Goodbye Market Mall Safeway.

I made my last visit to Market Mall Safeway.  I was kind of hoping to buy one last donut from them, but they didn't bake any today.  The store was supposed to close for the last time at 6 PM.  When it reopens it will be a FreshCo store.  Even if it hadn't been chosen for a FreshCo conversion the store was in need of some reno work.  It was looking kind of tired.

History Repeats.

Our last February 29 was in 2016.  On that day I received a Where's Willy hit.  Today I received one as well.  Unfortunately we'll have to wait another 4 years to see if the Leap Day hit streak continues.

Gas In Saskatoon, February 28, 2020.

February ends with a price drop, which is no surprise given the economic effects of the Covid 19 virus.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 105.8 cents a litre at most locations.  However I did see a station around suppertime that was at 103.8 cents a litre, so I won't be surprised if most stations are at that price by tomorrow afternoon.

How Did I See This?

YouTube sometimes recommends some surprising stuff that reminds me of my youth, like the following video.

Even before listening to it I thought that I knew the song.  Sure enough once it started playing it was obvious I did, as a mangled version of the chorus has occasionally popped into my head for over 30 years.

Righeira were an Italian duo of Stefano "Michael" Rota and Stefano "Johnson" Righi.  "No Tengo Dinero," " I have no money" in Spanish, was released in 1983.  It was produced by the La Bionda brothers, a successful Italian act from the '70s who had gotten into record production in the '80s.

I assume the version of this video I saw was the shorter 3 some minute version.  How I saw it is a real good question, as Spanish language dance tunes weren't exactly big on the Canadian charts in 1983.  I assume the catchy video caught the attention of some Canadian video show producer, who played it simply because it looked cool.  No doubt it got stuck in my memory because it was something unusual for Canadian TV in the '80s.

Snacking Is Too Expensive.

It was an early morning for me, as I was up at a quarter to 5 to take my parents to the airport.  Afterwards I decided to have a bad breakfast, and bought a bag of white cheddar popcorn.  It came to $2.10 with the tax, which is the same price you'll end up paying for the standard single serving size of Lays and Old Dutch chips.  This seems like a good excuse not to buy the stuff.  Of course if a Dollarama had been open I could have bought some there, as their smaller sizes are cheaper.

Tax Return Away.

I just submitted my 2019 Canadian income tax return to the Canada Revenue Agency.  I have never sent it out this early.  Today was literally the first day for this tax season you could submit it electronically.  I actually tried to send it in after 12 AM Eastern last night, but no dice.  Perhaps it was set up to only become active after it became Monday in BC.  As usual the deadline for most people submitting their tax return is midnight, April 30, which is a Thursday this year.

Oh That Weather.

We're on a bit of a ride temperature wise in Saskatoon.  Yesterday it was just below freezing.  Today's high is expected to be minus 22 Celsius.  Tomorrow the high is expected to be a much more bearable minus 10, and minus 4 for Friday.  And of course the coldest day so far of February is the day I have to spend a lot of time outdoors.  The timing of these cycles really needs to be adjusted.

Gas In Saskatoon, February 7, 2020.

Yep, I'm still around, and with a gas update for you.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 107.9 cents a litre at most locations.  However at least one gas station was closed today, the Co Op station at Centre Mall, due a supposed gas shortage due to the ongoing labour dispute at the Co Op refinery in Regina.