June 1st    

Wasn’t yesterday a wonderful spring day. It hit 29 on my jeep gauge.

Up and at it this am but again we have that wind that causes a lot of problems. I am trying to varnish my fish finder holder on the deck and the wind keeps blowing my plastic into the piece. I am sure we get more wind than before. As a wise old man use to say ” You keep cutting down  the forest the winds are going to blow the earth away”  There maybe a lot of truth to that.  Finished off the piece and was going to head to the motor home to see about the awning but the WIND.  I will wait for an hour or so and see if it settles.

“MY RANT”

Is it just me or are we as a society becoming weird. Lets talk about the tampon debacle. We are removing the GST off of them because ?  Yes they are needed but so is toilet paper and we don’t remove the tax from it. We allow groups too much power and we change things that really don’t make much sense. Women get tax-free pads and the government gets lost  revenues that will affect everyone. Food is an essential product for both men and women yet we tax the bulk of yet. Water is taxed and we would all be dead without it but yet we allowed this tax to be removed. We have become a way to tolerate of a way to many things and our society is being hurt by it.As we soften, violence exploded. As we became more forgiving , the police, teachers and parents have lost the respect of the youth.  There has to be a happy medium. 

I want the tax removed from my salary.No more tax.  I need the money to live so why should I pay tax on it ? I think the Tampon situation will be precedent setting for a lot of things. Will women buy more tampons now because of the removal ? NO !   It was just a fight to “prove” see we can push the gov’t around if we stick together. How many of these women do you think were NDP ? 100 % ? Most likely not maybe 80 % LOL 

BUT THAT’S JUST ME !

First thing this morning I varnished my fish finder. Had a little trouble with the wind blowing the plastic into my work but it turned out good. Then off to fix my motor home. On the long weekend Fred and I were lowering Keith’s awning and he noticed the tarp didn’t wrap straight which caused the awning to bind on the posts.  I had the same issue and even had it on the previous unit I had. Taken what Fred said I lowered my awning after checking which way it was twisting and adjusted it. Two attempts and it now works just like new. I had to pull the tarp over at least 1 inch and it wound up perfect. I re lowered it and marked the roller with a line so if it ever moves again I will see it and can adjust it right then. Amazing it took so long to figure that out but I am very happy with it now. I picked up my brass fittings for the propane tank on my motor home. I had installed a T to run my BBQ and stove right from the large tank on the home. I always felt that I should have a shutoff valve as I don’t like the lines to be pressurized and attached to the motor home. The shut off value was $54.00 alone. Ridiculous but I bought it and a quick connect fitting so next time I will feel safe and it will be quick and easy.  I accidentally got a small piece of pipe goop in the one fitting which I cleaned out but I don’t like that even though I know it will be ok.

Golfed at Boulder Creek last night with Jeff. The mosquitoes were out in force last night. Good thing for OFF. I golfed ok with a 86 ( 1 lost ball and two 3ft missed putts) but need to have that great game to break 80 again. Jeff is coming along and with a few more games hopefully the drives will be back like last year. He doesn’t need to work on putting as he is great at that.  But he made need to buy extra insurance as he hit two houses very soundly. One resident came rushing out to check for damage. I think if anyone buys on a course they should have insurance themselves and not expect the golfer to have any responsibility . They chose that place. Watch even in the PGA there is the odd shot gone wild. Overall a very fun night ending with 3/4’s of a pint of beer ( 14 oz)

Thought of the Day 

Ever notice when you’re sad , nobody notices your distress.When you’re worried, nobody feels your pain and most of time when you’re happy, nobody sees your smile. But when you fart just one time.. Made me think of the Grandma scenario also. Branded ( ones own ) for life. LOL 

 June 2nd

Another wonderful day. Funny thing when I was first starting our budget for our retirement I bugged Jackie about her hair expense . A haircut every 4 to 5 weeks at $200 which works out about $2400 a year or more. It was done facetiously but it did cause a conversation.  I have attached an article from the Sun today.

NEW YORK – Here’s a little marital tip: When financial experts say couples should compromise on absolutely everything, there are times when you just need to split hairs.

For instance, just try to tell your spouse how much he or she should spend on getting their hair done.

Guaranteed nuclear war.

I asked my social media followers about the way couples should handle the significant costs of getting one’s hair done, and the reaction was fiery.

A sampler: “There are some things you don’t share with your spouse, and hair cost is one of them.”

“It costs to look this good … and no, hubby doesn’t need to know, nor does he ask.”

“Smart husbands don’t mess with the hair-doing budget.”

“Two things men should only address if they have something good to say: hair and weight.”

Haircare, in particular, seems to be an intensely personal subject for couples. Throw money concerns into the mix, and it can lead to the financial equivalent of a really bad hair day. Indeed, financial arguments are by far the No. 1 one predictor of divorce, according to research by Sonya Britt, a professor at Kansas State University.

There is no doubt the costs of haircare can add up, and quickly. U.S. spending on hair services in 2014 amounted to a record $46 billion, estimates Parsippany, New Jersey-based consulting firm Kline & Co.

The average salon client drops $67.17 per visit for hair services, according to American Salon’s Green Book industry report. That’s a repeated cost, of course, with men going to a stylist 11.2 times a year on average, and women dropping in 12.9 times annually.

“As a woman you grow up feeling like expensive hair treatments are mandatory, almost like you’re being shamed into it,” says Dr. Phoenyx Austin, a fitness expert in Washington and author of “If You Love It, It Will Grow” and the children’s book “Love Your Hair.”

“You don’t want someone telling you you’re spending too much money. It’s a very touchy subject.”

That said, Austin says the final tab can easily get “out of hand,” when you are combining pricey appointments with expensive take-home products. She knows of women who spend up to $1,500 a month on their hair.

So I was very fortunate that we were able to compromise. Lucky for us our daughter -in law is an elite  hair stylist that helps a lot. One always wants their partner to look their best but certain industries prey on the insecurities of women and soak them on a needed service. Men pay $25 women $250. There you go you NDP women protesters something to really complain about. Move past the tampons and protest against unfair pricing relative to gender.

I went over to Audrey’s place today and re glued the counter top edge banding on.  I used a 5 min Epoxy that worked perfect. I left tape holding it firm until tomorrow and then I will remove it. I patched a hole in the wall which I don’t know how it could get there.   Checked the bathtub plug out. It is broken inside the wall cavity. There maybe a service panel behind the dishwasher to get at it but getting a part that old that will work would be very difficult. The best thing to do is to get a rubber stopper and remove the chrome one completely.  I will get Corey to help me install one new door in the bedroom. Years ago ( at least 15 or more) I installed “B” doors in her place to modernize it. The one door warped more instead of coming back. So it needs replaced to make the place perfect to sale.

Installed my zip ties  on my fish finder holder and now just relaxing and then start making supper as I have  big plans for a great supper tonight. Corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, porkchops, gravy and a salad. Sounds yummy to me. Larry homemaker. LOL

Thought of the Day 

My cooking is fabulous. Why even the smoke detector cheered me on tonight !

JUNE 3rd

Wet day today. Just doing some planning. I had my one shift of Marshaling removed as I was going away. I plan to finalize Audrey’s place today, sent out my congratulatory message to Jeff & Wendy on their wedding anniversary, and checked my upcoming schedule which is quite busy. I have a golf game booked for tonight, my men’s league golf match tomorrow afternoon, a Friday night  Nine & Dine with Jeff & Wendy at Turner Valley, I marshal all day on Saturday at Heatherglen and will find something like working outside at Tor’s on Sunday or installing Audrey’s door while the girls are in Lethbridge.

My home course has an Interclub program where we play for points to win against a few other courses in the area. The pro-shop  in their wisdom wants to have a full docket with players attending all events. First it is very difficult to save 5 or 6 days in the year in advance to attend all the events. Certain courses people just don’t get excited to go to. Some of the events they have a hard time filling the roster. Instead of being proactive and figuring out a pick & choose( should cost more )and having a full event program ( reduced cost) they struggle with this every year. I am on a wait list to go if they don’t fill their roster which is ok and correct if they have enough people who booked all events but they should know right now how many full event participant’s they have or not.That is one thing I have noticed about a course having members versus a full public course. There is an attitude that causes members not to be treated as well as another course would treat standard paying customers. I believe the feeling that these members are captive customers they don’t get treated the same. I can understand the difficulty of management to control this but the simplest solution is a constant reminder that everyone is a customer and that every customer pay the salaries and the bills not the course.  I don’t have enough digits to count the number of times I had this conversation with my staff when I was working. Employee’s need to be empowered to make quick decisions ( with management backing them right or wrong) and they need to treat every customer the best as possible knowing that without that customer the company has no way to pay the employee. The “customer is always right” gets a lot of negative comments from companies that fail to see the BIG picture. You may lose money on certain transactions and some customers will take advantage but over the long run if a company uses that as it’s mantra they will excel. ( look at Costco). People love excellent service and will pay more for it. Our course could do so many inexpensive things to create a feeling of welcoming with our members and green fee players. After each round a simple email requesting feedback on course conditions, service, carts etc is a huge report card for the management to read and makes the customer feel valued. If the cart guys, shop personnel or starter are slow have them clean clubs for the clients. Help customers load and unload their clubs. On full tee days have a marshal patrol the course to engage everyone in keeping up to the group in front of them. A simple “prize giveaway”  given to everyone that finishes within the course speed of play. ( ball maker, divot repair ) . Means someone watching at the 18th hole which also gives the opportunity to Thank You for playing !  Give a survey to the starter and have a drop box at the 18th hole for course improvements or suggestions. Accountability, flexibility, ownership,and commitment to provide excellence in service makes a strong, successful company and clients will want to come back.

Looked at my bank account and was surprised. Another $3,000 out for the deck repairs. You know it is coming but when they take it it hurts. I can’t believe $16,000 for a deck. We still have a few more payments to come out. I feel for some owners as I am sure it hits a lot of people very hard. Good thing Jackie’s contract is still going. LOL  It throws my budget a way off unfortunately.  I guess one way to look at it is, it was just a river cruise vacation we can’t take for a few years. Darn, I am going to have to just relax now at the lake, or on the golf course. I wish I had a deck to relax on. LOL  I hope the TSX and BNS stock in particular increases fast.

It was raining very heavy this afternoon but I had a tee time booked so decided to drive to the course to see how it was there. Paul was there and messaged it was raining heavily. Paul decided to go home. I arrived and sat in the truck until about 10 mins before our tee time. I checked the Dobbler with the pro and saw that the storm cells were moving in circles but going basically south to north. Paul texted and said it was dry by the airport so I knew we were going to get lucky. In the next ten minutes it stopped raining not even a drizzle and Jeff arrived.Us and another group that tee’d off behind us were the only ones on

the course. It was very very nice out, the sun poked it’s head out, no wind and warm at about 14 degrees. We had a great time being all alone on the course. Garth has gone missing and hasn’t answered phone calls or texts. He must be on vacation and forgot to tell us.  It’s too bad Paul didn’t stay as it was a great night. Took us less than 3 hours to go around.I golfed quite well except for missing numerous birdie putts and one lost ball.  I had 13 par’s tonight. The main reason I keep golfing is my ability to survive with my unbending optimism and determination in the face of overwhelming evidence of failure about to happen.Despite higher scores than I want,lost balls,  missed short putts,and shots that land on adjoining properties I am convinced that the next game will produce magnificent results as I am sure most of my friends do.  Jeff is starting to  become himself again and on the back nine  his score dropped a lot with good drives and better iron shots. A fun night !!  Jeff and I have had numerous , I mean numerous times where everyone figured we couldn’t golf and then the  weather cleared and we had a great time golfing usually being the only or close to only on the course.

 Thought of the Day

There is no such thing as bad weather,only different kinds of good weather.

June 4th    National Cheese Day

Eat it alone, put it on a sandwich, fry it, melt it for sauce, cut it  but just cheese it today. The cows and farmers need us. I love cheese. The more the better on pizza, sandwiches, pasta, taco’s and nacho’s. The only cheese I don’t care for is Velvetta cheese,except on celery sticks.

A beautiful day again outside. Doing a few things around the house then getting ready for my men’s league game. I would love to go a whole game without losing a ball. I do that I can win a fair amount of money. I have been playing very well just getting burnt on one or two holes every time.  Today will be that day !

Yes I went a full round without losing a single ball off the drive.  I was happy with every drive today. I choked up a bit which kept everything straight but not quite as long. I did lose one ball on a second shot into the water but that is no big deal. My captain a 4 handicapper shot a 86 today and I shot a 89 so I was happy. It was a little breezy which didn’t help us though. One shot 150 yards into the wind ( s/b a 9 iron) I shot a 7 iron and still was short.   A very fun nice day again.  Rains threatened us all day with dark clouds and the out rolling thunder in the distance. BUT not a drop hit us.A soup & sandwich & beer and then home.

Thought of Day 

 Men at 25 play football, Men at 40 play tennis, Men at 60 play golf. Ever notice  that as you get older your balls get smaller. Men at 80 play marbles ? 

June 5th

Easy day today. I have a lunch with my JELD-WEN guys which will be fun as I haven’t seen them for over 5 months. I have a few computer things in the am and I have our nine & dine on the deck this afternoon and evening out at Turner Valley.  I enjoyed our last one and the weather looks even better today for us.  I had a few emails from old customers sounding “sort of in shock” with the recent JW news. They will get past it but it does leave another bad taste.  Hopefully the transition goes well for them.

I switched to the Pepsi NEXT from Diet Pepsi due to the aspartame and I like the taste. It is a good compromise as it perhaps isn’t as bad for you and does have 30% less calories than regular soda. It still uses the caramel coloring which  is considered a carcinogen . Hopefully we will reduce the amount of that as it is a coloring only not a taste additive. It doesn’t matter what you drink or eat as a society we are poisoning our people. I believe the “vitamin” world is the worst predator. It sells healthy alternatives  but really sells uncontrolled , unformulated, and not governed by the FDA and people get sucked into believing it will help them.  Nutrition research can be a contentious field, with experts arguing about what’s really good for you. Is coffee shaving years off your life or giving you a health boost ? But across the board controlled scientific studies have  shown that vitamin supplements don’t prevent disease. And, in some cases, they might increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality. It is typical marketing that brainwashes people.

Anybody that likes soccer we are very lucky to have the FIFA World Cup Ladies event in Edmonton. The opening ceremonies have some great stars entertaining.  Let’s cheer our team on.   China is our first game so let’s hope everything goes well there. It should be a win as we are ranked number 8th in the world and China number 16th. It is the USA and German teams we want to beat as they are the top ranked. GO CANADA GO.

Had a wonderful lunch with the JELD-WEN group.  I haven’t seen or talked to them for about 5 months so it was fun to get together. A great group of guys & gal that are all doing fine, adjusted well to the changes and are remaining very positive. Lucky to have a group like that at one company in one spot.

In case any of you don’t recognize the lady in the picture that is Melissa. She decided that blonde was out and fiery red was in. I will say it was bright, looks good on her,

but bright. She says she is going to try to tone it down a bit. It will for sure draw attention.

It’s not very often you see a young lady with dyed bright red hair and a Browning  tattoo on her arm. REDNECK COUNTRY GIRL is the first thing that pops into my mind !!

Thomas finally got the car he needs. He  is not a zoom zoom guy. He is too big, the car has no charisma, is not a girl-getter or a guy envy  machine. His new Mustang says manly Thomas now. Sounds and looks good and I am sure the women love it. I am sure Thomas has a lot more fun driving it over the Mazda.

I hardly recognized Arnie though as he completely changed his looks with a different facial hair design. Brilliant move that I am sure attracts not only members of the opposite sex but looks tougher at the camp ground.  Arnie needs camo though.

Rob is a faithful Dodge customer. Putting on 7-8k kms per month it doesn’t take long to require a new vehicle. The dealers love to see him with a oil change every month, maintenance and knowing he needs a  new one every couple of years.

With all of the changes though they are all still excited about working and enjoying themselves. Great to see.

Now off to the course for a nine and dine event. Beautiful sunshine, some foamy beer in a cold mug, good food and hopefully a great game. Golf is like fishing in that one day things go great, next day you get skunked. Funny how I love both of them.

Had a wonderful night out at Turner Valley. The deck was hot as it facing due west. The scenery is fantastic as you get a perfect view of the mountains. They will be clear

soon when the smoke from the north stops drifting down here. The food was wonderful tasting and the beer nice and cold. We managed to get a full 18 holes as it doesn’t get dark now until at least 10pm. A fun night golfing. Only golfed so so but mostly due to lack of attention. Jackie golfed very well and ended up with a 100. One small accident on the course when Wendy erratically stopped on the path and I gently bumped her forward. She had difficulty starting her cart in time. Age does all kind of things to one’s mind. Good thing Jeff was able to start it right away and move it out of danger. She could have been trying to raise more dust as her cart lead us during most holes throwing up a lot of dust and causing Jackie & I a lot of difficulty in seeing. A GREAT NIGHT !

June 6th  

Up and at it earlier than normal as I had a 7.5 hour shift as a Marshal, The perfect day for golfing and for me working outside in the sun. Hit 28 degrees today.  I worked as the starter for the first 5 hours. We had both tee boxes going and the turn coming around from the other 9 holes. Most groups were on time which was nice. A few late groups but a way too many canceled groups or twosomes. This hurts as someone can’t book a time and then the course has a full tee time empty as a no show. It is a pure loss of revenue and course need to force a charge for a no show.  A bit of juggling around with twosomes and sides but it all worked out great. It was an extremely busy day. BUT it also was a hectic day as we had two companies bring their employees for a outing with three to four tee times booked.One group had Chris Smith an old ex-employee of mine at Henderson’s in at. He is now a framer and they had the day off so came out to play. We also had two larger groups of young guys for separate stag party.This is never a good thing. At the start the one group had a cooler on their cart. I checked with them and they had no beer in it and stated they were going to buy beer and get ice to keep their beer cool as the carts didn’t have coolers attached. My understanding of the law is that an individual cannot make an accusatory comment while delaying a person paths or motion with out visual evidence.  It turns out that this group only a few holes later were caught drinking beer ( different brand than the clubhouse has) and their cooler was confiscated.With two large stags and heavy drinking it kept me very busy checking and double checking on them. The liquor board grants the course a license to serve liquor on their property and with that comes a liability. That is why no outside beer is allowed. In fact the beer is supposed to be opened at the time of sell.I had to instruct them on their placement, too close to the tees, too close to the greens, trying to get into fairways where the cart wasn’t supposed to go by pushing it, telling them they had to keep their shirts on, found a lost phone in the fairway and worked my way through to find the rightful owner and constantly explaining to other groups of the reason for the slowness and encouraging groups to try to keep pace. One time I found 8 guys from the group all talking to the cart girl and holding up the players behind them. We had one golf cart damaged today also from these guys.  I only ran into one gentleman that was quite upset over the speed of play. It was a bit slower but it was beautiful out. Don’t book a tee time mid day on a hot weekend and I promise you it won’t be slow.  So a beautiful day but a very hectic day. It is a learning experience each time. Each time I marshal I discover new and different things to do,that help the pro-shop ,and myself ,keep track of the groups carts, timing etc.. Overall still a fun day.

Thought of the Day 

Funny how  young guys want the excessive beer in the name of “having a stag” . I do have to say that is a lot better than the stags of years ago. So let them have fun !

June 7th 

Starting the day with a bright sun. Jackie & Tor were heading to Lethbridge for a baby shower for Jessica & Pen. They left fairly early this morning and I assume it will be a full day.  I went for a Tim’s breakfast this morning and then headed over to Corey’s place to pick up some tools to work on Audrey’s place. Headed to Audrey’s and did a bit of measuring. Good thing as there are very few places that have 32″ doors in the bedrooms. I met Corey there to get the job done quick. Measured the frame and we are ok with only the header slighter off. Drove to the Rona store in Midnapore. No chrome strikes and no 6 panel 32″ slabs. It used to be so good years ago when it was Totem. Drove to Home Depot . One 32″ slab damaged in the bin but luckily a millwork rep in the aisle and he checked stock and they had a lift up top. Took a while to get it down but I got my door complete with a inch of dust. Picked up a chrome strike and headed back. Stopped at the store as Jackson wanted a ginger-ale.  Three people in line in front and before I left 5 after me. Their computer system went down so I left without the pop. Used an old butt marker I bought back in the 70’s when Keith & I used to install deadbolts and viewers to cut in the butts. It still is a simple tool that works perfect. Got the door all installed ,the lock replacement with strike plate and re coated the wall hole.  Other than the bath tub plug I think everything is done. While at Audrey’s and Corey was doing some prep work I showed Jackson how to burn a hole with a magnifying glass and even had fun burning ants on the step.After working for helping me I took Jackson and Corey to the DQ. We had a hotdog and a cone. Back at Tor’s place we played with Jackson and his Razor we gave him about a  year ago. He now steers and controls it fantastic. It is amazing the difference a year makes. We

had him do circles and a loop around a goal post which he accomplished very easily. A lot of fun with him. The Razor has a two speed ( plus reverse) stick shift. Somehow he has learned that shifting it back puts it in high range where he can go quite fast. They say about 5 mph.He shifts it between gears very fast and loves the speed. Makes me smile watching him as I remember only one speed on my go cart and most cars I have ever owned. Full speed. Fast shifting is fun and the speed gets the heart racing. He loves it. I love watching him.

We then let him drive his bike around while Corey and I worked on setting up the a/c unit in their bedroom window. This unit fits very secure and the install was very easy. They will be able to sleep in comfort now as with any 2 story home the top level gets very very warm. Fixed up the a/c in Jackson room also and it was about 4 pm so I headed home. Had my supper favorite BLT.  First time in a long long time where I had over 2000 calories for the day so I will check back for 2 days  and fall back to my stay weight. Jackson is a funny amazing kid that is a lot of fun to be around. And he listens very well.

Thought of the Day 

The simplest toy , one which even the youngest child can play, is a Grandparent.

June 8th 

Sunny and HOT today. Up early as I had to drive downtown to donate blood this morning. Had my extra glasses  of water and arrived due to no traffic about 20 mins early, but as they were not busy I was able to get right in. Answered my questions, had my finger pricked with my ferritin at 165 which is within the range of being excellent but a littler higher than I have been as I haven’t donated for 5 months.  I need to donate to keep my iron levels down.  The pressure monitor and my mind took control this morning as my blood pressure was high but the machine stopped and restarted and every time it does this, it screws up. Plus I know the office raises my pressure. I wanted my left arm done as I am golfing this afternoon but the young lady ( newbie, started in Oct) said she wasn’t comfortable with the veins so she moved to the right arm. Unfortunately again it didn’t go well.I filled the bag about half full and the machine starts beeping. The nurse tried to turn the needle a few times with each time it allowing a greater flow of blood. She then had me hold a HOT bag trying to get the blood to circulate better. More turning of the needle and finally she had to give up but the bag was 3/4 full and after weighing it, it was full enough to use as a donation bag.  I KNOW that I will have substantial bruising again with the needle turning. The poor execution of the process is annoying not only for the pain but the hassle and stress it causes. A simple donation done right is basically painless and a 20 min trip. Oh well everyone does have to learn but if I have given blood  40 times at least 15 of them have created trouble. Poor veins on my part is to blame. I feel sorry for the  girls though as they don’t want any issues on their part.

Driving back at 11:30 my gauge read 30 degrees so you know it is going to hit at least 34 today by 4pm. Perhaps a big crackling thunderstorm. I love these. It sure is nice walking into a air conditioned home though. We couldn’t live with out one. I am sure Victoria & Jessica are both happy to have the a/c on also as summer is just starting.

The TSX continues to go up and down like a new brides panties. There is a lot of volatility in the market. In Alberta which produces 17% of Canada’s GDP with only 10 % of the population  there is an air of uncertainty due to our political unrest. The TSX is down a 1000 points from it’s high  as of late. The energy sector is unsure of what is going to happen so all investment has stopped which is causing a lot of turmoil in the province. New rules like the unaffordable minimum wage increase are only compounding the situation. There is pain out there that the union sector never sees or recognizes. Not only are our union employees paid more job to job over the private sector but they are gifted with benefits that put them into another category completely and are always the first to feel they are hard done by. The housing industry is already starting to feel the slow down. Housing starts are 50% off of last year. This is only the start of our turmoil.  Four years is a long time to be in pain but that is how long we are stuck with a socialist government that very few wanted in. It will be only a one term gov’t. It is a shame. For us as retirees I only want the TSX to remain stagnant not drop and we will be ok, but for the younger population it is not going to be easy as the jobs dry up, your sub and hamburger increases in price by double to pay the wages, company closures, tax grabs to afford promises and a retail nightmare with lack of sales as all this hits.  I don’t want to but I can shrink my spending by another 30% easily if needed. I think I will sit outside in the sun and contemplate on all of this and thank my lucky stars I don’t have to deal with this in the business world. What is that cheap kind of beer you can get ? LOL

Thought of the Day

Summer IS here. BBQ’s, camping, vacation for some, cold beer on a deck,lakes, sunburns, hot dogs and hamburgers, people watching, playing on the beach, fishing for hours, sunsets, thunder storms. What is one to say about June, the time that we get a perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and still so young we see no sign of it’s fading beauty. But inside we know it only lives a short time each season. LIFE IS GREAT. SUMMER IS THE BEST. ENJOY EVERY MOMENT !

June 9th 

Victoria’s & Corey’s wedding anniversary today so we will be babysitting Jackson this afternoon. A beautiful day so should be a lot of fun.

Had a wonderful night golfing last night. At 32 degrees with just a slight breeze it was perfection. Jeff had a great back nine golfing with drives and irons playing well. I had an ok game but just can’t have everything come together for that under 80 score. Close but that only counts in hand grenades and horseshoes. Very soon I can feel it. My elbow still is not getting better. I can’t say the pain is affecting my game but it is painful and mentally may hurt as I know the pain is coming as I swing. No excuses just life and I will live with it.

There are always new wave thinkers designing office spaces for people. Here is a picture of the ultimate  office. It has the correct seating, the space is “air” conditioned, comfortable, inexpensive other than the sleeping accommodations and is partially supplemented  by all of the workers in Canada.

THIS IS LARRY G’s OFFICE.

I am sure most of you would agree that this type of office gets the most out of an employee. Larry is most likely taking a short pre-sleep right now but there are plenty of things happening in his mind right now as he ready’s himself for the hectic day ahead.  Larry is the CEO of this office ( don’t tell Anita) and that requires a lot of dedication and management skill to master. I present Larry with the CEO of the Year award !!

Today just getting the Jeep ready to tow and loading the boat motor and equipment up for Thursday when I attend an” office meeting” at Park Lake.  I am sure during this meeting we will be able to fix a lot of the world’s problems. If nothing else the talk around our water cooler ( Marquita mixer) will still be fun.

All done. Took a little while this time as the thieves had everything all mixed up and I had a little difficulty locating everything I need. I had to whip to Canadian Tire for a new hitch pin as that wasn’t in the box. They took a couple of ratchet straps but I had extra that I made work. Takes a little bit to load it all and then I still have to pop the boat up which only takes a bit more. More than worth it though as sitting on the water , trolling slowly with motor purring, the sun shining and the peacefulness of the water and fresh air is not comparable. New reel, new fish finder, new hooks I think I am set. Come on you BIG ONE !

We have the Scotia Bankers Pensioners Golf Tournament on Wednesday  out at Speargrass which should be fun then heading to the lake on Thursday morning. The Texas scramble format is a fun way to have a group work together and enjoy the game without any stress.

June 10th 

Headed out to Speargrass.  We had a 8:30 am shotgun start. Arrived found our carts, hit the grounds the exact same time as our golfing partners Anita & John Matheson. The Speargrass course was in amazing shape.  It is a very nice track. The weather was perfect and the company great. I was hoping for a great game today as the last tow have been pretty good. I lost a couple of balls and ended up with a 90 which was disappointing. Great thing though every one in our group won prizes, for longest drives, longest putt and participation award. Also had a draw prize win. Great steak meal which capped the end of the game. It was a lot of fun again with  John and Anita which are easy playing partners.  Speargrass is one of my favorite courses so I had high expectations. It again was due to three 7’s that hurt.  A lot of fun !!

Gassed and filled the propane on the motorhome and will finish in the am getting ready.  Supposed to be a hot day tomorrow but cooler for the weekend. Maybe make the fish bite better. LOL

June 11-14th   OFF TO THE LAKE 

What a great weekend !  Our first stop was the Nanton Museum. As we were eating a very excited older gentleman knocked on my window to talk to me. You could tell he was excited. He was looking for a Snap kayak and saw my one piece on the back and wanted a look at it. He had done his research as everything he said was true. He said there is not one for sale in any store int he states right now. Jackie said I should have sold him ours, LOL

Off to Park Lake Provincial Park near Lethbridge. This is a

beautiful spot. The campground has wonderful big black popular , and spruce trees. The second section has smaller trees but give it 5 years it will be lush. The camping spots are far apart, level with gravel pads, treed, good power boxes and are easy to access no matter what size of unit you have. They don’t have water and sewer to the sites but you can fill with water on arrival and they have a dump station. There is a wonderful beach, nice walking paths and even a concession stand. There are only two things I can say that I would like to be different.  Most important would be to have hot showers available. Coin operated if needed. These should be standard at all provincial parks.  The only other thing is a weed control program or harvesting of the weeds. This lake is the weediest lake I have seen. The weeds reach the top of the lake just about everywhere. It is impossible to troll in this lake. Having said that it is still a nice sized lake that looks great from all angles. I am sure we will be back again.

The weather only partial helped make it a fantastic weekend. Each day we had intermittent showers or a storm.  Larry arrived about an hour after us on Thursday afternoon and Rob arrived late afternoon after work.  It was a very warm day on Thursday. We sat around, visited, ate , walked and had a great time.  Friday morning Rob headed to work and Larry & I headed out on the lake to try our luck and for me

to see again how everything works out. My fishing rod holder, sonar holder worked perfectly. The boat wheels and seats were perfect. Very pleased with everything including the ride, stability and room in the boat. We tried to troll but just to many weeds   so we searched for spots where  we could cast and not pull in weeds and the depth was  decent. I am not 100% sure of the fish finder. It gives some wacky readings but I believe due to two reasons. A way way too many weeds so it really can’t give accurate depth readings and the suction cup isn’t the best way to have the transducer. I have a plan B for the transducer I will try next time.  The water was flat and the sun was warm. We had a great time

bringing in fish. We were out on the water for about  3 hours and caught 7 fish. Larry catching 5 and myself 2 with the largest belonging to Larry at 67cms ( 26.5 inches). Used my new tape that Fred gave me that sticks on the boat.  During our process we discovered that treble hooks not only are difficult to get out of the fish but catch a way more weeds than a single hook. We switched to single hooks which worked much better. We were the only ones on the lake the first day and only one other boat the second day.As we were out on the water we saw a storm coming from the North. We ignored it for a while but it was coming towards us at a good pace so we decided to head in. We got about half way back and the storm started to hit. First I have  never seen a storm move so fast and second I have never seen wide open throttle across the lake seem so slow. I bet we were hitting at least 8 mph. White caps, waves and rain. and as we neared our landing spot a concerned fellow camper was trying to help us get out of the lake. Our ladies no where in sight, not concerned, oh well !  ( found out later they were putting awnings down) We managed to get the boat  out. Tree branches were falling out of trees just about hitting Larry , cut himself,and

we discovered a great method of moving the boat by using the jeep and pulling it. Worked great ! The winds were so strong we could feel the motorhome moving from the gusts. Great day of fishing though ! Over the weekend Larry kept cutting himself. Loading the boat , cut, unloading the boat , cut.  I am sure he has a least 3-4 bandages on himself. Cleared up a bit later, sat around the fire, walked and had a fun evening. Next day the fishing was a little slower with us only getting one but it still was fun. Again a storm was brewing so we fished nearer our unloading spot just in case and again rather than get wet choose to exit the lake. A few drinks, supper and sitting around the campfire. It was CFL Edm/Sask in FT Mac Night.

Sharon is a die hard fan. The MacDonalds have everything green and logo’d. Mats, cups, bowls, shirts, hats, sweaters etc. And this is not even dressed up for the game. Funny as between smore making and talking Sharon would check on line the live score and cheer, use her bom-boms and cheering toy football.  It was funny to see Sask lose after all of that. But they took it as a fun event and the outcome doesn’t matter. I don’t think so . LOL   During all of discussions some interesting comments and actions came up. Larry is getting old age barnacles on head, Sharon in her new Mazda

has killed a bunny, skunk and a bird causing damage to her vehicle, and Rob while backing in his campsite just touched the water tap and broke it off causing water to come spewing out for a long time until they could turn off the water and he threw out one only shoe that was Sharon’s favorite. We had smoked home made jerky that Larry made with his new smoker which was awesome. We also had company on Saturday with Jessica, Penny and Margy with

her grandson stopping by.  Funny as Larry thought Margy was Penny’s sister.  Lots of great BBQ all weekend with ribs, pork chops and chicken breasts.Camping food including bacon and eggs gets no better even if it isn’t cooked the best. It just tastes better. On Saturday Rob & Sharon had to head for a funeral in the afternoon.  I would rate this weekend as excellent. I loved being retired and enjoying time with friends. The fishing, the

conversations, campfire ( thanks to Larry for bringing lots of wood from home) and the being outside were great. I even had a great time playing with Larry & Anita’s dog Maggie that next to Teddy is the cutest.

We talked about getting together to visit the Writing on The Stone Park which would be great as the Geddes nor us have been there as of yet and it is on my bucket list. The elusive large pike is still on my list also. LOL

I do have to say that owning a RV and travelling to different spots is a lot of fun. It is one of the most enjoyable things to do.

Thought of the day.

Campers have smore fun !!

June 15th

Ikea- up early to beat the shoppers at Ikea that crazy place. I didn’t. You get a egg sausage breakfast there for $1.00. So a lot of old people and Mommy’s with kids. ( slacking off making them breakfast). Went to the aisles and picked up our stuff for Jessica and Penny. One item was in the back warehouse so I had to wait in the pickup zone. Funny listening then talking to two guys from BC picking up couches for their hotel and making fun of Albertan’s with our no mind NDP’s running the place. They all were excited and interested in how the $15.00 dollars is going to affect us and how the free spending is going to kill us. I had a great conversation with them. Their big concern is the Alberta money not being spent in the Invermere Valley  like it used to be. They were going to watch the throne speech like everyone else. They couldn’t believe Alberta was dumb enough to elect them. I tried to explain it was a anti-PC vote not an NDP vote but stupidity particular from the northern part of the province was to blame and that it would be a one term government at the best. Shame to have to defend ourselves. With a broken bicep and a very sore elbow on  the opposite arm these boxes turned out to be heavy. Aches are a pain. I am heading to Lethbridge tomorrow to put these together. Everyone knows Ikea and how long that takes. LOL Jackie can’t come as she is working and is picking up her Mom and Daddy at the airport.

Did you know Calgary will have a 138 km pathway ring road all the way around the city before we have a our vehicle ring road done. Our walk path/bike is 90% done already and is very interesting as the designer put a lot of though into it by having off leash parks strategically placed along it,family fitness parks along the way and even educational interpretive walkways through the designated wetlands etc.

Off to the motor home to finish my procedure.

June 16th

Got an early start and headed out. It is a nice quiet drive down the QEII in the morning. The sun was shining and the radio playing all of my favorite pop hits. Feeling good after cheating and having an ice cap and BELT. Still to many cops on the highway but a relaxing fun drive.

Ikea ( owner worth 3.9 BILLION) is an amazing company. They have great designs and good quality overall. Some with particle board are on the cheaper side but serve a purpose. I had three pieces to assemble. The first one a dresser drawers took 2 hours to complete. The bag of screws had to weigh 2 lbs. It was solid painted wood that went together very well. ( I have put together a fair amount of Ikea over the years) The crib again went together great. I like the crib, it is very sturdy but don’t care for the bottom mattress holding system. Even though on a TV commercial they show a grown man being able to stand in the  crib. This one only took about  1 hour or so. The third a change table didn’t go well. Looks great but during the construction a piece of particle board around a connector broke out so I stopped the assembly and will need to exchange it. I will construct it in Calgary fully and deliver it that way to make sure it goes ok. They used a different locking system just on the one piece with the addition of plastic that isn’t the best. I will see how the return goes.

Installed the new light fixture, fixed one of the transition boards, turned on the outside tap and checked for holes that could allow mice in. I also checked for a header over the two bedroom doors and I believe we are ok to enlarge the openings rather than cut down the doors. Hard to tell for sure without taking a drywall piece out . Old house with a cracked foundation makes it difficult to know if  mice  can get in though but i figure no light no room for them to squeeze. I had a great lunch that Penny made. Penny cleaned up and was organizing baby clothes all day. Funny as on one shirt on the front it said ” Daddy’s Boy ” LOL

I love the look of the new furniture,new light, new flooring and paint in the nursery. The girls have three wonderful looking rooms in the living room, the master bedroom and the nursery.

Thought of the Day 

You know what they say ” Thank heaven for little boys” 

June 17th   EAT YOUR VEGETABLE DAY 

Well did you ? A world wide celebration that just doesn’t get enough recognition. We all know they are good for us.

Interesting study that “they” just released that eating chocolate of any kind is heart smart . Just saying ! Veggies & Chocolate

Ikea is fantastic. Their return policy is liberal with the only request being original receipt and boxing if available. The young lady was very polite and understanding. She agreed the locking mechanism on the one board was a little different perhaps new from Ikea and that it would  be no problem for an exchange. They were out of stock. Poop was the word she used. LOL   She was very helpful finding the product in Edmonton so she gave me a store credit and did a instore transfer and Ikea will ship the boxes directly to my house on a priority. THAT is service. Good for Ikea.  Companies should look at their return policy as it is a very contentious issue for the consumer and a way to one sided by a corporation.  Like i said before isn’t it odd that the biggest companies in the world IKEA, WALMART, COSTCO all have liberal returns and we have the smaller companies fighting with the customer.

I watched the weather reports and especially the Doppler radar screen and knew we were going to have a good night golfing without rain. I had to convince a couple of guys. Paul had another wonderful game scoring a 78. His drives were unbelievable sometimes out driving me by 50 yards. ( he get lots of roll with his draw )  Great game for Paul. Tonight was not a great night for me . My elbow is very sore after lifting heavy Ikea boxes but the pain isn’t that bad to use it as an excuse, but it is in my mind as each time I swing I know the twinge of pain is coming. I will chalk it up to being just one of those days. Luckily, I had a lot better back nine that helped keep the score down. Golf and fishing go figure.

Up at 7 am tomorrow as my men’s league has a early tee time booked. Hopefully a good game will be with me.  I always am looking forward to that breaking 80 but lately just glad to be low 80’s as an off day in the 90’s sucks.

What a lucky day for Jackie and I. A lawyer in Spain has reached out to me as he has connected me to the WILLARD family in Spain and I am eligible to receive 3.2 million. He keeps the other 3.2 million. All i have to do is contact him and start paying all of the administration fees, legal fees etc to get my money.   I am so lucky. First a free cruise over the phone now  3.2 million via this letter. What will I do with the money !

How do people fall for these things ?  The lawyers name was typed in by a typewriter on a word processed form. LOL

Ps I have some land I could sell you in the Dominican or Mexican also. Just send me money direct and I can start the paperwork. Anyone biting ? Better yet I promise you 15% return on a investment I know of. Send me $2K and I will give the interest earned monthly to you. You know my address.

They say a sucker is born every moment.

Thought of the Day 

Some golfers lay awake at night thinking about what went wrong in their game, I lay awake and think about what went right. It doesn’t take as long.

June 18th 

I didn’t think my elbow pain was a real issue but today I took some powerful back pain pills and my elbow felt great and I golfed a lot better than as of late. Came home with the deuce win and a skins win so all is good. Low gross and net of my group. So I may have to give up beer and use pills until my arm feels better.  It was a great morning to golf. Always too early but still a lot of fun, great guys and a good game today.  Love it. Next game I will use pills again to see if the pain is an issue.

I have been so lucky this year with rain and golfing. Again today as we finished the course it started to rain.  15 min earlier and we would have been soaked but not a drop touched us. Thank you.

Watching the US Open this afternoon. I enjoy it especially with the greens the way they are.   Hopefully Tiger will do well and Rory scores well. It would be nice to see Phil finally win though as he is due. 6 runner ups is just wrong. He needs to win.

Thought of the Day

Giving thanks for everything , health, kindness,love, patience, friends,family and a great life.

June 19th  WEAR PLAID FOR DAD’S DAY 

Ever drive down the road and a song comes on the radio and you instantly LOVE it. Adam Lambert’s new song Ghost Town is like that. It is a great catchy song. He should have won with his voice on American Idol when he finished runner up.  I also saw him on a Good Morning Show and he has turned down the “weirdness” and is becoming more mainstream. With this song and his title song the album should be a big hit. Love the song so hopefully it gets lots of radio play.

Using pain killers sure makes the elbow feel good while golfing but it also hurts more after as you do “use” it more than when it hurts. Liked the feeling on the course though. Heat pad seems to help right now even though I burnt myself a bit. LOL

Still struggling if we want to purchase another motor home.   A new one doesn’t get us anywhere faster, we won’t sleep any better it  will look newer and have a few more comfort features. It is a WANT. Is it worth the financial investment ?  In our case ours being paid for and having to take another 40-50K out of our savings I am struggling with it if it makes sense. 50K generates about $200 a month in income that will be lost forever ( 200 x 12mth=2400 per  year x 20 yrs =$48,0000) That’s close to 50K in income lost plus the 50K initial investment plus the trade in value.We are still going back and forth as some times life enjoyment has to out weigh financial sense.It is an investment in yourself and you can’t think about the income loss or depreciation factors. Very few people consider the depreciation factor of your age.  At 75 are you going to want drive a large motor home for hours. The idea is to do IT now while you can. We will see.

I have looked at two units one in Med Hat and one in Black Diamond. Jackie laughs as I have gone back and forth. One is the premium model ( commander) and one is a entry level (Fiesta) with a two year spread and a 20K kms difference.

First day in months with no set plans. So it is clean up day. Wash the Wrangler, Cherokee and Buick. Although it looks like it get wet here very soon again. I may have to rethink. LOL

Everyone wearing PLAID for Dad today for prostrate cancer research ?  It is about time men got some media attention. It is always about the ladies. Men have been dying from prostate cancer, heart attacks etc at a rate that is a way higher than women yet there has been little done for the men. This is not  to distract from the excellent job that cancer awareness campaigning has done for the women but to bring the same awareness to men’s health. Men have a 3-5 year less life expectancy. This gap is closing as the last generation of women have dramatically changed the numbers. With the majority of women working outside of the home they have been succumbed to the work pressures, not eating right, stress plus the fact they have worked at home a way more than any guy does and it is catching up to a whole generation. One generation ago the women only worked part time or stayed at home for years.The workload of a woman today is much more than even a generation ago. In 1950 the life expectancy for men was 66 and today it is 80. Women were 71  and today 83 . One factor that also moved the numbers is the fact that the men stopped smoking rate was considerably higher than women’s which offset the numbers a bit. Biggest reason for numbers showing we are living longer is the infant death rate is reduced substantially.  So you know the average.   We plan to run out of money if and when I hit 90. Maybe a new motor home will still be livable then and I can dry dock in the hospital parking lot. Not a bad idea.

Dam Greeks. Pay your bills. They are pulling down the whole worlds financial markets with the uncertainty. President Putin visiting Greece isn’t the best thing either. Next thing we know it will be part of Russia. This crisis has been going on for at least 5 years or more. It needs to be fixed. Let them leave the EU. Take a one time hit on the default and let them become a bankrupt country and then set the terms by the  Bank for International Settlements ( google this as you will be surprised) for a restructuring. OPA !

I like the idea that the NDP hired David Dodge ( former Governor of the Bank of Canada) to oversee Alberta’s development of a plan to meet our infrastructure needs. That is a good move. If there is any money left after giving more of our hard earned cash to the medical and educational over managed pit holes.

Thunderstorm warnings out today. Heat, wind then a storm are typical June weather patterns.

Baby sitting Jackson tonight.

June 20th

Had lots of fun with Jackson. Made our way to McDonalds for supper. Jackson had at least a 1 or more of fun in their playroom. Climbing ladders, playing with the kids and running around. In fact so much so he was soaked with sweat. He had a great time that ended with a ice cream cone. Back to his house where we used his glider and bike on the sidewalk for a long time. Pulled a whack of weeds while he was gliding around. Readied ourselves to head to the outside park which is about 3 or 4 blocks away. He moved very quickly to get there and we had a great time. Jackie was following us with Farley but poor Farley isn’t doing that good so she had to carry him home. We had a blast at the park and then headed home.  We played, talked, and had fun including a bath until about 10:30pm when he finally went to bed and fell to sleep instantly. Fun night.

Up this morning and headed to Victoria’s to pick

Jackson & Tor up to go for swimming lessons. Jackson is level 2 and is having a lot of fun in class. They are learning to hold your breathe under water, pick up toys from the bottom of the pool and to glide and float. Today he

only had three kids in his class so got a lot of attention from the teacher. They turned on the wave pool for the last 15 mins of class. The kids all

put on life jackets and they had a great time. Great technology with the waves designed to keep everyone away from the sides and push them to the middle. And the waves are very large.

Finished class and we headed to the mall to for lunch and pick up a watch for Peter . While the ladies were shopping Jackson and I spent out time in the playroom.

Watching the end of the open. Poor Tiger, Ricky and Bubba. Hard course for sure. But fun to watch the meltdowns. Even Day collapsing added drama to the event.

Thought of the Day  

I can see exactly 5 years into the future
I’ve got 2020 vision.

June 21st  HAPPY FATHER’S DAY  ( also the longest day of 2015 today)

I love Father’s Day. I had a wonderful bacon & eggs, hash browns, raisin toast breakfast made for me. Unfortunately my Dad is no longer with us and a day like this only makes you think how lucky as a kid I was to have had him.  It was a cloudy day in the morning and darker clouds moved in. Today was my marshaling shift so off to work I went early this morning. The tee sheet was fully booked. I worked as a starter for a few hours during the rain. Good thing I had my rain suit along. A lot of Dad’s with kids and guy groups. We did have a lot of cancellations when the rain started to pour. After a few hours and thru the double tee time starts I grabbed the enclosed players assistant cart and patrolled the course. I had a lot of fun as the starter laughing with my golfers and even more fun on the course.  Suddenly at 3pm the sun came out and it turned out wonderful. The golfers came back in droves. Another fun day at work. I arrived at home and Jackie had Peter over for a Father’s day dinner. Peter was very talkative and alert tonight which was fun.

I received a personalized box  of Callaway balls with

Jackson face on them to use with the words ” FORE PAPA”   I will save one of these as a keepsake. The rest will probably be lost in the normal course of play.  Will be fun to use and I am sure I will hear the jokes that I should have put my wife on the ball. LOL

Talked to Jessica, she tried to sing Happy Fathers Day but couldn’t find the tune. First using Happy Birthday then the American anthem.  LOL  So a very very nice day. I will have to remember to step up my game for the next Mother’s day for Jackie. LOL

Thought of the Day

The time is now
If you are ever going to love
Love me now while I can know
The sweet and tender feelings
Which from true affection flow

Love me now while I am living
Do not wait until I am gone
And then have it chiseled in marble
Sweet words on ice-cold stone

If you have tender thoughts of me
Please let me know now
If you wait until I am sleeping
There will be death between us
And I will not hear you then

So if you love me, even a little bit
Let me know while I am living
So that I can treasure it

Your loving Dad 

“author unknown” 

June 22nd

Well the days are getting shorter already. LOL  A beautiful hot summer day today hitting 25 degrees by this afternoon.

Washed and waxed the Wrangler this morning. Wonderful day to enjoy the sun, with the radio on and wax on wax off the Jeep. Looks nice and has a great shine on today.

Put my tools away, cleaned out the Cherokee and checked out the transducer bracket to see if I can make something work that swivels but also locks in place to hold it pointing down. I will figure this out.

Still no Ikea today and Jackie is out so I don’t have the documentation to phone and see what is going on. Hopefully this afternoon when she returns. I may battery boost Peter’s car today, take some pictures and post it on Kijiji to see what action we get. The pricing varies a lot on these but this one is in perfect shape and having less than 100 kms should sell easily.  It hasn’t moved for two years. If you know someone

wanting a great car get a hold of me. These are sharp looking cars , fast with the 3.8 l V6 and super on gas. Nice size being a mid sized car.

Golfed last night which was wonderful in the sunshine. Had a bit of waiting to do as the course was fuller than normal due to the weather. Didn’t have a stellar game which confuses me as why I can’t have that wonderful game consistently.

Watched the end of the Bachelorette . Funny how such a dumb show can be entertaining. Our Canadian girl is causing a bit of a row with her kissing and now intimate session with one boyfriend.  Makes for good ratings.

Thought of the Day 

What did the sign say outside of an brothel . ” BEAT IT we are closed” 

June 23rd

Jackie had early meeting this morning so up and watching the news bright and early.  Went to the boat and I have the transducer situation all fixed up. One should read instructions. LOL   It appears that transducers are to be placed parallel to the ground not vertical. One would think the end part where the glass end is would point down but NO  it is to point towards the back and level with the ground. A simple snap pin in my wheel holes puts the sensor at the perfect height, not near a channel that causes turbulence, will run parallel and takes only a minute to remove or place. I am positive the  readings will be much better next time. LOL  Still baffles me as to the why as vertical does make a lot more sense.

I was going to ready Peter’s car but Jackie must have keys hidden away so that will have to wait.

June 24-25th

Decided to head to Ikea to get our change table sorted out that we bought for Jessica & Penny. I phoned their call line but they couldn’t find any order. So to the store I went. First contact not a clue. Second refereed person tried but couldn’t find anything of my order, my return card was at zero but no order anywhere. I was told I would need to come back when the lady that processed my claim was on shift. ( very convenient for me eh ). Just as we were talking the lady I dealt with who was in a training session came out for a break. I caught her.  She was excellent and found the order, explained their system, and apologized for the difficulty I was having.   During this process we discovered Purolator had it in their warehouse. Off to the warehouse. Loading this thing with a broken bicep on one arm and a very sore elbow tendon in my other arm was difficult with tow heavy boxes.  I returned home and after lunch starting the assemble. Any one knowing Ikea this takes time. It took me from about noon to 3pm to get it all done. This one is good and we will bring it to Lethbridge on Saturday. Rushed off the golf course and lo and behold Jeff was already there. Quite unusual as Jeff is normally rushing to get to the course. We hit a fee balls before Paul arrived. Just a wonderful night.  I had stopped and picked up a tensor bandage for my elbow. This really helped dismiss the pain on each shot.  Wow the first time in all of the years and all of the games where I beat Paul. Paul is a sick consistent golfer .I golfed very well as did Paul but he had one hole with a quad on it that let me better him.

I reiterate. I LARRY WILLARD BEAT PAUL BORTOLUZZI.  Score of 82 vs 84.  Jeff also came alive with a great game perhaps his best I have seen this year. The score wasn’t great but he had some wonderful drives and irons shots that were like he used to hit. He started keeping his hands back instead of pushing them so far forward so the loft of the club would work. It worked great for him as he hit some wonderful iron shots. A great night topped off with 3/4’s of a pint of Coors lite and wings.

Interesting to know how all of the NDP’ers are feeling after watching the news. TransCanada laying off 185 people in Calgary this week, Bank of Nova Scotia closing their call center in Calgary with 109 job losses. The oil industry out of fear will continue to lay off and impact the entire economy. Could be just like in the early 1980’s which was caused by another government intervention. A new announcement on a carbon tax hike that will double it in a few years. Look out Saskatchewan you are going to be one busy province with all of the companies moving there . I remember in the 80’s when I used to make sales calls on Ft Mac with them having 9 housing starts in the entire year. It will happen again.

Up and out to the course for a early 8;52 tee time. I had fun partners today to golf with. It was a off day. Golf is funny . I had one of my better games yesterday and one of my worst games today. I pulled a Dustin Johnson on too many putts and lost to many balls racking the score up. My playing partners ,2 of them had off days also but we all had a lot of fun. My entrance fee was just a  donation this week but I earned enough cash last week to pay for it.  I would love to be more consistent. The issue today was everything really. But the first hole at a snowman just set the tone of the day. I didn’t recover after the first two holes taking a snowman and then a hockey stick. The whole game went like horrible. Great drive and end behind a spruce tree. A perfect 8 iron to the green and which all four of us watched and it was gone and two over the water shots and lost in the trees. Like they say better luck next time.

Thought of the Day

I want to be a great golfer in the worst way possible.

I think I may have succeeded.

June 26th

Wow yesterday was a record setting day with 125 hits to my blog. That is the biggest one day total it  has ever had. THANK YOU.

Up early and off to stain outside today in the heat.

It hit 31 degrees today. Victoria’s place faces south so I carefully planned out my staining. Do the east side in the morning in the shade of the fence and do the west in the evening in the shade of the fence. Plan worked perfect. I started at 10 am with

brush and roller in hand. It took until 7

pm to complete with only a 1/2 break max for lunch. That’s 9 hrs of staining. Luckily Jackie pitched in after her work to complete the last hour.The fence looks great and even the neighbor looked over and said awesome he wishes he would have choose a better color.A nice dark brown semi solid Behr 10 yr warranty stain and with the black posts will look fantastic. I even had a

small helper when Tor got home. Jackson was very interested and happy to help. He worked hard and five minutes later he says ” Actually this is boring”  so he headed to the sprinkler for some fun. I had to keep switching arms as between my broken bicep arm and my golfers elbow arm both of them ached by the end of the day. Tor bought us Chinese supper which was great.  This is what i like about retirement. Some would say staining is work. It is but is a decision by me to do it and with no time frame and is enjoyable being in the sun all day whistling while you work.

I need to convince Cor & Tor to give about  $100 to build a

pergola with black posts and brown rails to have a center piece in their yard  bordering the exit gate in the back. Would look awesome.  So home and tired but will be on the road early in the morning to deliver a crib to Jessica and to install two doors. Luckily Corey was able to help so we should be done in a few hours depending on the header situation.

I discovered something new again today. You can have taxes taken from your CPP cheque at the source instead of having to pay after the fact at the end of the year which talking to people most people do. It is much easier at source. I remember my friend Mike Lopachuk saying he had to cash in RRSP’s to pay his taxes. This now works a way better. I didn’t know that and that is a good thing to have. #ISP3520CPP form and away you go.

Thought of the Day 

Yes, I am thoroughly enjoying retirement! The best part is observing my neighbors and friends drive off to work in the morning knowing that their day will be filled with jerks, brainless and endless meetings, jerks, vendor and customer lunches where you hold your breath just waiting for the sales pitch or decline until you regurgitate your pasta, more jerks and the eventual company reorganization of the section that was just reorganized last month!

June 27th 

Up early for a retired guy. Starting loading all of tools and then the crib into the Cherokee. IT DID NOT FIT. So unloaded everything and reloaded into the Enclave which had plenty of room. Jackie was a little testy having to use her good vehicle. LOL. Picked up Corey and more tools that we thought we needed and headed out. Tim’s and then on the way.

Corey and I started right away. We didn’t think it would be a big job but it ended up taking at least 8 hours. Dealing with a 100 + year old house isn’t easy as not to many things are square and plumb. We picked up the doors and locks at Home Depot. A 2/6 slab was $23.00. That is less than wholesale 15 years ago. Perhaps JW should have dropped doors and stayed with Weiser. The doors we got were Masonite’s product. Having to cut down the doors the skin peeled off the stiles like butter. Would have been great doors to use as a demonstration of the lack of glue a competitor uses. We started to hang. Cut down both doors to the needed height. Hinge pockets were cut and test fits done. The one door took about 4 tries as the door frame was so whacked for us to be relatively happy with the look and fit. We had to angle plane the top of the door as the frame was out and to angle plane the edges. Took us over two hours on the one door. Second door went a lot better with about half the planing needed. Doing this outside it was HOT. The heat kills you when working. Got both done and installed the locks. Then the girls decided they wanted one more door done so back to

the Depot. The third door only took about 1/2 hours to do.  Next job was to install a new light fixture in the master bedroom. While Corey and I were doing all this Jackie and the girls were hanging pictures and a neat deer head picture frame and dream catcher. We then tether strapped both dresser and change table to the walls.

The home is looking good. I think my work is done for a bit anyways.

For all you Larry’s out there I am still pushing for a Larry Jr but with very little success. Why the younger generation does recognize the significance  of such a great name is beyond me. I can name a lot of famous Larry’s instantly.

On the way home we decided to have supper in Claresholm . We wanted to go to Roy’s place as we had been there before and it was featured on a TV show but it was closed for a special reason. Ended up at Casa Roma’s. Greek cook and GOOD. The pizza is amazing, the veal is awesome. Stop there you won’t be disappointed.

June 30th

“MY RANT”  again lol

Huge TSX tumble due to Greece. This affects ME !That is what happens to a country where they keep spending and giving and racking up the debt. There are very few socialist, communist countries that are successful. We have to be very careful here in Alberta that the same doesn’t happen here with our new government. Shame, as the public  in Greece can only remove $81 bucks a day out of the banks right now to avoid a full collapse. Imagine having a million saved and the country saying you can only remove that much per day. Your expenses would be more than that. You keep giving in to the bleeding hearts in the medical, educational,social welfare and environmental circles  that is what happens. We can’t expect a surgery next day, we can’t expect free medical with every little ailment. We can’t expect to have class rooms of 20 kids and along with 20 board members to decide that is how many kids each teacher gets. Get rid of some of the top management and we can afford 20 kids per class. Stop paying the Health Care Management group 500K each and we can afford higher salaries and more nurses.We need OIL, jobs and money. There is a risk reward with everything and yes the odd duck pond may get contaminated but we can fix that. Do we have to give to every group , every cause ? How can a small employer pay $15.00 a hour. THEY CAN’T.  When we had our sub store at $5.95 per hour per employee it was difficult to turn a reasonable profit. Business is meant for profit and that creates the whole framework of our economy.  It is going to be a difficult few years. Yes we will have content nurses, doctors, teachers, public servants, environmentalist groups, unionists, women groups but we will have no jobs for anyone else and a huge government debt. When the exodus of people leave Alberta and the gov’t is FORCED to layoff 100’s  in these fields then reality to the real world will set.  WHO (NDP) in there right mind believes it proper to punish successful businesses and individuals. How can you say raising corporate taxes, carbon fees and income to the wealthy makes sense. They are already paying the burden of the dollars.Create an environment to generate new wealth and your tax base is increased simultaneously.

BUT THAT’S JUST ME !

Boosted the Grand Prix as it has been sitting for at least 6 months. I was going to take it to Cdn Tire for a battery test and a possible new battery as I understand a newer battery had being put in. If a battery is left low charge over winter the case can crack or the battery will no longer accept charge. It had a KIRKLAND battery in it. There is no way I am going to Costco for a new battery so warranty is out. I boosted it and drove it to Tor’s to charge it. If the charge won’t take I will get  a new one from Canadian Tire. Started to charge it, blew up all of the tires to spec, cleaned it all out, got it washed, wanted to get the windshield fixed but the rain didn’t allow that so will get it done later this week.Pulled a few weeds, read the paper while waiting. I reset the inboard computer as due to no power the date, time, abs light and traction control lights all stayed on. Everything is working perfect now. It is a wonderful car in perfect shape. I like the looks of it .Hopefully it will sell fast as it is is in perfect shape, priced right but there are over 400 Grand Prix’s in Alberta for sale.

Well, Paul got me back. LOL  YES PAUL KICKED MY BUTT AGAIN!

After the first nine the score was 41 to 42 so I thought ok, close and it is the first time Paul is playing this course. Then I screwed up due to lost balls and ended up with a 89 and Paul had a 83. He again golfs so well just a few errors and being the first time playing this course next time he will do better. I need the two nines to be great  to get close. I got over zealous and hit my driver to hard causing a slice on the back nine. We did have rain for one hole and then it cleared up and it was a wonderful night. Jeff had his struggles but overall some improvement on certain shots.  It’s just a matter of time before he finds his groove. I am betting when he gets back from Europe he will burn up the course. Hopefully for him as golfing well just makes it a little more fun. But the social part of golf and the after golf get together is always great.

Amazing. Let’s see how gullible everyone in Alberta is. The NDP announced tonight on the news that they have a surplus of 1.5 billion. Yes 1.5 billion. In power for  2 months and they have a surplus. They are good !   It reminds of a General Managers meeting I attended years ago and a new GM in Winnipeg where the branch was having some trouble at the meeting declared he had everything fixed there. This after only a few months on the job. He was fired a few months later.

I think this is the funniest thing I have heard after 2 months. This is without an audit.

Well this maybe more funny.

Outside of our place I

look and see a young couple pushing a bedspring down the street. Now that is a date. You bring your own mattress. This guy could school quite a few people on organizing a promising date.

Ten minutes later here comes the same couple pushing the top mattress. Awesome. Young love . I wish I would have though if this when I was young.

Thought of the Day 

NDP Socialism means production and programs to satisfy human needs, not as under capitalism, for sale,profit, employment and increased standard of living. We can have one teacher for 10 kids, one doctor for every 100 people, no logging, or fracking, or dirty tar sands but can we afford it. Sure we can we have a huge surplus after 2 months. They are that good !