Showing posts with label Virtual Tours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virtual Tours. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Paying Bills, Pork Cubes & Plenty of....

Covid19 Headlines

Courtesy Pixabay.com

September 1, 2020

Well what do you know? Everything still looks like it did last night when I logged off. I know I got an email today from google telling me about all these wonderful changes to do with adsense - which I couldn't care less about, but once again, they mentionned that we'd better get used to the new way of doing things as it'll become permanent later on this year. So I guess that goes for the blog editting features as well. 

We spent the day doing errands, paying bills, and butchering and packaging the meat we bought into the cuts we like, which in this case was a lot of cubes and a couple of roasts. We use pork cubes for souvlaki, as we make that quite often, along with stir fries,  and well roasts are good for a number of things, from feeding a crowd to making pulled pork or other dishes with.

Despite the fact, that I'm struggling to stay awake as my sleep wake cycle is totally messed up, and I  want to get it rectified as soon as possible - hopefully tonight, hence the reason I'm fighting to stay awake at the moment, I decided to try to see if the editor in the blogger is still the good old familiar one or if it was "upgraded" again like the adsense thingamabob that I got an email about. So that's why I'm adding headlines here now, even though I feel more like passing out than anything else. So if there's a  lot of typos, grammatical and spelling errors or what I say just doesn't make any sense to you, that may be why. 

Anyhow before I do actually pass out, I should begin posting the headlines so that there's some here....











Coronavirus in Kenya: How it turned classrooms into chicken coops Well at least they're making use of the empty classrooms. 


A Florida couple thought COVID was a hoax. They both got the virus, and the wife is dead. That's a shame that the wife had to die. But no it's not a hoax folks. But on the other hand I don't think it's nearly as bad as they're trying to lead us to believe either.



CanSino blames Chinese officials for failure of joint vaccine program with Canada: Globe and Mail   Good because that's where the blame belongs! Squarely on the Chinese officials shoulders!

How outdoor classrooms might — and might not — be the pandemic solution schools need They're not going to be able to use that option for very long here in Canada before the cold and snow sets in.


Lose Yourself in Eight of France's Most Beautiful Gardens  Maybe take a break from the gloom and doom of COVID19 for a little while to virtually visit some beautiful gardens in France. 



Misinformation online plays role in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: Tam   I wouldn't call it misinformation, so much as information. Especially information about all the vaccine efforts around the globe that Gates has his grimey paws in. That's not misinformation, but rather actual real information.












New Zealander sails through Arctic on custom yacht in violation of COVID-19 restrictions  Wow. Some people have all the audacity in the world it seems. 

I don't know as you'd need to enroll in that and waste good money considering there's all kinds of free resources all over the place with tons of info on the pandemic, from this blog for instance, to several cable TV channels that seems to be solely devoted to it.  But hey if you do enroll in that course, let them know about my blog, perhaps they can use it in the course. If they do, please let me know.

COVID-19 safety measures could keep influenza cases down, doctors say  This is an interesting side benefit of the safety measures for COVID19.  




Why predicting our future feelings is so difficult So with this in mind, you can see that it's hard to say how we'll feel about things after the pandemic has passed. The way we feel now and say we'll feel then is probably going to change drastically.








Anyhow that's it for the moment. Until next time take care & stay well.












Sunday, August 23, 2020

Food Frugality, Rest, Relaxation, Recuperation and ....

Covid19 Coverage...


Courtesy Pixabay.com

August 23, 2020

Other than helping my husband package meat he butchered for freezing, I didn't do much today besides rest and check out the Covid19 stories online. 

I spent much of the day writing on freezer bags to package the meat as he butchered it. When we find meat on special that we can buy in one big chunk or in large quantity, we bring it home and if no butchering is required, just package it in serving sized packages (what the both of us would eat in one meal - so say 2 chicken legs - being 1 leg each for instance). If it's a large chunk of meat like say a whole chuck roast weighing say 11 or 12 kgs, he butchers it into roasts, steaks, strips, and cubes and what can't be used for any of those cuts of meat he grinds up into ground beef.  We've always done things like that since we've been together. 

Which is one of the few things my dying adult daughter thanked us for doing, before she died of cancer in January 2013,  - teaching her how to be frugal when it came to feeding herself as a working adult.  

We do the same when it comes to large quantities of fresh produce too. Like say around harvest time. We buy in bulk and then freeze it in serving sized  portions. Depending on the vegetable, really depends on what you do to it before you freeze it. Some can just be frozen like that, like peppers and corn (stripped off the cob and saved as kernel corn in freezer bags - again I do the serving size thing because corn freezes together as one big clump and it's really hard to break it apart when you only want so much of it for the immediate meal at hand). Peppers I generally cut into the size and types of pieces I use in most of my dishes that use pepper and freeze like that.  Otherwise most other veggies including greens like kale, spinach, chard, collard greens etc, require blanching and immediate cooling off in cold water and having as much water wrung out of them by hand or dripped off like when it's other more solid vegetables like carrots, broccoli, etc... before packaging in serving sized portions. That way we pretty much have fresh frozen vegetables all year long - either from your own garden, farmer's market or the grocery store. 

In better years, when my garden didn't look like such a weed/hay field as it does this year and I had better yields of things, I used to make most of our condiments, pickles, jams, jellies and perserves too. Not too sure I'll have much out of it this year as half the crops I planted didn't grow at all, not even one stem or leaf, the other half basically got over taken by weeds because of the stupid jungle like weather we have here, where it's boiling hot all the time. With the accentuation on the "boiling" as in super hot humid weather more adapted to boiling you to death than baking you to death (which incidentally I can stand way better than this cauldron pot here in QC). But I prefer making my own preserves because I can make things  that we like but can't buy, and I have control over the amount of various added ingredients, to maybe cut down a bit on the sugar or the salt (which are rather crucial when it comes to preserves and pickling, but if I can find a way to cut back on some of it, it's better for our health).

It's more work for sure, but that way you have control over your food. You know how it was processed and what if anything was used on it (like chemicals or salt and other ingredients that might be added during packaging in packaging plants). If you grow it yourself, you will know for sure all of the things that were used on it.  One other bonus is it winds up being a lot cheaper in the long run (especially if you grew it yourself), than if you bought it already butchered, pre-frozen, or processed (as in jams, pickles, etc..). The initial cost is in equipping yourself with the necessary equipment, bottles, etc in the beginning, but once you have those things, you're good to go for many years to come. All the bottles and jars can be reused, - you just need new lids and rings for them. So after the initial investment most of the rest of the "investment" is your time and energy. If you're not working because of the pandemic, that might be one way to fill some hours of boredom and cut down on cost while you're doing it to buy in bulk and then take care of the food yourself.

That's another reason why I like making my own ice cream, because that way I know what's in it. So far the only things that've gone into my ice creams are the cream, milk, sugar, fruit or mint and now I think I'll be adding in about 1oz of vodka (so that it's not rock solid when we take it out of the freezer to serve).  I know there's no weird additives and emulsifiers etc in it. Just the stated ingredients above and the mint is only when I make mint ice cream and not in every ice cream I make.

Now for a few of the headlines about this perpetual pandemic....

Nearly half of Brazilians say Bolsonaro not to blame for coronavirus death toll, poll says  I seriously can not understand how a population can let politicians who alone hold the power to open or close their borders, off the hook for this pandemic if they failed to keep the virus out by closing their borders. So yes, basically all the politicians in the world are to be blamed, especially if they had health officiers who told them to close the borders, but they refused to listen. Or as in Canada's case, where the health officiers and health minister are complicit with our leader Trudeau who held the sole authority to close Canada's borders, but he refused to and the 2 airheads Tam & Hajdu went along with him.

5 castles in the UK you can tour virtually for a positively aristocratic 'vacation' from your couch  I know it's not the same as actually going there and being there, but during the pandemic this may be the closest you'll be able to get until it's over. So enjoy your virtual castle tours. 



Firm Running Coronavirus Database Refuses to Answer Senators' Questions  If this was in Canada I'd have a lot to say about this...






Some people listen to health experts, others ignore them: What it means for America's future with COVID-19 Alia E. Dastagir USA TO   Well I'm not a health "expert" per se, but I was a nurse and so therefore have enough medical knowledge to know when I'm being fed a load of bull and when I ought to pay attention or even show some reverence and admire their genius, knowledge, integrity &  honesty (whichever). However, to-date, I have found absolutely nothing almost to pay attention to, let alone show reverence or admiration for, save the one "confession" of a nurse talking about the use of respirators on individuals with this virus who's open letter I copied and pasted into one of the blog entries here. 

Because honestly up until then there was utterly no truth surrounding this "plandemic" at all.  Everything was mismanaged from the get go and then when you see that almost all countries (except the 3rd world countries who couldn't afford all these lockdowns and shutdowns and so managed to keep the virus out of their countries by shutting their borders in January when the Chinese announced the epidemic in Wuhan) were basically in collusion and did everything in lockstep. From deciding that maybe they should close their borders after the virus had a good 4-5 months of time to spread, to telling everyone that they don't need masks (even though it's a respiratory illness) and to just wash their hands, and then whoops going into lockdowns basically on the same frigging day, everywhere (March 15th) and then at the end of May letting everyone out, supposed to be slowly but some people's pants were on fire for a good time and so couldn't control themselves and stop themselves from going ape-poop wild, the first chance they had.  Then in or around mid to late July everyone around the world (except in China) were ordered to start wearing masks and in some places even at home (how that would be policed I'm not sure). So does that mean they had to wear their masks while sleeping? How about showering? Or making love? What about eating?  I mean some places just went a little overboard with stringency, I think.  And for what? They've already proven that most masks are useless given all the "blow holes" around the sides, top and bottom of them. So what's the point?  Click on the "do masks work?" label in the right side column to be taken to the article about that, for the "blow holes" clarification.

Despite the fact that they're trying to kill the economy and so won't need automatons like the little automatons schools are geared to churning out, they decided to reopen the schools anyhow, because the few that still do have jobs needs somewhere to send their kids while they go to work.

That is maybe why a lot of people are ignoring the so-called "health experts" because they realize that the only thing those "experts" are "expert" at are towing the government BS line and lying their faces off. That this whole thing was planned in collaboration and collusion with each other at the UN level with Gates and the WEF's help and it was more to kill the economies and the seniors off than anything else.

All you have to do to see how much of a lie they're telling you is when they try to compare this to the Spanish 1918 flu. Back then there were 50 million deaths world wide.  Currently world wide there's 807,000 deaths, with 23.3 million cases. Okay? So there's not even half the amount of cases globally as there were deaths from the Spanish Flu. There were 500 million cases of it globally. We're not even anywhere near that number. Neither are the deaths to cases ratios even remotely close. So this BS comparison of the Spanish Flu and COVID19 by the so-called "experts" has to stop. 

Like I said the only things they excel in and thus can be called experts in is towing the governments lines and lying. Period. End of freaking story.

I am not saying people aren't getting sick and dying from this disease. What I'm saying is that it's nowhere near as bad as they're making it out to be, to keep you fearful and thus obedient. Because if you start to realize it's not even half as bad as they're making it out to be and start flouting their laws and directives then they've lost control of the situation  regarding the lockdowns and collapsing of the economies (which from all I've seen and can gather are the main objectives along with cutting down on the weakest and most feeble elements of the population along the way). Then everyone will be demanding for the lockdown measures to be lifted and for everyone to be allowed to go back to work and school as per usual, so their lives can resume on a normal even keel. But as long as they can keep you scared and compliant you won't be making such demands, and they'll be able to take the time needed to let the economies slowly collapse without causing too much of an upheaval (kind of like putting the frog in cold water and slowly turning the heat up, rather than dumping it in an already hot pot of water and watching it trying to jump out). 

Quarantine FOMO: Why you may still fear missing out, even when everything is canceled  I honestly don't know how you can have a fear of missing out on things that are cancelled.... How does that work? I know you can pine for and miss things you used to do but can't anymore or wish something wasn't cancelled so you could still go to it. But I wouldn't call any of that "fear", sadness and anxiousness maybe but not fear. 


Vaccines are safe. But huge numbers of people around the world say they wouldn't take a Covid jab Other vaccines may be safe, but that doesn't necessarily follow that the COVID one is. But on top of that we have the Gate Foundation meddling in almost all the vaccines outside of Russia, so that might be, the safest one despite how fast it was made and produced might be the safest of them all (and it's probably not safe either but probably currently is safer than anything made using money or influence from the Gates Foundation, even if those are tested rigorously).



Dr. Theresa Tam presents pair of infection-rate scenarios, warns of COVID-19 cases continuing into 2022  Before you listen to anything coming out of this vile genocidal witch's mouth, remember she's one of the 3 co-conspirators that allowed this virus into the country in the first place instead  of instituting good medical practices at shutting the border and quarantining the entire country from any potential carrier wishing to cross the border into Canada, before it was too late. Like I've been saying, anyone that spent a half hour in med school would've known that and to do that, but she didn't. So I question her credentials to begin with and demand to know which Cracker Jack Box she got her license out of and if she does have a bonafide license to practice medicine then she needs to be arrested and tried for negligence causing mass murder if not genocide. Her, Haggydodo and bozo brains Trudeau. All 3 of them should be tried for that, as they're all complicit. There's many other things we can charge Trudeau with if that one doesn't stick, I'm sure.

Quebec cases surpass 61K after announcing more than 80 in past 24 hours   I'm sure it's more than that by now though.

Rights group worries Quebec employers might demand workers use COVID-19 tracer app  This "plandemic" has just become too convenient for everyone who'd wish to track us, lock us down, throw us out of a job, keep our kids from developing normal social skills, having fun and learning and otherwise oppress us in some way or another. 


Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney advising PM on COVID-19 economic response   Finally, someone who's capable of not only chewing gum while tying his shoes, but also thinking finances and economics on a professional level all at the same time. Maybe we'll have a chance now!

Seth Rogen tells B.C.'s young people to 'smoke weed and watch movies' instead of partying  Thing is though part of the fun of smoking weed was because it was taboo.... Now that it's not, they have to find something else fun to do that's taboo.... Ergo partying during a pandemic.

India to invest $1.46 trillion to lift virus-hit economy   I'm just glad I'm not one of their taxpayers who'll be on the hook to repay this...




Suspected COVID-19 exposure on two Toronto to Halifax flights Okay, if they were to try to drive there with Ontario license plates on their car they wouldn't be allowed into the "Atlantic Bubble", but if they board a plane from Toronto going there, they're allowed in. Why? What's the difference? Isn't that being mega hypocritical to not only the residents of those provinces trying to pretend you're not letting anyone in, when in reality you are, while telling others if you want to fly in that's okay but don't drive here because then our residents will know you're from outside the bubble and bust our butts for letting you in???? Because that's what this seems like to me.



Corbella: Alberta man died from the lockdown, not COVID-19  We're hearing more and more of these horror stories lately. I would dearly love to know how many people died not because they had COVID19, but because of the measures put in place because of COVID19? Though, I doubt we'll ever find out. 

Higher prices? Non-refundable reservations? How COVID-19 might change restaurants  It's true I don't go to the most expensive restaurants in or around Montreal because I can't afford to, but the ones I have made reservations to go to, don't request deposits or money down and none of the ones I've gone to have charged more for anything (not that I noticed anyhow - the prices seem to be in line with what we paid before, as far as I can remember). And the ones that we ordered from during the lockdown gave us a discount if we went and picked it up ourselves otherwise the standard prices applied even we had it delivered. But none of the restaurants used services like "Skip the Dishes" or "Doordash", they all had their own delivery men who were the employees of the restaurant in question.



The most popular outing of pandemic summer 2020: Getting a COVID-19 test  OMG ***groan*** what has the world come to when the most popular outing is getting a COVID19 test? Just shoot me now and put me out my misery, if that's the case. Talk about all the fun being sucked out of life.... What's the point of living if that's the most fun you have or can have during the summer?




'I can drink beer in public': Coder pokes fun at Edmonton mask exemption cards with DIY website  hehehe.... Some of them are pretty good. Too bad the city stopped making exemption cards. 

Here's When We Will Get Back to Normal, Bill Gates Says, and What It Will Take to Get There  Because that's when his vaccines that he's invested in, will be ready and not before.

COVID-19 cases in Toronto schools are inevitable, says public health. Here’s what parents can expect to happen  If grown adults can't realize that on their own, they have no business having kids because they're too stupid to think for themselves let alone raise kids.



ISIS accused of selling fake PPE online to finance terrorism  Well of course DAESH would have to find a way to take advantage of this pandemic that's already causing enough problems and deaths globally.



Coronavirus and humidity: Number of cases rise as air gets drier, study shows  Oh really???? I think I can dispel this obviously erroneous idea,  right here and right now, using Canada and our varying climate as a perfect example in which to do so.... In the summertime in Canada it gets equally hot across Canada, I mean that it will be 30 odd C as much in BC, as in AL, SK, MN, ON, QC, NB, & NS (provinces located north of those not so much). I personally have lived all across this country of ours and I can tell you without a doubt that Ontario and Quebec are like freaking jungles in the summertime. We get boiled alive rather than baked alive. We have wicked humidity in the summertime in those two provinces, by comparison Saskatchewan and Manitoba are like freaking deserts with little to no humidity. Just today for example here in the Montreal region it was 26 C but felt like 34C  with the humidity factored in, whereas in Regina it was 25C and felt like 25C because there was no humidity. Now bear with me for a few minutes more and I'll prove the difference in numbers not only between QC & ON with SK but also MN as well....  

As of today's date August 23, 

Quebec had 61,673 cases, and 5,740 deaths,  
Ontario had 41,402 cases and 2,797 deaths. 
Saskatchewan (1 of the 2 driest provinces in Canada) had 1,600 cases & 22 deaths and 
Manitoba (the 2nd of the 2 driest provinces) had 944 cases & 12 deaths.  

So if dryness equates more cases, you'd think that both Sask and Man would have a higher number of cases and deaths than either Ontario or Quebec does, given that they're the 2 driest provinces in Canada.

So, oh well, there goes that theory out the window now.... So that's another "expert" theory you pay little to no attention to, as well. That's what I'm saying I believe half these so-called "experts" don't know diddly-squat about anything and just make garbage up out of thin air and try to present it as fact just to make themselves look good, like as if they actually know something no one else does, but I don't think they actually take any time to find out if it's true or not.



More Americans Go Hungry Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, Census Shows   Just these 2 headlines (this & the one directly above) should show a huge disconnect in relation to how this "plandemic" affects people differently.  



Defund the police? It’s already happening thanks to the Covid-19 budget crunch

NBA, Yale land the COVID testing breakthrough the NFL (and the general U.S. public) has been hoping for

Alberta family says it took 8 days to hear from contact tracers after positive COVID-19 tests  Obviously the health authorities aren't in a panic about containing this virus, so that gives you a good idea on how serious it really is. If they can be that lackadaisical about it, then I don't see why the general public can't be too.

Jeremy Clarkson verbally abused for shopping without wearing a face mask  Oh no! 😱

How Covid Sends Some Bodies to War With Themselves Not another one. There's already plenty of diseases and conditions that causes bodies to war with themselves.

Struggling Farmers Work With Overwhelmed Food Banks to Stay Afloat

Coronavirus: Hundreds gather in Madrid for anti-mask protest

New Zealand: Jacinda Ardern delays election over coronavirus fears  She's doing this and it seems to be alright with the world, no one's making a big bruhaha out of it, like they did when Trump suggested doing the same with the American election.  Guess it's alright for liberal governments to do that but not so much for republican or conservative governments huh?

Few signs of collective mourning as the US tops 170,000 coronavirus deaths  So then that should lead you to wonder if those numbers are real or bogus made up numbers to increase the severeity of it in the public's minds eye or what. Because you'd think if they were real numbers there would definitely be collective mass mourning going on there, but as they said here there's few signs of that.





















Tuesday, May 19, 2020

This Long Weekend

Brought Some Rays of Sunshine, Life, Musings

and a Yearning For Some Fun 😎

May 18, 2020

Wow! Who could help going out this long weekend? It was beautiful out there! The sun was shining, plants were coming out of their winter hibernation and it was starting to look a lot more like spring with green grass & leaves everywhere! Just gorgeous! It was so dismal and boring looking at these walls all the time, that it was nice just to get outside. To see neighbours across the fence and say hi, to give the dogs a bit of exercise, to see people out and about and enjoying themselves on their bikes, skateboards, rollerblades, pushing the stroller, or walking the dog/s. I didn't realize so many people lived in our area, until recently. 🏃

We got some more plants for our garden, besides the ones I mentionned on the blog the other day. This time I got some spinach, peppers, brussels sprouts and kale I believe. Plus I picked up some seeds for eggplant - they're supposed to mature in 88 days - which is less than 3 months. So they should be ready to be harvested near the end of August if I plant them now. The ones I bought as seedlings last year at a nursery weren't even half decent sized by the time we had our heavy frost last year, so they were still tiny. Apparently the seeds are supposed to produce big eggplants that can be harvested in less than 3 months after planting. So we shall see.  🍆

It looks like I'll be planting at least one full garden if not both this year, starting tomorrow and ending whenever I finish. But as I'm super susceptible to heat, and as we have only 2 seasons (winter & hell)  here with a couple of days of mild temperatures inbetween, I don't have much time for planting or doing much of anything without being severely affected by the heat. So it'll get done, when it gets done. 🌿

Normally this long weekend in May we'd be buying our plants to plant and if I didn't decide to plant them right away, we'd be going out to do things, like sight seeing, visiting friends or family, having BBQs, or looking for something fun to do, like going out to see a movie, or if there was a midway around, spending a couple hours and dollars there having fun (well it was mostly me having fun, because my husband's "too tough & cool" for that).  😆 Hey, what can I say? I'm still a big kid at heart. It was more fun when the kids were around because we had them as the excuse to indulge in things like that and to accompany me on the rides.  This year though everything's closed up tighter than childproof medicine bottles.  🎢

So the only "fun" to be had is of our own making. So other than buying the plants and taking a little drive and picking up a take out meal, that's it, but it doesn't quite do it. So I think I'm going to try to indulge in more online fun. Won't you come along with me? 🎥 🎶 🎪 🎨

Hit the World's Best Beaches With These 360-Degree Virtual Experiences Who doesn't love beach vacations? Being from NS myself and a few minutes walk away from an oceanside beach, growing up, I was spoiled. I love everything about the beach oceanside, or not, even fresh water lake beaches are fine. I love the whole experience of watching the tide come in, swimming, watching the tide go out, combing the beach for seashells and digging for clams, building sand castles, getting buried in the sand up to my neck, or just lying still on a towel soaking in the sun's rays. Of course the tide, seashells and clam digging won't be a feature from fresh water lakes, but if there's sand, sand castles and being buried in the sand is still a possibility. Kids and teens generally like to also play badminton, volley ball and dodge ball on the beach as well. Then there's making a day of it, and bringing a picnic to have on the beach blanket as well. Going to the beach (any beach) has always been one of my favourite things to do as I love swimming and all the rest of it as well. 🏊

ORBIT - A Journey Around Earth in Real Time [ 4K Remastered ]  Now how about this out of this world tour!?! It's an orbit around the earth in an hour & a half's time. I would imagine this virtual tour was made aboard the space station by one of the astronauts. Who is to be thanked for providing such a unique experience. It's probably the closest and only chance us mere mortals will ever have to orbit the earth without paying mega bucks to go up there personally. Now this alone will probably make up for everything being closed up tighter than childproof medicine bottles. 🚀

FLYING OVER NORWAY (4K UHD) 1HR Ambient Drone Film + Music by Nature Relaxation™ for Stress Relief  Music for stress relief included. Who doesn't need that these days? I chose this northern country to visit virtually because my ancestors from centuries ago are said to have been from there. So being the curious type I wanted to see why they'd leave there and head to other parts unknown (back then it was unknown to them for sure). ✈

FLYING OVER SCOTLAND (Highlands / Isle of Skye) 4K UHD Drone Film + Healing Music for Stress Relief You guessed it, if you guessed this was because my ancestors were from here, given that I'm from NS and my ancient ancestors were of Norse origins. Curiousity kills this cat and only satisfaction will bring it back. ✈

Who can resist such bright beautiful plumage  as found on these birds? 🐦

5K African Wildlife - Kruger National Park in South Africa - 1.5 HRS Now let's go on a visual African Safari, while relaxing watching the animals. 🐘

The Kingdom of Bhutan. Aerial 360 video in 4K A mini exotic vacation in Bhutan. 🌏

360 video, Greenland. Island of Icebergs. 4K aerial video This would be a nice place to visit on one of those devillishly hot days coming up. Too bad we can't actually feel the cold through this video, that would be so awesome if we could. Then I'd be playing it all summer long. ☃

Detian Falls, China & Vietnam border. Aerial 360 video in 5K Another mini excursion in virtual 360 to some pretty water falls bordering China & Vietnam ⛰

 360°, The Golden Ring of Russia Air-Balloon Festival. 4К aerial video  This is mostly for blog visitors more than for me. I went up in one of those balloons. Many Canadians will know it as the Re/Max balloon. Once was enough - more than enough actually for me. I couldn't wait to get back down on the ground, because I kept feeling like I was going to fall out of the basket, because that's what it is. A basket, with the sturdiness of an actual basket made out of reeds under your feet. There's no solidness there. Then to top it off, the basket isn't even waist high and I'm not exactly the tallest person out there. So I spent my entire time clinging for dear life to one of the ropes that attaches the basket to the balloon itself, hoping I didn't fall out, before we got back down on the ground. I have lots and lots of opportunities given to me (that I would never be able to afford if I had to pay for them myself) and that one was the scariest. I was too busy trying to remain in the basket to enjoy anything to do with it. So never again, for me. But there are those who love the whole experience, to them, I say whatever turns your crank. 🎈

 360°, Carnival of Venice, Italy. 4К video In this virtual video experience you get to glide through the canals on a gondola, on your way to the carnival. The gondola trip is rather relaxing to watch. 🎭

 360°, Eruption of Plosky Tolbachik Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia, 4K aerial video Have you ever wanted to take a helicopter trip over a live volcano? If you have but didn't want to risk your life doing it, you can safely experience what it must be like here. 🌋

If you like the Northern Lights you'll like this video. Though I think it would've been nicer filmed in real time, for a half hour or so. So those who've never seen the northern lights can see how they really shimmer and dance in the sky.  🌌

China, Colourful mountains of the Zhangye Danxia Geopark, 12K aerial 360 video Very pretty mountainous area that I never knew about before. ⛰

St. John Trunk Bay in VR on the Rocks  A very pretty little beach on the Virgin Islands. ⛱

South Africa - Safari in Kruger National Park in 360 VR  Take a ride through Kruger National Park and see the animals.

Greece - Scooter ride Rhodos in 360 VR Virtual 360 degree scooter ride along scenic coastline and through villages 🚴

Experience Athens 360 video- A walk around Acropolis If you've ever wanted to visit Athens Greece, you can pay a virtual visit via this interactive video. 🏦

Ship Cemetery in Truk Lagoon in 360 format, Micronesia. 8K underwater video  Those who like scuba diving might enjoy this interactive virtual video. 🚢

Animals of Galápagos archipelago, Ecuador. 360 video in 5K I love those giant galapagos turtles, that's why I wanted this 360 virtual video. 🐢

Sahara Desert, Algeria. Aerial 360 video in 5K It's just curiousity about the desert, navigation through it, living surrounded by it etc, that induced me to try this video. 🐪

Hong Kong. City of Skyscrapers. Aerial 360 video in 4K If you've ever wondered what it was like in Hong Kong, but were never able to go and see it for yourself, this will give you a glimpse into it. 🏢

Jurassic World The Ride Front Seat (4K POV) Universal Studios Hollywood This might substitute in some small way for the missed midways this year. 🐲


Simpsons Ride - Full Experience at Universal Studios Florida This is something we'd have a hard time dragging our daughter away from, for sure.  💬

Studio Tour, Universal Studios Hollywood Instead of a midway, how about a tour of a movie studio lot? 🎬

VR180 Virtual Dive Great Barrier Reef | Underwater 5.7K for Oculus Quest Another virtual tour for divers - this time off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. 🏊

Wild Dolphins VR / 360° Video Experience Maybe like an old friend of mine, you've always wanted to swim with dolphins. If so, this might give you somewhat of an idea of what that might be like. 🐬

Meditation VR - Temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia (6K 360 VR Video)  Of course you can always meditate with this virtual tour, or you can virtually visit the Angkor Wat temples.  🙏

Cancun and Maya Temples in Mexico Guided Tour (360 VR Video) A scenic tour of Cancun and a visit to Mayan Temples in the area. 🗿

Discover Bangkok: A Guided City Tour (360 VR Video) Check out the beautiful temples while taking the tour.  🌇




Saturday, May 2, 2020

Trying to Blow Off Some Steam

And Have Some Fun

May 2, 2020

Since the lockdown is loosening up, we thought we'd have a little "fun" today by inviting our son & his wife over for a BBQ dinner in the front yard where all the prying eyes of the neighbourhood could keep close watch on us, in case... We wanted to see his motorcycle that he just picked up earlier this week and they wanted to go for a ride on it and show us, so we combined the visit to show us the bike with the BBQ.  Normally I wouldn't use the disposable dishes when hosting a dinner, but COVID19 gave me the perfect excuse to be lazy, while claiming it was for safety. That way they disposed of their dishes and stuff directly into our garbage themselves.  Everything basically went off with only a few hitches, fortunately none of them were snitchy neighbours. That's one thing I have to say, I have always loved this area for, are the really great neighbours we have surrounding us. Today was no exception.

Now that the kids have left, because it is getting rather chilly out there and might be too chilly to ride on a motorcycle too much longer tonight and I gathered that's what they wanted to do, as they came over as soon as she came home from work today so didn't get much chance to really go out for a ride and it's been raining pretty much all the time since they got the bike. It's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow and maybe Monday as well, so I can understand them wanting to go for a ride tonight even though it's rapidly cooling down outside. 

So now that I'm back inside and relaxing, I thought I'd check out some more fun sites and share them with my blog visitors who might be getting equally as bored as I am with the restrictions placed on day to day life, limiting what we can do and where we can physically go. They can't limit where we can visit virtually though (well yes they can technically and have, more about that tomorrow in tomorrow's post, for now though, we're all about fun).  So let's try to have more fun visiting even more places virtually. 

Cute Crafts Kids Can Make For Special Mothers Day Gifts  This will be fun for kids confined at home, and maybe for an adult to help them with.  There's a few unique looking gifts for them to make here. I like the fingerprint butterfly mug, myself.

Funny or Die They have a variety of information that's mostly funny and or just downright amusing, like a story about scientists teaching rats to drive - and showing a video clip of it there as well. After watching a polar bear try to play ball with a couple of men the other day and then rats driving.... I'm beginning to think it's good animals can't communicate as effectively as us and have opposing thumbs like us, or we'd be in trouble. Big trouble.

The Onion   Where you get to read headlines like this: Biden Addresses Sexual Assault Allegations: "My Advisors Told Me to Say They Aren't True".   hehehe.... He sounds almost as bright as the daft dimwit we have running Canada. I guess that's the calling card of liberals or democrats, the super low IQs they require in order to run for the parties.

9GAG: Go Fun the World  There's some pretty entertaining and amusing clips, pictures and articles here. Check out the Canada link. 😄

Comedy Central Stand-Up  This is a YouTube channel with lots and lots of stand up comedy videos. 

Dilbert Homepage  Dilbert's comic strips online. 

The Laughline Thousands Of Really Funny Jokes To Make You Laugh If you need or want more laughs there's lots here too.

Netflix Party  For Chrome users you can now watch Netflix shows with others remotely. So if you are missing your movie get togethers with friends (whether that's going out to theatres together as  group, or getting together as a group to watch movies at home together), you can now do it, at least with Netflix using the Chrome browser.

Watch2Gether Allows Chrome users to watch YouTube, Vimeo, Twitch, Soundclap and Netflix together.

This is what a review of this site had to say about it: 
 Metastream lets you watch Netflix with friends via a web browser. The company has not developed standalone desktop or mobile apps. As well as Netflix, several other mainstream video sites are supported, including YouTube, Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Twitch.
In addition to synced Netflix playback, the Metastream interface provides a chatbox and video queuing for continuous watching. Inviting friends to join your Netflix party is as simple as sharing a private code.
Before you can use Metastream, you will need to download and install the accompanying browser extension. Extensions are available for Chrome and Firefox.

Vsauce Videos that feed the curious and illuminate the amazing  A YouTube channel with lots of content to educate & entertain.

Mental Floss  A large variety of articles and information. When I saw the article about 9 things you can make in your instant pot and since I have one, I was intrigued. When I got there and discovered I could make wine using my instant pot, that was it, I had to bookmark it for future reference.

Cracked  Humour site with political content

Attack of the Cute  Lot of cute pictures of kitties, bunnies and doggies among other cuties.

Lifehacker Do Everything Better  They try to provide life hacks to make life easier or better or both.

This Is Why I'm Broke  For the professional window shopper, who can't resist browsing items that are for sale.

Overstock  Upscale bargain hunting online.

Thisissand - art, creativity and relaxation  If you liked making sandart as a kid, you can now continue  in digital form.

PopCap Games  Where you can play several different games online for free.

Bigpoint Games More online games that seem to be a little faster paced than the others at PopCap, probably better suited to a younger crowd like the young adults and teens.

TED Ideas Worth Spreading Inspirational talks on just about anything or lectures on various subjects can be heard here.

Later on this week, there will be more virtual tours coming up, and I hope to devote a whole page to cooking and various cuisines of the world. And as this blog is about COVID19 more of that, as there never seems to be an end to it. Though it was fun pretending at least for the time the kids were here, that there was finally an end to it. It'll be nice though when there finally is an end to it!  Until then, I guess I'll be doing my utmost to stay on top of all the COVID19 news, at least so far as it affects us here in Canada, and trying to lighten the mood every now and then with articles providing some relief from the gloom & doom in the form of links to various sites of interest, and other information that I find that I think might provide some benefit in some way to me or the visitors here.










Sunday, April 26, 2020

Let's Virtually Visit Animals


🐘At Some Online Zoos and Watch Their 

Animal Cams For Fun🐋

April 26, 2020

A couple of days ago, I said I'd post some animal cams sites here for visitors to my blog to visit virtually.  I am finally getting around to doing it, now. There's a lot of zoo links with educational content about the animals they have which your grandchildren might find of interest - maybe even you too. But animal cams are what I'm all about. I'd rather just watch animals doing their thing, than going through the zoo exhibits online, but I'm posting both because this blog isn't just for me, it's for anyone that wishes to use it, including kids.  So please enjoy.


Live Sea Lion Cam There are other animal cams at this site as well. 

Penguin cam  This is one of the cams from the Vancouver Aquarium that you can also visit virtually from this link.

Sea Otter cam Another cam from the Vancouver Aquarium focused on sea otters.

Beluga Whale Cam Who can resist this cam?

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary  A Zoo site in Brisbane Australia featuring the unique wildlife of Australia, with platypuses, koalas, and kangaroos and much more.


Taronga Zoo Sydney  Another Australian zoo with lots of exotic animals even tree kangaroos and sun bears. Never heard of or saw either of those animals before. So I learnt something today from my brief visit there. Will have to go back and spend more time there as soon as I have the time to spend there. 

San Diego Zoo Kids  Ohhhh a "sloth bear"..... Wow, I'm learning about all kinds of animals I never heard of before. When it comes to animals I'm like a kid - I love them. So I'm going to pretend I'm a big kid so I can go back and visit this site more thoroughly too.

Videos - San Diego Zoo Kids various educational videos about their animals at the zoo.

Houston Zoo This page shows the animals in their care, where you can find out information on each of the species by clicking on each of the pictures.

Houston Zoo Webcams They have a few webcams set up so you can see, 7 different animals from gorillas, elephants & ants to flamingos.

Monterey Bay Aquarium A virtual visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where you can see all the sea creatures in their care and learn about them via interactive portions of the site.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Live Cams  hosts 10 different cams where you can watch everything from the open sea to sharks and even an aviary cam that watches birds at the aquarium. 

Paignton Zoo & Animal Wildlife This is a zoo located in the UK, that apparently hosts a fire breathing dragon. I thought the knights of olde already slayed all of those beasts. I guess they didn't get them all then, if there's one at this zoo.

Paignton Zoo's Live Animal Webcams Here you can virtually spy on the activities of the meerkat, flamingo and macaques.  The meerkats are the ones I want to spy on here.

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens You can take a virtual tour of their zoo and botanical gardens via this link. The botanical gardens is a nice addition. I might try to search out other botanical garden sites, wondering there's any of Japan's gardens... Hmmmmm.... Something else to look for then....

Discover Ouwehands Zoo This is a zoo located in the Netherlands that currently has a bear exhibition online, featuring pandas and polar bears and other types.

Ouwehands Zoo Panda Cam In case the Calgary Zoo's panda cam isn't working you can visit this one or vice versa. 

Ouwehands Zoo Kids Page Here you can find and download printable colouring pages for the kids to colour, when the colouring books are finished perhaps these extra pages will provide some more quiet time for the kids to do something quietly.