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| Despite me standing on a big podium, I didn't actually win this race |
This is going to be a difficult blog post to write. Not emotionally difficult - it's just that it's the 5th time I've written about Niagara-on-the-Lake, so I'm running out of things to say. And while sitting around watching Peaky Blinders with my aunt is certainly riveting, it doesn't make for engaging blog content.
Back to the ranch
Anyway, I arrived back from Texas to find that my aunt still has a sense of humour. She stuck a picture of me in my cowboy hat beside my bed in the dungeon.
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| Not sure why it's not beside her bed but there you go |
Happy birthday to me
I also turned 46 in October. The whole of NOTL came out to celebrate but I told them all to go home again but 46 is too old to celebrate birthdays. So instead, Jackie and I went out for a delicious dinner where they presented me with a gelato and didn't sing Happy Birthday, so pretty much the perfect birthday.
Jackie also hosted a dinner party to celebrate Peter's 63rd party. This picture looks like my aunt's invited her fellow inmates from the local lunatic asylum.
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| How do you integrate a 46th AND a 63rd birthday? Why you add 463 to the cake of course. |
Boring running chat
As well as doing a few more parkruns and meeting a sausage dog dressed up as a sausage dog for Hallowe'en ...
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... I also managed to get a top 100 finish in the Niagara Falls half marathon (and yes, there was more than 100 people running). It was actually a very pleasant run along the Niagara River, which would have been even more pleasant if it wasn't about 5c with an icy cold wind. I'd also like to use this opportunity to announce my retirement from competitive half marathon running. Eliud Kipchoge will sleep a little easier tonight.
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| Not an advert for running |
Indeed, there's a chap who turns up at the Beach Strip parkrun every week who takes much better photos and sticks them on the internet for free.
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The best barber shop in town
There are many types of businesses that I judge and even avoid based solely on the quality of their website, but barbers are not one of them. So I was delighted to find that not only did he not have a website, but Frank of "Frank's Barber Shop" in Hamilton hadn't even got round to putting up a proper "Frank's Barber Shop" sign yet. To be fair, he'd only been in business for 59 years so he'll probably get round to it at the same time he spruces up his rather jaded looking stripy pole.
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| The upside-down "Nerene Virgin - Liberal" sign from 2007 is a nice touch. |
He immigrated from Italy back in 1964 and was full of good chat and humour, as were his other customers, none of whom minded me taking a few pictures.
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| You can have any haircut you like as long as it's a short back and sides |
His shop was like stepping back in time (I remember when I was about 11, my dad took me to a barber shop that used to have a fag hanging out his mouth as he smoked. This shop reminded me of that - minus the cigarette).
You might be wondering why I'm adding pictures of an old barber shop on my blog. Well, I recently watched a video where a guy made the excellent point that we all take photos of the same famous landmarks that in all probability will be there hundreds of years from now. And there are literally thousands of other and better pictures of Machu Picchu or Niagara Falls online already. Whereas we should actually be documenting the mundane and the ordinary, because these things don't stay around forever. In all reality, once Frank hangs up his scissors and retires, his shop will probably be bulldozed and leave little trace. While I don't suppose anyone in the future will be consulting this blog to view my thoughts and pictures of the Burj Khalifa or Sydney Opera House, someone might be interested in the time that I got my hair cut at Frank's Barber Shop in Hamilton, Ontario.
Toronto and farewell Canada
I had to travel to Toronto the day before my flight and was delighted to discover that one of my favourite bands that I'd never seen before (Depeche Mode) were playing at the Scotiabank arena that night. I was slightly less delighted to learn they were wanting north of £100 for at ticket, but to be fair, although they're getting on a bit, they still know how to put on a cracking show. I was also in an excellent seat which I don't think I sat on once.
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| They haven't aged a day |
Then it was up the next morning to hop on a plane to Aruba. Another lovely stint in Canada, thanks mainly to my auntie. I'll even forgive her for coming back from the grocery store with these freaky looking satsumas. I've NEVER seen a satsuma with a stalk before and quite frankly it unsettled me slightly.
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| This is apparently accepted and normal behaviour in Canada. |
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