Healthy Internet

We live in a small village surrounded by irresistible temptations. Our internet is provided through an antenna attached to our home.

It works great as long you don't touch NOTHING... NOTHING is in capital letters just as a reminder to ME!

So last week I washed the side of our home where the antenna is. When the technician had installed the antenna, he had left some cables hanging on the side of our home and it was driving me nuts, well, more precisely it was driving me nuttier.

So when I washed the siding, I had the step ladder out, the sun was shinning on my thin scalp and an idea in this overheated brain of mine came to. When I have an idea I take it seriously, I never know when the next one will come.

The idea was to get a screwdriver, unscrew 3 bolts, push the cable underneath the siding and screw back the 3 bolts, Voilà, internet cable out of my sight, and I could reclaim some needed sanity...

These are things I used to do as part of my job a while back, but now with the limited movements in my right shoulder (yes, I’m milking that one to the max), I was rushing the job. I screwed the screw IN the cable, didn't even noticed.

By now you must wonder why I'm talking about this on a health blog, this is a public advice message folks, if it's working DON'T TOUCH IT! I would appreciate it if from time to time you smart people remind me of it; I'm sure I'll forget as soon as this post is published.

Hey, how are you all doing? Now that I have the Internet back I have started to read some posts but have not commented yet. I'm trying to keep a low profile for now, I'm sure the shame will just go away, won’t it?

 Look at that clean antenna!

The technician just left, do you see the cable by the screw, it's going to drive me nut but I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT, I WILL NOT TOUCH IT... today!

Barely Surviving

Thursday I washed one of our outside walls. It was windy and cold but I figured I'd be warm enough while working. I was right!

I used a brush that attaches to the hose to clean the sidings. It's difficult to control where the water goes, so I ended up getting soaked every time I was cleaning the upper part of the wall. Not a problem!

The Internet antenna got wet.  No problem right? It's outside so it is exposed to rain, snow, bugs, so I didn't take extra care, it was just water. Big problem!

Since then, the Internet is out, completely out, there is no more saving or looking at the “cloud”. It is so bad that if I want to know the weather, I have to look OUTSIDE!

I am learning new skills, like learning to talk with PEOPLE, instead of chatting. How are you supposed to show happy or sad face without using :-) or :-( ?? and I went to play pickleball twice in the past 2 days.

My friends must start getting sick of hearing about my internet problem, but I'm just trying to cope, I'll whine until it's fixed.

We even went for a tour of the lake on our boat. Life can be so tough!

How are you folks doing? Don't bother answering; I don't have Internet I won't be able to read any answer before next week...

This post was possible because one of our friend let me used their functional connection to the Internet, lucky them! I must say though that my antenna is much cleaner than theirs.

A Physiotherapist Named Ilsa

Today I met with my physiotherapist Ilsa. I don't think she weighs more than 90 pounds but boy that doesn’t stop her from inflicting PAIN as she knows where all the right spot are.

She started easy, making me feel like it was not a big deal. She just put a little pressure on my shoulder and asked if everything was fine. Everything was very fine, I was so relax. Slowly she started to poke her fingers deeper, and deeper under my arm. Everything was still fine but I was a little uneasy with her touch however I sucked it up, I'm a man, I can take the pain, right?

She probably thought I didn't shed enough tears, so she said: “please turn on your belly” in her soft singing voice. Well when I say soft singing voice I mean in an authoritarian voice that you don't care challenge.

Did you know that, a long time ago, the continents separated? Well I was getting a hands on experience on the subject as Ilsa wanted to separate my left blade shoulder from my right! “Every thing is OK Mr. Richard?” I didn't answer, it's not that I am a bad patient, it's that when you apply enough pressure on my back and my lungs are collapsing, talking is just not one of the option I can do!

After 3 hours of my half hour session, I regained enough air in my lung and told her: “That feel good … when you stop!” She laughed! I think it's a sure sign that she is a psychopath!

Tomorrow will be a much better day, how couldn't it be!

Buffalo By Bike

The first night we spent in our trailer in Fort Erie was quiet and calm, NOT! All hell broke loose. There was a thunderstorm that was so close that our whole house shook and our neighbor's car alarm activated in the middle of the night. It lasted pretty much the whole night! I don't mind a little thunder now and then but that was like being in the spin cycle of a washing machine with a stroboscopic light going crazy... just not that comfortable when you are in a home with walls no thicker than a butterfly wings.

The morning after, there were a few puddles but the sun came up and with it; the promise of a gorgeous day.

We decided to go to Buffalo on our bikes. This was not even on my radar, all I knew about Buffalo was it's the home of the Buffalo Sabres. We parked the truck in the same park as the previous day, got the bikes off the rack and pedaled toward the bridge. On the bridge, we were not allowed to ride our bikes so we walked them all the way to the U.S. of A.

At the border, we were greeted by a US Custom and Border agent who spoke French. This was the first time ever that we crossed over to the States and encountered a French speaking agent! It was quite a surprise as we were not even close to Quebec. After making sure we didn't have $10,000 on us and inquiring about the purpose of our trip, he opened the gate and we were in the States. Speaking of US customs, lately, the agents ask us a funny question: “Do you have alcohol?” Why would any one bring alcohol to the US is beyond me! For example a bottle of wine we pay $13 in our overtaxed country is $5 in the States... but being polite and not wanting any problem, I try to keep a straight face and always say NO without showing any sarcasm, but this is testing me pretty bad, I'm telling you!

We didn't have a clue where to go so we biked toward the river and lucky for us we found a bike path. It was a lovely ride, we ended up just beside where the Sabres play. It's summer so there was no hockey game going on but now that I’ve seen where they play, if I'm ever in hockey withdrawal and we are near Buffalo, I’ll know where to go!

After a few hours of biking, we turned back and biked downtown Buffalo (which is uphill, trust me on this, you notice this when on a bike). Other than the bike path by the river, Buffalo was not bike friendly, we often were on the sidewalk. But we were not in a rushed so we took our time and stayed safe.

We stopped at a pizzeria for lunch, it was pretty good. I would have preferred to try a brewery but when we saw one it was too early and then we couldn't find another one later on. Didn't see a place with Buffalo Wings either... just thought I’d mention that!

Surprisingly, we easily found our way to the border. We de-embarked from our bikes to cross the bridge again. We were not too sure where we were supposed to cross the Canadian border with our bikes. We found a marked path for pedestrian and bikers and then ended up right where all the cars were lined up at the custom booths. There were no more indication for pedestrians and bikers lanes. I looked around and tried to find a gate but there was none. I approached one of the booth and the agent told me to use any of the other booths further down.

So we had to use a car lane. We waited and as soon as a car left we walked to the agent, cutting in the line. I was not about to walk back and wait behind cars. The agent was courteous and kept us there for a while talking about biking in Buffalo, meanwhile there were cars waiting behind us but the agent seemed to enjoy himself so why not let him. We had nothing to declare! He asked us where we were staying? Why did he care? We are citizens, we could live underneath a bridge, he had to let us back in, right?

Peace Bridge

 

 

Tripping in Niagara

Last year, last month, last week we decided to take our travel home on the road and drove South West. Our destination was a little place called: Niagara Falls. You might have heard of it, it's right at the Canadian US border. The best way to describe it is with pictures, I'll post a lot of them here.

We left Saturday, drove an hour to a Walmart in Gatineau (Quebec), parked the house and the truck and walked to our daughter's to spend the night there. It was a practice run to confirm everything was performing as it should, and it did.

On Sunday, we drove the remaining 600 KM (370 Miles) leaving our daughter's home at 05:00 AM. We drove by Kingston, home of our first prime minister (Sir John Alexander Macdonald ) and now home of our Canadian bloggist extraordinaire (Sir-ette Martha). We waved at her from the highway but like with a lot of celebrities, she didn't wave back, didn't even acknowledge us, sheeeesshh!

Have you ever driven a truck pulling a 21 foot trailer on an highway through a mega city jammed pack with traffic? I did just that driving through Toronto. Sometimes there were 9 lanes, sometimes there were only 5. After years of abstinence, I picked up praying... but I kept my white-knuckled hands on the steering wheel at all time. After what seemed to me like 10 hours, we were out of Toronto and going down the Niagara peninsula.

We arrived at our camping in Fort Erie, unhooked and setup the trailer. By the time we were done it was around 2:00 PM. In the past, prior to getting  back in shape, we would have just stayed put for the night... not anymore! We drove to town to do some exploring. We found a nice park, right by the Niagara river. To my surprise across from us was Buffalo, NY. In my mind Buffalo should have been somewhere else, but hey, when did I start trusting my mind!

There was a nice walking/biking path so we decided to walk for a while. To answer Ivy’s question yes my wife walks too. We often walk together but sometimes she just stays home and walks on the spot in front of the TV. I don't really care to walk inside, so even if the weather is not too good, I'm outside.

When we returned to the truck, we went for a nice drive around the area. The drive brought us to the Falls, we didn't stop as we wanted to keep that for another day, but from the road, we could see the falls and we were excited.

Tomorrow I'll talk more about our trip but I want to get back to the subject of being fit. After all it's a blog about health and not so much about traveling.

I have mentioned that we embarked on this health journey to be fit, it's not only a matter of losing weight it's also about having a better quality of life which is a bit of an abstract concept. But on this trip, we enjoyed being in a better shape; we walked and biked and had plenty of energy to do so. We could really take advantage of our surroundings. In the past we would have been beaten after an hour.

Mind you, this change didn't happen overnight, it happened in over 5 months but boy do we reap the benefits RIGHT NOW.

 The peace bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo

 It's hazy but this is part of Buffalo

Buffalo's water plant

The view from the truck

When Internet fail

Bonjour folks,

Just a quick note to let you know that our internet when kaput on us. So I'm really late plus now we are on the road to *******.

Hopefully I can get back with a connection, otherwise see you all when we come back (could be in 2 days, could be 4, could be 2 weeks... we are retired so we will see :)

Like someone famous would say: "Thanks for reading & boogie boogie :-)"

Living in the wild

Our summer home is surrounded by wild animals. It's now part of my routine to check out the wild activities that’s going on.

I found something unusual. As you can see on the picture, there is a gap underneath my shed. Cautiously, I walked to the gap and aimed my camera. What you see is one of the three beast living there. They even hissed at me! I was so scared I backed away! Those three (3-4 inches) kittens are not friendly.

 I also saw them just outside the shed the other day but had no time to take a picture.

To be continued