News Update

The week started off frigidly cold here on the shore of Lake Superior, but we're back near freezing with above zero and rain in the forecast.

I've had quite a week. I started off on Sunday, trying to take Kristian skating, but he was both sore from his ankle injury and tired, so I went on my own. That went okay, but I found my reconstructed ankle wasn't quite the same size and shape that my skate remembered so I had to quit after about fifteen minutes. On Monday evening, as I trotted from the parking lot to dance class, I hit a bad patch, turned my suspect ankle and went down in a heap. My ankle puffed up like it had a tennis ball attached and we spent the dance class in emergency! The x-rays were inconclusive, but the doctor feels the injury in limited to ligament damage and put me back in an air-cast. I'll get another check with my bone doctor later when the swelling dissipates.

Tuesday through Thursday saw me travelling to Armstrong (one of my schools) where I hobbled around and did report card training. The drywalling is on the back burner for a bit until I'm able to put more weight on my left foot.

Kristian finally got into see the eye specialist on Wednesday. It was none too soon; he has a serious bacterial eye infection. It has already resulted in some ulceration of the cornea, but not within the visual range. He's on antibiotics and steroids and really enjoys the cleansing operations with a warm potato twice a day as well as the drops and other medications. Poor little guy! Erin got new glasses this week, so it was a spectacular week for that part of the family!

Wendy continues with her usual babysitting and work around home. She is also enjoy playing Scrabble on line in the Scrabulous application of Facebook.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Our week comes to a frigid end here on the shore of Lake Superior. Temperatures have plummeted to -30 this weekend, and we're not enjoying it one bit!

I start off the week with office support and training in Adobe Connect. That didn't go so well, as the lady operating the meeting had the misfortune of having Vista on her laptop, and it doesn't want to play nice with Adobe Connect. Finally, I had to let her run the meeting from my laptop, while I tried to participate from hers! On Wednesday and Thursday I visited two of my schools, providing further training in Maplewood (our student management system) and in Adobe Connect. I also spent more time drywalling in the basement. I'm ready to start with tape and mud in that room.

We introduced Kristian to skates this week, and he's crazy about them! He clunks around in them all over the house! I got him a skating helmet, and he wants to wear that all day long as well. We hope to take him skating tomorrow, but he seems to have twisted his ankle jumping off the coffee table, so he's currently listed as day-to-day, a doubtful starter!

Wendy and Erin have kept busy with their respective work. And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another weeks rolls by on the shore of Lake Superior. It started out with rain, and the streets cleaned off nicely, but now we've received more snow and the slushy driving conditions have returned.

On Monday, Wendy, Kristian and I drove down to the border to get my Christmas gift—a motorized golf bag carrier. Now, I can't wait for golf season to try it out. I enjoy walking, but carrying the bag—especially picking it up and putting it down—causes pain in my right shoulder. Then in the evening we enjoyed Wendy's Christmas present—our first ballroom dance lesson. That went better than I expected—we were introduced to Foxtrot, Tango and Cha Cha. Lessons are supposed to continue for nine weeks, but we plan to skip the final two as we head south for a vacation trip.

A return visit to my oncologist on Tuesday provided the uncomfortable confirmation that my PSA is still elevated. Dr. Prowse still feels this is caused by chronic infection of the prostate, so he has prescribed another course of antibiotics to be followed by another PSA test, and of course, more DRE's.

Work continued through the week, and some progress was made. The next three weeks I will be back on the road for visits to a few schools.

Wendy has been busy all week with extra babysitting. Two days she took over our friends' daycare and had about a dozen kids to deal with, so she was tired! She has also been helping me with renovations downstairs. This week we picked up the drywall and plywood and I have begun drywalling the new closets—I hate drywalling closets, so much fiddling around. The progress is slow.

Friday evening we enjoyed a special Italian restaurant outing with Travis & Sylvia, Erin & Kristian, so that was a treat.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Well, here we are, almost a week into the new year on the shore of Lake Superior.

It's been quite a week with Eric, Erica and the boys here. A number of us have been ill, mostly with the famous 'flu-like symptoms' that imply we're spending too much time on the porcelain throne, and often cannot decide whether to sit or kneel! Eric was diagnosed with some kind of infection, so he's on antibiotics, but the rest of the laid-up crew seem to be otherwise attacked! Anyway, all seem to be on the mend, and the crew headed back to Kenora today. Once again, we are feeling well-blessed and thankful for their visit and other gifts they brought with them. I am now anticipating going to the Brier in Winnipeg in March. Thanks for the tickets!

The weather has continued mild, so we're back into melting once again. Kristian and friends are back to enjoying the trampoline in the back yard. I've had a bit of work this week, but the schools reopen Monday, so that will be official time for back to work. We try not to schedule too much travel during the winter, but I am planning three trips this month. I have some training and reporting to do.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

We have enjoyed Christmas week here on the shore of Lake Superior. It has been mostly quiet, and spent around home. The weather has been nice with a little fresh snow, and temperatures remaining below zero. Unfortunately, with the amount of salt they apply to the streets and highways down here, that leaves us driving in continuous slush as we watch our metallic vehicles melt away before our eyes!

Wendy roasted a couple of turkeys on Christmas Eve (collectively the congregation cooked up about a dozen of them!), and on Christmas day we prepared a full turkey dinner for about 180 people at the Shelter House. I was not feeling well on Christmas and even poorer on Boxing Day when we had our special meal with Trav & Sylvia and her mother. Anyway, the meal was nice and the occasion even nicer—to share time with loved ones. Gifts were exchanged and we all turned out rather well blessed.

It has been delightful to share this Christmas with Kristian as he's really into this present-opening business. On Thursday, Wendy and I took him across the line to pick up a spring horse courtesy of on-line shopping—gotta take advantage of the loonie being stronger than the greenback! Now Eric, Erica and the boys have arrived from Kenora so we look forward to a good week with them.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has rolled through here on the sloppy shore of Lake Superior. The weather has turned mild with rain, and the snow is sinking. I shovelled the remaining slush off the deck so we have access to the barbecue and the hot tub.

Work is over until the New Year, as we had a closing luncheon at work on Friday. Unfortunately, I still have a bit of work to complete as one school still is not signed off for OnSIS, and that is due by December 31st. I will have to spend a bit of time on that next week. Erin is also on holidays until next Thursday. Eric, Erica and the boys plan to have Christmas in Kenora and then come down here for New Year's.

I went out on Friday for a bit of curling—just practice, as they have open ice each day at lunch time. It's been about six years since I curled, and with my rebuilt leg, I didn't know how it would go. It wasn't fully comfortable, but it was all right and I'm encouraged to try it some more. Wendy has us scheduled to try skating over the break as well. We'll see how that goes.

Wendy has continued with Christmas baking and shopping. Being a holder of both X and Y chromosomes, I feel no great need to go shopping until Monday!! Meanwhile, I surely am enjoying the baking.

And that's about it for this week.

Global Warming

It's nearly Christmas here in northern Ontario, but it's above freezing, rain is falling and there are puddles in my driveway. What is wrong with this picture? It must be global warming! Hey, everybody's having their say, and even winning Nobel prizes for their trouble! So, here's what I think—kinda matches with the title of the blog!

That global warming is happening seems to me irrefutable. I find the remarks of the naysayers about as absurd as the promoters. I think that the open questions are concerning the role that people are playing in causing global warming, and conversely, what benefit could be obtained by changing our behaviours. Most of us have been immersed in plenty of evidence that our little green planet is warming up. Videos of stranded polar bears, crumbling ice shelves, and wild fires are juxtaposed against graphs of climbing temperatures. In our own experiences (always a bad source of data) we note wild or at least unusual weather and are given to understand that global warming is the culprit.

At the crux of the matter, it seems to me, is the complexity of our planetary systems against our ability to know and understand them. When I experience a downpour while out golfing (despite the promises of the weather forecaster), I must admit that I am fairly skeptical that we understand the forces at play on our planet very well at all. If they cannot read and interpret the forces at play this morning well enough to protect my round of golf this afternoon, what would make me think they can understand the forces at play over the millennia well enough to predict the next fifty years!? Never mind the even greater knowledge and understanding needed to determine the relative importance of various causes and the expected benefit of particular changes in human behaviour.

I emphasize the benefit and value of considering more comprehensively the costs of my activity and endeavouring to tread more lightly on the earth. I have not been convinced that human activity is the sole source of the global warming we're experiencing; nor am I convinced of the efficacy of human activity in stopping it! I do not worry that there is an economic cost to making environmentally sensitive changes. We have long (always) been able to find economic incentives to get the jobs done that we determine need to be done. This won't change just because it's greener work! There's money to be made here as well!

News Update

Wowsers! Another week is gone already here on the shore of Lake Superior. That was fast!

Work this week has been from the home office, but a fair bit has been accomplished with one notable exception up in Red Lake! That part of the job has actually grown over recent days as the Ministry has served up another complication. However, we made good progress in Nakina and Mine Centre, so Red Lake and a new situation in Collins have become my biggest outstanding challenges for this month. And that's the deadline; all this batch of reporting is due at the end of December. On Friday, we had the office Christmas party.

Things have continued well here at home. Butter tarts are plentiful in the freezer—just the way I like them! The weather has been cooperative with comfortable temperatures and little in the way of precipitation. Kristian has added another dimension to his night-time game. Now, after putting his mother to bed, and playing upstairs for a while, he has decided he needs to come to bed with grandma and grandpa! So, we're trying to nip that in the bud!

Otherwise, that's about it for this week.

News Update

And a wintry week comes to an end on the shore of Lake Superior. This week was spent around TBay, with most of the work week being comprised of our annual conference.

We began the week digging out from a major snowstorm. It began on Saturday night, and by Sunday morning we were snowed in. After church we had a meeting at our place, so Erin went out to begin clearing a path to get her car out for a Monday morning trip to work. Well, wouldn't you know—the neighbour soon came over with his snowblower to clear our driveway. Now, why didn't he ever offer that when I was out shovelling!? Anyway, he cleared part of the drive so she could get out, and I began shovelling on the remainder! On Monday, I began shopping for a snowblower, and was able to buy a second-hand one for $395. It seems to work fine.

The conference was Wednesday through Friday. I had a project update on Wednesday and a full day of workshops on Thursday. The conference turned out quite well.

Kristian has developed a new trick. After he puts his mother to sleep, he wanders back up stairs to play with his toys! One night this week, Wendy and I had already gone to bed as well, and we could hear him out there playing in the dark. What a kid! Grandma puts him to sleep in the toy room, and Mom seems quite surprised to find him missing in the morning!

Erin has transferred to Ontario residency so she has registered her car down here. Her work continues to progress well.

Wendy continues with Christmas baking so I'm enjoying that.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another Saturday night finds us on the shore of Lake Superior. It's been quite a week. We started off in Kenora at Eric & Erica's. We enjoyed watching the Grey Cup game there as our Saskatchewan Roughriders overcame the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to win our national football championship! Yea Riders!

Eric & Erica headed out for a two day retreat near Winnipeg, so we stayed to take care of the boys. Kristian was with us, and he really enjoyed spending the time with his cousins. On Wednesday, we drove back to TBay to find that winter had arrived. We had left a green city, but got home to a big snowfall. So, I had to dig out the shovels and clear the driveway even before parking the car. Of course, Kristian needed to stay out to play in the snow as well! He certainly enjoys it more than I do! It has also turned colder with the temperature hitting minus twenty on some nights.

I got a bit of work done while we were in Kenora (With a phone and a computer, you hardly miss the office!) and carried on with office work and preparation for our annual administrators conference that is scheduled for next week.

Wendy got things caught up around the house, and set up for a big candle sale this weekend. Erin continued with work, and phoned regularly to ensure we were transporting her son home safely.

Trav got a new hard drive for his laptop, and is trying to install it on his own. Good luck! You're a braver man than I! He and Sylvia set up their Christmas lights—I let them borrow the ladder as my contribution to the cause!

And that's about it for this week.

Riders Win! Riders Win!

Yes, it's true! After an eighteen year hiatus, the Riders are the champions for the third time! I have been privileged to have viewed all three of them (1966, 1989 & now 2007), and about forty not so successful campaigns! In total they have been to the big game sixteen times, so their record of three wins bears witness to lots of frustration over the years. However, for now, all is forgiven (if not forgotten) and we celebrate as winners and anticipate next year as another championship season!

It was not much of a performance by either offensive team, but the defensive sides played well, and a Rider defensive back, James Johnson, had three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. Not surprisingly, he was named the most valuable player of the 23-19 victory.

And another Saskatchewan saying comes true—no, not the, "Wait 'til next year!" one, but the "Tough times don't last; tough people do!"

"We are the champions, my friend!"

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, and its passing has moved us into colder weather, and even a few snow flakes.

We started the week with Eric, Erica and the boys who were visiting here over the weekend. Together, we enjoyed watching the Riders win the Western Conference final at BC, and proceed to the Grey Cup to be played next Sunday afternoon. Go Riders, Go!

My travels this week took me up to Red Lake where I worked with the teachers on Report Cards and with the secretary on those oh-so-troublesome reports to the ministry. The work with the teachers went fairly well. The secretary—not so much! Her reluctance to learn new things in the last year of her work, and her general sloppiness make for a bad combination. We get pages and pages of error reports! Yikes! Where is Bonnie when I need her!? As a result, the completion of two days of hard slogging does not have anything signed off with the ministry. Compare that to my record-setting school—two hours! I also have two other schools who completed the report in half a day, and two others who completed in one day. As a result, I shall have to try to walk her through the remainder of the work over the phone.

The remainder of the work week was spent in meetings in the central office in TBay, and work in my own office here at home.

Otherwise things continue well at home. Wendy has been busy in a swirl of fund-raisers and Christmas baking and other events.

Erin spent two days in Winnipeg with her work. Kristian seems to be confirmed as a full participant in his 'terrible twos' and often drives his mother and grandmother to distraction. (You could walk there—it's a short trip!)

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has flown by on the shore of Lake Superior. I've been away most of the week, so it's nice to be back for the cooking and comforts of home.

On Sunday, I got in another six holes of golf. That went fine, but the weather has turned colder this week, and most of the courses have their greens covered, so that could be the end of the golf season.

On Monday, Wes and I headed east 500 clicks to Hornepayne. We worked there through Tuesday and then moved on to Longlac, from where we drive out daily to work at Caramat. We completed our work at Caramat about noon on Thursday, so we headed back to TBay. The work in both centres went well. Caramat (that's Tamarac spelled backwards) now holds the record for October OnSIS completion—two hours!

I worked at the home office on Friday, and managed to catch up on phone calls and emails that had come in during the week.

Wendy has been caring for Kristian each day. She has taken on a batch of mending and alterations so the old Singer has been humming and singing! and stopping to clear its throat a few times as well! We bought that machine, second-hand, in Earl Grey back in the early 70's for about $40! It seemed quite a bit of money back then!

Erin continues with her work. She's doing well, and learning the particulars of a few additional roles beyond what she was hired to do.

We celebrated Trav's birthday over at Trav & Sylvia's this evening, since Eric, Erica and the boys are in town. He doesn't really turn twenty-six until the twenty-seventh, but it's good to celebrate whenever.

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

News Update

The weather turns toward fall during this week on the shore of Lake Superior. We even get a few snow flakes although there is no accumulation. Still, it's a warning of winter to come.

I manage to get out for another six holes of golf on Sunday afternoon. That goes well; the drives are consistently longer and also consistently going left. I'm encouraged by the consistency and by the improvement in comfort on my left leg.

On Monday, Wes and I fly up to Pickle Lake. There we run into snow and more difficulties than we can even begin to address. As Wes noted (to my great amusement), "They put the fun back in dysfunctional!" I promised him I would steal that line! Nonetheless we got a lot done, but left on Tuesday evening with a lot left outstanding.

On Wednesday, Wes and I did a simulated meeting with Adobe Connect, and I presented a brief tutorial on Adobe Presenter. We feel these tools will be quite helpful in our work. I have already made a few 'webinars' (training seminars delivered via the web). If you wish to check one out go to:
http://totaltechcare.ca/mwphotos

The Regional Professional Network met on Thursday, so that occupied most of my day. And finally on Friday I was able to work around the home office.

All continues well around home with Wendy and Kristian in charge! Erin continues to expand her role at work as her own dealership is still growing in Winnipeg, so she is working for other franchises as well.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed here on the shore of Lake Superior. I have spent most of the week working in my schools, although I did come back for Monday night.

I spent Monday doing a teachers' workshop in Atikokan. Then on Tuesday, Wes and I headed out to Upsala where we spent the day. We continued on to Ignace where we booked into the motel for the rest of the week. On Wednesday and Thursday, we drove up to Savant Lake and worked in the school there. On Friday, we headed back to Thunder Bay, stopping in Upsala to complete any outstanding issues there. So, we got back Friday afternoon. It was a good week, and two of my schools have already managed to sign-off the October report to OnSIS. This shows that the hard work of setting up a Student-Management System will facilitate our reporting requirements as long as we do it well.

Wendy continues with babysitting of Kristian. He seems to have a chronic eye infection, so we're a little concerned about that. By the time I got back on Friday, it seemed much improved. Anyway, he doesn't seem to be bothered by it, and doesn't seem to rub it or complain about it.

I managed to play another six holes of golf on Friday afternoon, and that was fun, even though it was a bit windy. My drives were a bit better (I hit the fairway on two out of six!), and a bit longer (about 220 yards). I notice my continued reluctance to transfer my weight onto my front leg.

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

News Update

And another week comes to a sunny close over Lake Superior. We enjoyed the turn to sunshine after some weeks of rain, and I even got out for a brief, but enjoyable, try at golfing.

Another week working out of the home office is complete. I got a fair amount of paperwork done, and continue to work on online tutorials in Adobe Presenter. That's kind of fun! The next month calls for a lot of work in the schools, until I complete this set of tours.

Wendy is doing quite a bit better, as her aches and pains seem to have subsided. I was down with a cold for the first half of the week, and she had a sore throat at least, but seems to have bypassed the main issues.

Erin and Kristian are doing well. He was in for a check-up with the doctor and has managed to stay on the chart for his weight. That was always his mother's struggle as well; amazingly the rest of the family has successfully overcome that problem!

And that's about it for this week.

Returning to Golf

Today I golfed for the first time since my accident. I have been over to the practice area a couple of times, and even hit a few on the range, but today I played three holes. It was great! Great to be back on the course, that is. It was not great golf!

I took the precaution of hitting two off each tee with the plan of playing the better ball. As it turned out, I had to play the least bad ball! I played a par four, a par three and a par five. I took the precaution of measuring the drive from the par four since it was down wind (although the breeze was light). You may remember that I have been driving well in the month of August, sometimes exceeding three hundred yards, although it is true that my usual drive even in those heady days was more likely 250 - 260. Now it must be admitted that neither drive found the fairway (and thus cannot be legitimately measured), but I was delighted to find that I could comfortably drive the 275 yards onto the neighbouring fairway! Well, okay, perhaps it was not quite that far; after correcting for direction and dragging it back to the correct fairway, let's say it was 240 yards. Would you believe 220? Okay, if you want to be so particular, it was a 365 yard par 4 and I only had 170 left to the green—do your own math!

I found that not feeling comfortable transferring weight onto your front leg has an effect on the trajectory, direction and length of a golf shot! However, I did not find so much problem with my shorter approach shots. Thus I managed to make the other greens in regulation and finished off with pars on those holes.

The walking was slow, but okay. I found walking up a gradual slope the most difficult as the injured leg just didn't want to push me along very briskly. All in all, a wonderful time!

News Update

A soggy week has passed here on the shore of Lake Superior. The rain has been unrelenting, but we're now promised a few days of relief. Some areas of the city are suffering from flooding, but we're doing fine.

I have been working in my home office this week. Two projects only peripherally related to my work have needed some attention. One is an oral language assessment we are conducting throughout the northwest of the province on all kindergarten students. I am charged with data collection and input. The other is an initiative from the Ministry on Tangible Capital Assets; they want us to change how we account for such. I fail to see how this will benefit anyone, much less our small school boards, but it will involve some extra work, and is bound to kill a few trees!

The wet weather has kept me from the golf course (it's a wading pool in many places!), although to be truthful, my exertions of last Saturday left my leg too sore to play any golf anyway! My leg is feeling 'good to go' again, so as soon as I get over my cold, and the course dries up, I'll try it out!

Wendy has continued therapy with her chiropractor, but generally feels pretty good. Erin continues her bookkeeping work, and enjoys that. Kristian is going through another growth spurt and can now pedal his trike. He just loves being outside, so the wet week has been difficult for him.

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

News Update

Another week comes to an end here on the sunny shore of Lake Superior. I am in a lull from travel to my schools, so I'm trying to take care of some business around the home office.

I have a conference in TBay on Wednesday through Friday, so that uses much of my week. The conference is 'just okay'. It's on Differentiated Instruction, surely an important subject, but it's also certainly not new. I am reminded of our work at Mildred Hall in YK over twenty years ago. Both Erica and Erin spent most of their primary school years in Multi-Age Group classes we had set up at that school to emphasize Differentiated Instruction. Now DI is the hot topic in education in Ontario, and I can only fear that it will be mandated—surely the death knell for many a good idea!

Friday is the big day! I get my cast off! The doctor is well satisfied with my situation (over seven weeks after the fact!) and sends me on my way with encouraging words. He still wants to see me in six weeks, but basically—I'm free! I head for the golf course Saturday afternoon, and it is a pleasure. My full swing is a bit limited, but that could be a good thing!

Meanwhile things have continued on a good keel around home. Wendy continues to improve under the care of her chiropractor, and Erin is enjoying both work and Joe! (more another time!)

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week closes here on the rainy shore of Lake Superior. I have spent most of the week on the road once again, so it's nice to enjoy the weekend around home.

After working in the office on Monday, I head out to Mine Centre, about three hours west of here. We are booked for two days there, and another two days in Atikokan which is an hour closer to home. We plan to spend our nights in Atikokan, however, plans change. We spend the first night in the Atikokan Hotel. Now, my back was built in 1950, but it does not typically enjoy a bed that was constructed that long ago, so it was a long night with little sleep! I get up with a stiff back, a sore neck and an unhappy disposition. My travelling companion, Wes, has not had any better of it in his room, and he was further bothered by the noise. We determine to stay there no longer. The only other hotel in town is fully booked, but Wes knows of a fishing lodge nearby, so we check that out and are delighted to get accommodated there for one night. It's lovely, and we catch up on some of our sleep. We can't find a place for the third night so we end up commuting from TBay for the last day! The work goes well, and we get both schools moved forward quite well in preparation for report cards and the first set of reports to the Ministry.

Here is a link that Wes set up. If you have a good internet connection, I invite you to try it out as it shows the locations of our schools. You will have to patch it together to get it into the address bar.
http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?oe=UTF-8&hl=en&ie=
UTF8&msa=0&msid=101216474493044980083.000
439f3264b8c9d7c2a6&ll=50.57626,-90.263672&spn=
3.57915,10.283203&z=7&om=1

Work goes well for Erin, babysitting goes well for Wendy, life goes well for Kristian! Wendy is showing good progress in her new therapy with the chiropractor.

We also have some heartbreaking news to report on the home front as Sylvia and Travis have separated.

And that's about it for this week.