Oh my, Omicron!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather continues to adjust the thermostat downwards, and we struggle to make it above freezing each day. We've felt some November winds as well. I have restarted my curling career with two games this week. I got a little woozy from the exertions of sweeping in game 1, so I had to take it a bit easier in game 2. At least I had fun! 

The box holds the playing pieces...

...the lid flips over to reveal the board.

I have continued work on my Quatro game, as I'm planning to send it west on Monday. Wendy and I have spent some time practicing the game, and agree that the expert adaptation is needed to avoid playing to a lot of draws. The labelling didn't work out perfectly, but I like it. I'm considering a few other designs for the game board, but not planning to build boxes for the playing pieces.

For her little boy...

Wendy has been working on a special cake for Trav's birthday. As always, it's amazing—hours of patient, loving, artistic endeavour! I'm looking forward to seeing his reaction to it this evening!

Art & Artist!

The markets have continued their topsy-turvy behaviour and that was accentuated, in spades on Friday. The week was beset by smaller volumes due to the USA Thanksgiving holiday, and when news broke of the new Omicron variant of the covid virus, investors just sold out to end the week. That left me feeling a lot of pain as well, and only two trading days left for some needed recovery. The biggest villains in all this include the anti-vaxers, and the jurisdictions (and people) that refuse to practice good health procedures. Those folks are keeping the virus thriving, and allowing it more time to mutate. For our part, we got our booster shot on Friday, and we will be following with interest the research on the efficacy of the vaccines against this new variant, and readying ourselves for more boosters if that becomes necessary. Most of my sports teams are thriving. Oilers, Pens, and Leafs are getting good results in hockey. The Longhorns won their game this week, while #7-Cowboys hosted #10-Sooners, so someone had to lose, and this time it was the visitors! The big exception was my #4-Jayhawks in basketball. They played a sloppy second half, with no intensity, and managed to lose to unranked Dayton. They can kiss their lofty ranking good-bye! The Riders host Calgary in the west semi-final tomorrow—Let's Go, Riders! I've been following the Olympic Trials in Curling all week. My picks both advanced to the medal round. Koe lost to Jacobs in the semi-final, while Einarson lost to local favourite, McCarville. However, Jones defeated her to advance to the final. Gushue and Fleury are waiting to play them in the finals tomorrow, and whoever wins, we'll have two strong representatives. 

Erica writes, "It was a pretty ordinary week at the Bailey house. However, on Friday, we got to take in a local dinner theatre production of a Die Hard Christmas. It was a spoof of the film with very low-budget special effects. We laughed! Greg had a small flood in his basement, but he got the water shut off right away so hopefully minimal damage! Liam and Haaken continue doing their regular activities. We are looking forward to Liam’s return home on the 11th."

Erin and Kristian had a good week in wintry Regina. Kristian's latest school reports are very good, and very encouraging—great work, buddy! Kristian has taken up curling as one of his recreational courses, and is enjoying that. He also benefits from several activities sponsored by his school program. Now that Kristian has given permission, they have put up their Christmas trees both on the main floor and downstairs. Now we wait to see how they are decorated! 

Trav & Joanna have been extremely busy all week. I'm sure that's what you want when you're in business, and they've been experiencing it!

Our baby boy turns 40! 

And the big event of the week was Trav's 40th birthday party this evening. We hosted them at our place. Joanna produced all the food, and Wendy built the cake! It was a good time! 

And that's about it for this week.