Cycling!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued to be beautiful, and we have got the bikes out and enjoyed touring around the area. As we've passed the middle of March, it will soon be officially Spring, so we're hoping that we have indeed escaped with a very easy Winter. I had another Physio session on Monday, and will now continue on my own for a few weeks since things are going so well. I have a series of stretches and resistance exercises that I cycle through each day. It is very encouraging! Wendy keeps busy with her chorus management, and with rehearsing for both choruses. We're enjoying learning the eleven new songs for the Spring Concert with the Silver Sound group. The markets were troubled this week with inflation data from CPI and PPI both coming in hotter than expected. That has resulted in the TSX outperforming the USA indices so far this month for the first time this year. In the NHL, the Pens are playing out the string and suffering the prospect of neither making the playoffs, nor getting a high draft choice—sigh! Oilers and Leafs are sitting well into playoff positions. In Basketball, the #16-Jayhawks are suffering with injuries and failure to shoot well, as they suffered another loss. Now, it's time to be ready for March Madness, and they do not seem ready! They usually take their #1 seeding in the tournament as a given, but this year, I'm expecting a 5 or 6 seed—embarrassing! The Brier ended last Sunday with Gushue defeating McEwen for his sixth championship—a record! Today, the Women's World championship launched and our team Homan opened with wins over Sweden and Denmark. 

A life worth celebrating!

50th Celebration!

Erica reports, "On Monday I turn 50. Eric arranged a special celebration on Friday night in recognition of my half century. It took the form of a surprise party for me with our friends and some friends from work. He booked a room and hired a caterer to provide Appies. Guido made a red velvet cake. Tina borrowed a Karaoke machine. It was a fun night! Liam came home to provide some extra joy to the occasion. Liam had a recent appointment with his specialist. His weight is healthy, his inflammation is normal, blood count is normal, vitamin D is normal. It’s hard to believe. When we first went to the specialist, Liam was so sick it didn’t seem like he would ever be healthy. It’s good to see him so much better!"

Erin is working through on-the-job training at Volkswagen. While the accounting principles are the same, this franchise uses different software so there are many subtle differences to be accommodated. Kristian is well into his final semester of high school and is looking forward to graduation in June. 

Travis remains surprisingly busy with hockey production this late in the local season. Joanna is busy at work as financial year-end finds many organizations seeking to complete their budgeted purchases. Today, Joanna and Wendy went on a shopping excursion. They enjoyed that—I enjoyed not doing that! 

And that's enough for this week. 

Like a Lamb!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. March came in like a lamb, and has remained lamb-like ever since. We're enjoying positive temperatures each day, and I've been able to get out for my walks very comfortably.

Front Lawn last year/this year

I had a second appointment with my physiotherapist on Monday, and am scheduled to continue that routine for two more Mondays. After that, and in consideration of my progress, we may continue with longer breaks in between. He added more exercises and some resistance exercises to my regime this week, and I may have overdone it on Wednesday, as I had a tender back, and had to forego resistance training on Thursday and Friday. Still, both he and I report being well encouraged by how things are going! I was able to get down on the floor and clean the flame sensor on the water heater this morning—progress! Wendy celebrated her birthday today, and we enjoyed a family gathering here this evening around Chinese food and Turtle Cheesecake. The markets have continued to be volatile; this week's irritants were the FED chair testifying before Congress, and jobs data. You never know what Powell might say, nor how it will be interpreted by investors. The jobs data on Friday was blow-away good, and that scared investors since it might cause a further delay in interest rate cuts. My main activity of the week was the Brier. My guy, Kevin Koe, performed very poorly and did not make the playoffs. I picked the exact names for the six qualifiers, but it was Kevin's brother, Jamie, who carried the Koe name forward. We are down to the final three teams now: Gushue, Bottcher and McEwen. I am cheering for McEwen, although he is the lowest ranked of the three. The NHL had a breathless week with Trade Deadline, where contenders tried to add the players to get them to the Cup, and pundits filled the airwaves with "Breaking News!" Leafs and Oilers added to their lineups, while Pens management decided it was time to sell, sigh! Only the Leafs won tonight. In Basketball, #14-Jayhawks were dropped hard, and responded with a big win over K-State, but faced #1-Houston today and that was a different story—ugly road loss!

Erica writes, "We got our winters worth of snow on Monday and Tuesday, and the snowmobilers are delighted! Eric had a specialist appointment this week concerning his vision, and has a diagnosis of Keratoconus. He is being referred to a surgeon. We are heading down to Regina this weekend. Eric and I are attending the CPA convocation celebration and I’m joining the Lipedema ladies at a booth to share with people about Lipedema. We hope to fit in a quick visit with Erin and Kristian. I got a quote for a medical grade lymph pump. Our provincial healthcare will cover 40% of the cost. Not sure exactly why it doesn’t cover all the cost. I blame the SaskParty."

with Matt Dunstone

Kristian got to go the Brier on Thursday (lucky duck!), and enjoyed that. He got pictures with several of the players. Erin finally started at VW on Tuesday. It's a much longer drive out to the east of the city to the dealership, and takes extra time depending on traffic and trains. VW and Audi use different management software, so she's having to familiarize with that aspect. Then, her furnace went down this week, so that took some extra running around as well. 

Celebratory Cheesecake

Celebratory Meal

Travis and Joanna keep busy, however, we did have one games night early in the week. This evening they, along with Andrew & Rosie, joined us for a very Wendy birthday celebration. She made her own cake, while they brought food and good cheer!

And that's enough for this week! 

Marching Along!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continue to be unseasonably warm, and the snow is practically gone. The meeting with the physiotherapist on Monday went well. He was pleased with the progress on my back in the five weeks, and has initiated a set of five stretching exercises for this week. I am experiencing some tenderness and tightness from my first day of the exercises, but nothing unreasonable. Next Monday will mark six weeks post-surgery, and he felt we should not do very much until after that surgeon imposed deadline. Anyway, I am quite encouraged. He supports my goals of golf this summer with walking the course, and curling beginning in the Fall. We got a bit of snow early in the week, so Wendy had a bit of shovelling, but we've returned to above expected conditions and that bit of snow is now history. As you will note, the TSX is not doing well, while Uncle Joe has the USA markets flying. 

Year-to-date index gains:

X: 1.9%

D: 3.5%

S: 6.8%

Q: 7.2%

In the NHL, my teams are improving their standing as far as the playoffs are concerned, but Pens still remain with quite a bit of work to do, and they didn't help themselves tonight, sigh! The Scotties completed on Sunday with the Homan team victorious. They will carry Canada's colours to the world championship later this month. The #7-Jayhawks played a disastrous home game early in the week, losing despite holding a 12-point lead in the second half—it was disheartening. Then, they had a tough road game today, and lost that one as well. They will drop severely in the rankings! Rock Chalk Jayhawks! The Brier began last night in Regina, so I'll be very occupied for the next week! My guy, Kevin Koe, is there, but if he continues to curl like last night, he won't be there for long! I'm picking Bottcher, Dunstone, Jacobs from Pool A, and Gushue, McEwen, Koe from Pool B. We'll see how that goes before picking my playoff survivors! 

Eric and Erica have returned from their vacation in Arizona to a late winter blizzard in Prince Albert. It is predicted to snow all weekend, so maybe they're trying to catch up on moisture needs on the prairies. Erica writes, "Eric and I made it back home. We experienced a remarkable event on our trip. Our flights all left on time and we didn’t miss any connections. I think that is the first time in several years. We really enjoyed Arizona and decided we will need to return some time to see all the things we didn’t have time for this trip. There were places where the landscape was exactly what we expected. And there were a few surprises—in one spot a boreal forest with snow, just like home. Also—we purchased a bed! We broke our bed frame a while back (not nearly as exciting as it sounds), and we have been sleeping with the box spring and mattress on the floor, just like university days!"

Erin and Kristian are hunkered down under a winter storm warning in Regina. Kristian completed another of his industrial safety courses on Wednesday. I believe that's a half dozen or more safety categories that he has completed—well done, buddy! Erin and Kristian toured through the VW dealership this week, and Erin got the news that she will officially begin over there on Monday! Exciting times! She expects most of the accounting work will be similar, but there will also be an added dimension with the management facet. We're proud of her, too! 

Joanna returned from southern Ontario on Tuesday. So, she was back at work the rest of the week. Travis has kept busy with business, more photo shoots, and the dogs. They came over for pizza and cards tonight. It's been too long! 

And that's about enough for this week. 

2024-02-24

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued to be mild and the snow continues to disappear. This is way too early for such a situation, but we're enjoying getting out for comfortable walks. Wendy keeps busy with Sweet Adelines, but we had a week off from our Silver Sound choir since our director is holidaying in Cuba. Wendy has completed her annual accounting assignment for a business here. He keeps paying her more than she asks, so clearly he is pleased with her work. I continue to do not much of anything while healing my back. I start physio on Monday, so I am hoping I'll be freed to be more active soon. This afternoon we took a safety training course to allow our volunteer work at church. The markets have continued to show volatility, but also keep putting up record values, and returning big gains to shareholders. Anyway, I've been occupied all week with the Scotties. My gal, Einarson, made it to the playoffs, but has now been knocked out. The teams left are Homan, Jones and Cameron. The popular choice from the outset was Homan, but it's a slippery game, and we'll have to wait to see how it plays out tomorrow. In hockey my three teams are all improving their situation a little. Pens and Leafs won their recent games, in fact Leafs are on a seven-game winning streak. The Oilers have fallen off the torrid pace they were on earlier, and dropped another to their provincial rival tonight, sigh! #9-Jayhawks dropped again in the rankings after last week. They only had one game this week and performed very well for an easy win over Texas. 

Erica writes, "This week Eric and I have joined our friends, Guido and Tina on some pre-retirement research in Arizona. Specifically, we are checking for places where we can avoid the cold winters when we get to retirement age, whenever that may be! We arrived on Wednesday only to find that I had booked an electric car—one that doesn’t work at the Tesla stations that are scattered around the state. Since we plan to do some exploring, we decided to pay the extra fee for a gas engine. Then, we headed to our accommodations at Camp Verde. So far we have seen Montezuma’s Castle and Well, which have no actual connection to Montezuma or the Aztecs. The castle is built into the limestone and the well is an underground spring that continues to flow wet and dry season. We explored historic downtown Camp Verde. The town was a fort “back in the day”. Today we explored the Desert Botanical Gardens and the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix where we saw the guitar used by Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary. There is much more planned on the agenda for the next few days. We are hoping for a bit of relaxation in there as well. The weather is a pleasant 20ish degrees and cools down at night."

Paul's Guitar

Erin and Kristian are doing well in Regina. Kristian enjoyed the weeklong break from school. He reports that he was able to sleep in most mornings. Erin has been informed of further delays in her transfer over to VW. Her boss at Toyota will be away for a couple of weeks, so she'll be running the show at the mother ship for a while longer. 

Travis continues to have hockey team shoots, and Bucket Decals is surprisingly busy for this time of year. Joanna left on Friday to spend some time with her mom and the rest of the family in Toronto. We're expecting her return on Tuesday. Travis is batching with Max and the dogs this weekend! 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Making Progress!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned to more seasonal, with daytime highs remaining below zero most days. We have continued to be blessed with very little snow, which benefits Wendy as she has driveway duties since my surgery. The last time we had to clear a big dump was the morning of my surgery—so I got in one last shovelling episode then! I am making good progress with my back. I was back to see the surgeon on Wednesday, and along with dumping all over him for the failures of post-surgery care, he told us about the surgery, and approved how things were looking for my back. He has approved rehab work, and I have managed to check in with the physiotherapist and schedule my first session for Feb 26th. I remain quite impatient as everything feels good—much better than before the surgery, and I am eager to get on with things! My plan is that I should have full range of motion and get into golf at the end of May. I continue to be grateful that Erin encouraged me to go for this "while I was still young"! I regularly watch woodworking videos and look forward to getting back into the shop as soon as it warms up again. We have had a busy week with choir practices, home group, and a lovely Valentines supper out with Travis and Joanna! The markets took a major dump on Tuesday as USA inflation data showed up higher than expected, but we recovered from that in the remainder of the week. Sports has also become very busy with the opening of the Scotties on Friday. My local favourite, McCarville, is back, and my returning favourite, Einarson, is as well. They clashed in the feature game tonight, so I enjoyed that—Einarson won! In hockey, the Leafs and Pens are playing a bit better, while my Oilers are slumping after their 16-game winning streak. All won their most recent games at least. The #6-Jayhawks were dropped two spots in the rankings; they split their games this week, losing ugly to TTech, and then winning ugly over OU. 

Erica writes, "For Valentines Day, Eric and I did a Clue-based escape room. Unfortunately, we did not escape. So, we went back on Friday and were more successful! It was a lot of fun. We were asked to test out a new room while we were there, but I had book club, so, we had to decline. We need to make some plans for June—we have Greg’s wedding and Haaken is coming home for a month. But, I haven’t got myself into gear to book anything. I must be too focused on our trip to Arizona this week."

Kristian had a session at Sask Polytech on machining last weekend, but that seems to have been a one-off, so nothing this weekend. He, along with his curling team has been invited to attend a draw at the Brier next month—I'm jealous. Erin keeps doing her several jobs and looks forward to settling into her new job. She took off Thursday and Friday to let her replacement work on her own and see how she managed it. 

Travis and Joanna keep busy. Joanna has been fighting a cold most of the week, but they still took off time to take us out for Valentines supper—thank you so much! They continue to have some hockey team photo shoots, but that is dwindling now as the hockey regular season nears completion. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Winter is Back!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued mild, including a few showers this week, but this weekend, the rain turned to snow, and it looks like winter outside once again. Wendy has been in a workshop called Competent Caring on Thursday through today. She imagines it will enable her to provide good care for me in my dotage! The lovely weather has allowed us to get out for walks each day until today when it stayed below zero with icy conditions, so I didn't dare walk outside. We're back in practice sessions with Silver Sound Choir each week. We have a new set of about a dozen songs to prepare for the Spring concert in early May. 

Silver Sound Choir

I completed my course of medicine for my hiccups, but I have had several short episodes of hiccups the last couple of days—those startle me in ways they never used to! The steri-strips have fallen off my incision scar and it's healing nicely.

Turns out it was 8cm.

I am scheduled for a follow-up with my surgeon next Wednesday. I'm looking forward to his prognosis of the situation, and an estimation of when I can begin physiotherapy. The USA markets have had a good week based on their economic strength so they don't have to concern themselves about the rate cuts. TSX suffered all week until Friday when we got strong jobs numbers, and good corporate earnings reports, so we turned in a week's worth of gain to end the week. The NHL has returned to play after the all-star break. The Oilers failed to carry on their winning streak in Vegas (not too many winning streaks survive in Vegas), but they started another one last night in Anaheim, and ended it in Los Angeles tonight. The Pens have returned to their road-weary ways and dropped a pair of road games. Leafs have returned to play, but continued their up and down performances which drive their fans crazy! #4-Jayhawks were rewarded with a jump in the rankings. Two lacklustre games this week may not reflect well, but the worst of it was they lost to K-State—that is unforgivable. I've kept busy all week with provincial curling. My guy, Koe, dropped into the semi-final in Alberta. Likewise, the favourite in Manitoba, Jacobs, has fallen to the semi-final. We'll see if they can mount a rally tomorrow. 

Eric writes, "This week was looking the same as most in Prince Albert, where we live, but for the boys (Haaken and Liam) is was their birthday week. We called Liam on Sunday. He was in the van on his way home from a weekend excursion to Southern Alberta Bible Camp. While there, he taught and the team performed for the campers. He celebrated with his friends on his birthday. Haaken’s birthday was on Thursday. He had a birthday treat from grandma, celebrating with the other Baileys out in Victoria. Erica had work this week with only had one evening meeting (SK Lipedema). Eric worked his regular hours at CFS and taught his adolescent development class at the university. We had a quick trip to Caronport to visit Liam and meet his girlfriend, Mercedes." 

Liam & Mercedes

Erin and Kristian carried on with life in the mild Regina winter, but they got a taste of snow as well. I'm sure the snow was welcomed by the agricultural industry. Kristian signed up for a machining workshop at Sask Polytech, so he took that in today. Fun way to spend a Saturday! Erin feels her transfer over to VW is imminent—possibly this month. 

Travis and Joanna were busy with work all week, and when they finally had some free time for cards, Wendy was busy with the week-ending seminar on Competent Caring. Otherwise the dogs were thriving! Trav and I watched the Pens fail to re-start their season in Minnesota, and then, they followed that up with a loss in Winnipeg tonight—sigh! 

And that's about it for this week. 

Hiccups Over!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. The weather has been lovely with melting each day—unexpected for the end of January! The hiccups are not exactly a distant memory, but in the past at least! The medical folks think the problem developed from the facedown intubation during surgery, and it was exacerbated because my surgeon was relatively new and had not gone through all the expected protocols for effective medical service. The hospital offers a SeamlessMD program, but he had not been registered, so I was not included, and thus got no service! I have never dealt with an experience so terrible. I didn't even know there was such a thing as fast hiccups. They began during the night after my surgery and continued for the next seven days and nights. The spasms occurred about every three seconds, but sometimes more rapidly, and often with double and triple spasms. Sometimes the complete exhaustion allowed me to sleep. Wendy commented that sometimes I snored along with the hiccups. Monday, was my last bad night, as I finally took some T3s and got to sleep about 5am. Wendy got up at 7:30 and said I was sleeping hiccup-free, so she left me sleep. I woke for a phone call about 11am. That was when we finally got some action on the medical front. The call was from the Low-Back team contact. She was one of the doctors I was hounding for help (I was leaving plaintive hiccup-filled messages on her answering machine). She had, like-wise, been trying to get in contact with the surgeon and had failed to do so! (No kidding, I left lots of messages on his machine, too), any way, she was able to enrol me directly into the SeamlessMD program which is designed to accommodate a seamless transition to home after surgery (what a concept!) As a result, I was finally in that program; the nurse-practitioner called me, and after I explained my problem, she sent a prescription order to my pharmacy for a drug to deal with the hiccups. Wendy picked up my new med Tuesday afternoon. I took my second dose at midnight that night; the hiccups stopped about 1am, and I enjoyed a lovely sleep each night since, along with hiccup-free days, too! It’s a 7-day course of metoclopramide hcl 5mg. I asked the nurse-practitioner about the med, since it's not listed as a hiccup killer! She acknowledged that this is an off-label application, but one that in her experience seems to work, so she uses it! So, I am delighted to be back on my healing program, getting sleep, and allowing my incision to heal. My back seems to be healing well, and I am feeling little pain. The current difficulty is waiting out the 6-week period before the rehab can begin. In the meantime, I am allowed to walk, but little else. I can't bend over to the floor, I can't lift stuff, I can't twist my back... Two weeks are almost completed! Otherwise, Wendy continues with her work with the Sweet Adelines choir and with her enjoyment in the Silver Sound Choir. For the Spring concert, she has joined the tenor section of this choir and is enjoying that experience. The markets were dogged by big events this week: the FED and the USA jobs data. The FED is teasing two actions: dropping the interest rate, and changing their Quantitative Easing program. They were equivocal on both issues and investors were alarmed. Then, USA jobs data dropped showing Bidenomics had produced another blockbuster month of 353,000 jobs. The upshot of it all was bad news for Canadian investors (Yeah, that's me you're looking at!) and begrudging good news for USA investors: even if they're not going to cut rates, the USA economy is doing so well that companies are making big money. So, I did not have a good week—sigh! NHL teams are off for the All-Star break, so my Oilers are sitting on their 16-game winning streak. Penguins are close, but out of the playoffs. Leafs are in a playoff position. #8-Jayhawks were dropped another spot in the rankings, but enjoyed a blowout win over Oklahoma State early in the week to set up today's big game against #4-Houston. KU came out hard, built up an early lead, and were never threatened in a 13 point win—that should move us up. Rock Chalk Jayhawk! 

Erica writes, "We have been enjoying the extraordinarily warm weather in PA. The snow is starting to melt. We got out for a walk in the snow, only to find some of the paths covered in slush and ice, but it was quite nice anyway. I’m on worship team tomorrow and looking forward to that. Eric is eyeing up bass ukuleles to round out his collection. We are also working on a few upcoming adventures: a short trip to Arizona at the end of February, Greg and Kiersten’s wedding in June, and a Girls' 50th birthday trip to Costa Rica in the fall."

Erin and Kristian are likewise enjoying the mild winter in Regina, but already we're hearing concerns about moisture levels for the agricultural industry. Kristian's high school curling team lost in the playoffs and have thus ended their season. Erin remains very busy with year end, and now month end, as well as the training of her replacement. She expects to begin the transition over to Volkswagen soon. 

Travis and Joanna got back from Punta Cana on Monday. I was able to pick them up from the airport although my hiccups were still a thing at the time! Travis had a couple of busy days, but is caught up to his Puckshots work now. Joanna is back at work as well. Last night, we had a special celebration for Rosie as she has completed her Canadian citizenship. 

Welcome Rosie!

Spinal Surgery!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. And what a week it has been! The weather has turned to the mild side with daily highs rising above freezing and some melting has taken place. But the big event began early Monday morning as I reported to the hospital for my long-awaited spinal surgery. A friendly doctor on the surgery team drew us a diagram and explained the procedure. 

Spinal Surgery Diagram

The dark blue circle is the spinal cord which is being impinged here by a ruptured disc, or boney material, or both. They will cut straight down from the surface of my back (carefully, he was at pains to assure me) until they encounter the bone. Then, they will retract the muscle tissue to the red lines to give them greater access. At that point, they will finally see what they're up against. However, I have not had any meetings with the surgical team to find out what they saw or what they did. Wendy changed the bandage this afternoon, and took a picture, so I know they did something! The pain from the incision is pretty much gone, but it will be months rebuilding proper strength and motion. 

Incision

The incision is about 10cm (4") long, and is now held together with steri-strips. There has been little seepage and it seems to be healing well. The main feature of the week has been, unfortunately, hiccups (I always spelled it hiccoughs, but that seems to have changed!). I was discharged from the hospital Monday evening, gingerly made my way home and went to bed. "To sleep, perhaps to dream"... yeah, no chance of that! I spent most of the night trying to find a comfortable position in which to rest, and finally at 4:22am, the hiccups arrived and have remained ever since. To be sure, many folks have sent along their advice and remedies and some of them have proved helpful. This has not been the case with my medical people, none of whom have gotten back to me. I plan to visit them on Monday! 

Otherwise, the markets remained volatile, but expanded to new all-time highs again this week as strong USA economic data for jobs, GDP and inflation encouraged investors. In the world of Basketball, KU was punished for their lack-lustre performance last week and dropped to #7. A win at home and a loss on the road this week are unlikely to encourage the voters! In the NHL, Oilers pushed their winning streak to 16 games and are solidly in a playoff position. Pens remain on the outside looking in and need to definitely go on a winning streak. Leafs remain unpredictable as they frequently appear to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. But all three of them won today!

Erica writes, "It’s been a fairly ordinary week in Prince Albert. We enjoyed a reprieve from the cold temperatures. It warmed up to 0 degrees on the weekend. This weekend marks the beginning of the winter festival. We enjoyed an evening out at the Tux and Toques Gala. I wore a jacket with tails (tux) and Eric wore a toque. And that is about it! :)" 

Erin and Kristian are also enjoying the break from the deep freeze. Kristian has had to struggle to do his make up work in math while teachers are on job action. 

Travis and Joanna are starting on their way back from Punta Cana this weekend. We are expecting them on Monday evening. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

It's Time!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The cold weather has broken, and we're enjoying sunny days. They're predicting temperatures near zero next week, but also suggesting that we'll get some snow. We'll see how that plays out! I am scheduled for spinal surgery on Monday, so I won't have to worry about snow clearing for a while! We've had a cold week here in Thunder Bay, but not the wild weather experienced east of here, nor the deep freeze enjoyed in the west. We've had a quiet, mostly indoors week. Wendy had her choir practice on Monday evening, and went for a fresh haircut on yesterday. I had my pre-admission conference on Wednesday. The markets have been struggling with fears that the FED will maintain its high interest rates for longer than hoped since the USA economy continues to perform so strongly. However, as jobless data was much better than expected, and consumer confidence data also was a beat, the investors finally decided that companies pretty much had to make money in this environment so, we closed the week with some nice gains. In the world of sports curling has been a highlight. Last week concluded with Koe winning in Lloydminster. This week, it's the Canadian Open in Red Deer. Koe lost in the tie-breaker this morning. It will be a Canada/Scotland final on the men's side tomorrow, featuring Bottcher vs Mouat. On the women's side, it'll be Switzerland/Canada with the Tirinzoni vs Homan matchup. In hockey, my Oilers ran off another big win streak (now at 13 games) to move into a playoff position. Leafs are having a bad spell of blowing leads and losing games; they're barely hanging on to what used to be a solid playoff position. Penguins are playing better and have moved within two points of the playoffs. They all played today, but only Oilers managed a win. #3-Jayhawks have continued their sloppy ways in college basketball, and have not been achieving the easy wins that I expect! Today, they dropped a road game that they should have won easily! Rock Chalk boys! Stadium stairs, boys!! I expect this will show up in a drop in the rankings!

Erica writes, "Eric and I honoured our grandfathers on Friday by attending an NDP fundraiser in PA. We dragged along a few conservatives as well. Ha! It was a fun evening with music bingo, silent auctions and air banjo. On Saturday, we went to listen to Amy Bishop at the EA Rawlinson in PA. I also had an appointment in Saskatoon to get my hand electrocuted. Turns out, I have carpal tunnel. I also had some testing for arthritis, but I don’t have that yet! So that’s good. I have to wear a brace for four months and if that doesn’t fix it, we may do a procedure. The boys all seem well. We’ve had a few chats here and there and they are doing okay."

Kristian won his curling game last week, but this week's schedule was postponed. We expect they will catch up on that one later. Then, they'll be into the playoffs. Erin had a small disaster with her RAV4 as the battery failed. Modern vehicles rely heavily on the computerized aspects. We experienced a similar issue earlier this winter as the battery weakened, and the computer said, "So sorry, can't run on that!" It wouldn't start, it wouldn't even lock the doors, we couldn't even get it out of gear for towing—it was dead! Her situation was similar and in the very cold weather, she had to get it towed to work and a new battery installed.

Ah, the life!

Travis and Joanna are enjoying life in Punta Cana where tropical beaches beckon! They laugh at we poor folk suffering in the cold! Seriously, we are glad to see them taking a break from the work and the weather. We are taking care of Minnie, and that's going fine.

And that's about enough for this week!

Spinal Surgery!

I have been suffering sciatica-like pain for the last year or so as a result of an issue in my spinal column. It came to my attention one day in September 2022, while I was working in the shop, however the doctors think it was under development for years ahead of that! I was sitting on the floor, installing a set of storage drawers. When I tried to get up, there was a severe pain in my back that took my breath away. In the immediate aftermath, the pain was debilitating—I could only walk about fifty metres. Over the year plus since then, it has played out as lower back pain, pain points in my butt, a burning sensation in my thighs and calves, and neuropathy in my feet. Helpful suggestions from family and doctors have allowed me to achieve significant relief. I am now able to walk about 1 km without negative repercussions. I can even walk up to 5 km, but then I suffer significantly the following day. The lower back team at the hospital has assured me that only the lower back pain is real, and that the rest are phantom pains caused by the impingement on the nerves. I had my pre-admission meeting on Wednesday morning, and now all is in place for spinal surgery on Monday, January 22nd. The plan is to reformat the spinal column between L4 and L5 to create some room for my spinal column and the nerves associated with it. In the MRIs you can see the narrowing of the spinal column at the L4-L5 area; the doctor calls it severe spinal stenosis. He was not surprised that I was experiencing discomfort while walking, in fact, he seemed to be more surprised that I was walking at all! One of the pictures has encouraged me to think that it's only soft tissue pressure caused by the ruptured disc, but the surgeon did not accept that conclusion! So, he'll see when he gets in there. He predicts that I will be released from hospital on Monday unless there are complications. After that, he assures me, I will be feeling real pain in the lower back, but I'll have drugs to allay that! Then, he predicts I will get relief from the butt and leg pains in short order, but that the neuropathy can not be expected to dissipate very soon, or possibly ever. Is it delicate, risky? Of course it is. No surgery is risk-free, and the spinal column is particularly complex. Thus, I covet your prayers over the surgery and the rehab work to follow. Thanks

BRRR!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We are into a cold snap with a polar vortex bringing cold weather down both east and west of us, and we're getting caught a bit as well. Western Canada is seeing temperatures down to -40°, and eastern Canada is seeing cold and storms pushing down into the USA. We feel a bit fortunate with calm conditions and temperatures around -15°, but it still leaves us relieved to sit, well protected, in our comfortable home. We did get some additional snow early in the week, but we remain well below average on that front for this point in the season.

Puzzle-Lady completes another!

Wendy has completed another puzzle. She also keeps busy with her choral group, and her small group at church. She continues to improve, albeit slowly, from her long term coughing problem. This weekend, we inherited Minnie as Trav & Joanna headed south to Punta Cana. The colder weather has kept me from the workshop, but I did pick up two large pallets (4x8) with full 2x4s. I got one of them stripped down. They were new pallets, probably only used once, so they came apart very cleanly, providing me a good source of lumber. I have been back and forth with the surgeon this week, and my surgery date has been adjusted and readjusted as operating theatre schedules have changed. I was set for the 24th, which seemed like a good omen to me since that was Mom's birthday, but yesterday, they changed it to the 22nd, a week from Monday. Markets were troubled this week, and retreated in value. CPI came in higher than expected, raising inflation concerns. PPI came in lower than expected, lowering inflation fears. Investors didn't know what to do, so with the Monday USA market holiday, they sat on their hands! In hockey, my Oilers followed up their earlier eight game winning streak with another winning streak that has now reached a team record ten games! As a result, they have moved into a playoff position. Penguins are close, and Leafs are in a playoff position, but both lost tonight. #3-Jayhawks unexpectedly lost their game earlier in the week, but they came back with a solid win today. Since #1, 2 and 5 also lost, it's hard to predict where they'll be ranked next week! The curling world is focused on Lloydminster this week, and my guy, Kevin Koe has qualified for the playoffs. We'll see what he can manage tomorrow. 

The Saskatchewan families have hunkered down against the extremely cold weather out there. Erica did venture into Saskatoon for a medical referral. Liam and his team ventured into the frigid northern Saskatchewan for presentations at Canoe Lake. We're glad they made it safely home again!

We remember

Erin has begun dismantling her Christmas tree, but not before taking time to appreciate the Sadie memento in recognition of their first Christmas after her passing. Kristian has been putting in extra hours at school as he works to earn additional math credit. 

Travis and Joanna delivered Minnie to us. Moxley and Darby are being cared for at home by Max, who is also in charge of the house. Travis and Joanna have escaped the cold and storm for two weeks in Punta Cana—we're jealous!

And that's about enough for this week. 

It's beginning...

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The temperatures have remained comfortable, but the snow has arrived, and it's finally beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We got a snowfall on Sunday, and then another good dump last night, so I got the snowblower out for the first time, and it ran well. We enjoyed a New Year celebration with Travis & Joanna; they helps us complete a puzzle that evening. We continue to make progress on the side entry, and Wendy has begun another 1000-piece puzzle. I have revised my investment plays. I began the year with a good green week, despite the fact that all indices are in the red. Investors are struggling with their response to several issues. The USA economy is going great guns with another 200K+ month of job creation, wage growth and the unemployment rate at record lows. However, ISM data show weakness in consumer enthusiasm and spending.  But, inflation is retreating. We're not doing nearly so well up here: job creation is flat, even though wage growth is good and unemployment rate is satisfactory. Meanwhile investors are wondering:

-Big time job creation: That will allow the FED to keep rates high? Sell

-Inflation falling: That will cause the FED to drop the rates! Buy
-ISM number weak: That will force the FED to drop rates! Buy
-ISM number weak: That means the USA is headed for recession! Sell

And thus, we had a week of indecision with equity values falling. 

In the world of sports, we watched the completion of the World Junior Hockey Championships. We were shut out of the medals, while USA beat Sweden to collect the gold. My three teams put up good action in the NHL. The Leafs solidified their place. Oilers and Pens rode their improved play up the standings and now sit just two points out of the playoffs. The #2-Jayhawks began conference play today, and while playing sloppy, still managed to eke out a 2 point win. Rock Chalk Boys! 

Eric and Erica spent the week in Australia and enjoyed touring around there, including a snorkeling trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. Truly, it was the trip of a life time. They have now arrived back in Canada, and will be adjusting to the time and climate change! 

Erin continues her training work with her replacement. Her employer was expecting her to be moved over to Volkswagen by now, but they underestimated how much work she is actually doing! Besides, it's yearend time (the busiest time of the year), and she wishes to help with that before moving on. Kristian did not get as much Math completed over the break as he was expecting (and we were hoping). He needs this if he hopes to get into Sask Polytech in the Fall. 

Travis & Joanna joined us to welcome in 2024 and do a jigsaw puzzle. Now, they're enjoying the last days of Jonas & Gemma's visit, and are also busy back at work. Andrew & Rosie made a road trip to Toronto to visit family down there. We're glad they're safely back home. 

Challenging Jigsaw!

And that's enough for this week! 

Happy New Year!

Another week, another month, and another year have passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued mild, but they keep threatening us with snow, and it must come—right?! I've been out to the shop regularly, and have made some progress on the barn door trim, and on the oak stair nosings for that part of the entry project. We're re-tiling the side entry and the stairway to the basement. We enjoyed Christmas with the local family, and, via technology, with our family in Saskatchewan and New Zealand. Wendy prepared a delicious turkey dinner, and Joanna added some trimmings! Naturally, we've continued to enjoy turkey meals all week—it's part of the tradition! A special treat was two phone calls with our old friend, Jack, in Stillwater—lots of good memories were shared there! Wendy has returned to her side entry assignment, and it's coming along well. There are only three weeks remaining before my spinal surgery, so I'm trying to get the lifting aspects of my projects taken care of ahead of that hiatus. The doctor suggests that I'll be on the injury reserve list for six weeks after that—we'll see! We enjoyed another productive week in the markets as all USA indices played with all-time record highs! Thanks Uncle Joe! We did not progress nearly so well in Canada, but it was green at least: 

TSX: 8.1%
DOW: 13.7%
S&P: 23.2%
Nasdaq: 43.4%

I had a decent year (15.1%), pretty much on average for me, but with lots of up and downs that don't provide comfort! We were able to build up equity a bit while still withdrawing what we needed to live on. I will review the activity, and consider adjustments to the plan heading into 2024. The world of sports took some special activity over the holiday period with the Junior World Hockey Championship attracting some attention, along with the plague of football bowl games! My #12-Sooners won their bowl game pretty easily. This weekend marks the semi-finals and I'm cheering for #3-Texas and #1-Michigan to prevail. All my hockey teams are playing this evening—Oilers and Pens win. Oilers are on another winning streak and had a real test tonight in LA. Leafs are suffering from inadequate goaltending, and are on a 3-game losing skid. Pens are a bit hot & cold, and need to pick it up a bit to get into a playoff position. In basketball, #2-Jayhawks maintained their ranking and routed Wichita today. 

Eric and Erica continue their tour down under and have now moved on to Australia. We have enjoyed following along as they posted spectacular activities and photos from New Zealand including a helicopter ride up to the Franz Josef Glacier. 

Erin and Kristian hosted Liam most of the week, but he has moved back home to Caronport. Kristian is spending some of his break doing his extra math course. We're proud of his efforts. Erin continues the training program for her replacement while also priming for the busiest time of the year for herself with monthend and yearend accounting work. 

Travis & Joanna were with us for Christmas and returned last night for pizza and games! On this occasion, we completed the Tim Hortons Christmas puzzle. Andrew & Rosie are on a road trip to Toronto—quite an ambitious drive at any time, let alone in the winter. Jonas & Gemma continue their holiday here at home. 

We like Jigsaw Puzzles

And that's enough for this week. 

Merry Christmas!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We've enjoyed another week with above freezing temperatures and rain. I am comforted by the idea that if it were only bit colder, we could have achieved a White Christmas! The forecasters are suggesting +7° with rain again tomorrow, but dropping to freezing over the night, so we may get some snow for Christmas yet! I've managed to get a bit more done in the shop and also hung the new barn door in the kitchen. Wendy has proved me wrong—the back entry was not ready for painting, but from what she's saying, it is ready now! That will leave only our bedroom to complete this 10-year reno project! She has also been very busy with Christmas preparations. We're spending Christmas here in Thunder Bay, and we'll enjoy a turkey dinner with all the fixings on Monday afternoon with Travis, Joanna and extended family. The USA economy continued to show strength even as inflation data improved and FED watchers are now betting on four to six rate drops in 2024, so the markets thrived. That's despite two scares this week as FedEx and Nike both reported earnings misses and investors are notably easy to scare, so those reports from two important consumer companies caused some selling. As a result, all USA indices hit record highs, and we enjoyed another green week. There are only three trading days left for me as the TSX is closed both Monday and Tuesday. All NHL teams are getting some time off over the weekend; my Oilers ended the week with two wins on the road, but are no closer to a playoff position. Leafs were beaten by the Rangers and blown out by Buffalo earlier in the week, but recovered for a win tonight over Columbus. Pens recorded two wins this week, but lost to Ottawa tonight. #2-Jayhawks maintained their ranking, and won this week's game over Yale. 

Our Tree!

Eric and Erica are continuing their tour down under. Their main focus is the Lord of the Rings sites, but they're also enjoying exploring the beautiful country of New Zealand. 

Christmas in New Zealand

Erin and Kristian are hosting Liam for Christmas! 

Cats are mostly letting it be!

Travis & Joanna have Gemma & Jonas home for Christmas, and of course Andrew & Rosie are also here, so it's a full family gathering for them. We are looking forward to having the whole crew over for Christmas dinner. 

Trav/Joanna's Tree

Outside decorations, but no snow!

And that's enough for this week. 

Still Green!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has remained salubrious and thus the green continues. We've still a week to go until Christmas, but some folks are beginning to despair of a White Christmas! We began the week with our concert featuring the Silver Sound Choir. In the video, we spend the first seven minutes just trying to get arranged on stage! You may find Wendy in the back right, and me in the back left of the choir. Otherwise, our week was quiet, as per usual for us. I managed to get more stuff done in the shop. Wendy has made good progress on the side entry, and it's about ready for paint! (Actually, it may not be ready for paint; I have no qualifications that allow me to determine when something is ready for paint!) Wendy had a Sweet Adelines concert on Monday evening as well. Both choirs are in the Rotary Festival tomorrow which will complete this year's choral work. We plan to continue with Silver Sound Choir next year leading up to a May concert with a new set of music. The markets were tentative early in the week waiting for the FED to pontificate on the economic situation, however, when they came out saying all was well, the buying boomed, markets hit all-time record highs, and we had another great, green week. In the NHL, my three teams are playing below my expectations. Leafs are in a playoff position at least, but not even their recent 8 game winning streak have the Oilers back where they should be. Pens are also hovering around the .500 level—not good enough boys! Pens played Leafs again tonight—one of them had to win, and this time it was the Leafs. The football bowl season is underway. We look forward to #3-Texas playing in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day with the hope of advancing to the championship game. Sooners also have a bowl game, on Dec 28th. The #2-Jayhawks played a tough road game today against the Hoosiers, and trailed for nearly the whole game, before finally taking the lead with about five minutes left—not what I'm expecting from them! RCJK KU! Curling this week features the Grand Slam Masters from Saskatoon with the top ten teams in the world playing on both men's and women's sides. My guy, #9-Koe, did not make the playoffs. My gal, #4-Einarson did, but lost out in the semi-finals. #1-Tirinzoni will take on #3-Homan in the women's final. World #1-Retornaz will play #7-Whyte in the men's final. 

Gregory Earl Bailey

Erica writes, "It’s a boy. After over 21 years of labour, Gregory Earl Bailey arrived Tuesday, December 12, 8:16 PM, 272 lbs, 5'10 and 1/4“. He looks just like his Grandpa! Haaken and Liam are excited to officially have a big/little brother. Eric and I are off to New Zealand. We arrived in Auckland on Friday, which was Thursday, back home. We have a couple days to recuperate before starting our next adventure. Eric has finished teaching his fall course at U of S; when we get back he will jump into the winter semester. He has also submitted to teach at a conference—busy guy!"

Erin and Kristian are hard at the course catch up so Kristian can qualify to Sask Polytech after grade 12 completes. Thursday evening, Kristian had a Christmas party with the Youth Group. Erin continues to train her replacement. Both are involved in Christmas preparations with one week to go. Kristian's curling team lost their game this week to Riffel. 

Travis & Joanna, along with Andrew & Rosie, joined us on Wednesday evening for Andrew's birthday party. That was fun as Wendy prepared a treasure trove of as many 22-things as she could amass for his 22nd birthday, including 22 cakes with 22 candles, 22 coins of various denominations, 22 candies of various descriptions... She often comes up with these fun ideas. 

Happy 22nd Andrew!

And that's about it for this week! 

Back in the Green!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We did have snow, I assure you, but in the above zero temperatures and rain this week, it has disappeared and we're back into the green. We have some big news to share on the back front—clever, no?! I had a followup appointment with the spinal surgeon on Monday. I am being scheduled for day surgery on January 22nd to provide relief from what he terms as severe spinal stenosis between the L4 and L5. He offered to go next week, but we have a couple of concerts to sing at, and I'm thinking standing is not going to go so well in the immediate aftermath of the surgery. I will need to go off my blood thinner around the surgery date to mitigate the possibility of bleeding into the wound. Otherwise, he felt the risks were slight, but involved the possibility of infection, leaking of spinal fluid, or other nerve damage. He feels I should be up and around immediately afterwards, but on light duty for six weeks as far as anything involving my back is concerned. He felt I should be ready to resume golf by the time the courses open, and able to try curling next Fall. Otherwise, we had our usual choir practices and routines at home. With the mild weather I was able to get more shop time in. The markets struggled most of the week as we awaited USA jobs' and consumers confidence data. The pundits were suggesting that the economy had gone into recession in October and that this week's data would be weak. NOT! Bidenomics triumphed again! A 50-year record of unemployment below 4%, wages up, 200,000 new jobs, and inflation receding. So, it was back to buying, and we were back in the green week in the markets as well. My Oilers are on a six-game winning streak and have improved their standing a great deal. Leafs are comfortably in a playoff position to this point, while the Pens are on a losing streak—c'mon Pittsburgh! As expected, my #2-Jayhawks were elevated in the rankings. They won both of their games this week and I even got to watch them, today. College football is into the bowl season. The Sooners will play Arizona at the end of the month. The #3-Longhorns have been surprisingly added to the championship slate and will play in the Sugar Bowl on Jan 1st, with the hope of advancing to the championship game. 

Erica writes, "We are in final preparations for our trip—picking up medications, finishing up projects at work,  Eric has a new CPAP machine to bring and I have a set of leg massagers that help move lymph fluid. We are a proper old couple going on a trip! I guess my dream of backpacking through Europe is definitely gone now. We would never fit all this equipment in a backpack! The boys are all doing fine, but it’s starting to hit home that we won’t see any of them this Christmas. This will be the first time it is just Eric and me."

Saskatchewan weather continues to be decidedly unseasonably warm as well.

Well done, Kristian!

Kristian completed his Machining Class on Friday; he enjoyed the Poly-Tech experience a great deal, and is now considering what classes he will need to pick up to qualify for college work. The hammer in the photo is one he built during his class. His curling team lost this week to Riffel High School. Erin continues the training program for her replacement and keeps being surprised by how much there is to know just to do her job! What a wonderful employee she is! 

Puckshots bookings keep Trav and Joanna going all week. We miss the attention, but we still get together at least each week for some food and games! And, I'm overhearing plans for Christmas dinner! In the meantime, at least Travis and I get to chat our way through several hockey games each week—I enjoy that! 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Into December

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned colder and we have received a skiff of snow, but with daily highs above zero it's still a question whether it will stay. We enjoyed a quiet week until Thursday. That morning, I pulled the car out to get ready to go to choir practice, but five minutes later when I went to start it and leave, it wouldn't turn over, it just clicked, and not the dragging click of a dying battery, but just a persistent click of a complaining computer! Turned out it was a dead battery. Despite starting earlier, it must have developed a dead short within the battery and now it was out of whack (whatever "in whack" is). By the end of the day, my wallet was much lighter, and my car was equipped with a new battery and running fine once again. Wendy has had some extra choir practice with her Sweet Adelines; she was out last evening and most of the day today. I think her cough has improved quite a bit this week. She has no results yet from her tests of last week. My spinal surgeon finally got back to me and I have an appointment with him on Monday, unless he backs out again. [see what I did there!]

Advent Adventures

We have each received Advent Calendar activities. Mine is little games and puzzles with zero instructions, so I also have to puzzle out what I'm supposed to do! Wendy's is a large (over 1000 pieces) jigsaw puzzle which has been divided into 24 little boxes with 42 pieces in each box—very clever! The markets were a bit nervous all week with bank earnings, and Powell scheduled to speak on Friday. In the end, it was another good green week, and my second best month of the year. OPEC+ said members were going to voluntarily reduce production to raise the price of crude, but folks didn't seem to believe them and crude fell again. My Oilers are playing much better and are currently nursing a four game winning streak, however that's not enough to get them back to .500 hockey. Leafs and Pens are doing better. In college football, the #7-Longhorns won the championship in their final year in the Big 12. They, along with my Sooners, are moving to the SEC next season. In basketball, #5-KU racked up two wins. The first one was not impressive, but last night they knocked off #4-UConn. I expect them to be rewarded with a higher ranking next week. 

Eric and Erica continue developing their plans for the trip to New Zealand. Their departure date is rapidly approaching. We had a chat with Liam. He seems to be doing well in his coursework and also in his other activities, although he hurt his back this week. He seems to think it's almost 100% again. 

Kristian lost his curling game this week to Miller Collegiate, but the reports were that it was a well-played game. Erin has put in extra effort consoling her trainee, who, over last weekend, lost her father back in India. Tonight, Kristian has his final showing of the school drama. Then, they'll close off with a pizza party for the cast and crew. 

Puckshots continues to be very busy as this is the high season for hockey team photos. The process seems to be working smoothly now, but the same cannot be said for photographing under-7 age hockey teams! 

Anyway, that's enough for this week.