And now, while Symantec live updater is doing its thing, for something completely different.
We did in fact hire a Contractor to repair the deck. Rather, Grandpa did. The first contractor he sought out apparently thought he had hooked a live one, he quoted Grandpa a price that was not only too high, it was insultingly too high. Grandpa found another contractor right quick...

Brad, from Classic Wood Restorations, is a real Contractor...and an amputee. From about mid-thigh down, he's missing a leg...

This does not mean that Brad doesn't swing a hammer and saw for his clients; he does, but he is more of a supervisor and client service specialist. He gave us a quote less than half of what Grandpa was first quoted, and also offered a separate quote for the Garage Roof, which had to be re-done, as part of our leakage problem was coming thru the south side of the garage. The actual re-covering of the deck was sub-contracted to a specialist, another contractor, to be done x days after the rotted decking had been removed and replaced with solid fir sheeting. So it was contracted, so it was done. The deck is now re-covered with heat-sealed vinyl fabric covering, and our leakage problem is a thing of the past; for now...

I for one am glad that Grandpa sprang for the deck; my own half-assed efforts to keep the rot at bay were worthless, I simply don't have the resources (financial and otherwise) to fix up that deck properly. I am glad it got done right, and that we had Grandpa here to bankroll the project. We owe Hendrik so much...

Dark times seem to be looming for our marriage...

Laurie ran into a bit of a financial crisis last week. The expected child tax benefit from the Govt did not appear as expected. It seems that Laurie's 2003 E-filed tax return did not materialize at the CCRA offices last February when we filed. So, the benevolent CCRA decided that Laurie doesn't get any more child tax credit until she lets them know (in triplicate) that she did not, in fact, make any income last year to pay income tax on!

My knee jerk reaction was to blame Laurie for the crisis. Bad Move.

Of course, we are spending more money than we make, this is why we have debt.

Of course, Laurie is a convenient target because she has held the purse strings for the last 5 years or so.

Of course, we ought to be living within our means and not only be debt free, but also have a cushion of 2 months salary in the bank; for if we had done all of the above, the minor setback from the CCRA would have been only that, a minor setback.

Instead, we had to call VanCity Bank and tell them we needed to use one of our two stop payment options. 25$ in fees have been added to our loan repayment plan, because of the stop payment for this month.

I say we should live within our means. Laurie says we should be making more money. Laurie refused to let me work overtime to earn more money because then I wouldn't be home to spend Quality Time With My Children (which is Laurie Speak for "babysitting while I go out and un-stress")

Well, she has now decided that she likes Having Spending Money more than having me home for Quality Time With My Children. I have been graciously permitted to work overtime at work. Oh JOY!!! I get to work 13 hour days in order to keep my wife in her thrift shop habit!!! I wonder how long THAT is going to last. I may even do the odd Saturday shift, if Laurie can possibly build up enough tolerance to spend SIX days a week with the kids. It is almost certain that I will be hearing from Laurie about how I'm "NEVER home!!!" lately. Hey, do I LOOK like I want to work that hard???

Laurie might not believe that living within our means is possible. For her, I mean...

I have ONE hobby: bicycles. Fortunately for me, this is also my primary means of traveling to work. Also, this hobby is paying its way: over the last few months, I have tried new procedures and acquired new tools, all with the money I have earned from working on other people's bicycles. I am now ready to hang out me shingle as a traveling bike mechanic...winter season is low time for bike mechanics, but the Lower Drainland is blessed with mild winters. Most work involves de-gunking offroad bikes tho'. I can handle that...

Laurie has a few hobbies, none of them pay. I think if she did them for money, they wouldn't be fun anymore; besides, bringing in money for her to spend is MY job...sigh.

I am off to the temple next week. I would like to say WE are off to the temple next week, but my wife is showing signs of someone looking for an exit. Stay tuned, Laurie may find some way yet to bail on this planned temple trip. Or she may surprise me...

Laurie did not go to church today. I am sure this is my fault somehow. Kath was a little narked that she didn't find a sub for her SS class. Laurie is now saying she wants to be released from Sunday School. Everybody else was wondering where Laurie was. Laurie does not believe me when I tell her she is missed. Laurie is leaving if things don't get easier...

Things are not going to get any easier...for Laurie, or for us. I am scared for my wife and scared for our marriage. There is so much that needs to be done and said, and I can't do it without her and I can't tell her because she doesn't want to hear it. All I can do is pray real hard...

Laurie wants to please her family, Laurie wants to please the Lord, Laurie wants to do both at the same time. Laurie wants the impossible...

Oh Please let Laurie remember that she once found happiness, and can find it again...

And help me to stop being such a lazy slouch...;)