Groundhog Edition

2 February 2025

Although it seems that the Groundhog Day movie has taken over the association of groundhogs, the day is supposed to be about how much more winter we are going to get. As if in response, we got our first dump of snow of the season this morning. I was going to call this the Tariff-ic edition because of our neighbours to the South, but since it has not actually happened yet, I will see what comes of it.

Monday

Happy Lunar New Year if you celebrate. We went for a family gathering at the Floata restaurant in Chinatown. On the way, I noticed an older white man in a kilt with a vest that had golden dragons on it. We do not often go out to eat, especially for something busy like this, but my spouse said this restaurant seemed to have good ventilation and high ceilings. I had heard of Gung Haggis Fat Choy, a fusion of Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Day that has been going for a number of years, but I hadn’t attended. By coincidence, it was happening at the same time in the other half of the restaurant. We were right next to the divider, so we could hear the bagpipes and the Elvis impersonator, but did not taste the haggis.

Tuesday

I have enjoyed the previous Wallace and Gromit animated movies by Nick Park at Aardman Studios. In addition to the wonderful animation, it is particularly interesting how much he can convey with characters who don’t talk. This movie is a sequel to the previous one featuring the criminal mastermind penguin. I seem to keep seeing things in terms of AI. Maybe I am becoming artificial myself.

Wednesday

My headphones started behaving a bit erratically and it seemed like the built in battery might be on its last legs. I saw a video about replacing it, but this would have involved soldering, so I ended up getting a new set on sale. But my old ones have kept working, so now I feel extra guilty.

Thursday

One of the extra steps I did not mention is that I tried using screws I already had, but the heads actually ended up snapping off. So I had to get new screws at the hardware store. I couldn’t take out the old broken screws so I had to reposition things a bit, while keeping the hinges in the same position.It seemed to work at first, but now I have to admit that they are not quite closing properly. Many things are a constant balance between how annoying something is versus how annoying it will be to fix it or how much it will cost.

Friday

I was listening to a podcast about how nothing seems real any more. Maybe this is just a geezer thing, but it seems like we’re always being played. I always feel like I am being sold things that are more convenient, and more accommodating, but less of something else. I’m not sure how this bleeds into politics, but something is not right.

Saturday

We were going to go for a walk along the beach, but the weather was looking miserable. So we opted for the Museum of Anthropology instead. It is a spacious place and was not too crowded. I think I was the only wearing a mask in there. We talked about some of the pieces, but I noticed how being surrounded by complex objects almost felt like being in a forest, without worrying too much about the trees.

Sunday

I was wondering whether we were going to get snow this winter. In the morning I can tell it has snowed overnight without actually looking out the window by the glow of the reflected light in the house. My dog seems to like snow. It is pretty, but I now mostly see it as a chore. I hope I am in decent enough shape to be able to shovel without getting debilitated. I try to do it more frequently so I don’t have strain myself each time.

That’s me done. Hope you had a good week and have a better one to come.