The clouds never fail to disappoint.
National Day in China. I think I’ll make a greetings video
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Tuesday 1:48 PM View
Blue sky.
I raked some leaves, not enough to clear the lawn of them. Our green bin, which the city periodically picks up, is filled to the brim.
I can’t get my son Tony to get out of the house. He wants to sit in the basement and play video games.
Now is National Day in China. They are 11 hours ahead of us.
Tuesday 10:00 AM View
Great photos of the cloud.
On CBC, wall to wall coverage of T&R Day. PM Carney made a statement about it, as did Maxine Bernier. I am curious what Frank Vaughan’s take would be,
Tuesday 8:42 AM View
The cloud is quite something here in Brandon, MB.
I was live streaming this morning and I violated the platform rules twice: the violations were seemingly innocent enough — I typed country names in the forum chat — but they turned off my mike for 30 minutes.
Here are the notices:
You can translate them if you want.
Tuesday Truth and Reconciliation Day View
It’s a day off for my son. The church is closed so no RCIA for me.
Monday, September 29, 2025
Driving on Highway #250
I was driving from Souris to the #1 Highway. My son took the video.
The roads are narrow compared to China but the view of the big sky is wonderful.
Below is a video I took in China.
Monday 5:04 AM View
It’s hard for me these days to not fall into despair but I am up and ‘em early today.
I’ve extended my Duolingo streak:
I’ve uploaded a quote video:
I would like to be tutoring now.
Sunday, September 28, 2025
The Bathroom at the Souris Swinging Bridge
The bathroom did not lock. So, I barged into it while someone was in it. Luckily, the person wax washing his hands. He left and I tried to lock the door and was perplexed when I couldn’t . I quickly did my business.
Tony then wanted to use the bathroom. But a woman went in ahead of him. We waited a long time. I was wondering then if the woman had not actually gone into the bathroom. But then I noticed a red sign saying the bathroom was occupied. I hadn’t noticed it before. Perhaps it operated by sensor.
That and the fact that the bathroom had a sign saying ir was gender neutral, which I won’t say anything about. But perhaps by not saying anything about it, I am saying something about it which is not my intention at all.
The Notorious Kemnay Railway Underpass
I drove under the tracks as a train was passing on them.
The underpass has a notorious reputation because a few out-of-town truck drivers, ignoring or not understanding signs, have had accidents when trying to drive under the underpass’s low clearance.
Souris
To Souris Manitoba, we drove. We went to see the famous Swinging Brudge:
Here was what we saw from the Swinging Bridge:
When we crossed the bridge we saw this in a nearby park:
That’s was the first time I had ever seen a trans bathroom sign.
I had seen “Free Palestine” written on the sidewalk near the Mary Tyler Moore Statue in Minneapolis.
Driving around the town I came across this dam:
That was our trip to Souris.
Sportsball
I am not into sportsball as I used to be. I just happen to catch that the Blue Jays are doing well this this year. For me the Blue Jays were over when they won the two World Series in the 1990s. The arc to get to that achievement was compelling. But their laundry is dull. How I miss the Expos.
I like watching video of games from the 1970s in any sports.
But I notice so many people, adults even, wearing sportsball stuff.
Sunday 8:08 AM View
Win some, lose some. My paid live streaming gig came to an end. I hope to replace it with paying students. Why it came to an end, I’m not really sure.
I’m still feeling it after last night’s visit with my Beijing neighbor. It was hard for me to get up at 5:00 AM this morning but I did. I did a free live stream,
I e-signed the contract to be an e-fund raiser. We’ll just have to see how it goes.
I got my haircut at a person’s house. They did a good job at a cheap price. I can’t advertise the fact because it may violate some license rules. Who knows? But my mother told me that hairdressers in shops wouldn’t like to hear this.
My son saw the Wheat Kings lose in OT to the Prince Albert Raiders last evening.
Sunday 7:15 AM View
Last night, I hung out with the neighbor.
Cigarettes and booze. My neighbor is from Beijing.
Saturday, September 27, 2025
Saturday 12:50 PM View
A fabulous blue sky with just a little dab of cloud. (Can you see the cloud?)
I’m not at ease at this time in history or my life. If you are a regular reader — which would make you a rare reader indeed — you should know why because I have dropped hints.
I will go to a 4:00 PM mass at Staug and then I will get a haircut. Brandon is small enough that I can do that. It will be my first haircut in Canada since two thousand odd four. That is 2004.
Tony will watch the Wheat Kings play the Prince Albert Raiders by himself. Like father, like son.
Rowdies, Hoodlums, Barbarians
I looked out the window and saw a shiny thing on the lawn. Out I went to investigate. It was a can of some hard alcoholic soft drink. Some miscreant, last night, walked past and discarded it on our front lawn.
Forgive them for they know not what they do? Not till they get their comeuppance.
Says a lot about the level of civilization of some folks in Canada.
You Talk, I Listen
A student,I had a class with this morning, said I was a good listener. That inspired me to make these two promotional videos:
Saturday 6:52 AM View
If I wanted it to always be one time of the day, I would want it to be around the dawn.
Tattoos
Did I spell that world right?
I have noticed a lot of things since I have returned to live in Canada. One is the tattoo wearing I see. When I was last in Canada in 2004, the popularity of tattoos had just exploded. I remember seeing girls with tattoos on their backs about their bum. Now, I see tattoosp on the front of people's upper thighs and on their shins. I see seemingly ordinary people, otherwise, with arms comletely covered in them so that it looks like their arms are completely bruised.
I hesitate to comment here about what it says about the culture.
Trying to keep my spirits up
I can't afford to go out this weekend. Last evening (Friday evening), I retired early, and reckon I was asleep by 10:00. I arose early, hoping to do a livestream, for which I get paid, but it was cancelled on account of bureaucracy. I do have one online class to do this morning.
It's all rather dispiriting, but I tell myself that I have to rise above it. I have my mother and my son to worry about. I have to be in my best mood for them.
This evening, I'll attend mass.
Saturday 5:00 AM View
I’m a very early riser. I had the habit in Jiangyin.
Seeing how I can’t get much work in Canada, I talk to China,
I am missing a Jiangyin People’s Friendship event.
Friday, September 26, 2025
Friday 4:15 PM View
Interesting cloud formation.
Tony tells me that his school did a minute of silence for reconciliation day,
Support Canadian Farmers!
At Sobey's, I saw a display set up for cans of Carnation Milk. They were stacked up high in what I call a product pyramid. Accompanying the display was a sign saying "Support Canadian Farmers." After seeing this, I saw the price was 3.99 for a 349 ml can. Outrageous! I thought. That is a high price to support the Canadian milk cartel.
Friday 12:18 PM View
My son just experienced getting bad news. Something which I have been getting a lot of since returning to Canada. He is going to have to take grade 11 math this semester. This means he will have to do some catching up this weekend.. His math class will be after lunch which means he has a shorter lunch break now. He won’t like that.
He does have a long weekend on account of Reconciliation Day.
Translation Blues 3
As I said in Translation Blues 2, I sent my Chinese license and translation documents to the Winnipeg Immigrant Centre for re-signing and updating so I could submit them to MPI in order to get my proper Manitoba License. I mailed the documents last week and assumed that I would get them this week. Yesterday ( Thursday), they hadn’t arrived. My mother then told me that the postal workers had gone on strike. Just farging wonderful, I thought.
I phoned the Immigration Centre this morning and they told me they mailed the documents out on Monday. You would think they would have arrived at my home in Brandon the next day. But it being Canada Post, assume an extra day, so they should have arrived Wednesday. But three days? And I am wondering if the strike started yesterday afternoon just as my documents were set to arrive.
What to do? Wait and see what happens with the strike? I am looking at translation services I found using Grok.
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Thursday 4:55 PM View
The sky is a brilliant blue. I’ll say something good about this place.
I took Tony to the Assiniboine Credit Union Centre so he could buy a ticket for the Saturday Wheat King game. He will go by himself. Like father, like son. I did the same when I was his age.
I got hired by Honey for Hope. We’ll see how it goes.
When I drove Tony to school this afternoon, I had to make a left turn at an intersection. Some fellow was standing at the corner on my right. Which was good because he wasn’t in my way. I made the left turn and then made a right turn in order to drop off Tony at school. Then two more right turns, and I was approaching the intersection where I saw that fellow standing at the corner. Driving toward the intersection, I saw that fellow walking. He had been able to cross the road. He then surprised me by waving at me. What was that all about?
Watching Frank Vaughan, he reporex that at the Saskatoon Wal-Mart, persons with shopping carts full of goods harassed his wife and child because they wanted them pay for all the goods in their carts. Scary.
What I see when I drive my son to school
I took this photos as I retuned from dropping off my son Tony at school.
The top photo shows the sponsored name of the Keystone Center.
The second photo shows the old Manitoba Agricultural Exhibition Hsll. It looks like an artifact that isn’t used anymore. I’ve never seen it used ever in my time in Brandon.
Stump
As you can see from the view photos, the neighborhood near the house has tall trees. We used to have a tall tree in the back yard but it was cut down. The stump is all that remains of it. We hope it will rot away.
8:17 AM View
I’m waiting to drive my son to school.
If he was in China, his classes would already have started,
5:45 AM View
While I wait for my life stream to start, I take this photo of the view from the bedroom. It is not so bright really. but the three second exposure shows I can see stars.
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
You won’t see this in Canada
My son telling his grandma about all the parents ordering food for their children, at the Chinese High School he was at last year, caused me to find and republish these photos. You would never see this in Canada because the social trust required to have this happen just doesn’t exist anymore.
Wednesday 6:32 PM View
A magnificent blue sky which I can't really enjoy till I start getting more income. And yet I have never had as many sources of income as I do now: Preply, WeChat, Google Adsense, Survey Junkie and CPC. The Google Adsense is giving me incentive to have more quality content on this blog.
How are my AKICan numbers compared to my AKICn numbers. My All-time AKICan views are less than yesterday's AKICn page views.
I wonder if the lady from Chengdu, who responded to my tutor ad, only wanted the free class and had no intention of paying for classes with me. Her blocking of me was mighty quick. Was it because I made too much of a hard sell for more classes or did she not like me pushing back against her saying that people shouldn't get married because they lose their freedom. I did try to tell her that family life is the price we pay for civilization.
I still haven't got my translation documents back from the Immigration Centre in Winnipeg. If I don't get them tomorrow, I'm going to panic and thus have to try and contact them about it.
I love sending my friend Ray Pero A.I. generated images around the theme of Nos Feratu. He says he loves them. I also send him LBGT stuff because it annoys him. Supermodels wearing Longbows Bombs Guns Tanks t-shirt.
I keep up reading. Currently I am in the middle of Demons by Doestoevsky, Father Goirot by Balzac, The Land of the Dollar by some 19th century journalist whose name I can't recall, and 1001 Arabian nights.
Reconciliation Day Prep
My son reports to me that at his high school, they are prepping them for Reconciliation Day. The students were shown a video about it. I heard Tony use the words Aboriginals and Residential schools, but then say he didn't really understand what they were talking about. Living in China for most of his life, he had never had to deal with the issue. And he says he hasn't seen that many first nation people in his school. So why he asks, are they making it a holiday?
They didn't do this day when I was last in Canada over twenty years ago.
Win Some: Lose Some
I spend a lot of time talking to potential students online. A couple have ended up as paying students but most seem to come for a free class or conversation and never pay.
This morning, I spent an hour talking to a woman from Chengdu. I thought the conversation went well, but when I tried to message her after, I saw that I had been blocked.
Maybe, she didn't like my saying that marriage was a necessary thing.
Oh well, I tried.
Wednesday 5:53 AM View
I took this view photo with no exposure. That is what it looks like from the bedroom window when I get up in the morning. I feel a little chilly. I have put on long sweat pants and a hoodie to go down to the bathroom downstairs.
Tuesday evening, I attended the first class of the RCIA (or OCIA) program. I enjoyed it and there were many good people there.
There won't be a RCIA class because St Augustine will be closed for the Reconciliation day. I first heard about this holiday when my son told me that he would be getting two days off because of it. The church is not a place you would want to be on that day because of the possibility of a church getting burnt down, as a few have been burnt down in Western Canada.
Today, I have an online class in the afternoon.
I'll await the mail for the translation document.
I'll continue the job hunt. I have a feeling that my age was a factor in the job interview. The manager's eyes lit up when I told her how old I was.
I can't say I am unemployed. I am an underemployed independent contractor. An online tutor and live streamer.
Four sources of income I currently have. I've heard many people have second jobs in order to make ends meet. The high prices brought on by the Trudeau regime won't go away.
现在我在小红书
小红书 is a Chinese social media where I post notes aka videos. I have had some engagement on it though there are these female bots that always want you to continue a chat on the What’s app.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
8:51 AM View
I just saw this on Twitter:
All I can say is that the change of ethnicity is noticeable.
On Facebook, a lot of people are posting, begging to find a place to rent in Brandon. On one case, there were university students saying they would have to withdraw from their programs if they couldn’t find accommodation.
Meanwhile in China, they have overbuilt.
So now, Kimmel is back on the air. So much for the threat to free speech and expression. Will Kimmel whose ratings were declining get a ratings boost? Most certainly. But, eventually, the decline of his ratings will continue.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
-
Friday afternoon, I drove to the driver testing place to do the knowledge and eye tests so I could get my class 5 Manitoba Driver’s License...
-
Yesterday (Monday), I got my son registered at Neelin High School. Tony will be going there for Grade 12 like I did in 1981-82. I was able...
