Trumpy

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has remained nice and we have enjoyed that.

On Neighbour's lawn!

Wendy and Kali get out regularly for constitutional walks on the lawns. However, Kali continues to experience some failures on her indoors programming! And her sleep pattern (getting up very early in the morning) is quite a problem. Wendy is finding it exhausting! Today, we went for her first long walk. Kali made it for the first 500m, but then wanted to be carried! Meanwhile, Trumpiness is already being felt south of the border as he makes his suggestions for cabinet level appointments. A few of them are raising eyebrows on both sides of the aisle. We shall have to wait and see whether the Republican senators remain true to their constitutional oath or if they give in to the MAGA threats. They have already been told that they will lose their jobs that they don’t knuckle under to Trump. I have to start focusing on what might happen next year, as there are only two months left of the Biden gravy train. Fortunately, the markets continued to post gains during the last Trump term, so that part may be okay. This week was a bit shaky as the combination of solid economic data and fear of the Trump chaos led the FED and investors to pull back their bets on further rate cuts and the soft landing. In fact, some are suggesting the Trump recession could begin in 2026, and some as early as next summer. In his first term, the markets continued to thrive, so, I'm still hoping. In the world of sports, the Grey Cup game goes tomorrow. The Riders are out, and I'm expecting the Bombers to beat Toronto. The Canadian Open of Curling ended on Sunday with Homan bringing home the gold for us, while Gushue was outcurled by the Scots as Mouat brushed up an easy win on the men's side. This week in curling there's the European Championships, so our event in Red Deer is lacking some lustre. #22-Koe, defending champion there, is trying to pick up some points to raise his ranking. So far this season, his refurbished team with a changing lineup has not been challenging for championships and is steadily dropping in the rankings. In the NHL, Oilers are playing a bit better; all three of my teams play today, and since two of them play each other some one has to win—Pens and Leafs won. In college football, #3-Texas had a rather tougher time winning than I was expecting. My unranked Sooners had the week off. In basketball, #1-KU Jayhawks rock chalked up another win today. 

Eric & Erica are musing about putting up their Shed-in-a-Box. I sent them some videos so that should clog up their browsers with a lot more videos and advertisements! They went shopping for some hooks to hang the guitars, but Eric bought a 6-string Uke (Guitar/Ukelele), so that was the end of work for today. Erica writes, "This week Eric and I have been talking about retirement and plans and investments, so we consulted our financial advisor, aka Dad! He gave us some advice… hopefully it’s sound. Eric is nesting in preparation for the kids coming home. He’s cleared out the dining room and hung up some of the guitars to give us more floor space. We are hoping to get the garage-in-a-box up, but it didn’t happen on Saturday. We are both on for worship team this Sunday. We had a quick chat with Haaken. He is progressing on his book. We suggested sticky notes to organize his thoughts and he says that has been helpful."

Erin had another productive week at work. It's looking like she has the new protocols pretty much nailed down—congratulations!

Yowsah! 

Kristian continues to wait for his employment call. I really thought when the folks at Franks began to inquire further, that his hiring was imminent. He got his haircut this week, and added some non-natural coloration—that's bound to help attract employers! 

Travis & Joanna remain very busy by design. Bucket Decals keeps perking, and PuckShots is ramping up. Still, they took time to host us for lovely supper and games night featuring stuffed pork chops and scalloped potatoes—delicious! Thank you very much! 

And that's about it for this week. 

Trumped!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very nice, although we've had a few showers and some windy days—that's Fall here.  We have caught up on things here and completed a number of appointments as we settle in to these familiar routines. 

New dog, or new cat?

Wendy is spending a lot of time with the new dog, Kali, who seems to be fitting in well. For a tiny dog, she surely is a busy creature! I had chiropractor and dentist appointments early in the week. We are both back into choir practices as we prepare for Christmas concerts in early December. We're also on the worship team this Sunday, so we've been rehearsing for that—we do enjoy singing. I continue to recover from my back injury, and I am finally getting close to 40%—about peak performance these years! I am back to exercising and planning my reentry into curling. I've taken down the screens from the windows and Wendy has cleaned those in preparation for winter storage. We love our new windows. Clearly, a lot of people believed Trump's lies about the situation in USA, and refused to vote for an incumbent administration, or maybe it was because she was a woman. As a result, we now face the daunting prospect of another Trump administration. Last time around, he actually lost 3 million jobs and raised unemployment to as high as 14%, all while adding 7 trillion to the USA national debt. Under Biden, the USA economy is currently the best among the top industrialized countries, unemployment is at 50 year lows, and inflation is down to about 2% although the national debt keeps climbing. The FED cut the lending rate again this week, and the markets continue to roar higher, making a new record high for the fiftieth time this year. So, another good week of gains for me, thanks Uncle Joe. Playoffs are highlighted in the sporting world. Riders lost to the Bombers in the Western final while Toronto beat Montreal in the East. The Grey Cup game is next Sunday in Vancouver. In college football, #5-Texas had an easy time of it over unranked Florida. My unranked Sooners played #24-Missouri and put up a good showing, losing in the final minute. Basketball is underway; I got to attend a KU win last week, and to watch their win last night. RCJH! In the NHL, my teams are not doing well in the early going, but at least the Leafs are winning over half of their games. C'mon Oilers, Penguins! Curling this week featured the Canadian Open. My guy, #19-Koe did not make the playoffs, and at #19, he is at risk of not even being allowed to play in these top level tournaments, since only the top 16 are in automatically. #1-Mouat will play #3-Gushue in the final. On the women's side, my gal, #4-Einarson made the playoffs, but has lost out. #1-Homan will play #2-Tirinzoni in that final. 

Erica writes, "This weekend I’m in Edmonton with 'the girls' and visiting with cousin, Margaret. We have plans to see the farmers market, the Rocky Mountain Food Festival and the Deadmonton Haunted House. Plus, we might do some shopping. Eric is busy fitting in hockey games with his card hockey league. I’m hoping we get the carport up soon. It’s getting cooler and snow is in the forecast."

Erin and Kristian are waiting to hear back on his job application—nothing yet. He has been emailing with Patti (support person with DHHS), and made more applications. Erin continues to gain comfort in her new job—she's about a week ahead of schedule on the current monthend reporting. They got some snow last week, which made for icy roads, but it has melted away, and all is dry again. Kristian is trying to get his mom into the Lego construction hobby, so he bought her a lovely project. 

Not your father's Lego!

I think he helped her!

Travis and Joanna remain very busy with Bucket Decals, and are getting more and more photoshoots scheduled for Puck Shots. We barely got to see them this week. Andrew was home from Toronto for a visit, but otherwise, their other boys (their dogs) are doing fine. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Arriving home!

Another week as passed and we have completed our journey south and returned to the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Our quick trip got us as far south as Stillwater OK where we enjoyed a visit with Jack Bayles and family—thanks! We celebrated his 88th birthday and enjoyed our time there.

Happy #88, Dr. Jack Bayles!

Then, we began the long trip north. I got to enjoy a Jayhawk game in Lawrence—thanks Marti! And, we prevailed upon the hosting of Aunt Helen again—thank you!

The Crew in Lawrence

On Wednesday evening, we enjoyed our first Pizza and Praise evening with our friends in Lawrence—it was tasty and we enjoyed the singing! Then, on Thursday morning, we packed up to continue the trip home. The temperatures ranged from +32° in Stillwater to -3° in Minneapolis—can we stand it?! We spent Thursday night in Minneapolis, and then journeyed northward through some significant snowfall. Fortunately, the snow petered out before we reached Duluth, and we have returned home to fall weather (9°), but no snow here in Thunder Bay. We were planning a more extensive trip, but that didn't work out this time. Maybe there will be a later time! We got home Friday evening, and enjoyed a good night's sleep until 11am—I thought I was tired! Wendy has set upon laundry catch up and preparation for another arrival. The markets were troubled all week by various news items. Strong economic data in the USA caused investors to fear there may be no more FED rate cuts. This drove equities down. Weak USA jobs data on Friday finally gave us some recovery, despite that it was probably caused by the twin hurricanes and the Boeing strike. Also, concerns over the election are playing into market sentiment. We hope this gets settled next week! I only achieved about half of my quota in October, so I need a good November! It's football playoffs this weekend. Toronto prevailed in the east and will meet Montreal in the eastern final. Riders beat BC in the west, and advanced to play Winnipeg in the western final. Go Riders, Go! Oilers, Pens and Leafs all won their games one night this week—I'd like to see more nights like that! Oilers have lost their top star, McDavid, to an injury. He'll be out a few weeks at least. Sooners easily won their game this week. #6-Texas had the week off. #3-Gushue dropped his final two games and failed to get a medal at the Pan Continental curling event. #1-Homan did us proud, going undefeated to bring home the gold on the women's side. The big cash spiel in Edmonton sees #20-Koe advancing to the playoffs in the Saville Grand Prix. The Dodgers blew out the Yankees in five games to win the World Series!

Erica writes, "Happy Halloween! Eric had the treatment on his left eye on Monday. He spent most of the week in a dark room, catching up on sleep. On Thursday, he was feeling well enough to teach his class. We had an uneventful Halloween—fewer than 20 trick or treaters."

Kristian has been trying to work with the DHHS folks in his job search, but has not heard back from them this week. Finally, after more enquiries from Frank's business, declaring their interest in him, he has completed his application there. Now, we wait to see how that all plays out. Good luck! 

Bucket Decals completed October with a new record for most orders ever: 227, breaking the old record of 222 from 2021. Congratulations! Joanna had to get a molar extracted this week. It was abscessed, and may have been contributing to her sinus issues. We hope she finds improvement once the surgery heals.

Kali has arrived!

They completed delivery of the Yorkshire Monster this afternoon. Wendy has named her, KaLita, or Kali for short, and short, she is! 

And that's about it for this week. 

Tap your heels three times...

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown, but we are wandering, and currently in Lawrence, Kansas. We are enjoying the hospitality of cousin Marti and Aunt Helen. Thank you very much! We closed off our activities in Thunder Bay on Monday. I got in one more session with Dr. Barb, and my back is continuing to recover from the fencing incident. Wendy had a final choir practice in the evening. We had a smooth drive down to Minneapolis on Tuesday and continued down here on Wednesday. While the weather back home has turned decidedly cooler with highs some days failing to make double digits, the weather here has varied from lovely to hot, and usually with a significant wind—is this Saskatchewan?! On Thursday, it got as high as 32°, but retreated to the low 20s on Friday, so Larry and I got in a golf game. That was a lot of fun, but a lot of swinging as well. I scored +20, higher than I either like or expect—I guess I'll have to go again! We closed off the week this evening with a lovely singsong. Next week, we plan a further excursion down to Stillwater, and then a return home. The markets were troubled this week, and made little progress. The CFL ended their regular season, so we're ready for the playoffs. The Riders ended in second place in the west, so they'll host the semifinal game. The young season in the NHL is playing out with a usual set of surprises and disappointments. Oilers are playing a bit better, while Leafs and Pens are also playing only 50/50 hockey. My teams are letting me down so far, but we expect things to improve! Sooners lost another game today—soon their disappointment at not getting into the playoffs will be replaced by their despair of not even getting a bowl game! #5-Longhorns rebounded with an easy win. The curling event this week is in Penticton, and #20-Koe is there with his new player installed—they're doing pretty well. The bigger curling event starts tomorrow as the Continental Cup begins featuring the top eight curling countries from Austral-Asia and the Americas in both Mens and Womens divisions. #3-Brad Gushue and #1-Rachel Homan teams are representing us. Gold medal games are next Saturday. As expected, Dodgers and Yankees are contesting the baseball championship, with the Dodgers winning the first two games at home. It is now time for the Yankees to cue up the comeback! 

Erica writes, "We voted in the provincial election! Now we wait for election day to find out the results. Eric also managed to rig up our kayak storage system. We just need to pull out the kayaks to see if it works. This week was a pretty normal week, but on Friday, we joined some Rotary colleagues for the haunted corn maze. This included posing for photos with ghost sheets and a haunted church and house. It was fun." Eric is scheduled for his next eye appointment on Monday, with his good eye scheduled for work. Greg had an appointment with his surgical team in Thunder Bay on Tuesday. This included further surgery and many anxious hours. We had supper and a visit with Greg and Kiersten on Monday evening when they arrived in Thunder Bay, and have followed the rest of the events from a distance. They have returned to Kenora, where Greg continues his recovery. 

Greg and Kiersten

Erin and Kristian had another uneventful week in Regina. Well, truly it was less dramatic than last week. Kristian is pursuing his job application at Franks with the support of his friends at DHHS. We hope it works out for him. In the meantime, he's raking in the dough from his participation in the Drug Trial, however, that ends soon. Erin continues to gain comfort in her new role at VW. 

Travis and Joanna had a big week in Thunder Bay as they got another dog! This one is an unnamed Yorkie, and is about the size to be a plaything for the boys: Moxley and Darby. As fortune would have it, the Yorkie is destined to be Wendy's dog, so she'll provide the official name once she meets the beast. 

The Yorkshire Monster

And that's enough for this week!

Departure

Thanksgiving - 2024

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The week began with cool weather, but we're back in the 20s to close it out—nice! Bern & Alicia left this week and flew back to Regina. We were surely glad to have the visit! Thanks! As you may recall, I hurt my back working on the fence repairs. While that did have the benefit of ending the fence work, it has continued to inhibit my breathing and reaching ever since, so this week, I paid a visit to my local chiropractor, Dr. Barb. She inflicted considerable pain, but also achieved great relief. We are trying to clear up any remaining issues here in preparation for a short trip south next week. I have put the lawnmower and bikes away, and got out the snowblower and tuned it up. The best strategy I know to hold back the arrival of snow, is to be ready for it! Wendy has cleaned up her choir files, so she's ready to go also. We have our usual choir practices, and also preparation for the worship team for tomorrow, so lots of singing this week. The markets have been variable, but generally up, setting new records again this week as the USA economy continues to move forward—thanks, Uncle Joe! The sports scene continues to expand for me this time of year. The CFL season is nearing playoffs, but Riders have this week off. They have locked up second place, but still have a chance for first in the final week's action. Baseball is in the pennant series and I can feel mom's presence as the Dodgers and Yankees lead in their respective leagues. The Oilers have finally begun winning, but faced a formidable opponent this afternoon in Dallas and lost that one. The curling event this week is in Sault Ste Marie and included #3-Gushue and #16-Koe, both playing without their newly recruited seconds. Koe did not make the playoffs. #1-Texas finally got a legitimate challenge this week, and were pounded by #5-Georgia; those teams may trade places! Sooners have dropped out of the rankings, and got blown out again this week—they're just not very good this season. 

Looks great!

Erica writes, "The shed was completed on Monday, now, we are working on interior finishing. Today, we went to Canadian Tire to pick up rope and pool noodles to make a hanging apparatus for the kayaks. Unfortunately, there was only one pool noodle left, but a trip to the plumbing section got us some insulated pipe covers, so, we are going to try that. Liam left us on Monday and Moira Koops came for a visit on Tuesday. It was nice to catch up with her. Oh! Also, I played a gig with Mystery Train on Friday. It was a staff social event for the YWCA. We had a fun time!"

Erin and Kristian are doing fine in Regina. We keep waiting to hear of responses to his job applications, but he got invited to submit an application this week, so that is encouraging. Kristian had another appointment with the drug trial people on Thursday. They took another 11 vials of blood. They didn't have all their supplies ready, so, they had to call him back in, and thus he got paid twice! He also visited the audiologist to get his hearing aids repaired. Then, they toured the Audi dealership and the Toyota dealership, and a pet store where they saw baby rabbits—so, yeah, nothing much happened! 

Travis and Joanna have begun the season of Puck Shots as local hockey teams are booking photo shoots, and the parade to the rinks has begun again. They have been photographing about 100 teams in recent seasons, which, as you can imagine takes up a lot of time for them over the hockey season. Meanwhile, the Bucket Decals side is running hard in what is traditionally their best month. They visited us for Thanksgiving on Monday, and then stayed to play a bit of Fast Track. Gemma has now been posted for her practicum work with North Islands Midwifery in Port Hardy BC. Here is her posting note, you may have to expand it to read it: 

So proud! 

And that's enough for this week. 

Fall

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. The weather has been fine, with seasonable highs from 15 to 20°. We are enjoying several outings with Bern & Alicia, and they have also taken the bikes out for a few rides on some of our excellent trails. Along with local visits to the Mission Island Marsh, and Hillcrest Park, we inspected Kakabeka Falls and the Flett Railway tunnel northwest of here one day, and hiked around the Sleeping Giant park on Sibley Peninsula, yesterday. It has been good to have their motivation to explore our touristy attractions which we residents so often fail to take advantage of. 

Fall Colours

Kakabeka Falls

Flett Tunnel—yeah, it's high, and about 200m long.
You can see the car at the far end.

Sea Lion—both sides

See Lions!

Hedge Trimming

We also have put Bern to work in the backyard, trimming the cedars and helping with the fence renovation. The latter action precipitated another fall—that of me, against a post I was trying to plumb! That hurt my back, and I'm still suffering from that; it also ended the fence repairs! At least we got the neighbours shed moved and the fence approximating straight! We had a sloppy week in the markets as CPI came in higher than expected so equity investors decided a 0.5% rate hike is no longer possible in November. Still, it was a green week as the strong USA economy pushed the indices to new record levels. In sports, the Grand Slam event ended with my gal #5-Einarson posting a big win over #1-Homan. On the men's side it was #1-Mouat with a surprisingly easy win over #2-Gushue. My men's team, #15-Koe has added a new player at second and looks to raise its ranking. As predicted, #1-Texas thrashed #18-Oklahoma in the annual Red River rivalry game. Riders hosted BC Lions tonight, and the win locked up second place for the Riders. We still have a chance for first place, but it's a slim one. Go Riders! The NHL regular season has begun, and all three of my teams (Oilers, Pens, Leafs) lost their opening game. In fact, none of them even scored a goal! Tonight, Leafs hosted the Pens, so someone had to win there—Leafs did! Oilers took on Chicago, but are still looking for their first win! 

Erica writes, "Liam’s home for the weekend and we are thankful. We hope to get the shed done—we will see! I have an appointment in February for Lipedema and skin removal on my arms in Bonn. So, pray that plans come together for that and that the surgery is successful. My pump arrived and I’ve been using it each night, alternating arms and legs. I’ve noticed a reduction in my pain and swelling so that’s good! Eric has a surgery date for his other eye on the 28th. That was sooner than we expected and we are glad! Greg has another procedure on his heart scheduled for the 21st—keep him in your prayers."

Kristian's bus pass finally arrived and he took advantage to get out for a meeting with his support group and to apply for three more jobs. We hope something comes through on the work front for him. He borrows his mom's car once in a while and goes shopping on his own—becoming uncomfortably independent! Work continues to go better and better for Erin as she works to perfect all aspects of her new assignment. 

Travis and Joanna are very busy this time of year. Joanna is also struggling to get back to full health. She thought she was all better last weekend, but is still fighting a cold and sore throat. It's the busiest time of year for Bucket Decals, so Travis has been pumping out the product! We had a lovely supper over there early in the week which was very nice—thanks folks! 

And that's enough for this week. 

Arrivals!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in our hometown. We have been working through medical appointments and fresh blood work with our doctors. So far, no big concerns are showing up, and that's a good thing at any age. The weather has changed to a bit more seasonable, and we have had frost on the local gardens. Bernard and Alicia arrived on Thursday; we are enjoying spending time with them. We have managed several games of Fast Track. Bernard helped with the fence repairs. Today, we ventured down to Grand Marais for a fun day along the lake. Otherwise, I had a dental appointment on Wednesday, and we had our usual choir practice on Thursday. The markets struggled most of the week in the face of global unease over the fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East, but, fortunately, the USA economy came to the rescue with blowout jobs numbers and we closed the week with some nice green—thanks Uncle Joe. Baseball has moved into the semi-finals in each league; there have already been some surprises. In college football, my #19-Sooners and the #2-Longhorns both have the week off to prepare for the Red River Rivalry game next weekend. Sad to say, I'm not expecting too much from the Sooners this season. The Riders had an important game tonight and managed a win in Edmonton to lock up a playoff spot. This week in curling is the first Grand Slam event of the season featuring the top 16 teams for both men and women. It will be #1-Mouat (Scotland) vs #4-Gushue in the men's final. It's two Canadian teams in the final in the women's final, as #1-Homan plays my gal, #11-Einarson. 

Erica writes, "I got my pump machine this week. It comes with pants that inflate intermittently to push fluid up my legs, and a jacket to push fluid up my arms. All together it looks like a costume for some comic book villain. We’ve been hauling sand to our back yard. We plan to level out a spot for the new shed. If the weather cooperates we plan to start building it this weekend. Liam has had several birthday celebrations with Mercedes this week. And he got another infusion of his medicine. We haven’t heard much from Greg, Kiersten or Haaken." 

Kristian continues with the slow process of his job hunt. He's expecting his bus pass, but everything about this effort seems to get delayed. Work continues to progress well for Erin. She's heading out for bowling tonight with some of her colleagues from work. 

Travis is very busy with work. He had a record month of orders in September, and October is continuing that trend. Joanna has been down all week with cough, congestion and sore throat—generally feeling yucky. She's finally feeling better and enjoyed the trip to Grand Marais today. 

Grand Marais Crew today!

And that's enough for this week.