February 1st 

” Mercury Forecast  Mesa 22 degrees  Calgary -7  Edmonton -13 degrees snow “

Another wonderful day in paradise.

First thing in the morning I headed to Fred’s place and cut my stainless steel angle to size for my upper cupboard corners. Applying these with silicone they look fantastic. Finishes it off perfect. My ceiling today looks fantastic. The only reason I quit last night was it looked blotchy and horrible overall. Once it dried it was perfection. Now I am only half done. LOL  Pulled off the tape and cleaned up a bit.

Did my preliminary numbers for my January expenses and will finish it on a day off. January is looking good so far but I will know when done. I do know toggling between bank accounts I saw my Itrade account drop $12.00 in 1 minute.

I was meeting George ( Lealta Bldg Supplies) and Ian along with Bob to golf today. First I will say with a caveat. The greens sucked today as they are trying to grow them out. Fuzzy and slow and deceptive. All four of us had off days. There were some pretty shots and more bad putts than I have seen for a long time. Not good. But still fun golfing with a known friend and good new friends you can’t go wrong. Turned out to be a complete draw with no one owning any money .Proof that no one played well.

George made wonderful putt for a birdie but lacked excitement in doing so and had to take some flack from his playing partners. LOL

We had the after golf get together at Mike’s place. I didn’t realize it but Mike bought the home that Keith & Jenny looked at last time they were here. Nice home with a back wall instead of a neighbor which makes it private and secluded. The gathering of guys sure was diversified tonight. There were gentleman that owned a private ambulance company, car dealership, trucking company, service station/carwash, lumberyard, Air Canada Mgr to name a few. All fun nice guys. Being retired is awesome as everyone is just in a better mood and all about having fun.

Jackie was out when I came home. Missed out on Fish Friday but made myself a wonderful supper ( wieners and chips)  Jackie came home with a arm full of decorations for the house. We installed them all and the kitchen looks wonderful. New vase, flower and signage above the cupboards finishes them off.

Thought of the Day 

Retirement plan- playing on the golf course sure is working. Also the doctor said I need less iron so now I use a hybrid .

Feb 2nd -Feb 3rd 

” Mercury Forecast  Mesa 16 degrees showers, Calgary -26 degrees  Edmonton -28 degrees”

And yes this is the highs. That is cold for all area’s. A rain shower today for us and a little cooler week coming up with the highs being only 18 to 20 but we will take it over the freezing cold others are experiencing.

Did a bit of cleaning in the morning and ready ourselves for company this afternoon. We met John & Anita Matheson ( Jackie’s friend and ex boss) at the golf course. They took a round about way getting from Casa Grande to Mesa but arrived exactly on time. The day turned out wonderful with sun shining and no wind. The golf course as I previously stated had lousy greens again today. I can’t say that was the complete cause but it wasn’t a good day scoring. John not playing very often had a great game and he allowed us to have a few birdie shots. Jackie also had a birdie. Golfing in the sun with fun people just can’t be beat. We had a great time.

At our finish I noticed Sandy’s car in the lot. I took a scorecard and wrote ” Sorry for the dent. Please phone ( I made up a number) ” Knowing Sandy it would have upset him and I am sure he would have checked all around his car for hours. The made up number was a park number and Sandy knowing the numbering system texted me to look in the directory to see who it was that left the note. I do have to say . Life is fun. Life is great. Things like this just make me smile. LOL

John & Anita came to our place for supper. You just can’t beat spiced Pork Loin with mashed potatoes and gravy. It was a fun night and stayed so warm out we were sitting on the patio until at least 9 pm.

Rained last night quite heavy. And my roof isn’t fixed yet but got lucky with the direction of the wind etc. I hope. I will finish the balance when it is done.

I phoned my sister today to console her as she hits the 60th decade. Seems odd that all of my siblings are now over 60 years of age. I used to think that was OLD.  Funny thing or not so funny is she is laid up in bed on her birthday after a 5 hour shoulder surgery. High on drugs for pain. I bet she is thinking hitting 60 is fun.

Happy Birthday Darlene. For years I couldn’t figure how I was older than Darlene when her birthday was a day before mine. Having two birthdays so close also resulted in combined birthday parties. Good and not so good.

Had a nice Messenger chad with Jess, Penny and the kids and had a trio with Tor and Jackson online.A bit of illness happening and they were all snuggled up with it being in the minus -30 range today. Little Atticus is getting teeth so wasn’t the happiest. This is from a kid who always has a smile but tiredness and teething is not an easy thing.
We are gathering at Fred’s place to watch the Super Bowl today with a bunch of people which will fun even though I am not a football fan. Our park which is a golf resort doesn’t offer the golf channel ( I can’t believe it either) so I can’t watch Fowler win today other than highlights.

Thought of the Day 

There are so many saying about turning 60

• Being 60 means you can never really trust a fart
• At 60 your broad mind and narrow waist have changed places 
• At 60 it looks like your birthday suit needs ironing
• Just to name a few

February 4th -5th 

” Mercury Forecast  Mesa 17 degrees Calgary -22 degrees  Edmonton -23 degrees.

Well what a great day for sports.

First on the agenda the Oiler’s loss. This is expected but it still warms my heart to see them slowly sliding to last place.  Now a lot of people may see, not winning, as poor entertainment. I totally disagree. LOL

Second on the agenda is the Flames and winning . They are playing great, try hard and have heart. A lot of teams may have better talent but that alone doesn’t make you a winning team. Still racking up the points and in first place.

Third on the agenda is the Phoenix Open and my favorite player other then TW, wins after a lot of bad luck. Rickie is an excellent player with too many second place finishes and deserves the win. Fun to watch.

And last one to finish off a great day was the Patriots winning. Tom Brady showing why he is a winner by winning while playing horrible. What do you expect though with a hard ball ?

So to recap. An Oiler loss, a Flames win, Fowler winning and Brady winning. All things right in the world.

Anyone else think the NFL sucks ? What a lousy game to watch. No excitement, no offence, dumb punting rules and no real emotion. It was BORING . Love the CFL where we actually throw the ball.

Fred & Terry had us over for the bowl game. He has a large screen TV and as it was cooler out today sitting indoors was welcomed. They had  Jackie & I, Bob & Pat, Tim, Ralph, Fred & Terry and Gary with his wife. We had enough food to feed double the amount of people that were in attendance. I loved the Devilled Eggs that Pat brought. Wings and meat and cheese plates etc. I think everyone left stuffed. During the game Jackie is talking to Gary and his wife and here we discover that Gary was co-master of ceremonies at Troy & Jen’s wedding along with myself. I didn’t recognise him and it didn’t click until the conversation turned that way. Gary is Troy’s uncle. Small world is right.

” Memories” 

At Troy and Jen’s wedding two funny things happened that I remember.

1. Sitting in the bar at the hotel the night before we are talking to a few people and this lady and I were talking about the upcoming wedding as she was attending also. She finds out I was going to be the MC. ” You better be good ” was the comment that stuck. Talk about pressure going to sleep. LOL
2. Here is part of my speech ” This is a real honour. I have been a master carpenter, a master plumber, a master baiter and now a master of ceremonies”  I looked at the lady I was talking to the night before at the bar and I don’t know if it went over well.  I was referring to my fishing skills. LOL

That was the latest we have stayed up since coming to Arizona. Not getting to bed until after 11:30 is unheard of. Too many drinks and too much food doesn’t equate to a good sleep but it was a fun day and night.

Ok yes my birthday happened. Feb 4th is a good day . Rosa Parks, Alice Cooper, Oscar De La Hoya, are all born on Feb 4th to name a few. A few roasting emails from friends is always fun. You have to take what you give out. LOL Lots of fun as they are getting better.

” Memories”

While working NO ONE knew other than payroll what my real age was. I kept it that way on purpose. It also made it easier to bug everyone else on their age. In today’s dumb nicety world I couldn’t do this as easily. I was able to hid my age for years and just before retirement Larry G somehow found it out. My secret was out and they could get back at me. As Larry is getting up in age I am sure he will forget it soon. LOL 

Jackie bought me some wonderful birthday gifts. A pair of Adidas sweat pants ( my favorite) a pair of camo shorts and two pair of fancy golfing shorts, Making me look good on the course. Very nice.

Jackie and I went golfing as a couple to Western Skies. A tougher course due to length than Viewpoint and in wonderful shape. We were hooked up with a couple from Illinois that were very nice. They were on vacation for a week and were playing golf everyday. Mary Sue ( funny how Americans like those names) was a great golfer. She had a great shoulder turn with a straight left arm and powered thru the shot for a lot of distance.  Jackie played well today also. We had a lot of fun. I played quite well which was always nice. Funny as I have had a good game, a great game, a poor game and a good game all in the past few games. It was a nice date night golf game.

Fred & Terry picked us up and we headed to Olive Garden. I love the Olive’s salad and bread sticks and their food is always good. I used the wait list system they have and it worked fantastic as we where rushed right by tons of people waiting at the front check in.  Our server was superb.   They can make a meal special. He even arranged for someone to whip out and pick up Clam juice and made me a Canadian Caeser. Awesome.  Full, full we left after having a great meal.

At home Pat & Bob dropped over. I can’t believe it but Pat made me a homemade Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese icing and brought it over and Bob bought me a HUGE bottle of Sour Apple. Nice ! All six of us had both cakes and ice cream and we are full. FULL.

A great birthday !

Whipped to Home Depot to pick up a piece for Pat’s sink and repaired that for them. First time I have ever seen the rod for the drain actually rust off. Paper towel under for a day to check for drops and should be all set to go.

Tim, Fred and I stopped at a paint store to get a special paint remover as Fred wants to re do his mags and dash on his new golf cart. A super store of auto body paint stores. Found what we needed.

Thought of the Day 

I have decided that I am not old.  I am 40 plus shipping and handling.

February 6th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 12 degrees  Calgary -15 degrees  Edmonton -19 degrees ” 

Wow was it cold. A cold front came thru Arizona. 10 inches of snow in Flagstaff which is just 2 hours north of Phoenix.  We had a little sun but the wind was cold. Leaving here at 6:30 am it was 9 degrees and only getting up to 12 degrees. The whole group struggled as we are not used to be chilled. In fact the golfing reflected the cold. My whole group, not one of us played good. Having said that we played well enough to win a leg and add some money. Actually I moved up the ladder to be tied for the 7th highest money winner. The wind not only being cold was strong and affected the flight of the ball big time. Numerous times coming short of the green due to the wind. Add the cold, the wind and with the greens that were very difficult causing 3 putts the scores of our group were away higher than the caps. I hate to do not so well on Wednesday’s.  Winning some bucks was the only consolation today.

Luckily only Thursday being cooler than back to our 19 to 21 degrees which is average for this time of the year.

Another loss for the Oiler’s getting blown out. Why they don’t FIRE a few more people is shocking. They are creating a losing atmosphere that will haunt this team for years to come. Look at Toronto for 52 years and not winning. Yet finally this year doing well.  Give some help to Mc Happy meal so they have a chance.

Thought of the Day 

There is no golf shot so simple it can’t be messed up.

February 7th 

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 14 degrees, Calgary -12 degrees Edmonton -17 degrees “

Cold for everyone but for us hitting 2o degrees tomorrow. Yahoo

I had to add these here rather than under his own page as they are just too cute.

Jackie has her golf league today which is good that it is starting at noon for the warmer temps plus she likes to work on her contract in the morning to get the most things done she can for the day.

I went over to Fred’s place and he was working away on his new golf cart. He had a lot done. I helped clean and polish the mags after the previous owner did a stupid thing and tried making the cart all black. Polishing the mags makes them look so good. I worked on the checker plate sides. Now black with chrome accents will look wonderful. Fred has the complete dash removed so I worked on that cleaning it up for Fred to paint. He has a Amazon shipment of parts coming to complete his project. This will be a good looking cart that is FAST. 48 volts from the factory are fast carts. I would say at least 25 mph.

Fun day working on this. Jackie left her after golf party and we headed home. Riding my bike it was cold. I came home and turned up the heat a bit to warm up.

Thought of the Day 

I had to break out my winter clothes today for Arizona- I put on a pair of socks with my sandals.

February 8th- 9th

” Mercury Forecast  Mesa 18 degrees  Calgary -23 degrees Edmonton -26 degrees ” “Severe cold warnings for both cities”

Cold in every area of North America. What happened to our global warming ?

Jackie takes her walks before working and has to wear a head band to keep her ears warm. The longer one get accustomed to warmer temperatures the cooler the warmer temps feel I think. I worked on my computer a bit then readied myself for golf. Today I was partnered with three good guys again. My team partner and I killed it. We were up by 9 strokes on the first nine but the second nine the other team snuck back a bit and they were up by 2 going into the ninth hole. A hard par 3 at 175 yards and a two tiered green. My partner and I both birdied and took the back nine . Funny as we were joking at the tee about needing birdies to win and look what happened. My partner and I took the front nine, back nine and overall game. Another money win !! And another fun day. The temperature about noon zoomed up fast and it was warm golfing the last 1/3rd of the game. The ONE hole where I screwed up on ( the first hole) a neighbor happened to be watching and asked Jackie to bug me about what happened on that drive. I hit it right into the trees. LOL Recovered with a 7 but still shot an 80.

Came back to Bob’s place for a few drinks and the ladies were also gathered having a laugh or two. It was warm outside for a lot longer than it has been, which was nice.

Watched a bit of TV and enjoyed the evening and another wonderful day in paradise completed.

Cleaned up a bit this morning and got ready to pick up Keith & Jenny at the airport. I checked the flights and they are about 40 mins late. Most likely due to de-icing. We have a party to attend this evening which will be fun.

Love the Mesa airport as it is so easy to get in and out of and picking up friends is so easy. The luggage took longer than normal today which is odd as only one plane landed but still the best way to go. Unfortunately Swoop doesn’t fly out of Calgary to Mesa.

Got the Harry’s all settled in. They have been up since 4am but didn’t want a nap. Keith and I took off to the driving range as he hasn’t golfed since the great winter of 18/19 hit Edmonton. A new club that he hit extremely well. I loved the club also. A Cobra offset driver which is what most of us need to reduce the slicing. We hit a large bucket of balls.

Came home rested a bit then headed to Fred’s for a combo party Larry/Tracy birthday. My birthday is past but any reason for a party I am in.

Ralph, Tracy, Keith, Jenny, Terry, Fred, Jackie and I were all there to enjoy an amazing meal. Fred doing roasts is wonderful. Always great tasting and cooked to perfection. He had a huge beef roast done perfectly. Add the gravy with potatoes, and Yorkshire with veggies you have one of my favorite meals. I am sure everyone ate too much.

I even received ( my birthday was past) a gift. A DONT SHOOT DEER ornament for my trailer hitch ball. When I put on my brakes it raises it’s feet to say stop. Gag gift that will be fun. I loved my huge testicles hanging from my Ram.

Fred using his three fingers mixed us some good strong drinks. Everyone was feeling a little better than good. A very fun night. Life is great !!

Thought of the Day

Ever have so much vodka in a night you wake up with a Russian accent ?  Better than having too much Scotch and waking up with a skirt on !

February 10th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 18 degrees, Calgary -22 degrees Edmonton -23 degrees”

We booked a tee time with Ralph & Tracy at Painted Mountain this morning. Got lucky with the time as I tried 4 courses to get an acceptable time. Arriving at the course we were told of a 45 min frost delay. The person I talked to for the reservation didn’t think this would be a good thing to relay to me. I talked to the front desk and was surprised at their attitude. I asked for a better rate as I didn’t think we would  get done. Their answer was they would cancel the reservation. They could easily have reduced it to super twilight but their approach was oh well we will just cancel. Not the great customer service we normally have. You can tell the American economy is doing well as this would never have happened before.

I talked to the starter which was a great guy and we got lucky with us getting off only 20 minutes behind. The course was packed which is expected on a Sunday. We all played quite well and had a lot of fun. Tracy hits the ball long and is a good player. Ralph did well with his only issue of flying over the green to many times. Keith for his first game of the year did awesome. If not for 2 or 3 blow up holes would have easily been mid eighties.  I had an 80 which is always a drag because you think back about that one or two mistakes that could have had you score in the 70’s. We just finished our last hole with it getting hard to see the ball landing.

Jackie & Jenny were out shopping today while we golfed at the Mesa Marketplace. Jackie cooked a great supper for us on our arrival of chicken breasts, rice and green peas. The girls appeared to have had many Paralyzers in them when we got home.

So everyone had a great day!  Keith even managed to turn a decent reddish color.

“Pennywise Tips”

Banks, investment companies, governments are in the business to hold your money. The longer they keep it, the more money they make. First time you talk to an investment advisor I guarantee they will mention, legacy, delay pension, 4% rule, increase amounts etc. They are sales people trying to make a living and under contract to sell you on them looking after your money for as long as they can. The minute you mention withdrawals they are losing. Government’s want you to delay CPP and OAS for as long as possible for them to hold your money and play the spread. PLUS the odds of you dying soon after if you have delayed are in their favor by a long ways. I figure if I die with money left in my account of any substance I along with my advisor have done a poor job.

Thought of the Day 

Remember working is like having a mortgage on your life !

February 11-13th

“Mercury Forecast Mesa  Warm   Calgary/Edmonton   VERY COLD”

Beautiful sunny warm weather as we head out to Tucson.  We loaded up the clothes and the golf clubs and headed out. I love the traffic in Phoenix with everyone driving at a good speed and multiple lanes usually three or four wide. Even though the city is fraught with old people driving somehow the bulk of them stay off the freeway or there are enough lanes I don’t notice them.  Highway 10 was busy as usual as this corridor is one of the busiest in North America with the truck traffic. Nice that sections are 75 mph which is usually around the 130 to 140 kms speed for me depending on the highway patrol. Great drive. I do have to say that without a GPS system it would be extremely hard to get around in a timely matter. Our first order of business was a hotel .Tucson is a city of 500,000 so is quite big. We booked a Best Western as it is a known brand and close to where we were. Turns out to be the most expensive dump we have ever stayed in. The BEST WESTERN TUCSON AIRPORT HOTEL is brutal. As we were rushed we settled in but were not happy. The hallways and room smelled like OLD people. The curtains were hanging in shreds. The bed covers have never seen an iron. Dirty carpets etc. $200 USD for a dump. It appears we hit town when a big trade show was on and they all raised their pricing.

Most of the hotels were fully booked so left us few choices. $200 USD for this to me was unbelievable. Luckily Jackie & Jenny were semi accepting which was good.

We dropped off our luggage and headed out to the Kartchner Caves. Supposed to be the best caves in North America. I do have to say they were spectacular. We had a 1 1/2 hour tour which was fantastic. 72 degrees and 99% humidity in the caves . Our guide was exceptional and we all enjoyed the adventure. A very worthwhile trip.

 

We saw similar caves in the Caribbean but these in my memory are way better. The tour for sure was. State run parks are very well taken care off and everything is first class. As we gathered for our tour time we had about 20 people in our grouping. 4 from the States and the rest from Canada. One of the American couples chirps up. ” I think we are building a wall in the wrong place” He said it jokingly.

We drove back to Tucson and used our GPS to find a restaurant. After driving around for a while checking out a couple of locations we decided to give our hotel pub a try. The waitress was very good and when the food came it was excellent. I do have to say that the menu was the shortest list of choices I have seen though.

Off to the Casino. Now I hate Casino’s as I prefer to spend my money on entertainment not on the grandiose idea of being a winner and it not happening and losing my money. Typical Casino except that the whole hall people are allowed to smoke. It was quite busy and I love the noise and excitement except for the zombies sitting with a beer, smoke and pushing a button every ten seconds with no expression. Tonight we were NET winners. I had to cover Jackie’s losses but between the two of us we walked out with $6 USD more than when we entered after playing and drinking. Some would say good entertainment for a cheap price. I don’t care for it.

We had a great buffet breakfast in the morning in our hotel. They did that right. Funny thing when Keith & I walked into the room it was completely full with Chinese tour. The hotel even had noodles, rice etc buffet separate for them. Jenny even had rice for breakfast.

We drove around touring Tucson for a while as our tee time wasn’t until near noon. This course is the location of the Tucson Open so you know it is a great course. After playing it  I would say it was one of the top three toughest courses I have ever played. And I have played TPC Sawgrass and TPC Scottsdale to name a few. Lots of wide gorges and long carries to carry desert. A beautiful course especially with the quantity of Saguaro cactus and mountains in the background. Our scores indicated the toughness. We started off slow behind two ladies which I am sure quit after nine as they were struggling. The second nine we moved along fast and finished in 4 hours. For this longer tough course that is exceptional.

We still have 9 holes we never played here so have a chance to go back. Lost a couple of balls but the putting was unreal. Fast and very difficult  to read with lots of double breaks. Best line I heard was from the starter ” These greens you can’t read. These greens you remember!”  He was correct as 4 putts even happened. I ended up with a 92 which is a lot higher than I would have liked.

The girls picked us up right on time and we headed home. I think it is about 3 hours. We didn’t have lunch due to our tee time so we stopped at a rest stop with a  Denny’s. Some people give this place a bad rap but I love Denny’s. I had the Pot roast dinner with mashed potatoes and southern creamed corn with a salad that was 10 out of 10. Just like a home cooked meal.

We arrived home and we thought we would play the girls crib again. The first night we had the unbelievable bad luck of losing to them and we needed to redeem ourselves. They AGAIN had horseshoes with the final score ending at 9 to 2 games. Including the dreaded skunk. Such bad luck we had to quit.

To lose 2 -0 in two days is just wrong.

The temperature was so nice we were able to stay outside until 9pm. Having said that rain is coming cooler weather for a few days. Nice that the roof is fixed and I don’t have to worry about water damage anymore.

Thought of the Day 

NO excuse for poor management in the hospitality field. People want and expect a clean, quiet, room ! 

February 14th

“Mercury Forecast – Mesa 18 degrees rain, Calgary -11 degrees  Edmonton -16 degrees “

Made a bigger breakfast for Kieth and I this morning. Nice for a change.

First thing off to the Aviation Museum in Mesa.  This is a first class museum. The quantity of planes, the quality of planes, the artifacts, and the knowledgeable volunteers are amazing. They had a cut out display of a rotary engine and it was fully explained as to the firing order. I was not only impressed but learned another thing about this world. You learn something new everyday. The way the firing order pushes the crank around is genius.

Looking at these planes the pilots were amazing. The small spaces and the uncomfortable seating etc would be very unpleasant. The machine guns and the bombs looked fantastic.

We spent a couple of hours there and then we headed out to see the Saguaro Lake. It was a nice drive. Visited the lake, saw the wild horses and had fun on the rolling hill  highway. Pedalling the gas pedal to make like on a roller coaster is always fun.

We decided to have an early supper at Hacienda De Rosa for Valentine’s Day. As usual it was amazing and as normal we ate a way way too much food. Going for an early supper was perfect as we beat the rush and we could take our time and enjoy the place.

After supper we had Ralph, Tracy, Fred , Terry , Keith, Jenny along with ourselves over for desert and drinks. Terry brought a wonderful huge brownie with strawberries on it and Jackie had chocolate covered huge strawberries. We also brought home from the restaurant some Mexican desert rolls. Awesome deserts and everyone ate a way too much. Tonight we played the game ” Dice” . It is fun game. Terry won and Tracy won.

Friends, food, drinks, games and deserts make for a fun evening.

Thought of the Day

I think everyone should take a unflattering selfie and post it as their profile  

February 15th-16th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 16 degrees  Calgary -14 degrees  snow  Edmonton -14 degrees snow”

I checked the upcoming week for Mesa weather and am in disbelief.  We are about to have a week of the coldest weather I have ever seen here. This is our 12th year and our 5th year of staying the winter and the upcoming week is cold. We look like we are going to average only 13 degrees. Now any 13 degree day in Calgary I could wear shorts but for here the temperature takes until noon to hit 13 degrees and falls fast at 6pm due to the desert.

Keith joined the group I golf with that Bob organizes. A great group of guys. Today it was Bob, Keith and I against Ron, Jim, and Kirk. The game ended up in a tie. Today was the worst I golfed all year. I had a reason but couldn’t tell anyone.

Keith and I bought the ladies a bouquet of flowers each. I attempted to organize and  make them look good in a vase. I tried cutting the 1/4 thick stems of the Hydrangea’s and the scissors were not strong enough.   Out comes the sharp steak knife. I NEVER make silly mistakes but this is the second time this year I injured myself. The first when I screwed a deck screw into my finger and when backing it up it pulled the meat out with it. The second using a steak knife and having it slip off the wet stem and slice my finger. I take 81 mg of aspirin daily and I bleed when cut a lot. It took at least 1/2 hour of sucking and drinking blood for it to stop. Multiple bandages and I was fine. Until I had to hit a golf club. The blood through the bandage made it so I couldn’t remove my golf glove. AND it hurt every time I hit the club. I couldn’t explain the injury, me cutting myself with knife while cutting flowers. It wouldn’t have gone over well with the guys.

After golf the guys came over to our place. We had to discuss each hole. The hits, the misses, and the close ones etc. After drinks Pat & Bob, Keith & Jenny and us decided to head to Fat Willy’s for Fish Friday. The fish and jugs( and yes I still ask for jugs) of beer at Fat’s were excellent. We got home and relaxed a bit, talked a bit and then off to bed around close to 11pm. I know !!

Up this morning for Keith & Jenny to get ready to head home. The week goes by so fast. We dropped them off as they head back to the deep freeze and us back to relax, watch some golf and enjoy the day.

Thought of the Day 

I wasn’t snoring last night. I was dreaming I was a tractor !

February 17th -18th 

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 15 degrees,  Calgary -17 degrees snow   Edmonton -18 degrees”

Like I said it is cold. -30 night lows still for Edmonton. Mesa has a frost warning for Tuesday night and we were only 20 degrees Fahrenheit  lower than average.  The global warming all the “green” people are talking about must be over.

By the way ever notice all of the so called global warming experts are predicting 20, 50 or 100 years from now. Nice that way NO ONE will know they are wrong. Can you imagine if you were a global warming follower right as the ice age was ending.

Whipped out to Lowes and picked up a painting pole and a new mini blind. The sun keeps deteriorating the strings. This is through 90% blocking sun screens. New brackets caused a few issues and took two trips to Fred’s place for tools and screws to complete.

Visited Basha’s for a few additional items needed for Audrey.

We went for a long walk around the park. Funny seeing everyone dressed in blue jeans and vests to keep a little warmer.

Wrote another letter back to the condo board. I am impressed with their due diligence and resolve on my case which I believe and hope is done on every case. Nice to see. Problem is they are at fault also and need to accept this. I hate outstanding invoices charged to me and want to find an amicable solution.

It is amazing how fast the day goes by. For supper we had spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs were HOT. They had Jalapeño peppers in them and rarely do I say hot but that is the only description that I can find to fit them. Loved them !

I went to Home Depot and picked up my plumbing parts and rented the PEX crimping tool. No golf today as the high temperature is 8 degrees and raining. I figure there are enough hot days coming up so no big deal. Had to buy 25 crimps which is dumb as I only needed 2 but it does increase sales. Took about an hour to complete the process. A different crimper but simple to use.  All fixed like new. I used a tissue for testing and perfect.

Stopped by to pick up some tools from Fred and Terry & Fred were busy making Marmalade. They used some lemons from our tree and oranges from their tree. Smelled great !

Just being a little lazy today with the weather. I will tape and plastic the Arizona room so I can paint it tomorrow.

Finally broke down and replaced my small screen TV with a new 50″ Smart TV on a Presidents Day sale. Set up the Wifi on it and all set to go. One error on setup I have to figure out how to fix is I said no to Channel 3 and 4 as I figured I may need these for the DVD. I was wrong and want the channels back. I will figure it out with the bad weather coming up for the next week.

All set to start to paint first thing in the morning. We decided to remove the window toppers on the blinds which sort of had that old lady look. It gives the room  a fresh look even though blinds only takes a bit to get used to. I could create a wood valance similar to the living room.

Thought of the Day 

OMG I am rich. Gold in the teeth. Silver in the hair. Crystals in the kidneys. Lead in the butt. Iron in the blood. And an inexhaustible supply of natural gas. Must have been the meatballs.

February 19th 

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 13 degrees Calgary -2 degrees Edmonton -2 degrees snow”

Hey, I am 2200 kilometers south and only a 15 degree spread. What !  We are averaging 15F to 20F  degrees below average temperatures right now and won’t change until the weekend. Just not right. I am golfing tomorrow at 8:05 with a predicted start temperature of 2 degrees. I need a toque and hand warmers in Arizona. Good thing this is a rarity.  Audrey , Jackie’s Mom is coming tonight to escape the cold in Calgary. Not much difference here ! She doesn’t like sunshine heat anyway but the air temperature being warm is always a good thing.

Started painting about 9 am and finished about 1:30. I am happy with the job even though I have a stiff neck looking up for hours. It is a funny paint how it goes on looking patchy and then dries perfect. Hard to tell coverage with color being white over white. Whipped up to Fred’s to make a couple of braces for our cross room curtain wall and all is good. Well, another project all done and hopefully will last for quite few years.

I see the Oiler’s with 4 losses in a row and are in 3rd last spot. One point out of SECOND LAST spot. At this rate they may get another first round pick they will trade away or wreck his career. I am hoping for second last spot for them. Not wishing them ill will but I need their fan base to start facing reality that after 12 years they need to do something. Wishful thinking and hopes just aren’t working. Hopefully some of these fans will switch allegiance and start cheering for the Flames. I do know after the turmoil the Eskimo’s are in they may have lost quite a few fans to the Stamps.

WOW is a 50 inch TV amazing. The 2060 pixels 4k HDU and sizing makes watching TV very pleasurable. It was worth the investment. I am bringing back the 32″ for my gazebo out at the RV cottage.

Audrey’s flight gets in at 10 pm so a bit after supper and a bit of TV and  we will head  into Phoenix. Looks like only 6 hours or so of sleep tonight with my early rise.

Tonight on TV is the Oiler/Arizona game. A fight to see who finishes last. Similar to watching the Super Bowl, just a little boring. You would think two lousy teams would score a lot of goals on each other.
Plan to remove two Cactus from Fred’s front yard on Thursday. Hook the truck up and pull. Just have to watch out for the thorns. But a fun thing to do.

Thought of the Day 

I always finish my proj

February 20th

“Mercury Forecast   Mesa 15 degrees  Calgary -5 degrees snow  Edmonton -10 degrees snow “

Audrey’s flight was delayed due to de-icing the plane. This time of year it always happens. We got home just a little past midnight.

Alarm went off a little early this morning. I was driving today so we left a little earlier to make sure we made it in time. Bob was loaded up and then off to pick up George. Next was Sandy on the list as he is sort of on the way. First time in years where we were stopped on the freeway for a long time. We sat for at least 1/2hr or moving very slowly. We would have made it just on time but would have been rushed. Luckily it was a heavy frost delay. For an hour ! Nice we had lots of time for a great breakfast.

I took my winter golfing clothes along with gloves and toque. Luckily I didn’t need it even though it was only 2 degrees. The temperature rose fairly fast. A new shirt by Calvin Green that I bought from Larry P was amazing. It is a wind shirt / rain repellant that was amazingly warm. I had a insulated jacket over it and even though cold outside I was decently warm.

Golfing today AGAIN wasn’t great. I had some wonderful shots but off the tee struggled with miss shots and lost balls. Add a few dumb putts. I loved some of the great shots though. I hate golfing lousy on Wednesday’s. The only good thing is my handicap with a skins game and having a few great holes can payoff. Finger was hurting a lot less today. Three holes bumped up the score as the rest were par, boogie and birdie.

Hitting 15 degrees with the sun was wonderful so no excuses for poor play.

My fun with people today was very enjoyable but I didn’t quite get the responses or reactions I wanted. I had a doctor, an Air Canada employee and a car dealership owner in the car going and coming back from golf.  Sounds like the start of a joke.  The conversation in the car for me was very enjoyable as I got to discuss the pharmaceutical conspiracy about Lipitor ( I received very little push back) I got to discuss the airline industry, Air Canada in particular with their over booking program lacking customer service and for the car dealership and the rip off admin charge and vehicle identification  programs. They must all have been a little tired from a early rise. I love the exchange, rebuttal and other points of view when discussing issues. I especially like it when someone get a little agitated. The opposite side of anything can be fun.

Reminds me of discussing Trump with Kieth. Keith doesn’t like him  which is odd with all of the good things he has done. LOL

Thought of the Day 

The worst part of golf is trying to hit the ball.

February 21st 

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 11 degrees rain Calgary -9 degrees   Edmonton -10 degrees” 

It rained all night and continued on this morning and is supposed to continue for most of the day. I am finished my projects for now inside and only have one outside project left to do.

I will expand on my commenting from our car ride yesterday.

“MY RANT”

Lipitor– This will in the future go down as the biggest scam EVER pulled on the general public. The revenue of $141 billion that Pfizer has generated is only a drop in the bucket as “they” continue to lower the cholesterol number that is supposed to be healthy. 50% of the population should be on statins and who wins. If people would only do their own research and decide for themselves. The first FACT is the numbers are skewed on it’s effectiveness. Manipulation of statistics happens all of the time. Put 200 people in a study. Give 100 a placebo and 100 Lipitor. 10 people die from a heart attack from the placebo group and 5 people die in the Lipitor group after a few years. That is a 50% reduction in deaths contributed to the control group. Marketing LOVES this. NOW look at the real numbers. 5 lives were saved. 5 lives  saved out of 200 people is 2.5% . That is the real number. Are you willing to accept all of the risks for 2.5% ?  What are the risks ! There are a lot  with any drug  but muscle aches and deterioration ( remember the heart is a muscle) and higher instances of diabetes are the second and third most concerning. The scariest one is memory loss. Isn’t it ironic that between 2000 and 2010 Alzheimer’s cases increased by 68 percent and today we are hitting 1 million new cases annually.  Connection ? Research and find out what’s best for you. We do not track if someone is on a statin and has Alzheimer’s.

Car dealer fees – ANYONE that pays for an admin fee to a dealer is being taken advantage of. It is a cost of doing business and should be absorbed by that business to complete a deal. It is a fee that just adds to their bottom line. Dealer add-ons such as rust protector are double as high as third party companies. Vehicle identification is a rip off. Insurance companies should be paying for this. You buy insurance let them pay you out if someone steals your car. 

Airlines-  In particular Air Canada with their double booking. Even the government now has stepped in to monitor and protect the consumer. Yes stats can give information on no shows, empty seats and last minute cancellations but NO company should have ever been allowed to do this.

Still raining. Will start do my Feb budget numbers as I have the time.

Good joke I have to pass on.

Would the lady that left her 6 kids at the hockey rink please come and pick them up right away. They are beating the Edmonton Oilers 6-0.

Still raining !

We went to our block party tonight. A wonderful turnout with us only missing about 4 units. A great turnout. Good Rova presentation, excellent food and a the wonderful group of great people. I had a lot of fun talking to numerous people. Only one odd thing came forward. A suggestion to look at having the party less often instead of every month. I was a little surprised as 40 plus people showing up should indicate people like this event. It is a great way to meet the neighbors. It only needs a little tweaking with seating arrangements and activities to keep the crowd entertained a little longer. I am hoping that the block votes to keep it as is. I think someone is anti social or lazy. Old people ! LOL Viewpoint is a social community. If you don’t like the event DON’T attend and no one will care. Don’t try changing something that affects everyone. Old people !!

Best thing this time there were plenty of devilled eggs and meatballs.

Next party in March Jackie & I are involved with a 3 other couples to organize it . We can address this and hopefully make it a great party.

Thought of the Day

Isn’t it odd that a group for anti-social behavior have never had a meeting. 

February 22nd

“Mercury Forecast  current 10am temp  Mesa 4 degrees, Calgary -4 degrees, Edmonton -9 degrees”

 What is going on ? Only 8 degrees difference. Tucson got hit with snow. Snow in Scottsdale. Snow in Fountain Hills only 15 minutes away. Global cooling has started to happen as we enter the new ice age. A lot of environmentalists will lose their jobs. David Suzuki will start a campfire so he can say it is starting to warm again. The world is turned upside down. Trump will win a Nobel Peace Prize as he was the first to say global warming is a hoax.

Rained all night. Flooding all over the place. Golf course closed down. Two days now in Arizona where I couldn’t golf. Tap water shut off by park. All of this just makes life a little more interesting. I noticed Pat outside sweeping with her gloves on so I had to go outside to bug her. I checked the Superstition Mountains looking from our street for snow but due to the heavy fog I couldn’t see them. I am sure they are covered.  Luckily starting Monday we are in the high 20 all week. The 10 year drought status of Arizona has been removed and with conservative use of water may remain this way for quite a while. Lake Mead  is still 142 ft below full pool level though.

Big day in Raymond AB. Penny Hicken our daughter-in-law is reaching a huge milestone today with her birthday. The girls with the boys are all heading to Waterton for a nice family get together birthday party. Waterton this time of year should be wonderful with the snow. Waterton is like a mini Banff or Jasper but has stayed too low key.

Happy Birthday Penny !

We are all looking forward to seeing how Penny turns out after a new hair dye event. Will her copper hair go blonde, pink or blue.?

We are getting closer to getting rid of the worst Premier of Alberta in history. ( Redford very close) How one government can destroy a province is unbelievable. I have been watching the elections platforms. The NDP should be gone. The City of Edmonton being a capital city that love handouts, socialism , unions, government employees and the governance of the NDP will be the only place Notley will get votes. The younger voter HAS to get smart and realize the impact of environmental, social handouts and union demands are not good for the economy.I like Rachael if only she thought different and was with a different party. Jason Kenny already has come up with some wonderful news items that will get Alberta moving again. I don’t like all of Kenny’s ideas but overall it is the social ones only that are controversial . Here are just a few that are great and  I hope he implements asap.

UCP Platform

• Bill 6 which was a disaster for the farmers. Farmers are a different breed. Safety concerns are important but DO NOT need to be implement to stagnate and incumber one to do normal business. A 12 year old boy driving a tractor is needed on a farm. They are trained enough. A couple of deaths doesn’t mean change the whole system. Good move to fix this bill.
• Eliminate uneconomic subsidies and rebates for wind and solar projects. If the model is good let them stand on their feet.
• Repeal the carbon tax. This carbon tax phenomenon is a disaster and does not work.  Do-gooders pretending that it reduces the footprint. Gone !
• Introduce a job creation tax cut.  We need people working.
• Stop the NDP’s ideological rewrite of the school curriculum and consult with parents and experts to develop a modern curriculum. Ask the teachers want they want and need. Give the students a program that ready’s them for the workforce.
• Recall of MLA’s. Last election we had 20 year old university students elected that are supposed to run a large government with no experience. Look what happened.
• A minimum wage reduction. This program was the biggest loss of jobs and hit to our economy EVER. STUPID idea. Give a kid $15 to serve a burger and ever industry has to raise their salaries to attract and motivate their staff.  It is simple math. Wages have to be a percentage of income. So you have 4 employees at $10 a hour. Your income doesn’t increase so now you can only afford 2.6 employees. Layoffs. This ideology is the most socialist idea ever.
• Lots of other ideas related to opening for business I like.
• Investigate private health care. The health care in this province is so far out of whack it is unbelievable.  AHS is a poorly run organization that over pays and under delivers. Private will ease the load for the public to achieve faster service.
• Halt the NDP K to 12 curriculum change . Let the teachers which are the experts along with the parents have a say.

The one thing I haven’t heard or read about yet is the coal power in Alberta. My hope as soon as he is elected this nightmare is over. Ask Ontario about closing the coal plants. Disaster ! OPEN the plants to full production and sell the excess. We have the cleanest coal in the world. We are so miniscule in our contribution of gases it can’t even be counted.

Debt reduction hasn’t been front and centre but it needs to be. Union employees are severely overpaid. A straight across 10% reduction should be implemented right away. It has to run like  a free market to determine salaries. Decrease every MLA salary and benefits. Decrease every departments  budget until we have a balanced budget. Oh well, your road has a pothole. Too bad your emergency wait was 1 hour longer . The grass on the side of highway looks too long, oh well. What, you have 25 students instead of 24 . The nurse only sees you every hour instead of every 15 minutes. WE NEED TO CUT. YOU CAN’T RUN DEFICITS.

Too bad about Mandel and his incompetence to fill out a form. LOL We don’t need any third party split anyways but he is comical. He sure knows how to spend money though.

Time will tell on the election and how good Jason does his job. I do know it will be 90% better than Notley.

Rained for just about the whole day in fact while we were in Old Scottsdale snow was sticking to the ground. We drove up to Saguaro Lake then headed up the Payson highway. Only a few hundred feet up the mountains was snow. A nice drive and then we headed over to Old Scottsdale and checked out a few shops and galleries. All the while raining.

It was a nice day for a drive around and look see. It is funny here in Arizona as when it rains there are driver warnings everywhere including on freeway overhead boards and signs.

Everyone you talk to, the weather is the first thing mentioned. One thing nice it isn’t about a ache or pain first. LOL

Proud David Mc Happy Meal played tough. Sickened that he only got 2 games for a deliberate intent to injure a follow player. He should have got at least 5 games. And to say he doesn’t think it the penalty was right. You could have killed or injured Leddy for life.

Thought of the Day 

Doesn’t everyone watch two rain drops slide down the window and pretend it is race ?

February 23rd

“Mercury Forecast   Mesa 13 degrees  Calgary -14 degrees Edmonton -15 degrees)

Finally a SUNNY day. This is the last cooler day this season I hope. Starting Monday every day 23  degrees to 27 degrees. It sure has been a cool spell this year. But STILL a way better than negative temps and snow. LOL

Off to a musical today at Barleen’s.

Driving to Barleens in Apache Junction it was amazing. Seeing a Palm tree with the background of a snow covered mountain is very unusual in Arizona.

The meal at Barleen’s was amazing. They feed 500 people a hot delicious meal within 20 minutes. Pulled beef, chicken, ribs with mashed potatoes and carrots was wonderful. Add a huge piece of chocolate cake and you have a fabulous meal .

Todays music was incredible with it being the variety series. It had every genre of music and was exceptional. Trumpets, full band and humour all thrown in. First class and a full house.

After the concert Audrey wanted a nap so Jackie & I headed to Ralph & Tracy for a few night caps. Wonderful conversation and fun.

Ralph and Tracy have committed to buying  a new place and are getting a good deal on one of the newer units. They take possession May 1st so they will need to come back which they are  ok with. I am sure with a few personal changes they will love their new winter home.

Fred & I need more project work anyways so we are looking forward to it.

Walked home and had a small bite to eat and watched a British show on PBS. We all have our preferences. LOL

Great day in the sunshine again. Love it.

Thought of the Day 

What did Britain say to it’s trade partners.  See EU later ? And they weren’t joking. LOL

February 24th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 17 degrees, Calgary -18 degrees , Edmonton -16 degrees” 

SUN  it is so nice to see. Starting today we are getting back to warmth. Finally.

A fun day today as Audrey received her DNA results back. I AM MORE ENGLISH THAN AUDREY ! It is a fun fact. I believe my ancestors were very conservative people and didn’t allow the Viking’s to impregnate our women and dilute our gene pool unlike some other families in England.

English acting, TV shows, newspapers etc I am not a fan of as I find it very similar to Canadian content which is obviously poorer in quality, not marketed very well, poor acting and not well produced plus quite boring.I did love the Monty Python series though. It is amazing the US production companies are so good. You would think with my PURE ENGLISH blood lines it would an automatic thing to love everything English but I am acclimated to and love being the CANADIAN I am. And a English woman wins a Oscar.

I like the fact of my purity and it is fun to tease Audrey that lives and breathes English of mixed race and impurities. Made my day !!

Thought of the Day 

I have always loved  women for their personality . They have 6 so you can choose.

February 26th

“Mercury Forecast  23 degrees  Calgary -14 degrees Edmonton -14 degrees “

What a wonderful fun day. The bus picked us up at 9am sharp in front of the main office. Today was organized by Fred and it turned out perfect. About a 45 min drive to Turf Paradise Horse Racing Track. The place is older but it is in perfect shape, clean and nice. Everything was organized for seating right at the window. Multiple TV’s to watch. The buffet lunch we had was a 10 out of 10. Best buffet other than the Golden Corral. Nice cold beer in a frosted glass. One small complaint. The beer was $ 5.50 each. I can buy a full case for $9.99. But they have to make money at something and this is a sin tax per say. There were at least 30 people in the group and I would bet 75% of them have never horse track bet in their life. Lots to learn. Ralph was our in house expert which helped and the info sheets were very helpful. A lot of fun. Here is the good news. Jackie won double what she wagered and I did the same. I bet $40 and won $85 . So to have a full long day, having fun and learning something was wonderful.

Got home and had a light supper after having the huge lunch. Need to be ready for 6:30 am pickup to golf.

Thought of the Day 

Betting- a sure way of getting nothing from something 

February 27th 

“Mercury Forecast   Mesa 24 degrees sunny  Calgary -2 degrees Edmonton -1 degrees “

What a wonderful day today with the sun being out in full force. My Alberta friends are probably happy with their great temperatures for a couple of days then back to -30 at night by Friday.

Sandy as usual was right on time hitting my driveway at 6:30 am. Sneaking out of house trying not wake anyone up is always hard but I did a great job. Jackie is driving Audrey back to the airport this afternoon.

I did not win any money today. Darn. And I played quite well. Ending up with a Net 69 I have no complaints about and know where I could have been better. Not one lost ball in the desert. I had 4 three to four birdie putts that I missed ending up with pars that would have really helped a few other missed putts and Hole 14 again and it would have been a great day.

Fun group with a Saskatoon guy and two guys from the Riverside Course in Edmonton. The one guy may have been in trouble as he golfed in pain with us thinking it may be kidney stones where the pain was and he kept holding it.

A wonderful day in paradise. Came home had a short visit with Pat & Bob and their friend Merv telling school year stories. Always fun to hear how ” bad” as kids we all were. A few beers later and a few more stories. Fun times.

Pat invited us over for supper at 6 pm which is very nice ( not needed) but very kind especially as she is leaving for a week to Yuma tomorrow. Pizza and salad a staple meal which everyone loves. The pizza was exceptional along with a great Caeser salad. We had a lot of fun taking then we decided to play Crib.  Remember my middle name is Crib ( well I pretend). I have NEVER seen the luck and cards like I received and Jackie with a four card/one card discard. Every hand was 8 points, 14 points, 10 points etc. Amazing. Jackie and I went 4-0 for the night. A fun night, a lucky night and a great meal. Bob was up at 4 am and I at 6am so we called it a 9pm/12pm midnight night.

Thought of the Day 

For anyone that has had the” L “in luck changed to a ” F ”  hang in there as good things will happen.

February 28th 

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 24 degrees Calgary -2 degrees  Edmonton -6 degrees “

One day reprieve then Alberta gets back into the deep freeze. Tomorrow could be us hitting 25 degrees and Alberta hitting -25 degrees.

Fred helped me today replacing the Smart trim on the back of the Arizona room and caulking the downspouts as the heavy rain revealed a few drip spots. A quick trip to Home Depot, Mobile Depot, Tractor Supply and a wiener and bun trip to Costco.  First issue was the trim carried at Home Depot was thinner. Using a undercut jamb saw we removed the poor trim and replaced it with the new stuff but having to shim it to match. Took us a while. First time in a month where Fred broke a real sweat. It was hot working in the full sun.

I whipped to Costco as we are having a after golf “Picnic” at the park and will be roasting wieners along with our spouses. A simple party with Hot Dogs and chips along with cold beer. I stopped and picked up some dry firewood to cook the dogs on as it looked like the wood placed at the firepit may have painted wood mixed up with good wood. The temperature should be around 24 or 25 degrees at 5 pm when we meet. We should have just over 20 people there. Just a fun gathering. Looking forward to that. Need that perfect golf game to talk about and everything will be perfect.

Jackie had her ladies golf today with a after party at Terry’s place. Worked out well as we were able to work all day. Jackie said it was the first day this year she felt hot.

A great day !

Thought of the Day 

How is it you can NOT buy the same quality of wieners as buns. It is impossible. Why ? Pick up the buns you get 12. Pick up the wieners it is a pack of  8. Or you get 24 and 36. It is impossible to match the qty. LOL