August 1st -2nd

Another day and another full day on the Saloon. I first had to go to Home Depot to pick up some joist hangers and a couple of pieces of wood. Got that done. Maybe three or fours left of work to do.

I visited a place today that everyone should see. They have a store in Edmonton and Calgary. It is mash of Canadian Tire, Princess Auto, Liquidation World and Harbour Freight. Lawn decoration, LED lighting, tools, chests, welders, motorized scooters, steel siding, huge tents and many Skid Steer add-ons and accessories. They import a lot of stuff and buy overstocks and clear outs but have some unique and special items at very good pricing. It is more than worth a check out.

I picked up my yard decorations and headed to work. Another full day. Finished off the Saloon deck. Finished off the cowboy “Y” pillars, finished off the unique deck railing system and finished off a new planter box. I can’t do the siding by myself so still need to wait.  The lot is looking awesome and the remarks, comments and thumb ups have amazed. Cleaned up for the party so it isn’t like a construction site. Full day and enjoyable working on these things.

Jackie came after work and helped stain the planter and planted the grasses. Right after supper a big storm hit. Loonie sized hail which I hate. No damage luckily but it is scary with both vehicles in the open and an aluminum roofed gazebo. All good though. Light winds and no hail would be on my wish list.

Looked at my budget numbers but too tired to use my mind for a few hours so I will enter into the excel sheet later.

Thought of the Day 

How to you know how long a project will take ? Simple when it is finished.

There was a tournament today at Turner so my men’s group didn’t have anything organized. When I golfed with Jackie a few days ago it only slightly bled so I thought I would try it out again. I golfed with a friend and member at Turner Valley along with one of guys from my league games. We had our normal full handicapped money game on. Points for winning, second and third and then added up. Larry played very well today even though his score was a little higher than he liked. Rick was very steady today and played well. Another lousy game. Two of the last three have been that way. I took a 9, I took a 8 and two 7 and played every hole quite well. Another mid nineties score sucks. I am going to start amping up my play time so hopefully will get it back together. Biggest weakness now is losing the ball off the tee. I am looking at buying a new driver as I am sure it is the equipment and not me. LOL  Equipment will help but the onus is on me to correct swing path and still keep distance. I am only swinging at 3/4 speed right now on the driver trying to control.

August 3rd 

There is a  birthday today happening. Jackie & I headed to Jackson’s place for his birthday breakfast that we picked up at Humpty’s. Great breakfast.

Jackson is 7 years old today.

Man does time fly. Arriving at their house we see Jackson’s best birthday present ever , best day ever, right in front of us. Tor & Cor surprised Jackson with a new puppy. Jackson is in heaven with his new puppy named Hazel Larry Waldie. Golden Retrievers are a great larger-sized family dog. I can’t wait to see her and Olive play wrestle . Two new puppy additions that will get to play together for the next 10 years anyways.

We got to give Jackson a pinch to grow an inch, a slap to grow fat and few , well 7 plus one bumps. He loved it.

Jackie and Tor where running around here and there getting stuff for his party both the kids and adults. I babysat Jackson and Hazel for them. Jackson and i came with a prank plan to get the girls. A paper towel over the from door to fall and scare them. A slime ball on the bathroom door to scare them and cling wrap on the toilet seat. First prank works perfect.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Dafb24ns7FAAyZch9

The next ones not so much as Jackson in his excitement basically told them what was going to happen. Darn I wanted to see the toilet trick work.

Before babysitting I whipped to Regal to get my door. Ok I said to myself I want to take the high road with my former company as they were a wonderful company to work for ( except lack of integrity in paying out my last bonus and the handling of Larry Geddes retirement) but today didn’t sit well for me.

MY RANT

My door arrived after waiting for two weeks ( for a single easy door ) and it is WRONG. Now I have to go through a HUGE hassle to correct it and involve a wonderful ex customer in the mess. I originally wanted to buy it direct as a 27 year employee. Nope, that can’t happen. You would think they would know about employee retention, employee perks, creating employee loyalty. They have gone from a leader in the millwork distribution arena to just about being extinct. Three  Vice Presidents since I left taking care of Canada and destroying the company. One distribution center for Western Canada now compared to 10 centers when they first bought Henderson’s. Their business philosophy, customer service levels, structure and products carried will only lead to a farther reduction in sales. Funny thing is the window side is awesome. Best product, great pricing and delivered customer service levels. For years we had a sheet made up for a customer to sign off on a outswing door as there are multiple terms used in the handing and some companies doing it different.  There is LH REVERSED, LH OUTSWING, LH HINGED, and LH. In my mind there is only one correct way.  

To be true to our carpentry ancestors , the term handing or hand of a door refers to the hand you use to pull open the door not which side has the hinging. We DON’T call it hinging.

I wanted a left hand outswing as above and received the opposite. I checked the work ticket and it is stated as such.

Thought I would check to see if perhaps I had forgotten my method.

So now I have to attempt to figure out what went wrong. They can’t be the only company using a different term. Or can they ? They may have built it wrong.

Either way I now have to load up a steel door on my roof rack, return it, wait weeks for a new one and inconvenience and bother a friend and customer over policy. Raised my blood pressure today.

A simple sign off for every out swing door is all that was needed to make sure there is no mistake.

BUTS THAT IS JUST ME !

August 4th and 5th 

Today was Jackson’s birthday parties. He had his friends party where an animal handler came with Tarantulas, spiders, poisonous frogs and a Boa Constrictor. You can imagine the fun with that. What a cool idea. Watching a video of them the fear factor sure was there yet they loved it. Fun time.

The adult part of the party was held out at our RV lot. I was skeptical of fitting 30 people at our lot and having enough room for everyone to sit and relax. We did it. We had 30 humans and 5 dogs at our place. Sitting in the gazebo, under the awning and around the firepit. Lots of room. The weather wasn’t the best as it drizzled and was a little too windy but still could have been a way worse. We were lucky enough it didn’t affect us to much.

Next day very little damage. A couple of plants stepped on, scratch on deck where someone just about fell off and the odd food stain that washes out of the cushions.  The whole set up worked out perfect. We now know we can handle a smaller sized gathering quite easily.

Fridge and ice maker are excellent to have outside as everyone could get their own drinks.

Our idea of serving Chili, salad and buns also was a hit and made the supper time a lot less convoluted. Using my recipe and along with Cor’s help to monitor it all night long the pots turned out wonderful. One we added corn ( the traditional way) and the other not as Tor didn’t like corn. I jokingly said it is called Chili Corn Carne for a reason. 30 people just about finished off 7 pounds of meat along with all of the cans of beans and tomatoes etc. Corey added a little extra spice in the middle in the night and we could have even added more. I think next time I may add real chilis to see the bite.

We even had one young lady show up in 6 inch spiked high heels. I thought I would have a punched cedar deck but luckily she changed to a normal shoe. She is the second of Tor’s friends to wear high heels in strange places.

The five dogs all were very well behaved as were the guests.

Jackson again received some wonderful presents. I would love to be a young kid today.

The kids had a playground break but thought it was too cool for a pool swim or beach party at the pond.

Jackie and I cleaned up after everyone left and headed to bed. I sleep extremely well out there.

Beautiful day today.. We had breakfast, went for a walk and relaxed. Hazel, Tor ,and Jackson came out mid afternoon for a visit. Jackson played at the playgrounds and went for a swim.

Busy day at the park. We had a wonderful parade with all of the kids decorating their bikes and having a parade all around the park. They had a blast as did we watching them fly by. Some great decorating ideas.

Then we had a golf cart parade. Two favorites of mine were the Ford Coupe and the Kenworth truck carts. Awesome looking.

Jackie and i had supper and enjoyed the outside playing crib with ME being the winner. LOL

Thought of the Day 

Fun gatherings , good food, the odd drink with family and friends is always fun. A few less makes it a little easier . People not drinks LOL 

August 6th

Up and out of the house earlier this morning. Jackie went for a ride in the Dakota for the first time. Like me she was impressed with the ride, the quietness, and comfort of the little truck.

Jackie and I started right away. First thing was to apply a drip cap over the ledger board. Cut back the Tyvek and install and re-tape. Then install a siding starter strip. The big high wall with the caps was out about a 1/4″ of being exact plumb and square. I had to manipulate the siding a bit to look great and still work. Happy with the turn out but knowing one side requires a little more caulk. I adjusted the trim also a bit to square it all up.  Working high on the ladders we completed the siding on the top part of the facade.

A little later Corey texted and said he was available for a few hours which would be great. He showed up and we cut the top board for the west wall. Then we worked on the east wall which was in the shade. Hitting 30 degrees again today it was very welcomed to be working there. Finished off that wall. I figure maybe three or four more days and i could be done. I have the porch, rafters to cut, porch roof, door install ( when I get it) , siding on south wall, trim boards on top facade, soffit and fascia.

Headed back to town to help Corey build a dog run.

Another adventure in the Dakota. Always an adventure. Driving to Corey’s place a few blocks away the steering goes hard. A bloom of smoke behind me. Hurry to his house and stop. It blew a steering pump hose.  I cut the hose end off and luckily we had a gear clamp in the garage to put on. Luckily it was the low pressure hose ( 200 to 400 psi) so the clamp will work perfect. Oil every where again. Burnt both arms getting on the clamp. Drove to the Coop and filled the reservoir and then off to Burnco. The Dakota is rated for 1275 pounds payload. This is amazing as a full Chevy 1/2 ton is only rated for 1000 pounds. Corey shoveled like mad and when we went  over the scale we were shocked. We loaded 1653 pounds which is 3/4 of a tonne and the Dakota didn’t even show like it was weighed down.

We used the wheel barrow to move the rock beside the deck for a dog run. 16 ft x 4 ft by 6 inch deep. It is a great dog run.

Phoned Jackie and 3 hours later she was still painting the trim on the shed. She did admit to an 1 hour break with the neighbor ladies.

Thought of the Day 

I was just thinking it was a good thing the Rock wasn’t in the movie Titanic. He would have saved everyone.

August 7th

Spent another whole day working on the shed. Today I was able to install the rafters for the porch. These rafters required a double birds mouth cut. A birds mouth to sit on the joist hanger correct and birdsmouth cut to sit plumb to the 4 x 4 cross beam. A bit of trial and error and they worked out perfect. It is only a 4ft projection porch so I decided to go with 2 x 4 rafters. Also helps to keep roofing below the drip cap on the ledger board. I choose to go with a more western authentic look for the roofing. I was going back and forth on what to use from shingles, rolled roofing, corrugated roofing or tin roofing. I chose to go with a board and batten look which was the way they used to do it in the old days. 1 x 6 rough cedar butted and a 2 3/4 batten of rough cedar to cover the seam. I also chose to go with a staggered board end to compliment the look which was another traditional method of roofing years ago. I worked until I ran out of boards and i love the the look. Jackie got all of the trim painted except for the peak which will be harder now with the porch on. Scheduling is important. LOL

MY RANT

Ok I said I planned to take the highroad with my former employer JELD-WEN. Can’t anymore. After today everything has changed. NO ONE would say I was ever a vindictive person but a few would say I am passive aggressive.  That I would agree with. I can forgive but I never forget. Someone “harms” me I make sure that I try hard to make their life a little less comfortable without them really knowing it. Karma has always presented itself which I have seen numerous times over the years. I was proud to wear JW hats and shirts and still wore them until today. Today I have a new section of shirts and hats that are work hats and shirts only. Some will become work rags.Let me be clear this is directed solely at JW Millwork division. The window division has a quality product and is well managed. Neither are true for millwork. For close to 5 years of being retired I have bragged, being proud of, recommended and pushed sales to  JW Millwork  and windows including buying a lot of stuff myself. I was a great ambassador. Never more !  This is all related to the fiasco of getting an exterior door from JW. I received my door including cheap sill,and the incredible mess of dirty hand prints all over the primed jamb after waiting for a door to be built in Winnipeg and shipped all the way to Calgary.  JW refused to sell to me as they stated they had no cash sale accounts. This is for a long-term ex employee !! 

I decided to buy through one of my favorite ex customers. Mistake to involve a company this good and being so closely connected to. JW sent my door with the wrong swing. What I ordered and what my account ordered is NOT what I want or can use. I checked on the internet and Madero, Alliance, Masonite and even Home Depot.com and Jeld-wen USA refer to the door that I need EXACTLY the way I did.

Even JW USA does it right but not JW Canada . Unbelievable !!

JW MILLWORK does it the opposite way which is irrational, incorrect and to a door guy makes no logical sense. No sign off sheet to verify a swing with a customer when they MUST know they are different. Now that I think about the mess they are in they most likely don’t possess the business acumen to know. They refused to remedy the situation. They refused to return the door. They refused to return the door even with a restocking charge. I AM NOT GOING TO INVOLVE my customer in this scenario as it is unbelievable, embarrassing,illogical , wrong and pathetic.

I will tear apart the door and re- hang it myself. A little putty  and a lot of labour.  A $300 piece of crap that requires me to work hours to make it right !

I will not recommend JW Millwork to anyone. I will not promote, suggest or hint at anything being good about JW Millwork.  As I previously stated they are just about extinct in the marketplace due to top management poor decision making  and a low morale apathetic staff.  The passive aggressive side of me only hopes for the best for them until they disappear. 

I have an order on the JW window side over 10K through a dealer/installer that will be happening in the next 3 weeks that I am confident will be done right but after this order I will no longer push JW products even though I love the JW vinyl product. My sister, my brother, 4 close friends, brother in law to name a few all have JW product in their homes as I  loved the product. 

You will never see the name JELDWEN mentioned ever again other than if referred to as place of employment. I feel for the remaining staff as some of them are excellent people working under difficult circumstances. Having said that though they still need to step out of the comfort zone and make sure a customer is looked after. 

BUT THAT IS JUST ME !

Booked a service time for the motorhome for our upcoming BC trip. Oil change, lube and tranny oil change. Pulling over the Coquihalla the transmission temp light came on. These are miles long slow climbs down to 30 kms per hour. Maintenance is important.   I use Fountain Tire which has been fantastic. The Allison Transmission is a special hi tech piece of equipment that requires specialized personnel, unique oil and filter.

I am buying a new driver tomorrow to see if I can reduce my slicing. My 8.5 degree loft I believe doesn’t help my cause.  I still can drive 300 yards but not as often as I am tentative on the tee fearing the slice. Next game will be the test.

Need to stop at Woody’s RV for a few things.

Thought of the Day 

Funny thing- People will notice your change in attitude towards them but won’t notice their behavior that made you change. Companies are the same !

August 8th

Washed the motorhome this morning. Over $24 for the soap, brush and rinse. I will wax it when I take it back to the lot and when it is a little cooler. That may be a while. LOL

Funny as Calgary weather rarely makes 30 above or 30 below. This summer we have had numerous 30 plus days and the upcoming week has everyday over 30 degrees. I love the heat but I do have to admit that working outside in the heat kills me. Plus I think my blood pressure gets too low and makes me weak. Today it was 110/69 which isn’t good. Give me the 120/80 and i know I feel a lot better. The last couple of days I have eaten more also as my weight dipped below the 40 pound loss number I like. Having lost the 40 pounds and maintained that now for close to 5 years I find if a lose a couple more than that number it also weakens me. Life is funny.

I hate the slightest odor of grey or black water in a motor home. My tanks were 3/4 full after the long weekend so I dumped. The bathroom from the air vent in the cabinet still had that faint order. So I am switching from pucks to liquid and bought a grey water deodorizer also.  It is basically like carrying a porta -potty around with you. And in this heat not a good thing for this. LOL

Bought my new driver today. An M1 Taylormade fully adjustable. I tried numerous drivers on the screen and choose this one. It is 10.5 loft verus my current 8.5 which reduces spin and slicing. I set it for full draw and about 11 degrees loft. I lose about 20 yards distance and was hitting the screen around 260 yards but straight and relatively straight. I can live with that and am very happy SO FAR with my choice. My fear is trying to hit it harder to make up the distance and getting out of rhythm. I may lower the loft to the 10.5 if needed. Got a great deal and now hoping it is money well spent.

My hobbies are expensive. I like fishing ( travel, camping, rods, reels, boat and motor) I like golfing ( average $ 60 a 4 hour round) Rving (lot, motorhome, gas, repairs, )  Snowbirding ( house, travel, repair & maintenance, taxes, entertainment) but I can say with all four of them I am enjoying life to the max as I enjoy nothing better.  Add a cold beer on a deck somewhere and I am set. LOL

Fountain Tire as usual was excellent with my motor home service. Oil, lube and Allison tranny filter and change plus they even fixed my missing clearance light I couldn’t find anywhere.Love this shop as they have being first class on every service occasion. Motor home all set for the Columbia Valley trip coming up on the 17th.

Jackie & I headed out to the lot to put away the motorhome. I was able to get it into our spot quite easily which is nice. Levelled and cleaned up. We sat on the deck and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves having a wonderful kabob and salad supper. I love the peace and quiet out there.

Golfing tomorrow so I can’t work on the shed. And I work Sat and Sunday so won’t get much done but after work I will try to get bit and pieces done. The door alone will take I am guessing 2 hours or more to tear apart and re machine with different handing. I will finish the patio roof first though.

Thought of the Day 

I will start worrying about how old I am when I stop looking so dam good.

August 9th

Headed out for my men’s league at Turner Valley all excited to try out my new driver. I was paired up with two great golfers and very nice guys. Phil our organizer today shot a 74. First let me say I like my new driver. I can control it more and only had one slice today that resulted in a lost ball. Overall a thumbs up and I think it is going to help me. I have only golfed once a week now for about 4 weeks with busyness and injury and I can tell. A few things let me down that resulted in another poor score, 3 out of my last 4 games have been in the 90’s. Hate it. I am going to golf lots next week for sure.  I have a game tomorrow at Heatherglen already set than plan on Mon, Tue, and Thursday which should help before setting out to Fairmount.

Temp gauge read 36 degrees which it felt like. I will never complain about it being too hot. Golfing today the shirt leaked but it wasn’t ridiculous and didn’t affect the scoring.

August 10th

WE DID IT !!!   Today was the hottest day EVER in history in Calgary.  My Jeep gauge kept going back and forth between 38 and 39. The official record temperature was taken at the airport of 36.4 degrees. It was much hotter than that.

Not only did we survive the HOTTEST DAY EVER IN HISTORY we golfed in it. Corey, Victoria, Jackson, Jackie and I had a fun time at Heatherglen. I do have to say it was tooooooo hot to be golfing but we had fun. Tor had some wonderful golf shots with everyone else sporadically showing up. The heat plays with your mind and you lose concentration. Having said that I hate how Turner chews up the balls and Heatherglen allows  play from under the trees. HG scores are always low and change the handicap. I think a stroke penalty without distance penalty for TV should be what we play. Resort rules it is called.  Every hole has the potential for a lost ball. At HG i can always punch out if not in the water. After golf we had supper in the lounge. They have very good food at Heatherglen.  The half order of nachos is big enough to feed 5 people. Their only not perfect food item are their hot wings. A different sauce and too much of it. Water for everyone LOL and a cold frosted beer for Corey and I.  It was a fun event.

Plus the heat the smoke is amazing. Burns the eyes and for anyone with breathing issues it sure can’t be fun. The sun turns bright orange.

I worked on the porch roof today from 10 to 3 pm. It was HOT.  You become lethargic, are a little more lenient on tolerances and need to drink tons of water. It wasn’t the most enjoyable day to work. I would have finished the roof today except for three things. Short of 2 x 4’s , made a mistake that took over an hour to correct and it was too hot to get a lot done quickly. Measure, cut, climb up and down the ladder, re-cut, lol more climbing up and down and then nail. I am working Sat and Sunday so will only get limited time this weekend to get a few things done.  I will try to finish the roof and then work on FIXING my stupidity door.

Fire bans happening in a lot of counties including our lots. Best thing I ever bought was a propane fire pit. Works wonderful, large flame and we even have cooked hot dogs on it and legal during all fire bans.

Thought of the Day 

I looked at my bucket list and I have made a mistake. The first item should read. Fill my bucket with ice cold beer !! It is then full and I am done. LOL 

August 11th

What up early on a Saturday! That is the sacrifice you have to make for a job. Had a early start starting a 9 am . The course was quite busy with two tournaments on today. Overall everyone moved at a good pace. One group had a couple of discussions and they did awesome at catching up to the groups in front of them. Nice to experience such cooperative golfers knowing they are holding up the course. A great group of golfers that were fun to tease, laugh and I loved spreading the joy. A 5 hour shift today.

After work Jackie and I headed out to the lot. What a difference a helper makes. I completely finished the porch roof. The up and down the ladder cut by 75% speeds up things and sure helps me be less tired. It was a good day on the Saloon. The porch looks awesome and I like my wood batten style roof.

I then started on THE DOOR. Every tap of the chisel annoyed me. Rather than rip apart the jamb I marked and chiseled the butts in.  Corey has a hinge template for his work but JW uses 5/8 radius hinges which is very uncommon. I can’t check but I would say 95% use the 1/4 radius. This bugged  me even when I was the manager but the cost to change the Norfield’s, our door machines, and the on going cost of bit sharpening was a huge deterrent. 5/8  radius  bits last twice as long as 1/4 radius. But the 5/8 are much harder to chisel out. I got two hinges done and then it started to rain. Tomorrow I will finish it.

My new work shirts are great. Paint already on the first one. Stain tomorrow. Nice to have such a vast quantity of work clothes especially in the heat.

I have to order more nails for my air nailer as I don’t have enough to finish the siding. The screw cost and nail cost has been astronomical. Need a fast shipment.

Thought of the  Day

Build a Saloon and they will come !

August 12th

Another early rise day. I wore pants today as yesterday driving in the cart was cool with shorts. I was very glad as today was cool. Starting out it was 14 degrees and barely made it to 18 degrees. The wind coming out of the north was cutting cold. Very unusual as the tee sheet today wasn’t near capacity. Makes the monitoring a lot easier but I prefer it being full as I have that many more people to have fun with. My water cooler only had about 4 glasses used today.  The course is in fantastic shape and people are loving it. Management has spent more money on aesthetics than ever and you can tell. Landscaping is refreshed and trimmed, new signage and trees trimmed. The ponds are starting to get scummed over but any course that uses the rationale of a natural habitat has this happen. A very underrated facility. Another fun day spreading joy.

Came home and started watching the PGA. Tiger was awesome and it is too bad he didn’t win but Brooks played excellent and was well deserved. Nothing wrong with 2nd place on a come back. One hook shot Tiger made was unbelievable.

It got a little late and then started to rain so will work all day tomorrow on my door and trim. See what I can get done.

Thought of the Day 

Just thinking how some people when they argue raise their voice. You would think they should raise their argument instead.

August 13th -14th

Not much going on except for long hot working days. I with Jackie’s help each afternoon accomplished a lot. First i worked on my STUPIDITY door. Chiseled out each hinge pocket. Being round corner makes it a little more difficult. Plus the Jesso Coat finish breaks easily and doesn’t chisel clean. As i said before every tap upsets me. Installed the door and everything fit perfect. YET the guy that set up the Norfield has it set for each pocket at the 5/8 of an inch instead of 1/2″  One more time a piece of crab door- cheap cost cutting plastic/resin sill, brown weatherstripping on sill with white on jamb, dirty hand prints everywhere on jamb, no door sweep with drip edge which is very important on an outswing, wrong swings and less R value with polystyrene.

Putty up the lock plates and old hinge pockets and installed the door. Looks good after Jackie painted it black. Drilled a new lock hole as I have saloon doors to surface mount. With no lock block a person has to be careful not to squeeze the door together.  I bought a Defiant lock which is identical to Weiser. A lot of time wasted on a door. Installed the trim around the door. Installed the siding on the front facade. Installed the last bit of trim on the top part.

Deja vu. Jackie was going to paint the trim on the top part of the saloon. She climbed the ladder and her knees knocked together. She has bruises on her legs from the knocking. So I painted the trim up top.

I worked close to 12 hours one day and close to 8 hours the next. And it is HOT out.

Getting closer. I figure another two or three days I should be done the exterior. My nails showed up today so I can finish the siding.

Thought of the Day 

I always finish my projec

August 15th

Up and at it this morning. Wow ! is it smoky ? I can’t remember this amount smoke ever. It actually hurts the eyes. I think we should charge BC with a environmental impact fee. They shouldn’t be sending their smoke to Alberta. It is much dirtier than our oil in a pipeline.

Atticus had his first haircut today. Funny how a cut can change the looks so much.

Everyone loves their pets.

First thing was a second coat of stain on the upper trim. Then I worked on the STUPIDITY door . I took the saloon doors into town with me and cut them at Corey’s rather than haul out the tablesaw. Installing them they were cut to the perfect size. I used bolts thru the stile of the door to hold the doors. I then did a test opening. Wham, the trim was too close and thick to allow the door to fully open. I had to remove the trim and put a cutout in the trim to accommodate the thickness of the saloon doors. I have a built in door stop per say. The saloon doors look cool to me anyways. Up on the roof again to start filling in the siding on the facade end. This was Jackie’s idea and an excellent one it was for looks and ease.  I had one area of concern that I worked on and with Tyvek, tape and siding it looks good and should be water proof. I then installed my new lanterns and new solar lights along with our lot sign.

A good day.

Well I said I wasn’t going to mention JELD-WEN anymore. Sorry I have to ONE more time which I will try to make the last time. The millwork division has been destroyed by poor management decision making. It is at a point there is no return. Their sales have been decimated and their customer retention and loyalty almost non-existent.

When they first started cutting staff in reaction to lower sales I said to myself they are on a slippery edge. Sales department should ALWAYS be the last department to cut if you want to grow or even maintain sales. They continued to follow this path. Today I learned again they cut.

Two of my best sales guys were released this week. Murray was a 30 year employee. Arnie was a 20 year employee.  First of all NEVER release experience. There is NO substitution for this. Murray was one of those sales guys that every account loved. He was exceptional at building trust and the accounts believed Murray was looking after their best interests. Customers bought from Murray not JELD-WEN. Huge loss and there is no replacing Murray.

Arnie was one of those guys that you could always count on. Hiring Arnie was a dream for me as he was my right hand man for a lot of years. If I needed Excel spreadsheets, if I needed line drawings, reports, sale numbers or quotes from vendors he was the man.  He was the rep that quietly went about making sure his customers were looked after.

Here were my guys just before I retired with only two missing Melissa and Larry Leitch.

Left to right.

Me ( lousy picture ,LOL)  Arnie ( dismissed) Tim ( disability leave) Paul ( quit ) Ken ( dismissed) Romi ( still active) Michael ( dismissed) Rob ( dismissed) Bob ( still active) Murray ( dismissed) Ryan ( quit) Larry ( forced retirement) Lawrence( dismissed)

So out of all these guys in the picture only 2 still working and the other positions were not replaced. What manager is so asinine to believe that sales will continue or grow going from 13 to 2 people.

Matter of time before JW Millwork does not exist.

Thought of the Day 

Everything happens for a reason.  Sometimes the reason is your stupid and make bad decisions.

 

August 16th

Today was a fun day. Jeff & Wendy and us had a golf day. I was a little worried in the morning as they didn’t feel the air was clear enough to golf in but luckily they decided to come. If we stayed in the house every day it was smoky, or cloudy, or raining or cooler we would never get outside. Yes it was a little smoky. Made your eyes water a bit and you could taste it but it wasn’t that bad. Combined with the smoke it was another hot one hitting 31 degrees. Muggy !  We golfed at Speargrass which was in amazing shape. Lush fairways and impeccable greens. With my seniors discount they have a a fantastic rate. Another poor performance. I just can’t keep the scores down anymore. BUT it was a fun fun day.

Funny story. Some may call this a seniors moment. On hole #12 we were searching for Jeff’s ball in the grasses. The girls came over to help us look for his ball. After a few minutes search I find it and move it to the fairway as it was unplayable in the rock stream. Jeff is checking his yardage with his Bushnell when all of sudden I look and Wendy is flying back up the fairway in OUR cart. I say to Jackie ” Where is Wendy going ? Jeff can’t golf as she has our clubs”  Wendy looked in the cart and saw her Rice Krispy Square was missing and thought it fell out of the cart so headed back to find it. She jumped in the wrong cart. On her return and feeling dejected at not finding her desert we tell her she is in the wrong cart. We all killed ourselves laughing as her square was in HER cart all of the time. Finally Jeff got to hit the ball. LOL

Even though we did not wait for anyone and no one was behind it still took us a longer 4 1/2 hours to finish. Between the heat and smoke it actually was tiring.

After golf we headed to Oasis for supper. We BBQ’d pork chops with potatoes and salad for supper and had a few cold beer . Again as we were sitting in the gazebo we had people stop to comment how much they liked the Saloon. It is nice when a project is liked by so many people. Another two or three days of work on it and it will be done on the exterior.

A very nice day. Golf, warmth, cold beer, good food and friends and relaxation.

Thought of the Day  

Good sportsmanship is not to pick up someone’s golf ball while it is still rolling.

August 17th -24th 

We were invited to Jackson’s graduation from the Police Academy school. He had a blast all week in camp doing cop stuff. The police “museum” interpretive center is amazing. It is a 10 out of 10.  Jackson got to sit in the Hawk copter, police car, see the dogs attack a man, guns, games and solve crimes. Today was his graduation ceremony where he received his certificate.

 

 

I don’t know if the campsite has internet or not. I will post when I get back unless I find Wifi. Hopefully the smoke will be ok in the valley.

Left Calgary around 10 am and decided to go Hwy 3 and up Hwy 95 as the news was saying Hwy 93 between Banff and Radium had long delays due to the fire and passing thru was subjective to the winds and fire. Started down Hwy 2 and thought we would move over to Hwy 22 at the Nanton turnoff. Large  electronic signs  saying expect 45 min delays on Hwy 22 due to construction. Next alternate plan. LOL  The highway for a Saturday was quite busy. Lots of smoke.

Driving west on Hwy 3 and with the motor-home pulling the Jeep I normally travel the speed limit if not a little over. We come to a hill with a passing lane and pull over to the right lane in case any one wants to pass or speed by to get front of me. Nearing the end of the lane I look and see a Safeway semi deciding to pass me and with no more than a few hundred feet of lane left. I attempted to pull over to stop him from passing but he wouldn’t back off and let me in. I had to slam on the brakes as I was running out of lane. Impatient, inconsiderate and a dangerous driver. Things happen but stupidity can kill people.  No more than 3 miles further and following the same truck he had to make a radical illegal lane change to avoid rear ending a stopped left turning vehicle. All due to him speeding and inattention resulting in another dangerous situation. And we all wonder why we have so many accidents.

Stopped at the World’s Largest Truck A & W for lunch.  Just past Sparwood when we turned a corner no more than 100 yards away we saw a helicopter loading his water bucket out of the river to fight fires. We couldn’t see a single mountain.  Neat to see and hear the copter so close.

We carried on and started up Hwy 95. Half way to Invermere we encounter a bike gang traveling in a line. Not a good idea as people were passing them and having to squeeze in between them as oncoming traffic was coming. Created a risky time for everyone. No wonder BC says those crazy Albertan drivers. Having said this I wonder why is it a bike can’t do more than EXACTLY the speed limit.

The smoke was heavier the closer we got to Invermere.  We arrived at Spruce Grove Campsite and started to set up. First time ever I had only one water hose as I left my longer one at our lot. I had to pull up in our site further than I wanted. Shortly after Corey & Victoria arrived and we all set about getting things ready. Had a little  water leak with Corey’s hose. Finally after switching hoses, regulator and washers etc we discover the one hose has a the male threaded end that leaks. Needs a new end.

Jessica and Pen arrive. Being new with the trailer backing up isn’t the easiest.  Jessica did a great job getting it backed in. Each time she will get better and better. Trick I learned a long time ago is to get out and survey where you are backing into paying special attention to the passenger side. Pull past the site and start backing in and you can judge the angle and see the trailer from your mirror and window easily. Hug the drivers side of the site taking into consideration what you saw on the other and all is good.

No campfires allowed allowed with the ban.We all had our suppers and sat around talking. Jess had her disco lights on her trailer going like mad. Funny thing is I went to bed around 10:30 and I didn’t find out until the morning they stayed up until 1 am. I didn’t hear a thing. Nice cool mountain air even though it was smoky. LOL

Two helicopters were pulling water out of the river right beside Riverside golf course this morning. Neat sound. You could hardly see them in the air. A slight  breeze this am so hopefully a slight reprieve.

The days start off quite cool. Nearing fall and in the mountains plus the sun covered in smoke. The kids had a ball today. As the day progressed it got warmer and warmer hitting 24 degrees. The blocked sun did keep the heat down. Jackson and August with their bikes and rider rode around the campsite. They enjoyed the  playground and August even befriended another young kid who had his powered car with him. The two of them rode around and around the playground. It was fun to watch.

When it warmed up a bit we went down to the river. Olive had a blast in the water and running up and down the beach. Jackson and August even had more fun in the mud.

Lots of kayaks and floaters going down the river.

Little Atticus was awesome sitting, playing and having fun.

Jackson had a new flashlight that he had to try. So August, Corey , Jackson and I waited until it was dark to go for a walk. Near the road in the pitch black night we hear the trees rustling and a large bam like a heavy foot print. The kids jumped and ran back. Made them interested enough they wanted to try it again. Again the noise happened scaring the kids. ( I was throwing large rocks into the bush without them knowing it)  It had to be a bear or a cougar for sure they thought. They enjoyed the fear !

Got to bed just before midnight.

The smoke is finally clearing which is nice. Yesterday we couldn’t see anything. This morning after a night rain and wind we discover a mountain. Right across from us. Nice.

With the smoke gone it started to get warm out.  Lots of walks including our night time walk and again we hear strange noises in the trees. LOL   Victoria and Penny went into town and brought back beer and hats.

Jackson wanted to go fishing as we saw a man and his kids giving it a try. So I fixed up a hook with a pickeral rig and bobber and let him give it try. Jackson,Corey, August and i spent the next couple of hours fishing. AND Jackson ended up catching 3 fish and we helped August catch his first.  August says ” it is slimy”  Jackson had a lot of patience and got the hang of setting the hook. The fish would nibble on the bait and if you didn’t set it you would have no bait and no fish. He did awesome and was very excited to catch 3 fish.  We didn’t have our phones with us for the first two fish including August’s first fish as we really didn’t expect great results.

We had a little repair to the Spiderman rod first

I bought 3 big pork tenderloins for supper. I cooked the pork along with potatoes and carrots while  Jackie made a great salad for supper. Everyone eating in the tent was awesome as we didn’t have to worry about the wasps which have been quite bad the whole time we have been here.

Using the propane firepit as we have the fire ban I ran out of propane. The pit goes thru propane very fast.

Nice that the campsite has free WiFi. Makes me wonder why Oasis can’t supply this and or even charge us a small amount for it.

27 degrees and hot today. Slightly smoky but not bad at all. Jessica had to pack up as they had clients booked for Penny tomorrow and Jess had an intake or event at her work she needed to attend to. August had a blast on his camping trip. Mud bath, playing with his cousin, helping bring in his first fish, playing in the sand, sleeping, walks with the guys, scary noises in the bush, camp fires and playing with all of the kids in the playground. Atticus is still a little young yet but is very strong and soon will be walking. It was a fun get together with them.

I went to the store to pick up a few things for my Italian supper tonight. Tor, Cor and Jack headed to the beach for a fun time. Being sunny and hot they better have had sunscreen on or they will be burnt. Hazel was in her kennel in the a/c of the trailer. I left her in there and she was perfect for about 3 hours than took her out to see the sights and fresh air. What a well-behaved little puppy. I bought the Calgary Sun and noticed the Roughriders beat the Stamps. There is a saying ” Even a blind squirrel finds the odd acorn”  Good for them but hopefully the Stamps will bounce back with another straight 7 wins.

Fun watching the newbie campers. First it is hysterical seeing how they back in. Rephrase that.See how they slowly move backwards then forward then backwards again. Get out look and can’t figure out how they can’t back up. The group next door to us as newbie’s on their second day had to semi pack up and dump the sewer. They were the closest camper to the bathhouse/washrooms but never used them at all. I guess they will learn. LOL  RV toilet only for night use ! Normally Jackie and i can go for a week before the black water is full. Grey water I dump at night on the ground and spray with water if needed due to soap.

After supper we had to go fishing again. This time Jackson caught two more trout. He wasn’t as patient today as the first time but still managed to pull in two plus the one being the biggest we caught.

With new propane we sat around the fire and enjoyed another wonderful camping day. The girls relaxed in the unit. Supposed to be 31 degrees tomorrow when we golf tomorrow.

Booked at Tee time for tomorrow for us which will be fun. Twilight golf rates are fairly decent. Jackson will ride/drive the cart for us.

After a couple of clear days the smoke is building back up. Corey made us wonderful English Biscuit ham and cheese breakfast sandwiches. As good as McDonald’s perhaps better.

A very nice relaxing day. A trip to the store to refill the propane bottles as the firepit uses up the gas pretty fast. Jackson had pool time and played in the playground for hours with some new friends. Another turn at fishing but we started too late as the light left and we couldn’t see any fish. So far 7 trout but he wants more. LOL

Took off my bandaid. The finger has healed remarkable well. The skin is still baby pink and very sensitive. I think I may have a numb finger forever by the looks of it. Too much new skin and missing meat under the skin. Bad enough as already on a cold day my fingers get numb in the cold. Jessica says Raynauds and the way the fingers look I tend to agree. It doesn’t take much cold to affect them. Hence Arizona here we come !

Riverside Golf course was impeccable. The smoke only bothered us a bit but it was HOT hitting 31 degrees. Lots of water. The cart girl made her rounds quite often which was good. Loved my new S20 watch which is lighter, easy to read and a replaceable band. It has features like steps taken, score, distance of drives, distance for each club etc that I will never use but for some I guess others may want it. Jackson was awesome in the heat riding the cart the whole way. He hit a few balls , played on his ipad and watched us. I let him steer a few holes.

We had our starter speech at Hole #1.  He covered everything possible. I let Jackson drive as soon as we where out of his sight. LOL  But he caught Tor trying to wear flip flops on the course. He escorted her back to her car to get “proper shoes”. I have golfed with numerous people that push the limits of golf attire. So far only Jackie and Tor have been caught and corrected. It is simple- no flip flops they are for the beach. Wearing flip flops to golf is like a guy showing up to a bike race with a tricycle. No denim. No explanation required. No jeans black or blue or with holes etc. No sweat pants  Shirt is supposed to be tucked in to your shorts or pants. No cargo shorts. Collared shirts for women and men. Lots of rules that I think are a little over kill but it does keep the game class elevated.

Tor and Jackie played very well. Some incredible long drives and Jackie with her 3 wood was awesome on the fairway. Tor needs chips and putt work. Jackie needs putt work and their score will come down fast. Corey played well but ran into a few bad luck holes. I played ok but lost a couple of balls. Having said that I was happy with my 85 as I had 6 birdie putts from 10 ft  or less that I missed. Ending up with 9 pars on the course which some should have been birdies is good. Corey got our only birdie for the day. Last hole waiting for a long time for the group ahead to clear I drove the ball. Depth perception is a funny thing. The ball was going straight at the group in the fairway that were working on their third shot and I didn’t think I would be close so didn’t yell. My ball ran right under their cart right at the 200 yard marker. A 334 yard drive and they STEAL my ball. First they were slow, there was only three of them and my ball should not have gone that long but second they should not have picked up my ball. Hot heads ! My driver is helping them stay straighter. Only one bad slice.

After our round we stopped at Dapper’s for supper as it was late. We played twilight for the pricing. Good food and nice enough place. A few of us had fish & chips which makes Tor nervous as she has a fish allergy after a lip swelling incident. This can be dangerous as each allergic response is different. Usually one has a seafood or a fish allergy but Tor seems to have both. Nice supper with both Tor and Jackie having “drinks” which is rare.

Jackie blew the breaker today with the toaster and fireplace on the same circuit. Took a while to figure out which breaker or which fuse was blown. Impressed with Jackie’s investigative skills as she suggests an idea and sure enough I discover the breaker blew on the pole and not in the motor-home.

Another good day fishing. Jackson so far today has caught 3 more fish. BUT the big event  today is Victoria’s FIRST FISH caught. Third cast out ( she was getting bored already) she gets her first fish. Jackson kept reminding her. ” I am 7 years old and have caught 17 fish and you are 35 years old and you only have ONE fish”  He is proud. Victoria wouldn’t  hold or kiss her fish.  I am sure she thought she would have a reaction to it.Trout are notoriously difficult to catch so it being her first albeit a wee on the smaller side it is a feat.

Nice thing about fishing is your allowed to wear flip flops !!

We did a lot of fishing as kids and young adults and for some reason the girls just never liked fishing and we sort of stopped for years when we first moved to Calgary. So Jessica caught one when she was about 6 years old but Victoria waited until now. Victoria is so shy to celebrate her first fish caught. Looking at this picture i see an error. I think we were trying to be “fair” and have Tor be in the pic with the fish. You can see by the look in her face she isn’t happy and we sort of took away Jessica’s glory by having to share. Oh well they survived and are fairly well adjusted. LOL

We adjusted the tension on Corey’s awning as it wasn’t rolling up very good. Good thing for Utube as it was a easy fix as not having information or instruction we most likely won’t have being able to fix it.

I am impressed with Cor & Tor and their camping skills. They lasted the whole week and didn’t fill up their sewer tank. They have smaller tanks and managed to use them properly. Using the facilities makes a huge difference.

We headed off to Radium Hot Springs tonight.

The pool was quite busy. Lots of tourists visiting and locals. The pool was wonderfully warm. We had one pool at 103 degrees, one at 85 degrees and one at 69 degrees. Jackson had a blast going down the slides and attempting a iron man contest by staying in the cold pool the longest.

Radium is a perfect example of a good government program with a better pool and at half the price of Fairmount. Radium is $8 and Fairmount is $18. It is just wrong that a family of four would be paying $72 to swim in a pool. Cor, Tor and Jackson all got into Radium for the price of one at Fairmount and a way nicer pool too.

In order of my liking, here are my favorite hot springs:

1. Ainsworth Hot Springs
2. Radium Hot Springs
3. Canyon Hot Springs
4. Banff Hot Springs
5. Halcyon Hot Springs
6. Lussier Hot Springs
7. Miette Hot Springs
8. Harrison Hot Springs
9. Manitou Hot Springs
10. Fairmount Hot Springs

Arriving home we played a game called Farkus which was identical to Fred & Terry’s Dice game. I won the first game and Tor beat us at the second game. Jackson had fun. We most likely didn’t  get to bed until around 11 pm playing the game.

The weather guys are pretty good. I decided to put most things away as rain was supposed to happen in the am. 8am the rain came. The rain came down hard. Trying to clean up and organize to leave while it is raining isn’t fun. I hate getting wet. LOL

We left the campground around 11 am and arrived at Oasis around 6 pm. A couple of stops didn’t help and taken the route Hwy 3 does add about an hour. Good drive.

Half way home my monitor for my camera’s went black. I tried everything to get it to work. I am hoping it can be fixed as it is very difficult to back up with out one. Plus seeing the tow vehicle.

Tired, enjoyed the trip, enjoyed the company, enjoyed the setting so a great week !!

Picked up the Buick this morning. A $3000 bill. They had to remove the dash, the centre console, both front seats to get at the evaporator. Finally they found a leak in it.  Sad the engineers make getting a $200 part out so difficult. They gave me 1 year warranty. Time will tell.

Stopped by Alan’s place in Acadia where Simply Yours was installing the windows. They did a wonderful job installing them. Cutting out stucco is never easy. Only one small factory issue Simply Yours will get corrected. John the son of Peter the owner was doing the work himself. I had a great  talk with him.  They still have the JW logo’s all over their van and truck which was a short lived program from Smart Funds which I approved for Peter. Wouldn’t happen today the way the company is going.My last order EVER of JELD-WEN product is sad but has to be.

Went out to the RV to clean up and fix a few things. I reset the self leveling system/ I re-installed the antenna crank, installed the sunshade window screens, moved hoses and cords etc to the correct baggage compartment and pulled out the slides.

I have sent a message to the manufacturer of my back up monitor to see if they have any ideas. This is a MUST FIX thing. I tried everything but the screen remains black. Hopefully some good news or I will be checking Amazon for a new one.

Cleaned up the yard and I stretched a red line on my property line in the hopes our back neighbor catches on they need to move their trailer forward at least 4 ft.

I am still waiting for a response on a Saloon sign we want which will finish off our looks. I have come up with a great idea to build my own chandelier which I am looking forward to. I just need to finish of the exterior of the Saloon and then I can start the copious amount of other projects I have planned. Some may say what projects. I have the entire interior of the Saloon which is like finishing a house. I have to finish the landscaping in the front, rear and south side of the motor home.I have to build my hitching post and fence. I have to build my outdoor kitchen. I have to build my other garden shed. I have to build my chandelier. I have to install my sprinkler system. I need to wax the entire exterior of the motor home. I need to spend at least 4 hours detailing the Jeep. I have to shampoo the couch and carpet in the motor home. I have to find someone to spray our ceilings in the condo. I have to build a privacy divider between the back RV lot and ourselves. I have to build two trellis planter boxes with a western theme.  I have to get my backup camera system working again. I have to build a boat stand. I just need some free time ! It amazes me it is Sept almost already. This summer has gone by the fastest of any yet and we have traveled less, fished less, camped less, golfed less than any other year.  Being busy is good but I have found this year a way way way too busy.

Weather guy said SNOW in higher elevations tonight on the news. I hate that S word. Although the C word ( cold) is worse.

Thought of the Day 

I used to think 2 days wasn’t enough for a weekend. Now I think 4 weeks isn’t enough for a month.

August 26th- 29th

Got home tonight Friday around 7 pm.

Whipped up to Wabamun for a couple of days. A fun couple of days. Monday night we went to the 9 Iron Grill with Fred & Terry for their anniversary. I can’t remember what year they are celebrating but it must be close to 50 years.

As usual the meal was spectacular. This place always has great food. My ribs were awesome as was everyone’s meal. We had a great time except for when the cheque arrived they paid for it. Their celebration they shouldn’t be buying us anything.

Back at the 5 th wheel we started to have a few drinks and a few games. I remember the crib games as I lost AGAIN. The girls beat us by two games which just isn’t right. I know we had a few dice games also but i don’t recall losing them so if I lost it didn’t hurt like the crib. I tease Fred & Terry their place is like Belaire. Paved streets, fancy club house, first class amenities.

The weather was funny with it being hot one moment and  cold the next.

We went golfing and had a fun time. As usual lately not my A game but fun. Pineridge is a nice course but it still has those ” country” type bowl greens which play difficult. Getting used to my new driver and liking it a bit more. One bad slice.

A wonderful roast supper by Fred & Terry which was awesome. Sitting outside it started to rain. We were struggling to stay dry and warm so headed inside.

They have a wonderful looking place.

We were up earlier and had planned to go fishing but the weather didn’t cooperate. It was raining in the morning and cast said winds were to start. We were extremely lucky to sleep in Ralph & Tracy’s unit. Makes it nice.

So we headed back as we had a lot to do as we just got back from BC.

It rained the bulk of the way home until Calgary.

We started to clean up. We organized and cleaned up everything. Vacuumed the motor-home. Picked up the groceries for the week. I shampooed the carpet and sofa which turned out great. I vacuumed the outside rugs and gazebo curtains. Started the ice maker, filled the fridge, put out the cushions and vacuumed them. Everything looked good.

Jackie did a wonderful job with decorating the motor-home with new cushions, bedding and pictures. Makes a huge difference.

Fred and I worked on the shed until supper time. I was glad to have Fred’s help as I have never worked on cable end roofs doing the soffit before and not using a soffit box. We got it all done except for the trough as we needed to send the girls into town for a missing piece.

We had another fun gathering with Fred & Terry. I used my workplace light in the gazebo which worked perfect. The gazebo is large and protects us from the wind, rain and bugs. Great meal and the best wine I have had in along time.

Funny thing. You can tell I am the great white hunter. I hung a set of moose antlers on my tree and had them upside down until Fred laughed. I didn’t realize it. LOL

We finished off the down pipe in the morning and they packed up and headed home as they had company coming and wanted to pick up a cake etc. Very appreciative of the help !

September Long Weekend is here. This is the first Sept long weekend in a lot of years we haven’t gone camping. We missed one for a cruise but other that maybe at least 10 years in a row we have. We decided as we have been soooo busy this year and we have such a great event happening at our park we wouldn’t go. We haven’t had a chance to camp with Kieth & Jenny also as Keith is so busy working in Ft Mac. Work gets in the way of fun all of the time. I also have to work all day Sat and Sun at the golf course.

At our park we have a Halloween night and a Carnival Festival. We got lucky that Jackson is staying with us for the fun time. Candy Floss machine, face painting, candy apple machine, giant water slide, bouncy castle, and tons of games. We should have a fun time. I will join them each day after work. Looking forward to it but will miss our annual Pembina trip.

Thought of the Day 

Stress is caused by not camping enough !