Saturday, June 25

News Update

We've had a week of mostly wet weather here on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Still, it has been nothing compared to what some are suffering with seasonal and rain-induced flooding. I have been able to continue cycling to work except for one day, although I did get soaked riding home one afternoon. It cleared off on Friday afternoon, and was mostly sunny today except for the inevitable thunder storms produced by daytime heating. I managed to get a golf game in today; I scored 86 on my first try of the year—very satisfactory! The markets have continued along their troubled ways this week, but I have finally managed to make some gains for the first week this month. The garden is progressing well, and both tomatoes and potatoes are starting to flower.

Wendy has continued with regular shifts at Walmart. She is doing well there, and is counted on by management to keep the shoe department in order. We got some more soil, so she is also busy with additional planter pots to display her flowers.

Kristian had his graduation on Friday! He has progressed well, and will now look forward to grade one in the Fall. Erin has taken on extra accounting work in the evenings to help another firm catch up with their accounts. This should be fairly short term. This weekend, she's off to Duluth for a shopping and fun trip with a few friends.

Trav continues to be very busy with regular work and contracts. He's still waiting to hear the decision on his grant application. Joanna is doing well, and keeping very busy. We enjoyed spending time with the whole crew on Father's Day and again for a family supper Friday evening. Trav has been busy following the NHL entry draft this week.

And that's about it for this week.

Saturday, June 18

News Update

Another great week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued to be lovely, although it has turned cloudy and cooler today. The markets have remained cold, with the TSX now down 10.4% since April. Thankfully, I've managed to miss most of the decline, however this week marks a third losing week in a row for me. American markets had a gain this week, so maybe that's a sign that we're finally ready for a rally as well. Work continues to go fine. The cycling back and forth is certainly getting easier; my legs feel much better and my fitness level has improved. I wish the spare tire I'm carrying around my middle would start disappearing! The lawns and garden are progressing well. Wendy wants some lawn added to the back yard, so, that's another project on my "to do" list. We got a load of dirt delivered yesterday toward that project, as well as some work in the church yard over the back fence. Erica arrived on Wednesday evening, and after spending Thursday in Toronto, she is spending the weekend with us while she takes a motorcycling course at Confederation College. So, that was an extra treat for Father's Day/Week!

Wendy continues with Wally World work, and work around home pretty much as per usual. We managed a trip to the golf course this week where we spent some enjoyable time on the practice area and on the driving range. I'm trying to get her back to golfing as she was the year we spent in Victoria.

Kristian is having a busy life with school closing special events and birthday parties featured this week. Regular work has slowed down a bit for Erin, so she's accepted an extra assignment to work some evenings doing books for another firm. Yikes!

Trav continues with work and private contracting. We're still waiting to hear a decision on his grant application. Joanna is putting in lots of hours at non-standard times of the day in her work with Life Labs. It's her birthday today, so Happy Birthday Joanna! It was a transitional week in sports. We grieved the loss of the Stanley Cup for the Canucks, but already the pre-season has opened in football—Go Riders, Go! They won last night over Edmonton.

And that's about it for this week.

Saturday, June 11

News Update

Another fine week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, in my hometown. While the weather has been nice, the markets have not been! We have descended to new lows for the year, and I have been fortunate to hang on to gains. While May was my first down month, June has continued the losing streak, and only a short buy on Oil contributed strongly this week and even allowed me to make a nice gain on Friday. I didn't get out for a golf game this week, but continue to practice, plan, and hope! I picked up two charters this week to supplement my bus driving work. The lawns are looking better, and I even 'watered' my dandelions this morning—I hope that kills off this particular crop. The new lawnmower is working great; Wendy gave away the old one. I've decided to work better, and I'll keep watching out for ads to give away an old husband on Kijiji! The garden is looking good. I've got the cages on the tomatoes, and it appears the potato crop will be a success this year. However, we can't count those until the harvest! The rhubarb is growing like crazy. Hay fever season appears to have ended, and that's a relief.

Wendy has continued to be very busy. She's added some hostas to the plantation in the backyard. They sure add a nice variation of colour and fill in some gaps between the cedars. She has taken on almost full time shifts at Walmart, including her first 7am shift just today. In between she still finds time for grandmotherly pursuits like Kristian's school picnic.

Kristian seems to be on another learning surge as he is able to tell me quite comprehensive stories of his daily events. I'm feeling this will lead to another surge in the reading and writing aspects of his language development. He is very busy with end-of-the-year events at school and day care. Erin keeps busy with work, but the hail-damage rush seems to be easing finally.

Trav has heard some encouraging follow-up on his young entrepreneurship grant, so we hope for a successful decision on that in the next month or so. Joanna is busy with work and the kids, but still hosted the whole family for an indoor picnic last weekend. We enjoyed that. The Canucks suffered a couple of severe set backs in their Stanley Cup quest, but got back on track last night and now lead the series three games to two.

And that's about it for this week.

Saturday, June 4

News Update

It has been another fine week on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has decidedly warmed up, and we've had a few thunder storms, so I guess it's officially summer. Bus driving is going fine; we're in the final weeks now. We had a first go-round on the bidding for routes for next year. It was closer than I expected. We've lost thirty-two runs, but there were only eight people before me when the last run was taken. With a few more expected to move or retire over the summer, it will be getting at least interesting when the real bidding is taken at the end of August. Since I just started driving with them last November, there are only about six drivers who have less seniority than I have. The investing business was decidedly bad this week. Weak economic data out of the US dropped markets world-wide. I didn't expect the main damage to come until Friday, but I was wrong and when the markets dipped almost 300 points on Wednesday, I got caught, and ended up down to tune of almost 2% for the week. I'm pretty much out of the market now (12.5% in), but I'll be looking for opportunities again once things have settled on a direction. It has been windy, so I haven't tried playing golf, but practice is going well so far. I received two new pieces of advice concerning my annual allergy battles: Take a program of desensitization, Try nasal irrigation. There were also some references to drugs that may help, but nothing I haven't already tried. Anyway, thanks for the advice; I am going to give both ideas a try.

We had a special event today as our friends, Gord & Nora, celebrated their fiftieth anniversary. We enjoyed the time with them. Wendy had me "purdied up" in the requisite black & white. Otherwise, Wendy has kept up with work at Walmart, and has also been turning some attention to the yard. Our lawnmower is giving up the ghost, but Wendy has sourced me a new electric one, and we're just waiting for it to arrive. She was able to attend Joanna's graduation yesterday; we are very proud of her as she graduated second in her class with a perfect 4.0 average.

Erin has continued to be very busy at work as the recent hail storm still has people working through rental cars as their hail-damaged vehicles are repaired. There is some newer technology that allows them to pop the dents back out for a paintless repair. Their associated body shop has imported a team of guys who are working steadily through the backlog of vehicles needing these repairs. Kristian is doing well; school is in the final stages for the year, so there are lots of special trips and activities going on. His speech just keeps getting better.

Trav continues with work as usual. We are waiting along with him for a decision on his application to start his own business. He enjoyed being able to celebrate Joanna's graduation. Now both of them are focused on developing their careers.

It's Stanley Cup finals, finally, and tonight the Canucks made it two games in a row over Boston. We look forward to them finishing the job as soon as possible!

And that's about it for this week.