Feb 1st–2nd

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -21 degrees, Calgary -13 degrees, Mesa 23 degrees”

My how things have changed. I noticed multiple days below -30 for Edmonton lows one day hitting -36. Same time Mesa hitting plus 30 degrees this week.

Climbing hills at 30 degrees makes it difficult. Maybe our 14 to 18 degrees was to our benefit.

Up early to drop off Mary & Darlene at the airport and arrive right on time. The departure section was quite busy with cars. Busier than normal which is odd why so many are leaving at the same time. Must have been a lot of different lines with early flights today.

Jackie cleaned up and wash all of the towels today and tidied up. House looks like brand new again. Some laundry done of clothes and a quick stop at Bashaw’s.

I looked around the house a bit to find Daisy. There she was, sunbathing on the back deck in the sun all by herself. Her quiet time I guess.

Taking today off after getting things done and sitting in the warmth is nice. Watching a some PGA Pebble Beach on TV outside. Hoping Rory falls apart.

Big hockey night again with the Oiler’s playing the Leafs and Calgary playing Detroit. My hope is to have a loss for Edmonton and a win for Calgary just like on Thursday. These games really are crucial. We need to catch up to the Oil because they are 7 wins ahead of us.

Started doing my Jan budget but my eyes got sore so will finish it later. Hopefully our Trump tariffs don’t rattle the market too much. It is going to hurt it is to what degree. I understand the threat as he has countries scrambling. However, I do not believe it is in the best interests of the average American when it comes to inflation. We know it is a major hit to the Canadian economy. The stock market will also be hit hard. So dumb idea and never mind the fact that he is screwing his best friend. The best friend that has a lot of minerals, lumber, agriculture and oil that he needs. Time will tell.

We took Daisy for a nice walk tonight at 6 pm and it was still 22 degrees.

Today for Feb 2nd we hit 76 degrees.

Groundhog Day – shadow seen.

AND 6 more MONTHS of winter for Canada !

The tradition of celebrating Groundhog Day started as a Christian holiday. Pennsylvania Germans began celebrating it in the late 1880s by eating groundhogs, hunting and having picnics.

While the woodchuck’s prediction is a celebrated tradition, Phil does not usually get the forecast right, with only a 39 percent accuracy rate. Over the past decade, that accuracy rate has been just 30%, with only three out of 10 predictions that have been correct. Climate change LOL

Oilers lose and the Flames lose. Darn again as we need to catch up and are running out of games.

Daisy had a fun filled morning.

Watching the news this morning it is going to get ugly. Between the ego of Trump, him hating Trudeau and Trudeau being stupid I think Canada is going to be in a world of hurt for years to come unless these two idiots start thinking normal. You can not beat up a bully when he is 10 x bigger. I think where it stands today is, if Trump doesn’t back off a bit with Trudeau’s threats and actions we need to hit as hard as we can ( stop sending oil, minerals, water, electricity etc) and immediately negotiate new markets even if not at the price we like. We can’t win but hopefully we can make him rethink his position. Do NOT BOO national anthems as that is embarrassing and disgusting . Even look at joining the EU if needed. Force Quebec and BC and start building pipelines instantly even if that means invoking the war measures act to make it happen. It is economic warfare. Dump all green agenda items to allow fossil fuel growth to help the country survive. Close the St Lawrence Seaway to US ships. Use the Northwest Passage to increase our oil production and container shipments as we now need China even if we don’t like it. If the USA wants to buy our product they must pay a premium. Buy as much Made in Canada as possible. I will buy French’s ketchup and give it a try. If it goes on for a long time we could cut the oil and electricity off which would really have an impact.

Having said all that, the door has to be OPEN for all of this to stop and consider it as a disagreement that can be resolved.

Forgive but do not forget.

We can not put all of our eggs in one basket ever again.

MY PREDICTION:

The TSX is currently sitting at 25533.10 . I see a blood bath when the market opens on Monday and a decline of close to 25%. It will end up below 20,000. A massive loss of dollars will occur. If any of you follow the TSX you will remember May 2018 when Trump announced steel tariffs and it dropped 22% one of the biggest slides in history. We had a BLACK MONDAY on 1987 with only a 11 percent drop and remember how much that hurt. This one is going to be ugly !!

What a wonderful day weather wise.

I watched the PGA AT&T tournament outside on the patio today. A great game with a mix of weather and good & bad luck. BUT the wrong guy won. The little leprechaun won. A close one but he did it. He is my most disliked PGA player with his attitude, his arrogance, opinions, messed up life and his smugness. Would have loved for Lowry or anyone else to win. Oh well I have to give him credit for winning and it had to be a little awkward being interviewed by his mistress.

News flash. Rory has two hole in ones. Larry has two hole in ones.

We had a fun time playing billiards with Russ & Carol. Both play pool a lot more than Jackie & I and you can tell. Carol is very good and Russ is super at it. Tonight Russ was on fire. A fun afternoon playing pool. The boys won thanks to Russ.

A gathering at our place with the worlds problems solved except no one is listening.

A quick supper and then the Grammy’s. A long show but fun to watch. Beyonce winning was just wrong. Taylor not winning is wrong after having the world tour bring in the most money ever.

Where do these people find their clothes. And why ?

February 3rd

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -25 ( -35 low) degrees, Calgary – 24 (-27 low) degrees, Mesa 28 degrees”

I think the numbers tell the story why I love Arizona. A 50 degree difference in the temperature.

The hurt is beginning.

This morning the Loonie is at its lowest in more than 20 years, TSX sinks nearly 600 points today so far. Each day the TSX is going down and I believe to less than 20,000 points. Having said that DO NOT remove yourself out of the market. It will come back, may take a while, perhaps years but you are much better off than removing yourself. The same goes with emotional reactions like threatening to sell your property and leave the USA. You see it on Facebook and in the news the media blowing once again the situation out of proportion by stating Snowbirds flocking back to Canada and selling their homes. Dumb, over reaction and yes a few do but as with everything this to will pass. All it does is lower the average price.

Today is my sisters birthday. For years I always thought she was older than me as her birthday was a day before mine. I also thought she was three years younger then I discovered only two years. She is for one day, LOL

Happy Birthday Darlene. You missed the warm weather by one day. LOL

Golf today with my buddies so with the “normal” temperature the muscles should be loose.

Ok, first time in a very long time where the heat got to me a bit. I felt light headed. I could blame it on the blood pressure pills, lack of exercise the last week, not enough water but I won’t. It was due to the heat as it hit 86 degrees and we had too many birdies with juice. I wasn’t pleased with my score once again but happy with some aspects. I would have a great drive and be less than 100 yards from the green and shank, scull or hit under the ball and end up with a bogie or 6. Nuts. And then add the missed putts. Oh well it will come. Perhaps tomorrow as for my birthday Daisy, Jackie and I are golfing.

Another wonderful day in paradise.

With the heat Daisy just wanted to relax so in the shade of the patio she slept.

I hooked up new magic stick for our inside TV and managed to get 66 channels which is awesome as we now get Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS so we will get a lot more of the shows we like.

Thought of the Day

Nothing goes down slower than a golf handicap said Larry to his partners after my calculations.

February 4th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -23/-34 degrees, Calgary – 23/-28 degrees, Mesa 29/84 degrees)

I do have to say I was a little off with my prediction on the TSX. When I say off it is by the date not the amount. It will happen any day now but still surprised at it’s resiliency..

The best news: Identify as Lawrence Anthony Willard born 68 years ago today. What an event. And it seems like such a short time ago. I will say this, I am very lucky. Now being born a natural athlete even in my mid 60’s I am very flexible being able to kneel, sit down on my knees, touch my toes, can walk miles due to natural callous building, enough stamina to do almost anything I want to do and free of pain other than a back muscle that has been an issue since I was like 16 yrs old. No arthritis, no ailments other than high blood pressure ( heredity, powerful mind and Jackie) so pretty lucky. Eyesight is a little suspect now which I hate but that is it.

Motion is Lotion is very important. Sit on a couch to watch TV all day and you will lose your muscles and flexibility very fast. In as little as a week you can notice the difference.

I am lucky !

It is a little scary as the average lifespan of a Canadian Male is 78.8 years old. This FACT in itself was a determining factor in our decision to retire early. Anyone lucky enough to be over 80 yrs old in most cases has a lot of medical issues. I have had 11 years already retired. If I had waited until 65 and added the 11 years, I would be 76 years old. This age is two years less than the average lifespan. So it already was a great decision.

Our golfing today was fantastic. We were paired with a very nice couple from Iowa that were a lot of fun. She was a middle school principal and he was a large operating farmer and ethanol mix plant owner. We had an enjoyable 18 hole experience. A good match for us in skill, mannerisms, and approach to the game.

Jackie didn’t have her usual game but ended up with a 100 on the nose. I had a few issues that killed the score and ended up with a higher than wanted score of 83. FOUR birdies though which was nice. 6 birdie attempts from within 10ft.

Daisy rode the cart with us today and was perfect once again. We had to stop in the shade as it was warm out in the sun and she could heat up.

Changed and headed out to the Keg. Love the decor but really the consistent quality of food is the draw. Tonight I had the Filet Mignon which was spectacular. Only poor thing experienced tonight was Jackie’s meal that smelled, wrecking the wonderful odors in the air. She had Salmon which really shouldn’t be sold in a steakhouse. My jumbo shrimp were huge. Not cheap but wonderful. Great meal !!

They are a Canadian company so you would think some items would transfer to the States. Bring your Caesar drinks to Arizona. I am sure the Americans would love them.

Birthday cards, phone calls, Facebook etc were all nice. And this is a nothing birthday.

The end to another fun day and onward to complete another year.

Breakfast made for me and even a icing covered carrot cake , my favorite things. A brand new putter that I used today which I really like. I have had putting issues so hopefully this will work. Nice

Thought of the Day

I got a hole in one at mini golf with a putter so a new one could be the tool I need.

Feb 5th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -19 degrees, Calgary -23 degrees, Mesa 26 degrees”

Watching the news and we actually hit a record high of 36 degrees yesterday. And we thought it was beautiful out golfing. I guess we acclimatized.

Today sitting in the backyard it was hot. I sun tanned for about an hour but had to retreat as I didn’t want to sunburn. Too many people we know have had skin cancer cut out of them. The unfortunate thing is, it really is not about what you are doing today. It is about what happened years and years ago. I do protect my head now after wearing no hat for years. I never need lotion as I haven’t burnt for 20 years or more.

It was very nice relaxing in the backyard.

I contacted Enmax just before we left Canada as our bills were quite high reaching $170 a month for power alone. I was on the Last Resort Rate and switched to a Regulated Rate contract. Our Jan/ Feb bills each were from last year at $96 this year $6.88. No complaints from me. $90 savings is good.

My new putter may have been a factor in making more birdies than normal so I am happy with that. This is about my 4th putter in 5 years.

Normally I would be golfing today with my Saskatchewan group out of park. However, the tee rates are astronomical during the Waste Management week. We decided as a group to skip this week.

Golf overall for Jackie & I is a way more expensive for us here in AZ than Alberta. When I say a way more I mean like 5 times more. We are out on the course at least 5 times a week which is more than at home also.

I struggle justifying each year as my golf expense could be cut in half to what we pay for VIP, my retainer plus the tee fees if I became a full member again at Turner Valley. But it would mean losing out on the fun of golfing with Jeff & Wendy and the experience of different courses.

Idiots still booing at sporting games on both sides of the border. I hate disrespect. Especially when it a national anthem of another country. The security should eject every fan they catch doing that. I understand people having negative feelings about what they perceive is a slap. However, this only adds to the disdain. It does nothing to solve the issue. The whole tariff thing is a negotiation tactic and I must say is working pretty good. New helicopters, new border personnel, increase in Nato commitments etc. All of this will pass with Canada and the USA being better for it. Just don’t let the TSX take a hit. LOL

Sitting outside in the warmth relaxing and enjoying the evening.

Thought of the Day

Relaxing the only thing that shouldn’t be a competition.

Feb 6th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -9 degrees, Calgary -8 degrees, Mesa 28 degrees”

A busy day coming up.

Jackie has her golf league this morning.

On her return we have to whip up and place at least 500 fold up chairs for the Toby Keith concert tonight.

Finish setting up the chairs and then attend a Happy Hour gathering at our neighbors.

Leave that find something quick to eat and head up to attend the concert.

Besides me liking Toby he has some awesome songs and this should be an excellent concert.

Charging up all of my power tool batteries today.

Then on to my difficult project. Jackie did not like my LED bar light with most of the lights blinking as she found it hard on her eyes and head. . I opened it up and WOW !. A simple thing was like a Nasa project with resistors, capacitors, and emitters and disruptors.

I took it apart and was baffled for awhile. A little over my head electronics wise. I was determined to give it a try. One of four things could happen. I could wreck it and have to buy a different unit, I could fix it, I could short it out, or I could catch the place on fire or electrocute myself as it is110 volts.

A lot of deciphering where all of these wires run and go to and from and for what.

My first thought was to attempt to get the larger top part working. I bought a small, ridiculously priced tube of soldier. I looked at the above wiring. I was pretty sure the little blue resistor (top left) was necessary to stop the instrument from blinking as it was a one of. So I started removing wires and used the resistor for my start point for each section of letters as each section was separated. It is not like a simple power/ ground black/white wiring schematic. I wired up the “cold” the “Beer” to the resistor and connected the other wires to the return on the board. I ran a extension cord to a plug I liked in case I blew a breaker. Yahoo, it worked first time. Then luckily with special reading glasses that Jackie had I was able to soldier my new joints. The wires were smaller than my wire strippers could strip. They go to 22 gauge so these must be 24 gauge or smaller. I was using a 14/2 piece of wire as my test connector. Then to soldier it. Boy do I hate bad eyes but got it done and tested it with success. The bottom “spicy’ and BBQ” took much longer trying to figure out how to wire it. Lots of testing and finally success. I soldiered it and worked like a charm. I have it running now to check if it gets hot, shorts out, or starts to smoke etc, but everything seems wonderful. Having to bypass a large portion I wasn’t sure what to expect. I am a little surprised, perhaps lucky and very very happy with the result.

Very happy. However, I am unhappy about having to pay $10 for soldier. I used to sell soldier to hardware stores for a quarter of that. You have to have it though especially with micro wiring like this. Chinese crap !

I do agree it is easier on the eyes.

The Phoenix Open is on and the Superbowl this weekend so lots to do. My neighbor who works this event every year offered me free tickets but I declined. I have been there a couple of times, while it is fun the parking is ridiculous, the crowds massive but the people watching and golfing is interesting to see.

Hopefully I can find it on some channel to watch.

Jackie returned from golfing with a great score of 42 for the Nine. We whipped up to the hall and started setting up chairs. Over 700 chairs this time. Took a little longer as will the take down. Our group is very fast workers and our leader very well organized.

Then up to Doug & Bev’s place for a get together. Russ & Carol were there also. Wonderful ham biscuits, meatballs and cheese & crackers. A great time visiting and a lots of fun discussing and listening to different experiences. Both couples from BC. Very nice people and interesting ideas.

Then off the concert. Toby Keith is one of my favorite country guys. A down to earth guy that unfortunately left us a way to early.

The band tonight was unbelievable. First, achieving the perfect look creates excitement. Then, having a very close voice adds to a fun experience. Great band, interesting stories, and played every great Toby hit. A little too patriotic for the current times but a wonderful show.

Looks and sound.

The singer was a personal friend of Toby and met him at a rodeo. Not a good name Hollywood Yates but quite a life story.2 time NFR Wrangler bullfights finalist, 1 time NFR Wrangler bullfights Barrel man, 2 time BRO World Champion Bullfighter, 3 time Salinas Bullfight Champion, 3 time Ellensburg Bullfight Champion, 4 time FT. Madison Bullfight Champion plus over 30 other championships. Hollywood Yates IS THE most recognized bullfighter.

I would put it at one of the best shows we have seen along with the Shania tribute.

Thought of the Day

Listen to the words as they are so true. This song was written for the movie The Mule ( Clint Eastwood) and as Toby said it was fitting to perform knowing he was dying from cancer. He was at least 50 pounds or less than his normal weight then and dies at 62 yrs old.

February 7th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -13 degrees, Calgary -13 degrees, Mesa 25 degrees”

I was happy with my new negotiated Enmax rate saving $90 going from a average of $96 to $6 on my last bill. Today my new Telus Home invoice showed up and with my changes going from an average of $223 dollars a month to -$9.88. Now it will correct itself next month, but still a $200 plus saving right off the bat never mind the monthly savings to be had.

It just goes to show that with a little effort and time, a person can save a lot of money. Sometimes it involves frustration with the wait times. Telus was huge savings, and Enmax was huge savings. TD insurance was also huge savings. However, I moved my motorhome insurance away from them. AMA gave me a rate at 50% of TD, but only on the motorhome. This was mostly due to the storage issue over winter. Credit card changes are effective for finding the right card for each person. Consider benefits like points, annual fees, insurance coverage, and credit limit. We moved to a card that has no international transaction fees. Again a bit of work as NO ONE really tells you what is in your best interest.

It was an odd morning. Jackie had her Yoga this morning so out early. I had to make my 6:30 am tee time booking. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t like it. It makes me tired. I went back to bed and Daisy & I did not wake up until 9:30 am. It was very nice but a little too late.

Then off to golf with my guys. As usual a wonderful sunny day, and great players again. It was a very nice day finishing in 4 hours 10 minutes. At our after golf meeting everyone had an off day except for Ron S. I know poor Kirk was inundated with phones calls and bad news related to his business while trying to golf. I hate off days but they happen and I had no excuse.

We had a good laugh. Ron & Lyle, playing on the B team, came to the course dressed exactly the same. Now both of them wear golf hats normally but both had sun rimmed hats and matching shirts. Fun to tease them taking this team golf concept to the max. I guess if you can’t win money you may as well be the best dressed on the course.

Always interesting now listening to people with all of the stuff going on in politics.

Thought of the Day

Ever notice how women hate being the same dressed as another lady at a party but no guy gives a care.

February 08

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -9 degrees, Calgary -9 degrees, Mesa 24 degrees”

Well look at it this way. How couldn’t anyway not love this weather. Blue skies, no wind and wonderful sun.

Jackie and Daisy headed out for their morning walk. In hindsight it was a much longer walk than normal.

Had my breakfast, watched the news, loaded and started the dishwasher, moved the garbage and then went outside.

I swept the front deck, cleaned up the patio and swept it also. I trimmed the lemon tree and cleanup. Spent time organizing again in the shed.

Then watched for quite awhile the Phoenix open. I add this every year because it is a once in a lifetime memory I will never forget. For my birthday Jackie bough me two tee times for the TPC Scottdale Waste Management course. I invited Bob Ferris and Jackie dropped us off. One word expensive but worth it. Our group was assigned a Fore-caddy which turned out was from Med Hat wanting to make the tour. The Fore-caddy helped us navigate the difficult course. It was especially challenging since it was the day after the tournament. The stands were still set up, and the pins were in the last day placement, which is the hardest day.

My memory of seeing the rock Tiger had the crowd move and getting Bob and I’s picture taken was awesome. Getting three birdies and especially the one on the iconic Hole 16 is special. We had to applaud ourselves as the stands were empty. And we played from 143 yards versus the pro’s today at 125 yards. Special memory.

A player with no wins leading is great. Thomas and Spieth doing well and Scotty still fighting. I loved the comment when it was said “Didn’t even see Ricky Fowler.” He was dumb. He wore camo to golf and then withdrew.

Then off to play billiards at the hall with Russ & Carol. Ok I will say it. The girls tonight were awesome and they won. They beat us. One can be shocked but well earned and deserved. &^% happens ! And it was fun.

A very nice after pool gathering at the Chase’s place. I am glad they decided not to sell and remain in the park. Nice people and fun

Another end to a day in paradise!

Thought of the Day

If you never lose you don’t appreciate the wins.

February 9-10th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -17/-27 degrees, Calgary -15/-21 degrees, Mesa 26 degrees”

In the news today.

Calgary sees coldest start to February in 50 years, with more Arctic air ahead.

It is the wind chill and the night temps that are cold. It is February after all.

Good news, only 39 more days before the official first day of spring. Only 95 days before the May Long weekend.

We have a neighbor who for years has delivered our garbage carts to each lot after being emptied. Denis is at home in the warm city of Winnipeg and look what happens on the street. Chaos as the girls fight for dominance of the garbage duty.

Almost a street brawl between Donna and Jackie.

Off first to the Open. I love that a new guy broke thru and won. Detry played so well and deserved the win. I like that Spieth and Thomas both did well. I wished Scotty would have been top ten but he still finished semi decent. Very disappointed in his lack of anger management as it is rare for him to display such. Many kids look up to him. In my mind, this does not bode well for him representing a gentleman’s sport.

A fun tournament to watch and remember the holes as we played them.

Right after the big Superbowl game. Now I am not a big NFL fan or even a CFL and only interested in the Elks and Stamps. Ok the game sucked. Mahone sucked. The front line was horrible, the Chief’s coach sucked. So overall besides not being a good game it was not exciting at all. Poor poor football.

And to have Taylor Swift booed louder than Trump is a feather in his hair.

A full day of sport watching. I think this was the first year where we didn’t attend a Super Bowl Party. Could have but I rather enjoyed the game and events much more. Jackie had her squares bought but she didn’t win. Last year Jackie & I won every quarter and final score.

Super bowl means food also. Tonight’s supper featured a juicy pork loin crusted with a deliciously spiced 5 salt and 5 pepper seasoning. It was cooked to perfection at 145 degrees. The meal was accompanied by wonderfully roasted potatoes. We also had roasted carrots with thyme, covered with a thick decadent gravy.

Half time shows are supposed to be the showcase event. This rapper put on the worst show in history. Awful. the only good thing was Morgan being Capt America. No more rap ever at a half time show. Give me Janet Jackson !! or Shakira anyday.

After the events we watched a interesting movie called the Challenger. 6 out of 10 but still intriguing to watch with Zendaya.

Out of the house to another wonderful day on the course. 11 guys today golfing so a little bigger group than normal. All nice guys. I have to say I hate the way I golfed today. Birdies, and pars but two lost balls counting a 8 on each hole killed the score.

Today in our group it was to say at the very least inspirational. We had an 82 yr old shoot 90. Another 82 yr old shot 82. A 88 yr old shot 98. To see these guys golf is amazing. If I can golf this well when I am at that age i would be extremely happy. Sometimes to match these scores is hard enough even now. Amazing.

A good after gathering at our place and we fit the 11 guys in just fine. Jackie had everything extremely well organized for us. A low net of 69 and a low gross of 78 today. One thing to mention. Anytime you break par on the net you played very well and it should only happen rarely. Two weeks in a row with a 68 or 69 net so I can imagine next months caps will be changed.

Denis low gross today. Ron S low net and Denis closest to the pin

A fun day golfing, super weather, great guys. Nice to see Arnold again.

Thought of the Day

I’m not saying my golf game went bad, but if I grew tomatoes, they’d come up sliced

February 11th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -14 degrees, Calgary -13 degrees, Mesa 21 degrees”

A special day today.

Jackie left early for Yoga and then returned to take Daisy out to the park. I had to leave fairly early. Ian was picking me up to go golfing with him and Sandy at San Marco’s Golf Club.

I was very happy to be invited to golf with them and see my golfing buddy Sandy from Lethbridge. One of the nicest and funniest guys ever. Best looking left handed golfer I know. He has been through so much in the last two years it is amazing. Health is so important. Often, it is just good luck for one to have it and not another. Sandy just had major surgery before Christmas and has just started to golf again. Surgery that allows him to enjoy life and live for many more years but altered due to multiple major organ removal and chemo treatments.

He is looking great. Although he says he is beat up by the chemo treatments. The treatments are far from over. Overall, he is feeling pretty good. AND HE PLAYED WELL considering everything.

All four of us did not have great scoring games though. I took an 8 on the first hole. I decided that the game would not be great right there and then. So, I tried a few different things. Ian is basically a scratch golfer and hits it long. I started swinging at full power again and lo & behold the ball flight and distance was excellent. In fact I out drove Ian numerous times over the 18 holes. But everyone struggled with other shots. Just a few too many mistakes overall.

I was very happy Sandy did so well and was able to play. I was also happy I started to play well after a bad start.

My only thought today was so glad to visit and play with Sandy and so much fun. So nice to see such a quick recovery and it is about being able to, versus how well you played.

Thought of the Day

A knock down will never be a knock out if you don’t let it.

February 12th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -12 degrees, Calgary -8 degrees, Mesa 15 degrees”

A one-day cold spell is hitting today. It is only getting up to 60 degrees. It’s still shorts and shirt weather, but not hot for sure.

A later tee time than normal which is nice but uses up the better part of a day. Today I was paired with a gentleman that plays Darcy Ranch all of the time and two guys from Minnesota. The one gentleman was one over par on the front nine and was a sweet golfer to watch.

No money today as our team just didn’t get the ball down when needed. I drove the ball fantastic today being the longest off the tee on most holes. Missed short of the green, over the green extra shots just added to the score. I felt like a golfed really well but the overall score says different.

It was a very nice fun outing.

After supper we headed with Daisy for a games night with Sandy & Dave from Sherwood Park. Sandy with her dog Zoey walks every morning with Daisy and Jackie.

I will start by saying BAD LUCK. I have NEVER had a stretch of bad luck like tonight in ever game. One new game which I really like and we will play with our grandkids. I got killed with the cards not just falling my way tonight.

A quick break to see Canada win in OT which was good.

A fun night, not fun losing so bad in every game but that happens the odd time.

But the special event of today is our daughter Daisy turning 5 yrs old today. You are not supposed to have favorites of anything but Daisy is my favorite dog we have ever have had. Her personality, her cleverness and her ability to adapt to any situation is amazing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAISY

Thought of the Day

A dog is a chapter in your life but you are their whole book. Enjoy them everyday as the chapter is very short.

February 13th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -13 degrees, Calgary -12 degrees, Mesa 20 degrees’

Busy days on Thursdays for Jackie. She was out of the door and took Daisy for her walk and dog park. Then off to the clubhouse for Jackie to book her next week tee times for her group.

After golf she returns and drops off her clubs and takes the cart to the after golf gathering. She arrives just before 3 pm to pick me up and we whipped to the main hall. We stopped in and fixed up our directory at the main office.

Wouldn’t you know I felt sorry for the clerk with what was going on. There was another OLD man complaining about a change we are doing at the security gate. I have to do some research as with age it appears to me most people become complainers about anything. Whether it is them trying to make themselves feel worthy and taking up a cause or if some type of mental decline happens and the person feels better complaining other than commenting with positivity. Change happens and it is much easier to go with the flow.

Had a message from Darlene at 9 am that she was in the emergency room with Mom as she suspected another spontaneous fracture. These are extremely painful. At 9 pm they finally are getting an Xray. In no ones world is this right. Our care system is so broke and so many things are being done trying to correct it that haven’t been successful yet. It is not nice for me to say but, a huge factor is our net immigration to Alberta. This is overloading our medical and educational systems and not by long term Albertan’s or Canadians.

Then off the hall and tonight concert chair set up. Only just over 600 chairs for us.

Tonight’s concert was a tribute band Chicago. I never considered them my favorite band, not even in the 70’s and 80’s. So, I looked them up and listened to a few of their hits. Not my cup of tea.

I hate to say this but tonight’s concert I am glad I never had to pay for. I enjoy the experience of a concert. However, tonight I felt I needed to check the door. The local feral cats most likely heard the noise and could be wanting in.

Out of the set I thought maybe 4 songs sounded pretty good. The instrumentalist were awesome. The drum player spectacular and the horn section wonderful. The fail was the lead singer. The second lead was pretty good but when these two tried to harmonize the hair on your neck would rise.

The good singer looked like Kid Rock and the main lead singer like Pee-wee Herman.

Still a nice evening concert just not to the quality I would have liked to seen.

I have included a small clip of the singer. Tell me he doesn’t sound like a cat on a hot tin roof. And this was one of his better songs he did .

I am impressed with the Facebook page at Viewpoint where no one complained about the band and gave them great reviews. Good job people. Two things to say on this though. It’s nice that different people like different things. There were a lot of hearing aids in the hall. This may be a reason for the great reviews. LOL

We got our first small amount of moisture in 159 days a week ago and it wasn’t hardly noticeable and tonight again a few drops for about an hour.

Another day in paradise completed.

And we all know what tomorrow is.

Thought of the Day

I’m impressed– I’ve never heard someone hit so many wrong notes in one song before.

February 14th

“Mercury Forecast Calgary -19 degrees ( snow), Edmonton -18 degrees, Mesa 20 degrees”

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY.

Yes it is a Hallmark gold mine but it is a great day for everyone to celebrate kindness and show someone you care for special treatment.

It is odd. I remember in school making all of these Valentines for every kid in school. There was also the big book you had to cut them out of. But today, I feel this day is a special day for spouses or partners. I hope everyone with that special person gets to show that little bit of appreciation and say I love you and thank you for being you.

Roses are red, chocolate is yummy, card is funny to make you laugh in your tummy !

Restaurants are so busy tonight we decided to stay in, watch a movie and order food in. I am golfing tomorrow with my guys. I will hurry home right after. I won’t stay at the after golf gathering as I will need to get this Valentine day started.

Ironic enough that there were not so many on the course. Either commitments or doing something else with their spouse.

Another very nice day but one hole we had a splatter of rain and cooler wind prevail.

Eight golfers today and 5 of the 8 were below Net Par. The USGA says a golfer should only break his cap 25 % of the time. What are the odds that 5 out of 8 golfers do that on the same day. Most people have heard of the term Sandbagger and I am sure that must be going on. When I recalculate the caps for March I am betting 5 golfers caps are lowered. LOL Barry won the KP contest and Ron S the low gross and Ron P the low net.

A gathering at Barry’s place to collect scores and solve the problems of the world.

Jackie ordered food for Valentines from Fat Willy’s and I say Wonderful !! I had a Sirloin steak at half of the cost of The Keg’s and every bit as good. No warm bread though. Jackie’s, you guessed it, Caesar Salad had a huge amount of chicken with it.

We watched two movies tonight one being quite good and one being only so so. So a nice end to Valentine’s Day. Well I can’t divulge any thing else.

Thought of the Day

What did one criminal say to the other on Valentines Day ? You stole my heart !

February 15th

” Mercury Forecast Edmonton -15 degrees, Calgary -14 degrees, Mesa 21 degrees”

The cold weather continues in Alberta. Nighttime lows are dropping to -25 to -30 every night. This will persist for at least another week. I can say I am so fortunate to manage winter in Arizona but feel a little bad for everyone stuck in the polar hell of Canada.

Arizona weather might not be worth mentioning. Every day is 23 to 25 degrees. Next week will be warmer. Oh well I need to log it when I have to look back.

Today was a rest day.

Jackie & I headed to Home Depot. We picked up some paint and accessories. She is planning to paint a feature wall in the living room. She managed to get all of the pictures down, putty filled the holes and painter taped the baseboard etc.

We watched the Genesis Golf and once again first time winners potentially, in the lead. Nice that Scotty is top 10 and hopefully tomorrow the Leprechaun doesn’t bring a 4 leaf clover with him.

A wonderful BBQ supper tonight.

Then to the big game with baited anticipation. USA versus Canada. First let me say I understand the emotion behind booing the USA but it is disrespectful. They only live there and perhaps none of them voted for who everyone is hating on.

The game started off excellent with both teams showing passion and commitment. Like the commercial for the game says, the name on the front of the sweater is a way more important than the name on the back.

So it started off like expected. Then it didn’t. These are the best of the best in their profession and a World JUNIOR team creates more excitement. No hitting what so ever. It was like an All Star game. It wasn’t fast. It wasn’t very exciting. There did not appear to be a lot of will to win. I was disappointed in the game overall. Our goalie had one good year and I wouldn’t consider him close to Hellebuyck and he did let one soft goal in. Even McDavid only had one good shift. Crosby had no shots on goal what so ever. The USA were the better team.

We are at risk now and have to win Monday’s game.

I love our new curtains. Once the sun goes down and the temperature starts to drop, turn on the heater. Then close the curtains. It is wonderful. I have no idea why it took me only 17 years to do it.

Our neighbor would like something similar. I have looked at their place. What I thought would be an hour job, may not be able to be done. The top half wall is attached with Trek screws and can’t hold weight. I can’t put a center post in as the hand railing is directly below it. One side has metal siding with no backing to hold weight. I have to give it more thought and see about getting another perspective.

We talked to Fred & Terry in Mexico and they are enjoying it which is great. Their new accommodations being ground level and only a few feet away from the pool is very nice. Both of them are looking quite brown. I didn’t get a sense if Fred is bored yet which surprises me. It seems like a great place for a vacation lasting two weeks to a month. However, it is not somewhere I would stay for five months. We are adding more friends to our repertoire to play games with, which is good. We do miss the Keys because we have had a lot of fun over the years.

Thought of the Day

The fact that you made the team, got the chance to go out there and play, and put up a good fight against the USA is more than enough to be happy about, don’t you think? SAID NO TRUE CANADIAN FAN EVER !

February 16th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -18/-26 degrees, Calgary -17/-27 degrees, Mesa ( the same all week 72 to 80 degrees )

Wow it is staying COLD in Canada.

Jackie is out of bed, finished her walking and started painting right away. I hate painting. I love the end result but do not enjoy the process and am not particularly great at it for some reason.

We will see the difference and like it hopefully.

Just a little comment on the USA/Canada spat over tariffs. My take. I think it is a wake up call to Canada to start taking a few things a lot more serious. We have to meet our Nato commitment. We need to stop immigration. Stop drugs from entering the USA no matter how small compared to other countries, we need to spend money on our military to protect ourselves, and we must stop our dependence on the USA. Drop all inter provincial trade barriers and start working together buying products from Canada not importing everything. Forever it has been a wonderful relationship between the two countries. But when a friend stabs you in the back you have to stand up for yourself.

Make no mistake what Trump is engaged in, is ECONOMIC WARFARE. We can not win solely based on our size. We have to be strong and stand together ( I point this at Quebec and BC) and look after our interests. We have to create new markets asap for our products and find new suppliers for others. Do not give the USA discounted oil to process due to our own governments stupidity. We can ship a lot of NG via BC to Asian markets. Europe is desperate for it. Oil to Europe or Asia. When we sell lumber to California after the fires or Florida after a hurricane make it at a premium price. They need it, we have it and they MUST pay for it not give it away because we are nice and only have one outlet for it.

I sure hope Canada never forgets how the USA turned on us. If we do not react quickly we will be forced to become the 51st state to survive economically. As some pointed out when the British were being Blitzed they united and had a strong resolve to survive. This is a economic blitz and it is going to hurt and we need to do the same.

Perhaps jail Trudeau for treason as the definition fits exactly what he doing to us right now.

treason

noun

trea·​son ˈtrē-zᵊn 

1: the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign’s family

2: the betrayal of a trust : treachery

Some may say why do Jackie & I support the USA with a home. Yes some over reactive people are selling in Florida and Arizona and deciding not to winter south. But it is a safe place, it is close, it is warm, there are no natural disasters here, and the American people treat us extremely well and are scared of the impact if our numbers decline on their own local economy.

Enough said. I understand Trumps reasoning. I agree with it but I do not like his approach. He is bent on punishing Canada rather than working with us.

Billiards this afternoon, after gathering, along with the painting so a busy day even though it is Jackie doing the painting today. I find my supervisor skills are still good.

Here is the first compare pic. The Desert coloring on the right and the new “grey” coloring on the left. I think it modernizes it, brightens it, so all is good.

I whipped to Home Depot and for the second time now they are out of propane tanks. I want a spare for the outdoor heater. One tank only lasts about 8 hours of burning on high. For a store to be out is just poor management and this store struggles with a lot of outages. Most likely supply chain issues due to Covid. LOL Oh well I will try again on Tuesday or I will need to go to Lowe’s. I checked the service stations along the way home but no luck.

I did get a chance to wash and wax the car which is good as the sun kills the paint down here. While at the car wash I watched a middle aged lady wash her truck and I was very impressed. She used her Shammy both to wash and dry the unit plus used the air hose to blow out the door rims and windows channels. Great job and nice truck.

The billiards tonight was a lot of fun again. New table covers are awesome and look great. Interesting point here on how the new manager got new covers asap and also fixed the dog park fence immediately after being notified. I think he is doing a good job.

Once again ladies against the men. After our defeat last week we were pumped. As with every week it is so close. Most games are down to one or two balls left only. The girls were hot tonight and we were down fast. BUT what a come back to tie it and then win the tie breaker game. Loads of fun ! Some awesome shots and some poor shots missed. As you can see by the score board the girls had a “lucky: night tonight compared to just hard work and perseverance.

5 wins for Russ & Larry and 4 wins for the Jackie & Carol. The really really lucky win was us scratching on the 8 ball to lose.

I look forward to our billiard sessions each week.

TV is unplugged and we have come inside so no watching anything tonight.

Thought of the Day

“I’m not a pool shark, I’m a pool pike.”

February 17th-18th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -20/-29 degrees, Calgary -19/-25 degrees, Mesa 26 degrees”

Now we are talking with the weather. We have 5 days in a row coming up over 30 degrees. And we are so kind we are sharing some warmth coming up with the north. This is the time of year I love the temperatures as it stays warm out until at least 8 pm. And it is not hot enough to effect the golf or outside work.

Jackie is painting today and I am out with my group on the course. I can’t figure out why I am not scoring lower lately. Things just seem to happen. Better shots, better putts but not the low scores I want. Perhaps too many birdies again and the juice getting to me.

The group today was not sandbagging as we only had one player below NET PAR. Ron Sydia was the low gross, low net, and the KP winner.

It was another fun day. It was the first time in a long time that we spent over 4 hours. This time was about 4 1/2 hours. Two lady walkers in front slows the whole course down.

Off for a quick gathering at Denis’s place and collect the cards and scores. I made a calculation error and just about robbed Ron of his win. I was adding while driving my cart and with gross/net scores I couldn’t read my own writing. I hate errors ! Got it all fixed up with recounts.

Then rushed off to our soup block party. I arrived late but was still managed to fill my bowl with Hamburger soup which was very good.

The “fun” part of this outing was a game called Left, Right , Centre using quarters.

This new painted walls are looking good in the house.

Jackie was out of the house early this morning for Yoga. Daisy and I stayed in bed for bit then headed to the dog park. Every breed of dog you can think of was there this morning. Lots of dogs, so Daisy had fun meeting and running around before doing her business.

The new way of selling, marketing I find annoying. ESPN, TSN, Prime, and Hula all bid on a hockey game. Then they limit who gets it. I am sure it lowers the viewership. I am hoping a friend gets ESPN as we don’t as it is another channel and $12 per month.

Watched a bit of TV and another end of a Arizona wonderful day.

Thought of the Day

Forecast- week of painting with no chance of grocery shopping

February 19th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton -15/-18 degrees, Calgary -15/-18 degrees, Mesa 28 degrees “

Up early this morning, grabbed my coffee and breakfast and headed to Aquilla for another outing with my Sask guys.

First, let me say I am relatively happy with a mid 80’s score. However, it could have been so much better. The birdie juice affected us. Six birdies, birdie juice on each and the warmth, hitting 82 degrees, also influenced me and my whole group during the last nine.

Too bad as a high 70’s was tracking. Having said that we had a blast. This course has two risk reward Par 4 holes. Both greens are half circled with water. One is 265 yards and one is 255 yards. I landed on one green and pin high on the other and three putted both getting Pars. Wonderful drives. I had to say sorry once.

Luckily the group in front are friends that I had to say sorry to. Besides the back nine getting to each player my one partner golfed so well it was sick. A smaller guy about my age out driving me just about every time. He is so smooth it is sweet to watch but hard to figure out the how. He ended with a 74. He was one over the front nine and I was 3 over.

Darn birdies with juice both keeping the score down on those holes but wrecking them on the following.

Another super fun Arizona day.

80 mph plus all of the way home on the freeway. Love it.

I got home and Jackie was still painting like a mad women. I love the look and she is doing a great job.

Daisy was happy seeing me as I think she was ignored all day. LOL

Thought of the Day

I’m convinced my human leaves every day just to make our reunion more exciting.

February 20th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 2 degrees, Calgary 7 degrees, Mesa 26 degrees”

Here is the before and after pic of the kitchen.

Move swipe bar back and forth

Jackie out of the house and taking Daisy for a walk. It was odd as I fell asleep just as she was leaving and didn’t realize it until she was gone.

I had my breakfast, watched the Canadian news and the American then headed out to collect supplies. First stop Home Depot where I needed thick wall EMT Conduit, closet bar hangers, mason bit, and handrail clips. Depot didn’t have the white so had to go with off white. Next stop Mobile Depot for two hangers and one 3 x 3 aluminum post.

I came home and started to work as i knew it would take a while and hoped for no issues. First step was cutting the post to length which I used the chop saw with a newer blade. I found dead center to put the post. There was a bottom plate for a handrail right where I needed it. I had to put it about 2 inches off center to avoid this. No one will notice. The post due to a slant floor is about a 1/8 shorter than I like but it looks just fine. Then to drill the holes in the concrete to fasten it using Zamba pins. First hole perfect, second hole not so much. I encountered rebar or a large stone. I burned through a regular metal bit and a mason bit. I got it done with a little sweat in the heat. I fastened the brackets on both ends which were both solid. Then to cut the heavy iron hand railing. Next the clips I found at the Depot. The second one didn’t tighten well. I am going to use a bolt right thru the post to secure it better. Cut the EMT and installed it, so about half done and will wait until Saturday to finish it.

Then off the hall to set up chairs, A smaller group of 400 which is odd as Rock & Roll should outsell Chicago but you know old people and their likes.

Home for supper and to change then off to Bill & Silva’s place to watch the game. We decided to spend more time watching the game then the concert tonight. The food they gave us was awesome with Steak Bites and Shrimp and a lot more.

An important game considering the geopolitical circumstance we find ourselves in. I know most people were quite tense and us as Canadians wanting to win so much.

I will say this it was great hockey. Having said that though here we are with the supposed best in the world and both teams can’t score. Our star players were a non threat in the game and the announcer barely said their names with the play by play. McDavid has a reputation of not performing in important games and tonight again was amiss. Crosby is just old. Now I am very grateful that McDavid scored for us but he should not have been first star. The first star by a long ways was Binnington. Someone that played exceptional and deserved the accolades and saved the game.

Super happy we won. It should have been a lot easier and we were lucky to have done it. Too bad McDavid scored for us but happy that he did. I was surprised he accepted his reward. lol

A group of at least 12 of us and McDavid was the talk with the bulk figuring he will never win a cup with any time a pressure game happens he disappears. Then he scored to quiet us all. But it is so true, he is not a step up to the plate type of guy. I predict you will see him traded and Edmonton get two star players to win the cup after their defeat again this year.

Knowing the Oiler media it will be told the greatest player scored for Canada. Let’s see. He has never won a cup, he is not the leading point getter in fact in 5th spot. He is an excellent player but not in the same league as stars before him, And the excuse it is different times does not fly. He has about 5 years left to make his mark.

A much better concept than a All Stars game and this year it was perfect with the tension over the game.

I don’t think Trump will invite the winning team to the White House.

We returned to the hall and watched the band play their last three songs. They were fantastic and if not for the game I am sure everyone would have said the best this year.

We completed our 400 chair take down and whipped back to see the overtime. Sat beside a couple that play at Mckenzie Meadows all of the time. Always a small world.

A fitting end to another series and our Arizona day. Up at 6:30 to book a tee time. It will be interesting to see if people are moving to the 8 am tee as it is 90 degrees next week.

Thought of the Day

You can’t take our country and you can’t take our game.

February 21st- 22nd

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 7 degrees, Calgary 10 degrees, Mesa 27 degrees”

Jackie up and out with Yogi. I don’t think she realizes it yet but it is not good for a person’s joints as I have heard her say she is experiencing pain. The stretching and prolonged tension of the muscles surrounding the joints can be affected and cause future pain. Motion is lotion is very true but repetitious straining is not and any activity that involves it will eventually result in pain. In fact a 2018 study found that yoga causes musculoskeletal pain in 10 percent of people, and exacerbates 21 percent of existing injuries.

But she loves it , it is nice social outing and who really cares if your knees hurt a bit.

I whipped Daisy to the park to do some business and have some fun. Only one dog today she wanted to play with.

Got home, showered and readied for golf. Hitting close to 90 today so I had to pick out an outfit that breathed. As I love the heat and it is extremely rare for me to sweat, I have had a perspiration drop before, I chose a light shirt to wear.

A blast golfing today and did fine until the last two holes a slice popped up. Low 80’s again. One of my players on my foursome shot his lights out with a net 63. Sandbagger. LOL

I haven’t won any money for a few weeks now.

A after party at Bob Spencer’s place to gloat and bug each other to end another great golf day. Our golf today was a little longer as we had four older women in front of us and as they could only hit it 100 yards we had a lot of waiting and close calls hitting the balls up to them. Took 4 hrs and 20 mins which is the longest this year.

Jackie completed more walls and trim and is slowly getting there. Great job also. She also managed to fit in a grocery run which good. Groceries !!! I haven’t done our Feb budget as of yet but I did notice groceries from our last Jan/Feb visa statement was over $2k. That is eating food at home only. Wow !

It adds up fast with after golf get togethers , people dropping by etc. It is something I wouldn’t want to change.

Early Daisy walk for Jackie and then she started painting and I headed over to Dwight’s to finish off his carport project. This is the second day. Now usually with every project something inevitably causes an issue. Today I was very happy as everything fell together. Lots of grinder cutting and chop saw work and screwing with it all working out great. I have one thing I would have liked to have done different but a bolted plate on the bottom was right where I had measured for my post so my clips are extended out further than I would like but it is just fine.

I will take pictures when the final part arrives in a couple of days.

I sat in the back for a bit until Daisy got too hot and I sat outside on the deck watching the PGA golf and tried to find the Oiler game but couldn’t. Mc David was so exhausted after his Canada goal he struggled to even get a shot today. LOL THEY LOST ! yes !

Lots going on in the park. We have the ASU girls tennis team here, we have the main hall stuffed for the quilt show ( even had to use the train as a shuttle for parking transportation) we had a sing along in the park, a baseball tournament, numerous block parties and a big Saskatchewan party. As soon as we hit over 80 degrees for days in a row it brings out the sun worshipers and the pools are packed.

Nice to have everything all going on.

BBQ baby back ribs with mashed potatoes and salad tonight sitting outside on the deck.

Thought of the Day

Grilling: the one time I’m in charge of the heat and my spouse is okay with it

February 23rd

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 7 degrees, Calgary 12 degrees, Mesa 27 degrees”

Time is going by so fast. 23rd of February already and it only seems we have been here a short time. 42 more before we have to be home in Canada. I always say why so early but it is just difficult with all of the rules we have in place. Oh well the most will be one to three weeks to wait before spring is in the air.

The normal start to the morning with Daisy & Jackie out the door for their walk. I had a wonderful fruit salad and my coffee and watched the news in the USA and Calgary.

Strange world we live in.

Jackie started to paint and Daisy and I went for a shopping spree. She loves all of the dogs in PetSmart. Treats, pads and canned food all for her. Spoiled little brat.

On the way home I thought I would treat us and stopped at Starbucks. A London Fog and a Mocha Frappuccino with exchange was $18. That is just wrong !!!

I did some computing for my golf and banking and relaxed for a bit in the back. Warm one out in the backyard with Daisy only visiting me not staying.

A fun afternoon and evening with Russ & Carol again. We changed up the structure of our pool playing but lucky for us guys we still dominated tonight. There were a lot of very close games expect for one. A lot of good shots ! I think Jackie & I are getting a little bit better.

An after billiard gathering with great snacks and cold beer plus a Mule for Jackie was nice. I am glad they decided to stay.

A learning moment for me tonight while we were fixing the worlds problems. I discovered that I do not excel at anything. I can do a lot of stuff, I am decent at a lot of stuff. I am excellent at a lot of stuff but I couldn’t think of one thing that I excel at. I don’t like this fact.

My one thing in life I did excel at, was sales. I was the first and only Henderson Sales Rep, ever, to sell over 1 million dollars in a month in one territory. Later as General Manager I took a struggling branch and we became the highest volume branch in Canada before we merged. I loved sales and with honesty, integrity, caring & concern along with persuasion and perseverance, I excelled at it.

I think I have to find a new skill after 11 yrs of not selling to excel at. Everyone should have something. I have to find a new one and at this moment I can’t say where that leads me.

Other than Jackie painting not a very busy day but a fun day.

The SAG awards were on tonight. For those not familiar with these awards they are exclusively for older women in Hollywood.

Thought of the Day

If it is not fun you are not doing it right.

February 23rd 24th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 8 degrees, Calgary 10 degrees, Mesa 30 degrees

Beautiful weather everywhere. Today hitting 90 degrees and zero wind and zero clouds. Wonderful.

For Feb in Alberta these are pretty nice temperatures. Don’t forget though March has been the snowiest month in many many years. I would guess though that maybe one or days max of cold weather left. So one can look forward to spring, perhaps. I see by the news there is no snow left which is awesome.

Two days rolled into one.

Jackie continues her painting and it is looking great. She is almost done with it.

I had my VP golfers out and another wonderful golf day. Some of the old farts internal thermostat is becoming worn out as they are finding the shotgun at 1pm too hot. It is only 30 to 32 degrees so not like it is real hot. I will switch to 8 am shotguns for the next week. I want to make sure I don’t have one collapse on the course. Only due to the fact I did feel one small perspiration bead.

The Par three’s today got me but otherwise pretty decent golf. Everyone had a more consistent scoring to capping rounds. Only two people in the net 60’s.

Denis ended up low net, low gross, sixties club and closest to the pin winner. He did well and played very well.

Low key evening watching some shows.

Yogi this morning for Jackie so she left the house before 8 am. The instructor was missing today so Jackie was nominated to lead the group. Sensei of the group. I think it is funny but she did said they had a great time as she was left a play sheet to follow. No injuries that we know of.

The water was off this morning so no shower. I headed out to Daisy’s groomer for her hair-do appointment. She pretends she is nervous about it but I think she likes it. She comes out smelling so pretty.

I was watching Global news tonight and even though news in itself is most often bad news tonight’s made me laugh.

You have a Calgary Mayor and Chief of Police crying about a 28 million dollar police budget short fall due to the Alberta Government protecting it citizens from predatory practices. Ticket revenue should NEVER become a police budget item. It incentivizes the cops to have more photo radar, hand out more tickets and never consider traffic safety. I repeat. Revenue created by law enforcement of any kind should NEVER be a general revenue item of a police budget. It is now the City’s issue to find dollars somewhere else more legit. They make it sound like AB Govt issue. It is not a police shortfall. It is a city shortfall. The police department gave a revenue assumption for city budgeting. You can be guaranteed the chief willingly increased that budget number yearly to get something he wanted like more cops, cars, offices etc. It is not right.

A busy day in the park with baseball going on, lots of golfers and the music on the green via new southpoint location.

Good night for hockey. Calgary wins and Edmonton loses. Slowly catching up but along ways to go. We need to just make the playoffs in the wild card.

Thought of the Day

I don’t sweat, I sparkle.

February 26th–27th

“Mercury Forecast Edmonton 7 degrees, Calgary 13 degrees,, Mesa 32 degrees”

Gorgeous weather. It was funny tonight as I looked up the temperatures it stated it was 27 degrees F in Calgary and 27 degrees C in Mesa.

Not a breeze and not a cloud today.

Up early this morning as it was my men’s group today. George who golfs with us was at Viewpoint so I picked him up and drove him. Two things. Nice to have someone to talk to all of the way and second to be able to travel in the HOV lane. Good thing as today the freeway was very busy.

A wonderful day golfing. A nice guy from BC, and great guy from Sask and my Captain who I have played with the last three weeks from Calgary.

Some great golf today by the whole group and great golf from my foursome.

We should have done so much better again but 7 birdie shots in the sun starting to hit us. I was the second low gross in our group. Out of the 32 players I achieved the low net with a score of 66. Total winnings today of $162 between the skin wins and winning 4 out of the 6 Triads. And I am back in the Top 10 Money list.

Some days good things happen and some lucky shots go your way. There are a few I would like back or a redo but that is golf. Birdie juice has been my nemesis lately.

Jackie and I whipped over to Bashaw’s and picked up a few groceries.

At home Jackie brought up an issue that we killed ourselves laughing at. A few years ago the two of us bought a new Brita jug. Installing the filter and trying to fill it resulted in us breaking it. I installed a soap dispenser in the kitchen sink last year and it was a pain in the ass trying to fill it as I had to go under the cabinet to remove it.

We discovered the secret of the Brita long after the fact and today Jackie discovered the secret to the dispenser and filling it now is simple. Two things here. It is awesome to learn something new every day but more about the fact that two people I would consider above average in intelligence had two obstacles that took us a way to long to decipher.

It made for a very funny moment.

I guess you had to be there. LOL

Jackie is off to Bunko tonight. Daisy and I will just veg in the cool a/c.

She came home having fun but didn’t win any money.

Out of house early for Jackie & Daisy to start the day. Then off to golf with the ladies. Nice today getting so warm to have a stronger breeze which just made it nice.

She scores so well on that course and it is HARD. I don’t like to play it.

I worked on the computer for quite a while. I haven’t really used Excel for 11 years since retiring. I was stumped in a formula to make my handicapping system accurate and easier for me. When you get into “array” formulas one comma causes errors. Hours wasted. Perhaps not.

Off at 3 pm to set up for our Easy Rock concert tonight which had about 400 chairs.

Wordle in 4 as it was a little tougher today. Two days in a row I had it in 2. Awesome !

Tonight’s concert was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed it , The 70’s and 80’s light rock with Gordon Lightfoot, Carol King and Joe Croce songs. The best sound system to date. Great singers and band. If I had to give one critic it would be to make sure to engage the audience more and have more of a stage presence. The songs are low key though but a little spice would have went a long ways. Move, dance a bit. lol A 9 out 10 just for that.

If anyone remembers, we went to a concert a few years ago. Someone in front of us complained about Jackie’s clapping being too loud. I thought at a concert you are going to complain about having fun and clapping. Tonight I understand a bit of where this lady was coming from. Jackie & Sandy were standing behind us and her clapping is too loud. It hurt the ears. Jackie cups her hands so the noise is like a deep drumming. Dave & I had a laugh about it. That’s my wife is all I need to say . LOL

Sandy & Jackie stood up all night enjoying the concert. Most of the crowd can’t.

A Oiler loss and a chance to catch up but lo & behold a Flames loss, No change.

Ok now I am going to puke. No wonder the poor guy can’t manage having this pressure. He is 4th in the league in scoring. How does that make him the best ?