This year it was 60F in February, the heart of Michigan winter. You don’t have to convince me.
I’ve had pretty good luck with Waterloo and Wegmans sparkling waters, as far as tasting pretty much like what the label says. Whoever does the canning for Wegmans occasionally lets an improperly crimped can through though, and I end up with dampness all over the shelf from a seeping can. (Wegmans ginger sparkling water really tastes like unsweetened ginger ale!)
Hint water - infused, not sparkling - is a pretty serious offender as far as inconsistent/lack of flavor. Their apple is spot on, but the pineapple tasted like coconut, and the berry tasted of nothing. The new pouch-based drink dispenser in the break room offers a few flavors for water infusion; the cucumber one is very minty, while the strawberry basil tastes like slightly sour fruit (no basil).
This machine also offers ‘freshly brewed tea’, but it runs the hot water through the same side as the coffee, so all of the tea is coffee-scented. 
Etc.
I know that highway; I drove it daily between York Region and Mississauga as a daily commute back about 25 years ago. It was expensive then; it sounds like it’s even more expensive now. One of the dumbest things that the Ontario government did was to sell it to a private interest, whose first act was to jack up the tolls and degrade the customer service. Why the government did that, I’ll never know.
Because the premier at the time was Mike Harris, a man so ineffably stupid that he could only have had the brain of a cuttlefish if he had a brain at all. It got money for the Ontario government and that was all Harris cared about. Thinking about the long term would require a brain, an organ that Harris sadly lacked. It was like an eight-year-old trading his mother’s diamond necklace for an ice cream cone. It put into private hands a major expressway now taking up over 1200 lane-km of public land, and created the first and only toll road that was ever inflicted on this province.
The only good news is that the Canada Pension Plan, which is known for making shrewd investments in enterprises that bring in big bucks, is part owner of this money machine. I love the CPP with the kind of love one can only have for something that sends you money every month. 
Well, not quite; the Burlington Skyway over Hamilton Harbour was a toll bridge until it was paid for. Sometime back in the 1970s or so.
But your point is valid: Harris did not look at the long view. Tolls on the 407 were reasonable until the private interest took over, and then they went bugshit. I had to quit my Mississauga job because it became too damn expensive to get to work from York Region. Move? Couldn’t. My wife was happily employed nearby. If we moved to Mississauga, then she’d be stuck paying those tolls back to York Region. Net benefit: zero.
Well, I said toll road, not bridge. We’ve had lots of toll bridges over the years, but this fucking thing was a first!
I don’t need to use Highway 7 on any regular basis so it doesn’t matter to me. I did have to go from Vaughan to the 404 during the brief time that my son lived in Vaughan, and Highway 7 was brutal because of all the traffic and stoplights. The 407, which runs more or less parallel to 7 over that area was a magnificent godsend at the time. It’s probably still worth it for that particular route, but in general it’s an incredible ripoff.
Heh. We both know the same areas. And yes, the 407 is a ripoff.
Last time I was in Toronto, I rented a car at Pearson and suffered through the 401 to 404 northbound. The 407 would have gotten me there quicker, but I wasn’t willing to pay for the privilege.
Meh, get yourself in the correct lane near Leslie Street on 401 Eastbound, and you’re golden for 404 Northbound. Or the DVP. No need for the 407.
You can take the guy out of southern Ontario, but you cannot take the southern Ontario out of the guy.
Construction on our home remodeling project continues to move along. Yesterday I got home from work and my gf alerted me to the two workers dancing around outside in our yard.
We went out to see what the problem was and the one guy warned us to stay back, he was pretty sure there was a copperhead in the grass!!
My gf walked over and picked up the frightened snake. She said, “for fucks sake, it’s a rat snake” and carried it off to the barn. The worker assured me it looked like a copperhead and I told him I’ve seen copperheads and they look absolutely nothing like the rat snake he just saw. I bit my tongue and didn’t tell him I hoped he was a better carpenter than a naturalist.
The people who bought out the company I work for have finally dropped the hammer. In the Finance department (where I work) it looks like 12 out of 16 employees will see their roles moved across the country to their “service center”. They’ve been good enough to provide warning, this isn’t a “here’s your box” scenario, and a reasonable severance package, but it still sucks to see the department gutted.
I’ve managed to avoid the axe, so far, but with this department turning into a shadow of its former self, who knows what the future holds?
Belated rant: I’m under three deadlines and yesterday was the day the power went down at my office building. Remote VPN was out all day, so I lost an entire day’s work. I also lost some of the work I had already done because of the unexpected shutdown.
And this is not a rant but an “I’m feeling things.” I just became an Aunt. Awesome. I am in another state so I am watching the whole thing unfold from afar. But it’s the closest I’ve been with someone who had a baby since I had my baby and it’s hard. It’s hard to see my sister overflowing with love and joy and think about how due to postpartum depression and anxiety I didn’t feel much of anything toward my son until he was months old. I wish I could go back in time and love him from the very beginning. I want a do-over. I feel like I owe him one.
Watching Brandi Carlile’s monologue in this live song (at least) might provide some comfort that you’re not alone in this…
Your GF is absolutely 1,000% my kind of people.
My co-worker annoys me. It’s your kid, you can do with ‘em and teach ‘em what you want (within reason), but Bible memorization? The kid’s 6! She should be doing fun stuff, not entering Bible memory contests! The mom also forces her kids to go to 3 hours of church on Sundays and karate classes for the older one.
Raising a little atheist there, I bet.
Thank you that was really beautiful. I cried a little.
Something of an anti-rant, but I just got a really nice product from Amazon. OK, I admit that I’m a lazy shit who was sporting a beard only because it’s easier than daily shaving. It’s never been quite as outrageous as the Santa Claus beard that David Letterman acquired after he retired, but it was long enough that in order to get rid of it I first had to attack it with scissors, and then my beard/mustache trimmer. Unfortunately that thing has never really worked well. I needed a better one.
So today I got a Philips Norelco 7000 series trimmer based on several different reviews that gave it a top rating. It’s a cool-looking gadget finished in brushed stainless steel with a bunch of different interchangeable cutters and over a dozen different snap-ons for different beard lengths, and it works like a charm. Dang, that thing actually cuts! And for cleaning, it’s IPX7 rated waterproof, too.
I was initially put off by the dauntingly large assortment of attachments and different cutting heads, but they all snap on and off easily once you get the hang of it and I only need a few of them. So actually quite a lot of unnecessary frills, but I don’t care. I have what I needed: a beard trimmer that actually trims and removes beards! It’s self-sharpening, supposedly never needs oiling, and – a really important feature for me – operates both corded and cordless. There is apparently a newer model out, and it doesn’t operate while charging, which proves to me that the world is always getting worse and there is no God.
So am I now clean-shaven? Actually, no. For the moment, at least, I’m rather enjoying the ability of this new toy to give me a smartly trimmed manicured beard! 
I’m now done with the 3mm shaver guard and have now used the 1mm “stubble” attachment. I now have fashionable stubble and look either like (a) an A-list movie star, or (b) a homeless bum. The potential confusion between the two is rather disconcerting because the two looks are extremely similar! I like to think I look like (a), but just in case, I think I’ll deploy a regular shaver for the final phase and become clean-shaven like God intended, except for his son Jesus.
So basically my ADHD meds don’t work at all right now. I feel like every day is sucked down a giant black hole, never to return. I’ve been having trouble getting up early enough to meditate. I’ve been having trouble getting out for a walk. I’ve been having trouble cleaning, cooking dinner. All the self-care stuff is shot all to hell.
I’m just trying to get work done, you know? Deep in my heart of hearts, that’s what I want. To just get the fucking work done.
I am sure it’s a lovely razor, but I just saw this the other day and had to share.
So the Steve Bannon look?