Happy New Year!

We have continued our trip westward and this weekend/yearend finds us at the headwaters of the Columbia River in Fairmont BC. We began the week with another celebration of Christmas with the congregation at Glen Elm in Regina. Then, we engaged in further gift exchanges with Wendy’s family. On Tuesday, we sacrificed another turkey and enjoyed yet another celebration of Christmas, combined with a celebration of Eric/A’s 18th Anniversary! It was a great week in Regina, with lots of food and talk, and plenty of Mexican Train and Nerf guns! On Friday, we packed up and drove to Fairmont. Driving conditions were not ideal with a lot of ice issues on the TransCanada west as far as Swift Current, and then we ran into falling snow before we even got to the mountains. We are now at Fairmont Hot Springs, a golf, ski and hot springs resort on the western slope of the Rockies. I guess the hot springs are doing fine, but the golf course is bare which implies the ski hills are bare, too. Not a good arrangement for a ski vacation! As good management would have it, they have snow-making equipment, so the local mountain has all runs operating. The TSX was only open for three days this week, but I managed to make a small profit. It is a touchy business when you’re not only managing your own pension, but also drawing from it. With the TSX down 11% on the year, it has not been an easy time, but I’ve managed to show a small gain over the course of the year, so, while I haven’t managed the kind of increase I was planning on, at least the accounts have grown a little bit. In another twist, I left my wallet in Thunder Bay. Thankfully, Travis retrieved it, and mailed it to me in Regina. It arrived on Thursday, to my relief. Eric/A and the boys are with us here in Fairmont, so that makes it even more enjoyable. We have a unit and a half, so the boys are relaxing in their own side, while Eric/A also have a place of their own. It should be a relaxing week. 

Erin and Kristian travelled to Regina with us. We enjoyed celebrating with them. We enjoyed a visit with them, Mark and most of the Roberts’ family one evening. Erin flew home on Wednesday evening to snow-blowing and work; well, come to think about it, those are both work! Kristian has continued westward with us, and is enjoying continuing to spend time with his cousins and to build Lego projects! 

Trav, Joanna and the children are doing well. They took care of Sadie while Erin was travelling. Aside from a few holidays, they are back at work, hockey and life. 

And that’s about it for this week/year. Happy New Year, everyone! 

News Update

Glædelig Jul! Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël! Feliz Navidad!

Another week has passed, and we have moved from my hometown on the shore of Lake Superior, to another of my hometowns, on the shore of Lake Wascana. It's been a great week on the markets as the long-awaited Santa Rally finally arrived, when for no apparent reason, the markets began moving up, whereas previously, for the same reasons, they were moving down! I gained almost a month's worth of value, so that helps a lot. I was also blessed with multiple celebrations of Christmas, along with the prospect of even more! On Tuesday evening we celebrated with the family in TBay—a turkey dinner with all the fixings, complete with turnips and pumpkin pie! On Friday evening we joined the Kenora section of the family for further celebration—a ham dinner with all the fixings, no turnips, but we did get some lovely desserts! Today we drove over to Regina where we anticipate further celebrations. 

Wendy has been occupied with catching up on paperwork and record-keeping this week. Then she was occupied with Christmas dinner. Then she was occupied with Christmas presents. Then she was occupied with Christmas baking. Then she was occupied with getting ready for the next trip. She has not been much occupied with sleeping! Well she did sleep most of the five-hour drive to Kenora and the eight-hour drive to Regina! 

Erin and Kristian are along with us on the trip. They've been busy with the special events at school this week, along with getting ready for the Christmas and the trip. Kristian has once again scored numerous Lego sets, and he's loving it! 

Trav and Joanna are staying in TBay. They have an extra dog (Sadie) and they have the kids part of the time. Trav's hockey team is continuing to enjoy their winning ways. The latest victory vaults them ten points ahead in first place in the league. Trav continues to frustrate over his delayed office space. He's looking for alternatives. Joanna continues to be very busy with work—blood letting knows no season! In sum: they're doing fine! 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Our holiday is over and we have returned to the shore of Lake Superior. We concluded our trip with a great week in Naples. We drove up to Orlando on Friday and flew back to Duluth today. There we were reunited with our car for the drive home; we plan to complete the drive tomorrow. Viggo and Nancy joined us in Naples this week. We enjoyed that. Viggo and I got out golfing a couple of times. At Hibiscus Golf Course, I had one of my best games, including my third-ever eagle. Wendy and Nancy got in some shopping, chatting, reading and lying in the sun! There were a lot of beautiful golf courses there; unfortunately, most of them weren't open to me. I had an interesting experience one day. Wendy wanted to do some shopping, so I took note of a couple of nearby golf courses and decided to hit the driving range and practice areas. I must have stopped by a dozen before I found one that would let me on. Most just had gates that I didn't have a code for! One had a gateman, and my chat with him was informative. 

Good morning, sir. 

Good morning! I was just wanting to go in to use the driving range. 

Oh, do they have a driving range? 

Well, I'm not sure, but I'd like to check it out. 

I'm sorry, sir, but if your name is not on my list, I cannot let you in. 

Well, I just wanted to go to the driving range. 

Do they have a driving range? I wouldn't know. You see, sir, I've never been past these gates either. 

The 1% are doing fine, and they have nice golf courses. At least the views I got from Google maps look good to me! Naples is reputed to have the second greatest concentration of millionaires and billionaires in the world, and they are not interested in having me play on their golf courses! Meanwhile, the markets have continued their unfortunate ways. We did get some recovery on Thursday and Friday, still, it was a down week for me. 

We've been chatting with Erin and Kristian on FaceTime despite some spotty internet connections. Kristian got new skates and a new helmet, so he'll be continuing to learn this skating business. Erin got winter tires on her car just in time for an ice storm—she was glad to have them. 

Trav & Joanna are doing fine. They are continuing to develop the new place with the furniture we have been storing in our garage, so that's a positive development as well. His Elks hockey team is doing well, although they lost the championship game last weekend in Wisconsin in triple overtime. His Penguins are doing fine also, but Crosby is out again with concussion-like symptoms. Joanna and Wendy are working to organize a Christmas dinner before we head west next week. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Our ship came in! 

This week has taken us far from the shore of anywhere. We left the Atlantic shore of North America from Port Canaveral on Sunday; we sailed through the night to Freeport, The Bahamas. It was our first time on a cruise, and we both experienced some queasiness the first evening. We enjoyed our time aboard—there are quite a number of activities, and an endless supply of food! Throughout our time on the cruise we enjoyed great food. There was a putt-putt course; the gentle rocking of the boat and constant wind added complication to that game! We had a fully-equipped exercise area with lots of machines for exercise, weight-lifting and conditioning at our disposal—we didn’t make much use of them! After an overnight sail, the first day was spent in Freeport. The second day and night were spent at Nassau where we enjoyed more sightseeing and a lot of shopping in the Straw Market. The vendors were used to bargaining, and were eager for sales, but we’d been to the Vic Falls markets, and these people did not measure up to that earlier experience. Finally, we spent a day and night at sea cruising back to Cape Canaveral where we arrived on Thursday. We moved into a short term time share in Orlando for a couple of nights, and have now set up in another time share in Naples. As suspected, we were out of internet during our time at sea, although we could have bought a connection if we’d been willing to pay the price! We lucked out with a brief connection while we were in Nassau, but finally, we feel connected to reality once again. All in all, it was just okay to be on the cruise and get a feel for how the 1% live. It wasn’t really our style, lots of activity, but nothing to do, so beyond a long held wish to take a cruise up the BC coast to Alaska, I doubt that we’ll be seeking out many cruises in the future. We spent the day on Thursday driving over to Orlando by stopping at the JFK Space Centre. It was great, and we look forward to bringing the grandsons. We couldn’t see it all in the time we had, but we were impressed by what we saw. We went golfing on Friday. We had some difficulties getting everything started, but eventually it turned out very nicely. Wendy even skipped one across the water to a peninsula green! Then today, we moved down to Naples where we will complete our Florida vacation. The markets have been riding the European roller coaster all week with big swings up and down that ended up getting me nowhere. The year is running short, and I’m still short of the needed funds for next year. 

One of the retired shuttles

We’ve been able to catch up to Erin and Kristian via FaceTime. They’re doing fine, holding down the fort at home. Kristian has returned to speech therapy program with a formal assessment this week, so we’re glad of that. 

Trav, Joanna and the children are also doing well. Trav’s Penguins and Elks are continuing to thrive in hockey and work is going fine. He’s still looking to establish his office more completely in the new building, but nothing much is developing there yet. This weekend he’s in Wisconsin with his team at a hockey tournament. 

And that’s about it for this week. 

Florida

World Golf Hall of Fame

Another week has passed; it finds us on the shore of the Atlantic, far from my hometown. The markets were up this week, and, while I haven't been as active as I could have been while we've been travelling, I still managed a good gain. We started south on Monday, driving down to Duluth. On Tuesday we flew to Orlando, picked up our rental car, a VW Passat, and drove over to our timeshare at Ormond Beach. We have enjoyed nice weather here with golf, sightseeing and walks on the beach. We drove up to the World Golf Hall of Fame on Friday, that was a highlight for sure! We played 18 holes there on their grass putt-putt, and we took the challenge of hitting the replica of the Island Green. One of us hit the green, the other hit the water! Today, I found a Bridgestone Challenge site and had my ball-striking analyzed and a golf ball recommended. That was interesting. I've been to the range and practice area a couple of times, but it's been too windy for me to enjoy golf. The weather has been warm, and getting warmer, but nearly always windy. We eased into it at 20 degrees, and have worked our way up to 25—very nice! Tomorrow we check out of here and check in for a cruise. We're looking forward to that. 

Hitting to the Island Green

Wendy has been enjoying the sightseeing as well. She even climbed up the highest lighthouse on the coast. Her legs did not enjoy that! We catch up with Erin & Kristian via FaceTime most days. We'll miss that in the next week, as we expect to be out of internet reach while asea. It sounds like they're doing fine, and the weather has been cooperating so she hasn't had to deal with snow since we left. 

We've also had email contact with Trav & Joanna. All seems to be going as per usual there except that his hockey team finally lost a game, so they're 11-1 on the season now. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather turned nice during the week and the snow disappeared, but it's baaaack! We got up this morning to a fresh blanket of the white stuff. So, I was back to the driveway scraping program once again. I've been feeling poorly most of the week, a touch of flu, I think. Erin was also sick, but more severely, with flu-like symptoms, so I think that maybe my flu shot kept me from getting it worse. Anyway, I've been feeling achy all over, like I was taken apart and put together wrong! I'm guessing today's snow work won't ease the situation, and I'm glad Mark helped out with the shovelling. Markets have continued very bad, with the US recording its worst Thanksgiving week since 1932. TSX is down over 15% again on the year, so while I've taken a small loss again, I am reconfirmed in the signals that keep me out of the market at this time. If I didn't have a few small buy & hold accounts (Not recommended by my investment training!), I wouldn't have recorded any losses at all! BC and Winnipeg won their divisions and have advanced to the Grey Cup tomorrow in Vancouver. I really enjoyed the Vanier Cup (university football) game last night. I drove bus on Friday as a spare. 

Wendy had a senior moment early in the week. She was commenting, "One of the old ladies at Walmart got a permanent position; well, actually, she's not that old. She's younger than I am." I probably laughed too long when she said that, because by the time I stopped there was a noticeable chill in the air! She finished her Walmart work on Friday, and celebrated by buying two more TVs; that woman is a TV-buying machine! 

Erin has had a good week except for the illness. She got good news that Kristian has been readmitted to Speech Therapy. And she's enjoying company this weekend. She is owner of one of the new TVs. 

Travis is the owner of the other new TV. He keeps busy with hockey and work. His Elks are still undefeated in league play. He's celebrating the return of Crosby to the Penguins; Sid returned impressively with great play and scoring. He's also celebrating a birthday this weekend; Mark has arrived to help celebrate, I guess, although he doesn't seem to be spending any time with Trav! Anyway, we had a big party here tonight in recognition of the occasion. Joanna, Gemma and Andrew, along with assorted other friends helped make it a nice time. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed, and we have returned to the shore of Lake Superior and my hometown. We enjoyed spending the weekend in Lawrence, especially the featured sing-song Sunday evening—thank you, Helen & Marti. On Monday we drove back as far as Duluth, and we completed the trip on Tuesday. The weather has turned snowy at the end of the week, and I even did some driveway scraping today. The markets have continued to be troubled; I can't seem to trust either fundamentals or technicals, as the markets seem driven by headline and rumour! Next week features the US Super Committee, so it is unlikely to get better! Hamilton and Edmonton won their semi-final games last Sunday and will travel to Winnipeg and Vancouver, respectively, for the conference finals tomorrow. I have been offered a school bus run, but with our impending trip to Florida, that will have to wait until January. I've been following the President's Cup golf tournament this week from Australia; that was completed this evening. 

Wendy got right back to Walmart upon our return and has put in several shifts there. She also completed her teeth cleaning appointments, so I'm thinking we're all ready to head out again! 

Erin has made progress with Kristian's speech therapist issues. He is now moved to the top of the list, so we're relieved with that. He's making good progress in school, but it was frustrating to contemplate the idea that he would receive no additional help to improve his language skills. His social skills are doing well, also, and he has birthday parties both today and tomorrow. 

Trav's hockey team has continued its winning ways, and his Penguins are doing great as well. Work seems to be continuing apace for both Trav & Joanna. We haven't caught up on Gemma and Andrew this week; their grandma was up from southern Ontario. Wendy enjoyed lunch one day with Joanna and her mom. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

We have travelled far from the shore of Lake Superior and my hometown; we are down in the land of Dorothy, the Tin Woodsman and friends. We're having a fine time—thank you Helen & Marti! I saw a good joke about Oz: Dorothy asks, "No brain, no heart, no courage? Are you guys in politics?" It has been a busy week. Wendy worked and we both rushed to complete our teeth cleaning sessions, so we could pull out on Wednesday morning. We drove down to Minneapolis-St.Paul that day and enjoyed some time in the Apple Store, Legoland, Lindt Chocolates. We spent the night there in our usual Days Inn at the junction of the interstate, but it was a bad night, especially for me. The thermostat didn't work, so it was just blasting heat as I kept adjusting the thermostat lower and lower. At 12:30 I could take it no more; I turned off the heater, opened the window and the hallway door and cooled off the room to a livable temperature. Then, I went to bed. By 5:30, it was freezing cold, so I scrambled out to turn the heat back on. By 6:30 we were roasting again. I turned the heat off, and struggled to get some more rest, but ultimately we gave up, got up, had breakfast and prepared to continue the trip. Stepping out into the parking lot and seeing the flakes coming down from the sky, it was hard to even be surprised. We just felt that it confirmed that we were indeed on our way to Kansas. It always seems to be a snowstorm on this trip. By the time we got to Des Moines, we could tell the ploughs had been out and the ridges of snow were on the side of the highway, but apparently that had happened the day before as the road was bare and dry with good driving conditions. On Friday night, Marti had arranged for us to attend a Jayhawks game. Since this is where Naismith came to develop the game he had invented, it almost seemed a Canadian rite of passage to attend my first college basketball game here. The Jayhawks dutifully slaughtered their season-opener lambs, and we enjoyed the spectacle with 16 thousand crazed fans. The markets have continued to be crazy and I've been able to develop my animosity towards the Greeks to include the Italians! I managed to get through the week with only a small loss. The first round of football playoffs is tomorrow, but the Riders are just spectators. 

Wendy has turned in her resignation from Walmart, but will need to put in a few more days before that becomes official. They have expressed an interest in having her come back after our travels, but I'm hoping she moves on to something else. She is enjoying our trip for now, and looking forward to our flights to Florida and the time there in December. 

Erin and Kristian are doing fine. Kristian is doing well at school; we are glad to see the improvement. Erin is persisting in pushing for his speech therapy to be reinstated. We are encouraging her to keep after them. Sadly, if parents do not advocate strongly for their children, it is too easy for them to fall through the cracks. 

Trav is completing the busy hockey time. The team continues to do excellently, so he is very pleased and proud of them. Joanna and the kids are settling into their new home. They have much more room there. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very nice, and I even got out to the golf course on Thursday; they haven't covered the greens yet, but they have pulled the flags, so I just played three holes for the fun of it, and packed it in. The Riders played out their final game last evening—another loss to first-place Edmonton. Hockey season is well underway, so that will be attracting our attention soon. It was a down week in the markets. I took some losses. It was not too bad, however, I am developing some bias against Greeks! Bus driving ended on Monday, so I've done a bit more backyard work here. From now on, it'll be a matter of what the weather allows. We're into November now, so snow could come anytime. I got my flu shot yesterday, so I should be good to go now! 

Wendy continues with Walmart work on an irregular schedule. She seems to have everything arranged for our Fall trips that begin next week. She's also practised on a new pumpkin cheesecake recipe, and it's a winner! She continues to work on Kristian's Lego sorting. I'm not sure she's staying ahead of Kristian. 

Erin keeps busy; she's been bothered with headaches lately. She has an eye exam scheduled, and is looking forward to getting new glasses. Perhaps that will help. I'm recommending Lasik! Kristian had a short shift of treat collection on Hallowe'en. We had a pretty good number of kids collecting here for a change. Kristian continues to have a few issues at school. We're working on it, and we're seeing improvement. 

Trav has been busy to the extreme with hockey—nine games and two practices in ten days! He and Joanna have also been busy setting up the new apartment. We may even get some of our excess furniture relocated! Joanna is busy with work, moving, renovating and decorating. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been fine, Fall weather, and we've been enjoying the colours. We've had a few showery days, so I haven't been out golfing, but I'm hoping for at least one more round before the end of the season. The World Series ended in disappointing fashion and we're into the "shoulda, woulda, coulda" season. Rangers surely shoulda and coulda won the series in game six! The Riders continue playing out the string; they handily beat one of the playoff teams this afternoon. We have to enjoy what little victories we can get. It's been a good week on the markets. We hope this is the start of a multi-month rally to close the year. I've almost finished my bus-driving stint; I was informed that the regular driver will return on Monday. It's been a good run. 

Wendy continues with Walmart. She has completed arrangements for our Fall travels, I think. She has continued to work on Kristian's Lego collection; I'm guessing she plans to buy more when we get to Legoworld at the Mall in Minneapolis. That's fine, because I know there's an Apple store just across the hallway! 

Erin has been working on Kristian's Speech Therapy issues. She's making limited progress so far, and she continues to work on it. She's in contact with an advocacy group called VOICE. It's a busy time with Hallowe'en activities. We were out pumpkin hunting last night, and we are planning on pumpkin carving tomorrow afternoon! Kristian's doing better at school after a few heart-to-heart discussions about his responsibilities. 

Trav is busy with hockey and work. The team he coaches remains undefeated, and his Penguins are in first place in their division of the NHL, so hockey is going well. He's finding his work pretty busy and pretty successful as well. He's even thinking about adding some office staff, and I've made a recommendation! Joanna is moving this week, so she and Trav have been pretty busy doing that. She is looking forward to having more room; Andrew and Gemma are looking forward to having their own rooms. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been cool and rainy most of the week, but has turned beautiful for the weekend! The Riders continue to play out the string, losing last night to Calgary. The World Series continues with St. Louis up a game over my Rangers after blitzing them tonight. I'm still driving the school bus; management asked me if I've heard from the driver I'm replacing about when she's returning, but I haven't. I'll just keep on driving until she returns, or until it's time for us to head south. She was supposed to return the day after Thanksgiving, but we're still waiting! I've had another above average week on the markets, so I continue to recover. TSX is still off over 11% for the year, so I hope it can continue to gain value for the rest of the year. I haven't been out golfing, although today was a good day for it. I've given some deep watering to the cedars and got the lines blown out and put away for winter. I picked the final batch of beet greens, so the garden is done for the year. 

Wendy has kept busy at Walmart, but has also been working on final arrangements for our trip. Then, she got notification of auto insurance renewals, so that took some time as well. She will be retiring from Walmart as we head out on our holidays. I hope that if she wants to continue working after we get back, she finds a different job. 

Erin continues with her work and motherhood. She's been frustrated this week with issues over Kristian's speech therapy. That has changed since he turned six, and not for the better! Kristian has also been giving her a struggle over his lack of cooperation at school. Children make life so interesting! 

Trav's hockey team continues to be undefeated in the early season. His Penguins are doing well also, and are tied for first place in their division of the NHL. Work continues to develop on his own business, and somedays he finds it a bit overwhelming as the wheels of progress seem to turn very slowly. Joanna, Gemma and Andrew all joined us for supper and the evening yesterday. That was nice. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We had gorgeous weather for the Thanksgiving weekend, such that we almost were able to accept the dismal Rider performance on Monday. What a sad football season they are having! It's been a good week on the markets such that even though it was just four days, I gained more than I expect to get in a month. I am thankful for that since it's been nothing but decline since May. Bus driving has continued to go well. I keep expecting that one of these days the actual driver will be back, but so far, so good! I have started another round of teeth cleaning at the college. We have student dental hygienists work on us as part of their training (and part of our penny-pinching!) so it takes several hours. It also includes a checkup with a dentist there, so it works out well for us. The weather has turned windy, wet, and cool toward the end of the week, but I did get out for a round of golf with Erin on Thanksgiving. It was her first round on a full course, and we just played nine holes. I was no longer playing excellently, but it went fine and I was +5 for the nine holes which is about what I feel is a satisfactory level for me. In the last couple of years, it has been closer to +9 for nine holes until I had that unexpected result two weeks ago. Another remarkable part of that result was 12 greens in regulation, whereas this week I hit one out of nine—more like the real Bill, I'm afraid! Baseball continues to demand attention, as I have one of my picks, the Rangers, into the final with their win tonight, and tomorrow we'll see if the Cardinals can join them. I had a small disaster with my old Cougar this week; I was driving it back from my dental cleaning when something went wrong under the hood, and it was on fire. I cruised to a stop about a block from home and opened the hood. I was trying to smother it out with some rags from the trunk while someone called the fire department and another ran to get me a pitcher of water. Once the water arrived, the fire was soon out, although the firefighters insisted on tearing the insulative blanket off the hood and dousing it with water as well. It appears it started as an electrical fire above the distributor, so we'll see how long it takes me to get her running again. 

Wendy has continued with irregular shifts at Walmart, and cleanup around the house. This week, she is specializing in Lego. She has managed to rebuild several of Kristian's projects, and continues to work on and enjoy that. She has begun the teeth cleaning as well. 

Erin and Kristian continue with work, school and day care. Kristian has been pushing buttons at both school and home, testing out the limits and having a lot of fun doing it. I always say there's a problem when the teachers are unhappy and the parents are unhappy, but the child is happy! I recommend that they maximize their efforts to change that last condition! 

Trav's team has started the regular season in hockey now. They won their game the other night 2-0, so that was good, although Trav wanted them to score more! His Penguins are also doing well despite missing their captain. Crosby has now been cleared to practise with contact, so, we are hopeful he will return to action soon. Work is going well for Trav in his own business, except that his phone is not working consistently—must be time for a new iPhone 4S. Joanna continues to be busy with her blood-letting! The children are busy in school. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather is unexpectedly warm, even hot. After that one hard frost last Saturday morning, we've returned to summery weather with frequent morning fogs. Work has been going fine, but I don't know how much longer it will last. When it started, the expectation was one month of recovery time after the knee surgery and that's almost run out, so we'll see how much longer she is off work. This week I finally have the entire route learned; I'm still working on names. The markets have continued their crazy ways, but I've managed some good recovery this week. The Riders don't play until Thanksgiving Monday; we can only hope it'll be something to be thankful for! Baseball completed the first round of playoffs and I picked three of the four winners. Now we're down to the final four. That round started this evening with a big win by my favoured Rangers. I got the garden shed cleaned out and repaired; we're getting stuff put away for the winter. I was back to my oncologist this week. He affirmed that my PSA levels have improved, but that they're still elevated against what's considered normal. Then again, we've also heard this week that checking of PSA levels is useless! Who knew? 

Wendy has been busy this week preparing pumpkin pies, pumpkin loaves and zucchini cake. Thanksgiving dinner is planned for Sunday afternoon. Regular and irregular shifts (7AM? Give me a break!) at Walmart have continued. She also worked the polls on election day. 

Erin is enjoying her new work, and getting fully into it. We're planning to go golfing sometime this weekend. Kristian was down with a cold one day and missed school, but he's been working to catch up since. We had the wrong spelling list for this week, so his practice time was not effective. We were able to recognize the test words in his attempts! 

Trav continues with his new business. He has picked up a few more good contracts this week with Deepak something or other—nope, not Chopra! He continues to work with his hockey team as they prepare for the season. Joanna and Andrew were over Friday evening, and we expect the whole crew for Thanksgiving dinner. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We've had nice weather the first half of the week, but it's turned chilly lately. It finally froze last night, so we have a batch of green tomatoes trying to ripen in the kitchen now. Work has been going well, and I have the routes pretty well learned. I started the week with a memorable game of golf; now I'm afraid to go out again in case I return to reality! The Riders played this afternoon against arch-rival Calgary and it wasn't pretty! I think that moves us into next year country. Baseball has started the playoffs, so that attracts a lot of our attention for the next while. The markets have continued to be in turmoil from one day to the next. I managed a small gain this week, but sustained a loss for the month. 

Wendy continues to be busy with Walmart, but she is also into Spring cleaning this Fall! She's been trying to get things developed downstairs for Kristian's room in her spare time! 

Erin has now switched over to her new job, and she's liking it. It gives her more comfortable hours, so she gets more time with Kristian in the evenings. He's busy learning sight words, practising for spelling tests; it is hard to imagine how quickly he is growing up! 

Trav is busy with his work in his new office. He's also begun the hockey season and his team had a very impressive 7-1 win this week. Joanna must be too busy, because we haven't seen much of her this week, but we do get to talk on the phone from time to time, and she joined us for dinner today—a nice family potluck as they brought rice, salad and veggies to go with Wendy's chicken parmigiana. 

And that's the kind of week it's been. 

World Serious

It is that time of year again, when the world gets serious about baseball. Late last evening, the regular season ended with some tremendously exciting games to establish the complete list of playoff contenders for this year. I was delighted with the results yesterday. After Boston had been anointed the champs even before the season began, I was glad to see them not even make the playoffs. It was particularly heartening to see Tampa Bay make it in, since they are a franchise that I feel is doing it the right way, with drafts and development and a few strategic trades while fielding a lineup that many evenings comes in at less than A-Rod's salary! 

On the American league side, I am most impressed with the Texas Rangers. After the heat of the summer, they seem to have recovered to playing the great baseball they were playing about the time of the All-Star break, so they are my pick as Junior league champs. In the Senior circuit, I am picking and will be cheering for the Philadelphia Phillies. The much-loved pitcher, Roy Halladay (formerly with the Jays), was traded there, and we'd love to see him claim a championship. 

There is a lot of baseball left, and if last night's heart-stopping action is a prelude, we're in for a treat. 

Great Golf!

Perhaps it wasn't great golf, but it was certainly great golf for me. Fundamentally, that's what matters about golf (probably about most things in life), that I am able to do a "personal best" without too much worry about comparison with others. Last evening I managed a personal best in golf. I scored +2 on my usual course here in Thunder Bay. I did score a +4 there a couple of years ago, but I haven't broken 80 either last year or this year, so it was quite a surprise to score 73. I had only one birdie, on my 12th hole, but ended with one over on each nine. I am left to enjoy the experience, and wonder why it happened! The lack of soreness in my hands, arms and shoulders tells me that I played much more relaxed than usual. Maybe all the recent golfing with Kristian, Erin and Wendy on par three courses has sharpened my approach shots and my short game. Maybe I'm finally getting used to playing with my new clubs. Maybe I just had a sustained period of good luck! I know I took practice swings before every shot. I know I was able to stay focused on each shot despite the impending good score. But now, I'm afraid to go out again! After all, my 15 handicap didn't arrive by accident, and I'm afraid it may still be there when I return to the course!

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, in my hometown. The weather has been rainy, but it has turned nice for the weekend—a nice switch! I was able to get out golfing today; that was enjoyable. The markets were very bad this week; the TSX crashed 6.5% in just this one week, and we're now down over 15% for the year. I'm only 25% in the market, but even that amount produced painful losses this week. The bus driving has been going well; I've learned my high school run, and I'm getting better on the elementary run. The garden is still producing, but is clearly getting to the end, as we're almost a month after frost might be expected. We've been checking out more potential replacement vehicles. We haven't found the one we like just yet, but we're looking at a variety of small SUV's called cross-overs. The Riders got slaughtered today by BC; that leaves them four points out of the last playoff spot. 

On the Zambian news front, it was interesting to watch as The Cobra, Michael Sata, won election to the presidency that he's been seeking for at least ten years. This will bring an era of change to the country, but who knows whether it will be a positive change! 

Wendy has been busy with work and birthday cake! The delayed Yoda cake won't make itself! Today was Kristian's birthday party. Erin took him and his friends to the Lion King movie, and afterwards they hit McDonalds. And next... Yoda cake and ice cream. Yummy! She also has been making all the arrangements for our Fall tour. I'm seeing plans for a trip down to Florida including a cruise out to the Bahamas. This will be only slightly after the end of official hurricane season, so, I hope the hurricanes know that! 

Erin is completing her two-week notice with Budget; she should complete that on next Wednesday. She is looking forward to her new work, and has been doing some training on the software already. 

Travis continues to develop his own business. Recently he's been shopping for business insurance. He and his fellow coaches completed the draft for this year's hockey team. The new-look Elks are described in his blog. Joanna continues to be very busy with her work and children. Happily, we get to see them all from time to time. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed, and finds us once again on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The week began with another Rider victory, as they took the back-to-back games from Winnipeg. It was reassuring to see their improved performance. Then, today, they scored another victory against Toronto. Still, a lot of work remains for them to gain a playoff spot. The weather has turned decidedly fall-like and we've even seen the threat of frost, but so far so good and the garden continues to flourish. I'm particularly enjoying the tomatoes and wish for even more of those before we return to the low-taste store-bought variety. The markets have continued their troubled ways, but I've managed to have a better-than-average week, so I'm grateful for that. We drove home on Sunday afternoon from Kenora. We enjoyed the CX-7; we found the fuel consumption very similar to what we've enjoyed in our car, but we did find the compartment a little cramped. We shall continue looking at the alternatives; the local Chrysler dealer has a couple of Journeys on the used vehicle lot. I started driving the bus route on my own this week. It was quite a challenge to learn all the twists and turns, but I'm gradually improving my times. I didn't get out golfing until today, but that went fine at least. 

Wendy has continued to be busy with Walmart and taking care of the rest of us. This week was a little bit extra as we began the celebrations of Kristian's birthday. That was officially on Friday, but she remains committed to making a Yoda cake, so the extended celebrations may last another week or so! 

Kristian turned six yesterday. He got a lot of nice gifts from his teachers and his educational aid as well as from friends and family. The central feature this year is Star Wars, especially Yoda. Erin is back at work, but not for long at this job. She has been offered an accounting position with CarStar, the body shop owned by Halfway Motors, the dealer for Nissan; she'll be glad for that promotion. 

Trav continues to be busy setting up his office. He has ended his employment with Impact Promotions, and has taken a service contract with them for his new business, so that transition has gone well. Today was the first draft day for hockey players, then, he'll calculate who is left for them to pick from. Trav, Joanna, Gemma and Andrew joined us for a birthday celebration last evening complete with DQ Ice Cream cake. Thanks guys! 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

The week started with a great bang as the Riders took it to the first-place Bombers. It was a delightful surprise. Tomorrow is the rematch—that'll be the true test of whether these guys have actually turned the corner. The end of this week finds us on the road. We drove up to Dauphin on Friday, took part in Mal's memorial today, and then cruised back to Kenora to ease the drive home, and to apply the chainsaw to a couple of trees. We've had another week of beautiful weather—unseasonably hot, actually, but we're expecting to get back to more comfortable temperatures next week. The markets have been terrible again, and I've given back almost all I gained last week. The Labour Day Monday holiday allowed the family to get out for a round of golf. It was Wendy's first golf of the year, but by wearing two gloves to accommodate her arthritic fingers, she was able to do fine. Erin and Kristian enjoyed the golf as well. And I enjoyed the family experience. I started my new bus run on Wednesday; it is very complex with a lot of twists and turns. I'll be some time learning it! I start driving on my own next Thursday. The garden is continuing to produce, and I'm delaying digging the potatoes until after the first frost.

Wendy is back to work at Walmart. Along with getting the yard cleaned up for Fall, and putting the pool away, she has been busy.

Erin arranged for us to rent a Mazda CX-7 for the weekend, so we're enjoying trying that out. She's been extra busy this week as Kristian has started grade 1. He seems to be doing well in the new situation. He is eagerly looking forward to his birthday, and is prompting grandma with lots of suggestions on how she can make his Yoda cake!

Trav is establishing his own business office. He has begun hockey for another season, and is currently scouting prospects in anticipation of the draft. Joanna keeps busy with her work, and with the kids starting school.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We've had pretty good weather, but a couple of raucous thunderstorms accompanied by hail have made unexpected visits for this time of year. I've been continuing the battle with the weeds; I don't expect a final victory to be accomplished. I have drained the pool—all 36,000 litres—on to the front lawn. It seems amazing that all that water can just sink into the ground and never even make it to the curb. The garden is continuing to produce, so we enjoy that. I suppose I should be thinking of digging the potatoes soon; it'll be my first successful experiment with the potato box and I'm curious to see how much it has produced. The markets have continued to be difficult, but I've been blessed with another excellent week even though I'm only 25% invested; maybe it's because I'm only 25% invested! I had a bus drivers meeting this week, and have now been informed that I will have at least a short term driving assignment beginning next week. I've met with my denturist and he is preparing a new partial plate for me; it should be ready after about a month of construction and adjustments. The Riders play their traditional Labour Day game against Winnipeg this weekend; it's quite a challenge for the 1-7 Riders against the 7-1 Bombers this year! They did get some good news this week as one of our veteran receivers was cut by the Chicago Bears and will be returning to the Riders, but not in time for this game.

Wendy has been busy with cleaning up the pool for several days this week. She has also taken her regular shifts at Walmart along with medical, eye and hair appointments. It makes for a busy week.

Erin has Kristian back into schedule as he gets ready to start grade one next Wednesday. The hailstorms have brought extra work for her car rental business. She has continued to practice golf a bit, but we didn't get out for a game until today.

Trav has chosen his office, and is working to establish further work contracts. We celebrated his new business with a party last evening at Joanna's. I was one of Joanna's clients this week as she drew my blood samples for my semi-annual PSA checkup. Gemma and Andrew are also getting ready for the new school year, and seem excited to see what it will be like.

And that's the kind of week it's been.