Santa really was good this year. Rather than handing out expensive kitchen gadgets to clutter up the shrinking counter space, he had some swell presents in his bag. My Dearest was the clear winner -- she got a new snow shovel!
And it came to good use, right on Christmas Day!
We have not always had a White Christmas in this area. In some years, the festive season looks rather bleak and dreary, perhaps with rain or sleet. In this neck of the woods, the major snow falls typically occur in the January to March period. I remember one time in early April, when I had to change back to snow tires, just to make it out of our flat driveway.
More typically, there are few snowflakes in the sky and nothing but defoliated trees and brownish grass on the ground. This year was decidedly different though. What a winter wonderland this time ‘round. A fresh coat of pristine white snow has arrived on Christmas Eve to rejuvenate the stuff that was already on the ground from a few days earlier.
Of course it’s all a consequence of the relentless global warming, indubitably caused by your trying to keep warm in your own abodes. In contrast, we like to sleep with open windows at the forecast night time temperatures of -16 C (~0 F). After all, good Canucks need to cool down once in a while!
But wait, the techy world is coming to rescue all of us, very soon.
The Techy World
Just read the post by David Ludlow on “The smart home seriously needs to wise up if it wants to go mainstream in 2018” . The “smart” home is soon able to control your fridge, individual lights, your dog’s barking (well, perhaps not), and every other need in your home that you could possibly imagine.
Much of that is still in its infancy, plagued by some poor programming, lack of interoperability, non-smart light bulbs, and the like. Surely, those problems can be overcome easily with a bit more thought and better light switch-programming.
Really, is there anyone left who thinks that light switches ought to be turned on or off just by a simple manual flip? Please, gimme a break. Doesn’t everybody by now have autonomous self-flippin’ light switches that dim the light in accordance with the shape of your eyebrows?
What is definitely lacking though is the development of autonomous, GPS-guided, battery-driven, self-recharging and -storing snow shovels. That really is a great void to be filled by the techy world! I might even get into the swing of things myself then.
So, for all you dear readers, both from close by and far away, my best wishes for the New Year ahead. May 2018 bring much happiness and laughter to you, and perhaps, if you are good, Santa will reward you too on his next trip to your place.
BTW, my Dearest is still getting used to her new implement; will need to interpret the instructions again.
Santa really was good this year. Rather than handing out expensive kitchen gadgets to clutter up the shrinking counter space, he had some swell presents in his bag. My Dearest was the clear winner -- she got a new snow shovel!
And it came to good use, right on Christmas Day!
