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As you can tell by the image that accompanies this particular blog, I am already in the spirit of Halloween. I will not, however, be out trick-or-treating in a blonde wig, which I’m sure the population of Thamesford will be forever grateful.
My sister and nephew came down this past weekend. Normally they come down on a Saturday and leave Sunday but with Jack home for reading week and Cathy taking a day off, they came down Sunday and went home Monday. It totally threw Mom and I for a loop as all week it seemed like Monday was a holiday. (Admittedly it was Talladega Weekend so it was sort of a holiday, at least in my culture!) Cathy and Jack were barely in the door and we were off to London to the antique and collectibles store that’s across from the former Kellogg’s plant (I forget the name of it), Value Village and three different pet outlets. (We’re sorta-but-not-really-but-maybe looking to get another cat. At this point, it’s a purchase we’re probably putting off until the New Year.) On Monday morning, we went to the One of A Kind Antique Mall in Woodstock to see what they had there. As you can see by the photo that accompanies this blog, we definitely had fun – perhaps a bit too much fun.
Believe it or not, for probably the first or second time ever, everyone got something – even my sister, Cathy, who is notorious for never buying anything. Jack meanwhile has turned into quite the thrifting fan so Nana and Uncle Johnny (with some help from his late Papa) have taught him well.
We had a great time over the weekend, with them tolerating me watching the Cup race on Sunday afternoon and playing Chromino that evening. Nana won!
It’s been a quiet week since then, with my Mom and I going to Ingersoll for groceries and some Alien tape to try and patch up the eavestrough and drainpipes (with mixed results as the afternoon rain shower showed and a reminder that the older I get, the less good I am with heights). We also went into London first thing this morning to go to Kal Tire to get the winter tires installed on the Milner Family Racing #3 Chevrolet. We’re all set for the snow to fly. Wait! No…we’re not!
I actually watched a bit of the World Series this past week. The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in five games. I was thinking of Bob Uecker when the final out was made. Normally, I would cheer for the American League team (since the Jays are in the American League but since my friend Lyz was cheering for the Brewers, who were in the American League for a long time, I decided to cheer for Milwaukee as well).
Ironically, Uecker wasn’t the only former Wrestlemania celebrity I was thinking about this past week. Susan St. James (who admittedly I remember better from Kate & Allie) who co-hosted the New York leg of Wrestlemania II with Vince McMahon, passed away.
Speaking of celebrity deaths, Star Trek actor Walter Koenig passed away and I learned something. He was the father of Andrew Koenig, who I knew best as Richard “Boner” Stabone on Growing Pains.
I’d make that Your Milner Moment for this week but I also discovered something else that I found rather interesting. Chloe, aka “the copy girl from the copy shop” that Ross slept with while he and Rachel were “on a break” in Friends was played by Angela Featherstone, who was born in Hamilton. (She also played Linda, Adam Sandler’s character Robby’s fiancé, in The Wedding Singer.)
Municipal Elections took place this past week in Ontario. Unlike certain elections, we were able to find out most of the winners within an hour of the polls closing. No word yet if any of the losing candidates are going to blame Russian collusion or just man/woman up and take the L. I was sorry to hear that Keith Milner (no relation that I know of) was unsuccessful in his bid to win the mayor’s seat in Norfolk County. I was shocked to hear that, after 38 years, Mike Bradley will no longer be mayor of Sarnia. As for here in Thamesford, I was 1 for 2 in terms of my votes. (Heck, I got better results in the election than my weekly NASCAR prediction, although to be fair I actually figured that my one vote was going to a candidate that would lose.)
I watched a lot of the results on Rogers TV which covered London, Strathroy, St. Thomas, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg and … I wanna say… Woodstock(?). I had to go on to social media to find out the results for Thamesford and Glencoe. I was a little shocked when the Rogers TV mentioned the voter turnout from the 2022 election and most of the major municipality had 30-40% turnouts. I mean, I get this isn’t the federal election and that’s all anyone really cares about (or more likely the U.S. election) but this will have an effect on your day-to-day lives just as much as the federal and provincial.
For me, I used the online voting and it took me significantly less than five minutes to vote. Admittedly, (a) I know that’s not an option in some municipalities and (b) some people prefer to have the opportunity to go to a polling station and physically fill out a ballot. Even so, I’ll argue that upwards of two-thirds of the voting public sitting out an election is a bad look, especially in this day and age.
As always, I hope everyone has a safe, healthy and happy week ahead and we’ll meet back here next Friday for my next update.
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