Escaping the "news cycle"

These are stressfull times for news junkies. There's a lot of shit going on in the world. Putin with his totally unprovoked war on Western civilization. Women with weiners rewriting the NCAA record books. Then there's the housing crisis, the overdose crisis, the financial crisis... And at the end of the day, even if you survive that litany of existential threats, there's that climate crisis that just keeps getting worse! So it's easy to get bummed out. That's why I'm stepping away from the news cycle. It's making me miserable and depressed. Took a day away from screens to have lunch with Junior in Guelph. We went to a joint called "Carl's Roadhouse," which, if I'm not mistaken, used to be a Crabby Joe's, and before that, an Eddie Shack donut store. That's gotta be the best value in town. A burger and fries is less than a Big Mac meal at Mickey D's. Plus, they had a special on the 30 oz stein. Thirty ounces? That used to be called a pitcher. It was a day well spent away from the screens, and a smooth trip except for the last few miles. Got a flat tire at the top of 6th street. Found myself changing the tire in the parking lot behind city hall. Spent the next day arranging a tire. This is not as simple as it would seem. McArthur Tire, where I bought these, is offering bookings in the week after Easter. WTF is that? I'm driving around on a fake spare that you aren't supposed to put more than 100 miles on, and never over 50 mph. Lucky for me, the shop manager at McArthur felt my pain, and we were able to get going with the new tire this afternoon. That's two days I missed the latest Putin atrocity. Both of those days I managed to get the Big Boy to the dog park for a romp with his pals. That always puts a smile on my face. CNN/CBC/Al Jazeera never put a smile on my face. And now I'm advising the Farm Manager on which rubber boots to buy that will go with the awesome yello Eddie Baurer slicker she just got. We're planning a trip to Nova Scotia in June, and she wants to fit in. Because all the locals wear Eddie Bauer? I've escaped the news cycle for two days... And I like it!