I didn’t notice the crack until this weekend when I was sitting in the passenger seat, but a big long ugly crack appeared behind my rearview mirror. Looks like I probably took a big rock to the window. I swear I get hit with a rock a month on our highway, but I didn’t see the chip hiding behind the mirror to get it sealed on time.

Anyway, I dropped it off at Apple Auto Glass yesterday and they kindly drove me to work. And I rode in style in the van that scoots around with panes of glass on the side. I might have to double-check my bucket list, but I could swear that was meant to be on my list. Hey, I’m easily amused.

After work was over for the day, I walked back over to pick up my car.

It felt good to get out for a nice walk, until I split my legs like a wishbone the month after Thanksgiving, on a patch of ice outside their shop. I managed to tweak both ankles, a thigh, and my neck. I probably should have just fallen, but this girl has pride and I had to stick the landing.

Anyway, I paid up for the service and headed for home.

What stunning service. Not only did I have a sparkling new window, they vacuumed my car!! This was kind of embarrassing, because my car was becoming a bit of a biohazard with rocks and salt and food bits and dog hair all over the floor.

They even cleaned the dust off the front dash.

But I don’t think they were supposed to leave their nice shiny metal measuring tape and can of glass cleaner in my car.

This could have gone either way. On one hand, bonus! new measuring tape and I used to use that canned foamy glass cleaner when I worked for Hydro in T. Bay. Kicks Windex ass. Best stuff ever. I could use a can of that stuff. On the other hand, my conscience. I can’t keep something that isn’t rightfully mind. Oh the guilt! It was obviously an oversight and I’d hate to be that guy who was without a measuring tape, stuck eyeballing his measurements on the next windshield replacement.

So today at lunch I drove over to the shop and gave the manager at the front desk the tape and glass cleaner.

He immediately scowled. I was expecting a sweet thank-you and I’d be on my way. But instead he said how could this have happened? How can they say they did their checklist and inspection and not notice those were still in your car. Was your car vacuumed? I thanked him so much for the vacuum and said it was a nice treat. He was apologetic and said thanks, but then verified what vehicle from yesterday’s workboard was mine and headed into the shop.

Uh oh.

I hope my conscience didn’t get someone fired.

I hightailed it out of there, avoiding the slippery ice patch of pain in the parking lot, and headed back to work, wondering if I had done the right thing.

• Snowstorm!
• No power for about 11 hours
• Melted snow to boil frozen tortellini’s in on the BBQ burner
• I napped
• Jeff cooked sausage and stew on the BBQ
• We were toasty warm because we heat with wood
• I finished reading The UV Advantage with my LED headlamp
• Some people around here just got their power back today, after 24 hours – I’m guessing the heavy snow brought down branches and power lines
• The world is vastly different here at night with no power and no yard lights. It is a nice treat!

Jeff plowed out the driveway yesterday morning when the snow was already getting to be pretty deep and heavy for the ATV. He just plowed it again this morning.

Here are some photos:

There was no wind when it was snowing heavily, so it just kept piling up on everything.

Yes, those are fresh eels in the foreground.

I offered to sleep at work.

He said he’s wearing them like a necklace.

I said, I’m so blogging this.

He said he is really thinking about trying them.

I said, Wait until I am not home because I will FREAK OUT.

To which he responded, So green salad with that?

And I answered, Whatever you want, but I’m not touching them, smelling them, or looking at them.

The End (Or else)

The lake is really high right now and there is a lot of debris on the frozen parts of the lake. Even a big plastic fish tote. The gravel road on the other side of the lake is a real mess. Some places it is just all big rocks that blew out of the creeks.

Here are a few photos from our drive around the lake. I missed most of the really great shot because I was too busy looking at it with my eye and not the camera.

Here is a wash out with a pail of hydraulic fluid and a big log on the road. Photo taken through a dirty truck window.

Now it’s freezing and snowing.

Our driveway is rutted really bad. I think there was too much snow in the ditching going along the driveway so the rain got impatient and used the driveway instead.

I took a few shots of the moon through the window as I as getting ready to head out.

Any chance we can cancel this forecast and select another?

Update:

Jeff is trying out the chains he bought for the ATV and is going up and down the driveway to see if he can bust up any of the ice.  It’s doing a bit, but not much to get rid of the ice.  The chains are doing a good job of keeping him on the driveway and not in the lake though.

This is the new feeder that Brian and Leanne and family gave us for Christmas:

Sally loves watching the birds.

So I thought of a million different things, and settled on one.

I was going to make them dinner.

Only I’m in Nova Scotia and they are in Listowel, Ontario.

So I started my research last week. Who could I rope into bringing them food? Or maybe I could get a cake delivered? What about an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen? Who would deliver it? Bribe the kids who work there to swing it by Mom’s after their shift?

Nah….

I decided to go way simpler.

I remember once Mom and Grandma Stock came to visit me in the Sault and I went to their hotel room over looking the St. Marys River to play cards with way too much pizza and chicken wings and we had a riot.

So I decided I was going to surprise them with pizza and wings.

A couple days I started to narrow down the plan, and I found the menu to one of the local pizza places in Listowel that I knew wouldn’t lead me astray. I browsed all the specials and the menu and started the plot. How was I going to find out if Mom would be home and then how was I going to convince her not to cook?

So I started poking Mom with text messages, trying to find out what she was doing for her birthday. She had no plans, and no visitors.

So I told her I would be making her dinner.

That was a day or so ago.

Today all day Grandma has been telling Mom she is so silly and would she just take a pizza or something out of the freezer for dinner?

Mom said No. Lisa and Jeff are making dinner.

Oh you are so foolish, Grandma Stock said. They are in Nova Scotia. They can’t make you dinner.

All day long I was anxious. When would I call in the order? Will they answer a call from a different area code? Would they take payment over the phone? Could I put a tip on for the driver on the phone?

When it was close to the time, I put the menu on my computer screen, and the number from the pizza place’s website, and the address for Mom’s house.

Then I placed the call.

I was so nervous. What if I didn’t pull this off? Then it would be Mom’s birthday and she wouldn’t get anything from me!

Ring. Ring. Then it went to an auto answer and said it would redirect my call to their closest restaurant to me.

No!!! That won’t work! Click.

I remembered seeing another number for them on one of their website, so I dug around and found a new number.

A young foreign fellow answered the call. He was kind, but slow, and stumbled around. He took my order, and then asked for Mom’s address. I gave the house and street number, but then he wanted to know if it was North, South, East or West on that street. He said he wasn’t from there. I said I wasn’t either, and I calling from Nova Scotia, but I thought the street was short so the driver should be able to find it.

I slowly gave him my credit card number, and he slowly read it back out as I delivered it, with the expiration date, for everyone in the restaurant to jot down (garlic fingers on us I guess. haha)

7 minutes and 33 seconds after he answered the call, the order was complete and the pizza was on the way into the oven!

25 minutes later, like clock work, a jubilant Mom was on the phone. She said Grandma was in tears. Stuck between laughter and crying, Grandma couldn’t believe I just made them dinner, and she was off to fetch dinner plates. Mom sounded so tickled. Funny thing is – they were playing cards when their dinner arrived, just like that night in the Sault.

I got them 2 medium pizzas, BBQ wings, Caesar salad, 4 pops, and some Brownies.

Mom said they are full and have enough food for a couple more days (so if you are in the area, swing by ).