News Update

Fall has arrived on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We had a good frosting this week. I had the tomatoes covered, so they survived, but my squash vines are finished! I managed to harvest another thirty-seven spaghetti squash and three butternut squash. We hope they'll keep for awhile as we try to eat as many as possible. We are failing to keep ahead of the tomatoes, but they're surely delicious anyway! Last night, the Riders fell (with five seconds left on the clock) to BC.

The markets suffered another bad week; the TSX dropped 2.3%, and I, unfortunately, participated in part of that, so I'm down 0.8% this week. It seems to be a pretty shaky time in the market, so we're trying to be careful. Trav was more careful than I, so he's up for the week! (Smart alec!) I got a small contract with one of the School Boards; it amounts to about a week of work, but every bit helps.

The weather has been cool and rainy most of the week, so we've realized the seasonal change. I got two new tires on the truck. We plan to take it to Kenora next week.

Kristian is doing well in school. Erin continues to work almost full-time although classes have supposedly started. We don't see how this is going to work!

Trav is delighting in the start of another hockey season. He's working with the hockey team he coaches, and following the success of the Penguins as well. Then, of course, there's also work, and he's completed (read: got paid) for another contract as well.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. Quite a week it has been, too! Contrary to expectations, Wendy did not return on Monday evening, but she did get back on Tuesday. She reports having a good time in southern Ontario, and enjoying the scenic drive there and back. She enjoyed a good weekend with the ladies who gathered near Owen Sound for a retreat! She enjoyed the trip with Linda, and that Bob joined them to help with the driving on the return portion.

On Wednesday, Tom & Mariette arrived and stayed until Friday, as they were on their way to southern Ontario themselves. (What is it with southern Ontario that makes it so attractive?!) They brought a batch of tomatoes from their garden–delicious! Tom & I got out golfing on Thursday with my usual partner, John, and his son Brian. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. I estimate it was probably my best driving experience of the season.

Also on Wednesday, our cousin (of some number), Nathan, and his band (Trip Meter) of five guys arrived from Saskatchewan. They had an engagement (Do they still call them Gigs?) here in town that night, and then slept through the next morning in our basement. Then they continued on to Marathon on Thursday. It was good to see them, and we're thankful for the ring they left with us (We only got $45 for it, but it was all profit!). Actually, we got that mailed on to Quebec on Friday, so hopefully they'll catch up with it.

Our pension funds are mostly transferred over now to iTrade, so I began trading in real money this week. It was a no good, very bad week on the TSX (-2%), but we managed to have one very good day, so I completed the week with a gain of 1.7%.

Kristian is now fairly well established in his school routine. The taxi picks him up each morning, and also takes him from school to day care at the end of the day. Kristian appears to enjoy school very much and is making progress. Erin continues to work nearly everyday, and we're concerned over how she will manage nearly full-time work in addition to her courses! This was not the plan!

Travis continues with his work and his contracting. He's been very busy this week with the start of hockey season as they had many evenings of scouting the hundreds of players and then drafting their team for the season. He's enjoying that very much so far. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the games.

The week ends in front of the TV as we watch the Riders battle the Edmonton Eskimos for the second time this week. Edmonton had a heart-wrenching last minute victory on Sunday, so it was delightful to see the Riders return the favour in Edmonton this evening. As a result the Riders move into a first place tie with Calgary.

And that's about enough for this week!

News Update

Another week has passed here on the shore of Lake Superior, in my home town. We started the week with a full-house as Eric/A and the boys were here along with Dad and Dave. That was fun! We celebrated Kristian's fourth birthday several times, and he appeared to enjoy them all! We enjoyed watching the Riders knock off Winnipeg for a second straight game as the Riders moved into a first place tie in the West. Eric/A and the boys left on Sunday. Dad and Dave left on Tuesday. Wendy left on Thursday. This weekend the house is much less busy!

Wendy is off for the weekend in southern Ontario, near Owen Sound, to a ladies' retreat. She's called back a couple of times, so we're assured she had a safe trip and she is enjoying herself. We expect her back on Monday evening.

Kristian is enjoying school a great deal. They have been making adjustments to get his hearing aids working with their FM broadcasting system in the classroom. Erin also has had some extra training and orientation times this week to assist with his learning. We're expecting great growth in his vocabulary in the next months. Erin has also continued to work most days despite being 'on leave'—I don't think that company understands the term! They were even pressuring her to come in and work today!

Trav continues with his work. He is also coaching hockey this year and has been involved with the entire coaching staff in scouting prospects in preparation for the draft of hockey players for the coming season. We continue to work on the investment training; we had another great week with gains of nearly 4%—that's two months' work!

The weather has been great, and I got out for a morning of golf on Friday. That was more encouraging after recent sessions that saw me playing pretty poorly.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

We've had a busy week on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Company has arrived and Kristian has started school! Wendy's brother, Dave, and her father drove down from Regina this week, arriving here on Tuesday. We are enjoying having their company. Eric/A and the boys arrived on Friday night, so we have a full house this weekend. We celebrated Kristian's birthday tonight, although the actual date is the 16th. It is good to have cousins, uncles, aunties, grandparents and great grandfather here for the occasion.

Wendy has, of course, been kept very busy feeding us all and staying up verrrry late to visit with our company! Travis and I have continued with our investment training and have this week been established in a group of investors to further refine our strategies. It's been a good week for our investments and I've increased my gain to 13.6% with some good buys. Our accounts have now been opened in Scotia iTrade, so reality is staring us in the face! We're blinking!!

Kristian's first day in Junior Kindergarten went well, and Erin also survived it. The school situation seems to be very well suited to him, and Erin very much likes his Principal, Teacher and Educational Assistant. They have facility there for FM broadcast of instructions, and his hearing aides are adaptable for this as well. I am expecting rapid advancement with his full-time EA and well-planned program.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

A quiet week rolls by on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. The weather is beautiful, and I manage one golf game—a poor game, but a game, nonetheless. The garden continues to produce, except for the strawberries. It seems that I made a mistake there; I let the strawberries spread a bit via runners to get some additional plants, and now I get no flowers, and no fruit. The vines have been spreading through the border region and are producing something! We don't know which vines even came up, let alone which are which! It appears we have some kinds of zucchini or squash. I think I would recognize any pumpkins.

Wendy has been on an office-cleaning binge. My office—my stuff—being interfered with! Can you imagine! The results are a clean and tidy office in which I can find virtually nothing! And the mind numbs at the thought of what has been disposed of!! She continues to wait to hear about her job application at the university. We suppose we'll find out some time this month.

Erin and Kristian have continued their preparations for school. The taxi showed up at Day Care one day to pick up Kristian, but apparently he has started his school career by playing hooky! Perhaps he heard the Prime Minister was going to address the students to encourage them to work hard and stay in school! Yeesh! Erin has also continued with almost full-time work.

My work has officially ended, and I turned my equipment back in on Monday. On Wednesday, I was asked to come back and pick it up again! Apparently, at least one of the District School Boards who took over our School Authorities wants some help within my purview. So, I may be working again! This particular assignment appears to be about a month's worth of work, but probably spread out over much of the year. My other work/training has continued. It was a difficult week for us in the investment game, but I managed to gain 0.5% for the week, so that's good! I have also sent off my retirement accounts to Scotia iShare, so we'll see how long that transfer takes. September is supposedly a bad month for investments, so I guess there's no rush! I didn't get over the school bus people; maybe I'll manage it next week.

Travis has continued with his work, and has also been taking a hockey coaching course as he'll be serving as assistant coach with a midget-age team here in TBay.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, in my home town. I did some fruitless investigations of my Employment Insurance situation. It's amazing to come to understand just why I don't qualify while others do! I guess I need to go back and spend more time learning how to game the system before I get to this advanced age. If I had used a more acceptable address, and reported my income in a more acceptable way, I would have been accepted for more insurance and a longer time! Who knew? Well, actually some people do know, but I did not. I managed to get out for a couple of golf games, but results were unspectacular.

I applied for a job with an online-supported First Nations high school. That was successful, but after we considered the option of moving to Pickle Lake so I could drive daily out to Osnaburgh, we determined that this was too much of an adventure for us! So, I'm still wondering what to do now that I'm almost grown up! I plan to check out school-bus driving next week. That seems a good fit with what is planned to be my main occupation—investment manager. Trav and I continued our practice this week. It was a very good week despite the (perhaps because of the) fluctuating markets. I made over 3% and now stand at 10.5% for six weeks of work. Our tutors keep reminding us that it will be much more difficult in reality, so we are tempering our enthusiasm.

Wendy has applied on a job as an administrative assistant at the University. I think she's the ideal candidate as the job requirements seem to match not just her skills but her penchant. It will be some weeks yet before she finds out the results of her application.

Erin has continued her non-working work. She has also completed her registration for college with coursework starting in September. She's off to Winnipeg this weekend to enjoy a weekend with a friend, Jolie, who lives there. We have Kristian with us, so it's a busy weekend.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, in my hometown. We started the week with the joy of watching a Rider victory, and last evening suffered through a Rider defeat! However, both games provided some encouragement over the development of the team. Tuesday provided the surprising news that my Employment Insurance had ended. Having not been a user of the same, I didn't understand how it worked! I thought when they said I was eligible until November 2009, that I would be getting money until then—silly me! I have a couple weeks of work helping schools finish their reports to the Ministry, and then I'll reapply, but in reality, I expect it means that I need to push forward even more quickly on the investments program. I am working on my iTrade application this weekend–the final step to getting my pension money into my own hands! Scares me! I had a difficult (albeit successful) week on the markets and now stand at 6.9% gain for five weeks of investing.

The weather has been mixed—a few sunny days mixed between a several rainy days! We enjoyed a evening with the church leadership team out at our friends' place on the lakeshore, and also came home with a load of raspberries—they surely combined well with our rhubarb to make a fine batch of pies!

Wendy has a lead on a good job, so we hope that works out. She has spent a lot of time this week getting a winter trip to Florida arranged, and that looks ready for December. We expect our children and grandchildren to join us for parts of the time there, so we're looking forward to that!

Erin has continued her unemployed working! She seems to be working almost full-time even though she's trying to quit. She has also been setting up her courses that begin in September, and that appears to be coming together well. And, she celebrated her birthday this week; her request was filet at the local stcak house! Kristian got his new ear-pieces this week. These fit well, and have eliminated the annoying whistling the old ones were producing. At least we found it annoying; he never expressed much concern.

Trav has continued with his work and the investment program with me. Both are going well.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

This weekend finds us back on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown! We drove down from Kenora on Sunday afternoon, and began the process of catching up on the lawns and garden. Erin has been watering and keeping up with the peas and beans, but the rhubarb has overgrown its patch! Then, there are the weeds! So, I have done lots of pulling and hoeing weeds this week. I also picked about half of the rhubarb and got it cut up for freezing. It took some preliminary cuts, but the lawns are about down to regular height now. We've had rain, so they've been really growing.

Of course, Tuesday's featured colonoscopy was a big event, if not exactly a highlight! I started on my purge pills on Sunday evening, and then added Pico-Salax Monday and Tuesday morning. Why would someone give himself diarrhea?! Tuesday afternoon was my appointment at the hospital. I remarked over part of my instructions—"Bring your health card. Do not bring any money or jewelry." I laughed as I shared this with my American-resident brother. He assured me their instructions would be,"Bring your credit card and scrape together whatever money you can!" The nurse installed a needle in the back of my hand in anticipation of the drugs to be administered later, and soon I was wheeled to the operating theatre. I thought they were putting me out, but that didn't happen, so I got to watch their explorations of my nether regions on r large monitor–delightful! The doctor told me he only found a small untoward 'skin-tag' which he excised. I'll have an appointment later to go over the results. The only difficulty coming out of the operation was the air they injected into me to open up passageways; that caused a lot of cramping afterwards. The nurse told me just to go the washroom and let 'er rip! That helped!

We enjoyed our reunion with Travis, Erin & Kristian. It's been a good week as Kristian stayed home with us on two days. Trav and I have continued our investment practice, and also had another Advanced class on Monday evening. I have begun recovery from my disastrous last week; I gained 1.2% and am now at 5.8% gain in four weeks. This was particularly satisfying as the market lost money this week. It also compares well to the expected 0.5% per week; I'm feeling satisfied with our progress. We have also continued to refine our strategy, so we'll see how that goes.

We have received news from Zambia. It is good to hear of events there, even if it isn't all good news. We continue to be very concerned for their well-being, so we always like to be caught up on how things are going. Thanks: BK, Jack, Marti!

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed, and we have begun the journey back to the shore of Lake Superior and my home town. It has been good to spend the time with the family in Regina. There have been frequent gatherings of various family and friends around the table. I got to try out two salmon planking recipes—both good, but I preferred the ginger-brown sugar one! On Friday, we headed east and are currently in Kenora at Eric/A's—thanks guys! We arrived in time for a lovely supper and then settled in to watch the Riders win in BC; unfortunately, the Lions had other plans and we had to suffer through the ignominy of defeat. Ouch!

Monday was a holiday, so we took the van in Tuesday to continue the repair regulations. It is now set to be repaired next week. I got to practise golf on Thursday for a couple of hours in preparation for the game in Kenora today with Eric. The front nine was quite an enjoyable layout while the back nine was less well thought-out. We enjoyed the game until rain forced us to quit after 14 holes.

The holiday-shortened week led to unusual activity in the markets, but we persisted in trying. Thursday was a very bad day for me, and I ended the week down 1.1% but still up 4.6% for the three weeks that we've been on this latest program. Trav did better and turned a profit without my adventurous influence! I enjoyed getting some feedback and advice from Uncle Bernard while in Regina.

On Wednesday, we drove over to Moose Jaw to celebrate Aunty's 96th birthday. Thank you, Grace & Elvin for hosting us and providing an excellent meal topped off by Saskatoon pie! We also took opportunity to see the famous Chicago Tunnels while we were in Moose Jaw.

We intend to complete the trip home tomorrow. We're looking forward to that, to reuniting with family there and sleeping in our own bed.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed, spent far from the shore of Lake Superior, my hometown. We began the week in Dauphin where we enjoyed the hospitality of our friends and family there. Bern, Alicia and Logan were also there, so we met briefly with them before they headed to Saskatoon and we headed to Regina on Monday. We thank David & Marilyn for hosting us in Dauphin. As we headed west, we drove by Binscarth where I taught my first year. We enjoyed visiting old friends there. Once in Regina, we moved in at 55 Laird and enjoyed the remainder of the week there, visiting with Rich & Sue, Dave and other relatives and friends. Thanks for hosting us, Dad!

On Wednesday, we drove down to Ogema to visit relatives there, and to check out the recently acknowledged Century Farm, and the Taylor farm (home to Wendy's grandparents and mother) was historically recognized. We enjoyed Uncle Art's wonderful gardens and returned with plenty of vegetables and fruit from his labours. Another notable (lamentable?) incident involved my backing Dad's van into a power pole at the farm! This caused some damage to the left-rear corner of the van and to my sensibilities! At any rate, we enjoyed the visit, the remembrances and the search for other special sites in the K family history.

Bern, Alicia & Logan rejoined us late Thursday night. As a result, we've been able to continue the catch up on their Mexican adventure. We plan to make a few more day trips next week before turning our vehicle back to the east.

Trav and I have continued our investment training and practice. We got back the results on our research project 84.5% and continued our purchases. After two weeks on this simulation, I stand at 5.6% profit. This program just continues to amaze me.

Erin & Kristian have skyped with us a few times. It's good to see them, even if only via video. There are taking care of yard and garden while we're away. Thanks, guys.

We close the week in front of the TV as we enjoy watching the Riders win in Calgary 24-23 as they move into a first place tie. And that's the kind of week it's been.

News Update

It has been quite a week for us as we've travelled from the shore of Lake Superior out to Dauphin. On Sunday, I lamented as Tom Watson bogied the final hole and proceeded to lose the Open in a playoff. Today, I lamented as the Riders lost to Edmonton after enjoying a 22-0 lead! It's a sad life that way sometimes!

On Monday morning, we hosted an Investors Club meeting at our house. The markets rose and we couldn't make our usual buys, but we tried some other options that ended up losing us some money! The investments in the rest of the week went well, and I've ended the first week of the new investments model with a 2.5% gain. So, that was much above expectations! We also had an online investment class in the evening.

We left home on Tuesday and drove up to Kenora to Eric/A's place. We stayed overnight with them, and completed our trip to Dauphin on Wednesday, where we moved in with David & Marilyn—thanks guys! On Thursday, we played a practice round of golf with many of our friends from there, in preparation for a weekend golfing extravaganza. Since we were planning to play 36 holes a day for the next two days, this was certainly over-kill.

Friday was the first day of the Pryder Cup. It was not coming off as planned. There were supposed to be ten Canadians and ten Americans battling for golfing supremacy, but, the Americans could not put up a full team. They only showed up with four players, so we supplemented them with three non-Manitoba players to make it two teams of seven. It became Manitoba against the World. The morning round was two-man scramble. We did commendably and ended up with two of the possible three points. The afternoon we played better ball, and the Manitobans launched their comeback! They earned three of four points and took a lead that they never relinquished! Saturday morning matches resulted in a complete whitewash as we fell behind 8-3, and we only managed a split of Saturday afternoon's matches, so the final score was 12-7.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun, but ninety holes of golf in three days is too much for me! I do remember that in years gone by we often did this sort of foolishness, and even of times when Dick and I would walk and carry our bags for most of five rounds of golf in a weekend—but those days are gone! I have extracted a promise of single-round days of golf in the future Pryder Cups for we senior members! Another good thing that happened provided some relief for my aching right elbow. Kent supplied me a special strap that wraps tightly around my elbow and relieves the tendinitis. It is not so comfortable to wear, but it certainly does provide relief—thanks, Kent! My golfing was not great, but it never is, and I enjoy it anyway! I scored an 84 and an 85 the first two days, but today I was just worn out and only could manage a couple of 94's. Maybe now that I have this elbow strap, I'll manage more than one round a week.

Erin, Kristian and Travis are taking care of things at home. Erin has to work some of the time, and of course Travis works full-time. We miss them while we're away. Travis had a special event last week where he volunteered for the Easter Seals promotion which allowed him to participate in a skating event with the NHL players who are from Thunder Bay. I guess the three Staal brothers are the more famous members of the group, but there are quite a few, so Trav enjoyed meeting them and getting autographs as well as helping with the many children who gathered to skate with their hockey heroes.

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

News Update

A cool, rainy week struggles to an end on the shore of Lake Superior. I haven't made it out for golf until today, but it seems that little has changed—one might hope it would! I did manage to get most of my planned yard work completed for the year, and the garden is flourishing. Kristian loves picking and eating the strawberries and peas right off the plants. We are preparing to head west next Tuesday, so Erin will have to keep track of everything while we're gone. I am now scheduled for my colonoscopy for August 11th, so our travel time is limited by that. And this afternoon we have to suffer through the indignity of watching the Riders being schooled by the Alouettes. Yuck! On the other hand, I do enjoy watching Tom Watson lead the Open, and I hope he can finish it off tomorrow.

I've had a bit of work this week as one school has turned up recalcitrant on its reporting requirements. It turned out they had not even done the first batch of reporting for the year! I have managed to get their October and March reports completed this week, so it only remains for me to do the June reports now.

Wendy has completed a retrofit of the flowerbeds both front and back, so they're looking good. She has also kept busy with gym work, shopping and a few picnics with family and friends.

Kristian has been making excellent progress lately. His vocabulary and expressions are growing quickly, and he's figured out the potty business completely. He's not just cute! Erin was off this week, so we enjoyed lots of activity around the house and yard despite the cool weather.

Travis continues with his work and working with me on the investment training. We've completed our research, and are now moving to the next stage of training. We're back in class on Monday evening, and we've decided to begin the investment simulation over from the beginning. It was a great week in that regard as the market turned positive again, and we made big profits. I now stand at 41.9% gain from March 9th. However, we've worked out a strategy to more closely approximate the actual investment experience, so we'll see how that goes. I took a webinar in Scotia iTrade on Thursday, so I have a better idea how that will work.

I enjoyed a Skype chat with my siblings and various members of their familes on Thursday, in honour of Tom's birthday. Spread out from Dallas to Winnipeg to Paris (and Thunder Bay) as we were, that went well and was fully enjoyable except that John was not able to take part.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. The weather has turned very nice and I've managed to get out golfing and practising a few times. My game came in at 85, so my handicap stays solid at 15.1. However, I am seeing signs of improvement, "Little green shoots," one might say! Let's hope they continue to flourish; I've been feeling like my golf game is in the Bush Recession, too! At least the Riders are thriving, as I was able to sit down and watch them punish the Argos this afternoon and move to 2-0 in the young season.

There hasn't been much work this week. I've helped one school with their June Reports to the Ministry, but that's about it. Investment work continues as Trav and I have a big assignment due next Friday. We've been struggling with our investments in the most recent downturn. The TSX has lost value for the last month since its high on June 11th. So, it's been difficult to make headway, but we've managed small gains and I now stand at 35.1% profit for exactly four months of work.

The garden is growing quite well now. The tomatoes are blooming, pea pods are filling, beans are blooming, strawberries are bearing. Only two potatoes came up (out of seven planted), but we'll see how the box method works for those.

Wendy has been busy with her flowerbeds so those are now flourishing (pun intended). She spent most of the week fretting about how to get to Ogema for the celebration at her grandparents' farm today, but, in the end, decided not to go. We are now planning to head west in time for the golf tournament in Dauphin (July 24th, 25th) and to remain on the prairies after that event instead of before it.

Erin has been at work all week, so Kristian has been at daycare. His potty training is showing signs of improvement! His communication is showing much growth—we're delighted! We've set up a wading pool for him in the backyard this year instead of the larger pool. He certainly enjoys being outside.

Travis continues with his work. This weekend, he's in Minneapolis as he gave Greg a ride down there to catch a plane to California.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Happy Anniversary to us! Thirty-nine years later and we're enjoying life on the shore of Lake Superior. It's been a slow-moving but eventful week. The weather has been cool and rainy early in the week and I haven't made it out golfing at all. I did practice a couple of times. The garden is progressing fine, and I did get a few calls for work. On Wednesday, we celebrated Canada Day. Happy Birthday Canada! And today, along with our anniversary, the Americans celebrate their Independence Day. Happy National Birthday to all my American contacts!

This week also marked the beginning of the football season. Friday evening's Rider game was a sloppy affair, but we won! My old coaching friend, John Payne, used to say, "If you want to make that many turnovers, you should open a bakery!" Fifteen turnovers! Yikes! But in the standings it just shows up as a win. So, well done!

Trav and I got back on track with our investments. It wasn't a good week in the markets as the TSX declined, but we turned a tidy profit. To recap, two weeks ago, we did bad! I lost 4%! But last week I picked up 1.7% and this week 1.6% so I'm almost caught up. Officially, I'm now at a 33.7% gain in just under four months. We are finished our foundational classes, and now we are working on a research project. When that is completed (due: July 17th), we move on to the advanced coaching and mentoring phase of the course.

Wendy has been busy with yard work, bedding plants and tearful good-byes. On Friday, she finally came to a decision on BJ, so that was a sad day for all of us. BJ was a very good dog, certainly the best dog I've been acquainted with. He was wonderful with little children. He is being missed.

Erin has continued with arrangements and preparation for her course work in the Fall. There is not much in place yet. Kristian is doing well. He likes playing ball, golfing and being outside. He is working on his potty training—some successes! He is communicating more by speech, but also relies on sign language for some messages. He is a bright and lovable little boy.

Trav has continued busily with his work. That seems to be going well.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has rolled by on the shore of Lake Superior. The weather has turned hot; the air conditioner is running; summer is here! I managed to get out for a couple of golf games this week. There was some improvement as I posted scores of 84 and 86, and dropped my handicap to 15.1. The garden is doing fine, except for the potatoes—nothing there—I guess those Safeway potatoes must be treated with something to keep them from germinating. So far we've only been using radishes and rhubarb.

I've had a bit of help-desk work this week as schools scramble to complete student report cards and end-of-year reporting to the Ministry. Once this is surge is over, it should be the end of my work with the small schools of northwestern Ontario. Travis and I made back some of our money in our investment training. We also had our final class in the direct-teaching part of the course. Now we move on to a couple of research projects, and then the establishment of investment teams. A memory chip failed in my laptop, so it's at the University tech shop over the weekend getting a replacement chip. As a result, I can not tell you exactly where I'm at in investments, but it's improved a little, despite a mixed week on the markets.

Erin worked all week (Part time is not what it used to be!), and Kristian got back in day care. He's is talking more and more with us, but is often shy in groups.

Impact Promotions had its grand opening last evening, so we attended that and celebrated along with Trav and the rest of the company.

Wendy has continued to look after us in her usual style (To which we've become accustomed!); she has been spending a lot of effort in recent weeks to take care of BJ. He's still hanging on, and some days shows improved activity. We're not sure what to make of it. Wendy also continues to apply on jobs from time to time; nothing has developed from it yet, but we keep hoping.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed and summer has come to the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The garden is flourishing (finally) and the reseeded parts of the front lawn have germinated and are growing out nicely. I have finished a little data project for our schools, and taken a couple of support calls, but really there's not much happening on the work front!

As the week began, we celebrated Fathers' Day (early) and my children gave me a coupon for ten rounds of golf! So, that was great! And, with the improved weather, I managed to get out for two games this week. The second was quite satisfactory (and I kept both below 90) and my handicap remains at 15.3.

Wendy and I have had a couple of meetings with financial advisors this week. We're considering how we should manage our registered pension money and whether we should add to our investment in this house. We cancelled our satellite TV, our phone service and our internet service, and amalgamated them all with Shaw. Unfortunately, our phone installation had a problem, so we could not make long distance calls for most of the week! They finally fixed it this afternoon, so we're fully back in business.

Travis and I had a bad week with our investments. We made a mistake of going against our training and strategy, and the falling market early this week made us pay for it! As a result, we both lost money for the week, and I now stand at only 30.4% gain for the three months. Still, that's pretty good!

BJ has continued to amaze us with improved mobility and health. We don't know how long this will last.

Erin has completed her fulltime work, and I now working part-time while also getting her training program in place and enjoying the summer. Kristian continues to progress very well. He now has a batting tee, and enjoys playing ball in the back yard, the living room, the kitchen—what a kid! He also got a haircut this week; he's continuing the cuteness theme.

Travis continues with work as per usual; his major accomplishment this week was the purchase of a new iPhone 3G S! I can't even quite figure out how to operate the thing! In spite of being a techno-geek, I'm having trouble keeping up these days!

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

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, in my hometown. It's been an exciting week in our household as the Penguins performed the improbable—coming back to win games six and seven to overcome the Red Wings and win the Stanley Cup. I did not think they could manage to beat Detroit in Detroit in game seven, but Travis did not lose heart. He explained to me that Penguins had faced four 'Game Sevens' on the road in franchise history, and had won them all! So, make it five! They've still won them all!

Otherwise, it's been a quiet week around home. I've been doing a little work on a small data project for our soon-to-be-former schools. There still remains a little work to be done with student data reporting at the end of the month, and then I'll be able to wrap things up. The garden is finally coming along, although the weather refuses to cooperate. I've reseeded some patches in the front lawn—it also needs some heat! And the investment training continues. Trav and I had a very good week, and I'm now at 34.3% for the three months. So, I've applied for my online brokerage package, and we'll soon see how it goes in reality! Scary!

Wendy has been remodelling the laundry room. I've helped with installation of some additional shelving and it's now looking much roomier. We have Eric/A and the boys here this weekend—I think we're celebrating Father's Day a week early! Anyway, it's nice to have them around.

Erin just has a few days of full-time work left. She bought herself one of those little netbooks this week, and it seems to run just fine. Kristian continues to develop and express himself better and better. We are much encouraged by the efforts being made with him in speech-therapy. It's paying off. He can express himself even better in signs, but we don't know the signs!

BJ seems to be making quite a recovery and is getting around pretty well now, although he still refuses stairs. He's also started eating better, so that's also encouraging.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

We pass this week in our hometown on the shore of Lake Superior, but it is a momentous week nonetheless! The week begins with Eric/A and the boys here. We enjoy the visit. On Monday, we get the news that the Ministry of Education has decided to end the existence of the small boards who have been employing me for the last four years. This is a fair shock for me, although some of my colleagues claim to have seen it coming! (They might have mentioned it to me!) What it means is that I am unemployed for sure for next year. I have been expecting a contract for about one hundred days, so we'll have to think of how to replace the income! The prime option right now is to complete the transition to retirement. Wendy has dusted off her resume and is considering a couple of advertised jobs.

The weather has been decidedly non-June-like and I even had to cover my tomatoes one night as frost was threatened. I have managed to get out to practise golf a couple of times. The ball is not going particularly well! (Probably need to change brands of golf ball, or get new clubs!) The lawns are progressing well with the occasional rain even though we're not getting much heat.

BJ is doing decidedly better. He still needs to be carried around a fair bit, but he's back to walking some on his own as well. We continue to be concerned.

Kristian had a big session of hearing testing this week. He has learned enough of the process to cooperate effectively and the technicians were very confident that valid readings had been achieved. We look forward to the results once all their calculations are done. Kristian continues to develop more facility with vocabulary and communication, and he has a wonderful personality. Erin moves toward the completion of her full-time employment later this month. She is looking forward to a summer with lots of time for Kristian before he begins Kindergarten in the Fall, and she heads back to school herself. She will be working part-time doing some of her current duties while she goes to school.

Now that Trav had graduated, he is continuing to enjoy his work at Impact Promotions, as well as the odd project on his own. He's been particularly happy to see the resurgent Penguins come back to make a good series of the Stanley Cup playoffs, although tonight's 5-0 spanking did not impress him! He has also continued his training with me for investments. We had a scary week, but eventually it worked out well. I'm now at 31.3% gain in just under three months.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

The end of another week finds us back on the shore of Lake Superior, in my hometown. It has been a full week. We started in Regina, and drove out to Gravelbourg on Sunday morning. That was a day of many reminiscences around my birth place and first home. I enjoyed seeing the new additions to the church in Gravelbourg, both material and personal. I enjoyed being asked to lead a song and 'try out' the acoustics of the new assembly area—it worked out well (perhaps a little more bounce would be helpful)! We enjoyed a wonderful meal with Gerry & Lorna, family and friends. We enjoyed a prairie rainstorm—not too severe, but providing plenty of moisture for the developing crops. ("A million-dollar rain," we used to hear it described as!) We drove by the old place and wondered at the trees—when did those spruce get to be so tall! As we headed north, past Trombergs and Rasmussens, we even ran into 'greasy' roads—more reminiscence than we wanted! We drove through Coderre and caught the highway to Moose Jaw.

There we went to visit Aunt Mary. But not so fast the sign told us—"Under Quarantine due to a Respiratory Outbreak"! Well, Wendy talked us through that, and we enjoyed a lovely visit with Aunty. We provided her various stories to ruminate over as she wondered at our arrival. (Visitors have been refused since early May!) We told her variously that, "We told them we're Danes, so rules don't apply." (She liked that one.) "We told them, we're not 'Visitors', we're 'Family'." (She liked that one as well.) She informed us that Grace & Elvin were out of town in Regina, but we decided to at least leave them a phone message—I was a little taken aback when Grace answered the phone! So, we enjoyed coffee [Does anyone need to be informed that Coffee always includes nothing but coffee?! (Where 'always' means 'seldom, if ever.')] and a visit there also.

After visiting and resting at Dad's in Regina, we headed east on Tuesday to Kenora where we stayed with Eric/A and the boys. (Thanks, guys!) And we completed the trip on Wednesday back to TBay.

Back at home we found Travis rejoicing (his Penguins are in the final) and all feeling concern over BJ and his continued convalescence. BJ has perked up a bit in recent days, so we hope he may rebound once again. He's an old dog—fourteen years, and clearly does not appear to be up to learning any new tricks! He mostly lays around, and often requires being carried outdoors.

Today finds us in celebratory mood. Travis is graduating from Lakehead University, where due to scheduling and diligence, he is achieving a double Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) with First Class Standing in Marketing and General Management at the spring convocation. We are so proud of him. He has a good job that he enjoys very much, and it holds the promise of providing a good income as well. Eric/A and the boys are down to assist with the celebration. A great day is had by all. It is capped by a nice evening with Travis and his friends.

Of course, we enjoy our reunion with Erin & Kristian. Both are as busy as ever, and having the Jays win a weekend series from Boston gets Erin into better spirits!

The garden is progressing well. Our investment training continues. Recent weeks have seen me fairly stagnant as over exuberant purchase prices entailed a lot of waiting, but this week everything sold, and I'm now at 29.4% overall gain in under three months. Yowsah! It seems that many (out there) see this as hard to believe—I do, too!

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

News Update

Another week finds us far away from Lake Superior and my hometown. We are in Regina; we have driven out here to attend and observe Tim & Krista's wedding. We plan to head home early next week.

The week started as a long weekend and we were enjoying have Eric/A and the boys with us. They headed back on Monday, and we continued with the regular business around home. I continue to have a few phone calls asking help from the schools. I have also been busy with the garden. We are only awaiting a few bedding plants now to complete the plan for this growing season. We have planted a lot of vines—cucumbers, several kinds of squash, pumpkins, and zucchini. Other than that we mostly have peas, beans and greens. I have tried to plant a bit more of peas and beans in the hope that we will have a continual supply during the season, rather than just a meal here and there. And I've also planted a bit of corn.

On Thursday afternoon we drove out to Kenora, and then on Friday we continued to Regina. Eric/A followed us Friday after work, arriving in Regina about 2:00 AM. Today was the wedding. It was very nice, and we enjoyed catching up with many people, and making some new acquaintances as well. Travis is along with us as he got off work early. He plans to head back with Eric/A so he can get back to work for the new week. We are glad to have the chance to spend a bit of time with Wendy's dad as well—thanks for putting us up!

Erin and Kristian remained at home and commiserated over the Blue Jays first extended losing streak of the young season. They are still in first place, but it's getting close! Other than that they are doing well. They are also caring for BJ who seems to be doing poorly. He is very old (for a dog) and is having trouble getting around lately. This will require some extra attention when we get home.

Investment training has continued. We didn't have a class this week since Monday was a holiday, but we kept at our investments. It was not an easy week since I had bought at higher values last week, and this week saw a lower market. Still, I managed a couple of sales, and have raised my over all gain to 28.1%.

And that's about it for this week.