Gas In Saskatoon, August 14, 2015.

Saskatoon drivers got a rather unpleasant surprise this week.  The price of gas jumped from 108.9 cents a litre at most locations to 124.9 cents a litre.  Yep, a jump of 16 cents a litre.  The price increase is being blamed on a partial shutdown of an Indiana refinery, despite the fact none of our gas comes from Indiana. 

Blue Jays In First.

It's really nice to be able to say and write that.

Thank You, Cleveland Indians.

Because of you the Jays are now half a game behind the Yankees for the lead in the American League East.  Do us a favour and beat them again tonight.

While we're talking, you probably should consider changing your name one of these days.

Subpar Sunday Sundae.

Last night I had some food from Burger King for supper.(Cue someone's overwrought gasp of horror.)  I decided to get a caramel sundae to go with it.  I'm afraid I have to give it a thumbs down.  The ice cream(or perhaps to be technically accurate, soft serve) was alright,  but the caramel sauce largely sank to the bottom of the cup, and it tasted bland.  It definitely comes in a very poor second to McDonald's version of the same product, and I won't be ordering one again.

Broom, Broom.

The Blue Jays have just swept the Yankees.  This comes after they swept the Minnesota Twins in a four game series, something they've never done before.  The Yankees managed to score a grand total of one run against the Jays in this series.  The Jays are now a game and a half behind the Yankees for the lead in the American League East.  Pretty wild, pretty wonderful.

It sure makes up for how badly the Saskatchewan Roughriders are playing if you're a fan of both teams.

Power Shortage.

It seems I need to have some 9 volt batteries around.  I accidently drained the one in my guitar tuner, and when I starting pulling them out of my other guitar gear I found most of them were dead or dying.  I managed to find one that isn't dead, but now I need several replacements.  Most of them can be powered by AC power, but a few are battery only, and using batteries is sometimes just convenient.

"Pet Parents."

Who came up with that silly phrase?  No, you're not the parents of a dog or cat.  Unless you're secretly a dog or cat masquerading as a human being.  So don't call yourself a pet parent.

When I Rule The World 28.

Texting and other playing with your phone will be forbidden when you're standing in line at the supermarket check out, airport check in etc.  You're supposed to be paying attention to the person behind the counter, not your electronic toy.

Good Show, Joe Lauzon.

Lauzon just beat Takanori Gomi at UFC Fight Night: Dillishaw vs. Barao 2.  Lauzon actually stopped the fight with Gomi by himself after knocking Gomi out.  Referee Herb Dean took another 20 seconds or so to agree with Lauzon.  It's good to see a fighter aware enough to know when to stop a fight without intervention.

The Big 900.

It's finally happened.  I received my 900th Where's Willy hit tonight.  It's not a particularly interesting hit, but I can't complain.   This was my 754th bill hit, so my next milestone will be the 800 bills hit mark.  Hopefully my frequency of hits will pick up a bit soon, or that 800th bill to be hit will be sometime next year.

Tagging Up.

Lately I've been adding tags to some of my old blog posts.  As always it's really interesting to see the kind of things I wrote in the past, some of which I wouldn't write now because some of my attitudes have changed.  And of course it's interesting how many posts I used to write.  It would be great to put out that amount of posts again.

Gas In Saskatoon, July 17, 2015.

Another unstable week to report.  Gas rose this week to 113.9 cents a litre.  However it then fell yesterday to 106.9 cents a litre at most locations.  Will go up next week, down next week, or both?  Stay tuned.

Ugly.

Anyone else think the caps they made the players in the MLB All Star Game wear are kind of ugly?

I've never really been a fan of the All Star Game.  It just doesn't seem that important to me.

Gas In Saskatoon, July 10, 2015.

A small drop to report this week.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 108.9 cents a litre at most locations.  But given the way prices have been bouncing around I'll be completely unsurprised if prices go back  up next week.

More Than I Expected.

If you've been paying attention to the Confederate battle flag controversy in the US you've probably heard that The Dukes of Hazzard has been pulled from the rerun network TV Land.  The Dukes drove around in a Dodge Charger with a Confederate flag on the rood, so a lot of people don't think it's a good idea to be showing the series.  Thinking about the series this morning got me wondering how much fanfiction there is.  There's more than I thought.  Fanfiction.net, the biggest fanfiction site, has more that 1100 stories based on the series.  That's a lot more than some other series of similar vintage. 

Sonic Frustration.

I'm sitting here listening to CBC Radio One on AM on my clock radio.  You can occasionally hear lightning static in the background.  Alas that thunderstorm isn't nearby.  We really need some rain.  The forecast says there's a chance of rain this afternoon and tomorrow, but so did a bunch of previous forecasts with no results.

So if you've got a weather machine, send some rain our way.

"Does This Store...

...make me look fat?"

This odd version of a cliché phrase came to mind when I heard that  the Save-On-Food grocery store chain will be coming to Saskatchewan.  Save-On-Foods is part of the Overwaitea Food Group, which still includes 15 Overwaitea grocery stores in BC.  It's a name that seems a bit odd to still see in our weight obsessed era, given how close it sounds to overweight.  Not that there seems to be any intent to operate Overwaitea branded stores in Saskatchewan.

Where might Save-On-Foods set up shop in Saskatoon?  The new Brighton neighbourhood, which is just starting to be created on Saskatoon's east side is an obvious location.  Getting the first grocery store in the area could be a big advantage to a new to the city chain.  Another possibility is the Cumberland Square property on 8th Street, which is about to be demolished as part of a major redevelopment.  It would have the possible disadvantage of a Sobeys being across the street.  Existing Safeway stores would also be a potential problem for the other potential locations, the now empty Target spaces in the Centre Mall and Lawson Height Mall, and the old Zellers space in Market Mall.  Market Mall also has its ongoing demographic problem, being located in a neighbourhood with one of the oldest per capita populations in Canada.

Stores are also planned for Regina, Moose Jaw, and Yorkton.  I could see them building a store in Martensville or Warman at some point given the growing population of those towns and nearby Dalmeny, more that 15 thousand people between them at this point.

Whatever the case you aren't likely to be shopping in a Save-On-Foods store here anytime soon.  Even if construction were to begin in short order I doubt we'd see a store open before the Spring of 2016 at the earliest.

Guess They've Never Met Any.

I had to roll my eyes at a clickbait ad I just saw.  It's one of those "Do this weird thing to avoid X!" type of ads, and the headline claimed Chinese men never go bald.  Sounds like someone needs to get out of their office for a bit. Chinese men are less likely to bald than white men, but many do. 

BK Chicken Fries.

Chances are you've seen the ads for them if you're a Canadian.  After being bombarded by them for several weeks I decided to try some today.  I don't think I'll buy them again.  They weren't horrible, but they were kind of tasteless, and the chicken seemed a bit rubbery.  Perhaps my package sat on the warming tray too long, and I suspect the amount of chicken in each one is a bit too little for good flavour.  On the other hand a combo with medium fries and medium drink was $6.30, which is a nice price.

Gas In Saskatoon, July 3, 2015.

Another pingpong week to report, which generally isn't a good  thing.  At the start of the week gas dropped to 105.9 cents a litre.  But now it has jumped back up.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 110.9 cents a litre at most locations.