Fall—Still Summer!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather remains very comfortable there, but we have left, and are enjoying a comfortable existence in Lawrence KS where the colours are hinting of Fall even while the temperatures are indicating that it's still summer. Thank you, Marti for putting us up, and, in fact, for arranging this expedition. We're enjoying this part even as we look forward to the rest of it. We finished up a few things in Thunder Bay during the first few days and then flew south on Wednesday. That was quite an excursion and way too much exercise for my troubled legs (I still suspect Sciatica even though my doctor demurs). The trip started well as we flew down to Toronto, but sadly, things were not convenient or problem-free there! We had to go through security (again), and then through customs and immigration. It seems the Americans are taking their revenge for ArriveCAN, and have instituted MPC (mobile passport control). If you don't have a smart phone, you may as well stay home! And yet our travel agents made no mention of this necessity, and Travis did not have to use it recently when he went to New York, so, as far as we know, they instituted it just to trouble us. Anyhow, after getting through security, we got to a massive hall, filled with people, and, after finding the row for Canadians, there was a hint of something new in the air.

Clearly it's MPC!

A signboard with a QR code announced the MC, and the attendants assured us that it actually said MPC, and that we must download it! So, we followed the QR code to the app store and downloaded it... now what was our AppleID password? I don't know how these people assume that we all have smart phones, and that we're all so computer literate that we can manage this kind of process while standing in line, and shuffling our luggage forward! Once into the app we had to fill in a bunch of personal information and take a photo of our passport ID page and of ourselves. Sadly, the light was so dim in that area, that we couldn't get a photo. One attendant tried to light up my passport with her phone, but it still wasn't enough, so she took my phone and entered the passport information incorrectly, so I could be informed that the data was incorrect and I could redo it! Once we were through this process, we were awarded a QR code that got to see the customs officer, who considered our situation and finally allowed us to proceed to the gate, which had already been sending texts demanding that we attend there! Then, it was about 2km to the gate as we only had a puddle jumper jet to Kansas City and it required us to walk out side, give up our carryon luggage and climb the stairs to the plane. The gate was closed before we got there, but there was a line-up of similarly inconvenienced passengers, so they held the plane until we all got aboard! Other than that it was smooth sailing! Marti was there to pick us up, and we breathed a collective sigh with that ordeal behind us! Here, we're enjoying catching up with Marti, including a couple of sing songs—thanks! This evening, we've relocated to Aunt Helen's. The markets have had another good week; things were a bit tentative while we waited for the BoC rate announcement, but after they surprised with ONLY a 0.5% increase, the markets closed strongly, and I had another good week. Riders closed out their season tonight in Calgary with another loss—sad! The World Series has begun with the Phillies taking the first game and Astros matching that this evening. I've picked the Astros to win it. My Sooners were back in action in college football and won their game today. Pens have had a terrible tour of western Canada, dropping games in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Oilers are on a brief win streak; I hope they can keep it going! Leafs continue to struggle in the early going of the season. Homan and Edin won the Grand Slam event on Sunday. Next curling is in the Pan-Continental curling championships which begin on Monday in Calgary. Canada is represented by the Gushue and Einarson teams. 

Erica writes, "Eric and I met up with Greg, Kiersten, Haaken and Liam in Calgary this Friday. And just for fun, decided to head to London! This week has been focused on getting ready for our trip. We are looking forward to a week in London. Anyway, we are here in the UK all settled in at our air BnB, we’ve been fighting our natural inclination to go to sleep. Some have been more successful than others!"

Erin writes, "We woke up to a pile of snow on Sunday. Tracy (co-worker) had surgery on both feet on Monday, so, we’re short staffed again for a while. I got my winter tires installed on Tuesday. We had our 3-way conference (parent-teacher-student interview) on Wednesday, and Kristian had youth group on Thursday. Kristian got sent home sick on Friday, so today was a day of naps :) Just a regular week. LOL!"

Travis and Joanna are holding down the fort in Thunder Bay, and are busy, busy, busy with Puckshots Photography. We don't know our new tenant well, yet, so it's a great relief to be able to rely on Trav & Joanna to take care of any issues that may come up. 

And that's about it for this week.