Post 4106 - Tuesday Night Statements

Well, hello there.

Sorry I haven't written the last several days. My injury to my foot was more severe than I thought. We went out on Friday afternoon. Just that small amount of walking just about did me in. Saturday I was in such pain I could barely walk up the stairs, so I mostly stayed by myself. Sunday was not much better. Monday I felt better, but the power went out before I could write a blog post so nothing from me. 

Today, Tuesday, I felt much better. My foot is still a little sore, but nothing like what it was last week. I really should spend some time thinking about what shoes I wear, or even going to a place that makes shoes for me, as Patricia tells me I walk funny. Like my feet point away from me as I walk, rather than go straight ahead. I have no idea what she means. I mean, I understand what she means; but I see people walk that way all the time, and nothing seems to be the matter.

But whatever I did last week so messed up my right foot that I could barely put weight on it for several days. It hurt so much that sitting down hurt, as it placed extra resistance on the foot for just a split second. I have been using a cane to get around the house for the last several days. 

So, that's what I have been up to.

I need to finish some work to complete the scanning in of these old documents from long ago. I have been trying the patience of the people who lent them to me, and I feel badly about that. I should have spent some time on it today, but I slept in until noon. The power being out Monday night meant I could not sleep using the CPAP machine, so I have been half out of it all day. I am guessing that is the way I was for all the years I was not using that machine, which makes me feel stupid for not having started to use the CPAP machine years ago. 

Two things so far this week. The messed up foot. And the inability to use the CPAP machine Monday night. What other treats await me?

Still following the news. Halifax announced they were going to look at a 5.9% property tax increase for next year. Then, the mayor announced that they were going to ask city staff to come up with a, 3.7 or 3.9% increase instead. Sorry about that. Ha ha. Tee hee. 

Folks, the 3.7% increase was on the table to begin with. You know it, and so do I. By going down from 5.9%, they are now looking like heroes. Never mind that with all the housing being sold at the much higher prices, that the city is making far more money on property taxes now than they ever have. They want more. 

I try not to get too terribly involved in civic politics. It is grassroots and people get quite passionate about things that don't seem very interesting to me. But this tax increase really ticks me off. That, plus all the other BS in the city, really makes us want to live somewhere else. But there is no real supply somewhere else out there. The market is so insane with such little supply that I think we are stuck here for a while. 

Doesn't make us happy.

It is now 12:30am on Wednesday. I think I will turn in. I want to try to get up earlier in the morning than I have recently. Can only do me good.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4105 - Thursday Night Things

Well, hello there again.

It was a relatively productive day. I wrote and refined an article for Frank about an unsolved murder. Just sent it to my editor a few minutes ago. On Friday if I get the time, I will work on the second article about a missing persons case.

I still have to scan in some images given to me a few weeks ago. I spent hours scanning them in but some turned out blurry, so I have to do those offending pages again. I am not sure what I doing wrong, other than to state that those heavy scrap books are hard to manage at the best of times. I'll try yet again.

My editor wants to talk to me about the information I have been gleaning from this interesting source, and what I propose to do with all of it. It discusses the career of a man who is largely forgotten to today's Halifax, but his brief career is fascinating enough that I think an article might just be warranted. We will see how that discussion works out when we chat next week. 

We have a thing in downtown Halifax Friday afternoon. Patricia has one thing, and I have another. It should be an interesting experience for both of us. 

It is my hope not to sleep in until 11 or 11:30 on Friday. Getting up at a more decent hour is good for the soul, as much fun as it is to sleep in that is. It is like being a teenager again, minus the acne and self recrimination. 

I think I will turn in. 

You all have a good evening and I will talk at you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4104 - Wednesday Night Things

Hello again.

I am slightly bummed this evening. Just slightly. You'll see why in a moment.

We went to the closest Salvation Army store today, on Strawberry Hill, to return a shirt we got at another Sally Ann that did not fit me. One cannot try on clothing at these stores any more. You are supposed to hold it up against yourself and see if it fits. I don't know about you, but it seldom works out.

Took the shirt to the store and got two other shirts. Got them home and tried them on. Too tight in the sleeves and around the shoulders. We have to take those back, now, and that is the pain.

I get that we are in a pandemic, but when it comes to trying on clothes before buying them, I do not feel happy with buying something, taking it home, discovering to my disappointment that it doesn't fit, and then returning the item before getting another item to replace it, to see if that replacement item fits me. It is not a good use of one's time.

That is why, on a go forward basis, I will not purchase any clothing at any store that sells clothing, until such time as I can see if the clothing fits me in the actual store. I have plenty of shirts here at home that I can wear until they fall apart, probably in a couple of year's time. That means saving money on clothes, saving the disappointment, and saving the time it takes to return the item and get something else, which may or may not fit, thereby producing another iteration of frustration and disappointment. 

This is not a major thing for me, or anybody else. There are far greater issues in the world than my frustration with being unable to try on clothes in a store prior to purchasing them. I am just trying to correct this pattern of disappointment and wasted time and money until such time as the pandemic is over and we can return to some degree of normalcy. Life is too short and there are too many occurrences of trying on an article of clothing once I am home and discovering that it doesn't fit, that I don't want to do it any more. So, I won't. 

I feel better already. 

I did not work on those two cold case articles. Sorry. How about on Thursday? I don't think I will be wasting time running to a store to return an item or get some item and trying it on at home or anything, so I think I will be able to focus on some work. 

Friday we will be downtown again. Sigh. I will try to keep the frustration down as much as I can. In and out. Quick as a wink. 

It is now 12:46am on Thursday. I think I will turn in. Getting this issue off my chest should help me sleep very well this evening.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4103 - Tuesday Night Times

Hello again.

Welcome to nearly Wednesday night. 

I got up very early on Tuesday morning, around 7:30. I took the 8am bus downtown because I wanted to try to confirm something at the library regarding a couple of missing persons cases and turned out to have very little luck. I also went to my credit union to confirm that they had received my information about the mortgage, as there is starting to be talk of an interest rate hike in the coming months and I like the rate I am locked in at. All good.

Then, I walked to the Archives to check out something else for a couple of hours. Found nothing. Not giving up.

I am likely out of my mind, spending all this time researching these old-timey cases, but I cannot think of anything else I would rather do, to be honest with you. 

I did not work today on writing either of the two cold case articles I have long promised my editor I would do. Let's try to do that on Wednesday?

Or Thursday. 

Soon. I promise.

Downtown today, I was reminded again how much I dislike being downtown. If the Archives would move out my way, or a closer library branch had the microfilm carts that are downtown, I would be delighted to go there instead. However, I am stuck going downtown, which is overtaken by construction of housing that is affordable to very few, and desired by even fewer. What am I still doing here in the city, anyway? I cannot help but think my time here has passed, so why don't I just get out while the getting is good?

Good questions.

I think I will turn in. It is past midnight and I want to get up relatively early.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4102 - Monday Night Fun Times

Well, hello there again, my friends.

Sorry it has taken me several days to get around to writing another blog post. I have been turning in early the last evenings. Tired. Nothing to write about. I guess.

Saturday, though, was quite eventful. We got up at 5 to cook breakfast and pile in the car and attend a course in producing medicines. Grabbing roots or flowers or whatever, and making a tonic from it, or a salve, or applying it topically somehow. It was fascinating. We kept the notes. At the end of it, we were served a home made lunch, which was out of this world. Squash soup with a lovely salad, along with an assortment of desserts. Plus the freshest water I have probably ever had. And at one point, we had to make our own tea, so I grabbed some of this and some of that and some of something else, put in a tea bag and let is sit in hot water for ten minutes before drinking it. I am not sure what to call that tea, but I enjoyed it.

We returned home around dinner time, after a quick trip to a couple of surrounding communities. I picked up a local cook book for ten bucks. Been looking at it. It is one of those cook books produced by women's institutes in a given community and sold to raise funds for whatever purpose. I had no idea this book even existed until the other day, and now I have my own copy. Kinda sweet.

We have otherwise kept close to home. Haven't gone too far except to get some groceries. That was fun as well. Picked up five boneless/skinless turkey breasts, each of them 50% off. They are resting in the freezer. We figure we will cook two of them for Christmas dinner next month, and have plenty of leftovers. The rest can sit there all Winter if necessary. 

I know that we were going to use Air Miles to pay for our Christmas dinner, but this deal the other day was too good to pass up, so we indulged ourselves. We were getting dirty looks from others in the store, who would have taken full advantage of the deal had they seen the breasts in time. Sorry, folks. Nothing personal.

I spent some time on Monday preparing the next two cold case articles, and have spent far too much time this evening considering a missing persons case from back in the day that suddenly was removed from the list with no explanation. I thought it was this one case; now, I am starting to think it is another. I am not sure. Both of these cases disappeared from the missing persons list some time ago with no explanation. One of these two cases is slightly more likely to have turned out the way an online article explained it, so I am thinking it is this other person and not the first. I am not sure how to go with this. You understand.

I am going to turn in now. I have an appointment in the morning that leads into the afternoon. I am looking forward to looking into this new information.

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

Bevboy

Post 4101 - Wednesday Night Things

Hello again.

It is late on Wednesday night. Technically, Thursday morning.

That thing we were going to do on Wednesday, we did not do. Instead, Patricia went to an appointment in Dartmouth. Afterwards, we went to the Smitty's restaurant on Main Street and had a decent meal. After that, we walked up the strip mall to the Salvation Army store, where I picked up a couple of shirts for cheap. We also contributed a box of sundries to the place, which earned us a 20% off certificate, much appreciated. 

We noticed a few drinking glasses. Since we keep breaking the ones we have, we picked up four "new" ones for 99 cents each, less the 20% discount I just mentioned. 

We returned home, and for whatever reason, I napped for the rest of the afternoon. Probably the rainy weather and the November doldrums.

Thursday is Remembrance Day. We are staying close to home. Friday, the car goes in for its inspection and the next level of service for its warranty and to swap out the all seasons for the Winter tires. It will be an expensive day. Saturday, we have a special thing to go to, which I will tell you all about that evening. It should be pretty neat.

People have been writing to ask me how I am doing. I think I am doing fine. My eyes are a little dry, probably from the CPAP machine, so I keep rubbing them, and I know I should not do that. I am sleeping more than I normally do, and it feels natural, so I indulge myself. Perhaps I should not do that, either. But I feel fine. Thank you for asking.

I have not written those next two cold cases. I have not given much thought to how I will tackle the mountain of content that hit me a couple of weeks ago. It is fascinating stuff, and I know it needs to be written about. I just am not sure how to handle it, is all. A relatively short article about someone who should have a book written about him seems to be not enough. We will see.

I think I will turn in. I don't want to sleep in until noon. 11am is plenty late for that.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4100 - The (Sort of!) 4100st Post!

Hello again, my friends.

I am calling this post 4100. The numbering of the posts has got messed up more than once over the years, mostly through my forgetting what the previous post number was and using the wrong number on the next day's post. I threw up my hands at one point and embraced the error. If you look through the blog's previous posts, you will see there are considerably more than 4100 posts. I am sorry about that.

We did not do that thing today that we had pledged to do. Perhaps on Wednesday it will happen. We did go to Bayer's Lake, though. There is a guy who sells fish five days a week and parks at the Kent parking lot. The fish is always very good, so we spent perhaps a bit too much money on it. When we got home, I packaged up the fish and put it in the freezer, where it will keep for perhaps several months. The freezer, which had a bit of space in it, is pretty full again.

We got some salmon at the Timberlea Sobeys as well. It is also in the freezer.

We keep hearing more and more about how bad things are out there. We are heeding those words as best we can. We live within a budget. We stay close to home. We don't go too crazy on the spending. And when we get something like what we got today, or some beef recently, we freeze it in such a way that it is not likely to incur freezer burn.

We also took a turkey out of the freezer the other day. It along with some other things from the freezer, is thawing out in the fridge. We got the turkey between Christmas and New Year's in 2020 for an unbelievably small amount of money, eight or nine dollars. We have plenty of Air Miles with which to purchase whatever we want at Sobeys for Christmas dinner, so we decided to get around to eating that turkey. 

We are counting our blessings. We have things better than many people do. I am lucky to have many of the things I have, even though I worked hard to get them and hold on to them. Lots of people have things much worse, and I am not forgetting that. 

When I started this blog in 2007, I quipped that I wanted a blog that did not have a lot of spelling mistakes in it, as that was something I had noted in many other blogs at the time. I have striven to keep that promise but admit that I did not have any idea that I would still have this blog 14 years later. Because of it, I got the writing gig at Frank Magazine. I met tons of people on the radio and interviewed more than a few of them, interviews you can still read if you want to. I would never have started my cold case series at the magazine or anywhere else had it not been for this blog.

I have tried to make this tiny piece of the internet a better place for you having spent a bit of time here than you might have had had you not. I have my own position on whether I have been successful in this exercise, but will leave it for you to make up your own minds.

I cannot tell you how much longer this blog has left. But I think it will hang around a bit longer, maybe even quite a bit longer. After all, I still have many, many many more blog business cards to give out. 

So, happy post 4100, ladies and gentlemen. This is an auspicious occasion for me, and I hope that by your taking a bit of time to read it, that you at least feel I have not wasted your time.

And that there are no spelling errors.

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

Bevboy

Post 4099 - Monday Evening Things

Well, hello again.

Another day not doing much. This is becoming a habit. 

The plan to do the thing we wanted to do did not happen on Sunday. Nor did it happen on Monday. The latest plan is to do this thing on Wednesday, so sure, let's do it then. 

The new issue of Frank Magazine is out online today; the print magazine hits stores and people's mail boxes in a day or two. It has my John Grant article, which has been online for a few weeks now. They even ran a letter written to the magazine's editor the very day it was published online. I do not get many letters of comment on my work so it is gratifying to see this one.

The article is about whether this politically-connected, South End lawyer killed himself in 1988, which is the popular belief, or whether he was murdered. If it was a murder, it was a big, sloppy, ugly kind of murder that should make any police official think it was anything but a murder. Which is why I think it was a suicide, all things considered. The argument for his death being a murder is that nobody could kill himself by stabbing himself dozens of times. 

I am not sure about that. I have written and read articles about a man who weighted himself down with rocks and jumped into a body of water and drowned, after doing the same thing to his daughter, only after he had beaten her about the head until she should have died, but still she clung to life. 

I knew a man who hanged himself in his apartment using very basic equipment. He left behind friends, relatives, and children who had to go on with their life without him in it. It was a tragedy, and years later, people who cared for him are still trying to understand it.

I know of a man who jumped off the Macdonald bridge here in Halifax. I can only imagine what his final seconds were like, seeing the water approach him, and what that split second moment of impact felt like. I hope there was no pain for that pained man, but I cannot be sure.

In short, I have no doubt what the human spirit can do to the human body once it gets its mind made up to commit a tragic act. 

So, yes, I am inclined to believe that John Grant killed himself. He just did it in a way inconsistent with other methods I have seen, read, and heard about. The genteel press of the day, couple with a medical examiner who was perhaps not the right guy for the job, only added to the mystery swirling around Grant's death.

I wrote the John Grant article to see if anybody would write with more information about him, either to agree with me, or to refute my work. The letter published in the magazine today provides some such information. Perhaps, though, some other information will come in, which will lead to a follow up piece. Hope springs eternal.

Grant killed himself, in my opinion. Meanwhile, from what I have heard, another man believed to have killed himself not long before Grant died, was murdered. Not sure what I can do with that information. We will have to see.

I still have not written the two articles I have promised my editor for subsequent issues of the magazine. I will do it this week. Then, there is the longer term project that will require quite a bit of time to sift through, research, and write. You will see what I mean when it is published in a few months. 

It is now one in the morning. I really should turn in. We have some plans for Tuesday, you see.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4098 - Saturday Night Shenanigans

Hello again, my friends.

Welcome to Saturday night.

We did not do the thing today that we had discussed doing. We stayed put except for a mid-afternoon trip to Clayton Park and Bayer's Lake. We had brunch at the Lower Deck. We both had eggs benny with salmon. It was fine for what it was. The coffee was okay. The water was fine. I left a nice tip.

Went to the local Dollarama and found a slash guard thingy for a microwave. The one we have had for a long time, rescued from the valley house last year and old even then, has been all but falling apart. Spent $1.25 plus tax for a new one today. Hope it lasts for a while. Funny how an item will be in one Dollarama but not in another one, because the Tantallon store on Friday did not have this item at all. Plenty of them in the Clayton Park store on Saturday.

We returned home and watched some stuff on the pvr. Spent some time watching season two episodes of The Morning Show. 

Tonight is the night we change clocks back. Most of you have smart phones and other devices that automatically change times, but I still have quite a few clock radios in this house and it is a process to remember to change all of them, twice a year. I have done most of the ones here downstairs, but the ones on the main level have not been done, and don't get me started on the clock radios in the top level of the house. Plus, what about the wall clocks in the house, the ones that run on simple AA batteries? That is a job unto itself. Getting stressed just thinking about it. 

Perhaps the thing we did not do on Saturday, we will do on Sunday. Let's hope so. 

I think I will turn in. Want to try to get an earlier start on things on Sunday.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4097 - Friday Night Frolics

Well, hello there again, my friends.

It is now late on Friday night. I did not write the last couple of nights and feel badly about it. I turned in and fell asleep and that was that. It is just as well as we did little those two days.

I was feeling lazy. I should not be. I have two true crime articles to write and one other that I need to finish research on so that I can pitch an idea to my editor. But I did not do any of that at all.

On Friday we did leave the house to pick up some cat food for Newbie and then drove to Tanatallon to get some fresh litter for him. We ended up having an agreeable dinner at Vernon's in Hammonds Plains. I had a hot turkey sandwich with soup on the side; Patricia had ribs and took half of them home for lunch on Saturday. 

We got groceries at the Sobeys in Tantallon and returned home. I stored the half price apple cider vinegar and half price extra virgin olive oil in the pantry we keep downstairs and moved to the home office in the next door and here I am, typing away. Newbie is on my lap and regarding the screen as I type the words, probably cursing me for every other word. I hate a lap top editor.

We have not quite decided what we will do on the weekend. We do need to take care of some domestic things this weekend and will likely do at least some of them, but just when is hard to say. It is the nature of being retired that we can do what we want when we want, hampered only by money and lack of imagination. 

Also in the coming days I need to do more research at the library and the archives. Another all day thing. Fun times. 

I am starting to see the downside of the messenger bag thingy that Patricia got me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I know she got it at a good price, which is important; and it is much better than the bag I had at the time, which went to the garbage right after I got this one. I just want a bag that I can seal a bit better and which has a better strap when I walk around with it. Some of the bags I see on Facebook Marketplace have far too many nooks and crannies for holding paper and pens and whatever else. Don't need that. Just an open space to hold my notebook which has my research notes and an interior pocket to hold a thumb drive and the membership card to the archives. I have a perfectly good pencil case in the current bag to hold all the writing instruments I will ever need, so a jumble of side pockets is unnecessary and might actually get in the way. The messenger bag I have now is simple and that is what I like. I just want it to be something I can strap shut quickly, yet open without much effort. 

So, if you see something, relatively cheap, let me know. Thank you.

I think I will turn in. I believe Saturday will be a busy day for us.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

 

 

 

 

Post 4096 - Tuesday Night Things

Well, hello there.

Sorry I haven't written the last few days. I have been busy, sort of. Lots of sleep. I think I was fighting something. I do feel better.

We did do a day trip on Saturday to the Valley for the day. There was a Hallowe'en themed craft and food sale in Baxter's Harbour, so against all logic and common sense, we got in the car around 8:45 Saturday morning and drove straight there, arriving around 10:15.

We both got some things. Patricia got a bag of tea from a woman who produces teas out of her home, which is nearby. I got some cookies. We both regretted not bringing more money. There is another such sale in a couple of weeks and we may go to it.

Afterward, we walked around the village, which many think is in the middle of nowhere, and many would not be wrong. It is where my mother spent many of her formative years, including those when she met my father. In the late 1950's, her parents and the three other kids all up and moved to Beaver Harbour, New Brunswick, in search of work. They remained there, which is why I have so many cousins and extended family in that fine province. One uncle moved back to Nova Scotia a couple of years ago, again, and I am pretty sure he is the last uncle I have on either side of the family. 

We have been giving a great deal of thought as to where we want to spend our so-called golden years. They are approaching more quickly than we would like. Remaining in this house in this part of town has its disadvantages, which are becoming increasingly apparent the longer we stay here. Returning to the Valley or some other quieter part of the province appeals to both of us in a fundamental way. 

The city is getting on our nerves. There is never enough quiet. There are foolish rules imposed on us by foolish people at city hall. The downtown is something we avoid unless we have an unavoidable reason to go there, like going to the archives or something. The place is becoming so crowded, and there are too many people kvetching about things that are important to them but not important to us. Instead of being a fun and dynamic place, it is becoming dour and a chore to go most anywhere. We want to get out while the getting is good.

But the market is crazy and we are kind of stuck here. There is no place for us to move to as prices are through the roof.  At least there is a mortgage and we are locked in for some time and are not at the mercy of some landlord who wants to jack up the rent for no good reason. We have to count our blessings. So we are.

On Saturday, we had lunch at the Smiling Irish Pub in New Minas. The food was fine for what it was. Patricia had a burger. I had a clubhouse sandwich with salad. The place is changing its focus after the holidays and will become a place that sells ribs and the like, I guess a barbecue joint, so there will be a new name. 

We returned home mid-afternoon. I spent a few hours Saturday night scanning in the first 30 pages of the court trial transcript for that case all those years ago. I did 30 more pages on Monday and completed the job on Tuesday. 

Sunday we stayed in. We did not buy any candy for the kids and kept the lights off. Only one person knocked on the door, but we ignored them. 

Monday I was not feeling well. Did some of that scanning I just mentioned. And then I had to take a nap late in the afternoon. Patricia felt poorly on Tuesday while I felt fine. Not sure what is going on. Probably nothing.

And now it is Wednesday morning, just past one. I think I will turn in. I still have some scanning of scrap book pages to finish in the morning. 

You all take care of yourselves. 

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4095 - Thursday Night Frolics

Well, hello there.

Sorry that I did not write on Wednesday. Turned in relatively early. 

Wednesday I scanned in the second scrap book containing dozens of articles about the long ago Halifax attorney. I knew he had a significant, albeit brief, career, but to see so many of his cases laid out before me like this really goes to show what kind of man he was. A fascinating look at the province's legal system from back in the day.

On Thursday afternoon, I scanned in notes regarding the victim's death and the person's autopsy report. These are legal-sized pages, and my scanner does not accommodate that size paper, so I had to improvise. Each page was scanned in twice. I got as much as I could the first time, adjusted the paper so the scanner could capture that section of the page, and scanned in the rest. I used the crop option to reduce the amount of redundant information. It took a while as you might imagine.

On Friday I will start to scan in the trial court transcript. It is 92 pages. I have decided to break it down into 25 page "chunks", using the method I described above. It will result in four PDF documents. I am being meticulous about this because once I return the documents and the scrapbooks, I will never see them again, as the owner was exceptionally kind to me in lending them to me in the first place but naturally wants them back.

The weekend is starting to shape up. Saturday may lead to a day trip. Friday we have a thing downtown. Sunday is a bit up in the air.

Next week we plan to go to the cottage and shut it down for the year.

I spent some time just now importing bookmarks from an old computer. I did not realize they were this old. Many of them are dead links, giving me 404 errors or pointing to a no-longer-existing website hijacked by someone willing to sell that domain to me. 

I am guessing there is a utility out there somewhere that can check all my bookmarks to see which ones are crap and delete them, but I don't know what it would be called or if it is worth the bother. These old bookmarks were ones I just wanted to have around if I needed to do some research of some kind. The ones that still work can be useful, but back in the day, I used to bookmark everything. I am not certain as to why.

It is nearly 2 in the morning. I want to get a relatively early start on the day, so I will call it an early morning.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4094 - Tuesday Night Fun Times

Well, hello there.

Sorry I haven't written the last few days. Been a little under the weather at night and turned in early. No excuse, though. You know I love you all.

On Saturday we went to the Valley for a day trip. Had lunch in Wolfville at the newest pub there, unless there is yet another newer pub there. It is the one that used to be the men's clothing store. That one. I can tell you that the crab cakes eggs benedict was much better than the meal we had there last year. We will go back.

We drove around a bit, ending up in Kentville to look at the pumpkin people. We took some back roads in the town and people still put them out on their front lawn, which is a gas. And then we went up a hill in the older part of town and kept going and going and going. They are building several new subdivisions up there, which I never knew about. Lovely homes in a part of town that needs them, but too many in the area cannot afford them at all. I guess so-called "affordable housing" is not on anybody's mind these days.

On Sunday I got a lovely email from someone who told me that the scrapbooks about her father had been returned to her, along with a court transcript featuring her father as a defence attorney. We were invited to go to her place to check them out. We went on Monday morning and had a lovely chat. She and her husband were kind enough to let us borrow all those materials. I spent about three hours Tuesday afternoon scanning in every page of one of those scrapbooks. Painstaking work; it is very easy to make a mistake and have the scanner miss something, or take a blurry "picture". I have a second such scrapbook to scan in. I will work on that on Wednesday. Then I will scan in the transcripts. 

These documents amount to a significant historical treasure trove of information that just landed in my lap by pure happenstance. She happened to read the issue of Frank that had the article about a cold case murder which mentioned her father, because he had defended the man accused of killing the victim. She decided to call my editor to comment about the piece and to correct an error that I had made (which I had made because a source I quoted was incorrect). I daresay that if I had not made that error she might not have called the magazine and set these actions in motion. 

I had speculated on the exact location of the place where the victim of the cold case had worked. I had four corners to work with. I knew two of them were something else so I could eliminate them. But I figured it was another corner. I now have a picture of the place where the victim worked all those years ago and believe I was wrong. It is the opposite corner of what I had thought. I think. Not perhaps worthy of a formal correction in the magazine, but something that bothers me nonetheless.

The lady I spoke with on Monday is convinced that the man accused of killing the victim was 100% not guilty. She bases that opinion on having read the transcript. I had already reached that conclusion so I look forward to reading it and having that opinion verified. Still means that the victim's murder has never been solved, but the wrong man did not get convicted of it, which should mean something to you.

I will come out and say right here and now that if your parent or uncle or whatever was a defence attorney in Nova Scotia back in the day and defended a person who was found not guilty, and the case has remained unsolved to the present day, please tell me about it. Especially if you happen to have articles or other documents to share with me. I will take tremendous care of them and return them to you in excellent condition. As well, I will share with you the digital copy that I make, at no charge to you at all. You get all your documents back intact, and a free digital copy of them to boot. 

Heck, if you happen to have any Nova Scotia related vintage newspaper articles featuring crime stories from years and years ago, I would like to see those as well. I will scan them in and return them to you along with that free digital copy I just mentioned.

Your best bet is to contact me via email right here. I guarantee your anonymity if you request it. Thank you. 

It is past one in the morning. I think I will turn in. Lots of scanning to do in the morning.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4093 - Friday Night Frolics

Hello again.

Sorry I didn't write on Thursday. Some stuff happened and things got away from me. But we did go for a nice walk in the evening, so there is that. 

On Friday, we also got out of the house and hit a couple of the thrift stores. I remember when the clothing at thrift stores was for people who did not make much money, and was priced accordingly. I cannot get past paying upwards of $15 for a shirt at Value Village, and even at the new Salvation Army store in Bedford, many shirts were $8 or $9. And they had no changing room, so you had to hope that they fit, because while they have a return policy, it is a crappy one, and time limited. I did not buy anything at the Sally Ann, but did find an Alpine Beer drinking stein for two dollars at the Value Village and got that. I did not buy any shirts at VV, either.

We ended up driving over to Bibles for Missions in Lower Sackville. The shirts I looked at were all $5 each. I ended up getting two of them, and because it was red tag day, and there were red price tags on those two shirts, I got them for 25% off, which made me very happy. I got two nice shirts for $8.53, taxes in. I wish they had been a couple of dollars cheaper yet again, but such is life.

I have promised Patricia to cull my shirt collection in the coming weeks. The shirt I am wearing, from Kirkland/Costco, I have had for quite a few years. The collar is becoming frayed, and so are the cuffs. It is a very comfy shirt and I will miss it, but the time is coming for its downgrade. I will strip off all the buttons and put them in a jar. I will cut up the shirt and use the strips for rags until such time as the rags are worn out, at which time I will throw the pieces into the trash. You understand.

There is a thrift store in the Valley that we may go to soon. They have periodic special days when an article of clothing is no more than a dollar. I can only imagine how hectic the store is on those days. 

I know that people think I am a lousy cheap little so and so for doing this, shopping at thrift stores. I did it when I was working and pulling in a good salary. It bothers me on a fundamental level to pay full price for things like shirts, when there are many thrift stores nearby that have perfectly good shirts for significantly less. 

I have purchased used clothing that I can find, but seldom purchased used shoes, and men typically wear their shoes down to a nub. When I need a new printer, I get it for as cheap as I an from a place like Value Village. I got a laser printer last year for five dollars, and it works great. Even has built in WIFI. I also acquired a Brother laser printer for ten dollars a few months ago. Just waiting for my Samsung laser printer to die so I can put it in to action. I got that in 2012 for $40, and it just keeps working.

Ditto for when I need a scanner. I favour the Canon Lide series, which get their power from a computer's usb port.  The earlier ones in the series can be readily had for under ten dollars and "just work" out of the box when you run an OS like Linux Mint or Ubuntu. Maybe not the fastest scanner in the world, but I don't use a scanner that frequently and am not in that big a rush. 

I also buy used computers. I have ranted about the word "refurbished" before, but when you buy a used computer from a reputable dealer, you are in theory buying a good machine from someone whose reputation would be besmirched if they sold someone a crappy machine. In theory. I have been burned by one dealer in the Valley, and I will never give him my business again. 

I got this Dell All-In-One this Spring and I love it. Built-in speakers and webcam. More usb ports than I really need, but I use them anyway. A legacy ps/2 port, so this wonderful 1989 vintage Model M keyboard I picked up a few years ago for fifty cents at a thrift store makes typing on this computer a joy. I know if I were still working it may not do the trick; but I am retired from that job and this machine is perfectly good for what I need it for. Plus, I can hook up an external monitor to it, and do. The monitor and cable were already here and cost me nothing to hook up. It is just grand. 

In the morning we have some plans. I am just not sure if we will do them or not. Remains to be seen. 

I will tell you about them tomorrow.

See you then.

Bevboy

 

 

Post 4092 - Wednesday Evening Things

Hello again.

Another day of sleeping in. Another day of doing very little. It is becoming a bad habit.

I did get an email from a potential lead to a potential follow up to a story from some time ago. I hope to hear from this person again, soon.

The article that was posted on the Frank website has already yielded a comment from a reader that may itself lead to a follow up piece. 

And I have two other articles I need to write in the coming days and send off to my editor. One of them will be quite brief as the trail is as cold as they come, and I have not seen an update in many a year. Just the same police updates from time to time. It is these cases which give me the most pause. I can add very little to what has already been written. I can just go back to the original articles and get a picture of the victim or look online and perhaps find some clues that way. Otherwise, there is little to report. This kind of thing happens more frequently than I would like. 

I see where the province today announced that the rent cap will be limited to 2% through the end of 2023. I am of two minds on this. While having a place to live is a human right, full stop, living in any particular location is not. I believe that most landlords are not greedy, avaricious money hounds bent on making a buck at any cost. They have to pay upkeep on a property, plus insurance and property taxes and maintenance and even some utilities. Likely even a mortgage. By the time they pay those costs, what little is left over, is fully taxable, leaving even less profit.

And if the landlord/owner does not live nearby, they have to hire a property manager, who does not work for free. 

I am sure I am leaving out some things. 

If the landlord spends a significant amount of money to upgrade a property, it may take years for them to recoup all those costs and make a profit again. 

I do not see where this is a relationship suffused with unholy profit, especially if the person only owns a few rental units. If they own many rental units, yes, I can see how they can make some good money. But what is wrong with making some money? They are not running a charity.

But if I were still renting, I am sure I would feel differently and be very grateful that the provincial government has decided to extend this rental cap. I just hope that before the end of 2023, that the government can convince developers to construct lots of new housing. Where that housing will go, I have no idea, as the city is starting to fill up. 

It is a difficult conundrum to say the least.

Which gets back to me saying that we will be happy to sell Casa Bevboy here in the city and live somewhere else if someone will but sell us a place we can afford and which has certain amenities that we both need and want. It is a short list, but a firm one. Two bathrooms. Roof in good shape. Doors and windows of a recent vintage. A good back deck. Enough of a back yard for Patricia to go nuts with a garden. Relatively close to a grocery store and a few other places. A few other things I cannot remember right now. Help us find a place like that, and we are outta here.

I think I will turn in. Pushing one in the morning and we really do want to do a day trip on Thursday.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

 

Post 4091 - Tuesday Night Things of Note

 Hello again.

This will be another brief post. We want to hit the road comparatively early in the morning for a day trip. Because we did not to anywhere on Tuesday.

We watched a bunch of stuff on the PVR, including a film shot in Nova Scotia 25 years ago, "Two if by Sea". It starred Denis Leary and Sandra Bullock. Leary had top billing and helped write what I will charitably call the script, and even had a role in producing. He always plays smarmy a-holes. We think it is because he likely is a smarmy a-hole in real life.

It is one of those movies full of unsympathetic characters who try to charm you into liking them, but if you knew such a person in real life you would avoid them at all costs. Leary and Bullock are thieves who stole a rare painting and have to meet up with someone to be paid for the theft. And then the hijinks ensue. 

It was a bit of fun to see the Nova Scotia represented in the film as it was 25 years ago. We recognized a few places here and there.

We will never see this piece of junk again. Leary and Bullock likely will not suggest that their fans check it out, either.

Much more satisfying was this week's episode of "Moonshine", which gets better every week. I am not keeping score, but episode eight must be coming up soon, which would be the season ender. They are either done filming season two, or will be done soon. I am guessing it will run sometime in 2022. No word yet on a season three. Fingers crossed. I hope the show runs for years and years.

It is pushing one in the morning. I think I will turn in so I can get up early so we can hit the road.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4090 - Monday Night Fun Times

After two am. Technically Tuesday.

Slept in yet again on Monday. Getting to be a bad habit, but once again, I think about the decades I got up early to go off to school, or university, or to a job. I am justifying this part of my life, for however much longer I do it. 

We watched a bunch of stuff on the PVR. This week's "American Rust", "Chappelwaite", "Dr. Death", "The Rookie", "Jann", "Bob Hearts Abishola", "Jeopardy!", and maybe even some other stuff.

The chicken thighs Patricia cooked last week were shredded, and put in a frying pan along with pasta sauce and black olives and red peppers and garlic and other things, and heated up to a nice consistency. There is plenty for lunch tomorrow, and I hope that will be that with that.

Tuesday I will likely contact that person I was tipped off to about that thing. We may also do a day trip. Haven't done one for a bit, and getting out of the house will be good for both of us.

I think I will turn in.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4089 - Sunday Night Things

Hello again.

We spent many hours today watching all episodes of "Squid Game". It is in Korean, with English subtitles, which are in white text and often on a white background, making them very hard to read; but it was a terrific show. We both heartily recommend it.

Other than that, it was a very quiet day around here. I like quiet days. 

Monday is technically here now. I am not sure what plans we have in store, but something or other will pop up.

Eyes are a bit buggy this evening. Things are a bit blurry, so I will turn in and see how things are in the morning.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 4088 - Saturday Night Things

 Hello again.

Another quiet day. We went into Bayer's Lake to hang out at Chapters, but did not buy anything, which is unusual to say the least. Perhaps we did not buy anything because we visited a couple of those "Little Small Libraries" in the area and picked up a few books. Like I don't already have enough books.

Checked out Mission Mart for the first time in several months. Patricia got a cashmere-based top, which she would like to wear with a pashmina (also cashmere-based, as you know) whilst reading a book and sipping tea in her favourite chair in the living room. I bought nothing.

We went to Sobeys on the way home, and picked up some food. We also got some TP, as we hear that people are hoarding it again, and we do not want to run out, as we do not have a bidet here at Casa Bevboy. 

We spent the last several hours watching stuff on the PVR, and about half of this week's SNL. When the musical performer came on, we turned off the show as it was the live broadcast and we could not fast forward through it. 

The weekend is half over. What fun things await us on Sunday?

Let's find out.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4087 - Friday Night Fun Times

 Hello again.

Sorry I haven't written for a few days. Turned in early. A couple of days, I did so much running around that I was plumb tuckered out.

First of all, we were in downtown Halifax four times this week, twice on Thursday. Patricia had an appointment on Wednesday, so I bummed around while she was at it. Marvelled at all the new buildings going up, and wondered how people would be able to afford to live in any of them. Thursday, she had a follow up appointment so I went to the archives all morning, and found some things of interest. 

We came home and returned Thursday evening to attend a sort-of wake for a friend to the city, and former colleague of Patricia's. He was a man I knew casually. Robert Devet made his mark after retirement, starting the Nova Scotia Advocate, an online journal discussing the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. He continued this work until his sudden and unexpected death a couple of weeks ago. There must have been a couple of hundred people there, all saying nice things about him; but nobody spoke up for his work as a civil servant, which was also exemplary. The true measure of the man is known to nobody who spoke on Thursday night, and that is a shame.

Afterward, we had some noodles at Star Anise on Barrington Street before returning home yet again.

Friday, Patricia had another appointment, the third this week if my math is correct. I researched some things at the library. Ran in to an old friend from Toastmasters. Patricia and I walked around the downtown and South end, winding up at the former Morris East on Morris Street, recently bought out by the man who owns the Burrito Jax store on Blowers Street, and which has a new name. We had a couple of terrific wood-fired pizzas, eating every scrap, before returning to the car and driving home.

We had a quiet evening. Watched some stuff on the PVR. Also watched that much-maligned Dave Chapelle Netflix special. If the people who have been complaining about it had not complained about it as much as they have, I would not have watched it at all. But now I have, and I am not sure what they are complaining about. 

I have been messing around with the little template I use to record information at the Archives and library.  I think I have it looking the way I want to. Not that you care.

At the mid-afternoon lunch/dinner on Friday afternoon, I took a call from my editor. He had just received a call from someone who wanted to speak to him about one of my recent articles about a very old cold case. I will follow up with her next week. She may have enough information to justify another article on the case, or perhaps I can do a feature about her father, who had a brief but significant legal career in this city back in the day. I am excited by this opportunity.

I scribbled my editor's information on a scrap of paper, but decided this evening to formalize this process a bit and started a "leads" document for potential follow ups with people who contact me. I even created a "leads" subfolder on my Dropbox to keep that document in. I am not perfect and have likely lost track of a few such leads over the years because I misplaced the paper I had written something on. This new process will eliminate this problem. I hope. 

Yes. I am anal, and constantly think of ways to try to improve whatever process I am working on. Part of my training over the past nearly 40 years. 

We have been out quite a bit in the last few days, and now the weekend is here, and we may head out yet again. 

People have been writing me to ask how I am doing. I am fine, I think. A lot on my mind these days. Some of those things on my mind, are things I should not have on my mind, which is why I am glad to have been so busy this week.

It is nearly 1:30 in the morning. I think I will turn in.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

 

 

Post 4086 - Monday NIght Things

Well, hello there, young fella.

I had another quiet day. Instead of going to check out the pumpkin people this weekend, we kept the car in the driveway and did not go anywhere. 

It is the end of another Thanksgiving weekend, the second since I retired. Back in the old days, I would be in bed by now, hoping to get some sleep so I could return to work in the morning. Since then, my schedule has gone crazy and my sleep apnea was diagnosed and I have been using a CPAP machine to address the problem, which throws off my sleep pattern, so I am not sure if I could go back to work full time any more. Or whether I want to. Or what I would do if I did want to go back to work. 

Sigh.

I think I need a bit more structure in my life. I can only spend so much time staining a back deck and mowing the lawn and doing stuff around the house. Do I volunteer? Take a part time job? 

Suggestions are always welcome.

I think I will turn in. One ayem here.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4085 - Sunday Night Thingies

Well, hello there.

How was your day?

I did... very little, actually. Slept in. Watched stuff on the pvr most of the day.

It is the Thanksgiving weekend. We should all be grateful for something. Let's see here. I have most of my health. I live in a house whose mortgage is just a few years away from being paid off. I don't have to worry about where the next meal is coming from. 

I can sleep in if I want to. I can write about cold cases as much or as little as I want to. 

I will be appearing in a feature documentary series whenever Covid-19 improves enough for the film to be released. 

There is a good-working car in the driveway. 

I could have things far worse. 

So, let's overlook the crappy things and focus on the good things, like the above, and some other items.

I think I will turn in. Past one in the morning.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4084 - Saturday Night Things

Hello there.

A day spent doing not much. I did go out in the afternoon and used the last of the semi-transparent stain on the parts of the back deck that I had missed. I think I used every last drop of the stuff, applying the last few drops on the raised beam that we store plants and things on. It should be dry by Sunday morning, or maybe yet a bit sticky. Will know in the morning.

As I stated before, I have reached the point in my life where I am concerned about the colour, amount, and even texture of the preservatives I use to keep my back deck, front veranda, and side steps, looking pretty and functional. 

We have discussed seeing some pumpkin people in the Valley on Sunday. It started in the Kentville area the better part of 20 years ago. The main public areas of the town are dotted with these creatures, stuffed with straw or hay, and with a pumpkin for a head. But I remember driving around some of the side streets in Kentville and seeing these things on people's lawns. If we go down there tomorrow, we will do that as well, I think.

Or maybe we will just stay put. Not sure yet.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

 

Post 4083 - Friday Night Things. And Don't Forget The Lobster!

 Well, hello there.

We had a good day.

We went to the Shore Club for the lobster dinner, arriving shortly after five pm. It was a nice experience. I am not sure why we waited so long to go. I guess I got it in my head that it was a ritzy place, too "fancy" for one such as myself. Perhaps that was the case when it opened in the 1930's, and remained a perception for several decades. But by now, it is a place where common folk with a little money in their pockets take their sweeties to dinner. And, if they want to, they hang around to attend the live music, assuming they pay a little extra. 

 

 

The first picture is my dinner. The second, Patricia's. We both got the large lobster with the small steak, the surf and turf. Started off with a pound of mussels and some salad and rolls. Ended with a couple of good desserts. 

Say, I have been telling you about how much we like the new show on CBC, "Moonshine". They have been broadcasting season one, but they have been filming season two. Turns out that one of the stars just finished her scenes for season two on Thursday. She and her hubby celebrated by going out to dinner at the Shore Club, and sat at the table next to us. As her character, she spends a lot of time at the Shore Club, so it seems kismet somehow. 

Her name is Emma Hunter, and she steals every scene she is in. And she agreed to pose for a couple of pictures with Patricia. Here they are:

Emma has a significant imdb presence, so go ahead and read it for yourself.  

She was really nice and funny and is a big part of the reason why the show is so good. And, when we mentioned the Goler joke that she told on a recent episode, she wondered how locals would accept it. We told her it was funny, but even after all these years, maybe still a little too soon. She did not have a clear understanding of the Goler story, so I told her the name of the book ("On South Mountain") and there is likely still a video about the trial on youtube. 

And I just did a quick look. There are a few videos about the clan. This is the one I was referring to. The host is Claude Vickery, who was married to the assistant GM or whatever her job title was, at the company I went to work for after university. Claude cheated at the road rally one year, and I ended up missing some key parts of the trip until we could get caught up. Grr.

Anyway, Emma did not know the extent of the Goler history but appreciated that many of us took the joke in good humour. After all, it is a show about a bunch of lovable reprobates whose grasp of the politically correct is questionable to say the least. A Goler joke is the least of the things about the show that should be bothering those who make it their business to be offended by every little thing. 

I told her about my part time job writing about cold cases and gave her a business card, because I will not rest until every person in the world has a Bevboy's Blog business card. She said she was interested in such cases and said she would look for my stuff. So, there is that.

We left around 6:45 or so and returned to Timberlea, where I picked up some meds at the drugstore and then came home. Newbie was meowing and wondering where we had been. Totally impatient cat, is he.

The weekend is here. We are not sure what we will do this weekend. Maybe a day trip. Maybe not. Not sure yet.

I think we will sleep on it and decide in the morning.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

 

 

Post 4082 - Thursday Night Things

 Well, there you are! I have been looking all over for you.

We had a quiet day. I had finished my latest column for Frank on Wednesday, so we were a bit out of sorts today. We did go to Dartmouth to the Gateway Meat Market, and then to the bank, and then to Kent Building Supplies in Bayer's Lake, as I did decide to buy a small can of the semi-transparent stain for the back deck, to cover up the small areas that I had missed during my work. 

Around 4pm, I got into my painting and staining clothes and went outside. I used more than half of that quart can, actually the 941ML can if you want to be exact. I went over the posts and beams of the deck, making sure that the areas I had missed now had some stain on them, and the other areas now had two coats on them. There is still about a third of a can left. On Friday I will walk around the deck one last time and see if I might have missed something else. I will use every last drop of the stain on the deck. 

I should have done this long before I did. August was not a dry month, which led us to September when I wanted to do the job but did not always get the chance until toward the end, when I applied the initial coat on the deck, privacy panel, posts, and steps. Then, laziness. Then, more rain, followed by more laziness. The weather improved in the last few days, which is when I decided to take the last can of stain and apply the second coat to the deck. Then, I realized I had missed some spots so I bought the quart can on Thursday. 

I have now officially reached the point in my life when I am overly-concerned about the state of my deck and veranda and side steps, which the carpenters refurbished in 2020 as the original steps were getting to be in poor shape. I have been staining the front and side for many years, but did not spend much time on the back deck over the years because it was in deplorable condition and unusable. Finally, in 2014, I replaced the front steps with the veranda and had the back deck torn down, replaced by a glorified landing. I kept that stained. That was replaced last year by the magnificent deck and privacy panel that I can't stop typing about. You really have to see it.

Sigh.

So, as I mentioned last night, on Friday we will have dinner at the Shore Club in Hubbards. We have heard about their legendary lobster suppers for many years, and have decided it was high time to go. So that is our Thanksgiving present to ourselves. Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I think I will turn in. It is past one ayem. I need my beauty sleep. And, besides, Newbie is giving me that look. 

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4081 - Wednesday Night Fun Times

Well, hello there.

Sorry I haven't written for a few days. Turned in early for a while there, and was feeling a bit under the weather to boot.

But, I have also been busy. The weather was quite clement so I was able to finish staining the back deck and the privacy panel, on Tuesday. On Wednesday I walked around the deck and found some places that I had missed in the staining, mostly a couple of the major posts for the deck. They're hard to get to, and I am now out of stain, so I guess I can buy a half gallon of stain, have it properly tinted, and then use that to tackle the places that I missed. 

We keep looking at places to move to, but we have decided that with all that I have spent on this place in the last year or so, that we do not want to move to a house where I would have to spend all that money all over again on doors and windows and a deck and so on. Would be a foolish waste of money. The new owners would have the benefit of my investment, and we would have to spend more money on a house that was new to us. 

I spent quite a bit of time over the last two days working on my latest cold case article for the magazine. This article is a bit different from other ones in the series. It is about a man who likely killed himself, but there are enough mysteries and unanswered questions about his death that give one pause, so my editor and I decided it would fit in the boundaries of the series. I sent the article to my editor late Wednesday afternoon, along with some pictures and newspaper headlines and such. The new issue goes on sale next week. 

This article is rife with politics, so on a whim I spent some time this evening looking on wikipedia at the list of all the men who have been Premier of Nova Scotia. My memory goes back to Gerry Regan, the 1970's. But I had heard of many of the people for quite a few years before that. Going back even further, there are men who were premier who are utterly unfamiliar with me. I read some of their bios, and skimmed through a book I have about the Premiers of the province, but I guess what I am saying is that we do a really poor job of noting who has been in charge of the province over the years.

The Legislature has these names and pictures hanging on a wall, and if you go to the Leg library, there must be information about these men, but I don't see plaques with their names on them, or buildings named after them, or much of anything else. I daresay that in most cases, their hometowns don't have anything to mark that they came from there. 

That is... a little sad, isn't it? Our historical record is being lost bit by bit, every day.

Thursday beckons. We have a few plans for the day. Let's see if we stick to those plans.

And, Friday: lobster supper at the Shore Club. Never been!

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4080 - Saturday Night Stuff

Well, hello there.

It is past 2:30 on Sunday morning, but I have until 4am to get this done to have it count as a Saturday post. Weird, amirite?

We had a quiet day, but went for a drive in the afternoon. We had a nice lunch at Delish! in Tantallon and bought some early Christmas candy, which comes from the U.K., and which tastes much better than the corresponding stuff produced here. Quality Street candy from the U.K. is leagues better than what is produced in Canada. There is no comparison. Costs more, but worth it.

Dennis told me that they had received about 40% of the candy and meat pies and so on that they will get. The store looks very festive. You should check it out. It is in that little plaza in Tantallon past the Superstore and the lights. There is also an RBC and a pizza place in the same plaza. Plenty of free parking. What are you waiting for?

We got home and watched some stuff on the PVR before settling in and watching the first few episodes of The Morning Show, starring Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, and Steve Carell. We have the remaining seven or so episodes of season one, and then can start on season two. We like it a lot so far.

Also watched the season opener of SNL, with Owen Wilson as the guest host. Some country like singer as the musical guest. 

These are quiet days, but the upcoming week will be much busier. I need to finish my next cold case article. Patricia has an appointment downtown on Monday afternoon, so I will likely go to the library to do some research. Then we will return home and... likely watch more stuff on the PVR. What an exciting life we lead.

Late. Nearly three. Think I will turn in.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4079 - Friday Night Things

Welcome to the weekend!

Of course, when you are all-but retired, every day is the weekend. 

It is now October. I am coming up on two years since I retired from my job in the civil service. I do not miss the job in the slightest. I seldom think about the actual job I did. I am forgetting the names of some of the people I worked with. Some of the horrendous treatment I suffered is fading away like a bad sunburn. But some of it remains with me and flares up from time to time, like an especially bad sunburn.

A regular reader of this blog wrote last year about his own experiences as a civil servant, and how getting over those years and sometimes reflecting on them involuntarily is a form of PTSD. I could not agree more. I still think about how one guy would yell at me as a form of morning greeting. He knew just the right thing to say to upset me and throw me off my game, so he did it a lot. 

I tell myself two things. One: I worked with that so-and-so for ten years. Two: I have not worked with that so-and-so for 23 years. It should mean that all these years that I should have a measure of peace with that pig, but the best I could muster was an attempt at being civil when I saw him around the downtown. 

There were a couple other people over the years who got to me in a special way, who would yell at me and make me feel small just because they were in a position to do so and enjoyed it. I try mightily not to think about those times, and those people, but it is a struggle not to, on nights when I find it hard to sleep or days when things have slowed down to a crawl. 

The more I think about it, the more I think my blog fan is 100% right. Getting over a job that affected your self esteem and very psyche is a form of PTSD. 

I am still trying. I think I will get there one day.

Talk at you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4078 - Thursday Night Frolics

Boy, is it ever late. Past two in the morning on October 1st.

We spent too many hours on Thursday watching the Netflix series "Midnight Mass". I do not want to give away too much of it. It is a horror series about a new priest who exerts his influence on a small town. Beyond that, you will just have to take my word for it and go along for the ride. It is just terrific.

I watch far more tv series than I do films these days. I am sure that filmmakers are all upset over this and wonder why; but there are plenty of good reasons. They mostly have to do with how even a limited series of, say, 6-10 episodes can focus on character and story in a way that no two hour film can. They may not have the budget of a film, but they can do far more in ways that are much more entertaining than most films are. "Midnight Mass" would never work as a two hour film. As a seven and a half hour limited series, it works terrifically well. 

I was just now thinking about how film critic Leonard Maltin fell all over himself praising a silent film from long ago. I think he was referring to 1919's "Wagon Tracks", and unless it shows up on a streaming service, unlikely, I may have to break down and get the blu-ray sometime. I hate acquiring things these days as I have a massive job ahead of me to downsize my stuff, and getting yet more things doesn't improve the situation. So, go ahead and talk me out of it. 

It is nearly 2:30. I am yawning like crazy, so I think I will turn in. Besides, Newbie is on my lap and is giving me that come hither look. So I guess I should... go thither.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4077 - Wednesday Night Stuff

Say, this is known as post 4077, which is the number for the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital on M*A*S*H*. That has to mean something, right?

Of course, this is post 4077 in title only. Several times over the years I lost track of the number of the post, and put the wrong number in the next post. A couple of weeks later, I would realize my mistake and try to course correct, to amusing results. 

I have considered dropping the number of the post in the post title, but I am so used to specifying the number of the post that it would somehow feel naked without it.  And after almost 14 years of writing this thing, it would somehow feel inappropriate to drop the number of the post in a post's title. You understand my dilemma, then.

So, how was your day? Mine was pretty quiet. We watched some stuff on the pvr. We ate dinner. We watched some live tv. 

And we learned the news of the death of local journo/activist Robert Devet. Patricia knew Robert from the years they worked together in the same government department. She thought the world of him. I had met him a few times over the years. We knew of each other as I worked in his field of endeavour as well. He was always cordial with me.

After his wife died suddenly, he kept working as a civil servant for a few years before he chose to retire and spend the rest of his days writing about the poor and downtrodden, giving a voice to those who do not have much of one in traditional media. His tone could be a bit too strident for my tastes, and I have never cared for the position that any one political party could corner the market in moral superiority, but he did the thing that he wanted to do, and did it well, and did it until a couple of days before his sudden death.

People on Twitter and Facebook are still absorbing this sad news. I am not alone in wondering what will happen to the Nova Scotia Advocate, whether Robert had any kind of succession plan, or whether it will die along with him, which would be nearly as tragic as his death. 

I know nothing about funeral plans. I will share them with you here when I find out.

Talk at you tomorrow.

Bevboy

 

 

Post 4076 - Tuesday Night Stuff

Late. Again.

I did not write on Monday. I am sorry about that. My sleep pattern was thrown off by a nap I took in the early evening after I got home from the Archives. I turned in early because I had to get up early on Tuesday to take Newbie to the vet. 

His appointment went well. I got him back in the afternoon and we watched some stuff on the pvr. 

Tonight we watched "Moonshine", the new CBC show set in Nova Scotia, and filmed in the Hubbards area. The first two episodes were pretty good, but tonight's was very strange, introducing some unusual family arrangements that are a little hard to parse. And then, out of the blue, they made a Goler family reference, which pulled me out of the show entirely.

Even today, nearly 40 years after the terrible events surrounding the family and what they did, this story is hot to touch. People told so-called Goler jokes as a way to cope with the stark reality of what they did, and whom they did it to. Those jokes are in such poor taste that I will not repeat them here, but they are not hard to find. 

It was an unusual choice to mention the Golers on a show shot in Nova Scotia, that takes place in Nova Scotia, and which is broadcast on a woke network like the CBC, which is afraid to say boo in case it offends ghosts. I can predict that there will be some kind of backlash, that someone will take offence and complain and the CBC will issue some apology and maybe go so far as to cancel the show, which is already filming its second season. 

They have done this kind of crazy thing before. They cancelled a show last year while the season was still running because the executive producer had lied about the extent of her Indigenous ancestry. The show was gone, even though it was pretty good and portrayed a largely Indigenous set of characters. 

Let's see what happens with "Moonshine".

I think I will turn in. I have to work on my next Frank article on Wednesday and prepare for a phone call in the afternoon.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4075 - Sunday Night Good Times

Another day gone. Another day relaxing.

I could get used to this.

We watched some stuff on the PVR and a movie this afternoon. We had to watch "Dr. Death" by going back a few hours in the schedule and playing it that way, complete with commercials. They are not repeating the show during the week for some reason. 

I have a special appointment Monday afternoon. I have checked my notes and done my preliminary homework. 

Meanwhile, Patricia has an appointment in the afternoon as well. We will meet up after my own appointment and drive back home together.

What excitement we have in our lives!

I am calling this short. It is two in the morning and I need some shut eye.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

 

 

Post 4074 - Saturday Night Stuff

Hello again, my lovelies.

How was your day?

I slept in, yet again. It is getting to be a habit. Not necessarily a bad habit. Just a habit. 

After a late breakfast, we parked in front of the tv and watched some stuff on the pvr. Mid-afternoon, I went outside and noted that the back deck was still a titch sticky from the work I did on Thursday, so I do not yet feel comfortable re-covering that area with the barbecue and other things. And while it did not rain on Saturday it is supposed to do so on Sunday, so like I said last night, it will likely be several days before I can finish that second coat of stain on the back deck. 

A friend wrote me on Facebook today asking me if I had any of the true crime books by Dean Jobb. I had the two books he sent me pictures of, plus the third one he produced years ago. As I told you last month or whatever it was, I also have the book he produced last year which reprinted articles from those three books. I do not yet have the second book which undoubtedly reprints more tales from those three books. To be an anal completist, I will likely get that book, too.

I have ordered, and they keep delaying the publication of, the book about long-ago Halifax police chief Nicholas Power. He was a detective with the Halifax police for decades and was appointed chief in early 1906 with the understanding that it was to be just a temporary arrangement. He would be a "caretaker" Chief of Police while they looked around for a permanent Chief. Which is something that happens all the time. There are people in "acting" positions constantly. Folks who do a job while the permanent position is being filled. The person acting in the role may elect to apply for the permanent one, or not. But since Nicholas Power was in his sixties at the time of his appointment, nobody thought it would be something that would last very long. And it did not. Barely 18 months into the job, he was gone and replaced by the man who would do it for years.

Power's career is problematic as they say these days. He made plenty of mistakes, and I have pointed out a few in my cold case series articles in which he played a part. I think that Benjamin Trefry would have been found, dead of course, if Power had asked the right people the right questions. The Stetka family in 1906 would have been correctly characterized as murdered if a competent police detective had been appointed to the case, rather than Nick. I could go on. I look forward to Bob Gordon's book finally being published. Hey, maybe my editor at Frank will agree to let me write a review of the book in Frank. If not, I will write one here.

I do not know how much research Bob Gordon did for this book. Probably a whole lot. I do not know whether he found, as I did, a thesis someone write years ago about Nicholas Power's time at the Halifax police. We will have to wait and see.

I think I will call it a night. It is past 1:30 on Sunday morning. Need a bit of shut eye.

See you tomorrow.

Bev

Post 4073 - Friday NIght Good Times

Well, hello there.

Patricia had a thing today and left the house early to attend to it. It was a day-long course about some facet of rug hooking. She almost didn't get into the course, only finding out about it late Thursday night. Turns out there was a last minute cancellation and they had room for her. 

I hung back and did the dishes and cooked dinner and watched some stuff on the pvr. It was a pretty quiet day over all. I like those kinds of days.

The back deck is still a bit sticky from where I applied the second coat of stain on Thursday, so I did not feel comfortable moving the barbecue and other things back so I could tackle the rest of the deck. And it is supposed to rain on Saturday so I may not get a chance to do the rest of the deck for several days. 

I am not sure what we have on tap for Saturday just yet. If it is not raining too hard we may do another day trip. Otherwise, we may just stay put. 

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

Bevboy

Post 4072 - Thursday Night Almost Friday Morning

Late. Nearly two am.

I did not write on Wednesday because we did a whirlwind trip to Pictou County and we got back late and we were tired. 

Patricia had to go to pick up a thingy she purchased from a woman on Marketplace. Something to do with wool. I don't understand what its purpose is so please do not ask.

From there, we went into River John to the library, where we chilled for a little while. We heard that the librarian would take your vaccination card that you can print from the Department of Health website, and laminate it for you at no cost. We still made a donation to the library for this excellent service. We both know have a lovely laminated card that indicates that we are double vaxxed. Yay.

We went to the cottage for a little while to check the place out. They're doing construction up the lane. Whether they're building permanent housing or those stupid short term rentals we do not know. We just know that some jackass was blocking the lane and we had to drive on the grass to get to our destination, and to leave. Super considerate guy, that.

We drove into Pictou and had dinner at the Marina Bar and Grill along the waterfront. I don't know if it is my imagination, or I am becoming ever tighter with money, or what it is; I just know that restaurant food is not the quality, or quantity, it once was. I had two fish cakes with baked beans and a dollop of chow for nearly $15. The fish cakes were bland. Patricia had two tasteless fish tacos with fries that were not worth the money either. The cheesecake we had for dessert was acceptable. The bill with tax and gratuity was about $70, and I can think of better things to do with that kind of money. I could have made better fish cakes. Fish tacos are not a difficult thing to prepare, either; and it would not have killed them to put some seasoning in the mix. 

We filled up the gas tank and drove home, arriving here around 8:30. We turned in after we played back the news announcing that Steve Murphy was going to retire at the end of November. 

Today, I applied a second coat of stain to half the back deck, and began to stain the side of the privacy panel that faces our neighbours. The deck cost me quite a bit of money and I want to make sure it lasts for a long time, even if we are not living here to enjoy it. Not trying to start a rumour. We are not moving any time soon. Just sayin' that we would not say no to a place that has the amenities we both want. 

In a few days, after I am confident that the stain has dried, I will move the barbecue back to its proper location on the deck, and apply the second coat of stain to the area where the barbecue has been resting for the last 10 days or so. The whole deck will have had two coats of stain. I'll also stain the other part of the privacy panel facing the neighbours. There should be just enough stain to complete this task. 

We are not sure what is on tap on Friday. Late this evening, Patricia sprang the possibility of a road trip early on Friday morning. I will likely just stay here for the day. Long story.

After two in the morning. Think I will load up my CPAP with distilled water and turn in.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

 

 

Post 4071 - Tuesday Night AMA

Well, hello there.

A day spent not doing much. Shame on me. I did do some background research for a potential new entry in my cold case series. I briefly spoke to someone I was told would be a good source for information. He called me back and told me that I was misinformed, that he did not actually know the subject of my story. They were just acquaintances. Sigh and double sigh.

I contacted another source who has been helpful in the past for other stories. He gave me some information and asked me to contact him again in a bit to see if he can get me in touch with someone who knew the subject of this story. We will see how that plays out.

People ask me how I develop sources. If I knew, I would have more sources. My editor doesn't even like me to use the word "source" as much as I do as it is a specialized term for a person who provides key insights and information into the subject at hand. I was using the word indiscriminately apparently. I don't really understand.

But to answer your question, I am lucky enough to know quite a few people who work in quite a few disparate fields. They trust me not to give out their names or reveal anything that might identify them, so they are generous with telling me things. 

Sometimes, as a result of working on a cold case article, other people will contact me with additional information that can result in a follow up piece on the same subject. That has happened a few times now. For example, when I wrote articles about the Michael Resk murder this past Winter, naming the man who, uh, likely had some information about who had killed him, something happened that had not happened before in the history of this very old murder: the man's adult children started contacting me, confirming my information and providing more. I promised not to name them, and I won't; but their information was very helpful in keeping this story alive with fresh information about the case, and even a picture of Michael Resk that had never been published anywhere else. I even got his autopsy report. 

All these years, the family had kept quiet about their father's murder, and I had long wondered why. His wife Annie had occasionally been interviewed over the years, most notably for a 1991 series in the Daily News about unsolved murders, but otherwise, very little from the family. I got lucky. 

As a result of their information, certain other "facts" began to make more sense to me, like just why the police were so downright outspoken on that old episode of the Hotline when they said what they did about Michael Resk and what kind of guy he was. When you take into account what I found out, from the family and other places, I can see why the police were saying what they were saying. I will leave it at that. Go read the articles yourself and you will see what I mean.

So, that is how I develop sources, or whatever I am supposed to call them. Oftentimes, it is through people I already know. Other times, it is just pure luck. In any case, I do not take them for granted. I appreciate them and will guard their identities with my life.

And, say, if you know anything about any Nova Scotia based unsolved murder or missing persons case, feel free to contact me right here. I guarantee anonymity if you ask for it. 

That's it for tonight. I have an early-ish morning appointment, and it is nearly 1:30, so I guess I should turn in.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4070 - Monday Night Stuff

 Why, hello there.

I don't get headaches nearly as much as I used to. Time was, a migraine would knock me on my rear end for at least 24 hours. I might work, but I'd get home and go to bed and perhaps feel human again the next day. Years ago, my doctor prescribed a miracle drug that "washes" the headache away. 

But sometimes those headaches fell me anyway. I don't get the pill in time, and I am down for the count.

That happened on Monday. I awoke with a headache. I took one of those pills I just told you about. And I went back to bed, only getting up long enough to eat something before taking another long nap.

This evening I watched some of the election plus some stuff on the pvr. In the morning, things are fluid, but we may do a day trip somewhere. Not sure just yet. 

My editor sent me some information today  about the death of someone that I am investigating for a potential upcoming article in my cold case series. I am trying to track down someone who can speak to me about this person. We will see how that pans out in the next day or two.

Since I didn't do much today there is not much to write about. I think I will turn in and try to get back to a more normal schedule on Tuesday.

See you then.

Bevboy

Post 4069 - And Another Thing

Forgot to mention...

Saturday morning we went to the sell off of costumes and things from a locally-produced tv show called The Sinner. Season Four was shot here earlier this year, and there will not be a season five. Which is fine, because I don't think we made it through half of season one. But I digress.

Things were priced to sell, more or less. I did not want to pay 30 dollars for rubber boots, but I did see the following: 

Yep. Sixteen led bulbs. The equivalent of 40 watts each, but only using about 4.3 watts of power. I got them for a total of $16, and they threw in the box.

There were originally 54 bulbs in the box, and there were quite a few when I first wandered over and took four of them. I soon returned and discovered that there were fewer still, so I took the other 12, for a total of 16. I paid the man, and chatted with him. 

I don't know about you, but LED bulbs are not the be all and end all of the green economy. They cost quite a bit more to purchase. While they use far less energy than the old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, there is poor quality control on many brands of them. The store brand ones from Canadian Tire are horrid. Expensive, and burn out in short order. Been "burned" on them many times. Others are not "dimmable", so they're not suitable in those "eyes" that react to the sun going down and activate the light. Others still start off fine, but inexplicably stop working after a few months, long before their financial break even is achieved.

These ones are from Ikea. I do not know how good they are. The equivalent of 40 watts is not a good reading light, but suitable for an outdoor light or a hall way light or something. I do not need 16 of them unless they are all garbage and burn out by the holidays, in which case I will have wasted $16. After the money spent on the coffee maker and carafes today, I will have squandered far more than I should have.

We will see.

Or, maybe, I will mail out a few as Christmas presents.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4068 - Sunday Night Fun Times

And it is two days later, and pretty late.

The highlight of the day was that the carafe broke on the coffee maker just as I was about to make a batch. We drove to the local Value Village and got another carafe for five dollars, but it did not "align" with the basket on the coffee maker, and coffee did not make it to the carafe. The coffee maker backed up and made a hell of a mess, which I cleaned up but wasn't happy about. 

A look on Marketplace showed that a woman was selling another Sunbeam coffeemaker for 12 dollars, so we picked it up and brought it home. Seems to work fine, but I placed the carafe under the old Sunbeam coffeemaker, and it works even better. It cost me nearly 20 dollars, but I have a carafe in the coffeemaker again. Cause for celebration, that.

I did not have any time this weekend to apply a second coat of stain to the back deck. Hoping to get to that soon. As a commenter noted, there was a time when you could buy a type of stain for a deck that did not require for the wood to be "seasoned" first. Now, you have to wait a year or more and watch the wood get all gray and, well, seasoned before deciding what colour semi transparent stain to apply to the thing. 

I mean, you could just let the wood go au natural and not apply anything to it. It is pressure treated so it would last a while. But it cost me a pile of money last year and I want to preserve the deck for as long as possible. 

I must be getting old. Worrying about wood and wood preservative products. I have become my father.

On that note, I think I will turn in. My schedule is loosening up this week, but I have to be prepared for some things that might come up suddenly.

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

Post 4067 - Friday NIght Frolics

Well, hello there, handsome.

Another Friday night. Back when I was working, a Friday night would be so welcome. It would come at the end of another long work week, and during the height of my untreated sleep apnea, I would often collapse in bed at 7 or 7:30 and be down for the night. Now, at this late hour, I still feel relatively fresh and alert. 

I am sorry I did not write on Thursday. The day got away from me. I wish I could account for what happened, but all I remember is that I took one of my infrequent mid-afternoon naps. I was a little groggy when I got up and turned in relatively early. 

Today we did not go anywhere. I did finish the first coat of stain on the back deck, and the side of the privacy panel facing us. I will do the other side of the privacy panel, facing my neighbour's, in a few days. I will also do a second coat of stain on the back deck in the coming days. 

I was told to let the wood "season" a year ago when we first got the deck built. It has been looking a big peaked in the last couple of months, and I really felt I should get around to treating it, so I got to it in the last several days. I have applied several coats to the steps, along with the single coat to the rest of the deck along with the railing. I have one gallon of the stain left and will use it next week.

When I was younger I wondered what the big deal was with preserving wood. Dad would maybe use some varnish on something but would otherwise leave it alone. But as I have grown more... let's go with mature... I have found that preserving wood with a good semi-transparent stain makes wood pop and just looks so very much better. I think Dad would approve.

Saturday beckons. I am not sure what we will do just yet. The Archives are back to being open on Saturday again. There is a thing in Tatamagouche. The Valley is always there. So much to do, and only so many leisure hours in the day. 

You all have a good evening. Talk at you on Saturday.

Bevboy

Post 4066 - A Busy Day

Phew!

A busy day, as the blog title says. Let me tell you about it.

We drove from here to the Homestead Cheese Factory store in Aylesford, using the route suggested to us by google maps on Patricia's phone. A more roundabout route, I daresay, could not be devised if one tried to. But we got there, and got some cheese and pitted black olives and some other things. From there, we drove to Berwick to get a big five pound bag of North Mountain Columbia coffee, probably our fave. From there we drove to Canning to the meat market and the grocery store. We filled up our insulated bags with goodies before trying to have dinner at Crystany's Brasserie, only to discover they are closed on Wednesdays. So we had dinner at the Applewood restaurant in New Minas

We got home something after 7pm. Newbie was tapping his paw on the floor and looking at the watch we got him for his birthday last year, wondering aloud where we had been all that time because we were late feeding him and cleaning out his litter box. We apologized and settled in for the evening.

The freezer is full again. The fridge is in a similar situation. 

It was a pretty good day, and like I said, a busy day. I don't know what Thursday will bring, yet, but I intend to find out.

Sorry this is so short. Long day. 

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy

 

Post 4065 - Follow Up

OK. I was wrong. Neptune Theatre is where the Finding Kenley documentary series will play in late October. It was partially rebranded as Scotiabank Neptune Theatre or some such. 

So.

Today, I spent a couple of hours staining the back deck. I used about two thirds of a can of the semi-transparent stain that looks pretty good when it is dry, but looks anything but when it is wet. I hope to resume staining the deck either on Wednesday or Thursday. By then, what I did on Tuesday will be nice and dry so I can move the barbecue over to that spot and stain the area where the barbecue normally resides. I don't want any left over stain, so I will lay it on extra thick where people walk, as I always do.

On Wednesday we may do a day trip to Aylesford. Not sure just yet.

The lives we lead! Such excitement and drama. 

Time for beddy bye. 

See you tomorrow.

Bevboy