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Monday, February 29, 2016

A Rare Hit.

A nice surprise in the e-mail today.  I received a Where's Willy hit.  Getting a hit on February 29 is always going to be rare, especially when you have a hit rate like mine.  A quick check indicates I didn't get one for February 29, 2012. 

The day is still young.  Perhaps I'll get another hit.

Bonus Day.

I hope you enjoy our extra day this year.  It doesn't actually add any more time to your life,  but having a February 29 every four years is fun.  It's all about keeping events on our solar based calendar in line with the actual passage of time. 

Friday, February 26, 2016

Gas In Saskatoon, February 26, 2016.

Gas prices in Saskatoon seem to be in flux at the moment.  Earlier this week most locations dropped their price to 74.9 cents a litre.  However this afternoon several locations on 8th Street had jumped back up to 84.9 cents a litre again.  Which price will hold true?  Stay tuned.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Target: Looking Back A Year Later.

Via Randy McDonald here's Canadian Business magazine's look at the Target Canada disaster a year later.  For American visitors not familiar with the story Target Canada set up shop in Canada in 2013, with the first stores opening in March.  By the beginning of 2015 Target Canada was 2.1 billion dollars in the red, with no prospect of profits until 2021, and the decision was made to shutter all 133 stores.  The article elaborates on what we already knew about Target Canada's problems, such as poor product distribution and what could be considered an overambitious expansion plan.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

You Are Hungry.

Of late I've been getting an uptick of hits on a post I wrote in 2009 about the disappearance of the Cadbury/Neilson Malted Milk chocolate bar.  That seems to happen every once in a while.  I wonder what it is that suddenly leads people to be thinking about that classic again.  Taking a look around this morning it seems some people think it's still available, but it's definitely not listed on the Cadbury Canada webpage.

Of course now I've got some of you thinking about it who hadn't in a long time.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

A Foolish Machine.

I was just out running a couple of errands.  At one point I ended up parked by a Harley Davidson model Ford F150 truck.  I didn't know there had been such a thing.  On the other hand I can easily imagine who'd buy one, someone with more money than sense, as I'm sure they paid a premium to buy it over a similar normally branded F150. 

Friday, February 19, 2016

Hey, Bellator!

Do not let Mike Tyson do colour commentary, or whatever the hell it was he did tonight, ever again.  It was awful. 

Do not have a Kimbo Slice-Dada 5000 rematch.  That fight was awful, a complete and utter joke.  I probably could have won against them simply by getting them to chase me around the ring for a couple of minutes.

Do not have a Royce Gracie-Ken Shamrock rematch.  Shamrock looked bad tonight, even if he probably got hosed by the ref missing Gracie's knee to the groin.  Your "Night of the Living Dead" fight strategy just makes you look desperate for content.

Gas In Saskatoon, February 19, 2016.

Rather a nasty shock for drivers in Saskatoon this week.  The price of gas took an entirely unexpected jump of 20 cents a litre.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 84.9 cents a litre at most locations.  It's been a long time since we've seen such a jump, and hopefully it won't be followed by a similar jump next week.

Friday, February 12, 2016

Gas In Saskatoon, February 12, 2016.

Another drop to report.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 64.4 cents a litre at most locations.  A drop below 60 cents in the next while won't surprise me one bit.

Monday, February 08, 2016

A Bunch Of Sickies.

That's me and my parents over the last few days.  Mom caught some sort of flu, then Dad caught it, then me.  I had just about no appetite on Sunday, and had trouble staying awake at times.  I wonder if this is going around Saskatoon at the moment.  Fortunately for some Saskatoon residents I've spent the last couple of days at home, so they won't be catching it from me.

Saturday, February 06, 2016

Crackdown On Vice.

If I ever needed more incentive to cut down on my consumption of sugary crap now I've got it.  The prices of some of the donuts and cookies I eat have gone up.  I suspect other junk food will soon follow.  So I should really stop buying it, and save myself a bit of money every week.  I could also do to lose a pound or ten.

Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Interesting Visitors.

I saw some interesting visitors to Saskatoon today.  First was a train heading along the train tracks by Warman Road.  One of the locomotives was unmarked, painted in a mustard colour.  The other was in the markings of the Central Kansas Railway.  Oddly the Central Kansas Railway no longer exists, having become part of the Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad in 2001.  A phantom train?  No, more likely the current owners never bothered to repaint it.  I'm not a railway buff, but after doing a little research I'm guessing it's probably used by the Carlton Trail Railway, which in the past has operated several ex-Kansas Central Railway engines. 

The other interesting visitors, if they actually are visitors, was a flock of Canada geese.  There were at least 15 or 20 of them, which is not something you normally see at this time of year.  Perhaps they know something about the upcoming finale to winter we don't.

Tuesday, February 02, 2016

No Theme Song Today.

Imagine what it would be like to have a blog that presented a piece of music as a theme song for every day of the year.  I know a lot of music, but I doubt I could come up with something every day.  Even if I did I suspect I'd repeat myself after a couple of months.

But if you think this is a cool idea for a blog/tumblr/what have you go for it.

Monday, February 01, 2016

Today's Theme Song.

Last week's weather in Saskatoon was nice, with temperatures reaching above freezing.  However that led to melting, and as a result ice when the water refroze.  In the last 12 hours we've had some light snow.  So it's likely to be quite slippery today, both on roads and sidewalks.  So take care.