August 1st 

“Mercury Forecast -Mesa 44 degrees, Calgary 27 degrees Edmonton 29 degrees”

Well I think it is safe to say the heat doesn’t kill Covid looking at the temperatures in Mesa. Our a/c bill is running about $20.00 per month more than average. Same here in Calgary.

Viewpoint Golf Club has closed the course for two weeks due to a positive Covid case. Take note, Calgary courses as some courses are starting to put two people to a cart already. Don’t be stupid. Let all of the younger generation do that with their gatherings and lack of distancing. It will come back to bite them.

Politics in todays world is just sad. Between Trump and our idiot crooked Trudeau they only add to the difficulty of the world. Where have all the good people gone. I would love to have Michelle Rempel as our Prime Minister.

I agree with the face masks and the right to refuse service for someone not wearing them. I would have added a huge fine not to generate income but to reinforce the importance of keeping this virus under control. I am positive it is going to take a decade to recover from this economic nightmare. If we don’t get control let’s make the decision that Covid is around to stay but we will carry on as normal with everything we do and let the chips fall as they may.

I DO NOT believe a lot of the news or propaganda we are fed by so called experts. I prefer to look at it my own way and make judgement right or wrong. We have so many Instagram, Facebook believers and a brainwashed younger generation believing in Utopia where everyone loves everyone, you don’t have to work, save the environment, all lives matter, anti bullying etc that we are falling apart as a society. We are human and NEVER will be perfect. Having said that though I am leaning more and more that something is behind this Covid pandemic. The numbers are a way off being considered dangerous. 680,000 people dead out of  7.8 billion is and think about this .008% . We are destroying our lives based on such a minute small percentage of deaths it is unfathomable. The blind leading the sheep ?  Think about this as companies are trying to push us to a cashless society. It is utter control of the masses if achieved. One push of a button and you have no access or money left.

One loss for the Oilers with only two more to go.

A full compliment of players all contributing with heart will win over a few star players every time.

It still after 3 months of no hockey was fun to watch. I noticed today even our local pub pulled on large screen TV to the outside deck for people to watch the games. Both the Oiler’s and Flames have a difficult rivals to beat for the first round.

Speaking of pubs one of my favorite for at least 10 years was the Bull & Finch in Douglasdale,  has closed down. Between taking customers out for lunch, business meetings, staff outings and stopping there after golf for wings, I was at this place at least three to four times a week. Super food and good pricing with great service.  Country Fried Steak and Philly Cheese sandwich were my favorites along with some of the best wings. A new owner and name change hopefully will carry on with some of the Bull’s ways.  Penny Black the new name is odd and the front signage cheap looking but I will give them a chance to see what they are about

Daisy had first taste of ice cream today. As one would think she loved it. But it came back to bite us as she developed a bit of diarrhea.  With puppies you never know if it was the heat, something she ate or illness. She does try to eat everything.  A day later she was all fine. The amount of ice cream she had was so minimal but we will be  very careful next time.

We whipped out to Canadian Tire to get Jackson birthday present and get some cash for Kennedy’s wedding.

Thought of the Day 

Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.

August 2nd- 3rd

“Mercury Forecast   Mesa 43 degrees, Calgary 29 degrees, Edmonton 24 degrees rain ” 

We picked up Audrey and headed to Alan & MaryAnn’s for Kennedy’s wedding get together. It is too bad Covid has changed so many things. This brings to mind if you see a Certificate of Completion dated 2020 or go to a new doctor, nurse, teacher, hairstylist be very leery as they all have been pushed thru  the system without really completing the process.

Alan & MaryAnn had a very nice family gathering following Covid rules with size of gathering, spacing, food serving etc. This was the after wedding celebration as Kennedy & Chris got married on Thursday in a private backyard ceremony. I love “traditional” weddings and have thoroughly enjoyed attending relatives, friends and our own daughters events. Other than the odd circumstance of ridiculously loud music or shortage of food one time they are a great family, friend  get togethers and the event is never forgotten by the couple. Covid changed everything. As there is no rush in getting married, that we know of, I think I would have waited a year. The Huggett’s decorated their backyard very cleverly and it looked fantastic. Brilliant ideas for decorating and even the wedding cake substitute idea was wonderful. Over and above the decorations Alan’s backyard looks spectacular with it’s new mulch and flowers.

Good food, fantastic weather and nice to see everyone together again albeit still a little different with the spacing etc.  In attendance was Kennedy, Chris, Danielle, Dan, Alan, MaryAnn, David, Kristen, Corey, Victoria, Jessica, Penny, Jackie, Larry , Jackson, August and Atticus and 5 dogs.

A fun get together and hopefully Kennedy & Chris enjoyed it and here is hoping they live a happy life together. They and their future kids will take a bit of teasing with the hyphenated last name that begs one to tease and razz ” Huggett-Harder” I know I would have teased them at school especially at high school. It wouldn’t matter a girl of boy. I don’t believe this to be a good idea.

A fun afternoon !

Thought of the Day 

Newsflash to all you would-be parents or new couples with a creative itch: take up painting, leave your kid’s name or your last names in a order to the standard stuff. I know, you think your child or yourselves are unique so you want everyone to know that your child or your marriage is your one-of-a-kind, special thing. But there’s that old adage, just because your different doesn’t mean you’re smarter, better or worse or even deserve to be called different. But it does set the child or couple up for a lot of razzing and in todays world that is considered bullying. Don’t tempt fate.

Out to the lot of Jackson’s birthday today. This little man is 9 years old. Man does time fly by. He is sweet kid but I do miss that little little boy.

Another hot sunny day which was nice. We had Jessica, Penny, Atticus, August, Jackie, Larry, Alan, MaryAnn, Danielle, Corey, Victoria and birthday boy Jackson.

Funny, just as we arrived home from Canadian Tire we found out Tor & Cor bought Jackson a Gamer Chair just like we had picked out. We will take it back and get something else he likes.

I cooked on the BBQ some Angus burgers and turkey burgers. I can’t figure out anyone likes these turkey things. I hated to put them on my grill. I cooked them all up and soaked them in Dianne’s Sauce one of my favorites and then added pepper jack cheese or cheddar. They said they loved them which is good.

With 30 amp power people are DUMB. They turn on their a/c and blow breakers. A/C alone takes 17amps, add the hot water heater another 7-10 amps and you are cutting it close, as again dumb people won’t switch over to propane for a few hours while the full load is on and the breakers heat up and let go. It is very simple :

• Every appliance lists the amps or wattage usage.
• You know you only have 30 amps to play with
• Do a little math.
• Turn your hot water heater and fridge over to propane on hot days if you want to use your a/c. Don’t add any heavy amp usage while this is going on.

KISS is the perfect acronym.

Corey, Jackson and August spent an hour their allotted time at the pool and  had a great time.

We had ice cream cake, and Vanilla cake to choose from. Corey and I gave Jackson the standard required birthday bumps which he really likes. A pinch to grow an inch and a slap to get fat.

My sprinkler system came on while we out there and Daisy loved sitting in the misting. She looked like drowned rat.

Another fun filled family gatherings.

Thought of the Day 

Nine is the number of magic, only fitting to the most magical 9 years old there is! So never forget how magical you are, always keep moving forward. Happy birthday !

August 4th-5th

” Mercury Forecast   Mesa 40 degrees, Calgary 27 degrees, Edmonton 24 degrees”

It took us until the last week of July to finally start having summer. We had zero days over 25 degrees up to that time and now we have had 9 days above average temperatures. Now we are talking.

Today started off a little weird. I planned to build my planters and log storage privacy screen so I headed out to the lot as Jackie had stuff to do for her Mom. Arriving I opened the door expecting to see my Dakota keys in the cupboard to use to get the wood. No keys, checked my pocket and I had taken the Buick keys and i knew Jackie needed it. I didn’t check for the Dodge keys very well before hopping in the Jeep and heading back.  With the timing there goes the plan. Worst part is I am now concerned where my keys are as I would have bet a million they were on the keys hook in the motor home and they weren’t.

I drove home and decided to finish my budget for July. A month of over spending unfortunately with three birthdays, and a wedding with gifts to buy. Things just add up quickly. No complaints but I will watch it a little closer in August. Years ago I never minded over spending a bit as I knew in two weeks time a cheque was coming. Now it is savings and Trudeau’s cheque is a joke and there is no going back to get more money.

Daisy has become so good it is amazing. A fun little beast she is. Her morning ear and face licks get to me though. LOL

I got up this morning to have our weekly golf game with Jackie. We were teamed up with two sisters I know that are members and golf 5 times a week. I always had a fun time with them when marshaling. Wendy & Wanda are great golfers and always have been fast golfers wasting no time in set up, lost balls or in action. We actually finished 18 holes in 3:30 minutes which was nice. What a wonderful weather day. I thought everyone played well. Jackie was so close to breaking 100 with no do overs or mulligans. I played very well the front nine but had two holes were I screwed up on the back nine so the low 80’s again. It was a fun day with good company, great weather, nice course and very enjoyable. Daisy was awesome the whole 18 holes. She is so good it is amazing.

Rice tonight for supper so will need to find a treat later tonight to stay full. Rice can’t be good for you. It has no substance, no taste, yet had more calories than a can of sugared pop or a beer. Ok for a change though.

Had our nightly walk with Daisy when it cooled down a bit. She is now asleep. LOL

Thought of the Day

Jackie asked me this morning if I wanted to play around. So I went golfing 

August 6th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 41 degrees, Calgary 27 degrees, Edmonton 25 degrees”

Daisy up to her licking tricks in the morning, When she wakes up her duty she thinks is to lick and lick my head. Either she likes sweat or I am very sweet as she does this none stop. While nice it is also quite annoying but it happens every day.

Today was my men’s league at TV. I have yet this year had a game at this course that I am happy with. Today was the worst. My foursome all had difficult days. Low handicapper at 5 shot over 90. Everyone else even higher. The first hole  was a disaster and it continued. Drives were horrible. Chip shots not great and putts not good by any stretch. Everyone struggled today with our low handicapper putting three into the water and one in the bush. I can’t figure how to handle this course. A lot of the issue was fear of a slice today. I had this under control until the last two games. Back to square one. Oh well !

It was a humid day and a hence a  shape hot day. Course was in excellent shape. I lost money today again. I didn’t win any in the deuce game, the snips game or the quarter game. I won the horse race last two holes.

A couple of beers on the deck to drown my sorrows and the end of another wonderful day.

Just to throw something in:

Thought of the Day 

Interesting thing about golf is you do not have a clue why one day you play great and the next not.

August 7th

” Mercury Forecast   Mesa 42 degrees, Calgary 21 degrees, Edmonton 18  degrees rain”

It was cooler this morning but it was nice working outside as I didn’t get as tired from the heat. It was a very enjoyable day. I drove the Dakota ( haven’t fixed it’s issues I caused ) into Strathmore to pick up some wood. Every time I drive this thing I say to myself how great of a ride and quiet truck ride it is.

I worked all day building my privacy fence/ log holder in the back to try to get some privacy from our back neighbors. With lot line set backs and no digging of holes I had to be creative to create something that looks great, works good and doesn’t break the rules too much.

We just received a notice that our condo fee is going up 18% due to  insurance premium hikes. In my mind that is ridiculous and should be looked into by the government. I understand the huge payouts recently with fires, floods and hail damage but they never lower the rate when they have a few low incident years. Gouging. I could carry a decent mortgage with our monthly fee.

Like I predicted the Oiler’s lost. You can’t win with two players. Pay one guy too high and you have no cap space for a support team. They will go down in history as the worst managed team ever. First round picks that they traded away for nothing. Normal trades like Talbot that went wrong. Stars like Hall and Eberle that lead their new teams. Players like Puljujarvi that could have been a star. Smyth deal. Never mind Gretzky, Messier, Kuri, Anderson deals plus many many more. Adding all of the old has been stars isn’t a forward thinking team. It is a team living in the past.

I would have loved Oiler’s against Flame’s in a upcoming series.

 

I feel for Edmonton. It is a city that years ago was a wonderful place to  live. Today it is a mess. Dejected, depressed and a sense of being inferior. It is not fair to compare Edmonton to Calgary as the differences are just too huge but I will state a few.

• Edmonton has a rich history of winning but all YEARS ago that they won’t let go of. This isn’t good for the moral of the city.
• The worst potholes of any city in North America as the money is spent on bike lanes and social programs
• It is a very very diverse ethnic city compared to any other prairie city .
• It always has had an inferiority complex trying to keep up with Calgary.
• It is a NDP, union, socialist, government, environmentalist, do-gooder city.

Having said all that I love Edmonton, born and raised there, but very glad to have left. This brings me to the sports fans which are loyal, yes ,which is great but very unreal in their expectations and the reality of the situation. They must accept the loser role if they want to have a city with a better morale and ever hope to dig themselves out of this hole.

The Oiler’s have now missed the playoffs 13 out of the last 14 years and the current team hasn’t a hope of making it for years to come.  These misses are close to an all time league record.  Beaten by a number 12 team that finished last in their division. Just to illustrate the desperation of the Oiler fans to win something look at the 50/50 tickets craziness. I find it funny that people think they have a great chance to win this. Think of this. A 5 million 50/50 at $5 per ticket means 1,000,000 tickets were sold. That is a 1 in  one million chance. Better than 649 but pretty steep odds to overcome. Yet someone has to win.  Fire Holland, and Tippett and trade for some strategic players that add depth to the team. Time will tell on this but again I believe before the fall some big changes may happen. Connor may even ask to be traded.

Hurry up and change that insulting football team name. There are not that many names that work and start with E so what is taking so long?  I am still leaning toward Extreme.

Alberta’s NHL team the Calgary Flames move into the playoffs !!

I had a good laugh to myself as I sent a congratulatory email on the loss to my Oiler friends and haven’t heard back from any of them.  This tells me they are hurting worse than I thought. I should try to help them by sending a Flames hat to each.  Lol

Thought of the Day 

Edmonton didn’t lose. They just ran out of time. They need 3 more years before being competitive.

August 8th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 45/111 degrees, Calgary 23 degrees, Edmonton 19 degrees”

Another great day. Two weeks of summer has been wonderful.

Edmonton Oilers. LOL  LOL Ha Ha Yahoo ! Bye and Bye

Jackie and I went out to the lot today. It was a very enjoyable day. Cut the lawn, dead headed all of the plants, drained the water tank, whipper snipped the edges, installed a new head on the sprinkler system, organized and threw some stuff out and rested and enjoyed.

Jackie stained the back privacy fence/ wood holder I built. It looks wonderful and works great.

For lunch Jackie and I had the lunch special at the store in our resort. Premium Hot Dog, Pop and chips for $5.00 was excellent.

Had a long walk and numerous talks and visits with people. There are so many nice people in the world that we forget about. It is funny but RVer’s and resort living people are just friendly and so unassuming and unpretentious. We had a great time today as did Daisy meeting many dogs and people.

Thought of the Day 

I asked my PVR to record “The Biggest Loser” for me. It recorded the Oiler’s game !

August 9th & 10th  

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 43 degrees, Calgary 26 degrees, Edmonton 22 degrees”  

Up this morning and headed to Canadian Tire to return Jackson’ s gift and and pick out a new one. We ended up getting a new mountain bike as his cross country bike is too small. He loves it but on long rides or up hills it just doesn’t work. We are hoping having 18 speeds he will realize how much faster and easier it is to use.

Then off to Tor’s to set up his new bed. I hate IKEA.  They are genius in their design but inevitably with few instructions something goes wrong. We had to back track and turn around two boards. We missed seeing in the instructions where two holes were. Fingers hurting with those Allan screws we finally got it all together. We really like it and hopefully Jackson does also. We did a bit of furniture rearranging to make everything work. Finished his bed, moved his old bed and assembled in the spare room, moved the couch out of the spare room into the bonus room, Jackie cleaned and organized, hung a couple of pictures and moved the TV stand plus putting all of the items from the drawers under the bed into plastic bins.

Jackie went to Swiss Chalet for supper for us. Awesome !  While Jackie was still finishing cleaning  I went outside. I cut the lawn, trimmed the patio blocks, the fence and the chain link fence at the back. Made the whole yard look pretty good. My back after working all day was giving out but I decided to pick weeds in the front garden. I didn’t finish but it looks a lot better.

Daisy wanted into our bed early last night than normal.It surprised me that it worked out great.

Jackie & I got to golf as a twosome today which is always nice. We actually finished under 3 1/2 hours again. First time it was a little on the quiet side. My back was far from great but between Tylenol and pain ignore management I golfed pretty good. Low low 80’s is always good. I did use a second shot mulligan on two holes. Jackie had an off day but it was a fun day golfing. Daisy was amazing again. Not making a sound and watching and waiting for anyone to come close.

Speaking of Daisy she is booked into the vet to be spade on Wednesday. It makes us feel sad we have to hurt her and her not understanding what is going on. The cone of shame is needed and it is just mean. It will be the first time she is away from us for an extended period as we drop her off in the morning and don’t get to pick her up until late afternoon. It is sad !

Corey & Victoria camped out with friends near Hinton so they stopped at Dad’s grave in Edson for a visit. They also saw my Grandpa’s and Grandma’s grave plus a few uncles and aunts. It is nice to know where you came from.

Daisy was being her normal self as she was trying to swat a fly in the window sill. I came up to just in time as it was a wasp. A puppy getting stung in the mouth wouldn’t have been great. Crazy dog !

Still can’t find a spot in BC for the winter as it appears everyone has the same idea.

Thought of the Day 

Very thoughtful of Victoria, Corey and Jackson to honor the memory of Dad.  Jesse Willard was a special person. His picture with his smile on the grave stone says everything about him

August 11th-12th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 43 degrees, Calgary 23 degrees, Edmonton 21 degrees”

NHL PLAYOFFS START TODAY 

Sorry Edmonton you will get to play in another two or three years unless you trade Connor for a few good players next year.

First thing this morning I headed to the post office to pick up a Amazon parcel. Off to Walmart to pick up some golf balls. I can not tell the difference between the brands so used balls from Walmart save  a lot of dollars.  Off to the Depot and Lowes with both of them not carrying the fire log rack I wanted. I came home and checked from Amazon but for the same brand Amazon was 10 bucks more than a special on line only from Lowes. It is on it’s way. Come on stores you need to start stocking something.

I had taken my glasses to Vivid where Jackie and I bought them and they stated they couldn’t help me as the warranty date had passed with the defective lenses. This didn’t sit well with me that a pair of $1200 glasses only last one year and I can’t get help. Our benefit plan is only $200 for glasses every two years so that is a lot of out of pocket money.I decided not to use Vivid anymore with their service and was heading to another outlet on 130th ave. Before leaving I thought I would give Vivid one more chance to fix this. I talked to the manager and explained everything:

1. 6 months over warranty.
2. Store closed for three months due to Covid
3. We were tentative to go out when first back from Arizona
4. No fault of my own
5. A company is only as good as their vendors and if they are providing a product that makes a store lose a customer they are not a vendor you want to deal with.

After our discussion the manager agreed and is providing a complete set of lenses for my glasses free. I have the utmost respect for management that understands the meaning of customer service, customer retention and loyalty. Glenda was awesome and I will continue to purchase my eye wear from these guys. Vivid Eyewear in Cranston is a great place to deal with.

Daisy and I headed out to the lot but with what I was planning to do and having her around didn’t work out. So I reset my irrigation system and visited with the neighbors. What a beautiful day.

Fun watching hockey in August .

Poor Daisy’s  surgery is tomorrow.

Now wasn’t that a game. Superb hockey played by the Flames minus the 9 seconds. Lucic is playing great as is Talbot.

Go Flames Go

First thing this morning we dropped off Daisy for her surgery. I hate this.

I headed to Heatherglen to meet Jeff & Wendy for our weekly golf game. What a beautiful day with bright sun and a cool breeze.

Talking to Jeff & Wendy about their recent BC trip and I was shocked. You see and hear about how the BC public are so anti Albertan but here is another case where their car door was keyed. You have a Premier that talks like Horgan things are going to happen. It is insane that he practically encourages targeting Albertans. Some young punk or deranged person with a attitude thinking this is alright. We are all Canadians and we don’t need another province like Quebec.

I am going to make a conscious effort NOT TO SUPPORT BRITISH COLUMBIA. I plan NOT to golf in the Valley and am close to making a decision for this winter on BC.  I spend the money on staying the winter in BC and some of the money on the cruise and renovate the condo with flooring, painting, and ceiling.

Another fun day of golfing. I was pleased overall except for the odd shot. Hole 3 got me otherwise it would have been good. I am thinking too much on the tee as I started slicing again. I like to get up and just hit. I saved a couple of holes here but at TV tomorrow it is double or triple boogie.

I came home and quietly stepped in the condo not to upset Daisy. Poor sad docile puppy eyes. We as humans are so mean to animals. She is drugged up. Hopefully she doesn’t want to bite or scratch at her incision.

Thought of the Day 

I don’t know how I can play so well and score so poorly.

August 13th-15th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 42 degrees, Calgary 26 degrees, Edmonton 23 degrees”

Three days in one.

Thursday was my Men’s league. I wanted and wished to do well. Here is what shocked me. The drives normally were my nemesis that caused scoring issues. Today I drove great in fact having 8 holes were I was shooting 2 from 100 yards or less. 7 times not hitting the green from 100 yards shocked me. Add the fact of the greens being shaved due to the men’s championship it just made it that much harder. Turned out not losing one ball of the tee shooting my highest score of the year. This week I had a 82, 84 and 101 score. How does that happen ?  It is just odd what happened. Disappointed, shocked, and disillusioned.  The first and only score over 100 in 2020. I did have one game last year when I first got back over 100 and lo and behold it was Turner Valley. But after that lots of low 80’s score at Turner Valley.

After the game I checked my text and Jackie had sent one asking me to give her a call. I was planning to to have cold beer on the deck with the guys. Turns out the Buick had an issue. I drove to Audrey’s to pick it up and get to the repair shop. The check engine light was one again. I had about a 2 mile drive and it is a good thing that it was only that. When I first started the car it smelled extremely strong of gas. When I started to move blue smoke pillowing out of the exhaust. I am positive it is the throttle body that is shot. Another $500 bill I am sure. I will see when it gets diagnosed. It is a $200 part but a few hours labor. It is starting to nickel and dime me and I may have to reconsider keeping it for a while longer.

Up first thing this morning and headed to Edmonton. I was a little surprised at the quantity of vehicles on the road. The highway was quite busy.

We made it in perfect time. Headed to Wendy’s to pick up Mom a baked potato and salad. She loves baked potato’s and they don’t give her any at the center she is at.The latest stroke, TIA has sapped her energy again. She is quite weak. I wish she would eat better though as she is getting quite thin.

I booked the gazebo for us outside to have lunch. It wasn’t too hot or cold so it was nice to visit and be able to be close yet follow protocol. She ate it all up so I guess he liked it.

After having a nice lunch and sitting around we headed to the bank to update her book and get a bit of cash for her.

Then off to get her new Alberta ID card as her drivers license had expired. A few years ago the Federal Gov’t supplied a OAS Senior ID Card no charge but they don’t do that anymore so we ended up with having to purchase for $49 a Alberta ID card for her. This should be a FREE benefit to everyone over 65 of age but yet once again we give grants,incentives and scholarships to new Canadians instead of looking after the people that built this country. The Federal Govt of Canada has to do more for seniors. An easy fix to help would be to remove income tax for seniors.

Then off to get groceries at Safeway. Mom did really well pushing her cart up and down the rows to pick up her groceries. Albeit not following the directional arrows every time.I would look at her list and get things from it at further away rows if I new the brand etc. To follow the arrows adds about 10 miles to your store experience so we cheated sometimes. She did very well.  Picked up everything she needed.

We headed home and I went up to Mom’s room to go over her finances again. She is sitting quite well and has enough money left for about 14 years and at 88 years old she will be fine. She worries about her money which is too bad. It is her money and spending it on a way of life to be as comfortable as possible is wonderful. In her current health situation she is in a great place for the care she needs.

Money is always a stresser for everyone but you really to be careful not to be so worried about it eats at you or you miss out something you really wanted. I have seen people go on vacation and not enjoy the full experience as a special event happened to be a little expensive. They forget they may never be back there and it may have already cost thousands to get there. Do it while you have a chance. Within reason naturally.

We gave Keith & Jenny a quick call and luckily they were able to meet us. We stopped at their place. They have a wonderful huge backyard, all fixed up, garden, and great looking trees.  We sat outside on the deck keeping our distance and solved all of the worlds problems. Unfortunately no one listens to us.

Below is an excerpt that should make people think and us as a group talked about it. It is just wrong and spearheaded by incredibly poor news networks. We need to get bias, politics,and fake news reporting for ratings out of the system. The murderer in this case was black and shot a white child. Drug possession charges, and a long criminal past including drug house activity was this mans history. There is no outrage. There is no news reporting. It is not a case of black and white. And it really doesn’t matter the color as a life was lost but it has to raise the question why Black Life Matters get so much attention with a black criminal being killed versus no attention for a black man murdering a young child. It doesn’t make sense to me other than the fact the herd mentality , young impressionable lives being brainwashed, and a skilled group with an agenda that is actually dividing instead of bringing people together. I never even thought of any difference when seeing a black, brown, or white person yet now with all of the attention the subject is given, I notice the differences. I see people not any different but the BLM has now changed it in bad way. I should be able like I used to, talk to a stranger and not notice the color of his skin yet now I do.  We are tainting people’s minds the wrong way. Racism is not built into us. It is learned. Either by influence or experience. You have a shaved head guy rob a bank with a gun and scare you and next day you walk down the street you may look at a shaved headed guy different. We are not doing this BLM right.

The whole nation stood together in solidarity for the senseless death of George Floyd. So I’m curious, how many will stand together in solidarity & demand justice for the senseless death of Cannon Hinnant? Did he not matter?

Steward and his girl friend Carrie came over for a visit. We haven’t seen Steward for years. We had a very nice time sitting around talking.

We ordered Edo Bento boxes for everyone. First time for me at Edo’s and I really liked it. I am not a rice or teriyaki sauce guy but both of these were great including everything in the box. It was very good tasting.

Stewards new girlfriend is a very nice person. We had some great conversation, teasing and interactions. Nice for Steward to meet a nice girl.

Steward bought a new 30ft RV trailer and we were discussing camping. Turns out he bent his back stabilizer jacks on one trip. Makes for the perfect opportunity to raze and tease. New girlfriend, bent brackets, if rocking don’t come knocking. This made for the perfect opportunity. It was quite funny.

On the drive home the amount of bugs on the windshield was incredible. You could hear them like rain hitting us. Then we did get a few minutes of rain which was perfect to get a clean view for a bit. We got home about 11:30 pm.

Daisy was awesome through it all. I can’t believe she is so pain tolerate as the  incision is about 3 inches long. I feel for her as we keep trying to calm her down when she just wants to have fun and play. She has slept in our bed the entire night after her surgery.

This morning we slept in a little and I then headed to Staples for a Fed-Ex pickup. Turns out they didn’t transfer it from the depot to Staples. Supposedly Monday. I have a few packages I am expecting. I have two more hydraulic lift lift pistons coming and my fire log brackets.

We made plans to meet Jeff & Wendy at Berwicks Pub to watch Alberta’s hockey team the Flames play on Sunday. Sitting on a deck, watching hockey with good food and cold beer you can’t go wrong. Life is good. We have to be there at 11 am as the doors open then and they don’t reserve tables and we want a table on the patio. The game starts at noon.

I can say a ref’s call lost the Stanley Cup for us in 2004 and last night the ref’s in this series with Dallas have been horrible. Not unfair to one team or the other but just bad calls and horrible missed calls. Calling back goals should never happen.

Just had a relaxing day today. Did a few catch up things.

Thought of the Day 

Toronto and Edmonton have been far ahead of the rest of North America in social distancing. Toronto hasn’t been close to the cup since 1967. Edmonton has been out of the playoffs 13 out of the last 14 years. These cities ahead of their time and taking this distancing seriously.

August 16th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 44 degrees, Calgary 32 degrees, 28 degrees”

As I said before summer started in late July and it is here and it is wonderful. This whole week ahead we are over 30 degrees or just under each day with no storms or rain as of yet.

We have August & Jackson all week so pool time will be good. Problem is with Covid rules the pool limits you to one hour only. If there is a space open you can go if a registered guest doesn’t show. Mid August and hot I don’t think that will happen so we will just head for the pond to play. Hopefully the girls fill their going away bag with suntan oil.

Audrey came over to watch Daisy for us as we planned to head to the patio of Berwicks to watch the game. We went early to make sure we got a patio seat with a TV view. That didn’t need to happen. I feel for the bars as no one wants to sit inside and limited patio space and NO CUSTOMERS. Berwicks most likely sits 200 and I would guess maybe 30 people. People are scared and behaving properly which is good for the numbers.

It is a best of three series now. A great game. POOR poor poor penalty calls.  It ended in OT the wrong way. Too bad but that’s the game of hockey. I am sure Bettman has asked the refs to call a little biased favoring Dallas. Tuesday it is the game which is the most pivotal now.

It was fun sitting on the patio with Jeff & Wendy. Great commentary and good hockey knowledge helps fill in the gaps. We all ate and had awesome food. Jeff had battered cauliflower which he loved but I found rather odd. To  each his own. Steak for me. Cold beer.

They are fun people to be with. I just have to be careful on my Redneck Alberta views as Jeff’s being a teacher are a little different in some areas. I like the diversity and different opinions.  I have friends and yes it is difficult to say but they voted NDP and actually were tricked into thinking they did a good job, others that like Trudeau, others kill animals for fun, some believe unions are good, some even like Fords and imports, none that I know of that are environmentalists but that would be ok for them to be wrong. I really enjoy differences of opinion, I enjoy kidding, teasing, harassing, prodding, poking while presenting the true facts and having the correct position yet allowing them to be wrong in theirs.

Who would have thought sitting on the patio in 32 degrees drinking cold beer in August watching hockey. After a disappointing finish to our patio time I dropped Jackie off at home and went a bought the groceries for the week with kids. Fun grocery time. Popsicles, chips, pop, jujubes, candy bars, slushy strips, chicken fingers, fries, hot dogs, hamburgers, ice cream but no junk food for our grand kids. I think we can keep them full and sugared up.

In the news we saw we had an incident at our Oasis pool on Friday. A young 9 year old girl jsut about drowned.  Supposedly she was unresponsive on arrival of the Stars helicopter but luckily for everyone she is in hospital and expected to fully recover. A couple of things and we will never know what really happened but. With covid you are allowed 15 kids in the pool at a time. Fewer kids yet enough you would have thought someone would notice a child in distress. No child is to be left alone unsupervised. There are adults watching their kids around the pool. What happened no will know but it had to definitely scare everyone.

Thought of the Day 

I often have found the fewer the facts the stronger the opinion.

August 17th- 21st

” Mercury Forecast- Mesa 42 degrees, Calgary 32 degrees average Edmonton 28 degrees average”

First of all I can say it is busy. Taking care of kids, dealing with deliveries, Jackie busy with her Mom and the Buick calving does make for a busy week.

I am going to bunch everything up for the week and it maybe mixed up day by day wise.

First the Buick. Another large repair bill. $3200 to be exact. I have always liked GM products better than the others from a very young age. My Dad and brother both mechanics swore by GM. I have had quite a few Dodge products also through the years. Some good and one a Dodge Ram that was a disaster. One Ford that I had to trade off as the bottom end ( rod bearings) were starting to go. But I am disillusioned with GM. I was talking to a guy in our neighbor hood that bought a brand new Z71 truck which I really like and in the first year he had the truck in the shop 9 times. We got unlucky and bought a 3.6 litre GM powered car. GM uses this engine in Buick, Cadillac and the GM and Chevy SUV’s. Great power and gas mileage but numerous major issues that they still haven’t got right. Throttle body issues, injectors issues and timing chain issues are the main culprits. GM’s trannies also caused them grieve. I have decided to bite the bullet and replace the Buick and am looking at a Ford Explorer,  Lincoln SUV, Acura MDX, or Lexus 350. All depends on the deal and especially the financing. I would like a 84 month no interest. Budget is getting really tight with an additional $500 a month but no choice. I hate not having lots of room for one offs though.

Jackson was by himself for the first few days with August joining later. Lots of swimming time both in the pool and pond. Jackson is now at an age where he can actually pull out a win in Connect Four and beat Jackie & I a couple of times. He is also quite good at Chinese Checkers. I am sure they will change that name soon. It is lot of fun to see him so competitive. He loves it as do I. We brought out his new bike and it is perfect for him. The right size and he is a great rider and loves to slam on the brakes and turn the wheel to skid. Rear tire may not last. LOL Reminds how a pair of G60 x 15 tires on the rear lasted me a month on my first car.

On Wednesday he had to get his new mouth braces on so we ran into town to get that done. We picked up the Buick at the same time and Jackie spent most of the day getting paperwork done for Audrey. I need to replace our printer as the scanner isn’t working. It is about 12 yrs old. A Best Buy run when I get time.

Lots of restrictions on Jackson eating until he gets used to the braces and they set in place. He is pretty good about this. Funny thing is he was pretty excited about getting them. In my mind I wouldn’t have been and I think in hindsight he may feel the same.

We watched movies outside which the kids love in the dark. Jackie made some proper food for everyone to include Jackson. The boys slept together on the living room couch and we didn’t hear a lot from them and they stayed in late in the morning which was nice.

Campfire with weiners, and smores is always fun. Jackson couldn’t have the smores but we cut up his dog to make it work.

I had to volunteer at the pool to be a monitor for Covid rules so that the boys could swim. They had fun. It is amazing how few kids are out here right now considering the warmth. But covid has changed everything. I had to monitor for two hours.

I had my men’s golf today out at Turner Valley and Jackie took a drive into Strathmore to entertain the guys. Another disappointing score yet I played ok. Every drive was fine some great second shots and third shots but a lot of missed putts. I had three chances at money with 6ft or less birdie putts and missed. I missed away to many putts today. I was happy with the tee shots though. I will score there what I want sooooon. Still a fun day ! Cost me a few bucks.

August kept up to us quite well on his bike. He really liked the pond and played with Jackson on the floats for a long time. Throw in the playground they were occupied quite well. Kids are so funny thinking a blood sucker is going to get them so they rush out of the pond. They don’t hurt just stick really well into your skin. I buried Jackson in the sand. He jumped his bike on the motocross track which was a lot of fun for him. August and Jackson rode around the park doing very well. Extra time at the playground is always fun. It is amazing how one day playgrounds are closed and the next all kids have can go wild. Doesn’t make sense. As time goes along people are getting less and less cautious which is too bad. But the cases at 85 or so out of 4 million is pretty good. We can’t live in a shell.

School starting is causing a lot of angst. Rightly so as they are kids. I am sure every parent is worried. I am sure each teacher also is stressed with the unknown. My only complaint would be the ATA union. Grocery store workers, every one in the medical field plus many in the service industry having being dealing with Covid for months without the hoop-la. Parents have the right and the expectation of keeping their kids safe and should have concerns but the union has to let the teachers do their job. We all may have to expect extra costs to properly support the education system with PPE, air exchanges, different venues, overtime and calling back the extra and new teachers but the kids need to be in school.

Everyone will need to learn new protocols and yes may have to even work a longer day to get this done. IE  limited students per classroom and have a morning and afternoon classroom for each teacher.  And teach only CORE subjects until we find a way around this Covid.

Unions like the nurses, doctors and teachers always politicizing issues drives me nuts. Especially now under this once in a lifetime situation ( hopefully) we are facing. I am sure if we could talk to the nurses, doctors and teachers directly they wouldn’t feel the same way as the union promotes to them. Herd mentality at it’s best is the modus vivendi of all unions.

On Friday Victoria & Jess along with Atti came out. They all headed to the pool. 32 degrees requires a pool. Later this afternoon as people get off work the place will get busy. As usual the kids had a blast.

Victoria headed back with Jackson to Calgary while Jessica and the boys planned to stay overnight. Victoria was planning to return for Jackson but made other plans as she didn’t come back. We had a wonderful hamburger and Taber corn supper. Tasted great !  We played around for a bit then put on a movie outside in the gazebo. The kids loved it and feel asleep long before the movie was half way done.

Here is some real IMPORTANT NEWS. Jessica, Jackie and I decided to play crib. I lost one game being only one short and counting first but not getting out. I am sure if I could have a replay I may have missed some points in my hands or moved my peg one off. But I have to accept I may have lost the one game. Everyone has heard of a DOUBLE SKUNK in Crib. Well I had a double skunk but not in the typical way as I skunked both Jessica and Jackie in the same game. Unheard of. I also have to say I counted my largest hand ever with a 24. Game over. LOL

I may as well end with this. Yes the Flames lost and yes they are out of the playoffs.  But there is a famous saying ” It is better to have loved and lost than not to loved at all ” by Alfred Tennyson that fits quite well for this situation. “It is better to have the made the playoffs and have a chance than to never make make the playoffs with NO chance”

Thought of the Day 

Grandkids believe their grandparents are the oldest people on earth. After a few days I think they may be right.

August 23rd to 26th 

“Mercury Forecast August 22nd to 25th ” Mesa 42 degrees, Calgary 23 degrees Edmonton 21 degrees all averaged.”

I always thought when retired I would have lots of time and be worried about filling time. I find the days too short, too much to do and not enough time to get everything done. Any chance when I get it for a relax day I take full advantage of it. It does bug me that I have undone things to do though. I am even finding it hard to fit in this writing in the evenings.

A busy weekend with packing many many boxes up stairs from the basement into the garage at Audrey’s. Luckily as with moving 7 times or more in the past Alan & Maryann were there to help. They are awesome in helping with stuff like this. No real heavy stuff but the multiple stairs and trips kills my back and throw in the odd awkward or heavy thing to move. It took us 3 to 4 hours to complete which was nice.

After that and with the timing we decided to whip to KFC for supper. One busy place as it appears on a Saturday night everyone goes to KFC. We only have one in the south west part of the city.  Great supper though and not having to cook.

The following day was quite successful. First I re-programmed the Smart Weiserbolt. It was set on auto lock which drove everyone nuts and in my opinion is dangerous as it could lock you out. When I changed the code and key way I couldn’t override this. This time I got lucky and after powering off and reworking the toggle switches it worked. A very good thing. Audrey’s Telus doorbell camera had stopped working so I worked on that. It read that it was connected to the internet but wouldn’t  relay the info. So again like working in the modern age of computing ( alt, control, delete)( how we as consumers accept this) I shut the power off. Cleared the memory of the current IP address and rebooted and reloaded the internet. Just like new again ! The townhouse has a high end Beam built in vacuum cleaner. It wasn’t working for them and Michael was looking at a new one. First test was the hose into the outlet. Yep not working. I then went to the canister and tried the manual override button. It didn’t work. I couldn’t see the outlet where it was plugged in so moved a few things and lo and behold the cord ran to the outlet but was not plugged in. Plugged it in and just like new again. We then moved everything away for the a/c compressor and I started to check it out. A very nice large unit. I checked the breakers, the plug( LOL) which was hard wired and everything looked great. Found the thermostat and the controls. Like brand new ! So A good day with good results getting everything up to par.

We had our weekly golf outing with Jeff & Wendy at Heatherglen. Another hot day hitting 32 on my temp gauge. It was not a stellar performance by anyone. One of those off days but still a fun fun outing. My back from lugging boxes was killing me and was so tight it took until about the 10th hole to loosen up a bit. I need my deep muscle needling from Sebastian which I will book. I did book a face to face with my doctor which is odd as i thought with Covid it was all done over the phone. Prescription refill and one spot/mole that is sun damaged I need burned off.

Daisy was her usual well behaved golf dog. I tried to keep in her bag this time as she just got her hair cut this morning and it is shaved close due to popular buds and a few knots. She had her surgery and camping made her a mess. Jackie doesn’t like me calling her ugly but our beautiful Daisy is wrecked for about a month. She is no longer cute and could be called ugly with her overbite and hairdo making her look like a large rat.

We had a cold beer on the deck with the Grace’s. Always fun and enjoyable.

Right after golf we had an invite to Victoria’s and Corey’s for supper. That is very nice but a little scary. Knowing Tor I was sure we would end up with quinoa, rice, turkey burgers, tofu,or turkey in our pasta but I have to say they prepared  a fabulous meal. Corn on the cob, baby roasted potatoes, a wonderful pork roast and a semi normal salad. It was a super meal.  We all had fun watching Jackson and his antics. A very nice evening and finish to the day.

First thing this morning off to wash the Jeep. I got it all done except for the tire and skirt dressing. Looking good and then off to get the oil change. There isn’t a time I step into a dealer service department they don’t raise my blood pressure. I am relatively easy going but service advisors are the scum of the industry. When I checked in the first comment was ” Oh with your mileage you need a four wheel alignment”  BULL $%$# they haven’t even checked it so why would I pay for something that I possibly don’t need at $149 bucks. They should ask ” would you like your alignment checked” THEN and only THEN if the toe, camber or castor is out of spec do the alignment. Absolute crooks !

Very nice of them again to suggest a brake fluid flush, a power steering flush and a tranny flush and alignment all adding up to $2400. They are nuts !

I came home and picked up the Buick and got it mini detailed at Fortress Car wash. These guys are good. I love good service and good work. It looks like brand new. It was funny as when I checked in I stated I wanted the deluxe everything package. The young girls says that will $449.00. I laughed and told her not that Deluxe as that is a detailing program. So I picked a program and A la carte the things I wanted. The mats, the complete car was done exceptionally well. Here is a car wash where I had to have my temperature taken before I could enter the waiting room and had to sanitize my hands. Good on them !

Check out this article and it will make your head shake.We all need to hope for a fall non confidence and O’toole winning a fall election. Poor position to take over( similar to the UCP in Alberta inheriting a disaster) but hopefully  can turn around the expenditures and debt. That means cuts no choice. I think anyone that doesn’t believe in cuts has most likely never been poor or worked with a budget as they were privileged.

https://financialpost.com/diane-francis/diane-francis-trudeaus-autocratic-proclivities-a-clear-and-present-danger-to-canadian-democracy/wcm/e56ab710-de0f-496e-af83-9fc1c6e3ac2f/amp/

Must of being a good night in bed as this morning while making the bed Jackie showed me where the sheets had ribbed. She is off buying new sheets today and a new printer as our old ones life is over.

We stopped and finalized the purchase of our new vehicle. My plan when we retired was to keep our vehicles for 10 years and then replace them. The Buick is a beautiful looking car. Extremely quiet in fact the quietest new vehicle  in 2011.  Wonderful ride and spacious but 200K on it and according to plan it is time.

Our new vehicle is cool looking. Very spacious, and loaded. But Ford loaded versus Buick loaded is totally different.  A lot of plastic versus Burl wood. This new Flex has every option which is cool with it’s park assist, adaptive cruise, Android and Apple play and Sync Nav. I really like the 20″ rims and cool station wagon look. The lowered stance, wide tires and blacked rims with tinted windows are cool looking. I think we will enjoy this car for hopefully ten years problem free.

It is the Limited Edition and the price for the quality, luxury and sizing was awesome.  Paying $150 over dealer invoice cost was excellent. I know there are hold backs but even then the dealer isn’t making a huge amount. A very very good deal.

I was shocked as admin fees now at dealers are over $600. I  have never paid these yet so many people do. Absolute wonderful sales rep and financial guy.  Let’s hope their service department is equal.

This engine is rated at 365 horsepower and has 5 hp horsepower more than a 1970 350 V8 LT1 which was one of the best and quickest muscle car engines. A 1970 1/2 Z28 one of fastest cars did the 1/4 mile in 13.9 secs and 0-60 in 5.3 secs. This new Flex does the 1/4 mile in 14.2 secs and 5.7 in the 0-60. This is unbelievable. I know I was surprised when I felt the turbo’s kick in.

I spent 2 1/2 hrs on the phone with my insurance company this morning between the queue and talking. Changed a bunch of things but still paying $57 more a month. Raised the deductibles , added glass as sunroofs are expensive, and added the Arizona house and boat under the umbrella plan.

I spent a wonderful afternoon working on my firewood holder and privacy divider. I was kind and moved it a little to help the neighbors out. I used PL400 on the platform for extra strength and to fight wind load. I like it and it is strong like bull. And it looks great. I will finish it on Friday and take a picture.

Daisy was extra playful tonight. She is so fast when running in the field. With it getting a little cooler at night now she loves her walks and trots along very very quickly.

Men’s league tomorrow so hopefully a good day. My back is still very sore but between Volteran tonight and Tylenol in the morning  I am hoping for a fluid swing and a good score.

Thought of the Day  

Money can’t buy happiness but it can buy a RV which is kinda the same thing. Have an RV and travel around is bliss defined. 

August 27/28th

Mercury Forecast  Mesa 44 degrees, Calgary 26 degrees Edmonton 22 degrees”

My SRP bill for the a/c power in Mesa is getting expensive and this is only to keep 90 degrees. This month we set the all time record at $90. Normally around 30 to 50 bucks. But everyday in Mesa is 40 degrees plus. HOT

I just have to mention how impressed I am with Kennedy & Chris Huggett-Harder. Jackie and I have been to a few weddings in the past years and I consider ourselves very generous in giving a wedding money gift. For these events we did not receive a thank you card. Kennedy & Chris were the first couple in four weddings were they personally signed a Thank-You card and sent it in the mail. Years ago it was real taboo if this wasn’t done. I remember at our wedding to make sure we had the gift and who it was from marked down at the gift opening to make sure there were no mistakes.  It is very much appreciated to be thought of and thanked. I knew this younger generation could get it right. Welcomed gesture !

I won’t go into much detail about my men’s league. I did not lose one ball. I hit every fairway for the most part. I did not score well. The greens were punched a few days ago and the ball was hopping everywhere and the speed was down. Numerous missed putts and numerous 3 putts. Everyone struggled today with this. I am happy with the way I golfed but not the score. The course championship is about to happen this weekend so the greens will be shaved and sand filled.

I laughed to myself when one of my playing partners asked ” How did you get to be a 10 handicapper ?”

Here is the why. I can go to Heatherglen and shoot between 78 and 85 every day. Same thing with McKenzie , Speargrass, Boulder, Blue Devil. I have yet this year to break 90 at Turner Valley. I have a plan for this Monday with Jackie to see if without pressure or money on the line how well I can do. That will be the test.

First time this year we sat on the patio after golf and had food and drink. Very nice.

We got our new printer up and running via wifi which is nice. Great little printer. Jackie loaded the CD disk in her laptop to load hers. I visited the Canon webpage to do mine laptop as CD drives are not on new laptops. I kept getting an error. Typical WIN10 issues. I was getting a little annoying when Jackie suggested use the find the printer option on the laptop. In a few secs the drivers were loaded and I was up and running. She is so smart. Shhhh !

Had my doctors appointment today and I will need to go back this fall after my blood work but the doctor says there is a 5 week wait period for the labs so I will need to be wary of this.My doctor is good. Wait in the parking lot for a phone call. Go in and put on throw away booties, and hand sanitize. This is after confirming no to the Covid questions and ensuring a mask is worn.

We brought home the Flex today and Jackie likes driving it. The rep showed us all of the features. The parking assist is amazing. It makes parallel parking nothing. It backs itself into the spot and leave about 6 inches from the curb. No kid will fail the drivers test with this technology.

Another full day done. August weather in Calgary after a horrible spring/summer has been exceptional.

Thought of the Day 

It costs nothing to dream and everything not to.

August 29th

“Mercury Forecast   Mesa 40 degrees, Calgary 14 degrees rain, Edmonton 18 degrees”

You all know we had a horrible spring/summer until July 25th or so. From then on it was fantastic for no other words. Some would say quite hot but really 32 degrees or even 34 is not hot. It is uncomfortable sometimes working or golfing but still a nice thang and no one should complain. What a day. 28 degrees yesterday 14 degrees today. 50% as warm.  It was cool first thing this morning.

Jackie & I headed out to the lot. I love working in the yard and fixing a few things. Today I finished construction and wrapped up my log holder/privacy project. The back neighbors commented how much they liked it which is good. Moving it just a bit worked perfect. The cover fit great and the combo looks good. I just need to buy a bit of wood now.

I cut the grass. Man is that a lot of work. LOL  The grass is green and the flowers very abundant. The irrigation system is working perfect.  I picked up a bunch of leaves, branches and cleaned up around the place including snipping off all of the shooters around the trees.

We took Daisy LarE for a few walks and had a lot of conversations with numerous residents. I think everyone would agree that campers and RV’ers are the most friendly of people.

I rotated my tires on the Jeep at the lot. With a 4 x 4 or especially with a AWD the tires sizing should be consistent. It can heat up the transfer case and could be hard on the differential. The garages every time do not include the spare in the rotation. I do. I have two tires at 7/32, 1 @ 5/32 and 1@ 4/32. I put the 7/32 tires on the front as the front usually wear faster due to turning and especially when we pull it behind the motor home.  Electronic AWD I can see a variance impacting a bit but with a chain transfer and a limited slip diff they are designed to compensate and it is by such a minute difference. I mean small.

I brought home the Dakota to clean it up to sell.

A little TV and surfing

Booked a week of golfing and camping with the Harry’s in Sept. Jackie will celebrate her 60th birthday in the wilderness. Perhaps a cow pie or bear pie rather than cake.

Thought of the Day 

Life was meant for good friends and adventures.

August 30th

“Mercury Forecast   Mesa 39 degrees Calgary 19 degrees Edmonton 16 degrees

Coolest day in over a month. But it is basically September.

First thing this morning I headed to the car wash. The Dakota was covered in poplar buds and these things are a nightmare. A special orange cleaner from the Dollar Store is amazing though. As soon as the spray hits its they melt. Some larger ones remain and it takes multiple attempts and even then a good scrap with a fingernail is required. I got most of them off and it made a huge difference in the looks. Then to the inside. MDF dust is amazing. It is insidious. The years of being a work truck takes its toll. You really have to separate work from personal use with a vehicle. It really has been an excellent vehicle for 22 years.

I scrubbed and scrubbed the rugs, cleaned out every compartment and washed the mats and dash etc. Amour-all on the tires. Polished the mags. Truck is ready. It took about 4 hours to get this done.

I came home and had lunch.

I created a Kijiji Ad for the truck. 5 vehicles are a few to many. LOL

I posted the ad and got up and walked to the kitchen. A phone call right away. 4 mins and a guy wanted me to save it for him to look at. I explained everything that was wrong with it so he knew as he was driving from Airdrie.  Two more inquiries came that I put off.

The guys came and with 15 minutes a sold truck all cash. So either a high demand vehicle or priced to low. Odd with 300 kms on it to have so many interested in it. It did look good in the pictures and the write up does sell it. But with 300 kms it could last another hundred thousand kms or 1 km.  It is a little more difficult selling with covid

I hope it works out for the guys.

Audrey is over for supper tonight so I am cooking ribs, baked potatoes and what ever veggie Jackie chooses.  A beautiful day to BBQ.

BMW Golf has been fun including a playoff. Some wonderful shots . Dustin should have won.

Thought of the Day 

It is always a funny feeling to see a vehicle you like drive off with a new owner.

August 31st

“Mercury Forecast Mesa 42 degrees, Calgary 23 degrees, Edmonton 20 degrees “

A beautiful summer day with bright sun and no wind. Starts off cool and then gets quite warm and then cool again.

Paid a few bills that are due the first of the month post dating them.

Returned the plates for Dakota and cancelled the registration and insurance. Here is another company policy that sucks. To cancel registration costs you $10. I only had 3 months left and the refund would be $16.00 leaving $6.00. Not a good or fair system. Long wait again for insurance but I finally got the online account fixed with the correct phone number to manage my insurance on line. You still and should talk to your agent to get a deal. Once a year I change my policy and reduce the fees.

Today we were golfing out at Turner Valley with Jeff &  Wendy. I have to say this club being attended by the majority members has a total different feeling than a public course. Everyone is friendly and cordial. Add in the fact the beauty and quiet of the country it makes for a nice golf course. I wish the greens had healed from being punched but they still were ok.

This is my 10th year of membership at this course.

I thought Jackie played quite well but everyone else not at their best. I wanted to do really well. Semi ok but still too many mistakes. We had a great day golfing. It was a lot of fun and some interesting shots.

I guess I have to recognize that my golf skills have declined, not getting better, and I am stuck at this level. Darn. It is a tricky game as one thing gets better another skill leaves. It is a fun game though and some days I am good. LOL

We stopped on the deck for supper. This deck is great with the mountain views and course view. Beautiful !  Supper was great. I had the special which was the Hot Hamburger sandwich. When I used to travel as a salesrep Hot Beef, Hot Turkey and Hot Hamburger sandwiches were my go to for a meal.  My favorite. Throw in a starter salad and I am one happy guy.

We drove the Flex out there for our first drive. Let me say this. IMPRESSED. This car drives and runs wonderfully. It is quiet, smooth and powerful. I really like the adaptive cruise and the info system. I give this car very high marks and am very happy with our purchase.

Thought of the Day 

Buying or receiving your first car is one of those top 5 memories of your life.