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Won't be moving far today. No more snow but everywhere is iced up, pavements and roads, and it is still cold.
Just keeping an eye on the condensate pipe until I can do a decent replacement job.
Glaucoma eye appointment at 3pm at the hospital. Taxis are running so no probs there. Only question is whether my eye Doc can get in to work?
Edit: My Doc just phoned and asked if I could go in early because the weather is scheduled to change after mid day. So appointment is now 11 am, that suits me.
Quite a few people walking along the road, they seem to think that though they can't get into work the restaurant behind my house the supermarket next door should be open! No cars yet but a few sledges with empty bags on them.
Finally got through to the chemist who said they would be closing at one o'clock. Hopefully things will be moving by next Tuesday afternoon when I pick the stuff up. If not I'll just have to do without.
Very few patients at the hospital, cancellations no doubt. The forecast was correct and early afternoon we got that nasty cold sleet stuff that lays and makes roads even more treacherous.
Spent a very long time with a new (to me) doctor. She confirmed that the cateract surgery HAD improved my right eye VF but I still have only about 20% in the right periphery.
The not so good news is that there is now progressive glaucoma in my left eye which is showing on the VF plot. So I joked with her, 'so it's now a case of what goes first, me or my sight.' She smiled and said 'We will do what we can to look after that eye' Que Sera Sera
@H - you've described the south end of the Island and the City of Victoria to a T! I'm actually not too bad off here mid-Island either. Mostly here we are very much like the UK which is probably why so many from there come here to retire
The tires here are called "all season" and you don't have to change them in winter. They're OK for driving in some snow but if you go inland where it snows heavily they won't work.
We have talked about frozen condensate pipes. On an evening TV program a reporter went out with a plumber to follow up failed boiler call outs.
Guess what the first two had frozen condensate pipes like Horus and me. There must be a design opportunity there.
There are trace heater cables available at around £50 to £100 depending upon the length you need which you can fit to the condensate pipe to avoid them freezing. the problem is like everything in the UK in asmuch as we don't expect it to happen and to be fair most years it doesn't so we ignore it.
As I have said earlier it has been absolutely freezing here and the other day my car would not start
But why would I get a warning light on my dashboard of a man sitting on the toilet?
This is from Amazon.com (USA) re: heat tape for pipes. It is nothing close to the prices you have there and depending on the length of heat tape you need it can actually be quite reasonable price-wise. Can be a life saver re: freezing pipes and the price is well worth it not to have the aggravation even for 1 day of frozen pipes.
Although the snow came down in huge flakes it actually turned to rain again in about an hour. Has rained on and off again all day long but at least we're done with the white stuff.
I suppose it is because we rarely use such products that they are so expensive here, also we often find that stuff from Amazon USA is half the price of what we pay for the same item from the UK outlet.
Horus wrote:I suppose it is because we rarely use such products that they are so expensive here, also we often find that stuff from Amazon USA is half the price of what we pay for the same item from the UK outlet.
Problem is, we always get a message 'Do not ship to the UK' but it would be expensive so that figures. I usually find that the US dollar price is roughly the same as the UK pound price or even much cheaper. Why is this? Is there no added purchase tax in the US?
LLL, you tell us that you travel to the US for holiday flights. Are things so much cheaper in the US ? I am at a loss to understand why there is such a price difference.
Its always been the same, UK price £100, USA price for the same item $100 it was even so when there was a lot less parity of the Dollar/Pound than there is today so someone is making big profits.
If I go to the USA for 1 night I can bring back $200 duty free but if I go for 2 nights it is $800.
One gallon of milk USA = $2.30 Here $5CDN.
1 pound chicken .88cents to $1/pound Here $5+ per pound
Beef - $2 - $3/pound and maybe $5 for steak ........ Here cheap meat $8/pound up to $32/pound for steak
1 yard of 100% cotton fabric $3/yard Here $26/meter (3" more)
Gas is/was $2.35/gallon while here it is $1.35/litre right now and going up another 10 cents soon.
Essentially in the USA anything dairy is really cheap while here it is expensive. Cottons there are cheap while here cotton is so expensive many family only purchase a bottom sheet for their bed and then just sleep under blankets. Last trip I bought (on sale then got a Seniors discount) an off white queen size sheet set (600 thread/sq inch) for $10 (bottom sheet & tops sheet but no pillow cases). The cheapest sheet set I found here is $80 and they're NOT good sheets. To get a set of bed sheets here at 600 thread count is usually about $200.
We also pay in addition to whatever the price is 12% tax. Not on food if it is groceries (but you will pay tax on a single chocolate bar or snack type food)
Overall there is LOTS of cross Border shopping. Going back and forth on the Ferry costs me $160 and two nights stay $120 so I usually try and make it sort of a holiday plus worthwhile re: shopping too.
**@Grandad - "I" am also at a loss to know why there are such big price differences too between Canada & the USA.
High Canadian prices have caused mega cross border shopping. The only kicker is you have to be in the USA sufficient to cross midnight. Am sure this prompts many people to enter of an evening, pass midnight and then cross the border home with their $200 worth of goods. If you enter the USA one minute before midnight that puts you IN the country on that date. You can leave at one minute after midnight and technically you have to declare 2 days of being in the USA.
We do have to report here official to the Gov't as to how many days we are technically IN the USA too.
Snow has all gone and much milder today at 8C just now. Still missing the car and won't be going anywhere today.
Alexa is playing me some UB40 right now. I like the Reggae rhythm.
No Six Nations rugby this weekend so will have to see what other offerings are on TV. Is anyone watching Troy? We watched the first 2 episodes but got bored with it. There is a new series 'Civilisations' in the week that is far more interesting IMO. Thursday BBC 2 9pm
We've got about half the snow left in the back garden. In the front the roads and pavements are thick freezing slush, so still very little traffic. Nice and quiet though
I'm currently recording all the programmes I like and then watching them after they have been screened. I can jump all the advertising if I do that.
Pleased to hear that Vera is coming back. My favourite Who Dunnit of all time, so many red herrings, twists and turns. Beautiful scenery and no loud music!
I don't understand how people just love Ant and Dec Playground humour is ok in small doses with children, but continual "Pranking" wears thin with me in a very short time and with grown men is so boring and predictable. Give me the Two Ronnies on Gold if I'm stuck for something funny.
We would wholeheartedly agree with you MD about Ant and Dec and will not watch any programme that they appear in. As you say school boy pranks and humour wears thin after a while. But many like them and they have become very rich as a result.
Another presenter who has a similar effect on us is Philip Schofield. We avoid anything that he is presenting.
Hell, who cares for those old men at the Legion bar,
That talk so silly of past wars fought afar?
They all sound like heroes as they display a scar
And who doff their medals most look like a...
So what are you doing today?
I decided last night to defrost and clean my small kitchen fridge freezer, I have a very large Freezer in my outbuilding so the small one only has everyday items in it....
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I too have a friend who is terminally ill and is facing it well, as far as I can tell. I have another really good friend who I know is quite ill, but he is keeping a lot of it to himself, he is a...
Didn't rain here today and around midday I got ready to go out. The next door neighbor was outside and had his dog tied so that she was on a wire but could get over as far as my front door. First...
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I have a friend in the USA who, as a retired nurse, took to rescuing dogs. She was rather breed specific and mostly took in the larger hounds. She had no specific reason other than she loved them,...
so we ignore it.
Playground humour is ok in small doses with children, but continual "Pranking" wears thin with me in a very short time and with grown men is so boring and predictable. Give me the Two Ronnies on Gold if I'm stuck for something funny. 
