RIDERS!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Temperatures continue to drop, and nearly every night is dropping below zero, and only a couple of days rising to double digits. We hear reports of snow at higher elevations away from the lake, but nothing here yet. As teased last week, I flew down to Toronto, and out to Niagara Falls on Tuesday morning to check out an RV. It checked out, so I made the purchase, completed the paperwork and headed for home. The trip went well despite the alarming levels of fuel use by the V10 Ford powering the one-ton unit.

Sleeping with the big rigs!

I overnighted at a truck stop just west of Sudbury—there were three campers, and about 30 semis! Then, I completed the trip on Wednesday, arriving here in time for supper. We are pleased with the condition of the vehicle, and Wendy is already planning a trip for next summer. It will facilitate travelling with the dog, and every night spent in the camper represents a tank of fuel. There is work to be done on the unit, as the awning needs repair, and the generator doesn’t generate! Normal activities of the week in our choirs still took place. The markets were a disaster as the Orange economy continues to decline as they can’t even manage to keep their government operating, so didn’t get an official job losses for the month, but a private firm did track layoffs, and noted that in the last month, USA lost 153K jobs—the worst in 22 years, for a total of over 1 million jobs lost this year. AI can only carry the economic load for so long. So, it was a lot of red this week. Meanwhile, we increased our payrolls by 67K—good work! In college football, my teams (#12-Sooners, #11-Longhorns) were resting, but there was plenty of CFL action as the conference finals took place in Hamilton and Regina. Riders scored late to beat BC and advanced to the Grey Cup game against Montreal. In hockey, the Penguins continue to impress near the top of the league and with Crosby leading the league in scoring. Leafs and my favourite, Oilers, continue with mediocre results. The big curling event this week was the Grand Slam event in Lake Tahoe NV with the top 16 teams in both men’s and women’s competition. On the women’s side we had three Canadian teams playing, but only #1-Homan advanced to the playoffs against two Korean, two Japanese, two Swiss and one Swedish team. They’ve kept winning, and advanced against their long time rival, #2-Tironzoni in the final tomorrow. On the men’s side, we had six teams there, with four advancing to the playoffs. It will be #1-Mouat from Scotland vs #2-Dunstone. So, I’m saying, there’s a chance we win both sides! The Basketball season has begun, and my Jayhawks opened at #19. They split their games this week. 

Erica writes, “It has been a busy week of getting projects done and preparations completed for our trip. This Saturday is our Rotary’s Wine Premiere and the theme is Chile. We had a few evenings of making colourful flowers and lantern decorations. Eric and I leave for Montenegro Sunday morning.”

Erin and Kristian are facing the advance of the seasons in Regina with cooling temperatures and a few flakes❄️! Kristian is working with the DHH folks on a disability funding application. He may also be learning how difficult it is to find a job, let alone work for a living! 

Jasmine & Marigold

Travis and Joanna flew down to Ottawa with Marigold to pick up their new dog, Marigold’s sister. That adds up to four dogs in their household, which may be as many as four too many in my books! Jasmine is a bit smaller than Marigold. Moxley and Darby are much heavier. Otherwise, they’re just as busy as always! 

And that’s about it for this week.