Show Notes: October 20, 2026

 Tuesday has arrived! I am all ready to continue taking on this week. I'm feeling pretty lucky because I've got my lottery ticket on me. Yeah, with the Lotto Max jackpot still at a record-breaking $90 million, I figured "Why not?" I know I've been talking about this for the past few weeks, once the jackpot started getting up that high. I've been messing around with AI, using it to budget my dream vacations. Weird thing is, my dream vacations aren't that extravagant. You know, we've got the Hotel MacDonald in Edmonton. I would love to spend a week at the Hotel MacDonald. I remember when I was kid, right? The Hotel MacDonald was abandoned for most of the 80s and was just being left to rot. But then in the late 80s, they launched a massive restoration project, restored it to its former glory, and reopened it in, like, 1991. So I would love to spend a week at the Hotel MacDonald. But anyway. Haven't won the lottery yet, so in the meantime, I'll just keep having ChatGPT whisper sweet nothings in my ear.  

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Yesterday, for Hit It and Quiz It, my question was the average kitchen has at least six of these. And the correct answer was fridge magnets. And a whole bunch of you started texting in going, "Pfft! I've got more than that!" So I figured let's talk fridge magnets today! Tell me about your fridge magnets! Which one is your favourite? I mean, fridge magnets can be a popular souvenir, right? Do you have any fridge magnets from a very memorable vacation? A great example is on my fridge. The furthest east I've ever been is Regina. But I would love to go further someday. This one person I used to work with, she retired and moved to Nova Scotia. She sent me a fridge magnet from Nova Scotia that's got a lobster on it. It's so cute! I was also talking about this yesterday. A buddy of mine got married, like, 12 years ago, and there was a "Save the date!" Fridge magnet included with the invitation. Still got that fridge magnet, so I know when their anniversary is. But anyway, tell me about your fridge magnets! Which one's your favourite? 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 Office Chocolate Day! 

Yes, today is the day for bringing all kinds of chocolaty treats into the office. I'm doing that right now. You've heard me mention that, with Halloween right around the corner, I've got a box of chocolates on my desk, and you can come trick or treating around my office. It actually reminds me of my year in Japan all those years ago. It's Japanese custom that, when you go on vacation, you're supposed to bring back a gift for everyone in the office. The common one is a box of chocolates to put in the break room. That way, everyone could pick at it at their leisure. I learned pretty quickly that I should buy a box of chocolates that I enjoy, because I was the only one eating them. So happy Office Chocolate Day, everyone! And whatever day you're celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: October 19, 2026

 Welcome to Monday! The brand new week is here. I'm starting to feel more in the spooky spirit season now. I was talking about this last week. I've got a Halloween tree, right? I've got this old, four foot tall artificial Christmas tree. And, like 10 years ago, I was in a craft store, and they had Halloween decorations that were like Christmas decorations. You know, the sparkly little balls, but they had like black cats and skulls and pumpkins on them. So I bought them, got a string of pumpkin lights from Walmart, and bam! Got myself a Halloween tree. Normally I put it up on October 1, but it was a crazy start to the month. But I finally got it up on the weekend. In fact, I got permission from everyone in the office to set it up here in the studio, so it is immediately to my left. So I've got my Halloween tree up! November 12, I swap out the ornaments and turn it into a Christmas tree. One of these years, I'll get Valentine's Day decorations, and after orthodox Christmas, I'll turn it into a Valentine's Day tree. Maybe this year. But in the meantime, the Halloween tree is here! 

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 Happy National New Friends Day! I'm sure you can figure out what this day is all about. It's a day for making new friends. And when I saw that, I figured there's be no better topic for today than to talk about the friends you've made. I want to hear from you today what's the weirdest way you've made a friend? I mean, I don't have a lot of friends to begin with. But I'll never forget how I met my best friend in college. We met...through the newspaper. I talk about this at the end of every month. My best friend was the editor of the college paper, right? And our collage paper came out monthly, and he'd end each issue with two lists: what annoyed him this month, which is pretty self-explanatory, and what got him through the month, where he listed all the good things that got him through the month. One month, I was reading the paper, and on his list of what got him through the month, he said, "My copy of the Transformers: The Movie soundtrack." Dude. I love Transformers. One of the greatest toys of the 80s. And the soundtrack album for their movie had been my holy grail of albums for the longest time. So I sent him an email and was like, "Dude, where did you get that?" And he said, "Come by the newspaper and I'll burn you a copy." And that's how I met my best friend! Through the newspaper and a mutual love of cartoons from the 80s. So how about you? What's the weirdest way you made a friend? 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 International Gin and Tonic Day! 

Gin and Tonic. Perhaps the signature cocktail of the UK. Apparently, it was originally developed in the 1800s, at the heigh of the British Empire, as preventative for malaria. From there, it spread throughout the British Empire and grew into the beloved beverage we know today. So that’s why, in 2011, this day was started to celebrate the drink. I ain’t a drinkin’ man, myself, but it’s one of those things I know I’ll need to try someday. So happy International Gin and Tonic Day, everyone! And whatever day you’re celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.   

Show Notes: October 16, 2026

 Friday's here! I don't know about you, but I am ready for the weekend! You know, MJ's been on vacation all week. And that means I have to do his office stuff around here, which has made for some long days for me But I am ready to get out there and relax! Didn't get up to too much yesterday afternoon. Well...yeah, I'll say it. I went out and voted yesterday afternoon. I was going to go and vote on Monday, but I figured I'd go to the advance polls yesterday afternoon and get it done with. I know it's been all over the news about long lines at the advance polling stations, so I decided to time it. As soon as I got in line, I started the stopwatch on my smartphone. From when I got in line to when I left the polling station, it was 25 minutes. So not too bad. If you want to vote in the advance polls, the advance polls are still open today and tomorrow. And then the big official day is Monday. Hopefully, you've gotten you voter information card in the mail so you know where to vote. If not, go to elections.ab.ca and they can tell you there.  

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Anybody else on Threads? I love Threads. In case you don't know, Threads was Facebook's big attempt to take on Twitter. It's just like Twitter, but it's owned by Facebook. I love messing around on Threads. My handle over there is @chaosinabox, in case you want to follow me. Anyway. I saw this one question the other day that a user put out there: "A billionaire offers you $500,000 a year to become the world's leading expert on something completely ridiculous. You must give lectures, attend conferences, and defend your expertise. What's your specialty?" Here's what I said. A former boss of mine once tried to embarrass me in a staff meeting by saying my specialty in the company was Hanna-Barbera cartoons. You know, the Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, all that. I tell you, I brought that staff meeting to halt because I started grilling him on what specific Hanna-Barbera cartoon he wanted information on. So I guess that would be mine. How about you? A billionaire offers you a salary of half a million dollars a year to become the world's leading expert on something ridiculous. What subject are you picking? 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 Global Cat Day! 

Of course cats get their own day. Who doesn't love cats? They're just so warm and cuddly. I have set up my TikTok feed to be, like, 90 per cent cat videos. In fact, when I went home for Thanksgiving, everyone was saying I need a pet of some kind. Some days, though, I wonder if I'm good enough for a cat. You know, I work such odd hours, and the last thing I want to do is leave them home alone for most of the day. And then I'd always be worried about them when I'm out and about.... But anyways. Enough about me. Happy Global Cat Day, everyone! Give your cat some extra treats this weekend. And whatever day you're celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: October 15, 2026

 Thursday's here! But it's just not Thursday, it's October 15! We're about halfway through October, which means halfway to Halloween. And you know what? I'm kind of mad at myself. I haven't put up my Halloween tree yet! Yeah, I've got an old little 4 foot Christmas tree. A few years ago, I saw that Halloween decorations were on sale. So at the start of October, I put my tree, put all kinds of Halloween decorations on it, and it's a Halloween tree! Usually, I put up around October 1, but I decided to take some time off and I never did. And I've been busy this week with MJ being on vacation. When MJ goes on vacation, I've got to do all his office stuff around here. But I think that's about to change. Yesterday afternoon, I came back in, and I dropped off all the stuff. The tree and the box of decorations are immediately on my left. Normally I put it up in my office, but I got permission to put it up here in the studio this year. So I hope to get that up before the end of the week! Bring on Halloween!  

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I was talking about this a bit back on Tuesday. Had Thanksgiving at my sister's back over the weekend. After dinner, my sister broke out the games. She brought out this one game called Chronology. It's a history game. You start off with one historical event. The other players then read you historical events off their cards, and you have to guess whether it came before or after your event. If you're right, you get that card. Then you start building a timeline, and you have to guess where the events fall on your timeline. First one to get 10 cards win. Now, my sister and my mother started hyping me up quite a bit to all the other players. I'm pretty good at trivia games. I mean, no one plays Trivial Pursuit with me anymore because I was so unbeatable. The only bar I've ever been banned from is the Legion up in Athabasca because I would sweep their trivia nights. I wasn't so sure about this Chronology, though, because history isn't my strong suit. But, lo and behold, I went on to win. So because of my utter dominance in trivia games, I want to hear from you today, what's the game you absolutely dominate? What is that one game where you take no prisoners? Are you trivia master? Are you the grand chess master in your house? Can you win at Monopoly without robbing the bank? What's the game where you absolutely dominated? 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 Thursday morning. But before I go, I just want to take a moment to wish you all happy National I Love Lucy Day! 

The legendary, groundbreaking sitcom premiered on this day in 1951, and television was forever changed. I mean, I Love Lucy developed techniques for making television comedies that are still in use to this very day. And let's not forget Lucille Ball's contribution to a famous sci-fi franchise. To make I Love Lucy, Lucille Ball started one of the TV's first television production companies, Desilu, and 15 years later, Desilu produced a little sci-fi show called Star Trek. But I digress. Happy National I Love Lucy Day, everyone! And whatever day you're celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: October 14, 2026

 Wednesday has arrived, and I love these short work weeks. The weekend is already one day closer! Have you checked your Lotto Max tickets yet? I haven't checked mine. I couldn't help but pick up a ticket. I mean, a new record of $85 million? That would definitely go a long way towards paying off some bills. I know I probably didn't win. Before I decided I wanted to do this for a living, I went to college and got a math degree, right? And the first thing they make you do in any statistics class is calculate the odds of winning. Do that enough times, and that will scare you off. But still, you've eventually got to ask, "Why not?" I even decided to mess around with AI a little bit. I used ChatGPT to budget my dream vacation. Only $20,000. So I can have my dream vacation and still have a little bit leftover. Maybe I'll check my tickets after work. Or maybe I'll leave it a few days and continue dreaming. In the meantime.... 

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It’s Would You Rather Wednesday on the Texting Takeover! I like giving you a would You Rather Question to mix things up a bit. I will admit, I do spend my free time at work googling them and compiling lists. I saw this one, and I was like, “Ooo! Perfect!” Would you rather have a personal chef or instantly be a gourmet chef? Now that’s the thing, right? Instantly become a gourmet chef. You don’t have to spend the two years at NAIT getting your red seal. You get a genie and three wishes. You say, “I wish to be a gourmet chef!” Pow! You’re a chef now. Part of me would like that, because I get tired of the six or so things I know how to make, and that would really help me mix things up a bit. But...you’d still have to do all the work. By hiring a professional chef, you can just pass of the work to someone else. And isn’t that the dream? Isn’t that why we’re getting so excited about AI these days? It’s the ability to pass the work off to someone else. So I almost think I’d prefer to hire a professional chef. So how about you? Would you rather hire a professional chef, or instantly become a gourmet chef? 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, I just want to take a moment to wish you all a happy National Dessert Day! 

Desserts! The best part of the meal! Cake, pie, Jell-o, pudding...it’s all good! After a long hard day, you’ve earned that sweet treat. And this is one of the best times of the year for sweet treats. All that wonderful, tasty, Halloween candy out there! And there’s probably some leftover pumpkin pie from Thanksgiving...just so much goodness. So have dessert first today! You’ve earned it, on this, National Dessert Day. And whatever day you’re celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: October 13, 2026

 And we’re back! Hopefully you’ve survived your Thanksgiving, you’ve slept off the turkey hangover, and you’ve got a fridge full of leftovers. I had a pretty good Thanksgiving. My sister was hosting down in Innisfail this year, so we all went down to my sister’s place. It was nice catching up with her and her family. And then, they broke out the games. They had this one game called Chronology. How it works is the other players will tell you a historical event, and you have to guess what year it took place. Once you’ve made 10 successful guesses and have arranged them into a neat timeline, you’re the winner. Now when we started this, my sister and my mother were hyping me up quite a bit to everyone else was that I am a trivia master. I’ve talked about this before. No one plays Trivial Pursuit with me anymore because I am so unbeatable. So my sister and mother were all like, “Oh! This is a trivia game! Mark’s gonna win! Mark’s going to be really tough to beat!” I wasn’t so sure, because history is not one of my strong suits. But to everyone’s amazement, I won. Even I was amazed. So I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and you came out on top in whatever it is you played!  

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Well, we’re all back from the Thanksgiving weekend, and now, that Thanksgiving spirit is going to be with you all week long because, no doubt, you have a fridge full of Thanksgiving leftovers! You know, I’m fond of quoting Uncle Jed from the Beverley Hillbillies: that’s the good thing about leftovers: there just as good the second time around! So let’s talk Thanksgiving leftovers today. What’s your favourite leftover? Of course, the big one is the turkey. No doubt you’ve got a plate of leftover turkey. Are you doing turkey sandwiches? Turkey soup? Maybe you’re really creative and you’re baking a turkey pot pie! Or maybe you’re like Ross on that episode of Friends with his perfect Thanksgiving leftover sandwich. So I want to hear from you today! What’s your favourite Thanksgiving leftover? 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 International Day of Failure. 

Of course I had to find the Simpsons clip and go for the joke, but I got to thinking about it. You know, we all face setbacks in our life. No matter how hard we work, sometimes, we just don’t get there. I was telling you about this a few months ago. I tried out for the community theatre here in town. Didn’t get a part this year. And I was a little disappointed. But am I going to let that stop me from trying out again next year? Heck no. We learn from the experience, and we do it again. That’s what the International Day of Failure is all about. Accepting that a failure is something to learn from and give it another go. That’s why I’m changing my mind. The better clip is this one from Rocky.  So happy International Day for Failure, everyone! And whatever day you’re celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.  

Show Notes: October 9, 2026

 It’s here, everybody! Friday has arrived, and we’re kicking off the Thanksgiving weekend. I am so ready for it. Bring on that turkey dinner. Me? I love the stuffing. Perhaps one of the best worst things I ever discovered is how easy it is to make Stove Top stuffing. I’ll have it anytime of the year now when I’m sick of rice and potatoes. But I know I’ve talked about this quite a bit over the past few weeks, about how I feel that Halloween has gotten so big that it overshadows Thanksgiving. I think I mentioned that I broke out my pumpkin earlier this week. I don’t carve a pumpkin anymore. I got one of those plastic ones from Canadian Tire a few years ago. The kind with a nightlight bulb in it. But I got fancy and got the lightbulb that flickers like a candle. So I am ready for Thanksgiving, Halloween, and whatever adventures October has in store! So let’s get moving, shall we?  

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Well, the big weekend is here! Thanksgiving has arrived! I know, you’re probably taking off this weekend to have Thanksgiving dinner with the family. And because you might be heading off to Thanksgiving dinner, I need to ask...what are you bringing to Thanksgiving dinner? That’s one of those things where I never really thought about it. I went to the bank the other day to get some laundry money, and you know, when you’re making chitchat with bank teller. She told me she’s just having a friendsgiving around town, and everyone’s bringing something, and she’s making the pie. And that’s when it donned on me...I have never brought anything to Thanksgiving dinner. No one’s ever asked me to, and I’ve never offered. I don’t cook so I don’t have any signature dishes that I can bring. In the past, when I’ve been asked to bring something, I just get a bucket of KFC. So this is part of the Thanksgiving experience I’ve never been privy to. What are you bringing to Thanksgiving dinner? 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, this is my last chance to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!  

This is one of those weird rabbit holes I fell down a few years ago. When it comes to Thanksgiving, we all know the American story, right? The pilgrims had the feast with the native Americans for surviving their first year in the new world. But that’s not the Canadian story. The Canadian story begins in 1579, when Martin Frobisher’s fleet returned to Newfoundland after a failed attempt at finding the Northwest Passage. They gave thanks for surviving the attempt. That’s the first thing that vaguely resembles Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving feasts were then held sporadically over the years. When the British Loyalists fled to Canada during the American Revolution, they brought alot of the American customs with them, which is why we have the Turkey dinner and all that. Canada became a country in 1867, with Thanksgiving being proclaimed a holiday in 1879. When it first became a holiday, the prime minister would proclaim when Thanksgiving is and what we were giving thanks for every year. As I mentioned in Hit and Quiz It, from 1921 – 1931, Thanksgiving and Remembrance Day were combined into one holiday, it was in November, and the reason for giving thanks was to thank the troops. Finally in 1957, Thanksgiving was standardized as the second Monday in October, and the reason for giving thanks was the abundant harvest. So there you go! The history of Thanksgiving. So Happy Thanksgiving, and whatever day you’re celebrating today, I hope you have a good one.