December 1st

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 4 degrees, Calgary 3 degrees, Mesa 22 degrees”

Early up and got tee times for next Monday at a great time.

Both Jackie & I were golfing this morning. Jackie rushed her walk with Daisy and I got ready. With everyone that has left, is going home or circumstances happened caused us to only have 4 golfers today.

We had Bob Spenser from Saskatoon, Ron Sydia from Lloydminster and Sandy Sutherland from Lethbridge. I have golfed many Wednesday games with my dissolved group over the years with Sandy. We had a lot of fun playing the game and fixing the worlds problems on the way to the course.

Nice day, fast pace, not so good of golf. The greens are finally getting quicker. For myself I lost two balls off the drive and just screwed up to overall. Ron played decent. BUT and here is the big BUT. There are 5 Par 3 holes. With four of us that is 20 tee shots to hit the green. NOT ONE BALL out of the 20 SHOTS LANDED ON THE GREEN. that is $25 on the line not accounted for. Unbelievable ! and does not look good on us.

It was a fun day golfing.

Tonight, our neighbor kindly offered to buy us supper. His leaving for Whiterock BC on Wednesday. This is for the small amount of help we have given. Very generous nice man. I love talking to Ian. Very clever guy and interesting. His first car was a 1931 Ford.

We went to a restaurant that we hadn’t been to before called BJ’s and it was great. I had the tri-tip steak and mashed potatoes and they were done perfectly. Jackie had a baked Salmon.

Thought of the Day

Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.

December 2nd

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

First time since arriving I had to turn the mini split to heat. Up at 8 am and the temperature was only 62 degrees. That is a little cool to take a shower. Jackie went for her walk and dressed a little warmer. Nice and sunny and decent in the sun but cool in the shade.

I worked on handicaps for my golf group but haven’t finished them as of it,

Dwayne our neighbor came over to ask for my help in moving his electric reclining couch. This is heavy than any sofa bed.

A gentleman shows up with a absolutely beautiful Denali truck. 6 inch lift and 37 inch tires. Gorgeous looking but high, very high to lift a heavy couch up on. I look out and this guy is 5ft 5 and small and thought oh no! I was impressed ! He was built like Corey and was strong. Very strong. Between him and I we handled it well. I will see what my back feels like tomorrow. Take a sofa couch and add 100 pounds.

We used to have a ton of quail in the park. I think the number of feral cats here now has killed off the birds. But today Jackie discovered a whole family of them up in the north end of the park

Then off to visit and drop off a gift from Maisey to Heidi both of Penny’s sisters. Heidi lives here just a few minutes away.

You know there are family traits that are strong among family members. There is no way anyone could mistake Heidi. She is definitely Margy’s daughter and a member of the Hicken family. The voice, gestures and mannerisms scream Hicken. I will say this, Heidi is a talker. We had a very interesting, entertaining and enjoyable time visiting with her all afternoon.

Her son Skousen came home and we talked to him and his friends. Man does time fly. He is so tall now and much older and mature than the last visit. Heidi’s kids are the friendliest and nicest kids you could ever meet. All three of them.

When we were leaving I got to bug the young boys about their cars. I first asked what happened to the fancy BMW that it lost it’s muffler. ( he had a loud exhaust system on it) Then I was bugging him about speed. The Flex does the 1/4 mile in 14.7 seconds and the BMW does it 14.1 seconds. A very close race and with a good reaction time the Flex could win. We had a good laugh about it. People relate the BMW to being a quick car and a luxury car. However, no one thinks of the Flex as the sleeper it is. Almost hearse like.

We had a blast talking to Heidi and Skousen. Just one more thought. I was very impressed with Heidi’s thinking and beliefs which surprisingly aligns a lot with mine.

She loved her gift from Maisey. Fun day in paradise.

Thought of the Day

Isn’t interesting how old and senile people meet new friends everyday that they have known for years.

November 3rd

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

Unbelievable ! I had to turn on the heat pump this morning as the temperature was down to 64 degrees . Coming out of the shower gets a little chilly at that temperature.

Jackie had an extra long walk this morning. As a result, Daisy had a special time at the park.

It was supposed to and it did hit 22 degrees but it was colder than normal all day. Fast forward a few hours and the last few holes of golf my Raynaud’s acted up.

Today was Jackie & I’s golf day with Daisy. She likes to get a round in. It started off cool got decent and then cold the last few holes. For Daisy she loved the cooler temperatures. One forgets it is Mesa’s winter. Full sun, slight cooler breeze with warmth from the sun and cold from the breeze.

We were paired up today with a nice gentleman from Mesa. He was a single today. Brand new set of clubs on his cart. He turned out to be a very nice guy and we had a good time golfing with him.

He did have one awesome drive. Great shot hit the cart path and ended up only 10 ft off the green which was 357 yards away.

Now to the golf. I golfed very poorly today. Not one good drive, horrible irons shots and missed putts. My muscles were extremely tight and sore from lifting that heavy couch. The accumulation of cold, sore muscles all added up. Usually I can mentally overcome that obstacle but not today. Sometimes I use Tylenol. Now Jackie played awesome. In fact we were tied after the first nine holes. She made too many errors on the back but still ended up with a 97 which is very good. I ended up with a 87 and played extremely poor so happy and not. A fun date day golfing with Jackie. Do you know 20% of the golfers in the world NEVER break 100. It is a major milestone for any golfer’s journey and something to be proud of.

22 above but with the cool wind this happened.

This picture with Jackie was too pretty to miss. The mountains are in the background. The Palm tree, the Cactus and the Bougainvillea complete the scene.

I had to laugh at Silas. Many kids do not like Santa until they get a little older and realize this guys brings them presents. Look how far away he wants to stay.

Cute picture.

Relax tonight in the house with the heat on.

Thought of the Day

Golf is a puzzle without an answer. I’ve played the game for years and I still haven’t the slightest idea how to play

December 4th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 3 degrees, Calgary 6 degrees, Mesa 19 degrees”

Another cool start to the day. Jackie was out the door at her little after 8 am. She stayed a longer than normal time this morning. She got home and headed out for her ladies golf today. The nine hole course and for anyone that has played it knows how hard it is.

Today’s project was my wainscoting project. I whipped to Home Depot to pick up my needed items.

First I have to say . NO LEGIT CONTRACTOR would ever buy from Home Depot. They really are a DIY store with a collection of stuff but not really a true lumberyard.

I picked up some MDF stock and had to wait for at least 1/2 hour for someone to cut it. 16 ft doesn’t fit in my Flex. I actually phoned from the cut saw and asked them to page a cutter to the saw. More waiting. I then found a employee and again asked for a page. Another gentleman came to the cut saw. After a little talk, he marched up to the front counter. He walked back with a young kid to work the saw. Good on him.

Here is where I have an issue. I have sold moldings wholesale since 1975. I still remember product number for items like 3202, 3206 for 1/4 round or 3260 for cove. Many many more. Why have a molding department and cherry pick the selection to the degree they don’t carry much of anything. I had a plan and wanted 5 different profiles. TWO OF THEM they didn’t carry. I didn’t want to change my plans so I headed to another Depot which showed inventory of one of them. Out of stock. So off to another Depot and finally got one of the items I needed. Not one store carries 1 x 2 MDF stock. Unbelievable! It has many many uses, like jamb liner, etc. The other item was base shoe 8509. Very common I thought. LOL I wanted to use this. I planned to do this instead of taking off the bottom baseboard. I didn’t want to replace it with 1 x 4 and then replace the base over the 1 x 4. It is a nifty trick. MDF stock is thicker than traditional base and looks dumb if you 45 degree it.

Then I started. I got it done about 4:30 pm. Takes time. I had to use 1 x 3 instead of the 1 x 2 I wanted. I also had to use a small crown instead of the cornice molding I preferred. Not a real lumberyard. I could have ripped the 1 x 3 it but installed a crown mold under the cap. Cheated on the crown degree wise. Completed the caulking and putty filling so a quick sand ,paint and done.

For any carpenter doing library panel, ceiling beams, or coffered ceiling, the job requires precise measurements. Each project involves a lot of math to get it right. I found a fantastic free wainscoting calculator. You enter the wall width, the stile width, and how many panels you need. It does the calculation. It figures it out to the 1/6th of an inch. Easiest and most precise paneling I have every done. Old dog new trick ! LOL Loved it.

I will post pictures after Jackie does her wonders of paint on it. But I love it as it is right now. Huge difference.

I have figured out Wordle in TWO attempts, two days in a row. That is amazing and unbelievable ! And lucky.

I know I have to pill up tomorrow for my game.

Thought of the Day

Every trade has it tricks, and trick has it’s trade offs.

December 6th-7th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -15 degrees, Calgary -14 degrees, Mesa 20 degrees”

The mornings are cooler than we like. The desert causes quite low temperatures but it raise very fast. It is fresh and requires a light jacket.

By the 3rd hole you are down to your shirt only as the sun heats up.

I had a horrible game with everything going wrong last game. Thinking too much and very stiff muscles and back from moving a couch. Today it started off wonderful as I had time to go the range to built confidence and loosen up. I still made too many mistakes. However, I ended up out of the 7 guys golfing today with the low gross and low net scores. When the greens come back to great shape, they will help with the putting. However, they will also start to get very fast. I will take a low 80’s score. I want to be able to golf in the 70’s way more often though. I have noticed a reduction in distance though on clubs in particular the long irons. I am hoping it is more altitude related than losing distance.

A very fun day golfing again with great guys. One of my golfing buddies is amazing. He is 83 yrs old still shoots high 80’s low 90’s and is a a tough guy. He has a 5 inch cut in his arm from only a few days ago. They removed a cyst, and in fact it still looks like it is bleeding and he golfed very well.

We had our after gathering at Ron S. I always put the host on the first tee time. Ron rushed home. By the time my foursome showed up, he had hot dogs all cooked and his condiments all out. His wife Sheila makes home made relish which was awesome. His Franks are a little spicy which tasted great. Nice spread and it spoils us a bit. Add to that Deviled eggs and wow !

Daisy received her new “bra” in pink so no one confuses her gender.

After supper we headed to Dave & Sandy’s place. We played a few games tonight. They know a few games that Jackie and I are not familiar with. First one was Sweep. I like this game. It is relatively easy to play and fun. We had a few games of this.

Then we moved on to a game that we have heard of many times but never played. This game is simple in play but being taught it at first it seemed quite convoluted. I thought it had to be created in Saskatchewan. We have experienced some games played there that are unique yet fun. But is a old game from the 1800’s . Euchre and Whisk supposedly are similar. I like the game a lot. Someone decided that the Jacks are the power cards. They must have pulled that idea out of the air. The Trump Jack and the color matching Jack from the other suite are the first power and second power cards. Takes a bit to get that right. Fun game and glad we were taught it as many people do play it. I think all of the games overall ended up in a tie.

Dave is a Scotch drinker. The one he had last night smelled like old peat moss. Reminded me of my experience with Gava in Fiji. Similar smell and most likely taste. There are a few drinks where it is an acquired taste. Scotch, IPA beer, Tequila, and Cognac to name a few.

I will stay with my light beer.

Fun night .

We actually slept in this morning. Jackie got up first which is usual . She headed out with Daisy to meet her friends for their walk. They then headed to the craft sale.

I had to turn the heat on as the temp was 62 degrees in the house.

A feral cat walked on the deck which really excited Daisy.

Then I get a call from Jackie that she needs some money for some Christmas gifts at the fair. I whip up to the hall with some money and she purchased two wonderful gifts.

Noon today off to the baseball field for a game and charity fundraiser plus a wonderful inexpensive burger.

$6 for a burger is pretty darn good and for a good charity cause today. Pat who walks with Jackie and Sandy and the dogs was playing today. His team won 16 to 2. I have to say some of these old farts running and hitting do extremely well. Pat is a Turner Valley Golf member.

Another couple of friends showed up and we sat at a picnic table to have lunch. In our discussion a interesting thing came up. They are from Wisconsin and the state government eliminated the teachers union in the state. She was a school principle. That must have been a tremulous time. Very nice people, extremely musically talented, and kind gentle humans. Their new dog is wonderful.

Checked the weather in Calgary. A minus 16 as a high. Sooooo glad to be here.

We had a nice relaxing day. The day was only interrupted with Jackie shopping at the craft market. We also had a ball game and lunch, a Safeway trip, and a lay down in the sun on the back deck. Life is good !

Only one person at the pool tonight. Odd that the lights in the pool were off. I would think it would be a safety issue and am a little surprised at it. The hot tub felt good on the muscles but not enough to have them completely relaxed. It could be a few degrees hotter, I kept mine at 105 degrees. The muscles like that.

We watched a movie with Dianne Keaton tonight that was light, interesting but not real good but still entertaining.

Jackie made muffins and cookies today using up some of things that could expire.

I worked in the shed and then washed, waxed, polished and put Armourall on all of the black. The lipstick looks pretty good on the old pig.

BBQ’d porkchops, roasted potatoes, and salad tonight which is our go to meal.

Had a Facetime with Fred & Terry. They are turning dark brown in the sun. It appears they are enjoying themselves. Surprising to me as Fred likes to keep busy. Change is good though. It most likely is easier on his body. He is a hard working guy when here or at home. Having said that I could not handle that style of retirement. I prefer golfing, doing projects, helping others and am no longer a sit on the beach and read book guy.

Thought of the Day

Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.

December 8th-9th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -4 degrees, Calgary 6 degrees, Mesa 23 degrees”

Take a look at this two screen shots . WHO ? Who in their right mind would want to stay in Calgary. I say this and the coldest day of December we land and we are there for 30 days.

As usual in the desert the mornings start off cool and warm fast.

Jackie was golfing at 9:30 and myself at 10 am. It took about 2 holes and I had to take my jacket off.

We had 5 golfers today from our regular group and a guest from Lethbridge who is the son-in-law of Sandy’s. Glen is the golf pro and manager of the Magrath golf course near Lethbridge. Great golfer as he should be being a pro.

We played three and three today. My threesome was myself, Sandy and Glen. I golfed sweet the first 7 holes. After seven holes I was one below par. Then an 8 happened, a few holes to recover and then a few mistakes but still a nice day golfing. I finished second lowest in the Net score and third lowest gross. Not unhappy but that 8 threw me and wrecked what could have been a great game. I did win $12 on the KP contest.

The exact reason a closest to the pin contest is called KP is a mystery. There is no definitive moment in history that established this abbreviation. It simply emerged within the golfing community over time.

Golfing with a pro is fun as you get to watch and learn and check out their techniques. He is a pretty big hitter but I was pleased keeping up to him with his 30 yr age advantage. He scored a 76 with a little bad luck.

Ron P generously offered to host us on Fat Willy’s patio. JUGS yes, I said jugs. We ordered jugs of beer. Chicken wings and onion rings that all were delicious.

Nothing better than sitting in the sun, drinking cold beer, wings and rings, winning money with friends on a patio. You have to love Arizona.

My last early morning get up until mid January which I am looking forward to. Getting up that early just makes me feel tired all day.

After the news Jackie, Daisy and I drove around the park looking at street lights and themes. Without prejudice I put us in third spot. Having said that with the amount of people missing this year there are some weak streets.

Another great day done !

Jackie has been awesome getting presents delivered Audrey’s to help with the rush to get things done. We have to decorate our condo when we get home. Buy a pile of groceries not only to live but for our meal gatherings. We have a few things on our agenda that I know of. A trip up to Edmonton to visit with Mom for Christmas, a family gathering the week before Christmas, a family supper outing for Atti’s birthday as promised, a Christmas get together at Spruce Meadows, get in a Jackson hockey game or two, a turkey meal for Christmas Day, some doctors appointments for Jackie & I, see if the Graces are well enough to go out, go to AMA to register our vehicles, get Daisy another hairdo, gift shopping and a plethora of other related things to get done.

Thought of the Day

Christmas rush: the annual reminder that procrastination is a team sport

December 9th-10th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -14 degrees, Calgary 4 degrees, Mesa 24 degrees”

Beautiful day today.

Daisy out for her walk this morning and had a lot longer adventurer than normal. I like to change up my breakfast so today was fried eggs. It is just a great breakfast.

Heading to the bank to get more US cash. We need it for our ride to the airport on Friday.

Then a quick stop at Safeway for some treats for tonight.

I reorganized once again my sheds trying to find spots and convenience for getting at things. It gets better each time.

Marge and Joel came over for a visit and game night. They are two wonderful people from Wisconsin that Jackie met from walking Daisy. They have a brand new puppy named Winnie. Cute dog.

Daisy and Winnie loved playing together. They never stopped for at least 3 hours. In fact, they both were enamored with each other. LOL

Notice how spoiled these dogs are as Jackie provides a a nice blanket for them to lay on.

Jackie won the 5 crown games. Marge was so far ahead I thought no one could win other than her but Jackie pulled it off.

There was some interesting conversation and lots of laughs.

Fun night.

Do you think Daisy is tired after they left ?

One more pic from our golf cart of our street .

Another day in the books. Only 2 days are left before we return to winter wonderland, filled with cold and snow. Yahoo ! NOT !

The Edmonton Oiler’s tie the game with ONE second left but lose it in OT. Has anyone noticed the Oilers only have ONE more win than the Flames.

It is funny watching your friends age around you. Today is Mr. (a term I use loosely) Keith Harry’s birthday. Knocking on the door of 70 just seems unreal. What I can say about this guy is we have had some amazing fun times over the years. I won’t list them today. I will wait until he hits that 70 number. I am confident not too many people have had as much fun as we have had though. Happy Birthday !

Thought of the Day

You’re not old… you’re just well-seasoned, like a cast iron skillet nobody dares throw away

December 10th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -13 degrees, Calgary 5 degrees, Mesa 24 degrees”

Most people would say I am an optimistic, upbeat person. I always have been and try hard to continue to be. I have always found it hard having to deal with people that are negative all of the time. It is tiring and draining for anyone. The funny thing is people choose this as their way and get stuck in it. And it is such a easy fix. Wait for it !

Turn off your social media. Do not watch the news. Do something you enjoy, like reading a book or going golfing. Your mind will immediately relax as negativity breeds negativity and a cycle will result. Break it and you are on your way. Try it tomorrow.

Personally speaking, I find it difficult to handle certain types of people. These include a negative person, a person that swears, a person that angers easily, whiners, and drunks.

The negative person drags everyone down, the person that swears lacks intelligence and the use of the English language and has to resort to swear words for impact, a person that angers easily is weak minded and has never learned to control their emotions and most likely struggles with a lot of issues besides the anger, whiners just want attention and pity and were neglected as a child and lastly drunks once again are people with no control over their drinking and most likely a lot of other things.

So as I said , your choice, your decision, no one can make you happy or angry as you choose it so why not take the easier road and enjoy life.

A thought just popped into my head. I just remembered I am whistling less than I used to. I need to correct this. When I am happy or pleased, I tend to whistle softly under my breath. I also whistle in loud spurts when I am relaxed or enjoying myself.

“Memories”

Dad and I would go fishing to North Buck Lake and spend all day on the lake. Root beer, peanut butter and lettuce sandwiches, throw in the odd fish caught and a battle of whistling all day. Great memories !

Last golf day of 2025 for me and the second last for Jackie. Daisy will come with us today. Just over 100 games in 2025. That is good. If I take $75 per round, that is $7500 spent in a year on the best mental exercise you can get. Adding, subtracting, measuring, calculating, judging, hand eye coordination, and just having fun. Even a bad day at golf is a good day.

Talking with Marge and Joel and saying we lost our billiard playing friends so may look at other activities, pickleball came up. I had thought shuffle board but that is only for real old people. I wanted to stay away from tennis as I do not want to injury myself for golf. Now pickleball is designed for older people with less movement and a slow moving ball so it may be an option. i joked it may not be a mans sport with a kitchen involved rather than a garage but it would be fun to try. So I think come the new year we will give it a go.

A gorgeous day hitting 24 degrees, no wind and not a cloud in the sky.

We checked in and lucky for us we were only booked as a twosome. Sometimes that is nice.

We finished right at 4 hours which is great. 4 hours but we had to wait on every hole as we were a twosome.

Jackie had a little off day today. The drives were great but second and third shots suffered today. Not her best showing but that is golf and you have to love it for what it is. Today was a non-competitive game. I chose not to take my back pills. After a few holes, I loosened up nicely. But playing with the guys I still need them for a bit. I had one slice today so that is good.

Anytime you have game with a score less than 80 I am happy. Pars and birdies make it a fun game. The doubles gone it would have been super.

Daisy had a nice day watching us and silently critiquing us.

Daisy watching us. Two white swans in the pond along with huge Koi fish.

Sad to think it was the last game of 2025 but that is the way it goes. Over 100 games this year. Loads of fun.

Form is pretty good. Arm extension straighter may help and the sway back reduces the distance and contact. She hits a good drive though. She breaks 100 on the Championship Course every once in a while.

A quick supper and off to the neighbors for a get together before we leave. Tonight is the Christmas parade also.

People do such a good job of decorating their carts. Big parade this year. Loads of carts, candies being thrown and horns honking with people singing. Fun !

Then off to Dwight and Ginny’s place.

There are a few stupid people going home for Christmas so they thought a quick gathering would be great. It was awesome, with loads of food, nice and warm in their Arizona room and interesting conversation.

Dwight and Joe are big Bourbon drinkers. It is funny how different countries have a special alcoholic drink that is unique to them. In Canada we like Whiskey. In England and Scotland they like Scotch. The USA likes Bourbon. A couple of things on Bourbon. First it is made from corn. So very close to Moonshine. The USA like to feed corn to cows. In Canada, we like to feed our corn to humans. Corn is a mainstay dish at large gathering meals. In cows it adds a fat marbling compared to our lean wheat feed cow meat. Hence why our beef is considered one of the best in the world.

But the Bourbon last night was smooth and very good.

To get old people to stay up to until almost 11 pm is a feat. So you know people were enjoying themselves. Quite a mixed crowd. There was a couple from New York, and another from Minnesota. We also had a couple from Wyoming and a lady from Washington. A couple joined us from Saskatchewan and Northern Arizona along with us.

It was a complete fun day once again in our paradise. It hurts to say in one day we have to fly home. LOL

Jackie’s friend Marge is going home and has it worse than us. She is expecting a 100 degree swing in temperature. We are 80 F degrees here in AZ and in Wisconsin it is -21F in the evening due to a Alberta clipper. LOL That is a big change. But they are only going home for two weeks.

I have said it before. People that become snowbirds live longer. There is the socialization aspect. The extra movement and exercise are important. VIT D absorption also has to be accounted for. The only negative is the alcohol consumption but that is your decision as to how much and when.

I do have about 6 months of budgeting to catch up on. Not to see how much to spend but to see how much we spent. LOL 2025 will be a record year but not in a good way.

Thought of the Day

The busiest people are often those who have too many things to do and not enough time to do them

Dec 11th- 12th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -21 degrees, Calgary -17 degrees, Mesa 25 degrees”

As I said awhile ago we are landing on the coldest day of the year. We don’t have the 100 swing in temperature but we will have a close to 50 degrees swing. That is just wrong. WRONG ! Oh well. I don’t think my Alaska jacket will be enough but the cab will be warmed up.

Today was Jackie with her ladies golfing and a after party to say the good byes for awhile. I smiled when I cam home from Harbor Freight as she took the golf cart. I was afraid of her driving skills coming home after the party.

Our neighbor lady took out the yellow steel pylons and destroyed the side of her Denali just a few days ago. She said she wasn’t drinking.

I whipped to Harbor for a glue gun to attach my LED strip lighting. Daisy came with me and had a fun outing. I wish they would come to Canada. Very similar to Princess Auto but ten times better items and half the price.

She made it home safe and sound.

They say things are bigger in Texas. Pretty big here in Arizona on the 9th hole course.

Big things and muscle men galore in Mesa.

I will print our boarding passes tonight. Pretty easy packing up as it is only for a few weeks. We are bringing nothing back other than the dog, some pills, laptop and a few clothes.

Thought of the Day

I came, I relaxed, I conquered… now I’m being evicted by reality.

Dec 12th

Homeward bound !!

TO THIS :

Our “UBER” driver arrived right on time. We had an excellent drive to the airport. Steve lives in the park and drives to the airport as a side hustle.

First thing on the agenda was Daisy. We walked to the end of the airport and Jackie took Daisy into the dog park. Great for Daisy and excellent for us she did her business.

Got in the short line for check in as with a dog you have to see a gate agent. Boarding passes all done and we head to security.

It is nice now not having to remove your shoes, watches or belts. So much easier. Even fluids do not have to be removed. We arrived. I go through the x-ray machine line. Jackie goes to another entry because she has the dog.

Then chaos happens.

The conveyor belt for the luggage x-ray is stopped. No one is getting their belongings. I hate this because my wallet is in my backpack. My laptop and phone are in a separate containers and I can’t see them.

They are searching thru two bags at the end of the line. A gentleman is frisked, and sat down as he had a knee brace on and set off the alarms. I am waiting with about 6 others for our stuff. An Asian lady butts in line. She is in a hurry and irritates the guards before and after the x-ray. Jackie sets off the alarm. She has to be frisked. They have no guard or private room available. She agrees to be padded down in line. It was funny watching her face as everyone was confused. The guards ask me to take Daisy as they deal with Jackie. Another guard pushes thru and demands to know which bags are “hers”. They grab her purse and take it to a table to be tested. I had to watch that, our passports in another container and look for more containers coming down the line.

Somewhere Jackie got residue on her hands that tested positive. Her “lady” guard was nice while everyone was scrambling around in a little bit of “panic” mode.

Mass confusion and chaos.

The baggage x-ray line finally started up again. I tried to accumulate all of our stuff on a end bench. This meant keeping one eye on the stuff I already had. I also had to watch more stuff coming and hold on to the dog.

We finally got everything all cleared up and started walking down the long hallway to our section of terminal. We got quite a ways and I realize i am missing my coat. I run back to security and at it is a large sign DO NOT ENTER. Luckily, an agent was leaving for a break. I asked them how I can get in to recover my coat. She gave me permission and I looked around.
With the chaos it was moved by an agent into another bin. It was still on the conveyor belt in a tray. Nice.

We walk to our gate and let Daisy lay on my coat and watch all of the people. Then I notice we are right across from the airport private lounges. We needed supper so we thought let’s go in. They have two lounges, one the standard and the other premium depending on your airline status and perk. Our entrance allowed to the standard one. Now I have been in a lot of private airport lounges and some are spectacular. Even Calgary has a good one.

Our decor is great, the view excellent and the ambiance very nice. A very large bar. BUT and it is a big but, the smallest and worst buffet EVER. I think it was 8 ft long and maybe with 8 different entrees. And not good entree’s. I had some veggies and dip with a couple of sliders. Worst buffet ever. If you wanted free drinks awesome and have some peanuts or chips great but not a supper buffet.

Bio-metric entrance into the plane. Media blows this up.

Westjet has a few selection of seats. Regular, premium, premium aisle and business class. We chose the premium and they were fantastic. Loads of extra room for my legs and Daisy’s bed. The plane wasn’t completely full so we had no one sitting with us.

Since supper at the buffet was a weak I ordered from the airline waitress. Funny thing happened as she couldn’t get her machine to work so i was only charged for one item. A early Christmas present. I didn’t want to get too close to her. I am sure she was sick because her voice was totaled. And that guy that sneezes loud or is coughing drives me nuts. And scares me. I cant breath for a few minutes not to suck in their germs. Cover your nose or mouth and take something before boarding.

We arrive and first thing was to take Daisy out for a pee. Right away and back in again. Funny, we go to get our taxi and no line up outside. They made a queue line inside for taxi’s right in front of a huge UBER sign. They shouldn’t allow UBER to pick up at the airport. These guys pay NOTHING. In some cities, a taxi cab has to pay up to a million dollars for a license.

Snowing and cold outside all of the way home. Good taxi driver making it great time and safely. A hybrid Toyota with it’s check engine light one. LOL Most likely 400k kms.

Sleep in our bed was awesome. I like the raised part of our new bed in AZ but I like the firmness of this one better.

Up and out to get Tim’s for breakfast while Jackie attempts to take Daisy for a walk.

I understand she didn’t get far. LOL

A big Sobey’s bill as we needed to replenish everything except for meat items in the freezer.

The team event with PGA/LPGA players was on today. First golf game I have watched for long time. Henderson is in 4th place so still in contention. The final in tomorrow.

The Oilers played well. I like the win as it will help the goalie feel part of the team. McDavid as usual was great but that man has no personality, no charisma or humor. He is just unlikeable. Even Rudy called him “grumpy” He makes me feel sorry for him as he definitely has something wrong with him.

Great win by the Flames so no losing ground or catching up but good games. If only we had ONE star player instead of relying on work ethic.

We watched a good move last night with Sharon Stone called Stolen 2. Entertaining and wow has she aged.

December 14th–

I will lump a few days as there will limited things going on. The weather turned nice which helped Daisy walk around the block.

Pay bills.

Today Daisy had her long walk. She had to be carried in spurts with her paws collecting snow. It was actually relatively warm out. Hell frozen over made nice.

Watching the news in bed this morning. Only two mass shootings. Nuts . People are crazy. But nice too have the routine back and not be up at 6:30 am.

Today we started decorating for Christmas. We got most everything complete and we realize I forgot one big box in storage. Now I rent the space out so I cant access it now unless the guy leaves and I rush. Soooo we will do without but it is that nicest ornaments missing and the tree topper and the wrap. I will label the boxes for next year. Darn . I especially loved the large red pheasant and the glass icicles. Missing the topper is funny. Maybe I can convince Jackie to make one. Every family had to put up ugly decor from kids.

Classic Christmas music on the TV with the fireplace on is nice while decorating.

We whipped out to do some shopping today. Yes, I know why we should not shop on a weekend instead of Monday or another day. However, we have limited time. It’s just nice to get some things done.

Excellent Grant Thorton tournament today which was fun to watch. Wanted Henderson or Thompson but still a fun game to see.

First night with the lights on. Only missing our best decorations but that is ok. It will do for this year. Maybe not our best tree but it is up as I will never have a Christmas without a tree.

Received my car and home insurance today. A little tentative as rates have been increasing drastically for everyone. I was pleasantly surprised with a 3% increase.

Now we have had the same company for decades. I personally have not had a scratch or dent in a vehicle for over 50 years. I had one hail claim which is considered an act of god. Jackie has a couple of incidents but nothing major. Having said that we earned a great rate. Lucky on the condo insurance it remained quite low. Last year adjustments worked out. On house insurance we have a few claims over the years but all hail related.

I remember my 2006 Ram I paid $52 k for and one month later a $9k hail damage claim. It hailed so hard it smashed the windows, the a pillars were bent along with the roof and hood destroyed. Super repair job.

Daisy and Jackie went for their walk this morning. One could only describe the weather as very good for this time of year.

I left early before Jackie started to use the Jeep for her errands. AMA had just opened but was already busy. It was funny . Many employees working, I would say 12 at least, with 10 of them doing nothing. The receptionist welcomed us warmly. One guy was the only other person working at the registry counter with a line up of 10 people. Shocking that they have not heard of cross training. Anyways the guy was working hard and seemed to do a awesome job for everyone. You take an old woman asking 105 questions on a simple task and an old man trying to write out a check while standing. It takes a bit. The one agent put people thru fairly fast.

It’s a great deal. I take 2 years of registration at a time. Being a Premium member and a senior, I saved $47 with the discount. Nice! Having a last name Willard is a hassle. December is assigned to us, and in most years, it makes it hard to manage a few things like this. I can’t do it online as we would not be home to get the hardcopy. You can’t do 2 yrs online. In today’s world a piece of paper should not be needed with the technology we have but without it it is a big fine. Depending on how anal of a cop you get you could get a $300 fine.

That didn’t take very long luckily so i headed out and picked up Jackie’s Christmas gift.

As Jackie was busy this afternoon with her Mom, I got her present wrapped.

I had an interesting read I recently saw about how to have stronger friendships. Some of them I believe to be very true especially as one ages.

• Constant complaining– aches, world issues, family, the world etc and poor me
• Continuous discussion on illnesses– no conversation without huge discussion on aches, pains, I had that also, how is your etc
• Personal hygiene– sounds simple but older people in particular just seems to let it go. I have to have a shower everyday or I feel off.
• Living in the past– let it go. We all may have had glory in the past, being someone special, did amazing things, job title, seen a lot of places, lived in utopia, but it is in the past. LET it go.
• Criticizing the younger generation– this has been going on for centuries, every generation does things different, I can concur with the thought but it has to be eliminated
• Gossiping – it is a teen thing or so I thought but older people love it and it hurts people
• Unsolicited advice– I love this one.
• Manipulation –

I am sure we all have done some of these but it is important to remember them and practice not becoming one of those !

Speaking about living in the past and illnesses, years ago I slipped on the ice and hurt my knee cap. Today working out in the gym I must have used just a little too much weight as sitting here my knee has a pain. It is the same knee that took the blunt force when I saved Jackie’s life by not falling on top of her from the motorhome steps.

I paid a bunch of bills. I had to smile when after three attempts over the last week I was finally able to pay the Cart Doctor in Mesa. He laughed and said it isn’t too often someone has to have your persistence to pay a bill. Nice guy, cheap price, great service.

Paid off and transferred another whack of money. Exchange today was 1.4108. That hurts. I also bought a few certificates from AMA as they save a money and are easy to use. Use issue yourself a gift certificate say for Sobey’s and receive 5% back in reward dollars. Use my Costco card and get another 2% in reward from Costco. It all adds us fast.

The guys sent me their scores and payouts today from Mesa golf. They were complaining about a bad day in golfing. I said I would love their bad day.

We whipped to South Centre Mall tonight. I will say it was pretty busy and hard to find a parking space. It is that time of year.

It was a little windy today and in fact watching the news a few semi’s were rolled on their side in south Alberta. It was a huge risk being on the Deerfoot with such adverse conditions. My options were take a side street or back road, not go or just go and enjoy the ride.

On the road tomorrow heading for Raymond so hopefully a little less wind as the Jeep is like a tug boat in the ocean bobbing everywhere.