Happy Thanksgiving

     As a Canadian I have been watching the odd and disturbing presidential race going on with our neighbours in the USA.  Strangely though I am not completely surprised at Trumps popularity.  Here in Toronto we had a Mayor named Rob Ford who you likely have never heard of.. or perhaps you have due to him being on US talk shows and news media outlets because, well, even they heard of his odd behaviour.  Essentially he was a football coach who became a politician.  He was caught on, what felt like, a weekly basis saying or doing something way out of line for an elected official.  He was filmed drunk wandering the streets, smoking crack at a party, saying racist things, talking about women in a demeaning fashion and many other things.  It was bizarre and completely new... it was entertainment to many as people would often wonder what he would do each week.  It was a conversation piece.  His popularity, I feel, was due to a large portion of the population imagining him as just another average  "guy" who was a breath of fresh air from the recognizable politician who we saw as a wolf in sheep's clothing.  Someone who lies during the campaign knowing that the population will forget those lies in four years.  Rob was also recognizable and similar to a TV character or personality.  The others were non descript and bland.
     After watching Trump and Clinton it seems almost as if a decade of reality shows has confused people into thinking they are voting for entertainment rather than who you want to hold the immense power of a nuclear country.  It disturbs me to imagine what kind of knee jerk reactions Trump would have to the behaviour of North Korea's Kim Jong-un or President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines.  There would be no tact nor measured response.  It seems almost as though Americans have the choice between two candidates which nobody wants.  I get the feeling that Clinton could never win against any other opponent .. except Trump, and just barely despite all the gaffes that Trump has done.  It is all very mystifying and surreal.
     Anyway, it is Canadian thanksgiving and I thought I would write a little thanksgiving warning which also will apply to Christmas and any event that has a bunch of people coming to your house for dinner.  I have a small table which has a "leaf" that can be inserted into the middle of the table to extend it.  So you get under the table and release a hook that keeps the two sides together and then pull them apart.  Mine has a track that the two parts slide along opening a space for you to put in the leaf which is just a middle part of the table.  You then close it and get under the table to hook the parts together again so there is no crack.  I have a rather old table and which needs a bit of encouragement to close after the leaf has been put in.  My encouragement begins with pushing the table together then realizing i can't close the hooks underneath.  So then I grab the middle part and pull it towards me while my tummy is used to push them together.  When that doesn't quite do it I begin to use my hip and give it some good hard jolts.  So my warning is.... don't leave your phone in your front pocket when you do this.  My screen is shattered and the actual phone is even bent a little... sigh.