Off the Clock

It's a new year and long overdue for an update. I've had almost two weeks off work and school and enjoyed every minute cocooning with my honey. He got me a satelite radio system for Christmas and we're really enjoying the blues station from BB Kings on Beal Street in Memphis (I've been there - they have GREAT ribs and beans!) We've also spent a LOT of couch time catching up on tv shows that I don't normally have time for. We've watched the first season of Mad Men and all four seasons of Dexter (OMG the ending!) as well as a bunch of movies. I have no guilt; as far as I'm concerned we deserved it. Not much new in the knitting department, unless you count a couple of socks. I have a new grandpuppy, a German Shephard named Thor who is living with me. I call him the grandpuppy because he's my son's dog, but Thor and I both know he's really my dog ;) I also have a grandkitty named Caliber living in DD's room. Tabby isn't impressed ...

Now try and tell me this doesn't just melt your heart!

Still hanging in here, even though I haven't blogged in about six months. I'll break back into it slowly with a small post but with lots of pics. We finally got a break from the deep freeze we've been in and hit some plus temps today. Along with the bright sunshine it was too inviting to stay inside, and I figured it would be a good time to take a couple of new lenses for a test drive. It's currently the camera's turn in my rotation of obsessions. American friends are always amazed at how close we are to the States here. I went down to the waterfront and got some great pics of Detroit, along with lots of people out walking, jogging, or bike riding on this gorgeous day. First up is the Detroit skyline with the ice chunks still floating down the river. The big building on the right with five towers is the Renaissance centre, home of GM World Headquarters. This was actually three pics stitched together. As usual, clicking on the pics should bring up a bigger version t...

Well I was doing really good riding the bike to work almost every day, and even using it to run short errands. But I was realizing that the gears weren't shifting as well as they should, and before you know it I'd made some more excuses and went out and bought a NEW BIKE! Obsessive? Of course. Crazy? You have to ask? Sigh. So here it is; my new Trek Navigator. It was love at first sight. I've also given a lot of thought as to whether or not to wear a helmet. I prefer to ride without one, but I'm not the most coordinated at the best of times. I figure if I get slammed by a car a helmet isn't going to make a whole lot of difference, but if I just get knocked over or -- more likely -- fall over, it may save me from a more serious injury. Now if I could find one that's even remotely attractive I know I'd be more likely to actually wear it, and with that thought in mind I went surfing and bought this: Made by "Nutcase". Kind of seems appropr...

I've decided my bike needs a name. I've been developing quite a relationship with it, and it seems too impersonal to just call it "the bike". So I need some help. Any ideas? Maybe Gretchen? or Gloria? Something else? Why don't I give you some background. I used to have a really hard time bike riding because of my rheumatoid arthritis. It's mostly in my wrists, and the conventional way of bike riding where you are leaning on the handlebars just put too much pressure on them. It was too painful. So about ten years ago Canadian Tire came out with the retro cruiser-style bike and I bought one. The cruiser has you sitting more upright without putting all your weight on your hands and wrists. The handlebars are curved back towards you in a much more comfortable position (my wrists don't really bend) that regular straight bars. It only had six gears instead of the 21 that everyone else was riding, but I found the six plenty for the type of riding I d...

So you see what happens when I quit blogging? All of a sudden I want to blog! lol I'm addicted to my truck. Sad but true. While the rest of the country seems to be heading in droves to buy the latest in fuel efficiency, I've got absolutely no intention of giving up my Sport Trac. This truck was made for me. It's just the thing when I buy something fairly large and have to haul it home. Or when it's something dirty, like a load of compost, that you wouldn't want dumped in the back of a hatchback or the trunk of a car. I can toss bikes in there when one of the kids needs a ride home late at night. It's small enough to fit in my garage with all my other stuff in there. And, as of three weeks ago, it's all paid off. It's mine! Dennis DesRosiers, the negative auto analyst who's always putting down Windsor/unions/the domestic auto industry, has just written an article (below) about how we Windsorites love out "gas-guzzling" SUV's. ...

I suck at blogging. I was going really good for a few years, but I just can't seem to get to it these days. It's not that I don't think about it. Almost every day, certainly a few times a week, something happens that I think "I should blog about this". It's usually something small and boring, but interesting to me even if to no one else. However, I just can't seem to make the time to get to it. I have the same excuses as everyone else; school, work, family, blah blah blah. But the blog has become more of an albotross hanging over my head than the joy it once was. I have that sense of obligation to post and then the guilt when I don't. I find the guilt thing a little ironic since I've been working on a major mental cleanup to get rid of useless guilt. You know the type I mean, where we beat ourselves up over the simple mistakes we've made as we travel through life, or that our house isn't clean enough, or the weeds are overtaking th...