April 1st – April 3rd
“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 14 degrees, Calgary 8 degrees”
I will start by saying it is COLD outside.
We have been in Lethbridge the last three days so I didn’t post anything for a bit. But now I am home so getting caught up on everything. I am having a bit computer trouble which is annoying. I may take it in to see about a fix. The plug in adaptor is loose but the female plug cannot be replaced.
Ok, April 1st I tried without success to “fool” a couple of friends. Either they figured out it was a prank, did not receive the email as lack of data, or just figured they would give it a try. Ralph & Tracy, Fred & Terry along with Jeff & Wendy all were crossing the border. The “official” rules changed for April 1st with no testing required. I created a document to look like an official Canada statement saying due to lack of testing they would need to isolate and quarantine for 14 days. I wanted to create a little anxiety, stress for them but it failed, I am guessing, as I didn’t hear from any of them. Darn. LOL
I have been working quite a bit on all of the permitting for our RV lot. The county is just a money grab but we have no option but to comply. They found one deficiency and expect a complete RPR which will result in further permits required. I hope to get the paper work done ( up to 20 pages ) this week and submit. I am guessing between $75 and $500 for ours.
Jackson has his hockey tournament in Lethbridge this weekend with games Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We checked into the Sandman Signature hotel which was the Lethbridge Lodge for years. They have done a great reno to the hotel inside and outside. I have stayed here numerous times in the past. The only thing not changed is the center atrium and as previously the plants are amazing with a nice pool in the middle.
I will combine combine all three days in one. Jackson’s team is called The Blackfoot Chiefs which by the way HAVE to change their name . Next year they are the Wolverines. Stupid being forced to do this.
The ATB Centre west in Lethbridge is a first class amenity Curling, hockey and YMCA all combined. And only 8 minutes from our hotel.
The kids played quite well every game. The one issue with this team is goaltending. Pretty hard to win with this as the weakness. There were some fun and interesting games to watch. Jackson in every game I thought played quite well. He got a few goals, plenty of assists and tried hard. Only once did I see him get a little upset. I am sure he feels good about his performance no matter the team results. The team has some nice kids and parents involved.
Jackson had a blast after the games. They had a team dinner at Boston Pizza, Friday night and Saturday night they had plenty of pool time. Lots of running around the hotel, playing x box in one boys room and playing mini sticks. I think every out of town team struggles with tired players. Having said that it really wasn’t that noticeable on the ice. On our way home talking to Jessica she brought up an very interesting point.” I don’t remember the wins or losses in an out of town event but sure remember the fun with the team at the hotel” Something to remember if the results are not want you wanted. Jess had wanted to come badly but August and Atticus were not feeling well. I always liked the out of towns. One year Jeff & I in Edmonton held the pool table most of the night. We were up against some sharks but had lots of luck on our side. On a first break one guy sunk the 8 ball. Yahoo ! Easy game that one.
Corey is this teams coach and he stayed in the stands for the first game but felt well enough to go on the bench for the others. Great his recovery is going so well.
Victoria came down on Saturday after work and stayed overnight with Hazel. Daisy and Hazel were awesome in the hotel. I am not sure how much room they had in their bed with the size of Hazel though.
On Friday we picked up food from the Italian Table in the hotel. One word. INCREDIBLE. I am sure this is the best Italian meal I have EVER had. Every entrée was equal. Saturday night for a change we decided on Subway. You all know quality or taste not in the same hemisphere but the price was equal to great Italian food. Dumb and lesson learned.
While standing in line at the Italian Table I ran into Rick the manager of Home Hardware Taber on his night out. A long talk and fun to reconnect.
Lots of food, lots of watching hockey, lots of sitting and enough bed time but still feel tired. LOL
A fun weekend.
Jackson hitting the ice and making a difference with goals, assists and playmaking.
I walked into the arena and my hands felt odd and numb. I look down and my Raynaud’s was acting up. My index finger was pure white with no blood in it. My Dad had this and appears Victoria and Jessica also have this inflection. Tor come up to me and shows me her hand and the exact same finger on her hand was pure white.
Sleep in my own bed tonight and then on to a busy week. Lot info, window tinting, RV oil change and leveling spring replaced and still putting stuff away.
Thought of the Day
Don’t tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.
April 4th
“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 11 degrees, Calgary 12 degrees ”
It sure didn’t feel like it. The wind is hitting 60 kms per hour today and cold wind. It is supposes to rain later this evening.
I worked all morning on my paperwork for Oasis. I need to fill out a lot of paper for variance and development permits. It is good thing for our park to adhere to county bylaws but grandfathering and not a money grab should have been considered. I started at 8 am and worked to about noon then headed out to the lot for measurement verification. No one out there so it was very quiet except for the winds.
I got everything all measured and marked down. I arrived at home and started to scan and fill in the forms. A full day so hopefully everything works out.
Wouldn’t you know it. Sitting watching TV and we hear the sink gurgle then black back water fills it. Blocked again somewhere in the condo above or below us. Not good.
I have a lot of fun with Wordle NYT with Jackie. We have a competition each night. We are pretty good getting them usually in 3 or 4 tries. It is a fun brain racking event.
We went for a walk and beside being so cold the wind was amazing. Can you call one block a walk.
Well that day went quick.
Thought of the Day
Change your thoughts and you’ll change your world.
April 6th-7th
“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 15 degrees, Calgary 17 degrees”
Three days of weather coming up which is great and then winter hits.
I spent all day organizing and cleaning up at the lot. I worked on putting stuff away. Changing and moving my tools around including putting some in a new tool box I got a bit back. Labelled them all and set to go with a first project soon. I started the motorhome and let it run for some time. I put away the tarps and moved the furniture around. I then cleaned up ANOTHER 6 bags of leaves. They keep blowing in from somewhere. I noticed my GFI plug on the exterior didn’t work as I was blowing leaves. Usually it means the bathroom plug is tripped but not this time. I will wait until I plug in rather than the genset and retry and if not I will need to replace the it. I put out the planters and hung my lanterns. It is starting to get there. First time in 5 years having the lot I saw a mouse. Dead, hopefully from my homemade traps. Hope I don’t see any more and no damage anywhere.
I was all ready to stain today but looking at the weather and with not enough days to really dry/cure I decided not to go ahead and wait.
I spent two hours on the phone with my insurance company JUST to move the motorhome from my house/storage policy over to have PLPD etc on it. I received good service (other than the pricing) but man it is difficult to understand some service people. English classes should be a priority for all companies when training new employees. It just makes it hard but I got it done and the individual did do a good job.
I watched Tiger for most of tournament, and he did fantastic. I hope his legs hold up and he continues to excel. A fun tournament to watch.
I whipped over to get registration for the RV. No line up and a fast in and out. I changed the notice date to Dec with the balance of the cars.
I whipped over to the McKenzie Meadows Golf course. The course was busy busy today as everyone knows they have today and tomorrow then winter again.
I hurt my arm trimming a large grapefruit tree in AZ. I pulled the remaining bicep muscle that broke and must have torn it a bit as it has hurt for two weeks now. Luckily golfing didn’t increase the pain so I has ok. It was fun getting out and I had usual bad shots and good shots but I believe I have a handle on the slice. Next game will tell. Muscles were all fine which was nice. I see May 5th my men’s league at Turner Valley starts up. Great group of guys and a lot of fun each week.
Thought of the Day
Fact of life:
If everyone is happy with you surely you must have made many compromises. If you are happy with everyone then you must have ignored many peoples faults.
April 8th-10th
” Mercury Forecast see below “
The nasty weather is staying around. It is staying so COLD I hate to make a special trip out to the lot to bring back a few baskets, of batteries, and cleaning products so they wouldn’t freeze. Lethbridge, Edmonton and Calgary all very similar weather for the upcoming week with only about a degrees difference. In fact today Lethbridge received snow. Two days in a row. Last year luckily, as we were stuck in Canada, we had great weather. This year not so much. I hate this type of weather at this time of year as you want to get going doing things but can’t. Last year again I was outside building a shed already. Oh well a lazy week coming up.
I removed an old friends birthday from my calendar today. It was Brian’s birthday and unfortunately he has passed away. Brian English was one of those guys that was special. Whenever in town even if he didn’t need to stop by our warehouse we would go out for lunch. He loved to learn all about you and remembered and logged every date. He would phone me in Arizona for my birthday and at home for Jackie & I’s anniversary. He owned and sold us our mirrored doors thru 4 Ten Marketing at Henderson’s. I really enjoyed him as a person.
Jessica and the boys arrived from Lethbridge as they were staying overnight due to us having to leave early for Edmonton. We planned to head up early and drive back as Mom gets tired very quickly and it is better for us not to over do it with her. The boys rode their bikes and wheeler in the parking lot over and over again. It worked out perfect with the cold outside. The boys were extremely well behaved and fun to have around.
We got up at 6:15 to get ready and left the house at 7am. Tim’s for breakfast for everyone and then hitting the road. I drove Jessica’s new Explorer as the car seats for the kids were already in it. A quick comparison between the two vehicles. I loved my Explorer and I love this one. Equal seating and similar room between the Flex and it. Explorer wins for comfortable seats. Much more plush and soft. Very similarly appointed with the odd difference. Flex sync and intuitive cruise wins. The Explorer has huge blind spots with the front A pillars so you need to take a little more caution. Both are wonderful driving on the road. Regular tires on the Explorer versus the Flex low profile make the vehicles equal in quietness. The biggest difference and it takes a bit to get used to is the power. The Flex is fast, the Explorer takes a bit to get up to speed. Considering everything I would be very happy to have either. Each with benefits and likes and dislikes but very very good vehicles. I really can’t pick a winner as I really like them both. I think I would still stay Flex only because I don’t like being ” Common or ordinary”
On our way we see the ” Convoy” heading south from Red Deer. First I support the convoy but two things. First, there are no restrictions so stop protesting, and second, stop thinking it is Kenny’s fault. You are starting to sound like a union or NDP supporter. More cars and trucks than semi’s but it was miles long. This brings up to me the NDP commercials on TV. How anyone doesn’t recognize the harm that a left leaning socialist party can do as a government in power is beyond me.
A great drive and we arrive right on time at the HOMEFIRE GRILL on 100th ave. Let me say a must go to place as they are excellent. We stopped at Darlene’s to pick up the cake, flowers, cards and balloons and had them with us. Fred met us right as we arrived as we had brought back with us some stuff for him from Mesa.
We set about decorating with Kayla and Christian’s help which was excellent. Right on time everyone arrived which was great as we had planned to have Mom arrive about 15 mins later. We decided to have a much smaller group of people knowing Mom’s wants, Covid still around and the for the ease and pleasure of a smaller group. We could have 50 or 100 people if we had wanted to invite Mom’s side of the family but chose to have just immediate family and close friends. Mom is very fortunate to be 90 and still have plenty of close friends still in her life and alive. The neighbor ladies from the acreage where I grew up used to go out each week for a gathering and 4 or them came to celebrate. This is awesome as Covid has kept most people apart for too long. The only missing people we would have liked to come were Victoria, and Mom’s two sisters Aunt Dorothy and Aunt Jean. Victoria just started a new job and had to work unfortunately. Everyone has to do what is right for them and no one should judge anyone if they are or not vaccinated, wears or does not wear mask but the Aunts were swayed away from attending by their children with them thinking it wasn’t safe. A couple of things. I saw this exact same thing happen in Mesa. This I do not understand. Children really have no right and for sure have no extra wisdom that an individual doesn’t have, to be that influential. Second I believe 90 is a special age, and a person could attend safely with masks, distancing etc if they chose to. People will make a “special” effort to go to a funeral but not to a birthday doesn’t make any sense to me. But again everyone has to do what they believe is right, be it influenced or not.
Jessica took the boys over to meet Kristin and Sheldon who were taking care of them at a kids play place. Auggie and Atti love these places and it was very nice of this newly pregnant couple to do this for Jessica.
Friends of Mom’s for over 50 years. L to R. Mrs Shaffer for years lived on the acreage, Mrs Begin not only a friend, neighbor, but my Boy Cub leader and best friends Mom, Johanna which lived right across from us and was Jessica & Victoria’s first care giver when they were 3 months old and Mrs Whitaker another long time friend and neighbor.
It was a very nice place to grow up.
In the above pictures we have the group eating pizza which was fantastic . The one picture has the grand children in attendance. Burt & Johanna beside Mom and my siblings Alfred & Darlene.
We snuck in August & Atticus as the party was winding down. Atti being only three years old, some people had never met him yet. Mom with Graham and Garrett and Mom with Darlene. The ladies having fun catching up and some of us waiting for Mom’s arrival.
The set up crew with Jackie & Christian. The flowers and cake table. The old girls gang and Mom coming in the door without knowing we were doing this. Happy Birthday.
Driving home was a blast. August had to go pee so I pretended to really speed up. All of a sudden I hear Atti say ” Papa, slow down. Speeding is against the law.” Funny kid. LOL
We had a good drive back with a couple of stops.
The kids all day, all drive and at home where fantastic. They had fun making wood puzzles and helping Jackie. Jackie made biscuit pancakes for us which is the first time I have had these and along with icing sugar on them they were good. How can you go wrong with syrup and icing sugar.
Missed Tiger this morning but watched the balance of the Masters after lunch.
Thought of the Day
They say that age is all in your mind. The trick is keeping it from creeping down into your body.
April 11th – 15th
“Mercury Forecast COLD COLD – minus temps all week SNOW”
Ok, it is going to be a long slow week. A way to cold to work outside. Golf courses are all closed as the weather covers all of Alberta. So I will mix up the next week into one.
Worked on filling out our 8840 forms for our stay in the USA . Printed off my budget numbers for March. I had to reload my printer drivers to get it to work.
I look outside and go “Why did I come back so soon? ”
Then I see the picture of my Mom enjoying all of her cards, presents, balloons and flowers from her birthday. Talking to her today she absolutely loved the event. She is inviting neighbors in to see how nice her room is with everything festive.
The fireplace that Dad made years ago ( rough guess at 55 years ago) still looks wonderful in Mom’s room and works great for holding pictures and cards.
MY RANT
I am getting pretty tired of the NDP love Racheal commercials on TV. The money they spent on these has to be unbelievable. It is amazing to me how people fall for the left wing socialist policies. Who doesn’t want free education, free medical and free everything else. Everyone forgets someone has to pay. They cannot ever be in power again as last time for one term was a disaster and we didn’t see the full impact. Between the NDP party commercials and the unions, ( ATA, AHHS) commercials bashing Kenny it is becoming sickening. Unions are the worst, almost criminal organizations, that destroy employee morale, encourage rule breaking, create lazy and entitled employees and they want a socialist party in power to increase wages, days off and benefits that companies in a lot of cases can not afford. I just hope people are seeing through the propaganda.
BUT THAT IS JUST ME!
We woke up this morning to a blizzard. Blowing snow and cold. -12 with a wind chill of -20. Nasty. I have made a note DO NOT COME BACK TO CANADA UNTIL APRIL 15th. I do not like being trapped in my home. I could not remain retired if I stayed all winter in Canada. There are so few things to do in the winter. Even Daisy didn’t get her walk this morning as it is nasty out.
I had a wonderful breakfast today. I used to love our smoothies but with recipe changes I do not care for them anymore. Too bad really as they are good for you and help with gout. The Lactaid milk caused me stomach issues and took about a month away from them for me to get to normal. Water versus Chocolate milk just doesn’t cut it. Lactaid milk wrecked my stomach until I removed it and went back to small amounts of REAL milk. Then, from the time we got back I had some kind of natural peanut butter that was horrible. Wonderful to have something waiting for us on arrival but it didn’t even taste like peanut butter. Finally we have great peanut butter and jam. Add to this wonderful WHITE sourdough bread it was a perfect toast breakfast.
As the roads are a little slick Jackie took the Jeep to pick up her mom for an appointment. I will work on finishing off my March budget numbers.
I finalized our May Long Weekend trip. Our potluck theme Mediterranean Cuisine so should be awesome food. Nothing better than sitting around the campfire having a few drinks each night.
The cold is unbelievable . Jackie & I along with Daisy went for walk today it was like going out at Christmas. Gloves, toque and winter coat and still cold.
WINTER COAT,GLOVES, TOQUE, DAISY in her COAT, still cold. Notice the snow and I am shocked you don’t see our breath. It is -8 feels like -17 with wind chill. This is 20 degrees below the average. And only about 40 degrees cooler than I would like.
We went shopping today for groceries including most of the stuff we need for the Easter lunch.
First let me say, WOW is food expensive now. Bordering on ridiculous. It appears governments are attempting to starve us with food pricing and make us stay at home with the over inflated gas pricing. Most financial planners, have used for years now, a 2% inflation factor when calculating the longevity of your savings. That has been the historical number that is based on data and works. Throw in a 8% inflation factor now and we are all in trouble. To help some people understand. If you get 8% return on your investments you LOSE. It flushes and with the cost of managing it, it is a net loss. To achieve 8% in today environment in itself is difficult so we are all losing net worth and the nest egg gets lowered a lot faster than calculated or by our assumptions. We can not maintain a inflation rate of 8% and a low interest prime rate of lower than 3%. I think most can do the calculation that we are headed for a economic upheaval that will not be pretty. I predict another major recession in 2022/2023. House pricing will dramatically decrease, GDP will substantially be lower, unemployment will increase exponentially, and we all will be wondering what happened. AGAIN. It doesn’t have to be this way.
It is funny as last year we struggled to find a small turkey as gatherings were banned so no large groups , no large turkeys needed and everyone bought small ones. This year you can’t get a big one. We need a 20 pound plus and had to buy two turkeys which makes it that much more difficult getting everything cooked. I was impressed though that the store had everything we needed in stock and plenty of it. This with only 4 days before Easter. It takes that long for a turkey to thaw so I can’t explain why they had a lot of stock other than the wrong sizing.
RV repair shops are fully booked until May. Unbelievable ! I want 4 new springs installed on my hydraulic auto leveling system as they are retracting a way, way to slow.
We were surprised that the BEST singer on American Idol suddenly dropped out saying for personal reasons. I don’t think she fully understands the opportunity she was giving and now has wasted. It would be nice to know the “personal reason”.
Jackie went for her walk with the -20 wind chill this morning and Daisy hopped right beside her. Not me !
Alberta government’s rule on generators while camping just came out. While the usage time frames are odd it is a start to controlling noise in a campground. NO NEED what so ever to run a genset for a long time. A short burst for a toaster, coffee maker or microwave and then shut it off. If people had been respectful the rule would never have been put in place. What I would LOVE to see though, is an outright ban on music in the campgrounds, completely. You are camping in the wild, fresh air, scenery etc and you wreck the solitude by listening to loud music. Don’t understand .One thing at a time.
Interesting enough California has a total ban on portable and RV generators. Overkill !
Recharging all of my batteries today to be ready when spring comes if it does. LOL
It is just too cold to do anything yet and I have a lot I COULD be doing. And I am looking forward to doing it rather than being stuck at home doing very little.
I have discovered though that I hate winter more than I thought. I will stay longer down south next year even if it means a quick flight in and out or paying for extra insurance.
I see now Trudeau wants to put a $ 1K tax on F150 and $ 4k tax on 3500 ( one ton trucks) . They use more gas he says. Idiot! Try carrying a sheet of plywood on your Tesla or Prius . He is absent of ANY common sense.
I see in the news today with the instant and strong backlash they have decided to forgo this for awhile. Smart move on their part. I sort of wish they would have moved forward and the new Conservatives remove it as it would have cost them the election.
Last night we went over to Jeff & Wendy’s place for a few card games. I will get this over quick as I don’t like to pull a Band-Aid off slowly. Jeff & I as a team are awesome. What happened tonight though was unfathomable. Yes the girls beat us. Yes the girls beat us. I have never in my life seen so much luck in getting good cards it is unbelievable. There were hands where they had all four wild cards, all four jokers and the Queens of Spades. No matter what, you need some luck and for Jeff & I tonight it wasn’t in the cards. ( see what I did there. LOL)
It was a fun night no matter the bad luck. Wendy made the best fudge ever. I ate too much but they were so awesome I couldn’t quit. Not good with not moving much, due to this horrible weather.
On my blog I received a comment and question from someone that when I first heard the name I had to think about, but when I saw the picture it was clear as a bell.
In August 1991 Henderson Wholesale Building Materials made a huge personnel change in the Calgary branch. The owner of the company dismissed 4 key people and promoted from within to fill the positions. I was promoted from a Territory Manager to be the Branch General Manager from Edmonton. Edward Buhnai from Regina was promoted from Lead Sales Desk to be the Assistant General Manager, Tom Daniels was a Territory Sales Manager in Regina and was moved to the Calgary branch, Dave Spohn from Edmonton was promoted from the warehouse to be the new Warehouse Manager in Calgary. Lots of changes that turned out wonderful for the company, and for us also. I inherited to start fresh, some very high skilled people. Dave just today reached out to me thru Facebook which I thought was neat. I saw his picture and immediately recognized him. He is now successful in the IT field.
I was so lucky over the years finding such competent people to work with. I had Dave, then Blair Prentice and then Cory Prentice that without a organized skilled warehouse leader we could never have accomplished what we did. Long term employees also make a huge difference as this was from 1991 to 2017.
It was wonderful to see Dave’s picture.
This brings up so many memories when working. A successful company is always filled with people that work together as a team and care for the company customer. I forever tried to instill the thoughts that the company does not pay your salary , but the customer does. So if there is anyway to make that customer experience better, even if the odd time it costs money on a credit or return the end result will be a long term loyal customer where the pay back will be ten fold.
This made me think of the people I worked with at Henderson’s Calgary that helped us become the highest volume branch in Canada. There are a way more people than this but these are just a few that stand out in my mind.
- Terry Peppler- warehouse, production foreman, inside sales, lead sales desk
- Edward Buhnai – lead sales desk, Assistant Manager
- Arnie Henning- sales desk, purchaser, right hand man
- Darren Woods- warehouse, assistant whse foreman, inside sales. left hand man
- Joe Hill- warehouse, production foreman, inside sales
- Gord Scott- sales desk, purchaser
- Rob Soulodre- University trainee, inside sales, Territory Sales Manager
- Brian Greebe- warehouse, inside sales, lead sales desk
- Tom Daniels- Territory Sales Manager
- Rita Cadeiux – inside sales desk
- Mike Lopachuk- Territory Sales Manager
- Dave Spohn- first warehouse manager
- Blair Prentice – warehouse manager
- Cory Prentice- warehouse manager
- Rob McDonald, warehouse, Territory Sales Manager, Branch Liaison Manager ( Leth)
- Larry Geddes- whse, sales desk, lead sale desk, General Manager ( Med Hat) Territory Sales Manager
- Keith Ralston – Territory Sales Manager, Branch Manager ( Kelowna)
- Earle Pollock – sales desk, purchaser ( Kelowna)
- Jennifer Sargeant – first secretary
Out of the 100’s of employees that I hired over the years with the 3 branches I was responsible for, these guys all stood out. Many other stars not mentioned but without everyone’s help we would not have had the fun and success we did.
I might add. A few years after retiring Henderson/JELDWEN Distribution centers no longer exist. Henderson’s went from being the dominate door supplier including many other building material products to JELDWEN slowly dissolving it with poor decision making. Now, not in existence. Incompetent leadership at all levels does that. Today JELDWEN still makes one of the better windows but is no longer a “brand” name that people recognize as easily.
We started cooking at 10am and worked until 4pm getting everything ready for Easter dinner tomorrow. I can say dinner, as it is at NOON. With 18 people it takes a bit of work due to lack of burners and timing. So I discovered last year we can prepare everything the day before and it turns out just as good. 28 pounds of turkey cooked today, 10 pounds of mashed potatoes, loads of gravy, at least 2 pounds of dressing, and prepped the ham. Tomorrow it will be just heating up everything and we are set to go. No one will notice the difference trust me. One trick is lots of hot gravy. It makes a larger gathering SOooo much easier as that last 1/2 hr when the turkey is resting and gravy, mashing, and boiling of the veggies is being done it gets a little hectic. I maybe anal a bit but I do not like serving anything that is not hot and a pet peeve is when I say it is ready and people are fiddling around instead of coming to eat. It would be so nice to have two ovens, warming oven and 6 burner stove but this works. Tomorrow I will use the oven and BBQ to heat things up and if needed we have two microwaves. Should be good.
As I mentioned prior no large turkeys on the shelves this year. This was about 17 pounds and the other about 10 pounds.
Easter Sunday
D Day. The day everything needs to come together. Much much less hectic and it turned out wonderful. The meal was awesome, the turkey moist, the mashed potatoes lump free and creamy smooth , wonderful spiced gravy, great tasting dressing, and all of the veggies etc. that go along with the meal were done just right. Cooking for 18 does require a fair amount of food. And I like leftovers as I never want people to think they have to not eat as much as they would like. That for sure didn’t happen as we gave take home plates to a lot of people to take to work or have another meal. The only disappointment was no pumpkin pie. Easter without pumpkin pie is not right. LOL
A group gathering was again SO NICE to have. We had this time, Alan & MaryAnn, Kennedy, Dave, Kristin & Sheldon, Corey & Victoria, Jackson, Penny & Jessica , Attticus, August, Kari and Audrey along with Jackie & I.
Sheldon & Kristin along with Dave came down from Edmonton and Kari drove in from Canmore. Alan & Maryann and Kennedy came down from just outside of Edmonton.( Scenic Acres and Ghost Lake north of Calgary)
Nice day !
The boys loved the billiard table and the movie room. It is nice to have the space for everyone to spread out.
After cleanup I am thinking to myself, that is a fair amount of work for a one hour meal. Then I think to myself, the meal is the catalysis of the get together so all is good.
Second picture is my niece Kristin which is pregnant with a baby boy. On Jackie’s side of the family this is the all girl nieces ( Danielle, Kennedy, Kristin) first baby.
Thought of the Day
Odd how fish smells like it is bad food for you cooked or uncooked.
Thanksgiving – when the people who are the most thankful are the ones who didn’t have to cook.
April 18th – April 21st
“Mercury Forecast – Mesa 35 degrees, Edmonton11 degrees, Calgary 8 degrees”
Where to do you think I would rather be ? Today though only semi decent we went to the dog park with the girls and dogs. Rudy is only 6 months old, along with Hazel, Olive and Daisy all had a blast. This was Rudy’s first dog park experience which can be over whelming with the amount of dogs but she did extremely well. She even came back when called and for such a young dog that is impressive. Olive is like her protector and guider. Daisy had an absolute blast as Rudy loved to chase her. As Rudy is still a pup and Daisy is a speedster it was funny to watch them.
It was windy and cold. It hurts the ears. But is was fun and the dogs loved it.
After our walk Penny & Jess and boys headed home. A windy but nice drive would be ahead of them.
Looking ahead this whole week sucks again for weather with us not making a double digit high. Getting tired of this.
The snow was falling this morning and kept falling. At least not accumulating as the temps were warm enough the ground heat melted it. Sad looking for April and with highs of 2 to 5 annoying. The weather since coming back has been the worst I remember. I am finding it quite annoying.
I whipped to Home Depot today as I need an additional fire extinguisher to appease the county. I had to “teach” myself all about these with the different numbers on them. They have them listed on the front
| Class of Fire | Description |
| Class A Fires | Fires in ordinary combustible materials, such as wood, cloth, paper, rubber, and many plastics. |
| Class B Fires | Fires in flammable liquids, combustible liquids, petroleum greases, tars, oils, oil-based paints, solvents, lacquers, alcohols, and flammable gases. |
| Class C Fires | Fires that involve energized electrical equipment. |
| Class D Fires | Fires in combustible metals, such as magnesium, titanium, zirconium, sodium, lithium, and potassium. |
| Class K Fires | Fires in cooking appliances that involve combustible cooking media (vegetable or animal oils and fats). |
Then they have a number for the Class and for the qty. No Depot employee could answer my questions. So I had to stand in the aisle and research.
You might come across a fire extinguisher labeled 4A:20B:C. The numbers indicate the size rating of each extinguishing agent. Here’s how it works:
- The Class A size rating represents the water equivalency. Each number represents 1 ¼ gallons of water. For instance, 2A means the extinguisher is just as effective as 2 ½ gallons of water. 4A is equivalent to 5 gallons of water.
- The Class B size rating indicates the square footage the extinguisher can cover. 20B means that as long as you sweep the nozzle side to side, there is enough extinguishing agent inside the canister to provide 20 square feet of coverage.
- There is no size rating for Class C. After all, a Class C electrical fire is nothing more than a Class A or Class B fire with energized components requiring a non-conductive extinguishing product. To effectively fight Class C fires, choose your extinguishers based on the Class A and Class B size ratings.
- There is also no size rating for Class D fires. The effectiveness is detailed on the nameplate based on the specific combustible metal for which the extinguisher is recommended.
I couldn’t find a single one with Class K. But I figure B and K are so similar to save on stocking sku’s this is what they decided on. Then there are single use and rechargeable. A simple thing that becomes convoluted. Done.
Then as I was walking past the window department and there I saw Paul Bortoluzzi. Paul worked for JW with me for a number of years. He was my savior with Mattamy Homes when I needed to find a designated rep to look after their needs. Paul had moved to Winnipeg after I retired and is now working with Farley Windows. He is the AB/SK/MB rep for the Depot stores. Great find for Farley as Paul is experienced with their systems plus extremely knowledgeable in the window business. Farley makes a very good window so I would assume they are doing very well in the Depot stores beside the JW product.
I am hoping this summer after Paul finishes up his stores we can squeeze in the odd golf game in the evening. This man’s golf I find annoying as he can golf 2 times a year and still score in the 70’s but he is fun guy to play with.
Paul over the years. He looks good today with a little more grey and beard it is the perfect Italian guy look !
I lost tonight at Wordle. I usually make it in three or four with one five but today both Jackie and I lost. Dumb word ! LOL Hopefully never again.
Don’t you just love the snow. Calgary ( north end) set a all time record for April 19th at 22 cms in 24 hours. In our end of town just a touch of snow. It is funny watching the news seeing the chaos on the roads and we look out and it is fairly dry. Sure glad we picked the south end of the city. Plus the roads system here are so much more efficient with multiple main arteries to take. The new 202 loop has helped the north a lot.
All of Alberta took another winter hit. Where is our spring ?
I had to drop off a sample at a medical lab which was close to my old Henderson Warehouse so I took a stop by. Wow what a change. A neat concept now called TradeSpace which is communal warehouse/office facility. Some small business needs limited warehouse space they can provide what is needed on a month to month basis. A small construction needs a space for work, or a landscaping company for storage or even a Amazon shipping partner this works. Love the idea and the building looks so different. The first renovation I did to this warehouse cost 1.6 million but I like these guys looks much better. It look like they put a new floor in the warehouse which would have been costly. Neat to see the change. When JELDWEN bought Henderson’s Cory and Glen painted the entire warehouse themselves. Awesome big job.
Love this concept and hopefully they do well. The whole area has changed so much with the new buildings and retail it is unbelievable. Time marches on with only memories.
Late afternoon we were invited to our neighbors 90th birthday celebration. I have met some impressive people in my life but our neighbor Cec, I will put at the top of that list.
Cecil just turned 90 years old. He is 6 ft 2 tall, straight back, goes to the gym everyday, and appears in perfect mental and physical health. Just an interesting man.
Here is a man that was a RCMP officer for 35 years working his way all the way up to Superintendent. He was stationed all over Western Canada. Beside an amazing career, he is avid stamp collector and an amazing author. He has 13 books published the latest in June of last year. https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=K74Brzel&id=1B944050375618205F52C7BFFBAFA6E780CF3EAD&thid=OIP.K74Brzel8jEuf614F87BTAHaJl&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Flongleyauctions.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F12%2FB4h923.84.1.jpg&exph=638&expw=493&q=cecil+coutts+&simid=608006514301557365&form=IRPRST&ck=482BD51E1B99C13BEDD78662D0D8DCC8&selectedindex=3&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0&cdnurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR.2bbe01af37a5f2312e7fad7817cec14c%3Frik%3DrT7PgOemr%252fu%252fxw%26pid%3DImgRaw%26r%3D0&vt=0&sim=11
The link above is one of his many books. It was so much fun talking to him. He also is a collector-hoarder of sorts and on display he had about three of his books, pictures of his wedding and big events in his life, pages with transit slips, movie tickets, birth certificate and even a pay slip from 1951. His first paycheck in 1951 with the RCMP was net $100 for the month. Gross at $170 so even then tax was a big thing. If you break that down to a hourly wage, ( RCMP stationed in a small town really were on call 24/7) it would .62 cents per hour. The movie tickets were .25 cents. He even had saved his rationing food and gas stamps that he had left over from WWII . A collection worthy of any museum. Amazing man. I am very impressed. I would love to be in his shape at 90 and I am envious of his talents.
There was a nice turnout from the condo and right after they had a private family gathering. Happy Birthday Cecil.
Thought of the Day
You know you’re getting old when everything hurt. And what doesn’t hurt doesn’t work.
April 22nd–23rd
” Mercury Forecast Mesa ( it doesn’t matter now) Edmonton 10 degrees, Calgary 8 degrees)
More snow. We woke up this morning and made plans to head to Lethbridge. It was just starting to snow. By the time we showered and got everything ready it was a full blizzard and two inches on the ground. I checked my doppler and said to Jackie we are fine. The Flex has AWD and is a nice driving car but with low profile tires really isn’t the best for snowy conditions. We dropped the dog off at Audrey’s and headed off. We got about 10 minutes out of town and the roads were dry and clean. I should have been a weather man.
We whipped to Raymond and caught them at the sports complex. This little town of Raymond is amazing. They have a first class sports center. A full artificial turf football field and running track with full aluminum stands.
We met the kids and Jess at the sports complex which is first class. This small town has the best facilities ever. This a full artificial grass football field with a running track and full aluminum bench seating. Amazing. This is unbelievable also as they generate their own power for the complex with solar panels using them for generation and shields and as a covering for cars. Smart ! Condo’s and business everywhere should be doing this.
We visited and then decided, why not go see a movie. The movie the kids chose was Bad Guys.
Jessica, Atticus, August along with Jackie and I went. I paid for the movie tickets and popcorn for us ( 2 kid pricing and 1 senior) and can you believe it was $141.00. To see a movie. Needless to say I won’t be going to many movies in the near future. I don’t know how they expect a family to afford this. Having said that it was a great movie. Teaching theme, and even a wild car chase with a look-alike Corvette. Well done movie and a blast.
We then went shopping for some soccer gear for the kids. The old supply chain issue coming up again. Why not just say we didn’t order the correct amount. We struggled finding the gear needed from different stores so Jess decided she would go the next day and check other methods.
We headed back to Raymond for supper and more of a visit and look see. I think I will come down and spend a couple of days working on the shed and landscaping for them. I have the interior to finish, odd and ends and lots of landscaping to make it look great.
It was a wonderful day, great drive leaving a 9am and returning home at 10pm. I love the power of that Flex. I looked up the stats and it is near 70’s muscle car stats with 14.2ET in the 1/4 mile.
Finally waking up to warmth and spring. My Turner Valley course is finally open this picture taken today on Hole 1/ Hole 18. 4/23/2022
Today Jackie & I cleaned up the patio. I cleaned up the BBQ and we washed and cleaned the plants, tables and deck covering. Made a good looking difference.
I stopped and washed the car and then whipped to Lowes as they had patio chairs on sale. I had thrown out last years as they where rusted and the cloth ripped a bit after 11 years. Two chairs and rug for under $100 is a good deal. I saw the chairs on line but when at the store they were $5 more. I went to the checkout and showed the teller my phone and no issue, no problem all fixed. I like them and for the limited use they get as we will be spending most of our time at our lot they will look great, work great and are relatively inexpensive. Just need to get cheap covers.
It was so nice to have a sunny day with temperatures of about 10 degrees but no wind. Tomorrow and Monday I have back to back golf for the first time in Canada for 2022. I have high expectations.
Thought of the Day
To matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. Even if for a day.
April 24-26th
“Mercury Forecast Calgary 16 degrees, Edmonton 18 degrees “
FINALLY a spring like day. Unbelievably lousy spring so far.
First warmer day, no snow and first day golfing in Canada for 2022.
I went out to my home course at Turner Valley with the guys I play with in my league. We usually run shotguns for the first month which is what we had today.
So nice to be moving, be warm and be golfing. It felt like normal.
The good and bad of my golf. I haven’t golfed for about 6 weeks so a little rusty but not bad. Drives overall were ok. Second hots overall pretty good. Putting only so so but with a huge caveat. Turner Valley should really fire their greens keeper. I have been a member since 2010 so 12 years and it is a rarity to have fast great greens here. As a semi- private course this should be unacceptable to the members. But it is a ” small town” gathering spot with the focus more on socializing than providing a superior golf product. It also is starting to price itself out of the public market with the pricing being too high for the quality of course. Unfortunate as it is one of the prettiest courses, very nice layout and overall great design but I would rate their greens overall compared to other courses in Calgary a 2/5. This caused all of us issues with the slow speed and fuzzy bumpy greens. Take away two holes where the score got to me ( 6 on a par 3) I was quite happy with my play. Three birdies, no lost balls and only two drives a little off . I scored a 39 on the front nine. I screwed up getting out of the sand on Hole 10 and mentally didn’t recover. I lost a couple of bucks but gave a good scare.
Today Jackie & I along with Jeff & Wendy were golfing our VIP deal at Speargrass. To golf a nice course for $42 including cart is sweet. These greens were smooth and like lighting. Another warm day but with the wind and cloud cover it felt a little cooler. First games for the three of them with everyone playing pretty decent. I made a lot of pars, no birdies even though had numerous chances but I lost two balls killing the score on the back nine. A mid 80’s score is ok but I wanted better.
Jeff & Wendy are fun people to golf with as they do their own thing and keep up the pace relatively well. Jackie & I are in most cases faster golfers than most for a few reasons. First measurement instruments take a lot of time versus a quick glance at a watch and considering our prowess “to the stick” is never needed as our goal should be just get on the green. I always use center of green and adjust power as every club has a variance of at least 10 yards easily either way. Another factor is our walk speed as Jackie is a very fast walker and I am quick. It is what works for each player and as a group we are never the slow group.
So a decent warm day, a little windy which brought a coolness, fun friends to golf with and Daisy being a gem it was a great day.
We decided to have a bite on the deck after golf which was great. The Beef Dip was fantastic but what topped it all off ( besides being outside and with friends enjoying spring) was our waitress making us the perfect tasting Caesar’s. Yes to Canada.
Ok we have to forgive Jackie. She is dressed like it is winter but it was very nice out hitting 16 degrees. She has not acclimatized yet from Arizona and now that she is so thin she has no protective covering or insulation. Daisy stayed in her carry bag while we ate, perfectly. Such a good dog. I snuck some beef down to her. You notice how healthy Wendy was by having a salad ( celery) before her meal.
I enjoyed the day very much.
Jackie & I have a Wordle faceoff every night. She is faster overall I think but I get them in less tries overall. So every night as it is close it is fun. It scares me bit each time as she comes up with solutions I have not yet figured out yet with her deduction skills. This was a great win for me getting it in TWO. Second guess and a win. Jackie had already got it but in four. I am methodical. LOL Daisy is not any help.
Car wash and clean up day today . I am baking my bacon in the oven as Jackie is going with Audrey to a pedicure. I know someone ( actually two) males that enjoy this type of treatment. Sick bastards !! LOL
Amazing. Two days in row I have solved the Wordle on my second try. That is lucky.
I washed, waxed and cleaned the Jeep. I need the hood to be cut and polished though which I will work on finding someone. Daisy and I went out for an adventure while the girls were busy.
ONE OF THE BEST GAMES EVER TONIGHT Calgary Flames versus Nashville Predator’s.
Over 70 hits. Huge hits. Great fights with Lucic being the KING. Tkachuk not only scoring the tying goal being being the perfect agitator. Rough tough hockey.
I only hope we get to meet Edmonton in the playoffs because if we play this way Connor will be shaking and crying. Good thing they have a nurse on the team as they will need one.
Jackie did well today with her pedicure getting the “normal” and great looking color red on her toes. I might add, it still surprises me that two of my male friends had this done. I wish I knew what color they picked.
Let’s REALLY really pretend I agreed to this ( possibly while on my death bed and delirious) the only possible color could be black. LOL
Thought of the Day
We live in a feminist and effeminate culture. Because of this, at best, as a people we are uneasy with masculinity, and with increasing regularity, whenever it manages to appear somehow, we call for someone to do something about it. I say to all men. Do not fall for this in our current society as maleness as we know it will cease to exist.
April 27th
“Mercury Forecast Calgary 14 degrees, Edmonton 9 degrees rain “
Jackie was up and out the house first thing this morning to walk across the street to our dentist.
I believe most people would agree service stations and car dealership repair shops are crooks, trying to nickel and dime and do unneeded work. Unfortunately it is more the norm than not. Hence I use a independent dealer/mechanic that is not governed by a “book ” rate or it making the profit for the business. Dentist’s have a reputation of being very similar with exorbitant pricing, unnecessary treatment and a over zealous maintenance program. Our dentist in Cranston not only is the most ethical, fair and “common sense ” guy there is, he is also very nice. We moved to him after repeatedly feeling ripped off and every time we are extremely pleased with his professionalism , knowledge and fairness. He is awesome. Highly recommend him, Dr Baker in Cranston.
She got her cavity ( huge) filled and and was back after a bit.
We then headed to Costco for a eye appointment. It has been 4 years since our last one. I had a good/ bad relationship with the eye center we originally chose. We bought two pairs of glasses from them for just about $3000. @ years later my lenses were becoming fissured. Typical with warranty I had to fight to get a replacement pair. They did go back to their supplier after a few calls and visit from me which is great service albeit a little late. Now 2 yrs later again the exact same thing is happening so I can’t justify going back hence the Costco run. First thing the optometrist was fantastic. The frame selection and pricing pricing exceptional and the lenses a great price. I would have to wait 10 days for a just the lenses so I chose to keep these as a “work pair” and bought a complete set just over $400. Big difference as my frames alone I paid more than that for them so very happy plus I went transition this time. New frames, transition and progressive so all good. CAT brand frames sound manly. I am happy.
During the exam I asked the doctor to let me know on cataracts. My Mom and Dad both had to have them removed. The doctor’s statement to me ” You are perfect ” We rate cataracts from 1-5 and you are not even .5. I did this as Jackie says I should be wearing sunglasses when golfing. I don’t but now with transitions I am doing my part.
It was a good visit. The doctor stating ” You are perfect ” and the frame specialist stating ” Larry you are just hot”. This was in response to my asking why they were fissured which is usually caused by a heat wave from the oven, leaving them on a hot dash or pouring hot water over them which has never occurred. Nice customer service.
I booked a golf game for next week, have my men’s league up and running on Thursdays so the season starts.
As soon as the roads are swept I will book a new windshield for the Jeep.
Thought of the Day
Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.
April 28th-30th
“Mercury Forecast Calgary 14 degrees, Edmonton 12 degrees”
First let say how nice it is to finally get spring weather. Checking the forecast it appears we may have a decent next week with the possibility of hitting 20 plus. We had 18 days BELOW average temperature in April so you can see it wasn’t a great month. I have had to put everything on the burner so we are about 4 weeks behind.
Turner Valley golf course today was on the agenda. It was nice to see a lot of my group out today on the course. I have to retract my comments on the greens. What a difference a few days, some decent weather, a cut and time makes to the greens. I was night and day from least time. They are what I would call pretty decent. Great to see.
Two good golf games followed by a bad one and hopefully only one. Not one last ball, some great shots, great drives, just a few too many missed opportunities. Not landing on the green from 125 yards numerous times, missed putts or being blocked out for a second. Overall though I was ok with the way I played as it appears I can go a round without a penalty which is good if everything else also works. I hate a 90’s score.
First game so we stopped for a drink. Disappointed in the selection of beer at TV. They moved away from Big Rock and went to Knox. People love IPA’s and odd tasting beer, me not so much. They have NOTHING that is good on tap. I don’t understand how ANY bar manager does not offer, Coors LIte, Bud Light, Miller Light, Ultra, etc on tap. My personal opinion is, it is an error. Here is the thing though. They may never figure out why their beer sales aren’t as high as they would like them. We had the Blonde which was a 5/10 but semi ok. Too much after taste. I like my beer to be smooooth.
Another successful Wordle in two. Jackie also darn it!
I went out to the lot and lo and behold I even had to take my coat off it got so warm. It actually got up to 14 so decent. It was a very pleasant day working all day.
I filled the tires to the correct pressure and my new gauge is a dream. I filled the air ride system on the front and back and will adjust it after driving a bit. Removed the wheel covers. Filled the batteries with distilled water. Cleaned and sprayed teh batteries and connections. I removed the tire covers and they sunscreens from the windshields.
I let it run to warm up the engine and charge the battery. I started the heat pump and let it run for about a 1/2 hour. Cleaned up the mouse poison and put away the booze and a box of misc stuff.
Outside I racked the lawn and fertilized it. I cleaned out the eavestroughs and installed my solar lighting. I moved and put away our cushions into their storage spot.
Re-organized my tool section, put away some jackets and put away my batteries for the drills, weed eater and our motorized golf carts. I moved the pots into location and cleaned off the gazebo and shed roof of limbs that I could reach. I put away in it’s spot my new fire extinguisher and bagged up more leaves.
A great day. A fun day day and most enjoyable.
Glad to see April come to an end as it was a very poor month for spring. I am looking forward to a much better May.
Got our income tax back today. Unfortune part is what we get back on mine is just about exactly what we have to pay on Jackie’s. A wash is a good thing but I would like it to be a gain.
Readied ourselves to head out to the lot today. First stop was Home Depot. Man was it busy. The amount of gardening stuff people are buying already is nuts. They had three foot tall tomato plants ready plus the flowers etc. I only need some painting equipment and paint as I had stain left from last year.
Next stop where else Tim’s to bring out with us for lunch. I had the Buffalo chicken wrap and wanted to try re heating it at noon. It worked perfectly and I was impressed. I would like them to use Franks to get them a little “hotter” Franks is like Heinz Ketchup or French’s Mustard, there is no substitute.
Jackie and I got the black hi-lite rim joist all done, both cedar decks, wheels railings, flower boxes, storage box, door trim all done today which was more than I thought. We finished up about 4:30 pm and we love it. Looks like brand new again.
I helped a neighbor move a shed ( code violation) , walked around the park checking out new sites, talking to neighbors and having a great time in the sun relaxing. Daisy was pretty much good all day. She had one crying incident when she wanted to meet the neighbors two big Black Labs.
I went with one of the supposed best deck finishes when I built the decks. Superdeck is highly rated but unfortunately fell victim to the environmentalist movement and moved away from oil to water based. Now instead of every two or three years EVERY year I need to s stain. Not right. What is still nice it doesn’t peel or flake off so you can just stain which is fast and easy. Some things are better left alone.
Thought of the Day
Making your product worse to appease the misinformed consumer is a sign of times. Making your product worse can benefit a company with increased sales if marketed correct.
Larry & Jackie Willard's Retirement Adventure 
