October 1st

Winter is a coming. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be good fall days hitting in the high teens then on Saturday the temperature high is 5 degrees. I am scheduled to  Marshall so I will need to wait and see. I don’t believe too many golfers will be braving the cold.

I had a very nice couple look at my motor home today but they didn’t make me an offer. Nothing but praises for the condition and cleanliness but they had another one to look at. Hopefully they will call back. Odd as they were so impressed and questioning in fine detail I thought for sure they were going to buy it. Must have lost my touch. LOL This is a wonderful motor home with no issues that I am proud to drive and would buy again any day of the week if our plans hadn’t  changed.

I did my first section of the my budget and I don’t like the numbers. The TSX just won’t move in the right direction and our investments are taking some pretty big hits. I may have to do some life style adjustments to compensate for the market until it smartens up. It is just over the 13K mark and I need to be over the 14K mark to be comfortable.  The TSX market is like a new brides panties going up and down every day. I would prefer it to be like a nun’s staying up all of the  time.

Off to the dentist. I am not pleased with this dentist’s receptionist as when I changed the date of my appointment she pulled quite an attitude about it.  I understand the inconvenience and possible financial impact of a cancellation but what they forget is, I am the customer and things change sometimes. Funny how one person putting on the air can affect a companies impression. Now I did change it twice but I did end up coming. I like this dentist so I let it pass.

Ironic also how on the same day the NDP force stage one of their $15 a hour minimum wage the Alberta Government owned Alberta Treasury Branch announces Alberta is in a recession. Brilliant thinking and timing !!

The day flew as after the dentist I did a few things, fixed a few things and then headed home to make supper. I am thinking Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes and brown sugar glazed carrots. Yummy !

Just looked out my window and a young lady in her teens was walking by with carrot colored natural red long long hair with a green plaid lumber jacket tied around her waist. She looked very good in the outfit. Odd combo but worked. A update in wardrobe just popped into my head. I am thinking my suit vest with my blue jeans and a white shirt. Maybe cool. LOL

Watched a bit of the Oiler’s against the Canucks tonight. Yep I am correct. The Oiler’s will not make the playoffs. Eberle out and with no goalie or defense they are in trouble.

Thought of the Day 

There is a dangerous thought process with the Edmonton Oiler’s that the league should look at. Before being eliminated from making the playoffs last year they won 45% of their games. After being eliminated they only won 28%. You can see where I am going with this. A better draft pick order would be to base it on points after the date each team was eliminated. This would eliminate certain teams from tanking to get a better draft pick. Not that it is has helped make them a better team but it did supply them with very good individual hockey players that are too young and immature to play in the league. Give this team 4 years and they will be good if they can find a goalie and a couple of key defense man. 

October 2nd

Had an email from a prospective buyer that had looked at our motor home last night. Unfortunately his maximum  and our minimum didn’t match. I am hoping he comes back as this motor home is a wonderful Rv that has not one thing wrong with it.

Have a golf game set with Jackie for this evening before winter hits. I have a few errands today but overall a relaxing day to get caught up on my budgeting.  All of the negative news in the world and in Alberta/Canada does worry me a bit on the TSX levels. They continue to have downward pressure with profit and sales reports coming out.  Everyone understands that this type of investment is long term but when you are removing money out it would be nice to have the return high enough to make some of that back.

I am pretty sure I am going to get a phone call in the morning telling me I don’t need to show to Marshall as the weather forecast now says a high of 4 degrees. I have to wait and see.

Received my phone early as it is 100 percent the winter hits tomorrow. High now of 4 degrees. They only had 13 people booked to golf as the rest cancelled or didn’t book knowing this was coming. This is at course that has over 34,000 tee times booked so far this year.

Put fuel stabilizer in the new motor home and ran it and the generator. I will put this in when I sell or decide to pull the ad until spring on the older home.

It was a wonderful night with Jackie at the Heatherglen Golf Course. It was 20 degrees and the leaves were pulled into the trees.We were hoping Jeff and Wendy would come with us for a couples night out  golfing but Jeff had prior commitments. Too bad as I believe we only golfed with Wendy once all year as she seemed to be always  away on vacation or as she called them business trips to destination spots, but  we don’t have many nice days left. The course was relatively empty.  We were able to tee off as soon we arrived with no one in front of us. It was one of those nights. Some days you golf poor, some days ok and some days great and some days fantastic. Tonight I golfed fantastic. I finished 2 over par and only because i screwed up the last hole. I impressed myself with everything working so well. And the pin placement was on the tougher side tonight.  It feels great when a game like this happens. I just wish it would happen more often. Jackie also had a good night. Two over par without using a mulligan or a gimme is stellar. I love this game !!!! We had a fantastic supper in the lounge after and then headed home. Wow talk about perfect timing. It was like going thru a sand storm with the incredible high winds on the way home. The storm it is coming. The temperature was 16 at 7 pm , 9 above at 8 pm and 4 above at 9 pm. Great day tomorrow to finish my September numbers.  A fun night tonight and hopefully not the last for Canada.

Thought of the Day 

Men blame fate for other accidents but feel personally responsible for a hole in one. I love this game !

October 3rd

Yes it is cold outside. Woke up this morning with it at 4 above. Snow on the roofs across the street. Burr !!  Good thing I know it is getting warmer here next week other wise I may have to leave  this country. Right now our plans are to go in November to help Fred with his reno and then come back and drive down on Dec 18th with Victoria. Jackson and Corey. Jessica, Penny and August will be flying down a few days later. It will be very nice to have all of the kids in Arizona for Christmas. Nothing like a tan, a swim and a gecko with gravy all on Christmas day.

Finished my September budget.  Spending a little more money that I would like. Had a $1600 bill for gas in September. Lots of travel though with Sask, Pembina, Crawling, Edmonton and Lethbridge. Golfing money spent was good, just a few things that add up quick. I will need to look at each category to cut back a bit as each month is running over and the funds aren’t increasing enough quick enough. Recessions are fine if you have a job as every thing becomes less expensive and you are able to buy stock at the low point but removing money at the low point hurts.

It is great day to relax and get a few things done one puts off.

Changed our formula of our breakfast smoothies.

• Our current smoothies had : Banana, cherries, blueberries, flax seed, chocolate milk, carrot  juice
• Our new smoothies now have : Banana, cherries, blueberries, flax seed, chocolate milk, carrot  juice, apples, kiwi, mango,pineapple, green tea, spinach,barley,wheat germ, zinc, Vit A ,C and B12 added. It is now not only fantastic tasting but is a true super smoothie.

 

Thought of the Day !

A budget is supposed to tell your money where to go not where it went.

October 4th

I am sitting here writing this as my Banana Bread is smelling incredible in the oven. I love the taste of banana nut bread and it makes good use of any bananas that go bad in our smoothie making process. Another 30 minutes until desert time !

House cleaning, paper work shuffling, a little golf watching which I do most Sunday’s and relaxing. Good day for a thorough car wash of the Wrangler. Organize the back as I have golf clubs and accessories spread everywhere. Some in the Enclave, some in Wrangler, some in the Cherokee and even extra balls left in the new motor-home. Still a very cool day today so that limits a lot of our choices.

Good news from Penny & Jessica as they have a offer on their house and now just have to wait out the condition removal. I hate this period as things can still go array. I remember when we had to have Mom’s water tested on the acreage as a condition the worry about what will come back. An inspection also doesn’t allow you a chance to explain anything and people take the inspectors word as gospel when it really is only one man’s opinion based on a bit of knowledge of building codes etc.  In my opinion most home inspectors are just like Sheriffs on the highway. Power tripping to make themselves feel important.  I am sure every thing will be ok as the house is a 100 years old and concessions have to be made for that.

Just loaded my NHL app on my phone to get ready for the season.  I see the Oiler’s just placed Ben Scrivens their goalie on waivers. It is shame as he had NO defense in front of him and he is a local boy from Spruce Grove. But  I guess they figure their very expensive draft pick ( 3 picks)goalie will be the man . It is nice to have stability on the Flames bench. Can’t wait for the season to start.

Boy my banana bread was good. Washed and waxed the Wrangler. Funny that wipe on wipe off motion still hurts my golfing elbow. Jeep shines brilliantly though.

Thought of the Day 

Hockey writers predicts Calgary in second place behind the Sharks in our division and Edmonton just missing the playoffs again.

October 5th

Up early this morning and took my Wrangler in for a oil change. I got the life time free oil change package when I bought it. I have been happy with Tower Jeep for the most part. It is a first serve first come program but you are waiting 1-2 hours vs Mr Lube in 1/2 hour. Typical upsale today that turned me off. I have 30Kms ( 18 K miles) on it and they want to flush and change the brake fluid. This is in a sealed environment were dirt and dust can’t access it and the only negative to the oil would be heat or moisture. I still believe these new FLUSHES dealerships are trying to promote are not needed and are just an add on sale. I said no ! When I got home I opened the brake fluid master cylinder ( shouldn’t do normally as dirt or air can get into the system) and did notice a little discoloration of the fluid. A little more dark then fluid should be which is odd. I will get it changed and flushed next time as heat, water or moisture must have entered the system. Brakes are quite important !. I would like to know the why as it should last 100,000 miles. So perhaps they were looking out for me. LOL

Adjusted the HWH hydraulic system on the motor home. It was easy enough to do after reading a lot of info and watching utube. The system is a little flawed as I can see it moving if you hit a big bump on the road. I need to see what others have come up for that. The auto levelers are now working perfect. Nice feature as it only takes a few minutes to level the coach completely for slide extension and fridge operation. If I can find a why to eliminate the adjustment it would be nice.

I was going to golf today but ended up only going to the range. I like the range as you can try different things on each shot to figure out what is working. I am liking every club with only a couple of weaker ones. My nine iron (145 yrds) I struggle holding the line. My 62 degree same thing as the odd time it is pushed far right off the face. And my nemesis the driver. The rest of my clubs have become awesome and consistent. The two remaining irons had a lot of shots today and things are being worked out. The driver is getting a lot lot better with only a smaller fade now and maybe every 10 shots a slice. If I can hold my driver straight a low 80 high 70’s number is easy. I have three games this week so I will see how I make out. If each game is 85 or less I will have an average score my lowest this year than ever. Only scored over 100 once this year ( least ever) and scored 5 games in the 70’s ( most ever). A lot of the 80 -85 scores that hopefully after Mesa this winter will drop into the 70’s for next year. Time will tell. ( most of it driver related, lost balls)

Babysat Jackson tonight. Had a fun time with him playing at the McDonald;s slide and play centre, running up and down the hallways and swimming in the hot tub. We were in the hot tub when we had a OLD MAN visitor. He wrecked our fun as we couldn’t splash or make lots of noise. I teased Jackson after the swim that he smelled like a OLD MAN now. He didn’t like that. LOL   Fun evening and then over to Victoria’s place to help Jackie assemble some chairs that Victoria bought for her new dining table. These chairs look fantastic around the table. Corey did such a nice job on the table and combined with the chairs and bench the room looks great.

Finalized the people count for Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. Jackie and I are having 18 adults for a turkey dinner. The largest turkey our  store had was a 12.83 kg one which is  about 28 pounds. Typically you need about 1 1/2 pounds of turkey per person. We will have that and also a  ham which should make enough for everyone as some of the people are small eaters. Nothing drives more nuts than people that fill their plate with food and then don’t eat it because their eyes were bigger than their appetite. You put it on your plate, Finish it,  as someone may have less than they would have liked.

I remember one time at a family style dinner at the “Oh Canada” Theater were a old woman filled her plate taking 99% of the what was left in a large bowl of potatoes and a gentleman and myself having to share about two tablespoons of potatoes and her not eating her’s all up.

Thought of the Day 

Thanksgiving just about here. Get your FAT pants out and ready to put on.                                Ps Guests– Don’t expect me to be the best cook ever. My job is to light up the room with my good looks and humor.

October 6th 

Up early to make sure all of my needed Thanksgiving dinner items didn’t leave the shelves. Huge advantage being retired. Headed early to beat the crowd as today is 10% off Tuesday at Sobeys.  Got my turkey ( 2 left) at a amazing price. Last week it was $62 this week with the sale for a bigger turkey $30.  Picked up everything else. Put our new chairs for playing cards in the motor home. They look great and will work prefect. A good shopping day. I think we have everything we need except the buns which we will get on Saturday.

We are very lucky to have the PC party controlling Canada. I listen to the NDP rhetoric and shake my head. Here we have the opportunity to join 11 of the largest countries in the world in a trade agreement and we have a party saying IF they won they wouldn’t honor the deal. Not easy to negotiate when this is happening. It is unbelievable to me that there is ANYONE that doesn’t believe it to be a good deal and must have for Canada. Auto industry and the dairy industry are concerned so Ontario is busy pushing the deal down. These two industries have been so protected it is ridiculous. To have a agreement where we have to have 60 % ( i may be off as it may be higher) Canadian content made in our autos. Why ? Let us compete in the open market. Our car pricing will come down substantially.  Do you like paying double for our milk and cheese to the USA because of our protectionism ? We need to compete and can without government intervention.  This TPP deal took 5 years to complete. It was not a politically game being played. Come on guys wake up.  It is scary how so many people follow  like cows in the pasture even if the lead doesn’t know where it is going.

It didn’t get as warm today as thought but it still was a great day to golf. As normal this time of year the course was empty so Jeff and I had no one in front us. Fun night golfing. Did ok today but had a few odd misses and ended up with a 81. Had 13 pars just kept missing the birdie putts. Not unhappy but wanted it to be a little less. Fun Night.

Got home and discovered a note on my pillow as Jackie is away for a couple of days at a convention. What a nice girl !!  I won’t say what the note said LOL  Warm weather coming but we still won’t be able to golf with Jeff & Wendy as they are heading to Med Hat for the weekend. Oh well it will be a nice golf date with Jackie and enjoying the patio after.

Hockey starting this week. What does everyone think about the three on three overtime.My opinion is it will be fun to watch but is it fair to count these goals in stats. Can you imagine the goals that Wayne would have made. A couple of skilled players will have more goals then we have seen for a long time. It would be nice if these didn’t count in the stats.

Thought of the Day 

People tend to be generous when sharing their nonsense, fear, ignorance,  political and religious views. And while they seem quite eager to feed you their negativity and opinions, please remember sometimes the diet we need is a spiritual or emotional one only. Be cautious with what you feed your mind and soul. Fuel yourself with positivity and common sense and let that be the fuel that drives you.

October 7th 

D DAY. Yes the start of the NHL season and the 2015/16 Stanley Cup Champions the Calgary Flames take to the ice tonight at 8:30. Should be another fun season for us and I am sure we will have a great competitive hard working team that is fun to watch. Looking forward to the Oiler rivalry and the standings.

Decided to use up my last golf pass at Boulder today as a walk on. Nice that this time of year the courses are very slow. Showed up and as luck would have, the on staff pro decided to play with me. I played great. He played poorly for him. I won quite a few holes but ended up with a 81 due to a blow up 4 over hole. I out drove him a few holes even though today as I was trying to hit hard i struggled to control the slice. Nice open fairways allow a slice without a penalty. The course was in excellent shape.I like playing with pro’s just to watch the thinking process and watch the way they play the course. He didn’t give me any tips though unfortunately. It was  warm fun day.  To get to the next level I need to drive comfortably so I may look at a quick lesson. If I can drive straight I can score low 80 high 70’s most of the time. Off the tee trouble high 80’s or 90’s. Love this game !

Had another potential buyer of the motor home but the couple were quite elderly and the lady struggled getting into the captain’s chair and up the stairs. I am sure they will not go forward with it.

Tomorrow is my shotgun start at TV with some unknown golfers. Not members as I always check the handicap of my partners before golfing with them.Weather will be great so should be fun. I think Jackie and I will have another nine and dine on Friday which is always fun.

Thought of the Day

I think when Jackie asked me “Do you want to play around she meant golf didn’t she ?”

October 8th 

First the Flames just didn’t play like we all thought they should have the first game. The Canucks outplayed them by a lot. Only one game.

Great day today.

First Jessica’s house inspection went well which is great. On a 100 year old home you never know. So all of their conditions have been removed so it is SOLD. Now comes the fun of moving. I hate moving !  It is so much fun to be in your new home though and setting up and moving things around makes  for a fun day.  I can’t remember the stairs in her new home as they are always the issue. I am sure they are very excited and looking forward to the change.

Conditionally SOLD the motor home pending a pre-purchase inspection report from Fountain Tire. The motor home is in excellent shape and I would drive it to Florida tomorrow. The only small issue it has is the “infamous FORD power steering whine” that some people don’t like. I can tell you a high percentage of FORD owners experience this. Doesn’t effect anything except a whining a bit at low speeds.

So it is nice to see everything falling in place. Just need Audrey’s place to sell now. One thing though I would love is a 72 on the course today .I would like a 79 and be extremely happy. LOL As long as the score is below 86 I will lower my average which is already the lowest it has ever been ever.

Just a beautiful day today to golf. Nice and warm. Turner Valley has no leaves on the course but does have slower greens than both Heatherglen and Boulder due to the type of grass.

This is just a hard but very scenic and wonderful course. I had a great foursome one of them being my neighbor Larry.  I didn’t have a great game but I still played ok. Ended up with a 85 but had a 8 a 7 and two three putts. Bring that back to boogies and remove 2 putts and it is a 79 so no complaints. I need to get rid of those one hole blowups but the stroke and distance penalty takes it toll on the score. Fun Day !

Hallelujah . After an hour on the range and checking the internet over and over I think I finally found my slice cure. I have struggled with this for years and is the only reason I can’t get down to a 10 handicapper.I used the new system today for the first time on the course and overall was very pleased.  A few 270 yard plus drives and straight most of the time except for the odd screwup off the tee. Overall though when hit no slice.  I think a few more games and this will be the idea that works. I also today changed up my wedges. I normally used my 60 degree from 75 yards in. Today I used my sand wedge and like it better. Better aim control and only a easy swing instead of a hard swing. Now it is just feel which will take couple of games. I will continue to work with this. Things are getting better. Love this game !

Thought of the Day

It doesn’t matter how low the dollar goes, I will always bend down to pick it up, and why is it your bank account can be over drawn but never over filled ? 

October 9th 

“PENNYWISE TIP”

One question that always come up when talking to recent , upcoming retiree or in general conversation with near retirement people is ” When should they take CPP”  This is my opinion based on facts and observations. If we knew how long we were going to live it would be an easier decision but we don’t. So we know that the average life span for a Canadian male today is almost 81 years old. We know that the reduction for each month changes again in 2016 to .06% reduction changing the break even point to 74 or 75 years old. Now i ask you to think about your life. Are you going to spend more money from retirement to 75 or from 75 to death knowing the average life expectancy is only 5 years more. I believe when anyone looks at this that they will conclude the same and take it early and enjoy the little bit extra income while they can.  My thoughts 

2014 Life expectancy in Canada hits 80 for men, 84 for women.

Jackie and I decided to go golfing a little earlier today as it was 22 above outside, sunny and she had taken the day off. Headed out to Heatherglen. We hooked up with two older gentlemen that were a lot of fun to golf with. Not a true couple outing but still we had a blast. Jackie golfed reasonable well scoring a 106 and i scored an 81. I had a chance again to be the 70’s but had a triple boogie got me on a Par 3 hole.  I only had two birdies so still a net loss. The new swing with grip worked perfect with some huge hits. On a Par 4 at 320 yards I was no more than 6ft off the green. Only had one slice tonight.The course was excellent and the company a lot of fun. Had our dine part in the lounge again and had a wonderful meal. The waitress was so good she actually remembered Jackie’s meal request from last time we were there. She is good. She also makes the best Caesar’s. Not only is it great tasting, made correctly and they use the proper rim salt instead of that ugly tasting red seasoning stuff but each Caesar tastes just like the last one which is an art. Even the Keg my favorite Caesar place struggles with that. Another wonderful fun day/evening enjoying ourselves.

Thought of the Day

Forget about saving money. Forget about retiring early. Wait until your 65 to retire that way most everyone you borrowed money from will be dead. Plus it leaves the stores less busy in the day, the golf courses with no one on them which really helps me and more money in the gov’t coffers to keep paying me. New slogan I need to start ; WORK UNTIL YOUR DEAD .        But truly:Be afraid, be very afraid of being caught up in the financial institutions hype to keep working as you don’t have enough. There is NEVER enough. Live for today. Enjoy today. I will share the course, the store space, the senior discounts and the gov’t money with you.

October 10th 

My views of the NDP:

As their Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and BC victories of the 1980s and 1990s demonstrated this party does not win because of its platforms but in spite of them. The NDP was elected primarily by default because the governing parties lost the public’s confidence in their governing abilities with scandals and waste. By perseverance and longevity, the NDP generated a measure of acceptance of itself even by traditional doubters. It occasionally became situated as the provincial government in waiting, as the most credible, available alternative to a discredited government in power. Trust me when I say Redford and Stelmach really pushed the voters over their limit.  That is the lesson of the Pawley, Rae, Harcourt, Romanow and Notley triumphs. Luckily as we will be ,the NDP doesn’t have any longevity as a governing party. Smoke and mirrors only last for a short time. Be cautious that the same thing doesn’t happen federally in a few days. In a sense, people were voting against the government of the day (not necessarily its policies) and not for the NDP or its policy prescriptions.  The options this election are limited. The Green Party and the Bloc are regional. The Liberals are eastern French and Maritimes, the central part NDP and Liberal with the Conservatives strong in most other places. Harper doesn’t have the charisma or the young thinking approach that hurt him but he is an economist by trade and very good at managing our country through tough times. He has had a few scandals that he should have been on top off .

Talked to Fred today and it looks like we are leaving the first of November for Phoenix. Readied stuff for the dinner tomorrow. Relaxing and enjoying the sun. Big game Esks against the Stamps this weekend which is the tie breaker which should make for a great game.

October 11th -12th        Thanksgiving Celebrations

Up at 6 am to start the cooking. We had 19 adults and two kids coming for dinner so that takes a lot of food. Unfortunately with only one oven and one stove top timing and choices become more difficult.  We had a 27 pound turkey so nothing else fits into the oven. If fact the bird barely fit into my roaster. So i came up with the idea after google helped and we cooked a 7 lb ham in the crock pot. Put the ham in after rubbing it down with mustard, brown sugar and honey and then filled the crock pot with pineapple juice. The ham turned out fantastic. It was very moist and tasty stewing in the juice for 7 hours.Had two full bags of dried bread crumbs for the dressing. The dressing with all of my additional spices etc turned out fantastic. Adding warmed milk and butter to the mashed potatoes and the correct type of potato and then adding sour cream makes for great mashed potatoes. As i was mashing I thought “oh no they are to soggy” but then they started to come around and were fantastic.Victoria brought a couple of excellent side dishes and others brought the pies and salads. Wonderful wonderful meal.Mom brought whipping cream and I glad she did as it does taste a way way better than the bought stuff and was a easy 5 min chore. I had pickles and beans that Fred had pickled and not one was left in the dish. Lots of cranberry sauce and jelly. It was nice to see everyone together that could come. Alfred, Mary, and Jim were the only ones missing and my nephews. We had it upstairs in the party room which is great for larger groups with lots of room to spread out and yet small enough to mingle. We had it spread out quite well. Used a wheeled cart to transfer all of the food upstairs and all of the dirty dishes back down. Here is the list of attendees: Victoria, Corey, Jackson, Jessica, Penny, August, Audrey, Michael, Peter, Alan, Maryann, Danielle,Kennedy, Jackson, Ruth, Darlene, Kari, David, Kristen, Jackie and I. Mom, Darlene and Kari stayed a little later at our place and we Skyped ( different app from Korea though) with Kayla who is teaching over there.  It was a wonderful day and evening although I can say I am too full. LOL  Will take a couple of days to get back to my number but worth it. Odd no matter how full I get my shoes always fit. Jackson and August were two great kids and behaved exceptionally well. Little August was a smiling machine and was passed around amongst everyone. I was busy and forgot to take pictures though.

Mom, Darlene, Kari came to visit with everyone the next morning at Victoria’s house with Jess, Pen and August being there. Another nice visit before they had to head back to Edmonton as Kari had a night shift starting at 7pm. We have a lot of nurses in our immediate family with Darlene, Kari and Danielle.

I went over the old motor home and washed it and removed the special bolts for my Jeep protector while being pulled. I will install these on the new motor home . I had to wash it again as the dust and rain had turned it pretty dirty and my potential buyer is coming for it on Tuesday.

I see the line ups for the pre voting were quite long. That is a good sign as the turnout will be higher than normal and all of the closet PC’s can get out and protect our country by voting for Harper.

A great long weekend filled with food, fun, and family.

October 13th

Up early in the morning to take the Buick in for service and the motor home in for a pre-purchase inspection that the buyer wanted. Made our smoothies for breakfast as we need to drop the couple pounds of turkey we gained. The smoothies today were thick. I may have to change the name to Breakfast Pudding.

I hope to golf a couple times this week, maybe go kayaking, cut my hair for our upcoming pictures in Lethbridge this weekend and fiddle around with a few things I need to get done.I will put together the routers and bits clamps etc to help Fred in Mesa with the countertop to have them ready. I am going to throw in our golf bags etc in the back of the truck so when we drive near Christmas time we have enough room for everyone and everything.

Fixed an issue with my blog as the comment section wasn’t working on for couple of months. Nice to use WordPress as their support is awesome. All fixed now. I couldn’t believe no one didn’t comment on my section where Keith found a girlfriend in the bush. Her name ELK when we were is Waskesiu.

Received the pre-purchase inspection back on the motor home and just like I thought a very very clean report. The mechanic stated:

• “main battery discharge”- happens when not used and sitting
• Front rear windshield washer spray broken- works but plastic end isn’t attached
• Headlamps need to be aligned

Cost the potential buyer $129.00 for his peace of mind.  Everything else got the mechanics approval as being very good or good. I just need the final sale to happen to move onto something else. Need the money in the bank. The trick in having a well maintained vehicle is to do just that. Maintain it. Fix each little thing as it comes along and the bills will seem a lot smaller and there will less big ones. My 2000 Grand Cherokee with 230 kms on it has zero oil or sweat leaks. Each service I had something maintained. To bad about the rust which I can only repair after the fact. My 2006 Ram when I took into Mr LUBE one time between services the guys couldn’t believe it had over 200 kms.

I have sold and bought a fair number of vehicles from private sales and used dealers. Not once did I hear of a free title document. I always thought the bill of sale stating free of all liens and encumbrances was enough.So off to the registry office first thing to pick up a VIR report as the buyer needs one to feel safe.   I must be a trusting guy as I have never had one or seen one. I accepted and wrote normal cheques years ago on a purchase.

Thought of the Day 

It’s a new world of lack of trust and more and more forms to get anything done. 

October 14th

Jackie made up a large large patch of Turkey Rice soup with the carcass of the turkey. We now have a lot of soup for the future to use up. It tastes fantastic and it is no wimpy soup , this soup is thick with lots of vegetables and turkey meat in it. It is a great way to get rid of the left overs from a turkey dinner.

Went to the Registry Office to get a Personal Property report to show no liens on the motor home. I have told two potential buyers it is tentatively sold and the frustrating part is the buyer still hasn’t committed to a meet time to finalize it.  He paid for the inspection so he is somewhat committed.Very soon my patience will run out, and I am a very patient man, but !  This motor home is in prime condition and a easy sell so I have no worries about losing a potential buyer. Worst case scenario I keep until spring and get 2- 4 thousand more for it.

It looks like it is final. I am driving the motor home to him so he doesn’t need to register it for storage all winter. Just waiting for him to email to come.

Went golfing this afternoon. Things have really started to come around. My new system for my driver is working phenomenally . Consistent 270 yard hits with minimal movement on the ball. Today only one slice but it was huge.It can happen as i now am releasing more power to the driver. Ironic as the course was empty and my slice ball headed and hit only a few yards away from two guys. Being upset with the shot and knowing no one was on the course I didn’t realize my ball was dangerous until the last moment. I shouted fore loud but the guys only had seconds to react. I had to apologize profusely as it scared them.Yahoo !! my second lowest score of the year at 78. I know I left quite a few shots and putts out there so I think with a little bit of luck I can get down par.That will be a DAY !! I will keep trying. My golfing partner didn’t help as he was very short sighted and didn’t see my ball at all. It can cause you to lift to early which makes it a mishit. Luckily being straight it wasn’t much of an issue. One of the good things about golfing with someone you know is, you have another set of eyes on your ball. Having said that some of my partners haven’t had the best eyesight. LOL A real fun day with it hitting 17 degrees out, a fun golfing partner and a fantastic score.

SOLD  Our motor home which I loved is sold. For those that have never driven a Class A it is fantastic. The views, the ease of driving and the luxury of leather captain chairs is great. The ease of mind with no slide or hydraulics to worry about, make this a great unit. I hope the new couple enjoy it as much as we did. It is in perfect shape so I have no hesitation with the elderly couple having it.  Nice couple that belong to the Jehovah Witness Church and plan on using it to help build temples and stay at site. He is a contractor by trade. Nice couple.

Thought of the Day

Selling something you would be proud to own yourself makes the process easy.

Anyone that knows me knows I believe we are marketed to the extreme and given horrible advise by both doctors and the medical industry on the whole. Talking to Mom tonight at her retirement home they had a flu shot day for everyone yesterday. Guess what today 9 people are very sick and the place is in a lock down situation. Why people fall for the flu shot gimmick is beyond me. It just isn’t right to purposely inject a live virus into your body. Here is an article from a well respected institute.

http://www.viralalternativenews.com/2015/10/johns-hopkins-scientist-reveals.html

Everyone has the right to make a choice. There is a lot of controversy over our need to have help from the medical industry. The largest profit industry in the world. Some of these drugs and viruses are dangerous.  Lipitor the biggest scam of all. Flu virus the other big one has killed people and has made a lot of people ill. Governments push these. What are the long term side effects ? Why if the government says we need these do people blindly follow. Do your research on flu shots, on Lipitor , on immunizations etc and you may get scared. We have a damaged food source, we over medicate and we have poisoned ourselves with chemicals. Why can’t we get it right ? MONEY and greed. I am all for risk versus need and gain ( oil pipelines) but we need to more diligent in looking out for US.

October 15th 

Up this morning and had our great smoothie. Had a #1 haircut and trim. A little longer than normal as we are having pictures this weekend and I don’t want to look like Dr Evil or Howie Mondel .Went to the motor home to put the plywood under the tires for winter. Checked out my auto levelers and they worked perfect. Cleaned and wash the Wrangler. Read more info on the Allison transmission and the gear hold back system. Decided to move my boat behind our new space and hope to get away stealing a bit of space from the guy behind me. Phoned and cancelled the insurance and like the dollar difference going forward. Phoned to cancel a CIBC mastercard I never use. I will take the plates back tomorrow and get a small refund. Phoned and cancelled my RV storage spot effective Nov 1st.  A cooler day today but sunny and nice. Came home for a great turkey soup dinner. Booked my flight back on Nov 19th from Phoenix to Calgary. Confirmed our travel date to go down south as Nov 1st early in morning. A productive day!

Went golfing at Blue Devil with Jeff and Pete. The course was in very good shape. Like McKenzie and maybe even a bit more it is an easy course with the only obstacles being the sand traps. The night was a little cooler than I thought but still ok to golf in. Had two larger slices but as you can play back it wasn’t an issue. A little rushed trying to get done but still a night of golf in the fall is better than the alternative.

Jeff didn’t want a burger or wings and beer. How could that happen ! He went out for Japanese food. Now isn’t that a oxymoron. How can you put food and Japanese in the same sentence. Hasn’t anyone figured out why Asian’s are so short. It is because all of their lives they are under nourished, under feed and not having a balanced diet. Rice and fish will allow you to live but not be alive.People fall into the trap  that it is fish, it must be good for you as it is full of Omega 3 fatty acids. Wrong ! Parasites, like roundworms, can burrow in your stomach lining and cause severe discomfort, pain and inflammation are found in sushi and in fact most fish that sometimes can kill .Mercury levels consumed destroy brain cells, and can damage the heart,and kidneys.  Labels on FISH products warn about this and suggested weekly amounts are suggested by the FDA.  Loads of people are allergic to fish. NO ONE to red meat. Trust me you are much better off eating red meat than fish everyday. If you have a weak immune system, are elderly, young children and pregnant women are not recommended to eat fish. Why, I think you know. But eat healthy and you will get to sit at the big persons table as you will be tall enough.

Thought of the Day 

The difference between golf and an NDP government is that in golf you can’t improve your lie. 

October 16th

Quite a productive day today. First I returned the license plate to the Registry Office to get a a refund. The cancellation fee was equal to the fee to be returned so a wash here other than I get rid of my plate correctly and easy. Off to the storage lot were I cancelled my second lot and got close to $200 bucks back with the remaining time of the year. Winning !  I just need to move my boat behind the new motor home now.  I will give Corey a call to help me lift it around. Then off to the new Cabela’s to see it. I have been  to the one in Edmonton but this one is a Super Cabela’s. I like it a little better than Bass Pro even though their strong suite is clothing. I thought if they had a rod & reel case for multiple units I maybe pick one up to protect my equipment.  Fred has the nicest one and so far I have not been able to find one like it. Calela’s had tube and hard cases but I need a low profile to fit into the storage area of the motor home. I will keep looking. I came out with nothing but if I had still being working let me tell you I would have been hired for Duck Dynasty. Great store and I am sure I will be buying stuff there.

Made, cooked and froze my potatoe cakes today for future meals. Should taste excellent.

“MY RANT”

Due to an incidence today this rant came about. Again ! i know I know but poor drivers are quite annoying. WHY DO OLD PEOPLE DRIVE SO SLOW? Statistics show that per mile driven older drivers are involved in considerably more fatal accidents. Due to their age and fragility  they are more likely to be injured in an accident and more likely to die of that injury. Senior’s cause accidents. They should admit it.The most common violations include failure to obey traffic signals, unsafe turns and passing, and failure to yield the right of way because of awareness and senses including speed of judgement and vision issues.

We have medical exams based on age for our elderly to pass. I disagree with this as it is biased and unfair. Even though slow and annoying I have to attempt they are relatively safe.EVERYONE should have a road test every 5 years at their own expense. A legit test by a government agency not a fly by night driving school.If you fail twice your license is gone. People talk about guns killing, cars kill a lot more people than guns every year.

So an issue is determining exactly what age is considered too old to drive. As the process of aging varies from one person to the next, the age at which an elderly person’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle declines varies between persons. This controversy would be gone if everyone had to take the test.

Senior citizens are seen by some as among the safest drivers on the road, as they generally do not speed or take risks, and they are more likely to wear seatbelts but what they don’t account for is the cars that they have cut off, the impatient drivers behind them, the lane switching caused by swerving around them etc. I have to be a little careful here as I have family and friends who’s driving could be at question. If any of you can’t parallel park. WALK . If any of you can’t do the speed limit. WALK. If any of you can’t stay between the lines. WALK. If any of you can’t speed up on a merge instead of slowing down . WALK. If you can’t drive in reverse for 1/2 block using your mirrors. WALK. 

If you answer yes to any of the following questions you need to practice.

1. How may of you have looked and looked for a easy parking spot even though a close one was there but you didn’t feel comfortable getting into it ?
2. How many of you have tried to parallel park and after a couple of attempts decide to park somewhere else ?
3. How many of you have wanted to change lanes and get angry or frustrated because no one will “let” you in ? 
4. How many of you have applied brakes while in a merge lane ?
5. How many of you have been in the left lane and cars are passing you on the right hand side ? 

There are bad drivers and I mean real bad drivers at every age everywhere. I am sure 25% of the drivers could not pass a legit driving exam. I thought my brother was getting old and becoming a “old driver” . He changed my mind. First he was able to back a trailer into a spot I thought no one could. Second he gets in his Vette and he actually drives over the speed limit most of the time. I was following him. I was impressed. Nice to see a old skilled driver. LOL   Plus he drives a truck pulling a fifth wheel pulling a 18ft boat and can back up a fair distance with the train. 

So everyone please look at your own skills and think about what you can do better next time you hit the road. I know myself with vision, perception and hesitancy I am not the man I once was ( i like that song)  but am still a very good driver. Count how many errors you make next week and think about the luck you had with them.  Drive the limit ( or more) but be safe !!

“BUT THAT’S JUST ME”

I have a great golf trip coming up tomorrow playing at a Les Ferber designed golf course in Cardston. It will be over 20 degrees out and relatively calm. Should be a fun time. I checked the course out and it looks fantastic. I also have a family portrait session coming up on Sunday. Most likely no posting until Monday as I will be out of town.  It looks like tonight would have been the last Friday night for a nine and dine as the temperatures are starting to get a little lower. I enjoy these and am looking forward to Mesa to restart them again. I think next year Jackie & I will do this in Calgary every weekend we are in town. Nothing better than a round of golf followed by cold beer on the patio. I may even take the risk and have fish & chips as that is the special every Friday. Man I am daring but I am already tall enough and healthy enough.

October 17th

What a wonderful day. It had to be at least 27 above today in Cardston. I am going to go on record and say the Lee Creek Golf Course in Cardston has to be the nicest golf course in Alberta. I have played some Alberta courses ( Kananaskis , Wolf Creek, Stewart Creek, Edmonton Golf & Country, Glencoe, Glendale, Red Tail, Desert Blume, Drumheller,Northern Bear, Black Bull, Athabasca, Turner Valley, Elbow Springs, Alberta Springs and many others) but this course I put as the nicest course in Alberta. The elevations and the land area used to cover this course is amazing. You have numerous high elevated tee boxes, a river and numerous ponds. Built in the hoodoo’s and designed by Les Ferber it is amazing. Plus being exceptional it is also cost effective.  I am going to be playing this course again .  I could go on a  vacation and play Lee Valley, Fort MacLeod, Crows Nest Pass , The Bridges and have a very economical but exceptional golf vacation instead of going to BC and have equal golf. You have to try out this course. www.golfleecreek.com

How did I golf. I golfed the worst and best in a long time. I scored a 91 with 10 lost balls using stroke and distance penalties. If my average drive is 250 yards X 10 lost balls and having to make that up i added 2500 yards to the course and still ended up with a 91. That makes it a 8500 yard plus course to play.  IF I just take the 10 extra stroke off it is a 81. So it was the worst and best wrapped up together. I don’t know what happened but I just wasn’t on. Too bad as my playing partners were fun guys and I had a very enjoyable time but I would have like to have done better. The best player of the group ended up with a 78 and the highest at 106. It  is a tough course but it wasn’t the courses fault. I would have a good drive and get a  horrible kick into the bush and lose it. I would slice and lose it.  A different town Cardston with it’s no liquor laws as it a Mormon town but right next to it is the Indian reserve. Odd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You just can’t beat a warm sunny day in October to have a great golf outing. I did lose $2.00 on the teams with strokes.  I will be back as they have a great campsite just down the road. The weekly rate for 18 holes is $27.00 which should be $80 for the this type of course.

We lost to the Oiler’s and McDavid was impressive but it is still early in the season. Just hated the first Oiler win to be against us. LOL

Thought of the Day 

Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what the hell you are doing wrong to have a poor golf shot.

October 18th – Oct 19th     VOTE

We had a beautiful drive down to Lethbridge today to have our family photo’s done. We met Jess,Pen and August at Boston Pizza for lunch for a visit and then headed to their place to get ready and wait for Tor & Cor and Jackson to arrive. The river valley in Lethbridge is spectacular. Edmonton and Saskatoon have two of the best valleys but I think I put Lethbridge ahead of both of them. Main reason beside the huge trees is the trail system, the depth of the valley from top to bottom , the hoodoo like side hills and the look out points along with a very nice day use area that covers a lot of acreage. We met our photographer on site. The ladies name was Angel along with her sister Brooke that did a wonderful job coming up with photo ideas and props among the trees and leaves. They haven’t seen Jackson’s and I ‘s modelling fee as of yet.We all had fun doing the photo’s and I am sure there will some great looking natural one’s taken.  While at the bottom we were lucky enough to see a freight train crossing the rails. If anyone knows Lethbridge they know that bridge is a mile in the air and is amazing to look at and is one the most sought after items to take a picture of . Lucky for us the engineer was enjoying his high ride by having his head and arms out of the window and noticed us a mile below him. Jackson and I waved and then moved our arms to get him to blow his whistle. HE BLEW HIS WHISTLE.  The new noise bylaws now have taken that fun away as most times they won’t blow as they could get in trouble. But I guess with the warm sun, the spot where he was and him  seeing us desperately waving he thought he would give us a treat. Thank you. Jackson loved it. It was also fun throwing leaves, trekking  through the bushes and paths and teasing the group that were getting there picture taken. Hopefully my eyes were open as I was laughing a lot which squeezes them closed a bit. A great supper after the pictures and then headed home.

Monday am and this is the day. I am going to make a prediction. If the NDP win 300 point drop in the TSX, if Justin wins a 200 point drop in the TSX and if Harper wins a 200 point gain in the TSX. It is a close close election and just like in Alberta it has been more about wanting to remove Harper than elect some one else. The incumbent is always an easy target as they have done something and people remember the bad things. Not to go long but Harper has been an excellent PM and we need him for 4 more years. The young vote which is starting to get involved hasn’t seen 20 percent interest rates, hasn’t seen a destroyed economy or hasn’t even being in long or entered the workforce and is voting on the feely, goody emotion instead of facts and numbers. Let’s hope eastern Canada does the right thing. I think Harper maybe be able to hold a minority government. I hope. Minority is useless but is better than the alternative. To hear both Justin and Muclair state they will not support any PC initiatives is sickening. NOT what is good for our country but what fits their own agenda. Sad really. Harper isn’t the best PM we have had and has had a fee questionable issues but for Canada right now he is by FAR the best choice. Please vote on facts , not negative propaganda, and media related blowups but on facts. There is a time to have the environment talk, the immigration talk , the niqab talk but right now we need a stable economy, we need secure jobs and people to feel like they are going to have good life going forward. Cheap daycare, tax cuts, deficits are ALL sales pitches. Do not buy in to it. I do think we need to blow up the current system and have democratic reform by moving to a system of proportional representation and allowing more freedom to MPs to vote their conscience. We need a government that listens to the people in their riding and have free vote on issues reflective of that. If the Liberal or NDP have one good idea lets use it for the good of Canada and not vote against it because it is the oppositions idea in in certain cases may be a non confidence vote.

Thought of the Day 

This election affects me more than any other. I don’t have the luxury of a paycheck every two weeks to fall back on. Although there are thousands of great people that can’t say that now after our last provincial disaster. We have a anti-oil govt here that will hold Alberta back for years so we at need least a strong federal government to help during a rough time. This may sound nasty but all of the do-gooder, environmentalist , feminist,socialist, unionized, anti-oil, utopia want a be’s maybe the cause of a great province and country brought to it’s knees like Greece. Or we could become like Quebec and ask for everything from our government and get it making everyone else pay for it. If the TSX stays strong I don’t have to worry about employment except for my kids. Every one has to know someone in Alberta right struggling as they have no work. Mechanics ( no trucks due to oil production) carpenters ( no homes being built due to slow down), small business closing etc. It baffles me how people I know see this yet they think nothing of it and carry on promoting parties like the NDP. Justin is just like Ronald Reagan when he won. Carter in decline and voters wanted hope. Look what it did for American. DEBT  Vote wisely 

October 20th

I think most us knew that Harper would have a hard time winning another election. We have the eastern part of the country that has forever thought  differently than the west and they have the population. What I can say is that it at least it is not the NDP. Justin is young so gets a lot of votes from the younger generation. He is French so he makes it easy for Quebec to vote for him. He won and the majority always has to be right. So what does this mean for Alberta. We will not have to go into depression as now pot will be legal and we can all just have fun and not worry about the country. His plan is to spend us into a deficit and the public took it line and sinker. The allocated money for infrastructure is great for our ring road, for our C train and maybe even our new arena. He approves of the XL line which is good if he can convince Notley of the need. Justin needs this to get more royalty money to help Quebec in our transfer payment.  The average worker taxes will go down 1.5%. Whoopee A lot of money allocated to training programs, EI, and youth employment. No more income splitting but additional money for a child care benefit. No more bombing of Syria, We will have no planes now. Loads of new Syrian refuges for us all to pay for .

It is what it is. The market so far today has reacted favorable which is good.                      Liberals have been in power before and they will get kicked out again. We just need to hope not too much damage is done. Debt in a downturn economy isn’t a good choice but it does get a few people working.

Enough politics. I need to get ready for something real important like my golf game today. A little cooler today with it only hitting 13 degrees but it is late fall. Today is the day I want to WIN. I am mentally prepped I just need a little luck and to play well.  I am going to go Liberal on them today.

Well I didn’t quite do it. Played well enough but lost 5 balls again off the drive. Stroke and distance hurts and I ended up with a 88. Lots of par’s and a birdie but the lost balls kill you. I thought I had the slice cured but it is back with a vengeance. Tomorrow is 19 above and before the winter hits and we head to Lethbridge I will give it one more try. Larry P golfed very well with no mistakes. Fred golfed good but had a few holes give him trouble.I need to have the slice fixed. !!! I want the 70’s and low 80 ‘s as a score !! more often. And this was on a course with water but few trees.

Thought of the Day 

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.

October 21st.

Up early this morning as I had tee time at 10 o’clock. I had my energy booster smoothie and headed out. I was at the driving range when my playing partners showed up. Dressed to the nine’s in golf attire and swinging like pro’s. Huge drives and great chips. So after the last two games I was a little nervous. The  three young guys all exceptionally nice and in their 30’s along with myself headed to the first tee when our name was called. The throw of the tee and I was the first to go. Wham I drove the ball straight and 280 yards. Does anyone remember Archie Bunker. The word that popped into my head was ” Dumb Ass” . For two games I didn’t follow my new system and suffered and it just came back to me. All three of them struggled off the first tee. I smiled. We had a great day with it hitting 22 degrees and sunny. I played fantastic and only had one slice all day. They had good games but the long hitter of the group struggled with his slice which again made me smile. I ended up with the best score of 81 of the group without one lost ball. DUMB ASS.  It was a very fun golfing day with three good golfers and very fun partners. The one young guy has a unique story . In the construction business and while on the job and lifting heavy concrete forms burst a blood vessel in his brain. It damaged the right side of his body a bit but he could still golf. Shorter 200 yard drives but everyone straight down the middle. As he is on permanent disability he uses golf as a recovery and conditioning exercise.  Nice young guy that is dealing with his bad luck extremely well.  I couldn’t have asked for better weather, better partners or a better score.Sorry I could ask for a better score. But I am happy to have figured out my issue again.

Supper, babysitting Jackson and then heading to Lethbridge to help move Jessica so a few days away I will miss blogging. I will update it all on Sunday with pictures. Wish my back good luck. Have I ever said i hate moving. Love the pizza and beer after though. LOL

Thought of the Day

I lost my Teddy, will you sleep with me ? 

October 22nd to 26th 

Moving Jessica & Penny time. Jackie and I headed down to Lethbridge to help with the move. Anyone that has moved knows it is a lot of work. Not only the physical work of moving everything but the clean up after everything is done. I was a little lucky on this move compared to any prior moves I have been involved with. It always bugs me when people say they have weak wrists, sore back, bad arm etc when it is moving time. This time we had none of that. Everyone chipped in and did something with no complaints and no real verbalization of the hurt they were experiencing. If everyone would just push thru they could do a lot more than they think. Yes moving involves sore muscles. Everyone would have been sore this time but it didn’t stop anyone from carrying on.On this move I was very lucky not having to lift all of the heavy furniture. Luckily for us Penny’s Mom had a contact with the Mormon missionaries and we had three young lads and ladies help us load up not only the heavy furniture but a lot of the little stuff into the moving truck on the actual moving day. They were all very nice and worked hard. When Margie said she was getting the missionaries and sisters to help I asked her ” Do you mean like the nuns ? ” Turns out the young girl missionaries are referred to as sisters. Great help ! The first day we took five truck loads ( Avalanche ) Buick and Escape back and forth to the new house. Penny had a large quantity of  boxes already packed plus all of the other  incidentals. The best part of the move was all of the get together’s for supper. As we had everything in limbo for the 4 days we ate out every day. Tim Horton’s share pricing should have gone up. But we had supper’s at Ricky’s, Boston Pizza, Save-On Foods take out, and a bistro called Mocha Cabanna. Tim’s was very close both to the new house and old house so the perfect spot for breakfasts and lunches.  Rented a 17 foot U haul truck to haul everything over on the actual moving day. Spent hours cutting the grass and picking up a ton of leaves. Jackie & Marg spent hours and hours cleaning the cupboards, baths and rooms in the old house. We rented a carpet cleaner from Save On and did all of the carpets in the house. Jessica & I took one truck load to the dump in Lethbridge. A wonderfully organized dump which for us was free which is a bonus. The city pays for the first 250 kilos and because we emptied our leaf bags into the recycle area our entire load was free.One small accident with a tempered glass shelf getting broke out of the Fridge. Only a couple of scrap marks on the walls of the old house and only one scuff mark at the new home. I had to take the door off to the basement to get the furniture down there. NOTE to people : DO NOT BUY A SECTIONAL COUCH unless it is going to be used on the main floor very near the front door and with no corners. They are just too big. DO NOT BUY A KING SIZE BED unless your staircase is very wide and has lots of room to make a corner. DO NOT BUY A SOFA BED. They didn’t have this but I remember from previous moves they are just a way to heavy.

Penny organized dishes etc as we brought over truckloads of boxes. Jessica and I loaded them up. Jessica helped with the lawn, cleaning, carpet cleaning while Penny continued putting stuff away and organizing. As I said everyone worked hard and very well together. Margie’s truck was fantastic to have. I safety strapped the dresser in August’s room to the wall and assembled the crib. As their couch and chairs doesn’t arrive until Tuesday we couldn’t put a lot of pictures up as of yet. They didn’t have any TV mounts so we couldn’t install them either. While picking up some needed stuff at Canadian Tire near the end of the last day

Jackie saw a great fireplace unit and told the girls about it.They bought it. Tired after 4 days of moving it was

time to put together this fireplace unit. I always thought Ikea had a lot of fasteners. This company wins by a mile. Instructions say 60 mins with two adults to put together. We did have a supper break ” pizza” but it took us about 3 hours. The two adults I think I was the issue. LOL  This thing looks fantastic and they can mount the TV above it or place the TV on the top on it.  All of this time moving we had a 3 month baby that had to be looked after also. Between all of the women they took turns looking after him. And he was exceptionally well behaved and cute !!  I have to say I have been in a lot of new homes and this Avonlea Home in Lethbridge is built fantastic and the customer service is exceptional. When we did the walk thru for possession the deficiencies list was minimal. In fact it was hard to find anything wrong. The most impressive thing is they fixed everything in one day before possession. The fridge had a small dent so they replaced that. The A/C unit wasn’t installed so they had that done, one baseboard was raised too high from the floor, fixed, one cracked tile. fixed, and rough edge of door,fixed. They are good. I also like the fact they use trusses for the basement to eliminate posts and makes drywall installation very easy. They also pour a level garage pad with a drop down which makes building a garage a lot easier. I love the house as it looks fantastic and will be a great place to live for years and years for Jessica & Penny. Ps I was to busy working to take pics so hopefully Jess will send some my way.

Last weekend as above we were in Lethbridge for some pictures. We are waiting for the final proofs and pictures but here are a couple of the shots I love.  The first one is of Jackie and I with our grandson’s August and Jackson. The second one is of just them. Can’t wait to see the rest.

5 more days and I leave to Phoenix until Nov 19th. Then we will all drive down on December 18th to stay for the winter. 32 degrees today there. Cold beer, warm air, sun filled patio looking forward to it.

Just thinking about our new legalized marijuana laws coming into affect. Our government should have done this years  ago. Organized crime has only grown because of our backward thoughts on weed. Let the government make the taxes and profit on it not the underground economy. With any new laws you are going to have the nay-sayers. Look when we had prohibition. Everyone accepts alcohol today. We are going to hear it is a stepping drug to worse things. Wrong, only if you have an additive personality. You are going to hear it causes schizophrenia, Wrong it has been in our world for centuries and has no history of causing mental illness. It is a scare tactic when it fact it can help this disorder.It is a calming drug for the mind and this is a huge benefit and the reason for medicinal usage. Marijuana is smoked for nausea, glaucoma, appetite stimulation, mucous membrane inflammation, leprosy, fever, dandruff, hemorrhoids, obesity, asthma, urinary tract infections, cough,anorexia associated with weight loss in AIDS patients, pain, and multiple sclerosis. It is also inhaled to weaken the immune system after kidney transplant to lessen the chance of transplant rejection. It has side affects but minimal compared to man made drugs. It is always odd to me how people in the medical field don’t push for it more. It is a natural herb. Not a big profit drug company pushing it. So called stewards of our environment that fly on planes yet say no to big oil are as confused with this subject. How can you be against something that is natural and not man made versus giving people a flu shot . Let the nice doctor inject you with a good dose of thimerosal (mercury), formaldehyde, detergent, MF-59 (an oil-based adjuvant), and other toxins.We have a lot of hypocrites in our society and this subject just brings more to the forefront.  Liquor kills millions with addiction and driving. Pot is not even in the same league and would never be as the level of impairment is totally different.  Although you could be distracted as you are laughing at the poor drivers on the road. Second,I believe anyone that hasn’t tried it should not even be allowed to have an opinion. Third I don’t advocate smoking it everyday but just like beer if used responsibly and either for medical purposes or recreation occasionally it is just fine.  Oh by the way here is just a small sample of well known famous people that have done quite well for themselves and admit to smoking pot. Bill Gates, Seth McFarlane, Steve Jobs, Oliver Stone, Rihanna,  Bill Clinton, Sarah Palin,Matt Damon,Martha Stewart, David Letterman, John Kerry and the list goes on and on.

On this I like Justin ! as it is the right thing to do. To have a criminal record for smoking pot was ridiculous.

Thought of the Day 

Drunk drivers run stop signs with the potential to kill someone. Pot heads stop and wait for them to turn green while eating a Big Mac but won’t share.

October 27th

I received an email from my storage lot that they have added a few extra 45ft sites so I committed to one. Ran over to the site, reinstalled the battery, took off the wheel covers etc and moved my motor home 100 ft north to the newer spots. Still fully graveled and lots of room but closer to the road than I would like but I need it to park my boat and motor home together.  Timing is perfect as I had arranged to have Corey help me and we were going to move it to his place for the winter.  Driving it this small distance made me wish summer was here again for more trips. I love the RV travel and am already looking forward to next summer, I would like to take a few trips with friends to some different places. I am fortunate to have a couple of friends that also love the RV life. Fred & Terry, Kieth & Jenny ,Larry & Anita, Rob & Sharon and Victoria & Corey all have Rv’s that we will hopefully visit some great spots for the lakes, fishing, golfing and site seeing together. The only negative is most of them are still stuck in the corporate world so it means weekends only and the odd weekday. And I work on Sundays as the Marshall a few of the times. We have a few trips for next summer already planned. We have our traditional May Long weekend for 2016 near Camrose to start the season with about 6 couples, we have our traditional September Long weekend at Pembina with about 12 couples, days at Athabasca Blue Berry Hill campground at the end of August and hopefully a lot more weekends and week days to golf, fish, and smaller travel trips.

I just need to get Corey to help me move the boat on Tuesday night. Looks like great weather on Friday so I think I will try for another nine and dine with Jackie which will be the last for the year in Canada.

Victoria is ready for Halloween. I can just imagine Jackson saying ” That’s scary”

 

 

 

 

I received a picture from our neighbors that just arrived in Mesa showing the huge growth of our trees in our front yard. At least we know they received their fair share of water. I usually keep the orange tree about 6 ft tall and the lemon about 8ft. Looks close to 20 ft in the pictures so I have a lot of wood to cut. That lemon tree has 2 inch long spikes on the branches that are killer.

 

Thought of the Day

Has anyone else noticed as a society we are getting lazier and lazier. Years ago when you left the house you dressed up. Suit or tie and shirt and skirts to the office, to the mall, shopping, church etc. Today it is sweat pants, yoga pants ( great visual invention though) no ties, no skirts, no nice blouses, causal golf shirts now etc. Dressing up even a little bit does make one feel good about themselves. We order in for our supper, we order on line for our shopping, we order in movies on TV or Netflix, remotes so we don’t have to get up, remotes for everything, automatic sensor lights etc. I think it is due to pressure like other generations haven’t experienced. Women working out side the home, standards to meet, kids in every sport possible, must take two week exotic vacation, must have bigger and more expensive house, need new car as old one is 5 yrs old etc.  It is the only way as a society to keep from blowing up. Although if you watch the news it isn’t working to well.  

October 28th 

Anyone surprised with DEBT and DEFICIT being the main focal point of our Alberta budget?Some would say it is not their fault and that they inherited this mess. Some truth to that but reckless spending isn’t the answer. I understand and agree with infrastructure spending to boost the economy right now especially as labor and materials will be lower.  The thing about government infrastructure spending is the money isn’t really gone. The infrastructure should be around for years to come. This I can agree with. But the socialist system spending on medical and education etc is to the extreme. You have to live within your means. Where are the cuts.?

What can you expect from an inept accidental premier and caucus. Socialist ideology of the NDP outweigh any caution. Protecting her support base of recession proof civil servants, union employees,teachers, nurses etc  matters more to this socialist government than the province itself. Enjoy yourself NDP. 41 months and counting till you join every other NDP economic trainwreck that has been decimated in the polls.

By not cutting it will leave the province with a deficit of $6.1-billion in 2015-2016, the largest deficit EVER. Yes we are a debt friendly society right now due to low interest rates but you would think we would have outrage. Ralph is turning in his grave.  I don’t believe you can call this a budget. It is a spending plan. Budgets are supposed to be like a balance sheet stating income and expenses and when the two don’t align cuts are made on the expense side along with increases on the income side. Yes we now have higher sin taxes which most would agree is ok. We have increased the business tax and personal tax but not even close to the expenditures. We need CUTS to make this all work. Less employees , reduction in salaries and no increases for a number of years. Forget hockey rinks, art work for street beautification and increased funding for programs until we have a balanced budget.

Starting to get a little cooler now and by the looks of it next week it is going to be darn cold. Good thing I am heading south. LOL   On today’s to do list is: Wash the Wrangler, bring up the suitcases to pack and primp the body for the swimming pool, move the boat, bring the router here, and make chili.

Just finished the chili and it is cooking away in the slow cooker until supper. It is a family recipe that my Mom has used for years and I have always loved it. Every time I make it I improvise a bit to make it my own. I have always added celery as love the taste and this time a whole new twist by adding salsa sauce. The pre-test tasting it looks like it is going to be a winner. I also add a lot of spices that the original doesn’t have like oregano and sage. It’s going to be greaattt!   You can’t really have chili by itself so I thought why not have the perfect end of summer meal by including my Grandma’s potato salad recipe modified to my liking. This time as I was trying to shrink the recipe it became more challenging.  Usually I am filling the bowls to the brim. This is the best potato salad I have ever had anywhere. My Grandma should have published this one. One of the best things is it is not mayonnaise based but uses an egg and vinegar mixture for it’s dressing. Tastes awesome ! Can’t wait for tonight’s meal. The smell in the kitchen is driving me nuts. LOL

Thought of the Day

Recipes are like a dating service web site. They never end up looking like the pictures.

October 29th 

I had to have my wonderful supper by myself as Jackie had to quickly head out for a family issue. What I can say though is summed up in one word. ” Delicious”

I had Corey help me move my boat last night which was great. I now have lots of space. After moving the boat I went and helped Corey build Jessica & Penny’s table. By help I held the light as it was quite dark in the garage and pencil lines don’t show very well in the dark. Corey is coming along on this project quickly with the top and legs done already and starting on the support rails. It will look great.

Opened up the storage locker and pulled out the suitcases to pack for this weekend. This is a big  help as the car would have been packed with all of us and luggage. This will work perfect as I can throw them in the back of the truck and our clothes etc will already be there.

Received my 40 Anniversary Grad pictures today. A couple of things. First wow do these people look old. Scary when I look at the picture. I know myself that I have aged in the last years as I must be past my magic number. It is a hard thing to take when you were ridiculously good looking. There was no one I thought that had aged very well. Oh well that is the way life is.

First picture is the ridiculously good looking guy from 1975. The second the good looks may be lost a bit but you can’t beat a raised eyebrow which is better than a wink.

 

 

The event was extremely well organized, well attended and a lot of fun to see everyone again. We lost quite a few school mates for various reasons so I can imagine when we have our 50th, the walkers, less people, and the memory loss. The arch enemy will be remembered as a nice guy in school.  So all is good.  I can say high school for me was one of the best times in my life. Most of us experienced the first time in a lot of things. The first real girlfriend, first kiss, home plate if lucky, parties, trouble, fights,hurt,  drugs, booze, house parties, Principle offices, being dumped, dumping. etc

 

I remember a few high lites that I can tell you about. Some better not said.A topless girl dancing on my car roof right in front of Mr Kruger’s office. Skipping school and heading out of of town to a hill that became known as “Willard Hill” . Lots of good stuff or bad depending on your point of view happened there. Physical fights with Mr Radke and Mr Wolosyhn.  School dances and just waiting for Smoke On The Water to start. The bonfire parties we had every weekend. Peter’s Place to meet everyone. Buying off sales at the Stony Plain Hotel and Cossack as I could grow a mustache early and was the designated buyer. Made a lot of money doing this though. Playing ping pong in the cafeteria.  Creative pipe making. Driving to school in one of the best looking cars.  It was a blast and i wouldn’t have done anything different. If we only had known what we now boy it would have been even better. 10 more years for the 50th which should be fun to attend.

 

 

 

 

Thought of the Day

If you think things improve with age, attend your high school reunion. 

October 30th

Up earlier than normal as we needed to get ready for Jackson’s Halloween party at kindergarten. It is always fun to see the little guys and girls dress up for fun and enjoy

themselves. A few parents also dressed up. Costumes

for kids now are quite elaborate compared to our mostly home made costumes when we were young. Look great though. Jackson this year had a unique costume being a motor cross rider which looked great. He had a cold though which causing a bit of issue trying to breathe with a mask on.  Fun time watching everyone.   Jackson also had a prize winning submission in the pumpkin carving contest with this master piece.

Temperature outside a little cooler than we thought and we are golfing late afternoon so hopefully the sun comes out strong before we leave.

Ps remember to sign up today before this is presented to the MLA’s.  It’s purpose is not to rid us of Notley ( even though most of us would like that) but to have legislation that allows the riding constituents the right for recall for any party any member. It is the accountability  that is important as no one ( if though all union people disagree) should have the privilege of NOT being fired if they are doing a bad job. Let me tell you there are some bad nurses, bad teachers, lazy gov’t road workers etc that need to be fired but are protected by the unions.

https://www.change.org/p/the-alberta-government-ndp-implement-recall-legislation-for-the-alberta-legislature?recruiter=393995589&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive

Here is a little test for you all from a radio station:

Have you ever ?

1. Smoked weed- 10 points
2. Other drugs- 20 points
3. Went streaking- 10 points
4. Skinny dipped -10 points
5. Been arrested- 20 points
6. Gotten into a fist fight – 10 points
7. Gotten drunk -10 points
8. Wrecked a car -20 points
9. Egged someone’s house – 10 points
10. Played ding dong ditch( ring door bell and run)- 10 points
11. Been suspended – 10 points
12. Been expelled -20 points
13. Pulled a fire alarm- 10 points
14. Stolen something – 10 points
15. TP’d ( toilet paper)someone’s property- 10 points
16. Gotten a ticket – 10 points
17. Drag raced- 20 points
18. Gotten a felony- 50 points
19. Graffitti’d something – 10 points
20. Fired from a job – 20 points

Total is 300 points if you are a screwed up, fun loving, living life to the fullest ,bad ass. Most people average around 80-120.

I don’t know if I am proud or ashamed but I score 240. So I think the test is skewed and they should have put a age restriction on it like before or after 21 as an example.

Went golfing with Jeff & Wendy and had a great time. Last time in Canada golfing in 2015. It was fun night with everyone playing quite well. Best drives of the year from Jeff and the season is ending.  It was a little cooler than expected as the winds came up and really cooled it down and it moved the ball considerably which made it a little challenging and  cool. Went for a after golf meal to the Bull where you know you will always get good food. Flames game was on which we won’t talk about and the World Series. After a few 3/4 pints of beer headed home and watched a bit of TV.

Thought of the Day 

Just because it is a bad bad idea doesn’t mean you won’t have a great time doing it.

October 31st   Halloween 

Christmas, Birthday then Halloween is the order of the most fun days in a calendar year. You get to act like a kid even if you are not one. You get to have lots of candy without anyone saying don’t eat it. You get to dress up and act weird which on Halloween is perfectly normal. I think every kid loves Halloween. You got to love the costumes that people wear.  We are going to Victoria’s to help hand out candy and go out with Jackson. Always fun.

Victoria had over 100 kids again this year. Jackson is the neatest kid. We walked only about one block both ways and he had enough. Enough candy and enough with the walking as he was tired. Now he is only four but i remember filling a pillowcase with candy on the acreage before coming home. He had great time handing out the candy to the kids . I think he enjoyed that as much as running around getting the candy. Interesting thing happened on Victoria’s block. As everyone know’s Halloween was originally a celebration to worship the Lord of the Death and it was the night to release disguised evil spirits to attack humans. Most likely even today people that practice witchcraft, sorcery, the Wicca religion consider it a special night. In the fourth century, Christians attempted to co-opt the holiday by celebrating the lives of faithful Christian saints the day before Halloween. This was a conscious attempt to provide an alternative and re-focus the day away from ghouls, goblins, ghosts, witches and other “haunted” experiences. Since then many Christians have decided to allow their children to dress in more “innocent” costumes of pumpkins, princesses, Superman or as a cowboy. Part of this is due to the simple reality that in today’s Western culture it is nearly impossible to “avoid” Halloween. On Victoria’s block a minister moved a few blocks down from them and after handing candy out tot he kids gave each of them a small pamphlet promoting Jesus. It’s headline was “What’s better than Candy ? Heaven ” it had some verbiage stating the way to heaven etc. I thought there is a man that is not only realistic in today’s world but also is committed to his job. He could have taken another approach and not allowed his kids to go out and not hand out candy but he was clever, subtle and understood that not one kid coming to his door even had one evil thought or inclination or was controlled by anyone. I was impressed by him.

Packing and waiting for Fred to hit Calgary for our road trip to Mesa. With the time change I am surprised not to see him as of yet.