War!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued to be great and we've enjoyed that. Kali drags us out for walks, sometimes more than once per day! She sometimes even brings me her collar to announce her wishes! I have finished work on the last two high panels in the side fence, so that goal has been reached. I picked my first batch of rhubarb, and got that cut up and frozen; I plan to get another picking done before we leave. I got out for golf on Tuesday and experienced tiredness, but no back or rib pain, so that was a good sign. My +13 result? Not such a good sign! Our travel plans keep getting tighter and tighter as Wendy wants to remain here until after the 19th, and we want to be in Prince Albert on the 25th, so it's not looking promising for any golf along the way. I got the car serviced yesterday, so that part is ready to roll. Now that we have a dog, travelling is considerably more complicated. Wendy had her main Spring concert on Monday–that went well. She has much end-of-season business to take care of and another sing-out scheduled for next week that I was hoping we could skip! World affairs remain chaotic as Trump's Trade War is estimated to take a trillion dollars worth of business out the global economy—we hope he'll change his mind! The Russian war in Ukraine seems to have escalated again, and now Israel has extended itself further by starting a war against Iran. It's a mess, and the markets took a hit as a result, so it was not a good week for investments. The NHL playoffs continued, now through five games with the Oilers trailing 3-2. The Jays remain hot, moving in to second place in their division! The Riders played again tonight in Hamilton and improved to 2-0 in the young season. 

Erica writes, "Eric and I are back on our own, Liam returned to Caronport on Monday. He has since heard from a contact for the new medicine and we hope that gets implemented soon. He also finished up the shelving in the spare room. Now, it just needs paint. We have been discussing our ongoing renovation plans for the summer. Mom and Dad will here at the end of June. We hope to do some work on the car park, and then move the bathroom on the main floor and gut the kitchen. We will see—I don’t want to be overly optimistic! We are coming to the end of the busy time at work. So, I will hopefully have more time for other work. :)"

Erin and Kristian are enjoying the summer weather in Regina, and some welcomed rains in northern Saskatchewan have brought some relief from the forest fire and smoke situation. Erin is caring for her garden area and anticipating adding some more plants. Erin was fretting about getting her financial reports completed, so naturally, she got those in a day ahead of time and enjoyed a relaxing Friday. She is now having a relaxing weekend with the hockey playoffs, her Jays playing great and there's an F1 race in Canada! Kristian has been working with youth group trying to organize more events. He getting ready to join us for the project in Prince Albert. 

Travis and Joanna joined us for supper and cards on Sunday. That was fun. Trav and I have worked hard all week to get our Oilers back on track in the playoffs, but to this point we're coming up short. Tonight, we enjoyed an outing to Boston Pizza for a Father's Day celebration, including Andrew. Andrew is getting ready to move into our house for the summer, which will also ease our concerns about taking care of the place while we're away. 

And that's about it for this week. 

Frenemies!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been beautiful, and only a little bit too warm, so we've been able to keep the house open most of the week. I have continued to work on the side fence. Just two more of the high panels left, and then I will move on to the shorter ones. My repair/replace system is going well, but now I'm running into interference from my raised garden beds. I have been over to the course to practice some golf, my back/ribs are feeling much better, so I'm able to swing harder, and hit much worse!! I plan to play next week—my first round of the season. Wendy keeps busily preparing for her final concert of the season. She had a concert on Monday, and also plenty of work on the business side of the chorus. Kali keeps us walking, and sometimes brings her collar so we remember to take her out—very smart little dog! The fox was around one night this week with some piteous yowling which made Kali frantic, and roused us from our sleep. USA continues in a state of turmoil. This week's feature was the breakup and public battle between Trump & Musk. Musk called Trump's tax bill an abomination because it adds $2.4 trillion to the national debt, he called Trump a criminal who was in the Epstein files, and that he should be impeached and replaced—can't disagree with him there. Trump replied by calling Musk an insane Nazi who should be investigated for his drug use, lose all his government contracts, and possibly be deported. You know, just the old, "he said"/"he said" stuff! Trump also claimed he'd completed a trade deal with China, but then China chimed in to correct the lie, and submit that while there was no deal, they had agreed to further meetings. At least the markets continued the May winning streak with another green week, and I enjoyed that. The football season has begun, and the Riders opened with a win—yay! The Jays have picked up the pace, winning 9 of the last 10, and moving into a playoff position. Well done, now keep it going. The Stanley Cup final is under way with the Oilers and Panthers tied at one game a piece. C'mon Oilers! 

Erica writes, "Liam has been visiting this week and it has been wonderful for us. It has been less wonderful for him as he was sick last weekend and then he had to prepare for and undergo a colonoscopy. Fun times! Our city has experienced a population increase with the fires up north. Several thousand people have evacuated. It will be a bit crazy as we support our clients and others who are currently homeless."

Erin and Kristian are enjoying the early summer in Regina, except for the forest fire smoke from northern Saskatchewan. We even get air quality warnings from those down here in Thunder Bay. Work is quite busy as her new assistant is out on medical leave for knee surgery, and what with her own recent vacation days, she has a bit of catch up to do. Her drip irrigation is not working yet, so it may wait until I get there to solve that problem. In the meantime, she is watering by hand, and the plants are doing very well. 

Lotsa Roma tomatoes soon!

Trav and Joanna had us over for supper on Sunday, and we look forward to returning the favour this Sunday. One of the aluminum welds has come apart on their deck settee, but we haven't settled on a repair solution. I tried to put a screw in it, but the aluminum is just too soft to hold. Aluminum welding (MIG, TIG) is a bit of black art, and one which I've never tried, as we did some carbon arc welding on the farm, but I only did hard metals using welding rods. I guess brazing would be similar to MIG welding. Maybe pop rivets will hold things together. Otherwise work remains steady for Trav and as per usual for Joanna. They have five foxes in their neighbourhood as the three kits are now looking almost grown up. 

Broken Weld

And that's about it for this week. 

TACO

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been beautiful, too hot for my comfort actually, and we've managed some activities outside, until we had to retreat to air conditioned comfort inside! I have managed to complete two more fence panels as each one is a day's work for me! I now have a very satisfactory system for removing them, straightening them and reinstalling them. One ongoing issue relates to my fall last week. I tripped coming through the back gate and fell hard on my side and my head. It opened a small wound on my head, and probably cracked a rib. It's very difficult to find a position for sleeping, and heaven help me if I cough! It's also interfering with my golf swing (some will say that's a good thing!), but I've managed several trips to the practice area, and hope to get in a game next week. Wendy has mostly been working on Spring Cleaning issues in the house, but has also been out for a few of the walks with Kali. She still has her Sweet Adelines practices as well. This week brings us to the end of the month, and the updates for the first quarter of the year. Canada posted a surprisingly good quarter with annualized growth of +2.2%, while USA suffered negative GDP data, and is now threatened with a recession (2 consecutive negative quarters). Trump blew up when he heard about his TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) nickname, and has issued ever more bizarre threats. Now that the Court of International Trade has unanimously declared his tariffs illegal, there were some who hoped he would accept this off ramp as a way to get out of the mess and blame someone else for his failures. Alas, he is vowing even worse actions, and most pundits are now resigned to the fact that he will keep the trade war going. At least the TACO trading has made May a great month in the markets, but they've suffered so much since Jan 20th, that it still doesn't get the USA indices back to the green side. 

May Index Results

TSX: +5.4%

DOW: +3.8%
S&P: +5.8%
Nasdaq: +8.6%

Results since Jan 20th
TSX: +4.4%
DOW: -2.8%
S&P: -1.4%
Nasdaq: -2.6%

The preseason has ended in football, so teams are making their final cuts and getting ready for action in week 1: Riders open the season against Ottawa next Thursday—Go Riders Go! The Blue Jays continue to struggle around the .500 mark and that's not going to get them into the playoffs. Hockey has now advanced to the Cup Final Series and my very own Edmonton Oilers are there against Florida Panthers. I was not impressed by the way the Oilers ended the regular season, but I did pick them to win the first two series. I picked the Jets to beat them in round three, but the Jets after being the top team in the regular season really faltered in the playoffs. The Oilers are playing well, so I'll be cheering and hoping for them in the finals. 

Eric writes, "This week Erica has been working late to finish up some projects at work. Eric agreed to the nomination, and was voted in to be an elder for the church here. Liam has a procedure next week, so he came home for the week."

Erin and Kristian have returned from their fabulous road trip to Alberta. It was a great time both in their sightseeing and on the drive. Now, they're back at home and enjoying their home in Regina. 

including the cats!

Today was planting day for the planters and hanging baskets. Romaine, garlic chives, green onions, purple sweet peppers, yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, peas, diva cucumbers, straight eight cucumbers, Roma tomato tree! I’m not sure what the difference in cucumbers will be. 

Travis and Joanna are doing well and enjoying their three dogs. It's the off-season for Ulrich Design, but there still seems to be enough to do. We're looking forward to joining them for supper on Sunday night. Kali will delight in coming along to play with Moxley, Darby and Marigold. 

Marigold, Darby, Moxley, Trav's Toes

And that's enough for this week! 

Visitor

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been seasonable, with a few holdover April showers and the arrival of May dandelions! I did my first lawn cut of the season. Since we plan to miss a large chunk of the summer again, I am making it my goal to keep the lawn from growing too fast! We have scheduled Andrew and Rosie to live here while we're away, so they'll take care of the lawns anyway, but I'll try to keep it manageable. The rhubarb is growing nicely, and about ready for a first picking. I'll try to get a few of those done before we leave. I did get over to the golf course between showers for a bit more practice. I also confirmed that my electric caddy needs a new battery, so I have sourced that and, except for my game, I am ready for the season!

The startling events of the week here at Kensington Manor was the weeklong visitation by a fox. She has spent several nights sleeping in our yard, and a few nights yowling in the neighbour's driveway. This is a grave concern to Kali who responds anxiously to protect us! It also means we cannot allow Kali out except on a leash as the fox would make a quick meal of her! I have looked around, but have been unable to find a den in the area. Trav & Joanna have a fox with a few kits in their neighbourhood. We contacted the police and the Natural Resources folks—they are unwilling to do anything despite that she comes up on our deck and is certainly a hazard to our pet. Wendy was busy most of the week with Sweet Adelines business as her choir took a vote and decided to remain in the organization. The markets got kicked again as Trump wildly lashed out with additional tariffs against Europe (50%) and Apple (25%). This lead to another market sell off. At the same time, the Republicans are trying to install a new financial plan which will add trillions to the USA deficit and resulted in them losing their top level credit rating—disaster upon disaster! Canada appears to be forging new trading arrangements with Europe and China to avoid some of the economic damage. We are definitely living in interesting times. In sports, the Blue Jays are playing a bit better and have moved into second place in their division—much work remains to be done! In hockey, Oilers are playing Dallas in the West Final, while Florida is blasting Carolina in the East. I'll just keep cheering for the Oilers as I have no teams left in my bracket. Football is into the pre-season and the Riders lost to Winnipeg today. 

Erica wrote, "Eric is off to Guelph this weekend for a FMT (Family & Marriage Therapy) conference. The president of the association had many good things to say about Eric and the work he has done in Saskatchewan. Of course, I already know this, but it was nice for him to be publicly recognized. I am at the end of my fiscal year. It is very busy and there is much to do! So, I’m taking advantage of Eric’s absence to get some work done. Liam lost the side mirror in his car—just the mirror part, not the casing. So, he is working on sourcing replacement parts."

Erin and Kristian had a big week in Alberta. They drove up to Calgary last Saturday, spent a few days there including a trip to the Calgary Zoo. Kristian was able to reconnect with a classmate who had moved there.

Standing on Air!

Then, they drove up to Edmonton to check out the attractions there. They had a hotel well-connected to the West Edmonton Mall so they enjoyed minigolf, the aquarium, Fantasyland and the eateries there. Today they are driving home to Regina.

Travis and the dogs had a good week! Joanna? Not so much! I think I passed along my head cold and she has been convalescing with that most of the week. Fortunately, she was well enough late in the week to go with Wendy for a manicure/pediccure to complete Mothers Day celebrations! Now, Wendy is able to dress up her new sandals properly! 

And that's enough for this week. 

Happy May Long!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown, and it brings us to the Victoria Day weekend, known familiarly as May Long. The weather has been lovely all week, but since it's a long weekend, it has naturally turned cool and rainy today! Kali and I have been out for our daily walks, despite that I am suffering with a head cold this week. I thought it was seasonal allergies and was treating myself with Reactine, but switched to cold meds on Wednesday and I'm gradually feeling better. I did manage one trip to the golf course, and have also continued to work on my swing here in the yard. I'm looking forward to a few rounds this summer. The lawns are growing nicely, and I've noticed a few yellow heads waving at me from among the greenery! Trump backed down on his tariff war with China, and the markets have responded positively. Of course, there's no telling what he'll do next—this week he's threatening to impose (reimpose?) tariffs that he had cancelled earlier! He said he had completed trade agreements with 200 countries (there aren't that many countries!), but later amended that to just one country, and even later we found out there was no trade agreement with them either. Master dealmaker, for sure! Still, he has maintained a 10% minimum tax on anything Americans want to buy from elsewhere in the world, and that is having a chilling effect on the USA economy. Orders are being cancelled, shipments are being cancelled, shelves are emptying and the retailers are announcing price increases to pay for the tariffs. Of course, he doesn't like that either, and, today, he demanded that USA retailers should eat the extra cost, and not pass it along to their customers! Meanwhile, due to his tariffs, USA's trade deficit is increasing—the opposite of his declared intention. The first round of the NHL playoffs ended in glory for me, as I picked seven of the eight winners. Now, in round two, I have picked 2/3 winners, and am still waiting for the other series to end. Don't recall when I've ever been this lucky! However, since I picked the Jets to not only beat Dallas, but also to go on and win the Cup—I don't have much chance to add to my success! So, I'll keep cheering for the Oilers and see whether they will continue to win. Blue Jays are playing a bit better, but still below .500, and in my book you have to be able to win 3 out of 5 games (.600) to be considered a good team. 

Erica wrote, "It has been another week of long hours. I’m in the busiest time of my year so I’ve had a few late nights. Eric has been attending a conference on the brain, which is being presented in Boston, so he has had some early mornings—6 AM start. As a result, he has sometimes been asleep when I get home. I told him on Friday night that I missed him! We got the bikes into the shop for their annual check up. Both need tires, so we will get that done. We talked to all the kids on Mothers Day. Greg, Kiersten, Haaken and Liam are all doing well." 

Erin and Kristian are driving to Alberta for a holiday trip—their first trip together! Now that they have two drivers, it makes such trips much easier to accomplish. 

Road Trip 2025

Kristian wrote, "We’re going to Calgary to visit my friend and go to the symphony featuring the music from How to Train your Dragon. 

It was great!

We’re also going to go to the Calgary Zoo. Then, later in the week, we're going up to Edmonton to check out West Edmonton Mall."

Joanna took care of some Mothers Day shopping on behalf of the crew—thanks! We enjoyed an outing, with the dogs, to the Marina on Sunday afternoon. Way too many distractions for the dogs!

Bill/Kali, Travis/Moxley/Darby, Wendy/Marigold

A bit of heart-stopping excitement when Darby slipped his harness and made a break for it—Trav scooped him up pretty quickly to save the day! We hope to get another outing this weekend, but with the rains, it may be delayed. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Thank you for the Music!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been gorgeous such that the golf courses have opened, and my annual quest for single-digit games is renewed! Kali and I enjoy our daily walks, and she is learning to mind such that I sometimes have her off-leash when we're not walking on a street. The big event of the week was our Spring Concert on Friday evening, the culmination of our practice and preparation over the last several months. Click on the link, see if you can find Wendy and me, and enjoy!

Silver Sounds Spring 2025

Music and choral singing remain a celebrated part of our lives and we enjoy getting to sing with this group. Wendy continues to sing with the local Barbershop chorus as well; they had a concert this week, and more are planned through early June. Then, we're thinking of heading west for work in PA and visiting in Regina. I have not been informed of any other plans! We bought new carriage lights for the house and garage, so installed those this week. We had some with integrated LEDs, but they turned out to be fragile, and unrepairable since they don't have bulbs. I have now figured out a way to rebuild them with sockets, so they are useful once more. The Orange Trade War continues to wreak havoc and our most recent employment numbers were insufficient to cover the need. Still, it is the USA which is suffering more from his withdrawal from the world, and the citizenry is starting to notice, withdrawing support of him, and joining protests against him. As the west coast ports lose shipments and truckers fret over the loss of jobs, we're seeing Trump start to panic. This week he announced a non-trade plan with the UK and its own pretty desperate PM. It covers little, leaves a 10% tariff in place, so Americans will have to pay that much more for whatever they buy from the UK, well, except for Rolls Royce—that's tariff free! And while China's trade with the USA dropped 16% last month, its overall trade increased 8%, so they're not suffering at all. Canada, likewise, it opening trading relations with other countries including China, but we're still suffering a bit. The NHL playoffs continue. I achieved a record 7/8 picks in round one. We'll see if round two brings me back to earth! I have Canes, Leafs, Jets, Oilers—two are doing well, the others? Not so much! Blue Jays are currently on a west coast road trip, and remain below .500—not good! 

Erica writes, "This weekend is busy. Friday night our band played at the Anavets Club (Army & Navy) we played four sets and people were dancing until the very end! It was a lot of fun. Eric started teaching a masters class on line through University of Lethbridge. It’s the second time he’s taught the class so that should mean all the material is prepared. He assures me, it is not. Today is Lobsterfest, which ends up being an all day affair. We gather in the morning to set up and get organized. Then run around doing all the last minutes things we forgot. The event starts at 5:30 and runs until 11:30. So, I will be a wee bit tired for Mother’s Day. Speaking of which, Happy Mothers Day! We have been working with our local fairies in Thunder Bay and Langford to make sure our Mothers are appropriately appreciated. Now, I wait to see if I am equally appreciated. Liam went for his last dose of his current medication. When he had a reaction to it, they took him off it for a bit, but then started again more slowly. He has decided that is the last dose until he gets his new prescription."

Erin and Kristian are enjoying fantastic Spring weather after their horrible winter. Their tree is leafing, and they can all get out to enjoy the patio.

Kristian and Elly

Leaf me alone!

They are looking forward to and planning for their trip to Alberta starting next weekend. 

Travis and Joanna are slowing down a bit here in the off-season. I enjoy chatting through hockey games with Travis, and sometimes with others as I get to texting in the wrong threads!

Wendy's new sandals!

On behalf of the children, Joanna took Wendy shopping today in connection with Mothers Day—thank you very much! She picked out new sandals along with some bottles of essential bath oils. Pedicure still to come! 

And that's enough for this week. 

Election

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We opened the week with gorgeous weather, but Monday, Election Day, we were doused with a major April shower, and the prospect of a new government. Our newly elected Prime Minister, Mark Carney, is tasked with some major economic issues mostly caused by our southern neighbour and former ally. We hope, in due time, that Trump will be removed, and the USA will return to being a partner and friend. In the Trade War, Trump assures us that he has completed new trade deals with 200 of the 193 countries in the world. Of course, even a superficial exam of the facts shows that he has not completed new trade deals with any countries and has broken ALL the trade deals that had been in place. His sycophants have now allowed that they are partway through negotiating new terms to old agreements with 17 countries, but have not concluded new deals with any of them. Elections have consequences, and USA is facing the most severe consequences as inflation continues to rise and the economy has drifted from 2.3% growth in the final quarter last year, to -0.3% in the first quarter this year—it's not easy to damage an economy that quickly, but Trump has done it. Next week, PM Carney is scheduled to travel to Washington and meet with Trump. He cautions us not to expect anything conclusive. Otherwise, I worked at the election, and that went fine. With the arrival of Spring, I am starting into yard work. The rhubarb is up nicely. I will consider gardening plans in light of our summer travel plans—probably won't plant much. At least Kali and I get out for daily walks except when it's raining! Wendy and I are completing our preparations for our Spring Concert (May 9th)  with the Silver Sound choir. The cancellation of the worst of the tariffs has allowed some market recovery, but April still rated as the worst April since 1932—sigh! Now, we continue to wait for another shoe to fall—you can never know with this guy. The first seven matchups have been completed in the NHL playoffs. I picked six of those correctly—remarkable for me! The Jets/Blues will end tomorrow night. For the second round my picks were Leafs and Canes in the East, along with Oilers and Jets in the west. The Blue Jays have fallen off their early season form, and are now below .500 which doesn't cut it! 

Erica writes, "Highlight of the week—Eric ordered his first meal off the seniors' menu. Turning 55 has at least that advantage. On Thursday, Eric’s work celebrated their 40th anniversary with a big fancy banquet. On Friday, my work celebrated the end of tax season. So, we got two free meals. Nice! Eric has also been working on the post graduate course he starts teaching next week at the University of Lethbridge. We also got out for a motorcycle ride. That first ride is a bit fun as we remind our bodies how this goes! Eric turned 55 on Monday and Kiersten turned 32 on Thursday. We are all getting older."

Erin and Kristian are enjoying the arrival of summer in Regina. They're looking at 30° today—too hot for my liking! 

View from the Egg Chair

I cleaned up the planter boxes while I was there last month, and she will get the plants soon. 

Travis and Joanna remain busy. Trav has ended Puck Shots for this season, so he brought the chairs over here to store in the shed for the summer. Andrew flew back to Toronto for a couple of weeks, then, he plans to drive up mid-month and spend the summer here. Rosie will complete her term and her examinations, then she'll fly up here as well. We look forward to seeing more of them. 

And that's about it for this week. 

Home Again

Another week has passed and we have returned to the shore of Lake Superior and my hometown. We got back here on Tuesday evening. The weather has been lovely, and Kali enjoys getting out for walks each day. On Wednesday morning, I had orientation for my DRO job in the general election. Today, I did some Spring jobs getting the bike and lawnmower from the shed, and storing the shovels and snowblower away. Wendy had a retreat weekend with Sweet Adelines yesterday and today. Lots of time standing on the risers, and late night with the ladies, so she's off to bed early tonight. The markets continue their topsy turvy ways in line with Trump's whims. It's looking like the DOW will experience its worst month since 1932—that was during the Depression! C'mon man! As a result, I remain with only my dividend stocks, and while that protects from major losses, I also need a chance to make money at some point! The Blue Jays continue to play well in the early part of the baseball season. The Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and my favourite team, the Oilers, are not doing well enough, but they are still alive. My picks see Jets defeating Leafs for the Cup, but I would like to see the Oilers have some success as well. 

Erica writes, "Last weekend, after returning home from the funeral, we took a quick trip to Watrous. We enjoyed some time in the mineral rich waters and got a massage. It was a nice way to relax. Other than that it’s been a pretty ordinary week in PA. Liam has been experiencing some allergy type reactions to his medication. He had a follow up with his doctor this week and it sounds like his medication isn’t working as well as it once was. He has some more tests and then they will start trying a new medication. Last time it took almost two years for him to feel normal. We hope this time the process isn’t as long. We also had a bit of a scare with Eric’s mom. She fell, then had some stomach pain, and after some investigation, a blockage was discovered in her small intestine. She had surgery and a couple days in the hospital. She is back home. That’s all the news from here."

Elly is by the BBQ

Erin had a good week which included a day off on Friday and further relaxation today. While enjoying her backyard with one of her cats, Elly, she noticed one of the neighbourhood jack rabbits which came right up into her yard before Elly reacted. Even then, it didn't run very far away! It's mortgage renewal time for them, and Erin was not happy to see how much the interest rates had risen. So, she's looking to move to a different institution who promise much better rates, and not such a big change in payments. 

Watchful Elly, Wary Wabbit!

Travis and Joanna had an "as usual" week. They had been taking care of Kali, so Wendy picked her up on Tuesday evening. Travis has managed to collect all our picks for the Stanley Cup playoffs. All teams remain alive so far. The dogs enjoyed their time hosting Kali, and have now returned to their usual restful life style! 

And that's enough for this week. 

Passages 2

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Wascana. The weather has been cool most of the week, but finally turned nice today. We are enjoying our week with Erin and Kristian. We were privileged to catch up with many family and friends as we attended Eloise's funeral on Thursday and Robert Peterson's today in Weyburn.

Now, we are in preparation to begin the trip home starting on Monday. We've been able to do a few things around here. Kristian and I replaced the failed pot lights in the family room. I cleaned up a few things on the patio and garden boxes. Wendy has done some sorting and cleaning inside. On Good Friday, we had a family gathering at Rich & Sues—that was great! Eric & Erica, Liam & Mercedes, Brian & Lorna, Logan & Kaitlyn, Erin & Kristian, Rich & Sue, Dave & Lynn, Howard & Diane, Bern & Alicia joined with us for a great afternoon and evening. Plenty of good grub, lots of conversation, a wonderful time of singing led by Brian, Erica and Mercedes, and finally a games night of Fast Track and card-based Golf. The markets ran well this week as his Orangeness is preoccupied with his legal problems. Even so his spending is running well above Biden's spending at the same time in his term, so it doesn't appear that there are cuts to spending despite all his promises, and that is causing some consternation among the MAGA members who hoped to reduce government spending. The Grand Slam of Curling ended poorly for the Canadian reps as Homan dropped the final to Swiss team Tirinzoni, and both Canadian playoff teams on the men's side lost out in the semi-finals, so they were just watching as the Scottish Mouat team won another Slam title. Blue Jays are playing well in the early days of the baseball season. Hockey has entered the playoff season and I've picked Jets, AVs, Knights, Oilers, Capitals, Panthers, Leafs and Canes to advance (just so you know how to bet)! I'm working the Federal Election and I need to be there for orientation on Wednesday.

Marigold & Kali

Kali is enjoying life with Trav & Joanna and the other three dogs back in Thunder Bay. Thanks for sending the many photographs and videos!

Anyhow, that's enough for this week! 

Passages

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown, but we have left there and are now on the shore of Lake Wascana in Regina.

Eloise Krogsgaard Smith 1927-2025

Our Aunt Eloise passed midweek, so we left on Friday to be here for the family and to participate in the service next Thursday. I've been honoured to be asked to sing at the service, and despite the circumstances, we are looking forward to spending time with family, both hers and ours. Spring has certainly arrived, and we are enjoying the warmth. The trip out went well, and we arrived in Regina this afternoon. The markets endured more turmoil as the Orange Felon continued his lunacy. He announced Liberation Day last week, scheduled to begin this week, and after just a few hours of the tariffs in force, he blinked and cancelled them... but he left them in place for us and Mexico. The result was continued turmoil and accusations of insider trading as he paraded his friends on TV and bragged about how much money they had made. Yikes! The hockey season is ending. Oilers and Leafs have qualified for the playoffs, and we hope they do well. Oilers continue to suffer from significant injuries, so it will be problematic for them. Jacobs won the bronze in the world championship of curling, while Mouat beat Schwaller for the gold. The final slam of the season is underway out of Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. There were five Canadian teams among the 12 top men's teams in the world in the tournament, but it's two European teams, Schwaller and Mouat who have advanced to the final here as well. On the women's side, we only had two representative teams, but our own Homan has advanced to the final against Tirinzoni. Blue Jays continue to have success in the early part of the baseball season—so far, so good! 

Erica writes, "It’s been another busy week of working late and evening meetings. Eric had an eye appointment on Friday. His one eye is 20/20 but the other is 20/50. New glasses are on the way. I have been working on the committee for Rotary’s 20th anniversary Lobsterfest. Today, one month prior to the event, we closed ticket sales—we are sold out! That is awesome. We also worked with the family on taxes this week. [thanks] Fun times!" 

Erin and Kristian had a good week as Spring arrived in Regina as well. However, now we have moved in, and plan to stay until the end of August. Just Kidding—I am working the Federal Election as Deputy Returning Officer, so I need to be back in Thunder Bay next Tuesday. In the meantime, we'll enjoy our time here. 

Travis and Joanna are holding down the fort in Thunder Bay, and are also taking care of Kali while we are away. Thanks guys! 

And that's it for this week. 

April Madness!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We got a big dump of rain (all precipitation from April through October is defined as rain!) midweek, so I had the snowblower out again on Thursday to clear the driveway. It was very wet and hard to work with, but the subsequent warm weather has Spring in the air once again. Travel, even around town, was compromised to the extent that our choir practice was cancelled on Thursday. Otherwise, it's been pretty much the routine weekly activities. That ended on Wednesday as the Madness of the Orange Felon was again on display. He announced tariffs against pretty much the whole world with the remarkable exceptions of Russia, Belarus and North Korea! He did put a tariff against Ukraine. You need to ask yourself—If he was a Russian agent how would he act any differently? CBC did an excellent exposé of the false, fake and fraudulent tariff program he announced. This precipitated a world-wide economic shock as folks were expecting tariffs, but no one foresaw anything this insane. The markets sank by devastating amounts. Trump now holds the distinction of presiding over the eight biggest daily drops in DOW history. The TrumpSlump had me sold out of my usual trading vehicles, and the impending TrumpCession has me wondering about my buy & hold dividend payers. USA indices are now down 9% in just the four trading days this month. Our first hope is that enough GOP House members come to their senses to put a stop to this madness. The Senate has already voted against him, but we've only heard of one GOP in the House who is willing to buck him and we need half a dozen. In the world of sports, basketball is playing out the final four. In a remarkable performance for me, I managed to pick three of the final four, but only one of the finalists. My pick, Florida, is ready to win on Monday. Men's Curling has occupied a lot of my TV watching this week. Jacobs has represented us well, ending the round robin in first place and now in the medal playoffs, but sadly it won't be the gold medal game. They'll play China for the bronze. Other qualifiers were Scotland, Sweden, China, Norway and Switzerland; Scotland will play Switzerland for the gold. Blue Jays have opened the MLB season well, and I'm enjoying that. The NHL is playing out the last handful of games in the regular season and many playoff spots are still up for grabs. My Oilers are struggling as their two biggest stars have suffered injuries, but we're told they should be back for the playoffs. Leafs are in good position to win their division. Penguins continue to entertain—they should have played like this all season! 

Erica writes, "We started the week in Caronport, enjoying Liam play a bad guy in the Esther story. He was booed by the crowd, so he must have done a good job. Mercedes did a beautiful job playing Esther, and one young lady near us was very concerned that she would be killed. Fortunately, she survived (spoiler alert). The rest of the week has been busy. I’ve been working late into the evenings and Eric is fitting in hockey games in my absence. Today, we got news that Eric is now approved to deliver EMDR Therapy. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a form of psychotherapy designed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Now, he can really fix me!"

Erin and Kristian are digging out from a late snowstorm on the prairies and enjoying the arrival of Spring. They are still waiting to hear about Kristian's acceptance into Sask PolyTech for the Fall. We are hoping for that as well. Erin is following the Basketball championships, but she has Duke and Auburn picked for the final! 

Travis and Joanna also had a pretty normal week of activities. Andrew is working from home on his practicum assignments. We enjoyed a lovely pasta supper at their place this evening. Then, we played some FastTrack and watched some hockey. 

And that's enough for this week. 

LION x LION

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown, and although this is technically Spring, we have suffered snow storms at each end of the week! After March came in like a Lion, it is leaving like a Lion as well! It's LION²! I was hoping that my snowblower was retired for the season, but... not so fast! Wendy completed and delivered her accounting project. She was quite busy with Sweet Adelines business this week. Then, we had choir practice on Thursday morning.

Two Sad Dogs

Kali was in for surgery on Thursday morning, so the activity level has been pretty low the rest of the week. Wendy is struggling to keep her away from the incision site, but for a small dog, she's quite a busy customer! The Orange Felon was out with more tariff threats this week. Now, he's saying that the construction industry, already facing record prices for copper, will have to pay even more! You can't make this stuff up! After a recent conference with Trump, our PM announced the end of an era and a pivot toward friends who actually are practicing democracies. Of course this irritated Trump and he yelled that we and Europe would pay for it! He has scheduled a big reciprocal tariff (whatever that means!) day for next Wednesday, and folks are bracing to see what he'll actually do. As it is, we're practically one quarter into the year, and only TSX is in the green, and that not by much. S&P500 is down over 5%, and the Nasdaq down over 10%. Meanwhile, in the USA, inflation is rising and unemployment is a concern. 

We miss you, Uncle Joe!

In the world of sports, we are well into March Madness with the Final Four being determined this weekend. My final 4 picks are still alive, which indicates there have not been many Cinderella stories this time around. The NHL is into the final handful of games. My Oilers are floundering with significant injuries and weak performances. Penguins are just playing out the string, but playing better than the Oilers. Leafs are well-positioned and still in the run for top spot in their division. The MLB season has begun, so I'm back to monitoring the Blue Jays and hoping for a good season. #1-Homan won the Women's Curling Championship on Sunday and now the Men's Curling Championship has begun in Moose Jaw. #3-Jacobs is the Canadian Champ, but perennial powerhouses #13-Edin, #1-Mouat, #4-Schwaller and #12-Retornaz are there as well, along with up and coming teams #11-Dropkin and #8-Muskatewitz. Jacobs opened with a win over Japan, and I expect him to be around next weekend. 

Eric writes, "Erica had a regular work week, which means long days for her in busy season. Her band had two performances this week at old folks' homes. They appreciate some of the older songs the group does. Eric had a regular work week which did not include the same amount of extra hours. He is practicing his guitalele a lot and having fun. Liam is busy this weekend with RU as they premiere their new dance “Esther”. Haaken continues with his work and creative works on his own time. Greg and Kiersten are in Kenora doing life as usual." 

Erin and Kristian have suffered through another snow storm in Regina that eventually arrived here—no thanks! Erin picked up a batch of new LED pot lights, while Kristian reports that another of the old ones downstairs is showing signs of failure. Soon, he will be doing LEGO in the dark! He got his high school transcript delivered to Sask Polytech, so we look forward to an email of his acceptance into the program there starting in August. Erica’s working on their taxes. Lucy and Elly are happy😸!

Travis and Joanna remain busy. They've been sharing illness lately, and that has interfered with productivity. Marigold is over her surgery, and the boys are doing fine, and holding down the cushions well. Andrew is home for a practicum assignment. It is good to see him again. This week, their dishwasher displayed an error code, so we worked on that. It seems that it was some crud in the drainage pump, and once we got that cleared away it went back to work! 

And that's about it for this week. 

March and other Madness

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been mild, but some days have had significant wind, so that's not so comfortable. The snow has pretty much disappeared from our lawns except where we piled it up off the driveway. Kali enjoys getting out for walks; Granny still tries to clean her up after she has investigated all the puddles! No particular action on any of our projects, but I'm starting to think about getting out to the shop once again. We only have six weeks left before our Spring Concert so choir practices are getting serious every Thursday morning! Wendy adds her Sweet Adelines practices and performances to her weekly routine. She has completed input of all the data on the accounting project, so she's just polishing up the details. The markets continue to struggle under the chaotic Trump regime. He's back to his tariff threats, which he's now scheduling to begin April 2nd. We are heartened to see the legal system and Republican voters coming out against him, but we need congress to develop some courage and put a stop to his lawlessness. As it stands now, democracy is over in the USA, and we live in the shadow of his threats to destroy our country. It's an easy segue to March Madness! My team, KU, has already lost out, and my bracket is showing serious gaps! I have Florida picked to win it all over Duke and at least those are still alive. The hockey season is down to the last dozen or so games. My Oilers have suffered high profile injuries with McDavid and Draisaitl both out, but they won tonight. Toronto is in good position, and the Penguins keep winning when they should be tanking to get a better draft position! Spring Training is ending and the baseball season has already begun—a week early if you ask me! The Women's World Curling championship has occupied a lot of my time this week despite the crazy broadcast timing out of Korea—good thing I have a PVR. Our team, Homan, has advanced to the gold medal game against Switzerland, which is scheduled for very early tomorrow morning—and the winner, and STILL champions of the world: Canada! Homan took control late to beat Tirinzoni 7-3. Next weekend the men's championship begins in Moose Jaw. 

TrumpCession Underway

Erica writes, "Monday night we enjoyed the Irish Rovers in Saskatoon. Tuesday was my birthday. I took the day off and enjoyed some spa treatments. We had a quiet night at home and enjoyed birthday cupcakes. The rest of the week was pretty normal. But this weekend Liam is home. We celebrated with birthday cake on Friday and today we had a local gala to attend. Sunday is a special mission Sunday service and Liam is speaking on RU and playing drums. Nothing more to add from Greg & Kiersten or Haaken."

Erin writes, "I had a great week—almost relaxing! I was able to catch up on a bunch of paperwork. And, finally, the weather is getting better. I went outside this morning to work on shoveling the backyard drift so I can rock in the egg swing but the snow wouldn’t budge—concrete! This week is supposed to be positive temperatures so, hopefully, that will help me out. Kristian applied to Sask Polytech and got a reply about attending an accessibility workshop. I wonder what they offer. I’m hoping they have FM systems set up for his hearing."

Cat Fight: L-Luci, R-Elly

Travis and Joanna hosted us for Wendy's birthday supper on Sunday. We enjoyed volumes of Chinese food (and had enough leftovers to last a few more meals)! Joanna had made a birthday cake—delicious, and we kept enjoying that for most of the week as well. Marigold was back in full participation in shenanigans, so Kali came along and the dogs celebrated the evening as well. Then, we watched Moana2 together—a very good evening! 

Happy Birthday, Wendy! 

And that's enough for this week. 

Beware the Ides of March

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been lovely, so Kali and I have been able to get out for walks every day. Kali does not appreciate that Granny wants to give her a bath on our return! We had surprising thunderstorms yesterday and today, but it's sunny and +10° this afternoon, so Kali and I are walking again. Wendy has kept busy with her accounting contract and has moved into November—the end is in sight! We have been celebrating her birthday all week—we began by selecting a new Prime Minister on her birthday, while the cards and letters just keep on coming! We crowned our Men's Brier champion on her birthday as well as #3-Jacobs took down #2-Dunstone in the final. He will contest the world championship in Moose Jaw later this month. #1-Homan is in Korea for the world women's championship. She opened with a win and a loss, a tad below our expectations. The Jayhawks played in the conference championship this week, but lost at the quarterfinal level. Now, we wait for their placement in March Madness and we hope for better things in the second season! Spring training games are pretty much a daily feature at this point as we await the opening of the MLB season at the end of the month. The Jays are doing pretty well. The NHL is in the closing stretch of the regular season. Leafs are near the top of the league, but my Oilers have fallen off the pace. Pens are doing too well for a team that is looking for a better draft position. They had several teams within reach, but then they started winning!

TrumpCession Underway

Meanwhile, the Orange Menace continues to drive the USA economy into the ground, and threatens the rest of us. The markets are down over 10% from their recent highs as he has taken the strong economy passed along by Uncle Joe, and keeps making one mistake after another. You have to think he knows better and is just lying to us, but it rattles the markets to see such an unsteady hand at the top. Everyone knows when you want to buy something that has a tariff against it, you have to pay extra, but Trump insists that someone else pays that! He seems confused about the relative size of our population and expresses chagrin that Canada doesn't buy as much stuff as the ten times larger USA! Our new PM is an economist; will he be able to enlighten him? Sadly, Trump doesn't show much capacity for learning. 

Erica writes, "Eric saw the eye specialist on Monday. There has been a very minute change in one eye, so the specialist is saying it looks like they are settled and Eric can now get his glasses prescription updated for his new eyes. He has to come back in a year. If there is any significant change then, they will try the procedure again. If that doesn’t work, he will need a corneal transplant. We are hoping we are at the end of the journey rather than the start of another. We have continued with wrapping my arms each night and wearing compression during the day. Both arms are progressing, but the right is more swollen and taking longer than the left. Mystery Train had another gig last night at a women’s conference. As we were packing up we had several requests for contact information, so I think we did well! Liam got his car back this week, thanks to Mercedes' Mom who drove them to Regina to pick it up. The problem was a hole in a hose, which the warning light was warning of. The cost was minimal and we are thankful for that! (Thanks Erin for the friends and family discount!) Liam will be up for a visit next weekend! Greg’s health has been steadily improving since the second stent was put in. He is up to 4 full shifts per week and will be up to 5 in April. We had a quick call with Haaken and everything is great!"

Erin writes, "It’s been pretty gross here—freezing rain, snow, but I had a good week at work :) It was quiet upstairs so I got everything done more efficiently than usual. Earlier in the week, Kristian emailed Patti about helping apply for school, but she hasn’t replied. They might only help with employment—we’ll wait to hear. The TV stopped working a couple days ago and they suggested changing the HDMI cable, so Kristian did that yesterday. That wasn’t the problem. I need tech support, and I called a few times, but no one answered. I will try again. For now though, no baseball, no F1, no March Madness unless it gets fixed before it all starts. I printed off a bracket to fill out anyway. I should just cancel TV and go with a sports app. Just this morning I booked a week of holidays in May. Kristian wants to visit his friend Jeff in Calgary, and taking him to West Edmonton Mall is on my bucket list. I have really good memories from when I was a kid of Fantasyland, water park, Bourbon Street for me, Lego store for him. So that’s this year’s big holiday plan. Apparently, there are hotels right across the street from the Mall that offer mall attraction passes and money vouchers so you end up getting all your money back in a way."

Travis and Joanna had another busy week. After the family weekend and a hockey game in Toronto, they returned to TBay on Monday. Marigold was in for surgery (spaying) on Tuesday, and remains somewhat subdued at the weekend. They had planned Wendy's birthday party on Thursday night, but it has been postponed until Sunday so Kali can come along and play with Marigold. Anyway, we're looking forward to that. 

And that's about it for this week. 

Orange is the New Red!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. The weather has been mild, albeit with too much wind some days, and we're seeing melting temperatures. It does make things more comfortable and we've enjoyed our second BBQ of the year already. We've seen some electrical issues here as the carriage lights I've installed on the house and garage are failing. My activity has been constrained by the Brier where the expected teams have risen to the top, and my guy was unable to reach the playoffs. Now we're down to the final three: #1-Dunstone, #2-Jacobs, #4-Gushue. They will complete the tournament tomorrow. Hockey just went through the trading deadline as contending teams attempted to add that missing piece that will push them to a Stanley Cup championship! In league play, my Oilers are floundering, but still in playoff position. They put up a solid effort to beat the Stars tonight. The Pens have given up and were selling off assets leading up to the trade deadline in hopes of building a better team for next season. The Leafs continue to achieve well and are near the top of the league standings. Here at home, life continues much as usual. Wendy's accounting work has progressed to October, so just a few more months to work through. Our choir work continues to engage us through each week. The unranked Jayhawks finished off the regular season in style, beating the ranked Arizona team. Now, it's on to March Madness—Rock Chalk Jayhawks! My business remains problematic as His Orangeness continues his chaotic ways. Tariffs on, tariffs off, partial tariffs, tariffs paused... the markets hate the instability of the man. We've now seen a steady decline since he took office with February completely red, and March red so far. The economy is still doing okay, but not so well as it was under the steady hand of Uncle Joe. The FED is now predicting that the USA will drop into recession next quarter—sigh! And he keeps on with his phoney border security complaints—surely he realizes that who and what enters the USA is entirely the responsibility of the USA. 

Erica writes, "This week I added a CPAP machine to my old woman routine. It’s pretty funny—every night Eric wraps up my arms, and then I put on my face mask and try to sleep. Liam has been having trouble with the Jetta. The main problem is how busy and short staffed the VW dealer is. You’d think that being the nephew of one of the big wigs would mean expedited service, but you’d be wrong. We are hoping to find out next week what the problem is. Eric has been watching the hockey trades with the NHL trade deadline. It’s almost as crazy as watching the on again off again trade war. We ended the week with a hockey game. Our local team, the PA Raiders, is in the playoffs. The game was standing room only. Fortunately, I got some tickets through work so we had seats."

Erin, Kristian and I worked through another electrical problem in their downstairs. It seems their LED pot lights are failing. I replaced one last summer, and they have now disconnected two more that were failing and flickering annoyingly. Things did not pan out at Erin's work as the lady selected for the job refused since she wanted more pay! So, Erin keeps doing both jobs and is getting tired of that! 

Travis and Joanna had busyness as usual this week, but today they flew off to Toronto for a family weekend. Andrew and Rosie are going to school there. Gemma and Jonas flew out from Vancouver to join the fun. We have Marigold here—Kali is glad of that. The boys are out at a boarding kennel they have used before. We're expecting Trav and Joanna back Monday evening. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Why the Orange Tariffs

With thanks to Paul Krugman, Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics

Trade policy mavens sometimes use numeric shorthand that refers to relevant parts of the Trade Act of 1974, which spells out situations in which the president has the right to impose tariffs. There’s Section 201, giving temporary relief to an industry that is being hurt by an import surge. There’s Section 232, protecting an industry vital to national security. There’s Section 301, responding to subsidies or other practices that give foreign producers an unfair advantage. The tariffs Donald Trump just imposed on Canada and Mexico—nations with whom he himself signed a free trade agreement—don’t fit any of these categories. Maybe they’re Section 000, meaning that the president has simply lost his mind. Or maybe they’re Section 666: he’s just evil.

The newspapers this morning all contain analysis pieces trying to explain why Trump is imposing 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico. You can see the writers struggling, because this is a profoundly self-destructive move—it will impose huge, possibly devastating costs on U.S. manufacturing, while significantly raising the cost of living—without any visible justification. Yet the conventions of mainstream journalism make it hard to say directly that the president’s actions are just vindictive and senseless. To its credit, the New York Times analysis comes closest, acknowledging that for some reason Trump personally loathes Canada, a nation most of the world stereotypes as “nice.” Obviously, not every Canadian is a nice person. But Canadians are relatively courteous on average, and the country’s social and economic policies are relatively decent by international standards. And it seems clear to me that Trump hates them for their decency.

To be fair, there are some efforts to explain what’s happening that go beyond Trump’s personal pathology. Some Canadians think Trump covets their mineral wealth. And there’s always the possibility that Trump knows how big Canada looks on standard maps, unaware both of the way that its land area is exaggerated by the Mercator projection and the fact that much of it is tundra, and thinks, “Real estate!”

Trump also goes on about Canada’s trade surplus with the United States, which he keeps saying is $200 billion a year—it’s actually less than a third that size. And nobody has offered a coherent justification for his claim that when Canada sells us cheap oil and electricity, we are somehow subsidizing them. In any case, efforts to find some kind of economic justification for Trump’s Canada-hatred have the feeling of desperate efforts to avoid the obvious. Canada is a pretty decent place, as nations go. And Trump, whom nobody would describe as a decent person, dislikes and maybe even fears people who are. I mean, look at the people Trump has chosen to play prominent roles in his administration. I guess if you search hard enough you can find officials without a sex scandal, a financial scandal, a history of anti-semitism or racism, or a record of substance abuse in a senior position. But it isn’t easy. It really looks as if being vile is a fundamental job qualification.

And so we’re having a trade war. Trump appears to believe that we don’t need anything from Canada. Automobile manufacturers who rely on Canadian parts, Midwestern oil refineries that rely on Canadian oil, builders who rely on Canadian lumber, households that rely on Canadian hydropower for their electricity will soon learn otherwise. Trump may imagine that he can bully Canada into submission. But he can’t; Canadians of all political persuasions are furious. Doug Ford, the conservative premier of Ontario, has the right attitude: he has threatened to cut off U.S. electricity “with a smile on my face.” And remember that Canada can’t concede to U.S. demands, even if it were in a mood to do so (which it very much isn’t), because there aren’t any coherent U.S. demands; Canada has done nothing wrong!

So I don’t know how this ends. But U.S. voters will soon be feeling real pain, and I very much doubt that it will end in a Trump victory.

Betrayal

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. The weather continues quite mild, but we got another dump of snow on Thursday, so we were digging out yesterday. Wendy is making good progress on her accounting contract—she's now working on the September records. She also has her Sweet Adelines treasurer work and singing. We both had choir on Thursday morning, and then served at Urban Abbey for their lunch offering for homeless folks. My main hockey team, the Oilers were on a losing streak—reaching five games—but finally won tonight! Penguins are also not winning much, but at least the Leafs are performing well. Curling remains my main sporting preoccupation again this week. The Scotties ended on Sunday, with the prohibitive favourite, Homan, beating my gal, Einarson, in the final. Homan will now represent us at the World Championships in South Korea. The Brier got underway yesterday in Kelowna and my usual favourite is there, #9-Koe. As you can tell from the ranking he's not having a great season. The favourites are #1-Dunstone, #2-Jacobs, #3-McEwen, #4-Gushue. I expect them to all make the playoffs, and I'm just hoping Koe can join them. The unranked Jayhawks are playing out the string on the regular season and hoping to get it together for the playoffs and a decent performance in March Madness. It has been a heart-wrenching month watching Trump destroy most of what USA has stood for over the years. He keeps breaking laws, treaties and the norms of morality. There is a very long list of items; just a few examples: we see food rotting in warehouses that should be feeding African children. That same food was provided under contract by farmers who are seeing those contracts broken and their livelihood threatened. The Canada/Mexico/USA trade treaty is in tatters as Trump threatens illegal tariffs against the very trade agreement he negotiated and described as the greatest trade treaty ever! In 1994, the USA, UK and Russia signed a treaty to respect the borders of Ukraine. Russia broke that ten years ago, and the USA led a world-wide response to punish them for it, but now Trump is trying to back out of that treaty. This week was the low-point of USA performance in foreign affairs as he brought Zelenskyy into the Oval Office, invited the Russian media in to document his brutalizing of his treaty partner on behalf of Putin. I won't bother to describe his economic malfeasance; it is enough to say that in the USA inflation is higher, employment is lower, and GDP is now projected to fall into recession. 

Erica writes, "On Sunday, Tina and I took a series of trains and buses to her friend’s place just outside of Essen. We enjoyed meeting new old friends over traditional German food and a mix of poor German, better English and hand signs. We stayed overnight and they were kind enough to drive us to Dusseldorf where we had a very early flight on Tuesday. I took advantage of the accessibility support for post surgery, so I didn’t have to stand in long lines. We landed in Saskatoon on Tuesday night where Guido and Eric brought us back to our homes! The evenings since then, I have been sleeping as I continue to heal. But Friday was filled with fun as our band had a gig at the local Army and Navy. Eric has no news, but he was super helpful in getting me home, making me rest and taking care of me at the gig."

Kristian continues to look forward to returning to school in the Fall. He has had no progress on finding work. He also continues with his electrical training as he has another pot light failing downstairs. We may attack that problem this weekend. Erin is making good progress at work, although she brought the laptop home this weekend, so that's not ideal!! Anyway, they have completed the search and offered the accounting clerk job, so that should provide a lot of relief for her. We'll see how that turns out. 

Travis and Joanna continue to be very busy both with the business and with Joanna's work. They keep having photoshoots while continuing to expect it to end soon as hockey seasons come to an end. As a result, we haven't been having our games nights so often, but they do have us over for supper and we love that! 

And that's enough for this week. 

Trumped

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned much more comfortable with mild temperatures and slushy streets. I've spent most of the week with Scotties Curling. I've been working a shift most days managing their time clocks. No teams have got really close to running out of time on my watch, but some have been under one minute. The competition has been fun to watch and my two picks have risen to the top and finally met in the 1-2 game tonight. So, #1-Homan advanced to the final set for tomorrow evening, while #2-Einarson will play #4-Black in the semi-final tomorrow afternoon, with the winner (I predict Einarson) advancing to play Homan again! The world of hockey took time off for the Four Nations Tournament, and we were delighted to prevail with an OT goal to beat the USA in the final. My teams were all back in regular season action today, but only the Leafs managed a win, while Oilers and Pens were blasted! In Basketball, my #23-Jayhawks (will they even have a ranking next week?) continue to underperform as they were blown out early in the week, before rebounding for a blowout win of their own, today. Preseason Baseball has begun—all teams are World Series prospects at this time of the year. Wendy has been busy with her choirs—I missed choir this week for Scotties work. She is progressing on her annual accounting project—I think she's working on May business records already. World affairs are not going well. His Orangeness gives every evidence of being an agent of Russia—espousing all of their positions and priorities. He has sidelined Ukraine to negotiate with Russia over Ukraine's fate—despicable! He whines about breaking up with NATO (Putin's fevered dream!), and picks fights with all the former allies, most notably Canada, but also Europe. It's a very disquieting situation for us. Breaking his own free trade agreement, he threatens tariffs against both Mexico and us. He claims to not understand how tariffs work, nor even how balance of trade works. It leaves the markets rattled, and they are all down since he took over. Meanwhile, in the USA, employment is falling and inflation is rising. What will it take to get folks' attention?! It is encouraging to see some protests and boycotts, but we will need much more before the Republicans regain their courage and put a stop to him. 

Yeah, me neither, Mr. Rather.

Erica writes, "Eric has been managing at home. He’s taken the opportunity to get ahead on his hockey games. Erica was released from hospital on Monday and has been resting at the Air BnB and going for a few walks to regain her strength. She had a follow up appointment on Friday and the doctor was pleased with the healing so far. They did an ultrasound to check for hematoma and seroma on the arms and they look pretty good. He was also encouraged by the walking and the fact that I got dizzy one day after 2 km was not a concern to him. He said it’s part of the two steps forward one step back healing process."

Beautiful, with Kristian's help!

Erin and Kristian have survived the deep freeze in Regina where temperatures have challenged -40° this week, before moderating for the weekend. They are also into melting weather now—quite a relief! Erin got through her busy time at work, so that's a relief. She worked on her Lego project, had some struggles, but was fortunate to have some professional assistance! Erin is happy to see the return of baseball and her beloved Blue Jays. 

Joanna is away this weekend, visiting her sister and family, and working on her mother's house. They are trying to go through all the stuff, and get it ready to sell. Trav is batching at home with the boys and Marigold. He and Marigold came over for supper tonight which included us watching the Penguins game and Marigold cleaning up Kali's food! 

And that's about it for this week.