Leaves

I am some glad that we bagged the leaves last Friday. Because on Sat, we had a snow storm. Not a big deal, but the leaves would still be there. So we ended up with 17 bags from the back yard. And that's mulched. Still have to do the front. The leaves are still on my neighbour's tree. Today we have big rain and wind.
God helped me do my cryptoquote the other day. I was doing that and watching TV. Wasn't doing too well. Name at the bottom started with an O. I was watching "Supernatural" and the guy said something to the girl and she answered, "That's very Oscar Wilde of you." Looked at my puzzle, counted the letters and" Boom", finished in a couple of minutes.
Had to get my van repaired the other day. For the safety check. New brake lines and shocks. All rusted out. There is a couple thousand $'s gone. Rust is a problem here. That's why cars don't last long. On the way home, the shocks were worse than the old ones. Called back the next day and he said bring it in right away. Turned out one of the new shocks were bad. I have a private mechanic, so he loses when something is brought back. We had to wait for new shocks from the dealer, yada,yada,yada and now all is good.
My daughter had a birthday on Wed. 35 yrs old. Bedridden all her life. We have to make a big deal for her on birthday's etc. She can't walk, talk or do anything. Has to be fed by a tube.
Visited a friend yesterday. They had a tape stuck in the vcr. And it wouldn.t come on. So I took it home to look at. Has a blown fuse. Had to take it all apart to get at it. Now I have to pick up a fuse.

Hurricane Like Winds

Hurricane Noel dropped by last week. The pre-storm build up on TV is much more exciting than the real thing. 50 to 75 mph. is not a big deal. That happens every year. It didn't even blow all the leaves of the tree. I have two photos of the leaves before they fall. If I just rake them and put them in a bag, it will take about 40 bags. But with a leaf blower it will be less, because it cuts them up so fine. Started that job yesterday. Have to go to the hardware store to-day. Need weather stripping for the doors. During the four winter months, I will have to fill the oil tank about six times. And that was about $600.00 a shot last year.Found a new site to put my ebay items on. Called http://www.loudfrog.com/ . It doesn't have auctions. Everything is Buy It Now. So it is like owning a store. The only charge is 1% when you sell something. No other costs, except Paypal of course. You can put in as many articles as you want. And just leave them there. This is great for people who have articles for sale but don't want to open an ebay store with all the expenses. It doesn't get much business because not many know about it. So maybe in time. That ebay is one expensive site.

New TV

The weather here is chilly. Only 4 C/44F. Still have to cut the grass one ore time. Sometime this week.
My son bought us a new TV the other day. A 37" Flat Panel. Very nice. A lot different than our other one. He bought speakers last year, so watching a movie is quite an experience.
My daughter was sick for a month during Aug. and Sept. She now has Colitis. She will be 35 next month and all in a wheelchair.
Had my second opinion on my furnace. It was the same as the first, need a new one. So that is now done. They charged me $600.00 less than Sears. So I paid $3400.00. At my age, it will probably be the last furnace I will buy. The other one lasted 23 yrs. It sound a little louder than the other. But he says you have to give something up for efficiency.
In my other furnace, I had a water heater coil installed about 20 yrs. ago. And this is a coil that holds water and is installed right in the furnace. That does away with the hot water tank. Sure saves on the electric bill. This time around, the heater coil comes already installed. You can choose to use it or not. I think that if you don't know about it , you're not going to be told. Eliminates plumbers work. No new water tank every ten yrs. The coil lasts as long as the furnace.
Since I got new windows last year, I wanted new doors this year. Along with an updated kitchen. Bur that will have to wait till next year. Another thing I still have to do is get my carpet stretched in my living room. Installed five yrs. ago, it has developed a few wrinkles.
And that's how it is in this house.

Here Comes the Judge

It has been very hot for the last week. What makes it worse is the humidity. The temp. was around 35 C/95 F and the humidity made it 40 C/105 F. Perspiring all the time.
Bought a new camera the other day. After 8 years, the button on mine wore out. Too expensive to fix. To look at it would cost $50.00 and then you would have to pay for parts and repair. The new one only cost $100.00. A Kodak C653. Haven't read the book thru yet. And it takes little movies too. That's new to me. Had to try that right away. Did a pan of my back yard. And the first thing I learned was not to pan so fast.
Got a letter from the law courts yesterday. Called up for jury duty selection for the Supreme Court. That will be in Sept. It could have been for my son, since we both have the same first name. There was no middle initial. Told him I would do it. I'm retired and he is a computer consultant working for a U.S company. He travels back and forth all the time.

Tall Ships

Just about everyone knows what an Airshow is . And a lot of people have seen one. We have one here every Sept. and they fly over my house. But we also have something here that most people don't see. And that is the parade of tall ships. These are like the ships from the old days. The replica of the H.M.S. Bounty is here. Pictin Castle is here. This is the ship they use on the reality series "Pirate Master". I think there is about 25 altogether. The fee is $25.00 for a day pass to tour any or all the ships. There has been no rain for the last two days so they have a good turnout.

Speaking of rain, which it is doing right now, I heard on the news about five days ago that for the past 56 days, it hadn't rained 9 days in this area. So some days I couldn't go on my daily walk. Other times I did and got caught in the rain.

Tomorrow will be five weeks that I started doing Tai Chi. Well, at least attempting it. It's on tape and the whole routine takes just over an hour. You have to start with stretching etc, etc. So at this point in time , I am up to 42 Min. Figure it will take me a year to learn this.

Last evening , one of my neighbours came with a half wheelbarrow of cement. He had been putting in clothes line poles and this was left over. It was enough to finish off around my back door where I had that leak. That is where they wanted $1600.00 to make a new drain thru my basement. I cured the problem with cement filler, which I think was $5.69. And now it is covered with cement.

Still working on whether I need a new furnace or not. Can't believe what everyone tells you. Especially if you're a senior. They think you are an easy mark. My son is better at this . If you try and sell him something, you better not lie. If he doesn't already know the truth, he will find it out. When he goes to buy something, he first checks on the computer what everyone says about it.

Just had dinner. Scrambled eggs and shrimp. One of my neighbours received 20 lbs. of shrimp from someone and gave me 10 lbs. So into my freezer it went.

My last item is that I have a pear tree with no pears. Because I have only one tree and there must be none in the area. No pollination.

Bears

Pouring down raining outside. As it was yesterday.

My wife had a yardsale on Sat. It was darn cold and it looked like it was going to rain. We packed it in at 01:00 P.M. and ten minutes later the sun was out. On top of that, she only made $14.00. The worse part about yardsales is packing it all up.

I am going to put up a couple of pictures of something you don't see very often. And some people never see them. Took them on my trip to Alberta. These are Bear proof garbage cans. It looks easy enough. When you put your hand inside the handle, you have to keep pushing so your hand can push the lever and open the door.

Never saw any bears. When I was climbing up and down those valley trails the thought did cross my mind. I would only want to see them from inside my car.

To get to Jasper, you have to go through the Columbia Ice Fields. Went back and forth, so we went through it twice. On the way back I did my little trek across the Athabasca ice. Where the Information Center is now was covered with ice ten years ago. When you walk towards the glacier, the ground is covered with large and small rocks. Rocks that used to be inside the ice. Left behind as the ice melted. I'll add a couple of pictures. One is of my son.

Lake Louise

And to-day we have rain. Guess I got that grass cut just in time.

When you go to Banff, you have to see Lake Louise. Well I did and it certainly doesn't look the same when it is frozen over. Frozen lakes I can see at home. Took my picture in front of it. The Indians called it Lake of the Little Fishes. The first white man called it Emerald Lake and the Government changed that to Lake Louise after one of Queen Victoria's daughters who also had the name Alberta, which became the name of the province.

Jasper

Not as warm to-day. Only 21C/70F. And very windy.

While in Alberta, I went to the four national parks. They are joined together, two in Alberta and two in British Columbia. While in Jasper, I took the Tramway, which is the highest and longest in Canada. Here's a link http://www.jaspertramway.com/ . And a photo.

Back Home

Warm to-day. Temp is 30 C/86 F. What a surprise. It has been only 10 C for the past week with rain off and on.

A couple of years ago, they dug up the street for new pipes. This took months. Anyway, half of everyone's lawn went with it. So when they were finished, they put down new sod for everyone. two years later, that part of the lawns have very little grass. But they do have lots of dandelions.

My wife spent 5 hrs. one day pulling them out. My next door neighbour called the city about it and they said they would send someone out to look at it. Maybe new sods, but more than likely maybe advice. It's much cheaper.

Just got back from a trip to Alberta. My son took me on vacation with him. Horse back riding one day white water rafting another day. Now that was an experience. I'll add a photo. Me in front with the hat. My son next to me and two guides in the rear.

We had a cabin near the Athabasca river so we could see rafts going down. There was about twelve people on the raft with a guide in the center doing the paddling. So I thought this was a piece of cake. Surprise! My son had arranged the sports model and I had to paddle for my life. But it was great. On other days, we walked up and down canyons. One thing about walking to the bottom of a canyon, you have to walk back up.

This should be enough for to-day. Have grass to cut sometime. Wait for this evening when it is cooler.

Sunshine

Sunshine out there to-day. Supposed to go up to 12 C, 50 F. Stopped raining yesterday afternoon after three days.
A couple of days ago, the guy came in to clean the furnace. Sub-contracted to Sears. Different person than I usually have. Took things apart and said we needed a new furnace. Never did clean it. Spent the whole time telling us we needed to lease a furnace. Yeah, right. Went to his truck to do the paperwork and when he returned, he had already made arrangements for someone to come to do a sales pitch.
Will be getting a second opinion from my plumber. Don't want this to be a case of "Lets rip off the seniors".
The furnace is 25 years old and maybe I do need it replaced but I'll decide from where it comes.
Anyway, there is no hurry.
Guess I can do my 3km.walk to-day.

Thank You GE

Its 7:20, Wed. morning . The wind is howling and it is still raining. Since Mon. morning. But its not a big deal. If this was snow instead of rain, it would be a big deal.
Received a call from my doctor on Mon. That was quick. He doesn't fool around when he has to call. Hospital wasn't happy with my results, so now I have to go back for another CAT Scan. That cyst is getting expensive.
Had toast for breakfast and looking at the toaster, I'm reminded of its age. Received it for a wedding present, so in Feb. I will have it for 40 yrs. It's used almost every day and more than once. Only changed the cord on it twice. Made by General Electric. They certainly don't make things like that anymore. Another example of that would be the old radio from the 1930's that I am redoing. Changing all the paper capacitors and the leads are wound tight around the posts and soldered. Just like pulling teeth.
In contrast, my wife wanted a calculator with big numbers. While getting a haircut, I noticed the barber had one. Asked him where he bought it and he said at the $1.00 store. So I went and bought one. Imagine, buying a calculator for $1.00 and expecting it to work. It didn't. Took it apart and couldn't believe what I saw. The circuit board was a piece of paper and the schematic was drawn in pencil. Put it back together and it still works a year later. Guess the sheet of paper wasn't seated properly. And that's about the only repair one can do on that.

Waiting For Storm

Monday morning, 7 a.m, very windy and light rain. The temp is -4 C 26 F. Big storm in the U.S. for the last couple of days. I can look at the radar map for Halifax airport and can see that the storm is mighty close. At least it will rid us of the rest of the snow. Some of it is still ;ingering about. At this time of year, I should be getting ready to cut the grass for the first time. It's warmer cutting grass than shoveling snow. A good day to stay in the house. I'll work on my oldmagazineads .org/. Takes a while to put each one in.
Every day in the newspaper, I raed about out soldiers being killed in Afghanistan. To-day is no exception. Two coming back in coffins.
Had to go for an ultrasound last Thur. First time for that. Since I haven't done anything in a hospital since 1955, everything is first time. Oops, that's wrong. Went two months ago, when this all started. I must say, drinking that liter of water and holding it was quite unpleasant. Find out about that sometime this week.

Easter Snow.

We don't usually get snow at Easter, but there it is. It was only 10", so not a big deal. The temp. is still hovering around 0 C, 32 F. And it is very windy. Adding a picture of the snow. At this time of year, I should be out raking the lawn. The news yesterday was that six soldiers were killed in Afghanistan. I think all were from the Maritimes. One was from our city of Dartmouth. Still have my ads on e-bay and have also started a web page for them. Called it "Old Magazine Ads" at wwws.oldmagazineads.org. Just started, so not that many ads yet. I will put all the e-bay ads on it plus others. So most of the ads will be on this site. All ads will be $4.95 and the one postage will be $3.00, worldwide. we will see how it works anyway.

The sun is shining right now but it is supposed to rain or snow this afternoon.

Start of April

Operation on bladder ? Well, that didn't happen. Went for my pre-op check two days before. Had the flu, so operation was cancelled. Now I'm on the waiting list. And I haven't heard a word.
Started an internet store for my ads. Called oldmagazineads.org . Want to see how this works. Just started it two days ago, so not too many ads yet. All ads are $4.95 and $3.00 postage anywhere.
It has been cold going for a walk these days. Temp. has been around +2 C, +34 F. The wind is worse of all. At least it blows in my face only half the way.

Feb.Blah

Snowed last night. Only about 6 ins. Not a big deal.
Well, I have to go to the hospital two weeks from tomorrow. Seems like I have a stone in my bladder. Not that common I guess. They are going to take that out and cut a piece off my prostate. I guess this is a good thing. When they did the CAT scan , they found two spots on my kidney. This is the only thing that bothers me about the whole thing. Now I need to get an ultrasound to find out about that. All we can do is see what happens.

Things Done

Rained all night, which is a good thing, considering the snow we got on Mon. We didn't expecting that. I had to go for a flu shot about an hr. after the snow started. It was tough going. My neighbour told me that he came back from Bedford in the evening, which would normally take about 1/2 hr, took him 5 1/2 hrs.
Glad I got all my new windows in a week earlier. Ordered 1/2 of them in Aug. and the other 1/2 in Sept. And what happens. They all come the same day in Nov. Anyway , its done now.
So this year we have new shingles on the roof, all new windows, new wheelchair ramp out front, three bedrooms with laminate floor, two new fridges, new stove and yesterday I bought a fireplace insert. Still have to redo my kitchen but not this month. At least I have the appliances which is a start.
Still adding ads to my ebay store http://stores.ebay.ca/Karstens-Emporium-of-Ads Put in a chev from 1960 with a Cinderella coach in the backround. Noticed that year had a lot of ads with ref. to that coach.

FAMILY - Well here is a picture of everyone who lives at this house.
Myself, my wife Bettina (Betty), my son John. Met my wife when I was stationed in Germany in the 60's. My son works for ADP in the U.S. as a Payroll Systems Analyst. He used to travel back and forth every week, but now he does a lot of work from home. He is going somewhere this week though. Left this afternoon for Ann Arbor MI. And my daughter in the wheelchair is Natasha. Born with Cerebral Palsy, she is now 33 yrs old.

STORMS - Rain off and on for the last three days. Last Fri. was big rain and big wind. Tomorrow is supposed to be bad again. When you turn on the weather channel and the screen is red, means severe weather. Out in parts of B.C. its over 40 C.
LEBANON - Getting worse there. Now everyone wants to get out.
I guess Israel just got fed up. The Hezbollah sitting on their border causing grief. The Lebanonese didn't do anything about it. Not only that, they even elected them to their Parlament. I guess it got to the point that enough was enough.
INTERESTING FACT - The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

TODAY- The weather was warm yesterday and to-day. Right now being 21 C which is 70 F
YARD SALE - Actually there was a street sale yesterday. The more families that take part the better. Lots of peple wandering around and my wife was happy with the results.
VICUNAS - If you don't know what they are, here you go Peruvians Shear Vicunas in Annual Roundup What surprised me was how the population increased from 12,000 to 200,000. Maybe they are related to rabbits. But seriously, here is a national resource that was almost lost. A great example of using what you have available.
MICROSOFT - Paul Allen is the co-founder of Microsoft but you never hear his name mentioned. All you hear about is Bill gates. Why is that ? Vintage Warplanes Going Airborne Again
BIRD FLU - You don't hear much about it anymore. It is still going on and people are still dying. But the mid-east deserves more attention at this time.
More people being killed every day.
What I don't understand is why Americans and Canadians are working and living there. Sure, maybe you have relatives there etc, etc. But your family left there for a reason. And walking around with a Canadian flag and especially American flag on your shoulder isn't going to help much. When you sit on a powder keg, you are asking for trouble. And it is quite possible that soldiers can be killed trying to bring them out.
MOUNTIES - Heard to-day that those two mounties that got shot in Sask. died. It appears to me that more mounties seem to be getting shot. It never used to be like that. And the sad part is that many are shot just trying to break up a family fight.

RAIN - No, not today. Its 22* C and that is equal to 72* F.
MILITARY - One of the airmen killed in that helicopter crash yesterday had a brother who was killed six years ago in a crash. He was a pilot with the Coast guard.
GAS PRICES - The price of gas went up yesterday. The new price is $1.1602 a liter. And that price will stay the same for the next two weeks. After that it will change again, depending on market price. And by the look of things, I don't think it will be down.
The government has control over what the gas station can charge. But they have no control over what the gas company charges them. So if there is a spike in gas prices, the gas station will have to take the hit or just stop selling gas.
COORS BEER - Baron Charged With Drunk Driving Pete Coors, the telegenic beer company executive and chief commercial pitcher, as well as a former Senate candidate, was arrested in May for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, according to court officials.
Quote
"For years, I've advocated the responsible use of our company's products. That's still my message, and our company's message. I am sorry that I didn't follow it myself." An example of "do as I say not what I do"
MOVIES - Drive-in movies attract new generation What's next ? Roller skates for A & W. Come to think of it, we went to A & W at lunch time. It was in a mall so it didn't feel the same.
INTERESTING FACT - Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.