Hogwarts Uses Canada Post!

Well, this will be attempt #3.... I will have to roll back and delete this Internet Explorer Ver. 8 Beta I am testing as a HUGE blog I just wrote got all scrunched up into one line when I tried to add a photo... and it was gone! Poof! Just like Harry Potter might make a cockroach disappear. And then gone again... POOF POOF!!! (now I need to add photos...)

This has been a very busy two weeks; We've been winterizing, and getting ready for the new year. Last week Mayu and I took a mid-week driving trip to Tokyo for some family business (no worries, no condolences needed, thanks). This week we have been busy winterizing the house in a different way than usual.

When we get heavy snowfalls, the snow from the roof of the house can break things if it breaks off. Three winters ago, the sunroom roof exploded when a big chunk fell off the peak of the roof onto it. Also, as there are barely any overhangs, when the snow hits the deck, it is often perilously close to the sliding glass doors. And if it falls or bounces the wrong way, we could be looking at major damage.

It hasn't snowed much at all since that huge snow of three years ago, so we could be getting some big snow this year. It often happens that our snow patterns follow North America by about two weeks. So if you look at heavy snowfalls in the midwest, two weeks later we often have ours. And I don't want to be out there changing my tires, or cleaning glass out of our living room just because a big chunk decided to fall the wrong way.

I took these leantos you can see here, and affixed them to the deck, and to each other. But because we also get winds here, due to the angle, they can easily blow off. And if they are affixed only to the deck, that means they will go vertical, then fall the other way, damaging the deck as they crash against Dickhead's concrete wall and explode, quite possibly bouncing into our glass doors, and exploding them, too. That wouldn't be nice.

So, I took our bazillion kg deck chairs that even Mayu can't lift and bound the leantos to the three chairs, and now I cannot budge them. SO... I think we are good. The added benefit is that during the day the sun reflects off of them and Dickhead's Dad cannot come peering in like he often tries to do. I like these so much that I may even keep them up until the end of March!

Today I went into town to pick up my video camera that needed some repairs. On the way in I saw a store I hadn't noticed before and took a stop for a look-see. They had a lot of really great furniture, knicknacks, pottery, beds, wall hangings, drapes, fabric, and a ton of other stuff. I really enjoyed visiting.

The thing that caught my eye, though, was THIS plastic post box!

I was attracted strongly to it, however the $400 price tag is too rich for my blood. And really, the inside box is only good for letters, not for boxes, or any care packages that people may send this way.

But I loved it! And the first thing I thought became the title for this blog: Hogwarts Uses Canada Post!

Have a great end of the week, and I hope you don't freeze your asses off in the winter!

I love you!

Cam