Wonderful Weekend

Did we ever have some wonderful weather this last weekend. On Friday I had my doubts with the amount of frost we had Friday morning, but late Friday and into the weekend, the sun came out and it was just great. What made it even better was that both Sheila, Wendell & the girls and Craig decided that they would drop out for the weekend.

Seeing as Sheila and Wendell both have to work on Thanksgiving and who knows with Craig with some of the shifts that he is working, I decided that I'd cook up a small turkey. Of course the heat of the weekend didn't help, but at least I have the air conditioning so it was fine. Sheila helped out and made some pies and we had a very nice family meal on Saturday.

The grandkids also got a treat in that Tim, Kris and Presley were in town. The girls got to visit with their cousin Presley who they don't see that often. Along with the weather being so nice, Craig and James were able to get out on the golf course and from what I heard, Craig had a great game. James not so good.

Everyone headed home yesterday and like normal, the house feels like a tomb with the lack of noise. It only takes a day or so and we are back into the 'quiet' mode, so it is no big deal.

All in all, it was a great weather weekend and it was made extra special with the kids visiting...

Staying Busy

Sheesh it has been a fairly long time since I've sat behind the keyboard of late. There are actually a few reasons for this, one being the amount of travelling I've been doing (going to and from the city). The main reason for the travelling is that I've run into a sore shoulder in the rotator area. So when I was in at my annual medical I mentioned it to my doctor who decided I should see a physiotherapist. On my first appointment for the physio the guy wasn't too hard on the shoulder. He sent me home with some exercises to do to help with the rotator muscles.

Of course once you get into to see a therapist, they want you back fairly often so they can work on you and judge if you are gaining or loosing. That has meant 2 trips a week to the city for the therapy. Of course at home I'm doing the required exercises to help strengthen up the muscle and get the blood flowing in the area. The therapist feels I probably have a small tear (or more than one) in the rotator area and that I may need surgery. Still he wants to see if the physio will help prior to surgery. For the surgery you need to visit an orthopedic surgeon and they have a fairly long waiting list.

Some days the shoulder is fine and others it hurts like the daylights. Even on the fine days if I happen to stretch or reach the wrong way, the shoulder gives me quite a jolt of pain. I try and remember not to reach or stretch that way again as it hurts, but of course you forget in a day or so and you do it again.

I have another 2 appointments this week with the physio and then the therapist will decide if it warrants continued sessions or not. I do think it has helped to a certain degree, but it is a small degree in my view.

The other thing that has kept me going is working on a bunch of computers. Fall is coming and folks are wanting to get their computers tuned up for the upcoming winter months. Of course the computer needed help all summer long, but you never want to get work done before you actually need the computer. However, for the most part, I have had no problem keeping up with the demand. What is a little maddening is when I get the computer fined tuned and it is working top notch and then get it back to the customer and they do something and it crashes the whole thing again. Trying to figure out what happened and how to rectify it so that it doesn't happen again is a guessing game at times. One such computer is one that I'm working on from a person in the city. I got it all set up and it was purring. Got it back to the customer and she found a trouble spot so the next trip into the city I fixed that up. Now it seems her younger son felt the computer was locked up or something so he powered it off and now it won't restart. So tomorrow on my trip to the city, I'll be stopping by and see if it is a quick fix or a 'bring it home' job. Hopefully it is just glitch that I can fix up on site.

No one likes to be without their computers now a days...

Lots of Driving Lately

For the last week and a half I have been putting on more than normal amount of kilometers on the truck. This all started when Sam's warfarin levels decided to go wacky so we have had to make a trip into the city every couple days to get her levels checked.

Finally today we got word that the levels seem to be settled back down and we can go back to our previous routine of getting her checked once a month. I do believe the problem was some older meds (ie warfarin). When the doc was on holiday her replacement decided to drop the daily rate from 3 mg to 2.5 mg. Now it is darn difficult to cut up a 3 mg tab so I used a 1 mg tab and cut in half a 4 mg tab. After looking at the bottle closer, it could be that the 4 mg tabs were a bit old so they may not have had their full potency.

Then on the long weekend we decided to travel to Christopher and close up shop for another year. We have had a few nights where the temperatures have dropped fairly close to zero, so we decided it would be best if we drained the water lines etc at the cabin. It is a lot easier to drain the lines than trying to fix burst ones. As it had been a bit cool of late, we didn't know what we would face when we got up north so we weren't sure if we were going for the weekend or just a day or what.

Last Sunday we headed out in early in the morning and followed Craig back into the city. Sandra and I then continued on north. As we got closer to Christopher you could see where there had been a fair amount of rain of late. On arrival at the cabin the ground was still moist but of course this is forest country so it wasn't muddy or anything like that. When I opened up the door to the cabin I sure could feel the cool air rushing out. I then opened up the windows and within an hour or so it was fairly nice inside for Sam. I commenced to take down the lights, and started stowing away everything for the winter hibernation.

At noon I took a break and cooked us up some dinner. As we were sitting down eating, we were looking out the window and it sure was nice and peaceful. No wind at all and of course the leaves starting to change colour and fall to the ground. We were tempted to stay the night, but after a bit we decided that we should probably just close up shop and head south again.

After we washed up the dishes and got the fridge cleaned out, I headed outside and started on the water lines. Of course I had to empty the storage tank of water which I did with the pump. While the water was pouring out I was shaking my head on the wasted effort I had done to get the tank filled earlier in the summer. A lot of useless extra effort, but if I hadn't filled the tank we would have run short. So better to be prepared than having to play catch up.

Once the tank was empty I got the pump disconnected and serviced and commenced to blow out the lines. After that it was just a matter of cleaning up and loading the truck and we were heading southwards once again. We did have one stop in the city on our way through as I had to pick up a hard drive for a computer I was working on. I made it to Office Depot with about 5 minutes to spare before their closing, picked up the drive and we headed for the home stretch. We pulled into the garage just prior to 6 pm. Both of us had sore butts from so much sitting, but at least we had the comfort to know the cabin was ready to face another Saskatchewan winter.

Next came more driving to the city as I had to go visit a physiotherapist for my shoulder that has been bothering me of late. I had the shoulder xrayed during my annual medical and there was no sign of arthritis, so the doc wanted to see what a therapist could do for it. So into the city again we went and the therapist pulled and pushed the shoulder until it really hurt. He gave me some exercises to do for the next while and told me to come back next Tuesday and Thursday for followups. So that means two more trips to the city next week.

On our initial trip to the therapist I also took in the computer I was working on. Once I was done with my pain class I headed over and setup the computer for the customer. I had to do an install on the printer, and a final virus scan, and then I was done. This trip only took about 45 minutes or so and then we headed for home once again.

I think all told in the last week and half I put on about 2,000 kms or so. Hopefully that is not going to be my future mileage counts. Let alone getting 'TB' out of the sitting, the cost of gas is certainly not going down any.

Hanley Ends Involvement With Vigor Biopharma

It would appear that the town has decided to end their involvement with Vigor Biopharma after a meeting last week as per the entry at Saskatoon Homepage.

That news is too bad as there certainly appears to be a current and a future demand for the product this company would have produced. Of course the company of this size moving into the community would have had a huge impact on the town as well.

Only time will let us know whether the town's councillors decision was the correct one or not. Sure hope so. I know there will be some folks that are happy with the decision and some people that are not happy with the decision. However, that is why we have elected officials to meet and decide what is best for all the residents of our community.

Good Deeds?

The bro-in-law dropped by on Wednesday just prior to departing town for work. He mentioned a vehicle parked down the street between his place and our house. Something didn't sit right with this vehicle so he asked if I'd take a look at it when I was out on 'walk about'. No problem.

Just after dinner I was going to go out and check the mail and also check the Legion Hut to ensure all was well there which I check every couple days. My travels took me past this vehicle (a van) that James was enquiring about. The Legion Hut was fine so onto the vehicle.

The vehicle was parked nice and legal on the far right hand side of the road, but it was in a location that I've never seen vehicles park before. The vehicle also is not one that I recognized from town. On closer look, the driver's window was open and you could see where the rain had gotten in. I then walked around to the passenger side and I could see that the ignition was pulled off and there was a drill bit sitting on the seat. My hunch was that this was a stolen vehicle, so I copied down the licence plate and headed for home.

I fired up my trusted computer and headed over to CPIC Search to see if I could ascertain anything on the plate as to whether it was stolen or not. Sure enough I got a positive hit on the licence plate and was advised to contact the local Police.

I then called the local RCMP Detachment for Hanley however, I was transferred into Saskatoon as the local office was unmanned. I explained to the receptionist who answered my call that I suspected a vehicle was stolen and that I had queried the internet and received a positive reply. Her reply was that she didn't think a private citizen could query CPIC for licence plates. I assured her we could and I had however I suggested she 'run' her own query through her official CPIC system.

In a second or so she came back on the line and advised that the plate was actually stolen a day or so ago from the city of Saskatoon. The gal then asked that I wait and she'd check with the members to see if they would attend the vehicle or not. Within a few seconds she advised they would and then took down my name and phone number and thanked me for the call.

About 3 to 3 1/2 hours later a police car showed up in town and attended to the vehicle. This unit was actually a Vonda Detachment car (about an hour away from town) which explains the lengthy time arriving on the scene. Mind you there was no urgency to the call as there was no one in the vehicle and it wasn't going anywhere. That is what you get when the RCMP went to the hub Detachment setup. When the local Detachment members are not on duty then one of the other Detachments in the hub get to take the calls. The units can be a lengthy distance away from one call to the next so it can take some time for the members to arrive on scene. At least the member did attend, called a tow truck and the vehicle was hauled back into the city for return to the owner.

I was talking to a couple local people a day or so later about the vehicle and was surprised that many people had seen this vehicle sitting on the side of the street. Originally the vehicle had it's lights on (with no one around) and was running. The vehicle sat on the street with the lights on for many hours until presumably the vehicle ran out of gas and shut down and eventually the battery ran down so the lights would not show up.

I find this odd that people actually saw this for a length of time and took no action. Or possibly they did call the local Detachment and were transferred through to Saskatoon after 5 rings as happened to me. Then if the Saskatoon office was busy, they could have conceiveably received a message manager after 5 more rings or been transferred to the DOCC Saskatchewan number. If it was DOCC, then due to the workload, it could be 2-3 or even 5 more rings before they could answer. You have to remember these are not 911 calls, but still they are police calls. Maybe folks just gave up and hung up in frustration? If the persons that found it odd that this vehicle was sitting with it's lights on and didn't do anything, then that is troubling. Some people just don't want to get involved or unsure of what to do.

As well it must have been our local Detachment members days off or something as you would think the members would find it odd that a vehicle sat on the side of the street for any length of time with it's lights on and no one around. They most certainly would query the vehicle thru the CPIC system. But as the locals were not on duty, the town must have been switched over to one of the other hub Detachments. Either these hub members were too busy to attend to patrol through the town or had other duties to keep them occupied.

That sure doesn't give you the warm and snugglies . . .

Some Work Getting Done

Even with all the rain the last week or so, there has been some progress on the new Seniors Housing project although it is a bit behind schedule. It seemed just as Jim and crew got a handle on one part of the project, a new wrinkle was thrown into the mess. Of course you can't really do anything with the building until you can get the darn thing set up on the lot. To do that you need footings and to get footings you new concrete. Of course you also need the concrete to setup and cure. As the pictures from last week show, the concrete was being poured for the footings and then left to sit and cure.





Once the footings are all in, then the first part of the building can be moved into place. The matching half of the building is sitting out in the field near Kenaston waiting to be moved into Hanley. I would imagine once the first half is moved in, then the movers will use the beams etc and truck the second part into town. These two halves make up the 12 apartment units of the complex.

The third part of the building will not be available until October or so. Once available it will also be moved into town and moved into position. This part of the building will be housing the common rooms (ie laundry, boiler, etc).

There are many people that are anxiously waiting this new complex to be completed so they can move into their new digs. The other benefit is that there should be a few openings for houses or other apartments in town for other people to rent. There is a huge amount of work that needs to be done before any occupants move in though. The insides have to be converted to the 2 bedroom apartments, electricity, water, blah blah, blah.

Still all and all it sure sounds like a win win situation though . . .

Air Show

After himing and hawing for the last week, we finally decided to go to the Canada Remembers Air Show on Sunday rather than the Saturday performance. As it turns out, this was not a good choice. Mind you on Saturday it was blowing and raining and not a real enjoyable air show, but at least the folks got to see some of the show.

After getting up early this morning, I headed off to the city to meet up with Craig and Fred for the air show. The plan was to hit the show at about 11:00 am which would give us plenty of time to view the static exhibits and then get ready for the opening ceremonies at 12:30 pm.

When we arrived I turned into the parking lot and there was no one manning the gate. Strange! But then I remembered last year we had to take a jog through a line of trees and the ticket booths. This time when I took the jog, there was still no one around and not another vehicle in the lot. The lot was a bit muddy and any of the low spots still had lots of water on the ground. It wouldn't be a real nice walk through this field I thought.

I did see a security fellow over nearer to the roadway so I headed over and asked him what was up. He then advised me that the show was cancelled for today due to the weather and the conditions of the parking. What can you do? Not a darn thing other than turn the truck around and go on home. You can't beat mother nature no matter how hard you try.

It is sad though as there will not be an air show next year in Saskatoon as the runaways are getting redone. So the earliest we will get to see another show will be the summer of 2009.

I dropped Fred off and headed for home and arrived just in time for lunch. Nice Sunday drive, but sure didn't accomplish anything...

Visit Is Over

The household seems to be overly quiet tonite even with the Saskatchewan Roughriders playing on TV. However, it is just getting back to a normal level as the grandkids went home this evening.

We had a great visit with the kids even though the weather didn't totally co-operate with us. We were able to get out and visit the community on our walk abouts though and generally had an enjoyable week. The kids were just great throughout the whole week and were on their best behaviour.

I did manage to grab a picture of the darlings before they departed for home this evening. We'll definitely miss them until their next visit.



Sheila and Wendell took them into the city today and they purchased their supplies for school which starts in a week and half. That will put them on cloud 9 for a day or so just looking at all the new supplies to be used this year. I'm sure they are anxious to get back to school and see their friends and get into the swing of the school year once again in their new grades.

I hope they enjoy their time as looking back on it now, it just goes by a way to fast.

Fall Is Coming

If the movement of the purple martins is any indication, then fall is on it's way. As of Thursday August 16th all the martins in town have departed town and are presumably heading southwards. This is about normal for the martins as they normally depart about the 15th of the month. This year I think the martins took a bunch of their friends with them as the bird population is almost nil right now. I haven't seen any gold finch, purple finch or just normal finches, or even robins for that case, around in the last couple of days. Heck even the sparrows are in hiding.

Now we'll have to wait until the fall and winter guests show up to entertain at the feeders.

Bone Scan

Boy times flies. It seemed like just the other day that I had to visit the RUH and get a bone scan for a possible broken bone in my pelvis area. That was September 2006. The doctor that interpreted the scan felt that I was good to go and had no problem at the time, but he wanted to do a follow up a year later. So on Friday I went to the RUH for another test.

Last year the scan was just gruelling with having to drink so much water and getting pictures taken of my whole body for almost an hour. So of course I wasn't looking forward to the retest this year. At least I was familiar with what was going to transpire, so I attended the hospital a lot better prepared. First off I knew that I had lots of time to waste so I stopped by the library on Thursday and picked up a pocket novel to read. Then I filled up some water containers and got them chilled in the fridge.

On Friday I headed into the city a bit early as I had to report to admitting at 12:45 pm which would be the hospital lunch hour. I felt maybe the admitting office would be short staffed during this time and I was correct. Even so, it didn't take me long to get admitted for the day and told where to attend next, ie Nuclear Medicine. I checked and the office was still in the same place that it was last year, so I was good to go. I found a comfy (isn't that an oxymoron with hospital equipment) chair to sit down and commenced my novel.

Just prior to my scheduled time, I made my way over to Nuclear Medicine and reported in at 1:05 pm. I was about 10 minutes early, but I had my book so I didn't really mind. Lo and behold I was called in right away. This part of the test is where they inject a radioactive isotope into my arm to allow the cameras to get better pictures. This went off very well and then I was free until 3:30 pm. The gal giving me the needle advised that I should try and drink about 3 or 4 glasses of water. I queried her on the 3 or 4 glasses thing as last year I had to drink 8 litres of liquid. She assured me that 3 or 4 would be fine but about 5 glasses would be better.

I departed the lab and headed out to the parking lot to have a sit down for a couple hours. I had my cooler of water (way too much now) and got comfy with the book once again and drank my water leisurely. Last year I had to chug down the water to try and get it all down in the allotted 2 hours. Five glasses is nothing.

I did make a trip into the hospital to use the facilities and then back out to the truck to continue to wait. As the time approached 3:15 pm, I headed back into the hospital to use the facilities once again. After drinking the water, you want to ensure your bladder is empty prior to the tests.

Once again I reported in at about 3:25 pm and within a couple minutes I was taken in for the tests. The young gal set me up on the track and I got settled in as best I could. Remember this track is about the size of a 2 X 10 piece of board and feels about the same. There is almost nil padding on the track but I did get a pillow for my head and for my knees. The operator set up my feet in the proper position and taped them together so they couldn't move during the test.

She said that the test would only be about 15 1/2 minutes long which really surprised me after last years hour test. Once she got the camera set up about an inch from my nose we were off to the races. True to form, within 15 minutes I could tell the camera as just about finished doing it's thing as it was just over my feet. When the timer went off to signal the test was over, the operator headed out to check with the doctor to interpret the pictures. She was back in a couple minutes stating that we were all done and I was free to go.

This was great news as far as I was concerned so I got off the track and immediately felt that my back was hurting big time. Even the short stay that I was perched on the 2 X 10 and now I had pains in my lower back. Of course it didn't help that I was very tense with the camera thing just an inch from my nose. But I managed to walk out okay and headed for my truck and then home.

I'll find out in a couple days from my doctor what the scan found and see where we go from there. The interesting thing is that prior to this test I have been feeling great. NO pains anywhere on me and especially none in the pelvis area where the broken bone was supposed to be. Now 2 days later, my lower back is still hurting and I have pains in my hip area (both sides). I'm hoping it is just the way I was perched on the 2 X 10 in a tense position and that things get back to normal soon.

Time will tell.

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Times

For the long weekend we decided to head up to the lake to have a semi family get together. Sandra and I made it to the lake just prior to noon and got the area set up with water etc for the arrival of the rest of the crew. Rob and Elyssa next arrived about 9:15 pm followed closely by Pat & Ron and Bob and Belle in Pat and Ron's 5th wheel. James and Johanna arrived late Saturday evening.

Throughout the weekend we did almost all of the cooking outside on the BBQs and ate all of our meals outside. We did get a bit of rain a couple times, however, it came down during the night or early in the morning so it really didn't effect us at all. There certainly was more than enough food and everyone probably gained 5 pounds at least.

Originally the plan was for the crew all to leave on Monday after brunch (noonish) with Sandra and I staying at the lake until Tuesday. Rob and Elyssa had to depart Sunday evening due to work commitments on Monday. However, when everyone was pulling out at 12:30 pm, it just was so quiet that Sam and I figured we'd pack up and head south ourselves. We had to be in Saskatoon on Tuesday for a medical test, so we felt it would be nice to get home on Monday and then head back to the city for the test. So within 2 hours, the truck was loaded and we headed for home departing at 2:30 pm.

We ran into some very heavy rain on the way home, however, even though I was pulling Ron's boat, we were still able to make fairly good time and pulled into town about 5 pm.

We did manage to get the 8 of us to stand still long enough to take a group photo.



The weather wasn't too warm/cool and we did have a bit of wind at times, but for the most part, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and had a very enjoyable long weekend at a super location.

Feeling Sorry For The Grandkids

At 4:00 pm I walked downtown to check the mail. My oh my is it toasty outside. Walking down the street it felt like the very air you breathed was on fire. Thankfully there was a bit of a breeze to help cool me a bit. I didn't waste any time getting back home and into the house and the air conditioned air. I then felt so sorry for my grandkids in Regina knowing that they have no air conditioning at home. I also remembered my niece in Weyburn with no air conditioning as well and certainly felt for her and her family as well.

Then I thought I'd compare a few of the weather stats for Hanley, Regina, Weyburn and for a comparison (for me), Hamilton Bermuda. It certainly is warm in all places. Regina does come out on top of the heap, but not by a lot.

Let's see:

Bermuda's temp is 27 with the humidity of 79% it feels like 38
Hanley's temp is 35 with the humidity of 30% it feels like 39
Weyburn's temp is 38 with the humidity of 20% it feels like 40
Regina's temp is 34 with the humidity of 47% it feels like 43

Believe you me, the humidity of 79% in Bermuda would be a killer for most of us 'flatlanders'. Actually a 79% is fairly low for the island country. When I lived there (1972-74) it was not uncommon to have a humidity level near the 95-98% level daily. Mind you the temps didn't waiver too much from around the 25-28 degree mark. Still all in all, the humidity just saps you. Even with a breeze it doesn't cool you down like it does when you have a lower humidity.

So now I do feel badly for the poor grandkids in Regina and only hope Wendell decided he needed to check out the mall or something to give them a break. Same same for Shar-Lee and family. A nice long stroll through the mall would probably be about right for today.

The forecast doesn't appear to have much relief for the next 5 days though.

Just think though, less than 5 months and it will be Christmas :) and hopefully we'll have some nice cool white snow.

Too Hot Outside


Seeing as it is just a way too warm outside, I've been couped up in the house all day. When that happens, my fingers always want to play on the keyboard. Some days are good and then some days are not so good.

As you can tell already, I've been playing with the templates on the Blogger Blog. The old template just wasn't doing it for me of late, so I figured I'd try something new. Now whether I'll keep the current template or move to something else, I'm just not sure.

Depends on how warm it gets outside in the next day or so as to whether I get to play on the keys :)

The House Is Quiet Once Again

We had a nice visit with grand daughter Julia and her dad Craig for the last week. As a 3 1/2 year old, Julia is like the energizer bunny, just goes and goes and goes and goes . . .

On Friday we made the trip to Regina in one of the hotter days of late (aren't they all lately). We had to go right into the heart of the city in the downtown core business area so Craig could take care of some business. The temp in the truck showed it was 33 C outside and where we were parked there was no breeze. I turned the truck off after I parked, but within about 20 seconds I restarted it so we would have some air conditioning.

After 15 minutes I had to get out and replug the parking meter. I tried to convince Sandra it was her turn, but she wasn't having any of that. Julia just looked at me as if I was daft when I suggested she do it. Her poor little arms wouldn't even reach the meter let alone be able to plug the thing. But give me A for effort as I tried. With no takers I climbed out and was hit by the blast furnace. Sheesh was that warm.

With Craig's business taken care of, we travelled to the north end of Regina to meet with Nicole and do the exchange of Julia. Believe me when I say we didn't dawdle outside the truck too long.

I did manage to get Julia and Craig to pose for a pic or two, but I was having a hard time getting them in sync. One would look away just as I took the pic or the other one would close their eyes just as the flash went off. With a little effort I was able to finally get one shot that I figure I could use on the blog.

Here's Julia and her dad Craig:



I'll have to try and get a pic of the other 3 scallywag grand daughters the next time they are up visiting. Trying to get those 3 dynamos to sit still for a pic can be quite hard at times, but we'll definitely make the effort.

Warm Day for a Road Trip


I normally am not an early morning person, however, today I did make the exception and got out of the sack earlier than normal. My mother (who is 76) wanted some help in cleaning up her mother's grave and wanted some assistance. How in the heck are you supposed to say 'no' to your 76 year old mother? Why even try and why should you. I was absent enough years throughout my working career that I most definitely would not be denying mom's request.

Last week when I was in the city I had purchased some supplies and in the last week I readied the very basic supplies for my grandmother's grave (ie painting, cutting, etc).

Early this morning we headed for the city and met mom and headed westbound to the what used to be called the town of Kelfield. The town (village or hamlet) doesn't officially exist anymore as everyone has essentially moved away or passed on save for a few folks that live in the area. There is no more the thriving town of 1950's vintage. Just a few empty buildings and a couple of families that live in the former town confines.

On arrival we found that the local graveyard had been recently mowed and to my eye it looked very well kept. Kudos to folks that look after this cemetery. It is a great job that you do.

My grandmothers grave is a very simple site with a headstone. My older brother Richard, who was raised by our grandmother, had built the form to mark the grave back in about 1992. The weather had taken it's toll over the years on the lumber and the form was literally turning to sawdust. So we created a new form to replace the previous form, painted it up and placed it around the grave site.



While I was busy putting the forms together, Rick cleaned the weeds from the grave with help from my son Craig. Once put in place, it definitely seemed to spruce up the final resting place of a great lady and a grandpa that I barely knew.

I hope that both Grandma and Grandpa Penley rest a bit easier knowing that someone still cares for them even after all these years...




Rest In Peace . . .

Something Smells

The more I read regarding the recently announced plan from Vigoro, the more I find that twitches my nose to this situation. It just 'stinks'.

If you look at a news announcement from 2006, you see that a Mr. Summers is the Chairman and CEO of VIGOR BIOTICS, INC. from Kenora, Ontario.

If you look a little further back, you see in July 2005 that Mr. Summers was in trouble with the law regarding a new biotechnology plant.

Skipping forward I find the article from North Bay Nugget stating that Mr. Summers is not always a truthful person.

From what I read, I personally won't be having any dealings with this man or his company, but that is my right as an individual.

I'm hoping the Town Council gets to the bottom of this fellow and the company and makes the right decision.

Trouble With The Deal

It would appear that the recently announced new company that is planning on setting up shop in Hanley may not be all that they say. This morning, the Saskatoon Star Phoenix had a headline Questions Surround Hanley Plant which certainly brings some credibility problems to the Vigor BioPharma and it's frontman, Gordon Summers. Mr. Summers appears to be quite familiar with fraud and forgery. He actually has served time in jail for a conviction of forgery and attempted fraud from Ontario.

A company representative states that the company still plans to go ahead in Hanley, however, there does need quite a few questions answered before the plan goes forward any further.

At least the Town and people around have been forewarned about this company and what they have for a track record in the past. People are going to want to get a lot of questions answered before they will put their trust in a company with Vigor BioPharma's record.

Thank goodness it was brought to light at this early stage of the game. Thank you to the Saskatoon Star Phoenix for doing a bit of digging. I don't think anyone wants to see a building built in town to just sit there empty in a few years.

Blogger and Blogs

I have been using Internet Explorer 7 to type up and view my blog entries since August 2006. This has been working fine as Blogger does have some neat stuff that you can use. Then I opened up my blog (and a few others) in Firefox. The blog definitely needs some work as the type face are different etc. The formatting in Firefox is the same as IE, but there are other subtle problems with viewing in Firefox.

With that in mind, I thought I'd state that as well as using Blogger to publish my blog I have also being using another blogging program, WordPress. I actually started my blogging life off with WordPress and then converted over to Blogger, however, I have kept up both blogs. They have for the most part identical content, however, there has been the odd thing that I haven't been able to convert over directly. I'm working on these small glitches to see if I can figure them out.

One thing I like about the WordPress blog, is that the actual blog seems to be a more clean type looking blog. That being said, I do like Blogger for what can be done with it.

So for any of you that have trouble reading the posts in Blogger, may I suggest you try my WordPress blog. It can be found at:

Old Red Jacket Talker

The Town is Booming



With the assistance of a local real estate firm, the Town of Hanley has attracted a couple companies to set up shop in our small town.



The major company is ViGor Biopharma which is a research development and pharmaceutical manufacturer of medicinal treatment for breast and ovarian cancer as well as having medicine for side affects of chemotherapy.



The other part of the business venture is Aurum Biotech which essentially is a nursery that develops Yew tree seedlings for farmers.



Good things are certainly coming to Saskatchewan in the last while and more importantly to small town Saskatchewan. This recent development is probably the largest development that Hanley has seen for many, many years (if not decades).

I can only say, "I am so happy that I bought my home when I did". The prices are definitely on the up swing for the town at present.

New Housing For Hanley

The official sod turning for the new Hanley Seniors' Housing Project being built under the Centenary Affordable Housing Program took place in town today at 11:30 a.m.




The Government of Canada was represented by our MP for Blackstrap, Lynn Yelich. The Province of Saskatchewan was represented by Kevin Yates and the Town of Hanley was represented by Mayor Don Lynn and Deputy Mayor Daryl Grindheim.

The Seniors Housing Project is comprised of 11 - 2 bedroom units and 1 - 1 bedroom unit. The federal government assisted with a $324,000. grant with the Province also supplying funding. The Town of Hanley and the citizens of the town will be supplying their labour to convert the following unit into these apartments. The total amounts supplied (including the Town's) is approximately $800,000 plus. In this day and age there are bound to be over runs, so I would presume we are looking at probably 1 to 1.5 million before it is all said and done.



There are actually 3 of the units as above and they will be put together in a 'T' formation to enable the 12 units along the long section of the complex and the 3rd unit in the middle of the project. This 3rd unit will hold the laundry room, communal room, heating plant etc. In the future it is also hoped to build in a kitchen facility to enable home delivery of meals to the units.

The complex is already fully booked with residents waiting to move into their unit when the complex is completed. However, there is quite a bit of work to be done before I envision anyone actually moving into their unit. There needs to be a huge amount of work to clean out the inside of the buildings as they now exist and convert to individual living units. There are going to be many, many hours of voluntary labour to enable this complex to get fully developed. The citizens of Hanley (as most small towns) are noted for their volunteerism to their community. This project will certainly task us all to do our part to help.

I of course have signed up to do what I can when I can. We all need to help as best we can.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We have had quite the weather in the last couple of days. The rain and hail that went through the area the other day missed us here in Hanley, but did quite a bit of damage just north of here in Dundurn and Allan.

A fellow in Dundurn (10 minutes north of here) retrieved hail stones that were the size of baseballs. Just imagine a baseball dropping from the height of the clouds and you can picture what kind of damage they could and did do. The hail smashed windows on vehicles and houses and caused a great deal of damage to everything else in its path. It doesn't take much to believe the damage that a hail stone could do to a little blade of wheat or canola. As stated, we did get a bit of wind, but no hail right here in town. I haven't heard how close it did get to us, but even 10 minutes away is a too darn close.

For most of today we had a 'tornado watch' from Environment Canada going on. I really can't remember ever seeing or hearing of such a thing as a 'tornado watch' before here in Saskatchewan. Indeed there was a spout spotted up in the Dundurn area today, however, it doesn't look like it came down and caused any problem what so ever. For us here in Hanley, we got about 14 millimeters of rain this morning and then another 14 millimeters this afternoon for a total of 28 millimeters for the day. So that is just over an inch of rain. When it was raining, it was coming down in huge sheets of water.

Needless to say my yard is soaked with all the rain today and the previous dumping on the weekend. I was going to cut my grass today and possibly try and get into the garden to try and pull some of the weed growth out, but that just was not to be. I'll be lucky if I can get out in the garden in a couple days (if we get some sun). With no more rain tomorrow, I should be able to mow the lawn though. But with all the moisture, the weeds certainly are growing leaps and bounds. I know I planted some vegetables in the garden, but you would be hard pressed to find them now with the weeds the way they are. Just leaving for 5 little days and the garden seems to have been overtaken.

However, at least there were no tornados touching down around Hanley. We certainly can be thankful for that at least.

Lucky Day or Full House ?

I have been listening to all the hype about the luck of getting married on July 7, 2007 (ie 7 - 7 - 07) etc. Of course this is 3 sevens which is supposed to give you luck whether it is getting married, gambling (same thing as getting married now a days, isn't it?), or lotteries.

I got to thinking of my wedding anniversary which is July 17, 1971 and as far as I can see, we did a lot better than the 7-7-07. If you look at it as 17 - 7 - 71 you can see we have 3 sevens and a pair of aces (ie a full house).

A full house always beats three of a kind to my thinking :)

Seeing as we are coming up on number 36 wedding anniversary, maybe there is something to the luck of the sevens or in our case the full house.

A Picture to Remember the Past

I uploaded the bad pictures about the cabin, but then I figured I should also upload a few of the better sides of the place. The cabin holds so many memories to so many people....




Then the final shot is of the entrance to the two places. To those that haven't been up in the area for awhile, you can see that the trees definitely have grown up since 1990 or so...



It still is one of my favourite places in the province . . .

What A Shame

We managed to spend 5 days up at Christopher Lake over the July 1st long weekend. Seeing as we were at the lake, we just had to have one good dumping of rain. This occurred on Friday night, June 29th and did it ever rain. But as normally happens at the lake, within a day you didn't know it had rained.

Of course there are pools of water laying in the bush which we all know are great breeding grounds for mosquitoes. There certainly were lots of the little blood suckers around, but after I got a smudge going in the chiminea they left me alone for the most part.

One interesting thing that occurred was when we first drove into the property I noticed a power line was down between my place and the neighbours (former Mayers cabin). I of course stopped the truck and got out to take a peak. I ascertained that it was the phone line and not power, so I moved the line out of the way and continued into our spot and got the truck/trailer unloaded. As the neighbours seldom show up at their cabin, I wasn't in any hurry to report the downed line and besides I was aware the neighbours did not have their phone hooked up. Once I did get my place straightened away I did call into SaskTel and reported the downed line and I would imagine eventually they'll send out a crew to fix it up.

It was interesting though on Friday afternoon when a Sask Power truck showed up. I thought someone may have gotten their wires crossed but on speaking to the fellow he advised he was there to disconnect the power to the neighbours cabin. It was then that I noticed that the neighbours sign with their names on it was taken down. Hummmm. But then I got busy doing something else and didn't think anything more about it. Oh yah, the Sask Power guy didn't disconnect their power as he saw that they were using electricity and he didn't want to shut down their freezer. So he just left.

Then on Saturday an truck pulled up and the fellow asked if the cabin was the Hesje's cabin. When I advised him that it was, three fellows got out and started looking around. I of course asked what was happening and they proceeded to explain that the owner wanted them to fix up the foundation of the cabin. I then walked around the neighbour's cabin with the workers and saw what they meant.

For any of you who had occasion to visit the Mayers cabin in the past, you know that it was a yearly task to level the cabin and ensure that it didn't slip further back into the swamp. That meant jacking it up and shimming the beams etc. Well the new owners didn't figure he needed to do any levelling and the end result are shown in the following pictures:






On further talking to the workers, they advised that the plumbing underneath the cabin is all torn up and broken as well. That makes sense as it was plastic and it doesn't give much at all. The cabin has probably fallen backwards close to 2 feet in the last year alone. While we were talking the Sask Power fellow came back and commenced to disconnect the power to the cabin. It was either that or the line was going to be pulled down from the weight of the cabin slipping further backwards.

Just remembering all the good times that occurred at the cabin makes you want to shake your head at the waste that it has become. But there is nothing we the family can do about that now. It was sold (or should I say given away) and that is that.

Still it is a shame :(

I Thought I Was On A Holiday !

Here I am retired (supposedly); so I go away for a long weekend (ie June 28th to July 3rd) to the great north country of pines and water. My life is slow paced compared to what it was a few years ago when I was in DOCC Saskatchewan so I figured my email box would be fairly skimpy on my return to the 'connected world'.

I open up my email and lo and behold I have 545 email messages waiting for me. What the heck ! I've only been gone for not quite 5 days and I have that many messages waiting for my peepers to take a look at them. There must be a lot of crap in there I figure. So I got down to the task of rooting out the spam that I know must be there.

Gosh I tried and tried and I think I removed about 5 messages from my que. That still leaves about 540 messages that I have to look through as bonafide email messages. That is a way toooooo many I think, but then I remember just a few years ago when I was working that number would most likely have been a few higher than that.

I decided to check and lo and behold, when working I probably would have received about 1500+ messages when I was gone on such as short time frame (ie 5 days). I know I don't have to reply to about 1/3 of the email's I receive, but then if I didn't reply to 1/2 of the 1/3, then maybe my inbox would shrink even further. Maybe I would be able to actually reply to all that sent me a message while I was away that actually deserve a reply.

As I contemplated all of the above, I figured, if I decided to not reply I would likely not deserve to receive the messages from people that felt it was important enough to send me the message in the first place. Eventually my Inbox would dry up and I would not have the privilege of conversing with prior workers, friends, new acquaintances, etc, and I my Inbox would be empty.

That doesn't sound like much fun at all.

Keep those emails coming, I thoroughly enjoy each and every one.... It may take me a while to get back to you individually, but eventually I will.

I read them all and definitely thank all the folks that take the time to send me a message. If you think it is important to send it, I think it is important enough to read it.

Keep 'em coming....

Hanley Legion 2007 Zone Golf Tournament

The Hanley Branch #258 hosted the Zone Golf Tournament on June 10th, 2007. The day started out rainy, but ended up being an excellant day of golf.

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Thank you to all that golfed, or assisted with the day.

It was a very worth while day.....

The Influx Has Started

On our return from the city yesterday we saw that the first of the influx of the new families that are to be moving into town has begun.




This family is the one that is moving in across the street from us. The 'modular' home that was moved into place last Friday. Throughout the weekend there were workman working on the home. It appears that some of the siding got warped in the move, so they had to replace some of the panels. As well a few of the shingles lifted, so they also had to be replaced. The only drawback is that we were inundated with rain over the weekend. But it appears the workers did get it done (at least cosmetically). I'm not sure if there was any damage inside or not.

From looking inside the Atlas trailer when we drove up, it was apparent that this was a full house of belongings. The trailer was packed with the new owners belongings. Also as we were turning into our driveway, I had the opportunity to view one of our new neighbours. The lady of the house was walking down the street to her van with 3 little tykes in tow. Three little girls that look about ages from about 1 1/2 to about 4 or so. It sure must be exiting for these girls to be moving into a brand new town in a brand new province and then into a brand new house. I'm sure mom and dad are probably feeling the pinch of stress though with the move. I can appreciate what they are going through after going through it myself just 2 1/2 years ago. Mind you I was just moving down the highway a couple hours and not right across the country. This family is moving in from New Brunswick, so I'm sure there will be a few things different for them here in Saskatchewan.

In conjunction with the new 'modular' home moving in, I've been hearing some folks bitching that it is just a glorified trailer. In Hanley, there is apparently a bylaw that trailers cannot be set up on main street. Of course our street is the main street into town. A way back when, there was a trailer on this lot, however, once it was moved out (tore down) or whatever, the town changed the bylaw. The previous owner of the lot could not sell the lot to anyone because it was such a narrow lot. Eventually from what I hear she just gave the lot back to the town so she didn't have to pay taxes on it. Now of course we have this new trailer, oops excuse me, 'modular home' that is moved in and occupying the lot. Sure the whole cost for the trailer, land, etc is about $150,000., but it is still a type of trailer. I certainly have some symathy for the previous owner, but time changes and we have to change with them. Of course that doesn't help her pocket book any though.

As small towns do, some of the folks are 'for' the trailer and some are 'against' the trailer. For myself it doesn't really matter that much that it is a modular home (or trailer). The idea that we have 5 new people in town that will be paying taxes, shopping, going to school, etc is a much better idea than having the lot sit empty all the time. Or at the best being empty so the other neighbour can park his 5th wheel trailer on it in the winter or when he is home. Give me new people any day. The modular home is very nice looking and as long as these new people are going to keep it up and their yard, then I have no problem with it being a modular home or a trailer.

Possibly some of the negative people in town should look at a few of the shacks that are in town or take a look at the yards of some of the folks. They are a few that are like mini dumps. There is even one of these so called classy houses right on main drag. As a matter of fact the one I'm thinking of is the first house you see as you drive into town. It is a real nice palace :( I think the best thing that could happen to it is if a bulldozer ran amuck in the neighbourhood. But it is a house, so it is fine.

All I can say, "Welcome New Neighbours". Hope there are many more to come.

Boom Town Here We Come

Along with my best bud Jim and and his wife Bonnie moving to town, we actually have something like 15 new houses that are being built or moved into the town this summer/fall and into early next year. Note this is supposedly not 15 new families, but 15 new houses/families moving into town. I don't think the town has seen a boom like this since back in the 50's.

One of those houses is right across the street from us. The town and a local contractor have been busy as all get out this week trying to get the lot ready for this new house. This entailed new sewer, water lines, etc. I can vouch that 'Dusty Rose' and our town maintenance fellow 'Terry' have been working their asses off all week trying to get this lot ready as I watched them out my front room window. Tip of the hat to them for sure and it appears they did just a great job.

This evening about about 9 pm, the new 1400+ square foot house was moved into place on the lot across from us. The house was built in Medicine Hat and transported to Hanley today. The new owners are supposedly military folks from New Brunswick with a couple young kids.

There is still some setting up to do on the house, but the main thing is that it is here and on site. The wiggling and whatnot will take a day or so, but then the new tenants can take possession and we'll have some new citizens for our town.

Talking to our Town Administrator and he advised that the whole thing (house, transport, set up, etc) came to about $149,500.00. That is a whole lot cheaper than what shacks are going for in the city of Saskatoon at present.

Of course it is so nice to have an addition to our small community as well.

Bring them on :)

Knock Me Down and Call Me Dusty !

As I was out for my evening walk on Tuesday evening I happened across Al Parker out watering his petunia's. Of course I said hello to him and 'how the week was going, etc' and the next thing I know he invited me in for coffee. For anyone that is familiar with Al, a coffee is about 5 cups of the diesel kind, no decaf there.

As we chatted along he mentioned about the new people that had bought the lot down the street from us. This guy's name was Scarfe and his dad had something to do with the 'Canada Remembers' Air Show. As I was very familiar with Jack Scarfe who was one of the original founders of the Air Show, I asked what this fellows given name was. Al figured it was Jim or James. I just about fell off my chair at this point. I then asked Al if he knew what this fellows wife's name was and he thought it was Darlene or something similar but that they were from Haywarden, Sask. We immediately looked in the phone book and found a listing for a 'B Scarfe' in Haywarden.

Now a bit of history here . . .

When I was about 13 years of age I joined the militia. Yup you were supposed to be 16 to be able to join, but I lied. The next summer (ie when I just had turned 14) I was fortunate enough to take training out at Detachment Dundurn. Lo and behold one of my fellow trainees was one James Gara Scarfe. Well we hit it off and continued our relationship after we got back to Saskatoon. The next year we both ended up back at Dundurn on training and continued our relationship.

On our weekends off, we would depart Dundurn and hitch hike north. Jim would be heading towards Waskesiu and I was heading to Christopher Lake. As you can imagine we had the opportunity to walk many a mile together. Mind you we were in uniform when we were hitching and this was 1965 so it didn't take too long to catch a ride. But our relationship/friendship grew throughout the summer and then continued on to the following year when we were once again at training in Dundurn. Needless to say we did stay in contact even when we were back in Saskatoon. But I'm getting ahead of myself. That first year I met Jim was 1964 and he had very important information for myself as a fellow young male.

My new found friend Jim advised me of this family he was familiar with that had 3 young foxy ladies (now remember we are talking 14-16 years of age). Of course I had to meet these fine young lasses so Jim was more than willing to introduce us. In due course I was introduced to the Mayers family and Sandra, Patricia and Isabel. To say I was smitten would be the understatement. The long and short of the story was that I did end up in matrimony to my wife of 36 years, Sandra. Yup this would be the former Sandra Mayers.

Fast forward to June 12th . . .

About 11:45 a.m. I called the 'B Scarfe' phone number in the phone book. I of course used *67 so the person would not know who was calling (see I did learn something in my years with the RCMP). A woman answered the phone and I asked if this was Bonnie Scarfe I was talking to. Oh yah, my friend Jim Scarfe from Dundurn had married a Bonnie Cherry. So far, so good.

I then asked Bonnie if she was married to Jim (James) Scarfe and if they had just recently bought a lot in the town of Hanley. She replied in the affirmative. I then advised her that she had just made her new neighbour one of the happiest people in the world. She asked me who that would be and I replied that it was myself. She then asked who I was (remember *67) and I advised her what my name was. Bonnie's retort was "NO WAY", "NO WAY".

I assured her that I was indeed who I said I was. She then yelled at Jim that he had better get to the phone right away. I could hear in the background as Jim came to the phone, "who is this and what the heck did they want". I then went through the same scenario with Jim as with Bonnie. Same reaction of disbelieve and then when it sunk in he comment was "there goes the neighbourhood". Nice guy, heh?

Go figure that two best friends, Jim and I, have not been in contact with each other for going on 25 years or so and then we find that we are living approximately 25 kms away from each other for the last two years. Now we are going to be living across the street from each other in a town of 500 people and neither one of us has any prior connection to the town.

Small world.

To say that I'm just tickled pink that one of my best friends from my past will be living across the street from me would be an understatement just doesn't come close to what I'm feeling at this point in time. I'm just flabbergasted.

But damn do I like it :)

Are The Hanley Boys Practicing?

I just came across the attached video and just have to wonder if Hanley's Finest are out practicing to catch our locals when they go 4 wheeling :)



In this case, I'm thinking the 'Queens Cowboys' catch the bad guys!

Help For Spousal Abuse

As a further to the previous blog on the family with an abusive man in their lives, the man took the family hostage and eventually the police service came to try and stabilize the situation. The man ends up trying to slice his throat, however, wasn't very successful. Now that isn't a very nice thought to make, but it sure would solve part of the problem. At least now he is in custody and will likely face a bit of jail time. In our judicial system it probably won't be very long with good behaviour, double time, etc. However, that is the way the system works.

So now we have the mom at home with her children. However, she doesn't appear to be the best mom in the world and as a good citizen, you feel it is your duty to try and get the woman some help, but at the very least get the children taken care of. So who do you call or turn to? The police are already involved and should have an inkling that there definitely is something wrong in this house. However, maybe they are not up to speed with what the woman is actually like. So, do you call your police department and let them in on what you feel is going on or do sit back and do nothing? If you do call, are you viewed as a meddling neighbour or a concerned citizen? I'm hoping for the concerned citizen.

Another recourse is Social Services (ie Community Resources in Saskatchewan). I have heard of people that have called this department only to be told to mind their own business. I'm hoping that is just an individual that would state something like that and no way a policy of the whole department. So you call Social Services and voice your concerns for the safety of the children. However, it seems to be that the department do try their utmost to keep a family together even when it has been shown to be an abusive and unfit situation for children. I'm sure we've all heard or read of situations where kids have been taken away from a family only to be returned to the same family and tragedy results. A lot of these cases seem to be in the northern part of the province, however, we possibly we only hear about these cases in the north as they are usually sensational news items and we don't hear of the other everyday cases in the cities and southern towns.

With the police involved in the hostage end of the incident and children involved, Social Services would also be involved. Once again possibly they feel this is just a unique incident and not something that needs their ongoing help. So you most definitely could call and pass along your views of the situation that have transpired over time reiterating your concern for the children. Yes you are anxious for the woman as well, however, she is at least an adult and should have some basic knowledge of how to look after herself. Children are children and just have not developed these skills at young ages.

A third option that could be viewed as a source for assistance may be your local church. However, now a days, churches are not the power base that they were at one time, so I wouldn't really hold out a lot of success with this option. But by just talking to a minister/priest you have unloaded some of your worries and who knows, maybe these people have further options for you to take or that they can take.

After you have done all you can do within your limits, you can rest easy in that you can say you tried. You may not solve the problem, but you have at least alerted the authorities that there is a problem. Of course the problems may reoccur once the male is back out of jail or where ever he gets a holiday and the whole thing may start once again.

The final option would be for either you to move or hope, and if you are that way inclined, pray that the offending people decide to find a new place to live. After all, there is only so much that an individual can and should be expected to do. You can't live the other persons life, you can only help with what you have to offer.

Once again, let's hope that somehow the children get some help so that they can grow up in a loving family situation. Otherwise down the road we'll have more of the same when the children get a bit older and try to mimic their parents.

You Got To Wonder ?

I've been hearing the last while of a spousal abuse case that apparently has been going on for quite awhile in a small town. Everyone in the town seems to know about the abuse, but no one including the spouse seems to want to do anything about it. I would say that anyone who actually knows about this abuse is guilty of not reporting same. This means actual evidence of an abuse being committed and not just hear say. The spouse also could be chastised if she doesn't take action, but in a lot of cases it is understandable as the spouse (usually the woman) is afraid of retribution.

Coming from my background in law enforcement, I'm having a hard time believing in this day and age the spouse at least wouldn't take some action to alleviate the situation. Under the Saskatchewan Emergency Intervention Act there is definitely a very real method to control an abuser. I just have to question why the person who states they are or have been abused has not at least attempted to use some of the lawful assists to curtail the abuser.

I'm sorry, but I just have no time for anyone who abuses the other in a relationship. If the relationship is not working, then you get a lawful separation and if you are unable to reconcile, then you look at a more permanent situation (ie divorce). To continue to live in such a situation is ridiculous in this day and age. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago you could comprehend staying in an abusive relationship for the children, etc, but it just doesn't work nowadays.

Maybe I'm just showing my age, but I feel that if a marriage (or living arrangement) isn't working, then why the heck would you not attempt to move on with your life and get to a better living arrangement? Agreed, the first step is a bitch, but then what is worse, living in abusive arrangement or taking the first step to get free from the abuse?

I Think That's A Gotcha

Approximately 2 weeks ago Sandra and I were discussing what we were going to do for Sheila and Wendell's anniversary that was coming up on May 30th. As it was their 10th anniversary, we felt we should do something special for them.

After talking about it and doing a little investigation, we decided we'd get them a gift for their anniversary. Now a gift is nothing too special in the normal state of affairs. So we decided we'd try a make it a bit more interesting for them. I ordered the gift through Sears and made arrangements to have it delivered directly to Sheila and Wendell's house as a 'gift delivery'.

Still nothing too special here. . .

I got to thinking that if I was going to get it delivered to their house, I'd darn well better make sure that someone was going to be home on the delivery date. Makes sense? As stated their anniversary was on May 30th, but on May 31st it was also my birthday so my plan started to hatch. May 31st was a Thursday and Wendell gets Thursday and Friday as his days off, so I knew it was possible he could be home for the delivery. Of course I had to make sure.

On setting up the delivery I had my choice of what day and what time frame to have the delivery done. I chose May 31st and for a time frame I chose 9 am to 1 pm. So now I had to ensure that Wendell would be home in that time frame. While I was speaking to Sheila that evening or the next day at any rate, I mentioned that I would like Wendell to be at home on my birthday (May 31st) so that if I wanted to talk to someone, I knew there would be someone at home. I had made the arrangements with Wendell for the 9 to 1 slot and mentioned that I had other people lined up for other times throughout the day. I think Sheila first thought that I may have lost a few marbles in the last little while, however, she and Wendell did agree to have him at home at the allotted time.

Wendell was just about bursting with curiosity about this 'stay at home' thing so kept asking for more reasons why. I stuck to my guns and just told them as I was getting older, I may want to talk to someone on short notice, so I wanted someone to be at their phone when I needed to call. I think they first thought that this request had something to do with their anniversary, but of course they couldn't be certain.

After a week or so of reminding them of the appointed time I figured I'd better add some confusion to the pot. I got a hold of Craig and brought him into my confidence. I had him ask Sheila on their next conversation why dad wanted him to be sitting at home from 1 pm to 5 pm waiting for a phone call. Sheila mentioned that Wendell was supposed to be home from 9 am to 1 pm. Craig then mentioned that maybe I was going senile or some other such malady and played the game to the hilt. Now of course Sheila was totally confused. Good!

Throughout the remainder of the week leading up to the 31st, Sheila and Wendell both probed for more information, but neither Sandra nor I budged and stuck to my original request to only have someone available to talk to on my birthday.

On May 31st, as luck would have it, the Sears delivery guys finally made it to The Stone residence at about 11:45 a.m. and delivered a brand new deep freeze that we had ordered for them as a gift. Sheila and Wendell's old deep freeze had bought the farm and they were finding it difficult to try and store all one's frozen items in the freezer compartment of a normal fridge.

Both Sandra and I just knew that the new deep freeze would be put to very good use and was not just a trivial type of a gift. It would be enjoyed at the time and hopefully for many years to come.

I do believe our plans were carried out with precision and the gift was a total surprise for the kids and I can say it was 'a gotcha'.

Happy anniversary to Sheila and Wendell and many more to come. OH and by the way, all my marbles are still in place rolling around in the noggin as they should :)

You Think!

A couple weeks ago I commented on the pervert that was fighting his conditions on viewing young gymnasts. The article Porn collector agrees to conditions shows this guy may have some sense after all.

He's still a pervert, but at least he is smart enough to know that he was not going to elude the conditions of not attending gymnastic competitions.

With all the publicity he has garnered, I would think the last place he would want to show his face is at some gym contest with some young people competing. He might have found out about some home grown retribution that some of the moms and dads might have dreamt up.

Let's hope that the courts also insist on this dude getting his name on the National Sex Offender's registry. It would also be real justice if the the Judge actually sentenced him to a period of incaration so that he could get a bit of help with his problems rather than just letting him off lightly with a conditional sentence.

Time will tell.

Typical Media Overstating a Story

I was reading a link today about a 'Peg man gets 16 months for stealing gas and thought wow are the courts getting tough on offenders.

Then I read the actual story and yup the guy got 16 months in the 'crowbar Hilton', but it wasn't just for stealing gas. After you read the headline that the fellow from Winnipeg got sentenced to 16 months in jail for stealing gas the story states 'oh yah, "he also had plead guilty to charges of possession of stolen property, theft and dangerous driving". "He had also avoided one spike belt and stopped the vehicle prior to running over a second as he was trying to outrun the police member trying to apprehend him".

The truth being known, about the time he took off from the RCMP member and the chase ensued, the least of his worries was the theft of a measly $34.00 of gas. The media seems to always try and grab your attention with a headline, even if the actual headline is quite a bit misleading. They are I would suppose technically correct in their headline, it is just that it is so misleading. I always view the various media's headlines with a grain of salt as I know how skewered they can actually make a story at times.

However, I guess they did their job in that they got me to read their story even if the headline wasn't totally correct. I do think they could have rewritten the actual headline to more accurately reflect the situation and people would still read it. Maybe not quite as many though as those that figure the courts are getting tough for the theft of a small amount such as $34.00. I guess that is the bottom line, more people read a headline, and the media outlet garners more dollars in revenue from ads, etc. Someday, maybe people will just ignore all the headlines though as the people find that most are a little bit skewered.

I wonder what the media is going to do then, tell the actual truth for once?

Satisfaction

I know that today summer has finally arrived. As I was sitting outside watching my BBQ supper sizzling away I saw a northern oriole come have a sip from my feeder. These birds are very skittish and the least little noise sets them off and away they go into the closest tree. I did manage to get a video albeit not much of one as I think I blinked too loudly... sheesh. They are normally the last birds to arrive in the spring and the first birds to depart in the fall.


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Another visitor to one of my feeders today was a male ruby-throated hummingbird. I have seen them flitting around the yard the last week or so, but none had sat down for a sip from the feeder until today.

My purple martin house has 3 pairs setting up house and getting the yard organized. Then I have one set of tree swallows nesting in one of my bird houses in the back. Of course I have lots of American goldfinches visiting the feeders everyday to get a snack or two. Today I also had a morning dove come by for a short visit and took a tour of the sunflower feeder. Of course there are a couple robins who have set up nests in the trees along the side of the house and are forever whizzing back and forth from the lawn to their nests. I also have had some chipping sparrows visiting the feeders and checking things out. And of course I do have a family of song sparrows that have set up a nest in one of my other bird houses. I've cleaned the house about 4 times already, but they are very determined and as soon as I climb down from the ladder the birds are hauling nesting material back into the house.

As well when I was sitting on the deck trying to get a picture of the oriole, a little house wren landed about a foot from my hand on the deck railing. It took a quick look at me and decided I was bigger than he/she was and decided to make tracks for the juniper bush along side the house.

For the amount of bird action, I finally know that summer has finally arrived.

About time!

Thanks To Ron and Others

As I was reading the Star Phoenix article about YourLink numbers up I got to thinking what this really means.

First off with the recent amalgamation of Sask Wheat Pool and Agricore, it means that the brothers-in-law Ron and James have a lot of work in their future for many years to come if they so wish. I also feel that YourLink was very fortunate in finding and hiring such a great person as the brother-in-law Ron. A lot of his expertise from years of working on towers has greatly assisted YourLink to get their numbers of subscribers up.

Now the only problem is that Ron was hoping to retire at some point in the future. That was one of the reasons that he sold YourLink all his tools, trailers, etc so he could shut down his own company. Ron is supposed to be the supervisor of the fellows working on the towers, but anyone who knows Ron knows he is also a very hands on type of person. Hopefully he will be able to gradually move over to the management side of the work and let the other guys do the actual grunt work.

Then maybe he is quite satisfied in what he is doing at present. In that case, at least it is his choice and as long as he enjoys the work, why retire or change. As long as he gets to enjoy what he is doing then good for him.

Good Choice

Earlier in the week we had made up our minds that we wouldn't be heading out to the lake this long weekend. The weather conditions just didn't look to be promising in the long run. We felt there would be lots of other days we could travel north, so why freeze our butts off.

With the super nice weather yesterday, I was thinking that maybe we made the wrong decision. However, as I headed for the horizontal position around midnight I sure noted the coolness in the air. While I was searching the news on the net today I came across this article May Snow Takes Some By Surprise and knew that we had made the correct decision to stay home.

Who needs to play in 2-4 cm of snow and freeze your butt off when you can be home snug as a bug in their own bed :)

You Have Got To Be Kidding

As I was reading the Star Phoenix this morning, the story of a Man guilty of child porn possession fighting to still attend pre-teen gymnastics events caught my eye. Reading further into the story, I find this 40 year old man who has plead guilty to possession of child pornography wants to quote "is fighting in court for the freedom to continue attending gymnastics competitions for preteen girls" unquote.

Among his video collection located by police quote "were home movies the 40-year-old University of Saskatchewan employee made of himself masturbating in the back yard and his parents' bedroom while dressed in a pink girl's gymnastics uniform" unquote.

This man doesn't see anything wrong with attending to gyms and as he stated to a psychologist quote "He claimed his collection of pictures and videos stems from a "fascination" with the physiological development of young girls, particularly their breasts, buttocks and pelvic region" unquote.

Pardon me, but if that was my daughter that this dude was watching, I most definitely would be 'fascinated' in rearranging this fellows anatomy. It is plain and simple wrong.

I can only hope our court system does not find some twisted way for this criminal to continue on with his fetish of watching pre-teen gymnastic girls (or anyone else) during their competitions. If this fellow does succeed in getting his conditions changed or revoked, I would think that any sane thinking parent would be withdrawing their daughters from all gym competitions immediately as a response.

This is just not right and if our courts allow this fellow to continue on, then we are in a heap of trouble as a society.

Disgusting !

Wonderful

My morning snooze was interrupted by the Town Administrator this morning when he phoned bright and early. He wanted to know if the bro-in-law's vehicles were drivable and could be moved. I enquired if there was some problem with them being on the street as both vehicles were currently licenced. Tony replied, "That there was no problem, but we were getting the street swept this morning". He was wondering if I had the keys and could move them off to a side street until the sweeper went through. I tentatively replied yes (not knowing whether the beasts would start or not). I immediately got up and dressed and was fortunate to start both vehicles and moved both of them to the back alley. When you get the street swept in front of the house, you want the sweeper to to get it as clean as possible and cover all the street.



As I was watching the sweeper doing it's thing, I contemplated that this was the second time we have had our street cleaned in the two years (3rd summer) we have lived in Hanley. Thinking back I can only remember my street in Regina being swept once in 9 years. Don't even get me started on the winter grading that took place (not) in Regina!

It sure is nice to see my tax dollars in small town Saskatchewan are hard at work though.

Nice Drive

With nothing better to do today we decided to take a drive over to Outlook as a change of pace. The sun was shining but it really wasn't overly warm, but still it was nice to get out and see the country side. There seems to be a fair amount of water left in the fields in some spots, but for the most part, it looks like the fields have dried up quite nicely.

While we were over that way we stopped off at Barich's and got a box of potatoes. Believe me these are nice potatoes and at $10.00 for a 50 pound box you don't find a much better deal. As we were driving into Barich's I noticed all the old potatoes out in the field ready to be tilled under. These would be potatoes that spoiled or were soft, etc. That was a sure sign that planting was just about ready to start. I enquired with the young fellow serving me if they were getting near the end of last year's harvest. He affirmed they were getting low on stock so it won't be much longer and we'll have to put up with the inferior potatoes you normally get at Safeway or Extra Foods, Superstore, etc.

For now we're good to go for the next month or so with good spuds. Bring on the bbq.

What A Slow Drive

We headed to Regina this morning to pick up Julia. The trip is not the most scenic at the best of times and can get down right boring. Today was even worse than normal as of course we were driving a brand new vehicle.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of a brand new vehicle, the operator's manual states you should not drive above 90 kmph for the first 800-900 kilometres. Yup you read that right. I got to drive to Regina and back at a top speed of 90 kmph. I did cheat once when we went down the Lumsden hill, but otherwise it was on cruise at 90. Of course everyone whizzed by us, but we just plodded along at 90.

The only nice thing is that the odometer is sitting around 700 kms at present, so only one more trip south and I can then 'pedal it to the metal' and get the speedo up to 110 (or so). However, one nice thing about the slower speed is that it appears the gas mileage does improve a bit. Now I'm not sure if that is just the speed I'm going or the newer engine (with new oil, etc). Time will tell on that one.

For now all I can say is "Darn that is one long trip".