Mocking The Clickbait 20: Twice As Patriotic As You.

Canadian Canadian Casino Forced To Fire Manager.  Here's Why.

A Canadian Canadian manager.  As opposed to just a Canadian manager.

Definitely The Wrong Target.

I just saw a video ad for "KPop training."  I am definitely not the right target for that.  Any company producing KPop would laugh their heads off at the idea of me as a KPop singer.  I'm several decades too old for the job.

Reversion.

This afternoon has been kind of a throwback here.  It was 15 degrees this morning, but by mid afternoon it was only 3.  It's been raining for a good while, and now that rain has been joined by snow.  So you'd be forgive thinking it was November if you were spending time outside/  On top of that tonight's expected low is minus -2.  I'm quite glad I had no reason to spend time outside this afternoon.

45 Degrees.

April began with mid winter temperatures around -20 C.  April ends with summer type weather, with the temperature currently 25 C.  There's even the chance of an evening thunderstorm.   A 45 degree difference in 30 days.

Mocking The Clickbait 19: You Are Correct.

You'd Be Surprised How Many Canadians Rushed To Try These Casino Jackpots.

Definitely.  Canadian casinos are currently closed because of COVID 19.  It's kind of hard to gamble when the doors are locked, and the staff are staying at home.

Nature's April Fools.

It's fair to say pretty much everyone in Saskatoon considers April 1 to be spring.  But you wouldn't know it by the weather today.  When I got up this morning it was around -20 C.  It snowed yesterday, and a bit more today.  So it looks like November here.  It's not supposed to get above freezing until Monday.  This is one April Fools trick I don't appreciate.

"Try Not To Go Too Often."

This may soon be the order for sailors on the US aircraft carriers USS Gerald R. Ford and USS George H. W. Bush.  Reports are that the toilet systems on them need expensive maintenance to prevent clogging.  It's the kind of thing that leaves you scratching your head.  The Ford class are the US Navy's newest carrier design, so you'd expect problems.  But toilets?  You'd think shipboard toilet design would be a pretty well understood field.  The Ford cost 12.8 billion dollars to build

A Bit Unexpected.

I actually got a Willy hit today.  I was expecting that it might be a good while before my next one, since a lot of people will be spending less money due to staying at home more and trying to spend less.  There has also been talk that some people are avoiding bills because of the possibility of catching something off them, and that some businesses are asking people to use credit and debit cards if possible for the same reason.  I'm not sure how much difference that might make, since at many businesses you'll still need to touch the equipment in some way while using your card.

Gas In Saskatoon On Hiatus.

Because of the ongoing COVID 19 crisis I'll be suspending these posts for a while.  I'll probably be limiting my outings to the work I do and grocery shopping, so I won't be able to keep track of prices.  Earlier in the week it was 78.9 cents a litre, a price I never expected to see again.

Gas In Saskatoon, March 13, 2020.

Gas has long been flirting with the one dollar litre mark here.  Then COVID 19 and the oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia smashed the barrier.  Gas is currently 93.9 cents a litre at most stations, a price we haven't seen in a very long time.    I wouldn't be surprised to see it go below 90 cents soon, but probably not much lower.  But I've been wrong before.

COVID 19 Arrives.

Unfortunately COVID 19 has arrived in Saskatchewan, and Saskatoon.  A man in his 60s, who had visited Egypt, began to exhibit symptoms.  He is now considered a presumptive case, and is self isolating at home.  Hopefully that is all he will need to do.  It was really only a matter of time.  If we're lucky the number of cases here will be low.

Meanwhile Saskatoon Fire Station Number 4 is under a precautionary quarantine after firefighters were called to help a person who had been tested for COVID 19.  A pair of paramedics, and several people involved in dentistry, are also under precautionary quarantine.

The 49th annual Juno Awards, Canada's equivalent of the Grammies, were supposed to be held in Saskatoon on Sunday.  They've now been cancelled.

And nationally Prime Minster Trudeau, and his wife Sophie, are now self isolating. She began to exhibit possible symptoms late last night, so they will stay isolated until she's been tested.

Gas In Saskatoon, March 6, 2020.

I doubt it's much of a surprise that the price is down again.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 101.9 cents a litre at most stations.

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.