Happy New Year!

Too Close For Comfort

Yikes!  I bet these guys are breathing a sigh of relief.

With all the crazy wind we have been having over the last few weeks, this is not surprizing.

I guess it wasn't as close as the first picture makes it out to be, but I bet close enough for the owners...

And while I'm at it, as my walk about progressed, go an unusual view view of the Prince Edward Viaduct.


Commonly known as the Bloor Street Viaduct.

That is one big Don Valley underneath it.

 A more down to earth view of that Don Valley.

 As you get closer to the lake, feels like y'all are in the deep south.

And to wrap up the trip, the subway tracks, just north of Bloor and Yonge.

Cool that is comes above ground just north of some of the biggest buildings in the city.

Then the Bloor line heads east, and rides along on the platform under the Prince Edward Viaduct.  Great foresight to build that lower platform, 40 years before the subway was even thought of.

Not Worth It.....

.....did that last weekend.

Ouff.......

Interesting....

 Just got back from a week at the beach.  Spectacular.

But those darn girls in bikinis don't let you get a good view of the beach.
 

But on the western shores of Lake Huron you see absolutely beautiful sunsets.

And you meet the most interesting people, when you least expect it.

Especially....the most interesting man in the world.

Who knew he really drank Steamwhistle.

And Sangria.

This is no longer your father's Grand Bend.

Some pretty fancy joints have sprung up.

But nothing can out do the sunsets.

Except a discussion with the most interesting man in the world....

CBC Back On Track

Further to yesterday's post, I did notice something much more CBC'ish beneath the Zombie-All-Clear article; once again the 1% are sucking up all the goodies in Ontario.

A new study says the rich are getting richer and the poor are, well, not getting poorer, but not getting rich as fast as those darn richies.  And something has to be done about it!

The report was done by, wait a second, a group of community activists and unions!  Huh?

The article/study goes on to lament the inequality of income distribution in the province.

Well here's a crazy notion; income isn't distributed.  It's earned.

The report shows that Ontario ranks last of all provinces in most major categories.  And by most major categories they mean, of course, government funding of social programs.

How a province with such a high tax rate can rank last in so many spending categories just shows how much Dolton McGuilty's Liberals have farged our province.

They did say Ontario at least got two things right; highest minimum wage and highest welfare rates.  Hmmm.....no chance those could be part of the problem....?

Sorry, it's those darn richies fault, getting all that income distributed right to their door.

Run for Your Lives!

Oh.....they're spare ribs.

Pig bones.

Guess Stephen Harper didn't do anything yesterday, so the CBC had to dredge up something else to grab reader's attention.


Sheesh.....

I Think I Must Have Dated Their Pastor

Or the NDP have taken over this church.

However, I'm afraid this joke is on the church, if they think this is a nugget of historical wisdom to promote philanthropy.

This is actually a joke used by Jackie Gleason.  Who was a notorious drinker, gambler and womanizer (not that's there's anything wrong with that).

But not sure the church knowingly wants to be exhorting its congregation to Act Like Jackie.....

During the extensive research for this post, for which this site is admired, came across another quote on money;

"Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex. You thought of nothing else if you didn’t have it and thought of other things if you did." — James Baldwin, American novelist

Uhhh....I'll have to take his word for it.........

Or one of my own favourites;

A guy says, "You won the lottery and now you have no money?  What happened?"

"Ah, I spent a bunch of it on booze, partying and women.  And the rest of it I just blew."

Ba da bing.....

Why Men Shouldn't Write Advice Columns

All We Are Saying......

Is......anyone....?

Anyone...?

Beuller...?

"Give peas a chance."

[Ed. note:  Stolen.  Obviously.  From someone clever.]

Don't Do It!

"Hmmmm...should I have the Pronto Pup......Special.....with large fries.....?"

Sanity won out and he for went for the simple hot dog and children's fries.

Unfortunately......not everyone was so smart.......

Trout Lake-a Mistake-a

Great day for a little lake cruise?

Absolutely!

However, upon non-sober reflection......

Usually our captain's dog, Sunny, is all over a lake cruise.

And all over the boat.  At the side, in the back, catching spray with her teeth.

 But not today......

Come on!  What's a few waves?

It was a smooth, enjoyable ride.   The waves weren't that high.

Right?

Just like mountain goats won't go anywhere near loose stones, I wonder if Sunny is trying to tell us something?

 Nah.....

Spray up over the top of the boat?

Perfectly normal for a craft of this size.

What a party pooper.

It's not like we can't swim.

And even if we did have engine trouble and were stranded, we had lots of beer.

Uhhhh....that we would never drink, unless it was an emergency.  Officer.

But.....in the end, all was well.

Another happy ending.  Ha ha....gulp.....

No Truer Words....

Bird Of Prey?

I'm not waiting around to find out.......

Very Fancy....

 ...addition to an old neighbourhood.

Oopsie.  Maybe not......

Good to see they are keeping at least some of the heritage. 

Fruitopia?!

A Classic!

Even though "Honest" Ed Mirvish has passed away, it's good to he his son hasn't done anything to change his flagship store from the way it was 50 years ago.

 It's great when a businessman doesn't take himself, or his business, too seriously.

Not that Ed didn't make a ton of money off immigrant women, all fighting over a pair of two dollar socks;

"Ets a mine!"
"No, ets a mine!"

And, of course, a lot of my pre-work wardrobe was courtesy of Ed.  At least when I could out muscle Helga and Edna.

{Ed note: readers are thinking, why did you add "pre-work"?]

Blah, Blah, Blah.....

Uhhhhhh......No.

Now, as the mutual fund industry always states; "past performance is not a predictor of future performance".

But considering.....
   The 18 month (5 year) Bloor St Transformation Project
   The 48M$ (143M$ actual) St. Clair Right Of Way Project
   The Avenue Rd Watermain Replacement Project (still ongoing 3 years later)


So in this case......

Mmmm......Beer World

 Yeah........

If only.......

Tried Their Best......

....to make the new addition blend in.

Not!

Let's see....a beautiful brick and stone, turn of the century bank on The Danforth, and we need to make it a little taller.

Let's put a grey, concrete bunker on top!

Hey, add some metal poles sticking up.

What a waste - no neon billboard.....