February 1st  Heart Month, Love Month. 

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 10 degrees   Calgary -2 degrees

You would think with Valentine’s Day in it February would have  a wrap on the busiest love month of the year. Wrong. Then you would think maybe June as a higher percentage of people have anniversaries. Wrong. Turns out July and August are the winners. Experts believe it is due to the lack of clothing and stimulation we receive compared to the other months. Thanks a lot Valentine’s Day!

Jackie and I had a great day for golf yesterday. It seemed we both didn’t play well but overall I think we were both happy. Jackie scored 102 and only due to three blow up holes and I scored a 86 but I had at least 7 three putt holes. Remove those and it would be a 79 so even though the end result not perfect I can live with the outcome.

The weather is taking a cooler turn after a week of mid 70’s everyday. As we were walking back from the course it started to rain. We were about 30 yards from our house. After walking to the course and walking the course and walking towards home a speedy return to home didn’t happen as my back was quite sore. Yes sore back the reason I three putted. lol  Then it started to rain and blow. Things were flying every where. My cover worked perfect except I think I have a trough leak which I will repair when it gets a little drier and warmer. It is warm enough to go to the pool but I think I will wait until it gets better. I have LOTS of time. LOL

I am trying to arrange a couple of things today. Two trips and some banking for Mom. I did our final January budget. I am pleased and not pleased. I knew we would be over with the laptop, BBQ covering, and bed cover so I can live with that. The market didn’t help with the funds all lower than we would like but still not bad overall. I think Feb we will gain a bit and have lower numbers as I believe the only expense extra will be the deck.  One has to remember you have to live and if you are worried about spending money on something you are enjoying you will have a very difficult life and not do half of what you want. When we went on vacation and an excursion seemed high priced we did not care. We might only be there once and you need to experience things. Once you get up in age the expenses dramatically decrease other than Depends and health care.

Nothing on the agenda today as it is still very cool and windy out. You got to love the retirement life. What you don’t get done today there is always tomorrow.

February 2nd   Groundhog Day

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 12  degrees Calgary -4 degrees

Amazing how we trust our weather patterns be told to us by a gopher.  If things are correct that means we will have an early spring as Balsac Billy did see his shadow.

With the rain and wind it is a way to cool to be outside today. Getting up first thing it was only 2 degrees. It was nice and sunny though.

I fixed up Mom’s banking for a few months again. I sent another email and tried to phone for a trip I am planning but the place doesn’t open until May. I sent an email to get confirmation of another couple attending our May Long Weekend Golf event but haven’t heard back.  Jackie enjoyed the day reading her book. I did the few things on my computer and relaxed until it was time for our get together party to finalize our block party. We had the eight people over for a few hours discussing how we are going to organize this event. Here I will state I will never sit on a board. I like to have everything done planned, assigned and agreed upon right away. We have a great group of people on committee so hopefully everything goes ok. The hardest part is trying to please everyone as most people know older people are picky, fussy, and set in their ways. I have found as soon as the food or any game is done everyone leaves right away. People sit with the people they know the best and don’t mingle. So we have come up with a few ideas to shake them up a bit. Hopefully shake not agitate.

After the meeting we had a quick supper and readied for our billiard event tonight. Just as we getting supper ready I received a text from an old friend from Calgary to meet them for supper but we had already committed to making supper ourselves and the billiard event.

My partner today was an older lady that at one time most likely was a great pool player. She still was good. Luck wasn’t with us. My shots wouldn’t go down and she missed so many with such close shots and we scratched on the eight ball. So it ended up with us winning one game and losing 5 games. Still a lot of fun. It seems every week the caliper of players attending is getting better though. Hopefully with the little practise I will to as I am sure Jackie also wishes. Fun night.  After pool we had a few couples over to our house for a visit and drinks. Finished off the Spiced Rum which is good as it is a huge bottle and takes up a lot of cupboard space. The one couple is from Saskatoon also and is the new owners of the home of friends of Alan’s Jackie’s brother. Ann & Dereck bought the home which is our homes twins and sold it a few years later. The new owners Chris & Bob just relisted it also as they are looking for a larger unit in the new area by the course. With Bob, Pat, Bob,and Chris it is a fun group.

Due to the few drinks I had a fair number of visits to the washroom last night. I am very lucky I fall asleep right away right after.

Thought of the Day

I think the only way to get better at billiards is to become a pocketologist .

February 3rd

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 15 degrees  Calgary 1 degrees

Just checked the weather and spring is here. One more day of cooler weather and then the next ten days the coolest day is going to be 25 degrees with some hitting 30 above. Yahoo.

Worked around the house this morning. I measured up all of the product I need to extend the rear deck. We went grocery shopping for the potluck and ourselves.  Trying to think of something and the prep work for a potluck isn’t all that fun. I would prefer paying $5 or $6 bucks and have the food brought in. Subs,KFC or Pizza all work for these. But the older people do love the potluck. I think some of it is it gives them something to do. LOL  I prefer ease. We decided to use a treat that Anita Geddes made for us one time and are preparing 60 stuffed jalapeno poppers wrapped with bacon. Most potlucks there is a way too much food so we figured one per person with some not eating them as they will think they are too hot. I love these things. One of the guys on our committee is cooking up chicken wings. Jackie laughed as she said to me “didn’t you guys used to order a 100 chicken wings at a time ”  Yes, Ed Buhnai , Darren Wood and I would eat that plus a few jugs of beer every Friday night at the bar near Ed’s place.  Ps I know longer eat that much.  1 pound now is enough.  Jackie will have a good few hour chore stuffing all of those peppers.

Had a real long walk around the park tonight. It still is remaining cooler than normal but as the cast is indicating next week starting Saturday we will be a way above average hitting 80’s everyday and warmer nights.

Watched American Idol tonight. Great show again.  Jessica sent us an amazing video of August giggling to her imitating Donald Duck over and over again.  You have to love a kids giggle.

Thought of the Day

Baby boy thought ” So if I cry I get a boobie , Interesting “  Certain things stay with you your whole life.

February 4th   What a Day. Larry Willard was born this day in Edmonton Alberta.  Happy Birthday to me !!

You know what they say about men. They age gracefully and they look more refined and elegant as they get older. Now having said that I used to really like the way I looked when I was a teenager and young adult. The long hair, slim build with muscles that did in it’s day attract my fair share of attention. It has been a lot of years since I have noticed that attention.  Now I wouldn’t change my age back to that for a million bucks but it was nice. I think in another 10 years or so it may happen again as the male population dies off and I am left amongst a punch of old withered wrinkled saggy skin hanging women. I may be in my glory !

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 17 degrees  Calgary 5 degrees

Breakfast in bed. Birthday cards in bed. Gifts( wrapped presents) in bed, and phone calls in bed. The morning started off great.  As this is a nothing birthday with no real importance to the age everything is special. I am a lucky guy. Now I get to fill out my CPP request to start collecting next year right on time. The extra few hundred a month will come in handy.

Plan today is to make the poppers, get everything ready for

the 4 pm block party. There is the Bette Midler concert tonight also that some people will be attending so we need to have our fun before the concert starts. We have plans for a Gender Gap game and a Newlywed Game which hopefully turns out to be fun. Old guys and sex jokes or innuendo always causing a laugh.

 

The cooking is going on and smells great. I can’t believe we didn’t get a broiler pan with our stove so we had to improvise a bit. Cooked slower not to have the cream cheese run out and not to crisp the bacon to much.

The pepper poppers thanks to Anita turned out fantastic. We used thick cut bacon from Costco so it took a while for them to get a little crispy ( about an hour) but they looked great, smelled great and tasted great. We put a sign on them so that people that couldn’t handle anything spicy wouldn’t attempt to eat them without knowing what they were. The cream cheese though and removing the insides of the pepper mellows them big time. Of the two bakes we did we only had 5 not eaten so others must have liked them also. Our group idea of stating “ample appetizers” instead of a meal worked out fantastic. The selection of food this type was exceptional. Meatballs, mini quiche, taco shells filled with hamburger, devilled eggs, ( my favorite) cheese plate, chicken nuggets, loads of chicken wings, mini pizza’s and on and on. It was fantastic. The cake that one of our organizers picked up at Costco was perfect size, taste and looks. He had Valentines all over the top of it. It was the largest birthday cake I have ever had. LOL.  Russ & Carol moderated the Gender Gap game for everyone which was a lot of fun. The game generates quite a discussion over some topics with the differences between men and women. I think everyone enjoyed it by the laughs. Jackie hosted our version of the Newlywed Game which again was very well received. Some of the answers killed me. It is always fun to have a whole group laughing when someone answers something that you wish you would have done or experienced. One question that caused an uproar was the ” Oddest place you have made whoopee”  We had “in the woods” ” in your Mothers bed” ” in the backseat” “on a grand Piano and on a office desk. The responses were priceless. It was a fun fun night and so much so I forgot to take pictures. One of the couples married 40 years didn’t get one answer correct. The organizing of this party was quite easy as we had a great group of people that pitched in cleaning, setting up, bringing stuff, picking up stuff and good suggestions and what do to. Our March party group has a few people missing so I said to Jackie we can help the neighbours out. Perhaps a St Patty’s Day theme ( lucky) party.

We had a few birthday calls from people and some fantastic emails sent. Some of my friends are getting quite good at dishing out the trash talk on a birthday.

In my business life I made it a point to harass every employee on their birthday. Not only did I enjoy the humorous banter but deep inside I am sure they did also. It was meant as a team building exercise and in my own way acknowledgement that I enjoyed working with them and they were part of our group. Our company frowned on this from the HR side but NEVER once told me I had to stop. With privacy rules and harassment rules nowadays some managers are scared to take a risk. I know if they had said anything I could talk my way out of it quite easily. I would ask them for employee retention numbers my group versus similar, I would ask for employee satisfaction survey versus other groups and would ask for a precise employee questionnaire on the subject. Easy one to win. Besides if I had a emotional unstable or extra sensitive person that didn’t like the birthday announcement or being made fun of I would find a way to get rid of them.   I believe I was correct in making it a fun thing do to. Doesn’t matter now. LOL .

This is a copy of an email that I was sent. See why I never told anyone. LOL  My only problem I have is it full of truths. LOL

Holy Shit Jeff did you see that old guy?

He has sagging knees, and late night pees
He’s got weak muscles and no hair to tussle
He’s got gout and a big ole snout
He’s got big ears and can’t drink beers
He’s got a smile the size of a country mile, he’s got a heart that’s a piece of art
I hear He’s got a golf game that could put many to shame
He hates cops and he is never to blame
He thinks driving is a video game
And he turned turned sixty nine today but swears it’s fifty nine

Happy Birthday dear old friend, hope your still up to read this and you had a wonderful day!
Love Jeff & Wendy

I still will continue to harass my friends. There is nothing like a balding, or sagging , or forgetful, or slow moving jab to keep people on their toes. It is great to see some of the come backs though as they are getting much better.

For ever in my working life know one knew my birthday or age to isolate myself from the come backs until one smart Larry Geddes somehow figured it out. And he was the oldest of the group.

Watched a bit of TV and then headed to bed. I can’t go on what happened here due to censorship. Another new age circus.

“Thought of the Day”

I am 59 and people call me middle aged . How many 118 year old people do you know ?

February 5th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 18  degrees    Calgary 8 degrees

Talking to my brother last night I see the economy of Alberta is getting hit pretty bad. Alfred and his son are both heavy duty mechanics and the layoffs are starting to hit the sub businesses of the oil patch. Thanks to a stupid provincial government we are going to see a lot worse before it gets better. My nephew just got laid off with 22 other mechanics from his shop. It is like 1980’s all over again but this time it is going to be a little worse. You have to feel for the young kids in their 20’s and 30’s trying to get ahead and have these things happen. Victoria also has been given working notice at her company as they consolidate operations. There were another 10K people laid off in Edmonton on the news last night and similar numbers coming from Calgary. I guess a lot of people can say “I told you so” but what we need now is to try to fix this asap. Find a route for a pipeline and build it fast. Borrow to build our own refineries and make the profit in Alberta. One can say the world markets are in turmoil which is the truth but it doesn’t help to have a anti-oil government in charge of Canada’s largest industry. I have heard people say the percentage of GDP oil represents in Canada and say it really doesn’t have the impact we believe it does. Say that to the truck shop with 20 plus laid guys, say that to the home builder in GP or FT Mac that can’t  give a house away, say that to any business in Alberta. Oil drives everything. Bad enough to have Notley but to further complicate things to have Justin is a disaster. He visits Calgary and Edmonton and WILL not commit to a pipeline. Our politicians are a joke. To have the most handsome Prime Minister in the world and the dumbest Premier at the same time is amazing. NO wonder voters are liking Donald Trump. He says like it is and isn’t the typically bought politician.

Thought of the Day

At the end of the day we have an economy that works for the rich by cheating the poor. The way to turn the economy around is not by making rich people poorer but by making poor people richer.

February 6th

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 25 degrees  Calgary  4 degrees

Funny thing looking at the weather as we are going to be 27 degrees Celsius plus every day next week. Calgary is going to be 27 degrees Fahrenheit .

I went and picked up Fred’s truck and bush whacking equipment as Pat & Bob gave their permission to trim down the trees between us a little more. The one tree in particular this time is the Oleander tree. It was becoming tall and not bushy as it was seeking the sun between the two homes. These can be kept trimmed and can fill in to be just like a hedge if you maintain them. Starting the truck I noticed the right rear low pressure tire light came on. This was the tire that when Fred was here he had taken it to the shop and the guy just pulled the nail out and checked for a leak and said it was ok. These tires are thick walled so you can’t tell if they are low by looking at them. I will use a gauge and check it to see what is going on.

The Oleander tree is a neat tree. Very pretty when in full blossom. It has a long sorted history though. Small children have died, and every year birds and dogs die from digesting the plant. Horses make the mistake of eating it and every year a vegan bites it when they mix it in their salad. Make sure you never use a stick from this tree to cook your wiener or marshmallow. It has past history where the wife has decided it is time to get rid of the guy and gives him tea each morning laced with Oleander poison. If you have sensitive skin or a cut in the skin you need to be careful.

So I cut down a full pickup load and then Jackie and I loaded it up. Was the head ache poison or rum from last night or perhaps the drink Jackie gave me. I drove the truck back to Mel’s place but the light didn’t come off so will see about the pressure and a reset.

Sat in the sun in back and relaxed for a lot of the day. It was a thoroughly relaxing enjoyable day. Nothing better than feeling the warm sun on your skin.Watched a bit of the Phoenix Open and am still hoping Rickie pulls it off.

Off to San Tan Flats to meet 4 couples from Alberta that Jackie knew one of the couples from

 

the bank. Saturday night it was busy as expected. We tried to eat in but it was a 2 hour wait so we watched to find a table outside. Jackie brought blankets to sit on and a table cloth to use. I lucked out and a group left and I stacked claim to a table. Now how do I get Jackie’s attention to let then know and not leave the table. I saw her away across the outside yard and lo and behold she saw me. Amazing !  So the group rushed over and we got set up. It was a beautiful day so the sun was shining and warm as we arrived at 5 pm. We explained the system to them and I grabbed a few menu’s to look over. For some reason the group appeared to be in a hurry as they didn’t want to wait for inside dining and they didn’t want to wait in the food line up and chose to go to the Rib Shack outside. The only issue with this is the menu here is a very shortened menu with ribs as the only main dish. So I noticed some people ordered the ribs but others chose chicken fingers etc. I would have rather waited to get the main menu as it has great steaks, salads, hamburgers etc on it and is more than worth the wait. I thought they may have some other place to go or needed to leave early. They are on holidays or retired why the rush ?LOL  You got to go with the flow though so I resigned myself to ribs when I really wanted a steak but as usual the ribs were great. Turned out they stayed until 9 pm so not in rush. Oh well.

The group beside us were younger girls that didn’t quite know how to get a fire going. This is with free and dry wood. So we got smoked out big time. Everyone of us came out of there smelling like a campfire. They had the band playing and the yard was packed. You know the saying “It is a small world” well it sure is. One of the couples is from Fairview Alberta. She worked at the lumber yard there and is related to Bruce Beiber who owns the Home Hardware store in Olds. They go hunting together. I told her Bruce owes me a golf game if she sees him soon. The other couple from Calgary is another neat couple. He has a Challenger he hopped up and they have a condo in Scottsdale. Very nice group and a lot of fun again. A nice night.

Thought of the Day

An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth. You need to retire to really  feel that unhurried sense. 

February 7th

“Mercury Forecast ”    Mesa 27 degrees Calgary  10 degrees 

Beautiful weather for both locations. Lethbridge is hitting 14 degrees. So this global warming is a good thing.  I also noticed Wales is getting rain again for seven of the next eight days. And we wondered why the UK has such a odd sense of humour.

Jackie and I read, sat in the sun, watched the Phoenix Open and relaxed for most of the day.  I checked out my cable connections and I am going to run to put a splitter and run a cable to have an outside TV on the top of my outdoor kitchen. The nights now are staying warm until at least 8 and are only getting warmer. Nice to watch a sports event outside.

Clipped a few more branches, cleaned up a bit of stuff, moved a few things around, organized my storage box, watered the plants and filled my water fountain. Readied ourselves for golfing.

We decided to walk again as Super Bowl was on we were about the only two on the course. We finished the 18 holes in under 3 hours again which is awesome. With it being 27 above, and the course in perfect shape and no one on the course I expected a great game. Jackie had an awesome game breaking 100 again. Yes no gimmies or mulligans a pure break 100 score. Yahoo !!   I did very well and was happy until the 18th hole. I took a triple boogie on it and ended up with a 82. An easy par hole I should have been under 80 again but screwed up. My back usually starts to hurt around the 14 hole or so but this time it was very sore. If I had ridden I am positive I would have scored better as your muscles tighten and you don’t swing the same as the start of the game. I had a 38 on front nine.  Another fun game. Only one slice.  My back is sorer than I remember it for along time. I will need a Sebastian fix when I get back to Canada again.

We got home just in time for the half time show.  It was good but not spectacular. Some of the commercials were great though and it is the only time you don’t mute them as they were all knew and different. I don’t know if these special commercials are carried on as standard ones or not but they should be as they are good.  Doesn’t everyone think the NFL is boring. Two touch downs in a full game. Running one yard at a time is amazing. Passing yards are ridiculous. I do think that is why the College football is so big as it a little more exciting.We also watched the Open and it is just too bad Rickie didn’t pull it off.  In the playoff’s he struggled on all four holes with a lot of not great shots. The 17th hole he should have known better. He might make he a smarter player in the future.

A beautiful night with it only getting down to 13 degrees so sitting outside is wonderful.

Thought of the Day

Next game I will go on the golfers diet. Stay on the greens as much as possible

February 8th

” Mercury Forecast ”  Mesa 27 degrees  Calgary 13 degrees

Up early this morning and took a load to the dump . While at Mel’s place the neighbor showed me a hole dug under his skirting. I removed the panel and checked inside but couldn’t see or hear anything.  I am not crawling under the unit. LOL   Possible bunnies making a home. I could fill the hole but then the critters are trapped and will need to find a new way out. Mel suggested a trap but I don’t know if that is legal and not a lot of people like bunny soup. To have it as bunnies would be the best thing as they are the easiest to get rid of. .

Lots of Volteran today to keep limber.

I have said numerous times how lucky I was to leave Edmonton. Here is a quote from the Sun newspaper.

While 22% of Edmonton residents felt the NDP government’s plan to deal with the economic downturn was excellent, only 5% in Calgary and the rest of Alberta felt that way.

I won’t say anymore but it is sad !!!!!    I do feel for all of the Edmonton people that are “normal” living amongst the socialist idealist do-gooders. Better to look at it as 78 % feel they are doing a HORRIBLE job.

First time my blog didn’t save an auto draft as I just lost my internet connection. My rant about Edmonton is gone. LOL  I won’t reiterate as I said what needed to feel good LOL>

Jackie and I golfed with a wonderful couple from Sherwood Park. He was 79 and an amazing golfer. Always interesting to hear peoples stories. This gentleman looked after 1500 employees in a oil and gas manufacturing company. They had offices in a lot of different places. He laughed when he said his son is 53 and retired. ” I must have paid him to much as I had to work until 67″  Even though he loved his work. Great couple that just keep having those ho hum pars hole after hole.  Jackie played quite well ending up with a 106 and I had a 84 but took a quadruple on the last hole.  They joined us for supper at Fat Willie’s after golf and we had a lot of fun. He ALSO had retired business cards made up and we exchanged them. On his with his phone number it stated “Anytime” meaning it was his cell and you could phone anytime in the year as it was with him in Arizona or Alberta. I asked him since it said anytime could I phone him tonight at midnight. Oh how we laughed and laughed. LOL   They own as in his words ” the best manufactured motorhome there is ” a 41 foot Triple E Empress and stay here in the park in it from October to April.   78 degrees , great golfing, great burger supper, two jugs of beer in frosted mugs, great company, how can you ask for anything more. ( better dollar and tsx movement up would be nice) My $6 burger with exchange becomes $ 7.80 burger but that is still $4.00 cheaper than in Canada for a 1/2 pound burger in a restaurant. And this is with fries and pickles. $1.00 for gravy.

Luckily in the park as it is private land you can drive tipsy without repercussions. I think a jug is about 4 – 20 ounces glasses not enough to really to be tipsy but probably enough to be hassled by the cops. I missed every old woman on the street walking. No wait it was dark and about 8 pm coming home. There was no one on the street as they were all getting ready for bed.

Thought of the Day

I am retired. Having a good time is now my new job !  I am very good at it. You working guys need an increase in your CPP amounts as I need a raise. Should I phone my new boss Justin ?

February 9th

“Mercury Forecast ”   Mesa  28 degrees    Calgary  15 degrees

Ok that is it. No more warm air up to Calgary. You guys need winter as I want a perfect summer there. Enough of this spring weather in February.  Don’t you want snow, cold and icy roads ?

Turns out both locations broke heat records for the day. Calgary hitting almost 17 degrees breaking a record from 1926 and Mesa hitting 87 degrees (30 degrees) breaking a record since 1987. Great day.

We went grocery shopping to pick up a few things at Safeway. Worked around the house a bit and relaxed.

I had a golf game arranged with Roger and Mike Cundy from Regal Building so readied myself for that. This was a Golfnow pick without knowing about the course. Not a great course but it was a fun one to play.In Tempe and about 25 minutes away so it wasn’t bad getting there.  In

it’s day with the palms trees and water it would be great. It had a lot of homes around it but luckily it was a straight driving day. A shorter course so that helped also. It was a fun day with Mike and Roger. I hadn’t played golf with Mike for years as the last time was when I took him golfing out to Kananaskis to play. Mike is a big boy so when he hits it it goes a mile but he had some major shoulder surgery so he played it conservatively to be safe which is great. Nice young guy with a great young family. Roger is always fun as he isn’t to serious about it and what happens happens. Just wonderful being outside in that warmth and sun enjoying the day. Nice to see them. Another 18 hole score ( 9 hole x 2)  under 80 is good. I didn’t have any real screwed up shots.  I thought I had paid and booked the tee times but they only used the card for confirmation. Good and bad as Roger picked up the tab which I thought I had done. Oh well my $150 golf cart expense evens it out a bit.  Batting a wasp every two seconds right now out side on the patio is annoying. LOL

After a quick supper we were off to our couples billiard night. My partner tonight was Karen. We did ok winning 2 games and losing 3 games but we had a lot of fun. I killed myself laughing as on one shot Karen when she sunk a bank shot jumped in the air and screamed in excitement. Her sunk ball left me with the black ball to sink to win which happened which was great. We were close in just about every game with it coming down who sinks the 8 ball first. I have noticed and Jackie says the same we are getting a little better each week with the angles and banks. Hopefully soon we will have a winning record night.

Sat outside on Bob & Pats deck in the warmth after the tournament which was nice. It was still like 18 degrees outside at 9 pm at night. In fact we were hot in the pool hall playing. I think that is the nicest thing about Mesa is the warm nights outside. It reminds me of the fun we have camping being outside. I love our patio now with the sound of the water fountain and the lighting we have. I love the looks and enjoy it very much.  Watched a bit on the New Hampshire caucus nominations and as time goes along think that perhaps Donald would shake things up for the good. He may be a little prejudice, a little protective, a little trouble with anger management but he may straighten up the country.

Thought of the Day

Pool versus Billiards- I almost brought my bathing suit the first night we were invited

February 10th

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa   29  degrees  Calgary    2 degrees

I just noticed it is leap year this year. Other than the marriage thing what does the leap year mean or do. British tradition allowed a woman to propose to a man but only one day every four years. The Americans changed this to Sadie Hawkins.We know it resets the timing for the calendar between the solar and our calendar. The day every four years keeps the dates correct when compared to the earths rotation cycle. Greeks won’t get married in a leap year due to the believe of bad luck. The first warrants for arrest in Salem for witchcraft were issued on Feb 29th. Some 4.1 million people are Leapers with the Feb 29th birthdate.  Just one of those odd days we take for granted. To bad a leaper doesn’t stay younger longer with a birthdate every 4 years. I can imagine this screwed up a few children in their day.

As this is Jackie last night here for 10 days we plan to go to a movie.  I will continue to bug her about leaving over Valentines Day. Valentines Day this year is dead to me.  I have a projects to do while she is gone. Muriatic acid on another part of my kitchen, a small amount of grouting in a couple spots, caulk all of the windows on the west side, caulk shower corners, build rear deck, wash windows, and rent a pex crimper to put new shutoff valves under the bathroom sink. I will also go as a single golfing  every second day or so.  A little relaxing and the time will fly by.

I discovered today my new laptop doesn’t have a removable  battery . It had a hiccup and needed to reboot and after checking this is the way they keep them so light and thin. The battery does last 14 hours though but takes 3 hours to recharge. You need to take it in to replace or void warranty. Modern thinking. LOL

We decided to make this a date night and to go out for supper and a movie. Our night ended up to be quite different really. We decided as it was hot out and we weren’t all that hungry we make the movie snacks our supper. Got to love buttered popcorn and pop. The amount they give you it is easy to fill up. We narrowed it down to two movies. Sister’s which is comedy and Revenent which I guess would be classed a action. It may have been good but with the intelligence level that Leo DiCaprio exudes with his knowledge of climate warming I just couldn’t go see the movie and give him a buck. This is a generalization but have you noticed that most environmentalist really don’t have a clue and jump on a bandwagon to fit in. Most of these like David Suzuki are not only huge hypocrites but have a very low self esteem and feel they are part of something when they include themselves in an organizations that if you checked the CEO or founder is making millions off the minds of easily swayed young men and women along with drug altered minds of rock stars.  Our comedy we picked was good but not great. It had its moments that were very funny but it was not near the comedy that Bridesmaids or Daddy’s Home was. We still enjoyed it. A Wednesday night and the movie house was very empty. IN fact in our theatre we only had 10 people.  Still a nice night out for a change and a date night as Jackie leaves in the morning.

Thought of the Day

You know after Tuesday even the calendar goes WTF

February 11th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 30 degrees  Calgary  6 degrees

Jackie got ready to for the airport this morning as I had to drop her off around 1pm. She had quite a full carry on as she was taking Corey’s biscuit joiner birthday gift to him in her bag. Plus you know the women things like straight iron, clothes, make up etc. She will have a hard time lifting that thing overhead.

Thought I may as well get the deck done asap so headed to Lowes. I am so fortunate to have Fred’s truck here to use the odd time as it just makes easy hauling 10 and 12 ft lumber.I will need to figure out something again to get for him for his generosity.  My Scotia Bank USD visa again didn’t work so I had to use my regular visa. It is under Jackie or I would phone them and let them know the hassle and extra money this is causing me with a card that is sporadically working. Picked up everything I need I hope in one trip and started to work on the deck. I figure it will take me three full days to complete. Had the costs but we wanted it done and we will enjoy it very much. As we don’t have to worry about frost heaves or sinking in soft soil I used  4 x 4 sitting on cement sidewalk blocks which made it quick.

I worked until 6pm. Man it is hot as it hit over 30 degrees today with no breeze. I was happy with the progress today and after tomorrow it should start looking like something. The sizing is just wrong as it causing waste with my boards but what can you do.

I think tonight I will just relax and watch TV.

I watched American Idol and JLo ‘s new cop show. Both show were great. Bring back the old Idol’s was fantastic but it would have been nice to for them to give a little update on what they have been up do with their careers etc. Most of the duets I though were amazing.

Went to bed around 11:00pm but didn’t sleep all that well. I could say it was because Jackie was gone but it was more like the caffeine from the pop I drank all day to stay hydrated kicked in. The old toss and turn night.

Thought of the Day

When you can’t sleep at night have you ever thought it is God keeping you awake as it may a good time to talk. Not good to wait until you really really need him.

February 12th

” Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 31 degree Calgary  2 degrees

Up and out early as it was going to be another hot one.  I started to finish the carriage and plan out the boards. Thanks Lowes but they discontinued my decking and I had to buy the next closest thing. As everyone knows Composite decking is expensive so I wanted to save my existing boards. The TSX has been down so much it was probably the first project in my life I cheapened out on instead of buying all new boards. Turns out the new ones are 1/4 inch thinner which isn’t good. Typical of a manufacturer cutting costs. Over my 2 ft joist span no deflection from the old ones but some from the new ones.  I hate companies that do that. Same brand same color only difference is the thickness. Due to this I had to change my entire plan as I was going fancy but now had to rethink to save money. My Scotia USD card DID NOT work again. I may look at changing one of my CIBC cards to a USD one but it is little more cumbersome. Picked up stuff and started. HOT HOT  but I worked from 9 am to 4:30 pm  then stopped for a beer with Bob.  I think I should be done tomorrow if everything goes ok. Other than the different thickness I love the new sizing and look of the deck and I am sure we will get lots of use sitting on it.  They next picture will be when I am finished. Love the weather. Pool tonight!!

High school shooting today in Phoenix which you hate to see.

Thought of the Day

There has been 39 school shootings since Newtown Connecticut in 2012. Why are these young kids struggling so much that it results in these. Harassment, teasing, feeling out of place etc, all has happened since school began. Why are these kids today so aggressive ?

February 13th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 31 degrees  Calgary 8 degrees

Another wonderful day bright and sunny and hot.  Up and at early starting right away on the deck. Finished up the decking, added a small board sidewalk to access the deck, installed a

ledger board and installed lattice on the bottom of the screened room. I am happy with it and it is only missing the two aluminum top cross and under support beam to be complete. I still need to

complete the underground watering system for the plants. Will only take a few minutes just need a few parts. I also added a lattice fence at the end of the sidewalk along the side of the house. It was another full day in the heat. It is hot here right now with it hitting 32 degrees and no wind. Lot’s of water and the odd rest as working in the full sun sure gets to you. I finished and cleaned up around 3 pm and decided to head to the pool. Talking to a guy and his wife there he talked about just back from Mexico and having a root canal and crown for $480 when in Manitoba they wanted $4100 bucks. His wife got a set of prescription glasses for $140 frame and lenses. Can’t beat that pricing. The pool today was very busy as people wanted to cool down and float on their noodles all over the pool. One old fart though did laps and I am sure he did at least 25 laps or more. I couldn’t do that.  Rested when I got back, had supper and enjoyed some TV.

I then had a knock on the door and received a banquet of flowers and a Valentine card.  Now that is nice !   Ps NOT from Jackie. LOL I knew I shouldn’t have turned on the Country & Western music, with no shirt and dripping sweat while working outside. A very nice gesture.

I will see what tomorrow brings. I may need to help the neighbor move their storage shed which won’t take very long. I may look at golfing in the late afternoon.

Thought of the Day

Can’t wait to receive nothing on Valentine’s Day. Wait I already did today. LOL

 

February 14th

Every February across the world candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones in

the name of St Valentine. There is quite a sorted history behind this day with torture, love, sacrifice and evil all involved. I like the fact we now make it about love and showing love to one another. They say there is over 1 billion cards exchanged on Valentine’s Day. Jackie got me this year. As she was going to be away and I think I can count on one hand or less the amount of Feb 14th we have been apart in 40 years she hid a gift box and card in her makeup drawer. I was razing her that as she was not going to be around on Valentine’s Day it was dead to me. Very nice card and thoughts. She is spending the day with Jackson.

As it was Sunday ( a no work day) I putted around doing the odd thing but mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the warmth. I brought the TV outside on the deck and watched the final round of the Pebble Beach tournament which was great. Too bad Phil lipped that last putt.

I received a invite for dinner tonight which I was hesitant  in accepting but will welcome thankfully. Pat cooked up a storm including homemade bread from scratch which was awesome. A myriad of other things, mixed vegetable rice, pea salad, meatballs and rice pudding with red jello. It was a nice evening with Pat, Bob and Annette . Can’t beat have supper outside at 24 degrees at 6pm in the evening. It was one of those beautiful red sky sunsets tonight which are incredible.

Cleaned up a bit and watched TV until bedtime. I fair amount of channel surfing.

Thought of the Day

Enjoy life now there is plenty of time to be dead.

February 15th

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa a cool 28 degrees  Calgary a balmy 7 degrees

Breakfast outside again today in the warmth. Thru out some expired food and cleaned up a bit before heading to golf. I got a great deal for $39 with cart at Western Sky which is a nice course and close by. No shotgun and a lot more difficult than Viewpoint. Hopefully goes well today as Bob has invited me to a men’s league at the Whirlwind which is an elite course and the guys are playing for money so you know every rule will have to be upheld. The only thing that kills with these is the shooting three from the tee for a lost ball. I think I will use  a 5 iron for the second shot if that happens to be safe and play for a boogie rather than a double.

Well the temperature hit over 30 on my gauge in the Buick today. With a slight breeze it was the perfect day to golf. I was hooked up with a couple from Ontario that are “members” there and a very couple. He was former Ontario Amateur player and a great golfer. I wish I had his swing on the drives. He said he was a 4 handicapper. First I think I will play this course more than Viewpoint as the rates are better and the course is way more difficult which I like. If we used our driver on 14 holes I out drove him on 12 of them. Measuring them with my watch they kept coming in at the 275 to 285 yards without putting the extra into them. I had one slice all day and wouldn’t you know it hit a house. Laterally drop.There are only three fairways were this could happen and I did. LOL .

I played sick today with very very few mistakes and no gimmes or mulligans and came out with a 79. It could have better with a few missed putts and a couple of chips were I took two putts instead of one putting. Even though it wasn’t my best score I think I golfed better than ever. Being on a not familiar course doesn’t help either but having a member along sure does help. There are a few things I will do different next time especially on the 18th hole. A wonderful fun, enjoyable day on the course. The course was quite busy as it was President’s day holiday here .

Home washed up, ate and relaxed. Passed on Fat Willy’s as Jackie wasn’t here. Sitting right now at 7:30pm on the deck at 27 degrees listening to the waterfall and relaxing. I may go for a swim and hot tub as my broken bicep is hurting tonight.

I think I will head to Scottsdale tomorrow to get my piece of barn board I need for my signage Terry bought me. I am going to use a 1 x 8 by 4ft long board and route in a area  for my Chill’n Grill’n sign. Should look awesome.

Thought of the Day

There are two things you can do with your head down. Golf and Pray. The prayer has been known to help the golf.

February 16th

Had a long enjoyable swim and hot tub session last night. The air temperature at 9pm when I went was still in the 20’s. The pool only had 6 people in it. It was cooler last night than previous but still very warm. I did hear the odd comment on the coolness. I rather liked it as it was very refreshing and still not make you shiver. Swam a few laps and talked to a couple of guys from Sherwood Park. Nice gentleman in his early 70’s. He said his biggest disappointment in life was not selling the farm earlier and enjoying Viewpoint earlier. He love’s it . Play baseball, and pickleball and only golfs a bit. His regret is that he is starting to feel older with aches and pains and worked until he was 67 and could have enjoyed the golf course and amenities a lot better and longer. His compromise was turning 70 and bought a Harley. Fun guy that by looking at him is in great shape. He got very angry over the Oilers. Had season tickets for years but gave them up as he said the team and management is useless. I rather enjoyed discussing the Oilers that are in last place in the league AGAIN with all of their supposed super stars. Made for a fun conversation as I egged him on and kidded him. Swam more laps and then ducked into the hot tub for my arm and shoulder. A beautiful clear night with stars shining brightly and the warm air. We are supposed to set another heat record with us being in the low 90’s Wednesday and Thursday.

First thing this morning I headed to Phoenix to pick up my barn wood piece I needed for my outdoor kitchen. It was 65kms away. When I got there all I can say is UNBELEIVABLE.  They have two yards across from one another and each is at least 3 to 5 acres. Pallet after pallet of old barn wood. They have a machine shop for planing etc. Amazing. I wish we had one of these in Alberta. Their pricing structure is neat. $5.50 per board foot for everything except beams and posts. ( one board foot is 1 inch thick by 12″ x 12″) .So you find your wood and you can calculate your cost yourself. IE a 2×6 by 12 ft long would be  6 board feet so this board would cost $33.00.  Love the place. I picked thru what they called the shorts and found my perfect piece.  $10.00 got love it.

I used the skill saw to curve the ends and cut to length. It is like rock. I also drilled two hanging holes in it. I then mounted the sign and worked on a system to hang for a way to long but finally got one that I think works great and looks right. Notice the fridge under the Chill’n and BBQ under the Grill’n. Awesome. Can’t wait until tonight to see the lights on and see how it looks and check to see if it needs a highlight lite shining on it.

Wells Fargo still has a hold on my money and the USD Visa isn’t working so I had to take out some money on our normal debit card and buy groceries with it. I was running a little low on what to make each day so should be all fixed now.

Two straight large gains on the TSX which is good. Hopefully now it will slowly increase a little bit each day with only the odd mild correction. It makes a huge impact on the available dollars that I don’t like.  It has been especially volatile this year and lots of rumblings about the causes. The manipulation  of the currency around the world with Japan, China and others I am not sure if anybody really really understand the give and take each move makes. I do think that there are some very clever wealthy individuals that can control it, a cartel of sorts. The saying the rich get richer is very true.

How are you guys liking Donald ?  He is growing on me only because he is anti establishment and scares the regular bought politician.  I am sure they thought he would just disappear but that isn’t happening and in fact his popularity is growing.  I am enjoying the banter between them. It is sort of child like but entertaining.

I have to get up at 6:30 am tomorrow. I am retired what is this ? Our neighbour Bob invited me to a Men’s league golf outing at a fancy course that I am going to and our Tee time is 8:30 and it is a good 40 minutes away. Very well organized.  I saw the invite list and the last weeks scoring. 50% of the guys beat their handicap. I say there are a lot of sandbaggers in the group. A handicap is established by a persons last 20 games and using the BEST 10 scores they have played. To beat your handicap is difficult, very difficult and to have 50% of the players do it on the same day if you use logic is impossible if the handicaps are set correct. People use inflated caps to win money.  I am guilty a little as I don’t enter my USA golfing as the majority of the courses are just to easy compared to my home course. I would get killed in Calgary when I get back to wooded lined fairways being narrow instead of being able to shoot back onto the fairway and play on. If I played courses like Heatherglen, MacKenzie , Boulder Creek, Silverwing or Speargrass it would ok but not Turner or others like it. It should be a fun day and hopefully the slicing and pulls will stay away for the day.  I would be happy on this course depending on the color of tee’s we shoot from to be in the low to mid 80’s. With a score like that I would be in the  running in most events.

Couple billiard night tonight. With Jackie gone we will be out this week. Next week we will get them !!

My blood pressure today at Safeway was 111/71 which is unbelievable. If I can keep at this levels I will see if I can further reduce the pills. Between stress and weight my pressure has been great.

Thought of the Day

I think I have it figured out why some people want to work until their 65 years old. They figure just about everyone that they may owe an apology to is dead.

February 17thI

Wow up at 6:15 to get ready for golf. That is very early for me. LOL  Didn’t sleep that well excited and concerned about golfing with a bunch of “good” guys.  I have been golfing unbelievably lately so was excited about having a good round. It only took us about 1/2hr  to get there which

was good as we didn’t have to run around and could take our time getting ready to golf. Even had time to go to the range which I like to do.  My partners today were Bob, Vic and Ross. All of them a lot of fun to golf with and great guys. It was a beautiful course. Exceptional really. Well reality set in. Vic golfed to his cap but everyone else did not. It was my worst game of the year getting a 93 and the lower handicappers didn’t fair that much better. I took a 8 on one hole which didn’t help.   For some reason and unusual for me as of late I sliced and hooked and rarely hit the centre of the fairway. Needless to say I was quite disappointed in myself. It seems a mental block that every time I want to do well the opposite happens. The mental part of the game is huge.  Next week I will do better I am sure, well hopeful. At least I know the structure next time. I will go to the driving range again to see if I can figure out what went wrong. I can live with the odd slice or hook but not like this game.

This is a great group of guys with a lot from Saskatchewan , a few from Alberta all retired guys living down here with the main group from Sun City . The organizer does a wonderful job and for me is very appreciated as it does take dedication. They played skins and a team game which adds to the fun for some that win money. LOL   This Whirlwind course is right beside Rawhide on the east side of town.

One of the guys Bob knew is from Lethbridge and is George Modjeweski’s, the former owner of Lealta,playing partner at Henderson. He says George is coming to town and will let Bob know and suggested a game together. I love George. He was a great friend and a mentor  in business.  I hope this happens.

We hit or over 90 again today which is nice and warm. Plenty of water and a few beers after and being in the sun is a little tiring. FUN DAY

I see the TSX up three days in a row. Yahoo and hope it lasts.  And the dollar up. A winning day other than the golf score.

Thought of the Day

Life give you many chances to screw up but you have to remember there are just as many to make good thing happen.

February 18th

“Mercury Forecast ”   Mesa 28 degrees  Calgary 8 degrees

Last night for supper I had an amazing meal. I had a fully loaded bake potatoe with cheese, sour cream and onions on it, garlic bread BBQ’d to perfection, a large salad with my Olive Garden dressing and a super 8 oz T bone Steak. The steak was cooked to perfection also. I couldn’t ask for a better meal. After supper I watched American Idol and jumped channels for a while and watched the town house meeting with Donald to end the night. I went to bed earlier than normal due to the early morning.

Another wonderful day in Paradise . Not quite the 90 today as it is overcast but very warm and a little muggy. Got up at my normal time which was nice even though the getting up early for the golf was great. I was heading out to look at a few things and stopped by and had a great visit with our BC neighbors Ian and Gail. Black coffee in the morning is a good thing. Great visit talking about a lot of stuff.

Had a quick lunch and headed out. I visited Campers World to see what they had. I love that store and you could always find something you need but I restrained and walked out with nothing. There are so many neat gadgets and things to use in your RV it is amazing.

Stopped at Mobile Depot for my remaining three bars I need to complete the back deck but they were out of stock and won’t have them until next Wednesday.  Too bad as I wanted them on for Jackie’s return and never expected them not to have them. I was going to put them on last year and then this when Fred was here but just ran out of time.Then the deck area will be complete and ready to be enjoyed completely done.

I wonderful afternoon to just relax, read, rest and enjoy in the warmth without getting burnt or too hot. I love the outside patio. To sit, to eat, to rest and relax it can’t be beat.

Another up day on the TSX which is good. Another 1000 index points and I would be happy and be more comfortable in spending a little money. Oil up to almost 32 bucks and then fell a bit as news of reserves being at a 86 year old high scared investors and dollar up to 73 cents so all is good. Gas at the pumps today in Mesa  .36 cents a litre.

From the news today===Drinking more coffee might help reduce the kind of liver damage that’s associated with overindulging in food and alcohol, a review of existing studies suggests.

Researchers analyzed data from nine previously published studies with a total of more than 430,000 participants and found that drinking two additional cups of coffee a day was linked to a 44 percent lower risk of developing liver cirrhosis.

Thought of the Day

So have your drinks and wake up to coffee and your fine !!!

February 19th

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 30 degrees   Calgary  7 degrees

Another great day. Had my breakfast then I wanted to finish the one last little thing on my deck except for my cross bars. I go into the Buick and I had the low tire light on. I checked it and it was filled enough to drive so I filled it up at the service station just a few blocks from here. When filling it I saw the screw and could hear the air escaping. I took it to Big O tires and had them fix it a give a report on my tire wear while I looked thru Home Depot.  I needed fruit tree fertilizer as I noticed we have very few buds and some other’s  trees are loaded for next years crop. Picked up my stuff and headed back to the store. I knew the tires were getting long on the tooth. It showed all four tires with 1 or 2/32nds wear on the outsides and 4/32 in the middle. With 4/32 they could be used until they are down to 2/32nd. But having a thin thread on the outside isn’t a good thing. So I over inflated them by 5 pounds to wear in the centre and will look at changing them before we come home.  I just to verify pricing in Alberta first.  I know on my Ram it was 50% less and then add the exchange it still is a good 20 to 25% less.

Got ready for golf as I wanted to test my drives again as I am still in disbelieve over my Whirlwind day. I was hooked up with a younger couple in the late 30’s. Very nice couple but both of the were green golfers. They were resident Mesa people and were quite white. I bugged them a bit and they told me both of them had skin cancer scares and no longer ever go into the sun.  They struggled all day but we had a lot of fun. I played quite well with only 3 holes were I sliced . Overall pleased ending with a 82.

A golf academy had their students out today and they were the groups in front of us. Academies are meant as teaching schools. Trust me these students which all were college age kids needed help. I have never seen such poor golfers that looked the part but were all over the course. They held us up quite a bit.

We just finished in time.

Back home to relax and watch a little TV. It’s funny but you really doe miss someone when they are not with you. Just a comment on TV you would like to laugh it is a little difficult to do by yourself. To say did you see that doesn’t happen.  Plus the laundry is piling up. LOL  I should learn how to do that properly with the whites, colors , warm water etc.  Sunday will have to be my clean up day so Jackie comes home to a semi clean place. I have been busy. !!! LOL

Thought of the Day

You know what they say ” A husband is someone that takes out the trash and believes he cleaned the entire house”

February 20th

” Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 29 degrees  Calgary 3 degrees

Time is sure going by fast. It is so wonderful and relaxing here. When the TSX is going up I have no worries. When it goes down I have to be careful as I worry and want to hoard my money. I want the retirement where we can enjoy most anything we really want without to much sacrifice. We can’t do that without the market help. ALL I really need is a 6% return each year which is not high and we can live nicely. We haven’t seen that lately and historical numbers are just that , happened but may never again.

First order of business was breakfast on the deck. Love it. Second to work on a rod system for the back deck curtains I like. I tried to bend conduit but without renting a bender it was impossible to get a 90 degree bend without crimping and collapsing the pipe.  I tried a few different things and then lightning hit. I used a chrome shower rod and a 90 degree EMT elbow fir perfectly ( with a little hammering) into it very snug. No connectors or clamping required. I used the shower end bracket and EMT hanger and the rod turned out perfect. It provides  the privacy, looks and still allows us to see and use my slate cover for a potted plant or decorations. Jackie can do that when she returns. It is amazing how some easy thing is a struggle and then you figure out a way to do it. It was HOT in the direct sun today doing that.

I had to go to the shed to get a few tools and tape as I am going to install Pat & Bob’s faucet today for them. First time I ran into the tenants. Very nice lady but I don’t want to interrupt them or have them feel in the way so I have avoided going as much as possible. The couple times I have, they have been away and I gather every tool and more that I think I may need to use to save return trips. I think I have everything for the tap install if I get lucky. I will watch and make my return tool drop off when they aren’t home again.

Trimmed a few branches and fertilized the orange tree this morning. I noticed my drip lines to the potted plants is now working great. Hopefully enough water for a palm to survive the heat all summer.

Most of you know I had complainers. If you don’t like something do something about it instead of telling everyone how bad it is. I have always disliked:

1. When people complain about the USD exchange. Don’t come to the USA. Stay at home and miss the warm sun and wonderful time you could be having. Don’t take that vacation or 6 month break. And they forget how low the cost of living is here compared to home.
2. When people complain about deprecation. I was talking to a Rv’r at the pool and he went on for a hour how much money he has lost due to deprecation on his 45 footer. Motorhomes DEPRECIATE that is a fact of life. I prefer to think  it allows the appreciation of a life style, the appreciation of sights we would not see other wise and the appreciation of  not sleeping in a hotel with used sheets that had other’s bodily fluids on them no matter how many stars it has.  It is a home away from home not a used toilet or bed that others have used.
3. When people complain about gas mileage. Don’t go anywhere. If you can’t afford the gas stay at home. To complain will not fix it and will only  agitate yourself for no reason. It takes gas to travel. Fact.  Funny now that gas is lower fewer are saying anything. There must be a breaking point. LOL
4. When people complain about the weather. It’s to hot. It’s to cold. Weather has to be the most discussed issue of any. What ever weather you have learn to live with it and find ways to enjoy it. Swimming pool if it is to hot, hot chocolate if it is cool out, comforter if it is cold out, a/c if to hot. Wait it will change and quicker than you can imagine.
5. When people complain at a restaurant about the food or service. First they maybe busy and are not ignoring you. Second suck it up. It is impossible to mass produce food and have everyone’s little idiosyncrasies  met. Tastes are so subjective to each individual it has to border on impossible. Enjoy it and perhaps you may find a new way you enjoy your food. I would hate to hear the real comments about anyone that cooked for the family gathering as they have to accept it as is.
6. When the poor me syndrome complaint comes up. Yes some people have bad luck. Yes life isn’t fair.  But I would bet if you looked at the person with the complaint there would a lot of self inflicted pain and poor decision making that could be accounted for.
7. When people complain about not having enough. Not enough money, not enough time, not enough vacation time, not enough fun. Do something about it. Spend less, another job, time management classes, time off without pay, enjoy your self. Everyone can say they have one or more of these complaints. Just don’t dwell on it and try to do something about it.

I see nothing wrong with constructive criticism, I see nothing wrong with subjective commenting or even general observations every now and then but be careful it doesn’t  become consistent complaining.

Beautiful faucet Pat bought. Brushed Nickel with a pull out sprayer, large C curve handle and a soap dispenser. New faucet install is about 1 hour max if the removal goes good and the faucet is desgined for the space. Ever thing went well and and looks great. Had to make one as always trip back to Home Depot as they used a shutoff valve where the supply line doesn’t remove. I could have cut the pex and re crimped it ( $50 ) or Icould have used Sharkbite fittings but then I would have had 4 potential leak spots and another $40 bucks or more.  I found a knowledgeable old fart at the Depot and we found a fitting that worked well between the supply fitting and the  larger male pipe fitting. Worked like a charm !!!   Looks great !!

Re-hung the Sun upright on a new post permanently just below the line for my beams on Thursday. New curtain rod looks great and I like how it works. Three beams and I think my work is done for this year.

Thought of the Day

Smile while you still have teeth !!!  Time goes by fast.

February 21st

“Mercury Forecast ”  Mesa  28  degrees Calgary 5 degrees

What an amazing winter Calgary has had this year. The lack of snow is amazing but the lack of cold is even more amazing.  I sure hope it doesn’t  screw up our summer. Next weeks forecast is down to average temperature hitting 23 to 26 each day.

The contractors on our balconies have had great weather to get their work done and they still haven’t completed it. This is a way behind schedule and it hopefully doesn’t result in another assessment. Any good contract would have a completion date and penalty for non-compliance.  The quote also would be for the job not contingent on a labour rate for completion.  I don’t know if I can count on our management and board to be smart enough to negotiate what some would consider a standard agreement.

I do know they have done a lot of stupid things. Our condo is approximately 60% of the age 55 plus. They know people leave for the winter and they arrange a removal of all vehicles from the under ground parking now with threats of fines and towing if not done. There is no perfect time but you do need to use a little common sense. I know of numerous couples that are away the entire winter that will be facing the same issue as us.  Pick a month like May when everyone has returned from snow birding and before people start leaving for summer. Give LOTS of notice and the reasoning why. The one thing I don’t care about with condo management is their attitude that they are god like and the tone in “ordering” owners what to do. Reminds of a angry school principle. I do have to admit was I never was a stickler for following “rules”.

Getting the house ready for Jackie tonight. Used the swifter through the entire house. Wiped all of the counters and coffee tables. Ran the dishwasher and put the dishes away. Cleaned out the garbage bags. Made the bed extra special today. Put my clothes away and piled up the tools I have here until I am done in a neat pile. Cleaned the outside patio. Threw away all of my birthday cards and valentines day cards and any spoiled food.  I think it will be fine !

I was going to golf today but decided to clean, relax and watch golf on TV instead and go golfing tomorrow with Jackie and Fat Willy’s. Nothing better than sitting outside in the warmth watching TV on a Sunday afternoon relaxing and sipping on a ice cold diet Pepsi. It was a very nice day.

Picked up Jackie right on time. The airport was the busiest it has ever been. It took me 15 minutes to drive from the cell lot to the standard door entrance. Wonderful to see Jackie back.

It is amazing how nice it feels to have someone back in bed to bump against. Even though I don’t get to lay sideways or on both sides it still is nice .

Thought of the Day

Texting, calling, video calling etc is not even close to be with someone.

February 22nd

Another beautiful day in paradise. Jackie made us smoothies this morning which is awesome. With the new warmth I sat outside and enjoyed my morning. Our neighbors were having a get together to plan the next block party and asked me a few questions and I was lucky enough to move the boxed of table cloths plates etc over to them.

Sat around, wished Penny a happy birthday , water the plants, and just did a few things around the house. Jackie visited with a few neighbors and before you knew it it was time to go golfing. We were hooked up with a very nice gentleman Ross from Minnesota. A retired farmer that is able to lease out his land and collect the rent to live on. Great golfer , mister consistent with his drives which are not long but always in the fairway. I though Jackie golfed quite well today but did end up with a 110 score mostly due to putts and chips. I was very happy with only one real bad slice all day. Scored an 81 but could have been lower with a few putts going in. 7 straight pars with a lot of them birdie shots that missed. Happy with the drives with very long ones and only two sliced.

Had our great Fat Willy’s supper on the deck and then headed home to watch the Bachelor. Life is good.

Thought of the Day

Found a great wood today to lower my score. Found a pencil

January 23rd

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 28 degrees  Calgary  7 degrees

Watching the CTV news this morning and it was quite interesting. Bears are coming out of hibernation early and causing issues and avalanches are happening due to the warm air and amount of snowpack. The high pressure system is remaining constant and the high’s in Calgary are expected to be 14 degrees. That is June weather.  Very nice for everyone though.

Sitting outside this morning on the back deck I had to take a picture of the our backyard view. I

love the looks and flowering that is happening in the spring. It is so warm out and so nice to have breakfast in the warmth outside.  Wonderful

It is wonderful get away spot in the back with it’s privacy and sunlight.

I see Justin is doing great at spending our money.  18 billion deficit in one year after being given a 3 billion surplus. It is amazing to me the politicians we elect. Think about this. Canada is in a recession running a 18 billion deficit and there still are no minds running around saying Alberta’s oil isn’t important to the economy. It is EXTREMELY important. Does everyone know with the equalization structure we have Quebec gets close to 8 BILLION dollars a year. Alberta none. Now with the downturn Quebec will have to further in debt. I would have no objection in letting Quebec leave Canada. The rest of Canada would be much better of. No more double language on all packaging. No more give give give to a socialist government.

Today will be a relax day. We have grocery shopping to do. Ps Fruits and vegetables here are dirt cheap. Read, do any money transfers required, fiddle around, eat right after Willy’s and listen to the birds in the sun. We have our billiards night tonight which is always fun. Hopefully I can do well tonight and come out with a winning record. We have Brett Wilson’s sister Shauna and husband Randy that live in the park that play with us each week. A very nice couple that are a lot of fun. Everyone that plays is excellent as most of them are beginner players and are mre helpful than negative. There is one older guy we refer to affectionately as ” Grumpy” that is a nice guy quite quiet and a little reserved and send off a vibe of being grumpy but isn’t.  I enjoy the pool.

Thought of the Day

Now that I am retired and on a tight budget I find I go for a swim usually every second day. It’s either that or buy a new golf ball.

January 24th -25th

“Mercury Forecast ”  Mesa 28 degrees  Calgary 9 degrees

Up real early as it is my early men’s league commitment. I hate to get up early but it very refreshing and extremely nice to be on the course by 8:30am. Golfing at Whirlwind is also such a pleasure as the course is a high end gorgeous course. The group of guys are mainly retired Canadians snowbirding.  A great group of guys that are a lot of fun to play with. So far I have had the greatest groups with everyone being extremely nice and fun to golf with not taking the game to to serious. I was with a gentleman from London Ont, Saskatoon, and Nanton AB. As a group we did very well winning more money than any other winners. Our group of 4 won $160 which was great. It is just a matter of timing to make sure the higher handicapper does well on the holes that count.  My game started off poorly but the back 9 I did very well. I still struggled losing balls in the desert the first nine. So for what I would still consider a poor showing I ended up with a 89. Relatively happy as it was a brand new course first time I have played it and the slicing hurt.  It is hard to imagine a nicer place to be than Arizona in the spring. Everyday hitting 80 degrees plus. No threats of winter storms, hurricanes or tornados.  After collecting our money “YES” we headed home to have a relaxing afternoon on the back deck reading and talking.

Watched one of our favorite shows American Idol and then headed to the pool to do some laps and just moving. No one other than us was there which was nice. We spent a good hour swimming which is great exercise and fun.

Today is Jackie’s Ladies League golf event so she will out doing that this morning and into the afternoon. I am going to pick up my beams and wait for her return to install them.

Sad news from Victoria , Corey and Jackson as they had to have their family dog put down. If anyone has lost a dog they know the impact they have on our lives. I still miss my Teddy. They had a wonderful mixed breed dog of a Dachshund / Shih Tzu  I believe. This guy as a puppy rough housed with a same age puppy three time his size then and constantly won the battles. Jessica’s Nellie grew into a 100 pound beautiful dog that still played with Farley but Farley could no longer dominate. A funny story that everyone will remember is when Cor & Tor were taking

Farley to the vet they stopped and allowed Farley to have a quarter pounder with cheese. Farley most likely thought heaven is going to be good. I am sure Cor & Tor will miss Farley lots as he was a great family pet for 10 years. Poor Farley had Cushings which causing a lot of issues and during his last few months wasn’t doing well at all. It is always easy for others to say you should put him down put when it is your dog that changes everything. There is a very strong bond between a dog and the owner.It was Farley’s time though. Funny as my eyes tear up thinking about losing a dog and what Tor & Cor are feeling today.  Rest in peace Farley. Enjoy doggy heaven. Say Hi to Teddy and Samson for us.

Picked up the beams and worked on them in the backyard until I was overcome with heat.

It was just a little too hot to work out in the sun. I am going to wait until 5pm to complete the last few screws. Then I will be done. I can put the tools back and read, swim, golf, walk, play pool, cards, watch TV and enjoy the wonderful life we have and thinking about the great summer we are going to have with the everyone back home.

Finished in the cooler afternoon and love it. It is so nice to sit back there and see the beautiful plants and feel the warm of the sun.

BBQ’d some great pork chops perhaps an inch thick and had a great salad with them. Perfect outside supper.

After supper and just before watching our American Idol show we decided to have a few games of crib. Did I ever mention my middle name should be crib. A win and a skunk for one night is not bad.  For years I have kept a record of every golf game I played since 2007. I record every game I play along with nay games I play with Jeff and Keith. I think I may start a excel sheet for Crib wins.  LOL

Watched the  Idol show. You got to love Kelly Clarkson. She is a funny girl with a great sense of humour and is very good with her critics of the contestants. She made the show adding a another dimension to it.

We went for a long walk at 9pm and 25 degrees out.

Thought of the Day

When I win, it’s because I’m skilled. When I lose, it’s because my opponent is lucky.

February 26th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 29 degrees  Calgary 17 degrees

Wow 17 degrees in February. I understand Fox Hollow is open already for golfing in Calgary. Calgary has had the best winter EVER this year. You got to love the el Nino.

On Block 3 we have a disgruntled home owner. I few days ago Feb 20th you read I hate complainers. Will this guy takes the cake. He is protected by the First Amendment so there is not much the park can do but it would be nice if they could find some way just to get rid of the guy. One minute late on his fees he should be charged interest. One unsightly thing about his unit, a weed, a mess etc he should be fined. The park needs to get rid of idiots like this. Opps that’s odd your unit is the only one without water today. We will look it that.  Odd your TV signal isn’t working we will look into that. Get rid of the cancer as soon as possible. I will give a few points in the parks defence.

1. Do you think this guy is a marketing genius with his wording? I am sure he will sell right away. NOT
2. Yearly maximum increases– Every company every year has to raise their fees just to keep up with inflation. I am sure he didn’t mind his yearly wage increase for the same reason. And his company didn’t have to increase their product ?
3. Astronomical utility bills. Is it the parks problem you leave on your a/c 24/7 and your lights on all of the time. SRP the service provider is CHEAP. Water, electricity, heat, runs about $50 a month.
4. Weekly trash pickup even with absent– this one drives me nuts. At home doesn’t he think he pays trash and sewer etc for 12 months. The City of Mesa used to allow a furlow each year when you leave and just charge a disconnect and re connect when you came back.  That was nice but think about it. Just because your gone there still maybe 40 people on your street so the garbage truck still has to drive the same amount of miles.  This issue when they changed it caused a huge ruckus. City of Mesa not the park changed. Think about it.

I understand as people age they have a more difficult time learning new things. I understand the overall comprehension is more difficult. I understand change is difficult for them. But if they just would learn to be more open, take a chance, forget about what they used to do , quite being stubborn and relax and think before reacting or talking they would have a lot more enjoyable time. To complain is a waste of time and energy. Perhaps this idiot actually believes he is doing something. I will eat my words if he sells. LOL

There are a lot of empty RV spot this year and a lot of  Park models and Cottage homes units up for sale this year.More than usual. In a place like this you have the people that have become ill or other circumstances that force them to sell.  We have three units right near us where illness has been the issue. Also a lot of people are buying the new units and are trying to get rid of the old one rather than pay double fees. Plus you do have the Canadians with the dollar hurting scenario.  I will tell you though. If you have the money right now ( new cottage homes have even arranged Canadian financing)it is a prime opportunity to buy as the pricing is depressed considerably.  When the dollar increases a bit it will come back very quickly.

Thought of the Day

In the world as you take your breath right now , someone else is taking their last one. So stop whining and complaining and learn to live your live to the fullest each moment.

February 27th

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 31 degrees  Calgary 7 degrees ( rain)

I noticed the weather for next week is still getting warmer. It looks like we will not have a day less than 29 degrees again. That means multiple days over 90 degrees. You got love Arizona.

Hopefully in the next few years Keith and Larry G can bring their units down and stay a month or so to enjoy the place. Fred & I have mastered the Arizona retired life even though we both do different things at times. He is a big book reader and I enjoy the golf. I need more Cribbage victims and some one to mix my drinks using a jigger not three fingers vertically.  LOL

Had a conversation with our bank yesterday  to get things fixed up and were able to complete that. Transferred money around and we set for another month and half before we come home. Plan is to leave about April 12th and have a nice drive home perhaps stopping at the Zion Park or the glass Grande Canyon skywalk.

Had our smoothies in our finished back deck and relaxed doing a few things on the computer. Got the Buick ready for a carwash inside and out and to drop off a cheque at Wells Fargo.  We decided to spent the afternoon at the Mesa market. Not a good thing as it is very very difficult

to come out of there without buying something. If you are ever in Phoenix this place is a must see. It is huge and has some incredible deals on some unique stuff. We did need a couple of décor items for the back that we picked up. A beautiful tin Gecko and a flying Bee which look great and add a little character to the area.

Heated up some of my frozen Cottage Pie ( shepherds pie) which was awesome. I had to heat it a little more than normal as the water content was high and I needed to eliminate that. Wonderful tasting.

We watched a real neat and I would say good movie called ” Here comes the Boom” with Henry Winkler and Kevin James about a teacher raising money by fighting in the UFC for his kids music program. The movie was extremely well done and turned out to be a great film.

It was still 24 degrees when we decided to go to the pool last night. First time ever where it was busy. A few couples from Sask had their families visiting them and were enjoying the pool and tubs.  It’s too bad though that some people have to be so vociferous. They were noisy.

After the party group left I was sitting talking to a older guy in the tub. He has the perfect story.  He worked for Atco Electric ( Canadian Utilities) . He retired at 55 years old which in his words was the perfect situation. They bought a unit in Viewpoint in 1991 and have enjoyed 25 years of retirement life coming to Arizona each year. He wouldn’t do anything different other than what he did but wished that it wasn’t coming to an end. He put his unit up for sale this year as his wife and him are now both over 80 and he doesn’t have the money for the insurance. Due to health issues he can only get 30 day coverage and has to fly back two or three times in the winter. He flies in on a Friday and comes back Monday. Crooks really to force someone to do that. There is more stress to do this then to give the guy 90 days for a small reasonable amount extra.  He laughed when he said his son worked at Atco Electric also and is 55 but can’t retire as he doesn’t have his magic number and enough money saved. Kids !   Great guy to talk to.  He was a ball player here for 20 years but now just watches it. Awesome to hear him talk fondly on his life but he did warn me. Time flies by make the most of it.

Didn’t get out of the house until around 9am this morning.  That’s ok I am retired remember. We have three friends in the area we are trying to get together with and that seems difficult. Everyone is so busy. Hopefully we will get together. Two of them are for golf excursions so hopefully get these finalized as soon as possible.

Booked a golf outing for Sunday evening. Sitting on the deck enjoying the hot weather with loads of lotion on as skin cancer scares me. I have one mark I don’t like.  Looks like it is tree trimming day today as they have grown at least 6 inches in the last week with the irrigation going to summer timing and the hot weather.

Ps saw a Coyote on the course on Wednesday. They have beautiful looking Coyote’s here that have great looking fur and are not skinny things. They look quite nice and run wonderfully.

Victoria sent this to us this morning. Now that is a kind generous doctor. I am sure Tor, Cor and

Jackson will keep that forever. They could frame it as a way to remember Farley for years.

A couple of notes:

• Farley used to beat up Nellie all of the time as a pup.
• He wasn’t the best dog at holding his pee in the house
• He couldn’t walk stairs that well ( long body short legs)
• He would bark and bark at any noise. Loud bark
• He ate couches, toys, and numerous other things
• He destroyed a solid plastic pet cage.
• He would run away any chance he could get
• He was funny, quirky, lovable, loyal , friendly

He will always be remembered as a great wonderful loving family pet for 10 years.

Thought of the Day

Until some one has loved a pet part of their soul will have remained unawakened.

February 28th

Trimmed most of the trees. It was amazing how fast they are growing.  Now that we have the heat and the summer watering is on the plants are growing like wild.  I used the 24 inch hedge trimmer to get to the top the best I can without getting the big wood ladder. All of the bushes are also trimmed so everything looks great again for a couple of weeks.

At lunch time a neighbor came by and took me to the baseball diamond to watch a game and have lunch there which their special is cheeseburgers. These older guys some well into their 80’s are amazing players. Hit the ball very well and they run the best they can. There is more elastic, stretch wraps, on these guys to help with sore elbows, sore knees etc.

Fun time to watch these games. Came home and finished up the trees.  Funny though when Jackie returned from the Craft Sale to find the tools laying on the deck, still plugged in , one door locked only and no me. She says her first thought was to look around for blood to see if I had cut myself. LOL  She is a funny girl.

Enjoyed the warm day on the deck after working, had a few beer on Bob’s deck, and relaxed. We decided to take our neighbor out for supper as it her last day on Sunday.  Annette has to sell as her husband is now in long term care for Alzheimer’s, Very nice couple and it is unfortunate the circumstances change.  Horst is only 80 years old. Annette is a interesting person to listen to with her life stories. She is a talker and a great story teller. You only have to listen.  She is a pretty independent lady with trying to sell her home, driving around town and getting everything fixed at her place.  Hope is sells for her to make her life a  little easier.

Bob & Pat joined us and we decided to go Hacienda Rosa’s which is a real authentic Mexican

Restaurant.  The atmosphere, the décor, and the lighting is exceptional. Plus the food is amazing. I had the 3 meat Fajitas which was fantastic. The chips and the green salsa are also great. A great meal, in a great location made it a fun night.  Relatively inexpensive as for 5 people with drinks it was only a $100.00.

Got home and had a beer and rum on the deck at Bob’s & Pats place.  Living the Good Life !

Plans for today are relaxing, banking, blog, watch a bit of golf and go golfing at 2:30pm at Veiwpoint. Tune up for men’s league. Being 29 forecast and most likely hitting 30 to 32 we are going to use a power cart today.

Just a beautiful day to golf. Our Tee time was super twilight as it is so much less expensive and we still can finish before it gets dark. The course seemed relatively empty as we went out as a twosome but only after a few holes we starting to wait and wait. It is funny as it seemed we waited on every hole yet we still finished in 4 hours 15 minutes so we moved pretty quickly it was just fuller than expected and a lot of public newbies. Both Jackie and I golfed very well. Jackie AGAIN BROKE 100 which is fantastic. Her chipping and putting have become quite good. Her driving today wasn’t as good as it normally is but second and third shots overall made up for it. She ended up with a 97. I golfed very very well. Not ONE single slice with only one right push and two shorter drives that I recovered from perfectly. I scored a 77 and could have better if I had a few lucky putts of better chips. With good drives I always score well. The shot I need to work on is the 60 to 30 yard in chips. I have tried a half swing A wedge, a 3/4 swing sand wedge and fuller 60 degree swing but I haven’t been able to aim close to the pin like coming in from 100 yards. I am working on that. Drive well and work on this I am looking forward to a par round. The chipping will allow the possibility of a few birdies to make up for any mistakes causing the boogie. Today I had 13 pars and 5 boogies.

We decided since we ate out and ate large yesterday we wold have a light supper and watch the Oscars. Always a fun show to watch. It is like this guys though live in another world with their fashion, money and good looks.  I like the new trend of cleavage. Chris Rock did a good job and was quite funny basing his whole set on the controversy of no black nominees. Look at the movies that were nominated. There really isn’t the chance to have that with the story line of the movies. Just something to stir up emotions again. I was surprized that Spotlight won but the Academy does have a history of picking the controversial movie over what one would say is the best movie. Best song choice was also a mistake. There is no way Lady Gaga should not have won. Steve Carell/Tina Fey and Ryan/Russell presentations were fantastic.

10 o’clock at night and at 24 degrees we went for a long walk around the park. We walked for close to an hour. Very nice walk with it being so quiet and the only thing moving are the small bunnies.

Thought of the Day

Why was the black baby crying ? He had diarrhea and thought he was melting.

February 29th    Leap Year

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 29 degrees  Calgary 4 degrees ( light snow)

Anybody else feel like time was slipping away. Good thing for the leap year day. For all of those single men out there be very careful as you maybe the target of a unwanted marriage proposal today.

We don’t have any set plans today which is odd. We need to figure out what to bring for the next potluck so maybe get the stuff for that. Pay all of the bills to keep the month accurate .  Pool maybe, we will see.

Just a beautiful day. I worked on the budget for most of the morning. February turned out to be quite good. The deck cost a bit but overall the numbers were fine and in fact were below the budget I had established for February.  I am disappointed in the performance of the market though. It has to perform better for us not to run out of money in our early 80’s. We have a plan B we are using until he market does get back to what we consider normal. It was nice to see the numbers come in under budget.

We went to Fat Willy’s for supper tonight and it is amazing as compared to other years how slow they are. We were able to get seated right away and they had a lot of empty tables. I guess besides fewer people here this year some people may have be cutting back on eating out. Having said that where can you find two 1/2 pound burgers, fries, coleslaw and jug of beer for $20.00. (20 x 1.40= $28.00)

Sitting outside on the deck right now at  6:30 in 25 degree weather enjoying the birds coming home to rest.  The water fall is gentle flowing also which is just a relaxing sound.

Bachelor tonight on TV at 7pm is on the agenda.

Thought of the Day

To buy a sports bra to stop the wiggle and jiggle. I think your missing the point having breasts.