This week started much like it ended. Sunday was overcast with a Misty type of rain and then finally it started to pour. This continued thru the night into Monday. We have a metal roof on our MH so any amount of rain provides a continuous chorus of music and it has no "OFF" switch. Amazingly enough, it does lull you to sleep after a while.
Our friends from Nfld , had just returned from a 2 month trip to South America which included Peru, Columbia and Ecuador so they invited us over for Dinner to reconstruction some of their trip even though we followed them on Facebook. We have been and are interested in visiting SA we could not duplicate their trip because it included bus, train and plane travel coupled with miles and miles of hiking and hiking is not in our vocabulary. Although we still have Equador on our Bucket list.
At this time of year the "Goodbye Parties " start so on Wed our friend Terry from Med Hat had several people over as she says to use up the food and the booze. She has a Park Model so any unused food is normally passed to the Park maintenance staff.
Then on Thursday our friends, Ken and Linda invited us for Dinner and as Linda says we have a pork loin that we have to eat before they leave. We met Ken and Linda in Fiji several years ago when we did our Australia/ New Zealand trip which included a week in Fiji.
With all the rain and overcast weather we had this week , we spent much of the time glued to the TV watching Women's curling. Too bad our Ladies did not fair better, however, it does speak to the parity of curling around the World. Cheers
Monday, 25 March 2019
Saturday, 23 March 2019
MX/ TX Trip #84 Happenings 11 to 16 March 19
The week started with a nice breezy ( actually windy) day with a high of 85 F (30 C ) which is considered a gift from the "heavens " especially with all the rain and cool weather we have received during Feb and Mar. It seems somewhat funny that we "Winter Texan's" complain about the weather when we don't want to return home because the weather is much worse there. You can never satisfy a Senior.
Since Tuesday was also warm but windy we, along with our friends from Brandon decided to go to MX for the last visit of the year. The ladies had a pedicure while Larry got his golf shoes polished and I found a barber who did a decent hair cut for 5.00. Then the ladies had to do some "last minute " shopping ( as if they needed more MX stuff ). Carroll bought another purse for a reason I don't understand because she seldom carries a purse and we don't have any money left to put in it after spending 4 month travelling around Mexico and the USA.
Last week I heard a "Click " every time I moved the car forward or in reverse and as a long retired mechanic I recognized this noise as a bad U-Joint and I knew it had to be replaced. I ask a friend, who has been coming here for 20 years, if he could recommend a mechanic or a garage. He advised me to take it to Martinez in a local town some 5 miles away as he is a good mechanic and his prices are reasonable. I took it to Martinez the next day but he was busy and ask me to bring it at 8 AM the next day. Then he said let's do a road test and you drive and show me the problem. I backed up and he heard the "Click". Then he said put it in Drive and another "Click". He said yep, it's a U-Joint. Bring it in tomorrow. Martinez replaced both the from and rear U-joint and then did a complete diagnosing check because my Engine light was on. The Engine light has been on for 3 years so I didn't consider it an emergency but he said he would do it anyway. The cost of the parts, labour and diagnostic report cost 128.00.
I knew that Martinez was a retired Marine so I ask him how he became a Mechanic. He said his Dad immigrated to the US before he was born and started to repair cars under a tree in his back yard. After a year he built a shed to work under cover. As a young boy he was interested in helping his Dad and learned to be a mechanic. Then during the Vietnam War he joined the Marines. After his first 5 years was up, he joined for another 5 years so he could get his " re-up " pay which he gave to his Dad to build the 5 bay garage that he runs today. He would like to retire but if he did he said his 3 helpers wouldn't have a job so he keeps the garage open for them. I would guess that his helpers are not licensed.
Saturday was the start of the Women's World Curling which gave us something to watch on TV because it started to rain in the early morning hours and continued for 3 hours. Then the wind came up and the temp dropped to 11C. In TX with a north wind and rain that is a recipe for dam cool. Since our friends from Brandon are going home on Sunday we went out for supper and said our goodbyes. Cheers
Since Tuesday was also warm but windy we, along with our friends from Brandon decided to go to MX for the last visit of the year. The ladies had a pedicure while Larry got his golf shoes polished and I found a barber who did a decent hair cut for 5.00. Then the ladies had to do some "last minute " shopping ( as if they needed more MX stuff ). Carroll bought another purse for a reason I don't understand because she seldom carries a purse and we don't have any money left to put in it after spending 4 month travelling around Mexico and the USA.
Last week I heard a "Click " every time I moved the car forward or in reverse and as a long retired mechanic I recognized this noise as a bad U-Joint and I knew it had to be replaced. I ask a friend, who has been coming here for 20 years, if he could recommend a mechanic or a garage. He advised me to take it to Martinez in a local town some 5 miles away as he is a good mechanic and his prices are reasonable. I took it to Martinez the next day but he was busy and ask me to bring it at 8 AM the next day. Then he said let's do a road test and you drive and show me the problem. I backed up and he heard the "Click". Then he said put it in Drive and another "Click". He said yep, it's a U-Joint. Bring it in tomorrow. Martinez replaced both the from and rear U-joint and then did a complete diagnosing check because my Engine light was on. The Engine light has been on for 3 years so I didn't consider it an emergency but he said he would do it anyway. The cost of the parts, labour and diagnostic report cost 128.00.
I knew that Martinez was a retired Marine so I ask him how he became a Mechanic. He said his Dad immigrated to the US before he was born and started to repair cars under a tree in his back yard. After a year he built a shed to work under cover. As a young boy he was interested in helping his Dad and learned to be a mechanic. Then during the Vietnam War he joined the Marines. After his first 5 years was up, he joined for another 5 years so he could get his " re-up " pay which he gave to his Dad to build the 5 bay garage that he runs today. He would like to retire but if he did he said his 3 helpers wouldn't have a job so he keeps the garage open for them. I would guess that his helpers are not licensed.
Saturday was the start of the Women's World Curling which gave us something to watch on TV because it started to rain in the early morning hours and continued for 3 hours. Then the wind came up and the temp dropped to 11C. In TX with a north wind and rain that is a recipe for dam cool. Since our friends from Brandon are going home on Sunday we went out for supper and said our goodbyes. Cheers
Friday, 15 March 2019
MX/TX Trip # 83 The Brier Week (1 to 10 March 19 )
As any curling fan knows from 1 Mar to 10 Mar is the Brier or the Canadian Championship of Curling and we are avid curling fans so much of our spare time will be spent watching the best Curlers in the World battle for the chance to represent Canada later this month.
Other happening this week was renewing my iPhone plan. I am not great at understanding the iPhone yet but I am slowly learning. The provider I chose in the US is T-Mobile and they don't mind me returning to ask multiple questions. One young lady who has helped me a couple of times told me that a T-Mobile staff has to have 3 months training before they every sees a customer and I must admit they are customer friendly. Anyhow the monthly charge for my iPhone is 67.00 CDN and it provides unlimited talk and text in NA and it comes with 10 GB of data. Telus.. are you listening.
My WiFi was renewed on Wednesday but the provider has never sent me a bill. I even ask for a eBill but they said they do not do eBills. I do pay it by Visa so I can track it but you would think they would want to sent a bill. I have to return the router to their office before I leave so I hope I get a bill then.
Thursday was the last of the six Legends concerts that they have every year in this area and this time it was the Piano Man. The Piano Man is joined by his son along with the obvious backup players. The music is mostly from Elton John and Billy Joel and it was a very good 2 hour concert. Cost was 13.00.
On Thursday there was a huge Bridge Tournament at our Park and Carroll volunteered to help cut the cakes that they serve along with tea and coffee at intermission. . Carroll thought that she was going to cut the cakes and then be done. She later found out that she also had to serve it so after several hours of standing, her back and knees where very sore. Moral of the story; when you volunteer make sure you understand your task.
We have friends from ON that we meet 20 years ago who we have not seen since we got to TX in Feb and they are leaving on the 16 th so we managed to arrange a lunch date so we could catch up on their happenings and travel stories. They are of Dutch descent and they go to Holland every summer so they do have interesting travel stories. We also went to the local Legion for a fish supper with friends from Brandon. While at the Legion we also met old friends from NS whom, we knew from our days in Shilo, MB. It seems that wherever we go we see old friends but we have been traveling since 1998 so i guess we can't help but to bump into some friends ever once in a while.
On Saturday someone decided to share the Sun with us and our temperature went to 34 C which is a little hot but we also got a TX breeze making it a wonderful day for a change. However, the Brier ( curling ) was down to the Championship round so we were glued to the TV for a few hours.
On Sunday the 10 th , as usual we had breakfast with our friends, the Nahas as they are going home to Brandon next Sunday. We hope that the rotten weather that is predicted will pass before they leave. We must admit we were glued to the TV to watch the final curling game between Koe and Bottcher, ( both from Alberta , I might add ). We are glad to get a free week away from the TV but Carroll now has shopping on her schedule so that makes it a boring few days for me. The weather man has promise a very rainy, windy and cool week again. What the heck is wrong with this weather . Cheers
Saturday, 9 March 2019
MX/TX trip # 82 ( Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursday)
26, 27, and 28 Feb
Tuesday and Wednesday were rainy, cool days with high winds so what the heck can we do. Actually very little. We checked the theatres hoping to find a movie that we would like but to no avail. It seems that all the movies are violent or space like so that is not our style.
We solved the boredom by going to Costco. As everyone knows you can not just buy a couple of things at Costco. Somehow we found a way to spend 82.00 even though we only need a few items. However the "Tasters " had some excellent food so all was not lost.
Thursday
It is probably best that Feb is coming to an end because the weather has be horrible and can't get much worst. March has got to be better. We have tickets for several concerts and tonight the Legend music is about Jimmy Buffet. We do not know about him or his music but we bought the ticket anyway. We did not like the music so at half time we left and returned to the park and decided to join our friends and soak in the hot tub. To us it was much more enjoyable than " Jimmy Buffet " Music. Cheers
Tuesday and Wednesday were rainy, cool days with high winds so what the heck can we do. Actually very little. We checked the theatres hoping to find a movie that we would like but to no avail. It seems that all the movies are violent or space like so that is not our style.
We solved the boredom by going to Costco. As everyone knows you can not just buy a couple of things at Costco. Somehow we found a way to spend 82.00 even though we only need a few items. However the "Tasters " had some excellent food so all was not lost.
Thursday
It is probably best that Feb is coming to an end because the weather has be horrible and can't get much worst. March has got to be better. We have tickets for several concerts and tonight the Legend music is about Jimmy Buffet. We do not know about him or his music but we bought the ticket anyway. We did not like the music so at half time we left and returned to the park and decided to join our friends and soak in the hot tub. To us it was much more enjoyable than " Jimmy Buffet " Music. Cheers
MX/TX Trip # 81 ( 25 Feb 19 )
I flew back to TX today but I had to catch the 1 PM flight as opposed to the 7 AM flight as both Todd and Yvonne had early morning meeting which meant the Marjorie ( their Nanny ) had to take me to catch my flight.
Since I got a last minute flight the only available seat was a middle one so I was hoping that the 2 people on each side are not Football size people. The guy with the window seat was an executive with Enbridge oil Company. I questioned him why he was not in business class and he said it was a last minute decision and it was the only seat left. He said he was spending a week in Houston on business.
The guy in the aisle seat had a Hab's cap on so I ask if he was a fan or just wearing there cap. I was going to ask ( jokingly ) if he got it at a garage sale but before I got a chance he said he was a Canadien's alumni, which meant he played for the Canadiens several years ago. I then ask his name since I did not recognize him. His name is Glen Metropolit. He played 08/09 and 09/10 for Montreal . He played professionally from 95 to 17 but he had a "cup of coffee " with Washington, Atlanta, St. Louis, Pilly and Montreal. He played in Europe for most of his career.
He said he lived in Florida so I ask what brought him to Calgary when the temp was -35 C. He said he was with the Canadiens Alumni team travelling in Western Canada raising money for charity and playing against Police/Fire fighters in such places as Yorkton, SK, Crystal City MB and even Victoria BC. I ask if he had to carry his equipment or was it taken care of and he said they had to carry their own equipment. It was an interesting trip.
When I got to Houston I immediately checked on my connecting flight and of course the gate was changed as it always is and it also said it was delayed due to weather. I had to get a panic call thru to Carroll as she was having a friend pick me up in McAllen and of course we were not advised of length of the delay. I finally got home an hour late however the weather was bamy as opposed to the - 31 C when I left Calgary. Cheers
Sunday, 3 March 2019
MX/TZ Trip # 8o Sports Weekend
Saturday 23 Feb 19
Every weekend is a Sports weekend in Todd's family but this weekend was the final of the hockey season for the Twins and Rhett. EM also was in a Volleyball tourney. On Saturday Rhett was playing in the 1st game of a 3 game playoff and the winner goes to the Provincials. The game went into overtime and so was my heart. They lost in overtime but there was 2 games to be played on Sunday and again next weekend so all was not lost.
This weekend was TSN Hometown Hockey in Okotoks and Todd was one of the directors so he had some involvement. My body is not climatized to the minus 30 C temperature so I went home to the warmth of Todd's house. I got a airline ticket to return to TX on Monday so this my last chance to see the G/Kids playing winter sports.
Although Rhett played a game at 11 AM he also had a Power Skating class at 3:30 in the town of Black Diamond. I volunteered to take Rhett as I wanted to see what skills they teach at this school. Twenty minutes into the class Rhett wiped the snow off his blades. like all kids do and he sliced to fingers. The instructor hollered to me that he was bleeding so I rushed to see what happened. Because of the amount of blood I rushed him to the dressing and I tired to stop the bleeding with a wet cloth. He sliced 2 fingers at 30 degree angle so the skin was over the cuts so we wrapped it with 2 bandages and I took him to the local hospital, for what I thought would be stitches. Rhett kept reminding me that he didn't care what the doctor would do or say but he was definitely playing in the playoff game on Sunday. The doctor took a look at the cuts and said that he would glue the skin/cuts and they would be good as new in a few days. The cuts were not deep but they did bleed a lot.
24 Feb Sunday
Today the Twins are playing the finals for all the "money " in a winner take all game. The Twin's team never lost a league game all year so they may have been complacent although 9 years old don't normal think like us adults. The first 3 period was a barnburner and ended in a tie. Overtime proved nothing so it was on to a shootout. Our G/son , Quinn is the goaltender and a lost would be on his shoulders. However, the other team missed on there first 2 shots and Quinn's team scored on both of their shots. Game over, we win the cup but it sure increased my blood pressure and heart beat. Cheers
Every weekend is a Sports weekend in Todd's family but this weekend was the final of the hockey season for the Twins and Rhett. EM also was in a Volleyball tourney. On Saturday Rhett was playing in the 1st game of a 3 game playoff and the winner goes to the Provincials. The game went into overtime and so was my heart. They lost in overtime but there was 2 games to be played on Sunday and again next weekend so all was not lost.
This weekend was TSN Hometown Hockey in Okotoks and Todd was one of the directors so he had some involvement. My body is not climatized to the minus 30 C temperature so I went home to the warmth of Todd's house. I got a airline ticket to return to TX on Monday so this my last chance to see the G/Kids playing winter sports.
Although Rhett played a game at 11 AM he also had a Power Skating class at 3:30 in the town of Black Diamond. I volunteered to take Rhett as I wanted to see what skills they teach at this school. Twenty minutes into the class Rhett wiped the snow off his blades. like all kids do and he sliced to fingers. The instructor hollered to me that he was bleeding so I rushed to see what happened. Because of the amount of blood I rushed him to the dressing and I tired to stop the bleeding with a wet cloth. He sliced 2 fingers at 30 degree angle so the skin was over the cuts so we wrapped it with 2 bandages and I took him to the local hospital, for what I thought would be stitches. Rhett kept reminding me that he didn't care what the doctor would do or say but he was definitely playing in the playoff game on Sunday. The doctor took a look at the cuts and said that he would glue the skin/cuts and they would be good as new in a few days. The cuts were not deep but they did bleed a lot.
24 Feb Sunday
Today the Twins are playing the finals for all the "money " in a winner take all game. The Twin's team never lost a league game all year so they may have been complacent although 9 years old don't normal think like us adults. The first 3 period was a barnburner and ended in a tie. Overtime proved nothing so it was on to a shootout. Our G/son , Quinn is the goaltender and a lost would be on his shoulders. However, the other team missed on there first 2 shots and Quinn's team scored on both of their shots. Game over, we win the cup but it sure increased my blood pressure and heart beat. Cheers
MX/TX #79 Trip to Calgary/ Okotoks
Wednesday 21 Feb 19
I flew to Calgary today and went right to the foothills hospital via a taxi with the idea that I would hopefully get checked over because of the dull ache in my upper left chest area. What a shock when I walked into the ER. There was about 30 people in the waiting room and 4 or 5 people lined up to see the Trauma Nurse . Then I looked at a large TV screen which said " Time to see a Doctor " 4 hours. I ask the guy ahead of me if he thought the 4 hour wait was reasonable and he said you will be lucky to see a doctor in 4 hours. Of course the Trauma Nurse will determine the urgency and if necessary a person who needs attention will jump the cue and rightly so.
Since my daughter in law ( Yvonne ) works at a bldg next to the hospital, I decided to return to the ER tomorrow and hopefully get a better position in the cue. I then called my son ( Todd ) at his shop and said I would take a taxi to the shop.
The taxi driver was from India but immigrated to Canada some 40 years ago but still had the accent. I do not know the address of my son's shop, although I have been there a hundred times so I told the driver that it is on Barlow on the south end of Deerfoot Trail near a casino and he says I know exactly where you mean. Then I noticed that he was getting near Deerfoot but in the wrong lane so I challenged him if he understood my direction.
Apparently he only heard Barlow and casino and as it turns out there is a casino at the north end of Barlow , which was the one he assumed I wanted. He did not realize there was another one at the south end of Barlow and Deerfoot which is the one I was referring to. Finally I got him to turn south on Deerfoot and then he was aware of my destination. He did say that he seldom travels to this end of Calgary, hence he never thought of the Deerfoot casino.
Thursday 22 Feb
Yvonne leaves for work at 6:15 AM to beat the traffic so we arrived at the hospital around 7 AM and there was 4 people in the waiting and no line up at the Trauma Nurse so within 5 minutes I was in the nurse station waiting room along with 5 other. The nurses started to pick us off one at a time. Number 3 was a slovenly dressed man of about 30 ish and as he was bing lead to a booth by a nurse he kicked a sign left by a janitor and the sign hit the ceiling and broke a ceiling tile and then he laid some profanity on the janitor. A senior nurse grab the phone and called security and then everything else was out of my sight line so i missed the charades.
After 10 or 15 minutes I was taken to a booth and told to remove my shirt so the they could do an ECG and take some blood. I immediately fell asleep until the lab tech arrived. This was followed with a Xray and then a wait for the doctor. Long story short , I was checked over and there was no indication of any heart problem so I was released.
This is a hectic weekend as Todd is involved with Rogers Hometown Hockey in Okotoks. Tonight I got the detail to take Emily (16 ) to Volleyball practice and Rhett ( 11 ) and we are have a blizzard so I will get the feel of winter driving.
Friday 22 Feb
Today I was detailed to take the Twins to hockey practice at PM at 4 PM as they are off school this week so I had to kill the rest of the day somehow. Todd's hockey rink was covered with 3/4 inches of snow so I decided to clean it off with the snow blower. The kids had friends over so they dug tunnels in the 6 ft drifts in the yard. So how long can it take to clear a 100 X 50 ft rink. Three hours during this very cold weather that they are having in AB. That is considered a days work for me so I took the rest of the day off. Cheers
I flew to Calgary today and went right to the foothills hospital via a taxi with the idea that I would hopefully get checked over because of the dull ache in my upper left chest area. What a shock when I walked into the ER. There was about 30 people in the waiting room and 4 or 5 people lined up to see the Trauma Nurse . Then I looked at a large TV screen which said " Time to see a Doctor " 4 hours. I ask the guy ahead of me if he thought the 4 hour wait was reasonable and he said you will be lucky to see a doctor in 4 hours. Of course the Trauma Nurse will determine the urgency and if necessary a person who needs attention will jump the cue and rightly so.
Since my daughter in law ( Yvonne ) works at a bldg next to the hospital, I decided to return to the ER tomorrow and hopefully get a better position in the cue. I then called my son ( Todd ) at his shop and said I would take a taxi to the shop.
The taxi driver was from India but immigrated to Canada some 40 years ago but still had the accent. I do not know the address of my son's shop, although I have been there a hundred times so I told the driver that it is on Barlow on the south end of Deerfoot Trail near a casino and he says I know exactly where you mean. Then I noticed that he was getting near Deerfoot but in the wrong lane so I challenged him if he understood my direction.
Apparently he only heard Barlow and casino and as it turns out there is a casino at the north end of Barlow , which was the one he assumed I wanted. He did not realize there was another one at the south end of Barlow and Deerfoot which is the one I was referring to. Finally I got him to turn south on Deerfoot and then he was aware of my destination. He did say that he seldom travels to this end of Calgary, hence he never thought of the Deerfoot casino.
Thursday 22 Feb
Yvonne leaves for work at 6:15 AM to beat the traffic so we arrived at the hospital around 7 AM and there was 4 people in the waiting and no line up at the Trauma Nurse so within 5 minutes I was in the nurse station waiting room along with 5 other. The nurses started to pick us off one at a time. Number 3 was a slovenly dressed man of about 30 ish and as he was bing lead to a booth by a nurse he kicked a sign left by a janitor and the sign hit the ceiling and broke a ceiling tile and then he laid some profanity on the janitor. A senior nurse grab the phone and called security and then everything else was out of my sight line so i missed the charades.
After 10 or 15 minutes I was taken to a booth and told to remove my shirt so the they could do an ECG and take some blood. I immediately fell asleep until the lab tech arrived. This was followed with a Xray and then a wait for the doctor. Long story short , I was checked over and there was no indication of any heart problem so I was released.
This is a hectic weekend as Todd is involved with Rogers Hometown Hockey in Okotoks. Tonight I got the detail to take Emily (16 ) to Volleyball practice and Rhett ( 11 ) and we are have a blizzard so I will get the feel of winter driving.
Friday 22 Feb
Today I was detailed to take the Twins to hockey practice at PM at 4 PM as they are off school this week so I had to kill the rest of the day somehow. Todd's hockey rink was covered with 3/4 inches of snow so I decided to clean it off with the snow blower. The kids had friends over so they dug tunnels in the 6 ft drifts in the yard. So how long can it take to clear a 100 X 50 ft rink. Three hours during this very cold weather that they are having in AB. That is considered a days work for me so I took the rest of the day off. Cheers
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