DC Power

Basement Renovation Progress

2012-01-30T21:49:00.000-06:00

I haven't been too inspired to blog for a while but have been intending to post some pictures of the progress of the basement renovations. After concentrating on outside renovations (driveway, shingles, grading the yard, etc) during the summer the basement renovations finally got underway with the new basement windows installed in October and the framing starting in late November. We are somewhat at the mercy of when the contractors are available.

The framing and rough-in wiring was completed by early December. You can see the framing between the steel braces along the south wall (to the right.) In the back you can see the bedroom window on right and closet and storage room on left.

The spray foam insulation was done December 19 and the drywall work started the next day.

This is a closeup showing the spray foam insulation filling in the headers between the floor joists and between the framing and steel braces. It makes a complete insulated seal from floor to ceiling and needs no vapour barrier. The framing is set out from the wall so the foam insulates between the concrete and the back of the framing as well.

The drywall sheets were all up by the end of December and then last week the finishing work started with taping and mudding.

Here I am inspecting the progress. The area behind me used to be an office/ computer room and now is part of an open layout family room. We also have a half wall along the side of the stairs to add to the open layout.

Now we are thinking about paint and flooring as the work continues ...

4 Days of Christmas

2011-12-27T15:45:00.000-06:00

On the 23rd, called Little Christmas Eve, we had rice porridge for supper which is a Norwegian tradition. On the 24th, Christmas Eve, we had our Christmas dinner and gift opening with our own family as we usually do. We had roast leg of lamb with mashed potatoes as a change up since we would have other turkey dinners. We had a very nice time with our family including playing Trivial Pursuit in the evening. Then we had a quiet day on Christmas Day while Mary, Chris and Mike were having the day with "the other side of the family." Elaine and Janice were working on food preparation for going up to Saskatoon on the 26th. In the morning on Boxing Day we travelled up to Saskatoon for turkey dinner and the day with Elaine's family. It was a full day of eating and visiting with a short break for gift opening, and then more eating and visiting. We had a great time as usual and then headed home for the night. It has been a great 4 days of Christmas.

Aunt Helen's 90th Birthday

2011-11-15T19:31:00.001-06:00

I telephoned my Aunt Helen today to wish her a happy 90th birthday. We sent her a card and 2 pictures which she said she received. Aunt Helen lives in Delaware and was married to my father's youngest brother George who passed away in 2004. The picture below was taken in 2004 when we visited there. Behind Aunt Helen are my cousins Carol, George (in middle) and Roy (with Tara the dog peeking out beside.)

It was very good to talk to Aunt Helen. She is still full of life and not expecting to stop at 90 or any time soon. She said she always keeps a positive outlook on life. I said, "Yes we can certainly tell that." She said, "God has been very good to me." And she told me, "Just enjoy every day of your life." I was very glad I was able to talk to her on her birthday.

Remembering

2011-11-11T15:29:00.001-06:00

On November 11 we remember those in the military who gave their lives in war and peacekeeping. And for Elaine and I, this year on November 11 it is 35 years since we were engaged. So for us those memories are part of our Remembrance Day.

My Mother's 60th birthday was November 10, 1976 (yesterday she would have been 95) and we were going up to North Battleford on November 11 for a birthday supper. I was working in Regina and Elaine living in Saskatoon and I was going to pick her up to come with me to NB. My plans were to stop along the way at an overlook by the river and ask her to marry me and give her the ring. But Elaine told me we had been asked to pick someone up (Rose) to give her a ride from Saskatoon to NB. That would make my plans awkward, so I asked Elaine to marry me at her apartment (she said yes) and I gave her the ring right away. When we went to pick up Rose the couple where she had been staying insisted on us coming in for tea and a lunch. Elaine was trying to keep the hand with the ring under the table. The woman must have suspected because she said "Elaine put your hand up on the table so we can see it." Eventually we went on our way to NB and had the birthday supper but we did not say anything yet about being engaged during the meal. After supper my Mom and Darlene were whispering to each other about seeing the ring and came out and asked us about it. We weren't making it a secret just trying to surprise them.

The picture on the right was taken while we were visiting in NB that weekend. The one on the left was a surprise party our friends had for us when we got back to Saskatoon. In these pictures from 35 years ago Elaine looks the same as now, other than her glasses. I sure had a lot of dark thick hair then which is long gone now (but that does have its advantages in convenience though.) And 35 years later we are still both smiling and laughing together the same way.

Staying In and Staying Warm

2011-10-29T17:09:00.000-06:00

This afternoon it is 6C with wind up to 60km/hr. I was sitting in my living room wearing my Rider sweater while we watched the Rider game on TV At least the fans who sat out in the cold and wind had something to cheer about with the team finally getting a win. If the Riders can finish the season on a winning note maybe there will be a little more optimism for next year.

I wasn't feeling well earlier in the week so didn't go out much, but doing better by the end of the week. Yesterday afternoon we went and got our flu shots. I have gotten a flu shot every year since 1995 after I had pneumonia. I usually get little or no adverse reaction from the flu shot, and just some mild soreness in my shoulder this time. (Janice tells me to stop poking it to see if it is still sore.) This was the first year that Elaine got a flu shot as well and had no adverse reaction at all. The influenza vaccine this year has the same three components as last year: A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus, an A/Perth/16/2009 (H3N2)-like virus, and a B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus (B Victoria lineage). There is no live virus in the vaccine but inactivated components that will develop antibodies to these or similar influenza viruses. The A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus is the same one that caused the H1N1 scare two years ago and there was a separate H1N1 flu shot. For the last two years it has been part of the regular seasonal flu shot.

In other news we finally got our new basement windows installed on Thursday morning after waiting several months since the contractors are so busy. The small furnace/ laundry room window had a single pane with wood frame rotting and has been replaced with a double pane PVC window. We also got the basement bedroom window replaced with a larger one that meets the regulations for emergency egress. The existing window met the minimum dimension but was just less than the minimum area. It needed to be replaced anyway with a better quality window that stopped the wind from blowing through. For that bedroom window we also got a larger window well to meet the regulations. This was done by the bobcat contractor when the soil build up and grading around our house was finally completed. So slowly the work we need is getting done and maybe soon we can get someone to start working in our basement.

October afternoon in the park

2011-10-21T15:58:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon it looked like it was going to be the warmest day for a while, with a high of 16C, so I dropped off Elaine for a bike ride and then drove to the park to meet her there. I dropped off Elaine at Kiwanis Park and she rode her bike to our usual meeting place at Pine Island in Wascana Park. After she met me there I went onto the island and took some pictures while she rode her bike around the lake.

It was a nice fall day with some sun and cloud but fairly windy at 30 km/hr and gusty. You can see in the picture above the choppy waves with some rowers practicing. That side of the island was facing the wind off the lake so I couldn't walk around a lot since the wind is hard on my breathing. But I walked some and then stopped to take some pictures or sit on a bench for a while.

I put 5 of the pictures together in a panorama (using a program that came with our Canon SX130IS camera) of the view across the lake toward the legislature and downtown and the marina at the far right. I posted previously a panorama of this view at sunset.

Afterward we went around the lake opposite Willow Island where it was more sheltered from the wind. While we were there sitting on a bench looking across the lake our friend Dale (Elaine's 2nd cousin) came along walking home from work. He said, "What are you doing here? I answered, "Just being retired sitting on a park bench." We felt like we had not gone to the park enough often in the summer and the warmer fall days may soon be gone. So we take advantage of the nice days when we can, and being retired makes our schedule a little more flexible.

Rain and Mud

2011-10-13T14:28:00.001-06:00

We need some build up and grading of the ground around our house to keep the water away from snow melt in the spring and from rain. We had someone arranged who was not available until fall but that was OK for us. However that contractor got tied up with emergency projects from the flooding in the southeast area. I was calling other contractors but they were so busy I couldn't get people to even call back. Finally I got a contractor who does bobcat work who said he could do it for us. However the job he had ahead of ours dragged on a week longer than he expected. He finally came last Thursday afternoon and got started and filled in at the back of our house with clay and topsoil. The weather was just perfect and the soil was dry just right for working but he only worked for 3 hours and had to leave for the day.

That night it rained all night and continued the next day. In the picture you can see some temporary extensions on the eavestrough downspouts to try to get the runoff past the bare ground that turned to mud.

The contractor left his small bobcat parked in front of our house beside the remainder of the piles of clay and topsoil that were standing in pools of water as the rain continued.

Then over the weekend it seemed like it was drying up some. The contractor came back on Tuesday and tried to do some work but it was still way too muddy to accomplish much.

The rest of this week we have had damp cloudy weather with fog patches and rain showers. So the little bobcat still sits in front of our house in the mud with the remaining dirt pile. The good news is that the forecast for next week is for sunshine so maybe it will dry up enough to get this project done, as well as other outdoor work.

Counting Our Blessings

2011-10-11T19:50:00.000-06:00

We had a good Thanksgiving weekend here. It is a time when we are reminded of all the things we have to be thankful for. Back in 2008 on Thanksgiving I posted the song "Count Your Blessings." (Hard to believe I have had a blog that long.) The words of the chorus are:

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

The other hymn that really expresses how I feel is Great is Thy Faithfulness, especially the words in the chorus "all I have needed thy hand hath provided" and in the last verse "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow." God has provided all that we need and has given us strength for each day and a bright hope for the future.

I am really thankful for Elaine and our family, as well as friends and relatives and our church family. I like being retired and am thankful that God enabled me to work my full term to have a pension that meets our needs. And every day we try to remember to count our blessings for we have a lot to be thankful for.

On Sunday after church Janice came straight home and put the turkey in the oven and made the mashed potatoes and gravy. Mike and Nicole came over and we had our Thanksgiving dinner together about 4 PM. Elaine made the dressing and vegetables, and Mike and Nicole brought a salad. We had a very nice meal and visit. Then on Monday we had a quiet day at home and watched the Rider game on TV in the afternoon. At least I can be thankful I don't have to figure out how to fix their problems. There is always something to be thankful for.

Not Good News

2011-10-07T15:28:00.000-06:00

I was looking at the email notifications of the newspaper digital edition and saw this one for Tuesday. Note the pictures beside the story of the drug bust. They seem to be a carryover from the opinions of the Rider loss. *

* For those who do not recognize the picture it is Darian Durant from the last Rider game in Calgary. His expression tells the story of the game.

Beautiful Start to Fall

2011-09-25T20:54:00.000-06:00

We had a high of 32C yesterday and 30C today which is a great way to start the fall season. Yesterday after an early supper I drove Elaine up to northwest end of the bike path. While she rode on the path along the creek I drove down to a park to meet her.

I walked a short way along the path and enjoyed the view of the creek and islands while waiting for Elaine to arrive on her bike. I met Elaine at another park along the way and then went down to Wascana Park while she rode there on her bike.

Just after sunset I took some pictures of the view across the lake toward the legislature and downtown. I put 3 pictures together as an experiment with a program to stitch pictures together in panorama. It was a beautiful evening with no wind as you can see by the reflection in the lake.

A New Roof Over Our Heads

2011-09-22T17:01:00.001-06:00

We got new shingles on our house and garage yesterday. The shingles had been replaced about 15 years ago and we were not expecting to need new ones this year. We normally come to our house from the north and don't often see the south side of the roof. The shingles on the north side looked fairly good still. But on the south side were in very bad shape as shown in the picture below including closeup in the inset.

I expect it is from the heat of the sun on the south side of the roof that the shingles are worse with the surface worn off and corners curled up. This summer Chris was checking and cleaning our eavestroughs. We thought they were plugged up on the south side with leaves and poplar fluff from a big tree in our neighbour's yard. Chris found that on the south side the eavestroughs were all plugged up with the granular surface material worn off the shingles. This is when we realized that the shingles needed to be replaced as soon as possible.

The crew came yesterday and took the old shingles off and replaced with the new shingles over a synthetic underlay called BP Deckgard. The new shingles we got are BP Harmony laminated shingles with fibreglass/ asphalt layers . More of these type are being used now rather than the conventional 3 tab asphalt shingles. The new shingles are silver grey. The old shingles were originally grey but the surface was very badly worn off on the south side.

The new shingles are called "Lifetime warranty" whatever that means but we hope it is a very long time.

Trach Examination

2011-09-15T21:20:00.000-06:00

I had an appointment at the hospital yesterday for an examination related to my trach by my ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist. I had a problem with a trach tube and it had to be replaced two weeks ago, and now to order new customized trach tubes for me the respiratory therapy department at the hospital needed a prescription from the ENT specialist. I was to have an appointment at 4 PM yesterday, and at 6:30 we were still in the waiting room. The doctor came out and talked to us to explain the delay that some of his equipment had not been sterilized since it had been used and he was waiting for that. He is a very nice man and the staff at the hospital keep telling us that as well. When we were called into a hospital room and the nurse heard which doctor we would be seeing she said "He is a very nice man!". We said "Yes we know that." The nurse told us this ENT doctor did her 6 year old daughter's tonsillectomy. Her daughter was afraid but the doctor was so nice talking to the girl about the surgery, and now her daughter thinks the doctor is pretty well her new boyfriend.

Finally the doctor came to do his examination and he had the bronchoscope with him. He has done examinations in my airways with a bronchoscope several times before. I posted on my blog back in 2008 that it was like having a microscope up my nose. This time he did not go up my nose and around the sinuses and back down to the trachea with his scope. He pulled out my trach tube and put the scope into the trachea through the stoma (the opening in my neck for the trach tube) and pushed the scope's fibre optic tube down my airway.

Bronchoscope inserted in the stoma (opening in neck for trach tube) to examine the trachea

He had first sprayed anesthetic to freeze the area so I would not cough from the scope. He was looking for any granulation which would be scar tissue or sore areas caused by the trach tube. He was very happy that the trachea looked very good.    Then he got Elaine to look in the scope while he moved it to show inside my trachea. He said "See how good it looks."   Everything has healed up well and the trach tube is not causing any soreness or scar tissue.   This confirms the respiratory department should order trach tubes of the same type and size for me.    Overall I felt very good about the results of the examination.

When we were leaving the doctor asked if I would be willing to talk to some of his other patients that will likely need a tracheostomy. I remember how uncertain I was 4 years ago not really understanding what it is or how it would affect me. I have done this before for another specialist who asked me to talk to some of his patients. I said I would be glad to do this. He said he will call me when he has something arranged to have me visit someone who is in hospital now needing a tracheostomy. I hope my experience can be an encouragement to someone else.

More Birthday Toys

2011-09-13T19:58:00.000-06:00

The family gave me 2 rc helicopters for my birthday. I first got a small 3 channel rc helicopter last year for my birthday. This year they felt I should move on to a bigger one. When I first opened the larger helicopter I was fairly apprehensive about a large outdoor helicopter but it turned out to be a manageable size to fly in the back yard. It also came with a small indoor 4 channel rc helicopter (for when the weather isn't good for outdoors.)

Elaine took some videos of me flying the larger helicopter in the back yard. You pretty well need a time when there is little or no wind. In the first part a breeze was coming up and the helicopter kept drifting over closer to Elaine. When I tried turning it around it ended up landing in the rose bush right beside her. Later the wind was calm and the flying was more successful.
I will also have to get some videos of flying the smaller helicopter around the living room. My other birthday gifts were a wooden model of the Victoria blue bridge and a DVD of the documentary March of the Penguins. I guess the family wanted to ensure I was adequately entertained in my retirement.

Late Summer at the Farm

2011-09-03T15:20:00.001-06:00

Last weekend we were up to the farm to visit Elaine's parents and other family for 4 days. We traveled up a week ago Friday and returned home on Tuesday. I hadn't posted any pictures before because since we got home I have been busy with escapades with my trach and ventilator.

Here I am enjoying a relaxing time out on the deck.

Then Elaine came out to have an afternoon rest on the deck. We enjoyed visiting with Elaine's parents on the deck but did not get any pictures when they were out there. In this picture in the background you can see Elaine's father out watching Phillip get the swather ready to go.

Elaine's parents got us some produce from the garden to take with us when we went home. In the picture you can see how tall the corn is in the background, and the swiss chard beside mom is huge. The meals we had while visiting there were amazing. Elaine's mom is a great cook and all the food is fresh from the farm. She made beef stew we had the first night we arrived that the whole meal with meat, potatoes and vegetables and milk were from that farm. We had blueberries for dessert with cream from the farm. We had the same on Sunday dinner with roast beef, potatoes and vegetables all from that farm. That was the story of our trip to the farm, eating and visiting, and then it was time for another lunch.

Birthday Balloons

2011-08-31T12:39:00.000-06:00

We just got home yesterday evening after being away 4 days visiting Elaine's parents and other family at the farm. We had a great time there and a good trip home. Yesterday was my birthday but we were mostly just traveling and had already celebrated my birthday early. While traveling I started having problems with my trach tube. It has an inflatable cuff (the light blue balloon that is down inside my trachea) that I deflate during the day and inflate at night to connect to the ventilator. As shown in the pictures below there is a tube with filler valve (dark blue) that sticks out that I use to inflate and deflate the balloon cuff using a syringe.

While traveling I would take air out of the cuff with a syringe and a few minutes later the air would leak back in restricting my breathing. At night when I inflated the cuff to connect to the ventilator it would not stay inflated, the equivalent of a flat tire in my trachea. I was not able to use the ventilator to assist my breathing for the night and got very little sleep. So first thing in the morning I phoned the respiratory therapist (RT) to arrange a trach tube change. Usually I have trach changes at ambulatory care (out patient rooms) at the hospital every 6 weeks. Rather than arrange this at the hospital on short notice, the RT phoned back and said he will be right over to my house to do the trach change. He was at my house in 20 minutes with new trach tubes and all his supplies and had the procedure done in short order. Now that is real health care service.

Heading Home

2011-08-22T10:08:00.000-06:00

Maryanne and Chris are heading home this morning. They stopped at our house this morning for about an hour before heading out on the road. I has been great to have them here almost all summer and we will miss them now.

My Daily Bread

2011-08-21T22:02:00.000-06:00

Due to some problems with acid reflux I have been trying to be careful about what I eat to avoid problems. However I was a little too careful and lost some weight which I cannot afford to do. I have been discouraged trying to eat enough to try to gain some weight. Janice showed me the Live Strong website that she has been using for over a month to track what she eats each day. This website has a section called MyPlate that you can enter the foods you eat each day and it will total the daily calories, fat, protein, carbohydrate, fibre, etc. There is a huge database of every kind of food including different brand names of prepared and packaged foods that you can select from in entering what you ate each day. You can select target daily calories based on if you want to lose weight, maintain weight, or gain weight.

I have now been using the Live Strong MyPlate website for a week to track what I eat and see if I am meeting the calorie requirements to gain weight. Initially the website just has an estimate based on height and weight with 500 calories per day added to gain approximately 1 pound per week. This is just an estimate because different people have varying metabolism and activity levels. But the calorie target can be adjusted with experience. An example for one day is shown below. Basically you select the item you ate or the closest to it in their database and the portion size. Once you get used to the database it does not take much time each day to do the entries.

So far I am up about 2 pounds but the real test is to see if I can sustain it. In the past if I was up 2 pounds the next week I would be back down again. My hope is that using the Live Strong website to track what I eat each day I can be more consistent in eating the required daily calories. In addition I am learning more about how I am doing in terms of target amounts of daily protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre, etc. So it is not just the amount I eat but a healthy balance of foods that meet the overall needs of my body.

The Family 10 Years Later

2011-08-20T14:06:00.001-06:00

On Wednesday we had family pictures taken at Kiwanis Park. There are a lot of places and backgrounds for outdoor pictures there on rocks, in the trees, on a bridge, etc. We had 90 pictures taken so we have a lot to go through and pick out the best ones and do some cropping and/or lighting adjustments. We had family pictures taken in that park 10 years ago in October 2001. I was looking back to compare the pictures we had taken then.

August 2011

October 2001

Summer Days

2011-08-15T14:33:00.000-06:00

We have been glad to be able to visit quite a bit with Maryanne and Chris this summer. They are staying at Chris's parents' house but are over at our house quite a few days. A week ago on Sunday evening we had Mike and Nicole here as well and the family gave me my early birthday gifts (but I will tell more about those another time.) Maryanne and Chris are here one more week before they head home. One thing Elaine wanted to do while they are still here is go on a bike ride with Chris and it work out to go on Saturday evening. I went along to drive them to the start of the bike trail and then met them at different places along the path, which is what I usually do when Elaine goes for a bike ride.

I took them up to the start of the bike trail in NW Regina.

Here they are on the trail near Dewdney Ave. just east of the RCMP depot.

One place I went to meet them was at Kiwanis Park on Regina Ave.

Here they are near Kiwanis Park heading for Wascana Park

The end of the bike ride was at Pine Island. It was after sunset by then so we packed up to head home.

Big Storm in the Night

2011-07-30T12:25:00.001-06:00

I woke up at 12:20AM with a big thunderstorm and a lot of wind blowing. I checked the weather on my Ipod (always on the shelves beside the bed) and saw that there was a severe storm warning and wind was gusting up to 115 km/hr. The wind was sounding like a train going through and the lightning was pretty wild and thunder very loud for a while. I was hoping it was not developing into a tornado after our experience traveling by Kansas city in May. I was checking to see if there were any warnings for tornadoes and wondered if we would have to go down the basement when the storm was sounding quite wild. The power went off for about 7 minutes and by the time it came back on the storm was starting to subside. By about 12:45 it was moving past our area. This morning we saw that the BBQ cover was blown off and one chair tipped over but nothing major. There are a lot of twigs blown around but no bigger branches broken on trees like we heard about in some areas. We were thankful the storm blew through in a short time with no big problem.

UPDATE: We have been hearing and seeing more about the damage from the storm. Tree branches down caused power outages in many places. Elaine took some pictures of a tree that is down and across the street just a few houses down the block from us.

New Front Entrance

2011-07-21T18:26:00.000-06:00

The concrete on our driveway was breaking up and was way past needing replacement. As seen in the pictures below the sidewalk to the front door was also broken up and sinking.

This spring we arranged for a contractor to take out the existing concrete and make a new concrete driveway and front sidewalk. This was done at the beginning of June while we were away on our trip to the US. We also got the concrete front step removed so for several weeks we used the back door until the new front steps and deck could be completed.

As shown in the picture the concrete front step has been replaced with a new front deck and stairs with composite decking material and white aluminum railing. We have been using it for a while but part of the railing was on back order. Then with us being away at camp and then the contractor being on holidays last week, we finally got the railing complete this week. We also found a white aluminum mailbox to replace the old black one. We are pretty excited about how the new front entrance turned out. And of course we are very happy to finally have our new driveway.

Heading Home

2011-07-20T11:45:00.002-06:00

This morning Darlene and Lisa left for home. They were in Canada over 2 weeks and at our house since Friday. They had a shorter time at our house this summer but we had a good visit when we went to the US on our trip. Darlene had a list of questions for me and things to do and I think we accomplished most of them. (She always has to do lists for me whenever I see her.) Last night Chris and Maryanne were here for supper as well and we had a good time visiting in the evening.

In the picture they are beside their "new" Chev Astro van. Their previous van was also a red Chev Astro but this one has lower miles and a working air conditioner. I think this is their fourth Chev Astro van. For an older model van it looks like new inside and out. Darlene has to do all the driving on their trip but maybe when they get home Lisa can get her learner's license so she can do some of the driving next time. I hope they have a good trip home.

It's Heating Up

2011-07-17T17:28:00.003-06:00

Our temperature is 31C this afternoon and the forecast is for 35C on Monday and 36C on Tuesday. I guess this averages out for the -35C or -36C in the winter. For Regina the annual average temperature is +2.8C which doesn't sound too bad except the range is -50C to +43C. Fortunately the extremes don't happen too often with 15.7 days/yr >30C and 13.9 days/yr <-30C.

I worked with a man for many years who was originally from India and went to university in England. While in England in the 1960s some Saskatchewan advertising convinced him to come here to look for work. The average temperature looked quite reasonable to him. But when he arrived in January the temperature was nowhere near average. He couldn't afford a ticket to go back to England and the only job he got was surveying the boundaries of the Meadow Lake park (in January.) I later worked with him for many years and he often used this as an illustration of the risks of relying on average data.

We have had Darlene and Lisa here since Friday and they are staying until Wednesday morning. Since the camp in North Battleford which was over last week Darlene has been catching up on her visiting in NB and Saskatoon. (Steve already went home with his parents.) Lisa said that it doesn't seem very hot here to her. I guess it is all relative to what you are used to. But if we hit 36C as forecast there will be not question that will be hot.

UPDATE: We did not quite hit the forecast temperatures with 33C on Monday and 32C on Tuesday.

Meetings and Mosquitoes

2011-07-12T17:42:00.000-06:00

We got home Sunday night after being at North Battleford all week for our summer church camp. We very much enjoyed the meetings as well as visiting at the meals and through the day. The weather was quite good for visiting outdoors particularly earlier in the week. But the mosquitoes were the worst I remember and seemed to get worse as the week went on. We stayed at a motel during camp as we have for several years and couldn't even get away from the pesky critters indoors. There were so many swarming around no matter how fast you went in and closed the door, many would come in with you. We would try to kill enough of them in our room to leave us alone while we slept. Back in Regina they say the mosquitoes are way above average but around our area there are not many compared to the swarms in NB.

Who Is That Young Couple?

2011-07-03T05:00:00.002-06:00

July 3, 1987

Happy Anniversary!

Lakes, Trees and Cicadas

2011-06-29T12:33:00.000-06:00

We really enjoyed visiting Darlene, Steve and Lisa and seeing where they live. They are in a very beautiful area in a subdivision built around four lakes that they just refer to as Lake 1, 2, 3, 4. Since we got home I had not posted yet some pictures of the area.

Looking across one end of Lake 1 the largest lake at sunset

I spliced together 2 of the pictures of Lake 1 at sunset to try to make a panorama

Darlene and Tessie at Lake 4 in the evening.

Elaine, Darlene and Lisa swimming at Lake 4 on a hot afternoon

Sitting out at the end of a long narrow peninsula that goes out into Lake 1

When we were visiting there it was the year of the cicada and they were out in full force and full volume. In some heavily treed places the high pitched whirring sound of the cicadas was deafening. I saw some information that the sound of some cicadas can be up to 120 db and cause hearing damage if you are up close. Most of the southeast US is covered by the 13 year cicadas this year. I looked up some information and the varieties of periodical cicadas have a 13 year life cycle in the southeast US and 17 years in the northeast US. After hatching the nymphs stay underground until the year they appear all at once.

This short 10 second video clip has the sound of the cicadas while out on the front porch at Steve and Darlene's. It is a continuous high pitched whirring sound but not that loud in the video since the trees are a ways away.

Other than getting educated about cicadas, it was great visit and a very beautiful area.

Graduation BBQ

2011-06-26T21:47:00.000-06:00

Today after church we had a BBQ at the park for four graduates. Janice and Jeff graduated from university and Max and Carl graduated from high school. It is quite a while since we went out to the park for a BBQ like that and we had a great time. It was sunny most of the time but started to cloud over later with a cool wind. We got cleaned up and ready to leave just before the rain showers started.

More Rain and Flooding and Wind

2011-06-18T19:36:00.002-06:00

After the spring flooding this year we have continued to get more rain. Thursday night and Friday central and southern Saskatchewan got 50 to 75 mm ( 2" to 3") more rain and more flooding. Many areas in southeast Saskatchewan that were disaster areas already are now in a state of emergency.

We took this picture of flooding in the fields near Midale on May 23 when we were heading south on our trip to the US. Water was flooding the fields all the way south to the US. So the rain this weekend further worsened the flooding problems in the area since the spring.

We did not see much farming happening in either southeast Saskatchewan or in the midwest US. All we saw turning in the fields were wind turbines. There were wind turbines in all the midwest states for mile after mile in the fields. Wind is certainly an abundant resource in southern Saskatchewan and the midwest US. But we need some drying winds with sunshine to get the farmers back on the land.

When we were traveling in the midwest US the water was flooding the low areas and up to the edges of the roads in many places. We follow the Missouri River all the way down on our trip from North Dakota to Missouri and we crossed it several times. It was very high with adjacent valley areas flooded.

One evening Elaine and Lisa rode about 6 miles on a bike path (see inset in the picture below) along the Missouri River starting at Washington Missouri. Darlene and I sat on a bench looking at the river and visited and I took some pictures. The river was very high and flowing very fast.

The bike path was partly flooded as seen ahead of them in the picture above. The river is quite wide and the trees on the other side are farther away than it appears in the picture due to dim lighting near sunset. You can get an idea of the width of the river by the bridge in the distance in the upper picture.

Meanwhile back at home this evening it is still raining ...

Our Scientist

2011-06-10T22:08:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Elaine and I were at Janice's convocation for her B.Sc degree. We were very proud to see her get her degree knowing how much work went into it. She also added extra classes in science education to be able to be accredited in secondary physics education. After the convocation we met Mike and Nicole at the Fainting Goat restaurant for supper. It uses meat and produce mostly from local farms and I think everyone enjoyed their meal there.

US Trip Fuel Costs

2011-06-07T21:55:00.001-06:00

We were keeping track of the fuel we bought on our trip and today I added it up and calculated the average fuel economy.

We traveled a total of 5427 km (3373 miles) on our trip including a lot of touring around in the St. Louis area. The distance over which we averaged the fuel use was 5238 km (3256 miles.)
We spent a total of $500 on gas for 133.6 US gallons ( 505.7 litres) at an average price of $3.75/US gal.
The average US gas price of $3.75/US gal = $0.99/litre which is less than our price in Regina of $1.36 (down to $1.27 when we got home.)
Our average fuel economy was 9.65 litres/100km = 24.4 miles/US gal = 29.3 miles/ Can gal

I was quite pleased with the fuel economy of our van on the trip considering it was heavily loaded with equipment ( the oxygen tank is 124 lbs) and luggage and driving at the faster speeds on the US interstate highways as well as the hills and curves in Missouri and stop and go driving in the St. Louis area.

Home Again

2011-06-06T22:02:00.000-06:00

We arrived home this afternoon after being away for 2 weeks. We had a great time but it is always good to be home after a long trip. We spent 9 days visiting Darlene, Steve and Lisa (and Tessie) and then this past weekend we visited John and Mae and others in the Minneapolis area. We put a total of about 5400 km on our van and all the traveling went well after the one day of stormy weather on the way down. We had a lot of hot humid weather while there which we enjoyed after the cool weather at home. Darlene had a 2 page list of things to do (or things for me to fix) while we were there and I think almost everything was crossed off the list. We took a lot of pictures and will try to post some and tell about the trip and visits.

Happy Birthday Darlene

2011-05-30T20:14:00.000-06:00

We had a good day today celebrating Darlene's birthday. We took Darlene and Steve and Lisa to an Olive Garden restaurant for her birthday. We first did some touring around and sightseeing with Steve driving our van. We saw some of the places they have lived and a lot of surrounding country side. It is really beautiful country. On previous trips here we were just in the city so mainly saw concrete and pavement. This time we were on a lot of winding roads through the tree covered hills and valleys. After some touring we went to the restaurant and had a very enjoyable meal and visit. Since we were there mid afternoon it was not busy at all and we had a great time.

Scooting Around Shaw's Garden

2011-05-27T19:35:00.000-06:00

Today Darlene, Lisa, Elaine and I visited the Missouri Botanical Garden aka Shaw's Garden. It was originally the gardens of Henry Shaw founded on the estate of his home in 1859. Darlene and I rented scooters since it is a 79 acre garden with a lot of paths. Elaine and Lisa walked faster than the slow scooters. In the picture you can see Darlene leading the way on her scooter.

There was climate controlled dome with tropical trees and flowering plants.

Elaine and I are at one of the rose gardens in this picture.

The gardens are beautiful and we had good weather. It was a very enjoyable day.

Road Trip Day 3 - Here Safe and Sound

2011-05-26T08:29:00.001-06:00

We finally got here to St Clair yesterday evening after a longer day than we expected. All was going well driving from Council Bluffs IA down to Kansas City and then a severe thunder storm hit. There were tornado warnings on the radio for several areas in the region and then we heard the tornado sirens near where we were and the radio warning said "Do not delay take cover immediatelly!" We pulled off the I495 at the next exit to look for a place to stop and pulled into the first place we saw which appeared to be a church. As we ran to the entrance to get out of the rain downpour we found it was a funeral home. The people there said we could go downstairs with some others listening to the warnings on the radio. We waited there for about an hour until the sirens and warnings were off for that area. Then we went to a Mcdonalds to get some lunch while using the wifi to check the weather reports on my ipod. By that time it looked good enough to head back out on the highway. The rest of the trip was less eventful and we made it safely to St Clair after several more hours driving.

This area has had several tornados in the last while so that is the main news down here and people here are taking the warnings seriously. The tornado at Joplin MO on Sunday had 122 confirmed deaths and many more missing. There were about 12 deaths in other tornados Tuesday. While we were travelling yesterday there were continuous warnings of tornados in various places and it is a good thing we took shelter until the storm cleared because one tornado caused damage and injuries in a town just ahead of where we were heading.

We arrive here about 7 PM tired but safe and sound. I will post more about our visit later and some pictures...

Road Trip Day 2

2011-05-24T20:56:00.000-06:00

We had a good day travelling across North and South Dakota and are at a hotel at Council Bluffs Iowa. We made good time since the speed limits in ND and SD are 75 mph (120 km/h) and 70mph (112 km/h) in IA. We are right on our planned schedule to get to St Clair tomorrow and are excited to get there.

On the Road

2011-05-23T21:26:00.000-06:00

We left this morning on our trip to the US. We have now checked into a motel for the night in Jamestown ND. We plan to go to Council Bluffs IA tomorrow night. But we are flexible on how far we go each day. We had a very good day travelling today and are enjoying the trip.

I will keep this short since I am posting from my Ipod.

Retirement Countdown Completed

2011-05-19T16:28:00.001-06:00

I finished up at work this morning, said my goodbyes and handed in my ID card, office key and security remotes for the gate and front door. They had a come and go retirement function yesterday afternoon at work and quite a few people came including a number that previously retired. So this morning was just the final wrap up and personal goodbyes.

The secretary tied a Happy Retirement balloon to my briefcase coming home today.

Everyone who retires gets a portraicature from SaskPower. I was amused that they showed me typing with two fingers. I am not sure how the artist knew that. And note the running shoes.

The work group gave Elaine these flowers when we were out with them at a restaurant on Saturday.

At the retirement function they gave me a gift card from money they collected toward a gift from my coworkers and others who came. I used it toward the purchase of a new camera. I got a Canon SX130IS which is the current model similar to Maryanne's SX120IS which I was very impressed with. I was trying it out with macro on the bolt of the scissors in the picture above. Also Elaine used it to take the picture of the flowers above.

My other corporate retirement gift was a watch. I chose a Victorinox Swiss Army Officer watch. I still need to get the bracelet adjusted before I wear it.

Now after all these retirement festivities we have to get serious about getting ready for our trip. We plan to leave Monday morning for the US.

Time Flies

2011-05-15T21:42:00.000-06:00

The time seems to be going by quickly and I haven't done a blog post for over a week so I thought I would do a combined update of what we have been doing over the last while.

Last weekend on Saturday night I attended Elaine's choir performing Verdi's Requiem with the symphony. This was excellent and I enjoyed it very much. A requiem is funeral music but this was music that would wake up the dead. There were soft beautiful parts and then much with great volume with choir and orchestra. I was up in the 3rd balcony which gave a view over the whole performance from above. It was about 90 minutes plus intermission for the whole performance and I was pretty well on the edge of my seat the whole time. The four soloists they brought in were amazing as well. It was very enjoyable.

Then last Sunday for Mother's Day Janice made the supper at home with an excellent pork roast. Mike was here and we had a nice evening visiting. I think Elaine enjoyed a quiet evening at home after being out so much with her rehearsals and her concert.

Last night we were out to a restaurant with people from my work for my retirement. We had a very nice time with the group I have worked with plus two people who retired previously. I just am into some final cleanup in my office at work with 3 1/2 days to go. On Wednesday afternoon there is a come and go retirement coffee/ tea. Elaine will come then and bring home my custom office chair and a few personal belongings. Then Thursday morning I will just do some goodbyes and hand in my keys, etc.

This evening we just got home from an enjoyable BBQ at Bronwyn and Wade's with good food and good visiting with friends. We are finally getting some weather that seems like summer is on the way. Now we will have to start preparing for our trip which is just over a week away leaving Monday May 23. Time flies ...

Papers all signed

2011-05-05T20:50:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Elaine and I had a meeting all afternoon to sign the papers for my pension and benefits. So everything is as official as can be now. It took a while since even though we had already thoroughly analyzed the pension options, they have to review everything to ensure there is no misunderstanding of the financial implications. Then there were tax forms and designation of beneficiary and insurance plans. The time is coming near and I only have 8 1/2 working days left after taking a vacation day tomorrow.

Other than that we have been busy getting arrangements for some outdoor work before we get back to the basement renovations. The driveway and front sidewalk are way overdue for replacement and we are getting estimates from contractors. We also have to decide want to do about new front steps at the same time. And we need to get someone to do some grading around our house so the water drains away from the foundation. This will help keep the basement dry and then we can get back to getting some work done down there. I won't be doing this work myself but just the planning and arrangements will keep me busy for a while after I retire.

Lyn at the Royal Wedding

2011-04-30T16:33:00.002-06:00

On the BBC news website I was looking at this panoramic high definition view of the crowd watching the procession for the royal wedding. I think I spotted Lyn in the crowd.

If you are zooming in on the high def picture at the link to the BBC site this shows where Lyn is in the crowd.

Retirement Countdown Update

2011-04-26T20:30:00.001-06:00

I have had a retirement countdown to my official retirement date of May 31. However my last day at work is actually May 19 using up my remaining vacation days. So I have reset to retirement countdown to show the days until May 19. The countdown is now 22 days.

Easter weekend

2011-04-25T10:38:00.000-06:00

We are home now after being up in North Battleford for our church meetings on the Easter weekend. The weather was very good for the weekend mostly sunny. It had dried up enough not to be very muddy on the camp grounds. It was wonderful to see so many people there young and old. We enjoyed the meetings and visiting with people at meals and afterward. One highlight for me was that Kaia was there with her grandma Eunice. We have been praying for Kaia and it was so good to see her doing well enough to come. Elaine and I had lunch with Kaia and Eunice one day. She still very much needs our prayers.

We had a great time but are tired now and mostly taking it easy today and resting up. I guess now we just have to get ready for our next trip in about a month.

Spring Flooding

2011-04-17T21:32:00.000-06:00

We have seen the news reports of flooding in many areas across the prairies from the spring runoff. After supper Elaine and I went for a drive to see some of the flooded areas within the city.

The golf course is mostly water hazard

The bike path and the dog park (in background) under water

Signs along the bike path peeking above water

High water level on the lake looking across to the legislature at twilight.

We will be heading to North Battleford next weekend for Easter. We will likely see what the other areas north of here through the valley are like at that time. There is a flood risk warning that water could top the highway at Lumsden within the next few days. Some people are talking about possibly going up to NB via Moose Jaw. We will wait and see what unfolds the rest of this week.

Hockey 1 - Politics 0

2011-04-11T21:14:00.000-06:00

The French language Federal Leaders' debate has been rescheduled to avoid conflict with the Montreal Canadiens' playoff hockey game with the Boston Bruins. The reports from Montreal are that this scheduling change was a "no brainer" given the priority of hockey in Quebec particularly the Canadiens. The Canadiens' coaches joked that the leaders wanted to watch the hockey game anyhow. I would tend to agree since if there was a hockey game on at the same time as the political debate I would be watching the hockey game. However Elizabeth May says she is outraged that the French language debate could be rescheduled when she was told the English language debate could not accommodate a last-minute change to include her. I certainly understand why she would be upset since "where there's a will there's a way."

Spring Cleaning

2011-04-08T20:39:00.000-06:00

With my last day at work coming in about 6 weeks I have been going through the files in the file cabinets and the binders in the bookcase in my office. Some of the files I inherited from people who left long ago and had never taken the time to fully go through them. I got rid of a lot of paper (many boxes worth) when we moved to the new part of the building in 2001. But one file cabinet, that I didn't use since then, I never took the time to go through the files. I have now gone through that file cabinet and only kept one file folder that could still have some value. The rest I either put in recycling or for shredding. I did the same going through binders in the bookcase and got rid of a lot of stuff, and organized information that could have longer term reference value. Hopefully then the person who moves into my office will have some room to organize her own stuff.

Ukraine 5 - Scotland 0

2011-04-03T21:03:00.000-06:00

This evening we went to watch Mike play in the first game of the annual WCP Cup soccer tournament. He is playing on team Ukraine who beat Scotland this evening 5 - 0 in a fairly easy match for them. Mike said the other teams in their group will be tougher to beat. It is very large tournament with men's, women's and youth divisions played over a 3 week period. The games get good size crowds which are quite lively depending on which teams are playing. The exhibition grounds were very busy since the world men's curling championship is on at the same time, but that will be over next weekend and the soccer continues for two weeks after that.

Pushing the Button

2011-03-31T22:10:00.000-06:00

Today at work I submitted my official retirement notice effective May 31 which is 60 days from now. There is a pension plan database that has a retirement notice page that you fill in the information and the effective date and then click on YES to submit the retirement notice. Everyone at work talking about retirement refers to this as "pushing the button." I heard of some people who had the screen open on their computer for several hours with the mouse pointer hovering back and forth over the YES button before finally pushing it. For me it was not a major issue since I had decided some time ago and planned to give my notice on March 31 which is 60 days before the official May 31 date. With vacation days and other days off to use before retirement I only have about 30 actual working days to go ....

Getting Ready to Travel

2011-03-26T13:11:00.000-06:00

Elaine and I applied for our passports yesterday. Neither of us had one before since the last time we traveled to the US they were not a requirement yet. Applying is a pretty simple process now since there are no lineups like some people faced when passports first became a requirement to go to the US. We had our forms, pictures, and ID all ready, paid our $87 each and were in and out of the passport office in about 10 minutes. They will be processed and mailed by April 8 so we should have them the following week, in plenty of time for our trip at the end of May. We are planning to travel to see Darlene, Steve and Lisa (and Tessie their dog) leaving on the May long weekend. My official retirement date is May 31 but my actual last day is Thursday May 19 using up vacation days at the end. We are overdue for a trip down to visit them near St. Louis so we are looking forward to that.

First Day of Spring

2011-03-20T19:35:00.000-06:00

Elaine doing some shoveling out front on the first day of Spring.

View of the snow in our back yard from our bedroom window.

High, low and median temperatures for winter 2010/2011

According to the calendar today March 20 is the first day of spring, which has been termed the vernal equinox and now usually just called the March equinox. Basically we have "turned the corner" with equal day and night and we start to lengthen the days. But we have not seen many signs of spring yet. We had another layer of snow today on the record snowfall we had this winter. With the amount of snow we have it is just as well if it does not melt too quickly. The temperatures have been slowly trending upward in March after some large swings close to 0C or above and then down to below -30C in January and February. But spring is on the way and we are very ready for it ...

Retirement Planning

2011-03-18T11:09:00.000-06:00

I took the day off today and then tomorrow Elaine and I are going to an all day retirement planning seminar put on by my work. It will have presentations on the pension plan and the various benefit plans such as health plan and life insurance as well as financial planning. I am in a defined benefit plan which is referred to as the "old plan" since it is only for people starting before 1978. The pension is based on years of service and there are options depending on how much you take before 65 versus after 65, and what percentage your survivor will receive. Those that know me are probably not surprised I have already done all the spreadsheets and bar charts comparing all the pension plan options. On Monday the 28th Elaine and I have an appointment with a financial planner to review the pension options and overall financial plan. My plan is to submit my official retirement notice by the end of March for retirement date May 31 and my actual last day of work May 19 using vacation days. May 31 is coming soon - 73 days by my retirement counter ...

Still Praying For Kaia

2011-03-07T20:24:00.000-06:00

In December I posted about praying for Kaia, the little girl with glasses and pink pants in this picture from NB summer camp. She still very much needs our prayers. I want to see her again this summer running around playing with the other children ...

Hazel Is Not Retiring

2011-02-28T17:55:00.000-06:00

I am in my retirement countdown but Hazel McCallion mayor of Mississauga at age 90 is in her 12th term and has no plans to retire. Here is a Rick Mercer report about "Hurricane Hazel."

Career Decision Flowchart

2011-02-25T19:21:00.001-06:00

I found this flowchart I got when I first started university. It should enlarge if you click on it.

Trach Anniversary

2011-02-22T21:23:00.002-06:00

It is 4 years now since I was in hospital with respiratory failure from high CO2 retention. It was February 24 2007 when I was back in the hospital for the third time and in critical condition in intensive care. I was intubated to help my breathing with a ventilator and then on February 28th I had surgery to put in a trach tube. I have continued to use a ventilator at night which has helped to stabilize my CO2 level.

I recently had my 35th trach change which is hard to believe. At first I was back for a appointment to get my trach tube changed every 4 weeks. Then it was lengthened to every 6 weeks. It is done at ambulatory care by a respiratory therapist (RT). Elaine has assisted with every one of those trach changes including at the beginning when it was done by a ENT specialist. Once the doctor got Elaine to do the trach change herself but she would prefer to assist. After 35 times they are becoming fairly routine but I am a difficult customer due to the extreme bend in my trachea caused by kyphoscoliosis. I have custom Bivona silicon hyperflex trach tube that can follow the curvature of my trachea.

I also recently had a checkup with a respiratory specialist and he was quite pleased that my lung condition is remaining stable. So I have a lot to be thankful for. Again I thank God for his goodness and everyone for their prayers.

Family Day

2011-02-21T15:37:00.000-06:00

We have a holiday today here and we are just having a quiet day at home. Family Day is a provincial holiday in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Ontario. In Manitoba today is Louis Riel Day and in Prince Edward Island it is Islander Day. All other provinces have a regular work day. I think the idea was that we need a holiday to break up the long cold winter. Places like BC have nicer weather so they don't need a holiday :)

We thought our basement crew would be here today to finish the steel bracing but they are taking the day off and should finish tomorrow. Then we won't have any more work down there until spring after we get the outside grading fixed and make sure water is not coming into the basement. We are also needing the front sidewalk and driveway redone which is badly disintegrated. We tried to call contractors about the driveway last year but they were all way behind in their work due to the amount of rain we had. The dollar signs are adding up but the work needs to be done.

We are getting ready for our first polio group meeting of the year on Thursday. I am the treasurer so I will be presenting the 2010 financial statements. This is not a large group (about 60 members) so I just keep track of the memberships, donations, and expenses in a spreadsheet I built that generates the financial statement in the format the government wants. This is my second year so once everything is set up it goes quite easily.

So for my day off I am not really busy but enough to keep me out of trouble ...

Jackhammers in the Basement (If we didn't already have headaches)

2011-02-17T17:20:00.002-06:00

The crew arrived this morning to start the work in our basement to put up steel bracing along the south wall and on each side of the window on the west wall. The steel braces are 5" C channel and the bottom has to be cemented into the floor. So today they were using jackhammers to make the holes in the basement floor. It was very loud and vibrated the whole house.

I was working from home today due to the weather. It was blowing snow today and we are headed back down to around -30C for the weekend, after being up above 0C for a while. (At the risk of another comment that I always talk about the weather.) Anyhow I was working from home reviewing a report and writing up my comments with the jackhammers going right below my office. Elaine said it would be nice to go out somewhere if the weather wasn't miserable.

After the crew was done for the day we went downstairs and looked around and took some pictures.

There are a total of 12 braces to be done and they have jackhammered 7 1/2 holes so far. They have 3 jackhammers and two can be seen along the wall in the picture. They will be back tomorrow to do the other holes

This is one of the steel braces set into a hole made in the floor and leaning against the side wall. When completed it will be put up against the wall and bolted to the floor joist above.

After this work is done we will continue with our plans for how we want to finish the basement. To be continued ....

Updates

2011-02-12T15:40:00.000-06:00

It has been a couple weeks since I posted on my blog so thought I would do some updates on what's new around here.

Weather

As usual most of the news around here is about the weather. Back on January 20 I posted about Weather Ups and Downs. We have continued the swings between the -30s and then up around 0C. Being the "thoroughly quantitative fellow" (as one of my bosses called me one time) I decided to plot the highs, lows and median temperatures since the beginning of the year to illustrate this. After being down close to -30C most of the week we are up to +2C today. I worked from home Monday to Thursday and then was able to go to the office Friday with the milder weather

Basement

My last post was about the basement foundation inspection. I now have the report from the structural engineer recommending the steel bracing of the basement walls. I will take this down to the city next week to apply for the permit and then have the contractor do the work. In the mean time we are looking at different ways to lay out the basement when we get it redeveloped.

Retirement Planning

The time is getting closer for my retirement May 31 (107 days now according to my retirement counter.) I have received pension estimates with the options to decide on as well as summaries of other pension benefits. I am in what is termed the "old plan" which is a defined benefit plan and there are options depending on how much you take before 65 versus after 65, and what percentage your survivor will receive. We are advised to meet with a financial planner which we will do this month and then next month we will attend a retirement planning seminar. The positive is that on pension with lower deductions, and pension splitting reducing taxes, as well as some other payouts for 5 years in lieu of accumulated earned days off, we will actually be as well off or better than when I am working.

Egypt

As everyone has been seeing the world news is all about Egypt. Today's newspaper here had the headline Mubarak Resigns: Sask weather contribution factor. The connection they are making is that wet weather in Saskatchewan last year, together with factors in other areas, have caused soaring world food prices that sparked violent protest in the Arab region. With a corrupt and oppressive regime the soaring food prices were the "last straw." I work with a man who is from Egypt. His wife and children went to Egypt in December to visit family. Then he went there in January. Last week I saw that he was back but since I was away from the office I did not have a chance to talk to him until Friday. They had come home 4 days sooner than planned since it was getting very dangerous there. He had just gotten the news that Mubarak had resigned and he was very pleased about this. I asked if he thought the situation will improve in Egypt. He said it has to improve since no matter who is the new leader it has to be better than what they have had. But he watches the news with great concern because both his and his wife's family are in Cairo. This brings world events right close to home.

Well after not blogging for 2 weeks I have made up for it with a long post in 4 chapters. I better sign off now ....

Basement Foundation Inspection

2011-01-30T20:05:00.000-06:00

With the basement down to the bare concrete we see there are cracks in the concrete in the 46' long south wall. There are cracks diagonally from the corners of the window opening down to the floor and a long horizontal crack that extends half way up the whole length of the wall. The cracks have not opened up yet and the wall is still straight but the contractor recommended steel bracing as a preventative measure. This will require a permit from the city and an engineer's report.

Yesterday we had a structural engineer here to inspect the cracks in our basement foundation walls. He said the bracing is not urgent at present but in future wet clay soil expanding could be enough for the foundation to start deflecting inward. The recommendation is for 5'' C channel steel bracing on each side of the window and at 4' centres along the south wall.

The example diagram shows I beam steel bracing but the concept is the same with C channel steel bracing. The bottom of the steel brace is cemented into holes jack-hammered into the floor and the top of the brace is bolted to the floor joist above. Fortunately our wall is still straight and not buckled at the crack as in the diagram. Along the wall we will have 10 or 11 of these steel braces. I will have the engineer's report in about a week and then will submit the city permit application before having the work done.

And so continues the ongoing saga of our basement renovations ....

Video

2011-01-29T11:19:00.000-06:00

I posted this as an example showing my sister Darlene about posting videos.

Weather Ups and Downs

2011-01-20T20:26:00.001-06:00

This morning the temperature was -36C with -48C windchill so it was a good day to work from home. As the day went on the temperature was coming up but also the wind got stronger and gusting. The temperatures were above zero in Alberta and close to it in western Saskatchewan so with the large temperature difference the wind is blowing some snow tonight. We are supposed to be up to -4C tomorrow so these cold temperatures we had today are blowing through quickly.

Now that the basement walls are down we just have bare concrete walls which have next to zero insulation value. So with the cold weather our furnace is working overtime. It will be "interesting" to see what our heating bills are like next month.

Basement Renovations Part 1

2011-01-15T21:23:00.001-06:00

As I posted previously we had a contractor come this week to completely tear out the basement walls, ceiling and flooring to get rid of mold. Ahead of time almost everything was packed up and moved out to the garage or upstairs. Big things like the washer, dryer and freezer were left, as well as the treadmill and a sofa-bed that they covered with plastic.

The workers arrived on Tuesday morning to start the work

By Friday evening the basement was down to the bare concrete

We stayed at a hotel while the work was being done. They had sealed off the upstairs from the basement but we were better off to be out of the house during the demolition. So we were at the hotel from Tuesday until Friday. The contractor crew will be back on Monday to do some additional cleanup. How and when we rebuild will be another story.

Drastic Measures

2011-01-07T21:08:00.002-06:00

We are in the process of moving everything out of our basement before a crew comes to rip out everything from walls to floors to ceiling. It is a huge project going through everything and getting it ready to move upstairs or to the garage. A lot of things we are throwing out, recycling, or donating to reduce the stuff to be stored. Due to my health and Janice's allergies, Elaine is ending up with most of this work.

It started over the last several months when Janice was still staying in her bedroom downstairs and having more and more serious allergic reactions and ended up in emergency at the hospital twice in November. We were suspecting the allergic reactions were from mold so had her move to a bedroom upstairs. We had an environmental investigator come to do an inspection for mold in the basement. We thought it may be from some water seepage at floor level that had gotten the carpets wet in one corner of the basement earlier in the spring/ summer. But the inspection revealed a much more extensive and serious mold problem. The way the insulation had been done in the headers between the floor joists without sufficient sealing of the vapour barrier, condensation and frost from humidity could get behind the insulation and eventually over the years formed mold in the walls.   The environmental inspector recommended everything be completely ripped out to the bare concrete and the mold cleaned up to be sure we got all of it. That is the project we have been getting ready for likely to start the middle of next week.

The contractor doing the work, Lawrence Environmental Services, is specially trained and certified to safely remove mold. Scot Lawrence has 28 years construction experience and is a recognized expert in mold remediation. We are quite pleased to have found someone with his experience overseeing the work to get our mold problem resolved. They will seal off the basement from the upstairs and have fans with filters to apply negative pressure and filter out the dust and mold as they do their demolition in the basement. Then they will clean the concrete and the headers between the floor joists.   This is an expensive process but we feel it is well worth it to ensure our health and safety in our home.

Tomorrow we have some people coming to help carry furniture and boxes upstairs and to the garage. After some final preparation next week we are planning to move out of the house for about a week to a suite at a motel while the work is underway. Some people take the opportunity when moving to sort, organize and thin out their belongings.   This is something that this project has brought to us as we move out of our basement. This project is a drastic measure but we feel it will be well worth it in the long term. I will do more updates as the project proceeds to future phases to rebuild the basement again.

Happy Christmas - New Years - Birthday

2011-01-03T16:17:00.000-06:00

Today is Elaine's birthday. Since her birthday is right after New Years we usually buy her birthday presents at the same time as Christmas presents and she opens them then as well. Others in her family have birthdays in this same season so they have combined celebrations. Last Tuesday when we went to Saskatoon for the Christmas gathering with Elaine's family it was her brother Kelvin's birthday the same day so we had birthday cake after the Christmas dinner. So the Christmas, New Years and birthday celebrations all seem to merge.

Yesterday after church Elaine and Janice and I met Mike and Nicole at the Hotel Sask for brunch for Elaine's birthday. She got her birthday present from Mike and Nicole there and we had a nice time visiting along with our meal.

We have been celebrating Elaine's birthday ever since Christmas and today we wish her the "official" Happy Birthday.

The Gate of the Year

2010-12-31T19:53:00.003-06:00

King George VI in his 1939 Christmas message ended with these words:

In the meantime I feel that we may all find a message of encouragement in
the lines which, in my closing words, I would like to say to you: 'I said to the
man who stood at the Gate of the Year, "Give me a light that I may tread
safely into the unknown." And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put
your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and
safer than a known way."'

May that Almighty Hand guide and uphold us all.

He was quoting from this poem;

"God Knows" - "The Gate of the Year"

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So heart bestill:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.

Minnie Louise Haskins 1908

Queen Elizabeth handed a copy of this poem to her husband, King George VI, and he quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British Empire. The poem was inspirational in the early days of the Second World War. Its words remained a source of comfort to the Queen for the rest of her life, and she had its words engraved on brass plaques and fixed to the gates of the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle, where the King was interred. Queen Elizabeth was also buried here in 2002, and the words of "The Gate of the Year" were read out at her state funeral.

Family Christmas Gathering

2010-12-30T12:36:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday we went up to Saskatoon for the day to a Christmas gathering of Elaine's family at David and Sonja's home.

This is some of the group during the gift exchange.

Elaine's parents

Janice and Chanel

I wore the new sweater and scarf I got for Christmas

It made a long day since we left home after 8AM and got back about 10PM. The weather was good for traveling and we had good food and visiting. All in all a great day.

Christmas at Home

2010-12-24T20:31:00.000-06:00

We had our Christmas dinner here today as we have usually been doing on Christmas Eve. Mike and Nicole came to be with Elaine and Janice and I. We celebrate on the 24th so Mike and Nicole can be with her family on Christmas day. Janice made the turkey for today which she enjoys doing, and Elaine made the dressing and potatoes, etc for the meal.

After dinner we had Chris and Maryanne on Skype while we opened our presents. Janice had her Macbook hooked up to the TV for this. We could see their presents and they could watch us open our presents.

The family gave me a Rider cardigan made from rugby jersey material and a matching neck scarf. I love it. It is just perfect for me.

We had a great day today. On Christmas day we will have a quiet day here and graze on leftovers and goodies, etc. Then on Tuesday Dec 28 we go to Saskatoon to be with Elaine's family for a Christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas everyone from Elaine and I.

Handel's Messiah

2010-12-17T20:33:00.000-06:00

Handel's Messiah is performed all around the world especially before Christmas. This video is from a choir in Brazil performing the final parts of Handel's Messiah - Worthy is the Lamb - Blessing and Honour and Glory - Amen. Most people are familiar with the Hallelujah chorus but the ending is just as powerful or even more. All of the Messiah is sung from the scriptures and I love all of it. I attended the performance of Messiah on Wednesday evening with the choir Elaine is in plus four excellent soloists together with the symphony orchestra. One of my favourite solo parts is always The Trumpet Shall Sound. This year the tenor and alto soloists were particularly good. But the best parts for me are the Hallelujah chorus and the ending Worthy is the Lamb - Blessing and Honour and Glory - Amen. These build up to full volume of the choir, orchestra with timpani and pipe organ. I will have to listen to it on CD or DVD again before I get to attend again next December.

Praying for Kaia

2010-12-10T22:21:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken at our summer church camp when the children had their fun day. This is my friend Kaia age 8 who was rubbing my back and asking me how I was feeling while she talked to me. I have been thinking about and praying for Kaia quite a bit since she has serious health problems with a brain tumour and her heart. She has had health problems all her life so she is very concerned about how other people are feeling and is full of love for people. I want to see her again next camp running around having fun with the other children.

Happy Birthday Mary

2010-12-08T07:00:00.044-06:00

Here is one of my favourite pictures of Maryanne looking very happy to be starting her first day of play school. Today on her 30th birthday it doesn't seem that long ago to us that she was just off to school with her cute smile. She has come a long way in her education since then and into the final phase of completing her Phd. We hope this is a happy, healthy and successful year. Happy birthday Maryanne.

Disability Conference

2010-12-02T22:02:00.001-06:00

I was at conference all day today on fostering a positive environment for employees with disabilities. It was for provincial crown corporations, department and agencies. For the last year I have been on a committee (called an affinity group) that promotes education and advocates for issues related to employees with disabilities. This committee organized and hosted the conference and the two co-chairs of our committee where the MCs. In the afternoon I represented our company on one of the panel discussions. Each of us on the panel spoke in response to three questions related to promoting a positive environment for employees with disabilities: the role of the organization, the role of supervisors, and the role of affinity groups. The real value is in hearing what others are doing and learning from their successes. I really felt it was a very successful conference.

Christmas a Month Early

2010-11-25T21:51:00.000-06:00

We wish our US family and friends a happy Thanksgiving which they have the 4th Thursday of November. But up here "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." Our post-polio group has its meetings the 4th Thursday of the month and today we were celebrating Christmas a month early. We had a short meeting and then a big turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and cabbage rolls and all the trimmings, and black forest cake for desert. It was really a wonderful meal catered by an older couple from out of town which someone in the group knew. After dinner there was some Christmas carol singing and visiting.

The weather here has also seemed like Christmas a month early. By three weeks into November we have already had at least 3 big snow storms that clogged up the streets. This morning it was -27C with -39C windchill but the temperature went up during the day and it was -8C when we were coming home from the Christmas dinner. So we hope for some more moderate weather for the next while.

Weekend: Music, Football, and Birthday Party

2010-11-22T22:16:00.000-06:00

Last week Elaine was busy with practices for her choir concert which I attended on Saturday evening. It is quite impressive that they got about 600 people out on a cold Saturday night to their concert. They first performed Te Deum by Charpentier which was composed in the late 1600s. It was said that King Louis XIV of France decreed this piece be played at all official ceremonies. This was a very enjoyable hymn of praise with the choir, soloists, orchestra and pipe organ. The longer part of the program was The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by Ken Jenkins which they performed before in December 2007 (when Ky and Lyn were in the choir.) The Armed Man is quite a dynamic performance with goes from the glory of war to the horror of war to remembrance and then to the promise of peace. It starts out with the choir singing to the beat of the drums and marching feet of the choir (army) and then builds up in the "war" part of the performance at full volume. It is quite an experience that has you wide awake with timpani and drums at full volume with the orchestra and choir. It was a lengthy performance which finished with some beautiful songs of peace. Now the next concert to look forward to is the annual Handel's Messiah on December 15.

On Sunday afternoon/ evening all the church was invited to celebrate little Rueben's first birthday. The Riders were in the western final so the main event was eating supper while watching the football. It was a lot of fun watching the game with the group. The game didn't look too promising at first but the Riders seem to always let the other team get a lead at the beginning before coming back for the win. We had birthday cake at half time and then more visiting while Rueben opened presents after the game. It was a good time.

Driving Carefully

2010-11-10T20:54:00.001-06:00

We had wet snow starting last night and continuing today. My timing turned out to be good just getting the snow tires on my Mazda yesterday. It doesn't have much traction with regular all season radials but much better with snow tires. I did go to work this morning but took it easy driving on ring road. The traffic was moving along about 60 km/h when I went which was not bad. There were some people in the ditch mostly ones who get impatient and try to pass and spin out into the ditch. When I went home at lunch the city streets were ridiculous with ridges of wet snow, but when I got onto ring road it had been cleared. It was slippery but OK if you are careful. I was just as glad to stay home then and to have Thursday off for Remembrance Day.

End of a Beautiful Weekend

2010-11-07T20:07:00.000-06:00

Looking across Wascana lake to the Legislature just after sunset

We had another beautiful day today with a high of 18C. Yesterday was 12C and it was very nice all last week, a very welcome change from the stormy weather the week before.

Yesterday Elaine and I went up to Shellbrook for her Aunt Violet's memorial service. It made for a long day going up in the morning and coming home in the evening, but we were very glad we went. It was good to see the family and so many people there. With the beautiful weather the traveling was no problem.

It would be great if the nice weather would last a while longer. It looks like the downward trend is coming this week but we may still stay a few degrees above normal.

Staying in Our Bomb Shelter

2010-10-29T18:14:00.000-06:00

The storm that blew thorough here this week was called a "weather bomb" which is defined as a drop of barometric pressure of 24 millibars within 24 hours. We had a drop of pressure of 27 millibars within 21 hours and was the lowest barometric pressure on record in North America other than in a hurricane. We did not have as much snow here as areas south and east of here but the sustained high winds made some pretty big drifts.

With the weather bomb we just stayed home in our bomb shelter. I worked from home from Tuesday to today. The wind was gone down by Wednesday night but the roads out to where I work on the edge of the city were not cleared yet. I was reviewing documents and had several conference calls which I could do just as well from home. We stayed in until Thursday afternoon when Elaine went shopping and then we were to a meeting with our polio group Thursday evening. The roads were not great but passable then.

We had Elaine's parents here visiting since Monday. It was raining as they were coming but the big storm hit that night. They stayed here until this morning so the roads and weather would be better for traveling home. It was good to have them stay a few days. In the pictures you can see from the smile that Elaine was very happy to have her parents here.

Snowing and Blowing

2010-10-26T17:41:00.000-06:00

View from the side window with our van near the neighbour's house.

View from the front window

Our warm weather is gone for a while as a snow storm has blown in. I decided to work from home today and not venture out because the wind and wet snow were making slippery driving conditions. Elaine's parents are here visiting and will likely stay until Thursday when it looks like the weather will be better. By next weekend we are supposed to be back to 11C and sunny which will be nice if it is true.

Another Week

2010-10-24T20:40:00.000-06:00

Another week has gone by since I last blogged so thought I would just do a little update. During the week I didn't really go anywhere other than to work each day and then home. Yesterday I enjoyed helping Janice with making display panels for her "magnetic grapes" experiment.

Today we had lunch together at the church after the service with chili, salads, corn bread, etc. There was quite a bit of variety with four different kinds of chili, including one made by Janice with ground turkey, a vegetarian chili with pumpkin, and two with beef. Of course there was more than enough and desert as well. And we had a nice time visiting during and after the meal.

I was hoping to go to the park again for Sunday afternoon which we have enjoyed several times this year. I thought this may be one of the last nice days before cooler weather and possibly snow is in the forecast by Tuesday. The temperature got up to 11C but it was cloudy with rain showers so we stayed home in the afternoon. Then this afternoon Elaine's parents phoned that they are planning to head over to our house tomorrow after visiting in Manitoba for the weekend. So it will be nice to have them here for a visit.

Weekend Visiting

2010-10-17T20:19:00.002-06:00

We had my cousin Stan staying with us for the weekend. He had a course all day Saturday and Sunday. We visited with him for a while when he arrived Friday night, and then each day after his class. On Saturday Stan and Elaine and I were invited over to Bronwyn and Wade's place for supper. It was very enjoyable to have supper and visit with them and see their home.    We visited more with Stan back at our house that evening. We were listening to a CD he has of a pianist playing medleys of old hymns, and making a list to the hymns in each medley and were able to identify almost all of them. Then Stan was back to our house for supper Sunday after his class and we had another visit before he left for home.

Then Sunday evening I helped Janice with her science experiment demonstrating the magnetic properties of grapes. (Actually any fruit with high water content will work.) She has the video of the experiment on her blog.    We had fun with that.

We had a nice relaxing weekend.    I was not feeling too energetic since I had a trach change Thursday and have had more soreness, coughing and congestion in the nights since then, which disturbed my sleep (and Elaine's as well.) So we just need a good sleep tonight and then back to work tomorrow.

Norwegian Thanksgiving

2010-10-12T22:16:00.000-06:00

We were up to Elaine's family's farm for the Thanksgiving weekend. While we were there some relatives from Norway were visiting in the area. The two couples are cousins on Elaine's father's side of the family. We first met them at church on Sunday. In the service Elaine's father gave a message and read scriptures in Norwegian to have something for the visitors, especially the older couple who spoke little English. We could follow along the verses in our Bibles. He told a story of the experience of salvation that his aunt from Norway had told about in a letter at the age of 90. The visitors found the story quite touching since this aunt was their grandmother/ great grandmother. Also in the service 20 children went up to the front for verses and songs. That is always an important and enjoyable part of the service. After the service there was a Thanksgiving dinner for all the families related to these visitors. We stayed around for a while in the afternoon for more visiting with the folks from Norway and some picture taking, etc. We haven't had a chance to go through the pictures yet but will try to get some posted.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2010-10-08T13:10:00.001-06:00

This is the Thanksgiving weekend in Canada which has historically been a time to give thanks for the harvest. With the nice weather the reports from the Saskatchewan harvest are looking better than they were earlier. The latest report for the period Sept 28 to Oct 4 is that 60% is complete, which is more than double the previous week's report of 29%. The normal for this period is 85% so more good weather is needed.

We are heading up north to Elaine's family's farm for the weekend. I hope we can get away in good time today. Janice has some work to complete at the university before we can leave.

Let's remember to be thankful at all times and especially be reminded of God's faithfulness at this Thanksgiving weekend The hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness expresses our thanksgiving for God's goodness.

"Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Have a great weekend everyone. I will try to post some pictures after our trip.

Another Nice Afternoon in the Parks

2010-10-03T21:45:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged since last Sunday when we went to the park in the afternoon. It was so nice today at 25C with little wind I wanted to go there again. But Elaine wanted to take her bicycle and start up in the northwest of the city at the beginning of the bike trails. So I dropped her off there and drove to meet her at another park farther along the trail.

Elaine at the start of the bike trail

Elaine took pictures along the bike trail as she rode toward Wascana Park

Elaine took this picture from near the Marina looking toward Pine Island

Elaine took another picture from the Marina zooming in on Pine Island. She could not see me from where she was but I was going to meet her at Pine Island after she crossed the bridge to that side of the lake. When I looked at the picture afterward and zoomed in I saw myself (with Tilley hat and oxygen tank) where I was sitting after walking around the island (enlarged in inset.)

The beautiful warm sunny weather we have had for the last 10 days is supposed to last at least another week. So we tried to get out and enjoy it while we can. And we are very thankful the farmers are getting some harvesting weather.

Fall in the Park

2010-09-26T20:33:00.002-06:00

We were at the park again this afternoon and there is a noticeable change from two weeks ago with the leaves starting to get their fall colours. We had a sunny hot day with high of 29C but by late afternoon when we went to the park it started to cloud over and was a very pleasant 23C.

Driving through the park across from the legislature

The lake near the legislature looking toward downtown

(If you click on it you can see the Rider logos on the twin towers)

View from the walkway under the Pine Island "waterfall"

As I mentioned when I posted two weeks ago about being at the park, Pine Island is our favourite place to go for a view of the lake. I hadn't walked around to the side of the island along the walkway under the waterfall before. We also walked around to the upper lookout above this waterfall. I am so glad to be able to do some walking without getting out of breath. I carry my oxygen tank but just use it at 1.5 litres/min while walking compared to the 4 litres/min I used to need. And there are a lot of benches around the island that we can sit on when we want to for a while. We had a very nice time in the park.

Update: Here is a link with more information and pictures for the waterfall on Pine Island on the old Broad Street Bridge.

Getting Our Hopes Up

2010-09-23T21:00:00.001-06:00

The weather forecast for the next 6 days is getting our hopes up for some nice sunny warm days. IF it turns out as forecast (big IF) the start of fall will be better than most of summer.

Update: So far the actual temperatures are better than forecast.
Friday 19C Saturday 23C Sunday 29C

Aunt Helen

2010-09-21T20:41:00.001-06:00

I called my Aunt Helen and had a nice conversation by telephone. She lives in the US in Delaware and was married to my father's youngest brother George who passed away in 2004. Aunt Helen is the only one living of aunts or uncles on my Dad's side of the family (and none on my Mom's side.) She will be 89 in November and still active, driving to get groceries and to appointments. But she is careful to only drive in her own local area and not when traffic is busy. She told me she had some surgery a while ago but it was "a piece of cake" and she was up and around again in no time.

In the picture behind Aunt Helen is her daughter Carol and her sons George and Roy (and Tara the dog.) The picture was taken when we were visiting in 2004 at the time of Uncle George's memorial service. Then Aunt Helen had 5 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. Now she has 9 great grandchildren with 1 more on the way. It is nice that some live in a nearby area.

It was very nice to talk to Aunt Helen by phone. And Elaine heard from Carol via Facebook that she was very happy to hear from me. I will have to remember to call Aunt Helen more often.

Sigh of Relief

2010-09-17T22:41:00.000-06:00

The whole province and Rider fans everywhere just had a big sigh of relief as they won a close one in overtime. We all were in shock when they squandered a chance to win before the end of regulation. But they pulled it out in OT to "win one for the gipper." (But the "gipper" is still going to have some explaining to do.)

We were nice and warm in our living room watching on TV, but good thing it was an exciting game to warm up the fans at the stadium. It was +5C at 7PM at the start of the game but had dropped to -1C by 10PM at the end of the game. We had our first frost this morning at -1C but this evening it is dropping quickly. The forecast is to go down to -4C but could be lower since skies are clear.

Soccer Final

2010-09-13T21:13:00.000-06:00

Elaine and I were out this evening to watch Mike play in the city soccer final game. His team had won the quarter final and semi final and were up against the top team in the final tonight. Unfortunately they lost tonight but they played a good game.

The temperature was about 10C with light rain so it was quite cool out watching at Mosaic stadium/ Taylor field. There were about 35 - 40 fans in the stands watching the game in the rain and cold weather. A temperature of 10C may not sound that cold but with the rain and some wind it is cold enough. We had warm jackets with hoods up and gloves, and with a quilt across us and an umbrella. Quite a few of the others had umbrellas as well. We fared reasonably well watching the game for 1 and 1/2 hours, but we did not hang around for the team pictures and awards.

Now we are at home having hot drinks of tea and warming up.

Sunday Afternoon at the Park

2010-09-12T20:20:00.003-06:00

Elaine and I went to the park this afternoon since it was a nice day mostly sunny and high of 18C. We first went to our favourite place to look at Wascana Lake from the outlook on Pine Island.

Elaine on the bridge to Pine Island with the Legislature in the background

Looking across the lake from Pine Island past Spruce Island toward the Legislature

Looking north from Pine Island toward the marina with downtown in the background

Kayakers sharing the lake with the birds near the Legislature

After spending some time in the park Elaine showed me where the end of the bike path is near the park. She has gone for bike rides several times along the bike paths and wanted to show me where she rides. So she took me to different points across the city where there is a view of the bike paths that follow the creek, and then up to the northwest of the city where the path starts. The path follows the creek through a series of parks that intersect the city. All these parks and scenic areas are pretty amazing for a city that started as nothing but flat prairie.

It was a very enjoyable afternoon out in the sunshine after is seems like quite a while of rainy weather.

Updates

2010-09-11T11:29:00.000-06:00

The sun is finally shining this morning. It was another rainy day yesterday bringing us another 25mm ( 1") on top of all the rain we got earlier in the week. At our place we had over 4'' of rain in the last week. The amount in different areas was quite variable. At the airport where the weather is reported they got about half that. The next week is supposed to be mostly sunny which will be a nice change.

After the noisy ventilator problems on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, it was quiet the last two nights. It was nice to be able to sleep without that disturbance. Hopefully whatever was causing the noise has worked out of its system and we are good to go now for a while with this machine.

Noises in the Night

2010-09-09T21:25:00.000-06:00

I am still using a ventilator at night to help my breathing since I was in hospital in 2007. The ventilator I use is called a Respironics PLV-100 as shown in the picture. Once a year the respiratory therapist brings a replacement ventilator so the one I have been using can be sent away for servicing. On Tuesday I got my ventilator changed and used it that night. I had tried it out for a while during the day and it sounded and felt fine. It has a moderate rhythmic breathing sound when operating. But 15 minutes after I went to bed the machine started making strange noises, kind of a scraping and rattle and intermittent knocking. I tried to ignore the sounds and get some sleep but was mostly awake until after 4 AM.

Then Wednesday morning I called the respiratory therapist and he brought me another replacement ventilator. I tested it for over half an hour before supper to make sure it was working normally. I went to bed that night and all seemed well. I woke up at 2 AM to the ventilator making sounds like a cricket chirping. This time I shut it off and turned it back on and it quieted down to normal sound. After a while I got back to sleep but at 4 AM the cricket sounds were back in the machine. I got it quieted down again and got some sleep before the cricket sounds were back at 6 AM. I fell back to sleep then until 8AM and awoke to a quiet ventilator.

I emailed the respiratory therapist to report the latest in the noisy ventilators saga. He still has the one I was using for the last year and will bring it back if I continue to have trouble with the replacement machines. We will see what happens tonight. I hope all is quiet in the machine so we can get a good nights sleep.

The rain came down and the floods came up

2010-09-06T17:11:00.000-06:00

Yesterday evening I posted that we had a downpour of 38mm of rain in about 20 minutes. Well that was just the start. By this morning the rain gauge at our house showed 81mm (3.2") of rain since yesterday afternoon. A lot of streets were flooded and likely many basements. We came out fine. We did not get any more water in our basement, just the small wet spot in the corner we already had yesterday.

It sounds like this rain was fairly general over the south central prairies. This will not be good for the farmers trying to harvest crops. Prior to this rain the news reports were that the harvest was already behind due to wet weather. This much rain will put the harvest farther behind. And the forecast is for more to come in the next week.

If it rains it pours

2010-09-05T19:57:00.003-06:00

We watched the Riders beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 27-23 in the Labour Day Classic on TV this afternoon. This makes it 6 times in a row the Riders have beaten the Bombers in the Labour Day Classic. Let's hope they beat them again in next week's rematch in the Banjo Bowl in Winnipeg.

At least the rain downpour held off until after the game. We got about 38mm (1 1/2") of rain within about 20 minutes. We checked downstairs in one corner of the basement floor that gets wet sometimes when we get a lot of rain. We are keeping an eye on it to see if the water seeps in at floor level or is coming down the wall. The floor was a little wet along the edge of the wall in the corner but nothing major.

There is not much else new around here. I am looking forward to having Monday off before going back to work on Tuesday.

Update 8PM: Just after I published this another rain downpour started.

Birthday Toys

2010-08-30T20:12:00.002-06:00

Mary said that on my birthday I wanted to sit in my big chair and fly the helicopter they gave me. So I made a video of me doing that. The helicopter takes off from the ottoman circles the room and then lands again on the ottoman. I am getting a lot better at not crashing into things.

For my birthday supper we had some of the pot roast Janice made on Saturday when Elaine and I were out. Janice also made mashed potatoes and gravy, and apple crisp for dessert, and Elaine made a salad And Lyn was here with us for supper to help celebrate my birthday. It was a good day.

Smoky Day

2010-08-20T20:53:00.001-06:00

Downtown Regina this morning with smoke in the air.

The weather report has been showing smoke from fires all day.

We are having heavy smoke today from forest fires in BC. The smoke from BC is covering the prairies all across Alberta and Saskatchewan and into Manitoba. This morning the Saskatchewan Health Ministry warned people with asthma and other respiratory and heart conditions to consider staying indoors with the windows closed. I went out to work this morning but didn't stay outside very long. I put the fan in the car on internal recirculate and didn't have any problem while driving. And we kept our windows closed at home. On the weekend Environment Canada says that rain showers in Saskatchewan could "cleanse the air" from this smoke.

There is a website BCwildfire.ca with reports on the fire situation. Today they are reporting that another 330 firefighters are coming from across the country to help the BC fire crews with the increased fire activity. And for everyone's sake we hope and pray for rain for BC to help get the fires under control.

Family Weekend

2010-08-16T19:17:00.000-06:00

We were at Good Spirit Lake for the weekend with Elaine's family. Elaine's parents and all the brothers and sisters were there with most of the family. Of the grandchildren only Maryanne and Mike did not make it. We stayed in the large cabin with 4 couples, and others were in trailers and tents.

This is the view from the back of the cabin toward the lake. Normally it is a long way from the cabin out to the water, but with all the rain and flooding this year the lake was very high and up near the cabin.

We did lot of visiting inside the cabin because the weather was cool, windy and wet. Here is Elaine's father showing the little great-grandson how he does push-ups. Elaine's mother is in the back looking at an album made in honour of her 80th birthday.

Here are the parents and brothers and sisters on the back deck of the cabin.

Several people had left but this is a picture of most of the ones still there Sunday afternoon.

It was a very enjoyable weekend even though the sun did not come out until Sunday afternoon when we were getting ready to leave. Mainly it was a good time getting together with family.

Good Neighbours

2010-08-07T20:57:00.000-06:00

This evening Elaine and I were at a 25th anniversary celebration for the couple who live next door to us to the north. It was at the community centre in our area with many of their family, including some from as far away as Alaska and Florida, and many of the neighbours as well.   Their son made BBQ pulled pork and chicken in his custom made barbecue unit which is over 8 feet long on a trailer behind his truck. It is bright red with 4 chrome smoke stacks on the top. We wish we had a picture of it.

We were glad to go to the anniversary since this couple have been very good neighbours. In winter he clears snow with his quad ATV with a blade across our two adjacent driveways. And the last few years he has rototilled our garden when he does his. They travel a lot both winter and summer and Elaine always looks after their place while they are away.    It is great to have good neighbours.

The older woman who was our neighbour to the south just moved away this week and the house is up for sale. Her husband passed away a year ago and I had a blog post then that we lost a good neighbour. They were our neighbours for over 30 years moving in about one year after we did.   She would have liked to stay in the house a couple more years but her family wanted her to get a condo.    Before she left she told Elaine that she is praying that with the house sale we will get good neighbours. That is our prayer as well.

New Patio

2010-08-02T20:59:00.000-06:00

We have our new patio finished now at the back of our house. I had made the original patio almost 30 years ago from used 24" x 30" sidewalk blocks. It was sinking near the house and many blocks were broken. The guys we hired to make our new patio did a great job. They first removed the old patio and dug out the area with a small bobcat. Originally they thought their small bobcat would go through our back gate. But they made a hole in the neighbour's fence to get into our yard. (Fortunately the neighbours were not upset when they got home!) They filled the area with crusher dust and leveled and packed it. Then they put down a layer of sand to set the stones in. They were very careful with their work, always measuring and checking with their levels and straight edges. We are very pleased with the finished patio. The stones are Barkman Holland in sierra grey with charcoal borders.

After a little more clean up we just need to put the patio furniture back out and start using it while we still have some summer weather!

Ready to go

2010-07-31T10:59:00.000-06:00

This morning Maryanne and Chris packed up and left our place to start heading home. We had a great time while they were here and a lot of fun. They have been in Regina about 3 week since NB camp, and about half the time at Chris's parents' place and half at our house. They will be stopping over in Calgary and attending a wedding near there on Sunday and then going on home. Janice is also away at a wedding in Winnipeg so Elaine and I will have a quiet weekend.

Our visiting rocket scientist

2010-07-29T16:43:00.000-06:00

This afternoon Chris was out on our street demonstrating the rocket car that his father made. Our friends Brandy and Chad were here with their little girls and everyone was out to watch. Chris first fills the cylinder in the car with water and then builds up pressure with an air compressor. In the bottom picture you can see the car making a turn on two wheels and shooting across the street toward the neighbours' driveway.

Trying out the new toy

2010-07-27T10:38:00.000-06:00

I am trying out my new iPod touch that I got last night. It is an early birthday present. So now I am trying out blogging with it.

Yesterday we had the whole family here for supper. Maryanne made pulled pork in the slow cooker. It was great. We ate outside but it was too hot to stay out there. We came inside and had a nice evening visiting.

Watching Soccer

2010-07-19T21:54:00.000-06:00

We went to watch one of Michael's soccer games this evening. He had an early game today over by 7:30 so we thought it was a good one to attend. Some of his games go to 10PM and it would be too late for us by the time we get home and get ready for bed. Unfortunately this evening both teams were short players (maybe on vacation?) Mike's team was short 2 players and the other team was short one player. So everyone had to play the full 90 minutes with no subs.

It was a beautiful evening 22C with little wind so quite enjoyable to be out watching. I had the camera along and was trying to get some pictures. (Mike is number 15.)