Something tragic happened late last week. (Okay, not really!) Last Friday, my Mom and I took a quick trip into London and, among other stops, to Talize. I bought a couple of NASCAR-related T-shirts (I know, what a surprise!). When I went to pay, however, I was informed that Talize offers a seniors discount…to anyone over 55! And so, for the first time in my life, I was given a seniors discount! I literally have never wanted to run into traffic so badly as I did at that moment.
Excuse me while I hit this…65 is the proper age to receive a seniors discount. That is the hill I am willing to die on…or at least I would, but damn it, at my age, I am too tired to be running up that hill. (And I can admit to knowing that Kate Bush song long before it appeared on Stranger Things….and I can also admit I almost referred to the show as Strange Days, which is actually the title of the Doors’ second album.)
Okay, in all seriousness, it’s been kind of a blah week, mostly due to the weather. With Monday being more or less the first official “work day” of 2026 (and yes, I know some people went back to work on the Friday), it was time for me to get back to work to getting back to work. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been working on my resume, portfolio (both print and web), and LinkedIn over the holiday break but I figured this would be when new job openings would be posted. Turns out, as I am with so many things, I was wrong. The job postings kinda trickled in throughout the week, with more towards the last day or so. (I sent off a couple this morning.) If people aren’t posting too many jobs yet in 2026, they must not be making decisions about their plans going forward as yet, because I haven’t heard anything one way or the other on any of the jobs I had applied to before the holiday break. So while I haven’t been called for any interviews, I also haven’t received any “Thanks but no thanks” replies either.
As anyone in Southwestern Ontario (which I would have expected most of my readers would be from, so I can’t explain why I got multiple hits from Ireland, as well as Texas, Nebraska, and North Carolina for my January 1st blog) knows, there were a couple of decent days, weather-wise, this past week, so my Mom and I took advantage of them. I stepped away from my desk to head to Ingersoll to help Mom get groceries and then, later in the week, we went to Woodstock to the One Of A Kind Antique Mall. As Mom has said, you get into what we call “the Three-Story” or just “Woodstock” and the rest of the world just melts away. There is definitely some sensory overload happening as you tour the store because there is just so much to look at and you really have to keep your eyes open, because there are hidden gems all over the place. Due to “my current financial situation,” I had to curtail my spending a little bit compared to other trips, but my Mom and I both came out with some treasures. Meanwhile, it was just nice to get out of the house, enjoy the sunshine enroute to and from Woodstock, and not be in front of the computer all day.
As per usual, I have a ton and a half of things on my “To Do” list, so I will keep working away on it this weekend. Can’t wait for the Rolex 24 from Daytona on January 24, since I actually might be able to watch the whole thing (or as much of it as I can stay awake for, since it is a 24-hour race) and Tommy Milner (no relation, I don’t think) will be driving the #4 Corvette. It is one of only two non-stock car races I watch each year, the other being the Indianapolis 500.
I mean to reference this earlier but for Christmas, I received The Irresistible Force: The Life and Times of Gorilla Monsoon by Brian R. Solomon. I’ve been reading it off and on over the last couple of weeks but it is really good. So far, it isn’t isn’t one of those “Let’s dig up all the skeletons” biographies that trash someone long after they’ve past. Since I really only knew Gorilla as the voice of the WWF in the 1980s (but was a huge fan of his work, even at a time when the “Apter mags” would trash him) while I knew that he had been a wrestler prior to his time behind the mic, reading this book definitely fills in a lot of the gaps of my knowledge of Monsoon’s in-ring career.
Rather than give you my full review now, I’ll point you in the direction of Paul Sutter’s video review for Shelf Life Magazine. Paul’s a long-time wrestling fan and the Editor/Publisher of Shelf Life so you know he’ll do the review justice.
I was happy to see several people respond to my discussion of the Facebook post I saw that joked that the #1 song on your 10th birthday will be an indication of how your 2026 will be. (I always like to know that someone is reading and paying attention out there.) As always, if you have an opinion on anything mentioned here, drop me a line on Facebook Messenger – either by text or voice message – or via email.
Wondering where all the other blog entries went? Read my previous blog posts here.
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