Penticton Airport Security and the Live Fish Blues: Monday, November 19th!

 What you do is of little significance; but it is very important that you do it. -Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

They tried to take the fish away!! Lol! They thought it was a fresh caught fish looking at it through the security scanner and began lecturing me about transporting fish and livestock thru customs to LA. I couldn't help but laugh and tell them it was wood carving :) I think Duke called ahead in a last ditch effort to keep it for himself! Thank you for the yummy meals and wonderful weekend company!!  

With all this American Christmas cash in my wallet Chloe and I decided I should keep it all and tell the kids that their grandparents and great grandma have fallen on hard times this year but they said to tell all of you "May you live a long life" just like the movie we endured. Love Ayn xoxo Glad you got through!!
Duke wanted you to stay the coho was just a distraction!! ❤️😘 I'm glad I had time to spare before my next flight because the plane just now landed to get us as the ceiling was so low they had to wait for some clouds to lift to see the runway !So we're an hour behind now! Just touched down in LA and since I was carrying a large fish with me all day I watched The Meg and now I will never swim in the ocean ever again!! Love to all Ayn Lol glad you landed sorry your going to be land locked from now on.

  

Hello Fresh Fish Smuggler, et al! What a hoot! However, makes you wonder about the people staffing such critical positions in terms of airport security. Are they screened for the ability to think? Anyway, pleased you made it home before the Sockeye started to smell! Glad you didn't take bags of dried apple rings as you would definitely been incarcerated!!! Cheers, Patrizzio! Hello Bridge Folk! Sorry for the lateness of this message. No excuses but plenty of reasons! At any rate, tonight is the only evening, we here on Burns, can play. Judy Blue is on so there is one table for sure. I know Carol and Michaelo are away and Pamela cannot play on Mondays but if Olga Polga, Josinta, Susannah and Lady Di are interested and available we can host two tables. Let me know at your earliest convenience and we'll plan accordingly. Thanks and Cheers, Patrizzio! Hi Patrick.  I can play tonight. Thanks. Dianne Sorry, but I cannot join in on the fun tonight. Susan

Thanks for checking in! Chloe looks very happy in those photos, so that makes me happy too. We decided that our dreadful poison air required us to stay inside, so we went and saw Can you Ever Forgive Me? yesterday, which we enjoyed. Especially poignant for ex-archivist/librarians. Had a lovely Oregon pinot gris with snapper for dinner afterward, so it was a nice end to the weekend. Raul had taken Barbara and us to a Peruvian restaurant in Concord for lunch on Saturday, so I probably should have skipped eating entirely on Sunday. Today, finally, one of the pools, Spieker, will be open at 10 so I will have my first chance to swim in over a week.

I managed to escape from being seated on a jury for a 20 day trial in San Francisco. Price fixing by Korean and Korean-American companies in the ramen noodle trade. I know, scintillating. That was cause for minor celebration. I don't by the way remember the Mrs. Maisel show. Sorry, but we are very poor on our television viewing history.

We were pretty thrilled about the election. Yes, by cheating, Republicans managed to retain some important positions in Georgia and Florida, but with the House in Democratic hands there is a shred of hope that we won't sink immediately into a pseudo-Fascist autocracy. It is hard to persuade people to think for themselves when they live in a closed universe of Fox News that portrays the world as filled with dangerous and immoral enemies. That's our task ahead, because even if "we" manage to regain control of the government, having a country filled with resentful people, many of them rabidly racist and armed, is not a recipe for a happy society.

We got a new furnace (the repair man let us know it was leaking gas vapor into the house) and this one is slightly noisier. Well, the cat is totally freaked out. She regularly hides whenever vacuum cleaners or leafblowers or buzz saws are active, and apparently the new furnace falls into that category. We will see how Ms. Squeak adjusts to the new regime. Let's see if she is willing to come back inside now. Yesterday she stayed out for 14 hours, putting her nose into the back corridor to nibble a few crunchies for a few minutes only. We have not found a can of cat food that she approves of in a week either. Aren't cats fun? Enjoy your California quail. We used to have them up on our hill, but have not seen or heard one in light years. Progress??? Cactus

 


Hello from the Frying Pan into the Fire People! No wonder the spiders were flying over our faces when we slept in the basement! They were your "canaries" trying to escape from the leaking gas vapour! Just thankful that you caught it when you did. Aside from risk to your lives cannot imagine what might have happened if house went up, given terrible wildfire season, etc. Our felines behaved in much the same way while kitchen renovations were in progress. Sensitive New Age Felines all!

Agree with your analysis of "recipe" for a happy society. Just this morning, as I was listening to the CBC radio news before I clambered out of bed I simply shook my head in disbelief and despair hearing about Ivanka Trump reportedly violating federal records rules by sending emails to government officials on her personal email in 2017, (O Hillary wherefore art thou?), to six students from Toronto's prestigious St. Michael’s College School charged after cellphone video of an alleged gang sexual assault surfaced on social media last week to thethe possibility that a Russian official, Alexander Prokopchuk, could become the new president of Interpol! Happy world society indeed! Fondestos to you, Vincenzzo, and Donna Florida, from Lady Dar. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Sunday dinner with good friend Judy Blue; Duke guarding salmon!

WE ARE PACKING UP OUR BAGS AND HEADING BACK TO LONDON. . . and cannot remember if you wanted us to take your suitcase too. We are planning to drive back this coming weekend and then hopefully we will both feel well enough to go to Barbados as usual in mid-December. Andre currently plans to head back to Vancouver on March 9th (after spending around six weeks sorting out his garden here) and could easily bring back a few precious items (like your EZPass) if you wished. The real question is were you want the majority of your belongings stored - here in Chabeuil or London? In early March he will be travelling by Eurostar/TGV so will not be able to carry too much extra luggage.

Corinne said she was heading to Costa Rica I believe next month for a couple - are you going too? Won’t bore you with our health issues - how I hate growing old! Look forward to speaking soon but in the meantime please let me know the answer to this question. Take care my friend and look forward to seeing you in the spring. Rosemary XXX

Hello Dearest Rosemary! Sorry to hear that you are both still struggling with your separate health issues but hope they will not interfere with you planned Barbados trip. Thank you for your concern about my "left luggage"! The only items that I would certainly appreciate are my Nexus, (aka EZPass!), top priority, and then the bottle of Single Malt. I believe I packed these are in the large black bag, within a smaller "camel pack" or bag withing the larger suitcase. Please feel free to "ransack" the bags for these items. Everything else can stay at Chabeuil as I'm sure there is more room there than in London.

In any event I really don't "need" any of the clothing or other cycling gear I may have left so I certainly appreciate you storing them for me. While we have not yet finalized our travel plans for next year we are hoping we might visit you as part of our Eastern Europe "sweep", some of which will be with Flamin' and Sarge. Would sort my possessions at that time and discard any no longer useful, taking any that I might want. Again, if Single Malt is a problem, in terms of travel, for Andre, just leave it with the rest as it won't spoil!

Hosted two tables of bridge tonight and Rosie had most of the cards. She has really enjoyed getting to know the gang over the six weeks she's been here and they didn't want her to go back to Winnipeg! Busy week ahead as Lady Dar has the Grandmothers For Africa Caroling for a Cause fund-raiser on Thursday afternoon, culminating in the Christmas Tree Lighting at Nanaimo Square downtown. She has "recruited" seven choirs this year, up from three last year, so the project is gathering steam. 

Next day she will fly with Rosie to Vancouver to put her on her flight back to Winnipeg, [Chloë will take them to the airport as I have an early breakfast with the hiking group in Summerland.], where her son George, will meet her to drive back to Falcon Lake. Corinne will stay in Vancouver until Wednesday, [Book Club, visiting friends, etc.], so I don't know how I will survive without having someone to tell me what to do, how to dress and behave appropriately! Fondestos to you, Rosemary, and Andre, from Lady Dar. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Bidding farewell to Ayn this morning; end of bridge evening last night.

Solstice Lantern Festival Volunteer Registration is Open! Sign up to take part in a wonderful celebration of the return of the light. Honouring many cultural traditions, the annual Winter Solstice Lantern Festival illuminates the darkest night of the year with lanterns, fire, singing, drumming, music and dancing! Two sites: False Creek Community Centre on Granville Island and the Roundhouse in Yaletown. To register online: https://www.secretlantern.org/volunteer-form/ THANKS, Solstice looks forward to receiving your volunteer registration Kathryn Fowler, Volunteer Coordinator, Winter Solstice Lantern Festival   Hello Dearest Winter Solstice Lantern Festival Coordinator! Grand to learn that you are taking over the Volunteer Coordinator position for the known universe! Otherwise, trust all goes well. Fondestos to you, Mother Theresa, from Lady Dar. Cheers, Patrizzio!