Tag Archives: #gbsd

2318 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

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2318 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

I attempted to respond to Fandango’s provocative question last week but as has become the norm of late, life and all its twists left the piece uncompleted. Even Sunday Digest got left behind and so I will combine the two into this week’s “Tuesday Digest”.

How do you feel about this topic? Do you believe that gender has a biological basis defined exclusively by chromosomes, genitalia, and internal plumbing? Or do you believe that “male” and “female” are merely socially conditioned behaviors and that gender is purely a subjective experience of identity? What are your thoughts?

Fandango’s Provocative Question #212

Many will not like my view on the gender dilemma sweeping the planet…

We can quibble over sex and gender and their meanings, origins and entwined evolution in the English language ad nauseam. It changes nothing.

Everyone is born as we are into this world just as our God, Mother Nature or the alien race that seeded the galaxy intended. Evolution is a messy convoluted process with unlimited variation. It is a science experiment and we are the subjects. Our double helix, right-hand twisting DNA strands are forever being manipulated and re-sequenced in the petri dish of life.

Nature’s overarching mission is to genetically engineer changes to benefit the species over millennia and with a singular goal – SURVIVAL. As with any experiment, some adaptations will make the species stronger, some will yield no evolutionary advantage, while others may prove detrimental. It is the scientific method at its purist yet most brutal extremes. None of it is relevant on an individual level. I carry one of those detrimental mutations in my DNA. It fuels a relatively benign auto-immune disorder with a possible small role in determining when I depart from this world. Who are we to determine which adaptations nature renders desirable or abhorrent. Especially based on the definition of a few words in the English language. Humans love to catalogue, categorize and assign value but in reality, we are not very well suited to judge the Universe’s grand design.

I believe people should be allowed to live as they are. Accepted the way they were created. For there is beauty in all our forms. Take the idea of transitioning, the entire process is predicated on preconceived notions of biological sex and gender norms. Just because we can alter biological sex (at least on the surface) doesn’t mean we should rewrite the book. The more viable path to physical and psychological well-being would be to accept who you are, as you are. More importantly, society needs to embrace everyone as they are and accept the gifts each and every one of us contributes to the human experience.

I am not a fool, I understand the need for limits, laws, and established societal norms to maintain order. We can’t allow murders, pedophiles, and the various monsters that haunt our nightmares to roam free but that is not what we are discussing. As long as people are loving, accepting, and mutual in heart and mind why do we care what the definition of gender, biological sex, sexual orientation or any other term is.  The fact remains those identifying as transgender comprise a relatively small number of individuals. Why we have allowed this topic to dominate the news is mind-boggling. It seems blatantly obvious that if we just love and accept everyone as they are there is no issue.

A couple of updates. Last week’s Digest covered my binge-watch of “The Last Kingdom.” After some of your comments, I broke down and watched the movie “Seven Kings Must Die” and was pleasantly surprised. It was entertaining and also held to the history better than I’d expected. It did a great job of wrapping up the series and I’d recommend watching it.

After exorcising their first-round demons my (no I don’t own them) Toronto Maple Leafs have managed to fall flat on their faces. With Boston’s early departure the Leafs, who haven’t won a cup since 1967 (the year before I was born) have dropped three straight to the Florida Panthers and have look gawd awful doing it. This team has the talent but clearly lacks something – heart, intestinal fortitude, desire – because they have not only lost all three games, they have failed to even show up. Nothing short of a miracle will prevent their exit from Lord Stanley’s tournament, I predict it will be golf season as soon as tomorrow night.

This week was a Death Cab for Cutie kinda week musically. In particular, the Dan Gibbard fronted Seattle outfit’s Plans album which included the classics Crooked Teeth and Soul Meets Body.

The week in review…

Echos of the Past
A poem of reflection on the past by Piper at Piper’s Adventures

A View Through the Window
A story of regret and courage written by Sadje at Keep It Alive.

Simon Spring via Unsplash

Sunrise Surprise
A beautiful poem by Sadje at Keep It Alive.

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

Zip, Zilch, Zero although it was a good week statistically. Lots of views and likes for older posts. Was it new fans or bots? I haven’t investigated so I am not sure.

Around the Blogosphere…

Ummm…

Next week…

Due to the tardiness of Sunday Digest, the new Five Word Weekly and Four Line Fiction have already posted. T-Shirt Wisdom will drop tomorrow…

Have a great week,

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2317 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

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2317 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

As I continue to struggle with motivation and find myself mostly tired at the end of each day, a curse I normally feel in the waning days of autumn but so foreign at this time of year, I wonder when inspiration will return.

Outside of work, where contrary to everything else I have found a new groove. I find myself on the couch binging Netflix until the wee hours of the morning. Covering the entire five seasons of The Last Kingdom, a BBC/Netflix series based on Bernard Cornwell’s epic series of novels, The Saxon Stories/Chronicles over the last two weeks.

I have mixed feeling about historical fiction. I am impressed with writers who can research a place and time in history and build an entire world around it. Skillfully inserting fictional characters into the backdrop of real historical events. Seamlessly meshing fictional characters into the lives of those who came before us. For many, it is our only glimpse into our history, our past.

My mother is a voracious reader, even in her 80’s she reads just about anything she can get her hands on. As a child, I remember shelves filled with books she’d read. Those shelves themselves only a small portion of what she’d read, the precious few she wanted to keep and read again. Now most of what she reads resides on her Kindle.

She is a huge fan of historical fiction. In the 1970’s I remember her waiting for the next installment of John Jakes, Kent Family Chronicles (aka The American Bicentennial Series) series to publish. I never read the books myself but she was a devout fan of the historical genre. Many of the books she read such as Gabaldon’s Outlander series or Follett’s Pillars of the Earth, taking her back in time to her familial roots in England and Ireland.

But historical fiction is a double edge sword. While many of the tales open our hearts and minds to history they also bastardize it. In the moment, the reader knows the stories to be fiction. Authors like Cornwell, who was driven by a need to tell a history that he believes is absent in Britain even provides context in his series to allow the reader to parse the history from the fiction.

Years ago, when I was at university, I discovered Anglo-Saxon poetry and became hooked on that strange and often melancholy world. For some reason the history of the Anglo-Saxons isn’t much taught in Britain (where I grew up) and it struck me as weird that the English really had no idea where their country came from. Americans know, they even have a starting date, but the English just seemed to assume that England had always been there, so the idea of writing a series about the creation of England was in my head for a long time.

Bernard Cornwell, from interview with Emerson College,
text taken from Wikipedia.

However, as these novels become part of the cultural landscape the tales become interwoven into that history, romanticizing them. I think of the conversations I’ve had with people over the years who can’t separate fiction from history. Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code is one of these novels where I have listened to people talk of fiction as reality. As time passes the fiction begins to creep into history even more and the truths of our past blend into the fantasy until only the historians hold the truth.

That said I enjoyed the series, although I am not certain I will watch the movie follow-up movie The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die that was created to end the series. It does not appear to have been written based on Cornwell’s novels but rather as a vehicle for Netflix to wrap the series up in a bow for the masses, disregarding so much of the history that provides the stories backdrop and that of England herself. In this instance, I will stick to the novels.

My Leafs managed to get out of the first round of the playoff for the first time since 2004. Hopefully exorcising the ghosts of the past. Even better the Boston Bruins, the so-call greatest team of all time based on the best regular season point total in league history were unceremoniously bounced by the Florida Panthers. My disdain for Marchand and the Bruins makes this almost as sweet as the Maple Leafs’ victory.

This week in music I re-discovered another classic from my youth, U2’s Rattle and Hum. The follow up to The Joshua Tree, one of the greatest albums ever recorded. When Love Comes to Town, the B.B. King collaboration results in one of the greatest Rock and Roll moments of all time.

Five Word Weekly Challenge

Qué sera sera | A coming-of-age tale written by Sadje at Keep It Alive.

Imposter | A conspiracy theorist nightmare with a twist by Paula at Light Motifs II.

Four Line Fiction Challenge

Okay | Writer Ravenclaw catches our imagination as the woman in the image prepares to soar, to live.

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

T-Shirt Wisdom Wednesday

Around the Blogosphere…

The blank spaces here are a product of that lack of motivation I describe above.

Next week…

Look for the usual features, Five Word Weekly, Four Line Fiction. I said it last week and like a broken record will say it again… Hopefully, I find inspiration this week.

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2316 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

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2316 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

I knew it was going to be one of those weeks when I woke up to the snow pictured in my “From 29°C to WTF?” post and it did not disappoint.

The night I posted that entry my wife got hit in the head with a steel rod. It seems a co-worker didn’t secure the item properly when they were putting it away and when she went to grab a box it bounced up and hit her above her left eye. She was lucky not to lose an eye but has been suffering with headaches all week since. Likely a concussion that has kept her home and on the couch. To make things worse she also picked up a nasty cold.

At the same time, it is one of the more hectic weeks at work. The staff bid on the lines they would like to work for the next six months. Although I am not directly involved in the bid process, I am responsible for entering the results into our scheduling system. You would think this to be straightforward but it involves a bleep-ton of massaging the data to ensure the upload goes smoothly. If I were building schedules.

I’d start with a master that includes the full staff complement. First, I’d determine what staff require static lines such as those working static Monday to Friday lines or those accommodated schedules. Once that part of the schedule has been determined I move to the biddable schedule and as we never operate at full complement, I’d begin removing extra lines from the master schedule to ensure a balanced distribution of staff across the entire schedule. This would avoid creating areas with overstaffing and others where we operate short.

Unfortunately, that is not how these schedules are built, instead we build the bid schedule first and then add the static lines. The problem is nobody seems to be aware of who is not bidding so it becomes my responsibility to figure out who is missing from the bid schedule and build their static lines and accommodated schedules. It is an inefficient way of assembling a massive jigsaw puzzle that invariably leads to holes in the schedule and people being missed.  Admittedly, it is exacerbated by the fact that I am new to the role, and it is my first time working the back end of the scheduling process.

None of this helps as for the last week to ten days I feel like I’ve been mired in the mud. My motivation is low and my mind is focused on other things. The cost of living, my daughter’s summer baseball schedule, ongoing car problems and of course my wife’s health are all weighing on my mind. Oh yeah, and that damned snow that has reared its ugly head again after a week of summer weather in April!

So it has been nothing but vegging in front of the TV and listening to music. I have spent countless hours watching the Leafs, Blue Jays and the Netflix show “The Last Kingdom” or listening to homegrown artist JJ Wilde.

Five Word Weekly Challenge

Blissful… | The joy of spending time with family and friends and a trip to the zoo by Paula at Light Motifs II.

A Journey from Fracture to Freedom: Anna’s Tale of Triumph | A journey by Anna written by Pankaj Kumar at The Inkwell

Four Line Fiction Challenge

Jeremy Hynes via Unsplash

Riddle of the Fox | Paula at Light Motifs poses an interesting riddle in her post.

Writer Ravenclaw also posted a warning for our fox friend in the comment section of the Four Line Fiction post.

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

Around the Blogosphere…

Next week…

Look for the usual features, Five Word Weekly, Four Line Fiction and T-Shirt wisdom Wednesday. I said it last week and will say it again… Hopefully, some more new posts too.

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2315 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

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2315 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

What a record-breaking week. The temperatures here for the last few days have set records across the board. Dry warm April weather that coincided with my day of rest. For those wondering I work a five days on, four days off rotating schedule so my off days shift and this week I happened to luck out and be off for some beautiful sunny days. As I return to work for the coming week the temperatures will drop to more seasonal.

The nice weather has made for a productive week. The previous owners of my home had built all the decking from old skids. What?!?!? Yeah, I said the same thing. That wood is the cheapest, softest, that was likely pest treated but is nothing remotely water or weatherproof. Sure on the deck in the back, they covered it with composite deck board but a pig with lipstick is still just a pig. The front they didn’t even try and hide it. It was covered in spruce or pine boards that they then just painted grey.

The front deck was so bad that I fell through the top last fall. It was only a skids depth, about 11cm (5″) but I was worried that my wife, son, the neighbour’s kids or the mail carrier would fall through and break an ankle. The last thing I need is to be sued by a neighbour or the post office.

The other problem with using skids is the space it leaves beneath the deck boards is perfect for all sorts of wildlife. Last year I used some old stone and pavers to evict a family of skunks and several chipmunks. Both can be very destructive to home foundations.

For the record, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. It appears my vehicle requires new ball joints and/or tie rods. A fairly expensive job. I am pretty handy and after watching some YouTube videos thought I’d take a stab myself. I’ve done car work before and this didn’t look all that hard to do until I got the car up on blocks and realized that I’d developed a fear of going under the car. Just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Pretty sure it stems from an incident several years back when I was changing breaks. I had the car on the jack and had been sitting with my legs under the vehicle as I worked. I got up to grab a drink of water and when I came back outside the chocks had failed and the jack tipped, spilling the car onto the driveway. Five minutes sooner and I’d have lost my leg for sure. Thank God the car was not damaged either but I think the only way I could get under a car now is if I had a proper lift and I don’t see ever getting one. So I guess it’s off to the mechanic. My guy is pretty good but the job will still be expensive.

Working outside I had to have some loud music playing. Something heavy and I found myself listening to the Italian outfit Måneskin. We saw them live a few months back and the music rocks!

Now for the ‘week in review’…

Five Word Weekly Challenge

The Doll | A poem of renewal and finding joy in things forgotten and discarded by Piper at Piper’s Adventures

A Terminal Opera | A story of hope and connection written by Pankaj Kumar at The Inkwell

Four Line Fiction Challenge

Viktor Forgacs via Unsplash

A funny thing happened on the way to this week’s Four Line Fiction. The day before my post was scheduled to drop Fandango at This That and the Other, by chance chose the same image from Unsplash. You can check out the respondents at Fandango Flash Fiction Challenge.

A Mess Everywhere | A cat tale mystery by Sadje.

Staring Into the Face of Me | A introspective poem by Rockstar Girl.

Missing | My own contribution to both mine and Fandango’s challenge.

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

16. Revenge: The Captive Soul | The four-part 16th installment of the Revenge Series written for several of Sammi Cox’s #WeekendWritingPrompt. I will eventually catch up on all of them.

T-Shirt Wisdom Wednesday

The Karaoke Cowboy | Written in response to Fandango’s Provocative Question (#fpq) The fifteenth installment in the Revenge series revealed the darkness Charlie holds within.

Decapod Delights | Written as a response to Rebecca at Fake Flamenco‘s April poetry challenge featuring sea creatures.

Around the Blogosphere…

With The nice weather and the return of baseball, I did not get much reading/blog surfing done this week.

Next week…

Look for another Five Word Weekly, Four Line Fiction. I said it last week and will say it again… Hopefully, some more new posts too.

My Blue Jays dealt the Tampa Bay Rays their first loss of the season. snapping their 13-0 start to the 2023 campaign. Thirteen straight is an impressive feat even against weaker opponents but they did not fair quite as well against another World Series contender. One of the best quotes after the streak-snapping Toronto victory was the Wizard of Oz-esque, “Yes Tampa, you’re not in Washington anymore!” referring to the woefully inept Washington Nationals who the Rays had previously swept.

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2314 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

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2314 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

I am not a religious person. However I was raised in a Catholic household and as a kid attended church every Sunday, and participated with my Catholic schoolmates in receiving all of the obligatory sacraments. I really can’t recall the last time I was inside a house of worship of any kind other than for a wedding or funeral.

Now that I am older I don’t believe in magical and benevolent sky beings or hateful demon creatures torturing the dead in the infernal fires of hell. The Christian holidays have become more about family getting together and enjoying our time here on earth with those we love.

The weather has finally been nice enough to get outside and start some early-season yard work. The previous owner of my current home thought using wooden shipping skids would make a great foundation for the three different decks they built but of course, the untreated softwood has rotted into a pile of mush beneath composite deck boards. I guess they believed the layer of plastic and sawdust would prevent water from getting through. No, I take that back they were just cheap.

Oops, kinda lost focus for a half-inning. The Toronto Blue Jays were sucking a** in Anaheim today but just scored six in the sixth to tie it up! Let’s complete the comeback with a “W” before returning to the newly renovated Skydome! I know but I won’t acknowledge the current corporate stadium name.

This week I found myself listening to one of the albums I cut my musical chops on as an almost teenager. I won’t say I’ve forgotten but it has been a while since I listened to Roxy Music’s Avalon. The album came to the fore again while I listening to Alan Cross’ “The Ongoing History of New Music.” He was talking about how good the album sounded on vinyl because it was originally produced in analog from start to finish. It doesn’t hurt that it was produced at a time when recording quality mattered as well. I do not have a vinyl copy but it sounds great even from my fully lossless streaming service. It was hard to pick a video to post with such great tracks as More Than This, Avalon, The Main Thing but settled on Take A Chance With Me. Hope you enjoy…

Now for the ‘week in review’…

Five Word Weekly Challenge

Lost in the Commotion | A creative use of the prompt words in a very creative look at the afterlife written by Piper at Piper’s Adventures

Ghosted | A hysterical look at what might await a player when he crosses to the other side written by Paula at Light Motifs II.

Making History | I’m hoping Carol at Therapy Bits has given us a prophetic look at The Donald’s future!

A Trick of the Light or… | Sadje at Keep It Alive gives us a truly frightening tale of technology gone wrong and the complete lack of responsibility shown by those who create it. This could be Artificial Intelligence if left unchecked.

Lila’s Adventure on the Planet of Light | A magical story by Pankaj Kumar at The Inkwell

Four Line Fiction Challenge

Pawel Czerwinzki via Unsplash

Another slow week on the Four Line Fiction challenge.

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

15. Revenge: The Morning After | The fifteenth installment in the Revenge series revealed the darkness Charlie holds within.

Share Your World | Written as a response to Di at Pensivity101’s movie-themed Share Your World prompt.

Around the Blogosphere…

Scilla Luciliae | Delicate flowers with soft colours from Vova Zinger’s Photoblog.

Cognitive Dissonance | Fandango outlines the frustration we all feel when our elected officials seem to be so far disconnected from reality.

Next week…

Look for another Five Word Weekly, Four Line Fiction and some T-Shirt Wisdom. I said it last week and will say it again… Hopefully, some more new posts too.

My Blue Jays did come all the way back and then almost blew it again. They ended up beating the Angels of Anaheim 12-11. Woohoo, have a great week,

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2313 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

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2313 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

Although I could read the calendar this week my comprehension of how it works is suspect. Truth be told when I got home from work I started watching The Night Agent on Netflix. One in the morning and four binged episodes later with the blog completely on the backburner I crawled into my empty bed and fell fast asleep. So Sunday Digest is a Monday feature this week!

Have you ever started a new job, well new position at the old job and found that a series of predecessors had cocked it up so bad, this is sounding like it belongs on the Monday Peeve, it may take months to recover. So far I’ve found four different filing systems, with parts of each file in different physical and electronic locations. Pieces of files missing or buried in unprotected predecessor emails, or encrypted in a generic mailbox so that I cannot access them. Worse the only way to access the encrypted files is to have the original sender or recipient open it and many of those people have moved on to new jobs and locations. Of course, the encrypted emails should have been decrypted and moved to the corporate cloud where access can be granted outside the encryption process. Apparently, too much effort to click and drag! A week and a half in and I already have staff asking about the status of their requests for which there are no files anywhere or key pieces from their file including personal information is completely missing.

Time for a musical interlude and a chance to breathe, found myself listening to a lot of Glass Animals this week. I love the creativity of this band and one of my faves has to be Space Ghost. Plus the video is one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen.

The rest of the world has gone mad, I think. Sure Trump was indicted by the Grand Jury (about effing time) and I saw one of the funniest memes about it. It is nice to see the racist orange man getting his comeuppance even if he gets off in the end one can only hope the stress takes years off of his pitiful existence. My only concern is if they get the legal shit wrong it could boost his run for another term in the White House. A risk that would be catastrophic for America and the free world.

Even more puzzling is Russia taking the lead of the UN Security Council for April. How in the name of God we can let that happen is ridiculous and shows how toothless our governmental and international governance models are broken. I read somewhere that Ukraine is incensed at the notion of the Russian State dictating the agenda at the UN. Do you blame them, as Putin continues to murder innocent civilians and military personnel protecting their homes the rest of the world allows them to dictate proceeding in an international forum that is responsible for keeping the peace between nations. Shit like this further erodes trust in government agencies as the world hurtles toward anarchy.

My Blue Jays (like I own the team) got off to a great start with a win in St. Louis but then dropped the next two. Everyone says it’s early and in baseball terms it is but it was a frustrating opening series for a team projected to make the post-season. Pitching is still a concern that I don’t think the front office has adequately addressed. Here’s hoping next week is better.

Everyone always says end on a positive note. Despite the mess at work and in the world I have to say I’m grateful for all I have and with spring here and warmer weather on the way I am looking forward to getting back outdoors and into the garden.

Now it’s time for the ‘week in review’ portion of this post…

Five Word Weekly Challenge

Ponderings, Paula at Light Motifs tale of forbidden high school romance.

Think, Think, Think… where Sadje takes us into the mind of a student contemplating the weight of work she needs to complete.

Four Line Fiction Challenge

feey via Unsplash

Politicos written by Rugby843 at The Bag Lady.

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

T-Shirt Wisdom Wednesday | A baseball theme for this bi-weekly feature.

Home of the Braves | A terrible take on cultural appropriation written for Chel Owen’s Terrible Poetry Contest for March 2023.

Vitamin D | A beach tale written for multiple Fandango #fowc dailies.

Winter’s Last Gasp | It has been a while since I last posted in the photography category on Greg’s blog. I find the camera, like myself, tends to hibernate over the winter. This one was from my phone and was posted for bushboy’s Last on the Card challenge.

Around the Blogosphere…

Winner of the Terrible Poetry Contest | Lots of hilarious terrible poetry hosted by Chel Owens.

Next week…

Another Five Word Weekly, Four Line Fiction and hopefully some more new posts. My output has been light of late.

Have a great week,

Credits and Additional Information

2312 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

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Note: Sunday DIgest is a bit late this week. I had set it to publish last night but not being able to read the WordPress calendar or just having zero concept of the days of the week accidentally scheduled it for Monday at 9:00pm. My standards have been slipping lately but I say, better late than never…

2312 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

Trump in ’24. It seems highly unlikely and at odds with every fibre of my being that Trump would be anything other than in jail by 2024 however how can I even think of supporting Joe Biden after his visit to Canada this week. I’ve said it before, being Canadian I have no horses in the next race for the White House. That said the incumbent President felt the need to tell our pretty boy Prime Minister and his merry band if cohorts in Ottawa that he liked our sports teams, but then added except the Toronto Maple Leafs. His reasoning was even more bizarre than fiction itself.

Unknown

The quote below taken from his speech to the House of Commons:

“Our labour unions cross borders. So do our sports leagues — baseball, basketball, and hockey. Listen to this, hockey. I have to say, I like your teams, except the Leafs.

I’ll tell you why. They beat the [Philadelphia] Flyers back in January, that’s why. If I didn’t say that, I married a Philly girl; if I didn’t say that, I’d be sleeping alone, fellas. I like you. I don’t like you that much.”

Joe Biden to Canadian Parliament
@GMGCreative

Sure Trump may ruin the United States. He is a bigot, a buffoon, and a creepy orange-coloured sexual predator who admires the likes of Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and any other autocratic despot he can latch onto. It is clear by the company he keeps and by his actions that he would dismantle democracy and crown himself the supreme ruler of Panem, errr… America. Seems like a fair trade-off against a senile old man who chooses his marital bed over the Toronto MAGA Leafs. I mean I think all the Canadian teams have beaten the hapless Flyers this year. Biden, you’re FIRED!

Sure the two politicians got some other work done on Biden’s northern jaunt. They agreed to strengthen the safe third country agreement regarding asylum seekers (I guess ‘refugee’ is no longer considered politically correct) that says refugees must make a claim in the first safe country they arrive in and can be returned to that country if they didn’t. Perhaps this will put an end to New York State’s free public transit route for asylum seekers that busses claimants to a point just across from an illegal border crossing and points them northward as they disembark, a clear violation of international law. They also talked about China/Asian Pacific policy and strengthening Arctic defence, the Russkies and coming you know, but does any of that really matter after Biden’s jab at the Leafs?

With my tongue firmly planted in cheek I’ll stick with the hockey theme. Here’s a little of the late Stompin’ Tom Connors performing The Hockey Song at the closing of the old Maple Leaf Gardens in 1999.

And now for the weekly summary…

Five Word Weekly Challenge

The Noisy Spindle is an AI-generated tale where Fandango at This, That and the Other set the parameters as poetry using the five challenge words. As one commenter said it had a Poe feel to it and I found it entertaining right up until the bot used the word clobber. By strict definition, it fits but didn’t really work. Click the link and see the future at work.

Weaving Life’s Tapestry is a poem about our intricately woven life journey by Pankaj Kumar at The Inkwell.

Untitled by The Bag Lady is a poem that for me sums up those who control our fate, the rich, the powerful and our political leaders.

Diorama of an Internal Battle by Piper at Piper’s Adventures.

The First Salvo, a shot fired across the bow of those who think they know what’s best for us by Sadje at Keep It Alive.

Four Line Fiction Challenge

Dix Balino via Unsplash

I’m guessing this week’s bug porn grossed everyone out! The image was outstanding macro work though, and I couldn’t pass it up.

Your responses…
💤ip,
💤ilch,
💤ero!
Nothing 2️⃣ 👀 here.

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

Love Assassin | A tale about shots fired written for Carrot Ranch’s #99WordStories (that I then forget to submit through the Carrot Ranch form) that also incorporated several of Fandango’s #fowc word prompts.

Beck and Call | A courier-slanted rant written for Paula’s Monday Peeve.

Around the Blogosphere…

Still trying to catch up from last week!

Next week…

Another Five Word Weekly, Four Line Fiction and some baseball for T-Shirt Wisdom Wednesday.

Have a great week,

Credits and Additional Information

2311 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

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2311 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

This is the first time I have put pen to paper on Greg’s Blog this week. This was not the plan. It was going to be an active week while I was compiling last week’s Sunday Digest. It was March Break here and my son was already with his Nonna, Nonno and Zia. Freedom I thought, he wanted to see his grandparents and we’d get a short break from a wonderful but very active seven-year-old. Even better I was only scheduled at work a couple of days during the week.

It seems nature had other plans…

Monday, I woke up with a sore throat, low-grade fever and a pounding headache. Even the sensation of my heart beating like a hammer felt like it was driving a stake through my temples, the light from my device screens like daggers through my eyes. Lots of fluids and a few trips to the loo were all this broken body could muster for the next four days. The good news is it does not appear to have been COVID-19.

The stress points that registered on my Garmin watch were crazy. I don’t know how accurate these devices are at determining heart rate, sleep, stress, etc… but I know that some universities have used the results from these devices in long and short-term studies. I actually participated in a sleep study run by Harvard in conjunction with sleep (CPAP) specialists in the field. Either way, once the watch has established your baselines it is a great comparative health tool. For example, my resting heart rate jumped from an average of 50 to 52 bpm before the illness to 60 to 62 bpm starting late in the day Sunday, the evening before the symptoms appeared. That is eight to ten beats more per minute. The other interesting measurement is the one looking at stress levels. It uses heart rate variability and other factors to determine physical stress levels in the body.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023 | Five days before health event.

The image above shows a timeline for March 8th, a sample of my normal stress response over a typical 24-hour period. Although the graph does vary from day to day this is a reasonably accurate depiction of a normal day for me going back through at least three months of data.

Wednesday, March 15, 2023 | Day three of health event.

As you can see stress levels were through the roof during the illness. Monday to Thursday looks almost identical to March 15th shown above and Friday through Sunday start moving towards normal although even today is still elevated compared to the March 8th graphic.

This week’s song link is a Metric classic that fits right in with my heart beating like a hammer…

All of this spells disaster on the blog front. Ignored, neglected and forgotten are the best descriptions. Not much to highlight that is for sure.

Five Word Weekly Challenge

Sorry to everyone. Due to my illness, I have not had a chance to read anyone’s Five Word Weekly entries for this week as such there will be no links to this week’s entries on Sunday Digest. Thanks to everyone who participated, it is my goal to read everyone’s entry this coming week.

Four Line Fiction Challenge

Susan Wilkinson via Unsplash

Sorry, Four Line Fiction will suffer the same fate as Five Words and will not have links here this week. On a good note, it looks like there are several entries this week and I will endeavour to get to all of them. I just hope my absence hasn’t killed the momentum that has started to pick up. Thanks to everyone who participated!

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

💤ip,
💤ilch,
💤ero!

Around the Blogosphere…

Lots of great stuff I’m sure but I’ve read none of it! playing catch-up this week for sure!

Next week…

Another Five Word Weekly and Four Line Fiction challenges are on the way and I hope to get some writing and reading done before next Sunday’s wrap-up.

Have a great week,

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2310 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

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2310 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

I am sitting in the same place as last week and it is again snowing. Not nearly as bad as but truth be told any amount is too much now – ENOUGH ALREADY!

This upcoming week is the March/Spring Break for elementary and high schools here. My little guy is spending the week with Nonna and Nonno. A break for us but I also miss him. He loves going there as his Zia spoils him

My daughter is making her annual trip to Florida with her fastpitch team. They go to the Jackie Robinson complex to get ready for ball season, meet college reps, and play a few exhibition games. This is the first year she has gone on her own with just the team but I am not worried. She is a bright young woman who amazes me every day.

For this week’s musical inspiration, I’ve gone back to one of my favs from Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness plus I’ve added his latest release as well. Enjoy.

Five Word Weekly Challenge

Another great week at Five Word Weekly. Thanks to everyone who participated.

Work-Life Balance is a tale reminding us of the perils of working too hard at the expense of family and life written by Fandango at This, That and the Other.

Family is a story written by Diana from Writer Ravenclaw that extols the importance of taking time for oneself.

Moon of Many Names is a poem by Paula at Light Motifs II that exposes the many names and moods of Earth’s celestial satellite.

A Canyon Adventure is a poem about excepting fate and living in the moment written by Piper at Piper’s Adventures.

Cake Sale is a story of hope written by Sadje at Keep It Alive.

Four Line Fiction Challenge

Sabina Sturzu via Unsplash

Yes!!! More than just my posts for Four Line Fiction this week. A little momentum is a good thing!

Every Angle is a therapeutic read written by Paula at Light Motifs II.

Photo Op is a NYC first visit poem written by Fandango at This, That and the Other.

And my own entry – Emma Fynds P.I.

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

Butch and the Illusionist (Part 1) | A Short Story incorporating words from Fandango’s One Word Challenge.

The Price of Tea in… Canada. | Written in response to Paula’s Monday Peeve.

Around the Blogosphere…

Fast Stream | Monochromatic image of a waterfall taken by Vovazinger.

Along the Coast | A dramatic monochrome image of waves crashing that Leanne Cole for her Monochrome Madness feature.

The Terrible Poetry Contest | Chel’s bi-monthly poetry contest returns for March 2023. Get your terriblest work ready.

Next week…

Look for Five Word Weekly, T-Shirt Wisdom, and Four Line Fiction challenges.

Have a great week,

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2309 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

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2309 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

I find myself sitting in my office looking out the window. I feel like a little boy watching a construction site. The only real excitement this week was two, yes two major snowstorms. The first one on Monday saw 15-20 cm (6-8 inches) of snow and ice fall. On Friday night while I was working the heavens opened up again and dumped another 25-30 cm (10-12 inches) on us the majority of it between 9pm and midnight, although the snow did continue until morning. In fact, Friday night was so bad I stayed at my inlaws. They live about 15 minutes from the office and it took closer to the hour it normally takes to drive home just to get there. The only thing visible was the red lights of the cars ahead of me.

I can see the airport from my window and it is fascinating to watch the snow removal apparatus in action two days afterwards. Giant snow throwers, front-end loaders, plows, melters and ice spreaders are slowly removing any traces of winter on airport property. It might be the one thing the airport authority does well.

Greg Glazebrook @ GMGPhotography

Like I said, I’m a kid in a candy store. Reminds me of summer days spent watching heavy machinery scar the field behind my childhood home so that rows of houses could be built on the lush farmland.

Earlier in the week I ranted about big cable and my internet issues. The piece “Coincidence, I think NOT!” was written as a response to The Monday Peeve presented by Paula at Light Motifs II. Hours after a door-to-door salesman tried to sell me Big Cable Internet my independent ISP, who purchased bandwidth from that very same Big Cable company, internet service went down and had been out intermittently (think Yo-Yo) ever since. The cable company finally came out Saturday morning to check the lines and the tech removed a line attenuator that had been inserted between the modem and the incoming cable line. He was certain it was the cause of all our connectivity problems and not funny business from the Dishonest Ed Corp.

What I find interesting is the last time (about six months ago) a door-to-door salesman came to my door to sell me Big Cable internet my service went down hours later (just as it did this week) and the cable tech who came out on that occasion was the one who inserted said line attenuator and insisted that it would solve the problem. I call bullsh…

This week I have been listening to some new Barns Courtney. Talk about an earworm. I haven’t been able to get this song out of my head since I first heard it last weekend. Catchy and the video is pretty good too.

It has been a busy week in the real world this week and so Greg’s Blog has been on the back burner. Here are a few of the highlights…

Five Word Weekly Challenge

Another great week at Five Word Weekly. Thanks to everyone who participated.

War Declared in a Swarm, a biting indictment of mosquito warfare by Piper at Piper’s Adventures.

The Conquest War, a tale of foreboding by Henrietta at All About Writing and more…

What She Wrote, a story of hope written by Sadje at Keep It Alive.

Four Line Fiction Challenge

Mehrab Sium via Unsplash

Zip Zero Zilch… ugly but I refuse to give up! Four Line Fiction was shut out. Yep, a big doughnut of responses this week.

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

Empty Pages | Written in response to Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge.

Don’t Look Back… | Republished for Fandango’s Flashback Friday.

The Revenge Series 13. Unexpected and 14. Reluctant Voyeur | Written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt (Two older prompts as I am trying to catch up.)

Around the Blogosphere…

Because of my busy week, I only glanced at a few pages and did not get any serious reading in. Sorry to have missed so many great blogs. I do hope to catch up on everyone’s posts.

Next week…

Look for Five Word Weekly, and Four Line Fiction challenges.

Have a great week,

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