Dec 27 - downpour

The only outside action yesterday was the rain coming down.  Well, that's not completely true -- one of the flags went up twice within a few minutes around 4pm but the minnow was still there.  The other lost a minnow without the flag going up -- sneaky fish !

Outside, I took advantage of the low water levels and took some pictures along the shoreline, mostly focusing on the log placements/positions at the gazebo.  I also made a run into town, picking up some minnows.

Inside, I finished up my wiring exercise, permanently installing a thermostat and two receptacles on the wall in my workroom. 

David used my indoor trainer and then moved the yellow bike to his.  Otherwise I don't think that he or Sandy even went outside. 

The temperature has dropped overnight.  In Sudbury it's -5C but only about -2C here.  That's quite an improvement over the daytime temperature which had ranged up to 8C.   Note that I said improvement -- we want the temperature below freezing at this time of year, and sunny of course.  It's supposed to get a lot colder tonight ... -13C and then down to -17C for the next couple of nights. 

I caught up with Arthur and we composed an email that will be going to the Randonneurs Ontario mailing list, asking them to re-up on the list.  That's a necessity due to CASL -- Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation -- a rather ineffective exercise, somewhat like the long gun registry.  I'm sure that CASL has generated more email traffic to comply, among the legitimate users of email, than it has stopped.  Of course it has also created work for poor lawyers who were running out of things to do, and IT people to modify their mailing systems.

CASL defines what is known as a CEM (love these acronyms) -- a Commercial Electronic Message -- and any CEM originating or received on a computer in Canada has to have had either Express or Implied Consent.  Implied Consent would cover sending emails to the RO Membership, since they joined the club.  It expires after two years.  To have Express Consent, you must have ticked off a box (no default ticks allowed) or sent an email that you want to continue receiving emails, you get the idea.

Because people occasionally send out messages on our Randonlist that could be construed as commercial, we need them to expressly re-up.  This is a pain in the tush, for sure.

Anyway, if I'm traveling in Canada and receive an email from Nero, a software provider in the US from whom I've never purchased anything, ever ... they are in contravention of the Act.  Even worse, could the legislation be construed as permission for them to know when I'm in Canada so that they don't send me the email ... yikes !  Let's not go down that path.  The entire thing is silly and won't really stop SPAM.

Today, if I can walk on the road (that's the real test), then I can drive on the road and I'll head to Mass somewhere -- Britt, likely -- unless I feel adventuresome and go into Sudbury or Parry Sound.

That reminds me of a quote from Joe Cocker, recently deceased, a British singer who lived in Colorado, which went along the lines of "if you're going to get cabin fever, make sure that it's a big cabin".  We do have a big cabin here and I can always find something to do.

Onward ...