Someone backed into the side of my driver door about a week and a half ago and i just assumed it was a hit and run. No note left behind. Ugh.

Then i got a letter from ICBC that the person called in and reported the incident and claimed responsibility. What are the chances? So lucky. I almost lost faith in humans again but this guy brought it back

-getting pretty good gains from the tech stocks in my portfolio. Facebook and Alibaba are up again. FeelsGoodMan

50% off books! I am ready to fuck things UP!!!

could never repay my parents for all they did raising me, but happy to at least get them some new appliances this week :)

Had 20 friends over yesterday for a bbq. Our friends are going away for a month, and I thought it would be nice to have a going away party in their honor.

So I made burgers and Italian sausages on the charcoal grill. The kids had fun, the parents had fun, and my buddy's family knows that someone cares.

Feels good to not work when everyone else is working. Commuting much more peaceful and not as crowded lol. "sick day off lol"

Sweet, sweet air conditioning :fullofwin:

My garden is blooming like crazy. My gladiolus are twice as high as last year's. Dahlia's have triple in size. Raspberries, according to my neighbours are amazingly sweet. I hate raspberries so I give neighbours permission to raid my garden. Damn, that Sea Soil shit is amazing.

SEA SOIL? | Natural Organic Growing Soil for Your Flower & Vegetable Gardens

from Port McNeil, BC.

For some plants, it's too much nutrients and will burn it. Like roses do not like it.

It feels so good knowing your vegetables are truly organic. I'm so blessed to have a nice backyard.

KFC gave me 2 pieces of thighs instead of 1 thigh and 1 drumstick for their Tuesday Special yesterday... BrokeBack

Finally found the time to hook up a phono stage to my turntable. Up to now, I've had it hooked up via the integrated amp. I stopped listening to vinyl years/decades ago. It's a basic setup. In the den. I recently started going to vinyl record stores. Listened to these powered speakers while there. I thought, wow, no amps and wires to deal with. The speakers are Kanto YU6 (designed by a company here in Coquitlam). Really decent sound for the price. It has a direct phono stage input as well as Bluetooth, 2 Optical inputs and a sub out. They sound amazing, but I went a step further and got me a Rega Phono Stage amp. Man, the music just opens right up. Listening to Harry Chapin Live is a real treat. I can't wait to hear my favourites again. Fresh Aire, Peter Appleyard, classical music (Vivaldi Opera Arias, Baroque, etc.). Right now listening to Canadian Brass. The LP has seen better days, but I can learn to ignore the pops. Ultrasonic record cleaner needed, but $1,000.00, Yikes! I ordered a boxed LP set from Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs. Ultra One Step pressing of Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water. Can't wait to pick it up in Blaine. It better sound good. It set me back $150.00+

The other plus to the Rega is that it has a USB out so you can rip your LP's via a computer using software like Audacity. Oh yeah, I upgraded the cartridge on the turntable to a Nagaoka.

I guess I'm old school. Nothing like listening to good recordings on good ol' stereophonic system. Next........ headphones!

I purchased a monitoring system for my mother-in-law who lives downstairs. She loses balance every now and then, so this monitoring system works well. She wears this pendant that has the ability to call up to three phone numbers if the person wearing it pushes the large button. I have my cell number listed as main contact. It's two way, so I can ask her if she's okay, etc. It's made by Vtech and even though I really dislike products made by them, it fit the bill. It was affordable and only dials the three numbers and not 911. Plus, no monthly fees/costs. Anyway, I've had this thing for just over a year. The pendant is not serviceable. I knew that, but decided it's not a big deal. I can order a replacement when the pendant dies. Well, it died. I looked on the Internet for a replacement. No luck. All sold out and unavailable. Well, fuck. Typical Vtech. They discontinued the product and they don't have any replacements in stock. They never thought about it. Again, typical bullshit from a useless company. Anyway, I took the pendant apart and found out, the battery is a typical Lithium Polymer 3.7 volt 450 mAh battery. Guess what? Can't find it anywhere on the Internet. I ended up going to Lee's Electronics and found one that was very close to the original physical size (slightly bigger). Rated at 500mAh, but that's not a big deal. There are warning labels inside the pendant stating using anything other than the installed battery can cause an explosion. I just finished desoldering the old battery leads and soldered the new battery leads and put everything back together again. It's always good when there are no screws left over.......... (right, Flip?).

Anyway, so happy it all worked out. Oh, and fuck you, Vtech. Less that two years, and you decide to discontinue the product, then to add insult to injury, not offer replacement parts? I know, I know, I should have known better than purchase electronics from a Mickey Mouse company. Oh well, par for the course. And their tech department, lol. Nobody there knows what to do. No idea what an IC is from a capacitor. Sorry........... I shouldn't bitch about Vtech. This is supposed to be positive posts only, so yes, I am very happy it's working again.

Pretty happy with where I am.. but it feels more like a quiet contentment.

Finally got to a company I'm happy with, scored a pretty nice place, and got a decent car to commute in.

It always gets better.

Nice. I had to take some time off work which hasn't been ideal but the good news is things are going pretty well now and I should be back soon.

Some of you guys know I'm a long time philatelist and specialize in Canadian mint. Anyway, I noticed I got charged for an item from Canada Post. I have standing orders with Canada Post, so maybe it's something I overlooked, I thought to myself. I double checked the list of newly released products and nothing matched the price tag of the items.

Long story short, I just received an unannounced limited edition uncut press sheet of the recently released, Leonard Cohen commemorative stamps. The uncut press sheet is limited to 2000 copies and even stamp dealers are unaware of it. I have a standing order with Canada Post for specific items. Uncut press sheets being one of them. Sold out, of course, because standing order customers get first crack. The press sheet is in a black, vinyl record, album jacket. How cool is that? Anyway, it was a very pleasant surprise.

BTW, if any of you people are interested in a very cool collection of stamps depicting all the gates of chinatown in Canada, there is a special album that is on Canada Post's website. What's cool is, there's a souvenir sheet in the collection that is only available in that collection. Only 8888 copies were produced and it was thought to be long sold out (it's been quite a while since it was released). Anyway, the souvenir sheet from the collection is imperforate, unlike the field stock, which is a dime a dozen and worth next to nothing. Along with the stamps, the bilingual booklet/album, you get a genuine 200 year old, Qing Dynasty coin (probably worth nothing, but cool nonetheless).

https://www.canadapost.ca/shop/colle...execution=e1s1

Collectors pay full catalog prices for the souvenir sheet alone ($190). Yeah, dumb, right?

Anyway, I have multiple copies of it already. If you're interested, just order it before it's really sold out.

Found that this quiet contentment came with the nagging feeling of wondering if that was all there was to life.

Some personal circumstances have thrown me into a whirlwind... but out of that I've been trying almost anything new and expanding my sense of self.

This time, it's a feeling of confidence knowing that I'm trying my best to make the most out of each moment.

Since the daughter moved out of the house, I've been turning her room into a media room. I purchased an AV receiver that has a whole bunch of amazing features. I also purchased a BD/DVD player that reads just about every digital format under the sun, most importantly, SACD and DVD-Audio (I have a modest collection of audiophile material). I upgraded my Technics turntable with a nicer cartridge and along with it, a Cambridge Audio Duo, external phono stage. My speakers are decent and so is the integrated amp, but they're getting old and lack the newer features. Anyway, back to this AV receiver. Holy carp, I discovered the world of Net Radio. There's the local stations, like QMFM, Sportsnet 650, Jack FM, News 1130, AM730, etc. All in crystal clear quality, but what really blew me away were all the thousands of stations from around the world. Jpop, Kpop, Latin, etc. Right now, I discovered the High Quality listing of stations. 1Mix Radio Trance. I can listen to this stuff all day long. I'm going to find some interesting podcasts. I might even check out some god bless, christian music. I'm not christian, but them guys have some helluva good music, lol. Devil worship and whodoo voodoo shit, as well. Why not? The unit has MusicCast and I can control the unit via my iPhone. I can't wait for Black Friday and Boxing Day. Retired life is good................ I've paid my dues. Time to enjoy life, for a change.

MG mentioned me and this thread so thought I would revive it.

With 2020 being such a shit show, it would be good to see things that make us happy/feel good.

I got a UPS package today that’s been stuck at the depot for a while. Dealing with UPS is such a disaster I’m happy my experience has come to an end lol.

I was able to send my aunt in the Philippines 7400PHP to help with her bills/rent/food while they are under double lockdown there. Feels good that I have gotten my finances to a good place during this pandemic and I’ve been able to help my mom and my aunt.

I also think I won’t be back to work for the next little bit. Summer is pretty slow for us regularly. So I’m happy about that because I can enjoy my summer. Bf goes back to work June 22 and he’s sad our forced time together is coming to an end lol.

Only working 9 days this summer (three 3-day weeks) if nothing important comes up (e.g. second wave of COVID) or I get bored and decide to just get some more of my banked time paid out instead.

Still have about 2 weeks of banked time unbooked as it is.

Nice! I think this summer will be a scorcher so you have lots of time to enjoy the sunshine!

I honestly hate working during the summer because I get so negatively affected by humid heat. I wish our heat here was dry like Vegas lol.

Corgi master training lol

and, you'll get some deep cleaning done!

I am so relieved that Duffin's Donuts is open again. Also, went to my favourite asian mall yesterday.......... Parker Place. It's like the asian version of Kingsgate Mall. A bit of a shit hole, but oodles of character. Then went to Oomomo (formerly Daiso). Cot Damn, they have this Japanese crepe restaurant there on the upper floor. I didn't get anything, but I'll go when I'm back there again. I haven't been to Daiso (can't help it - it's always going to be Daiso to me) for a really long time. The place just makes me happy. Don't know why, but it does. The other locations, meh. I had a craving for Veggie Pakora, so got some at New Bhaia Sweets. I love their tamarind sauce.

Anyway, retired life is good. Miss the wife so much. I just realized there's nobody to check up on me. Two of my three children moved out. My mother-in-law that I was looking after is now in a long term care home. My mother passed away nearly a year ago. The scary part is, there's nobody to keep me in line. That could be a very dangerous thing.

I have so much work to do. A detached home that needs to be cleaned. The garden alone is a handful. Keeping up with the laundry, dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, etc. I have a long honeydew list.......... I guess I can't call it that anymore. How the hell did my wife do all that?

I'm even falling behind in my hobbies. I have hundreds of boxes full of stamps that I've accumulated over the years (60 years of collecting) that needs to be catalogued, at least fifty small scale model kits that are dying to be built, two uninsured vehicles that I really should clean up and try to sell. Good thing the casino's are closed - that used to take up so much of my time, lol. I wake up anywhere from 3 AM to 3PM. No work, no schedule, no commitments. I can't even volunteer at the places I used to work at. BUT, I still have a big smile on my face. My children are all successful and doing well. My highlights are when I go visit them and drop off stuff. I look forward to one of them calling to say, "Hey, dad, can you fix this for me?" One day, I would love to be a grandfather before I die.............. hurry up, kids!

Everytime I see this commercial, I melt a little inside.

I've never seen the full 60 second commercial. Anyway...........


I know it's fictitious, but goodness is in most people. Just gotta somehow bring it out in them.