The Maple Leaf Rag

I went up the old Scarborough City Hall today to get a flu shot. It seems that the City of Toronto has clinics set up at different places to give people free flu shots. Every year they send people over to check on the current strains of flu and create a vaccination that, hopefully, will prevent people from getting sick.

This is all free, we didn't even have to show any identification or cards or anything. There was a form to fill out but you could say anything on the form, no one checked. You didn't have to be a citizen, just show up and get a needle. It didn't even hurt! My right arm is a bit sore now, though, but that's normal. I think my body is fighting the flu virus which is what gives me the immunity. That's what a vaccination does, right? 

Well, I hope I don't get the flu this year. Touch wood! I haven't had any flu for quite a few years. Sure, I've had colds but not a flu. The difference is fever. If you have a fever, you have the flu. I always get aches and pains and then a high fever but I haven't had that for years, thank goodness! I hope you guys don't get sick either. 

Thanks for reading!

Here in Canada, we changed the time back this morning at 2 AM or so. In the spring we will change it forward again. Every year we change our time twice. This is the good one. We get an extra hour of sleep! Yay!

My old alarm clock changed time by itself. Since my daughter went off to university, she needed to get up for classes so she took my fancy alarm clock and left me with an old one that doesn't change the time automatically. 

Last night, I woke up at 4:30 old time and heard a noise. It seems that a raccoon had gotten into our empty swimming pool. There was a ladder there but the raccon had knocked it down when it went in and was now trapped in the pool. The walls are about 1 1/2 meters high, too high for a raccoon to jump. I saw the ladder on its side and the raccoon trying to stand on it to jump out. I was afraid that it would tear out the sides so I had to rush to save it. 

I woke up my wife for moral support and went to get a light. Once I had the light set up, I headed out with my wife cheering me on. Lo and behold the raccoon had somehow gotten out on its own. Relief! 

I headed back to bed thinking that it was almost morning but then I looked at the clock. It said it was 5 AM, not a great time to get  up but not too bad. Then I realized that it was REALLY 4 AM and I could still get some sleep...if I could settle down after the excitement of the raccoon. Thankfully, I slept until about 8:30 NEW TIME! hahahaha

Thanks for reading! 

I've been on Twitter for a few months now. It's a great way to waste time! Hahaha. Not really. Twitter is fun for many reasons but one of the best ones is because it can help you with your English. 

Depending on who you follow, you'll discover new words and phrases as well as being able to keep in touch with many famous people. Politics, education, entertainment as well as many word games can all be found on Twitter. 

One of the fun things that I do sometimes is to join in on the # games that go around. One of the latest ones has to do with putting a rock star's name with a well known product. One of the ones I remember is 'Boy George Foreman Grill'. If you don't know who Boy George is then the joke isn't very funny at all. 

Check out Twitter if it's available to you. I know it's blocked in China and maybe some other countries but if you're in Europe, it should be open. 

Make sure you follow people who use proper English. If you follow Rihanna, for instance, you will see that she uses many short forms, swear words and slang. But she is a lot of fun, just don't repeat the things you hear from her! Hahaha. 

Thanks for reading and let me know if you have questions or comments.