Mostly: Classical

[Sexton O Blake]

I stop reading for a couple of years and look what happens. LOL.

Hey Frank welcome back.

Well it is my last few hours on earth as "Slim, trim and thirty.". At 12:00am I become "Fat, flabby and forty." (except for the forty, I was already the other two in my teens). (KastelCo aka the Great BSer knows all too well) Consolation prize maybe: Born on Valentine's Day - I am made for lovvvvveeee ...

In Richmond Hill they built a Costco a couple of years ago and usually I go Friday nights after I drop the widdle ones at Spanish (6pm-830p). Since opening, up to about 8 months ago, the parking lot wasn't that full - compared to other Costcos. Then it started to become really busy - and now - went there a couple of weeks ago and same situation as it was 8 months ago. Places like that buying the quantity of fresh food - need the people to move that stuff. I have seen a VERY bad roll out from Sams - you can go there today and see 200 containers of Sour Cream with an expiry of Sunday.

I was at another Costco at 5pm the middle of the week - again I know the normal number of cars at that time, and boy I certainly was able to park real close. Wife has also noticed is it a ghost town out there at most stores.

Yet there is talk about CC spending in the US remaining robust. Is that just those out of work relying on the 30+ cards they have or true spending and paying off?

Meanwhile, I was blown away a few meetings ago at our other school's council meeting - my oldest Sexy Blake Jr., started in grade 5 and is at a 5-8 school, vs. my other Blake who is in grade 1 - and of which I am doing my 2nd run as Co-Chair of council. A vice principal was talking about syncing his new iPhone with Outlook. I said to myself - has EVERYONE gone fucking mad? Excluding the one time cost, and the fact that it is a 3 year contract [read: $400 cancel fee], you are paying north of $90/mth. Meanwhile I have ditched Ted (RIP) and went with Koodo in the hopes to get to about $35/mth.

So I dunno what to make of it - at my work the quantity of work was sufficient to keep me at peace - but they have lost a few major clients and now out of no where (with a $1K/mth car loan) I seriously think my hours will be cut or eliminated in the near future. Since the middle of last year I have been planning to cut my expenses - phone, internet, gas bills etc. Of course after you do that, they all start raising their rates.

The coup de grâce? The toll highway in Ontario, the Government leased to the private sector for 99 years, felt their toll increases were just not enough - now at about 18cents/km. No No - we must screw people over by charging them an additional $0.25/trip in addition to the tolls. Not big money on the surface, but based on my 2 exit short trips to and from work, that is about a 25% increase in my tolls. Good timing.

And one more POV, if that weren't enough. KastelCo and I saw a guy (lets say he is a nut) - who plays the air drums at the local Tims near work. We'd go in at lunch and see him there with a coffee playing away. A few weeks ago I saw the guy at Starbucks doing the same shtick. During the worst economic times in decades - and this is the time the guy moves up to Starbucks!

Gosh the whole world has gone crazy!

But hey, Frankie is back ... say no more, nudge nudge, wink wink.

iBlake