Some Dell Mother's Day Gifts

A Dell Laptop present for Mom.

I don't mind at all making people aware of the nice deals that Dell offers to its customers with the quality of their products being offered.  With all the new technology coming out, the laptop computer marketplace is getting very interesting.  

Why would a Dell laptop be an interesting product to purchase? Obviously, one of the key reasons is that Dell's pricing is very competitive. Major holidays, as an example such as Mother's Day, give people the opportunity to take a hard look at their products and then to consider the pricing. Examining its product features and the pricing allows a purchaser to make a comparison with other Companies' products so that a decision can be made about which product to buy. 

To be direct about it, as far as I am concerned, Dell's products' quality and pricing are so good that it makes Dell products extremely competitive in the marketplace.  

As I am sure you know, dear reader, I have been reviewing many Dell computers for a very long time. I like them. A lot. 

Their quality is excellent as far as I'm concerned! Moreover, I also like working with their Customer Service people if there is an issue that needs possible resolution on a new computer that I just started to use. Those people have given me a very good discussion which is always to resolve an issue that I might have. 

Here are some Dell laptops that you might find of interest to buy as a present for your Mother in the family. Why, you might also find some of them for you to consider for others too such as the kids or even yourself. 

Enjoy Mother's Day next week. Have a lot of fun with Mom as you spend a great day together.

 

Dell XPS 13

Mixing tradition with innovation, a laptop that will let mom sparkle with a touch of gold. It’s the perfect accessory for her everyday tasks.

·         The world’s smallest 13-inch laptop with the first virtually borderless InfinityEdge display and full HD touchscreen

·         Thin, stylish and portable, the laptop also comes in a sleek Gold colour (XPS Gold) that moms will love

·         Boasting a faster processor, vivid graphics, and increased storage and memory, mom can enjoy watching Netflix and movies, listening to music, browsing social media and sharing family photos

·         Offers high speed and reliable performance

·         Starting at $1249.99 CDN and available on Dell.ca

Inspiron 11 3000 Series

 

Offering the perfect combination of beauty, power and efficiency (much like mom herself), a portable device that mom can take anywhere.

·         Perfect for those vibrant, stylish moms who like to add a splash of colour to their day

·         Light, compact with up to 10 hours of battery life and long-range WiFi, suitable for moms on the go

·         Beautiful 11” full HD display for all of mom’s viewing pleasures

·         Available in multiple colours: Bali Blue, Tango Red and Alpine White

·         Starting at $279.99 CDN available and on Dell.ca

 

Inspiron 15 5000 Series

An innovative ultraportable device that lets mom explore her creative side and enjoy the ultimate entertainment she deserves.

·         Vibrant 15” inch full display with a premium design for moms who value style and productivity

·         Robust performance with providing plenty of power for editing photos, loading apps and watching movies

·         Portable and versatile, allowing mom to work and play from anywhere

·         Offers up to 7 hours of battery life and ultimate versatility

·         Starting at $699.99 CDN available on Dell.ca

My Marsha's Special Birthday Lunch

Unfortunately last year, we did not have a big birthday party for Marsha. In fact, we did not have one at all together because of my recovery from my illness and my inability to go out.  It was quite disappointing for me not to be her host that day. 

However, this year, I did not have that problem. Accordingly, I invited my marvelous wife to a fantastic birthday celebration for her at our favourite restaurant, Casey's, on Walker Road. It has been our favourite restaurant for a number of years now. Moreover, we have a tremendous waitress who looks after us named Karen! She is so good at her job and makes sure that our time there is quite enjoyable.  

Unlike in the past, this celebration was just for myself and my wife. I wanted to have a quiet celebration together. 

Our service was outstanding provided by our favourite Casey's staff member, Karen. Heck, we didn't even need a menu because she knew exactly what we loved to eat. Of course, our portions were gigantic since I'm sure that she was the one who chose which pieces of chicken we should be eating.  

Our seating was tremendous as is usual. She had reserved a wonderful table for us well in advance. You will see what it looked like in some of the pics I took of it.  In fact, I even got a few photos with Karen too!  

The salad we ate, the half chicken dinner we ordered and the lovely "birthday" dessert for Marsha were outstanding. Of course, we had so much food that we had to take some of it home to have again tomorrow. What a treat that will be!  

Guess where I'm going for my birthday luncheon in a few weeks!!  

Here are some pics of our wonderful meal. You better hurry up and call the restaurant if you want to have a fantastic meal there. Make sure that Karen is your waitress too! Come in for a meal soon because I believe its identity is going to be changed as its owners will be changing its name and appearance into one of its other restaurant chains.  Not too many worries though since I was told that a lot of their existing meals will be kept.

Ordering from the menu

Our great table at the restaurant

A great pic of  Marsha

My best friend!

Yum, our salad for two.

Never mind the pic.  I am hungry!

One of the 2 chicken plates

Just a superior meal!

It  just looks soooo good!

Leftover for the next day

What's coming next?  She thought it would be delicious too!

Fantastic tea provided

Cheers!

Marsha with Karen, our favourite waitress at Casey's!!!

Mmm...delicious dessert and we got to take some home too! 

Karen with me.  She always looked after me so well at Casey's.

Happy Birthday Marsha!

 

My wife's birthday is coming up on Thursday but I wanted to let you know about it in advance so  you will understand how happy I am to be able to celebrate it with her. 

Due to the events that took place last year with my unexpected illness, Marsha's role in life surely has changed. She has much more responsibility than she ever had in the past.  She is in charge of the new house, arranges medical appointments, takes steps to help out family members if we don't feel well, makes sure that bills can be paid and on time and is pretty much the head decision-maker. The good part about all of this is that she is doing such a fabulous job of it.
 

I know that many people who did not know her all that well until now, and even those who did, have given her a tremendous amount of respect for what she has been able to achieve.  She has made the lives of all of our family members feel so good every day.
 

I'm also sure you know by now how important I view her role with me. I'm doing so well because of her and what she is able to accomplish.  Assuming that the weather will be all right, we are off to our favourite restaurant in the City and will be served by our amazing waitress who always makes sure we have a wonderful and satisfying time.  This occasion, it is just going to be husband and wife time.
 

So my dear Marsha, I hope you enjoy your birthday celebration and know how much you mean to all of us! 

 

 

 

 

One Of My Reasons For Writing

Fortunately, I have overcome a good part of problems that I experienced. I can remember a lot of my past. Unfortunately, and this is apparently well-known about those who suffer the illness that I had, I still do have difficulty in remembering recent things that I have done, especially the contents of letters I have sent out/received or conversations that I've had with a person.  I'm trying very hard to overcome that problem.

 

Accordingly, the writing of my articles is designed to force me to remember what has just happened and how to deal with it. It is hard to do but I am forced to carry out that exercise. Hopefully, one of the reasons I'm doing so is to help me regain the memory that I have lost especially with respect to short-term matters.  That may help explain to you why I am writing so much. 

 

So let me deal with some of the news stories that I have seen recently to help me get a lot better as quickly as I can.

 

HOW SUCCESSFUL WAS THIS SWIM PROGRAM

 

There's no doubt in my mind that this should be an amazingly successful program in Windsor and we should have a lots of publicity coming out from it. Right? Well of course. What else would you expect?

 

Take a look at this see how important the project is:

 

"With the Rio 2016 Olympic Games only four months away, sixty-five of the world’s best divers are in Windsor to fine tune their skills and see how they measure up to their competition.

 

The FINA/NVC World Series, which kicks off Friday and runs until Sunday at the Windsor Aquatic Centre, will feature many of the top divers who are headed to the Rio Games this summer. The Windsor event is part of a four-event world series, which started in Beijing, then moved to Dubai and will be in Kazan, Russia later this month. For the third year, Windsor has hosted this high-profile competition which features Olympic medallists, world champions and world cup winners.

 

“The pool will be riddled with champions,” said Diving Canada chief technical officer Mitch Geller. “It is the Olympic year so that’s special but what makes it more special is this is where all the emotions surface and the culmination of all the hard work comes together. You will see the divers who will be occupying the podium in Rio in 2016.” (Kelly Steele, Windsor Star, April 15, 2016) 

I wonder if the Star will report how many people attended as spectators for this event and how much money was made and who was to receive it and how was it going to be used.

 

The event is not very expensive as far as buying tickets goes so it will be pleasing to see how many thousands of people fill up the arena:

 

"Ticket prices range from $10 to $25 and there are special weekend passes available."

 

I'm certain that the Windsor Star and probably other local news media outlets who attended the event will tell us how many people showed up.  Right? Well of course. What else would you expect?

 

WHO WANTS TO BE AN NDP CANDIDATE NOW

 

The Windsor Star is effectively making it extremely difficult for anyone to run for the NDP in the next federal election, especially in the Windsor/Essex area. Maybe they want to help make a member of the other political parties the winner in each of the ridings.

 

Take a look at this approach which is suggesting that it will be extremely difficult to expect anyone to vote for the NDP:

 

"There was stunned silence in an Edmonton hall last Sunday when 1,800 delegates to the New Democratic Party’s national convention discovered they had just fired party leader Tom Mulcair.

 

There has been a steady babble of disbelief from people both inside and outside the party ever since — both for that decision and the NDP’s even more baffling endorsement of a utopian anti-petroleum policy platform called the Leap Manifesto.

 

Both of these decisions could have major implications for Windsor and Essex County voters who have elected three NDP MPs.

 

With those two weekend decisions, the NDP has fundamentally changed what it is, and what it claimed to be to voters during the last election. What the party now stands for is so radically different from what it was six months ago that our three local MPs can not now claim they are conducting business as usual on behalf of their constituents." (Windsor Star Editorial April 15, 2016)  
 

Maybe the Star Editorial will be very helpful for its economic future. The Star can make a lot of money advertising for the other parties for the next election with stories like this coming out for the next few years before the next election. It certainly will encourage advertising from the other parties. After all, as is stated:

 

"The people of this region have a century of factory labour behind them, proudly building machines that run on petroleum.

 

Any policy that aims to end that is by its definition also anti-Windsor. How can a party suddenly against nearly everything the region stands for continue to represent it?"

 

OUR NEW COMBINATION

 

There is no doubt in my mind now that we should expect to see the City of Windsor and all of the smaller towns in this area jointing together to form one major City. Just like was done with the City of Toronto and all the towns around it years ago.

 

After all, there have been lots of conversations, most of them being quite unpleasant, between the City and the various towns over the past few months that have not been particularly cooperative.

 

I think we just got a notice that this kind of a relationship involving unpleasant conversations is going to end very soon.

 

Take a look at this story in the Star:

 

"Two local companies win federal grants"

(Craig Pearson, Windsor Star April 14, 2016)

 

Nevermind the first major part of the story which really is not all that interesting but take a look at what is said towards the end. It is what Dilkens has been working on for quite a long time that I'm sure that he hopes will help him in his future. For example, he may think that he will become the head of the new amalgamated City involving Windsor and all of the County towns.  Here's what he said at the end:

 

"For Phase 2, designed to expand Canadian public transit in Years 3 through 10, Dilkens says the community will have a chance to be creative.

 

But he already knows what he would like to see: a long-talked about dream for some in this area.

 

“For Phase 2, I think that’s when we start having a conversation with the county and start getting real on a meaningful regional transit system,” said Dilkens about a possible Windsor-Essex County bus route. “That would be good.”

 

If you have a combined transit route, then obviously one needs combined cities as well. What happened in Toronto is a terrific model for what may be considered here in the future as the idea comes out to join everyone together in one big organization.

 

That would be exactly what our Mayor hopes will be his future. He won't need to win an election to get paid very well for another few years.

Even More News Articles

Lots and lots of news stories on which I can comment.  I will only do a few of them today because I do not want to give you too much to read in these articles of mine. 

It is interesting reading many of them and then reporting on them by setting out one's position on them to the many people who come to my website. Not everyone who reads my comments agrees 100% with what I say. Of course that is disappointing but hardly unexpected since everyone has their own position on what is happening. 

Of course, when I write on here, it is meant to set out what my position on the specific matter is. I hardly expect everyone to accept what I say. All that I really hope for is people reading my articles and from them understanding why I take the position that I do. Naturally, I always hope that everyone agrees with me but my reality is that not everyone does so. Accordingly, all I want from every person who comes online to this Website is to understand from my article what my position is and why and how I reached it.

Now when you read my articles below, you'll understand perfectly why I do what I do. 

EDGAR FRANCIS' NEW JOB 

I do have to admit that I have little knowledge about what Edgar's new job at the Credit Union where he now works includes. 

Accordingly, I have been able to pick up some of his duties by reading a couple of articles in the news media. I'm not sure if these tasks that he is undertaking will help make him the Head of the Credit Union one day but then again, what do I know. 

Here is the first news story which gave me some information about what he does at the Credit Union:
 

"For the first time in its 75-year history, Windsor Family Credit Union is offering banking services beyond Essex County by launching an online branch in London. 

“Research shows with demographic changes, most people first prefer to deal with online banking," Eddie Francis, executive vice-president, operations and member experience at WFCU Credit Union,  said Monday. “We’re able to reach more people through digital banking than if we were to open up bricks and mortar branches.” (Grace Macaluso, Windsor Star, February 8, 2016)

So, the Credit Union's business is expanding finally. I did see in that story that the Credit Union was going to do this fairly soon thereafter: 

"WFCU also plans over the next few weeks to open digital branches throughout Lambton, Kent and Middlesex counties, including Chatham and Sarnia, he said." 

I must admit I haven't seen any announcements about those new digital branches. Have you, dear reader? 

Then there was the recent Mayor Dilkens photo of him in Toronto at that hockey event for a possible new event there that was published in a Windsor Star story without his name being mentioned at all. That surprised me quite a bit. If he is involved, presumably for the advantage of the Credit Union, I would have thought that he would want to have as much publicity presence as possible for his employer. 

Now there is this that goes very far. At least it mentions his new position: 

"Former Windsor mayor urges Amherstburg to think big, plan for future

February 23rd, 2016 By Ron Giofu  

The Amherstburg Chamber of Commerce’s Business Excellence Awards included a visit from a former Windsor mayor who urged local people to think big and plan for the future. 

Eddie Francis, now the executive vice president of operations and member experience with Windsor Family Credit Union (WFCU), was the guest speaker at Saturday night’s event held at Pointe West Golf Club and while he didn’t urge Amherstburg to lose its identity, Francis wanted residents and town officials alike to look at the bigger picture. 

“Look at where you are at today and where do you want to go,” Francis told the crowd. 

Francis questioned residents to whether they see Amherstburg as a town of 21,000 people, or as part of a bigger area within the county and the region. He noted there are 5.7 million people in the “metro” area, which includes Windsor-Essex County and southeastern Michigan. 

“Can we view ourselves as a place within a larger context?” he asked, adding the Canada-U.S. Border is “just a geographical boundary.” 

Opportunities are opening up for Amherstburg, Essex County and the area, Francis believed, stating the area is “strategically located” along the “NAFTA backbone. 

“We’re part of a supply chain that feeds that,” said Francis. “We’re part of a production line.”  (Ron Giofu, rivertown, February 23rd, 2016)

So I see him setting up a new business in London, Ontario for his new employer who is headquartered in Windsor. Then he is involved in trying to get that hockey tournament for our area, although unnamed in the Mayor's photograph. Finally, I saw that story about him trying to generate business in Amherstburg with contacts there. 

Oh well, I presume that's the kind of work he is supposed to do working at his office given it to him by his new Credit Union employer. 

PERCY WANTS TO KEEP HIS JOB and perhaps get a better one

It appears that one of the NDP members for this area is a bit concerned about Windsor Star stories that may result in more Liberals being voted for office provincially in Ontario in the future rather than being replaced by NDP members. Here's what he wrote in a Letter to the Editor in the Windsor Star on April 21, 2016 about funding by Liberal MPPs of roads where there is no money being given here for our roads at this time: 

"I can assure you the three New Democrats representing Windsor and Essex County are three of the hardest working members at Queen’s Park and we remind the government every day of the need to keep our region at the top of their agenda. 

I can understand the frustration our municipal staff and representatives have when were miss out on project funding that we know we more than qualified for, but to suggest it’s because we are not represented by Liberals is just plain wrong. 

Believe me, governments come and go, and we won’t have a Liberal government in Ontario for much longer. 

PERCY HATFIELD, MPP, Windsor-Tecumseh" 

In other words, NDP are to be elected in the next provincial election! 

WHAT WILL SENATOR DUFFY DO NOW 

Obviously, he is pretty happy now: 

"Judge dismisses all charges against Mike Duffy

Stephanie Levitz, Canadian Press,  April 21, 2016

OTTAWA - The once-towering case against Sen. Mike Duffy collapsed utterly Thursday as a judge cleared the man at the centre of the long-running Senate expense scandal — and delivered a scathing indictment of the "ruthless" tactics of the Prime Minister's Office under Stephen Harper. 

Duffy celebrated with hugs from friends and hearty handshakes with his lawyers after Ontario Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt spent the better part of the day burnishing the controversial senator's long-tarnished reputation." 

The Senator must be pretty happy now since he has been reinstated already as a member of the Senate with full salary. 

What happens now? Does Duffy do anything and if so, against whom? What would he do and ask for? 

There is no doubt in my mind that we will be seeing more stories throughout the media over the next little while and slams against the Conservative Party for what they did previously.  

You know that former PM Harper's name will be plastered throughout the media as well because of his role in all of this. Whether action will be taken against him and what it will be, who knows.  Stay tuned.

More Of My News Media Views

I do like making comments on articles that I see posted on the Internet or in a newspaper or magazine or that I hear from a radio or TV show.  It is fun for me to give my position on what some others are saying.

A lot of the media people who make these comments are very sophisticated in what they say because they have been working in the political segment for many years and have a lot of knowledge of what is going on, especially in background matters, that none of us have very much information about.  Obviously, they understand the stuff probably better than we do.

Of course, some of them may have difficulties in what they write or say because their bosses may have a position that they have to express that they may not agree with but they have no choice.  That is what makes it even more fun for me to read their material because I can almost feel them squirming around.

Here are some stories that I have seen recently and my comments on them. I'm certain that many of you, dear readers, have also seen the stories so it would be interesting to know what you think as well. Just write to me if you want to let me know what your position is and whether you want your comments to be posted on my website. 

WHO IS THIS PERSON 

I saw this fascinating photograph attributed to Windsor's Mayor:  

I have to admit that I only recognize 2 people in this photograph one of whom is today's Windsor Mayor. I'm sure that you can guess who the 2nd person is that I know about in this photo.  For some reason which I don't know about, the names of all of the other people in the photograph were not revealed to us when I saw it in the Windsor Star. 

I found it fascinating that their names were not provided. I wonder what the reason is. I wonder if some of them did not agree on the Mayor's approach but I would not be able to call any of the others to find out if that was true because I have no clue who they are. 

By the way, did anyone else from Windsor's Council come to this meeting as well? If so, they may be able to talk about this happening or not and what the impact was: 

"As colleague Ryan Pyette noted in a fine column over the weekend, the 2018 Memorial Cup will be open to every Canadian Hockey League market for the big 100th anniversary celebration...  

If Windsor does have competition, it also forces the city to up the ante, raising a Cup profit guarantee — which is important for the entire league. So, you can’t blame Branch or anyone in the OHL for wanting the Spitfires to face at least a bit of a battle."
(Mike Koreen, Postmedia  News,April 18, 2016)

MORE UNKNOWN HUMS 

Here it comes again. More noise. 

No one seems to know from where the sounds are coming or why. Moreover, no one seems to want to spend much money, at least on the US side, to try to figure out what this sound is and can it be stopped easily. Or not.

"The volume got cranked up on the Windsor Hum Sunday night. 

A Facebook page for hum haters and rumble recorders exploded as person after person said the pulses, pounding and vibrations were some of the worst in years. 

“It was disastrous last night,” west-end dweller Mike Provost said Monday. “It’s past unbelievable. I have never heard it like that in six years that I’ve been recording. Never have I ever heard it like that...”   

Provost described it as a thunderous roar or rolling thunder that he said was reported to be felt or heard 17 kilometres away in McGregor, Amherstburg and River Canard Sunday night." (Sharon Hill, Windsor Star, April 18-19, 2016)  

Obviously, if the sound is coming from the other side of the river, it seems to be so bad that it would have to be fixed up. I suspect that the cost to do so is very high and some American outfit would have to pay for that work to be done. If the only impact is in Canada, is anyone on the US side concerned about it?  

Since the sound has been going on for years and not much has been done to try to figure out from where it comes or what to do about reducing it, it would not seem that it is a big problem over on the US side. 

EVERYTHING MUST BE FINE NOW. AND SAFE 

I'm certain that I must be corrected in what I will be saying or else the following makes absolutely no sense at all: 

"Snyder to drink filtered Flint water for month

Jacob Carah, Special to The Detroit News, April 18, 2016 

The governor announced Monday for the next 30 days, he’ll drink filtered tap water drawn from the city.

“One of the things I thought would be helpful, because people asked me about drinking the water, that’s why I said I want to go out and drink filtered Flint water,” Snyder said. 

The governor said he and his wife, first lady Sue Snyder, will use the water at home and work for drinking and cooking for a month, and the governor will resupply during frequent visits to the city." (Jacob Carah, Special to The Detroit News April 18, 2016)

I guess that someone who has lots of money, unlike many Flint residents, has the funds to buy drink "filtered" Flint water. Or will it come to them for free? 

I assume that this is the only kind of water that the Governor would even consider drinking. He certainly would not want to drink the water coming directly out of the taps right now:

"Earlier this month, state, federal and independent water quality experts confirmed the water in Flint “is safe to drink as long as a filter is in place,” according to the governor’s office." 

I can just imagine seeing a photograph a couple of years from now of the Governerd drinking the filtered Flint water in his campaign material when he is running in the next election to become his Party's candidate to run to become the President of the United States. 

OLD CANADIAN HOMES HAVE CREATED A NEW MARKET 

I just could not believe this story when I read it. It clearly is something that must be done in Windsor immediately. We must absolutely be in one of the best positions in this country to carry on this task in a very novel way in this part of the country.   

Heck, we would get all this money. After all, what should be done is to remove all of the homes that the Ambassador Bridge Company would like to take down in the West End and send them to proper cities immediately to the United States. Here is the reason why: 

"Here in the San Juan Islands of northwest Washington State, where a severe shortage of affordable housing threatens the economy and the community, a small nonprofit group has found an unlikely way to help anchor families that are struggling to stay — by lifting up unloved houses in Canada, hoisting them onto barges and hauling them to where they are needed. 

The houses are small by modern standards and old, built in the early to mid-20th century in a booming suburb of Victoria, British Columbia, where eager buyers are now clearing the land to make way for new construction. But the structures had what builders call good bones, and the group, the San Juan Community HomeTrust, discovered that the cost of transporting them across the Haro Strait from Canada and restoring them here was comparable to the cost of building from scratch... 

National housing experts said the house relocation project here and another on a nearby island might be the first of their kind. But examples of the innovation that inspired the effort, they said, are easy to find — fueled in many spots around the nation by desperation as homelessness has risen and working-class families have struggled with rising prices and rents, or an inability to find homes at all." (Kirk Johnson, New York Times, April 18, 2016)  

Bank Stocks Today

The TSE did well today rising almost 148 points.  Yet who knows if the market won't drop like a rock tomorrow depending on what happens in the economy.

I must say that I am surprised about the good rate given the problems that took place over the weekend but people here don't seem too concerned about it.

I am looking at the Canadian Banks' stock  rates these days.  As you know their prices dropped but they have come back up again almost to their amounts previously.  Here are their rates as of tonight.  Not bad are they!

Note, only the highest shares in volume were posted. It did not include CIBC and other banks.

Think again about whether it is time to get back into the market or not.  Don't ask me what is the best position because who knows what can happen.  Especially because of what may happen in Great Britain in a few months.

A Glorious Day

My daughter came over to our Condo in Tecumseh yesterday and spent some time with us.

We had a fantastic time together! I am so happy to be able to spend a few hours with daughter and also visit with my son when he comes over.  We have a lot to talk about and they both make sure we are doing well now given what has happened to us over the past  year or so.

Since the weather was in the 80 degree temperature range, Melissa went out for a walk with my wife, Marsha, and me yesterday    Since it was so warm out, we needed to find a place to cool down and relax so that we could walk home.

We found this place near us for sweet treats called  Baskin & Robbins.  Who could resist!

Here is a pic my daughter, Melissa, took of us.  No jacket on me at this temperature either:

Is Summer Coming Soon

Wow, maybe as high as 80F today.  It's only April.  Incredible!

I saw this on "theweathernetwork" website. It is absolutely amazing: 

"Wednesday, April 13, 2016, 6:48 AM - Congratulations, Ontario: You’ve made it through yet another winter.  

With the early April snowfall melted into a distant memory, temperatures will be on the up and up once more across the province through this weekend, resulting in a return to double-digit temperatures and those sunny blue skies that we all love. 

Ontario-wide, daytime high temperatures are forecast to be in the 10-20oC range Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with abundant sunshine and generally light winds – a stark contrast to the first two weekends of the month." (Brett Soderholm, Meteorologist, The Weather Network, April 13,2016) 

Except, this could apply in our area in the near-term, especially where I live now: 

"If you find yourself close to one of the Great Lakes this weekend, you may find it significantly cooler than you’d expect, with a brisk wind coming off the lake during the day. This phenomenon is known as a lake-breeze, and is particularly common in springtime and early summer." 

From 14 April and going forward, our temperature will always be in the 2 digit range according to some forecasts I have seen. Forget any snow falls. And while it may rain and be cloudy on some days according to the weather forecasts I have seen, the temperature should also rise into the low 20Cs.  How nice that will be!

I have to admit that I did enjoy the winter this year but it was getting tiring for me to see the temperatures so low for so long into the spring. Thank goodness we did not get very much snow throughout our winter season, however I'm also very glad that our temperatures are going to be rising so much higher very soon. 

Given my condition after my horrible medical experience and recovery I went through for most of 2015, I'm very happy about the winter this year. Last year, because of my recuperation from my hospital stay and my disease, I really was unable to go outside until almost the end of April and early May because I had so much difficulty in walking. Even though I can walk a lot now, I am so pleased that we did not see very much snow falling this year in wintertime. As you may remember, my wife, Marsha, and I moved into a Tecumseh Condo where we have an outside snow cleaning service that did very well in cleaning up when it actually did snow here. 

That low snowfall was the prediction that I saw before the winter started. However, I think the temperatures were actually quite low for a large part of our season even though we also had a very high temperatures during several time periods, almost spring-like. That made it difficult for me to go outside for a walk.

Fingers crossed from a medical point of view because, so far at least, I did not suffer any illnesses during our winter. I was very careful how I dressed and when I actually went outside even when it was just to take a short walk.  It was very chilly here. Of course, there were many days regardless of temperature when we had to do shopping but because of our ability to drive to the facility fairly easily from our condo unit and just to be outside for a very short period of time to load and then unload our vehicle with our groceries, I did not pick up any illnesses because of that.   

The only significant change I made with my clothing over the winter was buying a new hat that I pointed out previously in one of my Blogs. It covered a good part of my face and my ears very well. I was happy that I had it but I only wore it a relatively few times over the past winter because I chose not to go out in the coldest of days. In the days that I did go out, I could manage the temperatures so I did not need the big, bulky hat.

I certainly expect to have a good time in the spring and then the summer. Oh sure, I expect to repeat my summer season last year when I was able to walk around for almost several hours per day. That put me into one of the best physical conditions I ever had in my life which I absolutely want to continue to have. The warmer temperature makes it so much easier to spend so much time walking around on the outside in the area. It is just so much fun to look at everything as my wife and I walk around the neighbourhood. 

Of course, I won't have to do very much of the flower gardening or grass cutting around my unit because it is covered by the service that our Board arranges to look after for our condo properties. It means absolutely no need for me to have a lawnmower for grass cutting! However, I expect that I will be allowed to water the grass a few times on my own when it is needed. I did do that last summer. I might also be able to fill up some containers with flowers and still comply with the regulations that are the rules of our Condo Corporation. Who knows, I might even be allowed to trim some of the condo flowers to make sure that they are wonderful to look but of course I will have to get the permission from the Condo gardeners for that one.

We have a freezer nicely filled with food, fish and meat especially, that we will barbecue once the outside temperatures get a little bit higher. Again, it is a way that I like to live in the warmer temperatures and I just know that I'm going to be the "chef" again for a good part of the late spring and summer time periods. Of course, I'll be very careful what I do eat to ensure that my weight does not increase and that I do not eat the wrong foods.  What I experienced the few times that I did barbecue last year was so much fun that I expect to do a lot of it this year. I expect that a number of my neighbours will get invited over to enjoy some of my BBQ cooking. I'm not so bad at it! 

I'm looking forward to a warm spring and a hot summer. Of course, I'll be calling our furnace people to come over to make sure that everything will work properly in the summertime. Even though we did not use the air conditioner a lot last year, I have to make sure that it works when needed. We have an interesting location it seems to protect our house quite a bit even when the temperature outside goes very high. Last year, we barely had to turn on the air conditioner except for a few times when it was very warm outside. Let's hope that it is the same way again this year. 

Of course, I have to make sure that I have the proper sized bathing suit since, with the hot weather, I expect that I will be doing a lot of swimming this year. Last year, I really didn't do any because I did not feel that I would be able to do so because I was recovering from the physical problems I had at the time. Now, I expect that they are gone and I will be able to swim in the pool easily. 

Anyway, I think that I had better go now and start preparing for our warm temperatures that are coming shortly. I just can't wait to put on my shorts and a short-sleeve shirt to do some strolling to help me feel a lot better.  I can just feel the warm summer temperatures already.