November 2nd

Second day travelling. Up and had our great FREE breakfast at Best Western in Idaho Falls. This is a good deal with a wonderful room and a great breakfast all under $100. The Cotton Tree is a very nice hotel steps away from Denny’s and Outbacks so how can you go wrong.

Great weather all the way from Raymond to Mesquite.  This was one of the most interesting trips  we had with great roads but had multiple incidences. This was a fun trip for me. Heading into Salt Lake City everyone knows how busy it gets. What made it fun was the incredible amount of traffic and lane weaves we had to make due to construction. Three and four lanes having to weave at the same time. Take a old man or lady scared stiff or a young girl driving, hanging on for life they make mistakes. I thought I was on a huge go cart track weaving around at 130 kmph. They stumbled and were horrible at staying between the lines. If it was a coloring contest thiers would have been a mess. I enjoyed the challenge of getting around and dodging the no minds. Get two big trucks side by side and it added another whole diminsion. Super fun drive thru Salt Lake which seems to take hours. Another incident some vehicle decided to drive over a cliff and dropped a 100ft plus it tied up traffic as the tow truck had to block the highway. The line had to be 10 miles long. It took us over an hour to get past the accident with stop and start traffic at 5mph. We get a few miles past the accident and road construction stopped us again on the road.

Some may say the drive down is boring. I think NOT. On the way there are three neat statues to look at. The first is high on the mountain near Butte MT with a neat story:

Our Lady of the Rockies is a 90-foot (27 m) statue built in the likeness of Mary, the mother of Jesus, that sits atop the Continental Divide overlooking Butte, Montana. It is the fourth-tallest statue in the United States after Birth of the New World, The Statue of Liberty, and the Pegasus and Dragon. The base is 8,510 feet above sea level and 3,500 feet above the town. The statue sits on private land and is lit and visible at night. It is beautiful. It was originally conceived by Butte resident Bob O’Bill in 1979 as a tribute to the Virgin Mary following the recovery of his wife from cancer.   Later, the statue was additionally dedicated to “all women”

This is the Place Monument at Salt Lake City. This monument is to honor Brigham Young as he found the place as a home for his religion.

There are two huge bull statues on the way. One as a advertisement for a Breeder Bull farm the other just a huge bull up in the mountain ledge watching the highway.

The other thing is the MANSION as the head office for Melaleuca a pyramid scheme company like Amway located on the highway at Idaho Falls. 370,000 sg ft office. Beautiful building. Multi level marketing companies are wealthy but unfortunately the average Joe selling makes very little. Mary Kay, Tupperware, all use the same method.

The other awesome sight is the Virgin River Gorge which is in Arizona just before you enter Nevada. It is a sight for everyone to see.

We left Idaho Falls at 19 degrees and ended at 73 degrees in Mesquite. LOVE IT. Threw my shoes in the back and put my sandals on and I am back in heaven.

Headed to our favorite pub for supper and it was very good again. Jackie has a horrible time finding things she likes to drink or can eat. No seeds, no acid, no tomatoes, no spices, etc makes it hard to get good food. No Paralyzers in the USA makes it difficult for her getting a drink she likes. I am glad I am not fussy or have stomach issues. I like most everything except on the sea food and fish side of things. I do love expensive Halibut dishes. LOL

We should hit Mesa tomorrow late afternoon. I believe a time change will affect us also.

Free breakfast was awesome again. I love it.

We made good time on this shorter leg of our journey. A few stops for a pee break and gas and we arrived at our house around 3pm. So nice to be home.

Always nice to be welcomed by your neighbors for a quick chat before unloading. We had a short visit with Ian & Gail, Anita & Denis, Randy & Donna, Dwight & Gini and a little later with Carol & Russ and Jake & Donna.

A quick break and off to Safeway to load up. The first time is always a little more expensive as there are condiments and such for the entire winter stay you need.

Had a wonderful cool desert sleep in our own bed.

November 4th

Mercury Forecast –  Mesa 29 degrees, Calgary 0 degrees , Edmonton 1 degrees snow 

And you wonder why we love it here.

Today was a day. Wow what a lot of trees to trim.

Randy and I along with Fred started at 9am and worked all day in the heat until about 3pm. We had at least a semi truck worth of branches to take to the dump. Randy took three loads and that still left the semi load.

Lemon tree grew by 10 ft with 3/4 thick branches. Orange tree had 5 ft shooters. Every bush grew more than I have ever seen. Randy is looking at a adding a shed to his lot so we chopped back the Bougainvillea to about a 4ft tree to regrow and be more manageable. The other Hackberry trees we cut off the 4ft shooters and cleaned up a lot of dead wood in the under carriage of the tree. The Oleander tree we cut back to the carport height and then all of the smaller tress and bushes added up to one huge pile of branches. So lucky to have Fred and Randy help also as it was the biggest tree cutting to date. Even bigger than cutting Annette’s  huge Oleander tree.

We gathered all of our landscaping tools and added a pole hedge gas trimmer from Depot. For $50 I tried to make the day easier. I never ever ever want to admit I am weaker than I used to be but a 6 hour day in the 80 degree weather and working gets to me. My broken bicep is a very annoying as I should have had that fixed as it really limits my time over head working. It was great to have the help of the guys.

I look like a lost a battle with a Alley Cat.

All done except for a bit of cleanup and I am glad. Next year I would gladly give up 4 golf games to have someone else cut these.

Power washing the entire exterior and carport, outdoor kitchen is the next project. I need to buy a brush, hose and y connector to use the power washer and brush at the same time. Any pounds gained on the trip down were half gone today.

Talking to Fred he was a victim of suspected food poisoning for his trip down and didn’t feel well for a week. I AM CONVINCED IT WAS CAUSED BY A DELAYED REACTION TO THE FLU SHOT. He did look a lot slimmer with all of the puking and pooping he had going on. He sure worked hard today though, through it all. Tough guy.

He didn’t trust himself with a Fat Willy’s burger night out.

Stopped over at Ralph & Tracy’s new home they bought. Over the summer they had a contractor build them a deck and storage shed. Looks awesome. Ralph was busy laying new vinyl plank flooring in it he got from Costco. Looks wonderful. This is the first year for them so hopefully they enjoy themselves.

Nothing but rest tonight. I stretched out on the couch and closed my eyes when I got into the a/c cooled living room which was wonderful and Jackie brought me supper as I was too tired for Fat’s tonight.

Need to charge my phone as it was dead for the last few days. Need to charge my Garmin watch as it was dead while travelling also.

Good days worth of work !

Thought of the Day 

Nothing like a well trimmed bush.

November 5th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 31 degrees , Calgary -1 snow , Edmonton -6 snow 

Arms and legs a little scratched up. Those trees are brutal. Funny how every desert plant has huge thorns for protection.

Taking a shower this morning it is amazing how much they hurt when hit with hot water. I look like a Edward Scissor Hands victim.

First thing was to pay my HOA for Arizona along with the water and garbage. I pay it every 6 months but may switch to monthly for next time. This HOA is funny as it causes so much angst with the old people. Worry , stress, complaining  and anxiety seem to be a common condition of anyone over 80 years old. My take on this is if you don’t like it and can’t change decide to leave. Just leave.

We pay about $550usd a month. We have two golf courses, 4 swimming pools, 8 hot tubs, multiple pickle ball courts, multiple tennis courts, multiple crafts rooms ( sewing, stained glass, gemology, computer classes, and the list goes on)  A huge 2000 person dance and concert hall with Tuesday night bands and once a month big shows, every kind of club you can think of, dancing lessons, and in an immaculate cared for park with security. To me that’s a deal yet I hear people all of time complain. Amazing to me.

What I didn’t care for was Scotiabank declining my card as it has a lower limit for safety as we use it on the internet and them not approving it for a few hundred over. I will fix this when I am back in Canada. At least they were taking care of me so all is good.

Staring at 10 am after getting all of the tools I needed and worked until 5 pm. My back is shot so tomorrow for golf I will need to take a pill to move. I scrubbed the entire house, I power washed the complete house, washed all of the tables and chairs and decks. Took the covers off the outdoor kitchen and tables. Washed the rugs and started moving stuff out and around.

I worked two days straight about 16 hours and when I went to put the tiles in the outdoor table there were a few spots where I missed and I was told I did a half ass job. Two days and a very sore back half assed isn’t something I like to hear and have never heard before. It was a bit of dust on the ledge of the table where the tile sits in that no one would see anyways.

We had our first evening supper outside on the deck on the half assed cleaned table and it was wonderful. I started up the outdoor kitchen and BBQ’d pork chops, garlic toast and a green salad. Lovely supper and wonderful sitting outside even if it was on a dirty table that no one could see.

I hear the odd cricket out there so will need to get Critter Getter after it. I have one burned out light on my kitchen I will need to replace.

I am driving tomorrow to Whirlwind and picking up a friend from Thunder Bay. Early start as it is 7:30 am tee time and a one hour drive to get there. This elite course and the group is more than worth it for me.

Visited Fred for a bit when dropping off the tools. I don’t think I have ever seen arthritis affect someone so bad. He toe joints are all swollen red. I see his pain . Tough guy to handle that pain. It is a disease that would be nice if they could cure. I guess we have a lot of diseases that need that. But we have pills and vaccines for everything else. If we all took very vaccine  and pill on TV we would explode.  There are over 26 common vaccines. Plus pills for everything. You tell me if that is healthy for anyone to take. We wonder why people are getting Dementia.

Thought of the Day 

Don’t half ass anything. Always use your full ass

November 6th

“Mercury forecast ”  Mesa 31 degrees  Calgary – 6 degrees Edmonton -6 degrees

All this week we do not drop below 30 degrees and see the great white north is going to be in the minus 20 at night. Love the heat !

Up this morning at 5:30am and at George’s door at 6 am to pick him up for our Whirlwind adventure.

As people are just starting to arrive we only had 24 golfers in our group today. I love this group as they are all exceptionally nice and fun to play with. Missed my breakfast eating partner. Don’t these guys realize breakfast is the most important meal of the day. LOL

Today I had a newer guy from Minnesota, a Edmontonian and a Thunder Bay  resident. I have played with Warren and Dale numerous times before.  The greens today due to over seeding that takes place a few weeks ago were slow and fuzzy. These greens are normally like greased lightning. Speaking of lightning we saw numerous flashes in the sky on Hole One but no wind or rain. We all missed so many putts that our scores could have been a way lower. Dale shot a 76 and made it look easy but even he missed putts. I couldn’t get the speed or aim right and finished with a high 80’s score. I still was over all very pleased with my shots. Lost one ball off the tee. Next time the putting will be better as my score today should have been low 80’s. Having a off putting day as a group I still won $10 so that is a good thing. On the money leaderboard so all is good.

Came home and relaxed. Ok I had a catnap.

We had a light supper outside and it was wonderful. I baked my bacon in the oven. I think this is the best way to cook bacon but always struggle with what do to with the fat. I put the bacon in a zip lock in the fridge and when we need or want a piece or two it is there to just heat up. Speaking of bacon there is no difference between Pork and Turkey Bacon so why not have something that tastes good. Turkey bacon is only 25 calories less and has much less protein. Turkey does have a little less saturated fat but how much bacon does one really eat so when you do you should enjoy it. Both are highly processed meat which aren’t the best for us.

Thought of the Day 

Bacon- it is like a high five for your mouth

November 7th 

Mercury Forecast  Mesa 32 degrees  Calgary 6 degrees Edmonton 1 degrees showers 

Jackie worked a bit in the morning then headed out to play golf in her ladies league. I fixed up her cart and she walked off down the road to her first game in Arizona this fall.

Turns out it was a hot one. It hit 35 degrees in the car today.

She told me the story of losing her water bottle water and having to beg for water on hole 5 from a resident backing on to the course. She needs water as she had sun stroke years ago. Luckily that all turned out.

I installed our patio lights and shortened the string. They look a lot better this year. I installed all of our ornaments . One broken Bee which is too bad. Perhaps glue will work. I also need a fix on my water fountain that I will work on when I get everything else got up and done.

I headed over to Fred’s place to help with his project. He wanted barnboards installed as a decorative touch over his privacy fence. He came up with a great idea to countersink the Tec screws which made it look cool. We installed all of the uprights and then installed the boards. They look absolutely wonderful. We installed the decorative metal accents to complete the job. I forgot to get a picture. I may steal the idea for the back off my outdoor kitchen.

Jackie showed up after golf all worn out. Hot long day of golfing. A full 2 hours. LOL But at 35 degrees and walking it takes it toll. Funny thing Jackie is walking to the after party and Terry is taking the golf cart to pick her up and they take different routes. There only two routes and they take the opposite one. I think it is funny especially in todays world with communication devises on every one.

Had a few beer as we admired our handy work.

Whipped to Safeway as I wanted Spaghetti for supper and forgot to buy it the first time. I bought wonderful meat balls to use with it. Awesome meat balls. They turned out perfect. You take a hearty meal of Spaghetti and Meatballs with a full greens salad and garlic toast sitting outside in the warmth you have a little peice of heaven.

At Safeway I took my blood pressure and it is wonderful. 106/73 . Love the relaxation.

Thought of the Day 

Life is about exploring Pastabilites.

November 8th 

” Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 32 degrees, Calgary 13 degrees, Edmonton 4 degrees ( with heavy snowfall warning in effect)

With a forecast of 32 degrees I am sure it will hit 35 again today by the looks of the clear sunny sky. Most days it has been 90 degrees lately but today could hit 95. November is wonderful month as you can sit outside until midnight in the heat. In January we have to turn on our patio heater as it cools fast after sunset.

First game today with my Viewpoint Saskatchewan group of guys. The group has changed dramatically from years ago.  A few of the guys split off and a quite a few new guys came on board. With our organizer now gone we have picked up a new guy to organize which is good. This “new” group of guys are all fun loving and golf loving guys from everywhere. We have Calgary, Calgary, Radium, Regina, Saskatoon, Saskatoon, Lloydminster, and a few other cities all represented.

My hope today is to win a few bucks. No slice and I can score low on Viewpoint but time will tell.

It is getting close to the date where I can hassle my friends on the Oiler’s over achievement . Nice to see Calgary ties for first place with them but I need the Oiler’s to lose the next few games just to reinforce my statement of playing over their heads. Can’t wait to rattle the cage.

It’s bad enough that the government promotes vaccines, pills and flu shots to people that allow foreign substances like mercury to be embedded into our bodies but how about when they inject you with insulin instead of the flu virus in error . https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/10-hospitalized-after-insulin-administered-instead-of-flu-shots-1.4675835

What other mistakes happen. ?

Looking forward to a great Sunday watching CFL. Only the second time this year I am cheering for Edmonton and Calgary to win.

One thing I like about the golf in Arizona is that most courses include the golf cart and a lot of courses include the range. It removes the pettiness of nickel and diming on everything. Speargrass Golf course follows this train of thought and as busy as it is it appears to work.

Today the resident fee at Viewpoint with cart was $45.00 which is awesome. Too bad the rate goes up January 1st.

The course is immaculate this year  with the fairways very green and the greens in great shape. On the fuzzy side with over seeding but very nice yet a little slower than we are used to. I was happy with the golf today. Nice  as we won the front nine, we won the back nine and we won the overall. Three great guys to golf with. My driving was excellent today with no slicing and running up to a few yards from a few greens on the shorter par 4’s from the blue tees.  I took a 7 on a hole with tree trouble otherwise I would have been in the 70’s. I golfed with Kirk, Ron, and Jim W .

A nice social gathering after for the payout and some bragging rights.

Hitting the mid 80’s weather wise and low 80’s score wise made for a great golf outing.

Fun Day !!

Came home and had a nice supper with Jackie. Another wonderful day in paradise.

Thought of the Day

If you are sitting in public and a stranger sits beside you, keep staring straight ahead and say    ” Did the you bring the money “

November 10th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 30 degrees  Calgary -11 degrees ( with snow fall warning)  Edmonton – 8 degrees 

Sports today all day. Edmonton at 11am and Calgary at 2:30pm. We plan to watch it outside on the patio at Ralph & Tracy’s.  Go Stamps Go

Well first thing is it hit 35 degrees today during the game. Even the shade air was warm.We all went over to Ralph & Tracy’s place who just bought a new modular home last year. Ralph has had the deck, shed and flooring all done which is making the place look wonderful. Sitting on the patio with food drink and a big TV what is better?

We had Fred & Terry ( Seba Beach) Ralph & Tracy ( St Albert) Dan & Jan ( Three Hills ) and Dwayne & Linda ( Red Deer ) along with us at Ralphs place to watch the games. Ok to get rid if the elephant in the room. Yes Edmonton won and Calgary lost. That is the way it goes some times. The Edmonton game was a great game the Calgary game not so much. Tracy & Ralph cooked us a wonderful beef roast and along with the other things people brought it was a wonderful meal. Potato Salad and veggie plates and condiments. Great buns to make superb roast beef sandwiches. It was a fun day with everyone and the teasing going on between Calgary and Edmonton with Edmonton fans being the winners today. I hate that. But Edmonton needs hope to help the city and every little bit of good news makes it easier for them. They played exceptionally well and deserved the win.

IS IT JUST ME, BUT ISN’T IT IRONIC THAT EDMONTON IS PLAYING AS A EASTERN DIVISION TEAM WITH THE WAY THEY THINK POLITCIALLY, IT IS SO FITTING. LOL

All said and done a wonderful day sitting outside watching the games in the warmth. A fun day !

Thought of the Day

We didn’t lose the game we just ran out of time.

November 11th 

Remembrance Day / Veterans Day 

It is amazing the sacrifice so many young men and women have made for us over the years. Us as humans are so stupid to always want to fight and kill each other. I can’t imagine the fear as they go to war. Worse part is our idiot Prime Minister stating we have no more money for them as he gives every country money and sets up every immigrants family. I say look after our people that protected us and allowed us to have the freedoms we have today FIRST. Then look after the older people( plus 60) . Then hand out money if we have some left.

It is a time and effort  we SHOULD NEVER forget.

Thanks to everyone that served their country in the past and present.

In our immediate family we had Uncle Bruce die in the Netherlands in WWII. We had Dad and his brother Uncle Roy which was awarded with a purple heart and other metals served their country.

The times we live in are just so sensitive.

Don Cherry is getting a huge push back for comments made. In todays world you can’t say anything without people getting upset. For anyone that has listened to Cherry for 20 years he is a huge supporter of the troops. He makes one comment about new Canadians not buying poppies to support our troops and he could get fired again. Worse part it is directed as the whole population just not new Canadians as we are all immigrants.Think about, no matter where you came from, what nationality you are, if you chose to live in Canada why wouldn’t you buy a $2 poppy to support the people that allowed Canada to be the great country it is and you living in it. It is a strange world.

It came to fruition and it should NOT have. I think there should be a blow back on Sportsnet by us not watching it and boycotting it from the advertisers.  Won’t happen as they don’t want any controversary. It is becoming a much, much too sensitive world and certain things are changing for the worse to accommodate.

A fun day for us. Jackie & I headed out to Western Ski Golf resort. It sort of is my go to place if I don’t play Viewpoint. We had a blast and the course was in excellent shape and hitting 85 degrees again today. The greens are identical to Viewpoints with the over seeding and the fuzzy tops making them a little slower. We played as a threesome today with a young girl about 23 yrs old from Nebraska. She is currently from Vegas and plays the pro circuit down here called the Cactus League trying to make her way up the big leagues. Ironic and the first time I witnessed a lady named Victoria going by the name Tori or Tor. We had a lot of fun talking. We played from the same tee box and I was very happy that I outdrove her on every hole but her second shots, putting and chips were perfect. She is 5ft 3 and I am 6ft 3 and her driving distance was close to mine. She was good. Beautiful swing with no mistakes. I played decent ending up with a 81 but that wasn’t close to her score. Today was her practice round for tomorrow’s tournament. Such a nice quiet polite young lady. Jackie and I even had the middle child syndrome in common with her. She will do well.

Here is her bio. She could become a superstar golfer and already is extremely accomplished.

https://gorunners.com/sports/womens-golf/roster/tori-peers/3424

After the game we went out for supper and ended up at a wonderful Chinese Restaurant that as usual gives a way way too much food. Awesome food  J & K Chinese.  Lots of leftovers for tomorrow.

Thought of the Day 

Don’t you hate singing to a song on the radio and the artist gets the words worng.

November 12th 

“Mercury Forecast ”  Mesa 28 degrees, Calgary 4 degrees snow/sleet, Edmonton 2 degrees

A little cold this week with the highs only being 27 to 29 degrees. Not one 30 degrees this week. But I have by experience know that when they say 28 it can hit 32 degrees very easily.

Stopped by Fred’s place to see his new LED lights. I think this will be awesome and look great. Great job installing them.

I broke down and ordered my new tires today. I did a lot of pricing research and brand research and the best deal I can get is from Big O Tires. Costco Canada was $11 more than Costco US for my brand of tires but I am going with Nitto tires this time. Same mileage warranty as the Bridgestone we have, which are getting about 90,000 kms out of them but a great price as they have a buy 4 get 2 free promo on. They are a Japanese brand making tires sense 1949. My current tires are down to 2 or 3/32 nd on the outside edges. The only negative review I can find is the traction on ice. BUT that is the same review on EVERY low profile tire. I don’t believe they should put these on passenger vehicles unless you are going for high performance only. Nitto tires are sold as one of the quietest tires made. All booked in for next Tuesday. Tires are expensive with a $1000 USD bill down the tubes.

Walked the bikes up to the pool where we have a public free air compressor and filled the tires up to the recommended amount. All set to go now.

Filled the beer fridge and set to go there.

Terry & Fred came over after supper and we had a few drinks and then started our crib games. As usual guys against the girls. I will say this night was a very scary night as the girls gave us a run for our money with some luck. We skunked them. Then they win. We win. They skunk us. It all ended up with Fred & Larry winning overall by one game. Winners again. Love the game. As it only hit 30 above here today at 9pm a few people had to put on a light coat to take off the chill.

Thought of the Day 

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand !

November 13th

“Mercury Forecast ”  Mesa 28 degrees, Calgary 11 degrees , Edmonton 8 degrees

Sandy was right on time at 6:45 picking me up for golf. We had golf at Southern Dunes today as a tournament was at Whirlwind. First let me say the course was in the best shape of any course in the area this fall. Amazing. This is a hard course .  A typical course will have 1-2 acres of sand traps. This course has 12 acres of sand traps. The greens are narrow and protected on all sides including the front of a lot of greens.  There are 129 sand traps with a average over 7 per hole. I think I hit half of them on my second and third shots. Struggled getting out.

The course currently boasts several coveted accolades that include Golfweek’s list of the “Top 100 Resort Courses,” “Best Courses You Can Play,” and “Top Casino Courses,” as well as Golf Magazine’s list of “Top 100 Courses You Can Play.”

The funny thing is I drove perfect not losing one ball and not hitting one trap. Then trap after trap taking sometime threes shots to get out of a 4ft deep trap. I had fried egg shots that turned into scrambled eggs shots. So needless to say it was a high score. But I still won $5 which is good. I just couldn’t handle the sand.

I broke my watch strap awhile back but I don’t need anything at the moment from Amazon so haven’t order a new one yet but need to as I was up too many time watching the clock waiting for the alarm to go off.

Came home and had a nice cat nap on the couch on the back deck. Nothing better than sleeping outside in the shade and warmth.

Relax ,watch a bit of TV  especially the CMA’s and go to bed early.

Thought of the Day 

I was just thinking about it getting a little chilly the other night. Why didn’t Jackie and Terry just stand in the corner as it is 90 degrees ? 

November 14th -15th-16th

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 28 degrees  Calgary 4 degrees Edmonton 2 degrees

The girls are off golfing this morning and then to a after party at Terry’s place. Jackie is rushing trying to fit in work, this event and the after party today. Too much .

It was another beautiful day with no wind and full sun so the girls had a great day to golf.  I whipped up to Fred’s place with the wine and eggs for the after party and helped a bit moving tables etc. Terry had everything pretty well organized. He did a quick fix to under storage bin and then we left before the ladies all showed up.

Both of our blocks struggled with finding a good ladder so we decided to split one so off to Harbor Freight we went. Fred had a coupon so we got a $239 multi function for $ 110. Split with taxes it cost each of $60 so we will now have a great ladder to use when we need it. And it was a good deal. We could have waited until Black Friday and saved about another $11 but then you have long line ups and risk of no stock.

Off to the Depot to look at fence gate kits for Fred but we couldnt find one he liked so Amazon search to the rescue hopefully. At Depot they had an electronic keyless entry with lever lock on sale for Black Friday at $48. That is an amazing deal.  It is not Weiser. I love Weiser but their locks are just too expensive as a comparable is over double and more depending on iif it is also smart key. I will have two keys but as it is electronic I really don’t need the key anyways. I used Defiant actually makes a great lock. I am hopeing the keyway matches our existing locks.

We came home and still had time to kill so decided to head to the patio at Fat Willy’s for some jugs and wings. Nothing better than sitting on the patio in the sun having a ice cold beer and a chicken wing. Happy hour started at 2pm so we even did better getting a cheap price on everything.

Came back to help the girls cleanup but they were mostly done already. Had a few more beer sitting around talking to Fred & Terry when Ralph & Tracy showed up. A few more cold beer. Hard to lose weight here. LOL  A lot of beer.

We leave and arrive at home and just get out of our car when the neighbors yell come on over for a drink.  They always have good wine. Ian & Gail are wonderful interesting poeple. They have cruised and seen most of the world.  It is always enjoyable to talk with them as they always have interesting stories and are very intelligent interesting people. They are from BC but think like Albertans which is nice.

Watched a few Jack Ryan and Hanna Prime series the last few nights.

I had my men’s league on Friday and didn’t win any money. My partner and I won the front nine with a combined score less on each and our competition won the back nine using the same format. When I double checked the scoring if I had used the double point system with the low score from each player we would have won the front, back and overall. So we gave away a few bucks but I have always lived with the mantra of KISS.  A lot of fun and my partner and I both scored low 80’s so all was good. Decent golf game overall. Again remove one 7 score on one hole and I am below 80. It will happen soon again.

We got up early and the girls wanted to go for a garage sale ride around the park as it is the fall bonanza. Luckily Jackie only came back with a couple of bucks of actually useful things. Less for us to sell in March at the next sale. Best deal around was Fred’s trike bike multiple speeds and large cushion seats. The old guys loved this and the buyer drove home extremely happy with his amazing bargain and quality deal.

With Jackie’s help we are organizing a wiener roast  with the golf guys and wives this Friday. I just have to wait for the ok to move forward. I like to get everything organized early so will require amount of people coming etc.

Installed my new electronic lock. I LOVED Weiser having sold it since 1977. Weiser changed and got a little cheaper over the years had issues along the way with backsets etc but always in my mind one of the best locks made. This Defiant lock is as good as Weiser if not better for a lot lot less money. I was impressed with their handing switch, the screw line ups and the latch extension system plus the setting of a new code was so simple. LOVE IT !

We came home after Fred’s and installed the lock, swept up the dead crickets from the recent bug spraying, walked up to the library and then relaxed a bit after stopping at Safeway for a few groceries.

The controversy of Don Cherry remains a hot topic here in the park as most of the residents are Canadians. You have the Humbolt Bronco’s dissing the CTV after the View’s commentator made stupid remarks and you have Ron Mclean not quitting after the  disgusting treatment of a hockey and Canadian icon. Even Booby Orr the mild mannered gentleman he is was extremely upset. The world is a strange place.

Thought of the Day 

Not all that are wandering are lost. Some are looking for garage sales.

November 17th-18th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 30 degrees  Calgary 12 degrees Edmonton 7 degrees

I see snow in Calgary this week coming up and a little rain in Mesa.  It is a busy next week with 3 golf games, a repair shop day for tires, more tree cutting on Tuesday, Block Party, Welcome Back Dance, Jackie’s golf league and a annual wiener roast for about 20 people plus watching the CFL today and next Sunday. Busy.

With next year being a BIG year with Jackie hitting 60 and us having our 40th anniversary we were quite indecisive in what we wanted to do. Well one of us anyways. LOL Finally we agreed we would go a cruise for Jackie’s birthday and just veg out at a lake for our 40th for a week or so. I would like the lake to be lower BC if possible. We threw out a few ideas as far as Ireland Cruise, cross Canada motorhome trip, Hawaii cruise, Australia, river cruise but when it came down to what we really wanted and costing we decided on a Alaska cruise which we have always wanted to do but just never planned.  We both don’t care for 8-15 hour flights unless it is something we really want to see. For anyone that likes to Glamp a beautiful lake in our motorhome at a nice spot with trees , peace & quiet and a golf course near by is every bit as fun.

They say things come in threes. The Stamps lose, the Eskimo’s lose and now the Riders lose. Then I see the Flames take a burning with a 6-0 loss. Come ON. The Stamps lost to a better team that day. The Eskimo’s lost due to horrible refs but worse play calling. Numerous times when it is a do or die game you have to be aggressive and take a risk and it came back to bite them. The Riders same thing. Bad plays called from the QB and coach the entire game. It was theirs and they let slip away.

One prediction is that Jason Maas gets fired. I also think Calgary may lose Bo.

Fred & Terry made us Chili for the game plus a lot of extra’s. They are the best hosts ever. Terry goes over board every time. Sitting outside at 30 above watching the game is wonderful. Fred moved his TV to the side yard which was great for seating and getting out of the sun. Ate a way too much combined with a few too many beer. I had a Fred sized Rye but had to switch back to beer as it was too strong for me. I like the taste of rye but it is like Chili or any spice if too strong not as enjoyable. I bought the ingredients for Caesar’s so may try them out next time.. Even though it was two losses in a row the event was fun to watch and the company great.

We walked home to get a bit of exercise and watched a bit of TV to end the night.

Thought of the Day 

The problem every team has is it hard to win if you always losing.!

November 18th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 29 degrees, Calgary 6 degrees with snow, Edmonton 7 degrees

What a beautiful day. Warm, warm, sun and NO wind again. Just perfect weather. The golf course is in exceptional shape. Good weather and a couple of bucks on the line I expected to do well. It turned out only ok. It all started with hole number 1. My drive sliced real bad with everyone watching and most likely went over the houses and hit the Nine hole course. No windows which is good. It took a couple of holes to recover.

Telling Jackie the story it hit me,considering the “NEW ABNORMAL” way of thinking I WAS BULLIED TODAY ON THE COURSE. The shame, quilt,teasing and laughter from the fellow golfers was intense. It was mean spirited and judgmental.  I am going to talk to the clubhouse as they didn’t protect me from this hostile environment.

Do you think it will fly ?  LOL

I lost $2.00 today as the team we were playing just played better. Any time I am not knocking on a high 70’s to very low 80’s score it is annoying. As always it was a blast with the guys being able to tease them and get it back.  My adversaries today were Ron and Mike which are fun to play with and against, but Ron is mister steady never making mistakes. He ended up low gross of our group. I like playing well but it wasn’t to be today.

We had a nice gathering at Mike’s place after. His house is actually the one that I thought Keith & Jenny were going to buy a few years ago. His side and back yard is private and for the 12 guys we had today we all fit perfect. My patio with tables and chairs struggles with that size of group. Deb, his wife who is the only wife in our group that doesn’t clean their husbands golf clubs after golfing went all out with sausage, cheese, pickles, biscuits, spinach dip and more. Awesome !

Came home and I cooked a wonderful BBQ pork chop supper with mashed potatoes and peas. Love sitting outside in the warmth for supper.

Didn’t take Don Cherry long to get a new gig. A podcast where he can say what he wants and means and if he says anything a little too controversial his son is the co-host who wont turn his back on Don like Ron Mclean did to keep his job.

Thought of the Day 

A journey of 1000 miles must start with one step !

November 19th 

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 25 degrees -rain, Calgary 0 degrees -heavy snowfall warning, Edmonton 2 degrees snow 

Met Fred at OK Tire at 8am to take the Buick in. After dropping it off and picking up some boards we headed out to Cozy Corner Café a Ma & Pa breakfast place. This is a great place with wonderful décor and excellent food. Fred marked in his GPS for future visits.

Then off to work. We cut all of the large branches back on the Lemon tree so I can control it and shaved the outside to shape it. I then shaved and trimmed the Orange tree. I then cut my Texas Sage down to 1ft high in the hopes I can control and shape in over our stay. I caulk a few cracks as the rain is supposed to come tonight. Fred helped Randy with his Prickly Pear Cactus while I caulked.

Then off to Fred’s place. We started with pulling out his Cactus with his truck. This 4ft tall Cactus is sharp but we managed to get it out quite easily. We then trimmed the Orange tree and Fred cut back two Palm Trees on the side of his house. After loading it all we then cut back Dale’s Lemon tree with the Sawzall which worked out good. A good trimming day with everything working out great except for the unloading as Fred will be on his own as I have early morning golf. I will see if Randy can be there at the same time to help Fred.

I knew the brakes were getting low as it is the original pads and they are at 200,000 kms. The back ones were at 3mm so I am having all four changed out while up on the hoist. Big bill but the Enclave has been an exceptional vehicle with no repairs except for these maintenance issues. I always relate it one or two months payment on a new one. No thanks.

Wind and rain came up and chased me into the house. I see a few fix spots in my trough that I will repair when it is drier.

The new tires are amazing. Drives like a new car. They seem to stick better to the road and quiet quiet. Now if they last the 80k kms like they are warrantied to do it will be a good thing.

Second time in recorded history my Whirlwind men’s league has been cancelled due to weather. It has rained too much and will continue to do so tomorrow morning so the organizer called it. There are a way too many good days to golf in rain. LOL

Thought of the Day 

One thing nice about golfing in the rain is no one can see that you are crying !

November 20th-21st

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 20 degrees -flash flooding warning, Calgary 1 degree Edmonton 1 degree

A lot of rain. It poured and it blew. This is the first rain day Mesa has  seen of rain in over 2 months so it is welcomed. When I say it poured it was heavy but the news said we didn’t even get a one full inch of rain. Does smell nice in the desert though.

Fred picked me up and we headed to the dump to get rid of our trees, branches and cutoffs. It worked out pretty good.  Entering the dump the attendee RAN up to the truck as I had put our water fountain on the top that had a small leak that we decided we didn’t really need or want anymore. He said his wife has projects that she will use it for.

Some note worthy things happening that can cause one to say ” What ?”

1. The Flames are sucking and I only have a few days left before I have to eat crow. I will spin the positives the best I can find. LOL
2. McHappy and his Oiler’s are playing away over their heads and are going to lead their fans down the road of hope only to find a huge cliff that they will fall over. Sooner than later I hope.
3. Don Cherry has started his new Podcast which will be very successful. I would love CBC to pick it up as a 1/2 hour TV show and play it on Saturday night at the end of every first period.
4. Rachel Notley is continuing to lose the respect of the voters and peers with her desperate antics. Trust her on not wanting to save dollars by merging departments together which means layoffs including a key figure. The investigation will continue.
5. First rain in 2 months in Mesa. Still warm at 20 above.
6. Impeachment process is a joke. The difference between a quid pro quo and bribery are huge. Trump is a negotiator and loves leverage. Is that bad ?
7. Snow and cold in Alberta is ugly for the residents but I do enjoy watching the news with the chaos it creates.
8. Every main country today has a screwed up government. The USA, Canada, UK, Korea, China, Iran, France, Belgium, Greece, Russia, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Venezuela and the list goes on. Why is the general population not happy?
9. No pipelines ,now no rail to carry wheat and oil. Albertan’s will get killed again !!!

Rather than think for themselves “you people” and by you people I mean everyone, follow like blind sheep and never investigate or question anything. If a govt representative says or does something and the other party doesn’t care for it their supporters jump on the band wagon without any hesitancy. Think for yourselves and learn about what you are considering instead of following. To disagree is good if everyone respects and understands the rationale.

“Memories”

I remember one sales meeting my company hired an outside group to give us a presentation. This “expert” went around the table and asked the group to describe themselves using a color. One guy says red and the host jumps on it. ” You are angry, you attack when things go wrong, you need to slow down and think before talking and on and on” Next guy says black. ” You are dark. You need to be lifted up each day and on and on. When the host came to me I said ” I am sorry I don’t believe there is ANY value in this” and refused to give a color. She moved on quickly. Even today all of these gimmicks that companies buy into are a pure waste of money. Role playing, breaking a pine board or falling backwards to be caught DOES NOT CREATE team building or provide a close sense to something that is real. I believe it is an instant in time, in a fake surrounding, with one goal and that is to finish the dumb class as fast as possible for most people so they can get back to real work.

Politics are very interesting I have discovered, and as a generalization the less mature voter, newer immigrants, less fortunate, and minimalized sectors of the population always lean to the left as their ideology is wonderful but not realistic or financially sound. Left is as close to socialism as possible. Ask Sweden how they like paying a 62% income tax rate. Families tend to vote as their parents did and grandparents etc for years in the past. Today that is changing but unfortunately the parties gaining new interest are damaging to our way of life that being the NDP and Green. I have in the past voted for PC, Wildrose, Reform, and UCP as I find these parties values of economic growth, social interference, environmental platforms all align better with the way I think. I would vote Liberal if they had a common sense platform as well but being Liberal means debt.The NDP is the most interesting party as their history in very elected province has been a disaster and yet they continue to gain momentum when environmental issues and social reform become more hot topics. What is really odd the NDP supporters never seem to get it. I am not saying they are dumb just that they have  poor decision making skills.

The rain has been quite steady and hard. Two months without it though no one is complaining.

I went to Safeway today and picked up everything for our Weenie roast after golf tomorrow which should be fun. Hopefully everyone has a good time. Got some banana peppers, relish tomatoes, cheese etc for garnish.

I needed a new golf bag as my old JW one broke that the guys had bought me for my 25th work anniversary. My friend Larry P graciously gave me one he had from quite a while ago.  It was older by a high quality OGIO bag which are very nice but it had a few zipper issues and some wear and tear. I was going to buy a new one then I remembered I have brand new Cleveland Golf bag that Jess & Tor bought me years ago that I kept in Arizona for company to golf with so needless to say it only has been on the course a few times. I loaded up all of my clubs and I am set to go. Threw away my JELD-WEN towel as it was getting a little sun faded and worn looking. Last of my JW stuff I have . I have a few work shirts with the logo on it.  Love the new bag.

Watching the news I am disappointed in the Alberta population as a whole. Kenny is making some needed cuts and everyone is becoming so negative about it. Encana leaving Canada for a corporate office in the USA, Co-op stores laying off 200 people, CBE laying off 300 contract teachers, long term business closing down left and right and people still don’t get. Alberta is hurting due to low oil pricing and markets to ship to and now with CN on strike Alberta and oil get another huge kick.  China refusing our products and now wheat shipments stopped due to the rail strike the poor farmer is going to take a beating. To put things into perspective : Encana is leaving due to Federal government policy. A USA location allows them better access to market capital due to government policy. Co-op is  restructuring due to a change in supply needs. In a robust economy this may not have happened. CBE needs to wake up. Nobody in their right mind can believe our students are going to get the same level of education with 300 less teachers. That is asinine and unbelievable they would suggest such a thing. Says something about their integrity as they only announced it trying for public support which I hope they don’t get. I liked the Education Minister suggesting an external audit of the CBE as to the why they cant deliver the needed service when they have more money than most Canadian school jurisdictions. Perhaps a FIRING of the board and a massive reduction in salaries of the top echelon. Cutting has to continue and yes there will be firings and layoffs but a little pain for a long term gain is needed ,again. Why we can’t control ourselves is beyond me. I relate it to the “me” mentality in wanting everything but not willing to pay for it. Easy fix is hit Albertans with a 8% Provincial Sales Tax and a new law stating no salary increase higher than the cost of living in any year. Every department needs a complete cost cutting audit.

“Memories” 

I remember when JW took over Henderson’s and they had a complete different methodology of calculating the  P+L down loading everything to the branch. You go from a profit center to losing money. I had numerous sessions ( Notice I didn’t call them meetings) with all of my key staff members to cut costs. Everyone of them found us huge savings to make us profitable again. We installed energy efficient lighting, motion sensor lights, reduction in telephone costs, buying better both of material and usage of packaging materials, and calculating overtime, new propane contract, recapping tires instead of new ones, competitive quotes on everything to ensure we are getting the best value, offering time off in slow periods in lieu of overtime, and on and on. I would go thru the P+L line by line with the guys to determine if we could find a solution and compare it the last month every month.

I made a wonderful supper with fresh rigatoni, spicy Italian meatballs dressed in Olive Oil and a great salad. The picture looks like it is a menu item at a restaurant. Wonderful supper !

Here is hoping our economy gets a upbeat momentum soon so we are the Alberta we once were. Unfortunately the youth of today and the socialist thinkers are not making it easy to do. If they could only have witnessed getting a job the next day you wanted one, being paid higher than any other province for the same job, getting 5 to 10 % salary increases, getting huge bonuses as your company was doing well, cars being replaced rather than driving older ones,  experiencing the hustle and bustle of a live marketplace with homes being built slower than demand, and people experiencing joy in living in Alberta. We can have that again. Never with the NDP and never with Trudeau.

To watch Notley embarrass herself is pitiful. Bill 22 is only  a cost cutting measure to bring two departments under one umbrella. It will receive Royal Assent with no issues.  The investigations will continue until satisfied no matter who is working on them. They don’t go away. The fines already show the whole process was tainted but Kenny wasn’t involved. Why she is blowing Bill 22 up to bigger proportions other than to show she is still around is amazing. Her union friends have lots of protests planned so she should be busy at all of the rallies since she isn’t allowed in house anymore.

Thought if the Day 

Bad governments are elected by people in two ways. Those that are blind followers and don’t understand platforms and impacts, economics, unrealistic goals, and priorities and those that don’t vote.

November 22

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 18 degrees -sunny, Calgary 4 degrees  Edmonton 5 degrees

Rained for most of the day yesterday but still at 18 above and mist or rain it is nice. Funny as our neighbors walking home last night commented ” Was that you Larry walking slowly in the pouring rain whistling away”  Yes it was as I went for a few walks around the park and got caught in the rain.

We had our first Block Party last night. Unfortunately a major strong wind assisted rain storm right in the party. Luckily the hosts patio is huge and accommodated the amount of people and kept everyone dry. There was always a dissention between choosing the rooms at Northpoint or having it on the street. I like the street as it is more intimate, casual and enjoyable. Having the bad weather hit makes people lean to a room. Great attendance and as always lots of good food to go around.

I sure hope I don’t start thinking like a old person. We had a lady on our block investigate new Christmas decorations for each house and the price tag came in at $80. She put a lot of effort and time into investigating into this but held back due to the costing issue.Everyone is hesitant in spending the money to look nice.  I am thinking to myself. $80 amortized over ten years life span of the decorations is $8 a year. That is 4 cups of coffee.  Oh well. I said to Jackie I am making my own this year and when the block decides I will redo. Indecision is my nemesis.

We only stayed at the party for about an hour as we had tickets for the dinner & dance. This was amazing. This is one huge benefit of Viewpoint. Our supper was 5 stars or 10 out of 10. We had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, with gravy ,veggies and bun . Exceptional tasting, hot, large portioning and including pumpkin pie. AWESOME !

The band was great. Our seats were far enough away we didn’t have to scream at each other. Wonderful singing and great selection of music. Plus our seats were close to the bar. Wine, beer and Caesars all were good. Danced a fair amount and had a very enjoyable evening. Where can you get an incredible tasting meal and a band dance for $15.00.

12 years ago when we first starting going to these dances the wine was $5 a bottle and beer $2. Times have changed as beer is now $5 and wine $12. Still good deals

Sunny and warm again today.

I golfed with Viewpoint guys today. Started off strong with a birdie and then the slice started to hit again. A fair amount of pars, another birdie and couple of stupid holes ending in a low 80’s score is ok but I hate not playing well. It was a lot fun but it ended up costing me $3.00. The slice is funny as I can go a few games and then it comes or I can go 10 holes and then it hits. Causes scoring issues. Bob Spencer today drove the ball incredibly well hitting every fairway dead center. Makes me jealous.

After golf we all met at the BBQ pits and had an excellent weenie roast with 20 guys and gals. It is so wonderful sitting outside, watching the sunset in warmth and cooking a dog. This time I bought potato salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, chips, with peppers, sauerkraut, onions, tomatoes, mustard, ketchup, relish, cheese, two different kids of dogs, sausage, and a few misc. items all thrown in. Only hic cup is in my calculations of buns to dogs. How is they can’t make the qty the same. Some have 8, some have 6  some 12 and they never match and I miscalculated so we had about 6 more dogs than buns. Darn !   A nice welcome party and hopefully a annual event to open and close the season.

Finalized and booked our cruise in Sept for Jackie’s birthday which will be a lot of fun.  I love cruising for the food, entertainment, and excursions. Sept is nice as it limits the quantity of kids on the ship.

Thought of the Day 

Are you living your best life ? It may be difficult, but you can do it. Life is too short and unpredictable to keep dreaming and talking about what you need and desire to do. The only way you or I can move in a different direction is to take action. Without action you will miss living your best life ?

November 23rd

“Mercury Forecast”   Mesa 22 degrees  Calgary 8  degrees Edmonton 9 degrees -rain

Walked up to Fred’s place to start working on his new gate we are building. The project took a lot longer than expected but turned out fantastic. We used barn wood vertical planks and with  new iron work that Terry bought on it the gate finishes off their patio. A few things out  of square complicated the process but when done to the eye it looks wonderful. I forgot to get a picture but will tomorrow.

We had to make quick trip for the correct length of Tex screws and we headed to the Depot for a few pavers, and fittings to make a door stop for the gate. This Home Depot was bad with inventory control. Every size we tried 3/8, 1/2 or 3/4 they didn’t have all three pieces we needed to complete our project. Luckily further down the aisle we found a substitute black annealed so we bought it. When a store clerk came by when we were looking at the product and asked us if we needed help I got to have fun bugging him on poor, poor inventory control. His excuse was  plumbing was on a computer generated ordering system. No excuse as a store should NEVER be out of stock or at least should be a extreme odd occurrence based on a manufacturers issue. Lots of fun teasing him though.

When we went to use the table saw the blade was so dull it was useless and we couldn’t cut through soft pine. You can have a $100 saw with a good blade and it operates like a $800 saw. Fred and I split the cost of two new blades for the saw. Don’t know how it got so dull from last year so fast. I change out blades as soon as they are minimally dull as you get a better cut, faster cut and away better than burning out the motor.

The girls were out shopping today to their favorite décor stores but only came back with a few items. But nice items.

Fred made homemade coleslaw and wanted me to taste it. I love coleslaw and like all different types but this slaw is the Best I have had. It was pickled. He made it for the Grey Cup gathering tomorrow which I am looking forward to. Yummy !

Pizza for supper. Stuffed but happy. TV watching night !

Just about forgot. I was going ahead with my Christmas light and display but all of a sudden emails left and right of people actually agreeing to spend some money to make our lane look great. So rather than go ahead I figure I would wait.

Thought of the Day 

Cruise like a sailor, drink like a pirate !! And remember Rule #1 Don’t fall off the boat .

November 24th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 22 degrees Calgary 4 degrees and Edmonton 3 degrees-rain/snow 

I am finding it a little frustrating and annoying with the youth in particular in our society and the quantity of individuals that are left thinking . They whine they are struggling financially, they can’t find a job, the government isn’t looking after their best interests, we are destroying the environment etc etc. and yet still want the best of everything.

The UCP announced a possible change in drugs covered. Generic drugs are IDENTICAL to the brand name drugs and are a less costly instrument to control a disease . Once a patent time allowance is over another lab can produce the SAME drug as the original. A patent protects the industry so that companies that invest billions in research and marketing can get a return on investment. After the patent has expired a generic form is available without any attached marketing costs or research costs. IT IS THE IDENTICAL DRUG and is monitored by numerous agencies to be such.  The UCP announced a change and the drug currently used for Crohn’s and certain types of Colitis will be switched to the biosimilar form. They are looking at only paying for the GENERIC brand which is referred to as Biosimilar from the original Biologic. How anyone can think this is wrong is beyond me. To cost cuts is the proper thing to do especially when an  offer to pay for the exact same drug is there. Don’t you think the original drug manufacturer is going to fight this tough and nail to protect it’s interests all the while causing the left wing nuts to think the UCP is hurting people directly. Come on !

My Coversyl went from .44 cents a pill to .20 cents a pill. Coversyl is still covered by my plan but why would I not try to save a buck for all of us so I switched. IT IS THE IDENTICAL PRODUCT.

I don’t know what the solution is to stop this craziness. I think it just has to be bullied through and hopefully the result is enough even for the naysayers to start to see the light. Hard to do as they want everything for nothing with out any fact checking, compromise or reasoning.

My last comments on the UCP versus NDP agendas as I believe in more positivity than I am witness to in the news. I say push as much common sense policy through as fast as possible and let the socialists thinkers of Alberta continue to cry. Good for you Kenny having the courage do to what you believe is right and hopefully not make too many mistakes doing it .It’s too bad a few incidents have happened that tarnish the agenda bit like Bill 207 which never came to fruition and the improper use of government property , some controversial changes that may or may not be good like Bill 22 but overall exceptional.

It will need to be a big THING before I mention anything about the government of Alberta again as it is tiresome. Ok a mid sized thing. LOL

It is a beautiful day here in Arizona hitting 22 degrees as we ready ourselves for a hum drum Grey Cup. The hi-lite maybe the 12 minutes that Keith Urban plays.

I do know one hi-lite I am looking forward to is Fred’s coleslaw and ribs.

5:30 and getting a little earlier each day the sunsets. Nice with the golf rates as we get twilight with golf cart at $38 after 1:30pm. That is a sweet deal. January 1st the rates go up but Nov/ Dec golf is sure cheap.

I have one more  golf game left before leaving. Why are we leaving again ?  Oh well I do like Turkey dinner and it is always nice to see everyone. This year Christmas is at our house so it will be full with people sleeping over and dinner.

Fred & Terry are unbelievable hosts making us awesome ribs and wonderful homemade coleslaw. A better description may be the worlds best. I loved it. What an great meal.

Finally a game goes how I want it to go. The Bombers played spectacular, Harris winning MVP and best Canadian is well deserved yet I didn’t see a car presented to him ? A fun game to watch and a well played game. Nice that ESPN is going to show every CFL game next year to the American audience.  A very nice day and night .

Thought of the Day 

Why doesn’t the Grey Cup have commercials that everyone wants to watch. Just saying !

November 25th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 21 degrees  Calgary 1 degrees  Edmonton 1 degrees

I am figuring a lot of trips to the Depot today. I am caulking the eavestrough, replacing a elbow and checking where I have a small leak in the corner of the smart trim.  I am installing my Christmas lights and decorations today taking into account our new decoration for next year with new extension cords and net lighting.

One month until Christmas. I love the food, gifts, visiting with family and friends and it just is a “nice: time of the year with everyone in seemingly great moods. Until they can’t a present for someone. LOL

I saw an interesting article in the Sun and agree completely. In todays environment people have forgot how to have a disagreement. Years ago people would state points and you would discuss without emotion and anger. Today it is instant protests, marches, anger and retaliation. Discussion with different points of views are fun. I have always liked to take the opposite side or play the devil’s advocate just to raise the ire of someone. I find it a very interesting interaction. As I have previously said  numerous times before, instant anger and foul language brought on by disagreement is a sign of a weaker mind and is a person’s defense system that a lot of people use.  Any opposite view can be persuaded to compromise if both sides are reasonable. To “win” any argument requires patience, true facts, compromise, understanding and forgiveness as a persons point of view can be made in error based again on emotion without factual information or because everyone else thinks something is right and they feel a kinship to. My Mom always said I should been a lawyer sense I was a young kid. Teasing, devils advocate, picking the opposite side, poking, ribbing, arguing, throwing out hay makers all make for a fun day. LOL

Started at 9 am this morning and worked until 4pm.

I started with  the Christmas decorations which are always fun. Trip to the Depot and Fred’s for tools I was off. The new snow flake lights look awesome. I installed with a clip system I can use each year over and over again.  Nicely lined up and a great look about them I also installed the Santa Bear and lighted wreath. Along with that I have a lighted garland and three lighted Candy Canes. I had a two tree net lights but Jackie talked me out of them based on costing. The house is looking good and on a timer for December.

Off to Walmart and bought a couple of gifts to take back.

Horse races tomorrow with the owner of Regal Building Materials.

Come on Flames give me something before I send an email eating crow. Why LOL

I was thinking wouldn’t it be great idea just to make a huge lighted sign “Ditto” when you are bedside the Griswald on your block.

Thought of the Day

Be naughty ! Save Santa a trip. 

November 26

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 15 degrees  Calgary – 5 degrees snow Edmonton  -6 degrees snow

It appears the cold air is hitting everywhere. Even our hot spot here in Mesa is colder than normal for a couple of days. I see the -20 temperatures at night coming up for Calgary just as we get home and go burr. It would be nice if the USA would ease up on the 30 day restriction to remain outside of the border not to count as days still in the country. I could then come back to Canada only for two weeks at Christmas.

This January should be fun as we have a house boating/fishing day planned on Saguaro Lake with Ralph & Tracy, Jeff & Wendy, Fred & Terry and us . An all day adventure that should be fun. There are a lot of other neat trips to take like the SkyWalk, Grand Canyon Rail, plus the local hot spot like San Tan and Tortilla and Rosa’s as we can fit in. Viewpoint concert series and dances are always fun. Should be a good time.

Off to the horses races today.

It was about an hour drive to get there. We took Hwy17 which was a lot better than the 101 Freeway. Found the place and parked which was about 15 min earlier than our planned time. We checked in and the hostess took us to our reserved table. About 10 to 15 mins later Racheal and Bonnie the owners of Regal Building Materials met us. We had lunch which was perfect. The chef has great food. Racheal bought us programs and a tip sheet which was much needed. Racheal & Bonnie go to the races 3 to 4 times a week so they are very familiar with everything. I learned a lot of different things today. Between the program and tips the information they give really is information overload. I am hoping that after reading all of the info that most people end up just guessing even though a little bit educated like I did. We all did quite well. We spent 4 hours gambling and I spent $1.10 on my losses. I had a couple of races with $20 plus wins. Everyone had at least one of those. I had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed the day. Jackie came out with a similar fate. Where can spend a whole day having fun and not costing you a cent. Fun Day !!

I need to get my pocket warmers, mitts and heavier coat out as I golf at 8am and the temperature is supposed to be 8 degrees to start the day. It ends up at 20 degrees but that will be after we are done. Rain is predicted to hit tomorrow evening and Thursday.

Thought of the Day 

Talk Derby to me !

November 27th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 22 degrees  Calgary -11 degrees with snowfall warning  Edmonton -10 degrees

This is the first time in years that Sandy has not been on time. He is so precise we always teased him that he waited around the corner. Today he was 5 minutes early. I was just exiting the house when I saw him waiting in his car. I got to bug him a bit about that.

It was only reaching 20 today but the day started off cool with it being only 6 degrees at tee off time. 20 degrees by the time we finished. So I wore pants and a jacket today to golf. No frost delay which was wonderful but I did need my gloves and handwarmers to keep my fingers from going white.

Today golfing I had a gentleman from Minnesota, from Chicago and Moose Jaw. Tony was listed as a 21 handicapper and he shot the lights out. He final score was 79. Yes he is a SANDBAGGER !! LOL

Today was Snips day plus the Triads. Our team won one Triad and I won one snip. I had three birdies today so I hoped for at least 2 wins but still got lucky with the one. I could have had at least 6 birdies I had so many close putts that just missed. Our group today had 8 birdies which is the most I have seen. Drinking shots can get to you for birdies. I was on track to break 80 also when I took a 8. Low 80’s I can live with but hate it when you have these blow up holes. A fun day with me bring home $20 for the snip and $ 30 bucks for the Triad. Love it when that happens. I am third on the Top 10 Money List as of today but will fall back not playing in December. That will bug Sandy Sutherland and Bob Ferris if he was here.

A great fun last day of golf in 2019. Didn’t quite make my 100 games but had a good year.

I made a quick stop at Safeway and let me tell you it was an experience. Every old fart in Mesa was there. Navigating down the aisle was a chore. First the speed of these old people is so slow it can’t be registered. Then the indecision of choosing products is like playing chess it takes so long. All stores now have free pick up service. Order your food online and pick up if you can’t move faster than a snail. Or perhaps indicate if over 75 years old you must stay right and if stopped to chose a product stay right and only block one little section. It will speed everything up for everyone.

Please Lord do not let me get old, slow, and mentally challenged. I would need to kill myself. LOL 

Funny thing in the store. In the produce section there was a lady dressed up in modern yoga pants, a pink top and long blonde hair. She had the perfect “woman” figure. I was passing her when she looked at me. She had to be 90 yrs old. Now she could fool anyone. I laughed to myself.

Fred, Terry, Ralph and Tracy are coming over for a few games of Dice tonight which will be fun.

Our travel agent just added free WIFI for us on our cruise which is awesome as on all of our other cruises it was extremely costly and only available at the ports.

Tomorrow I have to eat crow on the Oilers. I wanted to wait until I see tonight’s result which I am hoping for a Oiler’s loss and a Flames huge win just to ease the hurt. Those darn over achieving two -some up north.

I was right on the money with Maas firing as he made the worst play calls consistently one could see in the CFL.

Thought of the Day 

Apologizing doesn’t mean your wrong. It just means you made a slight error in judgement at the time and your opinion will not be correct until after a little further time has passed. LOL  

November 28th -29th

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 13 degrees -rain, Calgary -11 degrees and Edmonton -7 degrees

Fred, Terry, Ralph & Tracy came over for a night of games. We played Dice tonight with a different winner each game. It is a fun game and a nice night getting together with friends.

We had to get rid of some junk food as we will be gone for a month. Plus you don’t want cold beer in the fridge sitting for 30 days without drinking it. Ralph and Tracy have climatized to the retirement life very easily. Fred has gone one more step and even has taken up the short afternoon nap outside in the warmth to rebuild energy. Retirement life is wonderful. Relaxing, warm, inexpensive living compared to Calgary, golfing, loads of friendly people and wonderful get togethers.

We all believe Hell is hot. I am not sure. I am starting to think Hell might be a cold place. Winter sucks.

The airport had very few people in it today as everyone was having their Thanksgiving dinner. A good time to travel.

The first customs officer we ran into was awesome. She was yelling ” Come on people, let’s get you moving so you can eat etc” She was thoroughly enjoying herself as was everyone listening to her. I wouldn’t want to work beside her but she sure made it a fun experience and the highest energy of anyone I have seen. Fun .

Yet again the customs people pulled Jackie over. They pulled stuff out of her suitcase and ran the bag thru three times before letting her go thru. I sort of enjoy watching this. I thought I was being smart and instead of having to remove my belt I removed just the metal buckle. The young lady at the screening says ” Remove your belt” “ I removed the metal buckle from it so it should be ok ” ” Is your belt removable?” ” Yes but it should be no problem” “Please remove your belt” She won !

Ran into one of my Whirlwind golfing friends at the airport. Small world.

Delayed flight by 1/2 hour due to de-icing coming in. Left 1/2 hour late and arrived right on time. I have to say that is impressive on WestJet’s part spending the extra on the fuel and for the convenience of the passengers and connecting flights.

Minus 22 when we landed. Why am I arriving again to this frozen wasteland ? Snow piled high as they must have had a lot of snow in the past few days.

Watched a few back issues of our favorite programs which was nice. Had to turn the oven on to warm the place up as radiant heat takes awhile to heat it up.

Drove Jackie to her lash lady and  I noticed the low tire gauge on. Pumped them all up a few pounds as in cold weather the air gets pounded out of them. Light went off but I will need to watch that.

I see our Flames coach was forced to resign. I truly understand his remarks being hurtful to any individual  but we are getting brutal at drudging back incidents from years past. Times were different. It serves no purpose to punish someone with a incident that happened a decade ago. I would bet everyone of us has something that happened or we did that in todays world would be judged strongly.  Is a person losing his career, just punishment, for making an insensitive comment ? Trudeau wears a Blackface costume and gets re-elected. It doesn’t make any sense. I do hope that Trevling wasn’t using this as an excuse to get out of a contract as Bill wasn’t doing too well this year. He may have been fired costing the Flames millions. With a resignation potentially nothing but as it was a resignation on  Peters part to keep the Flames clean, he would have negotiated a decent deal. Or should have as he could have waited and got fired with a severance.

You watch in the next few weeks how many complaints will come forward now from NHL players and potentially other sport figures. It will be from “fringe” players complaining about harassment, hazing as a rookie, intimidation etc. Yes it happens. Grow a pair.

Anyone over 50 years old would have experienced black balling, towel whipping in the shower, pushed naked into the girls shower room, ball punching, shorts pulled down to your knees or up your crack where you couldn’t walk, tied up naked and slapped, a full water bottle tied with a string to  your genitals and having to drag it around the dressing room in a froshing or welcome to the team initiation, if they played sports or started high school or university. It was a form of team building. People need a reason to blame their addiction or life failures on something, instead of owning it.

Today is our youngest grandson’s birthday. This kid is the neatest kid. Just starting to talk and smiles like no other. A very enjoyable loving life kid. Add to this his good looks and there is no other description then he is awesome.

Happy Birthday Atticus and we will see you on Saturday for the big party ! Love the name, the smile, the wonderful personality and the mischievous demeanor. Great kid !

It ended up I spenting 4 hours at Canadian Tire. The tire had a slow seal leak. This happens with tires are not moving for a period of time but surprised in a heated garage to happen. I walked every aisle at least 4 times. Some great deals as it was BLACK FRIDAY. I am impressed with CT as they really have adjusted their pricing structure and bring in a lot of inventory for their sales. You would have thought I could find some Christmas presents in that time but it ended up I bought myself something only. I bought metal folding saw tables regular price $64.99  for $12.49. Wow that is a deal. I am known for working on the ground but maybe I will now use my new stands.

Thought of the Day

Lesson from your dog. No matter what life brings you kick some grass over that shit and move on ! 

November 30th 

“Mercury Forecast”  Mesa 14 degrees, Calgary -7 degrees Edmonton -8 degrees 

Cool  everywhere until the cell passes. Next week for Mesa in the mid 20″ again. And Calgary will be above zero.

The roads were perfect driving down to Raymond. This time of year you never know and especially in this area as they are prone to high winds.  We picked up Audrey and on the road.

We stopped at Tim’s in Lethbridge as the invite had stated “Cake”  with no mention of food. So we all had a Tim’s lunch including Alan & MaryAnn who met us there.

It was a great birthday party. Atticus had plenty of kids to play with and with Penny & Jessica’s awesome play garage they had loads of room to run around and have fun. There is a climbing wall, three swings, punching bag, mini trampoline and now a musical play mat that Audrey bought for his birthday. It was fun watching them. The odd accident of a kid getting hit in the head with a swing as they walked by, but that is a kid.

It ended up Penny made us Asian Salad with pulled pork sandwiches. She used her pressure cooker for the pork and had the best idea ever to use her hand held mixer to pull the meat. It worked better than anything I have ever seen. Unfortunately our group wasn’t the hungriest. It was awesome tasting though.

I talked to Dusty which specializes in Barn wood and unique furniture. He is a master carpenter and very interesting to talk to with his knowledge and expertise.

Lots of presents and lot of fun for all of kids and including us watching them all.

It was nice of Alan & MaryAnn to come as they hadn’t seen the girls special house. Their visit was extremely short though. Double the drive time versus the stay time.

Thought of the Day 

Funny how birthday cake is the only food you can spit on while blowing and have everyone ok with it.

I bought a special golf pass for myself and Jackie for this summer with Jeff & Wendy that hopefully will work out good. I have two years free golf at Oasis yet and I have my Turner Valley membership on retainer which I will use for Thursday’s men’s league I love and the odd other time. Turner from Oasis is over an hour drive so doesn’t make much sense for gas and time while we are out there and I plan to spend a lot more time out there this year.

Jackie was Christmas decorating mad today. She is pretty good at finding just the right spot. I am one that refuses to accept no decorations or tree for Christmas no matter cost or short time span. This year the decorations will be from December 1st to January 2nd so that is very good.

Made me think how much fun it was having kids help with the tree. It was always a fun time.

“Memories”

Four neat Christmas memories that come up.

1. Going out to my Grandma’s farm every year as a kid. Granddad would have cut down a spruce tree waiting for us on Christmas eve. He would nail it to large piece of wood to stand up and we would decorate it. Alfred, Darlene and I with Mom & Dad would have a blast. There were some old style decorations but it all would end up looking wonderful. Christmas morning we wouldn’t be allowed out of bed until Grandad had started the wood stove to heat the house. He along with Grandma would be up at 6 or earlier depending on the bird size as it was a wood/coal stove and it a lot of hours to cook a huge turkey. It bet we had 50 people there some years.
2. Most likely the second year Jackie was my girl friend I headed out to Edson to my Grandparents new home in town with my present from her. I opened it in the morning and it was a pillow. I was convinced she had wrapped the wrong present for myself. Some time later I discover a lump in the case. She had put my new Canon SLR camera in the pillow to keep it from getting damaged. My family though it was hilarious that I was fooled. I did not. LOL  A wonderful camera that I bought many lenses for including a 12in long 500mm zoom lens with a 2x multi lens. I could see a pimple on a person a mile away but the camera was especially good for close up pictures with my 65mm Macro lens.  I still have that camera today in perfect shape but getting film for it would be an issue as that was before digital.
3.  Out at my Grandma’s farm I wore my leather visor that Jackie had bought me. Along with my long hair my relatives really didn’t like it. If anyone knows me that didn’t really matter. I was hand churning butter when Grandma went to remove my visor and my instinctive reaction was to throw up my arm. It hit her arm and she smashed her hand into her eye giving herself a very black eye. I felt so bad as she had this black eye the entire Christmas.
4. It was 1983 and we just moved into a house we couldn’t afford in St Albert and we had no money for a lot of stuff so had to sacrifice on everything including food.  I went out to get our first Christmas tree in St Albert and the girls first Christmas tree. I ended up bringing home a trimmed to perfection real tree that was $75 that we didn’t really have money for. Jackie was a little upset. After decorating it with what we had it looked magnificent. FIRST TREE come on !! She has never let me life that down.