This has been an especially productive weekend for me insofar as walking shopping expeditions are concerned. I don't drive, so I have to walk; and I cannot easily bear being out in the public during the busy day, so I essentially find myself limited to shopping early in the a.m. of Saturdays and Sundays.
Yesterday saw me undertake the four-mile round trip hike to the nearest government liquor store, whereat I bought two dozen cans of strong (8% alcohol) beer and a 750-ml bottle of Scotch. Try lugging that load for two miles by hand, even when divvied up into two packs or tote bags so that each hand can bear some of the burden.
I'm sure not too many 71-year-olds (my age) are doing anything like this.
Early this morning ─ I left home at 6:13 a.m. so as to try and arrive at the nearest Real Canadian Superstore as soon after its 7 a.m. opening as I could. I endured the 5.625-mile round trip hike to do some grocery shopping.
By the time I am typically about four blocks from home toting two loads of whatever I have bought, I am just about at my limit, and it was no different early this morning.
I could feel some rain beginning when I was two or three blocks from the store; nevertheless, even though the light rain continued for my homeward trek and was managing to wet the streets, I never got even slightly damp from it.
Having such overcast skies meant that it was still pretty much dark by the time I got to the store; and not much more daylit when I was setting for home after paying for my purchases. I had a very friendly older Chinese or similar Asian woman as my cashier, incidentally ─ that sort of experience is always uplifting.
Note that just as I did yesterday when I reached the liquor store, upon arriving at Real Canadian Superstore this morning I slipped on the only face mask that I expect to ever be wearing. I plan to wear it until it has become so broken down that it is no longer reparable.
In yesterday's post, I indicated that I intended to watch a Christmas movie that evening, and that I was hoping my younger brother would be spending the night at the home of his girlfriend Bev rather than bringing his drunken self home from wherever the pair would be drinking.
The movie that I was to select and watch ─ after finding a source through one of the 'apps' that I have downloaded into our Android TV Box ─ was 2010's Gift of the Magi. A far better description is offered at Christmas-Specials.Fandom.com here.
I very much enjoyed it. In fact, I decided that I would add it to movies I would be willing to re-watch come Christmastime if my brother brings Bev here to spend a couple of days with us at that time. However, after making that decision, I later realized that even though the movie was most interesting, and despite two cans of strong beer, the movie did not reduce me to a sobbing wreck like I seek to happen when I watch Christmas movies by myself.
I'm unsure just why. As I said, it was very enjoyable and interesting. So was it just me? Did I happen to be in a less sensitive state of mind than I usually am when I watch such a movie?
I honestly don't know. And now I am unsure about whether it meets the inclusion criteria I have for movies I might choose to replay at Christmastime.
It is not too often that none of the cast in a Christmas movie is unfamiliar to me, but that was the case with this one. The lead actress was Marla Sokoloff. She has quite a large repertoire of T.V. and movie credits, so I know that I must have seen her more than once before, but it did not seem like it.
Anyway, I found her character to be very sympathetic, so I was always rooting for her.
The main supporting actress was someone named Michelle Beamish, but there is not much available concerning her by way of biographical material. I did find that she is very Irish, so the fact that I had no idea of this from her speech in the movie impresses me.
As a male ─ despite my age ─ I noticed at one point that the Irish lass seemed to have a great set of pins. And a photo of her that I came across where she may be getting interviewed does seem to loudly declare this verdict:
Following the movie, I watched a BitChute.com video that ran for well over an hour, but danged if I can locate it now; and I cannot recall the name of either of the two hosts.
When it was done, I came upstairs here to my computer for a while...and then I heard the unmistakable sounds of my brother coming into the house. Whenever he does not spend the full Saturday evening with Bev is just about always because they have become too drunk to get along with one another.
And so he brought his likely miserable self home to share with anyone here (both of my stepsons were home, I think ─ they largely keep to themselves in their den area).
Since I had no desire to have my early a.m. plans for this morning disrupted, I hastily put myself to bed ─ it was well before 10 p.m.
I think that I recall waking following some sleep, and checking the time in the expectation that it would be into the midnight hour and my brother would have retired to his bedroom for the night ─ but it was not any later than 11:30 p.m. That was disappointing ─ it meant that I was sleeping even more poorly than usual.
But I managed a little more sleep, and next checked the time well after 1 a.m. ─ it was safe for me to rise and perform some work here at my computer as is my wont whenever I get to bed early in an evening.
I was a little surprised that neither of my stepsons were up any longer, so the house was in darkness.
Speaking of that ─ the dark house, I mean ─ every night since December 2nd my brother has been turning off the indoor and outdoor Chrismtas lights when he goes to bed.
I only started lighting them up after dark on the evening of December 1st; but that night he left the outdoor lights on. However, not since ─ he has been turning them all off.
I don't like this. They don't need to be turned off ─ as a result of me sitting up practically all of each night's a.m. hours, it is not as if we will all be asleep in our beds if something was to result in a fire. And I can turn them off when I return to bed whenever it is that I do so ─ often not until as late as 5:30 a.m. or even after 6 a.m.
From this point, as soon as I am up for the bulk of the night's a.m. hours, I shall be turning them all back on for the duration of my time out of bed. Why should our home be in darkness when so many other homes are celebrating the season all the night long with their glorious lighting displays?
On a related note, this afternoon my youngest stepson ventured to me about getting a Christmas tree ─ we haven't had one for possibly as long as eight years.
He offered to drive us around early tomorrow afternoon in search of something reasonably priced, but I have since concluded that I am unlikely to feel like participating in any such hunt at that point in my day. I truly do not enjoy being out in the public during the broad daytime. Besides, stores will be full of shoppers.
So I will likely be declining the outing tomorrow.
His older brother is not home, by the way. The 26-year-old let me know this afternoon that he was about to head away with friends to Kelowna for a couple or so days. One of them has access to a place where they can all stay for free and go snowboarding on whatever popular venue is in that area. There are apparently more than one mountain out there with an international reputation as a destination for skiers and similar snow sportspeople.
Well, heck ─ speaking of my brother, he is already home. I didn't realize it was him downstairs at 6:15 p.m. or so ─ I thought my youngest stepson was stirring around.
I am going to have to bring this post to an abrupt close. It's obviously far, far too early to be going to bed, so I am going to have a long bath. I will assess his state thereafter, for I will have to venture downstairs for the makings of a small supper.
No comments:
Post a Comment