Saturday, May 30

News Update

The end of another week finds us back on the shore of Lake Superior, in my hometown. It has been a full week. We started in Regina, and drove out to Gravelbourg on Sunday morning. That was a day of many reminiscences around my birth place and first home. I enjoyed seeing the new additions to the church in Gravelbourg, both material and personal. I enjoyed being asked to lead a song and 'try out' the acoustics of the new assembly area—it worked out well (perhaps a little more bounce would be helpful)! We enjoyed a wonderful meal with Gerry & Lorna, family and friends. We enjoyed a prairie rainstorm—not too severe, but providing plenty of moisture for the developing crops. ("A million-dollar rain," we used to hear it described as!) We drove by the old place and wondered at the trees—when did those spruce get to be so tall! As we headed north, past Trombergs and Rasmussens, we even ran into 'greasy' roads—more reminiscence than we wanted! We drove through Coderre and caught the highway to Moose Jaw.

There we went to visit Aunt Mary. But not so fast the sign told us—"Under Quarantine due to a Respiratory Outbreak"! Well, Wendy talked us through that, and we enjoyed a lovely visit with Aunty. We provided her various stories to ruminate over as she wondered at our arrival. (Visitors have been refused since early May!) We told her variously that, "We told them we're Danes, so rules don't apply." (She liked that one.) "We told them, we're not 'Visitors', we're 'Family'." (She liked that one as well.) She informed us that Grace & Elvin were out of town in Regina, but we decided to at least leave them a phone message—I was a little taken aback when Grace answered the phone! So, we enjoyed coffee [Does anyone need to be informed that Coffee always includes nothing but coffee?! (Where 'always' means 'seldom, if ever.')] and a visit there also.

After visiting and resting at Dad's in Regina, we headed east on Tuesday to Kenora where we stayed with Eric/A and the boys. (Thanks, guys!) And we completed the trip on Wednesday back to TBay.

Back at home we found Travis rejoicing (his Penguins are in the final) and all feeling concern over BJ and his continued convalescence. BJ has perked up a bit in recent days, so we hope he may rebound once again. He's an old dog—fourteen years, and clearly does not appear to be up to learning any new tricks! He mostly lays around, and often requires being carried outdoors.

Today finds us in celebratory mood. Travis is graduating from Lakehead University, where due to scheduling and diligence, he is achieving a double Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) with First Class Standing in Marketing and General Management at the spring convocation. We are so proud of him. He has a good job that he enjoys very much, and it holds the promise of providing a good income as well. Eric/A and the boys are down to assist with the celebration. A great day is had by all. It is capped by a nice evening with Travis and his friends.

Of course, we enjoy our reunion with Erin & Kristian. Both are as busy as ever, and having the Jays win a weekend series from Boston gets Erin into better spirits!

The garden is progressing well. Our investment training continues. Recent weeks have seen me fairly stagnant as over exuberant purchase prices entailed a lot of waiting, but this week everything sold, and I'm now at 29.4% overall gain in under three months. Yowsah! It seems that many (out there) see this as hard to believe—I do, too!

And that's the kind of week it's been.

Saturday, May 23

News Update

Another week finds us far away from Lake Superior and my hometown. We are in Regina; we have driven out here to attend and observe Tim & Krista's wedding. We plan to head home early next week.

The week started as a long weekend and we were enjoying have Eric/A and the boys with us. They headed back on Monday, and we continued with the regular business around home. I continue to have a few phone calls asking help from the schools. I have also been busy with the garden. We are only awaiting a few bedding plants now to complete the plan for this growing season. We have planted a lot of vines—cucumbers, several kinds of squash, pumpkins, and zucchini. Other than that we mostly have peas, beans and greens. I have tried to plant a bit more of peas and beans in the hope that we will have a continual supply during the season, rather than just a meal here and there. And I've also planted a bit of corn.

On Thursday afternoon we drove out to Kenora, and then on Friday we continued to Regina. Eric/A followed us Friday after work, arriving in Regina about 2:00 AM. Today was the wedding. It was very nice, and we enjoyed catching up with many people, and making some new acquaintances as well. Travis is along with us as he got off work early. He plans to head back with Eric/A so he can get back to work for the new week. We are glad to have the chance to spend a bit of time with Wendy's dad as well—thanks for putting us up!

Erin and Kristian remained at home and commiserated over the Blue Jays first extended losing streak of the young season. They are still in first place, but it's getting close! Other than that they are doing well. They are also caring for BJ who seems to be doing poorly. He is very old (for a dog) and is having trouble getting around lately. This will require some extra attention when we get home.

Investment training has continued. We didn't have a class this week since Monday was a holiday, but we kept at our investments. It was not an easy week since I had bought at higher values last week, and this week saw a lower market. Still, I managed a couple of sales, and have raised my over all gain to 28.1%.

And that's about it for this week.

Saturday, May 16

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, in my home town. We are not in Kansas anymore. We flew back from on Tuesday night, arriving in TBay about midnight. The weather has continued variable, and not warm enough to give me comfort over my garden. The next week looks better, so maybe yard work (and golf) can get back in full-swing! We enjoyed our time in Abilene, celebrating Shepherd's grad, as well as the drive back and forth from Lawrence KS. And we found out that we actually were able to celebrate about seven graduations of friends and family from ACU.

I've had a little work around the office this week. I was offered a month-long teaching assignment in Hornepayne, and after some consideration was looking forward to accepting that, but it turned out they wanted me to pay for the privilege of working there—so I demurred! When I had taught for a week in another community last fall, I was paid salary and expenses. This time, they only offered salary, and when Wendy checked out expenses... it didn't pay! My buddy, Wes, opined that since I've been working for nothing so much, they now wanted me to pay them! So, we continue to try to live on EI (and love) and it's thin living!!

Investment training continues. This week, I took the lecture while in Lawrence KS. The internet is certainly a wonderful facility. Investments have not gone well this week with both Energy and Financials down over 7%, but I still managed two sells and raised my total gain to 27%. I have all five stocks bought—and they're all currently at a loss position, so we hope things improve next week!

Kristian and Erin were both down with colds while we were away and continue to suffer a bit this week. Travis seems to be much improved, and watching his Penguins advance to the next round in the Stanley Cup playoffs really improved his outlook!

As this is long weekend, we are glad to have Eric/A and the boys visiting with us. Hopefully, the weather will smarten up tomorrow...

And that's about it for this week.

Saturday, May 9

News Update

Another week has passed, and we have wandered south, away from the shore of Lake Superior. We are in Abilene to celebrate graduation with Shepherd, our friend from Zambia. We flew down from TBay to Lawrence KS on Thursday afternoon and met up with our old friend (well actually, I shouldn't call her an old friend, but our longtime friend who is actually just a young thing), Marti. She drives us down to Abilene on Friday. It is great to spend a bit of additional time with Shepherd and Ruhtt. We also get a special treat of catching up with another old Zambian contact Ryan and his wife. Then, while we were there, we also Skyped to Kadonsi in Zambia. It was good to hear his voice. Of course, there were a number of other Zambian contacts attending the graduation, so we also were pleased to catch up with them. We also discovered, to our surprise, that we had connections to about half a dozen of the graduates, so it was good to celebrate with them all.

The graduation itself was a great celebration of Shepherd's efforts and achievement in the masters' program for Human Resources. We hope he will be able to provide great administrative service in Zambia now for many years.

The week started with the usual things around home, and I also had a conference session on Thursday before we flew out. The garden is developing well, in its new location. We are planning for many more vines (cucumber, squash, zuchini, pumpkins) that we will grow along the borders of the back yard. And of course, I'm also trying that potatoes in a box idea! It will be interesting again to see how things develop.

The investment training continues. It was an interesting week as the markets were rising, and we found we did not have an effective strategy for buying as prices increase. After our lesson on Monday evening, we had new techniques and raised our prices for Tuesday. It did not work; prices rose again! So on Wednesday we chose a new strategy of picking a price much higher than the current quote, and were successful in buying all our stocks (in a falling market) at prices much higher than we should have paid!! I guess this was a learning experience! Anyway, the markets rose again on Friday, so we did fine. Overall, I am now up 26.4% in nine weeks. It is too good to really believe. Especially after my experiences with professional managers over the last ten years where I've learned that the only way they could make me a millionaire was if I had started with two million!

Wendy has continued with house and yard work as a part of her rites of spring. As usual whatever she does, she overdoes, so she has been suffering with aches, pains and blisters as a result.

Erin and Kristian are doing well. It is delightful to hear his little voice as he begins to be able to hold short conversations and learns more and more words.Erin continues to work on her options for work and training next year.

Travis is doing well with his work. He has been suffering a bit of ill health this week. Perhaps it's just seasonal allergies.

And that's the kind of week it's been.

Saturday, May 2

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, in my hometown. The weather has been nice so we've enjoyed some out doors times. Kristian loves playing in the back yard where I built him a sandbox and installed a slide. Actually, he thinks the larger sandy area I have developed for the pool is even more attractive, so we usually find him there. He also likes time on the trampoline, and practicing his golfing. (Where did he pick up that interest?!) I've been working on the garden, and have it pretty much ready to go. I plan to start planting soon.

My health concern continues. I visited with my oncologist on Wednesday. He was happy to see that my PSA was somewhat lower, although still too high. He says it is further evidence that the elevated levels are just caused by a chronic infection. I also had him check out my little growth. It was his opinion that it was not a thrombosed hemorrhoid, but he referred me back to my family doctor for further investigation. So, I was back to see her on Friday, and she feels certain it is a thrombosed hemorrhoid. She cannot understand why I report no pain! She says I must have a high pain threshold. (Translation: I don't suffer from pain, I'm just a carrier!) She is referring me to a surgeon for a sigmoidoscope, possibly a full colonscopy and whatever surgical action he decides is appropriate. So, the saga continues. Meanwhile, I'm on those suppositories. We hope for a reduction in stress, distress and inflammation!

I have had only a little call-desk work this week. Next week, I have our annual spring conference, and then we're flying south to celebrate our friend Shepherd's graduation in Abilene. Investment training continues to go well, and I had a great week with my stocks. I'm now up 22.8% in eight weeks. Let's hope it continues.

Wendy has continued her dedicated efforts toward spring cleaning. Furniture is being moved, floors are being renovated. Adjustments are being made! Improvement is evident.

Erin continues to move toward furthering her education while continuing to work part time. Lots of planning need to be accomplished to put this all in place. Kristian continues to progress with his speech. He understands nearly everything we try to tell him, and his expressive language is growing bit by bit.

Travis is doing very well with his work, his projects, and the investment training he's taking with me. Now that the next round of playoffs have started, he's unavailable during Penguin games. And now that they're trailing, he'll have to cheer even more!

And that's about it for this week.