Burn Calories Without Breaking A Sweat

 

“My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four, unless there are three other people.” Orson Welles

Yes, that’s me in the picture enjoying one of my favourite exercise routines; napping on the deck. I had fun making this meme. Who says that burning calories is difficult? It’s a piece of cake! (Pun fully intended)

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Fitness Tip:

Remember, whenever you feel like exercising, you can always lie down until the feeling goes away. You’re welcome!

Make Your Vote Count

I’m generally not much into politics, but when I saw this picture, I had to chuckle. I suddenly found myself playing with it a bit, adding the text and frame.

Which came first? The politicians or the butter tarts? LOL. Reminds me of that old proverbial chicken and egg quip.

Got to love strategically placed signage.

I’m definitely looking for the butter tarts on the ballot the next time I go to the polls. If nothing else, it will make voting a little more interesting. After all, in the words of Mark Twain, “If voting made any difference they wouldn’t let us do it.”

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Photo Source: Unknown

Politician: A Better Definition?

Anyone who knows me knows that I typically shy away from virtually all forms of politics. Having said that, I make an exception with this post in honour of the upcoming election that my American friends and neighbours are about to face next month.

There are no doubt a plethora of definitions for our word politician, some serious and some humorous. I suspect there are far more of the latter. I cannot remember where I first saw this, but Sam Fisher’s definition illustrated here has got to be one of my favourites. Another great anonymous election-themed quote says, “Voting for the lesser of the evils is still voting for evil.” So much for that idea. 

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Well there you have it and here’s hoping that America votes wisely. Here’s also hoping that we here in Canada do likewise next time we’re called to go to the polls. Peace.

You May Be A Pack Rat If ...

“My boss asked me to start the presentation with a joke, so I attached a payslip to the first slide.”

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It is amazing what one finds when going through old long since forgotten boxes that one finds in storage. I took a few vacation days from the office this week, and a good part of it was spent cleaning out old boxes of junk that somehow managed to move with us over the years. I thought I had better get to it before my wife nominated me for a contestant on one of those hoarding shows. LOL.

I am getting better than I used to be. It wasn’t that long ago that I still found an old backpack and pup tent that I used as I hitchhiked across Canada in the late 1970’s.

Can you say, “Pack Rat?”

Well today’s discovery was a dusty old box containing old bank statements and paystubs dating as far back as the mid-1980’s. Imagine my surprise to discover a paystub going back to 10-10-86. As I looked over the details of my earnings 34-years ago, a plethora of memories came flooding back. A couple random thoughts also came to the forefront.

Unlike the sentiment in the anonymous humorous quote above, I’ve never had too many reasons to complain about my earnings. Could they have been better? Sure, I suppose they always could be better, no matter what wage we earn. However, having made more per hour 34-years ago than I would make as minimum wage in that same province today, I really cannot complain. I have certainly been blessed over the years with good employment, something for which I am very thankful.

Still, I’ve often mused that I should have wage parity with NFL players, but I have yet to have a boss that would agree with that opinion. LOL. Oh well; here’s to nostalgia and the fun of shredding some very old paystubs and bank statements. Hopefully I don’t decide to wait another 34-years before doing this again.

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Comfort Food: The Will Burger

One of the things my other half and I enjoy is a good burger. You could say that it’s one of our go to comfort foods.

I’m not talking about those pseudo-burgers that you find at fast food joints. You know the kind I mean; those that perhaps look appetizing enough on the advertisements, but when you actually open up the package, it usually looks like it has already gone through the horse. And I am certainly not talking about those vegematic imitation burgers made with grass or who knows what. Ever look at the sodium levels on those things? Unreal how much salt goes into that crap! I am also not the least bit tempted by those frozen burger patties that you find in your grocer’s freezer. They look like you could fix the worn sole of your shoes with them. Hmm, thanks but no thanks.

Our idea of a burger is a homemade, from scratch, Will’s Burger. It begins with approximately equal amounts of ground beef and ground pork. To this is added finely chopped raw onions, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and crushed chillies. A little oats and a couple eggs help hold everything together. Pictured is about 8 pounds of meat which yielded 24 paddies at approximately 5 - 6 ounces each. That’s almost a 1/3 of a pound of meat in each burger! Yum!

Each burger is individually wrapped in wax paper and aluminum foil and frozen. Then, when the craving strikes (and it does so quite often), they go straight onto the preheated charcoal grill from their frozen state. Definitely worth the little extra effort to do it right. Fast food joints? Thanks, but I’ll pass. I’d rather have a Will Burger.

Now please excuse me; I have to go and start up the grill.

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Most Washed In 2020?

 Sorry, couldn’t resist. 😏

A Round Tuit

 

Have you ever been asked to do something, only to respond, “I’ll do it as soon as I get a Round Tuit?”

Well this is your lucky day! I used to say the same thing too, until one day someone gave me a Round Tuit of my own. I was so touched that I thought I’d pay it forward and do likewise. Feel free to copy and paste this Round Tuit as needed.

No need to thank me.

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Positively Puzzling, Vol.3

The third volume of Positively Puzzling begins with water, and more specifically, a tragedy on the water. The New York Times coverage of the sinking of the "unsinkable" Titanic, Tuesday April 12, 1912, contained twenty four pages and had a price tag of … are you ready for this? … One Cent. 

We had started this puzzle many years ago but never got around to finishing it. It was dismantled and boxed up again to be forgotten until it was recently rediscovered. Surprisingly, none of the pieces were missing. While the body of text was relatively easy, the top and bottom edges were a challenge with so many pieces being almost exactly identical. It ended up being a lesson in patience.

The water theme continues with the biblical account of Ark and Noah's sons fishing with all the various pieces of fish gathered around the bait. Begs the question of what they may have used for bait, given that there were only two of each species aboard. If one looks closely, near the bottom right, one also sees some human bones. Stands to reason if the flood wiped out all but eight of the human race.

A second Ark scene was also quite enjoyable with the artist's rendition of the Ark finally coming to rest on the mountaintop and the animals beginning to disembark. The word "tranquility" comes to mind as Creation is renewed. Prominent over the Ark is the rainbow, God's symbol of His promise and covenant to never again destroy the earth with a flood (see Genesis 9).

We now move off the water but stay with the moisture theme, albeit this time in the form of snow. I am generally not a fan of winter, but there is something peaceful in this scene. In the hustle and bustle of today's noisy world, this is therapeutic. Makes me want to take fur-baby for a walk through that snow-covered lane and then relax with a good book in front of the warmth of a fireplace.  

This image of a house being moved by a single horse from atop an interesting treadmill-like contraption took me back to a simpler time. In retrospect, it's odd that we call yesteryear "simpler." In truth, I'm sure that previous generations had to work much harder than we do today with all our modern implements and conveniences.

Finally, we finish this edition off with another wonderful cartoon puzzle; a day at the park. I find myself wanting to look very closely at these types of puzzles, as there is always so much interesting activity going on. It is unfortunate that there was a piece missing, but as we've seen before, that happens sometimes. While a bit of a bummer, it's "puzzling" but it's not the end of the world.

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See also: Positively Puzzling, Vol.1

See also: Positively Puzzling, Vol.2

Positively Puzzling, Vol.2

This second edition of Positively Puzzling is dedicated to none other than man's best friend. 🐾🐾💖

In Life Lessons from the Dog, Caroline Knapp says, "Before you get a dog, you can't quite imagine what living with a dog might be like; afterward, you can't imagine living any other way."

Dogs and swimming often go together like bread and butter. When we recently had to leave our beloved fur-baby at the kennel for a few days, we were still able to follow some of her day to day activity, which included swimming, via the kennel's Facebook page. Even our local Humane Society has their annual Paws in the Pool party.

Dogs have successfully been trained to do all sorts of jobs. Police dogs, rescue dogs, seeing eye dogs, therapy dogs, to mention but a few. Apparently some can even swing an axe like the best lumberjacks, though I haven't personally witnessed the latter.

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Another job that some dogs are exceptionally good at is herding other animals. This makes them indispensable farm and ranch hands, 

or rather, … ranch paws.

They're not very good with the lasso, however.

Dogs are playful, which explains why most decent pet stores also have toy sections. And why not? Our grandson gave our fur-baby a Christmas gift recently that she still often plays with and regularly has at her bedside. Since dogs are family, it only makes sense that they have toys too.

As family members, dogs can also have birthday parties complete with cake and ice cream. Sometimes they're sneaky, like when we first brought our rescued fur-baby home. I turned my back for only a moment and my smokies instantly disappeared.

As for the two missing pieces in this puzzle, they turned up afterwards under the corner of the fridge door. Hmm, I wonder how that happened? Sneaky. 

Yes, dogs are incredibly intelligent. Rumour has it that some can even learn to read. Well, OK; maybe that's a stretch. Then again, it would seem that some people will believe just about anything. Read it is.

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So here's to this man's best friend and a few puzzles we've done to commemorate our relationships with them.

See also: Positively Puzzling, Vol.1

See also: Positively Puzzling, Vol.3