December 1- 2nd

“Mercury Forecast” Mesa 17 degrees Calgary  3 degrees

December already. The saying time sure goes by quickly is dead on. 23 days left until Christmas.

Our mini trip to Arizona is running out of time. It seems like a short time yet it seems like a long time here alone. Great to get work done but having Jackie here sure does make it more enjoyable.

First thing on our list is to correct my engineering on the kitchen cover. This time we braced it right across the mid section with a 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 square tube and vertical braced it back to the poles for extra support. I am confident that this time I have the engineering correct.

 

Then off to help Fred & Mel continue their saga with the poinsettia’s. Everything was tried from switching out every bulb, loosening the quick ties and seeing if we shorted it out to stitching in a piece. Nothing worked. So after a quick trip to Walmart for a new set of lights we started to install again. This time using electricians tape which worked better, easier and less stress on the bulbs. Fred & Mel figure they put at least 8 hours into these Christmas decorations. I cant think of a joke “But how many Keys does it take to make one Christmas decoration ?”  It was quite funny but I understand their frustration spending so much time and effort to fail. It shouldn’t have happened.

Fred & Mel came over for supper and drinks. I made them mashed potatoes, gravy , peas and pork chops. Every meal we have had made by anyone has been excellent. We had some great meals prepared and or cooked by Mel and Fred. I will need to go the gym when I get back as the food in combo with the alcohol is heavy calorie laden.

All of Mel’s repairs have done, everything Fred needed is done and everything I needed is done, so a successful trip. Today Mel is doing touchup to his shower caulking, Fred is decorating a Christmas tree and I am hole punching my cards for the block. I handed out as many as I could but a lot of people don’t arrive until after Christmas. Met Fred at the tire store where is getting his FREE tires ( unheard of ) and had a big breakfast while waiting. Doing a bit of cleanup and relaxing today.

Mel and I have a 3pm tee time to golf for the last time in 2016. It was a good year with not one game over 100 and 11 games below 80. Slowly getting better. Next year will be my break thru year. LOL

Punched all of my cards for the block directory. Had some nice comments from some of the residents. Always nice when people thank you for doing something that was a fun project. I handed out the update and addition cards to the homes where I knew someone was there. I will need to fix the rest of them later.

What a day for golf. Mel golfed quite well today and with a little practise could be quite good.  He easily broke 100 today and is learning different techniques with chipping and putting. His drives are already very good with great distance and relative control. I golfed my best score ever for the last game of the year. I tied my low score x 2 with a score of 74.  I had some lucky putts which is what happens when things go well. I could have driven just a little bit better but overall just a fun great game. Nice that it happened on the last game of the year. It is a lot of fun when everything goes great. We were both happy with our games considering no gimmies or mulligans and scoring great.I will now have 4 weeks before golfing again which will be interesting how the first game goes in January.

Had supper and few drinks with Fred & Mel to end a nice evening. I do have to say though that during our drinking session they did make fun of my Chinese middle name. I have no idea why my parents wanted me to have a Chinese middle name as we have no Asian relatives that I know of to name me after. Fred did come up with a brilliant idea stating a nice girls name would be Kimberly Larry. Funny guy ! LOL  Now that I say it my name does have a royal sound to it ” Sir Lawrence Kimberly Willard” So there!

Tiger Woods comeback is going good so far. I hope he has another two great days to finish top three or so.

Thought of the Day

I’d like to see the fairways more narrow. Then everybody would have to play from the rough, not just me

December 3rd

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 19 degrees Calgary 5 degrees

Impressive the weather in Calgary staying so nice. It looks like next week will be the first cold spell of the winter. Lucky me. LOL

Got up this morning and started to clean the house. Have to make it look great for Jackie’s arrival. Sweeping and cleaning took awhile. Pulled out my carry on bag and decided and organized what I am bringing home with me. Very little to be exact. Dumped the garbage and threw away any food that wouldn’t keep until January.

Fun watching Tiger as he is doing great and I want him to finish really really strong.

Some neighbors came over to Mel’s place for an impromptu gathering of the minds. Drinks and appetizers in hand we all enjoyed a fun time as they were saying good bye to Mel

Supper tonight at Mel’s with each of us bringing something we have left to the table. Last supper of sorts for this year. We all chipped in to use up some of our food we had left.

Thought of the Day

Wouldn’t if be fun to throw a party with fake alcohol and see how many people act wasted.

December 4th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 20 degrees  Calgary  -3 degrees

Cleaned up the house this morning.  Dumped out any left over food that wouldn’t keep. Covered up the Jeep. Ran dishwasher. Turned heat down to 55 degrees just to make sure if they have cold spell nothing will freeze and turned off the hot water heater and water. Just waiting for about an hour for my ride to arrive.

“PENNYWISE TIP”

Financial Regrets

Three out of four, retirees in fact, admit they harbor financial regrets, suggesting not saving for retirement early enough (nearly one in five people put this in the No. 1 spot). What’s more, among those 65 and up, 27% said this was the biggest regret, compared with 17% of those aged 30 to 49.

Indeed, it is costly to wait. A person who starts saving $300 a month for retirement at age 25 (assuming a 5% return on investment) will have about $450,000 saved by age 65, despite only contributing $144,000 into his retirement account. Meanwhile, if that person waits until 35 to save the same amount each month, he will contribute a total of $108,000 toward retirement but only have about $250,000 saved at age 65. “If you don’t start saving early enough, you will start to notice that later,” . Lesson is even though it hurts now you don’t want to have an retirement that is compromised to harshly for the instant gratification of spending your money today. I would put Jackie & I into that category as we could have saved a lot more money. But having said that we do not have ANY real regrets as we did live frugally but fully immersed in anything we really wanted. The above mentioned regret is the most used reason for people to continue to work longer than they want. Which leads to a even bigger regret if they get ill soon after retiring or a partner dies. One more time. Average lifespan of a Canadian male is 82 years. That is only 17 summers of retirement if you wait until 65 to quit work.

Enjoy Life

In regards to the above, that is what I love about Arizona. If I know 50 couples down here the bulk of them all left the workforce early. They are living what they call the good life and rightly so as anyone working for 35 years in any job deserves a reward. They come from all facets of life. Business people, teachers, union workers, politicians, farmers, nurses, government workers, labourers, etc. When I did our block directory I was impressed with the variety of occupations represented. Our block  does have a very strong educational contingent with close to 25% of our block from that field. It is just interesting to hear about the different paths we all took to end up in the same spot. Sort of like death. Doesn’t matter how rich, poor, smart, dumb handsome etc we ALL end up dead. I find the acceptance of all retirees quite amazing as in death we all ended up being retired and the pretentious, envy, class system, etc is all gone. The ditch digger and the doctor are both retired living their lives. Their home or lifestyle maybe different but when together at the same time they are all just both retired.

Our new internet provider has a great online management tool to shut off the service but as I already paid December and the company is new to the park and with a few issues I am going to forgo the $25 or so and have service when we get back with no issues.

I was teasing Fred yesterday as we couldn’t print off his boarding pass. He renewed his passport after buying his flight tickets and with a new passport number he is required to check into the gate to make sure everything is on the up and up. Nothing like a strip search, cavity search and stern questioning to fly home. LOL

Ken arrived right on time as said he would which was great as I had everything all ready to go. I checked off all of the items on my list so I wouldn’t forget anything as somethings are quite important. Turn the water off and forget to turn the power off the hot water heater you are asking for big trouble. While I was waiting I was watching Tiger which I am happy he did ok. A year long break from competitive golf cant be easy to come back from especially with two back surgeries. I think he will continue to improve.

Arriving at the airport as I had printed and checked in at home allowed us to go right to security. This is the first time I remember I was TSA pre checked on my boarding pass which is amazing. Special line and no shoe removal, no hat removal, no laptop removal ,no belt removal and a speedy speedy entry. They are randomly choosing frequent flyers to experience this in the hopes they will pay for the privilege in the future which is similar to our Nexus process.  Entering Montana and going thru security in Phoenix was the easiest and best experience I have had.

Met Fred at a pub near our gates for lunch and again had great food but the portion sizing is ridiculous. Ate then headed off to our prospective gates.

To even further enhance my travel experience this time as I was booked in the emergency aisle I was able to board with all of the old farts and children. Awesome never mind the huge amount of leg room.

Sitting beside me was a younger couple, him being 6’4 and her 5’11 ( I asked) that wanted the extra leg room also. Turns out they are building a new home and had the plans on the plane with them. They were building in a McKinley Master subdivision but using Westridge Fine Homes as their builder which are two of Calgary best premier builders.Here is where I was surprised as I was going thru the plans with them. Triple pane Low e 270 on the North side and dual pane low e everywhere else. This in a 1.5 to 2 million dollar huge contemporary home with walls of glass. There was no window budget in the plans as the builder included them in the set pricing of the house. They did have budgets for options on most everything else. I am sure the builder has made a mistake for two reasons. If anywhere I would put tripane on the west and south side if I had to choose. But it doesn’t make any sense to cut costs in this area and the decision should be tripane everywhere in the house. Not to do that is like having  solid walls and then an opening and believing only a small amount of cold or heat will come in.  Hopefully they get this fixed. They didn’t know the brand of windows they were dealing with.

Landed and two more wonderful surprises. First our new terminal is beautiful but still a long walk from gate to exit. Arriving at the exit we now have electronic declaration readers and if you answered all of the questions correctly you do not have to visit with a border guard. Fast and easy.

I walk out the gate and Jackson comes running yelling Papa Papa and I get a big hug from Jackson then Jackie. Welcome home is great.

December 4th overview —

The Bad-

• Having to leave Arizona ( warmth, friends, golfing, sun, pools etc)
• Arriving in Calgary to cold and snow ( -20 for the two weeks or more, supposed to be the coldest in two years anyways)
• Seeing the cold snow on the ground and knowing I have to deal with it for 30 days before heading back to the sunshine.
• Checked weigh scale and with beer , rye and massive portions I have gained 5 pounds in two weeks.( should take a week to get off with fibre, exercise and control portions)

The Good

• Easy on line check in
• Getting TSA approved and the fastest best security check in ever.
• Getting to board first as I was in the emergency row
• Having a huge amount of leg room
• Easiest entrance into Canada with the new technology
• Getting hugs and greeting from Jackson and Jackie at the airport
• Having a ICE CAP from Tim’s on the way home.
• Getting to sleep in my bed with a warm body beside me.

 

Thought of the Day

The magic thing about home is it feels great to leave , but it even feels better to come back

December 5th

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 20 degrees  Calgary – 12 degrees

The new airlines we have in Canada is going to give WestJet and Air Canada a run for their money and help all of us achieve lower and reasonable flight rates to Phoenix. Starting mid January NEW LEAF Airlines http://gonewleaf.ca/is flying into the Mesa airport very very cheap. In fact WestJet has already reacted two days later by starting fly there also in January. That approach is a little predatory and reactive instead of proactive so I will give my business to New Leaf if they perform. WestJet should have been there years ago. You have to watch extra costs though similar to Allegiant Airlines out of Great Falls but this new line will for sure be used by us in the future and will definitely lower our rates. Good competition is wonderful to the marketplace.

I received a text from Fred this morning as he was outside moving snow. He is experiencing a 40 degree Celsius temperature swing leaving Mesa at 20 degrees and going outside in Edmonton at -20 degrees. For those Fahrenheit people that is a 104 degrees temperature swing. That’s amazing.  I think I will stay inside today.

Paid some bills this morning and it is amazing how things add up so quickly. RV storage $1044 bill. Costco membership $ 118.86 . Insurance $ 2787 not including the motorhome. It is amazing to me how the government came up with their pension payouts as living on CPP and even with OAS would be just about impossible.

I should put these two pictures under the proper headers above but they are so special I needed to put them here in case anyone misses them where they are supposed to go.

I would cry also if I had to wear a sweater or a vest.  I am glad he has the natural instincts to protect himself. He looks so cute and much older than 1 1/4 years old.  Great Christmas picture.

I think this kid should become a high earning model with his inherited good looks from his Papa.  My parents used to give us a dollar for every H we used to get in school. ( H was the highest grade you get back in the day meaning honors ) That is how I accumulated my earliest fortune. That and being cheap as a youngster until later I realized frugal and a realist was a much better way to be.

Christmas with kids and especially grandkids is always awesome and looking forward to what ever plans the family has. Always an issue trying to please everyone and trying to see everyone with the distance and timing that everyone has to deal with outlaws and in laws. That is the most stressful thing about Christmas. Jackie & I always have always said due to our situation over the years, to our kids ” You do what you have to and don’t feel pressured to be anywhere or with anyone” Last years Christmas with all of the kids and grandkids in Mesa  was one of the best for years as we did not have to get up early, we did not have to travel anywhere,  it was quiet and peaceful only broken by kids excitement of opening a great present and we all where together enjoying the day. Hopefully we will get more of those in the future. Christmas changes as time goes along and we have to adapt to the change. What worked and was wonderful 5 years ago today may not work.

Thought of the Day

Wouldn’t it be fun to put mistle toe in your back pocket this year for Christmas so that anyone you don’t like can kiss your ass. Just a thought .LOL

 

December 6th – December 9th

” Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 18 degrees  Calgary – 18 degrees ( -33 windshield)

Wow is it cold outside. I loaded the car with groceries ( 10 min) and my hands froze.

I had my annual dentist appointment this morning. Only a block to go but it was so cold I drove over. Today was a lucky day for me. I asked Jackie before leaving what our limit should be to fix my teeth and with that knowledge headed in expecting the worst. Two issues . My Baby Tooth molar on the opposite of the one that I pulled last year is getting loose. There is no way to secure it to the gums as a baby tooth as no roots. The doctor didn’t think my idea of Krazy Glue was a good one. After his inspection he gave me two options. Extract it now or leave it. If it loosens more pull it out myself like when I was 8 years old. I hate pain so took the second option with no pain or cost. When it is ready to come out it will. If it does it will just add to my overall look. You take a man with a skullet and a couple of missing teeth you have a mans man. Jessie Ventura and Hulk Hogan looked great. The second issue is I broke a tooth last year. A large piece of the side of it.Luckily the dentist figures he can remove the filling and replace it with a large side filling to repair it. He didn’t give me a cost as that is the deciding factor to all of this work. I am not vain enough to spend a stupid amount on a couple of teeth.

Went for groceries and it was customer appreciation day. An extra 10% is always welcome. Picked up a lot of groceries as Jackie I don’t think bought anything while I was gone. She has lost a ton of weight since I left so it worked but it is not healthy. She is liking the loose pant feel. I know that feeling as mine continually have a tendency to fall down. No ass bump doesn’t help. LOL .

Not doing much else today except heading to Lethbridge to babysit while the girls go to a Jan Ardeen concert. It will be me, August and Jackson at home waiting. My only condition is I will not change a shitty diaper. I changed 100’s of these when I was younger and it grossed me out. He can wait for the few hours for the concert to end. A wet diaper no problem.

The roads will be good but I better put some warm clothes in just in case as you never know. A quick down, concert , visit and return as Jackie and Jackson have commitments to go to the following day.

I had an excellent time babysitting. Jackson was an amazing helper. It made it quite easy as the two of them kept running around and around the island and laughing and laughing. They played games and played with each other wonderfully. So the girls said they had a wonderful time at the Jan Arden concert which I can understand as she is funny.

The guys above making a strategy as to how we can wear out Papa the fastest. How can we make him tired . I won !! LOL   August had a 5 minute nap with a bottle which allowed Jackson and I to have a quiet game of Zombie Dice. Then it happened. August had a poop. I tried my hardest to get Jackson to change his diaper but he didn’t want to. I didn’t want to. I always hated poopy diapers. My one weakness is poop and barfing. Well sick people period. And blood. Well and pain. I guess that is more than one. When the girls had the flu I would stay outside the washroom while they were talking to throne and ask them if they were ok. They didn’t like that much as Jackie would be rubbing their back while they are barfing if she was home. If I did that I would be barfing with them. Each to our own in how we handle things. LOL

When I arrived in Lethbridge I got a text from Darlene and a voice message from Mom that she was getting out of the hospital and needed help as everyone was committed to work or other.

So I had to come up with a plan. Looking at our calendar we had a few commitments coming up but I could fit it in. We got home from Lethbridge and into bed about 1:30 am. I then drove up to Edmonton in the morning. It felt like I was on the road as a traveling sales rep with the quick stop and on the road again. This just after being away for three weeks.

Arriving in Edmonton at Mom’s place my Aunt Jean and Aunt Dorothy were there as they had picked Mom up at the hospital. That was very good and kind of them. As I have said before something happens to older people as they age in how they process and even remember things from years ago. Reality and memory sometimes are far apart. I did a lot of smiling and laughing to my inner self as the discussion was happening.

The first evening meal they brought up to Mom’s room was excellent. I had heard a lot of negative comments on the food but the meals I received over the two plus days could only be described as excellent. Roast Beef w/ mashed potatoes and veggies, Pork Loin w/ baked potato and veggies, salad and deserts plus pizza, soup and salads for lunch. Pancakes, bacon, yogurt and toast for breakfast. All done very well. Mom’s retirement home is a wonderful place but these types of places still cause me to wash my hands 10 times a day and sanitize my hands every chance I get to lessen the risk of catching something.  Older people are like kids in school and do not take the needed precautions to avoid cross contamination.

The first night it was good to have someone with Mom as having been in the hospital for 10 days she awoke in the middle of the night and didn’t know where she was and got scared. She is quite mobile with the walker but needs it more for weakness than dizziness. The second night she slept very well all night. I think these past days were the first time in my life I remember a unmade bed in Mom’s place. Now that I read that I think to myself , you made yours why didn’t you do both. Just didn’t think of it.

She is progressing quite well and I left Friday morning to head home to Calgary. Some time, increase in strength and will power, to get back to normal she should be ok in a few days. She has a family doctor appointment next week which I hope they go over her medication to determine what is right.

As everyone knows I hate the today’s world of pharmacy with over prescribing for everything. Mom has a heart pill that’s main symptom is dizziness and she is now taking a dizziness pill to correct that condition. It can go on and on and especially with the elderly as they believe the doctor knows best. I believe the doctor ” knows best” what he was taught only, possibly taking the easy way out, or being rewarded not “knows best” for the patient. Prescribe a pill , the patient thinks the doctor cares and he goes onto the next patient and everyone is supposedly happy. It would be interesting to see the medication requirements of a “normal” parent of a doctor.

I am hoping and believe Mom should be back to her normal self in about a week. She needs to walk to build back strength and needs the ear infection to disappear so she doesn’t have the dizziness. She is a very strong minded individual so if she sets her mind to it, it can happen fast.

The scary part of aging is we are all going to get there. Well, hopefully we get there. Age is a sickness we have no cure for. Age gives wisdom fleetly, gives knowledge sparingly ,beauty for a short time and then we are no longer aged but old. Old takes everything good about aging away. You see immensely gifted individuals in intelligence, beauty, art , creativity, language etc  all slowly lose their gifts to becoming old. It is life’s cycle but it is both scary and painful to watch and see.

Christmas party tonight.

Thought of the Day

How old would you be, if you didn’t know how old you are ?

December 10th

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa    21 degrees  Calgary -20 degrees

Speaking of aging. Our aging process is getting less for the first time since 1993.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/us-life-expectancy-declines-for-the-first-time-since-1993/ar-AAlicyz?ocid=spartanntp

The average life span for a male in the USA has dropped to 76 years old. Think about that. Retire at 65 leaves you on average 12 summers to enjoy.

Very nice Christmas party. A nice group of people that gather at a house to enjoy the conversation and company. A lot of the people come every year. Great food, drinks and fun conversations. One interesting thing I have discovered is when you get a group of Bankers together they can’t seem to find anything but banking to talk about. I have been to numerous parties held by bankers and banking individuals inevitably the discussion is focused on the bank. I have been to numerous other parties by different groups and haven’t witnessed this same phenomena. It is interesting to me the why this happens and why I only experience it with one group. Having said that the gathering is fun, some time spent on other discussions  and the night was quite enjoyable. You have to love the Christmas gatherings.

Did you see the Mc Happy Meal ( McDavid) WHINE about Manning supposedly whispering in his ear that he purposely tripped him to hurt him LAST YEAR. Now we all understand that Wayne ( Whiner) Gretzky is the Oilers’s mentor and appears to have taught the new Captain well.  Give us a break. Last year. How can three people sliding into the boards be on purpose. Hasn’t Connor ever heard of “getting in your head”. Unfortunately the lack of maturity and the rush to name him a Captian has come back to haunt the Oilers. Fan backlash against McDavid is huge in social media and  due to his young thin skin this may cause him to lose focus and not score or play well for quite a few games. He was leading the scoring race and on track for a 100 point season which is admiral but this new episode will cause him to not make it and for the hockey fans to begin to dislike him. He was too young to play in the NHL last year and a way to young to be the leader this year.This kind of out burst of immaturity will result in a “spoiled” kid attitude for the rest of the team again. I see no alternative but to trade the guy right away similar to what they did with Hall. Now compare all of that drama with our Johnny. Hacked illegally and broke his finger and didn’t say a word. In fact returned games early without any noise. That is the heart of the Flames. Some maybe make fun of our Johnny, Freddie etc but the Flames are a honest hard working mature in attitude team. It had be another sad day in Edmonton for the fans to see their savior resort to immature whining.

It is cold outside. I miss Arizona. I miss the warmth. I miss the ability to go outside and walk, run, swim and play golf.

Finished off my November budget as I hadn’t been home since coming back from Arizona.  A bad month but expected as I we spent a lot of money on quite a few different things.  Jackie’s contract this month really helped. We spent about 3K more than I want and budgeted for. US exchange rate hurts a bit as I lost $1500 on exchange this month being down there and having to pay my HOA 6 month fee. One month left and I will see how the year ends. It appears my expectation and reality are a little different. Still not concerned or changing anything as modifications are easy to implement if absolutely needed. Some one of expenses that are every five years or so that I can squeeze in. What is amazing to me how fast money disappears. The most difficult thing is getting used to spending and seeing the balance lower rather than saving and see the balance increasing. After 5 years I will adjust the budget and living experiences to meet reality.

Thought of the Day

Once you really accept that money doesn’t equal happiness, you have half the battle won

December 11th -12th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 20 degrees  Calgary -18 degrees

Watched a bit of golf which was very interesting as two different formats with the shootout and father & son format going on. Both are fun to watch with the different systems.  John Daly’s son I think was the most amazing golfer. His distance and putting were exceptional and allowed them to compete with any team if one with a pro and semi pro golfer. He is going to be a real golfer. Mannerisms, looks and attitude seem very similar to Big John.  Langer had his daughter playing with him so they should really change the name to something more fitting. Fun to watch.

Some interesting hockey with the hot Flames killing it and moving into first spot . Only lasted a day but will happen again very soon. Edmonton regained the lead with a poor performance but yet a win. Only a win due to Winnipeg scoring on themselves.

First time I have seen the Okotoks Costco busy. It was a mad house but I picked my needed things and headed out. Got lucky and picked up two Christmas presents gifts there plus treats for guests at Christmas time. Looked at their air cooled turkeys but you have to cook these no more than two days in the fridge so timing isn’t working out. Stopped and had a wonderful poutine at Fat Burgers. One of the better ones I have had.  Off to check out Walmart and pick up a few other things.

Stopped at Mr Lube for a oil change. Interesting that I have oil in the intake sleeve. The stupid environmentalists made the car manufactures change the output of bypass oil thru the PCV valve from venting direct to having to be re-inhaled.  Not the perfect system as throttle bodies can get jammed up and not perform well.I will get Jack Carter Chev to look into this next visit as the oil should not accumulate in the piping.

Wrapped the few presents and have them ready for Christmas.

Temperature is starting to get better outside as I feel the condo warming up a little.

Thought of the Day

For those that stress a little bit in December, just remember, at least your not a turkey ! So enjoy yourself.

December 13th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 23 degrees Calgary -8 degrees

It is feeling wonderful outside compared to what we have experienced. I actually had to lower the blind this morning in order to type as the sun was shining so bright.

Watching the news it dawned on me that there is a huge difference between Canadians and Americans. ( why do they get to be called Americans we are on the same continent) Recently in Calgary a young woman was a victim of road rage. Two young guys in a BMW smashed into her and confronted her. They beat her with a hockey stick.In the USA if this road rage had happened we would have had a shooting. How Canadian is that to beat people with a hockey stick versus a gun. We are so nice with our beatings ?

The Trump Rally in the stock market is both amazing and scary. Love it right now. He really does get people thinking and adding powerful business people to his fold instead of political no minds is good for everyone. The next four years with him will be interesting.

I believe we are finished our Christmas shopping for now anyways. Jackie may send me on another mission. Coming back from the mall I think I should get some kind of special remuneration due to the PTSD I suffer from another horrible mission completed.

Love our Canada Post delivery system with tracking numbers and auto notices. Presents are going to arrive in time. Yahoo !

Watched the Voice last night. I like Sundance but the show is not telling us everything about him. He signed a record deal in 2007 with Universal Records but the show and Blake are not mentioning this what so ever. I want him to win over Billy which is an amazing singer but I think Sundance will be a household name while Billy fits into no category and will be a week long hit.

Best time for 2 miles last night on the tread mill but still aways away from the USA army minimum that I want to meet. I may have to adjust my goal. LOL

Missing the golf. It is a wonderful way to exercise and a lot of fun. I am close to calling myself a good golfer. I can come close to breaking 80 most times but still have the odd blow up day or holes that kill me. More consistency and I would be happy. I hate the 92 than next day a 79. I am going to pump up my golfing to 3 days a week this winter in Arizona to try to get to that consistency. In a 7 day week I would like 3 days golf, 4 days relaxation, sightseeing ,touring visiting, 1-2 nights eating out, 7 days of smoothies, 4 nights swimming,and 1 night of billiards. I have to try to drink less as happy hour is every night with numerous different people. I love the social aspect but that much drinking even if it is only 5 or 6 beer a night it  is too much. I may start to have dry days and drink water and pop only then. That is why being a “woman” I changed my mind and decided against a Kegerator. Even though I love the cold beer too much of anything isn’t good. Plus the work involved with cleaning, c02 and foam issues. Cans of cold beer work just as well with the odd cold jug thrown in for good measure at Fats.  The last sentence reminds me of a time on the deck with Jeff at Turner Valley Golf Course. I very nice looking young waitress comes up to our table to serve us. I innocently ask ” Do you have jugs ?”  Every table on the deck that was filled with guys killed themselves laughing. I think they thought I said ” Do you have jugs ! ” I felt bad for the girl with the nice figure and had to cover up quickly by saying ” I mean pitchers ”

Jackie and I went to Jacksons Christmas concert. I love going to these things. The kids love showing us their concert and what they have learned. It was a very fun experience when our kids were young and continues to be with Jackson and very soon August. They sang songs, waved their arms and read a poem. Jackson was lucky enough to have a lead part and got to speak all by himself into the microphone.

Peter’s place has finally lifted their lock down so after the concert Jackie headed to see how he is doing as we haven’t heard from him in over two weeks. They take these outbreaks seriously and don’t allow any visitors or anyone to leave the facility.  I don’t know what their policy is with workers though.

While she was visiting I made Cottage Pie which is always a favorite for most people. It smells so good cooking away in the oven. I have yet to see a restaurant call it what it is as they always refer to it as Shepards Pie which is incorrect. Shepards is with lamb and cottage is with beef but it is just like saying I need a Kleenix and use a Softy or such. Can’t wait to give it try as I bumped up the spices this time.

Another  perfect example of exercising kills. Alan Thicke had a heart attack today while playing hockey with his son and died of a heart attack. It is not good to stress the heart. Small amounts of exercise to build the  muscle but any strenuous exercise can kill you.  Some times people push themselves and others a way to much. Like I have said and will reiterate look at any major athlete and their lifespan after exercising every day  is no longer than the guy sitting at the desk all his life. There have been times where people have pushed me too hard when moving, building etc and I guess I am lucky to be alive. LOL  Relax there is another day ahead, it does not have to be done all at once. I am only learning this now.

Thought of the Day

A taste of Irish farm house living tonight.

December 14th

“Mercury Forecast” Mesa 25 degrees Calgary -8 degrees  

Getting warmer here in Calgary but still a long ways off of enjoying the sun.

Cottage Pie was excellent and the extra spices only added to the flavour without it  tasting too different. I loved the extra Worchester sauce.  The second day this only tastes better. Certain foods just get better after sitting in their own juices. I love Chili the second day. It is sort of like marinating.

Watched the news. Did my morning routine and getting ready to get my needle in the mouth to have my broken tooth repaired. I hate dentists.

Sundance Head won over Billy which I am happy about. I think Sundance is going to be a star. He song he wrote as an original was fantastic. Great singers on that show. Too bad Miley won’t be judging next season as she was a great judge, mentor and was hilarious to watch.

Oilers lost last night which was too bad. Just kidding. I loved to see it.  All of our presents that are here are wrapped except no name tags on them as of yet.

I love how Trump is scaring the science community. Global warming is not science fact based. Even if we didn’t have cars the earth still would be warming. I think we can use reasonable prudence but not to go over board as we are with carbon taxes, emission controls, pipeline protests etc.

Here is an article that lays out what each side says.

Argument 1 – Rise in Sea Level – Sea level is rising in many areas of the world. This is partially attributed to the melting of ice caps and glaciers, but more to the changes in the gases contained within the sea. In the past decade, the global mean sea levels have doubled compared to the 20^th century trend of 1.6 mm per year. The global sea levels rose about 6.7 inches in the last century.

• Argument 2 – Rise in Earth’s Average Temperature – Global temperature rise during past century and half continues. Tracking global atmospheric temperatures since the 1800s, scientists point to a steady rise with a stronger period in the 70s, lull in the 90s and a return to the rising pattern in the 2000s.

• Argument 3 – Rise in Ocean Temperature – The rise in the number of vehicles and industries has resulted in greenhouse gases getting trapped in the atmosphere. The increased heat in the atmosphere have been absorbed by the oceans. There is over 50 years of documented temperature records for the oceans that have recorded a steady rise in its temperature since 1969.

• Argument 4 – Shrinking Glaciers – The glaciers on several mountain ranges, particularly in Greenland and Antarctica, are decreasing in size due to reduction in gases that help to maintain temperatures, and changes in the regions climate. Studies conducted by NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show Greenland lost 36 to 60 cubic miles of ice every year between 2000 and 2006.

• Argument 5 – Ocean Acidification – Acid level in ocean is increasing which is making the oceans of the world more acidic. This is due to emission of more harmful gases in the atmosphere by humans which is getting absorbed by the oceans. This is resulting in an increase of algae blooms and mass fish deaths, as well as a change to the chemical composition of the water.

Global Warming isn’t Real

Many scientists make a strong case against global warming being real. They often look towards the same evidence as those in favor of proving its existence, but draw different conclusions. They also look at some evidence not considered in other arguments. These scientists hold to a strict definition of global warming as being defined as a rise in atmospheric temperature, they do not consider the atmospheric precursors as valid evidence.

Argument 1 – No Significant and Prolonged Temperature Changes Since 1997 – Scientists who argue against global warming say global warming isn’t real because since the 90s there hasn’t been a significant temperature change. The upswing in the temperature started from 1975, continued till 1997 and the temperature has been flat since then which clearly states that there isn’t any significant change in temperature in last 17 years.

• Argument 2 – Not Enough Historical Data Available – There is no consensus about global warming being real among scientists. Advocates also point towards the fact that a recent gathering of 31,000 scientists in the field of environmental science couldn’t reach a consensus on whether or not global warming is real. They believe that they don’t have long term historical climate data or the data they have isn’t clear.
• Argument 3 – Arctic Ice Increased by 50% Since 2012 – Arctic Ice increased in volume 50% in 2012 alone. Core measures of the Arctic Ice show that it has increased in volume since 2012, which argues against global warming causing ice caps to melt. Few people have even predicted that global warming would cause whole Arctic ice to melt which contradicts their version.
  • Argument 4 – Climate Models used are Proven to be Unreliable – The climate model calculations used to predict the effect of global warming have been proven to be flawed which means that the long term predictions that they have been making are meaningless. Some scientists even argue that any increase in global temperatures could be a natural climate shift.
  • Argument 5 – Early Predictions About the Effects of Warming Have Been Proven Wrong – Advocates who promote arguments against global warming being real, point towards all the dates having come and gone where predictions were made about effects that never happened. For example:- Al Gore predicted that all Arctic ice would be gone by 2013. But, on contrary Arctic ice is up by 50% since 2012.

As a society we are changing a way to much and I don’t believe it is good thing.

Environmentalists– causing havoc with the economy with no legit grounds. People grab a hold of a cause and never research it and follow like blind sheep. This group is the loudest and best organized of any. If it wasn’t that people believe they are trying to save the world it would be considered a cult. The brainwashing and media propaganda backed by attention seeking celebrities is amazing.

Political correctness– causing issues with changing sport team names, gender neutral washrooms, reference to race,  Lords Prayer out of schools, a manhole is no longer acceptable it has to be a utility hole, changing national anthem wording, saying anything to a woman, innuendo of any kind,

Behaviorisms – issues with crime, self esteem, loneliness, respect all affected. We can no longer treat criminals like criminals, no kid spanking allowed, no scolding, no punishment to children or criminals, politeness gone, respect for authority gone all due to a total changed society and the treatment of people.

Entitlement and corruption – from kids to politicians we are becoming a nation of corrupt governments, spoiled brats of kids. People get into positions and even knowing the system they fall trap to the entitlement. Kids coming from very affluent homes expect their standard of living to be as high as the generation before them without even working for anything. Companies like pharmaceutical companies allowed to create medicine that is killing people and make huge profits. Chemical companies allowed to create by-products that cause cancer and we do nothing as the tax they pay is huge.

Do-gooders-  if someone commits a crime, punish him. If someone chooses to live on the streets let them, if someone can’t take a little criticism or negative comments let them cry, there will always be a person picked last, forget the participation medals, a spanking or jail sentence corrects behavior, peoples feelings are going to get hurt, to bad let them toughen up and learn a life lesson. As long as we made every attempt to correct the situation there is nothing wrong with letting sleeping dogs lay.

I am very glad to be the age I am as I see the world in a lot more turmoil in the future due to the above mentioned issues. While some of these do work to a degree we have just gone overboard on so many things it is ridiculous.

I was recently in a kindergarten classroom and they had a mirror for the kids to look into with a sign above saying. “I MATTER”. This is for 5 year olds. They cant read, they don’t have a full vocabulary and they cant understand the “normal” feelings like an adult.We are putting ideas ,suggesting something that a  5 year old hasn’t even had a chance to think about yet that they maybe ill treated or not getting their due or someone isn’t treating them right.Why ? Most likely an insecure teacher attempting to solve a problem when there isn’t one to begin with. Put a thought into a young mind and the seed grows. We are not born with prejudices, racism, homophobia, gamophobia, enochlophia, gelotophobia, religious beliefs, knowing right from wrong, fear etc we learn all of these. Let’s let the kids be kids without giving them negative ideas so young. If someone ( and that is a big if ) has been mistreated or is negatively impacted by their surroundings or hasn’t been treated right we need to address it immediately but don’t involve the entire grouping.

I try to be as open minded on everything as possible. I don’t believe there are absolutes in anything except death. Some say taxes also but there are loopholes here.I would argue ( I always love a challenge and have been know to take a side just because someone is on the other side, LOL ) that it is our environment we live in that is the issue. If you hang around with negative people you become that way, listen to prejudiced people you start to take on those thoughts. Become too entrenched in anything whether it is religion, education, fitness, cult events, sports, reading,etc  you can become fanatical. It is always our choice, with a lot of people making poor ones , but it is their choice and we have to accept that.

Just got back from my dentist. The freezing sure is an odd feeling. You can bite your lip or cheek so easy so it is best not to talk or eat until the bulk of the freezing has left which can be 2 to 5 hours depending on the person the kind and quantity. The procedure went well but the doctor doesn’t warranty his work as he was working with a cracked tooth. He says it has multiple cracks in it so did his best to stabilize it and it should be good for 1 month or up to 20 years depending. Chew the wrong way or eat something wrong and it will crack again. He was very cautious with my baby tooth which was appreciated as I want to keep this as long as possible. Very good doctor. He is my only dentist in memory that doesn’t try to rack up the bill and charge excessive amounts at every visit. Dr Neil Baker in Cranston if you need a good dentist.  Tickling is happening which is good as that means freezing is leaving a little bit. I have said I hate dentists.

Thought of the Day

I was going to take over the world today and straighten it out but I slept in. Darn foiled again

December 15th- 16th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 26 degrees  Calgary -17 degrees

Only ten days left before the big guy visits for the young kids. Christmas for kids and adults that love kid things is wonderful. Families get together and in a lot of cases may the only time that year, everyone is in a great mood, drinks, amazing food and fun get togethers.

When I look at our google calendar I see it has a lot of entries. Jackie has organized and has been a social butterfly meeting up with friends. Cactus Club, Cheesecake Café and Earls ( she said salad only lol) and yet has done extremely well in keeping her activities high enough to balance the food off. We have three more potential outings before Christmas and then we will be done for while. I ate a way to many cookies at Jackson party but due to the tooth and not eating much yesterday everything turned out well.

Today is the Cactus Club , vacuuming, cleaning up a bit and printing off ingredients I need for our Christmas meal and doing the odd other thing around the house. I have decided I will bake a Cherry and Apple Pie just before Christmas to use.

Went for groceries to get a few things. Clerk looked at me funny when I bought 10 tubes of toothpaste and 10 tooth brushes as Jackie wanted to give them to the Mustard Seed.  Jackie laughed when I brought them home as I bought them with Colgate breath freshner in them. Well I figure they need nice smelling breath as they meet a lot of new people around Christmas time.

I installed new track lighting in the kitchen. First I dislike track lighting as they are problem prone due to their design. These ones aren’t cheap but still use the copper wiring down both sides of the track where you have to turn the light to contact to the wires. This unit is a direct wire unit which helped as I thought I would need to add a new junction box.  The new design junction boxes aren’t made for two sheets of 5/8 drywall and the hold clip then is too small so it requires a bit of rigging. Finally got it all up and it looks and works great. The older one continually went out as it had push pin bulbs. When these heat up and expand the contact points are not made a light can go out. These new ones have non replaceable LED lights. They burn out you have to throw it away. LED is sure bright as these are the kind after seeing Fred’s truck with them, I installed them in the Jeep. Now in the house. LOL  I like them now as I added an extra head and the kitchen has good light everywhere. I would have liked flood but they only make them as spot.

Today is salad day at Earls Restaurant for Jackie as she meets some friends there for lunch.

I am in the process of using a special cleaner in the dishwasher as I noticed it was stained and didn’t look perfect inside. This along with my new detergent should make the glasses sparkle.

Still very very cold outside but the end is near. Tomorrow we watch Jackson in his first real hockey game which will fun then off to Alan & Maryann for a Chili lunch to celebrate Alan’s birthday. He still is very young and it isn’t a special year but still nice to see everyone. Guess we will get to do that twice in two weeks. I wonder if someone is strong enough to help me give him the bumps.

19 days until Mesa !!!

“PENNYWISE TIPS”

Canadian Pension Plan – for those that never had the time or energy I thought I would let you know the New Enhanced CPP versus current CPP changes. I wanted to check into this but unfortunately it doesn’t help Jackie or I out but will be great for people with 20 or more years left of working. 

Current Plan – CPP is a contributory plan and your benefits are based on much you and your employer contributed over the years.

Enhanced CPP–  This new plan will only have a major impact on those 25 or younger as the enhanced benefits depend on the accumulation of increased contributions over time. Baby Boomers you at out of luck ! 

Current Plan- Contributions and benefits are based on a yearly maximum pensionable earnings that is changed each year. YMPE in 2016 was $54,900.

Enhanced CPP– this will be bumped by 14% to $62,600. More contributions mean more benefits. This is very good news for younger workers.

Current Plan- Employer and employee contributions each are 4.95% or 9.9% combined up to the YMPE

Enhanced CPP-Higher contributions will apply fully after a 7 year phase in period starting in 2019. Each will contribute 5.95% or 11.9% combined up to the YMPE.

Current Plan-  tax credit on your employee contribution

Enhanced CPP– You will get a full tax deduction on your contributions but only on the enhanced portion

Current Plan– existing plan is designed to replace roughly 25% of your average earnings up to the YMPE . Max benefit at 65 is $13,110. Reduced at 60 if wanted. Very few get max

Enhanced CPP- this enhanced plan is designed to replace roughly 33% of your average earnings up to the higher earning threshold. The new max at 65 will be roughly $20,000 in current dollars and plus increases in average earnings until retirement date.

My take on this. I like it. The tax deduction versus credit is huge. There is a substantial improvement in the benefits paid out which is the best thing. BUT, and this is the big one, this is great for anyone just starting out or in their 20 and 30’s but for everyone else it means NOTHING. I would have liked the enhanced payouts effective for any CPP payouts right now and have the younger generations finance this over their working years.  It would not have cost a lot with a little tweaking. This new plan while on the right track does nothing to help the current CPP earnings who have overpaid for years to build up the fund. Step in the right direction for the future though.

I was sent an Outlook invite today which I used to use all of the time. I always liked them. They have updated the invite and I really like it now. I did a little research and discovered that Google Calendar will coordinate with Outlook invite and Calendar and update a calendar with just about the exact structure. Sweet, as now for my planning of the Annual Campouts etc I can see a list of attendees that have accepted or declined. Plus their calendar is updated automatically for them. Awesome. Learn something new everyday.

Thought of the Day

Retirement is the only thing that will make you realize how you wasted all those years trying to be mature and professional, when you can get back to being a child at the end of it all. And I don’t mean using depends.

December 17th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 15 degrees Calgary -11 degrees

I noticed quite a few places in Alberta again with -40 wind chills last night and this morning. Ft Mac was -48 degrees. Now that is cold. Reminds of the time making a sales trip up to Ft Mac in the middle of winter driving a K car and it started going slower and slower as the injectors were freezing up. Finally foot to the floor and going 5 mph I stopped. Put it in neutral and foot to the floor and hoped the heat would slowly thaw out the issue. 15 mins later the engine started to rev up a bit. It was -35 then without the wind. That night staying at Mary’s Hotel I left the car run all night while sleeping. I had a few incidents on that road that were a little scary. No shoulders. Loads of big trucks. Doing 140 kms per hour in the summer. Very few snowplows due to distance between counties. Fun to laugh about and look back on but wouldn’t want to do that again.

Off to the hockey rink this morning for a Jackson hockey game and then to Alan & Maryann’s for Alan’s birthday. He is 53 today and I have known him since he was 12. Some may say I could have been a bad influence on him allowing him beer etc at such a young age but I consider him a better man for it, learning life skills early. He went camping with us quite a few times before he discovered girls. He was a great brother-in law as my confidence and ego always were pumped up with me winning at table tennis and intellivision continually. Well winning at most everything now that I come to think about it. Not everyone gets fireworks for their birthday. Across the road there was a huge fireworks display.

 

I hope he isn’t sensitive about everyone knowing he loves pink, quiche, popsicles, hair products like Neet, loves housework and takes voice lessons to try to lower his tone.

We had awesome homemade chili and Caesar salad along with his birthday cake for lunch. It was a great visit as we hadn’t seen them in a while. We also were treated to Coco Brooks Pizza’s for supper which were fantastic.

It was a fun day !

 

 

The hockey was fun to watch. Alan and Danielle met us there and we all cheered on Jackson. It was an exciting game with lots of goals. The kids really try hard. The coaches did a great job getting them on and off the ice and they changed shifts every two minutes. They had volunteer players take turns playing goalie. The arena was packed and chaotic with the groups of players and public trying to move in the narrow hallways. Not enough seating for everyone compounded the problem. I think Jackson really likes hockey so Tor and Cor could be spending a lot of their time in the stands and early morning rising.

One of the funniest things was when Alan thought he saw Edmonton Oiler scouts in the stands looking for next years first round picks for their team.

We made plans to visit Banff on Wednesday with Tor and Jackson. I have my Gondola Tickets to use up and while we are there jump into the  Banff Hot Springs. I will need to dig out an old bathing suit as I left my  current one in Arizona. I am sure Jackson will love both events. He will be tentative going up the Gondola but will love it after a few minutes. It is only a 8 minute ride but the views are great and the centre at the top is awesome with it’s look outs and walkways. It is fairly high at 7486 ft so sometimes the view is limited.  I was surprised to learn that Jasper and Banff lifts are equal in elevation but the views are so different just due to the location of the tram. Should be a fun day.

I just looking at some of our Christmas cards that we received. We are bad as we don’t send out any. ( that I know of )  One stands out as it is a home made card and my favorite. It has a picture of the Castle in Breckon Wales that Michael & Audrey own and in the inside a picture of them riding a tandem bike. A very very nice Christmas card which takes time and thought to make.

Thought of the Day

Getting old together is good.

December 18th-19th

“Mercury Forecast” Mesa  18 degrees Calgary 2 degrees

Today was a relax day. Jackie had to go out to shop for a bit. I worked on the computer, watched a bit of golf, cleaned up a bit and relaxed.

We had Peter over for supper. Today wasn’t a good day for Peter. He was very weak and not in good shape tonight. Too bad as he was doing well but the infection has definitely weakened him. I am not looking forward to getting too old. Alzheimer’s, dementia are horrible diseases that rob a mind of all it’s power. Legalized  euthanasia  is a good thing but the problem is most of the patients that it would be acceptable for cant make that decision anymore. A legal document stating if a person reached a certain level of incapacity is needed as I would always fear that families along making the decision are too influenced by other factors to make a good decision.

Off to the Blood Clinic again today. Today was number 31 donation at the Blood Services. It was a very interesting day. The Blood services is worried about not keeping up with demand as the rules of donation are changing.

Donation Interval: Females – Starting now, female donors will be encouraged to book their next appointment 84 instead of 56 days out to protect their iron levels. Beginning December 10, all appointments must be booked 84 days out to be ready for a March 5, 2017 eligibility change.

Hemoglobin Test: Males – Starting March 5, 2017, male donors will be required to measure 130 g/L on the hemoglobin test (an increase from today’s 125 g/L).

Talking to the young gentleman taking my blood they need 100,000 new donors to equal the current levels because of the changes. The main reason for the female change is menstruation and them becoming anemic. One young lady today was turned away as her levels were too low. For the men the interval remains the same but the hemoglobin  level change only which is their indicator of iron storage. Luckily for me this will never be an issue.

I come back from a blood donation and because of my high iron levels I  lose 5 pounds in one day as iron is very heavy.

Sitting in a chair right beside me was a young guy in his twenties. His first time donating so gets a lot of attention as they want donors back. He finished before me and the nurse said to him ” Wow that was fast it only took 4:47 to finish.”  He fist pumped and was very excited to get all of the attention. I finished  just a little later as I started after him and looked at him at said ” Wow I did it in 4:46 what was your time again ? ” He became a little dejected until the nurse laughs and says ” He was joking it took him ( me) 5:17 seconds ”   It did make it fun.  Note :  normal bleed time is 8-10 minutes.

Excitement also as one lady passed out in the elevator on her way down after giving blood. She most likely didn’t eat all of her soup and juice before leaving. People were rushing everywhere when it happened and the EMT’s even were called in on a 911 call. As I was leaving she was sitting in a wheel chair drinking fluids. I don’t know if she was giving an IV or not. A little scary for her I bet. I remember years ago one time I stood up and had to walk carefully as I was dizzy. At that time I was giving a unit of blood every 7 days.

Stopped and picked up couple of presents at the post office and now it is wrap time. It is absolutely beautiful outside at 2 above. Feels like summer.

The world is becoming an angry place. Germany today with a truck ramming into crowds and in Turkey with the Russian Ambassador being shot. Chaos. Not good. I don’t understand the way humans think. Why so much hate ?  Even down to a personal level we have families with members not talking to each other either parents and even siblings and children, co-workers hating each other, spouses mistreating each other, long time friendships dissolving over emotions, kids over the internet bullying each other, policeman getting killed just because they are what they are, groups of people shunned due to them wearing a garment that others consider not normal, individuals hated for being true to themselves and companies and governments becoming so corrupt it is hard to tell which one is legit. Hopefully the latter part of this week being the biggest  day ever for Christians it will slow down a bit and people will start to love one another like we are supposed to. Anger is evils best weapon. And the funny thing about it is we can choose to have it or let it go.

Interesting article in the Edmonton Sun.

Edmonton Sun,  by Mark Bonokoski.

According to his sources Canada has 990-million acres of forests,
370-million acres of wetlands and167-million acres of crop yielding
farmland.
These are known as “carbon sinks”.  Biologists tell us that trees absorb
about 2.6 tones of carbon per acre.
So if you do the math 990-million acres x 2.6 tones per acre = 2.574
billion tones of carbon being absorbed every year.
Now if you do more math: 36-trillion tones {the amount of world
emission}x 0.0167 (1.67%) = 601.2-million tones.
—  This is the amount of carbon that Canada contributes to the world
emissions.–
In the forests alone, Canada absorbs almost four times the amount of
carbon that it emits.
This means that the other three quarters of our forests are being
sustained by carbon being emitted by the rest of the world.
This calculation does not take into account the wetland or farmland
that also absorb carbon.
Canada really couldn’t get any greener, so why are our politicians hell
bent on punishing us with these ridicules carbon taxes?   If the media were
honest this information would be made public.
Considering the fact that Canada is given no credit for absorbing much
more carbon than it emits I think there is a good case for some lawyer to
charge our governments with a”class action lawsuit”.

Herman Schwentner (ECA REVIEW)

Always nice to see a realist amongst us. It is just a shame we are being dragged into this when as the largest energy producing province we should be the first to be fighting it.

I think everyone knows the situation Alberta is in. I really like this lady below in our parliament. She would make a great premier or prime minister. Her points are all informed and real. Elizabeth in her small part near the end is extremely disappointing. Alberta has to do something. We need to look after ourselves and our heritage along with commodities. It is shame to have a federal and provincial governments so out of whack with reality. Here comes a real bad word : Fart- something that describes the hot air these governments are doing for us. A little long but worth the listen. Especially the last moments.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube-2Dnocookie.com_embed_YJcwKRpQHvg-3Fautoplay-3D1-26vq-3Dlarge-26rel-3D0-26showinfo-3D0-26start-3D0-26end&d=DQMFaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=HPpAxfwQiX_ItTAMgWJl655BYOQsgiC45BRv23FXnc0&m=q915GQZ-PjB0ehz3t1kuGni4cOBqNXXAhu0JmBWMWjs&s=K5qrDZLu83gN5RJaGhY59pfhBnt7ybXjJjhiDDscBks&e=

Notley Destroys Province.

Thought of the Day

Give Blood Now- it is in you to give and it is the best Christmas present ever, as it safes lives !!

December 20th   5 days left till Christmas.  15 days before Mesa

“Mercury Forecast” Mesa 24 degrees Calgary 4 degrees

Todays agenda was an easy one. First off to Tim’s for gift certificates from Peter for his care givers.  The workers enjoy these and the home gives them out at their Christmas Part so they are shared by everyone. Plus they are reloadable to make a Tim’s purchase

On the way I noticed a very sad accident. Makes your heart shiver. A poor puppy with a leash on and a winter coat was laying on the sidewalk with blood coming out of his mouth. Luckily it was right across from an Animal Hospital and someone had ran to get the doctor who was just running to the sight as I neared it. When you see blood from the mouth you can guess internal injuries. I hope the doctor was able to save him. I know the lady that struck him was very distraught. Anyone that has a dog knows the attachment to their pet. They become just like children that are loved and love back. Man’s best friend is an understatement. Sorry my mistake. Humankinds best friend.I miss our dogs but am hesitant as the freedom is nice but the company and love back is a hard thing to give up. Perhaps !

Busy grocery place today as it seemed a lot of people were already off work and buying for the weekend. Turkey decision today was going with a 24 pounder plus a small ham to hopefully fill everyone’s tummy.  I went with an air chilled turkey with plenty of time on the expire date. Saves having to thaw and we all know fresh is always better than frozen.A pet peeve of mine has always been going to someone’s meal and having to check to see how more people have to fill their plate after you so you leave some of everything for them. Leftovers are a good thing so always cook more than needed. The turkey issue is tough as the sizing is difficult when you have a larger gathering. Cook time also becomes an issue as the larger birds are more difficult to cook. I found a great website that gives qty per person to plan for with their being leftovers on all extra’s for the meal. We need a larger turkey by rights but can’t fit two in the oven so people will need to fill up on potatoes and dressing. I only forgot the dried bread crumbs so have everything else in the proper quantity. I have the cooking part with a larger crowd pretty much figured. I used to feel rushed right at the end. But now I understand the secret. First the turkey needs to REST at least 15 minutes before cutting it. You can start all of the extra stuff right after taking it out or just before. Gravy is the last thing done and needs to be hot so even if the potatoes or turkey have cooled a bit no one knows. A quick microwave heat up and you are set to go. Second thing I learned is 165 for temperature of the turkey thigh or thick part of breast is best and as it sits it actually still is cooking so you don’t over cook and under moist it. Ham goes into pineapple juice and cooks all night in the slow cooker so it is done any time you need it. The dressing for me now is cooked outside the bird. It is safer, the turkey cooks faster and better and tastes exactly the same using turkey juices from the cooked turkey.  I also discovered most people carve the turkey wrong. The correct way is to remove the whole breast and slice it so that each piece has a small portion of the skin on it. Looks better, better teasing for everyone and much easier to carve.So I think we are set. Being a real risk taker I even bought Chinese Mandarin oranges. Love them and the chemicals only are absorbed into the skin. We hope. Oh I forgot they may have been grown in sewage water . Oh well.

Booked another doctor’s appointment before leaving and am set to go.

Beautiful out today as it I have the sun shining in the house and the door wide open with the fresh air. I could handle this all winter. Well not really as in the winter staying here would be the only time I might feel bored a little. I can only clean cars so much, fix up the odd thing and after nearly three years of being retired most of my small projects are done.

Finally my leg is feeling better after hurting it on the treadmill. My calf has been killing me. Jackie was worried as that is were Victoria’s blood clot started so she kept asking me if I was alright. Shhh   I can handle pain and it would have to be pretty bad for me complain. The brain can numb most pains out. I rarely take any medicine for a head ache, back pain etc as it is not good for you. When I say rarely I mean maybe once every two or three years. Jackie and I are very lucky that we are in relatively great health.

We have the worst Premier ever in history of any province and now we have municipal  governments suck holing to get more money at the expense of the tax payer. The mayor of Edmonton should be ashamed of himself sinking to a new low. He has done a wonderful job for Edmonton with it’s infrastructure but is far far off base on this one. We know the NDP vote came from the northern part of the province but now to have the mayor of a large city on side with them is amazing.  Has he forgot every gallon of gas, every watt hour of electricity, everything he buys and uses and on and on he is going to be hit with this tax  as a large corporation. It is like a pyramid scheme were one government is charging another and we the tax payer ends up paying the bill.  What he is also forgetting is when we close down our coal generation the electricity costs ( check out Ontario) will skyrocket and any savings thought by buying electric transit or vehicles is gone. I am a little surprised at him with this interview. Calgary’s mayor has it right. I think anything so major as this should have gone to a plebiscite if our rules allowed it. You also need to read the article on the left with Notley. She says consumer pricing won’t move. This is the naivety that is destroying us. Yes you do not see consumer goods change overnight  ( extremely expensive to do)  but a known increase and consistent percentage will be built into the cost of goods and passed on to us as the average cost increases.That is how business works and survives. She is so dumb it is numbing. I expect to see the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton covered, using provincial money right away.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/carbon-tax-will-lead-to-more-edmonton-jobs-says-mayor-1.3904305

On the news tonight “we have 92,000 people on EI.” Plus those that benefits have run out. That amounts to a population that would qualify for Alberta’s third largest city. I want this recorded so I can check back as the job losses from carbon tax , EI increases and minimum wage increases are going to increase this substantially. I feel bad for our young workers. They have every right to employment and a standard of living that we all enjoyed when we were first employed. I am positive if a structure could be set up temporally that all working Albertan’s would gladly donate 10% of their salary to a special fund to help the unemployed. I don’t understand why our government doesn’t react to the very serious situation by cutting wages, and services but not employees. Our generation went thru a few major downturns but nothing like this. Greece which is a bankrupt country only has a unemployment rate of 25% and we are sitting at over 10%. Our NDP and Liberal governments think all is well.

Thought of the Day

Some may remember this-  Think not of ill and disease and thou shall defeat the foe within.  

December 21st   FIRST DAY OF WINTER AND THE SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 21 degrees Calgary 1 degree

Off to Banff with Jackson and Victoria to go swimming in the hot springs and to go up the Banff Gondola. Will be a fun day.

As I often say people that don’t live in Calgary have no clue how beautiful it is to see the mountains shining in the west just a few miles away. The drive out to Banff was beautiful, sunny warm and very windy. I was a little worried that they may close the gondola with the gusts. Arriving in Banff sometimes you forget how beautiful Banff is. The buildings, the snow, the people all rushing everywhere and the Christmas love in the air. Couples galore kissing each other in the spirit. Getting to the lift and checked in.

Minutes before I checked in they were deciding if they were going close the lift all day or not so would not sell any tickets. Not due to the wind but a frozen water pipe and them having no water at the top of the mountain. I decided rather than wait and take a chance as we were going to have lunch on the top we would head back into town and eat there and check back later. Boston Pizza right on main worked perfect for us and after having a great lunch we headed back to the gondola. Open ! But with a warning of no water, no washrooms and only certain food served. After getting loaded we headed up.

It moved FAST or so it seemed. Jackson was a little hesitant but enjoyed the ride. Having your mother along will do that. LOL  We had a fun ride up to the top. Getting out we had to walk on the outside to get into the shops etc. Man was it cold. It was freezing. Take 50kms wind and -10 it became -30 instantly.

Most everyone was struggling with the cold but a few hardy one’s ventured out on the board walks. We only did the patio and surrounding area. Great facility at the top of the mountain.

New restaurants, information centre, lookouts etc. It was wonderful. We had a quick soda and looked outside at the howling wind, people fighting it and enjoyed the view. Jackson didn’t  want to get close to the window. Headed back down for another fun ride. It seems slower going down than going up. Off to the pool. It was surprisingly busy. Park pool pricing is awesome.

 

As soon as your feet hit that hot water it hurts. Only 39 degrees today but was the perfect temperature. We all had a great time soaking away. Jackson hands and feet shriveled up so bad they felt horrible to touch them. We stayed until we all became prunes. Had a quick early supper and then headed home. Another wonderful day !!1

Heading to the doctor now.

Thought of the Day

Papa’s are there to help children get into mischief they haven’t even thought of yet !

“Mercury Forecast” Mesa  18 degrees   Calgary 4 degrees

The cold front has pushed all the way to down to Arizona with Mesa only hitting 14 degrees on Christmas and Boxing Day. It will be back into the 20 range by midweek.

My doctor visit turned out to be perfect. My doctor was impressed with my numbers considering where I was at. I have achieved perfect if not better than, blood pressure numbers, cholesterol numbers that are within range, a perfect BMI number, the correct weight number and am looking and feeling very healthy. I still can’t reach the US Army 2km qualifying run time numbers I want but I also don’t want to blow an aortic valve like Alan Thicke. I have maintained my weight and numbers now for three years so I have a handle on it. I am going to try to reduce the amount of Happy Hour drinks though due to the calories and after researching the long term effects on the brain with continuous drinking. I love my mind and want to keep it just the way it is until I die. Well I may let it slow down a bit.

I had a Christmas luncheon today with a few of the remaining JELD-WEN  employees. I liked these guys when we were working together and being out the business now for close to three years and seeing them today again it confirms my like.  I am impressed that even with the massive change in the company they are all still motivated and excited about things that are happening and about to happen. The company is very fortunate to have such loyal dedicated employees. At our luncheon we had Brian, Melissa, Thomas, Arnie, Romi , Larry and I. Larry drove all of the way from Med Hat for the event. That was awesome to see.  Great group, fun group and  I wish them all the best in both their company live and personal live.

Talking to these fellow wor-kers makes you think how lucky one has been in life meeting the right people at the right time. There were a few bosses I had that changed my life completely that I liked, respected and enjoyed working with. I always tried myself to be one of the bosses that hopefully made a difference for someone.  I had a lot of bosses over 40 years but here are  my favorite ones.

Bob Ryder-  Sterling Dist- this gentleman was the most amazing boss. He would send the delivery van to pick me up from jail as I was stopped  by the cops the night before and didn’t have enough money to pay my speeding tickets. ( 40 demerits in one month will do that) He saw something in me and I was promoted to inside sales at Sterling Dist.

Chuck Bourner-Sterling Dist- this gentleman again after just a short time saw something in me and promoted me to Territory Sales Rep. I was 19 with long hair and beard and he gave me a company car and territory and told me go out and sell. I did very very well.

Don Foster- Marshall Wells- When Sterling went broke I tried to sell the remaining inventory to Marshall Wells. They didn’t buy the stock but Don liked my pitch and initiative and hired me on the spot. He was a great teacher, and submitted my name as his replacement but the company went broke before that happened. Two bankrupt companies ( 75 years old and 100 year old companies) wasn’t fun.

Lorne Schreiner- Hendersons-Needing a job as my last company had just gone bankrupt I went for an interview and we clicked. I enjoyed working with Lorne as he was most likely the best relationship builder with customers I had every seen and very clever at doing business. After a few years due to Lorne I was promoted to a Branch General Manager and transferred to Calgary

Alan Martyzsenko- Hendersons  loved this guy. Brilliant mind. Astute business acumen and  fun character . Enjoyed his visit to the facilities and or great meetings at Hy’s Steakhouse. (24 oz prime rib) I was fortunate enough to be promoted to Co-ordinating General Manager responsible for Calgary, Kelowna and Lethbridge operations.

Neil Ash- JELD-WEN I enjoyed working with Neil. This is a boss that fully trusted me, did not micro manage my operations and was receptive to any feedback and adjustments I required. ( Except the year end bonus of my last year which was out of his control but could have been fixed somehow) I loved the promotion to Regional Sales Manager

Good bosses make a huge difference in one’s work life. I have had some horrible bosses also and understand employees reactions to certain actions. I may not have been the perfect employee as I did my own thing and pushed the limits as much as possible but I always believed it is better to be fired for something you did or tried rather than something you didn’t do. I always had top notch employees ( I hired some very talented people over the years) that worked wonderfully together as a team.

We were invited over to Michael and Audrey’s place for supper tonight. Audrey cooked up a wonderful meal . It basically was a full Christmas meal with stuffing, gravy, Christmas pudding etc. It was a fun evening with the discussions covering a lot of material.  Trump, Notley, Trudeau, weather, Wales, rocks, climate change, continental divides, water, pressure cracking, Europe, ISIS and more.  A nice evening.

Thought of the Day

If you think your boss is stupid , just remember you wouldn’t have your job if they were any smarter !

December 23rd,24th 25th 26th,27th

“Mercury Forecast” 17 degrees Calgary -4  with heavy snow fall warning.

Hectic few days so I am going to bunch them all together and post randomly and may not even be in order.

Looking at outside it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The snow is falling and we are expected to get 15 to 20 cm of it over the next few days. Bad timing as I a lot of people will be travelling today on the roads.  Hopefully it all falls quickly and the plows get it cleared asap.

Ended up getting 10 cm overnight and another warning for 5-10 more coming. It is beautiful out.

Off to the shopping centres twice last night to pick up a few things we forgot. Snow build up is making the roads a little slippery. I will say this. There are a lot people that shouldn’t be driving period never mind when it is slippery. If you are not comfortable stay at home. I was surprised as the stores were not even that busy.

Christmas is a fun time. Most people are having fun and looking forward to getting together to see the different friends and relatives. The food is always a big part of Christmas and with lunches with friends, workers, family already we have ate plenty. I do love turkey.

Our scheduling is quite busy but still easily handled as we have plans for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Wonderful food at my sisters place in Edmonton on Sunday and then my 24 pound Turkey here at our place on Monday. Both Jackie and I’s family are not drinkers so the alcohol is never really part of it. Our socks are hung, all of our presents are wrapped and we are READY!

Looking outside at the homes across the street and seeing all of the people shovelling their sidewalks and driveway makes me smile. I don’t miss that.  Laughing also as the guy was watching but couldn’t stand the random shovelling and took over from his wife. Her technique    was subject. This reminds me out on the acreage when my brother Alfred would shovel our driveway. It was at least 100 yards long and 30 ft wide. He did a remarkable job and hated it if anyone “wrecked” his perfect shovelling job. In those days plus the fact of being out in the country the snow banks were 4 ft high all of time. Snowed in days happened every year as the bus couldn’t make it down the road with the huge drifts we used to get. There never was a problem using the snowmobile.

Jackie picked up Peter early and he spent most of the evening with us. Victoria, Jackson and Corey dropped by which was a lot of fun. Peter was in good spirits and in better shape than our last visit which was good. Jackson as usual was a very well behaved boy. Peter opened his presents along with Jackson opening one.

We had fun playing with board games, teasing, car playing and the opening of a couple presents. The Waldie family spent the afternoon outside with the toboggan and went to a movie. Nice family day. Video conference with Jess & Pen and August which was great.

Jackson headed home to wait for the big guy. He is very excited for tomorrow.

We headed up to Edmonton relatively early in the morning. Smoothie for breakfast and off after opening our presents. We both were very lucky and spoiled. I did receive one present that I have no idea what it is for. It is a collapsible  vinyl camouflage  bucket. It was one of my sock gifts. I still cant think of a reason for a 5 gallon bucket. Jackie has been helpful with her ideas. LOL Lucky for us on the drive up the roads were perfect. The only remnants of any snow  and poor driving conditions were the numerous cars and trucks in the ditch.  Alfred, Darlene, Mary, Kari, Mom, Graham, Garrett, Jim and Mariz were there for Christmas. I watched Darlene in the kitchen for a bit and she is amazing. 90 things going at a time and no panic just organized chaos with everything coming out perfect. She along with Kari make the cooking of a large Christmas dinner look easy. It was a fun day with present exchanges and wonderful food. We left Edmonton about 6pm to drive back and again nice dry roads with very little traffic.

Up a little earlier than normal to get ready for our own large Christmas dinner. This year we had a 24 pound turkey and it turned out we had 14 adults and 2 kids. Making a big meal is no different than a small one except for the timing. Jackie and I had a little issue with this this year. Turkey stuffed should be about 20 min per pound. ( 20 min x 24 pounds= 480 min / 60= 8 hours) Looking on line I thought about 4-5 hours for ours as we do the dressing outside of the bird. This turkey 24 pounds reached 170 degrees in 3 1/2 hours so we had to rush a bit for the extras like potatoes etc. I had 4 burners full of food, a crockpot with a full ham in it, and a electric fry pan full of dressing plus the micro wave in usage. We managed to get everything done on time and cooked perfect even with the shortened time. It always come downs to the last few minutes making the gravy and trying to keep everything hot and ready. I dislike cool food. But having said that we did very well and I was pleased with the quality of the food. My particulars are – moist turkey, non-lumpy potatoes,hot, gravy, carrot soft but still with a little crunch, soft but still firm peas, and warm moist ham. A little work but it is fun to do.

Everyone was spoiled with their presents especially the kids with their toys etc. For me you can’t really go wrong with socks and underwear.  I received some nice dress socks which I like but this pair stood out.

 

 

You could wrong if they don’t fit. LOL   Jackson and August were very well behaved and a lot of fun to have around. We had Alan, Maryann, Kennedy, Danielle, David, Kristin, Corey, Victoria, Jackson, Audrey, Michael, Penny, Jessica and August eating Christmas dinner. Our girls loved the Mexican hoodies I brought back from Mesa Market. We couldn’t  get Jackson’s remote car to work as it was a 4 hour charge up for the batteries. This car is supposed to go over 50kms per hour. It is a little too sophisticated for a 5 year old but Corey will have fun with it. I think the loved the firepit and commercial patio lights we got the girls.

A way too much food. a way too much but it that time of year.

Met Ray Laberge today at Chili’s on 130th ave for a nice visit and lunch. Due to all of the food I went with a soup and salad which was awesome. A quick catch up session. Ray is taking the retirement life very well and is enjoying himself. Even started yoga which is awesome.  We practised some yoga moves in Sundre at the Drive for Thrive golf tournament and they are difficult but very good for you to maintain balance and flexibility. He has some great trips planned for the new year with a couple of cruises on the go. I plan to golf with Ray a bit more in 2017. It was a fun visit .

Met Jeff, Wendy, Taylor and Denise at the Coach & Horses Pub  in MIllrise to watch the World Juniors and Flames play. I like this timing a lot better than getting up at 4am to be at the bar at 6am even though it was a fun experience. The pub has a hamburger deal that is even cheaper than Fat Willy’s at $5.95. Now it is good burger but not a premium one as cheese extra costs more but a very good deal. Even beer at $5.95 for a 20 ounce glass was good. A great night for hockey with Canada and the Flames winning easily. Makes watching it a lot more fun. I also noticed Flames have the most wins in the Pacific Division. I also noticed we will miss the Gold Metal game as will be on the plane heading for warmth.  A fun night ! Everyone present must have been good this year as we all received gifts and had fun.

Thought of the Day

Why do people like driving in a car with an Oiler Fan ?

Because you get to park in the handicap zone.

December 28th -29th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 21 degrees Calgary  1 degrees

Out driving around exchanging a Christmas gift. It took three stores to get the proper pant sizing. I must be “normal” with the sizing as each store was out of stock. Finally found the sizing and kind I needed. Wrinkle resistant and zip off legs which are great for traveling and not knowing the exact temperature or  upcoming weather conditions.

I had to phone my benefit company to get special permission to get extra blood pressure pills for out trip down south. They don’t like to give in advance too many pills. I cant see any market for these but perhaps they have had a history of people losing or stealing of these. Can’ guess why.

Jackson came over for us to try out his remote buggy that Jackie and I I got him for Christmas. We planned to use it in our underground garage. This car is amazing with speeds over 50km per hour. It is FAST. We had a lot of fun driving it. It is tricky driving due to the incredible speed but overall Jackson did extremely well. It will work this summer in the field behind his perfectly. It may even be faster than Keith’s. LOL

After playing Jackson wanted to spend the night with us.  Turkey dinner left over supper which was amazing. You just cant beat that. We had a lot of fun talking about things. He is one funny kid with an amazing humour and outlook. We then decided to watch the movie “INCREDIBLES” . I loved this movie. It was extremely well done. Jackie laid down with Jackson to get him asleep and he stayed in bed and slept well all night. First thing in the am was smoothie making and wearing Papa out in the gym running around. Playing LEGO and coloring. It is a lot of fun. Victoria picked him up and they are heading to hockey again today.

Jackie is off to EARLs to meet a friend for lunch. She is having a salad. LOL

I cleaned up a bit and did a few things on the computer. Getting ready to watch another Junior Hockey Game

Thought of the Day

I always loved my vehicles. If YOU don’t look back at your car after parking it, you have the wrong vehicle for you.

December 30th -31st

Jackie decided to head to Lethbridge to get her eyebrows touched up with her Mom so I decided to stay at home to finish my year end budget, set up my new one for 2017, and put together my Year in Review with pictures of Jan 1st.

I had a Coco Brook’s pizza which was excellent for lunch. I completed my budget other than inputting any numbers in from the 31st. I fixed up my 2017 budget sheets and adjusted the budget numbers up or down based on history and category.

We went and got our new vehicle registration for the Wrangler as it didn’t show up in the mail. Talking to the agent I guess they have a big problem with theft of these letters and people using the stolen tags on their plates to look like they have registration and not get pulled over. Anyways, they dealt with the replacement very easily and at no cost to us. The lady I was dealing with was funny as it took her three tries to fix it up. She laughed as she is leaving from England in the morning and wasn’t really thinking about work. Tim’s for breakfast and a quick stop to pick up our grocery bags from Cor & Tor’s place. Corey was in the garage working on his tables. He has done an incredible job on these and they look fantastic. Each time he builds one he finds new ones to them better. The two he is working on now are smaller than normal but the same amount of work goes into them. I love them.

Finished inputting all of my numbers. I am a little disappointed as we spent about $ 14, 000 more than planned but as I have always said it is the little things that add up. Over budget by 4K on car repairs ( tires, windshields, repairs) and over by 4K on house repairs ( cover, shelving, patio) over a 1k on Koodo ( I hate data plans)  2k on a new computer it adds up. I have a big bill next year as we need 8 new tires and expensive ones as they are from the motorhome ( $ 5K). Gas is going up, no I need to change that, EVERYTHING is going up due the NDP and I will need to cut back on a few things to compensate.

Watched the USA against Canada game which was too bad that Canada didn’t play well but it is really a nothing game as the 1/4 final is what counts. Who knows the USA could get knocked off.

Are you all ready for NEW YEARS EVE. We have decided to have a low key event. Cordon Bleu supper and a movie will be just fine. Hopefully can stay awake until midnight. LOL With it being our 150th Canada anniversary the fireworks should be great. Nothing like ending the year with a bang and I am not talking about a horizontal gene transfer.

Heavy snowfall warning and it is snowing out hard. Looks lovely but I am thinking only 4 more sleeps until warmth. Looking forward to it. I will need to wash the Enclave thoroughly to get the salt off it before leaving.

Thought of the Day

New Years Eve pick up line- Kiss if I am wrong but Dinosaurs still exist right ?  I just relied on my natural good looks so I can’t say with certainty this line will work but who knows.