Ever read a post and realized your focus is becoming a little narrow?

Jeez, it seems that all I ever write about lately is our car troubles.

What ELSE has been happening in my life, wot?

Well, I am the Choir president of the Delta Ward Choir. Such as it is. We will have to start calling on congregation members to sing in the choir as an assignment! Our numbers are FEW. But we sound pretty good. I just wish we sounded pretty good with more voices!

My new hybrid bike is a success! To-work time is down to 45 minutes! (never thought I'd see the day) I have managed to get my return trip down to just over an hour!

BUT

The gearing is all wrong. The skinny 5 speed hub is too narrow for the 3 chainring set up front, I get the chain riding all over the place in top gear. Next gear down is ok, but the cadence required to maintain a decent cruising speed is a little higher than I'm accustomed to. I don't think I can make any of the thicker 6 gear hubs I have work, partly because they're all from 26" wheels and partly because I don't think I can get the @#$%^&**! freewheel off the 27" wheel I have. It is Spring Cleaning/Trash Picking season around here, but so far I haven't found anything I don't already have two of, and I haven't found an appropriate 27" 6-gear wheel as a suitable replacement. Mr. Fulton doesn't have anything that isn't already attached to a working cycle.

I am writing again. A little creative exercise to loosen the scribing muscles, it'll never be published, of course.
Laurie is taking an interest in the kids' education. She has purchased exercise books (fun ones) for coral and jigsaw puzzles for colin. He quite enjoys doing the puzzles with mommy or daddy.

I am wearing glasses again for the first time since I was 10. In fact, I am supposed to be wearing them now;)

I am getting used to them, and even occasionally forget that they are there.

Well, the honeymoon with the new (to us) car is over...

sigh...

The coolant system appears to be backed up. The coolant probably hasn't been changed since the car was NEW, consequently, there are globs of glycerin with little rust-flecks and a nice rusty ring around the tank. My first fear was that there was oil in the coolant, but the globs are clear (glycerin), not black/brown (oil). Also, oil in the coolant usually leads eventually to coolant in the oil. We have no trace of coolant in the oil - yet.

So I'll be draining, flushing, and re-filling the engine coolant system soon. May also swamp out the tank to get rid of the accumulated gunk inside.

Hope the weather is good next Saturday, I'm supposed to be taking our Boy Scouts out for a quick drag around the Bay in White Rock. Hope I'm up to it, as well. My throat has been RAW since Sunday night. I managed to give Bronchitis a miss again this year, but my ears, sinuses and throat were all 'strepped out' and I am currently using pain relief and lozenges AND lavage to keep the discomfort down. I haven't been able to eat much since Monday. Sleep has been lousy, too. I would love to take the rest of the week off, but I have GOT to get out of this house! At least the Fever has subsided...


I will be taking the car to work tomorrow because: (1)I am too weak and sick to ride. (2)It will be raining tomorrow morning and I am a wimp...

Grant will be deciding the fate of his '97 Cavalier. His mechanic now claims that the rattling inside the engine is from a loose wrist pin. A loose conrod bearing would require only removing the oil pan and replacing the bearings, but a cylinder wrist pin is up higher in the engine and would require disassembly of the whole engine in order to remove the pistons so the fix could be applied. I don't think Grant has that kind of money on hand, I know I sure don't...

Nyway, it's about time for another Gargle and Spit...so I'll see ya next time!

There be a CAR in our driveway!

A white 1996 chevy cavalier, to be exact. We got a good deal on a good 4-door with the Factory Options package.

Wife got me to leave work early on Thurs. afternoon ('cause the Die Nasty is DEAD) and get my Father to run me out to Westar Motors in Langley to get the deal done. At the price we got, that car was going to be GONE by the weekend, so we had to deal NOW. I may even put up pictures! This car should be with us for about 5 years, and with little effort or maintenance beyond the ordinary. All hail to bargain finding Wife and Forces of Truth and Goodness!

Got the Die Nasty parted out to Father in Law Bob on Saturday. Got corpse hauled away the same day. The die nasty is now, or soon shall be, a small cube of crushed scrap metal. yaaaaayyyyyy!

We got a clamp truck at work...gues who got tapped to drive it? Uh huh...

I am building a 'roadie' for the first time in YEARS. Has been good therapy.

Got Coral to start writing a journal.

Was conference today...will Read All About it in next month's Ensign.

Busy, Busy, Busy...and not much to show for it!!!

Hmmm, let's see: The new hard drive died and we are once again a one-computer family. The car is dying and we are a less-than-one car family. I STILL haven't made a point of telling the Williams that I want choir practices in the bulletin on a regular basis. I may hold off on that for a couple of weeks longer yet...

We may hold off a couple of weeks in getting the car replaced, too; our previous attempt to replace it was NOT a good experience.

888 Auto Sales, of 888 Kingsway in Vancouver (natch) was having a weekend sale and they offered to knock off 1000$ from the sticker price of a '95 Plymouth Neon Sport. That put the car well within our budget, and made it really tempting because this was by far the finest Neon we had seen. So we signed the deal, and TRIED to get to our bank in Whalley (Granpa won't move his accounts to the branch in Delta, oy vey!), only to find they close at 3pm on saturdays. We asked 888 to hold the Neon until monday and they said OK.

Got to the dealer monday after work and the little black Neon was not there...

Instead, they offered a plum blue Neon with higher mileage, a paint peeling problem, and WITHOUT the Sport model's added features.

Can you say: BAIT AND SWITCH? I knew you could...

Quite frankly, I was a little insulted that they would pull this kind of &*$%%#@!!! on us after the deal had been inked. Their office manager tore up the copy I brought; but of course there is still the copy our bank made...IF we wanted to make trouble for them, that is...

We have decided to wait and see if we can get a Church Mission Fleet Car, most likely a Chevy Cavalier. This was our original plan, and since the Die Nasty is still limping along, we don't HAVE to have a new car right now...but it will be REAL hard to stick to the plan if the Die Nasty decides to pack it in before the Mission office calls us to let us know if they have a car for us.

If they DON'T have a car for us; I have narrowed the field down to three choices (all three of them Chevy!):

The Chevy/Geo/Suzuki Metro (4door sedan model)

The Chevy Cavalier (ditto)

The Chevy/Geo/Suzuki Tracker (4door hardtop model)

Epinions.com has good things to say about all three vehicles. Our own tracker gave yeoman service for the 12 years we had it...

As for the systems upgrade, that may have to wait until the 12th of never; I don't have the money or time to finish it. Coral and Colin fooling around with THIS computer (DADDY'S!! HANDS OFF!!!) has resulted in a busted floppy and an almost-wrecked CD-R drive. I have told the kids to concentrate on the Gamecube (tm).

This one's for you Donovan;

But ya might wanna grab a coffee before you sit down to read. ;)

Tale of Woe Chap. 1:

The systems upgrade.

I got some parts cheap from Kevin to do an upgrade on our home systems. Nothing fancy, just a new mobo and CPU/memory for the kids and a new HD for me. Finally, the kids will be able to play "hot wheels slot car racing" on their system.

Or so I thought...

I already KNOW that you can't simply copy the contents of one drive over to another under win2k. Certain system files in use by the OS will not be copied because the OS blocks access to those files while they are in use.
So I figured I would have to build a primitive File Server. I laid a basic win2k install on a spare drive I had kicking around the spare parts box, then hooked the original HD and the new HD to it. After booting up, I used the spare to supervise a straight transfer of all files from the original to the new HD.

It should have worked, but it didn't...twice. The first attempt, I failed to re-set the virtual memory paging file to a sufficiently high value to accomodate the fact that the copy drive was more than twice the size of the original. When I tried again, the fileserver drive picked that moment to DIE on me. I tried again, with a different HD from my store of spares, and the virtual mem settings STILL didn't take.

I called KWY for some expert advice.

He told me to lay a basic OS on the copy drive, change the OS folder names on the donor, and copy all files and folders from donor to the 'clone'. Then, return the OS folders on the donor to their original names and swap the drives, making the donor the boot drive this time. Change the OS folder names on the copy to their proper working titles, and remove the donor, this time making the copy the boot drive. Simple, eh?

I got bit on the ass by the Repair and Recovery app. I should have turned it off before I copied it and its settings.

Needless to say, I was getting considerably frustrated, I lost count of how many times I had loaded the win2k Pro install disks, trying to get one or another hackneyed copy of my current OS working.

Hallelujah!!! I was saved by exactly the right sort of help...and from a most unexpected source.

Glen Miller is the Maintenance Dept. Head at DC 507. He's ummmm, well, he's not...well liked. He's the kind of guy who unfortunately gets talked about behind his back a lot. He's also the kind of person who is easy to get along with...as long as everything goes HIS way. I can't say I really know the guy, or particularily like/dislike him, but I maintain an air of civility around him, and he does the same, ok?

I was talking to Noel (one of the Maint. Dept. techs) about my file-swapping woes, and how I was about ready to break down and just re-build the files on my system from the backups....and HOURS of downloading to get all the OS fixes and upgrades. Gag...

Glen was sitting nearby and overheard our conversation.

He launched into a brief explanation of why fileswaps under MS Windows doesn't work, and how the OS blocks some files from getting copied, etc. I KNEW all this, but I didn't have the heart to interrupt him.

Out of the blue, he offered me a copy of Norton Ghost.

I would have BOUGHT my own copy by now if I had any money whatsoever. We got our income tax refund, but it's ALREADY spent. On the upside, our credit debt has shrunk considerably.

Ah, Norton Ghost...now THAT's a keeper.

The transfer went thru without a hitch, I am writing this entry on my newly upgraded machine, which is identical to the machine I HAD, except the HD is bigger. wheeee

Now, if I could only get the system I am building for the kids to recognize it's own drives...

Tale of Woe, Chap 2.

Or: DIE NASTY...THE FINAL INSULT.

Yep, this is gonna be about that d@mn car again...

I should mention as an aside that Grants Cavalier had a valve go, and the damage is severe enough that his mechanic has decided it's not worth his time to fix. Hmmmm.

We took the D.N. to Seattle on saturday, and had a wonderful time at the Temple. The night before, the car had started "chugging" and making small rattling noises as well. It didn't seem so bad, so we took her down to the US.

Boy, was it ever bad by the time we arrived!

We took it verrry easy on the engine on the way back, but I could already tell we were running sans one cylinder. I figured that either a valve wasn't valving, or a spark plug wasn't sparking. I told Kerry Newton about it at church today, and he offered a free diagnosis if I got the car up to his place that afternoon. He spotted the trouble almost immediately, and removed one of the valve covers to make sure.

The Rocker Assembly is broken.

One of the mounting points (next to the #6 cylinder) cracked clean thru a while back, and sometime between thursday night and saturday morning, the Rocker Rod broke off close to the middle mount near the #4 cylinder. The #6 cylinder valves have not moved since, and the loose metal was bashing the heck out of the baffle on the underside of the valve cover.

So we need a new head. Not actually new, of course, but an intact replacement of approximately the same vintage as the rest of the Die Nasty's engine.

...and then I have to install it...sigh...

This car had enough problems without pieces of the engine turning to silly putty.

Grant's Cav, on the other hand, is in pretty good shape; except for the dropped valve in the engine.

The mechanic didn't say the engine COULDN'T be repaired with a head swap, he said only that it was not worth his time.

It might be worth mine...if I can get assurances that it is possible.

Otherwise, I'll need to get lucky and find an affordable wreck to fix up with the limited means available to me.

Sheesh, we're right back where we were when the Tracker died!!!

HELP my BRAIN is MELLLLLTINNNNGGGG...

Well, not really...


Been an innnnteresting week. The value of good friends and generous family has been proven to me IN SPADES. Herewith the tale:

Laurie has been scolding me about the car's brakes. The brakes are squeaking...the brakes are no good...the brakes don't stop the car worth a darn...etc, etc, etc...

Fact one: I removed the front wheel on the drivers side and inspected the brake pads, rotor, and caliper. They were all fine; a little worn to be sure, but fine. Laurie then insisted that I inspect the passenger side too, as "that's where all the noise is coming from"; previously, all the noise had been coming from the drivers side...ah me.

Fact two: This car weighs twice what the Tracker did. It's engine is rated for almost double the horsepower. It has very good acceleration compared to the Tracker, which was in serious need of an engine re-build. In short: the Dynasty has VERY DIFFERENT braking characteristics...you just CAN'T drive it like you did the tracker, honey...You have to anticipate farther ahead, and allow more time to slow down from high speed. The Dynasty also has very worn suspension, which has adverse affects on efficient braking.

Fact three: For the last few weeks, the Dynasty had been having some overheating problems, some electrical system glitches, and the steering was a little "heavy" at times. No concerns were raised, as these problems were minor and didn't seem to be getting any worse.

Last thursday night they all got MUCH worse. The car ran HOT, the electricals were under serious strain, and the steering went STIFF...

...and Friday morning I was FOOL enough to drive the car to work.

I went out at 2nd break to re-fill the radiator and check the fluid levels (car ran so hot I was surprised I didn't blow a rad hose). Sunny Renshi noticed something odd...

"Hey Brian, that drive belt is loose."

Good eye, that Sunni Renshi. The single serpentine belt that drives all the engine accessories on the Dynasty's big 3.3 litre V6 had fallen off the power steering pump pulley and was hanging loose on the front of the engine. Needless to say, none of the engine accessories were actually being driven by the drive belt.

SO...

...I borrowed some tools from Barry Kemp and convinced myself that I could put the belt back in place.

And I did put the belt back in place. Twice.

The belt tensioner pulley was broken...and from the look of the belt (severe fraying on one side), it had been broken for some time.

THAT was what all the squealing was from the passenger side...

By this time it was after 4:30. Taras, who accompanied me during the whole repair attempt (waiting to take delivery of the bicycle I had just overhauled for him) touched me on the shoulder and said, "maybe we should get it towed". In other words: "give up, it ain't gonna happen today"...

Taras has BCAA. He doesn't have a car, but he has an auto club membership...interesting, no?

I figured if we got the car towed to Taras' place, I could: 1.) give his bike back to him. 2.) get the car off of HBC's parking lot so I wouldn't have to worry about the gates being locked up for whenever it was ready to drive home 3.) be that much closer to a bus stop so I could get home myself.

Anyhow, the tow was free, the bus was a couple of bucks (Taras made a down payment on the bike repair) and I got home ok. Which reminds me, Taras still has Barry's tools...

I phoned around and got Grant to loan me a car, and Bob to get me the parts (yay BOB!) for cheap, and I got going on the job about 1PM. Four hours later, I was finished, and after some apres' repair purchases and fiddling I went home and dropped off all my tools and supplies and picked up Laurie and took her out to Richmond to pick up our car and we got the Hastings' car back to them by 7 PM.

Whew.

The Repair:

Ya Know, Haynes Manuals are becoming increasingly irrelevant. Perhaps it's because cars are becoming more complex and manufacturers are keeping all that proprietary repair information copyrighted. When I fixed a troublesome vacuum leak in the tracker using the Haynes manual I bought for it, I had to really read between the lines to figure out what had gone wrong and how to fix it. The information was THERE...but it was in three different sections of the book, and NOT presented in such a way as the relation to the problem was clear. Only someone who had MEMORIZED the manual would have been able to pin the problem down; and not all that easily, either.

This was like that.

There is NO procedure in the Haynes manual for the Dynasty for replacing a belt tensioner. Heck, the procedure for replacing the belt itself isn't there either! Mebbe they figure we can 'muddle thru' somehow.

So I had to Wing It...

I got it done alright, but I started out trying to remove the alternator and steering pump together by removing the bracket that holds them to the front of the engine. By the time I had removed the Power Steering fluid resevoir and moved aside the fluid lines connected to it, I could already see that I was NOT going to be able to reach ALL the bolts on the mounting bracket. Did I mention the engine compartment is REALLY crowded? I may scan a picture from the manual to give y'all some idea...

Stymied from that direction, I next tried to get the alternator off; I didn't think I had enough room to actually remove it, but maybe I could get a better handle on the bracket bolts if I moved it aside. You see, I thought there wasn't enough room to actually move the alternator past the bracket and lift it out of the engine.

There was enough room.

I next removed the lower support strut from the rear of the engine and tried to reef the power steering lines out of the way to go after that next mounting bracket bolt, and one of the lines popped clean off the pump housing. FoooooooSHHHH; power steering fluid all over the back of the pump and the ground...arrrrrgh!!!

Then I noticed that I could see...and reach...the nut holding the tensioner pulley onto the bracket. I thought to myself, "you know, if I could get a skinny enough wrench behind there I could pull that thing off there NOW"

So I tried it.

And it worked.

I succeeded in pulling off the nut, but the tensioner itself was stuck; there simply wasn't enough room between the bracket and the fender wall to pull the bolt clear of the bracket. I got VERY frustrated at this point; here I thought I had a clear short-cut, and it wouldn't work!!! I actually thrust my hands down into the gap and took ahold of that pulley and twisted it rapidly back and forth while yelling (and cursing!) at it.

And it slipped out of the bracket and fell into my hand.

You have moments like that sometimes, a key moment in a personal struggle where something just 'lets go' and all of a sudden you just KNOW that everything will be alright from here on in. You still have battles to fight, but the campaign WILL be won.

I fitted the new pulley (vastly superior design to the original) and it slipped in with nary a hitch. I bumped, knocked, pulled, and twisted the power steering lines and resevoir back into place, and I got the alternator and associated supports in their proper locations. I left the top bolt for the alternator off, so I could pull the body of the alternator inboard to give some slack when I re-threaded the new drive belt.

And then I re-threaded the new drive belt. I pushed the alternator back into place and put in the...very...last...bolt.

Quick trip out to Wal Mart in Queensborogh to pick up some more Power Steering Fluid...

And we have a working car again.

Bye now.

I am off sick AGAIN from work.
My head is in a vise.
My chest is in the grippe.
My nose runneth oer.

I decided to take off a Misery Weekend and see if I could give Bronchitis a miss this year. As fun as having the chest Xray et al was last year; I feel this year I can do without.

I don't know if I'll be able to sing at the next Choir Practice tomorrow. I may show up (kids in tow) anyway to listen to Laurie go for it. I want to get some sort of babysitting going and I'll see if I can work something up.

I have yet to start phoning people.

Dave Fulton came over this morning. He's my neighbor from across the way on 114th street who runs a bike shop in his garage. He had an old 700mm Italian racer wheel that he was having a devil of a time mounting back on the rim. I did it for him, barehanded. I then re-inflated the tire with my hand pump (which has an adapter for presta valve tubes). He was very grateful, and now we are even for the pedalcrank he was able to get me for the Blue Meanie (the schwinn).

I have been riding the Blue Meanie to work because the Norco cannot swim; every time I take "big red" out into the rain it comes home looking like it has been thru a sandblaster and there is grit EVERYWHERE. Since it is impossible to keep the Norco tight, clean, and dry; I have decided not to ride it until the Wet Season is over. The blue meanie is only a few pounds heavier and its components are more durable. I just need to get off my duff and do more regular maintenance on the schwinn. Its pedalcrank was BADLY scored and pitted; I had to replace half the bearings too. Thank goodness Mr. Fulton had a suitable spare; I did not.

Our Scouts are going to do a bike tour around one of the Gulf Islands this summer. As part of the preparation for this "super activity" their leaders want someone to conduct a clinic in bicycle maintenance. I volunteered to be the "wrench" in question, as long as I get to make the trip! I even have a spare bike or two I can throw into the mix if some of the boys don't have their own. Should be fun. Still have to work out vacation schedules with my wife tho'...

Today's weather was Bloddy Arful. We had sleet, hail, more sleet, a little snow, and yet more sleet and then some rain for a chaser. Miserable; hope it's all over and done with! I am planning to RIDE on monday.

I've started something again that I probably won't see through.

I got one of Grant's keyboards (really just an electric piano) and I have begun to pick out hymns on it. I also picked out some themes from my "mirror concerto" that's been running thru my head for the past few years. It would be wonderful to get it arranged and recorded, then I could annoy all my friends with it.

My vacation is almost over, I go back to work in four days, but not before I complete the sisyphean task of heaving all that SNOW off the back deck before it collapses under all the weight. This may be an all day project. Speaking of projects, now would be an ideal time to overhaul the bikes and maybe get that pair of Raleigh bashers in roadworthy shape. It's not like I'll be riding with all this snow on the ground.

In other news, I have been released from the Sunday School presidency, and called as the Ward Choir President. My last duty as SS president was to hand Dennis Sloan (called to be the new Sunday School president) all the information on the Teachers, Students and curricula of the Delta Ward Sunday School. All the information, in other words, that Derek never bothered to give ME, when I replaced him.

I am going to enjoy being the #1 booster for the choir, and getting in the faces of anyone I can to build the best choir possible. Mostly, my duties will consist of phone calls, emails, faxes, letters, and finding babysitting so the choir can get more members of the congregation to come out. I hope to fill every one of the chairs on that pulpit stand. I know we have more than enough talent in the ward to make a good choir, what we need is COMMITMENT.

Saw the Lord of the Rings III tonight: well, it's definitely over, folks...
...Now they'll probably do "The Hobbit".

Good Night, and Happy New Year!

Next: new year's Resolutions.

The Sublime and the Cynical...

Sublime!

Laurie's 2nd year in a row with the Surrey Stake Cantata Choir!

Pretty good performance, all things considered. I got chills during "Hark the Herald Angels", I swear the entire chapel was vibrating. Mebbe less "inspirational messages", and more singing, ok?

The Cynical...

I made the mistake of listening to the 11PM news. Two stories caught my attention: Keiko the "Free Willy" Killer Whale finally kicked the bucket, but at least he did it with DIGNITY, back in the waters of his birth. Our main mammal K was a tank kept boyo for most of his life; so the BH's who got him paroled shouldn't feel too bad about his "failure to thrive". Any Parole Officer will tell you: long term imprisonment can destroy the will to survive, let alone any sort of relevant survival skills. Mebbe the BH's should have left well enough alone? I can't say for sure if Keiko would still be alive in a tank in Mexico with meals served daily and round-the-clock 'on call' veteranary care; but let's just say the odds were better and leave it at that...

St. Lazare, Quebec. A pleasant little bilingual town in La Belle Provence. The OLF has decided, in its infinite wisdom, that because St. Lazare isn't officially bilingual, the town isn't permitted to have any english whatsoever on a dozen or so 'welcome' signs around town. I may follow this one; I just wanna see what happens when the OLF starts in on the local businessmen!

Fer Cryin' Out Loud!!! St. Lazare is the embodiment of the Federaliste dream of a bilingual community. It sounds like the little town could teach the REST of La Belle Provence a thing or two about preserving languages and cultures - BOTH of them! The OLF, say the town citizens, "is just here to sow contention and prejudice". Of course they are, sweetheart, that's their JOB...

I have one more week slugging at work and then I am off for the rest of the YEAR...all eight days or so...

More Later.

I ought to post more often, the post page seems to change every time I'm here.

We didn't get the condo in Whistler.

We did have a very nice dinner date at the Keg here in Delta. Happy 10 years, honey!

The World Religion Day Presentation Choir performance went WELL, considering we got minimal practice. I am thinking of joining the Ward Choir on a more-or-less permanent basis after the Christmas Cantata Choir is all done. Laurie may also want to join the Ward Choir, but I don't think she should; she'll work herself into a coronary if she takes on any more "extracurricular activities".

To L's credit, I have not heard her ONCE complain about being TOO busy. She seems to sleep better at night, too.

I have done some further research on gut parasites, it seems you may actually NEED some of the little buggers in your system to keep down the toxins from the occasional bit of dead or diseased GI tract. As with everything else, it's a matter of balance: a small infestation does no harm, and may have some benefit; assuming you are well fed and in good physical shape. A LARGE infestation is a cause for concern: the risks definitely outweigh the possible benefits. Also, parasites in the body may not necessarily be multi-cellular in nature; yeasts and bacteria can wreak havoc in the gut AND the bloodstream, if they get out of hand.

However, no-where does it say that one cannot benefit from a periodic parasite cleanse; it's a kind of tonic, I guess.

I have not been riding to work all last month, and I only have about 2 weeks until I go for Xmas vacation. I ought to get the bikes tuned up and obtain my Waterproof Luggage (ie: PVC bucket) in order to resume the ride to work. That's on today's toodo list; along with writing the Sanderson Family Xmas letter. I have to wrap up Roy and Genie's present and L wants me to enclose a nice card too.

We have been BUSY: I wasn't able to show for the Mackerey's move and I have YET to go see Bro. Uy and his family, though John Merriman now has a regular schedule as one of Delta's Finest. Also, we're taking a special trip to Seattle this week: more on that later, I promise.

I finally called CPS and got my Savings Bonds sent off to me. Cheque should arrive next week, and I can then do my traditional LAST MINUTE Xmas shopping.

DVD set for L (chocolate for her stocking)
Mebbe some diamond jewelry.
She also wants me to track down a fragrance called "Freesia"

Keychain USB drive for Kevin.

New FD for the kid's computer (I can get that anytime, really)

New Double Bed for me.

Spend some C@$H fixing the leak in the Dynasty's trunk.

AND - we need new front brake pads.

The Weather this season has been downright WEIRD. The rains started early, just as the Almanac predicted. We were SUPPOSED to have a lot of SNOW by now, but the temperature hasn't been below zero with a co-incident rainfall to produce any snow. We've had winter storms: there were gusts up to 70km last night, but so far no blizzards. I am beginning to think there may be something to this Global Warming thing after all.

We have a new Bishopric in Delta Ward: Bro. Woolsey (Travis) is the new Bishop, with Bro. Umbach as 1st and Mel Lutz as 2nd councilors. Bro. Lutz has already touched base with me and will be expecting me to provide him with a report on the current state of the ward Sunday School; and what a sorry state she's in...I have GOT to get this done for tomorrow...

I OUGHT to get on the ball with my Book; I have almost 60 pages in articles so far. I could try self-publishing, but I think I need more research and a LOT more work towards finishing any sort of manuscript. Speaking of pending projects; I need to get that Laptop back to Gord Sanders (I WISH he would mention PAYMENT when he talks about needing to get that unit back from us). We also need to get together and get that training seminar set up. What are we doing wrong? Why can't we get clients who are happy to PAY us??? Why do we get all the Poor Mouth cases??? I have let Gord know that I (we) am not available until the 22nd of December. I need to contact him between now and then and lay it on the line: "Look Gord, this is what it's gonna cost and YOU are gonna pay for it, and if you don't think you want to, please feel free to look for a better deal ELSEWHERE; oh, and here's your laptop: that'll be 100$ please".

Gotta talk to KWY. Soon.

Amused to hear all last month about the WORST FLU SEASON IN YEARS!!!!!!!!

Uh huh, just like LAST season...

Now, of course, comes the hand wringing because the ad campaign has indeed convinced the lowing masses to go out in record numbers and get the Magic Flu Shot, and they've RUN OUT OF VACCINE!!!

What a Farce.

The TRUTH: Flu shot vaccine is a preparation of the Top Three strains based on LAST YEARS flu season. It represents the CDC (et al) BEST GUESS as to which strains will show up to make us miserable THIS year. As such, they are prepared months in advance (the vaccines are made from live viral cultures, and it takes some time to grow 'em). If the Medicos guess wrong, or not enough vaccine stock is prepared, you're out of luck.

Influenza is a persistent little critter. Common strains can usually be dealt with by a healthy immune system. BUT it takes time. Time for the infection to be recognized by the body, time for antibodies to be prepared and released in sufficient quantity to neutralize the remaining viral load and thereby render the individual immune to that particular strain. During this time, symptoms develop: bad symptoms, horrible symptoms, symptoms that make us wish we hadn't been born, sometimes...

But once the symptoms pass, that particular strain of Influenza is no longer a problem for you.

The risk lies in people who don't have a healthy immune system. Influenza moves FAST, and if your immune response isn't equally quick, you could die from those aforementioned symptoms. But enough about illness, yuck...

Work.

Canadian consumers have been generous this season: flinging their wallets wide and scorching their plastic to grab up the latest totems of conspicuous coolness. This has led HBC management to allow some modest expenditures for equipment and upkeep. We now have a full complement of replacement batteries for the Raymond fleet, and have been looking at leasing a clamp truck for offloading bulk/heavy materials on the Xdock. We really need to replace some of our older machines and buy a whole LOT more batteries, but we'll keep shuffling along, somehow. Meanwhile, traffic and output have dropped proportionately, and so has the payroll. I am taking vacation not just to use up my remaining days, but also because I will be hard pressed to find anything to DO for the last week of December.

Watch what you ask for, you may get it. I have been itching to join a choir for over a year now and now I can join FOUR! If I want to...

Sherry Marciel is managing the World Religion Day Presentation Choir (really an Octet), which I have joined and am in practises with. Alice Davies was conducting practice last week and decided that I definitely (!) had the stuff to sing with the Community Choir she conducts with Tammy Harker on Mondays. The Stake Cantata Choir is starting up again, and Laurie has joined again. Annnnnd - Tammy is also trying to get up a Ward Choir for Delta Ward starting Nov. 16th.

Big Problem: Babysitting. The reason I'm not AT the Cantata Choir with Laurie and may not make the Community Choir and may have trouble getting to the Delta Ward Choir practises (even though I signed up); there is simply no-one to take care of our kids...or rather, I haven't found anyone yet. I am in the WRDP Choir because the practises take place immediately after church and thus far haven't produced a problem for me. I get a ride home with one of the other choir members, and take over babysitting at 5:30 when Laurie leaves for Cantata practise. 'Tis alright, the WRDP gig is enough to keep me happy for the moment, perhaps I will move on to bigger and better things later.

Tuesday the Stake has a Temple Trip planned. I had intended to go down to the Cenotaph in Centennial park for the Memorial Service, but I can observe a moment of silence wherever I am. We MUST be back early though (by 6PM); for Kwy and I have a consultation with Taras' boss at Alabon Kennels to discuss some Small Business Solutions. Taras originally approached me about it, and although my expertise doesn't run deep in those areas - I could prolly muddle thru if I had to - I DO know someone whose expertise DOES run deep in those areas. Kwy not only knows how to effectively use most Small Business Software, he could WRITE some for anyone looking for a custom solution and willing to meet his price. That is the purpose of this initial contact meeting Tuesday night, discovering the clients' needs, and what or whether they can pay for Kwy to meet those needs.

Things have been going so well around here that I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. L and I are getting along, the kids ain't mis-behavin', and the car is running well. Reminds me, I have to get a new Breather Mask so I can ride the sub-zero temps to work. Also; #1 ride and #2 ride need a Seasonal Overhaul.

ANNNND...I need a haircut, preferably tomorrow.

I gots this idea for a new bicycle light generator, something along the line of a linear induction generator like the "no batteries flashlight" featured on the 'net these days. Should be an interesting project to build; except I'm so BUSY lately that it will likely take MONTHS to complete. Watch this space for further bulletins.

Well; All Hallow's Eve is over for another year. It was my year to parade the kiddies around the neighborhood. We had to cut it short by about 40 mins due to the COLD!!! The kids still managed to get a nice haul, and spent most of Saturday morning raising their blood sugar to lethal levels and bouncing off the walls and ceilings.

Paul visited, and accompanied me on the trick or treat tour. Always a pleasure to hang out with another adult; particularly one as intelligent and well-informed as Paul. We had dinner, took the kids out, brought 'em back, and then went and caught a late show: "Underworld"; an imaginative Vampires Vs Werewolves flick that suffers only one fatal flaw: it was released too close to "Kill Bill - Vol I". My opinion of Paul as intelligent and well-informed has nothing to do with the fact that he paid for dinner AND the flick. Did I mention he was generous too? I keep thinking we should fix him up with my wayward Sister-in-Law, who needs to settle down NOW...

We had a Hot Dog day at work, to thank us all for our efforts in making top management look good...Held on Halloween Friday; they were offering a free dog (or two) for any employee who came to work in disguise - I mean, in costume. I managed to work up a "ninja cyclist" outfit consisting of my riding gear and a homemade ninja mask made from a T-shirt. "We'll give ya points for originality" was the general consensus. I even altered my ID card as a joke; it's the little details that make the costume, I think.

The Dynasty has new tires. I went down Tuesday before last and was unable to find the yardman I dealt with on the previous Saturday. Instead, I got the owner/manager of Action Tire, and he was hip deep in customers at that moment. Recognizing his harried demeanor, I approached carefully and when brusquely asked "what can I do for you?", I responded; "I would like to buy a set of tires". This improved his demeanor dramatically. He then requested what size were currently fitted to the car and when I confessed I didn't know, he said; "that's alright, have a look and we'll fix you up right after I'm done with this truck." I went back to the car and obtained the necessary information, and trotted back just as the aforementioned truck was being lowered and the O/M was wiping his hands on a rag. Did I mention these guys were good? I've seen Indy pit crews that weren't that fast! I gave him the information as we headed up to the "showroom" shack at the back of the yard. As soon as he heard me say what size the tires were, he stopped and turned around. Right next to him was a stack of freshly "squeezed" tires, still with salvage marks all over them in white grease pen. "Curious," he said; "that's what size these are, and they just came off a wreck this morning. I haven't even had time to test them yet." He then quoted me a price that was 100$ less than the price I got on Saturday! I got to watch as the tires were cleaned, tested, mounted, balanced and installed - in about TWELVE MINUTES FLAT - no pun intended. What service! The new tires are Sears Roadhandler ASX, and about 660 TWI; where the others were generic knockoffs with about 320 TWI, which is why they succumbed so easily once they went out of balance. I got the usual 30-day-replacement-but-no-way-do-we-do-refunds guarantee, which is ok by me. One of the yardguys at action says they turn around about 1200 tires in an average month. I believe it!

Snow will be coming soon. We were to have flurries this weekend, but while the cold temperatures showed up, the moisture and precipitation did not. I got the yard all policed up and ready for winter anyway; just on spec. I have decided I won't be riding when it snows, but I may just ride any day the roads are clear; cold or not. One good thing about winter; NO RAIN. Once the temperature goes below freezing and stays there, I don't have to worry about getting WET. Need to start worrying about hypothermia tho'...That reminds me, I gotta haul my breath mask out of storage.

I may have a line on a Ten Year Anniversary gift for Laurie. We may be able to spend an unexpected but still very welcome weekend at a condo in Whistler! Not to get hopes up prematurely, but I really hope this pans out...

I am informed by the Stake Sunday School Presidency that I need to get off my duff and call some counselors. I have yet to even consult with the counselor I have. Lord knows I could use a little counsel, or at least some solid advice. I don't want to move anybody around, but I also don't want to make any mistakes that will let in any sort of resentment in the Ward. This is a real test for me, I need the kind of inspiration that I haven't used in YEARS. Sometimes I wish I had a simpler calling, perhaps as a mere sunday school teacher. (uh-huh, like it's no big deal to teach...)Laurie thinks I ought to get involved with Cubs & Scouts, the way she is with Girl Guides; after all, Colin will be of age soon.

I have made a consultation call to KWY's wife Leona about my health concerns. What she needs from me - and I have yet to do - is a detailed and dare I say GRAPHIC description of my current state of health. I didn't think I was squeamish, I just assumed I was too busy to do it right away and the opportunity would come along presently. Gotta buckle down and get it done - I'm not getting any younger, or healthier. These are concerns apart from the usual seasonal stuff. IE: I'm currently chasing a cold, but I have not caught it - yet.

Die Nasty III (die even more nastier yet with Sharp Things in your tires...)

The car's tires have been letting us down lately...

Our trips to Seattle over the summer may have something to do with it. The tires aren't balanced, you see, and they got hammered going to and fro on the Interstate 5.

I took the car down to Action Tire (best used tire yard in Surrey) and was prepared to buy a replacement set of "pre-owned" for the back wheels, when their guy pointed out that three of the four tires were just as bald and wavy as the pass rear tire I was concerned about. What we cheifly need is a matched set of - balanced! - all season radials with mebbe some front end alignment work...I have budgeted 400$, and that will be getting away CHEAP...If I can swing it. I will at least have the front end checked by a place that does free inspections, and perhaps do the repairs there, if necessary. I must check the state of our finances and credit, and see if I can at least do the new tires and balancing tomorrow. Need to get it done ASAP, or that tire may fly apart at an inopportune moment, like when I'm on the highway on my way to work...

Laurie thinks I'm being an alarmist. I prefer to think of it as being sensibly cautious.

Next thing you know we'll get nailed for the cracked windsheild, then we will wave bye-bye to another 250$ to get the glass replaced. We can do it on the cheap (we can to anything on the cheap) but L would prefer not doing anything at all. I think she still thinks of the Chrysler as her Parents car...and she doesn't fully realize just how MUCH more expensive keeping a large car running smoothly is. Especially as this example came to us with some pre-existant problems. I am glad that I am able to ride to work the odd time; it certainly saves some gas money. I still need some waterproof luggage and some boots to complete my wet-weather riding ensemble.

Area conference was...interesting. In a departure from normal procedure, the conference addresses were broadcast via sattelite downlink to about 40 meetinghouses across BC. Ususally, the Brethren would find a large meeting hall or convention centre and pack in the members from our 6 stakes and 1 district into one place. BUT - last time I attended a regional conference that way, it was held in GM place. I guess our membership has outgrown ONE venue, so we use technology to bring the meeting to the members, rather than the reverse.

It was NICE today, after the week of torrential rains and flooding in the lower-laying areas. I tuned in a traffic report Wednesday to hear about a car floating -yes FLOATING - down the Willingdon Ave ramp off Hwy 1. The Mary Hill Bypass was impassible due to the CPR underpass just off the Pitt River Bridge being full of water. That would be about 12 FEET of rainwater, I guess...

So it's nice to have a little break between Monsoons. I will probably ride out to work tomorrow, but I still have to get the car fixed, so I may take the car; I think it will depend on whether I go out at 5:30 AM to find a car with FLAT tires (or not). Perhaps I will leave the car for Laurie, a flat tire would go a long way to convincing her that we do, indeed, need new tires. A blowout would be even more convincing, but I wouldn't wish that on my wife; or anyone else.

I have been giving serious thought to taking a course of Herbal Medicines as a Parasite Cleanse. I seem to have some general symptoms that would indicate something is putting a serious strain on my personal physiological resources. I don't drink, so keeping the wee beasties (and you would be surprised at how many different species have made a successful go at using Homo Sapiens as a viable host) out of my gut and out of my bloodstream is that much more difficult. A good Rip-Roaring Drunk three to four times a year keeps the gut clear and the arteries spotless, but that particular avenue isn't open to me, even for medicinal reasons. Besides, as any recovered alchoholic can tell you; it's hard on the Liver. I have found at least three general Wormwood formulations, and recipes and instructions for a DIY course of treatment. I think I will give one of the more reputable courses a try...

If it works for me...I may buy a second course for Laurie and the kids. Convincing Laurie would be...difficult.

Wish me luck.

I am sooo lucky...

I laid the last coat of sealer on the deck early last week. IT WOULDN'T DRY!!! The mornings got so cold and damp for the last week that permanent puddles formed and started to run the paint! Add to that the dog's inexplicable need to scratch up a section of the deck for a taste-test (what? Is it edible or something?) and I had dire visions of a pond forming in the workshop below the deck. I DREAD the thought of tearing down the walls down there and turning the whole thing into a big, covered, concrete patio. Not before Granpa passes away; and thus removes the necessity to store all the tools down there. At least I wouldn't worry about drainage...

But we had SIX HOURS of sunshine today...and the paint is DRY. Tho' I may still have to re-do a couple of spots. All I ask is ONE, just one more sunny day to get this done right. The deck appears to be (mostly) water-tight at the moment, but I want to be CERTAIN. I still have about a half-gallon of Deck Kote (tm) left, and that will more than suffice. I also have a line on two Five Gallon cans of deck paint for FREE! - from the Buyn'sell press. Guess somebody had a house burn down, or something.

Work is getting BUSY!!! As per usual; things are getting botched, details are getting missed, and expediency is winning out over rationality. Add to the mix a sudden push by top management to "ramp up" our shipping output (set a facility record Saturday of some 93,000 odd cartons shipped) and I can see some turbulent times on the horizon. We are ALREADY carrying 1.5 times the traffic (combined) that the old facilities used to handle, and things are bound to get more...interesting as time goes by.

Just finished a 15 minute "help us improove Blogger" survey on a google site. Wanna improove? Gimme back the archived entries you guys lost! Stop losing my posts! Waah Waah Waah...cry 'em a river, eh? Was OK; looks like they're adding some features Real Soon.

L bought the kids a game console for Xmas. I WANTED an Xbox (tm), but that's a little out of our budget (isn't everything?), so we ended up with the 'budget-package' Gamecube (tm). We did a little demo run of Starfox Adventures (tm) and I can safely say the kids will likely be blown away. Of course, they were already impressed by Donkey Kong Country (tm) for the SNES (tm). They have a version of the arcade classic "Spy Hunter (tm)" for the Gamecube (tm) that I think I will be renting from Microplay sometime soon. The Xbox (tm) is the DEFINITE console to beat, taking the #1 spot from the PS/2 (tm)...I guess an onboard Hard Disk really DOES make a difference. Sony has announced that the PS/2 (tm) will also have a Hard Disk soon, maybe next year.

I was tickled by the "Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet" comic today...a wry commentary on the RIAA's offer of "amnesty" to all us scum-sucking freeloaders who won't pay 25$ or more per album containing ONE hit single we actually want to listen to, and which will be completely unplayable by the time the copyright OUGHT to run out; oh, and did I mention that most of the tunes I grew up with aren't even AVAILABLE through retail channels any more? I think the only one getting killed by the Great Filesharing Revolution is the Columbia House Music Club...and good riddance!

So...Arnie Schwarzenegger groped women in health clubs...and Gray Davis beats up on the women on his office staff. As Steven Greenhut pointed out, California is the bellwhether state. What happens in California will happen to the rest of the US in another 10 years or so. I weep for the state of the Union.

Jean Chretien: go home already!!! Mr. Martin has already assumed leadership of the Liberal party, so technically 'ol J.C., a.k.a "da liddle guy from Shawanigan" is now no more than just another sitting MP. I don't expect Canada to get any better with the current elitist-socialist cadre in charge, but I don't have any reason to believe things will get dramatically worse in the near future - at least, I don't have a reason for such pessimism YET...

More later, I gotta go build a bike now...

I'm staying home today...

Colin developed a hacking cough on Friday and Laurie is off to the States for a PNWTSDFA meeting, so I have to skip church to make sure the little guy is kept medicated and comfortable. Coral declined to attend church without us. I'm covered for this week (I hope) and next week is Conference Sunday, so a hiatus should be OK.

I was greeted this morning by my annoyed neighbor, Steve. The Dog has been behaving herself lately, so Steve has had to find something else to be annoyed with us about.

He has decided that one of the bike wrecks in our backyard is His.

He claims to have had a bike "just like that one" stolen from his yard three months ago. As may be, there are still a few problems with claiming that this bike is the one he lost:

-His did not have "VENTURE" stickers on it. (somebody MUST have just pasted them on!!!)

-This particular wreck belonged to Taras and was given to me over a year ago. I tried to nail down with Taras just when that was and we figured it was sometime after his move from New West into Richmond. Couldn't narrow it down any further, I'm afraid. He gave it me after he won the new bike (that looked just like this one, except for the solid forks) and decided that he had worn this one out. Then, of course, Taras got hit by a car while riding the new one and I junked it for him. Now he rides the new CCM that ICBC (should have!) bought for him.

-This wreck still has the custom shifters I traded to Taras for a helmet. His wrench at Custom Cycle in New West may very well remember Taras, and this bike. It's nice to have corroborative witnesses.

I don't know what Steve's problem(s) is(are)...but I do know it is my Christian Duty to make peace if I can, or at least maintain a measure of civility and common courtesy. I may just go ahead and build Steve a new bike! May get together with Dave Ferguson across the way and see if He and I can collabarate on a new machine for Steve. I am guessing Steve's Landlord doesn't have property insurance...

We took the kids to the Bose Family Corn Maze last night. I love bicycles, and this was my first RELIGIOUS experience with one! The creators of the maze designed it so that "three rights equals a left" at the halfway point of the maze, and made one of the rights so subtle that no-one thought of going LEFT in the first place. We all got thoroughly lost. (isn't that against the Geneva Conventions, or something?) A nice young man on an ATB rode out and guided us all back to the exit. Verily, the BIKE was the WAY...

Had a trip to the Bellvue Temple yesterday. The wife did not gripe ONCE about my poor navigation, despite the fact that I missed an exit TWICE (one going to and one coming from). We nonetheless arrived on time and departed (almost) on time, and got home when expected. The kids were fine, except for Colin's aforementioned cough, which had kept him up a little the night before.

I got the deck re-coated -FINALLY!- and it has yet to be tested. Either the coating will hold out this winter, and we won't see any further leaks in the shop roof, or the leaks will get WORSE, and we'll have to lay down some more effective roofing material next year; after we tear out and re-do the shop ceiling! We've had some standing water on the deck from morning dew, and so far I haven't seen any leakage, not that a few puddles is any sort of test. I still have to finish re-painting the stairway and re-fix some sort of covering for the stairwell. Then it will be ALL DONE...until next year.

I fielded a call from WCB at work this week. WCB called work on Tuesday at 2:30; and with their usual efficiency, the front office got the message to me at 2:30 on Wednesday. I was informed by the WCB rep that they would have a decision for me Real Soon Now, but that the claim would likely/possibly/almost surely/ be refused. As I didn't MAKE the claim, and as HBC will likely eat the charges if it is refused, I am not terribly concerned about this...my back is almost 'back to normal' now; life goes on.

The rains...

THE RAINS!!!

I finally got the deck rail painted, but I still need one more good weekend to re-seal the cracks in the part of the deck surface that is also the shop roof. If not, we're gonna have to tear out the shop ceiling in spring and NO part of that will be fun... I should also look into putting some sort of toe moulding between the shop roof section and the backdoor balcony to keep the seam around that step from getting chewed up. I am probably gonna need some more fibreglas seam tape before I'm thru.

The Die Nasty is running...just fine, thank you. Mileage is pretty decent too; now that the EC and engine management systems are operating within normal parameters...Bob sez he located the Probe that Toyo replaced, "on the exhaust manifold, behind the engine". Uh huh...I suppose this means that he will be able to help me repalce it MYSELF in two years or so, when I presume it will need replacing.

I'm still biking to work. I may do the year-round thing this year. I have adequate wet/cold weather gear and I have lost enough weight that it all fits me now. I could use a pair of waterproof shoes or boots...

I still don't have my trip time down to the 45 mins I figured I would have to make consistently before I could do the trip both ways. My current record stands at 48 mins, down from previous record of 51. I am thinking that IF I can do a consistent 40-45 min run (FLY up the Alex Fraser Bridge, baby!), I should be able to get home in an hour or so. This is acceptable.

I may (MAY, mind you) join the critical mass ride on the 26th. If the weather is good that Friday, it will likely be the LAST CM ride attended by the 'fair weather' contingent. I just can't see that many people showing up for October, unless mebbe a LOT of crazy people decide to go in costume!

Work is proceeding apace. We have established procedures to streamline the workflow; now if only we could get everyone on the same page in USING them. I may have a sticking point with my vacation time next year. It's my tenth year anniversary with Zeller's, but the vacation year starts in January and my anniversary isn't until the end of February. Will they make me wait another year for my 4 week vacation allotment? I have to confess I'm not terribly concerned either way; I've never been able to fill more than two weeks anyway!

I am still struggling my struggles, but at least some things in life are going right...Colin's feet are finally healing properly. Coral still struggles at school, but she has caught the reading bug and I think she will turn out to be a good reader, with some diligent work by her Mom and Myself. Of course, I would be happier if she didn't prefer 'gross out' books like "Captain Underpants" and "The day my Butt went Psycho". Laurie is trying to get her into "The Secrets of Droon" series, but so far Laurie seems to like it much more than Coral.

Laurie herself has caught the Geneology bug and is going like a house afire on her family's ancestors. She is focussing on the NA ancestors for now. The relatives in Holland will come later, I think. It certainly has given Her and my Mom a lot to talk about. It has also given Her and Her Mom a lot to talk about...

Danielle has expressed a moderate interest in the church. L privately opined that it may be because Danni is ready to settle down and start a Family, if only she could find a GOOD man who was ready RIGHT NOW to do so. Hey, it worked for Laurie... Personally, I think a visit to the Surrey Stake Singles' Branch would be a real eye-opener for Dan...ya just never know what y'all are missin'...

Jeff Marciel gave a talk today on the "six fallacies in sharing the Gospel", and I was a little dismayed to find that at least two of them were holding me back in telling my friends and co-workers about the Gospel and the Church. I also have to get a substitute for Jo Wheeler's class, as she is out for a while with a "long term" illness. Nothing fatal, but she won't be getting out to church for a few weeks, at least. This along with the home teaching thing, which I should talk to John Merriman about actually doing together - as he is, after all, my companion. I don't know how regular John's schedule will be now that he is an official member of Delta Cities Official Police Services. (D-COPS). Hope we can do more for our Home Teaching people than talk about them. I think the Uys are tired of the companion-of-the-month. I shouldn't be too hard on John; it took me a YEAR before I actually went out and DID any home teaching.

I did, however, get the Ward Sunday Schools materials inventoried, and got the order form to the Librarian on what we will need for next year. I hope we get a LOT of new members...I ordered a DOZEN Gospel Essential manuals, and I'm pretty sure Bro. Marciel will have ordered some as well. Other than all the G.E. manuals being gone, we're in pretty good shape. I wish I knew more about doing my calling...I have yet to meet with my councillor!

Don Holburn left me his girlfriend's bike to fix up...and I STILL haven't done it! It's been a friggin' WEEK! I think I kept putting it off because a tune-up is, comparitively speaking, a fairly short and simple job; I can't have THAT many other activities in my life that I can't spare time from, can I? I WILL get it done this week.

Hello again;

News highlights include the latest chapter in the Die Nasty II (die nastier) saga, our vacation (is that smoke I smell?) and My bad back (gotta get that WCB form filled out!).

On Friday, July 25, I was up on level 4 with the order picker, @1:30-2:00 PM, dragging a 40lb box of china plates from the back of the shelf. I picked up said box and turned with it; then bent badly and got a stern warning in the region of my lower back. I nearly dropped the box!

I was running the OPR with a single skid on the platform; all the better to load it up with more small pick merchandise for the slap line. So I was doing the equivalent of putting a 40lb weight from chest height down to a level 2" below floor level. I didn't think much of the twinge, and kept on going, filling up the skid as I went. I noticed my back was a little sore as I went to bed that night, but nothing new there. By Saturday evening, after a few hours painting the deck and fixing up Coral's new bike, my back was a little MORE sore. In my defense, I HAD to get Coral's bike done; I had been promising for WEEKS, and she was away at Brownie camp that weekend, so I figured I would REALLY hear about it if it still were not finished by the time she got home. I was fairly 'stiffed up' by this time, so I used the old freezer chest we moved outside as a workbench to assemble the newly painted frame; in short, I kept the bending over to a minimum. If only I had the foresight to forego the bike and the painting altogether...

Sunday was OK, but I was pretty sore for most of it, and I had a terrible night's sleep. Monday I was STIFF!!! and didn't feel a whole lot like riding to work. I am of the belief that biking is good for stretching out the lower back, so I rode to work anyway and felt fine - while I was on the bike. As soon as I arrived at work and dismounted, I knew I was in trouble; IT HURT TO WALK!! I couldn't bear my own weight on my feet. So I grit my teeth and informed my boss that I had hurt my back on friday and foolishly ignored it, and I needed to talk to our first aider. He determined that I had a problem and sent me to Richmond General for further diagnosis.

The visit to Richmond General ER went OK, except for when the attending MD left me ALONE to get off the low gurney myself!!! That was the WORST moment of the entire morning! There was a guy in the next bed over with a broken wrist who was so impressed by my moans 'n groans that he offered me a hand to get up! (and he only had the one...) NOT an enjoyable experience.

In times past, a bad back meant lots of bedrest. Nowadays, it means walking; LOTS of walking. I was back to work later that morning and placed on light duty. I was under medical advisory to avoid lifting, bending, standing too long, sitting too long and I was to do lots and lots of...walking. The first day was the hardest...

BUT, by the time I had spent the following five days doing lost stock reports, unconfirmed location reports, cycle counts, and various other paper shuffling marathons - I ran out of forms to fill thursday afternoon and had to content myself the rest of the week with pushing a dustmop - MY BACK FELT BETTER...

'Course my feet were KILLING me by then...

I then proceeded to go to Penticton on vacation for the following week. More on that in a moment; but while there I was a good boy: no bending, no lifting (well, not much) and LOTS of walking - mostly in beach sandals!!

I got back from vacation Tuesday the 11th, and had my functional abilities form filled out by Dr. Mergens. Cost 30$!!!, but I got reimbursed. Once the FAF was cleared, I was taken off medical restriction and reinstated as a machine operator; and just in time too, it's REALLY starting to back up out there.

The Car: our 600$ adventure.

We got a line on Toyo Motors: Bob's garage of choice and a GOOD independent full-service garage. They found a BALL of sludge in our gas tank and informed us that not only did the injectors need cleaning; the whole system needed flushing out RIGHT AWAY. Also, the widget in the EC gear that I had identified as wonky was in need of replacement. I hope they replaced it, they DID charge us for it after all. To their credit: they also threw in an oil change.

AND...the car is running better...no more chugs and stalls, at least. L wants to take it on a day trip to Seattle as soon as we can manage to find the time. Should be no problem.

Our house is in a CONSTANT state of chaos...and our vacation(s) is (are) to blame. L took a camping trip to Lac La Hache with her family this past week - and we hadn't even finished cleaning up all the gear and clothes from Penticton!!!

Oh, and did I mention she left me with all the peaches to can while she was away? I've never canned peaches before...I've never canned ANYTHING before. I CAN follow instructions; after putting off the project 'till friday evening I spent SIX HOURS putting up 16 quart jars of sliced peaches (15 of which sealed properly). Granpa and I spent the following noon hour cooking 'em to completion In between, I did at least manage to get the Kitchen and Bathroom clean, and do all my Laundry - oh, and I did the shopping (under budget!). Ya gotta prioritize.

Penticton:

I STILL never got to float down the canal to Skaha beach!!! Owing to the drought and the really low water levels in the canal, there is a serious risk of coliform once yer past the halfway point (where the town sewage treatment plant is); I figured if I could only go halfway, what was the point? I DID get in a couple of rounds of mini golf with the kids. Coral is turning into quite the little athlete, if only she would pay attention to her coach! Got to see how the SS Sicamous is progressing. They are hosting a Theatre Presentation in her dining hall. Evidently quite successful.

We flew kites, we played with cheap toys (all of which the kids broke before we got back home) we ate no more than the required amount of junk food. We swam in the pool lots, and because we forgot the kids' life jackets, Mom bought them pool noodles to float about with. Delightful things, pool noodles...
We also hiked all over town and Coral and I went out on Wednesday to find an internet terminal in order to enter her box tops in the "Kraft & Crayola Every Pack Is A Winner" contest. Unfortunately, the Crayola site (using the latest in Media Plugins) was not viewable on the local library's machines, or either of downtown Penticton's two Internet Cafe's. We had to wait 'till we got home, by which time most of the GOOD prizes were gone. Bummer.

I'm still not riding to work yet, and I STILL haven't finished painting the deck! But there is yet time. I DID manage to give away one of those two old Dept. Store bikes that Don gave me. I think the other may go to Bro. Uy's daughter. We'll see...

This edition comes to you from my In-laws house. Loooove that broadband connection!!

This week at work was BORING...less said about it, the better. We got the smart set at work all taking vacation before the traffic picks up again. Myself, I have to wait another three weeks 'till Penticton rolls 'round again.

Still haven't painted the deck rail...L sez we will set aside next weekend to do it. I hope the weather is good. Is raining cats and dogs now, so there is a 50-50 chance of rain next weekend. Reminds me: I need to get my roto-stripper out of Bob's garage. Reminds me again: Bob sez he threw out the roto-stripper years ago...oh well.

Tomorrow is the DC507 open house; my moment to shine! Mom has agreed to go, and we may even (sotto voice) -sneak out of church early- to attend. I will make the most of my 15 minutes...

We are here at Bob and Trudy's to celebrate...Danielles UnWedding day. Yep, the bullet Dani dodged would've been tying the knot with Clayton TODAY. Still had the invitations sent and the entertainments arranged, so why not throw a party? It's raining, as I mentioned, but Dani got some tents rented and a tarp rigged and now a party of about 30-40 (somethings) are out boogie-ing to Michael Jackson (I didn't say it was GOOD entertainment). I'm just an anti-social hermit who found himself pigeonholing one of the other guests and holding forth on things political, musical, and moral. I decided after eating to quit while I was ahead. It's about 10:30 now, and most of the guests with kids have already left. I think L expects that we will stay until the end and help clean up. I myself have stocked up on much sleep today; so I can stay up late, if necessary.

I saw the Matrix Reloaded Tuesday last. What a mind trip! Seeing the movie after all the reviews and pontification are over has it's advantages and disadvantages. Hearing the Architect hold forth on the Creation of the Matrix and Freedom and Choice and The One et al was ENTERTAINING. 'Specially since I'm one of only two people I have talked to that actually claimed to understand what the H*LL he was talking about. The story left about a dozen or so loose threads and some of the overly simplistic storyline was more than a little contrived ( to provide a convenient opportunity for car chases, fight scenes and a truckload 'o digitally enhanced explosions), but overall the script progressed the story cycle well and whetted my appetite for the third installment. Can you say "triple feature"?

Well, here we are again.

Just finished a walk down the Delta Millenium Trail. L's idea. The dog seems to have enjoyed it least of all. Myself and the kids were into it, although Colin got a little tired by the end and I had to carry him on my shoulders. We are doing the family thing again tomorrow night and going out for the free swim at Sungod Rec Centre.

Installed a new door last weekend. I didn't know we were buying a new door, which caused some consternation on my part when L announced it. Deep down, my whingeing was all about my having to install the !@#$%^&!! thing and how difficult that was gonna be. I spent three hours trying to straighten out that pre-hung frame, when I realised that the frame was fine...it's our HOUSE that's bent! Some shims on the hinges and the sill plate got it (almost) settled - at least the door doesn't stick.

I will be doing a LOT of house work in the coming week(end)s. We have to get that deck stripped and re-painted before we leave for Penticton. Got some repair to do on the deck stair as well...may need to re-organise the woodpile and (sigh) set up that !@#$%^&*!! shed.

The car is running as well as can be expected. I managed to figure out which widget in the EC gear was running wonky, and I disconnected it. The car still stalls and chokes, but only for a few seconds each trip while warming up. I still need to get that engine diagnosed and fixed on the cheap, if possible - BEFORE the car is aircared.

Work is fine and the DC is holding a Public Open House on July 13. I have invited family and friends to come, and maybe some will show up. It's from 11am-3pm so we'll only be available to catch the last hour and a half. I would love showing off my workplace to my parents and wife 'n kids.

Been a while, eh gang?

For the fans of this 'blog (both of them), I had intended to write daily; or at least weekly. Life got in the way.

This weekend was a prime example.

Grandpa Hendrik's sister Katy died last Saturday while Laurie and Coral were away at Brownie camp. The funeral was set for the 20th at 11AM. I was not going to attend as Katy wasn't a member of MY extended family and I doubted I could get time off to attend the funeral.

But I took the day off anyway.

Colin took sick on Wednesday night, and the poor little guy was in a pretty bad way Thursday. I had no problem with taking my bike to work Friday (even in the rain!), but Laurie was certain Colin should NOT leave the house in his condition. So I stayed home to take care of him and phoned the news in to my boss; who should be thouroughly confused when I see him on Monday. I think I will make it a goal to have no absences for the month of July; Lord knows I should have at least ONE month with no missed days!

Friday night Laurie took Coral out to the Harry Potter Premiere party. Waited in line an hour for their pre-ordered copy of "The Order of the Pheonix". Laurie and Coral BOTH went in costume. Coral was the best little Hermione you ever saw (she even got auntie Danny, who went with, to do her hair!), and Laurie put together a decent Madame Sprout costume, complete with screaming Mandrake Plant. AT FIRST Laurie was too embarrassed to show her face publicly, but then the inner-child like urge to have fun play acting took over and she WON second prize for her costume! She may even have her picture appear in one of the local papers.

Laurie informed me Friday afternoon that I was going to be doing some gardening Saturday morning. I WAS to have gone to the chapel to set up chairs for Stake Conference, but evidently I wasn't going to be able to. Bob arrived bright and early Saturday morning with a steaming truckload of the City Reclamation Centre Special Composted Bedding Soil and set to spreading it about. We pulled up the old near-dead rosebush and the two dead cedar bushes by the front door; breaking numerous lengths of nylon rope in the process. After the soil was spread about and the bedding plants put in (and the bed next to the driveway weeded out in a BIG hurry by yours truly), Bob LEFT (with the kids, to get a treat) and after leaving the remains of the load in the driveway, was gone for good.

This left a pretty massive clean up for...you guessed it: ME. Bob was gone, the kids had gone back inside to watch cartoons (was raining by this time anyway), and Laurie went for a nap.

So I decided that since I was all alone on this job, I was gonna do it MY way.

Got the leftover soil policed up.

Cleaned all the weeds out of the driveway.

Built a new border on the west side bed with the dressed stones.

Built a new border on the driveway bed with the smaller dressed stones.

Used the remaining stones to re-build the east bed border, plus I got some beach stones we dug and piled in the backyard to fill in when I ran out of the dressed ones.

Fixed a new garden hose on the front hose reel, and disposed of the old one.

Swept the walk and driveway.

Stowed all the tools and the barrow.

I went in for a SHORT nap. By this time Laurie had awakened and demanded I help her lay some chicken wire in the beds to keep the neighbors !@#$%^&*!! cat from shatting in them. I dinna wanta...but she was insistent. After a delay of some minutes to find a proper pair of tin shears, we got the wire laid and buried. I was kinda pleased to see this morn that kitty had already tried to dig some in the west bed and got 'er claws snagged on the wire - ABORT! ABORT! My favorite fevered dream is to come out one morning to find that cat wrapped up in a furry, dirty, chicken-wire ball lying helplessly in the flower bed she tried to pollute. Cruel? Perhaps, but ohhh so instructive. I guarantee that cat would NEVER come around our place again if that happened. In the meantime, kitty will have to find a less sharp and pointy place to shat.

Needless to say, I fell to bed exhausted Saturday night. It can be forgiven that I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT STAKE CONFERENCE ON SUNDAY. By the time we got up for church today, stake conference was half over...so we skipped it.

Shame on us...

Laurie LOVED what I did with the front yard (which surprised me greatly)...but was disappointed that I didn't have it together enough to remember conference (which was no surprise at all)...

Here's what I still (STILL!) have to do before summers end:

Put a coat of barn paint on the deck railing (before the dry rot REALLY sets in)

Re-Surface the deck (and fix the leaks).

Hang a Laundry Line. I think I have this one figured out, but I don't know if I will be able to do it CHEAPLY enough and still have it WORK.

Get the Tracker ready to be sold: Fix the tailpipe and muffler.

Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it.

Oh, what a week we had.

My In Laws (God Bless 'Em) GAVE us their old car. This is good, because the Tracker finally went from Junker status straight to WRECK status. The tracker lost its tailpipe, and finally dropped its muffler; so it is no longer drive-able. We have reached the cusp where the repair bill to make the car 100% now exceeds its total book value. I could still fix it up on the cheap, with minimal parts and mucho labor; but I don't see the point of that really. One thing I could try is to find a Tracker/Sidekick/Sunrunner wreck for CHEAP and try to mix 'n match the two wrecks into one working vehicle. What a hobby I would have!

The Die-Nasty suffered a bum ignition switch, a corroded fusible link, and a crispy-fried starter solenoid; all in the space of TWO DAYS! It went from starting with difficulty, to starting with GREAT difficulty, to not starting, to DEAD.

It Died while Laurie was out visiting Don and Magaly Cronin. The Cronins are moving to Europe for a few years and my parents are going to be renting their house. YAY! FREE BABYSITTING! It will be nice to have Mom and Dad close. It will be even nicer for Mom and Dad to get all the stuff they've left in storage for the past seven years out into the open air again. We WILL be helping them move, of course.

SO: I loaded up a compact (but comprehensive) tool kit on my bike and rode over there. I got the starter out, and cracked it open to have a look. Sure enough, the solenoid was nice and toasty, but I figured there was nothing to lose in scraping the contacts down to clean metal and trying to see if I could get it home. After putting the starter back in, I tried it and was pleased to hear the solenoid engage and the starter motor spool up.

But the bendix was stuck; the engine wouldn't turn over.

This is the embarrasing part...I really should turn in my Real Guy license.

It was getting late, so I packed up all the tools and headed home. I rode my bike to work on friday, and got a ride home from Don Holburn. I was fully expecting to ride out to Cronin's and remove that starter again, and then call Father-In-Law Bob and see if he could get me a good deal on the starter; or whether I should just take the starter a few blocks to Moben Motor Clinic and have them do an on-the-spot rebuild (seriously, they do them, it's like one-hour photo developing...).

Instead, I came home to find the car in OUR driveway, up on my ramps, with Bob (feeling his 58 years!) under the car, installing a new starter. He apparently WAS able to get a good deal on a new starter. I took over for him, and he graciously took my wife and kids out for ice cream.

I can hear the reader ask...HOW did he get the car home? Why does this make me any less of a Real Guy?

Bob did the one thing I didn't think of...

The one INSTINCTIVE thing every real guy knows to do when a car starter won't turn...or the bendix or the solenoid or whatever is stuck...

...He had Laurie turn the ignition over while he hit the starter with a hammer!!!

Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers of NPR fame, recommend using a Louisville Slugger for this task; "and go for a bunt single, not a home run...". However, a gentle tap with a hammer works just as well. Oh well, best laid plans and all that. For now, our automotive woes have been set aside and we are once again a one car family. I have never really appreciated LARGE cars. I put this down to too many bad memories of the car I first learned to drive in: my Parents' station wagon. I could never get behind the wheel of that beast without feeling like I was following General Patton into Belgium.

But THIS large car is starting to grow on me...difficulties aside.

Sunday, June 1st 2003. I baptized my eight-year-old daughter Coral. Co-incedentally, that sunday marks the one-year anniversary of my wife's (and myself's) return to church attendance and renewal of church membership. BOY, was I nervous! I haven't been called upon to exercise my Priesthood to that extent since the 'ol mission days. We had also talked of presenting Colin for a Name and Blessing; and since we were there with family and friends from all over (Chad came down from Calgary! But Karen and the kids could not, alas...), we did the Name and Blessing right after Coral's confirmation. My In Laws and Danielle showed up; which was both surprising AND welcome, and Trudy and Danielle both made it a point to let me know they are "UN-convertible". If they are not convertible, are they both hardtops? I was nervous enough to blurt this silly question out loud; fortunately, they both saw the humor and laughed instead of being offended. That's TWO church functions in a YEAR...If they're not careful, people will start to talk.

I am reminded of the poem about the long and winding road. We often arrive where we want to be, but the path we took to get there bears NO resemblance to the path we chose. Trust in God, son...everything will work out in the end.

Speaking of paths...

Don Holburn has resolved to get more exercise. He acquired a decent bicycle (about as good as my schwinn) for 60$ from a friend of his. He wants to ride to work and asked me for advice about a good route. I started to describe the route I take when I cycle-commute...then said, half joking; "You know, it would be far easier to SHOW you the route than try to describe it. Do you want to ride out with me tomorrow?"

He said yes.

So I told him to be at my place at 5:30am.

True to his word, he showed up.

I had told him not to have any breakfast that morning. If you're not used to doing a climb like the Alex Fraser Bridge, you'll probably feel like tossing your cookies by the time you reach the top. To his credit, Don stayed with me most of the way up. He also RODE home, arriving at my place about the same time I did. I ususally ride out to Annacis Island and catch the #340 bus; it doesn't get me home any faster (unless I'm lucky enough to catch the connecting #319), but it saves a WHOLE lot of hill-climbing. I basically trade off 3$ in bus fare for about an hour's worth of exhaustion and aggravation. Someday I will be in condition enough to do the ride home without feeling it later. I personally believe I will have to get my time to work down around 40 minutes before I try the two-way commute. Currently my best time to work is 51 minutes, down from 73 minutes two seasons ago. I expect some good results this year, owing as how I started the season (intermittedly) back in February.

Amazing...

My wife watched - and enjoyed - a Tom Clancy movie.

"The Sum of All Fears".

Honestly; every time I put "The Hunt for Red October" in the machine she rolls her eyes - tsk! "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger" don't thrill me that much. BTW, "Red October" is one of the few examples I can think of where the Movie was better than the Book. The book was BORING...you hear me, Mr. Clancy? Stick to writing screenplays, Tom.

Had to cancel plans to go to Matrix Reloaded with KWY. Will probably go next week...in costume. The Asphalt Gods gifted me a pair of Foster Grant Ironman designer sunglasses and I just got a new pair of black jeans to go with my black SAS shirt and black Brogans - all I need to complete the ensemble is a cheap black cotton trench coat, or maybe a black-on-grey checked overshirt. Yeah, I could pull that off.

The sunglasses fell off the roof of someone's car, and since they didn't stop to retrieve them; I did. I was too far away to make out a plate number, otherwise I'd have tried to return them. They are very nice...mirrored lenses with gloss-black brass frames. I haven't been riding much this week, with the weather and our new automotive acquisition.

Mom in Law and Pop in Law gave us their old car.

It's a 1992 Chrysler Dynasty (Die?-Nasty??). Currently needs a thorough cleaning of the interior AND the fuel injector system. We priced out the Injector Cleaning at about 200$; the interior I will take care of myself. I need to visit our Local Library in the near future and figure out what and how I can DIY and diagnose the systems on this car. I have done so for every vehicle I have ever owned and driven. Dynasty has a cracked windsheild, which L sez we will replace when - and if - we get ticketed for it. Sounds to me like she's tempting fate.

Work drags onward. We are slowly - oh so painfully slowly! - digging out from under the mountain of screwups caused by the triumph of expediency over common-sense and organized action. We are on downtime from about next week to the middle of next month, so hopefully we will get all the various problems straightened out in time for the Summer Bump - whereupon we will have a whole NEW set of problems to deal with. As the Spring Rush winds down the guys are taking their vacation time (hey, I did the same myself) and one or two of our crew are on loan to the Annex for the big SHUTDOWN...yeah, like THAT's ever gonna happen. We have been a little shorthanded of late, and are finding that work is getting priority based on which department has any ROOM to put stuff. Our floor management are all too aware how backed up we are with outgoing merchandise - and how we are barely keeping up with incoming volume, even though it has been reduced somewhat. Upper management is also aware; but they have an umpteen dozen OTHER worries to attend to. My stress level stems from the fact that although it is impossible for one person to hold the contents of an entire warehouse in his head; I find myself trying to DO just that, insofar as troubleshooting our ongoing Lost Inventory problems. I have had several half-formed suggestions to make about how procedures could be changed to improove the situation - but I have NOT had time to sit down and rationally think them through; and I am certainly NOT going to put them forth to Management without a little pondering FIRST.

Was a little outraged to hear that the Rolling Stones want 10million$ to put on a "free" concert in Toronto. Mega-City Management corp. (aka Toronto City Hall) wants to whack the good taxpaying citizens of The Big Lemon to foot the bill. Ten Million Dollars!!! Bread and Circuses are so EXPENSIVE these days!

Man, am I a doofus;

We did a day trip to the Seattle Temple yesterday, had a righteous spiritual buzz and got some work done for some of Laurie's kinfolk. Went to sleep with the same spiritual high still resonating thru my soul. I guess I was on Autopilot, because before bed that night I made my lunch and set out my riding gear for the morning - and set the alarm.

So (as usual) I got up at 5am, looked out the window, saw a gorgeous clear sky and decided to get ready to ride. Minor interruption by a diarrhea attack: after 4 visits to the bathroom to get rid of everything I've eaten over the last 24 hours, I was still determined to ride to work. Kept getting the feeling whilst I was on the pot; "put your watch on!", to which I replied (to myself), "I will, just as soon as I'm finished here..." - which took a while; unfortunately. I hurriedly finished dressing and got out the door a little late, but ready to go...

...I had reached the bottom of the hill on 112th before the light went on.

I noticed the traffic was a little light for 5:40am on a Monday - and then it hit: IT'S NOT MONDAY, YOU IDJIT!!!. I finally looked at my watch and, of course, the little weekday indicator showed that, in fact, it was SUNDAY...

So; I very sheepishly rode back up the hill, and curled up on the couch.

Laurie either didn't hear me go or just decided not to ask me about it. The dog was REALLY annoying; she woke up when I did and immediately started whining to be let outside. I'm not a complete idiot; so I muzzled her before letting her out into the yard. The Mutt is persistent: she's learned a muffled bark-howl that she can push out at a fair volume even thru the muzzle...I tromped out (6:00am by now) and chained her in the kitchen - by the muzzle. Laurie thinks it was unnecessary, but it's the only way to get that *&^%$#@! dog to SHUT UP. I am NOT fielding a call from the SPCA about my "nuisance dog", nor am I putting up with her whining when I'm trying to grab another hour's sleep.

I guess I'm just not a "dog person"...

Beagles are a caution: they have all the vices of a large dog, and none of the virtues of a small dog.
Large Dog:
They're LOUD - a particular sound known as "bugling" - common to all hound breeds
They DIG - everywhere! and have been known to chew stuff no other self respecting animal would get near: rocks, aluminum cans, glass...I have to be especially carefull about keeping debris out of the back yard, this is difficult with a High School in close proximity.
They get DIRTY - see previous sentence on digging.

Small dog:
Food - unlike most smaller breeds, beagles are binge eaters, about the only way we know the dog has eaten something that has made her sick is when she doesn't wolf down her food in under 30 seconds.
Shedding - Beagles shed more hair than most goats - especially now, during the spring thaw. I know she doesn't do it on purpose, but I only have the one suit for Church and I'm trying to keep it looking nice for a while longer. All the gagging on hairballs is kind of gross, too.
Staying put - most small dogs are content to keep to a small, well defined territory - not Beagles! She'll range far and wide, looking for new opportunities to crap in places she hasn't previously crapped in - and she is NOT housebroken yet; I don't care what Laurie says.

She IS, however, smart AND persistent. She's chewed thru a Stainless Steel Cable Lead (twice!) and ripped the arial lead off its anchor at least three times. One of her escapes almost got her snatched by an unscrupulous louse about six blocks from home. She's gone over, and especially UNDER the backyard fence more times than I can count - I got tired of filling in all the holes and boarding up all the gaps - the arial lead setup was a response to her efforts as a canine Escape Artist.

But my wife, who IS a Dog Person, loves the little Mutt - so she stays.

Maybe I'm just whingeing and whining here...

Truly, my life at the moment is going better than it has for YEARS. I am on top of my personal goals for the first time ever. I am doing well at work. I am supporting my wife and kids in their activities...

Which brings up Laurie: the stay-at-home mom who hasn't been home all that much lately!

Most women would be satisfied with ONE activity that gets them out of the house regularily: my wife has THREE. I was a little concerned about her stress level for a while there...

In addition to Coaching Square Dancing for a Local Teen Club, my wife is also: a Brownie (Girl Guides) Leader, and the Event Organiser for the Pacific Northwest Teen Square Dance Festival Association - Festival 2003! This last has about done her in...I remember L arriving home a few weeks back in a complete state of exhaustion after spending 16 HOURS figuring out the event schedules. She had done and re-done those same schedules FOUR TIMES over the previous three days and each time had declared "finally finished!" - I thought she was losing it...
I don't mean to complain, but the housework is NOT getting done with L out of the house 6 days a week; in fact, the shopping for this week was a serious cramp in her activities - I had to get creative with breakfasts to feed the kids - and our kids don't like NUTHIN'!!!

BUT - I support my wife...

Festival 2003 will be happening end of this week, and as I had some vacation time to spare; I am taking from Tuesday onward as vacation so that I can babysit the kids, and hopefully get the house in order, while L discharges her duties as Lord High Everything Else at the Festival.

This will give me ample opportunities for witty and pithy musings to be published here...you really DO have to suffer to write.

Hi all;

Big news this month is Clayton and Danielle. There ain't no Clayton AND Danielle any more. This solves our accomodation problems at Penticton this summer. Clayton walked out and Danny's ego got taken down a few notches (which Laurie privately opined is not necessarily a BAD thing). Danny is in counseling for help coping with the loss - which I assume is somewhere on the trauma scale near Divorce - she was with the guy for six years, after all.

All this is complicated by the fact that Clayton genuinely SEEMS like a nice guy. My kids have certainly taken to him, I would have enjoyed having him as a Brother In Law, I think...But 'tis not to be, alas.

Of course, this now means I have to do the clutch on the Tracker the HARD way, since I can no longer ask Clayton to borrow his dad's shop and engine hoist. Ah well, will still get it done.

We've managed to borrow a car for our "back to the Temple and Second Honeymoon" trip to Seattle next week; so the need to get the Tracker fixed up is not immediate. Actually, that piece of tin is running pretty good at the moment. I certainly didn't think it would make it all the way through winter. It helped that we had a particularily mild winter, recent snowfall notwithstanding.

I've been taking advantage of the odd clear breaks in the weather to bike to work. This HURTS! for the first week or so, but I seem to be getting my 'wind' back. I don't bike when it rains, so my rides are occaisional only. I got up at 5 am one thursday two weeks ago and looked out the window - seemed fine, a little windy perhaps...suited up and stepped out the door at 5:30 and looked up: "you have GOT to be kidding!!!" sez I. The snow was falling pretty thick and fast, and it's already MARCH for goodness sake!

I bought a new bed recently, and this almost caused me to be late for work, as I (1) had trouble getting to sleep and, (2) slept so soundly that I slept thru the alarm (BOTH of them). What troubles my sleep, of course, is the War...

I wondered after I wrote the bit Sept. of last year what the heck the US was waiting for...it certainly was NOT permission from the UN. Now all the waiting seems to make sense, as 150000 US armed forces personnel who have been sitting on their butts in the heat for MONTHS and want to go home are ready to take out all of Bagdad if that's the price of the ticket...

It was disturbing to see the footage of downtown Bagdad on a typical weekday morning. Except for the air-raid sirens, here was a typical city such as the one you and I live in...only the people here won't be going to work this morning...they'll be huddled in their poly-sheeted and duct-taped bathrooms, clutching a flashlight, listening to Saudi Radio, and praying to Almighty Allah that whatever is coming passes them and their families by. In short, they are in EXACTLY the same place you or I would be if the "threat" George Dubya talks about ever becomes real.

The US Military announced the development of the MOAB: Massive Ordinance Air Blast. (or, unofficially: The Mother Of All Bombs) One of the criticisms the US has had to endure is that with the world's largest working Nuclear Arsenal, they will NEVER actually use it on anyone! Now with the MOAB, they have all the destructive capability of a small tactical nuke, without all that messy fallout and radiation sickness...Weapons of Mass Destruction, indeed. It is almost guaranteed that the MOAB will be used...but on whom?