Sept 1st-3rd

I will have lots to post but no wifi at the park makes it difficult so I will sporadically do it as i can for a few days.

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this Sept long weekend. Like I said this a rarity for us not to go the Pembina Prov Park. I have a lot of fun at Pembina especially golfing with Keith & Jenny but don’t miss the 5 hour drive each way. The golf course is a fun course but is a typical country 9 holer that we play.

We were lucky that Jackson wanted to stay with us which made it even more fun. I also had no alcohol this weekend which was fine.

Friday night we had fun playing at the park, sitting around talking, and watching a movie. I had to get up early to go to work. It was COLD outside.  Amazing to be only plus 3 in early Sept. I had two jackets on and still the wind  cut threw it. The course wasn’t the busiest but still kept me busy. I enjoy teasing and fun with the groups. Spreading the joy !  Luckily in the afternoon  it warmed up a bit. The poor cart girl had numerous jackets on and even a blanket. A good day at work.

Arrived back at the lot.

Jackson and I spent a lot of time at the playground.

He met a lot of friends and different ones each time we went. As part of the long weekend celebration’s tonight was Halloween night. The decorations on the lots were amazing. The amount of decorations and lots participating was unbelievable. Smoke machines, witches talking, Freddie chainsaw man, and numerous motion detector things. You had to see it to really appreciate it. Jackson loved the distance between the units. The amount of candy he got was unbelievable. We used one of those Safeway hard bottom grocery bags and had to empty it out in the motor-home in order for him to finish. I walked with him for half the park and Jackie did the rest. I had to quit as at a lot of the units had adult treats which I liked too much. Rum and Vodka shooters and my favorite one, Moonshine Maraschino Cherries.Fun handing out the candy to at least 150 kids. A lot of the units were clever handing out bags of potato chips. It was amazing the amount of kids walking up down the rows especially as the event has a two-hour time limit which is good. What a brilliant idea as most residents wont be here in Oct and it is cold outside. Kids could actually wear their costume.

 

After the kids Halloween event 6 to 8 pm they had a full DJ with lights etc dance for kids and adults in the gathering center. The DJ was wonderful playing songs that kids, teenagers and adults liked. Jackson was embarrassed of his grand parents but inside I am sure he loved the dancing with us. Everyone was having a blast.

Next morning up and out to work again.  Not as cold but still cool. Another good group of golfers. On weekends like this you get a lot of newbies and younger kids out. After a great fun day just before quitting time working my way back to the clubhouse two groups complained about the pace of play. A young couple with their younger kid were the issue. I watched them on one hole and can see the no urgency, wasted time with Dad teaching the kid how to play and the Mom not being a good player.When I approached them and kindly suggested if possible as there were two open holes in front of them and waiting groups behind them  if they could speed it up a bit the quick response from the lady was ” We are trying our best” in a condescending voice. Rather than say anything I left hoping they would attempt to speed up. I would have approached them again in about two holes if they hadn’t sped up if my shift wasn’t ending. I went back to the other group and suggested we could get them off at the other 9 hole start  to pass them which they were very appreciative of. This was the ninth hole which made it an easy fix.  I packed up and just as i was leaving I saw the gentleman heading into the pro shop which is usual at the end of a round. Not sure but he may have gone into to complain as golfing nine holes isn’t that common during midday. That is my only pet peeve as it doesn’t matter how many clubs you find for people, cups of cold water, fun conversations or help you give, one hot-headed couple can spoil your day. Even the 4 or 5 groups behind  that now aren’t slowed down really don’t see or appreciate your work.  Oh well. If one remains respectful, professional,compassionate ,understanding yet accomplish your objective you can feel good about that. I think as a society we have become quicker to anger, less patient and less respectful.

On return to the lot today it was Carnival  Day. They had a huge bouncy castle, huge slide and a Army tactical training blow ups, face painting, tattoo’s, food trucks, cotton candy machine, popcorn machine and ice cream for everyone to enjoy FREE. Another DJ playing music while the event was going on. The kids had an unbelievable time. I had a very good time.

Movie night outside can be loads of fun for the kids !

Jackson and us sat outside roasting marsh-mellows and talking until late in the evening.  He is a great marsh-mellow cook.

The marketing group is taking a picture of our lot for their web page to promote Oasis due to the Saloon. The comments from people have been incredible. I have done a few nice projects but none have garnered the comments and interest like the Saloon.

Mayfield-

I re-roofed, new windows and doors, painted exterior, new alum fascia & soffit and trough, refinished hardwood flooring,new counter tops, painted cupboards, new tiles in bathroom, new vanity, carpet , and baseboards. Incredible transformation but not near the interest.

Pineview-

I installed a round top stained fence, two huge PT decks and flower pots, landscaped, sunshine ceiling, change to oak and white jambs, doors, spindles, knocked down a wall and did a complete Irish Pub basement with a shuffle board, dart board ,card table, full working bar with neon lights, hardwood planked flooring , moved the telepost, and added a bedroom. Amazing transformation but not near the interest.

Shawnessy-

I had all new fascia, soffit and trim exchanged for forest green, new shake roofing, huge angled deck, hot tub installed, river and pond landscaping, paving stone side walks, tiled flooring, new counter tops, back splash, tiled shower, hardwood flooring and solid oak doors. Wonderful transformation but not near the interest.

Cranston-

Added custom library panel in living room and bedroom, adding dining table ceiling fixture point of interest, added large crown molding in complete unit and changed out sliding mirror to double doors. Great transformation but near the interest

Other projects-

An incredible $3000 pergola at Jessica’s that did garner a lot of attention. A basement development at  Victoria’s that looked wonderful, a basement development at Jessica’s that turned out great ( Dusty Lumber added his touch to turn it into amazing) plus lots of other projects ,multiple garages,landscaping, multiple sheds, privacy fences, numerous decks, arbor’s etc all looking great but just didn’t garner the interest.

Up this morning and cold again but add light showers to that. We sat around,had breakfast, watched a movie then headed into Strathmore for some cash as Jackie in the silent auction “won” a rustic horseshoe boot holder.

Jackie showed me a video of our Saloon sign being made by Dusty. There is no word to describe his talent. We are so lucky that Jess & Pen knew him. Just waiting for the cost and pick up date now. LOL

https://www.facebook.com/dustylumberco/videos/270543717118755/

Got Jackson in plenty of time for his parents to get him ready for school.

Wonderful, fun, entertaining and a different September weekend. !!

Thought of the Day 

Have you ever looked directly in someone’s eyes, maybe even thrown in a “Yeah”, gave them a nod, yet still never heard a word they said?

Sept 4th- 5th -6th

Saw Jackson off to school today which was neat. He is getting so big. It is too bad August & Atticus are so far away as going to these special events is something we enjoy.

Paid a bunch of bills. They always seem to get thru the system. And they never smaller.

Found a good deal from Westjet from Phoenix to Calgary.  Plan is to return home late November and then head back after New Years. The 30 day rule is a pain. LOL  All booked so that we return in time for Atticus’s birthday, stay for Christmas and head back early January. Not as cheap as previous years but ok. It is odd that Zoom  ( Westjet’s discount line)  flies out of Edmonton but not Calgary. It is using the gateway airport which for us is preferred.

Checked the weather and decided with a high of 12 to 14 I would wait for tomorrow to finish off the Saloon. I did order the caulking today for it from Regal due to ease and they are just easy and great to deal with.

I found a RV repair shop near Springback I will take my bus to for hopefully a successful fix it trip. Wonderful reviews and family owned small shop. My kind of company.

Golfed today and it hit 24 degrees, sunny and no wind. Turner Valley Golf course is in impeccable shape, most likely the best I have seen in ten years. I had three great golfing partners again today. How did the golf game go?  Another story ! Get the Saloon done and I am going to golf at least three days a week to see if I can get out of my funk. I was relatively happy overall except for the score. Remove the first hole ( hate starting bad as it gets to you mentally) where i scored a 9 ( two shanks into water) the other holes were fine  with only a couple of doubles. On Turner Valley I expect a score of around 82-84 to be happy. I had a fun day which is all that matters.

I forgot my wallet today which is a rarity for me. Luckily my partner paid for me and I e-transferred it back to him. I also was able to use my account on file for the clubhouse which is really convenient.

Thought of the Day 

(blank)

September 7th-Sept 9th

I think Jackie is trying to kill me. If something happens make sure to mention this to the investigators.

I worked from 9 am to 8 pm on the Saloon. She just keeps pushing me. Even when I am dead tired and want to go to bed after a exhausting day there is hesitancy.

I caulked the entire shed using up a full 4 tubes of caulking, Canexel doesn’t sell their own brand anymore they sell Lepages Quad Max which is a color match to factory colors. 6 tubes and a can of touch up were over $100.Wonderful caulking to work with as in a lot of cases it is smooth enough not to finger it. I still like to spread for adhesion and coverage purposes though. That is a lot of caulking including the top portion. I also completed the ledger boards, flashing and fixed up my design error corner. My new idea looks good plus I believe i have stopped any chance of water damage. I also added a cover board for the top part of the shed roof. I completed one farm style window mullion bar section and then packed up

Up at 7 am to marshall. A little on the cool side but turned out rather nice. Wow was the course busy. We had 5 group tournaments. A car dealership, a engineering company, a stagette party, a stag party and cart dress up competition group. We had to use every single cart we had. With 27 holes and lots of tournaments Heatherglen has more carts than most courses. Some wonderful fun people on the course and as usual the odd grump and rowdy group. The construction crew on site phoned the office to say a group were fist fighting and tipped their cart. When I arrived everything was fine. The GM and pro shop supervisor also rushed to the site but it had calmed down, no damage and no evidence of them misbehaving. Beautiful looking stagette ladies out for fun then off to Ranchman’s Bar. The stag party were heavy heavy drinkers , involved in the rowdiness, had to be watched but everyone including the equipment, course and golfers survived quite well.

Odd how drunkenness and golfing go together for company tournaments. It is prevalent but a shame as golf is meant as a fun game not a chance to act like a idiot, and drive while drunk. Oh well to each his own.

Up at 7 am again to go out to Heatherglen to Marshall again. Today again we had another 5 tournaments including a church group. Nice group of people. Companies are getting lucky with the weather.

I had a lot of fun today teasing, joking and helping spread the joy. Other than cold it was fun.

Whipped out to our lot to pick up the motor home. Dumped both tanks, pulled the slides in and took into town as my appointment is tomorrow for a look my back up monitor system.

I just looked at the date and was shocked. Sept 9th already and talk of snow for Thursday.  I have so many things more I want to get done. Need warmth LOL.

Thought of the Day 

Here is my poem about winter coming.

Darn it is cold.

The end.

Sept 10th

Jackie was heading to Lethbridge today to help with the kids and left the house quite early. I got up early and started to get ready to take in the motor home. I had quite a time today. I couldn’t  get the tow bar to lock. Funny thing again as one of the legs of the bar was filled with seeds, again. I tried numerous times and the one side wouldn’t lock. Without the camera working I couldn’t watch what was happening. Finally I figured out I could manually lock it but getting it hooked up then is extremely difficult. I headed to the Flying J to dump . This Flying J is a mess. No water at the dump station. Gas pump at the station broken. I moved around into  centre  pumps and another pump not working. I drove off as I had 200 kms left until empty. Having said that at 100 kms the idiot light come on which on arrival at the repair place it did. I didn’t make it to the shop until 11:30 . I get a good feeling about this place. I like smaller family owned caring businesses and upon check in was impressed.

It started to rain a bit but not a huge amount. I decided to pick up some up wood and start again out at the lot. Arriving at the store I remembered the key for the shed is on the motor home chain. No tools available. lol   Dumb mistake and Jackie with the other key is out of town. With the rain it is ok though. I did a few things on the computer and watched the final round of the BMW Golf game. Keegan for some reason was never my favorite but after listening to a few interviews with him I am starting to like him. Good for him.  Tiger also did very well.

I went to Mackenzie Meadows to the driving range as Jeff was busy tonight. Good thing range only as it started to rain fairly heavy for a bit. My new driver and me are starting to work together. The few yards I give up on distance are worth it to hit the ball relatively straight.

With Jackie out of town I spoiled myself and picked up  Swiss Chalet. Ok good chicken but I can get a great steak at a nice restaurant for the same price. Come on chicken is supposed to be cheap.

The motor home is in all week so i will need to get a key from Jackie to do a few things at the lot.

So overall a relaxing day, no heavy work load and pressure to get anything done. I like these kind of days but a lot better when it is warm out.

Thought of the Day 

The awkward moment when you know you are forgetting something ,but what ?

September 11th

Today was Peter’s birthday and he hated the fact it was the same date as the World Trade Towers anniversary.

My new RV repair place which I will use from now on phoned to let me know I was all fixed. These guys are wonderful. Wild Mountain RV Repair near Calaway Park provide incredible customer service, honest and precise workmanship. This is hard to find as the “big ” RV dealership fall into the dishonest rip off your customer category. Shauna on the front desk was exceptional and the work completed FAST and honest. I was prepared to have to spend $700 buck for a new system installed but they fixed my system and only charged me 1 hour labor. My tow bar though I need to send back to Demco. This bars are around $1500 but as I have a Demco with a life time warranty I have to only pay the freight for shipping and they will repair it.

Anyone that has a RV needs to try these guys out as they are awesome. A welcomed find and a loyal customer I will become.

I picked up the motor home and what a treat to drive with the rear and side camera’s working again.

Filled up the propane and gassed it up at the Flying J. I hate going there but close location, RV dump, and propane make it convenient. But again today the pump handle all covered in grease, no water for dump, no paper towel in the dispenser, broken pumps, long wait for propane attendee and the list could go on. They really need to fix this place up.

Turned out nicer than expected but we did get a down pour of rain.

We had a bank meeting where we accomplished a lot of good things. We met with a bank employee who was exceptionally helpful and knowledgeable. I will cancel one credit card with an annual fee ( saves us $145) cancelled our Scene cards and went with a debit/visa point card, asked for and received a special interest rate on the credit line , switched a savings account to an account that paid almost nothing to 1.8%. All things good today.

Going out to watch Jackson play hockey tonight.

It is amazing how a kid learns a new skill so fast. From last year to this is night and day. Jackson had his evaluations tonight. He did very well. Not the best skater on the team as of now but holds his own and is equal to the bulk of the kids. Practice will make a big difference as some of the kids had three weeks of hockey camp this summer. What he excels at his his shot. Hard, accurate and a quick load. This will really help him. It was fun watching him.

September 12-13th

Ridiculously cold.  I took my tow bar to The Hitch Shop in Cochrane  as it was recommended to me. I see why. Love the place. A smaller family owned shop with the neatest atmosphere. The mechanic was an older gentleman that looked like he was from Duck Dynasty and knew his stuff. Full busy shop with great service.

I received a call from them next day with the news. They are able to fix my bar ( new one is $1500) for about $200 . To find someone that knows their stuff and is willing to fix rather than replace is unusual and very welcomed.

I will give them my final review when the job is complete as it takes a couple of weeks to get the parts from the USA but am very pleased with the initial meeting and responses.

Went to Tor’s place to help babysit August, Atticus and Jackson. All wonderful kids but last night was a little hectic with each of them taking a turn at acting up. Makes you wonder how you managed your own kids when you were younger. Oh that is it. Younger !

Like taking a car in for repair going to the doctor is always filled with the”what is wrong” . Is there anyone that go to a doctor or mechanic and come out without them saying something is wrong LOL. Oh well do my duty and go thru the testing again. Here is my take. Take anyone 60 years old plus and have them come out of the doctors office without ” your blood pressure is too high, your cholesterol is too high, your border line diabetic, your kidney function is reduced, etc etc. It doesn’t happen.

Drove the motor-home back to the lot. So easy to park into the lot with the camera’s. Love it.

I had my final game of my men’s league but due to the weather we didn’t have it. Great guys and a fun group. I think this is the first time in my life where i finished last. Yes out of 30 guys I won the least amount of money. Not happy with that and I will do better next year. I want a real handicap not a sand bagger cap and I want to golf better but this year due to very few games I just didn’t excel.  Fun group though.

Now we had cold weather but Edmonton is another story. This will be the test for Fred and his new home. I bet he spent the whole day in his man shed organizing with the heater on.

Tried Home Depot, Lowes, Cdn Tire and Walmart and no one has tree rings left so I will need to order on Amazon. And brick & mortar stores wonder why they are losing business.

Any one else have issues with UPS delivery. Their web page sucks, their tracking is useless as you can’t do much to help the delivery. Finally after them attempting to deliver ( 50 kms each time) i got a hold of customer service to hold the package at their warehouse for pickup. Such a large company and so much more difficult to deal with than compared to Canada Post. Strike notice is sending business elsewhere though.

Thought of the Day 

I wasn’t made for winter. I want my flip flops, thongs or sandals !!

September 14th

Baby it’s cold outside. This is nothing like September normally is. But it is what it is and we have to deal with it.

First thing this morning I headed to UPS to pickup my snow pole for the gazebo. The idea is this is a brace for any heavy snow load. Hopefully it won’t be required.

Stopped at Canadian Tire to pick up tree rings and the garden center is gone. Christmas stuff is being put out. This is September !  I got lucky and the next Cdn Tire store hadn’t got to that row so I picked up a couple of them.

Off to Tor’s place to pick up my table saw slide guide and then to the Depot for my window trim.

It is cold outside but I managed to finish off including oiling my old fashioned window mullions. They really do look good. I can say the Saloon is 99% done with only the sign to hang and a few minutes of oil on the veranda. Love it !

I worked away at the tree shooters cutting them back and deep. I will need to shovel and then install my tree rings next time. Fingers went numb !

“Memories”

I sent an email to a old friend that just turned 65 that I used to work with and he brought back a lot of wonderful fun memories.

Henderson Wholesale Building Materials was a wonderful company to work for. A family owned company by the Henderson family. I started with them in 1987 as Marshall Wells a 100 year old company had just gone bankrupt. I was lucky enough that the Weiser rep recommended me to the new manager at Henderson’s and I was hired as an outside sale rep. That group of people over the next few years were my favorite group to work with. Lorne  Schreiner was an excellent manager, Murray Burdett , Gary Cunningham, Rollie Wanagas , Al McKenzie, Ron Best all were wonderful to work with. Here are just a few of my fondest memories at Henderson’s.

• Rollie had just started with us a new rep. He was a little nervous and didn’t have full confidence in himself as of yet. The perfect guy to “pick” on.  We were given company cars at the time and as I was driving home I lost a hubcap on the back roads. At work next morning I pulled one off  Rollie’s car and put it on mine. I then talked to Lorne and suggested I was surprised that the new guy was being so callous toward his car losing his hubcap. Lorne calls him in and has a “talk”. Rollie spend all day re tracing his route trying desperately to find his cap. Next morning I put his cap back on. He lost 20 pounds in sweat in one day and night and i couldn’t torture him anymore.
• Murray, Rollie and I were in the sales room when Rollie needs to price out some plywood for a customer. As a commodity plywood pricing can change hourly. Lorne was out and hadn’t left any guidelines on plywood for that day. I told Rollie a price that I picked put of the air and lo and behold he gets the sale. Next morning when Lorne is going thru the invoices he yells at Rollie to get in office. “Where did you get that pricing ?” Rollie being chastised causes huge stress for him. I hear this and am smiling in the sales room. Then Lorne yells ” Larry get in here !” Rollie calved. It was a short conversation when I asked ” Did we make any money on the sale ? ”    Lorne laughed and all was good.
• Fixing each others phone so when you go to answer the cord has a elastic band and you can’t lift the receiver.  We kill ourselves laughing at the end user.Hiding the pens.
• For our company Christmas party my house was offered up. I was in the middle of a basement reno turning the basement into a Irish Pub. I said no problem if I can help putting up the drywall. I had a group of Henderson guys help me. The taper/mudder laughed and charged me extra with the huge amount of screws we used.
• The 5 days before and including New Years Eve freezing our butts off counting inventory. 5 DAYS. Thru all of that we still had fun.
• We had to drive to Saskatoon to pick up our company cars. One trip Murray and I head out each from our own home. Something inside me wants to win. I am bombing along the highway to beat Murray. I take a wrong road and get stuck in the snow when turning around. I managed to get out but had to break all speed records to get to Saskatoon. I can’t remember who got there first.
• Hitting a milestone sale month Lorne takes us all to the Keg for a outing. One of the rare times I had to much to drink and had to hide out in the washroom to stop the spinning. Someone comes in after a bit to check on me and my only answer which I was bugged about for years was ” I am fine !” I am just fine “
• At a trade show after Larry Geddes and I both had great sales years at our respective branches we went out for supper with Mark Henderson and the guys to Hy’s mansion in Van BC, I had to throw $100 a ounce cognac under the table into the carpet to keep from getting a way too drunk. Larry must have drank all of his as I had to just about carry him and throw him onto his bed. Next morning for the trade show there is Larry with his slippers on. He couldn’t find his shoes. He thought I had something to do with it. Turns out when I threw him on his bed his shoes flew under the bed. Funny funny.
• Many many more – manager meetings at Al M’s place, driving with Gary Leedahl , group hugs, tie in shredder, 5 ton stuck in middle of the road, lunches at Swiss Chalet and on and on

My time at Henderson’s from my start in 1987 until JELD-WEN took over was the absolute best place to work. Fun work place created a company that dominated in the market. Murray turning 65 today just seems wrong as we worked together when we were so young !! Time does fly.

I personally believe the work atmosphere can really make a company. Having fun at work can and does create greater sale growth and customer service levels.

Thought of the Day

You know childhood is like being drunk. Everyone remembers except you.

September 15th

Up at 7 am to get ready for work. Luckily I get a call from my manager and they cancelled the tournament and moved it to another day so I didn’t need to go in. Temperature at 7 am was 3 degrees with our high today hitting 7 degrees. Remember this is September. This global WARMING is really out of hand. LOL

Turns out our condo boiler last night decided to calf. No hot water and then an hour later NO water as I assume they are repairing it.

Today in the cold we have Peter’s Memorial tree forest event. It is going to be cold outside with a long walk to get to the place. The bulk of the family are attending which is good and we get to go out to also celebrate Jackie’s birthday as a group.

The Memorial Forest Ceremony was excellent. McIniss Holloway was extremely organized with signage, CTS buses to transport us to the forest, golf carts to ride to the forest, presentations and information sessions plus a huge amount of volunteers. The event was very well attended. The forest is large and a new forest is planted each year which is nice. They plant a tree for each person that died but don’t allow a tree to be designated as that tree for each individual.

They have a wonderful commemorative wall where each person’s name is engraved into granite. This is the only mistake I think they make but I also understand to wait until after Dec 31st to have everyone’s name would make it hard for them to hold such an event. Just about everyone showed up. Dave, Sheldon, Kristen, Victoria, Jessica, August, Atticus,Danielle, Kennedy, Alan, and MaryAnn along with ourselves.

After the event we all met at Ricky’s and were joined by Audrey & Micheal for a meal. The cook today took a way too long to get us our food. Good food, not excellent, but the wait time spoiled the occasion a little. Nice to see everyone. Very very odd the birthday part didn’t happen. I guess everyone’s own agenda’s take priority. Nice that the weather cooperated and offered us a reasonably good temperature to be outside for tree memorial though.

Jessica brought up our Saloon sign and we LOVE it. I plan to install it tomorrow weather permitting. Then DONE!

This picture just makes me laugh.

Thought of the Day 

Interesting how everyone nowadays is so interested in their family tree. When I shook mine a bunch of nuts fell out.

September 16th

Baby it’s cold outside. Baby it’s cold outside. Plus 4 degrees today for our high. Pretty sick for mid September and the whole week stays single digit until Sunday. I have to Marshall next weekend so hopefully not too cool. Not good.

Relaxed this morning. Did a few updates on the computer. Watched TV a bit then decided to install my new sign. Our Saloon project is DONE. Next, more landscaping then the outside kitchen for this year weather depending. Jackie ACTUALLY got on the roof this afternoon to help me hold the sign. She had to be at least 12 ft off the ground. LOL. Good for her. I had to watch very closely my eaves-trough didn’t get ripped off on her way down off the roof. Got the sign installed and LOVE it.

DONE !

This was a fun fun project. I love my design pulled out of the air and managed on the fly with changes. I believe it turned out awesome. It is designed as a bunkie for a few people to sleep in with the interior concept designed like Chip and Joanna from HGTV with shiplap, barn wood, rustic beams and white bead board ceiling and bathroom. I have to do some thinking to have it work as sleeping quarters yet be a functioning bar. I have a few ideas.

Monday I will work on  landscaping as plants/shrubs are cheap right now. Need 3 yards more of gravel for the south side and rear areas. Install my hitching post and farm fence section will complete the western theme. Looking forward to that.

I was trying to book restaurants for Jackie’s birthday on Monday and wow do a lot of restaurants take Monday off. First I tried Ill Brico our favorite Italian place in Langdon, then I tried the Italian Farmhouse in Bragg Creek , then Jacqueline’s in Bonavista . First two favorites CLOSED on Mondays and the third closed period. We like the non-chain unique places and don’t care for the fancier outings like Wellington’s, The Lake House etc. I hate to dress up to eat nowadays. May look at Involtina’s which is great.

Thought of the Day

I think I know the reason a lot of people can’t lose weight.

They hate losing ! 

September 17th 

Today is Jackie’s birthday. Not a significant one but any birthday making your age just short of 60 years old is something special. That will be one we really celebrate. I will get back to the birthday.

Headed to Lowe’s and picked up some wood. My Jeep rack works wonderful carrying stuff out to the lot.

For a supposed cold day it turned out great. The sun actually felt warm enough that I had to take my coat off to work. I worked all day putting down the 4 x 4 border for gravel and plants. I had originally planned to centre our perimeter boards right on the tree line but after cutting them it didn’t look right. I shrank my plan and now I like the look. PL400, RRS screws and deck screws with 45 degree angles really enhance the looks. Once I plant the ornamental grasses, burberry and spirea and add the gravel it will look awesome. Arrived home about 4:30 pm  which was was 5 minutes before Jackie. Tomorrow I will finish off the perimeter and dig holes for the plants.

Jackie’s birthday present was opened this morning. I bought her a complete golf outfit including a few gadgets like a marker, ball, tees. I again bought the perfect fit top and skort.  I am just that good !

We will go out tonight for Italian which will be fun.

I do have to say that I am very lucky to have found Jackie. She is a wonderful person that makes my life a lot easier and enjoyable. Besides being the best looking near 60 yr old  lady she is kind, considerate and caring. If only I would have tried harder to get her to be a great cook. LOL

Happy Birthday to you and too many many more. Love Larry

Involtini’s tonight was wonderful. Wonderful atmosphere looking like an authentic Italian place. Spacious room with tables far apart, perfect low lighting and a nice quiet dinner. I had the beef involtini which was amazing. Jackie went with the chicken which she loved. I didn’t care for hers as the chicken was stuffed with shrimp which I wouldn’t have been a fan off. Just the right amount of delicious food. We shared Grandma’s homemade Rhubarb/Strawberry pie with gelato. Wonderful.!  A fantastic birthday date night that we both loved. I forgot we also had a wonderful rose’ wine which is rare for us but it was exceptional and chilled perfectly.

Thought of the Day 

Jackie’s birthday reminds of the old Chinese scholar  …. Yung No Mor 

September 18th

Unbelievable how this cold weather is sticking around. Today’s high 8 above . I picked up a bunch of plants at Greengate even though they were out of the ornamental grasses I need for my western theme which I will buy in the spring. Loaded up my selection of barberry, spirea, weigela, sandcherry and sedum and headed to Lowe’s for more 4 x 4 brown PT. Started working away cutting, placing and then drilling and pounding in rebar for the perimeter of the lot and flower beds. Jackie came out around 2 pm and she started digging holes. Lot of roots to dig thru but the soil 6 inchs down is rock hard clay with rocks in it. Took us a long time to get all of the holes dug and not an easy task. Hopefully the plant roots can find their way into the clay. We placed the weed barrier down and threw the odd shovel of gravel just to keep the barrier from blowing away until the gravel arrives. Looks great !!

A cool day working but quite enjoyable working away.

Thought of the Day

Think of Autumn as the second spring where every fallen leaf is a flower. That’s deep. LOL 

September 19th-20th

Made a sweetheart of a deal with my gravel delivery guy. I asked for “End of the Season deal? ” Nope. ” Seniors Discount ” Nope  ” Any specials ? ”  Nope. Finally after much discussion I am paying the driver cash for delivery and the pricing dropped a good 10 % off list plus no gst. Saved myself $150 bucks. You just have to ask !

Eye appointment today for Jackie & I . I need a new pair as my eyes have weakened from about 5 years ago. I hate this age thing. Hopefully the new pair will allow long distance no blur and short distance clarity. Doubt it but at least one if not both distances will be better. May have to try those progressives.

Well , I was thinking of getting my prescription and heading to Nogales Mexico this winter but after some serious thinking and trust issues on quality due to my eyes having a unique circumstance we decided to buy local. The pricing on glasses as you know is ridiculous. Ended up with mine, Jackie’s and sunglasses for her totaling $2300. And this is with good discounting.  With our insurance plan we bought we did not ask for the glasses to be included so right out of the pocket. Ouch !  Eyes are a good thing though to take care of and I don’t understand people being cheap with the lenses. We could have  gone to Costco or one of the “cheap” glasses guys but I want quality. I love my new frames and can wait for them to show up. To get used to the progressives is supposed to take a while so I will need to remember that. How nice to see a road sign clear and then look down and see what speed you are travelling at.

Bank appointment right before the eyes to pick up my new visa card with no fees. Then to cancel my AEROPLAN card as I said before this program is now a joke. All good.

I set the alarm for 7:30 am. Re word that Jackie set it as that clock radio is a pain in the #@# for me. It never seems to work properly. LOL  So alarm set as the gravel guy is delivering today I want to pull out the motor home first. While in the shower Jackie yells Soil King phoned and said they are just leaving the yard.Quick dry and out of the house. Everything else will have to wait.

WOW i have NEVER seen it this foggy. Visibility was no more than 4 car lengths in front of you. Scary with anyone pulling out of a side road. We were down to 60 kms per hour. Very thick with the mist freezing to the window. About 1 mile before our turnoff I get a phone call from the delivery driver. Funny as I drive by I saw him stopped on a side road with his hazards on. I stopped and said follow me. I even had a very hard time knowing where to turn in the fog.

Moved the motor home and had him dump the gravel. Funny thing was, he was supposed to ask for the CASH before dumping but didn’t. I got to bug him a bit saying I forgot the cash, sorry.

Jackie arrived about an hour later and said the fog was still bad. Anyone that has wheel-barreled gravel knows it isn’t an easy task. Jackie and I moved another 4 cubic yards of gravel.  I am sure the back will be sore tomorrow. Jackie did awesome working right along with me. She said her  FitBit registered 18,000 steps today. I can see that. Spread all of the gravel then while Jackie was cleaning out the shed and Dakota I headed into Strathmore for a couple of things.

UFA Strathmore is one of most organized and cleanest lumber yards I have seen. The front desk clerks were wonderful.  The yard guys not so much. I bought my round fence posts and rails from them. Try lifting round posts on to the roof rack and not have them roll off. Two yards guys that were supposed to help totally ignored me. Tarp strap to hold them and then ratchet strap and i finally got it done. Smiled to myself with the lack of customer service again. Then off to Rona for rubber paving blocks 24 x 24 inch that I thought would be excellent to use under the motor home tires this winter. I checked the internet before going into the store and they had lots of stock and were on clearance. The desk guys were for no other words, POOR. Immediately saying they don’t have them. I showed them my phone with THEIR inventory numbers. Finally one old fart went for walk with me. We couldn’t find them. The desk guys then said they must be in the sea can. It amazes how poor some of these companies are run. If someone moves an inventory item simply adjust the bin location number. If it is a seasonal item and it is in a seacan simply use that as the bin location. Open the can if you can access the product you have made a sale. If not the customer will understand and the store has made every effort to find the product. This isn’t hard.Oh well. I will need to check the Midnapore store to see if they are any better.

With Jackie’s help I finished one section of farm fence and 90 % completed the hitching post. I need to find sisal rope for “fake” attaching the top rail , i need to find a lasso rope, a few rocks and petrified wood and a couple of smaller wagon wheels to complete it. I will search !

A 7:30 to 6:30 pm work day is long but it was a fun work day with a lot accomplished that looks great.

Thought of the Day 

Ever have one of those awkward moments when you go to hug someone sexy and end up smashing your face into the mirror. 

September 21st

Last day of summer and look what we have. A high today of 7 degrees, snow on the ground in Edmonton, and a high tomorrow of 4 degrees. I wouldn’t call that summer. Yet when i look at the long term forecast it appears after this weekend we will have warmer temperatures again. Hopefully. A very warm long nice Indian Summer would be very welcomed. Oops sorry about that. A very warm long nice Indigenous Summer is what I meant  to say.

My heel spur/Achilles tendon was acting up today after walking in duck boots all day. I knew better but now I have to suffer for a couple of days for it to go down.

Went for some more blood work this morning.  Made the appointment on line and was escorted to a room right on time and out of there in 15 minutes. That is awesome.

Sore heel, blood work, cold, rain I decided to NOT work today.  A nice relaxing day and i even was able to watch Tiger play exceptionally well. I hope he wins !!

We had a nice supper out with Micheal and Audrey tonight at Ricky’s All Day Grill. It was busy but everything still came out within decent time. Lots of conversation the entire night including politics, Trudeau, Trump and religion and no one got upset which is good. I enjoy the banter.

Speaking of Trump for what it is worth for every thing bad about him and there is a lot, there has been a lot of good things he has done that people chose to ignore, forget or just won’t acknowledge plus he had the will do things that other just would not. In no specific order.

1. He enforced a red-line against Syria’s use of chemical weapons
2. He has taken a surprisingly tough line with Russia. Trump approved a $47 million arms package for Ukraine, sent troops to Poland’s border with Russia and  imposed new sanctions on Moscow for violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
3. He withdrew from the Paris climate agreement
4. He got NATO allies to kick in $12 billion more toward our collective security.
5. He has virtually eliminated the Islamic State’s physical locations.
6. He admitted he was wrong on Afghanistan and reversed Obama’s disastrous withdrawal. 
7. He enacted historic tax and regulatory reform that has unleashed economic growth.Trump signed the first comprehensive tax reform in three decades and removed regulations smothering the economy.
8. No other president has influenced North Korea more and having them agreeing to disarm and even wanting meetings to discuss is amazing.
9. Applying tariffs to China when everyone else was scared to. Making Canada rethink their unfair supply management structure. 
10. Securing the borders and vetting much more  diligently on immigration.

He has upset , cleaned the swamp and has been so unpredictably that the establishment can’t figure out what he is up too all the while getting more done than ANY other President has ever done. One may argue that all is not good but sometimes anything is better than nothing.

It looks like a ugly day tomorrow with the cold front moving in and a high of 3 degrees. Oh well may as well enjoy the quiet day. I think Jackie and i are going rock hunting and petrified wood hunting by the river though, before babysitting all three grand kids in the late afternoon.

Thought of the Day 

Sometimes the amount of self control to not say what is really on you mind is so immense I need a nap afterwards.

September 22-23rd

The heel is too sore to walk any distance  so I will take it easy until Monday. I will watch the Fedex Cup and finish up my budgets where I have the numbers just haven’t input them into my excel sheet. Do a few Google look-ups on things and just relax.

We went to Victoria’s place to babysit Atticus, August and Jackson while the girls all went out. Three kids are a little busy but they are KIDS. The dogs actually overall are more misbehaved than the kids. One barks and the other just wants to continually play fight.

Got home around 2 am and went right to bed.

Odd it has been close to 2 months and the finger i put the screw  thru is still totaled. The finger look wise is a way way better than I ever expected. Looks great. But the area that had the meat pulled out feels numb. No feeling like a piece of skin over the real skin. First touch feels like it could be pain and then nothing. I know already it turns white pretty fast in the cold. Hopefully it will get a little more feeling in it.

Tiger . The amount of people following him was amazing. I don’t ever think there has been a similar event. Tiger played smart and ended up the winner which was great to see. One missed shot by Rose and he could have had both titles. It was fun to watch. The crowds still amaze me. Just like Beetle Mania.

Thought of the Day 

Why does toilet paper need a TV ad ?  Who isn’t buying this ?

Sept 24th-26th

The weather is looking nasty this weekend. Jackie started cleaning up the falling branches and leaves and I headed into Strathmore for posts ,and rails. The Dakota caused an issue. The key has been touchy from the day I got it. The issue is it is worn out and won’t turn the ignition tumblers. I have been able to get it every time but not today. I will check into ordering a key from the factory.

Larry Geddes suggested UFA for a lasso and I picked up one for $20 . Thanks. Looks great. I picked up sisal rope and the posts.

I finished off the fencing in front and side. Jackie started tying the rope and did a perfect job. I bought 20 ft but it looks like I need about 100ft to finish off the rails. LOL I love the looks. I should finish it all off tomorrow.

Golfing tonight with Jeff was fun. We had 6 holes with the weather being perfect. We had 6 holes with the weather being ok, we had 3 holes where we FROZE in rain and wind and we had 3 holes where it was very warm. All 4 seasons in one golf game.

Jeff bought a retirement gift of new clubs. Worth every penny. I have not seen such perfect shot making from Jeff in years. Our scores were not indicative of play but he was excellent tonight. Only one or two drives gone astray and some remarkable iron shots. Great to see and a fun game tonight. The rain and cold for a few holes did through us.

Nothing like chicken wings and beer to complete a wonderful day.

Jackie and I worked finishing off the fencing, cleaning up, moving tools and wrapping rope. Installed the locking barrel bolt. Did a few pickups. Had to get a new FOB for our underground parking which meant picking up near Glenmore. Picked up some fender washers to use as rope ties on the posts. Picked up a 10L of RV water antifreeze for the motor home and found the perfect solution for the tires of the motor home. Home Depot had these 2 x 4 rubber checker plate mats that are 1″ thick.  I drilled holes in them to allow water to drain through. These will work so much better than the PT plywood.as the water would sit in the dip caused by the tires. These are the perfect solution.

Jackie & I met Jeff & Wendy for golf at Heatherglen late afternoon. After a bit of a mix up with the fees for them which I got fixed we were off, right on time. The parking lot was full as the weather was wonderful for golf which made it a little slower than we would have liked. We didn’t finish the 18 holes. Wendy golfed extremely well, Jackie golfed very good and I had a 39 on the front nine which I was happy with. Jeff unfortunately had an off night. But that is golf you just never know who is going to show up. After golf I suggested we have supper at the clubhouse. I was embarrassed with the food. I have eaten here a few times and every time the food was good or excellent. Not tonight !  Both ladies chicken burgers were burnt so bad it was ridiculous. NO COOK should EVER have had these leave his kitchen. I like to show loyalty and support companies that I work for but lately that hasn’t worked out too well.  LOL No more suppers here.

Went for my ultra sounds today. First it is difficult to make one go to the bathroom based on a timeline. I even resorted to coffee with very little luck. Drinking 1 liter of water before isn’t that hard but it is a lot of water in a short time. Arriving at the clinic they had a fire alarm going and security at the door so no one was allowed in. Luckily 10 mins before my appointment  it stopped. Funny thing after one round of pictures the nurse says to go empty your bladder. 1 liter of water an hour prior and only a small amount of urine to empty the bladder doesn’t compute. I found it odd. LOL   I don’t know if that is normal or not ??   A few more body rolls , smearing of oil and rubbing a machine and i was done.One more unpleasant event off my to do list.

I had to winterize the motor home as the weather is sucking coming up with lows of -2 to -4 a couple of nights in a row. We have the winter package with insulated tanks etc but it is too risky at -4. This motor home to winterize  is a pain. I have a bypass for the hot water heater, I have  a bypass for the water filtration system, I have a pump pick up valve, and I have an inline valve direct and storage water to use. Each time I have struggled to get it right. Finally done but it took 2 jugs worth to get it right. I made a drawing in the manual with a picture of all of the valves so hopefully it will be better.  It should take one 4 litre jug to have pink at each faucet and in each pee trap which I can usually accomplish on any unit that I have had for years past.

I went to Woody’s tonight to pick up a new fridge bulb and a surge protector. The park just has unstable power for me. I watch my Intellic amp meter and the amps vary a way to much which scares me with the electronics in that motor home.  No stock. They offered to order it with a $20 charge for a week delivery. No thanks I will take Amazon prime in two days . Brick & mortar stores just don’t get it.

Thought of the Day 

Why doesn’t the airport charge for their scans and give results ? We wouldn’t need to go to the doctor so often.

September 27th

Rain all day today.  Only 5 to 7 degree high with the next 7 days getting NO warmer. The high being 7 and the low being -8 depending on which weather app you use. Glad I winterized.

Today we went and picked up our new expensive glasses. This is what you get for $2300 bucks. ??

Good looking but a little blurry. I had a pair of glasses about 5 years ago that I only wore when driving. But they were a real pain as i couldn’t see the dash, speedometer or radio etc. I had to guess at my speed by feel. I guess my feel of 140 km on the highway and 80 kms in the city as a comfortable travelling speed was too high. This pair of glasses are progressive. When I first put them on I instantly liked them as i could see far and near. After wearing them though it is going to take a while to get used to them. Seems our minds adjust within 2 days to 2 weeks. Trick is to wear them  right away all of them time to let your brain get used to them. It appears they require more head movement versus eye movement which is an adjustment. I like the looks and feel and can’t wait until I get used to them. Having unique eyes with one for distance and one for reading it is supposed to take longer to get comfortable. I currently find the area you look thru for long distance and short distance too small. I see fish bowl on the outside edges and top and bottom edges. I have to keep moving my head when reading and need to walk  stairs with my head down. So hopefully in 2 weeks I will love them.

In the rain Jackie & I went down to the river to pick up some rocks for our lot. We found the perfect spot right at the rivers edge after going down a small steep hill.

“Memories”

Before we were married I had a beautiful convertible 1972 K5 CST Blazer that looked amazing. I loved this vehicle. Even after we were married I remember Jackie and a few friends driving it with the top off getting a lot of attention. I loved it. One Sunday we decided to go down to the North Saskatchewan river for a picnic. Anyone that knows that river it has very steep banks on both sides. Where i picked was very steep and loose gravel to get back to the top. Half way up my tires spin and we lose traction. We are starting to slip backwards and on Jackie’s side a 100 ft drop down. In times like this you need full concentration. One of the few times I had to yell at Jackie to “SHUT UP” i need to figure this out not to hurt my truck and save our lives. It was nip and tuck as when I tried to climb I would slip closer to falling over the edge. I couldn’t back up as  the loose gravel and steep incline would cause us to roll over. Finally we had to hang on, foot to the metal with all wheels locked we managed to go forward enough to feel save and we made it to the top. This was the second time I just about rolled this truck as in a prior incident the hill was so steep the carb ran out of gas and I was pumping the gas petal like mad to make it to the top. Scary but fun !

It was a successful adventure. Fun picking them up and a little wet and cold. We brought them back to our lot and strategically placed them in our landscaping. Looks great !

No plans for this evening

Thought of the Day 

I believe the vehicle we drive says a lot about us as people. What does your say ? 

Sept 29th -30th

One more time ugly weather.  So bad in fact a person can feel trapped in their house. We had a relatively easy weekend.

Saturday my Mom’s family had a reunion. I was going to go and went back and forth then decided not to attend. They had over 100 relatives that did attend. The event wasn’t all that well planned anyways with just a potluck weiner/burger supplied and the rest pot luck and us receiving an email one day prior to a RRSP expectation. The venue was changed last minute due to weather which was good. It was COLD. So, too travel 10 hours for a 4 hour talk around a few tables I didn’t think it was worth the expensive. If it had been nicer I may have gone and stayed overnight.  If I took the motor home on the 10 hour drive I was looking at $ 350 of gas plus having to fill again.  Even with the Enclave 10 hrs plus $125 of gas. To bring a pot luck item a long distance isn’t easy. With over a 100 people I may have only known about 25 of them anyways.  It is appreciated the effort in putting this together and nice for everyone to get together though. But charge me $20 and provide a meal, provide some kind of events, entertainment, etc to hold people and engage them rather that families just sitting together for a few hours. But that is just me.

Received our new chairs for the motor home which I think will work out perfect. I will wait until it warms up a bit to take these out.

Drove down in the snow to Lethbridge to winterize Jess & Pen’s trailer. It is hitting -7 degrees on Tuesday. Good timing. I winterized theirs and Margie’s for her while there. The boys are growing up fast and getting to be a lot more fun. August is developing a neat personality and is starting to enjoy being teased.

Penny made us a wonderful lasagna and Ceaser salad supper. Awesome.

On the way home again it was snowing around Nanton. Not sticking but still snowing again in September. Since Sept 11th we have had cold. We found one warmer day only where Jeff & Wendy golfed with us. It is going to be a ugly winter for Calgarians this year. More snow and cold than average. I can’t wait to get down south. Rules. !!!!

Thought of the Day 

Why doesn’t winter just have a delete button ?