May Long Stuff

Our May Long has included several activities such as hanging out with Sari's parents, going to a 50th anniversary tea, some of us (Katie and me) had to work a bit, all of us got to hang out with some of our buddies (but not as many buddies as we would have liked) and some of us got to relax a little.

We did more than that, but I have pictures of a couple of the things that I got to do, so I thought I would share them.

First of all, on Saturday night the "Estevan Motor Speedway" held its first race of the year.  I volunteer as a track official out there and thought I would show you what things look like from my spot on the track.

My job is to stand at the end of the front stretch wall and wave caution flags.  I also help make sure cars are lined up and ready to go.  Here is a shot looking down the wall back to corner 4.

 My other job is to keep cars on the "staging lane" (where they sit after they leave the pits but before they go on the track) until it is safe for them to go out.  Here is a shot of the front of Allen Kent's Late Model.  These cars put out over 500 hp (maybe closer to 600) and cost in the $20 000 + range (depending on the parts and pieces you choose - could be cheaper - but the guys who run up front spend the money to do so)

Ready to go out......

Hot laps on track (basically a short practice - maybe 3 or 4 laps so the drivers get a feel for the track and to make sure that the cars are in working order)

Front stretch.... very wide... lots of options for passing

Late Models lined up for the start (You can see the flagman in the upper left of the pic giving them the "One lap to go" signal.... I should be doing that too but I am taking the picture).  We also communicate to the drivers via radio in their helmet... the big joke is always that it is "one way radio" only.... we can talk to them.... they can't talk back to us... which is fortunate at times)  :) 

  Hobby stocks taking the green flag

Looking back at half of the grandstand (it is intermission - that is why the seats are so empty)

I love hanging out at the speedway.... one of the best parts of living in Estevan.

Another nice thing for me is having a motorcycle and a family who allows me to just ride off into the sunset sometimes.  One of the best things about that is just exploring.  Yesterday, I found this old church building and yard out in the middle of nowhere north of Torguay.

It is called "Lac Qui Parle" (Lake that Speaks???) and it was named after a county in Minnesota where the settlers used to live.  The funny thing is that it was a Norwegian community... no one spoke French.... but they named the church was named after the nearby lake and then that name came with them to Saskatchewan.

The building was built in 1905 and many of the graves are from that time as well.  One of the things that struck me (as it often does in these old cemeteries) was how many babies were buried there.  One stone in particular said the name and then "our precious baby boy".  He was a year old.  We are fortunate to live in a time where most of us do not know what it is like to lose one or more children.

Anyway, there was no one around for miles (Except for the gopher that followed me around some and the snake that I almost stepped on - I thought of you mom)... it was really quiet and beautiful.  

 A little fun, a bunch of people, some rest and some fun stuff = good weekend.

Why We will not Deal with Sears Again

Sari needs room for a bunch of antiques and other things that she has been hauling home, so we decided to buy her a garden shed..... metal..... 10 x 8.... nice and useful.

They were on sale in the Sears flyer.... $100 off and you got the floor installation kit as well for free.  Sounded good, so we ordered one.  We were told that it would take 3 weeks to get here which was sort of dumb because we could have bought one off the floor at Canadian Tire that day, but whatever.... a $100 is a $100.

Today (16 days after ordering) I get an email that says our order was cancelled.  No explanation - just cancelled.

So I went into the Sears store here and of course they know nothing about it.  Look it up online - nothing.  Nothing they can do.

"Well, you know that this is the story I am going to tell about ordering stuff from you guys, right?" I ask them.

"Oh, we are different than the catalog" they say.  "If you had ordered through the store, we could have helped you.  The catalog stuff has nothing to do with us.  We just receive it for them".

"But the result is still the same for me, right?  I wait 3 weeks and I still don't have a shed when I could have bought one from Canadian Tire and had it set up the same day" I point out.

They say (again), "It isn't us".  Then they give me a "Customer service number" (in quotation marks because it is misnamed - as you will see)

"Hello, Sears Canada.  How may I help you?"

I tell the girl the whole story, she looks it up and helpfully confirms that yes indeed my order was cancelled.

"So how are you going to compensate me for waiting for three weeks for nothing and for you holding my money for that long?"

"One minute please" she says and then comes back and says, "Sir, I can offer you a $20 gift card"

I say nothing.

"Are you still there, Sir?"

"I am.  But I am not very happy.  So you are saying that I have no shed, you have had my money for three weeks and now you are offering me a $20 card to use on the online store that did not deliver the last item I wanted to purchase from you?"

"Yes!" she replied.  "And we will credit your credit card in 10-15 business days" (that was the wrong thing to say)

"So now you are telling me that you are keeping my money for over a month for something I did not even get?"

"Yes"

"Why would it take that long to credit my account?  When I purchase something with you, you take the money that second.... if you have to give it back it takes 10-15 days????  Seriously????? Does that make any sense to you?????"

"Well there are procedures"

"Does it make sense to you?"  (Go around in a circle with this conversation about 4 times - getting nowhere - before proceeding)

"You know that I am paying interest on that money while you hold it right?"

"Oh no sir!  You are not!"

"I sure am!  Every day it is on the card I am being charged.  What are you going to do about that?" (It is not that much money, so I don't really care.... at this point, it is the principle of the thing - and the fact that I was becoming a little less than happy with the "Customer Service Line" by the minute)

"Can you hold please" (3 minutes later) "Sir, if you will send us a copy of your credit card bill with the appropriate interest highlighted.... we will pay that portion for you" (Not a good thing to say!!!)

"So now I have to do more work to get my money back when it is your issue in the first place????  And how am I ever going to figure out exactly how much interest was charged specifically for your item alone???? That is ridiculous!!!"

"Can you hold please" (5 minutes later)  "Sir what if I offered you a $30 gift card to make up for your trouble and to cover the interest we cost you?????  That is the best I can do"

(Long silence again) "I guess I will take it if that is all you can do.  But you know that this is the story I am going to tell to everyone I see about ordering things from Sears, right?  I am even going to blog about it!!!" (Considering that she was sitting in the Philippines and could not really care less what I said about Sears Canada - what is it to her really right - this likely did not matter to her - but it made me feel better.... and here you are reading about it so.....).

I don't know about how things go where you are..... and I don't know anything about the new management in the Sears store in Estevan.... but I know this:  We will not order anything from them again.

PS. I told this story to my neighbour when I got home and he said, "We stopped ordering things from them years ago!   They used to be great but I can't stand dealing with them now".

Whew.... I feel better now..... where is my medication??????  :)

The icing on the cake:  As I was finishing the last line above, the phone rang.  It is an automated call from Sears Canada "regretting to inform me that my order has been cancelled. However, if you would like to place another order with us, you can call.......".   Oh - please - let -me!!!!!!

Customer service at its best!!!!!  :)

Add a Fonzi... subtract a Summer... throw in a university tour... something concerning.... and "this guy" = a summary of our week

 Random observations from the past week.....

1.  Add a Fonzi... subtract a Summer:  Megan got one step close to being a real driver this week as we put plates on Fonzi (her truck).  That also means that I had to park Summer (my truck)  Why is my tuck called "Summer", you ask?  Well - I don't know!  Why do people name their kids Blanche???  Actually, we bought her, in part, to pull our camper in the summer... hence "Summer".

I will be riding my motorcycle soon, so I don't need my truck.  When it rains, I will take Megan's and she can ride with her sister.  So we are all happy about this...


2.  University tour:  We did all the registration stuff with Katelyn and had a look around and now we all feel much better.  The university is not nearly as big as I thought (I had never really been on campus before) and it is well organized and easy to figure out. Signing up for classes was a bit of a nightmare as most classes are offered like 5 different times throughout the week, so you have to pick the ones you want and make sure that they do not conflict with other things you want.... it literally took us 2 hours and several tries to get it right.... but I think we are good now.


Katie is going to stay with our good friends Jen and Justin.... they were super good to us and we really happy that she is going to be staying at a place that has been a second home to us and to her since she was little.... that will make the transition a lot easier.... though she is a little concerned about Justin wanting her to call him "Your Highness" all the time.... I think it is a reasonable demand!

3. Something concerning:  Going into "A and W" the other day, I held the door for this dude who was coming in behind me.  He looked at me and said, "Hey, Tim!  How are you doing?  Staying out of trouble??"   I looked at him and said, "Hey..... ya sure!  How are you??"   I HAD NO IDEA WHO HE WAS!  So when I sat down with the guys, I asked if any of them knew him.  Nope!

Then tonight I decided to walk to Bible study (just because it was nice out) and I was standing at the corner by the Mohawk gas station waiting on a light when a guy yells out of a white four door GMC truck.... "Hey Tim.... wanna ride???"   I yell back, "No thanks!  I am good!"   I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THAT WAS EITHER! (I could not see against the setting sun...)

So, that leads to only one logical conclusion...... I HAVE ALZHEIMER'S!

If you can help on either count.... if you know who has a white truck and saw me walking.... or if you were stalking me and watching me go into the "A and W" with some dude.... well, wait, on that one - maybe don't tell me.  GET HELP!!!  My life is not interesting enough to have you following me around. 

4.  This is so gonna happen:    If my kids have a wedding dance.... this is so gonna be me.... only with WAY better moves!  You have been forewarned!!!

PS.  I saw several of these.... some of them started with the Dad and Daughter dancing to the old Motown song "My Girl"..... (I am not going to cry..... I am not going to........)..... Stupid song!

Have a good week!

Something weird just happened

Our youngest daughter just jumped in her truck and went driving under the supervision of our oldest daughter..... and it is all perfectly legal.

What is going on here?????

I thought we were registering them for kindergarten this week!!

Yikes!!  How can a young couple like Sari and me have such mature kids?????   I am confused. 

Amazing

I have not found a good place to say this yet, so I guess this is as good a place as any..... I am always amazed when people respond well to tragic circumstances.  I am always inspired when people "step up" and face difficult situations with courage, grace, care, love and strength.  I have seen it many times before and I saw it again this past week. 


When bad things happen (and they will in both big and small ways) we have a choice.... we can stare at the awful or we can see the amazing.

For a week, I saw a whole group of people living at their very best.... and I will never forget it. 

Megan's new ride

Thanks to some generous friends who gave us a good deal, Megan now has this waiting for her when she gets her license (Until then, Dad gets to rip around in it)  :)

In case you did not hear

In case you did not hear, click here

Today's events

It was spring cleaning day today..... sort of.

By that I mean that Sari spent most of the day in the yard cleaning things up from the winter mess.... I spent the day in my garage cleaning up my motorcycle and getting it ready to go (checking all the fluids, cleaning it up, lubricating things, etc).... Megan and her buddy Shana spent the day cleaning up our snacks and watching TV..... and Katelyn..... well who knows what Katelyn was doing because she is not here and does not seem to be communicating with us anymore (she is in Ontario with her boyfriend's family).

It has been a nice "Spring is almost here" day!

Quick Update/Random Thoughts

It has been a while since I have written anything so here, in no particular order, are some random updates.....

1.  My sister got married last weekend.  I will not post pictures of that yet (she has not done so yet, so I will wait) however I did get to drive the groom's truck from the church building to the reception.  Rule #1 of getting married..... NEVER GIVE YOUR TRUCK KEYS TO ANYONE!!!

Megan, Katie and I filled their truck with balloons (Sari was being "wedding photographer" with the couple so she did not get to participate in the fun).  We filled it so full that you could hardly close the doors.  Pictures below are of the work in progress

Fortunately for me, I am not getting married again.  Unfortunately for the girls, their aunt has a long memory and a fine tune sense of "Pippus revenge".... we will wait and see what happens.  :)

2.  Katie got her university acceptance letter.  If you do not know the what, where and why of this, write to me privately and I will give you the details.  Needless to say, she is excited.  Her parents on the other hand are trying to be excited. 

3.  Megan is approximately a month away from getting her driver's license.  She has done most of her driving times with the instructor so soon she will be on the road.  The search for a car begins.

4.  Both girls made the honour roll in the first semester and their mid-term report cards came today.... they are doing well.

5.  Sari is leaving me.... a few times actually.  She is going to a conference in May and she is also going to go pick up a big chunk of money that is being donated to her school program.  Very nice!

6.  Spring is officially here..... I just watched an entire playoff hockey game including 3 periods of overtime.  I love the first round of the NHL playoffs.... even if the Leafs and almost every other Canadian team missed it.

7.  Tomorrow is "Spring check-up day" for my motorcycle.  If it ever stops snowing, I may even get to ride it a bit.

8.  I am looking forward to the workday at "Estevan Motor Speedway" on Saturday.  First race = May 3rd...... woo hoo!!!!  

9.  If you want to see something really disgusting, take the trap off of your kitchen sink drain.  Sari and Megs dropped a Popsicle stick down there today so I took ours apart..... ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh...... iiiiiccccckkkkkkkkkk!!!!  (Fill in your own details here).  I am not even sure how some of that stuff got down there.

10.  Life is good.  We are happy and content with our little life.  We are thankful and are trying to enjoy every day.  We don't always do that last part well.... but we do it more days than we don't.  We just saw my family and this weekend we get to be with Sari's folks..... and it is supposed to be warm sometime soon (I keep telling myself that anyway).  Life is good!

PS.  Now that things are starting to happen around here again, I am going to try to blog more regularly.  Please check back and comment..... it is way more fun if you comment.  Ok?  OK!  :)

Wisdom for today

I think I just found some birthday/Christmas presents!!!! :)

Hey y'all

I know I have not been a very active blogger lately and I intend for that to change.  Come back after the weekend (like April 7th or 8th or so) and we will get back at it.  In the meantime.....

Some of you may know of my "HATE" for all things cellphone.  I have to carry one so that people can find me when I am out of the office, but if I can leave the thing at home I do every chance I get.

That being said: This video makes a lot of sense to me. 

Wanna Learn Something?????

I (Tim) love stuff like this!!!  It is interesting to know the "why" behind the stuff that we experience all the time but take for granted (that is why I liked Physics in High School.... I DO want to know how fast the car is going when it hits the tree after it rolls down a hill that is 250 metres long with a slope of 35 degrees).

Ten minutes of learning - go!

Ps.  Can I be this dude???  I really wanna be this dude!  :)

And How did you Spend your Sunday Afternoon????

We spent it burning things down!!!!

Well, we really didn't burn anything..... our buddies Nathan and Melanie did.... and they did a good job of it.  They are cleaning up an old farm yard and one of the old homestead houses was run down and in the way.  So how do you get rid of it?????? 

Well........

 Some of the pictures turned out quite pretty.... like this one.....

And the girls thought it would be funny to take a couple of "selfies" as if they were at the coolest thing ever (which - in a way - it was)

 So here is what I have determined.......
   1.  It is no wonder house fires are so fatal.  You would have very little time to react
   2.  One hundred year old wood burns very hot!!!   Like really hot!!!
   3.  We have fun friends  :)

So there you go.  Move to Estevan.  It is a good time all the time.   :)  (No seriously.... it was!)

And you????????

We bought a huge bag of dog food today (For the record.... "yes" we have a dog...... so "no" this is not an announcement of our financial ruin). 

Every time I open a big bag of dog food and dump it into the "dog food tote", I think of Justin and Jen Mooney.

One time when we were hanging out at their place, they bought dog food.  Trying to be helpful, I offered to carry it in and dump it into their "tote".  I opened the one corner of the bag....  turned it over.... and watched as the entire top of the bag ripped open sending dog food everywhere.

And I mean everywhere!!!  It was all over the kitchen floor... under the stove.... behind the fridge.... I was standing in it up to my ankles..... In fact, I think the only place it did not go was into the tote.

I sometimes wonder if the people who live in that condo are still finding the odd bit of dog food in their kitchen.

And I always think of Jen and Justin when I open a new bag.

So.... what about you????  What has happened to you in the past that makes you think or act differently now?????  Respond in the comments section.

PS.  Here is one more from me:  When I go to the movies, I check for my wallet like 3469643674390 times (and not just because the girls are spending all my money.... ba dump bump!!!) but because once when I was a kid I was slouching on the seat and, somehow, my wallet slide out of my pocket and onto the floor (I forget how I got it back..... I think we had to go back and ask for it)..... anyway, now I am always very conscious of where my wallet is when I am at the movie..... but it only applies at the movies..... the rest of the time I don't think about it (Good thing I go to - like - 1 movie per year hey?)

Ok..... your turn.  Go!

How did that happen???

We have an extra adult in our home, as of today.

It is Katie's 18th birthday. 

I (Tim) told her recently that on the day she was born, I came home from the hospital and turned on the CD player in our house.  The first song that played was called, "God has smiled on me".  At the time, I thought "Man that is really true!".... and I still do (even more).

Happy Birthday Katelyn!!!!

A Happy Story

This story starts with a Christmas present..... a Keurig Elite coffee maker like this one....

All was happy in Keurig coffee land..... the girls loved the new machine and all the wonderful (?) brews it created.  (The "?" is there because I would dispute how wonderful most of the brews are.... who needs a "French Mocha Highland Italian blend Africana Brazilian influenced Frappuccino"????? All I want is coffee!  Hot coffee!!!)

After a year of bliss, the Keurig began to make strange sounds.... and then it just sat there and did nothing (Much like many husbands, right?  Bah.... ha.... ha...... As if I have not heard that one before).  :(

Anywho, Sari wrote a nice letter to the company pointing out that the machine was making sounds like an "Elephant Seal" (Seriously, she told them that) and that it was only making 1/2 a cup of coffee.

Within a day the company wrote back and said, "Your new machine is on its way - free of charge".  Five days later.... new machine..... free of charge.

So, the moral of this story is either.... (A) Keurig coffee machines only last a year and then die... (B) Keurig is a good company that responds quickly with great customer service and stands behind their product..... (C) None of this would have happened if we had just stuck with the old coffee maker that made 67489674589794576 cups of coffee for less than the cost of one box of 18 Keurig cups.

I think the answer is either "B" or "C"..... but since I am impressed with Keurig's response I will vote "B" (just this one time).  :)

So you want to have supper near the ocean????

Video from a restaurant in Santa Barbara, California. Crazy!

I am not sure who was more embarrassed

I come home tonight and go to change my clothes (stay with me here).

I grabbed a pair of jeans from my dresser drawer, put them on and thought, "What happened here?"

They were SUPER TIGHT!!!

So I think, "How could they have shrunk?  They are not new and they have been washed like 7869734867843 times".

I did up the button and then stuck my hands in my pockets.... but my hands would not go in.  WHAT?????

Then I realized it.........   I WAS WEARING MEGAN'S PANTS!!!!

Someone (likely me) folded them and tossed them in my basket in the laundry room.  I then put them in my dresser (without looking) and then I put them on today.

I gotta say..... they did not fit quite right everywhere.... but I thought I looked quite fetching in them.

Megan was HORRIFIED!!!  In fact, I think she took the pants and burned them (Unfortunately she will have a significantly harder time removing the image from her mind!)

And the good news......  my wardrobe just doubled (Maybe even tripled or more... Megan has way more clothes than I have).

Oooh...... maybe I can talk her into buying some pants with butterflies on them...... I like butterflies!!!!!  :)

Why it is wise to Listen to your Mother

(Editor's note:  If you see the word "motorcycle" and think "boring" and are tempted to move on.... please keep reading.  It is not as boring as it sounds).

With Sara and the girls gone for the weekend, I decided to turn the heat on in the garage and work on my old motorcycle (for those who don't know, I bought a 1983 Honda 1000 as a "winter project").

I have heard this bike run on 2 out of 4 cylinders (not a good thing) and it had a really loud knocking sound in the front of the engine. 

Concerned about that, I decided to do the logical thing and check the oil.  Pulled the dipstick.... no oil.  Like none.... none on the dipstick.... none to be seen in the hole.... none!

So I did the next logical thing..... I stuck my pinky in there.... still no oil.... could not touch anything.

Then I did the next semi-logical thing..... I stuck my index finger in there.  Now, it was sort of a tight fit mind you, but I shoved it in there anyway.

"Was there oil on my index finger?" you ask.

I had no idea because...... I COULD NOT GET MY FINGER OUT OF THE HOLE!!!!!!!

Seriously.... it was stuck in as far as it could go and it was not coming out.  I pulled.... nothing!  I twisted.... nothing.  I pulled really hard.... nothing.

Then I started to get a little worried.  I mean, if the blood was being restricted (which it was being such a tight fit and all) then my finger was going to swell and I was really going to have trouble getting it out.

Adding to the problem, I had placed the motorcycle by the overhead doors so that I could open them and get some fresh air if and when the bike started.  What this meant was that I was a long way from any sort of grease or oil that I could have put on my finger to lubricate it because all that stuff was on a shelf on the other side of the garage. 

By the way, the motorcycle weighs about 600 pounds and is hard enough to push around when I am standing up much less when I am hunched over with one finger in the oil filler hole.

Oh - and I hate carrying a cell phone (HATE IT!!!) so of course I did not have that on me so I could not call for help and the only other phone in the garage was across the room and on a shelf about 6 feet off the floor.

I began to think.... "I am in big trouble here!!!   No one is going to come looking for me until I miss church tomorrow morning because no one knows where I am.  Maybe they won't look in the garage and I will still be here when Sari and the girls get home tomorrow afternoon.  But by then I will have missed supper, my bedtime snack, breakfast and lunch...... who knows if I will still be alive??????  That would be an embarrassing way to die.  When the kids are asked, 'What happened to your dad?' they will have to say, 'Oh he stuck his finger in a motorcycle engine and starved to death'.  That is no where near as cool as 'He took a bullet trying to save the President' or something.  Poor kids!"

Then I did the next logical thing..... I PANICKED and YANKED my finger out as hard as I could.

My finger does not have quite as much skin on it now.  I lost some blood and it hurts a lot, but at least the girls will not have to find me dead in the garage.

"Don't stick your fingers where they don't belong!"   Good advice every mom has given their kids.... for good reason!

Sari in the Newspaper

Another short article about Sari, the work she is doing and the volunteers she is attracting to the school.  Similar article in the other paper here.

That seems about right :(

So earlier I was gloating that Tim Horton's was getting rid of "Cold Stone" in Canada (see post below) and now I read this.......

In an effort to eliminate items that do not sell well, Tim Horton's is deleting 24 items from its menu including Walnut Crunch Doughnuts.

WALNUT CRUNCH!!!!!   THAT IS ALL I EVER ORDER!!!!!!  D'OH!!!!!  WHY?????  WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAPPEN TO ME??????????

So I brag about losing Cold Stone and how Dairy Queen is so much better and this is how I get repaid??????  Super great then!!!  :(

Hey.... wait a minute.... come to think of it, this is not my fault..... it is YOURS!!!   The article said that Walnut Crunches were being eliminated because of lack of sales.... but I buy them all the time..... I am holding up my end of the bargain..... WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE??????

So - the only obvious solution is that since y'all owe me a bunch of Walnut Crunches y'all better start baking....... or go to your nearest Tim Horton's and buy all the Walnut Crunches you can (they said they would be available while supplies lasted).

I am emptying the freezer as we speak!!!

I am going to say it whether you like it or not!

Dairy Queen rules!!!!

There... I said it.

 Everyone around here is enamoured with "Cold Stone Creamery" but I like the way things used to be.... you know....  "old school" stuff.  Forget all these fancy, weird, "all loving no oven" things (That is an actual name of a Cold Stone something or another.  How can you order something when the name gives you no clue as to what you are getting????  It is ridiculous!!!!)

My mommy used to walk me 6 blocks to a DQ that looked something like this one.... and if it was good enough for my mommy it is good enough for me!  (Besides, NASCAR driver Tony Stewart LOVES Dairy Queen.... what more endorsement do you need than that?)

The battle is over though.  According to this article, Tim Horton's is pulling all Cold Stones from its Canadian stores.

Oh well!  No more paying $347690457905 for a little dish of ice cream.  :(

Bring on the Peanut Buster Parfaits!!!!!!!!   Woooooooooo!!!!!!

DQ..... DQ.......DQ...... DQ......D.... (Well, you get the idea)   :)

That was fun!

I like judging people!

What I mean is, I had a good time judging the "Royal Canadian Air Cadets speech competition" tonight.

It was really interesting.  Five kids got up and gave a 5 minute prepared speech and then we gave them a topic of our choice (the Olympics) for an impromptu 3 minute speech.  Each of them did very well and I actually learned a lot from listening to their prepared speeches (not so much from their impromptu ones).

The other two judges were teachers from Sari's school so that made it even more fun.

I don't know how you would ever get the gig (in fact, I hardly know how I got it) but if anyone ever asks you to judge a speaking competition for the Air Cadets - do it!

You may even get a bonus "Tim Horton's" card as a thank you.  :)

If we had a skyscraper in Estevan.........

From the website..... "A few weeks ago, daredevils Vadim Makharov and Ritaliy Raskalov were traveling through China. The intended pinnacle of their trip was to reach the top of the Shanghai Tower, a building only shorter than one other in the world. They planned their escapade to coincide with the Chinese new year, so that fewer people would be around and security would be lax. Sneaking into the building, which is still under construction, they climbed 120 stories on foot. At they top, they slept and waited for good weather. Then they clambered out to the very end of the crane that sits on the roof…"

Check it out........

Can We Agree that is Three Now????

On Tuesday we found out that we may have to spend a bunch of money on our SUV's transmission.

Last night, during Bible study, the city's sewer froze and backed up into the basement of the church building.  I was here until 10 pm cleaning that up.  The clean up and hassle continues today

Last night, after Megan had a shower, she left the lever on "shower" instead of "tub".  Not knowing that, when I turned on the water this morning, instead of it coming out of the tap, ice cold water shot out of the  shower head and sprayed all over me...... and I HATE ice cold water!!!

If bad things come in threes, can we call that three and be done?????  Thank you! 

Something to think About

 

The guy pictured about is named Steve Brynes. He is a NASCAR host/reporter. Even if you don't care about racing, read this article. His story and the insight he gained will be more than worth your time.

So you wanna be an Olympic Skier????

I realize it looks a little more bumpy b/c he is carrying the camera and it is bouncing around, but you also are not dealing with the wind, the cold and the burning legs as you watch from your chair.... so maybe it evens things out a bit.

That is the issue

What can happen when events are judged and not just won by points or time.

My Olympic-sized Complaint

When I was a kid, I thought that the drivers who raced against one another at the Indy 500 ONLY raced against each other at the Indy 500.  In other words, this race in May was their one and only time to see who was the best of the best.

When I got older, of course, I found out the Indy 500 was only one part of a larger tour and that these guys raced against each other every weekend for most of the year.

To say the least, that was disappointing.... and it made the Indy 500 something less than it was to me originally.

The Olympics are the same story.

As a kid, I thought that the Olympics were the only time in four years that these competitors saw one another.  I guess that may have been true when the modern Olympics were born and travel was much more difficult.... but of course now that is not the case.

In fact, speed skaters, figure skaters, bobsledders, snowboarders and almost every other sport represented there see each other many times in a year and some even train together.

It is sort of a joke, don't you think? 

I mean, "Big deal!" this week you are competing for a medal that has rings on it instead of a PetroCanada Logo (or whatever).  

So you are doing your sport in the same city that everyone else is doing their sport and we are calling you teammates with the rest of your country men..... WHO CARES????   Canadian figure skaters still have to beat the same two people named Evgeni and Svetlana that they had to beat in Ottawa last week.  SO WHAT????

The only exception to this rant are the team sports.... like hockey.  There you actually have something unique.  Guys from the same country - who never play together - get together and see if our country is better than yours.  Perfect!  That is different.... interesting.... worth watching even. 

Unless you are talking about women's hockey.... then it is even more of a joke because the Canadian and US teams play together all year and they play each other 4608496890 times per year.  Yay!!!   Canada vs the USA - the only teams who could win gold - are playing AGAIN!!!

Don't get me wrong.... I will likely waste a good share of the next week in front of the TV watching things I would never normally watch (Like Biathlon), but I still think it s stupid!  :)

Sure you can!

At the ski hill on Saturday one of the 20 year olds who was with the group (Lets call her Sally) wanted to go try out the black diamond runs (the hardest runs on the hill) but she was sort of scared.

"Come on" I said.  "I am sure you can do it."

And I was right.  Sally skied down the first black diamond very well.  In fact, the dude she was with (who was bragging about what an expert skier he was) was left in the dust (or in this case the snow).

After the first run I said, "See!  What did I tell you? Nothing to be scared of"

We did 10 more black diamond runs until I was confident that she knew what she was doing and would be ok.  Then I said that I was going to go back across the hill to the beginner runs and see how Megan was doing because I had not seen her in a while.  

The good news...... when they called from the hospital three hours later.....they said that they did not think Sally's leg was actually broken! 

Apparently, Sally decided that I was right.... she was a super good skier!!!  Then she decided that she was so good that she should try out some of the jumps that were on the course.

In reality, she tried "one" jump.... and it was more of a "splat" than a jump.

Apparently, too, her buddy boy had taken a different route (or he was so embarrassed by how much better she was than him that he took off), so when she wiped out she had to lay there for like 15 minutes before someone realized she was hurt. 

When she showed up back at the hall later that night she had a huge brace on her leg, but she was still smiling and did not seem mad at me.... but I did notice that her buddy stayed away from her for the rest of the night.

The moral of the story:  Encouragement is a good thing..... to a point!

Alternative moral of the story:  If you really want to impress a girl... do not ski off and leave her laying in the snow with a possible broken leg.

Alternative alternative moral of the story: (As Sari often points out to people - especially little kids when I am bugging them)..... The only time you should listen to Tim is in church!  :)

A Weekend of Good experiences (I have given up numbering these things because I am so far behind)

Our family does a lot of stuff together.  In fact, it is odd when we all go our own separate ways to do things.... so that made this weekend a little different - but good.

For example..... Katie stayed home by herself for the first time ever (at least for an entire weekend).  She has just started a new job and it was going to be hard to ask for time off, so she stayed and worked.  Many parents would worry about leaving a 17 year old home alone (parties, being irresponsible, etc) but not us.  We knew she would be a "grown up girl" and she was..... she even got up and went to church and herded all the little kids all on her own (That was not surprising given it was Katie.... but not normal 17 year old behaviour in many cases).  She was sad that she was stuck in town - and so were we - but she earned some cash for more fun things down the road.

The rest of us headed to Manitoba.   I was speaking at a youth rally/ski event(more about this later), so on the way we dropped Sari off to visit with her best buddy Laura.  It just so happened that Brandon was having a multi-cultural celebration thinger like Regina's "Mosaic", so they went and hit up the Scottish, Irish and German pavilions among others.  Seems that was not the only thing that got "hit up"..... apparently everywhere they went guys were talking to Sari, flirting with her, hitting on her...... when you got it you got it, right?  :)

Megan and I carried on to the youth event.  It was a lot of fun.  About 100 of us stayed in a hall in a small town near the ski hill.  Let me tell you, a large hall full of about 40 dudes sleeping is not a pretty thing to see or hear!!  I woke up at about 4 am both mornings to the sound of "snore.... wheeze.... sneeze..... cough.... snore..... snore.... cough.... snore......"   You get the idea.  But, other than that, we had a great time.  I did three lessons.... the kids were great.... I saw some old buddies that I had not seen in years (they brought their kids to the event)  Super fun!  (I have one good story to tell about this weekend but I will save it for coming days).

And Megan.... well she learned to ski this weekend.  Started off on the bunny hill looking like a baby giraffe walking on ice and by the end of the day she was flying down the hills.  It was incredible.  No real big wipe-outs and now she is hooked..... actually "now" she is sore..... but she will get over that.

Now that the weekend is over, we are all back home, safe and sound and together - as we ought to be.... but it was fun for each of us - though for different reasons.

Here are a few pictures from Megan and me..... Sari and Katie will have to post their own because I do not have them

(Ps.  Some of the pics are blue b/c my camera is frozen.... it was - 25 with a wind chill of -40..... and a much higher wind chill when speeding down the black diamond runs!)

One quick shot of the hall where we stayed..... set up for the next lesson.  Chairs and sound stuff were moved out of the way and this is where the boys slept (girls were downstairs).... if you look on the right you  can see some of the mattresses that we slept on..... about a 1/2 an inch thick!!!  Better than the bare floor.... but not much.  :)