The Monthly Roundtable

Once again the Boyz met to discuss and solve the collected problems in the world on Monday September 14. We were one member short as Roman is presently on a fact-finding assignment in Europe. We survived without his wise counsel… barely.

The first item of business was to again admire John S new car. We discussed gas mileage and how since we are all retired we don’t have to drive that much any more.

Then onto our favourite spot on the banks of the Humber River where we were once again greeted by some local friendly birds. More on that later.

Politics

Let’s get started with what is one of our most pressing concerns. We all agreed that the speech made by former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was wonderful. Looking back at an old TV show slogan we were reminded of the following phrase “Sock it to ‘em’.

We decided there is no logic to anything political anymore. John N naturally let us through the intricate matrix that is today’s political scene. Quite frankly, we agreed that it’s such a mess that too much discussion would lead to too much confusion which would simply waste our time on a nice, but rather coolish day by our favourite river. Besides, most of what we said would have to be redacted for a family channel or posting like this one. Suffice to say we are Canadian, proud of it, and quite happy to continue to call Lake Ontario Lake Ontario.

Next, we discussed medicine. John S told us about a wide ranging study he was involved in. Basicly, he donated a vile of blood and sent it off under the direction of his hospital to be added to hundreds of thousands of other vials of blood. Evidently, there’s some massive study of what can be learned from peoples’ blood that goes beyond the normal blood and urine samples you give before a medical physical. Well, guess what! John learned, or should I say the scientific analysis of his blood said, that he was of medium height. disliked parsley really didn’t drink that much coffee, was fair skinned, didn’t have freckles and was somewhat athletic. OK, so we laughed a bit about him being athletic. Who knew how accurate this sample was?? John S does not like parsley, John only drinks one cup of coffee, John has never had a freckle, and John is purely north eastern European. We all agreed that with such information police could track down almost anybody in terms of a profile from a small sample of blood.

Our next topic was golf. Now, only Steve plays golf. Well, Roman plays golf but he’s on assignment so his opinion we could not get. Anyways, we all celebrated the fact that LIV golf has folded. Not one of us really cared that some golfers lost millions from their contracts. Steve told us that some of the LIV golfers may not be welcomed back to the PGA tour. That made us happy.

Then, being the up-to-date guys we are, we discussed the AI problem. Not one of us really understands how it works, (well John S does) what it really is, or the dangers it might possess. Peter confesses that he does use ChatGPT, likes it, and after a session has actually thanked the programme. Chat GPT offered help on the future. Then John S told us he had a 3-D printer. Imagine that! Who needs a 3-D printer when you’re in your mid 70s? Well, John has one, and explained that he made a box with a 3-D printer. No one asked why he just didn’t buy one from Amazon. Then John was asked how it works. He explained that a spool of plastic is put on a printer. The thread that goes through, is heated up layer up upon layer, and soon you’ve got an object. Still, none of us understood. Steve figured out how to make it understandable to us. He asked if the spool is like one you would put on a whipper snipper. Well, now we understood. We understood how you can make something 3-D but still don’t understand why you just don’t buy it from Amazon.

It was getting cooler as we sat there. The clouds had come in. The temperature was dropping. But the best part of our otherwise incredible day was watching the birds. First, we had an aerial display of catch and chase by two great blue Heron. Fascinating. Flying around, chasing each other, we dare not ask why. Then, the Canada Geese. They seem to enjoy chasing, fighting, honking, and otherwise disturbing every other species of bird in the neighborhood. We were fascinated. We are nature lovers. Then there were the ducks—dozens of them— sometimes on the grass and then they would all fly and land in the water. Then they got out of the water. Waddle back to the grass. Then three or four minutes later, they would fly back into the water at the same time. We were fascinated. But the best part came with a bird called a cormorant. John N is our nature buff. He was amazed at how standing on a rock a cormorant would squirt out white poop. Amazing. Picture this. Four men watching a cormorant poop. Life doesn’t get much more exciting than that.

It gets cooler. We decide we’ve had enough. Perhaps next month, if the weather is warm, we’ll spend one more afternoon solving the world‘s problems by the Humber River. If not, will simply go to a restaurant, sit down, and be entertained, enlightened, and enthralled by what we’ve done in the past month or so.

The Boyz convened in the parking lot and admired John S new Subaru. Nice ride. Great colour. Hubcaps fancy. John’s sixth Subaru. Did he get a loyalty discount on the price? Then off to our regular meeting spot for lunch on the banks of the Humber River.

A somewhat musical beginning. Peter lamented he didn’t keep the ticket stub to the day he saw The Beatles. Steve told group he not only saw The Who perform live more than once but has his ticket stubs framed. We all agreed that Rush was not our favourite group. With music in our minds we canvassed the group. John N was in vocal class in high school, Steve was a string man and has played both violin and guitar. Roman played accordion and John S now has a keyboard. Peter also played guitar. The Boyz agreed that if Roman switched to percussion we could form a group. What to play? Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Meatloaf were proposed. No firm decision made.

Then to exercise. John S son-in-law does marathons. A couple of the boys recall long walks for charity but can’t agree either on the distance or time it took to complete. Then on to stairs. John S has the most stairs in his house from basement to bedroom. Then Steve and Roman. All three actually have counted the stairs. John N and Peter really don't care because they live in condos on a high floor. They just hope the elevators work so they never have to walk up to their units.

Travel: Steve is going to retrace the route of Odysseus on a Mediterranean cruise, Roman is headed for continental Europe, John S will drive around the city in his new car. John N will drive here, there, and anywhere in the city and park with his free parking pass for a couple of months. Peter will support public transit and Uber. We will not set up a blog and become influencers of travel destinations and tips for travel. Well, not yet.

Of course we then set out to solve the world’s most pressing problems but we’re interrupted by a gaggle of hungry geese lured by John S who had a spare muffin. After dining the geese proceeded to the bank of the river and to amuse us jumped into the water.

Time to go home. We wished Roman a safe and enjoyable holiday.

Next time the Lotus Pond Boyz will meet will be determined soon. John N is our official meteorologist and date soothsayer.

We enjoyed a perfect summer afternoon in the park. Our discussion ranged from Donald Trump to AI and of course, our glory days at Humberside Collegiate.