As I assembled myself this morning, specifically as I attached my Apple Watch to my wrist, I reflected upon the mechanical watches and clocks I have owned and the ticking sound they make. This in turn reminded me of the sound made by mechanical automobiles. The sound of mechanism in play is so gratifying that both battery powered watches and electric automobiles are at times outfitted with synthetic reproductions of mechanical movement and sound.  For watches the mere appearance of a ticking minute hand (as opposed to the velvety sweep of a battery powered device) is an achievement.

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The last time we moved was eight years ago when our house precipitously sold within a matter of weeks following its listing with the estate agent. The sale of the house in turn caused an avalanche of activity surrounding the so-called downsizing process as we prepared to convert our 4-bedroom dwelling of about 3,000 sq.ft. and associated belongings to an apartment one-third the size with minimal storage. Today we are convening with professional movers regarding the transport of our now elemental belongings to a new, even smaller apartment at an undetermined time (the new building is not yet fully constructed and the occupancy date is therefore uncertain).

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After what had been a bustling Monday morning – grocery shopping at the new Farm Boy on Hazledean Road followed by Bed Bath & Beyond, Petro-Canada, Staples, Mark’s Workwear and Beckwith Kitchen  – it was perhaps unsurprising that as we passed by Wilson Street and the Mississippi Golf Club projecting into Glen Isle and the tributaries of the Mississippi River we should have openly pondered one of Chef Wendy MacDonald’s hamburger platters with French fries or onion rings. Serendipitously the hour was almost precisely noon.  In our early morning haste to confront today’s retail agenda we had eaten nothing other than a banana or an apple. We were piqued for sustenance!

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Seemingly carrot cake and its creamy white icing are more nutritious than I knew beforehand. And if not wholesome at least sustaining. The unctuous moist cake embedded with nuts and raisins constituted a substantial reward following last evening’s predominantly vegetarian supper. At ten o’clock this morning I was still spinning from its toxic effect as I plied my carcass from the virginal lair and espied through the draperies what proved to be a moderately pleasant Sunday. Instantly I determined to go for a relieving bicycle ride to invigorate myself and perhaps – in anticipation of breakfast – to expedite that best of all sauces for any meal, an appetite! Continue reading →

The MacDonald family – Wendy, Caterer and Chris (son), Chef – with the assistance of Carolyn Durrante launched this morning our first breakfast of the season at the Mississippi Golf Club on the MIssissippi River in the Village of Appleton, Town of Mississippi Mills. As I confessed at the time I am flattered to have a particular breakfast named after me; viz., the “Chapman  Breakfast“. Years ago Wendy discovered it was easiest to confront my insistence upon à la carte ordering (repeatedly of the identical breakfast) just to add another tag to the list of alternatives on the menu. The celebration thus persists of my Dr. Atkins/protein diet of double order crisp bacon, sausage links, three fried eggs-over-easy, cheese slices, tomatoe slices and (exceptionally today) fresh raspberries. Allow me to observe that the breakfast is nonpareil. It is a peerless breakast such as this which invoked the obiter concerning the engraving on my monument stone, “He loved bacon!”

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Our first stop early this sunny Friday morning was Bed Bath & Beyond in Stittsville on the Hazeldean Road. We dealt with an exceedingly pleasant young woman who, although she confessed our particular interest was not within her baliwick, she nonetheless directed us precisely to the products we sought and assisted us in related retail matters.  She had unwittingly put a spring in our step on this weekend prelude!

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune 500 and the Forbes Global 2000.

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Things are happening fast around here! In the space of a day we’ve divested ourselves of stuff which quite literally has been gathering dust on the shelves for years.  Gone are our CDs and DVDs (including sadly the Two Fat Ladies). Gone are the radio/CD player with its lovely wooden speakers, the Blue-Ray disc player and the big screen television. Likewise we’ve evacuated the bedroom furniture and in the same breath arranged to replace it with new custom-made pieces. Whew! The purification process is undeniably in full swing!

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A busy day today. I went from an early morning check-up at 9:00 am with my family physician to 10 o’clock blood work at the adjoining lab followed by X-rays in the hospital at noon, then a 1:00 pm COVID nasal swab at a local pharmacy and finally a late afternoon drive to Big-Rigs Bakery at Antrim Truck Stop in Arnprior.  The latter inconsistency was overtly and unabashedly for the sole purpose of acquiring a large carrot cake with mountains of creamy white icing. The exigency and shamefulness of appetite!

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Among certain people it has become a common practice annually to update one’s Apple® products – iPhone, iPad, Mac, Watch or AirPods. The company facilitates the ritual by offering what appear to be reasonable trade-in values for the various products.  I assume there is somewhere a market for moderately used devices. In addition there is predictable hype surrounding the evolution of the devices to their latest rendition (though some people naturally question the depth of improvement if any). From my admittedly casual experience of technology, it is generally assured that new is better. There seems to be no limit to technological advancement.

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Today’s engineering more accurately approaches wangling than choreograph. By a series of manoeuvres we are attempting to orchestrate or finagle an objective, “an instance of obtaining something by persuasion and clever manipulation”.

The American Engineers’ Council for Professional Development has defined “engineering” as: The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions; all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.

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