Where Did They Go?

Weird.  Halloween was just about dead here.  We got a grand total of ten people come to the door, despite the porch light and kitchen table light being on.  Maybe the temperatures, around freezing, kept people away.  So now we have lots of candy left over to eat.

No, you can't have any.

Gas In Saskatoon, October 27, 2017.

We're back up over the buck a litre mark.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 103.9 cents a litre at most locations.  However it was 105.9 cents a litre to start the week, so at least it's gone down a couple of cents.

White.

It snowed last night, so we began the day with snow on our lawns.  There wasn't enough snow to cause traffic problems, but enough to remind us winter is approaching.

Gas In Saskatoon, October 20, 2017.

This Friday there is no confusion.  Gas in Saskatoon is currently at 94.9 cents a litre at most locations.  Early in the week it broke the buck a litre mark at 101.9 cents a litre before falling back down to the current price.

Google Knows My Birthday.

When I brought up Google's main page today I found it has a banner for my birthday.  Click on it and it has a bunch of stuff about October 18th.

You really have to wonder what all Google knows about its users.  I can see why some people avoid any sort of social media involvement, and use things like proxies to hide their online activities.

Shameless.

I just saw a TV ad for Boeing on Sportsnet, saying how wonderful they are to Canada.  This comes after Boeing convinced the US Commerce Department to place 300 percent in tariffs on Bombardier's C Series jet airliner.  The C Series, which US airline Delta may order as many as 125 of, doesn't compete with any aircraft in Boeing's current airliner lineup.  Putting who knows how many Canadian jobs at risk, especially if Canada retaliates against Boeing products, doesn't seem very friendly.

Guaranteed Win.

The Daily Grand is one of the newer lotteries in Canada.  You pick 5 numbers between 1 and 49, and a Grand Number from 1 to 7.  The grand prize is a thousand dollars a day for life, or a lump sum of seven million dollars.  If two or more tickets win the grand prize the seven million is split between the tickets, and no daily prize is available.  Draws are held on Monday and Thursday.

And I have a strategy that will let you win on every draw.  It's quite simple really.  You just have to play seven tickets for each draw.  This will allow you to play all seven Grand Numbers. and as a result always win, as all you need to win a prize is the Grand Number for that draw.

Can you see the flaw?  I'm sure you can.  You'd need to buy those seven tickets, and each ticket costs 3 bucks.  So you'd be spending 21 bucks a draw to guarantee you'll win...a free ticket, the equivalent of 3 bucks.  Oops.  It gets worse if you did this for both Monday and Thursday's draws.  You'd be spending 42 bucks to guarantee you'll win the equivalent of 6 bucks, with no guarantee you'll win more.  For example the chances of a ticket winning the next smallest prize, 4 bucks, is 1 in 20.

The grand prize seems to be pretty elusive no matter what strategy you use.  If you look at the list of past winning numbers it gives a prize breakdown for each draw.  It seems the grand prize has only been won a handful of times.  The odds of winning are 1 in 13,348,188.

Gas In Saskatoon, October 13, 2017.

Gas in Saskatoon is currently 95.9 cents a litre at most locations.  I think, because the price has changed several times this week.  It started at 94.9 cents, jumped to 100.9 cents, and dropped back to 95.9 cents.  But I saw at least one station that was 94.4 cents a litre today, so they might all be that price by the end of tomorrow.  Maybe I need to set up a crowdfunding page for a webcam that would let me check one of the local stations every hour, and immediately post if it changes.

Enjoy Some Cute.

A lot of bad stuff has been going on lately.  So here's a reprieve. This is believed to be the first footage of African sand cat kittens in the wild.  Aren't they cute?


Sand Cat Kittens Spotted in the Wild for First Time from Panthera Cats on Vimeo.

Too Much TV.

I watched way too much TV Friday.  Three and a half baseball games, Bellator, parts of a CFL game, and a bit of news.  I haven't got a clue how much actual watching time it was, but it was too much.

Gas In Saskatoon, October 6, 2017.

It's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada.  But Saskatoon drivers aren't going to be thankful about gas prices.  Gas in Saskatoon has jumped to 98.9 cents a litre at most locations.  I suspect a lot of people aren't surprised at this.