Another Vehicle Mishap for My Wife

My younger brother never did return home yesterday day after heading off in the morning to help a drinking buddy move some things ahead of the guy and his wife undergoing a household move tomorrow by a professional crew.

My wife showed up that afternoon ─ perhaps shortly after 4:00 p.m. She was to do a lot of cooking, and remain the night. In fact, it is 10:40 a.m. as I type these words, and she is still in bed.

I didn't know that my brother was not to return home last evening, so I did not wish to be caught up into having to watch T.V. with him, for only I am able to operate our T9 Android TV Box. And so without a word to my wife or her two sons, I was into bed at 9:30 p.m.

I remained there, drifting into and out of sleep in successions, until I finally peeked at the time ─ it was almost 1:00 a.m. My wife had not yet come to bed, so I decided to get up so that I could put more work into the post I am developing at one of my six hosted websites.

My wife was downstairs eating yet again, from the sound of things. I never heard any conversation, so her two sons must both have already retired.

I keep my computer in a small room next to our bedroom, so I did not need to venture downstairs. But soon enough, my wife came upstairs, and did not waste much time in getting to bed.

Not a word was exchanged between us.

I worked on the post for some while, and shortly before 5:00 a.m. returned to bed for a little more sleep.

I think that it may have been around 8:30 a.m. when I didn't feel like I could easily find any further sleep, so I rose for the morning. When I emerged from my bedroom, I saw that my brother's bedroom door was shut tight ─ he had evidently returned home at last. I expect that he likely spent the night at the home of his girlfriend Bev, and not at that of his drinking buddy.

He managed a little more sleep, I expect; and then I heard him showering, and he then emerged from his bedroom around 9:40 a.m. to go downstairs to boil water for his first instant coffee, and then to turn on the T.V.

We exchanged a cursory good-morning as he passed by this room.

I have not watched T.V. with him since he snarled his drunken rage at me over the premiere episode of the T.V. series Falling Water that I had tuned in Friday evening. At the time, he was too damned brain dead from swilling beer to be able to understand the plot, nor follow the three disparate character storylines.

I still feel my ire rise in reflection over his command that I was never again to tune in the series in his presence.

Well, good luck to him! As I said, I have not watched anything with him since that incident when I abruptly turned off the Android TV Box and left him with our basic cable T.V. package to entertain himself with.

At least he is able to access my youngest stepson's Netflix account, so he still does have considerable alternate viewing options.

I went downstairs this morning around 10:00 a.m. to boil water for my day's first hot caffeinated beverage, and I fully intended to join him and put our Android TV Box into operation ─ he was watching the news channel which of late seems to feature nothing that is not COVID-19 related.

As my water boiled, I returned back upstairs to research a possible movie that I thought I might tune in for us. Then by the time I returned to the kitchen, I heard him switch the T.V. over to an old episode of Mike & Molly.

And that sealed it for us ─ I had no intention of wasting my time watching that old show while awaiting his invitation to "put on something interesting" that is his usual cue for me to put our Android TV Box into operation. I had been working on a post in my private blog, so I opted to just come back upstairs and get back to work on it.

My brother does not understand computers, so he is only able to watch T.V. to entertain himself.

And that's where it stands as I type these words at 11:04 a.m. Normally, I would have spent at least three hours watching shows with him through this time period during the workweek ─ we're badly falling behind on the shows that we normally follow, thanks to his drunken inconsideration on Friday, and my inability to just let that lashing out wash off of me.

I have some exercise scheduled today that has to take place in our backyard toolshed, so I am going to take a break and get myself limbered up to tackle the session.

oooooooooooooo

While I was out in the toolshed this latter morning, my wife evidently rose and drove off somewhere. However, curious though I was, I never spoke of it to my brother who was still watching T.V.

I spent a little time here at my computer, and then I decided to see if I would be able to have a nap. For all I knew, my wife may have had to go to work at the Thai restaurant that employs her. It opens at 11:00 a.m., so it was perfectly feasible that my wife had slept in ─ she never tells me anything.

After I lay down, I heard my brother go into his own bedroom and shut the door in search of his own rest.

Unfortunately for me, my wife was soon back home, so I gave up the nap attempt.

With nothing better to do, I decided to see if I could stand sitting out in the backyard in a lawn- or deckchair, so I put on a denim jacket and a bomber-style jacket overtop it ─ there had been some sunny breaks over the morning, but clouds seemed to prevail.

I had some discomfort from cloud for maybe the first dozen or so minutes, and then I lucked into a lengthy sunny stretch, so I remained out there for just over 40 minutes in total. Throughout, I ensured that part of me ─ my hands and / or the back of my shaven head ─ were always in contact with the metal (aluminum?) of the chair I was slouched into in order to profit from some earthing (grounding).

It was exactly 1:01 p.m. when I began that 'sunning'. And when I returned into the house, I found that my brother had risen and driven off already.

He doesn't risk drinking and driving anymore, so he ought to be home at some point this latter afternoon (it is presently 4:46 p.m.).

I had a light meal more or less along with my wife, and then eventually I turned on the T.V. to watch some news. Had my wife not been here, I would have put more work into that website post.

Perhaps around 3:30 p.m., I heard her on her cellphone apparently talking to someone at ICBC (Insurance Corporation of British Columbia) about a 'hit and run' her car suffered from this morning when she was out.

Form the periodic eavesdropping I indulged in, she had apparently taken her youngest son to work over in Surrey Place / Central City, and then she had gone into the mall to do some shopping. When she came back to her car, she discovered that another vehicle had badly damaged her car's bumper, mainly on the driver's side.

If I overheard her correctly, one of her son's co-workers may have witnessed the incident. Her son of course was alerted to the mishap and came to check it out for himself, and removed the damaged bumper for his mother because it was hanging onto the pavement ─ she could hardly have driven back home with it like that.

So I decided to take the following three photos at 4:10 p.m. / 4:11 p.m. while she was still engaged in her lengthy call to ICBC:

Both of her sons are at home now, so I felt freed up to get back to this post. However, it does not seem like my wife is going to work this afternoon, either (the restaurant closes each day from 3:00 p.m. and re-opens at 4:30 p.m.), so I feel compelled to get this post published early.

Besides, my brother will also be showing up soon, I am certain.

Anyway, this vehicle incident is just another example of how little I am informed about anything by my wife. Had I not overheard her on her phone, I would not have had a clue anything was different.

The vehicle damage, then, may have contributed to my wife's reticence toward me today, for she has said very little and doesn't seem to exactly be enjoying a rosy disposition.

Such is my sorry marriage.

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City of Surrey April 2 Utilities Payments Deferred to July 2

I never did relent and present myself to sit with my younger brother to watch T.V. with him last evening, so he relied mainly upon my youngest stepson's Netflix account. Had I joined my brother, I would have put our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box into use ─ my brother is not familiar with its operation.

I was still resentful at his drunken outburst at me Friday evening for daring to subject him to the premiere episode of the T.V. series Falling Water. He commanded that I was never to resume the series again in his presence. 

He was so benighted with beer at the time that he was unable to comprehend the thoughtful episode that leapt about among three thus far seemingly unrelated characters whom he could not keep track of.

I took such offence that even yet, I am not eager to sit with him in the evening when he is swilling his beer. 

At one point last evening as I was quickly rustling together a light supper while he was doing the same, he attempted to be social by letting me know that this morning he was going to have to help one of his drinking buddies move some items (a dreadfully heavy toolbox was mentioned) ahead of a household move that guy and his wife will be undergoing through professional means on Wednesday.

I suspect that my brother was likely doing his best to lure me into once again watching T.V. with him, but I did not bite.

I cannot help but wonder if he recognizes that he has a drinking problem as he sits there alone in the living room swilling beer in front of the T.V. for six or seven hours straight?

Perhaps because of his duty on tap for this morning, he seems to have limited himself to eight or nine cans of beer last evening, if my count of his empties this morning is accurate. 

I'm unsure just when I went to bed last evening ─ was it around 10:00 p.m. or even 10:30 p.m.? I cannot now say.

But I was up by around 2:30 a.m. to put some work into the post I am compiling at one of my six hosted websites. The house was otherwise in darkness. My return to bed thereafter was not until well past 5:00 a.m. ─ maybe even after 5:30 a.m.

However, I found myself to be unexpectedly chilly in bed ─ possibly partly due to my light supper, for I was also unusually hungry. As a result of the temperature discomfort, I slept ill.

I rose after my brother was up, and basically wished him well when he had to leave ─ he had said last evening that he was to show up by 10:00 a.m. this morning.

Then I had some breakfast, and soon was back into bed ─ fully clothed this time.

Note that it was quite stormy overnight and into the late morning or even midday, and there was a wind cutting through the upstairs open windows that was almost frigid. I was nearly tempted to close my bedroom window, but did not.

As I have been typing these words, not 10 minutes ago (it is now 2:28 p.m.) my wife texted me to ask if she could access $100 from our chequing account so that she could buy groceries.

She stays somewhere in Vancouver when she does not have to go to work at the Thai restaurant out this way that employs her. 

This request from her leads me to believe that she must be about to come back home and get involved in some cooking for us all, and later spend the night.

I should explain that my wife has a gambling problem, and early this month she essentially robbed our account of $900 of what was then my monthly pension that had been deposited late in February.

In other words, she robbed me. My pension is my sole income, so that act crippled me financially for the month.

Our monthly mortgage was debited from the account on March 23, thanks to some aid from my wife's two sons to cover the shortfall. However, in three days' time the annual utilities bill is due for payment, and that's quite a large figure.

I cannot help but wonder if there is any chance at all that due to the current COVID-19 lockdown practically worldwide, has the deadline for this sort of payment been extended or potentially even been lifted by the City of Surrey where we live?

That latter scenario would be extremely improbable, I know.

And a little research has just now uncovered the following from here:

In response to the ongoing and rapidly evolving Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, the City of Surrey's Annual Flat Water and Sewer payment will be extended by 90 days. The grace period has been endorsed by City Council and the payment is now due July 2, 2020. There has been no change to the payment schedule for those on metered billing.

Well, that's somewhat helpful, to be sure.

However, the full amount still does have to get paid, doesn't it? There is no break from that. And meantime, the monthly mortgage keeps coming due.

As well, the hefty annual property taxes usually come due at the start of July ─ what of those? 

Lord, I hate being deep in debt, and with only a pension for my income.  

Since my wife may be showing up now at any point this afternoon, I might as well wrap up this post and hope for whatever best may come.

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My First Long Walk in Two Weeks

I became consumed with the foulest of villainy awhile after publishing yesterday's post. 

Perhaps if I had not been boycotting my younger brother who was drinking beer after coming home and almost immediately turning on the T.V. at 4:30 p.m., I might have instead been involved watching T.V. with him.

But it is always only a matter of time ere the surrender.

I do not remember when it was that I was into bed last evening, but I suspect that it was nearer 11:00 p.m. than should have been.

Eventually sleep arrived; and as is typical for me, it would come and go. I had plans for the very early morning, so I did not want to rise too early in the a.m. as I would otherwise have done (so that I could work on the post I am developing at one of my six hosted websites).  

My plans were to try and arrive at the Real Canadian Superstore outlet ─ approximately 2.8125 miles from my home ─ as soon after its 7:00 a.m. opening as would be possible for me. I do not drive, so it would be a hike that I would be undertaking. 

It probably was not yet 4:00 a.m. when I rose, so I had some time to put in a little work on that website post. And I also did some online research to see what buys the store had that were cheaper than what I would have found at Walmart Canada a mere mile or so from here. The main purpose of my trip was to buy two one-litre cartons of heavy (33% butterfat) whipping cream at $3.59 each to mostly use in my two daily hot caffeinated beverages.

I buy two of the cartons because apparently just one would cost $5.58, if you can believe it! And this wasn't a special sale that I was taking advantage of ─ this has been the pricing for months.

I think Walmart Canada's litres of heavy whipping cream are priced at $4.18. But I am a 70-year-old pensioner, so I go where money can be saved.

Real Canadian Superstore did have a sale on for two other grocery items that I intended to take advantage of if I was able to find any of them on the shelves ─ two weeks before, the same two items were on sale then, too, but the shelves were cleaned out of both products.

While I was visiting the website of the store, I at first thought that it had reduced its hours and would not be opening until 8:00 a.m. But then I read further and realized that it was still opening at 7:00 a.m., but that first hour was a "dedicated shopping hour" due to the COVID-19 scare and subsequent the shutdowns all over the world:

Real Canadian Superstore has introduced one-hour of dedicated shopping for customers who need assistance or consideration, including seniors and those living with disabilities.

Well, I don't think that I look to be 70 years old, but there is no question that my birth date qualifies me. 

I finally began readying for the hike at 5:50 a.m., but I underestimated the time I would require for that preparation. The big drain on my time turned out to be the trimming of my beard. I had not gone anywhere public in a full two weeks, so my beard needed considerable attention, including the shaving of much of my neck.

I had wanted to do some pull-ups at an elementary school playground a fairly short distance into my trip, but that had to be dismissed ─ it was at least 6:15 a.m. or even 6:20 a.m. before I at last got on my way. It may even have been later.

Everything was wet outside ─ a light rain had only recently ceased. And though it was still quite dark, it was not entirely so; and the sky was growing brighter.

I hustled, and fared better in doing so than I expected myself to be capable of. I had noticed that my cellphone was so low on battery power that I could barely detect the sliver of red indicating that fact, so I refrained from constantly checking the time as I travelled.

Then at last with the store just ahead of me, I took a peek at the time ─ it was only 7:10 a.m.; I had feared that it was at least 7:30 a.m. or nearer 8:00 a.m. 

Two weeks ago the store was already quite full of shoppers, for back then there were no hours of "dedicated shopping". Conditions were far better this morning.

And both of the two sale items were in stock: three-litre containers of Club Pack honey at $18 even (and a limit of four such containers to a customer); and the tall 475-gramme cans of Nescafé instant coffee at $10.78 per tin (limit of two to a customer).

I bought two of the tins of Nescafé; but there was no way that I was going to try toting home more than one three-litre container of honey. I had but one tote bag, so all of the weight was always going to be in one hand and a strain on one arm.

Even so, I was beset with temptation when I came upon five-pound bags of carrots, and so I added that burden to my total.

I also bought a brick of old cheddar cheese, and a bottle of Wild Alaskan fish oil supplements.  

I don't know what the total weight of my load came to, but it was heavier by far than a dozen cans of beer. As I began the homeward trek, I even wondered if I would be able to perform the entire walk without stopping to rest.

Well, I did have to stop. But I only did so once and for just two or three minutes in a park no more than a half mile from home. By that time, my pace had slowed abominably. A toddler would have been able to keep up with me. As well, I was covering very little distance between each hand-change of my load.

By the time I was home, it was almost 8:30 a.m., but no one else had yet risen.

I got back to work on that website post, and managed to get back into my bedroom for a nap just before my brother emerged from his bedroom shortly before 10:00 a.m.

It wasn't too much of a nap, but I didn't call it quits until something like 11:20 a.m.

I had another in the fairly early afternoon after I had eaten my day's first meal. At that point, my brother was in his own bedroom getting a rest. And he and his van were gone when I later emerged.

He doesn't risk drinking and driving as yet, so I knew that he would be returning later in the afternoon. 

That event occurred just ahead of 5:15 p.m. It is now 5:25 p.m., and he is already watching T.V. with his first opened can of beer.

As yet I do not know if I will join him later in the evening, for he was so miserably drunk Friday evening that I wanted nothing to do with him yesterday ─ that was why I didn't watch T.V. last evening. I just may boycott him this evening as well.

We shall see.

Whatever the case, even if I do deign to put our T9 Android 8.1 Android TV Box into operation for some evening T.V.,  it won't be until around 8:00 p.m. ─ I am not a slave to the T.V. like my computer-ignorant younger brother is.

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💀☠💀☠💀☠Concerning Insufferable Drunkards

The day has been wet ─ mostly very light rain, until some heavy stuff in the early evening. As usual, I have remained home.

I got my fill of my drunken younger brother last evening after joining him in the living room around 7:30 p.m. to put our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box into operation (he has no ability with the device).

I wanted to try and locate sources for two old movies based upon Zane Grey's novel Nevada. I had read in a 40-year-old journal entry of mine that I had read earlier in the day that I was reading the book on that day back in 1980 and very much enjoying it. 

And upon researching the novel, I learned that two movies were produced that were based upon it. I now see that there were actually three movies.

Anyway, the first one that I knew of was filmed and released back during the silent film years ─ 1927's Nevada.

After some searching, I located a copy through the YouTube 'app' that I have downloaded into our Android TV Box. However, the quality of the film was very poor, and my drunken brother bitched profusely, so I cancelled out of it.

The second movie I knew of was a 1944 vehicle featuring a very young-looking Robert Mitchum, and also called Nevada. It was black & white, but at least it had sound, and my brother was well enough familiar with Robert Mitchum that he held his tongue and probably got somewhat caught up in the quaint production. 

I might try to watch the silent version on my own one day. 

The third Nevada was apparently released in 1935. I might possibly try to watch it one day late in the morning with my brother when he is sober.

Anyway, following the movie, I decided to tune in the first episode of the complex T.V. series Falling Water. By then my brother was too blitzed to be able to comprehend what was going on, and he exacerbated matters by going off to the kitchen to prepare himself a snack and missing a number of minutes of the episode. And subsequently, he also vacated to keep replenishing his mug with more beer, and to even chat with my eldest stepson.

He finally topped off this benighted neglect by going upstairs to his bedroom, and then coming back downstairs to the dining table to perform some sort of bookkeeping. Then back up to his bedroom he went to return whatever documentation he had brought down.

By this time he was utterly clueless concerning the episode or its characters, and so he sat stewing through the final minutes of the episode.   

When it was done, he actually snarled at me that I was never to tune in the series in his presence again. Then he got up to get another beer.

I was outraged, and shut down the Android TV Box and tuned in basic cable on the T.V., and left him to find whatever entertainment he could. Fortunately for him, he is able to access my youngest stepson's Netflix account, and thus basic cable programming is not all that he has to settle upon.

I had come upstairs here to my computer for a short time, and then I went to bed. I don't recall the time, but it may have been before 10:30 p.m.

I got some sleep, but was awake enough again to be checking the time around 1:30 a.m. and soon deciding to rise to eventually get around to adding content into the new post I have begun at one of my six hosted websites.

I was not to return to bed until well after 7:00 a.m. this morning.

Some further sleep visited, but I checked the time once around 9:30 a.m., deciding that it was still too soon for me to be getting up. I lapsed into some more sleep; and at my next time check I thought that it was approaching 10:30 a.m., but upon focussing my gaze, I recognized that it was actually well after 11:00 a.m.

So I rose. 

The only communication I have had with my brother today was an initial good-morning; and then when he headed off in his van for awhile this afternoon, he alerted me to that fact, so I returned my acknowledgement.

He was back by 4:30 p.m. and straightaway had the T.V. on again, and cracked open his first of his day's beers. 

I have no plans whatsoever to gamble on his state this evening by trying to watch anything with him. If I did watch more T.V., I would want to tune in the second episode of Deep Waters. Consequently, I will await a time when he is not miserably drunk.

And I will be getting to bed somewhat early this evening once more ─ I far prefer that over sitting up deep into the midnight hour or even to beyond 1:00 a.m. watching T.V. via the Android TV Box for my brother's sake.

I actually want to try and get away very early tomorrow morning to do a wee bit of grocery shopping, and the intended store is over 2¾ miles distant. It opens at 7:00 a.m., so I would try to leave here as early as I could to try and arrive there as soon after its opening as possible in order to avoid the crowds as well as the busier day.

I have to walk ─ I do not drive.

But returning to the Nevada movie that I did watch with my brother, initially I thought that the lead actress might be a very young Barbara Stanwyck, but it was someone named Anne Jeffreys. 

Sometimes Anne's voice sounded similar to Barbara's to me, and Anne occasionally even resembled a young Barbara facially. However, I see now that Barbara was better than 15 years Anne's senior. Thus, Anne would have been around 21 when the movie was filmed; Barbara would have been around 36 or 37 at that time, by my reckoning. 

Well, it is nigh 8:30 p.m., so I had best rustle up a light supper before calling it an evening. My brother is still watching T.V. and drinking beer, and will do so until late ─ without me.

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A Nondescript Friday

Although I did engage some mischief last evening in my younger brother's absence, I think that it was 10:25 p.m. when I was into bed and he was still not home from wherever he had bused to do his drinking. I wondered if maybe he was spending the night at the home of his girlfriend Bev.

I got some sleep, but was awake enough to be checking the time at 1:21 a.m. For awhile I pondered getting up to continue the preparation work on the new post I have begun at one of my six hosted websites; I felt too inadequately slept to be rising. But after about 10 minutes, I finally did rise.

My brother's bedroom door was shut tight, so I knew that he had come home at some point.

I certainly never expected that the preparation work would prevent me from returning to bed until after 5:00 a.m., but at least that work is now complete. Tomorrow, I can start adding content into the post.

My wife had arrived home a little after 3:00 a.m. She seemed to have herself a quick snack, and then she freshened up in the bathroom. However, despite passing by this small room where I keep my computer immediately adjacent to our bedroom, she never deigned to utter a word to me.

Such is my sorry marriage.

After she got to bed, around 3:45 a.m. I could hear an owl softly calling from fairly nearby. It almost sounded like a pigeon cooing, but we don't have pigeons hanging around here.

After my return to bed and some eventual further sleep, I surprised myself by remaining abed until maybe 9:30 a.m.

Somewhat startled by this unusual feat, I hastily rose, emerging from my bedroom and expecting to discover my brother downstairs watching T.V.

He was not, though; his late night was evidently exacting. In fact, he never emerged from his bedroom until after 10:30 a.m.

And so it was nigh 11:00 a.m. by the time I joined him to watch some T.V. in the living room via our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box.

My wife was to venture from our bedroom during the noon hour, if not actually just after 1:00 p.m. My brother and I watched T.V. until 1:30 p.m., and then he returned to his bedroom to rest up for whatever purpose he had in driving off toward the mid-afternoon.

My wife got involved in some cooking, so not too long after my brother sought his rest, I returned to my own bed without a word to anyone. I was fully clothed, and probably in bed for maybe 70 minutes. Nevertheless, it served me well. Otherwise, I doubted that I would have found within me the necessary drive to tackle some late afternoon exercising.

My brother was gone when I rose from my bed rest.

Fortunately, I found my wife to be a little more communicative. As well, she must have had to work later in the afternoon at the Thai restaurant that employs her, for she left here in plenty of time to make its 4:30 p.m. re-opening (it closes at 3:00 p.m. each day for a 1½-hour break).

This was a boon to me, for it meant that I would be able to exercise in our bedroom and have the essential privacy I need when I do tackle exercise.

I believe that she left between 15 and 20 minutes after 3:00 p.m. Then my brother returned around 3:50 p.m. And a mere eight minutes later, he already had the T.V. on, and his first can of beer cracked open. Clearly, he was here to remain for the day.

I realized that I was perforce going to have to sit up late this evening operating our Android TV Box (he cannot negotiate the device) to locate episodes of some of the host of T.V. series that we follow, but I damned well was not going to begin that vegetation until around 8:00 p.m.

It was a good time to shut myself up in my bedroom and get my exercising out of the way.

Right now it is a little after 7:00 p.m., and I would like to lie down and rest my eyes for a time before I join my brother. Consequently, I am going to call it a day insofar as this post is concerned, and get it published.

It has been an overcast day with some periods of reasonably light rain.

Before I do close for today, I want to link to a wonderful exchange I had with a young chap named Sybre Waaijer, perhaps the main force behind the WordPress plugin The SEO Framework. 

The exchange began yesterday, and is titled Sitemap Generation and “Ugly” URLs.

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Early to Bed This Evening at Last?

Despite the intentions expressed toward the end of yesterday's post, I never got an early evening nap. My wife showed up, and was to be home for the night.

As a result of having to sit up with my brother to operate our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box, he and I were to watch the final two episodes of the final (third) season of Fortitude.

It was certainly a very arresting series, but I am so damned sick of the useless endings that so many series seem to have ─ that is, too much is left unfinished or unexplained.

One unexplained detail that I considered to be very crucial involved this simple statement from Wikipedia's description of the episode:

The police arrive at the cabin to find Natalie vomiting the larvae into Dan’s body, but are able to prevent her from being shot by Petra.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with the series, Natalie was no longer entirely human, and would become progressively less and less so until she would perform psychopathic homicidal acts. 

Petra was a policewoman, and had made the attempt to blow Natalie away when the police burst in on Natalie holding a meat cleaver and sitting astride former police chief Dan while she was puking out larvae into his cleaved-open stomach.

Dan himself was the sort of infected monster that Natalie would become in time if she survived the infection.

So the police burst onto this gross scene, and at the sudden interruption, infected Natalie rose and basically ran off as far as I could tell.

And that was that ─ there was no explanation of what was to befall. 

But at least evil Dan seemed to have finally met his finish ─ there was considerable gratification in that. And it was likely why my brother didn't bitch over the finale's open ends.

My brother and I watched T.V. into the midnight hour; and when I was set to go to bed, my wife appropriated four cans of my strong (8% alcohol) beer and said that she was going to remain up for awhile yet.

I remember when she finally came to bed, so I was awake then. I could smell the beer as she breathed. And today, I saw three of the empties mixed in with those of my brother and I.

If the poor thing actually drank all four of the beers, it would be equivalent to drinking a little more than six cans of beer with an alcoholic strength of 5%.

That would adversely affect me ─ I try to draw the line at two cans of the strong beer over any one sitting.

Anyway, I slept fairly well overnight until around 4:30 a.m., and then thereafter my sleep was difficult. In fact, I even felt unwell ─ as if I was experiencing hangover symptoms, yet I had only consumed one can of beer.

I think that I was finally up for the morning ahead of 8:00 a.m., but the work I had hoped to get done for the new post that I laid the foundation of yesterday at one of my six hosted websites, never got begun. Instead, I became preoccupied with a problem at a different website that Google Search Console had E-mailed me about.

My brother rose an hour or so after I did; and at 10:00 a.m. I joined him downstairs to use our Android TV Box to locate a source for a movie that we then watched ─ 2017's Blade Runner 2049.

The movie was more than 2½ hours commercial-free, and since I never actually started it until well past 10:00 a.m. due to watching some news, it was 1:00 p.m. by the time it was all over with.

I had no desire to keep watching more T.V. with my brother, so while he took a bathroom break, I shut down the Android TV Box and left the T.V. on the news channel.

My wife was up by this time, and involved in some cooking. Regardless, without a word to anyone, I returned to my bed fully clothed and sought a needed nap.

I felt better afterwards. And by then, my brother was gone ─ without his van. That leads me to believe that he went off to likely do some drinking, so I am expecting to finally be able to get to bed early for a change ─ I have sat up late on too many successive evenings, thanks to my brother staying home due to COVID-19 shutdowns of the bars he frequents.

Returning to that movie, however, I want to say that even though it was quite interesting, it was difficult to follow. And as my brother also complained, it was too darkly filmed, making it difficult to see what was on the screen. Maybe all would have been well on a movie theatre screen, but that tends not to be so for a T.V. screen during the late morning. 

Sure, it was overcast and lightly raining outside, but our T.V. is located immediately adjacent to the living room window.

My final complaint is for the very loud mood music and sound effects ─ this is, alas, an accepted feature of movies, isn't it?

I suppose that I should also say that I thought the ending was ridiculously and anticlimactically disappointing. Apart from the central character dying from his injuries, nothing else was final. There was no true ending.

Hey, it's already after 7:30 p.m., so I must get this post over with and published if I have any hope of getting to bed early this evening.

My wife apparently had to work at the Thai restaurant that employs her ─ she must have had to start at 4:30 p.m. when the place reopens following its daily 3:00 p.m. closure.

Since due to COVID-19 legislated restrictions on public gatherings, the restaurant's limited business now relies upon mostly take out and delivery orders, and consequently my wife does not work much at all now. The restaurant does accept customers, but they have to make reservations so that the restaurant can control how many people are inside.

Or maybe even that feature is no longer 'on the table' ─ it's difficult to keep track of just how far-reaching the constant new governmental health mandates are these days.

Anyway, no one I know has yet fallen ill with the virus. I hope that is so for you as well.

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Smothered By Omnipresent Family

Yesterday I was wrong when I wrote here that my younger brother had gone off afoot in the afternoon and was probably going to be drinking somewhere, opening up the good chance for me to get to bed early that evening.

After I published the post, I noticed that his van was gone. Since he only recently got his driver's licence back after a three-month suspension for intoxication, he is not yet bold or risky enough to try to drink and drive.

He was back home late in the afternoon, and had the T.V. on once again. A computer is alien technology to him, so all he can ever do at home to pass the time is to watch T.V.

I was also wrong in thinking that my wife was going to show up from wherever it is in Vancouver that she spends most of her free time (such is my sorry marriage).

It was thus 1:15 a.m. before I was in bed last night after perforce sitting up late to operate our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box to find episodes of some of the T.V. series that my brother and I follow ─ the Android TV Box is another device he is unable to put in use, and we only have basic cable for television programming.

However, I had no intention of being drawn in too early by my indolent brother that late afternoon and early evening to sit on my behind doing nothing but watch T.V. Instead, I took an early evening nap.

I had gotten drawn in on Monday to watching T.V. in the latter afternoon, and was to spend the next bloody eight or more hours serving as my brother's companion at the T.V. As far as I am concerned, 8:00 p.m. is plenty early for that occupation.

I was to rise this morning around 6:40 a.m. to begin the foundation of a new post at one of my six hosted websites. My brother never emerged from his bedroom until after 9:00 a.m., but that allowed me to get a scheduled backyard shed exercising session out of the way earlier in the morning once some black instant coffee had helped normalize me.

The day was to be a mix of Sun and cloud. Perhaps the Sun prevailed in the midday and afternoon mix.

I never went downstairs to join my brother at the T.V. until at least 10:15 a.m. because he was seated in the living room talking to someone on the phone and not involved too much in the T.V. ─ he had on a news channel.

With my exercise out of the way, I had my day's first meal exceptionally early, for the plan was to get in an early nap. Usually, my brother seeks one late in the noon hour or soon after 1:00 p.m. to revitalize himself for an afternoon outing.

My big hope was to be back in bed during the noon hour.

Well, I operated our Android TV Box until 1:30 p.m., and my brother called for me to tune in yet another episode of one of our shows ─ these episodes are over 50 minutes in duration, and of course commercial-free.

Inwardly I felt outrage at him. He had already robbed me of a noon hour nap, and now because he had nothing better to do with his time, he just wanted to sit and keep watching more T.V. and expected me to do the same?

I was having none of it. I told him to watch something on Netflix (which he can access on T.V. with my youngest stepson's account login details) ─ I needed a nap, and was not putting it off any longer. I still had two blog posts to contend with; and I would most probably still have to spend hours in the evening with my brother watching even more T.V.

Enough was enough!   

Having him home due to the bars being shut down as a result of the COVID-19 nonsense is utterly confining for me. Unlike him, I do not drive and so cannot get away to some unpopulated park in the afternoon to have some daytime exercise. My only hope for any walking is to get out in the early a.m. hours ahead of the break of day, for I detest being out during the busy daylight hours.

I am a prisoner of my environment, and basically under house arrest.

So I cannot help but feel most resentful that my brother's inability to do aught when he is home but watch T.V. and ─ in the late afternoon and throughout the evening ─ drink beer is an impediment to my best intentions that is beyond my ability to properly convey.

I constantly feel as if I am at the mercy of everyone else in this household ─ I cannot maintain a schedule of my own.

It becomes exasperating to the point of inciting a rage within me at God for not delivering me from this situation. I am 70 years of age, and I cannot continue like this without hope of that deliverance before too very long, or else it is going to be too late for me ─ I will be unable to become the active, fit, and muscular man that I know I could yet be if only I had the tools and privacy to pursue that end.

The essential physical reserves within me will have been depleted by excessive age if this continues on unremittingly for years yet.

I need out of this pointless existence soon. This is an emergency.

As long as I am buried with the debt that I have allowed my wife to plunge us into, I am hopelessly trapped within this house, and my stress-ridden environment that keeps me shut up here at home.

Well, I see the trend that this post has now taken.

Since I am doing myself no favour by continuing with it, I am going to bring the post to a close.

However, I want to mention that before last evening's early nap, I had phoned Sandy ─ the longtime ladyfriend of my old friend William Alan Gill, who has been confined to bed for the past few years in a full-time care facility over on Vancouver Island.

Sandy is my only means of learning aught of Bill, for he is physically unable now to place telephone calls or write letters. Sandy ─ who lives in an apartment in Vancouver ─ will endure the public transit commute to go and visit Bill a few times a year. She is known at the facility, and can phone them and through one of the staff have telephone conversations with Bill.

She had intended to visit him in earliest April ahead of his 74th birthday on April 11, but now with the COVID-19 scare, she dares not do so and put his poor health at risk.

In fact, I wonder if even the surgery she said that he was scheduled to have next month is even possible. According to her, he has a tumour approximately the size of a prune plum on the back of his neck that they want to remove.

If you are unsure of the plum I am referring to, I believe that she intends this one:

My old friend has been hanging on in the poorest health since his mid-60s ─ how he is yet alive today, I just cannot understand.

Alas, although I have known Bill since at least as far back as 1962 (I would say), I have not seen the dear fellow since the latter 1990s before he foolishly moved from around here (Surrey) back to Vancouver Island where he still had some relatives.

I am unable to afford to travel over to the Island and stay overnight somewhere, even if I did not mind the dreadfully long public commute ─ which I do. And so I fully expect never to see nor even likely speak with my old friend ever again in this lifetime.

Anyway, my early afternoon nap was quite short, so I expect that I will be having another ere too very long since I expect that I am going to have to be sitting up late in front of the T.V. with my brother yet again.

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Finally Published at Amatsu Okiya: Tony Ray Geisha Download MP3 Ⅱ

Despite my expressed hope at the end of yesterday's post, I was unable to exert myself and seize an earlier bedtime than was otherwise going to be the case. Instead, despite my weariness, I sat up and operated our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box to fetch episodes of some of the T.V. series my brother and I follow; and so it was that I was not into bed until 1:15 a.m.

All hope of being able to accomplish anything during the earliest a.m. hours was gone.

I cannot now recall, but it may not have been too much beyond 7:00 a.m. when I rose. We had experienced some light rain overnight, and were to get more later in the morning and early afternoon.

I was never home alone yesterday without either my wife or else my brother being present, so I had no chance to exercise. I absolutely must ensure that I exercise today.

My brother was probably up by about 8:30 a.m. this morning.

I was determined to finish and publish the post I had been working on for over three weeks at my website Amatsu Okiya, so he had to wait until well past 10:00 a.m. before I joined him in the living room to put our Android TV Box into operation (he is unfamiliar with its operation).

But at least I finally got that long. long post published ─ apparently, it is over 34,000 words: Tony Ray Geisha Download MP3 Ⅱ. 

So very much work...but will anyone care, or even find and visit it? I never know.

As for my T.V. time with my brother this morning, I had a documentary in mind to lead off our viewing with ─ a YouTube video somewhat misleadingly titled The Crucial Battles of WW2 Italy | Battles Won and Lost.

Yes, it did feature two Italian World War II battles; however, it also gave equal time to at least four other battles of that War that had little or nothing to do with Italy. The two Italian battles were not even involved until into the second half of the documentary.

Consequently, when the documentary first began, I almost cancelled out of it to search for the 'advertised' video because we were confronted with the storming of Stalingrad by Hitler's forces, and I could not see how there was to be any relationship to any Italian battles.

However, it then occurred to me that the Stalingrad battle was probably going to be of considerable more interest than any Italian campaign; so I decided that maybe the video would be the better choice, not realizing that it was indeed the intended video, but saddled with a misleading title.   

My brother and I were to watch T.V. until 1:00 p.m. or so, and then he sought his bed rest before heading off afoot around 3:15 p.m. to probably do some drinking.

I got in a fairly short nap while he was still shut up in his bedroom, and thus I was seated here working on a post at my private blog when he emerged from his room, entirely unaware that I had even napped.

I think that my wife is likely going to show up this latter afternoon, so I really ought to truncate this post now while I am still home without her nor my brother's presence, or else I really will lose a second day to physical inactivity.

As a 70-year-old,. I can ill afford two days of consecutive inactivity.

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My Wife and Her Involement in the Provincial Voluntary Self Exclusion Program

Although I had concluded at the finish of yesterday's post that my wife was not coming home that day, she very much surprised me by showing up around 8:30 p.m. Her arrival spared me from a full descent into 'the usual depravity' that I shall not here deign to illustrate.

My younger brother was not yet home when she showed up, but both of her sons were present. She engaged with them, and was soon speedily busy cooking a supper.

Note that not a word from her was directed to me. She is wroth with me over the latest developments arising from her gambling relapse quite early this month that put this month's mortgage payment in jeopardy. In fact, I threatened that if I was going to have to approach my younger brother about covering for the shortfall, then I was going to tell him all manner of secrets and offer him full ownership of the house for $1 come July.

He and I are partners in the house's ownership, but it is only my name on the actual title.

Anyway, I had no intention of becoming enmeshed with my brother last evening once he was home from wherever he was drinking, so without a word to anyone ─ nor any of my wife's supper ─ by maybe 9:15 p.m. I was into bed.

I had earplug and bandana blindfold in place because I had left the bedside lamp on by my wife's side of the bed. And I said "earplug" in the singular because I only applied one plug, and that one into my right ear ─ my left ear is already plugged with hydrogen peroxide and / or a suspected Eustachian tube infection arising from a relatively weak self-diagnosed rhinovirus that I have been subject to for better than the past week.

I don't know when my wife finally came to bed, but I was still awake. I do not easily fall asleep.

But when I did get to sleep, I was awake enough again to be checking the time around 1:00 a.m.; and despite not feeling at all restored, I rose so that I could put some further work into the post that I ought to be able to finally finish and publish tomorrow at one of my six hosted websites.

Within a half hour of my rising, my wife emerged from our bedroom to use the bathroom, and I felt that before she made her return to bed I absolutely had to draw her attention to something I discovered relating to her continued gambling despite the fact that she has signed on to the provincial Voluntary Self Exclusion Program,

It was to be a revelation to her, and I am unsure that she fully believed me that what I found out applied to all forms of gambling in the province, whether casino or lottery tickets.

I thereafter researched more, and then compiled an E-mail that I sent off to both of her sleeping sons. This was the message:

This is from the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC) website:

If I win a casino jackpot while self-excluded will I receive my prize?

You are not eligible to win while in the Voluntary Self-Exclusion program, in accordance with the Rules and Regulations. So if you gamble, win a major prize and are identified as self-excluded, BCLC will not pay the prize.

I showed this to your mother, but I am unsure if it sunk in.

I’ve been researching this, and it seems that many people have signed agreements under BCLC’s VSE (Voluntary Self Exclusion) Program, but have entered casinos and spent large amounts of cash only to be deprived of subsequent prizes.

Everyone is thrilled to take a gambler’s money, but neither a casino nor the BC Lottery Corporation will pay out to anyone who wins a pretty big prize and then has to show ID to collect it.

This withholding of large winnings is referred to as the “jackpot disentitlement” rule.

Here is another BCLC statement: “anyone who is self–excluded is ineligible for jackpots.” That’s from here.

And here are some quotes from a 91-page .pdf titled BCLC’S VOLUNTARY SELF-EXCLUSION PROGRAM FROM THE PERSPECTIVES AND EXPERIENCES OF PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS.

The first quote helps explain why your mother can still get into the casino:

“...It appears that casinos have a difficult time detecting agreement violators, as nearly all (97 per cent) of those who had tried to re-enter the casino said they had successfully entered on at least one occasion. In fact, five individuals reported that they could re-enter the casino every time they tried, while nearly one-third (29 per cent) reported that they could successfully re-enter the casino approximately half of the times they tried. Still, nearly half (46 per cent) of the participants said that they had been detected by security staff at least one time in the past six months. The typical response to their violation was for the staff to remind them of their agreement, remind them that they are ineligible to win the jackpot, and escort them out of the facility.”

“In contrast, those who had not attempted to violate their agreement while excluded felt strongly about their decision to abstain from gambling and were committed to keeping a promise to themselves about not entering a casino or bingo hall. Jackpot ineligibility was also a commonly reported reason for not attempting to re-enter the casino, as was the desire to keep a promise to another person, fear of embarrassing oneself if caught by security, fear of losing money, and fear of getting caught. A large minority also reported fearing loss of self-control if they re-entered the casino, or feared the potential consequences (e.g. a fine or a charge of trespassing). It was somewhat surprising to find that only 60% of participants reported that the jackpot rule deterred them from re-entering the casino. This may be because participants felt that they could still gamble and win small amounts, as the jackpot ineligibility only applies to prizes where the participant would need to show identification in order to make their claim.”

“...The jackpot rule...requires gamblers to provide identification to claim jackpot wins, and will withhold the jackpot payout to currently self-excluded gamblers.”

So when a self excluded person gambles, they might as well just be destroying their money ─ lighting it on fire, or flushing it down the toilet. There is no possibility of walking away with any prize that requires ID to collect. That even applies to lottery tickets. If the win is big enough that the person would need to produce ID in order to collect winnings from the BCLC itself, then the prize would not be paid.

Only a pure idiot would still go gambling!

My wife exclaimed that the casino had told her that she could still purchase lottery tickets if she wanted. I did not contest that. I only said that she could freely buy them; but if she ever won a large payout that required her to povide her ID, then BCLC would withhold the payment ─ forever.

Some voluntarily self-excluded persons actually believe that the payout would only be withheld until such time that the Voluntary Self Exclusion contract they had signed had expired, but that is unfortunately not so. The payout would never be made to them.

I hope that I at least managed to provoke some never-before-realized thought within my wife if indeed she has experienced her gambling relapses because she believed that she could still actually receive any miraculous jackpot that she might win.

And if there was anything about this that she has not understood, then I hope her two sons study what I sent to them and that they thereafter will be able to impress upon her the full weight of anything she does not yet feel. Unlike me, they can communicate with her in her native Thai and make clearer what is afoot for her under the VSE Program if she continues to gamble.

After finishing the website work and doing that Voluntary Self Exlusion Program research, I was back to bed by around 4:15 a.m., I believe it was. 

Bu the way, when I rose this morning just after 1:00 a.m. and emerged from my bedroom, I was surprised to see that my brother's bedroom door was open. In other words, he had not come home last evening.

I expect that he stayed overnight at the home of his girlfriend Bev rather than bus home once he got plastered with her. He finally showed up this morning around 10:30 a.m. at earliest.

And instead of turning on T.V. while having his instant coffee as is his usual weekday wont, he evidently went back to bed.

His girlfriend Bev has a wicked smoker's cough that can kick in at any point overnight, so my brother's sleep suffers as a result.

We've had a little rain overnight. However, as I type these words at 11:28 a.m., there are large patches of blue sky out there, and sunny breaks.

My brother's morning absence has allowed me to get a huge jump start on this post, since I have not been tied up from 10:00 a.m. having to watch T.V. with him for the next three or so hours because I am the only one of us who is able to operate our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box that we use to find episodes of the wealth of T.V. series we follow.

oooooooooooooo

A darned good thing I got that early start on this post ─ I have never been alone to blog. My wife remained home until she finally left us around 7:30 p.m. or 8:00 p.m., and my brother had come home shortly after 3:00 p.m. and never again went out.

So on came the T.V. ever since.

It is now 9:23 p.m., and I have left my brother downstairs watching Atomic Blonde ─ I already watched it 1½ or so years back. I selected it just so I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything by abandoning him so that I could try and get this post over with.

At least my wife was speaking to me today ─ that was a good thing. But she left without a word. Not to me, anyway ─ only to her sons. So I don't know if she has gone until tomorrow or the day after; or if she simply went out for the evening and will be back later tonight.

I rarely know aught any more where concerns her doings. 

I never got a chance today for a needed nap, nor did I get a chance to engage some exercise. But I did sit outside in the backyard late in the morning for possibly 44 minutes. Sometimes the clouds were a problem, and I was hardly ever comfortably warm even in my denim jacket, a shirt, and a tee-shirt beneath that. No bare feet, either. However, I kept my hands upon the metal of the lawn- or deckchair I was slouched low upon, so I ought to have benefitted from some grounding (earthing).

And even if my exposure to whatever Sun I had was inadequate for any colouring of my skin nor even vitamin D production, it likely helped stimulate the development or mobility of T cells. 

I am going to try and leave my brother with a second movie after Atomic Blonde, for I just don't have it in me to sit up deep into the midnight hour.

I hope for a more productive day tomorrow ─ I certainly do not want to be missing out on some exercise! At the age of 70, layoffs result in fast deterioration.

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