Spaaahhh

Once again, right on time, it is my birthday again. *smirk* It was busy Saturday and relaxing Sunday. Saturday started early with a haircut, groceries, pet groceries then some yardwork. I think our Christmas lights are ready to go. I’ve replaced all the duds and put up two spotlights. I love the spotlights. The colours are red and green again, of course. The evening was quieter with a little housework and I got my amazing birthday presents from bdot. She gave me a handsome gray/black stitched sweater (which I’m wearing right now). With my weight going up and down a bit having a few new sweaters is awesome. Thanks hon (x2). The piece de resistance however was getting a Nexus 7! My first impressions of this is an amazing little piece of tech:

After using 10″ Android tablet for several months the 7″ form factor feels so much better for prolonged use it updated itself to Android 4.2 almost immediately so… Awesome. The pulldown notification shade is a beautiful design element. It merges both functionality with form. No back camera sucks but you can take awkward shots from the front camera it is a shame it doesn’t have SD storage. I got a 32G so I should be good for awhile however feels great to hold. the back has a nice texture the front glass attracts fingerprints and smudges like the Middle East attracts unrest still get the occasional force quit, but they are very rare; must less than on my Prime device seems adequately powered; I had a ton of stuff running and it handled it all with no slowdown I think the screen is sharp and video is great to watch in landscape since I’m hard on my tech I wanted to get an Otterbox for my Nexus. Unfortunately they don’t have any available???

The addition of the multiple users is a useful bonus for 4.2 battery life seems decent. So yeah, it is impressive, especially for the price. It seems like the perfect device for absorbing social media and interacting with the web.

I finally got around to watching The Dark Knight Rises. I’ve really enjoyed Jonathan Nolan’s gritty, darker Batman series and this final episode wasn’t an exception. The Bane character was a curious merging of strength and smarts with a streak of benevolence. There was plenty of action and a few interesting plot twists. The ending however was expected and pretty typical. I’ve sat through some dreadful ‘comedy/dramas’ starring Anne Hathaway so to see her like this kicking ass and chewing bubble gum, and doing it well, was surprising. And wow, what an outfit. There are a few movie series I’ve been sad to see end, the Bourne series, Indiana Jones and this. (I’m sure there are others too…) An enjoyable action movie that sets itself apart from typical action fare with gritty characters, setting and dark plot twists.⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sunday we drove up to Collingwood to spend the day at Le Scandinave. It was a chilly day, with some cold gusty winds but that did not deter us from enjoying the outdoors at the spa. There were definitely fewer people around the fires yesterday. I can’t resist however. Both bdot and I came home smelling like fireplace. There were a lot of times we were the only two around the fire. *snort* It was a relaxing day. We hit all the usuals, the dry sauna, the steam sauna , the hottubs… My massage was average. I think it was my least favourite I’ve had at the baths. *shrug* Unfortunately you really don’t know what you’ll get. Speaking of which… We ordered lunch there and I got, what looked like, grilled brussel sprouts. I BBQ spouts all the time and they can be delicious. Well… gawd, so I bite into one and it is nothing but tart, bitter, vinegar flavour. Absolutely disgusting… They grilled… then pickled?? the sprouts. Barf. I was hungry too, so that was rather disappointing. Just a minor thing. The day overall was what I, we, needed. By the time we were leaving the spa it was dark. We remarked how cool it was at the spa at night and thought it was a shame to be leaving. At some point we’ll have to stay late at the spa and get a room overnight in Collingwood. I’m not sure how old the roundabouts are on highway 26 coming into Collingwood, but they seem to move traffic along pretty well. I’m starting to see roundabouts more and more in Ontario. Hmmm. On the way home we stopped at the Collingwood Loblaws to pick up a few things. It’s a sharp store. We ended up getting far more junk that we should have. Once again it is a gamer’s paradise over at Steam as they are having another mega-sale. Steam sales are so evil.

Congrats to the Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgoooooooooooooooooooooos who won the 100th Gray Cup! At least Toronto sports’ fans have something to cheer about.