It's a Pain!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been comfortable, but several nights with even a risk of frost—Autumn is here! I've been nursing a bad back all week. I don't know what happened, but I was working on the drawer unit in the shop when suddenly I had a sharp pain in the back, and was almost unable to even get up from the floor. After a day of suffering, I decided it might be a kidney stone. The doctor considered it a possibility and ordered an ultrasound to check. It turned out negative for the stone, so we're left to think it was some kind of soft tissue damage—getting old is not for the faint of heart! At least the pain is diminishing, and I've been able to reduce my application of painkillers. The drawer unit remains unfinished—I was hoping to include some pictures of the completed project in this edition, maybe next week! Wendy keeps busy with her chorus management, and taking care of me! The markets were terrible, no good and very bad! At one time this month, I had a full monthly quota gained, but now I'm needing a big week next week! As expected, the FED raised the interest rate by 0.75%, but alas, even though they did as expected, the markets sold off big time—go figure! In my world of sports, Koe lost the final of the Okotoks event last Sunday to Bottcher. This week's event was in Fredericton, and Koe lost in the quarter-finals. It'll be Dunstone vs Carruthers in the final tomorrow. The Riders have the bye this week which rates it as one of the better weeks this season! College football was completely unpredictable this week. First Texas, inexplicably, lost to Texas Tech, and then my Sooners lost to unranked Kansas State, and while this we going on, the usually hapless Jayhawks were improving to 4-0 on the season! Preseason hockey has begun in the NHL. MLB regular season is drawing to a close; the Jays have fallen back a bit, but are still pretty safe to make the playoffs. 

Erica writes, "Eric made his annual run for the border, and third time must be a charm, because he made it through. Eric is attending Family Systems Trauma recertification training. I’m along for the ride. Three years ago, he won a free stay at a cabin, but in 2020 the conference was cancelled. In 2021, the border didn’t let him through. So this year we are both enjoying the quiet and beauty of Montana. The road to the cabin reminded me a bit of driving in Zambia. First a highway, then a hard top road, then a dirt road, and finally, two tire trails through the grass. We return on Sunday. The boys are all well."

Erin and Kristian had a routine week of work and school. Today, they enjoyed breakfast out at the Ecalipurr Cat Cafe. The weather has been cool, with frost, in Regina. 

Travis enjoyed an excursion to the Big Apple this week. He just got back last night after a week of checking out pizza restaurants and taking in the latest edition of professional wrestling. Joanna has been holding down the fort at home, and preparing for her next week trip to Vancouver. 

And that's enough for this week.