January 1st-3rd  2020

Did you check out my 2019 PICTURE Year in Review page. It was a great year and looking forward to even a better one in 2020.

How can it be better you ask:

• More golf
• More travel
• More friend time
• More fishing
• More family time
• More camping
• More relax time

It already is looking fabulous  with what we have preplanned already. Looking forward to the ride.

New Years Resolution:

If anyone knows me I am a meat and potato kind of person in all facets of my life. I hated and still do, gimmicks like corporate bonding, breaking boards, falling to allow yourself trust in others, meetings, encouragement propaganda on the walls, brainstorming sessions, seminars, and making resolutions that NO ONE keeps. Why people get caught up in the hype is beyond me. What makes Jan 1 different from any other day that you couldn’t have done what you wanted to then. I hate lack of commitment. If you wanted something ( diet, free time, weight loss, new project ) do it now or later when you see fit don’t fall into the trap of a New Years resolution and disappoint yourself and worse yet everyone that knows you tried and failed. The only real encouragment you need is yourself. Do things for yourself. Fail or win knowing you tired hard is all there is in life. Make winning a habit.

Speaking of resolutions did you know this tradition goes back further than you may think. The ancient Babylonians are the first people to record celebrations of the New Year . These celebrations began 4000 years ago and consisted of promises to the gods to repay debt and vows of loyalty to the king. In todays world the most common resolution is, lose weight, eat better, exercise more, save more money and remove stress. Did you know by being optimistic you have a 50% more chance of living an additional 8 years. So next time you want to whine, someone cuts you off in traffic or you think your done hard by smarten up, cheer up and add the few extra moments to your life.

Being Jan 1st  already how many of you have kept your resolution ?  According to a university study 1 in 10 will keep their resolution longer than 1 month. That is a very poor record.

We attempted to go to Jumanji on NYE but the seats were all sold out. We settled for another movie Spies in Disguise which turned out to be awesome. Will Smith and Reba were great sound overs. It was well done. Had a life lesson, Great story line and full of action. The theatre was packed. Again the food pricing is becoming insane. A small popcorn is now $6.99. That is purely a money grab. Granted you don’t have to buy it but what is a movie with buttered popcorn. $32 buck for food and we were set.  Loved the movie as did Jackson. Loved the popcorn. Love love the recliner seats.

Kieth Harry and us had a tradition for years to have Chinese food on NYE for years.This was after we had kids. These restaurants were busy then and tonight I phoned two different ones and both of them you couldn’t get thru. Their lines were overwhelmed. So we decided on plan B which turned out to be Harvey’s. It appears the whole city goes out for supper on NYE as every place we drove by had line ups outside.

We all managed to stay awake until midnight. Yahoo!  We saw the count down and everything. Jackson got into the action as it was happening. Fireworks were outside in the public field right behind us which scared the dog but were fun to witness.

Next day a little cleanup and fun and games. Jackson loves to compete at anything so we tried every game he had. He also played quite a bit on his Switch, we played his Paly Station car racing and played bumper shuffleboard.

Being home is much better than being at someone else’s place but staying at Tor’s with Hazel was easier on her and us. She didn’t have to stay in her kennel for long periods. Very good dog minus the hair. Jackson was very good also the whole time.

Next day we cleaned up a bit. We went for a long walk around the block with Hazel which was nice the temperature stayed quite warm for Jan.

This morning the neighbor had a EMT and Police visit with two cars and the ambulance. We saw them take the owner away but he walked to the ambulanced himself. Odd and we will never know the circumstances behind all of the action.

We picked up Audrey and headed to Avenida Mall to the Farmers Market. First time for us. I will say this that it is a neat place, great concept. No franchise chains just smaller outlets. I like that but can you believe I walked the whole court and couldn’t find a Chinese meal. I ended up having a Hot dog and fry. I was going to try the Brisket burger but I have had a few too many burgers in the last couple of days.

Alan, Mary Ann and us walked back and forth trying to find something we wanted. A bit of a struggle. Audrey only made it to the first table  available. They ended up with some kind of fish taco and chicken taco while Jackson had sushi and a hotdog and Jackie Waffles and eggs which looked great. I don’t think we will be back for the food court but to buy some local produce would be good.

We got home and it was nice. Relax, Jackie is washing our clothes and we will hit the plane to Mesa and be sleeping in our other home bed tomorrow night.

We stopped in front of a Weed Shop as Jackie was going into the Pharmacy next door. It is just odd seeing the amount of people coming in and out of there.

First my personal opinion is it was downright stupid and careless for a government to allow the sale of weed. We are saying to all of the children it must be ok. IT IS NOT OK. It kills brain cells. They should have decriminalized it but not legalized it. Yes they will create some tax dollars but it will not remove the underground community. Medicinal use I am not convinced off.

Thought of the Day 

A placebo is anything that seems to be a “real” medical treatment — but isn’t. It could be a pill, a shot, or some other type of “fake” treatment. What all placebos have in common is that they do not contain an active substance meant to affect health.  The response to the placebo can  be positive or negative . Improvement is known as the “placebo effect” I would interested in this study on the weed. Anything that dulls the mind should dull pain so it may have a purpose but a body with no pain but no mind isn’t a good thing.

January 3rd 

Well really a airplane ticket to Mesa. LOL

We got the condo all ready for us to leave. We packed up all of the food to take to Victoria’s place and I gave the Jeep a good under carriage wash to get rid of all of the salt.

Jackie was busy running around all day before we left. I think she was out of the house by 9 and back by 2:30 and then a quick visit with Jackson & Corey as Jackson had hockey and then we headed to the airport.

Alfred had his rifle scope he wanted to send back for repair so this was one of the few times we checked luggage. I looked it up on the TSA webpage and it is allowed but reading all of the incidents people had as every agent is different I didn’t want the hassles. It appeared agents in some cases consider it a gun part.

I do need to say the Calgary airport today is awesome. The new terminals have great amenities and are very spacious with lots of seating. I may have said this before but the new USA custom system is wonderful. Fast, hi-tech, and very easy to use. The have a done a good job with this.

The Aspire lounge is great with a nice buffet, beer, juice wi-fi , lounge chairs etc. All “free” with our special Visa card we have. Thanks ScotiaBank

The normal flight down which is good. We have decided to change our seating pattern for our next trip. We have always had side by side but I think we will go aisle seat beside aisle seat. Easier for luggage, bathroom breaks and exiting.

We were very fortunate to have Fred pick us up at the airport. For 12 years we have used the south doors but a better solution is the north doors which Fred uses.  We were standing outside waiting on the south side when Fred called. It was funny as the doors are only 25 yards apart but on opposite sides of the building. Next time.

I expected a 45 min wait for the bags and I was right. It was fairly busy with our luggage being the 4th plane landing to hit the turn styles. Main reason not to check bags.

On arrival we were treated very kindly. Fred had already turned on the water, turned on the heat and Fred & Terry even put milk, eggs, bread in the fridge. Now that is nice.!!

Slept like a baby !

Thought of the Day 

Life isn’t a fairy tale. You lose your shoe at midnight. You are drunk !

January 4th

“Mercury Forecast   Mesa 21 degrees Calgary 1 degrees Edmonton 3 degrees “

Clean up was first on the list.  I used the blower and broom to clean up the carport. I got out the spray cleaner and did a half ass job to table and BBQ with everything looking great again.

Then it was Christmas light removal time. This is what I love about Viewpoint. We had numerous neighbors come and welcome us back and stand around and talk. The place is filled with friendly people. Took me a little longer to put everything away than normal due to the conversation time. I removed everything and packed it away making the place look great again.

Then we headed out for groceries. Overall food pricing isn’t much different other than milk, cheese, alcohol, and veggies. We think we got everything. AS we all know to assume is usually wrong. We knew as soon as we were home though we are short of Baileys.

We watched the hockey game outside on the patio. THAT is NICE. One of the best things about a warm place. Canada played fantastic winning easily. My only fear Hayton will not be able to play in the gold medal game. Having said that it maybe a good thing as Hayton would have been a major target of the Russians after he disrespected them by not removing his helmet during their flag raising. I hope he plays but we will not know until game time.

Love sitting outside on the deck watching TV in warm temperatures

Jeff & Wendy arrived later in the evening around 6pm. We invited them over for supper as they have been on the road for 9 hours and no groceries as of yet. It was a nice visit. Hopefully they get all settled in and have an enjoyable time here as there are a lot of things to do. !!

Great first day !

Thought of the Day 

Funniest line I heard today ” Well we only had one car beep their horn at us on our trip all the way from Calgary”

 

January 5th 

TEN YEARS TODAY

This was at Victoria’s wedding in 2007. There is a slight resemblance.

It has been 10 years today I lost my Dad.   Losing a parent is not a nice experience to go through. You quickly realize how short life is. There is a feeling of “you are alone in this world now “ You lose your guidance, your mentor and your measuring stick. I was extremely fortunate to have the “BEST DAD in the World” . I am somewhat prejudiced as he was my Dad but I am sure even outside of our family, people would have said the same. He was the smartest person I have ever known. This is a man that was a licensed mechanic, a trained machinist, a skilled carpenter, a skilled plumber, skilled electrician, skilled welder, could play the violin and guitar, small business man, could take apart anything and repair it if it was electronics, radios, TV’s, lawnmowers, clocks, marine engines, blenders etc. This was a guy that built 2 homes himself ( it may have been 3) one of them without power tools for the majority of time, one of them when he was in his 20’s,built his own cupboards, fireplace, and this was a man that owned his own business ( garage & service station).He built his own full sized Truck camper that looked just like a factory one, he built his own wood boat, log splitter, chop saw and numerous creative inventions to help do a project. If he needed a part he would go out into the garage and make it on his lathe. Dad did not have a temper. I can’t remember one incident of him getting angry. He could be stern and pointed when needed but never angry. He was a fun guy and a funny guy. Always laughing, constantly joking and teasing people, loved playing with the kids and was always the guy to let others go first before him. If there was room for 4 people in a boat and we had 5 you could be sure Dad would sit out. In his day kids never had the opportunity to finish school as they were needed on the farm or had to go off to war. But he could calculate out how many cubic  yards of gravel to cover 100 square yards 4” deep just like that. He understood calipers, watts, voltage rates, micrometers, current rates, backlash settings, clearances like no one else.  In all of the years I only saw him stumped twice without having anything to say. Once when Keith Harry was pulling my broken down Corvette home with his F150 Ford truck ( Dad hated Fords and bugged Keith all of the time) and Dad was outside to see us come down the drive away, Keith rolls down his window and says “Power by Ford Body by Fisher” ( all gm cars had a doorsill sticker that said body by Fisher) . Dad was speechless. Another time Jackie and Dad were outside and they couldn’t find any cardboard boxes to use and Jackie being playfully smart says to Dad “ Why don’t you go into the garage and make some on your lathe”  Dad was speechless. He was a guy that would spend 8-10 hours working as a mechanic and come home to spend another 4-5 hours working on my car to rebuild the engine ( over rev’d or over used) and would never complain. He had a bad back his entire life and I never heard him complain. Some fond memories are going fishing with him to Buck lake all day , having root beer and lettuce & peanut butter sandwiches in the boat, on holidays going up a hill with our Vauxhall and 5 people in it and Dad rocking back and forth in his drivers seat trying to help us get up a big hill, Alfred driving his 427 Camaro with Dad and I in the car and going around a 90 degree corner on Jasper Ave at a very high speed sideways and Dad just smiling. I remember all of the times in the garage working on my car and learning each time from Dad something new. I remember the vacation trips we had , the smelly leather jacket with beads that Dad was given by a Native band, his fixing our Ski-Doo after every weekend after I broke it  and all of the great family times together. I miss that I can’t phone him to get advise on a house carpentry project ,or an electrical problem, or a car project or a design issue. He always had a suggestion or a how to make it work for me. Our family was extremely lucky to have him in our lives. Miss him everyday!

Dad, remembering you is easy, I do it every day. Missing you is the heartache that never goes away.

Today is World Junior’s Day with Canada taking on Russia for the gold. It is the best case scenario to have these arch rivals going for the gold. This year is even more interesting as Russia walloped Canada with a 6-0 loss in the early games. Plus our Captain was dumb and didn’t remove his helmet while the Russian anthem was playing. Then to add to that Hayton gets hurt and still ends up playing plus scoring. To beat the Russian’s and win GOLD is awesome. Canada played fantastic and deserved the win. The penalty calls all day were odd though. A fun game to watch and a wonderful end to it.

You have to forgive us in this picture. Trust me we were much happier when we started to catch up and then lead to the win. Great game and a lot of fun. This is the life.

My engine light came on  the Buick on the way to Safeway this morning. I have booked an appointment for it this week. Hopefully just a oxygen sensor and not a timing belt sensor or worse. First hiccup this vehicle has given us except for the a/c.

Talking to Jeff & Wendy hopefully things get on track for them. Their rental didn’t have enough towels or tea towels. You would think there was a set amount for a rental. We gave them a few of ours to use. They have a few issues with their place which is unfortunate but it is an older model rather than a new one. Still a standard should be set. Them not enjoying the drive down and then a little hiccup isn’t good as we want them to experience what this good life is all about. Hopefully it all comes together quickly for them.

I will get them out golfing quickly to help ease them into the lifestyle. LOL

We watched the Golden Globe awards. As usual they were ok. I think I just like to see the stars and listen to their acceptance speeches except for when they get political. Environmental, #metoo, women issues, abortion issues etc should never be part of an acceptance speech. Other than that I enjoy the people watching. Netflix and HBO dominate the shows and half of them we haven’t seen which is too bad as we don’t know if they are great shows or not. Nice to see some old stars get rewarded and nice to see some newbies.  There were some horrible dresses and some nice looking dresses. More ugly than good though and none outstanding.

It was a fun night.

Thought of the Day 

Life is really simple but all of us insist making it complicated. People die, things happen, things don’t come to fruition, we complain, we want our teams to win,we judge, we gripe, when we really should all just sit in the sun relax enjoy and let our minds wander to the what if’s and could have been’s and fun times we have all had.  Think KISS 

January 6th 

“Mercury Forecast   Mesa 21 degrees  Calgary -2 degrees  Edmonton -6 degrees snow”

The girls had their early morning walk as usual. Tracy, Terry, Jackie and Tracy’s friend joined in. I have seen them and they walk quickly which is good. Wendy unfortunately isn’t feeling well yet so wasn’t able to make it.

The TV repair guy was here at 8:30am. He is very dedicated and punctual. But after testing, checking and trying different cables no fix as of yet. He has DISH coming tomorrow. We have a black coaxial running from the box to the house but under the house it is a white wire. Causes a little confusion. I am hoping DISH runs new wires from the box to the unit and the boxes. I want them to test the hertz of the line. It appears we have fluctuations that causes the TV to hiccup. Fingers crossed we can get this fixed.

Still waiting for my appointment time at Green Light Garage.

Lots of news to watch with the Iran/Iraq issues. I think this will go for a long time.

I golfed with my men’s group today. Today I was with Mike, Denis, and Bob. All quite good golfers. I was relatively happy with today. First it didn’t cost me any money as we tied Bob Spencer and Denis. The last hole I birdied which allowed the tie.  I ended up with a 84 with taking a 7 on hole One. Every hole a Par or Boogie with one Birdie and one blow up hole. For not golfing for over a month I was ok with it.  A very fun day with gorgeous weather.

Jeff & Wendy met us after golf at Fat Willy’s for burger night. Another great meal with quite good service especially considering how busy it was. A super burger for $7 with fries is wonderful. It is a 8 oz burger made from sirloin with any side you like. You add a couple of jugs ( sorry pitchers)  of beer and you have a well balanced diet.

So another wonderful day coming to a close at Viewpoint.

Thought of the Day 

It is not a question of what age you want to retire but at what income you want to. But let me tell you. Retire soon as time goes fast and money isn’t the end all.

January 7th 

” Mercury Forecast  Mesa 22 degrees  Calgary -6 degrees snow  Edmonton – 13 degrees -snow fall warning”

Up and early today as I had DISH our cable guy coming. A 16 year employee so he should know what he is doing. He checked everything , changed out a splitter, changed out a few ends, crawled under the unit and changed the cabling. Checked the other Tv and after all is said and done it comes down to the TV tuner being defective in his mind.

First call to Best Buy to check on warranty. I never buy extended warranty. Or rarely. Turns out Best Buy warranty is only 2 weeks. Not good but they suggested to contact the manufacturer. After going back and forth at least 6 times stating my name and model number etc it concluded with a yes it is a 1 year warranty. Just give us the receipt number and we will look after it. We couldn’t find the receipt so off to Best Buy to retrieve my receipt. The young lady was brilliant at the service counter. She looks at the dates and smiles and states to me. ” I bet you wish you had bought the extended warranty ?” I laughed as it was a great comment. That is great customer service.

Driving back and low & behold the engine light goes off. I still need to find the code so I can see what the computer thought was an issue.

Phoned Sharp again and they have arranged for a tech to come here and repair it free of charge. The tuner is supposedly malfunctioning. I smiled when I saw they third partied it to the Geek Squad. I was impressed with Sharp overall. I just hope it gets fixed.

I met Fred and we went over the Rock Auto webpage. I had to phone Tower Dodge to get the OEM part numbers and then check the product we ordered for a fit. I ordered the heater core, new heater hoses and the a/c evaporator to replace them. I expect a two full day job of it. Fred is pretty clever at these kinds of things so it should go pretty ok.

A sunny beautiful day to enjoy.

Thought of the Day 

If you keep your face to the sun you will never see the shadows.

January 8th 

” Mercury Forecast  Mesa 20 degrees  Calgary -7  degrees snow   Edmonton -14 degrees snow 

I looked at the weather forecast for Edmonton and Calgary and I go ouch !!  Wow is the cold weather coming. When you hit like -33 degrees at night a few days in a row that is cold. We are feeling it a bit here also as we are lucky to hit 20 degrees for the next few days and a few 16 degrees coming up. But in my mind that is warm. No coat, no snow, no problem.

Up at 6:15 today for my Men’s league at Whirlwind. I had a Calgarian, Edmontonian and a gentleman from Minnesota today. As usual all super nice guys. If I could take 3 holes back I would be very happy with my golf today. I took an 8, 7, 7 , and still ended up with a 87. If I put all of those at par it is 78 or at a boogie even it would have been 81.  A shame I get into trouble on the odd hole and can’t save the score from getting to high. Considering missed putts also I was happy with the score. Lot’s of birdie shots.

Sandy was my UBER driver again today. I enjoy the ride back and forth with him. We could fix the world if we could only seize the power.

I got home and moved some chairs over to Jeff & Wendy’s place for them to use as the place only had 2 outside chairs.

They seem to have an issue with their freezer. Some of the food was frozen and some not. Odd. I checked the temperature dials and I am sure it now will work prefect. The fridge dial was at 3 out of 10. The fridge temperature and the freezer temperature work in unison with the temperature and air movement. I am fairly confident with the dials adjusted the two will balance. Fridge should be at 40 degrees and freezer at 0. We will see tonight. I am fairly sure it will correct itself. Fingers crossed.

Thought of the Day 

Here is a short poem for all of my Canadian friends :  Shit it is COLD.  The End 

January 9th

” Mercury Forecast  Mesa 19 degrees  Calgary -13 degrees  Edmonton -18 degrees”

Another early rise. Fred met me at Green Light Garage as I had the appointment set up for the Buick. I trust this mechanic from past experience. Turns out it was a C02 sensor from the catalytic convertor. Second worse thing versus a timing sensor. New convertor with new sensors is $1500. That is why people are stealing them in Edmonton & Calgary. I beleive emission controls  from day one have been a pain for the auto industry. Worse for any one having to replace one. On Jessica’s Saturn I had the mechanic punch out the plates and it worked fine. Problem then is the  Check Engine Light stays on. But today they now making cheater sensors to solve this.  Fred’s son in law on a Chevy truck is $3k to replace which is identical to this Buick as we are only replacing the left bank. Sucks ,but like I say it is only a couple of months payments on a new vehicle. Hopefully it will be ready for pickup today.

Fred & I went to our favorite breakfast spot. The Greek owner was out in full force again today. It is fun to watch him mingle with the clients. Plus the food is awesome. Wild Berry Diner is a great place.

On return Fred & I ripped out all of the carpet in the Arizona room. Hopefully our new idea works out well with going to polished concrete. Time will tell.

Watched the news and every time I see Trudeau it annoys me. He is an idiot and a way more embarrassing then Trump. It sound like he is just going to say ,Oh well 67 Canadians are dead all due to a unfortunate mistake and leave it at that. Mistakes like that shouldn’t EVER happen. Iran by a world court should be forced to pay compensation to every person’s family on that plane. A mistake like that can’t be just side stepped.

Getting ready for the Rolling Stone concert tonight.

Starts at 7pm tonight. I will let you know.

The Rolling Stones were awesome. the played all of the big hits and played for 90 minutes straight. Excellent singing and musicians. We had old farts dancing in the aisle ways an old women drooling over Mick.

I was waiting for one of them to throw him their bra. It wasn’t the loud bang as things dropped to the floor but the look on his face I would have liked to see.

We thoroughly enjoyed the concert. Jackie even had TWO glasses of wine.

“Memories ” 

My very first 8 track I bought was the Rolling Stones “LET IT BLEED” I listened to it for a couple of years on my house 8 track before it became a staple in my car. It kept getting louder and louder as the nights wore on. The song You Can’t Always Get What You Want, was one of my favorites as it sounded like a choir from heaven lecturing us. An old girl friend wrote on the back of a picture of herself that she gave to me even referred to this song. I was so proud to be one of the first guys at school with an 8 track and great sounding speakers in my 1969 Dart GT. My first tapes as on a very limited budget were this Rolling Stones album, The Best of Cream and Deep Purple . I loved Smoke on the Water.

Thought of the Day 

Music and it’s effects on humans- music especially to immature brains has a huge impact. Most of the issues come from the lyrics and head banging style of music that are promoting destructive behavior, advocate sexual activity and substance abuse, glamourize drinking and drugs that over a period of a teenagers life CAN contribute to a person struggling to adjust to main stream ideas. Classical music on the other hand promotes, calmness, relaxation and enjoyment but still could drive one to insanity.

January 10th-11th

“Mercury Forecast   Mesa 17 degrees Calgary -7 degrees, Edmonton -16 degrees “

The cold is coming. Checking both Edmonton and Calgary I am feeling a little sorry for the guys. When I see -35 degrees and colder for night time temperatures for a week or more I just go , Sorry.

It is amazing to have a  vibrant economy how companies are just too busy to deal with you. Twice I have contacted a flooring company with no response on the flooring . Small jobs of 200 sq ft aren’t as profitable I guess.

Jeff golfed with my men’s group today. We had Mike and Ken with Ken & I as partners. Most importantly Ken & I collected our winnings of $1.00. Jeff for not playing close to 3 months did very well. As with any game consistency in practice is needed to maintain a level of performance. If he can get out 2 to 3 times a week he will improve and notice it. I had an off day and it was my worst golf game of 2020. ( It is only my second one) We had a fun group and a fun time on the course. I was impressed as with the heckling and harassing that Jeff did so well. Today being his first day with the group we were easy on him though. A nice after golf gathering a Bob Spencer’s place ended a beautiful sunny day on a high note.

After Iran denied, denied they finally state human error caused the airplane to be shot down. I would call that a very incompetent military to do that in todays world. Having said that the USA, Russia and Ukraine have all had the same thing happen years ago though. To kill innocent lives and say your sorry isn’t enough. Every person killed should be compensated by Iran. Trudeau is so stupid shrugging and saying we want answers then what will he do. We need help so hopefully he losing a non confidence vote soon.

Another sunny wonderful day even if on the cooler side hitting 17 degrees but high in Vitamin D content without a single cloud in the sky.

These 80 year old guys are amazing. Running the bases, hitting great balls and throwing the ball with a lot of gusto. Quite impressive really. Jackie & I walked up the park. Will Jackie walked and I strolled enjoying myself in the sun. Life is too wonderful to be rushed. She headed and did her 10K steps and met back at the park. Jeff & Wendy came also. I had their wonderful $ 4.00 burgers. Fully loaded with onions, cheese, tomato, pickles and condiments you can’t go wrong. I think they are Costco sirloin burgers as they taste great and are huge.

An important game on tonight and struggling to find a place to watch it. I used ROKU and went through the HULU which would have given us access to it but ran into a hiccup with the geo location issue and a credit card that isn’t USA based. Tried for a CBC app and geo locator was an issue also. Finally I found a place RT Sullivan’s which is the sports bar that Fred & I had turn on a TV to watch the Grey Cup. Great service. The girl says she can get it so we will check it out at 8pm tonight. Whoever wins takes first place in the division and bragging rights per say. Lucic getting a hat trick would be the icing.

This could be the start of a downward spiral for the Oiler’s after tonight. For lunch Jackie & I headed over to the ballpark. We watched a bit of ball and I had one of their delicious tasting burgers for $4.00. $5.00 with a pop. Great deal and great burger sitting in the sun on the bleachers watching very good ball.

Should be an excellent game with everything on the line. Get ready to have the Battle of Alberta for first place. It has been a lot of years since I could say that.

Thought of the Day 

Don’t think about what is going happen in a year. Don’t think about what is going happen in a month. THINK about the next 24 hours and the joy that comes from being in first place.

January 12th

“Mercury Forecast Mesa 18 degrees, Calgary -22 degrees , Edmonton -24 degrees”

When I was checking the weather this morning I can only say I feel bad for the people having to endure this brutal severe cold weather. Night temperatures getting down to -37 degrees is just stupid. All you people do realize this cold is caused by climate warming.  That is a perfect oxymoron. Lol . I hope everyone plugs in, brings plenty of warm clothes with them and has a emergency kit in their car as with these temperatures things break in vehicles that you wouldn’t expect.

Now for some good news. I hope everyone had a wonderful time watching the game last night. After spending a good chunk of the day trying to get the game my local bar as promised put it on for us with a table right at the screen.

This bar has more TV’s than anywhere I know. This is the place Fred and I went to for the Grey Cup and again very accommodating by giving us a screen with it on even though the place was packed with Viking fans watching some poor NFL game. I picked up Ralph & Tracy along with Jeff & Wendy to go to the game. Jackie was nice to us by being our Designated Driver. The beer was ice cold and at $3.50 a pint you can’t go wrong. Chicken wings and potato skins were awesome. Nice to have the Oiler fans along with us for a balance of energy.

Finally Edmonton is a good enough team to give us a true Battle of Alberta. This was a great game with McDavid’s goal being great as usual. The Flames as a team played wonderful. Talbot made some great saves. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have played Mike Smith ? Zack Kassian losing his cool cost his team taking a 4 minute penalty and I see today he has a meeting with the NHL. His aggressiveness was uncalled for and resulted in him losing the game. Anyone that understands hockey knows Kassian keeps his head a way too low and Tkachuk loves to hit and be a agitator. Zack should get at least 3 games suspension. No penalty call on the hit as it was clean. Great hits !

This is a moment of time that tells all. Anyone stupid enough to skate with their head down is going to get hit. A clean hard check by anyone’s standards.

I think everyone will agree it was a good game, a fun game to watch, the better team won and with 4 points and first place on the line a very important game.

I am sure the Oiler’s will be on a downward spiral after this devastating loss.

I tried something different this time after my team winning AGAIN and only sent a subtle short message to my Edmonton Oiler cheering friends.  It most likely will surprise them as I could have went on forever but played it cool this time.

I feel for the City of Edmonton and it’s sports fans. They have to endure so much loss it isn’t easy for them. They have great expectations and both teams fail to deliver consistently.  If it wasn’t for that  global warming causes this bitter cold spell they could go outside on their new bike paths and peddle away their misery. Having said that a brain freeze can happen in the cold which has affected the entire city with the Kassian fiasco.

I had a response from Burris scopes and after talking to Alfred I have sent them another email requesting a return authorization number. I will see how that goes.

All of my Dakota parts have arrived from Rock Auto so will have that big job ahead of me in the summer. I couldn’t sell it without a heater working and feel good about it.

Two flooring companies now failing to respond to my quote requests. It must be nice to be so busy you can pick and choose your jobs. I will continue to search for someone to get this done.

Nothing special on the agenda today. Jackie is washing the sheets. I booked golf for Jeff & Wendy along with us on Monday at San Marcos which will be fun.

This might be hard for the pretend to be , the want to be and the youth of today but more and more evidence of global warming being a hoax is coming out.

A new NASA study says that an increase in Antarctic snow accumulation that began 10,000 years ago is currently adding enough ice to the continent to outweigh the increased losses from its thinning glaciers.

The research challenges the conclusions of other studies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2013 report, which says that Antarctica is overall losing land ice.

According to the new analysis of satellite data, the Antarctic ice sheet showed a net gain of 112 billion tons of ice a year from 1992 to 2001. That net gain slowed   to 82 billion tons of ice per year between 2003 and 2008.

“We’re essentially in agreement with other studies that show an increase in ice discharge in the Antarctic Peninsula and the Thwaites and Pine Island region of West Antarctica,” said Jay Zwally, a glaciologist with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and lead author of the study, which was published on Oct. 30 in the Journal of Glaciology. “Our main disagreement is for East Antarctica and the interior of West Antarctica – there, we see an ice gain that exceeds the losses in the other areas.”  Zwally added that his team “measured small height changes over large areas, as well as the large changes observed over smaller areas.”

Scientists calculate how much the ice sheet is growing or shrinking from the changes in surface height that are measured by the satellite altimeters. In locations where the amount of new snowfall accumulating on an ice sheet is not equal to the ice flow downward and outward to the ocean, the surface height changes and the ice-sheet mass grows or shrinks.

But it might only take a few decades for Antarctica’s growth to reverse, according to Zwally. “If the losses of the Antarctic Peninsula and parts of West Antarctica continue to increase at the same rate they’ve been increasing for the last two decades, the losses will catch up with the long-term gain in East Antarctica in 20 or 30 years 

I think most would agree Nasa is a reputable trustworthy organization. Remember just  few years ago the world wide  gas shortage scare. This global warming scare could be created to increase the likelihood of a one world wide government, create financial equality as large GDP countries are forced to pay to meet standards and third world countries can create industries that do not have to follow the rules.

We drove to American Furniture and after a LONG time picked up a coffee table as our old set Jackie sold on the marketplace. We get it home and assembled the whole thing, re arranged the furniture a few times then have to take it back as it is too big. I liked our original set but it was too big. The store was exceptional at the return and we picked out a new one.

Another good day.

Thought of the Day,

A place for everything and everything in it’s place 10 hours later.

January 13th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 21 degrees Calgary -24 degrees Edmonton -24  degrees snow  ” 

Calgary is 45 degrees different than us. That is COLD. We are so lucky to be able to spend time here in Arizona. It is January though and it hits the 17 to 23 degrees for a few weeks as the high the lows are cold at night hitting 2 to 5 degrees. Jackie went for her walk this morning and it was only 2 degrees. The desert likes to cool off fast.

I have had a lot of fun for the last couple days after our win over the Oilers with a friend from Edmonton. I have known Bob since 1977. He has owned or shared season tickets from day one with the Oilers.  For anyone that knows Bob he is hard working, dedicated , loyal , detailed guy. While working together at Sterling Dist , Gary another city rep and myself didn’t want our sales quota raised too high the following year so we would take Friday afternoon’s off and spend them at a bar starting Nov/Dec depending on our sales success. Bob would carry on working. I mention this to show the dedication he has to everything. Being a long term Oiler fan he could be called a super fan. Well this blind loyalty to the team is his one undoing. So we have had some very fun emails back and forth with Bob looking at the Oilers from a tainted position based on his blind faith and me pointing out the obvious injustices, and impartial judgment of what happened the last game. Just remember we WON.  Kassian deserves at least a 3 game suspension for being a wild lunatic and attacking our number one point getter that only hit him with a fair check. It is not Tkachuk’s responsibility to ensure that a player keeps his head up like they were taught from PeeWee’s to do. Tkachuk did not receive a penalty as there was no infraction. Lucic’s hit again was a fair hit with no penalty.So we went back and forth and are both waiting for the 29th for the rematch. Oiler’s are always waiting for a rematch but each time the Flames burn them which I expect will happen again. The loyalty of the Oiler fan base is admirable with the team sucking for so long. Perhaps only Toronto fans are more loyal. For me it is nice to have a city with a good team consistently each year albeit they can’t seem to win in the playoffs. But it makes the year of watching a lot more fun. So I will start thinking up creative ideas for the next Oiler game to excite, enrage, exasperate, and  engage the blind, unrealistic, faithful of the Oilers again. Ps Bob is now retired so most likely considers verbal battles exercise.  I love the interaction.

Being the impartial participate I will say McDavid is the best player in the league right now. His Flames goal and Toronto goal were remarkable. If only he had more than one other player on the team that had skill they could be a powerhouse. Lucky for us they aren’t even close.

I was a little surprised to receive another email from one more misguided Oiler fan. Gary thought Tkachuk deserved to be in a fight. I don’t understand the blind loyalty . The NHL SUSPENDED Kassian for TWO GAMES due to his mental breakdown. You would have thought all Oiler fans would see that bullying doesn’t pay and even hockey EXPERTS thought Kassian went insane and needed to be punished.  Tkachuk is our leading goal scorer. He is a hard hitting, hard playing guy. He was brilliant at agitating Kassian, and getting the power play .

To the Oiler fanatics , Bob, Gary, Kieth, Mel to be  specific ,that are struggling with the brilliant play of Tkachuk just remember this. Who was penalized ? Who was penalized from the league ?  Who won the game ? Who is in first place ?

Til the 29th.  Be ready Oiler faithful.

This got me thinking. It was been unbelievable how the Flames have dominated their provincial rivalries since 1991 the year I moved to Calgary. A few games here and there but overall if I had won $100 for every game I would be rich.

League / Tournament		Win	Loss	Draw	WOT	LOT	WPS	LPS
	NHL (Calgary Flames)	49	29	none	2	2	4	3
	NHL (Edmonton Oilers)	29	49	none	2	2	3	4

We picked up Jeff & Wendy to head to the San Marcos Golf course today. This is an old course built in 1913 and even has the Cabone homestead on the course.  This course plays hard as the Par 4’s  are over 400 yards and one Par 3 over 200 yards. I started off poorly but had a good back nine with a 41. Jackie and Wendy both played very well. Jeff had some wonderful shots with odd bad one thrown in. I would have loved the score if I didn’t start off so badly but that is the game of golf. It was a wonderful sunny warm day and a very enjoyable outing.

After golf we decided to have supper  at the San Tan Brewery. Nice location, great food and a huge selection of beer. Everyone enjoyed their meal.

Fun day ! Great golf. Good friends and wonderful food and drink.

Thought of the Day 

Golf in which the ball lies poorly and the players well.

January 14th

“Mercury Forecast Mesa 22 degrees Calgary -27 degrees Edmonton -31 degrees” 

The deep freeze continues for my Alberta friends. That is cold. It did get me thinking about the irrational thinking coming out of the North part of province. I relate it to a BRAIN FREEZE.  Just saying. I see -50 degrees with wind chill in Edmonton and Red Deer . That is just not nice.

Here is the difference between a sunny location and Canada right now.

You decided which you prefer.

I am heading up the office to borrow their hole punch as I have 900 sheets to punch for our block directory. This is a good four hour job.

I started at 9:30 am and ended at 5pm. Printed, hole punched and still have a bit left but had to leave early as duty called.

Fred texted that he and Ralph were at Fat’s on the big deck getting away from a girls game at his house. I had a few beers sitting on the deck in the warmth which was wonderful. Sitting on the deck in the sun watching golfers and having a JUG of beer is the good life.

I came home and started supper. If anyone is familiar with chicken down here you know you get HUGE portions. We will have left over for lunch or supper the next day.

Jackie earlier today went and had her hair done. She looks wonderful with a true layered hair cut. Beautiful.

Thought of the Day 

Life is better with a big deck !

January 15th

“Mercury Forecast Mesa 22 degrees  Calgary -27 degrees Edmonton -29 degrees ”  

OUCH !

We killed ourselves laughing watching the news last night. It turns out Phoenix was listed #84 worst driver city out of 200 large cities in the USA The news station was doing a poll and asked the viewers to vote the reason they thought this was.

1. Distracted driving
2.  Road system
3. Speeders
4. Snowbirds

On purpose they are making fun and picking on Snowbirds about their driving. Ironic part of it is I can agree. You get a 100,000 old farts not knowing the city and just being old it is dangerous. Nothing is worst than a old man or woman that we can’t even see their head above the seat rest start slowly driving down the road. I reiterate that EVERYONE over 70 should be mandated to take a physical driving test. They need to be able to parallel park, back up for 50ft, drive the posted speed and be able to make a decision instantly not after 5 minutes of waiting and realizing the road is empty or the light is green.  It was just funny to see it on the news.

A colder start again in morning being picked up at 6:30 for golf. There was no frost delay but very cool. My hands did ok even though I had to keep them in my pockets. This morning I was going back and forth between shorts and pants with pants winning out. And I am glad.

Today my partners were a fun guy from Moose Jaw, a great guy from Iowa, and a visitor to one of our players from Germany. Strong accent and strong man. I think this was my downfall today. He ended up being the low guy of our group with a score of 73. I tried to hit the ball too hard and just had a lousy golf day overall. That happens but I hate it on Wednesdays. Having said that I still won money and am #10 on the money list out of 40 people so happy about that. I struggle playing against great golfers trying to hard. It is all mental.

The golf game ended with it being over 72 degrees out. I came home and had a lay down on the back deck and fell asleep. Jackie came home and was out on the front deck and I didn’t even know. Nothing better than laying out in the sun on the deck.

It must have been a boring day for Jackie today. She decided to spend some money. She bought another live edge wood end table and ending up buying airplane tickets for the kids to come visit. This way she won’t need to fly home herself. The kids will be here for a week in March. The kids pool will be busy with them in it. Will need to come up with some ideas to entertain them.

The Battle of Alberta in the NHL is going strong. Calgarians exceeded the amount needed for a Tkachuk Billboard to antagonize the Oiler fans on their way to the game on the 29th.

The GO FUND ME exceeded the amount needed and the overage is being donated to the ALS society as our assistant coach was recently diagnosed with this. Now Edmontonian’s have also become engaged and are donating to the Brown Paper Bag program for kids at school with no meals in Calgary. While a very worthy cause and nice to see they are donating but doin it with a with a mean spirit ” to allow the kids to grow to be tough like Kassian not Tkachuk”  I will forgive them as it is a worthy cause. The billboard is done just for fun. They still don’t get it even though the hockey world, the general population, the NHL board all agree Tkachuk gave normal legal clean body checks and Kassian went insane with rage. He lost them the game. Having endured soooooo many years of losses the Oiler fans has become very tainted with blind loyalty and not looking at the real picture.  I hope Kassian goes nuts again and gets suspended for the seasonand fined.

Thought of the Day 

Spending time with the grandkids is money well spent !

January 16th

“Mercury Forecast – Mesa 19 degrees, Calgary -28 degrees, Edmonton – 28 degrees snow showers”

The tale of two cities:  EDMONTON and CALGARY

There has been and always will be a rivalry between these two cities. You have Calgary being a modern, hip, corporate office, entity and Edmonton being a government town , labourer, unionized,try hard city with a underlying need to be special so they build LRT and bike paths instead of paving their roads. I loved Edmonton when I lived there ( actually a wonderful city St Alberta) with it’s beautiful river valley. Edmonton’s valley is something to be very proud of but they don’t promote at all like Saskatoon or Winnipeg.The City of Champions sign luckily was removed as it was  a sign of insecurity as they felt the need to brag to the world. Karma came and bit them as they became far from a city of champions. Hopefully they can recover from that. The two cities are far apart in their thinking. Edmonton is made up mostly of union employees and beleive in a socialist way of life. Calgary is about equal opportunity without government interference. Edmonton has a huge struggle with the oil patch versus the green people which causes a higher than normal crime rate.

Why i bring this up is over the Tkachuk incident.  Over $20K has been raised for charity over this. The people of Calgary  started this with just a smiling face of Tkachuk on a billboard for the Edmonton fans to appreciate as they go see the hockey game. Edmonton on the other hand wants a Sportsnet background like below.

 

I think it is obivous the stark differences in the cities. I have  alot of freinds in Edmonton that I support while again they try to “find” themselves in another controversial poor decision.

Fred and I worked all day today installing a barn wood backsplash for my outdoor kitchen. The result is wonderful. The look is wonderful. I am very happy with it and a huge bonus is the reduction in wind. I think I am going to install a gate on the south side of kitchen which will even help more.  Great job even if I say myself. LOL

Jackie was out golfing with Wendy & Terry in their ladies league today. She had a skort on but after feeling the temperature outside decided to wear pants . You get to only 19 degrees and with a light wind that is COLD.

As Fred said it is so cold he had to put on a pair of socks in his sandals.

Jackie came back the big money winner which is great and makes anytime golfing fun.

Off to our January block party up at the North pool tonight.

For tonight’s potluck Jackie made a hearty Chef/Cobb Salad. Three kinds of lettuce, ham, chicken, bacon, hard boiled eggs, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber. A full bowl was all gone. The food selection tonight was awesome.

We had our usual potluck which I like but still wish it was more involved with games or some kind of activity to keep people together longer. We are organizing the March one and we will have something for people to do. An odd request came up during the “meeting part” which was to have the block limit the quantity of block get togethers. I am 100% against this. We are at Viewpoint for a reason and that is the social aspect of it. If someone doesn’t want a party they simple do not have to show up. Keep the parties going to keep the contact between people. Let the party poopers stay at home and everyone is happy. We voted on this last year and it should have been done deal we don’t need to rehash every year. Old people !

After our block party we had the next door neighbors over for a few drinks. We had Randy & Donna along with Dwight & Gini over. It is always nice to have a fun time interacting with people, to hear their stories, to tell a few stories and just to be together.  Wonderful to be sitting outside in the night.

Another full, wonderful day in paradise

Thought of the Day 

I am sick and tired of my friends that can’t handle their alcohol. They dropped me three times tonight carrying me into my house !

January 17th-18th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 22 degrees , Calgary -18 degrees Edmonton -24 degrees ” 

I had the Geek Squad come today and install my new tuner in the TV. The kid that did it was a great guy. Very talkative. After completing it we are back to square one. It still did the same thing so again the blame is being put on to the cable company. Can’t win on this one. When you are caught in the middle with each side blaming each other it is hard to get it corrected. Geek is phoning back on Tuesday and we will see what we can done.

Jeff & I went to my men’s group at Viewpoint today to golf. Today I golfed with Arnold, Bill and Jeff. Arnold and Bill are both over 80 years old but very good golfers.  I think Jeff was surprised at how well they did. My partner today was Bill. Our game ended a tie. It is difficult to win when the opponents are getting two stroke advantages on 4 holes. If  I scored a Par and Jeff or Arnold get a 6 we tie the hole. So of they managed to get a 5 they would win by one stroke. Makes it interesting and it works as we did tie overall.  The sun was shining and the course in perfect shape again. It was far from being a good golf today for myself which didn’t help. Jeff had his best score this year and I ended up with a 84 by taking a triple and couple of doubles.

We arrived home about 5:30 which meant changing clothes, cleaning up a bit and heading up to the dance hall.

We met Fred, Terry, Ralph, Tracy, Wendy & Jeff there.  This dance was full. I do have to say this time the meal wasn’t the best and only due to the fact we have Burger Night on Mondays at Fat’s and we have burger at the ballgames so it would have been nice to have something different. But for a live band and good dinner for $15.00 you can’t complain.

The band for this event was awesome. Very few dumb songs played, only one stupid line dance song and just good old C&W music. Jackie and I danced a LOT of times which makes it fun. It was a fun gathering.

Fred had his Eskimo jersey on which is bad. To have a derogatory name in full display is insensitive to our native peoples. Ralph had his Oiler shirt on which is very controversial right now with the team and city encouraging and supporting violence with the Tkachuk controversary. Jeff looked great in his Calgary Flames jersey. A team that promotes well being, fair play and plays by the rules. Myself, I have not and will not get sucked into the marketing  machine that says a fan has to wear a team jersey for $150. I went with a nice IZOD casual shirt. I win.

They say it is a small world and it is. We met this older gentleman in his 80’s who came up to our table and started talking to us. Amazing memory and funny with his jokes. His name was Al Bohan ( spelling ? ) and he was a City of Edmonton police officer. He knew my Uncle Mike Semeniuk very well and even knew a another officer that Fred knew that was shot in the neck. Al was a Ukrainian guy with the looks. Here are two of his jokes that killed us.

1.  My wife was walking through a cemetery later at night  the other day and she phoned me          ”  Honey I wish you were here !”
2. My wife was out for awhile and when she came home I told her that her mother had stopped by. ” That is nice what did she want ? ”  ” She wanted me to open the door”

I asked him what division he worked in to see if had given me any tickets from years ago. I killed myself laughing ”  Where you in the traffic division ?” He retorts ” NO I was a real cop ! ”

He ended his career as a Detective so had to a good guy.

We decided to go the Mesa Marketplace today for some décor item for our new wood backsplash. We looked at a lot of different items but nothing just clicked and stood out for us. Some new booths and bigger upscale booths helped the market look better.

Jeff& Wendy drove us and we spent the afternoon there. On the way home a suggestion for a light Mexican lunch/supper. It turned out we headed to Tia Roses which has nothing little. Great food and we all enjoyed our selections. Funny though it was 72 degrees at 6 pm and the girls were cold. My face was getting cooked from the patio heater.  I love eating outside in the warmth which we do a lot at our house. I find warm air can stuff you up and you lose the essence of fresh outside air. Ladies for whatever reason tend to feel cooler than men yet they sweat in bed at night.  I looked it up and women are a little disadvantaged in this area. It appears men’s bodies burn calories quickly mainly due to muscle mass and hence their body temperature is a FEW degrees higher. Good thing for individual temperature control in a car.

Thought of the Day 

I think dancing is the perpendicular expression of horizontal desire. I am sure that people from large families are probably better dancers as they learned their steps waiting for the only bathroom in the house.

January 19th

” Mercury Forecast  Mesa 25 degrees Calgary -1 degrees  Edmonton – 17  degrees”

Just a gorgeous day from a warm morning to warm evening. Hitting 25 is the dream temperature.

First thing this morning was going for paint. I wanted to go to a “Professional paint store” rather than big box as I wanted correct and good information. Unfortunately at Sherwin Williams we got the young girl. While very helpful she wasn’t the most comfortable with the questions. But luckily a manager was with her that injected a sense of confidence in us. After all of the struggles with what to do with the flooring we are  going to paint the floor like we had a Blimpies. This is my third choice but am ok with it. We picked up a concrete/porch paint tinted to a color called Toast which I think will look good. Today I spent a few hours patching the concrete where needed. I will be able to tell my job when it dries.  My plan is to start  with Fred’s help on Tuesday morning and move all of the furniture to the patio. Then it is time to vacuum, dust and sand anywhere we need to. My hope is to have the first coat on by noon and be able to apply the second coat by 5pm. I plan to install all of the new baseboards on Thursday am and move the furniture back in on Thursday afternoon. HOPEFULLY !   I have golf mixed in here as I didn’t plan my week very well. With notice I don’t mind cancelling Monday or Friday golf to concentrate on getting things done. Oh well.

Here is where a great day went wrong. Fred & Terry stopped by to see the outdoor kitchen backsplash. We ended up playing crib with the girls against the boys as usual. As I have said before my middle name should be CRIB with the amount of wins I normally experience. Today the girls WON 6 STRAIGHT games until we had enough. I will officially change my name to DICE until I start winning again or have very bad luck with the dice game.

It was a fun afternoon.

I cooked up some Pork Chops that were fantastic along with roasted spuds and peas. Awesome meal sitting outside in the warmth.

After our exhausted search at Mesa Market Jackie found a personalized sign at Etsy that she bought that should look great. Time will tell.

Thought of the Day 

We really didn’t lose the games today we just ran out of time before we became the winners !!

January 20th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 25 degrees  Calgary 4 degrees  Edmonton  0 degrees” 

Migraine city today in Calgary with the Chinook winds happening. Funny how barometric pressure affects people so badly.

A beautiful warm morning as Jackie just got back from her morning walk.

On the agenda today is a golf outing at Western Skies Golf with Jeff & Wendy.

I sent off our vote on the block parties today to our street captain. They want to change to two parties only. December and March. I like one every month. They just need to make them more entertaining to keep people longer. If we go to two there is no way it can be December early enough to have a large turnout as a large group leaves for Christmas and doesn’t return until early Jan having to stay away the 30 days. Social gatherings are the best part of Viewpoint. Meeting your neighbors should be a priority. To come to this wonderful place and spend your time in the house and not visit with people is just stupid. It takes all of a 1/2hr to plan and organize a gathering which is no work at all. Everyone is retired. If the vote goes to the 2 parties we will only be attending one as we go home and will continue to do so every December. If that happens I will buy a Happy Hour sign to put out front when we are free and invite people to BYOB and sit down for visit on our deck.  We voted on this last year and it doesn’t seem to want to go away. Old people !

73 degrees and beautiful with no wind and we where golfing at Western. It was a fun day. I thought overall everyone played well. The girls had some wonderful hits and chips. Jeff started off poorly but came around on the back 9. It was an interesting game today for me. I drove the ball extremely well with only one hook ball lost. Otherwise a few right fades but many many straight drives and long. I would have liked the score except I  3 putted 7 times. Make those boogies and that reduces the score by 7. That is the game though you just never know .

I have golfed lots at Western Sky but today was a little disappointing. No half shack. No prepared weiners, No premade sandwiches. I waited fr at least 10 min to get something from the bar. At the tenth hole a foursome of youngs guys with the exact same issues. They gave up and didn’t buy beer or food. The lost sales would be staggering. A good manager would realize and correct this. Too bad !!

We decided tonight to forgo Fat Willy’s and eat our left overs as we went out for supper a few tines last week and the left overs are too good to give up. Next week.

Thought of the Day

The only time you should EVER eat diet food is while you are waiting for your steak to cook !

January 21st 

“Mercury Forecast Mesa 15 degrees rain, Calgary 2 degrees, Edmonton 1degrees snow “

Up this morning earlier than I normal as today was getting the Arizona room done. I started at 8am and sanded, chipped, scraped and made sure the concrete was a smooth as possible. I knew and accepted that where the patches where would show through the paint a bit but I am ok with that. I started off wanting the concrete to be polished which I would have loved but the contractors here are just too busy for small jobs even though it would have been about $1200. I then moved to tiling the room at a cost of about $1000. We settled on painting the floor which is what we did. I am liking it and at a cost of $150 can’t go wrong. Fred came over about 8:30 and helped me vacuum and smooth where needed. Then Fred cut in all of the edges and I rolled the first coat. I was quite happy with the application and the looks.

We took off to the Depot to pick the baseboard. I had figured we needed 5 pieces but I didn’t measure the length. They are 16ft which is odd so now I have a piece too many. LOL

First coat went down perfect and we were done by 10 o’clock. Fred left as he had some things to do for himself and returned around 2pm.

He cut and I rolled and the second coat is done and we are pleased with the looks and the color. Carpet should never be used in Arizona with the sand and grit. This floor looks good, should last well and the only caution is we need to take is moving chairs on it. Fix for that is the large felts Jackie installed on all of the chairs. Our floor in Blimpie’s lasted extremely well considering the traffic and chair movement. My hopes here are the same.

Thursday is install baseboard and move furniture back in. Jackie painted all of the baseboard today so it will mean just some touch up on Thursday in the nail holes and the coped corners.

Best part is I get to have a cowhide rug in the room.

Thought of the Day

“When you fall, I will be there to catch you. With love, the Floor.”

January 22nd 

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 19 degrees, Calgary 2 degrees, Edmonton -3 degrees snow ” 

I have to bug the pretend to be do -gooders and their environmental kick.

Picked up right on time like clock work from Sandy at 6:45 this morning. The temperature was fine but it was a little foggy. We had no issues in the rush hour morning traffic. So we arrived a little early. I don’t mind being a little early as you get to putt and use the driving range to loosen up. Miss having the morning breakfasts with Bob Ferris though.

I am not sure but I thought our tee time was 8:30. It was very thick fog and they didn’t let us out until 9am. Out at our first hole you could see no father than 75 yards. We had to get the group in front of us to whistle or yell back at us when it was clear to drive. Second shot again it was just a guess at where the green was. I do have to say it was very interesting shooting blind. We played at least 5 holes in thick fog not being able to see more than 100 yards. Makes it difficult. Today I had a guy from Iowa, and two from Edmonton. I drove good today losing no balls off the tee and only one a little too far left. Missed the odd to green second shot but AGAIN struggled putting. I missed so many putts. I need to find a way to sink more putts from that 4 to 15 ft range. I hate it having numerous makeable birdie putts and coming away with a par or a boogie. It has been about four games now that putting has been hard. I will need to fix this quickly. A fun good golf day and winning money again is always good. Maintained my 10th place on the money list which is good.

Two interesting things happened today. One of our guys got a hole in one. This was during the heavy fog. As told it was a beautiful shot but no one could see it as the fog was too thick. Looking all around the green and finally checking the cup he gets a hole in one. How unfortunate not to see his ball actually fall in the hole. It cost him a lot of beer at dinner time.

Larry on my team shot a beautiful long putt. It was left just hanging over the lip of the cup. As he walking to the hole and leaning down to pick it up our captain yells. ” It’s moving” Wither it was the wind, the walking up to the ball  causes a tremor but the ball slowly moved and dropped into the cup just before Larry was about to grab it. Birdie!

I came home and unhooked my TV and took it to Fred’s place to try it there as his cable we knew was working perfect. My TV failed and confirms it is 100% the fault of the TV. The issue is getting Best Buy and Sharp TV to anti up. Won’t be easy.

Thought of the Day 

The only reason I play golf is to keep my back loose and not seizing up 

January 23rd 

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa  22 degrees, Calgary 4 degrees, Edmonton 2 degrees”  

Up at it early. It was Arizona room day today. Jackie had all the moldings painted. We started installing them . As I like profile molding versus square stock ( I call square stock the builder grade molding, easier install, faster, cheaper) With a profile molding it is always better to cope the miters. We did this including cutting 22.5 degree corners for the soft corner bead. The molding looks wonderful and finishes off the room.

We then moved to the gate beside the outdoor kitchen. Barn wood, round top gate to help with the wind, rain and privacy. I really like the look of it.

These two projects took close to 8 hours. We also started the transition between the rooms. Fred was a work acholic today wanting to get all three things done. We got 2 1/2 things done. The third requires a planer which I am checking to see if wood shop has one.

Jackie was very lucky tonight. Our neighbor had a ticket for the Bee Gee’s concert and invited Jackie. I am sure she will know ever word and every song and thoroughly enjoy the concert.

First day since coming to Arizona my back started to hurt. 8 hours, up and down, cutting, dap caulking, gate making and the standing and bending gets to me. I will rest it tonight for my game tomorrow. I have had a horrible back since about 15 years old. A tackle football injury and two roll over car accidents destroyed it and I went to a chiropractor every Saturday for YEARS until I discovered and started thinking for myself that these guys are QUACKS. They only want to see you again and again to generate income. Even the AHC insurance stopped covering these guys. I discovered a semi cure for my back which was deep muscle stimulation. Works for me and is on your own terms when I need it. I am not positive but I would say most pain is muscular versus skeleton and treating that, is effective. Massage, deep muscle, physio  is a way more effective that a fake clicker called an “Activator” and potentially risking a stroke as they twist your neck. I don’t take pills for pain ( extremely rare) and I am sure no one has heard me complain about my back except Jackie. I live with it and suck it up even though there are days in the past Jackie had to pull me out of bed and days golfing where I grimaced in the follow through. When someone says they have a sore back I fully understand and have empathy as it is not easy to live with.

Wendy has had some back issues since coming to Arizona and has been handling it extremely well and has had a few treatments, massages and hot tub nights with good results. Fred deals with his inflammation unbelievably as he has major arthritis. He takes pills but I have never heard him complain and I am positive anyone else would.

It is a good feeling to wake up pain free.

Thought of the Day 

They say pain lets you know your alive. I feel so alive !!

January 24th-25th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 22 degrees, Calgary 5 degrees, Edmonton 2 degrees”

Got out of bed and took my piece of wood to the woodshop. This is a first class wood shop with just about every tool you could ask for. I asked one of the old guys if he could plane down my board for a stair tread and with a donation no problem was the answer. He worked away on it and he handed me back my board in a few minutes done perfectly for me. Nice guy and it worked out and fit like a charm.

It was my men’s golf game today. Jeff & I were golfing with Ron and Mike. Another warm beautiful day that was good. The golf not so much. All four of us sucked to be blunt. Golf is hard to understand how things can go wrong. I knew my back was going to be an issue but it affected more than any other day in a long time.Mike had his highest score of the year. Ron was over 90 which never happens to him. Jeff had some bad shots and I just couldn’t do much. I remove this from my memory banks and look forward to the next game to redeem myself.

After golf all of the guys came over to my house. Jackie was the hostess with the mostess and laid out a wonderful spread for us including having all of the liquor and ice ready. It was a fun gathering to heckle each other and have the losers dish out the money. I was one of the losers.

This new Coronavirus ( nothing to do with beer) is another scary situation. You put a billion people together with less that normal health standards things happen. I would ban all travel in and out of China to stop the spread as this could go worldwide. Every few years we have these events. SARS,MERS and EBOLA come to mind instantly and they all are generated out of excessive population and unclean conditions.

Our new Tkachuk signs are up in Edmonton. Can’t wait for the game ! We have a group between 16 and 20 people going. Unfortunately the bulk of them are Oiler fans. The bar I arranged this at was awesome. I  thought on a Wednesday night with the NFL basically done the bar would be empty but they have a group for basketball and the bar gets busy for Trivial night. Luckily the manager was exceptional and he is putting our group out on the patio with the firepit and heaters with multiple TV’s. Sort of like our private group setting. This will be a fun night.

Fred & I worked on the “step”. Caused us a few issues as the 2 x 4 plate was warped and bowed so we couldn’t get the tread to sit flat. It ended up we cut out and ripped the plate in half and re installed level with the house floor and the plate of the Arizona room being level. Took us a while. I sanded down the tread to have it just about the perfect thickness and we glued and nailed it. I am hoping it doesn’t work itself loose with all of the stepping on it. If it starts to move I will counter sink screws and use plugs which will still look good and solidly secure it. Time will tell but right now we are extremely pleased with it. Now just to find a stain that is close to our color of flooring.

It was Corey’s birthday today. Naturally I had to bug him about getting old. It just seems odd our kids are nearing 40 years old.

We are very lucky to have Corey in our family as he is a great guy, father and husband and we enjoy all of our get togethers. Happy Birthday Corey !

I cooked a wonderful Sirloin steak for us tonight which was exceptional. First time for a steak in a long time and it was different and great tasting.

Today also is Wendy’s 60th Birthday.  We had Ralph & Tracy along with Jeff & Wendy over for a get together. We had a Red Velvet Cake for her birthday. Jackie had to write on it as the Safeway clerk stated she couldn’t write very well and was just the baker not a cake decorator.

I had the heater on which kept everyone warm in fact too warm. I love sitting outside in the evening. In fact I have gone through one tank of propane in three days. It was a fun night. We had a few Spiced Rum’s which were excellent.  We played DICE for hours. Jeff & Wendy caught on quickly and i think enjoyed the game. It ended up with Ralph winning two games, myself winning one game, Jeff winning one and Jackie winning one game. In fact for the first time ever we witnessed a 6 of a kind roll. Jeff won on a 6 of a kind roll which is extremely rare.

It was also the first time staying up past midnight . Normally 9 o’clock is midnight.  A  FUN NIGHT !.

Thought of the Day 

It is more important to remember a birthday than a person’s age.

January 26th

” Mercury Forecast  Mesa 22 degrees, Calgary 1 degrees and Edmonton -2 degrees “

For interest sake I was looking up different areas of the worlds temperatures at this time of year. Other than below the equator we are very lucky to be in Arizona. Exotic places like the Mediterranean, Greece, Portugal, and Italy even France are cold in Jan to March with highs only being about 15 degrees versus our 20 degrees and much higher come March. In the USA it is probably the best as we have no natural events and very even temperatures and no humidity. I could handle Hawaii though as it is amazing the weather they get. A person could go to the Caribbean but you are dealing with natural disasters, humidity and poverty. You do have Mexico but it a dangerous place even on the resorts but great weather. So looking at it we are very happy to have chose Arizona to live our winters in.

Watched the Farmer’s Open and I hope Tiger is happy with his performance as finishing top 10 is nothing to sneeze at. It was a fun tournament and an exciting one right to the finish.

We filled up our two propane tanks as they were both empty. The 40,000 BTU patio heater eats up propane at a rate of about 8 hours. I was doing the exchange at Depot but today decided to try the Chevron station again. Depot is $20 per tank. Today I filled both tanks for $19. Great deal even though you do have to wait a long time for someone to fill them. I only need to use this heater for January but it sure comes in handy as I love outside at night. Lots of nights we eat and sit out and the extra bit of heat feels nice. Even though last night it was too much heat as girls needed it on and quite hot. I prefer cooler temperatures.

We stopped by for a birthday party of one of our blocks longer term guys in the morning. Clayton turned 95 today. Here is a man 95 years old, doesn’t shuffle in fact walks quite fast, is as alert as a 60 year old, and still drives around Phoenix everyday as he attends orchestra’s where he is the conductor having to stand the entire performance. It is amazing in what shape some of the older people are here. Get some exercise, stay active and engaged and things will continue working longer. Sit and watch TV you will seize up and become anti social.

I golfed last Wednesday with a guy who had both knees replaced within two years and this guy ran back to the cart after making a shot. If it wasn’t for the scars you would never know.

Jackie put on the first coat of stain on my board. A little disapponited as it is not near dark enough. Second coat still wont bring it close so will need to add a darker color. Darn !

Had a great pasta supper and settled down to watch the Grammy’s.  Alicia is wonderful.

Thought of the Day

Best life lesson-  Say no to Snow. 

January 27th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 22 degrees  Calgary 4  degrees Edmonton -1 degrees “

The Grammy’s were well done. Alecia was a wonderful host being smooth, cool and relaxed. Impressed with Lovato restarting her song with a hitch. Odd that Billie Eilish won so many awards. She is an odd duck but ok music but I don’t think she deserved what she won. Good show though and how fast they can change scripts as within an hour of Kobe’s death they fit this in very well.

Man is time flying by. Near the end of January already and it seems like we have been here for only a week. As usual it has been very fun. Accomplished a lot, have done a lot and enjoyed ourselves . It does go by too fast.

I haven’t had time yet to even once sit in the sun and enjoy the warmth. Soon.!

Today we were at Kokopella Golf Course in Chandler. I really like this course. It is a little more difficult than the average course with a slope of 129. The greens are very sloped and curved and some longer holes. Overall though it is a great course. Numerous greens I drove the ball very well coming within 100 yards or less on a few of them. I did lose a couple of balls which in a normal game I should NEVER have lost. Jackie usually watches my ball but today she was occupied and losing a ball that I knew was findable and on the edge or in the fairway just isn’t right. I think everyone enjoyed the course.

On Hole One I found a wallet with a cellphone and full of money including $100 bills. Jackie & Wendy worked on getting in touch with the owner. Losing credit cards, money and the cell would not be nice as the owner was from Saskatchewan.

After golf we decided to head to Fat Willy’s for Burger Night. Going to our table on the patio right there was Tracy & Ralph . We had a nice supper on the patio in the warm air all together. It is odd why women can’t handle the coolness. Sitting outside is so pleasurable compared to be in a noisy room yet they need jackets , blankets, scarves etc to feel ok. Jeff & I both only had light shirts on and were more than warm. I do think perhaps women should never wear shorts, never have short sleeve shirts on and always have a jacket. It was 22 degrees ( 72 degrees) which is very warm. In most cases that is a hot day in Calgary.

Came home and watched the Bachelor. Some of the women are so stupid. It really does make young women look bad.

There are two words in our way of speaking in todays world I hate and are a way overused.

LOVE- it doesn’t matter what in reference to young people and women overuse this word. You don’t love a song, movie star, a hockey player, a mountain etc. Love is an emotion and not a like for something. You don’t love ice cream. It could be your favorite, it could be wonderful, great, enjoy but not love.

LIKE- the most overused word in every sentence. It used to be  Valley Girl language. Now it is used multiple times in sentences as fill ins by reasonably intelligent people. The pauses are filled with LIKE and is worse than the um or ahh people. Your brain can’t be that slow you can’t say what you what to without having a pause.

Thought of the Day 

Two things you can always be certain with women. 

1. They are always cold.
2. It’s somehow your fault

January 28th

“Mercury Forecast  Mesa 22 degrees, Calgary 3 degrees, Edmonton -7 degrees”

Beautiful sunny day. Today’s plan is too fill up on Vitamin D.

Bet you didn’t know this:

There’s good reason why vitamin D is called “the sunshine vitamin.” When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it makes vitamin D from cholesterol. The sun’s ultraviolet B (UVB) rays hit cholesterol in the skin cells, providing the energy for vitamin D synthesis to occur.

There have been studies done that indicate people living in sunshine areas have lower cholesterol. Does that mean that they live longer ?  The other benefit of sun exposure is photorelaxation which lowers your blood pressure.

One extra medical thing I thought I would throw in:

High blood pressure is the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years lost worldwide and as a risk factor underlies 18% of all deaths.”  

Isn’t that enough of a reason to leave that cold climate.

First thing was to whip to Home Depot. I came back with three 8 oz cans of stain to fix my new transition from the Arizona room to the house and my gate cut edges and hole that Fred didn’t like. Plastic wood for that.

It does seem I visit this place a lot. Home Depot versus Casino or bar, I think I am away ahead.

I worked on the step for quite while. I mixed the stains using a PIne and American Oak color. After it is all done I am very happy with the looks and the final result.

I then worked on staining the edge cuts of gate and fixed the hole up so everything is wonderful.

I installed our new outdoor Kitchen sign which I think looks great. Jackie moved a few things around to make the coloring work. It is a special paint that changes in the light from bright teal to a dull grey. Quite neat looking. Again another project done and I am pleased with the result.

The other night I was very happy with how the new walls/gate protected us from the wind and does provide a secondary function of privacy.

I laid in the backyard in the sun for a couple of hours and soaked in the sun. NICE !!! First time this year and was wonderful, wonderful.

A easy great day. Rest day for tomorrow as it is Snips day where I want to win a few bucks. Last game I won $75 so am hopeful again for tomorrow. Just need to have one or two birdies to make it happen.

Thought of the Day 

Living in Arizona-  Hair if you have it gets lighter, skin get darker, cholesterol get lower, blood pressure get lower, water get warmer, drinks get colder, nights get longer, fellowship is greater, all leading to LIFE GETS BETTER!

January 29th-30th

” Mercury Forecast  Mesa 18 degrees, Calgary 3 degrees, Edmonton  2 degrees snow” 

Early pickup today for golf.  Today the weather wasn’t getting up to our normal temperatures as it was remaining cloudy. It only hit 18 degrees but I see for the weekend we are well into the 80’s.

Sandy’s brother-in-law was riding today with us. Small world they say. Turns out Tom Corbett knows Jane & Howard Herman well and plays golf with them at Silver Creek Resort. As Albertans we are not as incestuous as Saskatchewan people but it is really a small world.

My group today was; our captain from Iowa, and two others from Edmonton. Eric the captain was a wonderful golfer ending up with a 77. I started well taking a 41 on the front nine but the back got me with a combo of bad luck and lost balls. Only a foot off the fairway but stuck under a bush or dribble into a trap. Driving wasn’t my best today but we had a lot of fun and we were a good team winning two Triad sections. I moved up the money list to 8th spot. Jack from Edmonton has had TWO hips replaced within the last two years. He hits the ball as far as I do. He has a bit of movement in his walk but talk about tough and has he ever learned to hit with what he has. Another fun golf game and winning money TWICE is always nice.

My golfing partner sent a video of my swing on one hole. Overall I am quite happy. I like the pull away. Posture could be a little better but that is just me. Backswing is great. Left arm broke just a bit at the top. Inside turn and leg turn was great. Hip turn could add a few more yards. Follow thru a little on the high side but overall an effective swing to maximize distance. I remember my Callaway fitting where I was rated at 95% efficient.

ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE !

The play fair and hit hard Flames versus the team that promotes violence and bullying.

 

 

 

 

I am a little surprised  at Edmonton again with a radio station asking the fans to bring a stuffy Turtle to the game to throw on the ice. Intimation, bullying and harassment has NO place in professional sports.

Should be a great game to watch. It will either be a fist filled penalty ridden game or a easy nice game. Kassian can’t start anything or he will be suspended for 10 game this time as it will be out of vengeance.

As I said before I have arranged for 20 guys to go to the RT OSullivan’s Bar to watch the game. Private area, lots of screens along with a firepit and heaters.

There are more Oiler fans than Flames fans in our group but I don’t hold anything against a person just because he lives in a certain place. I am picking up two Edmonton fans and will have 4 Flames fans in the car . I am hoping in the 12 minute ride to the bar I can complete my conversion therapy for them.

Looking forward to the game !

A lot of fun tonight. We all headed to RT O’Sullivan’s to have supper before the game. I picked up Wade & Deb along with Jeff ( Wendy was sick) to head to the bar.  At the gate they thought I went a little fast to get into traffic. I laugh to myself as they don’t know me. It was gentle acceleration finding a window of opportunity in the traffic. On the way Fred phoned saying the bar was having an issue getting the game. Remember I confirmed they would have the game and made a reservation for 16 to 20 poeple. On arrival I met the manager working away trying to make it happen. Chris was exceptional trying everything. The bar pays $3 k a year for the NHL network and for some reason this game wasn’t on it. He tried a streaming service, we had one of group give his Shaw info and still no success. Chris worked on this for 1/2hr and finally paid with his own credit card a special network to get the game. Now that is service and commitment. Awesome. We had at least 8 large TV’s set to the game for us. Out of the group there were only 3 Flames fans. It appears Edmontonians due to poor road conditions and colder weather flock down south more. Our patio location with multiple heaters and TV’s was fantastic. The service was great and the food exceptional. It was the perfect location and atmosphere. $6 for a 24 ounce cold beer is a gift.

The game. First let me say I was impressed for the first time in a long time with the Oilers and their fans. Edmonton finally has a team that is competitive. It took 13 years with one exception but finally. They can’t win against us but they are competitive. There were no unusual fist to cuffs. Kassian wasn’t afraid to fight Tkachuk which was good for the Oiler’s morale. Monahan wins his first fight in self defense.  Overall great hockey and a good rivalry. I think I understand ( haven’t experienced it ) the despair Edmonton fans are feeling being all hyped up and LOSING again but there is still an outside chance the Oilers may make the playoffs. The next meetings will not have the same hype and drama but are important for points.  I do have to say for whatever reason the refs when covering an Oil game in Edmonton are a way too biased to the home team. Missed calls. Poor calls were abundant. The slashing call against us was ridiculous. Not having a overhead goal line camera in a brand new building is asinine. That could have been a goal if that was in place. I was also impressed that not one stuffed turtle was thrown on the ice. Edmonton showed some class.  How much do you bet the fans and media think a penalty should have been called on Giordano just because McDavid got upset. It seems all stars are a bit of a whiner. McDavid has to learn when trying to go around someone you don’t sidestep and raise your leg and not expect to get clipped. Good call on the refs part there.

I am starting to feel bad for the Edmonton fans as they are continuing to lose in hockey and football year after year.I am afraid they may reach a breaking point. I have offered all kinds of help like providing the Mental Health Crisis Line number for them, trying to be there for them as they drown themselves in sorrow and drink.  I even have let bets that I have won go unpaid not to add to the stress.  All this , took a up a minute of my life and then gone. LOL

A fun night

Paying some bills today.
Jackie is off golfing with ladies league today. She was running late as she was trying to finish up a work case before she left. She is an dedicated employee . But she got out and will make it in time but most likely feel hurried.

For all of those jumping on the green bandwagon look at this below and think about it!

This time of hype costs us millions. Do you think you would really want to drive a tiny car like a Honda or Prius in real life if not for the media saying we are out of gas so we need to downsize ? Do you think you really want the bright white light of LED if we weren’t programed to try to save energy ? Do you really think the weather is changing due to climate warming ?

Is it possible the Coronovirus could wipe out 65 million people in the world. Let’s say they have a reasonable number calculated. That is less than 1% of the world population. Perhaps a culling of the weak is needed.  This virus is here, it will kill quite a few people but will disappear out of the headlines in a month just like SARS, MERS, MAD COW, AIDS and SIKA.

https://electroverse.net/coronavirus-the-official-numbers-dont-add-up/

Every farmer knows if you put too many chickens , pigs etc in a small space diseases happen. It is happening to us as we are over populating certain areas with unclean ways of living and eating things like bats, rice grow in sewer water, snakes, and sushi.

What I don’t like is we have to really think about if we are being told the real truth ?

1. Does Aspartame cause dementia ?
2.  Does Lipitor save lives or just cause side affects ?
3.  What is causing the high cancer rates ?
4.  Why is heart related deaths still number 1 ?
5.  Is big Pharma crooked and in the game just for profits ?
6.  Are vaccines safe and effective ?
7. The list goes on.

I was waiting for a call from Fred to see about starting his shed but he never contacted me. Jeff came over while the girls where golfing and we had a few games of crib in the backyard. The unbelievable happened again. Another day with a loss in crib. It ended in 4 games to 1 for Jeff including one Skunk. My luck in crib has vanished but I will get it back soon. Jeff’s cards today were incredible with 14, 16 counts over and over. I had one 21 count but at the end of the game and too late to win. Good thing I changed my middle name a while back to DICE.

Thought of the Day 

It is not whether you win or lose it is how you play the game. Said the LOSERS and their FANS.

January 31st

” Mercury Forecast – Mesa 22 degrees Calgary 6 degrees Edmonton 2 degrees “

Nice to see Alberta is getting decent temperatures. When I say decent I mean livable and not freezing but glad I am not there. LOL

Beautiful sunny morning but on the cool side for temperatures due to the desert but getting up to our norm a little later in the day.

Alfred’s repaired rifle scope is supposed to be delivered today according to the tracking number and lo & behold it showed up at 7pm.

Reading the news it is funny how the crooked media BLOW UP everything. The Coronavirus has killed 250 people and we have a world wide emergency. I looked it up and in the USA last year 82000 people died from influenza. In Canada we have 3500 die each year. Why the panic ?  Think about it. What ever company produces a vaccine will be RICH and in most cases it is not always effective and NO ONE yet really knows the long lasting affects of injecting a foreign substance in your body.  We wonder why the increase in cancer and dementia. Perhaps there is more to the injection than what we know.

A real busy few days ahead that I am trying to figure how to scale back. We have the Flames game, Oscars, Superbowl, Waste Open, golfing, my birthday,Bratwurst day, Italian night out. I will formulate a plan today.

The course was busy today yet we still finished in 4:15 which is good. Today I was playing with Ron Payne, Ron Sydia, Jeff and I. Jeff & I were partners today. I let the team down with the front none. I scored a 39 net 32 on the back nine yet we still lost the 1/2. That two strokes on certain hole sis a killer. Jeff today I thought played quite well just not scoring on the 2 stroke handicap holes he gets. Great putting and a few nice drives. I think he is getting more confident and his game is getting better. All said and done Jeff & I lost $6 to Ron & Ron the sandbagger team. A fun warm great golf day.

I few after golf drinks at Bob Spenser’s place and another end to a wonderful day. It is a good life.

Jackie, Tracy, Wendy and Terry went to the Spring-a-Rama where you can win gifts and have a social gathering with desert. I believe they get over 300 ladies attending.

Thought of the Day 

Working people have all kinds of bad habits with the worst being work.