Monday, December 26, 2011

Boxing Day.

I awoke up to the sound of a big truck outside. Oh, oh. Garbage man. Wine and turkey doesn't seem to help a flagging memory. My wife had also heard the truck, a little earlier on, and ran out in her pyjamis, and did the job. I patted her on the back and told her she was a good trooper, after which she answered, "Yeah, sure."

I will tell you that I haven't been entirly lazy in this garbage fiasco. When I looked out the door on Sat. morning, I noticed everyone on the street had their garbage out, and me, being the little sheep that I am, quickly put mine out. But as the day dragged on, I had second thoughts, so I checked the garbage pickup flyer. And there it was in blue and red, Monday is normal pickup day. So I dragged mine back in. I couldn't help but notice, everyone left theirs out, even on Christmas Day.

Last week there was all that ranting about us having a green christmas. Well that didn't happen, got almost a foot of snow on Friday. We ended up shoveling heavy slush and got the driveway cleared out. The snowplow driver decided to give us another swipe, sometimes after midnight. A line of slush across my driveway, which of course was frozen by the time I got up. I hate driving over that ice, I've had ruined tires before.

My wife solved the problem of my Christmas coffee cup. She brought me a new one. It has a house that lights up when the cup gets hot. I guess I will be able to tell when my coffee gets cold.

I didn't do any writing yesterday and now I have all these words in my head I have to get rid of or they will become memories and I'll think they actually happened.

My brother Tony worked all weekend, so is coming over for Christmas dinner today. For him its Christmas dinner, for me it's leftovers. To be truthful, I do love turkey leftovers.

Jack Sakalauskas
My Books on Amazon
Follow Me On TWITTER!/PensionersRant

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Lobster and a Happy Face.

Cold and crispy to-day. Temp about 0C/32F. Last Friday I took my wife out to look at countertop for our new kitchen. The cupboards are arriving the middle of next month, so we had to get on it. A lot of humming and hawing, but at one point she said, "I like this one, but..." That was good enough for me. I ordered it. Had to be done.

Getting all new appliances also. So far we have the dishwasher, fridge, coffeemaker, and toaster oven. Now we're looking for the stove and under the counter microwave. I'm all for getting he stove now. I can hook up the new one for Christmas and get rid of the other one. (Now say in a low woman's voice with a German accent), "No, we can wait till after Christmas."

I think she forgot about the countertop because she bought me two lobster for today. I cooked them yesterday, eat them today. And that is what a poor senior citizen, retired military, starving author will have for lunch. Hard to get anyone to believe the starving part when I am having lobster for lunch. Harder to believe the author part.

Have to go for a haircut next, then the bank, and then church. Going to drop off $100. for the food bank. My wife gives food all year long, but I always give them a cash gift. Then they can buy what they are short.

One of the first things I do in the morningis write something for my next book. Min. 500 words. What I find interesting is that it's like reading. I wonder what is coming next.

Having been an electronics technician and in the habit of fixing most things my self, people have the tendency to offer me things they are going to throw out. But that's going by the board now, as most things are not meant to be repaired. Where would you get the parts?

My brother gave me a Sony eReader because he has a new Kindle. The battery was getting weaker and weaker and would need recharging after an hour. It's $25. for a replacement battery and I know how to take it apart. The other day I decided to recharge, but I made a mistake and discharged it to the limit.

Then I remembered. Rechargeable batteries should be discharged completely before recharging. In fact, I built a small thing on my workbench to fully discharge the 1 1/2 volt batteries. We did that at the airport for our radios. So I recharged my dead eReader and have read on it for two days. The battery light is still green. Picture me with happy face.

What happens is, "I think," The new charge doesn't add to the residual charge. It just makes a new starting point. Over time, the residual charge gets larger and larger, ahile the new charge gets smaller.

Jack Sakalauskas
My Books on Amazon
Follow Me On TWITTER!/PensionersRant

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Lost For Awhile

Amazing how time passes. I have not added an article since the middle of Sept. Must be busy.

I can't believe we had a snow storm last week. In November. It usually comes around Christmas Eve. It was eight inches at least, enough to use the snowblower. That snow blower of mine just doesn't throw the snow far enough. I greased it all up this year, but to no avail. So, this summer, I have to take it apart. And I must start early in the summer, in case it takes awhile. It will need a new belt, and I don't know how long that will take to arrive.

I did spend a lot of time writing. Found it best to do every morning. Had to finish my almost first length ebook. 45,000 words should be good enough for the first one. It's about a spoiled Moroccan princess, who gets kidnapped by terrorists.  Two English boys and their guide break her out, and then they get list in the desert, where things go from bad to worse, then worse again. It helped to have been in Morocco and saw camels, trains and desert. Some of the events are from my own experience. Like the lady at the train station, or the two soldiers drinking rum & coke (one of them being me). So click on Amazon and give it a like.
I think that says you like the picture or the effort.

Anyway, it is better than doing crosswords, which now I have no time for. I had all those words running around with no where to go. I'm working on another book, using my hometown as the scapegoat. Murder, bootleggers, incest. My hometown was never like this, well, not totally.

My project the last few months has been designing a kitchen with my wife. I don't have to describe that  collaboration. I'm getting the parts from Kent, and they sent in a contractor. Well, I must have looked like a meek little lamb being led to slaughter. Lets rip off the senion citizen. Needed a wall put up and he wanted $3000. I got it done for $300. and this guy will do the rest of the job.

The parts will arrive in Jan. and I have to put them all in the house. Can't store them on the patio, and I just hope there is not a ton of snow about.

We put laminate flooring in the recroom. Actually, my son put it down, I did the cutting. The next project will be laminate floors for the dining and living room. Want that done before spring.

There, that should make up for the time I was away. Best put a picture of my book. Have to advertise. No shame.

Jack Sakalauskas
My Books on Amazon
Follow Me On TWITTER!/PensionersRant

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

World Trade Center






Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Making of a Superpower

I read some bad news the other day, I had a hard time believing. It seems the Ameicans are running out of big rocks. Yes, its hard to believe, but it appears to be true. I am referring to the big rocks, they make monuments from. They do make a lot of monuments, sort of like the Victorian era in England, when they made a lot of statues. It makes me wonder if this carving up of rocks is another sign of the end times.

Rome made lots of statues, momuments and buildings, then plop, down the drain. England, the same way, plop, down the drain. The Martin Luther King statue is the latest. I don't have anything against M.L.K. But the thing is, they bought the rock from China. I don't know about you, but to me it just doesn't seem right. I can see if they bought the rock in Africa, that would be okay.

It also appears, they have no more artists in the U.S, capable of making that sculpture. Maybe it just falls in line with the policy that they have to give all their jobs to someone else. Not only do we (them and us) send all the jobs to China (& India) we also send the factories. Remember the movie "Terminator"? The end has a hand crawling through a steel mill. Do you know where that steel mill is now? It was chopped up and taken to China. They did the same with a steel mill in Sydney and a oil refinery her in Dartmouth.

Sound like good policy? It might be a good policy for greed. After all, the upper class figure they can buy their way out of anything, so might as well grab as much as you can.


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

How Jackie Got His TouchPad!

Last Friday I was discussing the iPad with my son. I told him I wasn't interested in an iPad, all I needed was an eReader. Lately I have been checking them out. Finally, I decided to wait till the new Kindle came out. It's supposed to be in color, etc, etc. So he told me about HP getting out of the Tablet market, and maye some of the people who bought them will freak out, and want to sell theirs. Then, maybe I could get one on Kijiji, maybe $150. Okay, that sounds like a good plan.

Next morning, I see my son with a wide grin. "Guess what? I checked the Staples website this morning, and they have the HP Tablet for $99. & $150. I ordered three." An hour later confirmation came that he had two of them, one of each. So, we each have one. Since then, everyone is going crazy trying to get one. Store lineups, etc, just to order one.

So now I have my eReader and it cost $99. Of course I use it for more than reading books. The eReader only didn't last long. Love those Apps. The one that impresses me the most is the Google App. Just say the name of something and up comes the information. Or you can take a photo of something and it brings up items closest to it. Really Star Trekkie.!/PensionersRant

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Royally Speaking

When I joined the air force in 1961, it was the Royal Canadian Air Force. Then some dummy got the bright idea to join all the services, so I ended up in Air Command. The navy got Maritime Command and the army was Land Command. (Original eh?) That was in 1968 and we were given new uniforms, badges. etc. Most people hated it, especially the navy. In the late 80's, the air force got their uniforms back, sort of. I don't think the army and navy did. Now they are going back to The Royal Canadian Air Force, The Royal Canadian Navy, and The Canadian Army. The army doesn't have royal in front because it is made up of different regiments, like The Royal Canadian Regiment, The Royal 22nd. Regiment, etc. I would be even happier if they went back to air force ranks instead of army.

The French population of Nova Scotia will now be able to get vanity licence plate. Nova Scotia in French and English and the Acadian flag on the side. Sounds all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the $50.00 cost to get one. They call it a donation. Wonder if you can get one without a donation. I shouldn't talk, I have a Veterans plate. It cost me $5.00 extra.

On the front page yesterday, they told us about civil servants getting bonuses. They call it Merit Pay. Of 1700 workers, over 1000 receive it. The purpose is so they don't want to lose good people. Give me a break. With their fringe benefits and pay that is 50% higher than the street, no one is going to leave. What do you take us for?
The top business leaders say the same thing. Give me a 10 million bonus or I'll leave. Yeah, right!

There is this Mayor in a village in Quebec, who gave his ex-wife a birthday present yesterday. They were divorced a year ago. He has a construction company and in the middle of the night, he brought a 17 tonne bolder and put it in her driveway. He said that she always wanted a big rock.

Jack Sakalauskas!/PensionersRant

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Horses Ass

RAILROAD TRACKS The US standard railroad gauge
(distance between the rails) is
4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an
exceedingly odd number.
Why was that gauge used?
Because that's the way they built
them in England and English
expatriates designed the US railroads.

Why did the English build them like
Because the first rail lines were
built by the same people who built
the pre-railroad tramways and that's
the gauge they used.

Why did 'they' use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the

tramways used the same jigs and
tools that they had used for building wagons,
which used that wheel spacing.

Why did the wagons have that
particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other
spacing, the wagon wheels would
break on some of the old, long
distance roads in England , because
that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.

So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long

distance roads in Europe (including England )
for their legions. Those roads have been
used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the

initial ruts, which everyone else had

to match for fear of destroying their
wagon wheels.

Since the chariots were made for
Imperial Rome , they were all alike in
the matter of wheel spacing.
Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of
4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original
specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot.
Bureaucracies live forever.

The next time you are handed a
and wonder 'What horse's ass
came up with this?', you may be
exactly right. Imperial Roman
army chariots were made just
wide enough to accommodate
the rear ends of two war horses.
(Two horses' butts.)

Now - the twist to the story:
A Space Shuttle sitting on its

launch pad has two big booster
rockets attached to the sides of
the main fuel tank. These are
solid rocket boosters, or SRBs.
The SRBs are made by Thiokol
at a factory in Utah .

Engineers who designed the SRBs
would have preferred to make them
a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be

shipped by train from the factory
to the launch site. The railroad line
from the factory happens to run
through a tunnel in the mountains,
and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel.

The tunnel is slightly wider than the
railroad track, and the railroad track,
as you now know
, is about as wide
as two horses' behinds.


So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of
what is arguably the world's most advanced
transportation system, was determined over
two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass!
And you thought being
a horse's ass wasn't important!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Credit Card Maxed? So What.










Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Mayhem Still Reigns

Sunny out today but Thor is supposed to bang his hammer.






Saturday, July 9, 2011

The Pendulum Swings

Rain today - which is a good thing.






Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Murder and Mayhem

Summer is here, probably for a short stay.



Jack Sakalauskas!/PensionersRant

Friday, July 1, 2011

In All the Right Places

A sunny Canada Day to you all.





Jack Sakalauskas!/PensionersRant

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Bifocals Can Be A Hazard

How's the weather? Don't ask!

I just remembered about the yardsale I went to on Sat. Total waste of time and money. I should know better than to go indoor yard sales. They are usually just mini-merchants. The ones that sell jewelry, leather products, that kind of stuff. There was some pockets books there, but they were all for women. I think there are more women authors than men, and they seem to run off those romance books pretty fast.

I usually read two books at once. One is a pocketbook and the other an ebook. Just finished reading, "Rogue Warrior," the building of Seal Team 6. Definately rubbed his superiors the wrong way. For all his work, he got a year in jail, basically for not having the right receipts. Now it seems to be top heavy just like the other elite forces. The ebook was, "Gunboat #14," about the Swedish-Russian War, 1807. Those gunboats were were nothing more than large rowboats.

When you read with bifocals, you have to be careful, not to read incorrectly, especially if you only read the headlines. For example, this morning there was a headline which read,"Canada Primps for Royal Visit." When I first read it, it said,"Canada Pimps fpr Royal Visit." Anyway, I moved my head and saw the error of my ways. The upside is that sometimes it makes for interesting reading.

I was keeping a lookout for a dresser that someone might throw out. I wanted it for my shed, to put my toolboxes on. I have two green toolboxes, with three drawers. When they issued you tools in the Air Force, you were allowed to keep them. So I needed something four feet long to put them on. Yesterday, I was driving around a sub divison and saw this desk someone had put out on the side of the road. So I came back around to check it out. It was a four foot long, metal, grey computer desk, with shelves on one side. Perfect. Tossed it into the back of the van. Came home, told my wife and she said," And who put it in the van for you? Right, operation, no lifting for another month. Promised  not to do it again.

I'll add a photo of my shed.

Jack Sakalauskas!/PensionersRant

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Brown Sugar Sandwich

It is a beautiful day, finally.

A friend of my wife asked me yesterday, if I remembered brown sugar sandwiches. OMG - Yes, I remember brown sugar sandwiches. Two slices of white bread, cover one side with brown sugar, sprinkle with water so it doesn't fall out, slap the other slice of bread on it, and voila. She told me she sprinkled it with milk, because they had a cow. Yes! The good old days. Makes you wonder why we're still alive.

It's hard to believe. The LA Dodgers bankrupt. They are in the center of a divorce, so good luck to them. They could actually pack their bags and hit the road.

So they finally found Blogojevich guilty. I've seen him on reality shows, and got the impression you don't need to be intelligent to be a Gov. Of course this is true for all politicans. The gift of the gab is what matters. Then again, it could have been his hair. He is now eligible for a 300 hundred years government vacation. Do they really give people 300 years. Probably out in five years. I do notice that people who murder someone are treated less harsh than those that cheat  someone.

I have been watching items on TV about Hitler, and do you know that by the end of the war he had jets, stealt bombers, rockets and was months away from an atom bomb. We were almost toast. Well, I was young, I would have been crumbs.

Jack Sakalauskas!/PensionersRant

Monday, June 27, 2011

That Is The Question






Jack Sakalauskas!/PensionersRant

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Who Invented The Wonderbra?

Fog! Enough said.



Did you know the alkaline battery was a Canadian invention?

Jack Sakalauskas!/PensionersRant

Saturday, June 25, 2011

♫ Donald, Where's Your Trousers?♫

Rain! Enough said.

There is an article in the paper today about changing Cornwallis School's name. It's the school board who voted to change the name. It all started when one board member (who happens to be an Indian) suggested they change the name. He got the idea from a Band Chief, who has a personal vendetta against Cornwallis. Then all the Board members jumped on the wagon.

Personally, I don't think school boards should have any say in changing school names. Too easy to lead to abuse. School boards are usually run by one strong willed member, who bullies the rest. In this case it was probably, "We can't argue with a minority. People would think we are predudice. We have to accept his idea, even if it is stupid."

Read this article the other day about men's skirts. A designer, Rick Owens, is in to it. Wouldn't he be better off calling them kilts? At least he would have a built in market. Skirts for men don't seem to fly that well. I'm part Scot, but you won't see me wearing any skirt or kilt. I wouldn't force the sight of ny legs on anyone. If I wore a skirt, everyone would definately look at my legs. Hoot Mon!

There is a giant yard sale in the arena today. Have to check it out. Maybe buy some books.!/PensionersRant

Friday, June 24, 2011

Trying To Rewrite History

I know it is daylight, because I can see everything. That is, except the sun. In other words, it's cloudy.

Worked on my barbacue a couple of days ago. I should say, my son did. I'm not into pushing and pulling yet. Yesterday was my first day back at the wheel after the operation. My barbacue is the first normal size one I bought. It must be at twenty-five years old. My wife bought a new gas line last week at a yard sale, for $1.00, so I  cleaned it up, repainted it, bought a new insert, and away we go. Oh yes, then I tested it. Good for another six or seven years.

I looked at new ones, but they are all made of tin. Wouldn't last long. That's why I see so many out on garbage day.

Yesterday I wrote about changing a schools name from Cornwallis to whatever. By the way, Cornwallis was the founder of Halifax. I said yesterday, first a school name, then something else. It didn't take long. There is a park in Halifax with a statue of him. Now they want the statue taken out and done in.

You can't change history. He gets his name on things because he was the founder. So, they don't like the way he operated. That was then, and that was how things were done. There is nothing to be done about it. Having a statue, denoting he is the founder, doesn't mean we agree with his policies.

It seems they are going to put a windmill park in Amherst. The company is putting up 61 million, and the government 39 million. They put it there because it is a high unemployment area. It is sort of a form of welfare. These things sometimes end up as a bottomless pit. Every year the company comes back for more money.

Call centers are the same. They get tax breaks to keep people working. As soon as the tax breaks run out, they close up shop. If you want them to stay, more tax breaks, usually equal to the wages for the employees for a certain period of time.!/PensionersRant

Thursday, June 23, 2011

It Is What It Is, and That's How It Is

You can have the sun, and still not have warm weather. 12C/54F

They are at it again. Name changing. I wish people would get over this crap. It happened 250 years ago. Quit moaning about it. I guess its like, I win, I got the last word in. First a school , then a street, then what? I don't imagine it will be names after any white man.

If you are a white man, you are definately on the bottom of the ladder now. In Halifax, they lowered the entrance exams for fire fighters so blacks could qualify. That's what I like to hear. If my house is burning down, send the stupid people to put it out. For government, everyone else qualifies first. Then again, that's the government. They have seminars on slowness.

Let's say Canada was discovered by another race, other than white, where would we be now. Like African nations, Arab nations, or India? Our own indians hadn't even discouvered the wheel by the time the white man came. As for Asians, they copied everything from the whites.

And don't go calling me a racist. It's just is what it is. Some men lose their hair faster than others. That's just the way it is.

Along the same line, another thing that irks me is the statement, "Over qualified for the job."
I never heard of anything so stupid. "I don't want to hire you, I would rather hire a dumber person."
Or, "Instead of you, I can hire ten in India, and maybe the ten of them together will get the job done."
You would think it would be, "If I can get the best person possible, my company will do better."
In reality its, "If I can hire the cheapest person possible, I can put more money in my pocket."!/PensionersRant

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Best of Times, Worst of Times

Sun again today. This is the second day in a row. It is quite windy though.

So the Utility Board had their open forum about the size of city council, and who gets up to speak, but the Mayor. Well yes, he says. City council is too large. It should be 15 not 23. He must figure he is on the way out anyway.

Yesterday, they had a council meeting. There is a big scandle going on, about the rock bands that come to the city during the summer. It seems that everyone got paid up front. They all got paid before the tickets were sold. The promoters, bands and everyone else who has their finger in it. They didn't need to worry about selling tickets, there was no more money to be made by doing so. This broke all the rules, and the Mayor had agreed to the whole thing.

Last evening, someone put up to vote to fire the Mayor. That didn't go anywhere. 17 - 3 to keep him. Maybe that 17 were in on the entertainment deal. And hey, there are lots of bands coming this summer. Did I fail to mention, the city pays when there are not enough tickets sold? I get to pay, even though I don't go to these shows. Entertainment for the masses. After all, you are not allowed to feed the christains to the lions. Then again, maybe we are being fed slowly.

Down behind my house, there is a shopping mall, and beyond that, the Forest Hills Parkway. At one end of the mall is Canadian Tire, with their own parking lot. After the store closes, the lot fills up with trailers, race cars, camp chairs and lots of beer. Soon, they are racing up and down the Parkway. The mounties get a lot of complaints, and what is their answer, "We're not interested in that."

The evening before yesterday, one of those guys must have run out of beer. Brandishing an axe, he robbed the Subway store in the same mall. I remember hearing a car just screaming out of the parking lot. I just happened to look at my watch at that time. Found out yesterday the robbery had occured just four minutes earlier. Guess we know who was in that car.

The mounties could have prevented that robbery, or even caught them in the act, if they had answered the complaint calls. They always seem to be conveniently ten miles away, doing rounds. Yesterday, all was back to normal, cars racing on the Parkway, everyone drinking beer and the cops doing rounds ten miles away.


Monday, June 20, 2011

Oh My Deer!

I can't believe it's sunny today. They are threatning us with 20C/69F.

The big news for us on Twitter is about a deer who jumped through a window, into a restaurant, then out through another window. That was in Halifax. People hid in the bathrooms until the deer left. I think here in Dartmouth the little dears just walk through the door. I also heard of a bear wandering around. It appears he is attracted to unclean barbacues.

So we are back on this again. the size of city council is too large. We have 23 councillors, while cities of the same size in the rest of Canada have 15 - 17. It's goes up for review every eight years, and today's the day. The last time the councillors voted on it, they voted to keep it the same. Duh! The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board are voting on it today. Think they will fire any of their friends? I don't think there will be any volunteers.

From yesterday's post.- Kurt Arseneault I read of very few home invasions while in Texas...... Wonder if it has anything to do with the odds being pretty high that someone inside the house will have a handgun to protect themselves with? Legally!
Jack Sakalauskas That is true. Same for sports riots. I heard that sports riots happen in Canada and Europe, but not the U.S. The U.S. is the only country where shop owners have guns to protect their property.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Home Invasions

This morning, there was thunder, lightning and big rain. Later on this afternoon, it should be a repeat.

I was flicking through the cnannels the other day and when I came to ch.35, it said it was no longer available. It has moved to digital. This is the PBS channel, where I watch for Masterpiece Theatre. This one came from Detroit, but I also have it again, where it comes from Boston. I don't mind losing one, since they are almost the same. The thing is, I always thought of PBS as being free. But now, in order to watch it, I would have to pay for digital. Then again, it hasn't been free since the days of rabbit ears. You could only get it on cable, and you had to pay for it.

What about PBS now? They get their money from donations. If people can't see it, chances of donations are slim. You would think this is eating into their pocketbook. I supose most of their funding comes from trust funds, etc.  It's a matter of time till we all have to invest in the little black box.

I just read on Twitter there was a home invasion in Halifax last evening. Easy targets are people who live alone and the elderly. Two teens took a computer from a woman in this incident. You can lock your door, but what else can you do? If you have a gun and shoot them, they throw you in jail. Calling the police may not help too much. It may take awhile for them to arrive. I lock my door in the evening and hope no one knocks on it.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Arab Democracy?

Rain today? Of course. We seem to have six days of rain and then one day to cut the grass.

Do you know what we did yesterday? We sent a lawyer to jail. Yes, we did. Not only that, it was a woman lawyer. Nothing is sacred. What she did was smuggle drugs in to her customers in prison. Now she gets to join them. She's fifty-seven and has now lost her career.

I don't know why we are sending people to fight in Libya. It's none of our business. Suppositly to help them fight for their freedom. The same thing seems to be going on in Syria. No one is sending any help there. What's the difference? Oil! No oil in Syria.

Friday, June 17, 2011


Sunny today and of course rain for the next two days.

Part #3 Charioteer came up on Smashwords yesterday. It will eventually get to all of them. Amazon is last. About a week. To write that one, I had to study up on chariot racing. The racer had to tie the reins around his waist, much like seat belts today. You saw on "Ben Hur", the drivers getting dragged. For that, they carried a small knife in their belt, to cut the reins. Of course, when you read my story, you will find that out. And heaven forbid, that you wouldn't read it.

So I have three more parts to go for the story. The publisher has one, I have the other two finished. Have to let them sit a bit, then off they go. I'm working on something different now and am finished ch.1. This time it will be a full length adventure in Morocco. I have been to Morocco and know what is where. A princess, two teen age boys, terrorists, sand and more sand. Start ch.2 today.

Everyone thinks I write these for children. Not so. I write them for seniors. Thinking about all my friends going into their second childhood.
Read the paper today and no murders yesterday, or stabbings.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Reading and Writing

Not raining right now. Supposed to have a high today of 16C/61F. Warm eh? (Eh? I am so Canadian.)

This morning I won a book on Goodreads. My second. It's called "I Have A Story To Tell" about Eastern European Jewish immigrants living in Montreal, Toronto, and Winnipeg in the early twentieth century. The stories encompass their travels and travails on leaving home and their struggles in the sweatshops and factories of the garment industry in Canada.

My ancestors came over about the same time and worked in coal mines. Just as bad, maybe worse. My twelve year uncles worked in the mine. I am forever grateful to my Grandfather for coming here.

On my Goodreads page, I have listed 79 books I have read. If I could remember all the titles, it would be much larger. When I was young, I went to the library every week. I have most of those books listed because I still have them. The last book I read at that time was Centennial by Michener. It was in Aug. 1977. Why do I remember that? Same week Elvis died.

After that, I had to  worry about paying bills. About 1999, I was able to get on track again. Instead of reading, I did crossword puzzles for the next eleven years. One morning at breakfast, I did the crossword and Sudoku in thirty min. Then I said that's it. Next, I wrote very short stories. Then I wrote and am still writing a six part series for EchelonPress. They certainly helped me a lot. The first thing they taught me, don't write OK, write okay.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

John Grisham's "Ford County"







John Grisham really did his homework on this story.

Jack Sakalauskas!/PensionersRant

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Criminal Minds

No use telling you it's still raining.

It appears we have fallen into the abyss of crime. Since Sat. we have had two home invasions, two people shot (1 dead), two stabbings, one rape, one beating and robbery. It seems like every day someone is getting stabbed. Before my hospital visit, I did my daily walk and one of the paths was along a lake. The other day, a guy was stabbed in the back, on that same path. I will be staying on the sidewalk, but my wife is still not happy with that.

Parliment is trying to pass a law in which way the courts deal with arrest of a group of people like Hells Angels. If every member agrees, it's a done deal. So the leader of the Green Party, who happens to be the only one of her party to be elected, says no. She wants every part of it debated. This will slow down that process and everything after it. And one of the things coming is a major crime bill. It appears she is there for only one reason, to draw attention to herself.

What's this about lesbian bloggers revealed as men? Weird or what? Of course this is only on the internet. In real life they can't go and tell everyone they are lesbian. People would know something amiss when he went to the washroom.

Jack Sakalauskas!/PensionersRant

Monday, June 13, 2011

Stealing From A Thrift Store

Big rain today and temp. is the large number of 9C/46F. We are not ready for palm trees yet. This would have been perfect weather for fat, nude people on bikes.

All we hear about around here is strikes. The post office is doing rotating strikes and Air Canada is going on strike. I figure the post office is just driving themselves into a grave. With Air Canada, I can see their point. New employees won't get a pension but excutives will. The guys on top will rip you off as much as they can.

Someone just dropped in and talked about the mess in front of the Salvation Army Store. What happens is, people drop stuff off over the weekend. In the evening you can see other people there, going through the stuff, seeing what they can steal. They act like a bunch of wild animals. They just rip garbage bags apart and toss everything around. With all that rain, the place looks like a dump, which leaves the store employees to clean it up.

Yesterday, I finished working on part 5 of "A Slice of Time." I'll look at it again in a couple of days. Now on to part 6, which is also finished, but needs work.

Jack Sakalauskas!/PensionersRant

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Indecent Exposure

Today the temp. is 21C/69F and no wind. Very pleasant. I can't enjoy it quite yet. Tomorrow I can go outside, but forecast is rain.

Yesterday in Halifax, we had the parade of nude bikers. I think it is called "World Bicycle Awareness Day". Bet if you asked the bystanders what kinds of bicycles they were riding, no one would know. It's mostly women who do it. They must be thinking,"Tee hee, I can be naughty and get away with it." I wonder what would have happened if they gave everyone a ticket. For sure, we would have been on CNN. What would they do if it had rained?

This morning I had to package up an old magazine ad. It's on its way to Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles. It's a 1961 Seagram's 7 Crown ad. Once I sent an ad to the postal code 90210. Another time I sent one to Boston to be used in a movie, and my name was in the credits. So there.

Back to revising part 5 for "A Slice of Time." My arc got kind of raggid in the middle. I hooked up this blog to my Goodreads page, so it will always have something. I wrote in the names of eighty books I've read. Read a lot more than those, but don't remember the titles.

I'm not allowed to drive for two weeks, so no yard sales for me. Last week I was at a yard sale and purchased a bunch of books. I gave a boxfull to a friend of ours. Her daughter's class is having a booksale to raise money for a trip.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

This Side of the Grass

Well, I'm still on the same side of the grass. Came home from the hospital yesterday. The big thing is not to move around too much. I'll try. Not allowed to drive my van for two weeks.

It's sunny today, since I can't go out. The forecast for the next two weeks is rain. The U.S. has forest fires, Europe has droughts and we have rain all the time. I guess we have to wait till they control the weather, to take care of all these problems. Sounds good, but unfortunately they will use it as a weapon. That would really be a weaopn of mass destruction.

This is curbside giveaway weekend. That's stuff you don't want to bother selling. Just put it on the curb and anyone can take it. I wish they had it last week, when I wasn't sick. I talked my wife and son to go around for me. I want a dresser for my shed, to put my tool boxes on, and stash stuff away. Free yard sales! No trouble talking my wife into that.

I'm reading this book "Their Last Suppers: Legends of History and Their Final Meals."  Pretty fancy eating, like the captain of the Titanic and his nine course meal. It's a free book from Kindle. The pocket book I'm reading is "Ford Country," by John Grisham.

The 3rd and 4th part of "A Slice of Time", is at the publishers. The 5th and sth are finished, but I have to do some changing. I guess I now have the available time.  link for first two parts, on Amazon.

I imagine a lot of you people know about Goodreads. If not, check it out if you read a lot.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Time Machine.

Tomorrow is my operation and it reminds me, until this prostate business, I haden't been in a hospital for fifty years. (Not counting visiting, of course). So tomorrow, I put on the dressing gown and my plastic booties. Then I walk to the operating room, which I find kind of weird. Then they give me a little stool, and I climb up on the operating table. Also weird. They have an oven in there where they warm up blankets, so they cover me with a warm blanket until everything is ready. (Not weird, cozy).

So everything is going great. We are having a nice conversation, then Zap! I'm in the future, a different room and a different time. A Time Machine, that's what it is. When you wake up, you don't know how far into the future you've come. Hopefully only a few hours. So, if anyone ever asks me, "Have you ever done time travel?" I can in all honesty say "yes."

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Time For Hospital Food

The weather for this week is rain. I think all week. We had a couple of good days last week, where we were able to cut the grass. I wanted to cut it this week before I go to the hospital. There won't be much cutting afterwards.

Because of an enlarged prostate, I had to have an operation last Dec. So they cut a part of it out and that should have been the end of it. But, by Feb, it grew back. So I need another operation, which is on Thur. I was wondering if it is like the miracle of loaves and fishes, or is it because I'm so healthy. I won't be cutting off a finger to test that theory.

This pretty well wrecks my summer. For the first few days, I was only allowed to walk around the house. A few days later, I was allowed to go out on the patio. (But who would, in Dec.?) I wasn't allowed to drive for two weeks. No lifting for a few months. I'm wondering if this time around, the rules will be more stringent.

At least I know what to expect. The first time I go to the washroom, it will be really bad, but each time after will be less. All the chores, I lined up for the summer, had to be done in the last two weeks. Too bad, I like cutting grass. It will give me time to write my YA book.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Mint Tea In Marrakesh

That's it, the election is over. The silent majority will be quiet for another four years, or maybe five. With a majority, they can screw us over good. No one can complain because we said we wer tired of voting so often.

You have to laugh at some candidates who won. The NDP really didn't expect to win so many seats, and some people entered the race, just so the spot wouldn't be empty. The one who stands out the most is the assistant bar manager from Ottawa, who ran for a seat in Quebec, and doesn't speak French. During the five week campaign she went to Las Vegas on vacation. She never gave any speeches, held any news conferences, and it appears she never even visited the riding. So, is this an example of, "Some people are trust into greatness," or "You deserve what you get."

The second part of my story came out last week. I'm waiting for it to show up on Amazon. You feel more legitimate when it shows up there. They asked for part 3 yesterday, so that is now in there. There are six parts and I have completed all of them. Now I am working on a book about two teens going on vacation to Morocco. I wrote about them sitting in a cafe in Marrakesh, drinking mint tea, and a couple of days later I read in the paper, the cafe was bombed. Not my fault, even though the terrorists are after these guys.

It's still raining here, as it has for a couple of weeks, and will all this week. Grass definately needs cutting.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

How Smart Are You?

We sometimes think the Americans are fairly dumb, as to their preception of Canada. There is a lot of truth to it, especially when you see them up here in July, with skies on their cars, asking where the snow is. And I think Americans will agree they know little about Canada. Up here, we have the idea we know a lot more about the States, and to an extent, it's true. Of course, our knowledge of the U.S. is sort of warped. We get it all from TV. I've been to the States close to 40 times, and I never saw any downtown car chase, no one holding up a bank, and I never even saw one celebrity. I saw more celebrities when I worked at the airport.

From an article I read in the paper this morning, I'm inclined to think Canadians should not be too smug. I read about a poll they took about how much Canadians know about the North. Well, it appears not that much. 69%  believe people up north still have an Igloo as their main residence. 38% are not aware Eskimo are now called Inuit. 50% believe we have military bases protecting the Northwest Passage. 74% think Penguins live up there. Sorry, no Penguins up there, they're in Pittsburg. We do have one Penguin, who now lives here part time. That would be Sidney Crosby, who used to live a few streets away.

Mind you, it was a very small poll, only 303 people. So, I'm thinking, maybe they took the poll in Ottawa, where all the politicans live.

Monday, April 4, 2011

On To the Next Project

Gee, I haven't written anything here for a week. Time does fly. Especially when you're older. True. The temp. today is 0C/32F and it is supposed to be 7C/45F. When they say that, it's usually on the low side. It will probably be 10C today. It seems this snow just won't give up. We had it a few times this week. This time last year, I was outside working. Cleaning up all that landed in my yard over the winter. I also have to tune up my two lawn mowers.

Yesterday I sent in my Part 2, "Brigintine", for the series "A Slice Of Time." There are four more parts, one each month. I've finished them all, but won't send them in till later. I keep going back over them. When it first started, I was told it should be between 3000 and 5000 words. So that's what I did. The first was 3000 and each one after increases. The last is closer to 6000. I noticed the first day some didn't pay any attention to the 3000 - 5000 limit.

It's supposed to be for readers who are reluctent to read. That being the case, I thought I would start with 3000 and work my way up. That way, with each story, they would be reading more.

With that being mostly finished, I've started on a new one, about two boys going on vacation. It won't be 5000 words, since I have 2000 and they haven't arrived at the destination yet. It helps to have been with the military in Europe for four years, and travelled a lot.

Election promises are running rampant. The good thing about our elections is that they only last six weeks and there won't be another for 3 -5 years.