Someone's New Toy !

While I was out on the golf course the other day I happened to glance over at the sis-in-law's house. There was a car parked out front that looked a little familiar. As Ron and I were golfing we commented on it amongst ourselves and actually thought it was Renee's car, however, I didn't really think so as it just didn't look right.

After golfing we started back to Ron's and as soon as we got on the road I knew why the car looked familiar. It was mine. Now this is all well and good except I had drove the truck over as it is easier getting my golf clubs in and out. So how did my car arrive out front of Pat and Ron's.

Just one guess and I'm sure everyone can figure it out. Yup, Sandra decided she'd go for a drive. Of course she doesn't have a driver's licence any longer as after her stroke she had her's taken away.

After a stern talking to, we got to thinking maybe it was time to get her some mode of transportation to get around town. If we are going out of town, then I do all the driving. While around town, I usually walk everywhere I go, but it is a bit more difficult for Sam.

Anyhow, on Tuesday we took a quick drive over to Hawarden and looked around at Quick Save Canada. They have mobility scooters, golf carts etc at a decent price. What we came up with was the 'One Person Golf Cart'.



Now this is no speed demon as top speed is only about 6 miles per hour or maybe a bit faster. It also has forward and reverse along with headlights and it actually has tail lights. Under the seat is lockable storable for a purse or whatever and there is room on the back for groceries (or golf bag etc). But it sure is better than walking, especially for someone who has trouble walking.




We went over to Hawarden today and it picked the cart up. I just put it in the utility trailer and drove home. When we got home I just drove into the alley and unhooked the trailer. Then I put the cart at the back of the trailer and lifted up the front. The cart rolled off just slicker than all get out.

After we got everything figured out, Sam couldn't wait to go for a spin down the road. She must have gotten it figured out okay as before I knew it she was off down the road for coffee at the cafe.

This should definitly give her some more freedom to get around :)

Wonder Why There Are So Many Speeders

On my most recent trip to the city I was listening to the radio and the statistic that there had been so many accidents on Hwy 11 lately and I got to thinking. . .

Like many folks that follow the rules of the road I was travelling along at 110 kmph (give or take 1). Of course every vehicle on the road was just whizzing by me like I was standing still. Believe me, I don't pass too many people but I sure do get passed alot.

Anyhow, I got to doing some figuring and I came up with the fact that this was my 90th trip either to the city or home since I bought my car in late April. In those 90 trips I have only seen a police vehicle 6 times either on my way into the city or on my way home on the stretch from Hanley to Saskatoon and return. Up until yesterday's trip I had only seen 5 PCs so yesterday's trip was special.

But then the figuring comes into play. If you get a per centage of times I have seen a police vehicle in those 90 trips it comes out to 6.67%. So for 93.33% of the time I have not encountered a PC. Hummmm. So you wonder why people speed when the chance they are going to get caught is so low with no police vehicles on the highway?

Now for the most part I travel during daylight hours and I know that most Detachments work the evenings more so than dayshifts as that is when the members are needed more. But still there is the Traffic Services Section (formerly Highway Patrol) out of Saskatoon that for the most part does work daylight shifts and there are some members of the Detachments who work day shifts as well. As Hwy 11 is one of the major highways in this province, I wonder which part of the highway they are patrolling? The highway north towards Prince Albert is busy, but believe me, there is a lot of traffic on this bit of road that runs south from Saskatoon as well.

It is not always at night when all the accidents are happening on the roads. If you look at all the recent ones along Hwy 11 (Craik, Hanley, Davidson, etc), quite a few of them have been during daylight hours. Mind you a fair number of them have been when a vehicle is trying to cross the major highway.

So thinking, as a person sits to cross the road, you are believing that the oncoming vehicle is travelling at the speed limit of say 110 kmph, but in reality the oncoming vehicles are travelling at 120 to 125 normally and in a lot of cases up over 130 or 140 kmph. That just could throw your estimation of room to travel across the highway out the window as the traffic is upon you much quicker than you actually thought.

Now I'm sure not ragging on the members who are patrolling the highways and byways as I know they just can't be everywhere at once. Of course all Detachments and Units are also running short which doesn't help any.

I lay the blame on 'Joe/Josephine Public' who figures they don't have to obey the speed limits because they are 'special', or they need to get somewhere in a hurry, etc. With the per centage of police vehicles out on the roads these days, these offenders are getting away with their breaking of the laws and possibly causing some accidents.

Well at least it was something to think about as I travelled in and out of the city. After awhile the scenery does get a tad boring :)

Left Too Early

I think the purple martins may have gotten mixed up this year (or at least I'm hoping so). For the last week or so the martins have been grouping up for their normal departure for the south.

Bright and early Thursday morning (ie 5:30 a.m.) while I was delivering the papers I noticed no squawking of the martins when I got near their houses. I didn't see a one all through town when normally there are literally hundreds.

This morning while doing the papers I did hear a few martins, but I believe these were just stragglers. The rest have departed for warmer climes.

Our weather forecast for the next few days is just wonderful as the temps are to supposed to be up in the low 30's. So either the martins know something that us humans don't or they headed to the south a little too early :) I would think the heat has nothing to do with their departure time though. Looking back a few years it would appear that normally the martins depart somewhere around August 12th, so this would be right on schedule for them to depart on the 14th.

I'm just hoping we get a few more weeks of summer weather or rather maybe we can get a few weeks of what should be summer time weather. We sure haven't had a lot of typical warm/hot summer weather yet this year.

The other thing I noticed when I was out at just after 5 a.m. is how dark it is out then. The days are just slipping by and every day we lose more and more daylight. We all know what that leads to and I'm sure not really looking forward to the 'white' stuff just yet.

Hopefully we'll have a super nice fall that extends to about mid December :)

Well you can always hope can't you?

Busy Time

Something tells me that the summer is coming to a close and the restart of school is right aroung the corner.

It seems every day I'm getting a call or two about fixing up a slow computer. When I ask a few questions as to what the computer is doing, how long, etc; I'm invariably told 'oh it has been like this all summer' and 'just too busy to look at it', etc.

My favourite is 'well the kids are going back to school so I thought I should put an antivirus program on the computer'. I ask, "what have you been doing since you last had an antivirus program". 'Oh nothing, we figured it was the summer time and we wouldn't have to worry about a virus showing up'.

OK, I'm with you on that one all right :)

Needless to say my first job is to install and update an antivirus program for them. Then run a 'full scan'. Invariably there are some trojans and other great stuff sitting in their computer. After getting the little mess cleaned up, I can then go in and attempt to clean up the slowness, etc.

Fun, fun, fun.

It's Official :(

It didn't take long for the 'old cabin' to be no more. What was sitting on the same spot for just about 40 years is now totally gone. Just a couple pics to show what is left of the cabin

Update on Christopher Lake

I haven't posted for awhile for a variety of reasons, however, I figured I should let those who care to know what is happening to the 'old cabin'. Many, many memories are stored in the old walls of the cabin and soon they will be no more.

For myself, this is where I and Sandra spent our honeymoon in July 1971 so it is very special to myself and Sandra. To others of the family I'm sure we all have memories of the cabin that "Wally and Anne" built. To the other side of the family that doesn't care, 'TOO BAD', one side of the family had many memories with Wally and Anne and friends and relatives in a special spot at Christopher Lake and if you don't have memories, well that is just your sad luck ...

The current owners of 'the old Mayers cabin' have neglected it to the point where the cabin has fallen off it's foundation and they have decided to tear it down and built a new cabin on the site. I happened to be at my lake spot lately and took the following pictures to show what is happening.









Even though the current owner have changed the inside of the cabin, I thought I'd take a few pics of what it looks like now....





One thing to note is the last picture of the light fixture. If my memory serves me correctly, this light fixture came out of the 'Purity Dairy' that used to be located on Broadway Avenue in Saskatoon. Prior to Purity Dairy owning the dairy it was owned by Silverwood Dairy which is where Wally started his career with the dairy in Saskatchewan after he returned from WWII. When the 'Dairy' closed, Wally saved the fixture and transported it to his cabin at Christopher Lake as a memento.

These shots are the backside of the cabin as it is now. You will note the nice 'red cedar wood' paint scheme under the tar paper. My brother-in-law George and I sat on a scaffold in one hellish hot summer day and painted the walls this beautiful colour of red one summer day (or two). Thank goodness for Craig, (who was about 5-6 years at the time) who was our 'in resident bartender' at the time and was constantly querying us as to whether we needed a 'refreshment' (ie Labatt's 50 or other refreshing brew). . .





Either Wally bought a quality stain or George and I went over the walls in a very meticulous manner to ensure that 30+ years layer the colour scheme is still intact...

Crappy Rumour

I know I haven't been posting too much of late, but darn I've just been busy as all get out. Some days I think I should go back to work just so I can get a few days of rest on my days off :(

It would appear that someone decided to start a nasty rumour that my health was not the best. Sorry to hear that, but maybe you should ask me before you decide to start spreading a false-hood.

As I said above, I have been super busy with computer work, truckin back and forth to the city for Sam and oh yah, doing some nice spring yard work.

I am definitely not having any health problems to preclude me getting on the computer. Just a lack of time.....

Yucky Weather

We managed to miss most of the crappy weather that hit the province this weekend until this evening. Around 6 pm it started to rain, then it turned to freezing rain and then it turned to snow. The temperature dropped from 10 C at 3 pm to -5 at about 6 pm. All and all it is just a crappy situation outside, but it is certainly better than what they have been getting to the north of us up in the North Battleford area. It is winter up in that country once again.

One nice thing was that Craig came out for his days off. The plan was to have Julia come visit for the next few days, however, Julia is a bit under the weather so Nicole felt it was better if she stayed in Regina this time. Craig still came though. James had purchased a nice roast from Tim down in Davidson, so he brought it over and I cooked it up and we had a nice roast supper after watching a bit of Stanley Cup playoff hockey.

Hey the weather is crappy, but hockey is meant for the winter so it fit right in...

They Still Taste Great !

It isn't very often I get to snack on a donut now that we live out in the sticks. Today we had visitors and they brought a box of Tim Horton's finest to snack on while we had a coffee.

When we lived in Regina, I used to get the donuts quite often at work. Some visitor would bring in either some Robin's or Tim Horton's usually on a daily basis. Heck, after a while you do get a bit tired of eating them, but then you'd go on days off. The next week when you were back on shift a new batch would make it's way to the consoles to munch away on.

After we moved here, we didn't have the luxury of visitors bringing along treats. Sure we stopped a few times when we were in the city and brought some home. The only problem was then we had to eat the whole box and normally they got stale before we got through eating them. For me, one or maybe two in a row is about all I can eat. The sugar and what not gets to be a bit much. After awhile we just didn't bother stopping any longer.

So today when the visitors popped in with the distinctive box I immediately put the coffee pot on and got the table ready. I sure was not disappointed as the TH's tasted just great with a 'cup of mud'. As we all munched away on our donuts, we got up to date with the recent happenings as well.

A nice visit was had and now we are 'good to go' with the Tim Horton's for the next while. Of course we would never turn down a nice fresh donut if anyone ever wants to bring some by. I can always find room for 'one more' of life's little pleasures :)

RJ and the Boys

I was recently advised of a video that was uploaded to YouTube by the musical group, RJ and the Boys. Both Ray (singer) and David (drummer)from the band are members of the Hanley Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion and have played for our annual Curling Bonspiel the last couple of years. Both times they did a terrific job of entertaining the curlers and guests. As well, the band plays at Saskatoon Legion Branch 63 on a fairly regular basis.

Unfortunately, embedding has not been allowed on the video, so all I can do is insert a URL link to view the video.

RJ and the Boys

For anyone from Saskatoon you should recognize a few local of the local landmarks from the video. The band does have 2 or 3 CDs out and do a great job of singing/entertaining.

Hard To Get Motivated

It has been awhile since I last actually sat down and played with the keys. There have been a few things going on in my small world that have caused me a bit of grief of late. Nothing major, just a few disagreements with the way others feel our life should be lived to what we feel our life should be. Hey, it's our life, we should be able to live it how we want to so 'take a hike'!

Of course I always find the month of February to be a dull month. I've had enough of winter by now and we were not lucky enough to take a holiday to the sunny south or anything like that. I just want it to get over with so we can get onto March and hopefully the start of some warmer weather and the start of some new 'green' surroundings. As I sit typing on Feb 29th the weather is not really that bad. The temperature is -2.2 C according to my weather station. However, I just returned from walking down town to check the mail and let me tell you the wind makes the temperature feel a lot cooler than it is.

Even this morning when I did the papers it was only -14.5 C but it just felt cooler. There was very little wind, but it seems the humidity is high which makes the air feel cooler as far as I'm concerned. This morning my papers were delivered late, so I was doing the route in double time to try to make up some time. Maybe that is why it felt cooler on my face than the temperature indicated it should be :)

Another reason to look forward to the end of February is that the T4 slips must be out by March 1st. That means that I can get my income tax sent away. I was looking forward to viewing the tax programs this year due to the new pension splitting capability that is new for 2007. This does seem to help Sam and I as the way it looks now we should be getting a refund a little larger than normal.

With the refund on the horizon, we felt we could splurge and buy ourselves a new 50" Samsung HD plasma TV. While we were at it, we went whole hog and got a 1200 watt Samsung home theatre system to go with the new new TV. Definitely a larger picture than the old 27" we had. It did take a few days to get used to the larger size, but now I/we really like it. I guess our next project will be to upgrade our satellite dish and PVR to HD but I thought I'd leave that until the weather was a bit warmer. It will be so much easier when the temps are warmer to run new wiring and install the new dish.

I'm still curling every Monday and doing a little better than I was last year. This year I moved up to play 3rd which was a bit more than I wanted to do but so far it seems to be okay. I've learned quite a bit. Thankfully the players that are skips are really good at explaining the 'why fors' and the 'how comes' to a new person. I have actually won a few games this year which is a lot better than last year at about this time. I think we only have about 3 more weeks to go and the curling will be done for another year. In one way that makes it sad as you just know fewer people will be out next year. The good thing is that this normally means the weather is getting too warm for the ice, so that means the snow should be melting soon outdoors. :)

Otherwise, it is just same old same old. Just taking life easy and looking forward to the spring/summer to be able to spend a lot more time outdoors in the flower bed or with the bbq. Don't even get me started about going north to the lake country. That's too early to even think about!

Rocks In My Head ?

As I was sitting here reading a few blogs, I got to thinking that it was nice to have a nice quiet sit down behind my own keyboard for awhile. It seems like I've been just going flat out for the last while. So then I got to thinking what I've actually been doing of late... Curling, Legion, fixing computers, more fixing computers, more curling, and on and on and on . . .

My term as the Treasurer of the local Royal Canadian Legion is up this month after a two year term. I thought that it would be nice to sit back and just help out when needed. So then we had our monthly meeting last Wednesday and after it was all said and done, I end up as the friggin President for the next year. Our previous President is moving away so we needed someone to sit in for a year to finish up his 'tour of duty'. I know for a fact I did not put my hand up (I just don't do that any more), but it didn't matter, in the end I got elected to fill the shoes for the next year. I think I have to invest in some good tape to put over my mouth in the future so I don't get to reply to some requests. But as normal, I'll do my best and try my hardest to do a good job.

Then last night I came home after putting in another strenuous curling game after I had been out all afternoon fixing a couple computers and remarked to Sandra that I felt like I was running up and down the ice all night long and I was tired. Getting old? I really don't know, but I do know that I had my daily workout during that game. But heck in the end we won the game and this old guy got some exercise.

I did get to thinking 'was it time to slow down a bit' and take life a bit easier? Yah, good thought. Then I walked down to the local hall and submitted my application to take over as the caretaker for the building which entails a hall, club room, washrooms, work offices, and a few other odds and ends. It doesn't really entail a lot of time (somewhere around 10 hours or so a week). Just mainly keeping the joint in semi clean state, making sure the snow doesn't plug up the entrances, etc. It only takes a few minutes walk from the house and I'm there, so I thought 'why not'. Then I sat back and thought, 'This is taking it easier?' I've got to be nuts.

One small consolation, maybe, just maybe they won't accept my application (too old, too young, not enough hair, not enough anything) and then I can get on with my plan to slow down some in my retirement time.

Naw this isn't going to work. I just get bored too easily :)

Brass Monkeys ?

The weather this past week has certainly been a challenge for everyone. Myself is no exception. Last Monday when I got up to do the papers the weather guage was showing a nice -51 C with the wind. Needless to say I dressed appropriately (or so I thought) for the weather.

To make matters worse we had the snow overnight. That meant that I was plowing through snow drifts trying to get to everyone's mailbox to deliver their morning paper. A normal one hour walk took me almost an hour and forty-five minutes. The weather had not really improved much throughout my walk either.

While I was walking I noticed the cold on my face so I pulled down my balaclava to cover my face. The only problem with this is as soon as I breathed out my glasses were instantly covered in an icy fog. I didn't want to take my glasses off as I had no place to put them while I finished my route. I figured they were so cold it would only take a bit of a bend and the plastic would snap in half. So I left them on and tryed to see over top, underneath or around the lenses. I also had to pull down my face mask a bit to try and help with the fogging effect.

Once I got home I knew that I had a bit of frost bite as my right cheek was tingling a bit. I took a peak in the mirror and could see a toonie sized spot was definitely frozen up. It was fairly red and tender to the touch, but not too terribly bad.

On Tuesday morning the temperature sure had not improved very much. I once again pulled the face mask down and struggled trying to see through my fogged up glasses. But seeing as the cheek had frozen up the day before, I knew it would be more likely to freeze quite easily. It sure is not very nice walking with your head cocked to the side.

Wednesday morning came with the the temperatures still in the deep freeze. Today I decided I'd try to do my route without my glasses on. I don't think I've been without my glasses other than when sleeping for about 40 years. I just don't have great vision without the cheaters. At 5:30 a.m. I headed out without my specs on. Other than the extra coldness on my eyes, it wasn't too bad. I could see well enough to get the papers to the correct addresses. The nice part was that I was able to keep the face mask firmly in place and was actually quite toasty throughout my walk. Thursday and Friday I again went without my glasses with no problem. Finally on Saturday the temps warmed up a bit and I could once again wear my glasses.

However, getting back to the heading. On Monday and Tuesday I certainly learned to appreciate the old saying 'it's so cold it would freeze a brass monkeys balls off'.

I'm not a monkey, nor am I made of brass, but damn did a certain part of the old anatomy get damn chilly :) Thankfully I did not end up with any frozen appendages so that is a good thing to my thinking!

What A Weekend

Last weekend was the annual Royal Canadian Legion bonspiel in town. The bonspiel is held every year and normally about the first weekend after the new year. Like all other things, of late the curling numbers have been decreasing. Last year we had 24 teams and we sure were hoping we could at least get that many again. We actually were up to 35 teams that were interested in coming at one time, however, we ended up with 32 teams. This makes for a nice even bonspiel on a 4 sheet curling rink.

The fun all started on the afternoon of Friday, January 4th when the bro-in-law and myself started getting the bar ready for the weekend. We had to pickup cups from our local Legion Hut and then onto to the local watering hole and picked up an assorted variety of beer. This was to be only one of many trips we made to the local hotel for a ‘beer run’ throughout the weekend. Then to satisfy the other thirsty folks, we stopped at our local hardware store and picked up an assorted variety of hard liquor.

We then took it to the community hall and commenced to get the hall set with tables and chairs, the bar area ready to go and just trying to get organized. At precisely 5 p.m. the bar doors were opened and the weekend was on.

Our first curling draw didn’t start until 6 p.m and my first game was not until 8:00 p.m. so I was able to get a little more straightened away prior to my game. We had a great game and were tied up coming into the last end. It came down to final rocks and then we had to do a measurement to find out that our rock beat out the oppositions by about 1/4 inch. You can’t get better than that.

After the game, it was back into the bar area and then off to the hotel for another load of beer. Then it was just generally help out where you could type of thing for a few hours. At 11:30 p.m. I got to take my turn as a bartender. The bro-in-law and I held down the fort until 2:30 a.m. with last call being at 2:00 a.m. Like normal, about 1 a.m. we had a few thirsty folks in the bar who decided to do some power drinking, however, credit to them, no one got out of hand or caused any problem whatsoever.

After the bar closed we then had to clean up the tables, wash the floor and just generally get everything ready for Saturday. Sandra and I walked in the house at 3:45 a.m. and got into bed in short time. Of course I also had my papers to do on Saturday morning, so at 5:30 a.m. I was up and out on the street getting the papers delivered to the good folks of town. When I got done with the papers at about 6:30 a.m. I climbed back into bed for a few more hours snooze time. Then it was down to the hall and making sure everything was ‘good to go’ there.

At 11:00 a.m. I was back on the ice again trying to play the curling game. We definitely did not have a superb game this time around. Actually we got our butts severely kicked by the other team. This of course dropped us into the next level which meant we curled again at 5:00 p.m. that evening. So then it was back in the bar area to ensure the tills were kept clean and the beer supply remained constant. Of course there was another trip to the hotel to replenish the beer and ice supply once more.

By the time our curling time came around, most of the team were tuckered out from the running around we had been doing either in the bar, the kitchen or just helping out wherever. Needless to say we also didn’t do too well on this draw either and by 6:45 p.m. we were done like dinner. Speaking of which, it was time for the supper which was running from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

A great hot roast beef, mashed potatoes, salad, etc meal replenished the nourishment that we needed to carry on. Then it was time to get the hall ready for the evenings entertainment. We had a live band, ‘RJ and the Boys’ on hand to once again supply some superb tunes starting at 9:00 p.m. Of course there was another ‘run’ to the hotel for a resupply, but we were ready for the dancers by the time the lights were dimmed.

RJ and the Boys were a little late starting in that they were on the ice curling, but they got right into the swing of things when they got on stage. The crowd was a bit smaller than we had hoped, but the people that were there were definitely supportive of the band and enjoyed the tunes.

Once again I got to work the bar but this time it was at 12:30 a.m. until closing time at 2:30 a.m. The band continued playing until shortly after 2:00 a.m. so the bar was hopping for most of my shift. At the 2:00 a.m. last call, the bar emptied fairly well and we had things cleaned up relatively quickly. Sandra and I made it home shortly after 3:00 a.m. I got my float ready for the next day and quickly hit my pillow for some shut eye.

We actually got to sleep in a bit on Sunday morning and didn’t get to the hall until around 11:00 a.m. A couple of the other Legion members had gotten the bar area all set up and ready to go, so it was just a matter of filling the till with the float and we ‘good to go’ for our customers starting at 1:00 p.m. As I (and the rest of my team mates) were out of the running in the curling, I was able to put in a bit more time in the bar (cleaning tables or whatever needed doing). My turn as a bartender didn’t come until 7:00 p.m. so I actually got to sit around and visit a bit with the folks.

On the dot of 9:00 p.m. we had the bar closed, the tables all folded and the placed squared away and out the door we went. A short visit with the brother & sister in law and then it was home to get some of the cash sorted out. I got my cash organized and my deposits were done by 12:30 a.m. and then it was bed time once again.

Of course now we are onto Monday and once again I had papers to deliver. After papers I also had curling in the town league starting at 10:00 a.m. While I was out curling, the bro-in-law and one of the other Legion members returned all the empty beer bottles and other sundries. They were all done by the time I got off the ice. So once the curling was done I was able to come home, have some lunch and then head for the city as Sandra needed to get her blood checked as her levels were a bit wonky.

On our return to town I got out and started to pay some of our bills that we had accrued over the weekend. I also had a couple computers that needed working on that were sitting waiting for me, so I got a start on one of them before I climbed into bed later in the evening. On Tuesday, I paid a few more suppliers and finished off setting up a brand new laptop for a local fellow who was heading out to Mexico on Wednesday. With an hour or so tutorial on his new notebook, the fellow was off to the warmer climes. I was then able to work full time on the other computer and get it back into running shape. I finished that up Wednesday at noon and returned it to the customer with paying a couple more bonspiel bills on my travels.

Then tonite my neighbour called and asked if I could curl for him as he had hurt his foot and couldn’t get his shoe on. As I needed to wear myself out some more, I agreed to curl for him. Mind you I was going to hit the curling rink tonight anyway as I wanted to pay for our ice rental from the weekend and I knew the Curling Club treasurer would be curling tonite.

So down to the ice I went at 7:00 p.m. and did my part to keep the ice clean. Nope we didn’t win, but we tried hard. We came up a bit short and ended up in second place though.

As I walked in the door at 9:15 p.m. I thought, “you know, I think our lives are starting to get back to normal once again”. I’m not overly tired, I have no computers waiting to be fixed, and for tomorrow, I have nothing really important to do. Well other than return a few things to the Legion hut, deliver my papers and a few other little things, but nothing really important.

Gee it’s nice to be retired and have all this free time :)

High Crime Area - Not !

I was interested in reading the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the article Rural Resurgence stating that small towns were seeing growth that hasn't happened for many years.

Our small town is no exception as there is very few (if any) lots for sale in the town at this point in time. There may be some lots coming on the market down the road, but for now it is fairly slim pickings.

Along with the influx of people to the towns, there is a note in the above story about the 'quality of life' that is present in small towns and alludes to whether this may stay the same in the future as more and more people move into the towns. This will be interesting to watch develop.

For my own part, I find the crime rate in the small town that I live to be almost nil. There is some crime for sure, but nothing like you get in the cities. A case in point was the Monday before Christmas I was delivering my newspapers at about 6:00 a.m. I got to one of the last streets in town which actually leads out of town and as I walked up the street, I just had to chuckle to myself. Now the house that was causing my mirth is a corner house and luck would have it, there is a street lamp on this corner. The owners of the house had turned on their outside porch lite to illuminate the front step. Same step is about 25 steps (my strides) from the street.

Now sitting right smack down in the middle of the step is a 26 oz bottle of Lamb's White Rum with some Christmas ribbon around the bottle's neck. This was a 'Thank You' gift from the owners of the residence to their local paper person, ie ME. A person would have to be darn right blind if they couldn't see this bottle of rum sitting on the step.

Now what struck me as so funny, is that this gift sat out on the step in full view of the street all night long. Most folks in the town usually are in their beds between 10 and 11 pm, so the bottle was sitting out there in full view for 7 to 8 hours with people walking by and cars/trucks driving by. As I thought about the idea of leaving a gift out like was done, I was not really surprised that in small town Saskatchewan you could/would do such a thing. I just know you would never do such a fool hardy stunt and try and do such a thing in any of the cities of our province and actually expect the gift to be there when the intended recipient came by.

As the StarPhoenix article alluded to, I just wonder if in a few years the small towns are going to be able to keep the 'safe communities' that we have now. I for one sure hope so. It was just for this reason why we picked a small town to retire too rather than the hustle and bustle (and crime) of the 'big' city.

For now I can log this in as a 'treasure' to my time in living in small town Saskatchewan.

Feelings Rush Back In

The other day I received an email from a long lost friend who I worked with in North Battleford at 'Telecomns' when I first joined the RCMP in 1975. I worked along side Scott for a couple of years when he decided that he wanted to become a Regular Member. A few months later he was off to the 'Swinging Arm Ranch' in Regina, Saskatchewan for his training.

After training, Scott was posted to a small Detachment in central Alberta. Then after a few more years and a few more transfers he resigned and went to work up in the Fort McMurray area. Long and short of it, he was doing a search for some of his co-workers from his North Battleford days and found my name and sent along an e-mail.

Of course he wanted to know what had transpired in the ensuing almost 30 years. I filled him in to the best of my knowledge of where the 'old crew' was living and what they were doing now. Scott was originally from the Prince Albert district, so of course he asked if I knew where some of the people from the Telecomns in PA ended up as well. Once again I wrote back with what I knew of the happenings to some of the operators from up XJA-91 country.

As I was thinking of the previous PA folks, I of course remembered Butch who made the transfer to Regina with the rest of us in 1996. He had been the Supervisor in PA and on his move to Regina eventually became the DOCC supervisor in Regina. His job certainly was not an enjoyable one in that he was trying to integrate 6 previous Telecomns centers and their staff along with a bunch of rookie operators into one amalgamated center. Some of his directions and thoughts were not well liked by the membership of C/Ms. Then some of his directives were not really liked by the R/Ms out in the field either. So in essence Butch was sitting out in the middle between the field units and the working staff in the OCC.

Butch felt that I had some excellent working traits and sort of took me under his wing in an attempt to guide me along as an upcoming supervisor. I would dare say he was my main mentor in where I was going and where I eventually ended up. That is not to say I agreed with everything he said or did. However, one difference from myself and a few of the other folks in the newly amalgamated center was I at least would tell Butch face to face on what I didn't agree with and how I felt we could achieve the same result in another way. Let me tell you there was a heap of 'back stabbing' that went on during those early years in the DOCC.

Butch guided us through some fairly hard times, and it appeared we were starting to get 'our act together' as a Unit. Sadly, Butch was still out on his own. Not really one of the C/Ms and not recognized as a Commander of a 50+ unit membership of the RCMP. I'm sure that weighed heavily on him and a bit later we all found out how much so.

I can still remember working day shift one weekend. We had a full staff complement along with about a dozen cadets in for their 'Orientation' into an OCC. This was where the cadets sat in and listened in with the Complaint Takers and then with the Dispatcher as they handled the traffic from the public and field units. Along about 2:00 pm I saw the Sgt from Regina Detachment entering the office. I remembered thinking it was strange to see the Sgt from the Detachment in the office on the day. He worked a Monday to Friday shift and it just seemed strange that he was in the office at the time. I checked with the Dispatch zone for Regina to see if anything was happening and found nothing out of the ordinary. Then the Sgt asked me to follow him to his office as he wanted to speak with me. Now I was really perplexed, but away I went.

The Sgt didn't beat around the bush at all. He point blank told me that Butch had taken his own life just shortly before and he was deceased. WHAT! was my first thought. I had handled and talked to many suicide subjects throughout my career as most OCC operators have. I'm happy to say that most subjects ended up getting help prior to their committing the final act. I do remember one fellow that talked to me for quite awhile (while I was getting help to his location) and then he just abruptly said goodbye. I next heard a loud gun shot in the phone. Sadly this young fellow just couldn't see his way through to get more help and committed the ultimate act.

But back to my story . . .

With a few more details, I was heading back to the DOCC to break it to my staff. Some of the people working on my Watch that day had worked with Butch for close to 20+ years, so I knew this wasn't going to be an easy task. On my arrival back I made a few calls to some of the other Supervisors to appraise them of what transpired and to come in and help. Then I advised all the Cadets that their training was over for the day and if they would kindly depart.

All the staff wondered what the hell was going on and figured something major was happening. When the cadets departed I explained the fact that our boss had committed suicide in the most delicate way I could. Remember these people are used to sudden deaths due to the nature of their occupations and many had handled suicides in their past, but this was hitting very close to home for them. There definitely were some tears and some hugs in the next few minutes.

The worst part was that there were no reliefs to come in and take over for these people. The only other people that could stand in for relief were also going to be grief stricken. The end result was that for the next 5 hours (give or take), the great operators of DOCC Saskatchewan went back to their work positions and answered the incoming 911 calls and other sundry calls from the general public and also answered the incoming radio calls from the members in the field with a professionalism that was second to none. The incoming Watch at 6:30 pm were briefed prior to their actual turnover and were faced with the same fate though they had 12 hours to sit and grieve before their shift was over.

Let me tell you, the suicide of our 'Boss' caused all of us to look at our lives a little closer and to also treat our fellow workers with a bit more humility and respect for the next while. We were acting like a cohesive unit finally. Everyone was trying to help the other and get our jobs done to the best of our abilities. Butch would have been pleased.

Sadly, after not quite a month, the back stabbing and other crap that was the norm prior to the death was back. In actuality it was probably worse because the incoming 'In Charge' was not quite the strong person that Butch was and allowed some of it to get out of hand in my estimation.

Anyhow, as I was recalling this information and relaying some of it to my long lost friend and former co-worker Scott, all the suppressed feelings came rushing back. Feelings that I thought I had gotten over many years ago sure floated to the forefront once again. Definitely not feelings I like to have during the Christmas season.

As I walk my paper route in the mornings I run scenarios through my mind and try to make some sense of it all. Sadly, just as when the suicide happened, I don't have any great insight in why or how come or what we (I) could have done to help our co-worker and friend get through his troubled times.

I guess I'll just have to remember my friend and what was and get on with life just like all in DOCC did when we lost our 'Leader' those few short years ago.

Rest in Peace Butch

I Saw The Lights

After my previous post I decided to check out exactly how many houses actually had lights on or motion lights when I did my morning deliveries. With a couple days of testing it looks like there are normally 14 to 16 lights when I deliver the papers in the morning. Seeing as I have only 37 papers to deliver that is just a bit under 50% which isn't that bad. There are a few houses that have street lamps right near the house and they do supply some light for me to see from as well. They are not the same as as an actual light on the house, but they certainly are better than nothing.

I sure do appreciate any of the folks that actually leave their lights on for me or even better for both of us is if they have a motion light. With the motion light, the home owner doesn't have their light on all night long yet supplies the needed light when I (or anyone else) decides to visit their house.

Thinking back a few weeks to when I first started delivering the papers, I remember when I sure wanted a bit more light. This would probably happened in about mid October. It was a very dark morning and I was out a bit earlier than normal. As I was walking down the street I could smell a very, very strong odour of a skunk(s) in the area. This was very strong so I knew the varmints were in the area or recently had been there. The problem was it was so dark I couldn't see a darn thing. I was walking along the sidewalk with hedges along the walk way so I decided I'd move out into the middle of the road. I figured I would have a better chance seeing the skunk if I was out in the open. Let me tell you my head was just swivelling back and forth from side to side looking for the 'smelly guys'. I meanwhile kept walking and delivering the papers, but had no luck spotting any skunks. Eventually I walked out of the smelly area and continued on my merry way.

Once I got out to the far side of town, where I heard the skunks liked to hang out, I got extra vigilant again. No smell was detected, but let me tell you I was walking very carefully and trying to see everything.

As I was walking up to one of the houses I detected something sitting on the door step of the house. The item certainly looked like a small skunk to me. It was black and had white markings. At this stage I still could not detect any odours. Mind you I was just entering the yard so was probably 30 feet away from the step. I normally carry a flashlight with me, but at this time it was in the back side of my paper bag. So I was frantically trying to swivel the bag around without choking myself with the bag. Meanwhile I continued to walk forward, however, at a bit slower rate. The darn thing on the steps wasn't moving, but it was now looking more and more like a skunk.

I was tempted to turn the other way and drop the paper off on my return trip hoping that the 'skunk' was gone by the time I returned. I then took another step and at this time I was probably 10 feet away from the step and the motion light came on. It illuminated the item on the step and yup it was a skunk. What really puzzled me was the the darn thing wasn't moving at all. Now I know that normally wild animals will take off much sooner than this so I was intrigued a bit. Still no smell at this time either...

I continued on walking to the step and got right up to the animal and could see it in better detail. This definitely was a skunk, but it was a skunk that was made into a boot scraper and it had bristles along the back to wipe your boots off. I had one of those nervous chuckles and then continued on my way. Every day when I walked up to this particular house I was startled to see the 'skunk' again, but then I did get used to the darn thing. It was when I came to this house every morning that I really, really appreciated lights or motion lights to help me seeing what I was walking into.

Then after the snow came, the 'skunk' disappeared from the door step. It would appear the home owner wanted to be able to shovel the step off and the boot cleaner would be in the way. I miss the little critter and will be looking for it being put back out next spring.

However, I still hope the home owner continues to have his motion light in working order next spring when he puts the 'skunk' back outside for the summer. :)

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Did Old Man Winter ever decide to visit us in a hurry. One day it was fairly nice out and the next day we went into the 'deep freeze'. Monday morning I was up and ready to go at 5:20 a.m. When I checked my weather gauge it was showing -38C with the wind chill so I dressed appropriately as I headed out to deliver the papers.

I have a 4 block walk that normally puts me facing right into the prevailing North West winds and this day was no exception. The wind was howling down from the arctic right into my face. Even though I had on a nice fur hat and had it wrapped around to cover most of my face, I still got quite cool. I certainly was happy to finally take a corner and get the wind in my back.

Tuesday morning wasn't much better but at least we didn't have as much wind.

This morning my paper delivery guy was a little bit late, but not overly. The weather gauge showed about the same for temperature as Monday (ie -38C), but I do believe the wind was a bit stronger. This time the wind was coming more from the East so I didn't have as long to walk into the wind. It still was chilly, but not overly.

The biggest problem is that we got a fair good dump of snow overnight and of course I was out before anyone had cleaned up their walks. It makes it so awkward walking in the deeper snow when it's dark and you can't really see the lay of the land. Of course very few people actually leave an outside light on at night. Even a measly 25 watt bulb would at least give me a clue what is in my way when I walk up to the mailbox. Oh well, in about 6 months I'll have daylight at my delivery times so no sense worrying about it now.

With plowing thru the snow this morning I took about an extra 10-15 minutes to do my route. The extra exertion plowing through the snow made it so I was almost at the point of sweating by the time I made it home even though the temperature was down in the -38 C area. I just loosened off my hat a bit and that cooled me down in a rush.

Hopefully by tomorrow everyone was out and got a bit of shovelling done. Mind you it has been blowing all day today, so even if they did shovel it is likely to have blown in again by morning. At least at the time I'm out (05:30 a.m. to 06:30 a.m.) there is very little traffic so I can walk down the middle of the road.

Visitors

With the weather we have been having for the last week or so being actually crappy in that it is so dull and grey all the time, it was so nice to receive a phone call this morning from Fred. Fred and mom decided they would be coming out to see us today as they needed to buy some bottled water at our local hardware store. Of course when mom comes to town she always wants to visit the local grocery store to see what is on sale this week.

Shortly after dinner I saw the blue bomb streaming by heading downtown. About 15-20 minutes later mom and Fred arrived. It was coffee time.

As we were sitting chatting away this van pulled up and parked in the front of the house. The van looked familiar yet I couldn't place who's it was. There was a woman reaching in the side door doing something. A few minutes later I saw what she was doing. She was putting a coat on a young child. The woman and child started walking up to our door and then I knew who it was.

Shar-Lee and her daughter were coming to visit. The family was on their way to Saskatoon from Weyburn and it was a washroom break for the young daughter. Shar-Lee's daughter headed for the washroom and Shar-Lee, Sandra, mom, Fred and I had a quick 3 minute visit after a quick introduction. Then they were off to the big city with all the lights and greater variety of stores to do some Christmas shopping in and watch the Grey Cup on a big screen TV. Even though it was such a short visit, it sure was nice to have Shar-Lee drop by.

Around 4:00 p.m. mom was getting antsy and I knew she was ready to hit the highway once again and head for home. Mom has this terrible fear of running into a deer along the highway so she always wants to depart in daylight hours. Actually I don't blame her with the amount of deer carcasses you see along the stretch of they highway into the city. It seems as if every time we go to the city and return you see 10-12 dead deer along this stretch. From what I saw last spring when the deer were yarding up, I know there are a lot of deer in this area. Of course at present time the deer are a bit stupid due to it being the rutting time for them. You never know when one is going to dart in front of your vehicle or into the side of your vehicle. Both normally cause a heck of a lot of damage to your vehicle.

By 4:15 p.m. mom and Fred had departed. It sure was nice to have the visitors drop by even it was only for a short time. It's always a welcome change in our 'so stressed out' lives :)

Something Is Just Not Right

In case anyone has not seen the video on Robert Dziekanski, here is the YouTube video of the poor man dying.

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