Saturday, March 29

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather is gradually improving, and we're getting some helpful melting. I have dug out the trampoline in the back yard, and it is ready for the season. We've had a lot of snow this winter, so it'll take many days of warm weather to clear it away. The markets have remained troubled and are down for the month; they are draining value from my portfolio as well. Sigh! We've begun another foray into the renovations game here. We had our favourite gas-fitter by this week, and he's given us a price to install natural gas inserts in our two fireplaces, and hook up our gas range. We've also begun some other renovations to the layout downstairs. Wendy has prepared the documentation concerning our taxes and has fired that off to our chartered accountant daughter! Thanks Erica! Wendy and I completed our dental cleaning this week. The team at the college recommended I go to the dentist to have a couple of problem teeth attended to—rats! Wendy had her usual clear check up. The World Championships have begun in men's curling, and Kevin Koe won his opening game this morning. March Madness continues in NCAA college basketball—plenty of drama there! 

Haaken and Liam have been enjoying another week of school break, and reverting to their default setting of late-to-bed, late-to-rise! That will need to change soon! This weekend they're all in Vancouver since Eric had a conference there, and the rest are enjoying access to the special attractions. Last night Erica and the boys enjoyed the FlyOver Canada at Canada Place, and Eric enjoyed skipping a ride! Today they had hop on, hop off passes and enjoyed the many experiences this access provided. They were looking for discounted tickets for Blue Man Group as well. Haaken has been preparing for his Learner's License; we hope that will be accomplished soon. Liam is preparing for train tracks, tin grin and metal head! He has some dental work to complete before the braces are applied.

Just when we thought Kristian was doing well, he came down ill and missed some school. We're glad to report he's on the mend. Erin took her once-per-decade visit to the dentist, and received a clean bill of health in that regard. Must be nice! 

Trav, Joanna and crew continue to be busy with their usual activities. This evening they hosted us for supper—thanks, guys! Trav's team won their semi-final series in straight games and are in the finals now for midget hockey. Let's go Elks!

And that's about enough for this week.

Friday, March 28

Bus Driver Bill

Having twenty-four hours to prepare myself, I was ready to address my high school students on Tuesday afternoon. I hit the Noise Suppression switch (which turns off all fans in the bus), removed my seat belt, rose from my seat and turned to address the group. 

"Students, we have an issue. It may be a human rights issue, so I'm asking you to pay serious attention. Yesterday afternoon, on this run, there was an incident, and I need to direct your attention to it. Apparently, although I can't say for sure, there was one or more students involved in this, ah, situation. Now, I can't say for sure, but it seemed to me that there was some kind of religious activity or ritual going on in the back part of the bus. As you know, this cannot be allowed! Apparently, this was some form of voodoo, or other cultic religion. I can't really say for sure, but what I found were some chicken bones laying on the floor." 

At this point, I could hold my face no longer. I broke, and they broke out in hearty laughter. 

"Please clean up after yourselves and help keep the bus clean," I concluded. 

This kind of response doesn't always work, but it's good to note there have been no more chicken remains, or any other garbage left on the floor.

Saturday, March 22

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very nice, but we're not making much headway on the accumulated snow piles! I have gained access to the barbecue, so that's something at least. The bus people put me back to work immediately on my old run. Only one student had been suspended this time! However, there were a lot of happy faces, several parents came out to greet me, and one grade 11 boy surprised me with a big hug! The markets have been volatile, but I've been blessed with some recovery and am back on quota. I've been watching the women's curling championships all week where Rachel Homan managed to complete the round robin in first place. Now, they're in the playoffs, and have advanced to the championship final against Switzerland tomorrow. I'm expecting the gold! March Madness has begun, my favourite basketball time of the year. Already we've had a batch of bracket busting upsets. The Jayhawks won their first, and play again tomorrow. I don't have high hopes for them if they don't get their injured centre back, soon. Wendy has been very busy with appointments and clearing up the back log of paperwork here. Each of us has started a set of dental cleanings at the college. 

Eric and the boys have been holidaying on the Island, while Erica has been away in Mexico all week. Reports indicate that all involved had a good week. 

We've had a few chats with Erin and Kristian since we got back. They seem to be doing well at work and school. We miss spending time with them. 

Trav & Joanna are very busy this weekend with a hockey tournament. This time it's all business as they've set up a booth there. Trav's hockey team continues in the second round of the playoffs and started off with a win; they play again tomorrow. Gemma and Andrew are busy with school, but we haven't seen much of them yet. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Saturday, March 15

News Update

Another week has passed and we have returned to the shore of Lake Superior. The weather has been beautiful, and a lot of snow has sunk or melted from the streets, however, there remains a lot more to go! The week began with the Brier final, and Kevin Koe came through with a convincing win! I've had this week off, and now I'm into the women's world championships that began today with a win over Russia. I have high expectations of Rachel Homan; she was there last year and managed a medal, but I will be disappointed if it's not gold this time! The markets have been troubled all week with weak Chinese data, and strong Russian dictator! My accounts felt the pain as well. As a result, I have now fallen below quota—sigh! We have completed our visit to Regina; it was a very good time. Thank you, dad, for hosting us so graciously. We also relished in the chances to spend time with Erin & Kristian. We miss them all already! We drove to Winnipeg on Friday, met up with Erica, and passed the night with her, before she continued her trip to Mexico this morning. We cashed out a Red Lobster coupon from David when we arrived in Winnipeg and enjoyed a fabulous seafood feast—thanks, Dave. We completed the drive down to Thunder Bay today. Travis & Joanna welcomed us home with a lovely dinner. They've done a great job of taking care of things while we were away—thank you. Along with everything else, I'm getting ready for March Madness which is set to begin in the coming week. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk! 

Eric/A enjoyed a sunny week in Parksville and at least one of them was able to get out on the new bikes every day. The bikes are testing out well. Erica has been off work this week, and is taking the next week in sunny Mexico. She met up with Tanis in Winnipeg this morning, and they have flown to the Mayan Rivera for a week of RnR. Eric had a trip to Vancouver on Monday to visit his brother and enjoy two periods of Canuck hockey. He also watched the third period but some of that was obscured by tears! The boys finished up a final week of school, and are now off on a two-week spring break! I don't remember such long spring breaks when I was a kid, nor when I was a teacher! 

Erin has been under the weather nearly all week, but is gradually getting better. Kristian is into the rainbow loom and has made projects for most of us now. 

Trav, Joanna and crew have been managing their usual activities of work and school. We look forward to catching up with them now that we're back home. Trav's hockey team starts their second round series on Wednesday. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Saturday, March 8

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairie. Finally, the weather has turned Spring-like with above zero temperatures facing us each day on the forecast for next week. We got a couple more dumps of snow this week, but I've scored a couple of shovels, so the driveway clearing went easily. I've also cleaned off the deck, so we plan a barbecue in the coming week. School bus driving has ended for now; I trained a new driver on the route this week, accompanying her for the final time on Wednesday. We'll have to wait to see whether there is a route for me back in TBay. I've been watching the Brier all week, and as expected my three favourites rose to the top, tied with identical 9-2 records. Playoffs are underway. BC(Morris) awaits in the final which is set to be played tomorrow. AB(Koe) overcame PQ(Menard) in an extra end to advance this evening, after Menard knocked off MB(Stoughton). SK(Laycock), my sentimental favourite, entered the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" country by giving up a steal of 3 on their final end to miss the playoffs! The markets have been roiled this week by events unfolding in Ukraine. Good economic data in the US has driven their markets to all-time highs, but we have not had such good data here. Still I've been blessed with good gains and am at quota for the first quarter with three weeks to go. I will try to build on that rather than let it fritter away! Wendy has continued with therapy on her arthritic hands, and also keeps over-working them with sewing and other projects. On Friday evening, she prepared a family celebration for Dad's 89th birthday—that was a nice gathering featuring birthday cake by Ashley! Tomorrow is her birthday—happy birthday, dear!

Eric/A have had a good week which included them obtaining new motorcycles! It's raining there right now, but they look forward to getting them out on the Island roads soon. They got a matching pair of Kawasaki Vulcan 900 bikes. Look pretty good to me!


Kristian had Thursday and Friday off school. We enjoyed having him with us. He and I got out for a try at tennis on Friday afternoon. That was fun!

Trav, Joanna and crew keep busy. Trav's team is in the playoffs and won their first round series already. Now they wait for their semi-final opponent. In the meantime they continue to look forward to Spring! They are currently enjoying a family visitor.

And that's about enough for this week. 

Saturday, March 1

News Update

Another week has ended with extremely frigid weather on the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairie. March has clearly come in as a lion, so we look forward to lamb-like weather, and hope it will arrive soon. The Olympics ended wonderfully for us as our men won the hockey gold with spectacular defensive play allowing only three goals in six games. Today, our national curling championship has started, so I'll be tuned in to the Brier all week long. I will follow my sentimental favourites in Sask and the NWT, but I'm picking Kevin Koe to win it all, with Jeff Stoughton right in there as co-favourite, and I have to give a nod to John Morris and his new BC team, since they got to the Olympic trials final. The markets have shown recovery in February with all indexes in the green for the month, and only the DOW remaining in the red for the year to date. I've been blessed with another good week and end the month above quota so far this year. Wendy has had further consultations about her arthritic fingers; other possibilities are being entertained, and we are hopeful that improvement will be obtained. Bus driving continues to go well, and with the arrival of March, I am reminded that only a few days remain in this sojourn in Regina. Dave left last weekend for a holiday trip to BC; he is currently on Vancouver Island. Dad has obtained a new walker and is practising getting around the house with it. Rich and Sue are coming back from Zambia into this deep freeze—sorry about that! 

Eric/A and the boys are entertaining Uncle Dave this weekend. Last night Erica enjoyed a bit of RnR with a trip the spa. Today they're off to Port Alberni where Liam is in a hockey playoff—go Liam! Haaken enjoyed the local production of Mamma Mia! He demonstrated his enjoyment of ABBA and threw in a few dance moves as well—go Haaken! Eric had a performance review to mark the completion of his probation; it was positive. He continues to work on his case load, building the case for funding for another year, and writing articles for the organization.  

Kristian is suffering with symptoms of a urinary tract infection and is on antibiotics; we hope he feels well soon. Erin continues to balance work with the demands of home and Kristian's homework. They completed a book project this week—I hope she gets a good grade! 

Travis & Joanna remain very busy with work, but hockey season is drawing to a close in Thunder Bay, so the Puckshots work should ease soon. They are suffering under a very snowy winter there, and looking forward to Spring which can't come soon enough! Under an extended polar vortex, even Lake Superior is mostly ice-covered. 

And that's about enough for one week.