Sept 1st –3rd Long weekend

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 25 degrees, Calgary 26 degrees”

It didn’t quite make this forecast, but it still was a beautiful day, mostly due to sun and a nice breeze.

Jackie was working and Jackson had an 1/2 day of school. That is another story. how DUMB of the CBE to make kids come to school for a 1/2 day before a long weekend. Someone’s head needs a shake. I understand teachers coming in early to prepare but leave the students until the 5th. If I kid doesn’t show they may miss the locker of choice, desk and intros so it is just about a must.

I headed out for the lot first thing to prepare for our weekend. Uncovered all of the furniture, cleaned and dusted, moved furniture etc plus all of the normal maintenance stuff like cutting the lawn and dead heading the plants. I started at 10 am and worked all day.

Jackie and the kids all arrived around 2pm. The kids Atti, Auggie and Jackson made themselves at home. We played Chinese marbles (am I allowed to say that) and then off the pool for an hour. Playground for a bit twice and a walk around. The boys walked to the store for a ice cream cone. Huge cones and with Tiger you can’t go wrong.

A hot dog supper which every kid loves and then we all set up this year’s Halloween decor. It turned out looking pretty good and is fun to do. Already for tomorrow.

Movie tonight for the kids but again the choice had a way way too much swearing. I think you all know my feeling about people that swear. Their lack of intelligence not being able to express themselves with proper words and having to revert to vulgarity amazes me. There is no need for any swearing no matter the circumstance as some people say when they get hurt or get mad is the only time. It just shows the lack of control and to have this type of language used in a movie is not needed at all.

The decor turned out great and the boys were a big help. They loved Atti new little sisitr the best.

Once again, I do have to say, girls are much easier to care for then boys. Rambunctious , energy level and destruction levels are out of this world.

A fun day, a great day and everyone is looking forward to tomorrow.

Our plan pancake breakfast at 9am, swimming pool at 1pm, lagoon swimming at 3pm, pizza pickup at 4pm for supper and then trick or treating at 5pm and a Halloween dance at 7pm to 11pm. If the sugar doesn’t get to them, they should be tired. The following day is our huge Carnival with bouncy castles, dunk tanks, games, food trucks etc.

Thought of the Day

Still trying to get my head around the fact that ‘Take Out’ can mean food, dating, or murder

LONG WEEKEND EVENTS CONTUNIED

This year we had 185 kids which is down just a bit but our block were party poopers, and a lot of the lots had no candy or decor, so a lot of the kids missed us and headed to the center where the best decorations were. Still quite busy and I threw 3 empty bottles into the recycle bin so a lot of people trying the shooters. This year it was Devil’s Piss ( Jackie made me change it to pee) . It was Butter ripple Schnapps. (side effects include growing chest hair or bigger boobs) and Witch’s milk which was Rumchaitta.

I moved my portable bar to the front, and it worked out perfect. It was a hot day, but I used my portable electric cooler to keep the candy and drinks cold. Loads of comments on the cold drinks as most were just served a warm Jello shot.

Before trick & tricking though we played a few games. Funny thing little Atticus playing UNO with about 7 of us WON. He beat us all then quits.

Atticus also had a new NINJI student being Jeff. According to Atti’s training criteria Jeff failed. LOL A few wins by Jackson and August also in Chinese Marbles.

The kids got all dressed up and Jeff & Jackie went out for a while with them. Jeff & Wendy came out for the day along with their grandkid Elias. It is amazing the similarities to his mother Shandi.

Wendy & Jeff were great at scaring the kids. Victoria and Corey came a little later also.

Then off to the dance. Great music and a big attendance. Elias and Jeff got a chance to bust a move.

The DJ was awesome and some amazing dance moves demonstrated. The one time though where Atti didn’t want to dance.

Loads of pool time and playground time. In fact, the last day before we left Atti was sad and cried as he wanted to stay to play with his new friend at the park.

There was a yellow line on the pool edge for deep end versus shallow. Atti was awesome not going over the line. He didn’t want a life jacket on as he couldn’t dive so he had to stay in the shallow end and listened perfectly. Next year he may be able to swim strong enough to join his brother and cousin.

Movies are always fun outside. No wasps, no mosquitos just fly’s.

The following day was Carnival which is blast for kids and Jackie as she volunteered for one of the games to supervise. She picked the hardest game to control. LOL The large rolling balls. Freezees, popcorn, cotton candy, dunk tank and multitude of games to play all free. Even a cop car to check out but I asked the kids to not get to comfortable with this.

We all know the shape Tor is in. It was a battle in the Army Obstacle course with Mom versus Son. It is quite a long course. Victoria killed the course which did not make Jackson happy. I remember in Mesa Victoria doing a wall climbing event and beating everyone to the top including her fit husband.

As you have seen MaryAnn, Alan and Audrey came out for lunch and to see the events. A couple of funny things happened while they were visiting.

Atti lost his stick which was a small tree branch and was upset so MaryAnn says, ” Why don’t you just go and make a new one? ” Atti’s response priceless. ” You think I can make a new one, I can’t make a tree”

When we were watching the events Audrey and Maryann sat on the east side of the park in the wind which was blowing quite strong. Still very warm but a cool breeze due to the wind. Luckily Alan moved them over to the west side where there was very little wind as they could have lost their hats. I wish the pic was bigger, but it was from an Apple phone, and we all know how poorly they operate. It is in a HEIC format instead of a JPEG and if I enlarge it, it gets real blurry. I am sure due to the incestuous manner of APPLE they may end up like the old Beta machines and disappear. I do know of at least 8 people personally that have moved back to the Android system.

FYI this is the same company that on purpose slowed down their own customers phones to convince people they should buy a new one. They paid a 27 million dollar fine and people still are loyal to this company. HEIC is the default for IPHONES. It allows a compressed file so the phone can hold more pictures. More compression, worse picture quality but people still buy into it. I don’t get it.

They got lucky getting out of the wind and keeping the hats on their heads.

Later that night the kids went back to the park and swimming for a hour. At the park Atti was leading and challenging poeple to a push up contest. The kid kills me he is so funny. He made a best friend and when leaving the next morning was sad. After 9 in the dark and playing at the playground. Auggie was having a blast with group and was a strong contender for winning the holdup contest. At times there must be 50 kids in the park at the same time.

Up and cleaning up and meeting Pen & Jess in Vulcan for a drop off.

A fun weekend, quite busy and it will be nice to have quiet again, but I am positive the kids had a blast.

Thought of the Day

I am swift as a gazelle…an old one…with arthritis…run over by a Land Rover…seven days ago.

Sept 5th

” Mercury Forecast Edmonton 17 degrees, Calgary 22 degrees”

Amazing how yesterday was only 13 degrees with rain all day and today just wonderful. Looking outside it was a little smoky but not overly. In fact, as the day went on it cleared up perfectly.

I whipped to Sobeys this am and on return I smelt antifreeze and saw a wet spot under my Jeep. Using my phone, I checked but it is so crammed in I couldn’t make out where the leak was. Hoses seemed good, overflow was low on fluid but no leaks and the rad was good. I am thinking water pump. I filled the overflow with water and headed to my favorite trustworthy garage. No appointment but as the Jeep was undrivable with a leak he agreed to park it and they would look at if time permitted. I was thinking next day. Within a couple of hours, I received a call. Got lucky and it was the thermostat housing. Can you believe that Jeep uses a plastic housing on the 3.6 Pentastar. Stupid Chinese crab what do they expect to happen. I had a couple of other ” maintenance items for them to do for me on my request.” At 150,000 kms it is recommended to change the plugs. $600 bucks to do this. Expensive plugs plus three hours labor as the intake manifold has to be taken off. I think a engineer needs to fix something before finalizing a design. it is asinine to need to remove the intake. On a normal car I could replace the plugs in an hour no problem. So, it is running perfect, and this will be on hold. I love the honesty of this garage.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL PICTURES FOR JACKSON AUGUST AND ATTICUS.

As I said the smoke left us and the warmth came. Jeff & Wendy along with us were at McKenzie Meadows today. The course was in tip top shape. I like the course and have had some great scores but today got hit with an 85.I took a 6 on a Par 3 and I lost one ball.

Everyone played decent today and Jackie ended up with 107 but was the only one with a BIRDIE.

Jeff has the birdie juice ready. I will admit I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was HOT in the stomach. I had 9 holes with greens in regulation which means 9 chances at a birdie and didn’t make one.

Another fun day golfing and a great meal at the clubhouse again. They have good food at McKenzie. Jackie with her usual, Jeff & Wendy with the special ribs over rice and myself with a steak sandwich that turned out to be on special. Our bartender waitress made wonderful tasting Caeser’s tonight.

Thought of the Day

Being popular on Facebook is like sitting at the ‘cool table’ in the cafeteria of a mental hospital

Sept 6th -10th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 18/20 degrees Calgary 16/19 degrees. “

Yesterday was quite a weather day. Sunny and semi warm, windy, hail in sections of Calgary and lots of snow at Lake Louis. Yikes !

I worked out at the lot all day fixing, cleaning up things. My cheap CHINA made gear clamps is all I can find at the Depot. There has to be a better method. I am afraid now to leave it as there are very few people at the resort and the water will run for hours if the hose pops off again. I double clamped it but am leery.

It was eerily quiet out there but was very nice as I could inspect different things i wanted and do things, I may not be able to do while busy with people.

I drove myself insane yesterday and I find that quite annoying. I was going to phone Mom to check in on her and I couldn’t find my phone. With sweatpants it falls out very easily, so I had to double check everywhere I thought I was. I traced in my mind and searched and searched. You start to second guess where you left it and triple check again. After an hour I thought even though impossible, I may have left it at home. So I drove to the store to use their phone, but it was closed. A neighbor lady drove by, and I stopped her and she let me use her phone. I had to try at least 4 to 5 times both on Jackie’s cell and home phone. I knew she could be on a call so I hoped she would just answer one quick question. On Jackie’s side of the family, and I mean everyone,they have an aversion and hangup about two things. Their pooping patterns and NOT wanting to answer phone calls. If they don’t recognize the number, they don’t answer. One day they will miss the call saying they won a lottery or someone they know died. Why bother with a phone if you don’t answer. The go to answer is if it is important enough, they will a message. Yes, most likely, but why cause extra steps. If it is a robo call just hang up or relish in the fact that someone took the time to phone you.

Luckily Jackie saw the same number calling on the two different phones and as she was on a business call did answer after the few calls. And yes, I did leave it at home. It is funny how something so minute can cause stress.

I came home for supper and cooked potatoes and kabobs for supper.

Wordle in four for me and in five for Jackie. They seem to be more difficult now.

This morning I washed the truck and shined it up inside and out. Other than my damage to the paint from tree sap it still looks pretty sharp. My chamois which is a newer one worked perfect, and I used a 1/4 bottle of Armorall. The plastic fenders and bumpers like to turn grey.

Off to Truner Valley today for my men’s group with a later than normal start. Goal today is break 80 and win money from my friends.

I exchanged money to today and OUCH. The rate today was 1.40/.7140. That hurts only getting 71 cents on the dollar again. We need to get our dollar back to at least 80 cents.

It becomes so convoluted dealing with American companies. They charge a 3% credit card fee. I use my credit card with 3% cash back, but they charge a foreign transaction fee. I have tried every method I can think of to save money here. I had a bank account in the US but they charge $15 a month to have it. I can use my US FUNDS credit card and pay no foreign transaction fee but lose the 3%. I can use our Infinite credit card and pay no fee but only get points which is on the weak side. Solution- get rich and not worry about it . LOL

18 above today but due to the lateness I am going with pants.

At the last moment I went with shorts as it is SUMMER and as long as my fingers are warm legs don’t really matter.

A partner today I haven’t golfed with for a long time. Dale is about the same age and a low handicapper. This man can drive the ball a long way. Just silly mistakes mostly with putting as the pin placement was difficult, more difficult than normal and on TV that means a lot of missed putts.

I played decent but with a higher score than I wanted though. I tied and it didn’t cost money in our one game, but I lost the quarter game and it cost me 6 bucks. My partners each time didn’t play well the corner I had them in and vice versa.

Not one lost ball which is excellent but strokes for hitting it too long. At Turner Valley the course set up requires me to back off the driver on a few holes. The first hole a long drive, straight but wouldn’t you know it in the water but recoverable. Stroke ! On this course the danger holes by hitting it to far are on Hole 1, Hole 6, Hole 8, Hole 14, and Hole 15 all require a drive less than 260 yards which means backing off which sometimes just doesn’t happen.

A surprise at supper as Dale paid for my drinks and meal. That hasn’t happened for years. Very appreciated. Nice guy and great player.

Babysitting August and Atti tonight. Boys have a lot of energy and are very active compared to girls. Besides the rough housing they are fixated on talking about balls, penises and poop. LOL They were very good though and fell to sleep very well.

Jess & Pen were at The Chicks concert. A band that hit the controversy a way before it was the thing to do to people. To have to change your name and be barred from radio for speaking out against a president is just dumb. But that is today’s world. I do like their lyrics as they come from their personal experiences and beliefs.

Atti forgot his stuffy toy, so Jackie took a picture and held him hostage. Atti didn’t respond so Jackie promised to hurt stuffy if not paid. It was hilarious and I am sure Atti thought it was very funny. We will need to remember a Band-Aid on him when he gets returned.

I cleaned up some computer work, paid too many bills and washed and waxed the Jeep.

Jackie and I spent the day and evening burning more paperwork. At least another 50 pounds of paper in the fire pit. Peters’ stuff, and our old banking records etc so nice to clear that up a bit as one does not want to be a hoarder. So many people keep so much redundant paper it is ridiculous.

A nice supper out at the lot and some crib games plus 3 long walks for Daisy.

Daisy making sure Jackie counts correct. I am the white pegs just waiting for another win. The games ended up being tied. Darn !

I was over helping Corey take apart his table saw today. He has two expensive table saws and both stopped working. Bosch has a history of dust killing motors and Corey cuts MDF for just about every job.

German engineers are as dumb as North Americans in their design. To remove the armature on this thing it was a nightmare. We finally got it all done with the saw now a skeleton of itself. It needs a new armature, new brushes, new bearing and spacers. We don’t have a bearing puller so off to the shop it goes. It is a $800 saw so hopefully a smaller bill but worth it not to have to replace it. It is the labor charges that kill you.

Gorgeous day hitting 22 degrees and full fall sun. Nice to work outside.

Tonight, we met Jeff & Wendy at their place. It was so nice we sat outside. It was a match of the girls versus the guys at Queens. The backyard at the Graces’s is very nice, large and looks great. No bugs even though I kept hearing the odd person say they saw a mosquito.

It was a fun night, sitting outside, cold beer, friends and a games night.

You can’t take the country out of a girl. Wendy made some wonderful tasting choke cherry syrup. Next pancake breakfast will be a treat. Also, a sweet tasting liqueur. Love it as a after meal treat. Great stuff.

THE BOYS ARE THE KINGS OF THE QUEEN GAME.

Thought of the Day

How did doctors come to the conclusion that exercise prolongs life, when…

             …the rabbit is always jumping but only lives for around two years, and

            …the turtle that doesn’t exercise at all, lives over 200 years.

.           So, rest, chill, eat, drink, and enjoy life!

Sept 11th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 25 degrees, Calgary 23 degrees”

This is one of those days that most remember where they were.

Mike Lopachuk, Ed Buhnai and I were at Frank’s Sissons having a breakfast meeting when we saw it happen on TV. Needless to say, we were awestruck and pinned to watching for a long time. It was shocking as the planes hit the buildings, people jumping out of windows 40 stories up and then the building collapsing. It is one of those days you just will never forget and it a day that changed our way of live for forever.

It was also Peter’s birthday date. He hated that 9/11 happened on his birthday. He would have been 89 today if he was still alive.

I was driving on test drive in the Jeep and drove by our old house in Shawnessy. It is amazing how a renovation can change the look of a place. I love the black windows and stucco look as it it updates the home and adds a lot of character.

I few things to note. Notice the size of the pyramid Cedar tree. It is now over 25ft tall. The huge spruce trees are now a little too large. I love the black high lights of the garage door and window trim along with the black shingles. Interesting enough back in 1991 when they built our home internal bars were not common in glass for windows and perhaps not even available in sealed units. So, they used wood interior grid bars and in this case the owner could paint them black to complete the look. Some designers should consider these even today to enhance a home without the cost of window replacement. I loved the old look after our reno of shakes, green trim etc but this new looks makes it look a lot higher end. It is large house square footage wise being over 2500 sg ft plus a basement, so it definitely filled the lot. I drove in the back alley and my fence and retainer wall I built in 1992 is still perfect. We had a small conflict with our neighbor when I built this as they hired a professional landscaping company to build theirs and our other neighbors so on each side of us, but I refused to pay that much. The pros used 6 x 6 stacked horizontally and charged $6000 to build the wall and backfill with dirt. I built mine with 6 x 6 posts vertically and 2 x 8 horizontally with 10ft tie backs into the yard under the surface. $6000 verus $1000 dollars and 30 years later mine is actually holding up better as some of their 6 x 6’s warped on them. Mine is a good as new even after 30 years plus. Pressure treated going natural is maintenance free, but the looks are less than desirable after while.

It is always fun to see the changes over the years. Some tree maintenance would be nice though.

Thought of the Day

Why don’t the 99% of us who aren’t offended by everything, quit catering to the 1% who are?

Sept 12/13th

” Mercury Forecast Edmonton 22 degrees, Calgary 22 degrees.”

We are getting a stretch of summer like weather this fall that is amazing. After one of the driest and nicest summers it is nice to prolong the evitable coming up. All indications by the weather forecasters and the Farmer’s Almanac we are in a a very cold snowy winter. We will take this as it comes. Exit south if the weather goes bad quickly.

Today we were golfing with Jeff & Wendy at Wintergreen. It is a wonderful mountain style course that is tough but fair. We dropped off Daisy at Audreys before going and moved some of her furniture around as she was having new windows installed. I inspected the process and would give them a 9 out of 10. They used Tuck Tape NovaFlash flashing tape which is a great product even though I prefer Blueskin. It was also nice to see fiberglass stuffed and low expansion foam to fill the cavity. I also liked that they shimmed the window instead of relying on the nail fins only like a lot of installers do. I would give them a 10 except they did not flash over top the drip cap installed at the top. In my mind it would have been extra protection for a few bucks but the rationale was it was only a foot under the eaves, the top was already sealed with flashing and the Tyvek was glued down already so they couldn’t install the cap under it. The cap will still direct any water over the window from water running down the face of the siding but surface water from the Tyvek. Using the caulk and flashing like they did is a perfect window redirect system. I great install job with a good brand name window.

Wintergreen started off cooler with a slight breeze but after about three holes warmed up considerably and was a very nice day. Warm enough I had to wear just a shirt which was nice. It was fun day golfing with good course conditions and moved along quite well. The greens were punched and sanded so not perfect but still played well.

A day again of great, good, and bad shots from everyone. I played decent with 9 holes GIR but only getting one birdie. 1 out of 9 is not good odds. LOL I lost a ball on the first hole which wasn’t the best thing to do but as a short Par 5 even with the penalty I got a Par. Lucky it was a red stake.

Another course where the greens at TV are confirmed as much more difficult as the movement is a lot less than TV here.

Lucky us as we went to the Italian Country Farmhouse in Bragg Creek. Awesome food and ambience in the old farmhouse. A wonderful server Max that helped make the night and as I said wonderful food. I had wild boar meatballs and spaghetti the Graces had lobster and crab ravioli and Jackie had stuffed pasta shells with chicken and spinach.

There are pictures that make me smile and there are pictures that make me just laugh. I LOVE this pic and I will tell the story here. Zoom in and look at Jeff, Wendy and Jackies faces.

Check out Wendy looking over her glasses at Jeff with the “LOOK” as she realizes the bottle of wine Jeff ordered cost $52 bucks as the bill is being paid. I love the look ” Sheepish” on Jeff’s face as he explains the quality of the wine and the presentation along with ambiance it created and its added value to the meal. Jackie is just smiling. The ironic part of all of this is that Wendy has become allergic to wine, and she turns red and sneezes. Worst part is, the Graces love/ loved making their own. It is just a funny picture capturing a fun moment.

Another fun day in the books .

Today was also my younger sisters 42nd wedding anniversary. Darlene and Jim got married a year after us. Darlene would have been 21 yrs old.

Catching up on a few things, doing a couple of quick repairs and enjoying the day.

Our motorhome has a unique mattress system. It is an air mattress over coil springs which makes for a very comfortable bed. It had a leak and was deflated. The valve needed to be replaced so I did that and hoped that was perfect. It was not. Still a leak so I brought it home to test by putting it in the bathtub. Great idea gone wrong. It is too big and no chance to see a bubble. So, Jackie and I sitting on it and folding it up to try to see a bubble with a wet rag or hear it and Jackie’s good ears discovered it. A small pin hole. I would expect stress or hitting something while being put away. So, I will try round one of a vinyl patch to how successful we are. A tough spot on a seam so hopefully. If you think about it tires are patched everyday so hopefully the same success.

We all know how powerful marketing is. Some companies build a brand with excellence and limited supply. Ikea has one store in most large cities to drive the business to, Olive Garden again limits its access to create a demand. We have a first-class restaurant just south of Calgary that has created the same demand. Longview Steak house is the 37th best steak house in all of Canada. You need to book months in advance to get a table it is so high in demand. In fact, the whole of 2023 is fully booked already and to book lets say next June you need to book March 12th.That is creating a demand and good on them as they have lived up to the expectations as per reviews. It is on my bucket list now.

https://longviewstkhouse.com/homepage/reservations/

it was a bad night at Viewpoint Resort our home in Arizona last night. Tons of carports ribbed off, roofs blown off, trees knocked down and damage to a lot of the structures. A huge storm blew in and caused havoc.

Our caretaker phoned and we were one of the luckier ones. The only damage is minor damage to my louvers over my outside kitchen. I had to do a redesign a few years ago after a storm and this time I will do a permanent fix. I will install walls and a tin roof rather than a louvered roof.

The park is a mess though and hopefully everyone can get their places fixed up before fall. And we picked Mesa due to no natural disasters. Darn angry climate. (Coming out of an ice age can do this. lol )

Wordle in 5 by me and 4 by Jackie.

Thought of the Day

  I read that 95% of electric vehicles are still on the road.  I guess the remaining 5% made it all the way home.

September 14th-15th

” Wonderful fall like weather continues”

Today was my group out at Turner Valley. As I said before this course has the most difficult greens in the surrounding area and again today proved it to us. Very mixed bag today with a combo of good luck, bad luck and mistakes taken into account. Two birdies on the front nine but a 7 and 8 killed that pretty quickly. Still shot right to my handicap so all is good. Such a nice day and fun guys to golf with makes for a great day. The teasing, hassling, heckling always adds to the game. My partners today on the corner game let me down and I owed $2 so not bad. Tied the cap game so all is good.

You all should know that I am an anti-Apple company guy and always wonder why people get sucked into an inferior product that costs more. Today Apple announcements make me smile. First, France has decided to ban the sales of the iPhone 12 as it is emitting unsafe levels of radiation. Most would be walk away from the phone as we all know the amount of time one is held against the brain but trust me people will still purchase them due to marketing. Second after being like the BETA system and trying to be unique Apple finally has decided to use the USB-C charging cable system that everyone else has. That was a long time coming but good for the Apple user convenience and about time for a company to respond to consumer needs.

FYI

According to the latest stats from Statcounter, the global market share looks like this:

• Android: 67.56%
• iOS: 31.6%

Apple has done well, slowly eroding the market from Android but has a long long way to go. The young kids like Apple due to music use which is the best feature of Apple but with so many new music apps Android can equal anything that Apple has.

Out and about today and look what I see. Yes, it is a JEEP world but unlike the Barbie World Jeeps are manly. LOL

Three cool Jeeps parked together. I still would pick mine the center one but steal some accessories from the other.

The white Jeep has a 4 or 6 in lift, mine is stock and the yellow one is a 2-inch lift. Tires sizing goes 33″, 31″ 32″. I like the front bumper on the white one, hate the angry bird grill cap and snorkel, love the stance of the yellow with tires and lift. I would take mine add the 2 in lift and 33’s with the front bumper and would love it. Pretty cool seeing so many Jeeps all together.

I still think white should not be called a color.

Thought of the Day

Just once, I want a username and password prompt to say CLOSE ENOUGH.

September 16th-17th

” Mercury Forecast Edmonton 23 degrees, Calgary 24 degrees.”

Off to Amanda and Jay’s wedding. The Keys are very fortunate as both of their daughters have found and married wonderful men. Jay is just one of those nice guys that is easy to talk with, smart, kind and just a nice guy.

The wedding was a low-key event with a lot of punch. They did an amazing organizing and planning job. It was held in the back yard of their home. The decor, landscaping, tents, hot tub and garden shed all were incorporated into the plan which excelled.

Beside the hot tub gazebo was the full bar, a cooler full of ice with a scoop, on the front of the deck was a white sheet with a header and mini lights falling down, led night lighting thru out the yard, a large tent where the tables and chairs were for dining and nice patio for dancing.

It was one of the nicest best planned weddings that I have attended, and I appreciated the simplicity and lack of formality to it. I would put the guest list at about 75 people.

The justice of peace was exceptional delivering a little longer speech than the typical JP gives, which was awesome making each person repeat numerous vows to each other. It was emotional and extremely well done.

We were all seated in the back yard and Fred & Amanda walked down the aisle between the chairs to the stage.

A very nice first dance for the couple and Mom & Dads. Jay had his sister be his go to person as he had lost his Mom. It was a very nice moment.

The couple had a picture taking “booth”, sign in book, stage for family pictures and loads of cold beverages for everyone.

The meal was catered, and the company went over and above. Not only the quality but the quantity as there was plenty left and Amanda & Jay came up with a brilliant idea to make carry home packages for everyone. Another great idea was each guest before they left was given a package that contained two golf balls with heart logo’s on them and a thank you note for attending. Brilliant !

As indicated above the meal included roast beef, lasagna, large Italian sausage, chicken thighs and breasts, Caesar salad, Greek salad, garlic bread, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, French fries and rice, plus carrots and roasted Brussell sprouts and loads of gravy.

Cupcakes, cookies and for midnight, smoked brisket and Italian pasta. So the food overall was a 10 out of 10. The wedding was exceptional, and I loved it. Getting people to dance is always difficult but it didn’t deter everyone from having a great time.

The Lavallee family mostly in the pictures above. The first pic is of Jennifer, her three kids, Martin, Kate and Scarlett along with Tracy. Tracy’s husband Ralph and Scarlett with Troy.

Amanda looked wonderful in her dress.

I always enjoy the ceremony part and to witness the emotion of a lifelong commitment is moving.

The first dances are always a highlight of the night.

And some random pictures of the celebration.

The Keys boys Mel, Tim and Fred along with their Mom. This lady is 91 yrs old, sharp as a tack and still sells her Avon user the on-line ordering and tracking system. She still lives by herself in her own home. Wonderful.

So, a great day, another young lady and man joined in holy matrimony that is one of the good ones. Welcome to married life Amanda and Jay.

Today the 17th is Jackie’s birthday. We didn’t get home until after 1am so were a little tired in the morning. Our plans were to have a simple get together picnic to celebrate. We brought sandwiches, chips and Tim’s and met down by the river. Great temperature just windy. It is always nice to get together and having Jessica, Victoria Jackson Corey along with Audrey was nice for Jackie.

Fish Creek is a great park for gathering and we had loads of room. Perhaps due to the wind. We had a nice get together. Jackson bought himself a new scooter and it was tried out numerous times. No injuries.

We had virtual candles as we didn’t want to start a fire with the dry conditions. LOL

Another year older and another year wiser. I did notice twice on the way home Jackie trying to direct my driving. Wiser may not be good. LOL

On our walk tonight we stopped to a gentleman in his backyard. Very nice guy just became a PC member after leaving Quebec and was laughing about it. It ended up with him giving us a jar of homemade crabapple jelly and a jar of Chow Chow ( tomatoes, onions, peppers and salt)

There are so many nice people on this world.

Thought of the Day

There’s a fine line between a numerator and a denominator.  Only a fraction of people will find this funny

September 18th -20th

A mixed bag of weather with one day windy and warm, next day a nice day and the third cool to cold and windy and rain. It is FALL !

I was very fortunate to be invited to play Heritage Point FREE with a couple of guys from my Turner Valley Golf Club and a gentleman that gave us the opportunity. Ron was a VP of an oil & gas company here in Calgary and bought 90 passes to use up and the course is getting close to shutting down so offered us this opportunity. He suffered a stroke a few years back and is challenged now. He has lost his balance, peripheral vison, and his ability to talk easily. Just a super nice guy. One interesting aspect of his stroke his is ability to state a number. We would say the year is Twenty Twenty Three but he has to say Two Zero Two Three. It is amazing the effects of a stroke have on a person. We had a lot of fun golfing, but it was highest scores I have ever witnessed in a foursome. I do need to add the greens were FAST. Not as sloped as TV but FAST which causes a few missed putts.

I have golfed Heritage a few times but never the Pointe course. Let me say it sucks. It is quirky, dumb design, and a way too many odd holes. End result I would have a wonderful drive straight and run out of fairway as the hole was a dogleg. This happened too many times. If I played it a few times I would use an iron half of the time. Never less beside the score it was a fun outing and free golf is always appreciated. I paid for Ron’s supper in leu of. This surprised me though as Ron had a bacon cheeseburger with fries and gravy which for a man that had a stroke seemed odd. We got lucky as it was a decent warm day but as we started to eat the rain started to pour down.

Wordle in 4 for each of us.

I dropped off the Jeep as I am sure it has a sticky thermostat.

Today was our golf day with the Graces which I always look forward to. I enjoy the company the golf and the after-golf meal we have. Today we were at McKenzie Meadows one of my favorite courses. It was a cooler day with a chance of rain. The course as usual was in great shape. We finished right at 4 hours which is awesome.

The usual mixed bag of golfing showed up. Jeff had just about every drive work out perfect for him. The girls had their normal good and bad shots even though Jackie had a much higher score than she normally does.

Here is my personal take on each golfer for today.

Jeff– drives have become consistently good with decent length. Irons not as crisp or accurate as he used to be, but his nemesis is chipping. He stabs at the chip rather than following thru. He has always been a above average putter. Practice at chipping could bring his score down at least 5 to 10 strokes a game.

Wendy– exceptionally good drives and consistent, better second shots even with hands leaving the club, chipping has gotten considerably better, and putting could use work. I am impressed she is working thru the reverse hand grip and staying with it as practice will get results.

Jackie- good drives and fairly consistent with good distance, second shot good and bad as it appears certain favorite clubs work well others need practice, short game and chipping has dramatically improved and going well, putting hit and miss.

Larry- long fairly consistent drives (one ball in the trees and one in water), great second and third shots, 10 greens in regulation, chipping decent but needs to stop ball closer to the hole, and putting a work in progress and hasn’t seen improvement. 4 -3 putts and stills scored a 84

That is golf, a work in progress and in most cases work needed on different things each time one golfs. GOLF !!!

Another great golf after meal and fun conversations.

We went to the Acadia Rec center to watch Jackson skate in his tryout game. It is mind boggling the difference in skill level in just a couple of years. Jackson had a very good tryout. He scored a goal and had some nice plays and work ethic. Hockey parents make me smile as they are a different group.

Wordle in two for me and three for Jackie

Up this morning and picking up my Jeep at the shop. I HATE REPAIR SHOPS. They are ALL crooks. I figured they would have replaced the sticky thermostat, and I was all set to go and willing to pay them as it is not their fault other than using cheap CHINESE products. Most NAPA, Auto Value, Canadian Tire all use the cheap shit. To give an example on the Dakota, Corey had Canadian Tire change out the ball joints and they lasted 20K. A Moog ball joint could last 150kms.

So, I pick it up and was told they did the diagnostics free for me but could find nothing wrong. Hair goes up on my neck. I would put my mechanical knowledge up against any non-mechanics and I know when there is an issue. I brought it in with an issue and you are saying that nothing is wrong after having my car for a day !!

A slight disagreement conversation happens, and they agree for me to take the mechanic for a ride to appease me. Halfway to Spruce Meadows the temp gauge starts rising and then the hot engine light comes on and the gauge goes to max until I slow down.

Case won!

And they state they took it for a test drive. Amazing !

I drove the mechanic to my house, and he dropped me off to take the Jeep back to the shop. I am looking forward to the invoice. As I said I am willing to pay as product failure is not the shops fault but the circumstances after were not great, so the discount better be steep. All of this and me not having a car for two days could have been avoided if someone would have done their due diligence. The only bad thing is the poor mechanic having to go back to the shop and saying I was right, and he screwed up.

Good day as it is only getting to 9 degrees so pay some bills, make some appointments and do some planning.

Another fun night watching Jackson during his evaluations. I still can’t believe the difference a year makes in a kid’s performance.

Off today to watch August in his flag football game. It was fun and August will do very well once he gets used to a system. It is too early for the kids to know where they are supposed to be position wise. He is very fast but as yet to use that to his advantage. I think he really likes it. He had some great plays and one excellent run. BUT it was freezing out during the game. If this keeps up Mesa asap. We stopped at DQ and brought supper to the field to eat. We didn’t need ice in our drinks that is for sure. It was a good thing we brought our Alaskan jackets and toques to wear as it was just cold!

Ice cream after the game a short visit and on the road again.

My Turner Valley group today. Not the best performance but a lot of fun. It was odd as I felt I played well but a couple of lost balls and score racks up quick. Still a fun day and only costing me a few bucks. I won the front nine until the trouble hole bit me.

Worked all day out at the lot today. A warm summer day. Lots of leaves and picking off dead flowers but the lot is still looking wonderful for the end of the season. I also cleaned up the neighbors lot as I know the leaves will be on mine in a bit if I don’t. I started to take off my wind deflector which is a 15 min job I thought but it turned into a 2 hr gong show with me having to hacksaw off a bolt where the square knuckle of the carriage bolt was stripped. Hard to get at so it took a while to cut thru. I sanded where there was rust and painted the whole thing, but the rust area won’t come smooth. I drove to Strathmore as a test for noise and supper, but it is too noisy not to put it back on.

Lots of walks with Daisy around the park.

I reinstalled my wind deflector and it looks OK. I see it but others may not notice.

Jackie arrives and we get all set up. I cooked chicken breasts and roast spuds with carrots for supper which were awesome. We read and relaxed.

We had a nice visit around the fire with two of our neighbors on our row. It turns out the neighbor lady is also a member of the TV golf course. Small world. I didn’t recognize her though. It was very nice for so late in the year to have such a warm evening, nice to have the fire going and enjoyable conversation with nice people.

We cleaned up and organized after breakfast and then headed home.

A tougher Wordle with Jackie in 4 and I in 5.

Before our evening walk, we stopped into our condo dog park. It is always funny as we have a lot of pets in our building which is nice. Tonight, as in most nights there were 7 dogs and 7 ladies from 40 yrs to 80 yrs old and then me. Widowed, and divorced with one younger single lady. All with smaller nice dogs. It is always quite a “hen” party.

Thought of the Day

Threw out my back sleeping, and tweaked my neck sneezing so I’m probably just one strong fart away from complete paralysis.

Sept 25/26th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 22 degrees, Calgary 22 degrees ”

A nice day, but felt cool and it was windy.

Today we were golfing Jeff & Wendy at Rivers Edge. I haven’t golfed there for years yet years ago Jeff & I played there weekly and the girls belonged to the ladies league. Just one of those things I guess. I like the course, it plays long and has some very challenging holes. With it being windy and cooler it added to the challenge.

It was one of those days for Wendy and Jeff as both struggled more than usual. Some great hits but between mistakes, wind, and errors the score added up. Jackie had a good day and broke 50 on the first nine but had a few issues later on to finish at 104 which is still a good score for her. I played very well today resulting in 8 pars and 3 birdies but still finishing with a 84 due to lost balls. Darn but I do like this course with its different top versus bottom golfing. I also love the island green. It was another fun adventure golfing with Jeff & Wendy and today Daisy enjoyed our round first hand.

We had the annual fire inspection so she was a little worked up by the alarm’s going off every few minutes. She was excellent in the cart all day long.

We decided to take her home and meet at the Berwick in Cranston for supper. When Jeff went to start the car his battery was dead. Luckily enough juice to get it running and they changed out cars before arriving at the Berwick. I have to say I was not impressed with the Berwick. The menu is very limited and the pizza oven was broke. Wendy wasn’t happy with her meal, Jackie’s meal was ugly looking and she didn’t care for it. Mine was excellent as the saying goes ” You don’t order chicken at a burger spot” I ordered the standard bar food item and it was great. I do the know the beer was fast and cold so all is good.

Another finish to a wonderful day with friend’s eating out and golfing. Life is good.

Jackie wins Wordle 4 to 6 tonight.

Thought of the Day

Do you ever wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and think… “That can’t be accurate?”

September 26th/27th

I broke down today and bought a new laptop. Like batteries they have the lifespan which according to what I have read is about 5 years. I bought my company laptop when I retired close to 10 years ago and used it for a while and then bought a new one in Mesa from Best Buy. It had a hard drive issue a few years later which I replaced and it had a power cord connector broken but worked for me for years. It now has something wrong with a driver but I ma not tech savvy enough to fix it. It is $100 for a diagnostic and I paid $175 for a new one using my Costco credit. Spent all day transferring data and files. It is getting quite annoying the money grab for everything. Office wants a subscription, and cloud says storage is full and wants a upgrade. It is not right !

No line up today at Costco so I topped it up as it was at 1.29 which is pretty good plus another 3 % cash back.

I transferred my personal files on to a portable hard drive to bring to my new laptop. Due to storage issues the sync causes a red x on the files. I still can manipulate them but it is a pain. Google Docs really sucks compared to Office.

To figure out where everything is now on Windows 11 is weird. Change is good, change is constant, but change takes some getting used to .

I drove downtown area today well 17th ave which is our hippie, yuppie village area where we have drug shops, vape shops, bars and restaurants everywhere to pick up a object for my nieces husband in Edmonton. Wow I drove downtown for years dropping Jackie off and has it ever changed. Pretty neat to see but so different.

Driving downtown again put emphasis again on the need for more strict driving testing. You have old farts driving with their mouth wide open and taken 5 minutes to make decision to move, you have young girls not having a clue what lane they are in and young guys dodging in and out risking an accident. There are so many incompetent drivers it is amazing we don’t pay double for our insurance. I still say EVERY 5 years a road test paid for by the person that wants to drive.

Out at Turner Valley again today. I still have my love hate with this course as it could be described as quirky. Here are the odd holes #1 a good straight hit and you could end up ion the pond, ##2 left bend and can’t use a driver, #3 a straight hit and you could end up in the bush, #4 a straight hit and into the willows, #8 too short so can’t hit driver or you are in the pond. I don’t consider it great due to it’s design. The back nine is similar with Hole 12 not good, #14 driver into the water, #15 driver into the water.

it is course designed for short hitters or players that want to hit a iron off the tee which to me is not good golf design.

I took the approach today to just hit hard and hope and try to aim. My Pro V1 ball I started with was put back into my back at the end of the game. I played very well today being the low gross and net player plus winning money on the corners game. A very good day weather wide and golf wise. Only one double, no lost balls and fewer missed putts but again at least 5 short three to four feet away missed putts. So I am very pleased with the game and had a lot of fun. One hole one which is always a risk of water on the right I drove the ball to 50 yards off the green in the middle of the narrow landing spot. One hole number 15 i laid off the driver and ended up 260 yards straight right on the red line before falling into the pond. If only a few more putts would have dropped but I was happy as the season is getting to the point of only a few game left. Funny as I entered this low score and my handicap actually went up as a real low score round fell off. Darn.

The Turner Valley course of a few years to today is totally different as Les Ferber has redesigned a lot of the holes. The latest is our signature hole number 10 which is 165 yard real high elevated tee box Par 3. It is was nice before but now it is wonderful.

Jackie killed me in Wordle today. JW in 3 myself in 6. Just bad luck getting the letters.

I have to say it is difficult getting used to another new machine. Trying to find things and how to do them is a pain. I have at least three weeks in Canada in December I may look at a Windows 11 course to take.

Thought of the Day

If I am ever on life support, unplug me and plug me back in and see if that works.

September 28th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 17 degrees Calgary 16 degrees ”

Looking ahead it is getting to be real fall temperatures as the highs are only about 14 to 15 degrees with rain a lot of the days. Time to start thinking about packing up.

I paid a lot of bills this morning as everything seems to be coming due. I had the property tax bill for Mesa and the home insurance. I hate the exchange but it is a fact that is not going away. I also paid the power bill for Mesa. $$$$$$ I like the Calgary tax system of paying monthly but it is too difficult to have an account in the USA and manage it with the min required etc. Another quirk I hate is the bank changing the grace period to 21 days from 30 days on the visa bills. They know it is much harder to manage and want to rack up interest amounts.

I worked all day out at the lot. It turned out to be a way warmer than the forecast. Surprised with that.

I started the fall cleanup which is sort of annoying and sad as the summer this year just flew by, a way to fast.

It takes a few days to complete so I do a bit each day. I took down my silhouette figures and stored them in the shed, I removed my lanterns and lasso rope sign and put them away. I took my solar lights and turned them off and put them away. I removed the screen curtains and washed them and wiped with the sweep broom. I will see when they dry how that worked out. I started up the air compressor and blew out all of my irrigation lines and sprinklers. Hoses got all wrapped up and put away including putting all of my quick connects in my irrigation box. I put this in the Jeep to blow out Jessica’s lines coming up soon. I researched and trimmed each plant that I was supposed to and cut the lawn for the last time. I over seeded the grass in the dead areas as this year with sporadic water supply it isn’t as perfect as I like. I pulled the batteries out of my flower timer and the lanterns.

It is shame it is getting cold at nights as the flowers look wonderful and soon the frost is going to get them or the dryness as we won’t be out as often and no irrigation on.

I then started inside the motorhome. I will say I have one more trip but I emptied all of the food from the cupboards. This filled one large Home Depot container. I squeezed the remaining stuff from the freezer. Next time the pantry and fridge.

I placed all of my mouse traps in strategic spots. Mice like to follow a wall so I have traps set up on the permitter of each room including in the shed. I filled each one of my home made farmer mouse poison traps around the outside of the motorhome. The only thing bad about these is, if a cat or owl catch a mouse before it dies the poison could harm the predator. I think I am safe. For about 40 years it has worked for me as we have yet to have a infestation. I hate mice.

I then re installed my wind deflector. I need a Home Depot stop for a couple more bolts after having to cut off the one.

Jackie Wordle in 2 myself in 5. Darn she has some luck or what. That first word picked means everything.

Jackie and I were invited to visit old friend’s that were camping in Cochrane. This is a nice campground right beside the river, comes with full hook ups, grass area , firepit and table with decent spacing. $50 a night but with wifi included.

We have known Joe and Dianne since 1991 when Jackie and her worked together at the Vice Presidents office. We had some fun times together camping and house get togethers. They were never campers and loved it so now they are. Years ago in the late 90’s we were out at Kananaskis with them which is one of those trips that just makes you smile with the two of them trying to set up camp. Joe is an amazing cook and the get togethers were always a lot of fun. Here is where that saying you don’t know what tomorrow brings rings true.

On Christmas Day while cooking dinner Joe has a heart attack and has to go the hospital. He had his heart surgery and was starting recovery when his body starts to shutdown with sepsis somehow in the spine. They are unsure of the cause as it can be as simple as a prick to the finger with a rusty nail, to a infected tool during the surgery. He was very close to death. The first time seeing anyone after a few years can be surprising but after a serious incident even much more so. He has been through a lot but also has recovered a lot. From not being able to walk and talk to now with a cane and having very little cognitive effect. Dianne is looking great with very little change. Very nice people and it is wonderful Joe is on the road to coming back. The weight difference alone will make a huge difference. It was a nice visit with old freinds.

Today just putting away the the stuff I brought back and watching the rain. I also was able to catch a couple of hours of the Ryder Cup.

Here is my take. First I do not think they should have invited Justin Thomas as he was playing very poorly. Having said being paired with Spieth he by far was the better golfer but they still lost. Cantlay was amazing and I was very happy that Rory lost his match . I loved the “hat” controversary. Some amazing golfing.

Here is my point again. One the biggest golf events and NO TREES. It makes a huge difference in the golf. I can score a 78 on McKenzie and a 98 on Turner all due to trees. We need to get rid of the stroke and distance penalty and just have a one stroke penalty as in the case of a lateral drop. At McKenzie I have a swing speed of 104 mph and at TV about 80 mph as I try to control it.

Some great golf to watch. Too bad about the timing having it in Europe but always a must see. I wish the Koepka could have won. It was a lot of fun to watch with and even spilling over to the parking with baby Rory getting mad. I put Rory in the same category as Connor McDavid as whining spoiled little brats that both happen to excel at their games.

On on walk last night the moon looked awesome.

Thought of the Day

“When I lost the fingers on my right hand in a freak accident, I asked the doctor if I would still be able to write with it.  He said, “Probably, but I wouldn’t count on it.”