight, at 8:40, I am slowing down.

At the yard sales on Saturday, I did get a spatula, but it is a metal one. I am keeping it down in the Valley, and will toss out the crappy plastic ones that were down there. They go out, tomorrow, actually. I also got a level for a dollar. You know, it has those little bubbles in it that go in the middle of the little window when something is level. I know I already had one, but this one was a dollar, dammit. And I also got a thing that allows you to roll up a power cord. Upon unwinding it, and plugging it in, you get 4 additional plug ins. Like a power bar, only round. And, I got a wooden container to hold potatoes and onions and the like. And a wooden spoon for 25 cents.

And... I won on the CBC Mystery Vocalist Contest, again. That's twice in 2016. They played a bit of the theme song from a CBC show. I got through. I told them it was a cooking show, in the afternoons It starred James Barber. And I didn't know the name. Turns out it was called "The Urban Peasant", and because I knew everything else, they gave it to me. So, that means I will have another silly old key chain in the mail this week. Yay.

I got the house whipper snipped on Saturday. It looks a lot better. Saturday night, I started watching a documentary and dozed off. I went to bed. Slept for a long time.

Sunday I kinda hung around the house until after lunch before returning to the city mid afternoon. Showed Patricia the stuff I had purchased. She remarked that the wooden spoon would bounce nicely off my ass the next time I misbehave. Ha. Like I ever misbehave.

Today, the latest issue of Frank Magazine was published online. The paper edition will hit stores and mailboxes on Wednesday, I guess. It has my second true crime column. This one is about the unsolved murder of grocer Michael Resk, in 1955. There are some interesting twists and turns in this one. There's information in this article that hasn't been reported in decades. I hope you check it out.

I am working on the third case now, which will likely be another missing persons case. I just spoke with the parent of one of the cases I'm working on. His voice cracked when I identified myself and told him I'd like to talk about his son. I figure he hadn't discussed his son in a long time. He will confer with his wife and decide whether to speak to me. The question is, if he doesn't talk to me, do I still go ahead and do the story? It's not like there are a lot of details out there, and having a more-or-less primary source would be beneficial.

This is not an easy job that I have. Sometimes I wonder, if in taking it on, whether I am a good fit, whether I have the skills or the temperament to do it. We will have to see. I just know that I am spent for the evening, so I am putting down my pen, as it were, and taking a break.

I think I will step outside to get some air. Been a long day, and tomorrow promises to be another one.

See you tomorrow, my lovelies.

Bevboy

Post 3290 - Friday

8:50pm.

Phew!

I drove up this morning. The weather was not the greatest by the time I got here. I despaired that I would not be able to mow the lawn. The grass was up to me arse, so I could not really delay it any longer. I began mowing around 11:15, but had to stop when the rain commenced.

I found other things to do until around 4pm, and resumed the lawn. I worked on it until 6pm. I watched the news, and Inner Space on the Space channel, and then went back outside again, working until shortly after 8. It is pretty much done now. I could have stayed out a bit longer, but the friggin' black flies were starting to carry me away. Saturday afternoon, I hope to get the weed whacker out and do around the perimeter of the house. But, at least, most of the work is done. The grounds no longer look like a jungle.

Tomorrow morning I will get up early. 7 or so. I will grab something to eat and make sure I am on the road by 8 at the latest, to take advantage of the village-wide yardsale in Port Williams. Spatula, here I come!

When I got to Wolfville this morning to get a few victuals, I happened to notice the cover of the current  Frank Magazine. It may interest you to know that they vary the covers throughout the province, playing up local content for the various markets. Here is the cover for the Valley edition:

My article about Mark Clarke made the cover, and prominently, to boot. I am very honored.

I can tell you that the issue of Frank the comes out this coming Monday has another true crime column by moi in it. This one is an unsolved murder. A gangland murder. In Halifax. A long time ago. You will see it on Monday if you are an online subscriber. A couple of days later if you get the print edition.

I think I will fire up Netflix for a few minutes, find something to watch, and turn in without watching it. Don't tell me you don't do that, too. Surely I am not the only one.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3289 - Thursday

My weekend is here! Yay.

After work this evening we went to the Value Village in Bayer's Lake. I ended up finding a copy of a book I'd wanted for a long time, and it was only 3 bucks. In 1973 or so, Barry Broadfoot put out a book about Canadians' experiences during the Great Depression, sort of like how Studs Terkel did the same thing in the U.S. This book is long out of print, and now I have a copy. There were some other books by Broadfoot as well, including the one about Canadian Japanese internment camps during the War. I passed on that one.

So, tomorrow morning I will get up comparatively early and go to the Valley for a day or two. Saturday I will look high and low for a better spatula for here. Not just any spatula, either. A hard plastic one, one that doesn't melt when it gets too hot, nor break arbitrarily, nor scrape certain kinds of cookery. It is a tall-ish order I have set out for myself. I just hope I can achieve it.

I think I will turn in. Getting excited.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3288 - Wednesday

One more work day in my week. Woo hoo.

I just sent off my latest media column to my editor at Frank. I guarantee there is information, reportage, and analysis in that column that you will find nowhere else. Will be out next week. Get it.

We had our final Toastmasters meeting of the season, this evening. I won Table Topics. We had to talk about the thing in life that could lead to happiness. I was tasked to speak for 2 minutes about how you can make more money than a Harvard MBA. I had no answer to the question but stammered something about how just having an advanced degree was no guarantee of future success, how the world doesn't owe anybody anything, how a person who doesn't have an advanced degree can persevere despite the odds. People liked it enough that I got the most votes. Not sure why.

This time tomorrow night I will be facing my 3 day weekend. I have plotted out all the places at the Port Williams yard sale that might have a newer plastic spatula, and will make a bee line for those places on Saturday morning. I will let you know how that works out for me.

I got up some 17 hours ago. Put in an 18 hour day on Tuesday. I think I should turn in. So, if you'll excuse me....

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3287 - Tuesday

My work week is half over. Yay.

I spent this past weekend at the cottage. This one will be in the Valley, where among other things I need to mow the lawn. The lawn is likely shaggier than my hair.

I mean...

Here is my hair, a webcam photo taken a moment ago.

The hair is glorious, full-bodied, and beautiful in every sense of the word. Fabio fighting frost giants would not have such lovely hair. I truly feel sorry for people who haven't met me, and basked in the glory of my hair.

At any rate, while it is so therapeutic and relaxing to discuss my hair, it doesn't change the fact that I have hours of work ahead of me on Friday, mowing the lawn. While I am there doing that, Patricia will be doing the same thing at the cottage, so we will be separated for the weekend. I know she will miss my hair.

On Saturday will be the 17th annual Port Williams Days, where among other things will be the village-wide yard sale. I have never missed one of these yard sales. I am trying to downsize my possessions, but we do need a newer spatula, so if I can find a good plastic one, it's mine, baby. Get your own. Get your own damn spatula, you spatula-coveting son of a gun you.

It is getting late. I spent quite a bit of time tonight working on my latest media column for Frank. Think I will turn in.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3286 - Monday

11pm.

This was one of the nights when  I get home from work and collapse on my easy chair, and sleep the night away. Woke up before 10pm, wandered upstairs to the kitchen, and decided I didn't want anything to eat. And, an hour later, I am still not hungry.

I have finished the first draft of my latest true crime column for Frank. It is with my editor. And I was gonna work on my newest media column tonight, but that didn't happen, so it means I will have to work on it tomorrow. I know you don't care, but I do.

My goodness, I think I will go back to bed. Feeling a bit under the weather.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3285 - Back From The Cottage

Hi.

We got back a few hours ago.

Nice weekend at the cottage. We got there mid day on Friday. Saturday morning was gonna be all about mowing the lawn down there, but the lawn tractor wouldn't start. So we called the small engine repair place. They picked it up, and will return it later on this week. So, two weeks in a row to the cottage.

The water cut out Saturday morning. Patricia got it working again, after doing what I had done a couple of times, to no avail. I guess it takes a woman's touch, sometimes.

I had all kinds of grandiose plans to work on my Frank Magazine columns, which are due this week. I want to get a draft of my latest true crime column to my editor by tomorrow. To do that, I have spent the last 2 hours researching an unsolved murder from long ago. I think I can state that I have found some information that hasn't been reported on this case, for decades. I hope you find it interesting, when it goes live in a week.

It is now 10pm. I have to get to work writing that draft. Gonna be a long night.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3284 - Cottage Bound

Past 9pm.

If things go according to plan, about 12 hours from now, we will be piling into the car and driving to the cottage. We should have been there before this, but we didn't. The more fool us.

I booked a vacation day today, so we can stretch the time there a bit. We shudder to imagine what the lawn looks like down there. It can't be short and trim. Likely going to take the better part of a day to mow the thing, even on a ride-on.

I am not sure how much I will be able to blog over the next few days. Might make it to the River John Library on Saturday, but I am not sure. Depends on the darned lawn, and how much progress I can make with it.

I think I will turn in. Long day tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 3283 - Wednesday

How was your day?

Long day. I used my fitbit nicely today. I walked nearly 8000 steps. Others, of course, walk that much before breakfast. I will have to get into that kind of groove if I am to get out of the basement of the work competition I am in. Some of these guys have 30 000 steps, SO FAR THIS WEEK. I am not sure it is that far to walk to Toronto and back, but these guys just walk everywhere at every opportunity. Some of them go for walk at coffee break. They go to the Metro Deli, get their coffee, and rather than sit with us and discuss the burning issues of the day, and proceed to gallivant out the door, not to be seen until some short time later, having satisfied their wanderlust for the moment.

Anyway, unless there is a miracle, I will be at the bottom of the list.

Had Toastmasters tonight. Good meeting. We had a speech, and a really good evaluation was given. Evaluations in TM are, or should be, of a certain format. You open up with positive comments. You proceed with one or two areas for improvement. And you always end up with something else positive. We call it the sandwich approach. Works wonders not just for the member's self esteem, but for his future in the organization.

Drove home. Mowed the lawn. Ate something. Wrote this post.

What else is there?

Why, bed of course.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy