Show Notes: Sept. 22, 2026

 Tuesday has arrived, and I am looking forward to a brand new day. I am looking forward to my new favourite time-waster. I have no idea what’s going on with social media these days. Facebook mines all your data. Twitter has become a dumpster fire. I still like Instagram, but almost no one I follow pops up anymore. But I found a new one that I’m enjoying and wasting a lot of time on. It’s actually been around for a while, but it’s just starting to pick up steam. It’s called Letterboxd, and it’s all about sharing movie reviews. You tell them what movie you’re watching and write up a little review of it. I got bored on Sunday afternoon and finally signed up for it, and I’ve just been having fun, looking for my favourite movies and ranking them. So, yeah. If you want to follow me on social media, Letterboxd is another one where you can find me. In the meantime, I’ll be sitting here, telling the world, what I thought of the last Fast and the Furious movie.  

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Happy first day of fall, everyone! Today is the autumnal equinox, the official first day of fall, when the sun crosses the equator, and day and night are exactly 12 hours long. And I know this because you have been reminding me for the past two weeks. I’ve been talking about autumn weather, the leaves starting to change, and a couple of you folks text in and are like, “Ah ah ah! It’s still technically summer! Stop talking about fall!” OK, then. Since you’ve been giving me a hard time about when fall begins, I want to hear from you today, when does fall truly begin for you? I know today is the official first day of fall. I know lots of folks consider Labour Day the unofficial end of summer, meaning it’s also the start of fall. The weatherman on the TV news said that September 1 is the start of meteorological fall. That’s the first day of fall according to the professional weather forecasters. Maybe you’re one of the folks who think the start of fall is when the coffee shops bring back the pumpkin spice latte! So I want to hear from you today. When does fall truly being for you? Text in and let me know!  

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And that’s it for me, I’m done for the day. Thanks for hanging out with me on this lovely Tuesday morning. But before I go, I just want to take a moment to wish you all a happy Hobbit Day! 

Yeah, Star Wars and Star Trek each have a few national days, so I’m surprised it took me this long to discover that The Lord of the Rings has a day. For those who have read The Lord of the Rings and its prequel, the Hobbit, then you know that today is the birthday of Bilbo Baggins, the main character in the Hobbit, and his nephew Frodo Baggins, who’s the main character in the Lord of the Rings. So Lord of the Rings fans the world over celebrate this day! I don’t know what I’ll do to celebrate. Maybe I’ll finally watch the second season of that Lord of the Rings show on Amazon. I kinda tapped out after season 1. But anyway, Happy Hobbit Day! And whatever day you’re celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: Sept. 21, 2026

 Monday is here! I hope you're ready for this brand new week. I know I am. I know I was telling you about this for a lot of last week. My car was due for an oil change. It still throws off with my car. Because you know, cars these days have a gauge that lets you know when it's time to change your oil. But, I've always been taught you change your oil every 5000 km. I hit 5000 km, but my gauge was still telling me that things were good. I decided to go get it done and stop worrying about it. And when I did that, it was time for a new pine tree air freshener! I do that whenever I get an oil change. I did not go with the pine tree air freshener this time. 7-11 had these Slurpee air fresheners, so I went with one of those instead. The pack says it's blue raspberry scented, but it actually smells more like grape popsicles and cotton candy. So I'm cruising around now in a candy-scented car. I am ready for whatever this new week might bring! 

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This is one of the surest signs of fall. No doubt you've noticed it. Halloween stuff is starting to show up on store shelves! Last week, I just had to go to Canadian Tire after work and check out the Halloween decorations. If I had a house, I would definitely be one of those guys with 10 foot skeletons out front at this time of year. And when I was picking up a few groceries last week, I couldn't help myself. I bought my first box of Halloween candy! I love peanut butter cups, right? And I saw the special Halloween shaped peanut butter cups. You know, they're shaped like ghosts and pumpkins and bats. I've got a candy dish on my desk, so that's what my dish is full of now, and they'll probably be gone by lunchtime. So, I want to hear from you today. When do you start buying Halloween candy? I mean, I've seen not Halloween candy specifically, but those mini-chocolate bars go on sale in August. The reasoning is it's for back to school, and you slip them in your lunches. And the problem is if you buy the Halloween candy too early, you'll snack on it too much, and you'll probably be buying three or four boxes between now and Halloween. So I want to hear from you today! When do you start buying Halloween candy? Text in and let me know!  

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And that's it for me, I'm done for the day. Thanks for hanging out with me on this lovely Monday morning. But before I go, I just want to take a moment to wish you all a happy National Chai Day! 

As we learned from Spider-Man, Chai is tea, so we should stop saying Chai tea. All I know it is very tasty, and as a guy who enjoys a cup of tea instead of coffee, it is a great way to get you going in the morning. Of course, one of those popular ways to have chai out here in the west is the chai latte, which is available at most of your favourite coffee shops. And in fact, National Chai Day was invented to plug the Chai latte. So happy National Chai day, everyone! And whatever day you're celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: Sept. 18, 2026

 Welcome to Friday! The weekend is here. I am ready for it. Looks like we're going to have good weather for it. I know I was corrected earlier in the week that this is still technically summer. Tuesday is the official first day of fall, so I guess that means this is the official last weekend of summer. Although, it sure does feel like fall for one important reason. Yesterday, I let the intrusive thoughts win. Yesterday, I got my first bag of Halloween candy. Oh, you've seen it starting to pop up on store shelves! I love peanut butter cups, and when I saw that the special Halloween peanut butter cups are out, I had to get a bag. You know the special Halloween peanut butter cups, right? They're in shapes like pumpkins and ghosts and bats. Anyway. I've got a candy dish on my desk in my office, so the candy dish is now full. And it'll probably be empty by the end of the day. I can't help it! I love peanut butter cups, and Halloween shapes make them taste better.  

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So one of my top vices is cookies. I love cookies far too much. I get a whole bag of chocolate chip cookies at the store, and they're gone in a couple hours. I really need to pace myself. Especially with Oreos. Because I love trying new things, and there's a like a new novelty flavour of Oreos every few months now. I was picking up groceries, and I saw the new Oreos are called the Stuff of Doom. See, Dr. Doom is one of the most famous villains in Marvel. He'll be the villain in the new Avengers movie coming out this Christmas. And he's got in his own Oreos now! They're smores flavoured, so they're like chocolate and marshmallow and graham cracker, and they're really good. But that got me to thinking. With all the different kinds of cookies out there, what cookie best describes you? What is your signature cookie? I mean, I've already said I go to town on those chocolate chip cookies. But I also said earlier that I like peanut butter cups, so there's nothing like a good, fresh-baked peanut butter cookie. But I want to hear from you. What cookie best describes you? Text in and let me know!  

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And that's it for me, I'm done for the day. Thanks for hanging out with me on this lovely Friday morning. But before I go, I just want to take a moment to wish you all a happy National Cheeseburger Day! 

I know what you're thinking. "Mark, wasn't it cheeseburger day just a couple days ago?" Not really. A couple days ago it was double cheeseburger day. Today is just regular cheeseburger day. You've got to love the simplicity of the cheeseburger, right? Beef, cheese, bun. Everything else is extra. I've got to check the apps on my phone now. Usually, to celebrate this day, a lot of the fast food places offer up deals on cheeseburgers. So happy National Cheeseburger Day! And whatever day you're celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: Sept. 17, 2026

 Thursday's here! Must be Thursday, could never get the hang of Thursdays. I know I've been mildly freaking out all week. You know I love movies and I collect DVDs. Well, back on Tuesday, a super, limited-edition DVD I've been after was released. I pre-ordered it way back in June. But see, ever since then, the website I ordered it from changed names and I couldn't log in to check on my order. So back on Tuesday, when it was released, I had no idea if it had shipped or not. So I sent an email to customer service. Yesterday morning, they got back to me. With their rebranding, they upgraded their computers. And in the upgrade, my order was lost in the system. They told me it could be weeks before they get through the backlog. Their recommendation? I should cancel my old order and place a new one. So that's what I did. And now, I'm pacing nervously, waiting for super special edition DVD. My usual wish: I hope it arrives tomorrow so I can watch it on the weekend.  

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There's this one thing I keep reading online. It's that, when you're an adult, there's nothing stopping you from going to the store and buying yourself a cake. It doesn't even have to be anyone's birthday! You had a bad day? Cake. You had a good day? Cake! You can have cake whenever you want! And it turns out people love cake. A new study says that 20 per cent of people list cake at being one of their simple pleasures. But it wasn't the number one simple pleasure. The top five simple pleasures are: listening to your favourite song, having a nice dinner, watching your favourite movie, finishing a really good book, and exercising. And I'm totally on board with those! You know me, I'm always talking about food and movies, so those are definitely two of my simple pleasures. But I want to hear from you today. What are your simple pleasures? Is it something that's not in the top five? 20 per cent of people said cake...maybe you're more of an ice cream person. I don't know! So text in and tell me: what is your simple pleasure?  

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And that's it for me, I'm done for the day. Thanks for hanging out with me on this lovely Thursday morning. But before I go, I know what day I'm celebrating today. Happy International Country Music Day!

 

Yeah, of all the songs about country music, that's the first one I thought of. International Country Music Day was established in 2003, and they chose September 17 because today is Hank Williams' birthday, and he can be considered one of the first country music superstars. So what better way to celebrate the day by cranking up some Hank Williams? Or your favourite country music artist? Just let them play so we can celebrate this International Country Music Day. And whatever day you're celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: Sept. 16, 2026

 Welcome to Wednesday! At the halfway point for the week, and I'm still digging it. What have I been telling you? Nothing but beautiful autumn weather all this week! I'm out getting my steps in in the afternoon, more and more leaves are starting to change colour. And I'll be honest with you. You know what I did yesterday afternoon? I had to stop in at Canadian Tire and check out all the Halloween decorations. Man, I wish I had a house. I'd be one of those people who goes overboard with the decorations on Halloween and Christmas. When I was a kid and started getting too old for trick or treating, that's where I redirected all my Halloween energy: into decorating the house. I still do what I can around my apartment. I'm too lazy to carve a pumpkin, so a few years ago, I got one of those plastic Jack O'Lanterns that they've got at Canadian Tire. But I did do some fancy customization. I put in one of those lightbulbs that flickers like a candle, so it looks more like a Jack O'Lantern. Anyway, the countdown app on my phone says we've got 45 days until Halloween, so still kind of early for that. But in the meantime, we can still have the candy.  

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It's Would You Rather Wednesday here on the Texting Takeover. I always like to get a healthy debate going on these Wednesday and try to break up the monotony. I was going through my list of potential questions, and I really enjoyed this one. You know me, I'm a fat guy who loves to eat, so I always instantly go to the food ones. Would you rather try a new restaurant every day for a month, or go to your favourite restaurant every day for a month? I think I know which one I'm doing here. A new restaurant every day for a month. I mean, whenever the fast food places bring out something new, I just have to go out and try it. So I love the adventure of going to a new restaurant. And I've been in town for five years now! There are still many great restaurants here in town that I haven't tried. So I want to embrace that sprit of adventure. New restaurant every day for a month. So how about you? Would you rather try a new restaurant every day for a month, or go to your favourite restaurant every day for a month? Text in and let me know! 

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And that's it for me, I'm done for the day. Thanks for hanging out with me on this lovely Wednesday morning. But before I go, Ijust want to take a moment to wish you all a happy National Guacamole Day! 

Yeah, I couldn't find a good clip for guacamole, but guacamole is a dip for nachos, so I think it works. But yes, guacamole! That tasty Mexican dip made up of avocado, some other stuff, and spices. That's all I really know about guacamole. It's mashed up avocado. And because of that it, it's so much more than a dip for nachos. You can put it on tacos! You can use it for a pizza dip! And apparently, some vegans like to use it to make stuffed mushrooms. Yup, they stuff mushrooms with it. I like mushrooms That actually sounds really good. So happy National Guacamole Day, everyone! And whatever day you're celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: Sept 15, 2026

 Tuesday is here, and I've got to start the day by sending out a great big thank you! So yesterday, we were talking about stuff you thought they didn't make anymore, but were thrilled to discover that yes, they still make it. For me, it's this fruit syrup called Summerland Sweets. I haven't seen it in grocery stores in a while, so I googled it, and it's still widely available in BC, and you can gbuy it online straight from the factory. Talking about that yesterday, I got a text message from Fauve. Fauve left me a rather ominous text: "Check your front door." So I went out there, and Fauve left me a bottle of Summerland Sweets syrup! They make all kinds, so Fauve left me their apple syrup. Looks like I'm making pancakes for breakfast this weekend! And on top of that, a big thank you to the rest of you. Apparently, it's still available at quite a few grocery stores, so I'll have to put together a weekend trip to hit all these grocery stores and see if I can get more. But thank you to all the Summerland Sweets fans out there!  

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We all know I love celebrating the days, and today is such a special day, I thought I'd celebrate it all day. Today is National Double Cheeseburger day! I have no idea who looked at a cheeseburger and said, "You know what would make this better? Double it." And there's so many great double cheeseburgers out there. McDonald's has the McDouble. A&W has the Papa Burger. But the thing is, a cheeseburger on its own is pretty basic. Two patties and some cheese. So today I want to hear from you...what makes a cheeseburger a 10/10? What elevates that cheeseburger to a thing of beauty? You know, I was thrilled when I first started healthy eating and saw that cheeseburgers were considered healthy. But...that's only if you remember to load it with the vegetables, like lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and onions. Failing that, have a nice salad on the side to help balance things out. And of course, the great sauces, too. Ketchup is pretty standard, but a good BBQ sauce can really set it off. And I might be kind of weird, but sometimes of HP sauce on a burger hits just right. So I want to hear from you today! What makes a cheeseburger a 10/10?  

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And that's it for me, I'm done for the day. Thanks for hanging out with me on this lovely Tuesday morning. But before I go, I just want to take a moment to wish you all a happy Make a Hat Day! 

Hats have been around for as long as people have had heads. And what better way to showcase your creativity than to make your own hat? It's a trend that started in the early 2000s, and has only been picking up speed since then. I've been thinking for a while that it's time to make a hat. I've picked up so many pins and buttons in my travels, that I'm thinking I should get a bucket hat, and put all my pins and buttons all over them. The only problem with that is when I was a kid, it was only old people who did that. So if I do it, it's like I'm finally accepting that I'm old. Anyway, Happy Make a Hat Day! And whatever day you're celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: Sept. 14, 2026

Welcome to Monday! A brand new week, full of brand new adventures! But of course, I had a few lovely adventures on the weekend as well. It was a weekend fully taking advantage of bargains! You know how much I love my fast food, right? And while I do find getting a whole bunch of junk mail to be very annoying, I always think it's cool when the new batch of fast food coupons comes in. And it seemed like I got all of the autumn fast food coupons last week. So on the weekend, nothing but cheap fast food. A half-price Baconator at Wendy's, a $10 teen burger combo at A&W...all the deals! I wish these outfits would do like McDonald's. McDonald's has it set so all the coupons load up on their app. Just go to the self-order thingie, scan the coupon, and bam! Nice and easy. But anyway. I had a nice cheat weekend of cheap fast food, and now it's on to another week of healthy eating.