Holidays are over

Posted on January 2, 2014 by kdarcy21

Back to work today – the holidays are finally over.  I have nothing against the holidays, but I am glad they are done.  Back to a regular routine, sort of.  I am sure the office will be a little quiet today, I would bet that a lot of staff will still be off.  I could be wrong, I will wait and see.

I have some running around to do at the office today.  I need to do some hardware recycling for junk that I dragged down here from Grande Prairie.  I guess they don’t have a regular electronic recycling program up there.  Oh well.  I also have to zip to the other office in the city to return a printer that arrived, DOA.  The mileage is good so I don’t mind.

I have tickets for the Calgary Hitmen game tonight.  I am taking my little brother and his brother and mom are coming along.  The Hitmen are offering free tickets to kids twelve and under for each adult that goes.  The games don’t sell out anyway so I am sure they are counting on additional concession sales.  I am sure it works.  The Saddledome seats about 20,000 – I would guess that most WHL teams don’t play in arenas that large.  in previous games that I have been to, the dome appears to be nearly empty.  It is good hockey as well and the Hitmen are doing well – unlike, say, the Flames who are competing for the basement.  Should be a good time.  These tickets came courtesy of BDO.

Saturday, I am meeting someone for coffee.  It is a good thing that she asked me to go out for coffee.  I was thinking the same thing a month or more ago, but, as per usual with me, never got around to it.  I guess that is just the way I am.

Sunday will be a second Hitmen game, this time the tickets are from BBBS and just NM and I are going.  That will give me my hockey fix, I am sure.

The World Juniors continue today.  Canada won their pool after a loss and a shaky game against Slovakia.  Then, on NYE, they go and beat the US in a really good game.  The Canadian goalie made an amazing save on a US breakaway that saved the day – clutch performance there for sure.  Canada held on for a 1 goal victory, much to the joy of Canadian hockey fans everywhere I am sure.  It is always nice to beat the US.  Canada faces Switzerland today in the quarter-final.  Hopefully they will do well and make it on to the semis and then the Gold medal game.  In the early part of the tournament, it didn’t look like this would happen.

Monday will truly be work as usual – I am sure everyone will be back in the office and the craziness of tax season will be on us.  We still have a few systems to replace in the office over the next couple of weeks and all of the old systems need to be packaged up and returned.  It will be a busy few weeks which will be good, time will pass quickly.

Well, better get my day going.  I plan on being in the office in 45 minutes.  Have a good day.  🙂

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A new year, a new blog post…

Posted on January 1, 2014 by kdarcy21

I was surprised when I read my 2013 blog report that I had only posted 89 (or so, I don’t remember) blog posts in 2013.  I suppose that in the early part of the year, I had lost the blogging bug and didn’t make a lot of entries.  I am going to try to be a bit more consistent this year.  This is not a resolution.  It is not a promise.  But, since I have been blogging regularly of late, I will try to keep it up.  As long as I have something to say, or something to rant about, I am sure that it will end up in here.

The blog address might change sometime this year though.  Currently, it is via kdarcy21.com but it is also accessible via kevindarcy.ca and that might become the primary access address.  I haven’t quite decided as yet.  Actually, in thinking about it (just now, amazing what the brain comes up with), that will be WAY too much work.  Not here, switching the blog is easy.  BUT, I also have kdarcy21.com linked in with my Google account and that might be more work than I want.  OK.  Forget that you read this paragraph.  I am not making any changes to the blog address.

Now I am thinking, should I erase that paragraph?  I am thinking not, because, if I do, I have to write something else.  OK, it stays.  Aren’t you glad?  If I had erased it, you wouldn’t have read it and we wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?  Likely not.

So, getting back to the blog, I think that is what I was talking about.  I would like to make one of those 365 commitments, you know, where you make a blog entry every day.  I am not sure that I could do that.  There have been days, many days, where I have started an entry and find that I really don’t have a lot to say.  I write something, erase it, re-write and then I end up hitting the little “Move to Trash” link and it is gone.  So, saying that I will make an entry daily likely won’t work.  Typically, of late anyway, I have been making a few entries a week.  Every 3 days on average, I would guess.

I have gotten a fair amount of feedback on the blog.  Not a lot of comments, they all go through the approval process – I don’t want unmoderated stuff ending up on my blog.  A few readers who have registered for accounts can comment without my approval though.  If I don’t like what they’ve written, I can always take it down.  I am pretty open minded though.  But, if you don’t like what I am writing about, don’t read it.  🙂

When I first started this blog back in, well, when was that (http://kdarcy21.com/2009/11/15/hey-my-first-post/), November 15, 2009, the point of my blog was so that I could go back and see what I had done with myself.  I have read some of the old entries from time to time.  Now that I am up to nearly 600 entries, to read everything that I have posted would take me some time.

I think that I have mentioned before that at some point in 2013, a publisher emailed me about publishing my blog as a book.  Sounds like an interesting idea and I might look into that sometime this year.  I might not though.  I would have to go back in the entries and proof-read them all.  I try to be careful with spelling and grammar, but, I am sure that I mess up here and there.  Publishing it into a book would be cool, but, would anyone actually want that?  Is what I write about interesting enough?  I don’t know.  I sort of doubt it.

Someone asked me one time, “what is your blog about?”.  I answered that essentially, it is a place where I can write about whatever I want, say whatever I want, rant, rave, review about this, that and the other thing.  If someone reads it and likes it, that’s great.  If no one does, that is great as well.  I am not doing this for anyone other than myself.  If I offend someone in here, too bad.  I had written some entries, a few years ago, about some of the issues that I was having in my previous job.  A certain sister of mine (she shall remain nameless – they both read my blog, wouldn’t want to give it away) didn’t think that it was a good idea for me to post “bad” things about an employer.  Well, she was likely correct and after a few arguments, I locked those blog posts down (with a password) and edited others for content.  The Region of Niagara did bring up some of my entries with me when I was working there – apparently, when you work for them, you aren’t allowed to say anything negative, at all, about them.  They are, I suppose (in their opinion) a great place to work and don’t do anything wrong.  Well, that is NOT the case.

I don’t write bad things about my current employer.  There isn’t anything bad to write.  It is a great company to work for.  The people that I work with are excellent and very professional.

Anyway, I got side-tracked.  What was the purpose of today’s post?  To tell the truth, I have no idea.  I often have no ideas.  I type, words appear on the screen, AND, if I am lucky, they make sense.

So, blogging will not be a resolution.  Did I make any?  Not really.  I did stop smoking, again.  I started up earlier last year when I was going through some stressful times.  I know it is bad for me.  I know it is expensive.  But, when you are stressed out, I find that it helps.  I wasn’t a pack a day type guy, I was more like a pack every 3 days.  Still, at $11 per pack, that adds up.  So, I decided that I would quit.  I was going to quit in early December and then decided that it would be a good resolution.  Well, mid-day on the 30th of December, I ran out of smokes.  I could have purchased another pack, BUT, I would have had to finish them and didn’t want to double my regular intake, especially when I am fighting a cold.  So, I smoked my last one around lunch time on Monday.  If you have smoked and have quit, you know that it is not easy to do.  I have done it before.  The first few days are the worst.  I enjoy smoking while I drive, so, to combat it, I am trying not to drive a lot at the moment.  Good thing I am off today and nothing is open.  I don’t chew Nicorette or anything while I am quitting, I just stop smoking.  I likely get a little “touchy” shall we say, but, with my normal “glowing” personality, no one will notice.

Anyway, if you have any resolutions, good luck with them.  If you don’t, well, good luck anyway.  I hope that everyone has a good 2014 – make it the best year yet.

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See ya 2013

Posted on December 31, 2013 by kdarcy21

Well, 2013 is over in a few hours.  What went on this year?  Well, quite a lot actually.

I got a car again in early 2013.  I went through the winter without one, it wasn’t that bad actually.  It was a little bit of a pain in the ass going for groceries and getting dog food, taking the dogs to the vet, things like that.  But, really, if I had lived where I am now (more on that later), I would be able to do it easily.

So, I got myself a 2007 Dodge Caliber in late January.  Not a bad little car, not perfect by any means.  My credit, at the time, was less than perfect.  I went to one of those “everyone approved” lots and the interest rate was through the roof, almost criminal, but not quite.  Insane interest.  Anyway, got out of that one in July.

Nothing too interesting happened in the early part of the year, not that I can recall anyway.  Same old, same old I guess.  I was still living in the SE area of the city, Forest Lawn and still remotely looking for a new place.

In June, we had, as everyone know, terrible flooding.  The city was devastated.  Entire neighbourhoods under water.  Nearly 100,000 people were evacuated at the height of the flood.  I was lucky.  When I moved here, I unintentionally chose an area that was on high ground.  If I had found a place overlooking the river, I would have been happy with the view – happy that is until June that is.  My place was high and dry.  Many, many people were not so lucky and many are still picking up pieces today.

July 2, I remember because it was the day after Canada Day was one of the hottest days I have ever experienced and I am from Southern Ontario.  It hit around 39C and was a little hotter with the humidity.  I needed to take the train home, I thought that I would be smart and wait for an air conditioned train.  The older trains have windows that open, but I thought what good will that do.  Anyway, I got on the train for the 20-25 minute ride home.

It filled up, as per usual as it passed through downtown.  As we pass City Hall (the last downtown stop), the train stops for about 5 minutes – odd.  It is also getting rather warm.  The AC on the train is out.  Not good – this is going to be a hot trip.  We pull into the next station and the driver announces that the AC is not working on the first car and that everyone will have to get off and get into cars 2 and 3.  Yeah, right.  First off, Mr. Driver, the AC is not working on cars 2 and 3 and secondly, cars 2 and 3 are FULL.  We stay there for another 10 minutes or so until the driver finally locks the doors so that the idiots who are opening them can’t do that anymore – I mean, you can see that the train is packed, you aren’t getting on, but, by all means, keep opening the doors.

To compound with the lack of AC, a feature that is very useful in the winter was on for this rather warm ride home.  Heat from the brakes is diverted into the cars – well, this was on today.  Nice.  A guy who was standing near me had a temperature app on his phone – 45C was the reading.  I am pretty sure that is as hot as a sauna.

Well, after a few more stops, I finally reached my destination.  When I stepped outside, dripping wet, the 40C air felt cool to me.  Insane.  The worst train ride ever.

I didn’t go to Stampede this year.  They held it, despite the flood water that nearly destroyed the park only two weeks earlier.  Come Hell or High Water shirts were selling like crazy with proceeds going to flood relief.

In late July I got rid of the Dodge Caliber and moved into a Dodge Nitro.  A very nice SUV, I will admit.  Leather interior.  4×4. Sunroof. Lots of room.  A good vehicle for the weather we have here.

I did go to the relief concert in August.  Great event and a ton of cash was raised.

Umpiring this summer was fun.  This was likely the first year that I have really enjoyed umpiring.  The group of guys here, for the most part, are great.  The teams are competitive.  I also made a fair amount of coin by doing something that I enjoy.  It financed my trip back to Niagara in October.  The flight was covered by work but I needed to pay for the dogs stay in their pet resort and needed some spending money.  I also purchased a new bike which I really have not yet had a chance to use.  I hope to ride into work, come some nicer weather.  I may get back into coaching in 2014.  There is a coaches meeting coming up with the Babe Ruth Calgary organization.  Two of the three parks that they use are right around where I am living and the third isn’t too far north.  I don’t want to do a lot of travelling – Calgary and surrounding area is fine, I just don’t want to be driving all over Alberta.  Guess we will see what they have to offer and what will fit in with what I want to do.

My trip back to Ontario was great.  I was there for a total of 10 days.  Our IT conference for work was at Blue Mountain in Collingwood.  Excellent facility and an excellent conference.  It would appear that when I return to Ontario I turned into some sort of drunk.  I drank just about every day while I was there.  Perhaps alcohol is needed to handle being back – not sure.

Winter hit early once again.  The difference between this winter and last (well, Fall actually) is that we’ve already had 4 or 5 chinooks come through where last winter, the first didn’t show itself until mid-January.  We’ve had a couple of REALLY cold days, highs in the low -20’s.  We’ve also had some really nice days, highs around 12C.  We’ve had major warm-ups and major cool-downs (flash freezes).  I am coming to learn that this is what happens with weather in Alberta.  I love it.  If you don’t like the weather, wait an hour – it will likely change.

Christmas was quiet.  I was also sick.  The first cold that I have had since moving here was one of the worst colds that I can recall.  I am just getting over it now.

As for New Years Eve, nothing planned.  This is NOT a big deal for me.  If I don’t go out, and I doubt that I will, I know that I will be in bed an hour or two before 2014 arrives.  Regardless, 2014 will arrive and I wish you all a good one.

Thanks for reading in 2013.  Please continue in 2014.  Happy New Year !!!

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2013 in Review

Posted on December 31, 2013 by kdarcy21

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,200 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 20 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Photo Radar

Posted on December 28, 2013 by kdarcy21

OK, something that I really don’t like about Alberta.  Photo radar.

We used to have it in Ontario, only, as I recall, for a few years.  I never got hit by it.  Typically, I don’t speed.  Same deal in Calgary, however, they have “Playground Zones”, apparently, EVERYWHERE and since I have been here, I have received three tickets.

The good news is that because they (Calgary Police Service, I guess is the “they”) don’t know that I am driving, there are no points associated with the tickets.  It is just a huge (I would guess) cash cow for CPS.

So, these playground zones have a speed limit of 30 Km/h during daylight hours.  I received a great Christmas gift on the 24th, a ticket from November 29, 12:41 travelling at 44 Km/h in a 30 Km/h zone.  I know exactly where I was, I was heading from my new place to my old place down 9 Avenue SE.  I presume that CPS must use a van or something, I have looked and do not see any cameras.

Now, I know what you are thinking – SLOW DOWN in playground zones.  Well, I am trying to be better about it.  This zone is well known to me, no excuse really, I was likely in a hurry or something – well, rather, whoever was driving my vehicle was in a hurry.  🙂

Yes, I do need to observe these zones more carefully.  This ticket will cost me $87.  I think the last two that I’ve received cost me a similar amount as well.

Rarely, if ever, do I speed on regular streets or the highway.  I am not sure if they use photo radar elsewhere or just in these “zones”.

The picture of the back of my vehicle is clear – it is a Dodge Nitro and the plate is clearly my plate.  Dang…  Don’t think I can get out of this one.

I would really like to know, and I suppose that I could find out – how much does CPS rake in each year from photo radar?  I bet it is a lot of cash.  What do they do with this cash?  I presume that they can’t have it as part of their regular budget, I mean, if they did and people stopped speeding, they would be out of a lot of revenue.

I am also not sure if I agree with the 30 Km/h thing in playground zones.  This one in particular is a playground that is completely fenced in.  Now, I am by no means saying that we don’t need to be safe around playgrounds, I guess I am really complaining that I have to pay an $87 fine.  I guess really, I am complaining about being caught.

Perhaps a New Years Resolution would be to actively try to slow down in these zones and make 2014 a fine free year – how’s that?

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OK. Who gave me this cold?

Posted on December 27, 2013 by kdarcy21

I have been in Calgary for nearly two years and in the last few days, I have developed my first cold while being here.  I hate colds.  I imagine that we all do.

I suspect, although I can’t prove it, that my co-worker gave it to me just before Christmas.  He was off sick, possibly with a cold, I am not sure then came in on Christmas Eve.  Our office area is small and I am sure that we touched the same things.  If it was you, you’re a bastard.  If it wasn’t, you’re still a bastard.  🙂

I took some Tylenol Cold and Sinus this morning – seems to be helping a bit.  The cold started in my chest, that part of it has nearly cleared up – it has now moved full on to my head.  Thankfully, I purchased a 9 pack of Kleenex a few weeks back, I am sure that I will be using it often over the next few days.

One aspect of having a bad cold is the extra sleep that I seem to get.  Yesterday, for instance was a good sleep day.  I watched the World Juniors from 5:30am and the game ended shortly after 8 or so.  I had a nap from about 9am until almost noon.  I went out and got a haircut, I hope that I didn’t share my cold with the stylist, that wouldn’t have been nice of me.  I got home around 2:30 or so and laid down for another nap.  I was supposed to go out with my little brother to Zoo Lights but he cancelled or rather postponed until today.  I woke up shortly after 5pm and was in bed again before 9:30.  That is a lot of sleep for one day.

I have been up this morning since about 3:15am, seems to be a typical time for me to wake up.  I get a fair amount done in the mornings this way.  The downside is that I can’t stay up late, I am typically in bed by 10pm at the latest.

I work this morning at 8am until 10am.  I am sure that I will catch a quick (2 hour) nap after finishing.  I am sure work will be dead, I am working from home as well so I don’t need to go in or anything.

Hopefully, this will be my last cold for a bit.  Wish me luck on that one.

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Back to work

Posted on December 26, 2013 by kdarcy21

I have to go back to work tomorrow, sort of.  I will be working from home because the office is closed.  I also only have to work 8am-10am because I have 5.5 hours of lieu time remaining.  So, 2 hours of work ruined what otherwise would have been a 5 day weekend – I can’t really complain.  Well, I could complain, but I am not one to complain.  🙂

I am off on the weekend and then have to go back into the office on Monday and Tuesday, 7am-3:30pm shift even though the office is still closed.  Originally, I was granted permission to work from home.  This was then changed – I presume that someone got wind that I would be working from home and they complained so now, everyone has to go into the office.  Oh well, not a big deal.  It will be dead, but I do have stuff to deal with in the office.

I have New Years Day off, so that will break up the week well.  Back to it on Thursday and I am sure that a number of people will forget their passwords.

I am thinking that next year, I might try to save some days to take the week and a bit off.  It would be a nice break at the end of the year.  Guess I will have to see if I have time remaining.

I am sure the next few days will be a bit dead, that makes up for when it is rip roaring busy.  If you are heading back, have fun.

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World Junior Tournament

Posted on December 26, 2013 by kdarcy21

An annual Boxing Day tradition for many, aside from going to a shopping mall and squeezing in with thousands of other bargain hunters is watching Team Canada play in the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.  This year it is in Sweden so there is quite the time difference.  I am not sure what time it is over there, but the Team Canada versus Team Germany game starts at 5:30am MST.  Good thing I am up anyway, otherwise this might be tough to do.

Canada has not won gold in a number of years.  They have had some heart breaking losses of late.

In general, I prefer this hockey to that of the NHL.  The players are still young and not making millions and for the most part, aren’t big cry babies.  I don’t watch a lot of NHL hockey until playoffs.  I will go to the odd game to see it live, now that I live in Calgary and have a team within 20 minutes of my place that is reasonably priced.  When I was in Niagara, I occasionally would go and see a game in Buffalo, it was pretty quick to get over there, around an hour.  I have never been to the ACC to see a Leafs game, well, why would I want to pay to see the Leafs?

Anyway, I am looking forward to watching this tournament.  With the time delay, it looks like I will be able to catch some of the action either on TV or streamed at work – the office is closed so bandwidth won’t be an issue.

Obviously, I am cheering for Canada.  I will admit, I know nothing about the team or the players and nothing about the coaches.  I guess I will learn as I go.  To end, GO CANADA GO !!!

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Christmas Dinner

Posted on December 25, 2013 by kdarcy21

I had a few invited for Christmas Dinner which was very nice of the people who invited me.  I decided to stay home and have dinner with the pups.  I had purchased a Butterball stuffed turkey breast.  When it was cooking, I was worried about it but it turned out excellently.

I used my new mixer for the potatoes, made some carrots and an entire package of Pillsbury Crescent  Rolls – I can only imagine the calorie count.  I will have left-overs for a few days I am sure.  I even broke protocol and shared a half slice of turkey and stuffing with Zeus and Blondie.  Zeus scarfed his down while Blondie took a bit of encouragement to eat hers.  It is a habit that I am not going to get into, it might turn into a yearly tradition.

I am rather stuffed, which is typical for a Christmas dinner.

I had a Skype call with my family back in St. Catharines.  As you likely know, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes were hit with a bad ice storm and my aunts place in Toronto was without power since Saturday.

My sister and brother in law took in four refugees and ended up hosting Christmas dinner after all.  So, while they all pigged out, we had a Skype call.  It was good to “see” everyone again.

So, all in all, a relaxing day.  Santa (or JB/DB) treated me well.  I got two shirts, one long sleeve, one short.  A remote control helicopter which I have always wanted but it was something that I likely would not purchase myself.  I also received a hand mixer, Sports Illustrated Swim Suit calendar, a chocolate Stanley Cup, a Star Wars Advent Calendar (well, missed the opportunity for one square per day) and a pair of gloves for walking the dogs (camo, matches my hat from last year).  The dogs were also spoiled, they received a couple of pull toys, Blondie got a deer (or other animal) antler for chewing, some biscuits, a new water dish, new leash – lots of fun.  They wouldn’t open their gifts this year for some reason – oh well.

We had a good walk in the dog park this morning and tomorrow, I think we will go for a walk in the park down the street from my new place – they will enjoy that.

Hope that your day was awesome as well.

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Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2013 by kdarcy21

I am not much of a Christmas guy.  It is likely because there are no kids in my family, immediate family anyway.  The last two years, I have not been able to spend Christmas with my family.  My immediate family consists of my two dogs, Zeus and Blondie and I will be spending Christmas with them.  Currently, they are sleeping, so, it is peaceful.  🙂

There are a number of gifts for them from my sister and brother-in-law and myself waiting to be opened.  Well, in all honestly, the ones from me are not wrapped.  JB did wrap the ones from her – that was nice.  Both dogs do a pretty good job of opening gifts.  It is fun to watch and perhaps, if I am thinking, I will remember to record it on my camera.

I received a large box from JB & DB a few weeks back filled with wrapped stuff and two packages of goodies.  One tin was filled with Toblerone shortbread and it was amazing.  I love shortbread and adding Toblerone to it made it even better, if you can imagine that.  I brought it with me on my trip to Grande Prairie, possibly a mistake.  One the way to Edmonton, before lunch, I ate about 1/2 of it, perhaps more.  Between Edmonton and Grande Prairie, I ate all but 5 pieces.  The remaining 5 were gobbled down my first day in GP.  Excellent stuff.

The other edible package was toffee bark – quite good and there is still some left.  It will be gone sometime today, I am sure.

As for the gifts, they will be opened later this morning.  Unlike when I was 5 years old and woke up, likely at this time, I can wait on opening gifts.  I am sure I used to irritate my family by waking so early being so excited.

I will be staying home today, likely going out for a walk with the dogs but having dinner at home.  I was invited to two different co-workers houses for Christmas dinner which was very nice.  I politely declined the invitations.  If I hadn’t purchased all of the stuff for dinner today, I might have accepted yesterday’s offer.  I bought a Butterball stuffed turkey breast which should be good.  I am not one to stuff a turkey, nor does one person need an entire turkey for himself.  I also picked up potatoes, carrots, cranberries and those little Pillsbury crescent rolls that taste REALLY good but we discovered that they are REALLY bad for you – an amazing amount of calories and fat.  Oh well, it is Christmas after all.

JB & DB have unexpected house guests for Christmas.  Toronto suffered a major ice storm and my aunt’s place is without power.  Her two daughters are home for the holidays as well, so JB & DB had four of them come to St. Catharines.  I don’t think they really wanted to host Christmas dinner, never mind have over night (or multi night) house guests, but, as I said on Facebook: “It is a Festivus Miracle”.  I am sure she will pull through, she is a good hostess.

As for me, no house guests.  No place for a house guest to stay actually.  I do have a spare room, but I am using it as an office.  No spare bed either.  I do need to get something so that if JB & DB come to visit, they can use my bed and I can sleep on the cot, or whatever.  Lots of time to figure that out.  I don’t even have a couch for someone to sleep on.  I do have a reclining chair, it is very comfy and I have fallen asleep in it, so there is a possibility.

At any rate, my coffee is ready so I must hook up the IV.  Have a great Christmas with your friends and family.

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