Category: Daily life

To EV or Not to EV

Daily life / Personal Reminiscences / Technology & Gadgets5 Comments

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I started driving rather late in life compared to others in my age cohort: I was 24 when I finally got my licence. A lot of my fellow hippies and schoolmates got their driving licence at age 16 or 17. Before I got my licence, I used public transit, trains, buses, hitchhiked across the country a couple of times, and even hopped a couple of freight trains. That was back in the late ’60s. Naive, I know, and dangerous, but I was on the road à la Jack Kerouac, albeit in Canada and without the literary pretensions. Ah, the folly ……… click below for more ↓

Now is the Summer of Our Disconnect

Daily life / Musings / What I'm Reading NowLeave a comment

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I was reminded this morning of Henry David Thoreau, who wrote about his bean field in Walden, his famous journal of contemplations about living on his own in a rustic cabin, about Concord, about democracy, about his neighbours. Somewhat like Michel de Montaigne, albeit writing three centuries later, Thoreau seemed to find something to write about in every aspect of his two-year sojourn in the woods, no matter how mundane. And one of those things he wrote about was beans. Yes: beans. The more you eat… What triggered my memory of that chapter — I have not read Walden for ……… click below for more ↓

Safety Razors and Shaving Again

Daily life / Musings / Personal Reminiscences3 Comments

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It’s been a few years since I last posted about my excursions into shaving with a safety razor (double-edged blades). In my last post on the subject, dated almost exactly six years ago, I had just purchased a Wilkinson twist-to-open (TTO) or butterfly head razor. Well, quite a few years have passed without new purchases until this past weekend, when two new razors arrived. Photo on the right: Bambaw (left) and Charman. More on these two, below. Both are inexpensive models, bought on Amazon (I know, I know: I try to avoid using Amazon and always buy locally where I ……… click below for more ↓

Goodbye to an Old Friend

Daily life / Musings / Personal ReminiscencesOne Comment

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Some days there are moments that make you stop and ask yourself how you ever got to this time and place. You stare at the clouds, unfocused, remembering, the past and wondering how you ever got this old. I had one of those days, recently, when I learned that my oldest friend had died some months ago and I had no idea of his passing. I only discovered it when a letter I had sent to him in late 2024 was returned, unopened, 18 months later. I was puzzled, but worried. Clearly, something had happened. I did an internet search ……… click below for more ↓

Recovering Knee and Doomscrolling, 27

Daily life / Memes; Internet & Social / Musings / Politics / Surgery & MedicineLeave a comment

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Tuesday morning, not long after I finished my morning knee exercises, I drove to Barrie for my annual visit to my urologist — and the surgeon who removed my cancer-riddled prostate, back in 2020. You can read more about my journey with prostate cancer here. I also visit my oncologist once a year, usually in the spring. Both visits involve a prior PSA blood test to check if I have any of that hormone showing. And I don’t. Haven’t had a positive PSA result since my surgery. What matters for me about today’s visit is that I drove there and ……… click below for more ↓

Doomscrolling Notes, and Knee Recovery, 26

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Well, I am happy to say I was wrong. Despite more than seven million people (possibly as many as 8.2 million) participating in the USA’s No King’s protest, the events were all peaceful, and the dictator Trump was unable to use any of them as a pretext to invoke the Insurrection Act, declare martial law, and start shooting and jailing American citizens. Trump spent his night posting AI videos and images of himself wearing a crown, including a video in which a crowned Trump in a fighter jet bombs No Kings protestors with feces. Yeah, he’s that childish. Can you ……… click below for more ↓

Knee Replacement Recovery, 24

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Saturday: Today, October 11, was the last day for this year’s Farmers’ Market, and it was a good last day for the market, weather-wise. I used to really enjoy going to the downtown market before my surgery, but I’ve been avoiding it because of the crowds, including kids and dogs, that always show up. Too many chances to be bumped, my cane bumped, maybe even knocked down. I’ll go back next year when it reopens and I am more stable. We never bought a lot there, but I liked to get some pickles, bread, and maybe some Indian food for ……… click below for more ↓

Knee Replacement Recovery, 23

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Got up to another unseasonably warm October day here: 29C, the third hot day in a row. But tomorrow it’s predicted to fall to 16! I dropped by the local bookshop today (after my session with our dental hygienist) to pick up a used copy of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. I had read the book a few years ago and even seen the superb BBC mini-series, plus I’ve read the two sequels. I had an urge to read the books again (and maybe re-watch the series), but I remembered I had lent the first in the trilogy to a friend ……… click below for more ↓

Knee Replacement Surgery: Recovery, 22

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Today, I drove to a small, dead-end street near the trail where we parked, so we could walk Bella on the trail at the western edge of Harbourview Park. We came back along the boardwalk, and exited onto the trail again. We stopped on the observation platform that juts out from the boardwalk to see how much further down the water level in the harbour is. We were shocked at how low it has dropped: at least 1.5m, if not 2m below the maximum. The rocks you can see on the ground sticking out like dolmen stones used to be ……… click below for more ↓

Knee Replacement Recovery, 21

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Thursday: I started the day with a 20-minute pedal on the stationary bike, then the first of my three exercise sessions, and a 600 m walk — shorter than usual because we had to get to the hospital for an X-ray and my second follow-up meeting with the surgeon. I was pleased to have him tell me I’m doing well, nothing is wrong, and my progression is as expected. We were at the hospital for about one-and-a-half hours; the X-ray and meeting took perhaps 10 minutes of that. The rest of the time was waiting. Good thing we both brought ……… click below for more ↓

Knee Replacement Recovery, 20

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I have an old man’s legs. I was looking at my still-swollen leg where the surgery had taken place, and where the skin has been smoothed out by the swelling. It looked years younger. And then at my other leg with its bony shin, knobbly knee, and crinkly alligator skin. An old man’s leg, for sure. And soon enough, my operated leg will deflate back to that aged state. I suppose at 75 I should not be surprised to look my age, at least in the legs. And then there’s that old guy looking at me in the mirror. A ……… click below for more ↓

Knee Replacement Recovery, 19

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Tuesday, I went out for coffee with a neighbour, the first time I’ve been out to a cafe since before my surgery. It was nice to get out and feel like I’m getting back to normal (and to taste coffee again). There is a regenerative sense to normality when you feel not so much an invalid, but a participant in everyday things. I find it easier to get into and out of cars now, too, because I can bend my knee enough to make it almost painless. But only as a passenger. And later, we had company in the afternoon ……… click below for more ↓

Knee Replacement Recovery, 18

Daily life / Musings / Personal Reminiscences / Surgery & MedicineOne Comment

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Yes, I should have changed the title many posts back, but I got into a habit and simply forgot. Mea culpa, but I’ve not been at my best all the time. It may change again in future, but I’ll keep the numbering system, regardless. It hasn’t been about surgery for a long time (the actual date of the operation was August 20), and it’s been about recovery, rehab, physio, and occasionally about how the world has gone to hell in a handbasket, thanks primarily to the Dictator Trump and his malign fascist regime. Okay, it’s more about the former stuff, ……… click below for more ↓

Knee Surgery, 17

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Today (Wednesday) marks four weeks since my surgery. Some days it feels like it was a lot closer. Full recovery, I have been told, can take six to nine months, so I am barely limping along that path. Still, I feel I’ve accomplished some milestones so far. I need to get to 120° bend, and I’m just over 90°, so there’s a long way to go, a little bit every day. There are still days when I wonder if I made the right decision to go ahead with surgery. My scar is slowly smoothing itself out, and doesn’t quite look ……… click below for more ↓

Knee Surgery, 16

Daily life / Musings / Personal Reminiscences / Surgery & MedicineOne Comment

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I spent far too much time doomscrolling the past few days over the reactions to the assassination of the American, racist hatemonger, Charlie Kirk. It was impossible to escape, since the news and the comments flooded social media. Given the political climate in the USA, coupled with their love of guns and gun violence, as well as the inflammatory, pro-violence rhetoric spewing continually from the far right, his shooting didn’t surprise me. The far-right have always turned on their own for not being extreme enough. And Kirk was certainly among the extremist fringe.* I also got a new book this ……… click below for more ↓

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