Ouch

I am in some blistering pain this evening.  I’ve already had my friend lecture me about doing too much today, and I admit that I deserved that.  I walked for over an hour, although I paused frequently to catch my breath, but at the end of that, I found that I was aching.  By the time I got home and into a chair I couldn’t move… Jerry objects strenuously to this, and has been trying to get me to bend and throw things, in which effort he’s been very disappointed!  I would like to play, but ouch.  Don is fine, and spent a happy time watching baseball spring training, which he enjoys but I find dull.  It’s all fair, and I’m sure I manage to bore him with some of the stuff I watch… 

I’m enjoying seniors’ discounts.  The pharmacy has a program where Thursday is “seniors’ day” and seniors get 20% off their purchases.  I didn’t expect to qualify yet, since I’m not yet at the age, but it seems that it starts in January of your qualifying year!  I had to pick up a couple of items that my doctor had recommended, and *boom* $10 off!  I’m going to have to search for other companies that offer these discounts, because that’s just awesome!  Even more so in this period of high inflation where food prices are essentially doubled from 2 years ago.  The grocery industry CEOs had to appear before Parliament recently to face questions about how they’re reporting record profits while claiming that they’re not inflating prices.  They claim that they aren’t making profits on food items, but on pharmaceuticals and housewares, but I’m sceptical and mistrustful of their explanations.  Sometimes I’d buy myself something that’s a little pricey as a treat, but when I was in the grocery lately, fish (which is something that I enjoy) has more than doubled in price… one item has gone from $9 to $19!  If the grocery started offering seniors’ discounts, I’d probably shop more! 

Before the pandemic, my local supermarket used to offer cooking courses.  They started off as quarterly offerings, then became almost weekly.  The programs were on average 2 hours, in which the chef would prepare a full meal — appetizer, entrée, dessert — in front of a class of no more than 12 students.  We were all fairly close together and could ask all the questions we wanted, and then we had a meal.  A few were “hands on” 3-hour sessions, where we’d learn practical skills (knife handling, bread making, pasta making, cookies) and eat the meal, take home leftovers, and get a chance to cook.  They’d also do 1-hour demos in which the chef prepared a single dish.  The classes were moderately priced, included a gift card for the store and we left with the recipes (and often a container of extras)  They were stopped, of course, during the pandemic, and they haven’t resumed.  I really miss them, as both a source of meal ideas and an outing.  Like many of my classmates, I’d go shopping after class, and often wind up buying the ingredients for the dishes we’d cooked.  I’d also attended, with a neighbour and friend, some wine pairings that were hosted by the LCBO where the chef cooked in front of the group, the store paired each course with a wine; then we did a whiskey pairing — same idea, except with whiskeys instead of wine.  I would love getting back into something like that if only they’d reopen the offerings!  Before you ask, G, no, I’m not planning on going to the Le Cordon Bleu as they are just a wee bit too pricey for my pocket, although the programs do look fabulous.

Still working on eating, which is taking a little longer than I consider reasonable.  I’ve had a craving for pizza, so I ordered a slice, but was able to eat only a third of it.  It just didn’t meet my expectations… If I manage to muster the energy, I think I’ll make a pizza this weekend, using the ingredients that I’d prefer, or I’ll try cooking something that might have a little more spice.  We’ll see.  Meanwhile, I’m being eyed suspiciously by a small black ball, so I’d better clear him some lap space… Good night!