Dec 17 - politically correct

One of the interesting differences between Canada and the U.S. is what is deemed politically correct.

Here in Canada, wherever I go at this time of year, people wish me "Merry Christmas".  In the U.S., it's "Happy Holidays".  In the U.S., apparently, most non-Christian people would take exception to being wished Merry Christmas.  In Canada, non-Christians take those wishes in the spirit that they are communicated.

I expect that at some point "Happy New Year" will also be deemed politically incorrect in the U.S.  After all, some probably go by the Chinese New Year, which is different.  I'll bet that if someone actually started a movement in that regard, we could get some momentum going. 

I made a trip into Port Loring yesterday, picking up minnows and a few weeks worth of mail.  The temperature hovered around freezing most of the day and then finally started dropping; now down to 19F.  We got a couple of centimeters of snow.  I didn't bother setting out the ice fishing rigs as most of the action is usually in the morning.  I'll do that today.

I talked to the generator guy, doing some trouble shooting at this end.  Yes we have propane (loosened off one connection to ensure that some was coming through and there was no blockage in the line).  Yes the choke is working (saw that the flap closed while cranking).  He's going to have to make a visit.  He did say that if we had a power outage, he would come anytime day or night but without an emergency, it looks like he'll be here after Christmas.

In the meantime, I started the portable generator to make sure that it was working.  It took quite a few pulls and would probably be even worse today now that it's cold.  Perhaps I should run an extension cord up there and keep it warm ... I was trying to avoid that.  The chance of a power outage at this time of year is actually quite slim.  With the leaves off the trees they don't tend to blow down on the power lines between here and Loring and Hydro One is actually pretty good about restoring power quickly in this area.

There's really nothing else of note.

Onward !