Saturday, October 25

News Update

We've enjoyed a beautiful week of weather here on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We have been enjoying the weather, but I did not go golfing. I was planning to go yesterday or today, but didn't take advantage yesterday, and then it was very windy today. The longer range forecast predicts cooler weather next week, sigh! Upstairs renos have continued to make progress and the results are fulfilling. We have purchased hardwood flooring for the living room, and I plan to let it sit and acclimate for quite some time before starting that project! The markets were very good this week except for the one day sell-off after the shooting in Ottawa. I managed to make some buys and increase to over 25% in the market again. The hard drive on my laptop failed, so I ordered a new solid state drive, and installed that yesterday—it's working well! The Riders played on Sunday and again last evening; they lost both games, but did show some promise and improvement. The World Series continued with the fourth game today. KC is doing well, but took a spanking tonight! They're tied 2-2 in games. 

Haaken and Liam's school schedules coincided with PD days on Thursday and Friday. Haaken spent them hanging out at home, making and watching videos on his laptop. Liam got to visit with his Dad in Prince Albert for the weekend. This required Eric to round-trip Caronport (4.5 hours each way!) on Wednesday night, so the remainder of his week was a bit fuzzy, but he is enjoying the visit as well. Erica is continuing to wrap things up in Parksville, preparing to leave in December. She is also looking at some employment possibilities in Saskatchewan. 

Erin managed to get a compounding pharmacist to reconstitute the Erythromycin in a liquid form, which Kristian is able to take. As a result his eyes are improving, but there's quite a long path to travel there. He is also taking pro-biotics to rebuild the good bacteria in his system, as the e-mycin kills them off as well! 

Trav & Joanna are very busy with hockey photos these days. It's the start of the season and many teams are organized to get this done quickly. His team has rebounded from the opening loss and put together two solid victories since. Gemma and Andrew are busy with school and friends. Joanna had a particularly busy week at work as they had a big sale on winter clothing. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Saturday, October 18

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been cool and rainy, and the leaves are changing colours and beginning to fall around town. Renovations are on hold as we have company this week, but the bathroom is at quite a usable stage at least. The only thing we can't do right now is shower there, so we continue to wander downstairs for that. Anyway, it's looking like it will turn out well (much better than I was expecting), but Wendy had bigger dreams than I did, and, somehow, has pushed me to accomplish them! The markets continued their 'correction' in the early part of the week as the TSX lost 12% in the last six weeks, and even the US indices lost about 10% in the fears over Ukraine, Europe, Hong Kong, Iraq, ISIL, and Ebola! They say that fear and greed run the markets, and the American media seems to run almost solely on the fear side of that equation! Finally, the solid data out of the US economy with the fewest jobless claims in 14 years, and the fastest deficit reduction since WWII could no longer be ignored and greed pushed the markets forward Thursday and Friday and gave me a green week. However, I'm reduced to only 14% in the market, so I'll be looking for opportunities to buy back in. Baseball has completed the preliminaries and we're now ready for the World Serious! My two picks managed to come through, and I'll be cheering for KC in the Series. The Riders lost their game badly in Montreal on Monday, and play Edmonton tomorrow. Both teams are in playoff position, but are fighting for home field advantage. Go Riders, Go! Bus driving continues to go well; most mornings, lately, I'm meeting one of these wind turbine blades heading east. 
They're big! 

Haaken and Erica returned to Parksville to enjoy Thanksgiving-II with the Robinsons. They enjoyed a Butterball stuffed, cook-from-frozen turkey—it actually cooked right through! Amazing! Eric and Liam joined Grandpa, Erin and Kristian for the Rider game against Montreal. Unfortunately, the Riders did not join the game, so Eric and Liam left early to take Liam back to school. It's been a quiet week for the Bailey family.

Erin and Kristian have not been enjoying such quiet times. Kristian continues to fight his eye issues and has not been able to accommodate the Erthyromycin pills easily. He does seem to be improving, but this is expected to be a long term battle. Friday was a day off school for Kristian and he enjoyed spending the time with Ashley including a trip to the Science Centre. 

Trav, Joanna, Gemma and Andrew are hosting Grandma Pamela this week, and we're enjoying the visit as well. Gemma had a set of reports describing her excellent progress so far this term. She is also displaying interest in high school football and has attended several games already. The Elks82s completed their preseason undefeated, but have opened the regular season with a loss

And that's about it for this week. 

Saturday, October 11

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We are enjoying the Thanksgiving weekend with our family here in TBay. The turkey is planned for Sunday evening! The weather has been cool and rainy most of the week, but it turned nice for the weekend—must be some mistake! The markets have continued to be awful! TSX has dropped 8% since the summer, and the DOW is now in the red for the year. I've been stopping out of positions, but the remaining holdings continue to lose money, and another one hit the stop this week—sigh! September is historically the worst month for the markets, but October has continued the theme, and I'm not enjoying it. Work continues on the upstairs bathroom and we're getting close. I've been busy mowing lawns the last two days, so I haven't pulled out the old vanity and installed the new one although we're at that stage finally. Baseball has moved into the playoffs and I'm following it a bit more closely, cheering for KC and SF to make it to the final and for KC to win it all. Football continues toward the playoffs. Riders are in good position in the standings but in bad position without their franchise QB. They play in Montreal on Thanksgiving Day. Go Riders, Go! 

Haaken got the part of the coach in Grease. Liam's football team won their game on Wednesday despite his continued absence. He worked on game film from the sidelines. Erica, Haaken and Jenny flew out to Regina on Thursday to meet up with Eric and Liam and spend Thanksgiving weekend together. They plan on Tunnel Tours in Moose Jaw along with impromptu tours of Briercrest and Dog River (Roleau)! They plan turkey supper for Sunday. Erica lost her purse on the trip to Regina, probably on the plane. West Jet indicates they would have found it and returned it by now, however, she flew Air Canada, so she's cancelling her cards and replacing her ID. She had a job interview in Saskatoon on Friday; she expects to hear the results of that in the next couple of weeks. 

Erin continues to recover from her cold, and to battle the landlord over bed bugs! Kristian is not doing well. Even while working through another prescription for his eye problems, Erin finally decided it was too much and took him to emergency. As a result, his diagnosis has been upgraded and so have the medical interventions. They are trying to change the chemistry of his eyes as his own systems seem to be working against him. We pray this will result in improvement and eventual healing. They are celebrating Thanksgiving weekend with the Baileys, enjoying the tours and planning turkey supper at Grandpa's in Regina. 

Trav and Joanna continue to be very busy with their various jobs. Joanna and Gemma are working a large wedding this weekend. Hockey season has begun, so team photos and stickers are hot items. Of course the NHL early season is also attracting Trav's attention and he's enjoying the early season success of the Penguins. 

And that's about enough for this week! 

Saturday, October 4

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned cooler, and while there are still lots of golfers on the courses, I haven't been tempted this week! The markets continued to struggle in the early part of the week, as fears over Ukraine, Hong Kong, Iraq Syria and Ebola caused a sell-off, but finally the strong economic news coming out of the US turned things upward and I managed a green week, although not up to quota. Work continued on bathroom renos and we continued to have surprises that slow the progress. Still, we have managed to pick out all the new equipment, flooring and paint, so another week should see that project finished. Afternoon delivery on the bus continues to be a struggle with the one elementary school. Baseball has moved into the playoffs now, and I'm paying a bit of attention. The Riders showed more promise last night against the first place Stamps, but finally succumbed on a last minute touchdown. 

Liam got his first cast this week. They'll recheck after two weeks and determine how to proceed. Otherwise, he continues to enjoy school. Haaken tried out for musical theatre—Grease! He sang Grease Lightning for his tryout. He should hear next week whether he has secured a part. Eric is enjoying his work. This weekend, he is taking the motorcycles to Saskatoon to store them for the winter. Then he's carrying on to Caronport to visit with Liam, and sign the cast. Erica continues to work at the School District in Parksville. This week was spent sorting out the Transportation system. With the closure of about 30% of school capacity and the subsequent reconfiguration of the remaining schools there were more than a few tweaks needed on busing! So, she was able to learn that management is mostly about listening to complaints from customers, and encouraging the people who are actually doing the work!  That's quite a good bit of education for any given week! 

Erin and Kristian call from time to time. Erin got a new iPhone6, and Kristian has inherited the old iPhone4, although it's not enabled for phone, but just a glorified iPod. Erin is recovering from her cold, but Kristian continues to suffer with his eye infection. He got another round of medication this week, and some kind of promise to upgrade him to a specialist after this round. We sure would like the problem to be cleared up. He had his audiology check up this week; it showed no changes, so that's good. 

Trav and Joanna are busy with hockey start up, booking and taking team photos. Trav's team had their first exhibition game today, winning 5-2 and showing encouraging signs. Gemma had some down time this week and missed a day at school. Andrew continues to enjoy learning his multiplication facts! 

And that's about enough for this week.