Details

Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Blog

Published: 06 November 2026

Hits: 3

Otherwise, work's been slow. Tuesday, a double, a single customer all day. In the evening - a few late tables, just enough to ensure we can't close early. And Influencers, in for burger month, walking the burger around the restaurant, looking for the perfect lighting, taking pictures of it, cutting it in half, more pictures, easy half an hour until they take a bite and then it's done, they're out of here.

Wednesday, Balfour, and when I get home the police are once again in front of my building. 2 cars. This is the third time I've counted in as many days, neighbour-back-from rehab is living through a crisis.

Thursday I go for the Burger at Dominion Cafe - workmen in my flat doing the air filters, and so I leave them and forage. The burger, good, not great, all these ingredients are overshadowing the meat - which should be the "star" of any burger.

Work, a few tables over lunch (3 singles and a deuce.) The deuce I've served out in Balfour before - a $50 bill and she tips me $20. I check this isn't a mistake - nope, that's just how they like to tip. I'm too broke to argue. Then they order some dessert and her companion pays - I zip past the tipping screen and give her the machine - they've already tipped admirably and I'm not going begging for more - but -she gives me shit, she wants to give me more and is annoyed I did that and - another $20. 

Bloody hell. On a bill of $70 they tipped $40. I mean, if I could only rustle up a few more tables - a dozen or so - I could make a living doing this.

***

Tuesday was also spent watching the elections. My feeling of impending doom - crackpot conspiracy theories - all out the window with the election. Or - something else is brewing - and I have no idea what.

Whatever - the election changes little, unless the Democrats can find a spine somewhere, unless they commit to holding the entire administration accountable - little will change. So - doom scrolling the news but - well, I'm suspicious, this all seems a little too easy and convenient.

***

Marco Pierre White - the latest in my bad-tempered facebook shorts, only he's a much quieter menace. I prefer him. And part of it is probably, no doubt, that when I lived in London they (him & Ramsay) were both the big news, from people in the know. So it's like I'm "meeting" him for the first time.

***

Wednesday night head out to the Hot Springs, I haven't been for years. A friend suggests it and I ride along. Driving the night road, the cold, the rain, the view of the lake, I miss living rural. It used to be it was a big treat to come to Nelson, now - well, I live in Nelson and it's a big treat to get away. Try the burger there, a salad, the mussels, their burger the best I've tried so far. 

Then a soak, an hour, the main pool not hot enough, the cave pool too hot, there's no balance. 

***

This morning, up-and-at-em, at the library making my notes, then back to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription, that bucket of pills I'm persuaded I need to take every fucking morning just to keep me alive. I wonder - no 2 bottles run out at the same time. What's up with that? Bloody hell. Then - work, tonight could be busy, we haven't been so far as busy as we were last year, but - well, that could change. Although I've walked around town and nowhere seems to be busy - all the restaurants quiet, it's not the burger month of yore...

And that's it. 

Details

Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Blog

Published: 01 November 2026

Hits: 63

Work, the past few days, long days, and they scheduled me Saturday despite my having other plans. Work should not interfere with them but - well, I'd rather work wasn't on the table.

Talking with the owner, he's got a plan. A light at the end of the tunnel for me that might see me off and about the mountains this summer. Something to look forward to - I have nothing to complain about, only that this has become untenable and I need change. 

Then there's the curiosity over the next few days - the US midterms - voting "as usual" except I'm certain (as are a number of better informed countries and individuals than myself) that something's up. There's no way he's relinquishing power without a fight - too much at stake for both him and the rest of the .01%. So - expect something - whether it be an "AI Escaped the box and tampered with the elections" or a full on attack on Iran and the imposition of martial law. The air-defence missile batteries installed outside Mar-A-Lago - unprecedented - are a fair warning, as are the instructions now being provided troops on how to dig mass graves. Really. Look it up. 

***

Workmen in to clean my filters on Tuesday, meaning today I was up, light clean in the bathroom, kitchen, the island, sweep, laundry, more to do when I get home ... I need it to be rudimentarily tidy when the workmen arrive.

***

The neighbour invites me over for some Chicken soup. It's about time, really, it's good and saves me cooking for which I'm grateful - my own food can grow a bit boring. After that I go to take out my garbage when I run into the neighbour downstairs who - get ready - invites me over for some Chicken soup.

The plus side of community housing.

***

And "Burger Month" has arrived. Work will pick up, scrolling FaceBook and all the offerings - some look amazing. A shame I don't love burgers so much that I can try them all - typically I eat a burger - max 2 - per month. And so I have to choose carefully, but some of the cafe's are going all out. This is no-doubt a result of the CBC documentary on Burger Month that's airing - I met one of the producers - he came in to the restaurant to complain that our kitchen was making too much noise, that his production had paid $1000 to use the space downstairs and we were ruining it for him...

He was one of those pretentious artist types. I mean - we're a business, we also pay to be there, and - while we will do our best, come-on and respect that we've all got jobs to do and his should have been to figure out that he's filming beneath/beside a busy restaurant. And why he's paying $1000 for an otherwise empty place to film for an hour? Well, his problem...

***

We close early on Halloween - we were dead, no point. And from work I headed off to a showing of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" at the Capitol Theatre - complete with a shadow cast of 22 people. The theatre is packed. It was interesting - well done, after it's fashion, certainly a lot of work - and - sublime as only the Kootenays can be - but - give me the film or give me the play, but this shadow-casting - it does nothing for me. Although I was greatly impressed by the introduction of "Dolly" - the Angel of Dolly Parton - who appears to remove Brad/Janet/etc to heaven at the end. Completely absurd and irrelevant. Which was the point, probably, I'm hoping...

***

Coming back from the show - 12:30 AM, and the neighbour 3 doors down is being yelled at by a Police officer. He had a crisis, called the police - for what? The cop is asking, getting increasingly annoyed, and he has no ready explanation. He's been to rehab twice the past 6 months, once for a full 6 weeks, and every time he gets back he cuts his hair (it was a shoulder length mess before) and immediately begins hanging out in front of the Hume and with the midnight-on-Baker crowd. Not a recipe for sobriety I gotta say. 

***

And this catches me up to the present. More to be done at the library, then back to cleaning the flat and with luck maybe a bit of painting when I get home.

Details

Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Blog

Published: 29 October 2026

Hits: 114

The next few days doubles, the weather, cool, rainy, the patios rolled up on Baker last week all of a sudden - 1 day they're there, the next day they've all vanished. 

It's perfect weather for my melancholy disposition, and there's been enough rain that I have to take a day and find my way to Balfour - there will be some arrowheads exposed, I can feel it, and if not soon the ground will freeze and the snow will fall...

Work, well, it adds up. As do the bills. I'm still swimming in debt, the irregular payments from work are taking their toll - late fees and charges just pile up and build a mountain of debt where there should be - well, nothing, really.

So the days, grey, rainy, or if sunny then still cloudy and cool, snow's on the mountain, work goes. 

All the news sites I routinely visit have taken to demanding I subscribe. I'm a little too much panicked about the current events, and all the countries warning of dire things coming November 2nd - Russia, Finland, UK, others, all advising their citizens to stock up on food, fresh water, probably it's nothing but I can't help but think this is a warning about the American Midterms. 

That might well be a shitshow.

Other than that, nada. My social feed (doomscroll the evenings away) - has filled up with Gordon Ramsay videos, and having watched them all I'm now getting Marco Pierre White. Marco is definitely the more charming of them and he gets the job done with a much better temper.

What amazes me is how the shows glamourize the Chef's - and how much competitions there is for a thankless, high-stress job that - for most of them - will never pay them well, and those that get to "The Top" would have been better off going to get a degree or keep a peaceful job in retail. But - the world needs chefs, and doesn't care to pay them, so making all these competitive cooking shows, well, it's keeping people in the culinary arts.

But I've been inspired to get back to a poem I started a while back, and Gordon Ramsay's endless inspiration for that.

Now, at the library, time to download a few hundred pictures from Google Photos - my account - "Filled Up", but it's not, not by a long shot, but better to be safe than sorry. Then home to make what will be a delicious Spaghetti Carbonara, not A-La-Ramsay, but to my taste for sure.

Details

Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Blog

Published: 18 October 2026

Hits: 181

It's been almost a year getting rid of most of my books. 

I made a list. Not complete, but as close as I'll get. It's a long list, so I'm throwing in a "Read More..." so it doesn't fill up the blog...

Read more: Books I Have Read...