Oh, dear, what should the title be

I wasn’t sure what exactly I should write about so I just started writing and ended up covering a lot of different ground…

Heated Rivalry is coming to theatres. Seems an interesting idea, seeing all or some of these episodes in a group setting (not to mention on a big screen), but as always the actualities of it are proving problematic. First, there’s no way I’m going for the marathon showing of all episodes at once—that’s too long to sit in a theatre. Second, episodes 5 and 6, the cream of the crop, are playing at 10:30 pm. That’s too late! It’s way past my bedtime!

I’m having similar challenges with You Can See Everything. I’m sort of desperate to participate in the experience without encountering too many spoilers first, but the darn thing is quite long. I believe people who say it moves along quickly and doesn’t feel like the length it is, but it is over 2 hours, so you still have to fit into your day somehow. But unlike with streaming, you can’t pick the ideal time for you to watch; you have to take what the theatres have on offer. I don’t want to miss meals for it, or stay up late.

Possibly I’m inflexible curmudgeon.

Jean and I did get out to a 3-hour thingie this week: the live musical Into the Woods. We both thought it was good— excellent performers and a fun premise (fairy tale characters encounter one another in the woods, and have to deal with the aftermath of “happily ever after”), but just too long. Apologies to Sondheim fans, but some of those songs could have been cut down once we got the point of them. Chop, chop. Move it along.

(This is not disproving the inflexible curmudgeon thing.) Now we would like to see the movie. Which is only 2.5 hours long, I would note! (Still not.)

I’m also slogging through the novel What We Can Know by Ian McEwen, which is interesting enough that I don’t want to give up on it, but I am frustrated by its reading pace. Such long paragraphs! The characters are intellectuals, with so many thoughts! I miss the snap, snap reading pace of romance novels, or popular fiction by Frederik Bachmann. But what’s my hurry, though? Aren’t I retired? I am!

I can tell because I’m rewatching stuff, something I had largely given up on when still working. Pulling out the DVDs and Blu-rays and revisiting Before Sunset and Bohemian Rhapsody and Music and Lyrics and so on. And even taking a second pass through far more recent programs, like Heated Rivalry, yes, but also Off Campus, the straight hockey romance series based on a Canadian novel. I’m not even going to claim you should watch it, but I am going to say that I quite enjoyed it. Both times. It’s on Prime TV.

I also read one in the series of the books it was based on, and that took no time at all. Which is good, because the book just wasn’t that great. Frankly, the series was much better! Without getting particularly spoilery, the object of the crush, the reason for the breakup, the nature of the reconciliation… All of it was far more complex and better motivated in the series than in the book. Kind of the opposite of what you’d expect.

(With Heated Rivalry, I would say both books and series are worthwhile, just with different focuses.)

I then turned to watching Prime TV’s Sterling Point, which doesn’t have hockey, but is another Canadian story (though not Canadian production, I don’t think). It’s really a family drama at its core, with romance on the side. It takes place in Muskoka, and the locale is center point of the piece, as contrasted to New York (which barely appears). Not saying it’s perfect, but it’s fairly compelling and I got pretty caught up in it, as did a lot of people.

I then went looking for the book, and was surprised to find out there isn’t one. This is an original series! How original.

Another original we recently experienced was the live Cirque du So Gay, a circus troop with a bit of a drag / queer flair. We saw them at sold out show at Centre in the Square’s smaller Studio Theatre. We found out only at the end that this was the group’s debut performance. I wouldn’t have guessed, because it was a pretty polished mix of acrobatics, trapeze, and clowning. Quite a physically attractive group as well!

They very much encouraged us to take pictures and video, but while tempted, I ultimately declined in favor of staying in the moment. (Just a 90-minute show. Nice!)

Various circus performers on a poster labeled Cirque Du So Gay, October 17, 2026, Centre in the Square, Kitchener, Ontario.

Also rather nice has been this Fall weather. While temperatures really plunge at night, it has been a whole long series of sunny days that reach into the high teens (Celsius). One day we decided to take advantage and bike to Sole for one more round of lunch on their lovely patio. They had their heaters running, such that we didn’t even need our jackets. Very enjoyable to be dining al fresco at this time of year, especially given that the food and wine were very good.

Black and white photo of a plate of pasta with two glasses of wine, and woman in the background.
Jean got arty with his photo.

The weather also means that cat Mac has been getting near daily walks on a leash, which he really enjoys (except when they end). I play podcasts as I hold on to my end of his tether as he visits our yard and, occasionally, walks down the sidewalk. (He’d love the visit the neighbours’ yards also, but I don’t allow that). So many walks, I’ve never gotten through podcast episodes so quickly. I keep having to scramble to add more to the queue.

White cat with black markings in a teal harness, on a leash.
Actually a photo from two years ago, but it’s the same idea now.

A new addition to the podcast queue that I’d recommend for people who enjoy films that deal with romantic relationships: Love Factually, in which two scientists discuss how well or poorly certain films represent what’s known scientifically about love and romance. I’ve also been enjoying Big in Canada, which looks at musicians who are very popular in Canada (often due to CanCon laws) but not so much elsewhere. It’s far less polished, though! (At least these earlier episodes that I’m listening to now.)

Both of these shows are also adding to my list of movies to rewatch and albums to listen to again, as well. (Did I mention I have a new CD players? Very happy with it. And also with the IBroadcast app for listening to your own music. It connects right to Sonos speakers, just like Spotify does.)

But back to the cats. Gus and Shawnee are not ones for leashing it up outside. Gus loves his daily pets and combs, and hanging out in the catio, but doesn’t do well get a collar put on him, let alone a harness. Shawnee’s OK in a collar but she does not want to explore the outdoors, even in catio form.

Two cats at an open window, a black fluffy one, and a small tabby looking at the camera.
This is as close as Shawnee wants to get to the outdoors. Gus is the big black floofer beside her.

Since August, the three cats now roam the entire house, with no more gating required. It’s mostly going well, though Shawnee is a much more touchy-feely cat than Mac and Gus, so they’re negotiating that. Shawnee has also recently been featured as a Pet Patrol adoption Success Story, and is also one of their fundraising calendar cats. But I don’t think her fame is making Gus and Mac particularly jealous.

January page of a cat calendar, show Shawnee along with Kachine (black and white kitten), Quiggley (orange tabby), and Sly (black and white cat). Quote: The only thing a cat worries about it what's happening right now. After all, you can only wash one paw at a time. Lloyd Alexander,

Monday are the municipal elections, and I’ve finally decided who to vote for. The local ones are a lot more labour-intensive, with no political parties, and Waterloo has a more complicated region / city structure that adds to the complexity. Nice of Doug Ford to make it easier by now appointing the Regional Chair, i.e. the most powerful local political, instead of letting us vote for who we want! Why would should we get a say in that, eh? Democracy is clearly over-rated.

I’m still going to exercise it, though, if only to be contrary. Will say that the official Waterloo Region Votes website is really excellent, deftly gathering all the information you need on who’s running for mayor, city councillor, regional councillor, and school board trustee, and continually updating with candidate sites, news articles, Redditt threads, video debates, anything and everything you can use for research.

CBC said that climate change was a major issue for people who responded to their poll about the municipal election. That’s a self-selected group, but it’s still interesting. Can’t remember what I picked when I did the poll, but climate change was probably in there. I find myself much more willing to read about that topic now. It’s clearly happening; seems better to try to understand it than live in denial.

Bill McKibben’s Substack The Crucial Years gives a clear-eyed view of what’s going on, and it ain’t pretty, folks! But he still notes good news when he can find it. Max Fawcett of the National Observer gives frequently optimistic takes on climate policy, which can annoy people (including his own wife, he admits). But he at least does bring the facts in his arguments. For example, he will point out that for all of Mark Carney oil pipeline boosting and carbon tax cancelling, he also removed duties on Chinese solar modules; restored the EV tax credit; allowed in some Chinese EVs; created the heat pump incentive; and wants to build a national electrical grid.

Then there’s the Doomers, who focus largely on their own survival. Not in the sense of wandering off to a country cabin with a bunch of guns, but by staying in your home a city and growing your own food. And running your own solar panels, with battery backup. And purifying your own water. And putting in a composting toilet. And stocking up on canned goods. I don’t think it’s crazy; more power outages, supply shortages, and water quality issues likely are going to be more frequent problems, and it is good to prepare for them.

But I just can’t quite become a full-on “prepper”, even though I will follow the occasional small tip here and there. There’s a full book (soon to be updated), free for the downloading: Survival Illustrated

Survival book cover, of woman in a mask and combat gear jumping over a dumpster fire.

The What We Can Know novel I mentioned earlier is mostly set in the future, looking back on our time. Future historians are just amazed at how people in our society go on with our lives, burning our fossil fuels, even though all of us know perfectly well how bad the situation is going to get. In the book, AI systems eventually start some nuclear war (as per their calculations, it’s the most logical approach). Humans fairly quickly put a stop to them, not until after a fair number of lives have been lost, but before the whole world becomes a nuclear wasteland. (Yay, us?)

A side effect of these wars is that particles are released into the atmosphere (part of the “nuclear winter” thing), which actually protects the earth from some the heating. The world thereby gains some time against the otherwise unfolding climate disaster, and manages to rebuild some cities with much less travel, far fewer types of food and animal life, and all renewable energy… But not a terrible life, all in all. (Yay, us?)

All of the above isn’t all that spoilery, by the way. It’s not really the point of the book. It’s just the backstory.

Just like You Can See Everything isn’t really about Elizabeth Holmes’ time at Theranos. Or so they say.

I think we’re going Wednesday. We’re going to spring for the comfy seats.

A retired person’s summer “vacation”

Trying to make light conversation, the receptionist at the dentist’s office asked if I had done anything fun during the summer. I stammered; I had trouble thinking of anything.

Thing is, I was just a very distracted unit at this point. My cat Mac had managed to somewhat seriously injure his paw on a sharp section of our catio (since repaired), leading him to have to be isolated, medicated, and coned. This threw the usual cat routine—which is a significant part of our overall household routine—into some disarray.

My mind was full of that (plus, having to get my dental appointment). No space to think back on what fun things I might have done of late.

White cat in pink fabric cone with injured paw.
The patient. This cone proved inadequate, by the way. He ended up in the rigid plastic type later.

Mac is now on the mend—no longer isolated or coned, just on medication and laser treatments for a few more days—and that gave me some time to review the calendar and recall that I did, in fact, do some fun stuff this summer… And that I should maybe document it.

While we’re still nursing a general reluctance to travel much, there have been some sojourns to nearby towns and cities; quite a few visits to local restaurants, often while catching up friends not seen in some time; and enjoying the outdoors through hiking, biking, and gardening.

Visiting nearby towns and cities

Back in June, we took a day trip to Toronto to attend a National Ballet performance. We took the GO train there and back, which worked well. (We took taxis to and from the GO station.)

On arrival, after visiting a few shops, we had lunch at The Rabbit Hole, a kind of upscale British pub. Though the forecast was a mixed bag, it turned out to be a nice enough at lunch time to be able to sit out on their patio. The space was pretty; the food was very good; all in all, a very enjoyable meal.

The ballet, however, was… not entirely successful? It was called Maddaddam. It was based on a trilogy of futuristic Margaret Atwood novels, which is a pretty ambitious thing to try to cover in 90 minutes of dance. Though they used video and narration to try to help things along on that front, it was still often just confusing. On the bright side, the dancing was excellent, of course, and I did like the score.

Later that same month, we carpooled with some friends over to the hamlet of New Hamburg to dine at Puddicombe House. It was a lovely day, which made it good that we had booked veranda seating. Great catching up with these friends, whom we hadn’t seen in about a year. We also quite liked the food. I even took a photo!

Dish of seared tuna, orzo, and asparagus, with wine glass in the background, and people with faces not shown. Sun streamed.
Seared tuna with orzo and asparagus

On the day of the Apocalypse…

Continue reading “A retired person’s summer “vacation”” →

Good health news and what to do about it

Rates of Covid infection are the lowest they’ve been in quite some time in Canada. This trend started around May this year, and persists.

This image shows gauges with the Jun 20 - Jul 3, 2026 COVID Forecast scores for Canada, the provinces, and territories. From left to right: Canada: MODERATE - 2.9 Alberta: MODERATE - 4.4 British Columbia: MODERATE - 2.0 Manitoba: MODERATE - 2.4 New Brunswick: MODERATE - 2.2 Newfoundland & Labrador: MODERATE - 2.3 North: MODERATE - 2.6 Nova Scotia: MODERATE - 2.2 Ontario: MODERATE - 2.8 Prince Edward Island: MODERATE - 2.6 Quebec: MODERATE - 2.4 Saskatchewan: MODERATE - 2.2 A text box reads: 'The COVID Forecast is calculated from 3 equally weighted categories: 1) Current infections and spread; 2) Healthcare system impact; 3) Mortality. Within each category there is one sub-category for trends over the most recent week (Trends) and one sub-category for current parameter values relative to a specified baseline (Current values). Trends and current values are weighted equally when determining the final score for a category. All Forecast input data and sources are available here (https://datastudio.google.com/embed/u/0/reporting/42b886cf-d661-488e-b7d8-5c5836b55ab6/page/p_2yqs028mwc). Past Forecast scores are available in the table below. Forecast scores are grouped into 4 ranges: MODERATE (1 to <5, white), HIGH (6 to <10, yellow), VERY HIGH (10 to <15, orange), SEVERE (>15 red).'
This apparently equates to about 1 in 320 people being infected

Furthermore, basically the same thing is happening in the US:

COVID-19 levels remain very low across much of the U.S. as a deep lull between waves continues

And in the UK, viz Let’s celebrate the lowest Covid levels recorded since the pandemic started.

There is hardly any Covid in the community, hardly anyone is being hospitalised with Covid and thankfully it is contributing to very few deaths.

Also in Germany. And in Denmark:

Bluesky post from Prof. Michael Fuhrer: Denmark's Covid-19 RNA average concentration in wastewater has also literally gone off the bottom of the chart--they had to extend the y-axis down (old in left, new on right). Current levels 200X lower than peak just 5 months ago, and 1800X lower than all-time peak. And two charts with a downward trend.

Now, plenty of Canadians had Covid earlier in the year. In Ontario, the peak was around late February / early March. (The source of this graph is https://wwater.ca/Ontario; orange on the graph is COVID-19; pink, flu A; blue, flu B; and black, RSV.)

Wastewater Virus Signals - Ontario (generated Wed June 24, 2026): A chart of Covid-19, RSV, Flu A, and Flu B infections in Ontario, as measured in wastewater, with peaks and valleys, Covid usually most prevalent.

Still, what appears to be happening in Ontario, and Canada-wide, and in other countries, is that the infection peaks are lower year on year, which you can also see in the above graph.

This is not exactly expected, given that basically nothing is being done to stop the spread of this disease: vaccine uptake is low, mask usage isn’t prevalent in Western countries, efforts to improve ventilation and filtration are minimal, paid sick days haven’t become mandatory everywhere, and so on.

So why this is happening, exactly, is a bit of a mystery. I personally wonder if it’s related to another bit of good news about this disease: that the Covid virus is disappearing in wild animals. Because they used to say that the fact that Covid did have such a large pool of animal reservoirs meant that it would endure and continue to mutate. But now it seems to have specialized in humans. (Important to note that you can still infect your pet cats with Covid, though! But they are unlikely to infect you.)

Should I change my masking behavior as a result?

That is the question. Most people dropped masking when the government said they could, or shortly thereafter. I have stubbornly persisted with it, in most public indoor spaces. Excluded are restaurants (though friends / family all know my patio preference) and wine tastings (outdoor or private preferred there, too).

Sidenote: By “mask” I mean a respirator, which is an either N95 (headstrap) or a KN95/94 mask—not a surgical or cloth mask. If I’m going to go through the social and physical discomfort of masking in the first place, I’m going to wear a mask that gives me maximum protection. Surgicals are cheap and easily available, but they gap at the sides, which can let virus and other pollutants in.

Bonus: respirator masks don’t fog up my glasses or cling to my face getting all gross and wet. Very breathable versions are available now as well (see: BreatheTeq by Canada Strong Masks). And they come in fun colours.

These are the reasons I’ve persisted:

  • To avoid catching Covid
  • To protect myself against other airborne contaminants.
  • To protect other people.
  • To show solidarity.
  • To keep up the habit.

The question is, how relevant do these factors remain?

Continue reading “Good health news and what to do about it” →

One more in the Point Pelee tally

On this trip, we got into one of those pointless couples discussions about how often we visit the Lake Erie / Kingsville / Point Pelee area: Annually? Periodically?

There is an objective answer to this, of course, and thanks to my blogging habit, I am now able to share. We were last in this area in November 2021. And before that, we visited in August 2013, July 2017, and August 2018. Note that I did dub this 2018 expedition “annual”, but that turned out only to be true that year.

At any rate, this year we again headed to those parts for a few days, rather than to Niagara, our more recent “annual” destination.

Monday, May 4

This spring has been reluctant to get and stay warm, and this was largely true on this vacation as well, even though we were visiting the southernmost part of the province. The very first day, however, was glorious: fully sunny, with a high of 21 C. We were not able to check into our Inn until 4:00—it was one of those self check-in places, and we didn’t get the entry codes until shortly before 4:00—so we spent the time ambling around Kingsville, even though many of its stores are closed on Mondays. We were able to get excellent lattes from a local cafe, though.

Jean was pretty tuckered from a bike trip the previous day, but I coaxed him into a walk to the waterfront. It was lovely!

Park with flowering trees, a gazebo, and water in the background, on a beautiful sunny day.
Jean was too tired to take photos on Monday, so you’ll have to make do with mine

We then recuperated on the patio of a little pub. I had a nonalcoholic cocktail based on ginger beer, and Jean had an alcoholic one based on prosecco. We also had fries and fried Brussels sprouts.

Despite the mild inconvenience of the late checkin, our Inn, the Heart and Soul Inn, was really great. It was conveniently located near downtown, and had beautiful rooms in what seemed to be an old house. Very good coffee and some nice snacks were supplied. Each room had a theme. Ours was musical.

Lamp and window with 45s affixed the wall, and a staff to the right of it. Also shown are snacks and a Keurig coffee maker, along with an Elvis book.
Also there but not shown in this photo: a tiny piano, a gramophone, more music-themed books, and more LPs on the wall

We couldn’t lounge too long, though, because we had a dinner reservation at North 42 Estates Winery, and we wanted to get there a little earlier to do some wine tasting. North 42 have a beautiful building on a nice property, and some pretty spectacular wines. We were especially impressed by the 2019 Cabernet Franc (not even their “estate” wine), which was so smooth and fruity. And by the “estate” Pinot Noir, somewhat bigger than Ontario Pinots can be, and very complex. But we also enjoyed their Gewurtz and Sauvignon Blanc.

It was a quiet day at the winery, and we were able to segue seamlessly from the tasting to the dinner, while sitting out on the patio again. We enjoyed our meal of shared mussels with sparkling Riesling (also shared). I then had the beet linguini, which was very creative and fresh and served with Sauvignon Blanc, while Jean had the nicely prepared pork with delicious potato puree, served with the afore-mentioned Pinot.

The pub snacks had left us too full for dessert, alas.

Tuesday, May 5

One thing I’d learned during my pre-trip research is that it was a bit difficult to find a place that served breakfast before 9 AM in Kingsville. There was one, though: Jim’s Sub Shop. This is what we tried. It offered pretty serviceable egg-based breakfast items. Jim was quite personable and fun to chat with.

Unlike our sunny first day, Tuesday was cool and rainy. We headed to Amherstburg, and stopped in at the Freedom Museum, which focuses on African-Canadian history. It consists of two buildings: a former homestead that displays items from that time, and to which a larger exhibit space has been attached, and a Black church. We got a personal tour of both buildings. I had heard of Canada’s role in the underground railroad for escaped African-American slaves, and it was interesting to learn that Amherstburg was a major point of entry on that network.

I heard not previously heard the shameful fact that in 1850, Ontario passed a Segregation Law that prevented Black children from attending the same schools as children of other races—to which the Black community responded by building their own schools. (Methinks perhaps the education I received on racial matters in my country was a bit sanitized.) I had to look up when and how that ended:

In response to the activism of Black parents, racially segregated schools in Ontario were gradually phased out. The last racially segregated school in Ontario, School Section No.11 in Colchester, closed in 1965. This was done after newly elected MPP Leonard Braithwaite pushed for the Separate Schools clause on segregated schools for Blacks to be officially removed from provincial education policy. The last racially segregated school in Nova Scotia closed in 1983 in Guysborough County.

The Canadian Encyclopedia

After that interesting but sobering visit, we had lunch at an unremarkable but adequate Italian restaurant, then went to visit Vivace Estate Winery. We’d never been to this one before. It’s small, and we were the only patrons. We did a tasting of the “Local Favourites” and the “Premium Select” wines. I found that their Vidal-based wines had a bit an off-putting barnyard scent. But I quite liked their Pinot Grigio, which was more lemony and complex than this wine typically is. Jean wasn’t sure about it at first, but was ultimately won over. We also enjoyed their Baco, Marechel Foch, and we decided to buy their port-style Cavatina without tasting it, figuring we’d enjoy it.

Small tabby cat on a stair.
Big fluffy black cat on a bed.
Mostly white cat on a cat house roof.
We have no pictures from this day, but our cats seemed to be having a nice time with the sitter

Our dinner that night, back in Kingsville, was at Mettawas Station, an old favourite. However, we didn’t really love it this time. The food wasn’t the issue: we shared escargot to start, and enjoyed how they served them in portebello mushroom. I had a pasta special with lovely fresh peas and asparagus—the serving was too large, but the taste was good. Jean enjoyed his smoked mozzarella ravioli. We each had a different flavor of tartuffo for dessert, and both were great.

No, the issue was mainly the accoustics: it was just quite loud in here. Though not at capacity, there were definitely enough people that it was too many conversations to overhear. The waitress did a masterful job at managing all the tables by herself, must say, but we’re still not too inclined to go back, unless we could sit outdoors.

Wednesday

We didn’t want diner breakfast again, so we decided to wait until 9 AM to have more options. We first tried a whole-food brunch place, only to find they weren’t open on Wednesdays. We then stopped in at a little cafe called La Dolce Vita, but it seemed the only breakfast they had were smoothies and pastries. So then we tried the cafe we’d been to on the first day, but they only had pastries. Figuring it would be better to have a smoothie with our pastry, we went back to La Dolce Vita, only to learn that they actually had a bunch of fancy breakfast sandwiches and sides (like fruit) as well. Yay!

It was a very nice breakfast. In a very quiet room!

Weather was also enjoyable: not as warm as Monday, but sunny. So we decided to make this our Point Pelee Park day. But before that, because it made more sense geographically, we stopped at a winery near Leamington: Aleksander. We’ve been here a number of times, and always enjoyed it; this day was no exception. We were the only patrons, and had a leisurely tasting of a few different options, along with a charcuterie board. We purchased a full complement of types: white, rose, red, dessert (late harvest)—not all of which we tried this day; some we just knew from past visits we liked. The favourite we tried was the Amarouge, a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chambourcin.

We then went into Leamington to visit the Arts Centre. They had a few different exhibits on: a student show, Far Out show, Things That Go Bump in the Night! So, an interesting, eclectic collection.

Clock with orange flowers around it, a gingerbread man below, and possibly sand and shells in the corner. Art piece!
One of the exhibits at the Leamington Arts Centre

We then made it to Point Pelee National Park. It was a pretty popular place, because this was prime bird watching season, and this is a prime bird watching area. But it was fine sharing the trails with the birders (though Jean remarked they made his camera looked puny). We don’t know our birds, beyond the obvious ones, but there’s no doubt we saw many ourselves during the hike. The big wild turkeys were pretty cool. But also the Grosbeaks, and the little yellow birds, and the brown birds, and the gray birds, and the black… (sorry; as noted, don’t really know birds!).

Large eagle in a sparse tree against a blue sky.
I do know this one, though! Hello, eagle. This is a Jean photo.
Black bird with red, yellow, and white on its wing: a red wing blackbird.
And this is a grosbeak red wing blackbird. And also a Jean photo. (Taken with his puny camera. Haha.)

Dinner was back in Kingsville, this time at Wineology, a restaurant whose Kitchener location had closed some time ago, but whose Kingsville location remained a going concern, albeit at a new location in Kingsville. It was a nice room: quiet (!), with cool furniture. We were almost the only patrons; the other tables seemed to be friends of the wait staff, which was a little different, but fine. It felt like a very casual night out, but with better food.

For whatever reason, Wineology still have American wines on their menu here (for those not in the know, American wines have been banned from sale in Ontario since the trade troubles). Jean tried to avoid them, but didn’t quite manage, as he selected two different flights per course. I went, eh, and embraced having a California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (even though I hadn’t really been missing them). The Chardonnay was part of the wine flight I had with my first course; the Pinot Noir I had on its own with my main.

The food was good and nicely plated. We shared a feta plate to start. I then had the truffle pasta (realizing only retrospectively that I selected pasta for every single dinner on this meal, although the first one was veggie and not carb-based), and it was quite lovely. Jean enjoyed his pistachio-encrusted lamb and mashed potatoes. For dessert, I think we ended up with tiramisu? I do recall that not all desserts were available, but that the one we got in the end was very nice.

Thursday

Was another beauty day, but also our last day of vacation. We had another breakfast at La Dolce Vita, stopped in at the Olive Oil store to replenish our olive oil and balsamic vinegar stock, and then we headed out.

What have I been up to

I haven’t posted here for a while, due to a little distraction:

Small tabby cat sitting at a scratching post.
Meet Shawnee

That people who volunteer at cat shelters sometimes end up with new pets isn’t much of a surprise. But I was resisting the lure pretty well, until Jean started to waver—even though he only knew of Shawnee based on my descriptions (and a few cell phone photos).

Same small tabby cat on a scratching post near a bed.
Shawnee at the shelter

Shawnee had been at the shelter from the first day I volunteered, but I only really noticed her some months later, after she got some extensive dental work done. This left her with no teeth whatsoever, but also, with an altered personality. Whereas previously she’d been at best aloof, at worst cranky, she became very friendly and affectionate. From my perspective, all of a sudden this little tabby cat was coming up to me for pets and face rubs.

By summer (I started volunteering in January), she was added to the shelter adoption list. (Not all the cats under this shelter’s care are considered adoptable.) Shawnee was about six years old, and had been at shelter for about two years. Previous to that, she’d been a colony cat. She was part of a TNR (trap/neuter/release) program, only they decided to not release her (despite clipping her ear). She was at the Humane Society for a while, then brought over to Pet Patrol.

I didn’t particularly need another cat, so I fairly relieved to hear, a couple months later, that she had a prospective adopter. This person took their time deciding, but finally did bring Shawnee home. It was funny to not see her at the shelter, but I was happy for her…

…until my next volunteer shift, when she was back at the shelter. Turns out she’d spent all her time at her new home hiding in a closet. After four days, she was returned.

Jean and I hemmed and hawed about it through the fall, but finally in January, we went out to see her. And brought her back home.

Though the standard advice is to let the new cat be completely on their own in a dedicated room after adoption, given Shawnee’s history of always living with lots of cats, they suggested she could meet ours after a day or two. And indeed, the meetings generally went well. Mac was a little dubious at first, and she had to make some moves to win him over. But she generally did.

White cat on a round scratcher looking at a small tabby cat in front of him.
Mac and Shawnee in her room

Gus seemed pretty enamored of her. She wasn’t quite as sure about him, but seemed OK as long as he kept a little distance.

Small tabby cat in a cat head bed a little distance from a big, fluffy black cat on the floor.
Shawnee and Gus, keeping some space

Shawnee was getting comfortable with us (she already knew me, which helped), seemed OK with the cats, and was starting to explore the rest of the house. It seemed as though we’d have this whole adoption thing settled in a couple of weeks.

Or not.

Continue reading “What have I been up to” →

Dancing in lines

I’ve moved up to Beginner Level 2 in line dance classes this winter. The dances are still reasonably simple, but they come at you much faster.

I’m no longer one of the best in the class, since other people are repeating this level. On the other hand, that means it’s sometimes possible to follow other people in the class, something that was almost never true in Beginner Level 1.

I’m managing, though. I’m sometimes surprised by my ability to pick up and remember the steps reasonably quickly. I think my brain is getting trained on what it needs to do. Paradoxically, I also think the slightly more complex steps are sometimes helpful also, as it feels like a more logical sequence of dance steps than when just doing a bunch of basic steps.

Last night, I went out to my first social line dance event. It was not associated with my classes at all. They do hold events, but I’ve heard that they’re not especially beginner friendly. This event was.

I have to give kudos to my two friends and my one husband for agreeing to come along with me. The two friends had never really line danced before (though they had done ballroom and Latin dancing), something I only learned when we arrived. My husband had only line danced enough previously to know that he didn’t really like line dancing. Furthermore…

  • While inclusive, this was a queer line dance club. (Meaning, they wouldn’t kick you out for being straight, but it was an event aimed at the LGBTQIA2S+ community.)
  • The participants tended to skew younger than we are.
  • It was mask mandatory.

Even I was kind of daunted by those facts, but we were all attracted by the theme, which was Frozen in Time: 70s party. Disco classics and Dad rock! So we agreed to give it a whirl.

Bolo Tie Line Presents Frozen In Time 70's line dancing party

I didn’t know how these events went—and maybe it varies—but at this one, it started with a demo of a fairly advanced line dance by the two organizers. This was then followed by a series of “learn the line dance” / “do the line dance” sessions, with breaks at appropriate intervals. Their assessment of the crowd at this particular session led them to back away from the original plan of teaching anything too advanced, though there was still one slightly more complicated dance included. It was a two-hour duration.

The music really was terrific. “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” by The Ramones, “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways, “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer, “The Hustle”, and so on.

None of the dances were ones I had learned in class, unsurprisingly, but the brain training from the classes was definitely helpful. One of my friends, in particular, seemed to be a bit of a natural at this. The other did OK, with a bit more effort. While Jean found it a struggle, for sure. He can dance, but he definitely prefers dance improvisation! Though he got pretty good at faking the steps.

I wish I had taken a picture of my outfit. I dug out my royal blue, slightly sparkly, flared leg pantsuit, and did some fine smokey eye makeup above my bedazzled (mask chain) black mask. And wore it with my new black dance sneakers (I just recently learned that dance sneakers are a thing). I was pretty pleased with the effect. But I can’t prove any of it!

(There was a photographer there. Let’s see if something shows up on Instagram. In the meantime, here’s a link to one of the dances we learned, filmed a couple weeks prior to the event: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTnzxrEgHQm/).

Masked people line dancing.
And here’s a photo from a previous Bolo Tie Line event

As for the original concerns, well, it didn’t seem that weird being the straights among the queers, since everyone was dancing on their own anyway, in the end. And, it didn’t skew quite as young as I thought it would. And, it’s just not awkward to be in a mask when everyone is in a mask. (I also practice weekly as the lone masker in my line dance class, so this was a breeze.)

I had fun. A lot of fun. My friends also had enough fun that they texted me right after that they would go again, as long as it’s another “good music” theme night. Jean is… less sold on the whole thing. But he did enjoy watching me in my outfit!

Christmas in time

YouTube has these videos about the weirdness of the week between Christmas and New Year’s—that time when it gets particularly hard to remember what day of the week it is and you find yourself subsisting mostly on decadent leftovers. For example:

Hmm, I guess YouTube Shorts display really big in WordPress…?

Being retired also brings with a certain amount of having to work to remember what day of the week it is anyway, and I can confirm that this is only gets worse the week between Christmas and New Year’s, when whatever usual weekly activities you have set up are often cancelled or moved. So that the week did feel a bit “off” wasn’t too surprising.

What I hadn’t expected was the way that Christmas Day itself really snuck up on me. In my working times, I’d typically have the week between Christmas and New Year’s off, and usually a few days before Christmas, too. And I would plan ahead for that. What am I going to cook when. What events will I attend. What back burner projects will I move onto that front burner.

But now… Well… That’s closer to what my life is generally like so I didn’t need all these “special” plans. But, I did still want to do a Christmas dinner and maybe a few other event? And I didn’t want to be grocery shopping on Christmas Eve, and events weren’t going to plan themselves. I had to get on it.

Continue reading “Christmas in time” →

Some Good Fortune

I’d heard on a podcast that it was good for couples to do “novel activities” together.

On another podcast came the comment that Landmark Theatres were far superior to the more dominant Cineplex ones. We have a Landmark Theatre close by.

In the newspaper, I’d read how Aziz Ansari had fought to have his new movie get a theatrical release. And that he’d cast a bunch of Canadian actors in it, albeit not because they were Canadian.

On the shared calendar, I saw that we had an opening Monday afternoon.

Hence Jean and I found ourselves at Landmark Cinemas for a matinee showing of Good Fortune.

Now, by this point the movie had been out for about four weeks and it was, you know, Monday afternoon. So this wasn’t a true “watching with a crowd” experience, given that there were only about two other people in attendance. But—notwithstanding our having gone to see a physics documentary at the Princess Cinema last month—it had been so long since we’d gone to a chain theatre, this seemed to qualify as a “novel” experience.

Plus, you know, Monday afternoon! On a non-holiday! Novel!

The Landmark was nice. We sprung for a few extra bucks to sit in the premium seats with recliners, heaters, a coat hook, and such. The screen was big. The movie was high definition. The sound was surround.

And the story was entertaining. The trailer is a pretty accurate synopsis: Arj, played by Ansari, is trying to stay afloat with part-time and “gig economy” jobs—and not entirely succeeding. He captures the attention of Gabriel, an angel played by Keanu Reeves, who longs to make bigger gestures than saving people from texting and driving. Though advised against it by his supervisor, Gabriel tries to show Arj that money wouldn’t solve all his problems by having him trade places with Jeff, played by Seth Rogen, a wealthy “tech bro” that Arj has been doing errands for. Only Arj very much enjoys living Jeff’s life and doesn’t particularly want to go back, setting off a chain of cosmic chaos.

It’s quite funny, it moves at a good clip (it’s about 90 minutes long), and it has a strong cast. It is pretty delightful seeing Keanu Reeves as a “budget angel”.

But, it’s kind of excruciating sitting through the struggles of Arj, and then Jeff, and also romantic foil Elena (played by Keke Palmer), working so hard for so little while Jeff, and then Arj, live in such leisure, comfort, and luxury. Because it is so true. And because I know which side of that spectrum I’m closer to (sitting in my premium seat, on a Monday afternoon).

Warning that I’m about to be a little spoilery about the ending…

Continue reading “Some Good Fortune” →

Trip to PEC

Black and white beach in Prince Edward County.

We selected Prince Edward County as the destination for our first post-retirement vacation together. Although we waited until late enough in October that we missed out on all the unseasonably warm Fall weather, we were still able to get some hikes in. And despite having visited this area a number of times previously, we still had some new experiences.

Highlights were:

  • The quite fascinating tour of the S.S. Keewatin, a decommissioned luxury cruise ship, at the Great Lakes Museum in Kingston.
  • Staying at the Jackson’s Falls Inn in Milford, where we enjoyed a king suite with Nespresso machine, excellent breakfasts, and an included Netflix account (hello, The Diplomat Season 3).
  • The informative and basically private wine tasting stop at Sugarbush Vineyards in Hillier, makers of excellent Viognier and Cab Franc and experimenters with adding a bit of maple syrup to wine (not bad!).
  • Dinner at the cozy Hartley’s Tavern in Picton, whose casual name belies the excellent food and service provided.
  • A rather stunning beach walk at the Prince Edward County Bird Observatory.
  • Finally making it to Three Dog Winery in Picton, where we enjoyed their excellent charcuterie board along with tastes of a good portfolio of red, white, and sparkling wines.
Front view of a narrow and tall cruise ship, flying a British flag.
The S.S. Keewatin. We went aboard!
A black and white view of a lakefront beach, with a cloudy sky and some trees.
The beach at Prince Edward County Bird Sanctuary.

For more details (and photos), see Trip to PEC, October 2025.

Welcome to the new routine

It’s not exactly Ovaltine
But welcome to the new routine
Whatja have to do to get a drink here?

—Bob Geldof, “The New Routine”

I’d sometimes feel a little prickly when people would ask what I planned to do when I retired. For one thing, how do I know, really, until I actually have that extra 37.5 hours per week? For another thing, I figured some of the things I expected I’d be doing wouldn’t sound interesting to other people.

Some things I’ve done:

  • Made a tiny apple pie (just as much work as a full-size pie, fyi)
  • Tried out Jean’s ebike to see whether I like certain features for myself
  • Finally switched out my Windows 10 PC for a Windows 11 one
  • Researched a suitable cat food substitute for a flavor that’s been discontinued

Are you not entertained?

I have a habit of overthinking regardless, but I hadn’t quite realized that so many things could be re-thought. Like, what time should I set the alarm? Does doing groceries once a week still make sense? How long should my workouts be? Do I have French press coffee every day now? (Answers so far: I’ll try adjusting it every three weeks or so to roughly match sunrise; no, every six days works better; slightly longer than before, unless I’m too busy or tired that day; and no, on busier mornings I’ll go with filtered coffee.)

We aren’t planning a big trip yet; just some small trips.

But, I have done a few local things that are more interesting to describe.

Fun with physics

Waterloo is home to the Perimeter Institute (PI) for Theoretical Physics, which Jean likes to take pictures of. They periodically have free public lectures. I hadn’t been in years, but decided to sign up for one called “How the Universe Ends”, by Dr. Katie Mack, both because that sounded interesting, and because I follow Dr. Mack on Bluesky (where she’s astrokatie), and I think she’s cool.

The Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics in winter
Not a recent shot of the Perimeter Institute; it’s been quite nice and warm here lately!

The talks are now held at the nearby Centre for International Governance rather than at PI, which allows for more attendants. They also livestream them. Nevertheless, the event was still sold out.

It’s always mind-blowing (for me, anyway) to be reminded that our planet is just one of several big rocks rotating around one star among billions of stars in one galaxy among billions of galaxies that comprise an ever-expanding universe—and we’re not sure whether there’s only one of those.

The talk wasn’t about when and how the Earth will end (as that isn’t too much of a mystery), but the universe. There are several theories about that. Dr. Mack outlined four of them, all in a very entertaining fashion. (And for public health fans wondering, yes, she gave her talk while wearing an N95 mask.)

About a week after that, Jean and I went to the Princess Cinema to see a free movie sponsored by PI that Dr. Mack had mentioned in her talk: Particle Fever. This documentary was about the development of the Hadron Collider, which led to the discovery of the Bose Hickson particle. That might sound dry, but in fact, it was so fascinating! Even the woman introducing it (who was from PI, I assume?) commented that she was so surprised how good this movie was.

We knew that two people were going to be available to take questions afterward, but I hadn’t realized that the two people would be the film director and one of the physicists featured in the documentary. (I had thought it would just be generic physicists from PI.) Getting their insights into the making of this film was really cool as well. It took four years and, going in, they had no idea if the Collider would even work and, if it did, what it might uncover. The Hickson particle was discovered three years into filming, requiring a complete re-edit of the whole thing and another year of footage.

Feeding the world

Or, feeding a few beings in my little corner of the world, anyway.

I’m still doing cat shelter volunteering, at slightly increased frequency, though I haven’t picked a regular day per week, preferring to select based on what else is going on that week crossed with when they seem to need people most. Going there more often makes it easier to keep up with the kitty population and any changes in the care routine. I’m also getting to know a few of the other volunteers.

In the foreground is Shawnie, my little buddy. She used to be considered un-adoptable as she was so grouchy. Turns out she just had really sore teeth. Now she’s toothless and an absolute sweetheart.

Continue for more cat pictures…

Continue reading “Welcome to the new routine” →