I have been buying lottery tickets (just one for Lotto 649 and one for Lotto Max each draw (and its earlier names)) for 27 years now. Gambling isn't actually part of my makeup. I started when I first began work at The now Ottawa Hospital (was the General when I first started to work there after working at home as a contract proofreader/copyeditor for many years). The surpluses from the lottery tickets went to the Hospital. Occasionally when the jackpot is large I will daydream about what I would do if I won 50 million or so. I would set up a Foundation in my parent's surnames and support education. I would have the largest scholarship in my husband's name for work in Cobalt which was his PhD research and smaller ones for science students just to be a help with their education. Then scholarships at Community Colleges for the trades (my father was a Master Electrician). His parents wanted him to be a banker and so he graduated from Westervelt College for them because that was what they wanted but he apprenticed to a Master Electrician and did go in his own direction eventually having his own company which branched into Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. He did a lot of household but I can say that household was difficult because people did not always pay their bills but once he did only businesses he did very well. I worked for him in the summers from the time I was twelve years of age doing office work (which included calling people to remind them to pay their bills) and so I took typing and bookkeeping along with my academic courses which you could do easily in those days in High School although in Grade 12 I had to go early as the class was before the regular school day for those of us who wanted to continue with our certificate course in Typing and Bookkeeping. Most of the people in that class went to work the next year as Grade 12 was considered full matriculation and anyone going on to Grade 13 was headed towards University which I did studying Chemistry. I am not really much of a daydreamer to be honest but it is fun thinking of setting up a Pincombe-Blake Foundation.
On to the day; the furnace maintenance person is coming. In some ways I will be glad to have the furnace stop working as I want to replace it along with the air conditioner but I do do the maintenance as required. It is funny how equipment keeps working forever when you would really like to replace it. It works very well actually - good regular steady heat in the winter (I keep it at 20 degrees celsius) and air conditioning in the summer (I like to keep it at 26 but I do get asked to keep it at 24 so I do but the difference with the outside air is huge on hot days). We did have good rains finally yesterday and it looks like rain still. The garden is growing well and we will need to weed again. I think I can see all the planted items now and so the weeding will be easier and more complete. The onions and green beans were easy but the spinach, lettuces, herbs are more work.
I do have to say that the alert for the forest fires were sort of amusing to me and a sign that this "woke" business does go a bit far. The warning was for pregnant persons and it is beyond me how one would actually write that - there are only pregnant women in my mind. Although I was always closer to my brothers I always loved being a girl and never desired to be a boy. Boys had a much harder time at everything in my viewpoint. They were expected to do and perform much better than I ever was. Interesting actually the memories of my grandfather that my older brother and I shared over dinner one day perhaps ten years ago now. His memories were of a task master having him help in the garden and mine of a fun grandfather lying in the grass looking up at the sky as the clouds rolled by and giving their shapes names. Really that is the role of grandparents to make their grandchildren feel good. At least I see it that way. Life is interesting for sure and the memories of that childhood are with me forever. Edward had the same love for nature that my grandparents had (and both my parents for that matter) and he organized Church camping weekends at Lac Bitobi for years for his United Church. My uncle (maternal) very much liked Edward for that as he was a staunch United Church member and very active in the Missions and Service. Although the Pincombes were Church of England in England (and they are buried in Trinity Anglican here Elizabeth (Rew) Pincombe (my 2x great grandmother) was a Methodist and her grandson (my grandfather) was also a Methodist. Split religion households were common in my mother's family. She was raised United Church but became Anglican as my father and all of his ancestors were Church of England - so far not one of them was other than Church of England or Anglican as it is called because the Church of England is part of the Anglican Communion.
Another cleaning day and I am up early. Off to get my tea started and do my first set of jumping jacks.
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