Thursday, June 28, 2018

Post 3739 - One More Day To Go!

What a long week.

Just one more day to a long weekend. And, assuming it is approved by my manager, I will have all of next week off. That is... uh, um, 11 days off work.

We are both so tired. I fell asleep on the couch Monday night. I have managed to sustain myself since then, but that doesn't mean I don't need a break.

After work tonight, we went to dinner at Salvatore's Pizza on Young Street, in the Hydrostone area. As usual, it was excellent. Turns out that a man from my work sat down close to us. I introduced him to Patricia. He introduced both of us to his lovely wife.

We got home. Saw that the neighbour to whom I sold my spare lawnmower was mowing my side of the lawn. He is a gentleman. He was really grateful to get the lawnmower. I was just happy not to be stuck with it, or to have to throw it out or something. Very happy to see it and the whipper snipper thingy go to someone who can use them.

The Friday before a long weekend is a funny day at work. It is always fun to see how many people stretch the long weekend to its breaking point, taking that day off, too. I suspect that traffic will be very light, and that there will not be a long queue to get into the men's room.

I'm gonna turn in.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Post 3738 - Hello

It is getting late, yet again.

You remember that episode of The Big Bang Theory where the boy are going out, but Sheldon stays home, saying that he has to update the OS on his laptop? The laughtrack came on. People in Des Moines, Iowa, were laughing, not knowing what that silly Sheldon was talking about.

Guess what I did this evening?

Yep.

I updated the OS on a very old laptop.

I installed lubuntu on it this evening. Went well, but then I installed dropbox on it. It would take a long time to sync everything. The laptop fan was running overtime, overheating like crazy. I decided to shut down the machine for the evening.

Why do I bother? I have other computers in this house, including this desktop I bought in 2009, but which still runs like a stop, thanks to the installation of a solid state drive last year. But there is something about these older machines that makes me want to keep them going until they just won't go any further. It is a weird disease.

So, Dustjacket Books in Maritime Centre is moving in the coming days. To get the books they don't want to lug to their new location, across the street, they are having a "stuff a bag" sale. As many books as will fit in a standard grocery bag cost ten dollars. I think they could have stuffed a few more books in one bag, so they charged me $30, but I got some great bargains. Lots of vintage mysteries from the 1960's and 1970's, featuring writers I knew of but whose work I did not own. I had no idea John Creasey had produced so much work, but a quick look on Wikipedia tells me that he produce some 600 novels during his life, and wrote under something like 28 pseudonyms. I probably got a dozen or more today, so a tiny smattering of his output. I know that Creasey wrote a bunch of short stories under J.J. Marric, so I wonder what his total output truly was. I also wonder if anybody will ever know...

Maritime Centre is going through a major, fundamental renovation. The foodcourt, reduced to two entries in recent months as three other eateries closed, is itself closing this week. After DJ is gone, and more on that later, they will renovate that whole section, eventually extending the parking to that level. I will miss that foodcourt. Nick's Place was a terrific place to get breakfast or lunch. But it closed last year, when the new owners couldn't or wouldn't make a go of it.

The food court will, in a year or so, re-open one level up. Star*Bucks is moving in. McDonald's. Other places. It will face Barrington Street so people walking by will actually see it and realize there are eateries there, as opposed to people having no idea there were places to eat.

The two remaining entries in the foodcourt, a Chinese place and a place that sells sushi, will perhaps have no place to sit once this game of musical chairs is over.

DJ Books is moving across the street to the building that houses the Historic Farmer's Market. I was told it is moving next to the Chinese restaurant in there, which you don't know about because you don't go there. The staff person tells me that the place will be a bit bigger. They will be open nights and weekends. They have grand plans for the new store, which will include having authors drop by, and other special events they will reveal.

DJ Books was... an eclectic store. Not quite as precarious as Doull's bookstore was when it was downtown, but along those lines. If the books they are selling dirt cheap help them deal with the overage in books they have, perhaps the new joint will look less messy and more welcoming. I wish them well.

I love used bookstores. Not nearly as many as there used to be, though.

Guess I will turn in. Lots to do tomorrow.

See you then.

Bevboy


Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Post 3737 - Yawn!

What a night.

After work we went to the Halifax Shopping Centre to visit The Body Shop. I had run out of the stuff I rub on my face after I shave, and it has looked increasingly weathered and dry lately because of it. Got two things of this "razor relief" stuff, plus a thing of facial moisturizer. After a long shower and shave tonight, I applied the products, and I feel so much better as a result.

I sold my neighbours the lawn mower and whipper snipper and the associated power cord, that were down in the Valley for the last few years. I have found a man to mow the lawn down there, so there is no need to keep them any more. They had no lawn mower, so I made a deal with them. They're happy. I'm happy. Everybody's happy.

There are other things I should get rid of down there. Will start compiling a list!

Very little else going on around these parts. How about you?

Long day today. An even longer one, tomorrow.

See you then.

Bevboy


Sunday, June 24, 2018

Post 3736 - Sunday Evening

Hi.

Sorry I didn't write the last few days. Friday night, I turned in relatively early. Saturday I went (by myself) to the Valley to take care of some things down there. Really glad I went. I had a chance to clarify some issues with a couple of folks, issues that I think had to be clarified. It is amazing what a couple of beer can accomplish!

I also had time to take a long nap Saturday afternoon. I sleep well in the city, but there is something about the smell of chicken shit emanating from the henhouse across the street lovely country air that drifts me off to the land of nod. After that meeting i just mentioned, I returned to the house and went to bed.

This morning I received additional information that puzzled me regarding the situation I just mentioned. Patricia and I discussed it this afternoon. She asked me so many questions and brought up so many points that I fear that I became shirty with her. How many ways can I say "I don't know" without resorting to cussing? I nearly found out.

I bought a box of strawberries in Greenwich this afternoon, on the way back to the city. Word of advice: wait a couple of weeks before you buy local strawberries. I did not enjoy paying six dollars for a box of them. They will come down to four dollars before long.  Like that's cheap.

Uh, what else? An ancient laptop I got several years ago booted up this afternoon, but its specifications are so meager that it cannot run all the processes necessary to make it worthwhile. Dropbox does not synchronize on that machine any more. I may have to install Puppy Linux on it, which is an ignoble way for this computer to finish its useful life. Do they even update Puppy Linux any more? Maybe Lubuntu will be a better choice.

Back to work in the morning. Blessed be.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Thursday, June 21, 2018

Post 3735 - Much Better!

Pushing ten pm.

I feel pretty good today. I finally wrestled that migraine to the ground. I took yet another headache pill around 8 this morning. The headache washed away within 30 minutes or so, replaced by the faint euphoric feeling characteristic of this medication.

I had a pretty good day at work, too. Well rested, and sans migraine, I didn't feel sick or tired or anything else. Had a nice pizza lunch as a woman in my building is selling pizza to raise funds so she can rappel outside of a perfectly nice building in the downtown.  And when I got home tonight, and after dinner and the news, I was able to come downstairs to my home office and produce my latest true crime piece for Frank. It took me about two and a half hours. My editor graciously let me finish the piece tonight, even though it is hard against the deadline for the issue that comes out next week. I hope he doesn't have to do many changes to the text and that it goes in to print with few changes, if only to save him some work.

It is another unsolved murder case, from the early 00's. I will tell you which one next week when the magazine comes out.

(Yes. I am a stinker for not telling you which case it is.)

The weekend will be here in mere hours. What will we do? Hard to say. So many things to do that have to be done that are not one bit of fun. We can put some of them off a bit, but only a bit. I think some of those things will be worked on this weekend. Sigh, and double sigh.

Gotta turn in. Need some seepy time.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy





Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Post 3734 - Yawn!

Been fighting something all week. Got home from work before 5pm. Ate something. Decided to recline for 30 minutes or so, but ended up sleeping most of the night away.

I hope I am not coming down with what Patricia has had for the last two weeks. That is not a fun experience for her.

At any rate, Newbie has been all over me since I got home. He is literally at my feet at this moment, no doubt waiting for me to finish writing this blog post so I can go back to bed so he can follow me.

I am not sure where this week is going. It is already Wednesday night. It used to be that the weekends went by super quickly. Now, the work week is whizzing by, too.

So much else going on in my life. Ever wonder why I'm so exhausted at the end of a given weekend? You will find out soon, I promise.

Turning in. Long day tomorrow.

Bevboy


Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Post 3733 - Two Days Later...

So, I had either two migraines on Monday, or one really bad one. Even those magic pills didn't help. I took one very early on Monday morning, but the migraine just laughed at it and persevered.

Patricia was still not feeling well, so I took her to the local walk-in clinic, and then to Costco to get a prescription. After that, I drove her home and went to work, arriving around 11:30. Worked through lunch. The migraine, which had been at a dull ache, intensified throughout the day. By times, it was at a piercing level, nearly making me cry out. This never happens. Never.

I managed to drive home. Rested before dinner. Ate something. Returned some emails. And returned to sleepy time, not really getting up again until 5:30 Tuesday morning. The headache was finally gone.

Patricia returned to work today, but was sent home again this afternoon, so I left work for the day at 2, got a few victuals, and then drove her home. I have spent part of the evening working on my next Frank cold case article, and will finish it Wednesday evening. It will not be nearly as long as the one in the current issue, so  you can either be sad about it, or grateful. Your choice.

Patricia has gone to bed already. A little while ago I heard her coughing up a lung. What disease will I catch, next?

Let's find out.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Sunday, June 17, 2018

Post 3732 - Sunday Night

Well, I wish I could say I did heck and all today. But I would be lying.

I slept in until 11:30. Got up and we ate something. By 2:30, I took a nap for a couple of hours. Made dinner. Showered. Put on my cleanest dirty shirt. And here we are.

We are heading into another work week. I am trying to figure out where these weekends go, and why they go by so quickly. In a week's time it will have been 36 years since I graduated high school. I have no idea where those years have gone, either. No idea, at all.

No. I didn't read any more of "Dead Skip" today. Hope to crack it open during my lunch hour tomorrow. I will tell you all about it when I am done.

Patricia is still not feeling well. Her husky, Kathleen-Turner voice is appealing to me, but it is not natural so she may end up going to the doctor in the next day or so.

I am going to turn in. See you tomorrow. Keep smiling.

Bevboy


Saturday, June 16, 2018

Post 3731 - Saturday Night Yakking

Sorry I didn't write last night. My body shut down earlier than I would have liked it to. But I am here now.

Patricia has been feeling poorly most of the week. She went to bed early, around 8:30, right after we found out what happened with Rooster on Netflix's "The Ranch". I will go to bed later, probably after I have watched something scary on tv which will keep me awake all night. Maybe there is a channel where I can watch my bank balance dwindle.

Newbie has been in a funny mood all day. He was by the back door, leading to the back landing, for several hours today. Then, this evening, he was in the hallway outside of the living room. When Patricia went to bed, he came upstairs with us for a few minutes. Now, I am not sure where he is.  Maybe the humidity is getting to him.

I haven't read any more of "Dead Skip" in the last two days, so I am not closer to finding out what happened to one of the main characters, whose life is hanging in the balance while another character is trying to find out whodunnit. I am enjoying the book so much that I think when I finish it that I will read one of the other four Joe Gores books I have laying around. A bibliographic blurb about him stated that, as of the 1970's, he had written in excess of 100 short stories. I know that I have read several of them, but the vast majority of them would be uncollected and I may never be able to find them all. What a drag.

What is happening on Sunday? Probably more of what happened on Saturday. I say, bring it on.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Thursday, June 14, 2018

Post 3730 - The Weekend is Here!

Thursday night.

We are off on Friday. Patricia is still recovering from what ails her, so we will likely stay in town on Friday. Up in the air, what happens on Saturday and Sunday.

The book I started on Monday? "Dead Skip" by Joe Gores? Been reading it on my lunch hour this week. Page 64, which is about a third of the way through the novel. Gores was a respected crime writer in his day, but not that many years after his death, he is largely forgotten, and it's a damn shame. Really compelling plot and dialogue, and no wasted scenes. Not one of those bloated, 900 page novels where entire chapters go nowhere, and you wonder why you bother reading the thing.

What else is going on? My latest true crime piece in Frank is going over well. The source I tracked down got back to me and told me how much she liked the article, which is about two of her friends who were sex workers in Halifax, and how they were killed. One of those murders remains unsolved. Halifax's Stepping Stone was founded a couple of years later largely as a result of these two murders, and remains the only organization East of Montreal designed to help sex workers and those who have been trafficked into sex work.

Writing this article was extra hard. Finding the source willing to talk to me was gratifying, and is even more so because she appreciates the end result.

Even the police were helpful this time. I begged them to provide a picture of the victim, as none could be found anywhere else. They opened up their paper files, which had likely not been looked at in quite some time, found a photo they had not shared with the public either ever or for decades, and scanned it in and emailed it to me and my editor, just in time for publication in the current issue of Frank.

Very happy with how the article turned out. I hope you check out the issue of Frank that is currently on newsstands, and let me know what you think of it.

Imma turn in. Been a long day. Earned my beauty coma.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Post 3729 - Yawn!

So, I got home at 4:53 this afternoon. At 4:57 my work called, and I worked until 8:30. Patricia made me a sandwich around 8:20 as I hadn't had time to eat anything.

That was my evening.

How was yours?

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Post 3728 - Two Days Later...

Hi.

Sorry I didn't write last night. I had a migraine headache. I pretty much slept the night away once I got home.

Today, I had to leave work a bit early as Patricia was not feeling well. I will get to work on Wednesday morning extra early to make up the difference.

I cooked some chicken thighs on the barbecue, and we ate them like the carnivores we are.  Patricia had planned to make fajitas tonight but wasn't feeling well enough to prepare them, so it was chicken pieces instead.

I recorded a podcast with Jordan Bonaparte last month. He released it a few days ago, and it has gone... well, "viral" is too strong a word. But we are getting lots of feedback. It was based upon one of my Frank magazine articles.  You can listen to it right here.

I consider it to be one of the saddest articles I have done. As you will learn, he never got a break in life, and so it went in a direction that you might imagine. Unlike some podcasts that go on for hours, this one is only about 25 minutes, so you can listen to it on your way to work or something. Let me know what you think of it.

I'm going to turn in a bit early tonight. I have to get up a little earlier for the reason I specified above.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy




Sunday, June 10, 2018

Post 3727 - Another Weekend In The History Books

It is Sunday night.

I didn't write yesterday because we were running the roads all day. We got home late, and I collapsed in a heap quite early.

Today I made breakfast and we watched some tv in the afternoon. We were gonna do hell and all today but by mid-afternoon, I had to take a nap. Go figure.

This is a four day work week for us. Friday will be my earned day off. Not sure what that spells for us, just yet.

I look forward to telling you guys about what we do on these weekends when we run the roads. Soon. Have patience.

Gotta go. See you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Friday, June 8, 2018

Post 3726 - Friday Night Shortcomings

I hope you all had a nice week. I am glad that the weekend is finally here. Of course, now that the weekend is here, the question is, what will we do, and will we have any fun at all?

I did finally finish reading a novel I began last year. It is called "Dirty White Boys". It is by Stephen Hunter, best known for writing the Bob Lee Swagger novels. One of those novels was the basis for a pretty crappy movie called "Shooter", which is now a tv series. At any rate, "Dirty White Boys" held by interest, which is to say when I read it, I couldn't put it down. But I don't read as much as I used to, and finding time to read is not always easy. I look forward to reading much more Hunter, and soon.

The next novel I will read is probably gonna be "Dead Skip" by Joe Gores. Came out in 1972. I got my copy at a fleamarket in New Minas on August 5, 2001, which was a Sunday. I have long enjoyed Gores' writing, a writer who's criminally underrated. I have read a number of his short stories in Elllery Queen's Mystery Magazine, but have never read one of his novels. It is less than 200 pages, so I should be able to read it in short order. I am getting tired of authors producing 1000 page novels and expecting average folks to up and read them.

I have a few more novels by Gores and likely quite a few of his short stories in my collection here at Casa Bevboy.

Saturday morning beckons, as much as I don't want it to. I think I will turn in.

See you tomorrow, my lovelies.

Bevboy


Thursday, June 7, 2018

Post 3725 - Hello Again!

Hello again, my friends. I have missed you.

Tuesday night my body shut down around 8:30. Wednesday night I spent several hours working on my next Frank true crime piece. I worked on it some more this evening, interviewing a source and summarizing some of her content in a sidebar piece. You will see it next week. I am really pleased with how it turned out, actually. A true mesh of writer and editor, working together to produce good work.

Patricia went to an aerobics place after work, where I met up with her. She was trying to get some shoes for her orthotics, and a sports bra, too. The female sales rep was talking about her own bust size, and I felt uncomfy, so I sat down on a nearby bench until they were done.

We got home, and I showered and got cleaned up so I could work on this article and this blog post.

The weekend is nearly here. We are formulating our plans for it. It will be nothing special. The weekends are becoming more work than the week days are. Getting tiresome, to be honest.

You guys have a good evening. Talk at you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Monday, June 4, 2018

Post 3724 - Monday Night Goings On

How was your day?

I was fairly busy at work all day, which makes the day go by faster, which is only a good thing. I had packed for my lunch quite a bit of food, but only ended up nuking about half of it, which was plenty. I am definitely still off my feed.

After work, we went to Costco to get a few things. When we got home, I made my patent-pending pan-friend haddock. I ate perhaps one third of what i normally consume, and was quite full. Patricia ate a decent helping. There are plenty of left overs for another night, and maybe even more for a third night.

This evening I spoke with a woman who was friends with a murder victim. It will be the basis for an upcoming true crime piece in Frank. I will not soon forget the things she told me over the last two nights. I will be incorporating some of it in my next article. Look for it.

How bored was I afterward? I watched the first period of the hockey game tonight. Three nothing for the Caps after one period. Is there any point in watching the rest of the game? I don't think so.

Imma turning in.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Sunday, June 3, 2018

Post 3723 - Another Weekend Gone

Where did the time go?

I didn't get up until noon. We ate something and spent the afternoon watching episodes of "Suits". I was on the couch, sort of laying down, with Newbie at my feet (he still is, actually, here in my home office).

Patricia prepared dinner and I ate about one third of what I would normally consume. It wasn't because I didn't like it. I am just woefully off my feed the last week or so.

Tonight, I showered and shaved. I am washing some clothes to wear during the week. And I get up in less than eight hours to go off to work for another record-breaking week.

I think someone needs a long vacation.

I think I will turn in. These ten hour days are grueling.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Saturday, June 2, 2018

Post 3722 - Saturday Night Stuff

Welcome back, my friends.

I wish I could say I did a lot today, but I would be lying. I slept in until like 10:30 or so. Made some breakfast for us. By noon, I was resting on the couch, and by 1:30 or so, I went upstairs to take a "short" nap, that lasted for three hours. What the hell is wrong with me?

Tonight I barbecued some sausages, and we watched a few episodes of "Suits" before deciding to watch "The Legend of Tarzan" on Netflix. It was excellent. What a shame it was a box office disappointment.

Because of all the sleep I got, we didn't go to any of the Open Halifax events today. Perhaps we will check out a few on Sunday. But more than likely we will just stay in and do some house cleaning. Oh, joy. Oh, bliss.

I think I will turn in. I want to get back into a regular sleep pattern.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy


Friday, June 1, 2018

Post 3721 - Friday Night Ramblings

Hello again.

I almost feel as if the blog is starting afresh, somehow. I have been writing it for more than 10 years now, but this latest break was one I thought I wouldn't come back from.

Anyway, while it is just June 1st, it feels very much like Summer in Halifax. The temperatures were close to 30 degrees today. I didn't have the windows down in the Soul, so it was freakishly hot in there when I hopped in at 4:30. We had decided to have a barbecue for dinner, and nothing was thawed out, so I went to the Superstore across from my work and got some hamburger and some sausages and buns. After we got home, I cooked a full package of the ground beef.

The secret to grilling good hamburgers is to go cheap. If you purchase extra lean ground beef, then you will end up with a disappointing result. The burgers will be dry and flavorless, because there is no fat, and that is where the flavor is. If you buy regular ground beef, which was on sale at Superstore this week, more of the the fat inherit in that meat will drip off in the cooking process, still leaving a much-better tasting patty, because there is still some fat left. And it is two bucks a pound this week at Superstore, so get out there and buy some ground beef already.

We spent some time tonight watching Netflix, but the heat was getting to us. This is going to be a long, dry summer, one where we get on each other's nerves. Can we just switch over to mid-September, right now, please? Thank you very much.

I am not sure what is on tap for the weekend. There is the curb-side giveaway this weekend, where you give away stuff you don't want, drive around to other parts of the community and pick up stuff that others don't want, so you end up with a net increase of stuff in your house when it is all over. I still have an "old-fashioned" cd/DVD holder, about 4 feet tall, that you spin around and insert your discs into the slots built into it. Got it at one of those curb-side things back in... 2014, I think it was. Saw it and lugged it to the car, depositing it in the recroom with every intention of using it. But I never have. Maybe I should re-gift it this weekend.

There is also "Open Halifax" this weekend, where offices and sites usually kept closed to the public, and are open. We have never been.

Not sure what we will do, yet. We may do nothing.

Tell you what. I will make a deal with you. Why don't I tell you what we did tomorrow, tomorrow night?

See you then!

Bevboy