It is late - but it is (partly) done (41 of 33)

It is 9 minutes to midnight as I write this - Sari and I just finished putting the last sheet of OSB on the roof!!! Jurgen and Pia were here again today - came over at 4 and worked till 6:30. I went to Bible study and then Sari and I worked from 9:30 till now. The hardest part (ladders, 10 feet over your head, lots of lights and boxes to cut out) is over now! Woo hoo!!!!

I will try to post some pictures tomorrow. :)

The best invention ever (40 of 33)

I did not know it until this very day, but the contraption in the picture above is the best invention in the history of the world (just for fun.... write back and tell me what you think the best invention ever is - you could win a million fake dollars - the winner will be picked at random).

What is it, you ask? It is a drywall lift! You throw a piece of drywall on it (or in my case, a piece of OSB - Oriented Strand Board - or "Chip board" as it is called) and you can lift it up to the ceiling 10 feet over your head. It makes putting this stuff up much easier. Just run it up, move it around to where you want it, screw it to the truss and you are done. I rented this one from the rental place in town and I would have paid 49869384693 times as much for it as I did (shhhhh - don't tell them that) it is that good!

Jurgen, Pia and Skip came and helped Sari and me and in one day we got 3/4 of the roof done and most of one wall. Considering the fact that almost every sheet on the ceiling had to have cutouts in it for a light or an electrical outlet or something else, this was good progress. The worst of it is over, just about 8 more sheets on the ceiling.

Hurray for the greatest invention ever!!!! :)

Woo Hoo(39 of 33)

The building inspector was here and is gone..... in 23.3 seconds! Seriously - walked in, had a quick look around and that was it. No questions about what I did. No suggestions as to what could have been done better. Nothing. As before, he would have been gone in 10 seconds if I had not asked him a question.

That is the kind of inspector I like! Reasonable - not nit-picky - "looks good - start sheeting it" - and that is it! Woo hoo!!

Wanna come help sheet the thing now??? Huh??? Huh???? :)

The Inspector Cometh (38 of 33)

Tomorrow at 9 am the Building Inspector is coming by to look at the insulation and vapor barrier in my garage. That is the last "ok" I need and then I just have to sheet it inside, put up the door openers, set up shelves and get the unit heater (furnace) in and I am ready to go (sounds like a long list yet).

I hope he likes what he sees when he looks at the insulation b/c we had to put this tar stuff on all the seams of the plastic - it is messy stuff! If we have to take it down....... uuuuuhhhhhhggggggg!!!! :(

I spent 3 hours out there tonight "prettying" it up - lets hope he is happy! :)

Stuff (37 of 33)

A couple of things (quickly) tonight....

1. It was Parent/Teacher interview night tonight - it is an odd thing now that Sari works there. It was sort of different to be part of the "inside" group - that was new. What was not new was the good report the kids got. In fact, their teachers had nothing to say - we mostly just chatted b/c the girls are doing well - that was nice.

2. I have the building inspector coming on Friday morning to inspect the insulation/Vapor Barrier - I have a few more things to finish tomorrow night before he comes - I hope he likes it.

3. I went to the Bruins game tonight (after I was done at Bible study). I have been going to lots of games lately b/c a buddy of mine gave me some free tickets. Anyway - since having one of the player's grandmas tell my buddy Shane and I that she was going to pass our critiques to her grandson (see post below) the Bruins have not lost. In fact they won 7-0 tonight - biggest margin of victory in years and the first time I have ever seen a shutout. I think Shane and I are the reason for the turn around. The NHL is going to be calling soon..... you better talk to me soon before I am gone and hanging with the Big Boys!!! (I coached "junior novice" hockey for 2 years - the NHL has to be similar.... other than the fact that the players likely won't have their moms in there helping them tie their skates!) :)

Good night!

Dancing with the Stars is done - and a PS to "stupid Paul" (36 of 33)

(Spoiler warning - if you have it PVRed and do not want to know who won - stop reading now)

So it is over. :( I have never watched more "reality TV" in my life as I have these past few weeks with DWTS. If you had told me two months ago that I would end up watching that show, I would have punched myself in the gut for being so stupid.... but it was fun.

As I said before, it was interesting to watch people who have been successful in other areas of life put themselves in the awkward position of having to dance in front of people and be judged on it. Most of the time, people protect themselves from looking like they don't know what they are doing - but on this show that was sort of the point and that was interesting to me.

Contrary to what I wrote before, I wish someone other than Brooke won. I ended up liking Lacey way more than Brooke and I was really hoping that Warren would win. It is, though, after all a dance show and Brooke was the best dancer - so it is fair - but still too bad.

Now what am I going to do with my Monday and Tuesday nights until it is back on in March????? Visit with my wife and kids maybe hey?

PS. If you have not done so, please go read my post from yesterday re. squash and Paul making me run too much. I feel better about how hard he made me work now though because his comment on my post shows that apparently he was worn put too - a lack of oxygen to the brain from working too hard at squash is the only explanation I can come up with that explains his comment! :)

What are we thinking (35 of 33)

For the past 5 or 6 winters, my buddy Paul and I have got together every Monday night to play squash.

We started again tonight. We said that we were going to take it easy - it was the first night after all. We are just out to have some fun, right? No need to kill ourselves.

I may need to start looking for a "Senior's squash tour" if things keep going like they did on this "easy" night.

Make me run - I am an old man - Stupid Paul! :)

Nice day (34 of 33)

Today has been a nice day. Good and encouraging time at church. A nice visit with Calvin and Mary and Jurgen and Pia. I got to see some people going out of their way to be nice. I got to see my wife and kids go out of their way to be nice to me (they hung the Christmas lights - something that I really did not want to do - while I was off helping someone else). I had some nice family time - it has just been a good day.

So - I wanted to give you a some music to listen to - open a new window and play these three songs while surfing for other stuff (unless you want to read the words). Have a listen - you may like the messages. Have a good week! :)

The first is by Matt Redman - it is an older song but I like the message of it


This is also by Matt Redman - a new song that I like a lot right now (cheezy video but it gives you the words)


This one is from Addison Road.... I really like it lately too.

Scattered thoughts (33 of 33)

1. We had a good camp board meeting today (Clearview Christian). Thanks to all who made time to be there - it was fun!

2. Jessica made it to Weyburn (Jessica is my "New to me" pick up). I had not driven her very far yet but she made that trip very easily. (Why is she called Jessica you ask - well the last one was Becky and I could not call this one Becky as well. Besides, she is just a Jessica - I tried to call her Samantha but that was just wrong!)

3. I went to the Bruins game again tonight and kept my mouth shut this time. However, the Bruins won tonight - played way better than last night. Shady Shane and I are just waiting for the phone call from the coach asking us to teach him everything we know (see post below) - he must still be out celebrating thought because he has not called yet.....

4. You will notice that I completed 33 of 33 days of posts - they say habits are formed after 21 straight days - so I am going to keep going. This is not the end..... so please keep checking back for more stupid thoughts from me! :)

You know you live in a small town when..... (32 of 33)

You know you live in a small town when.....

1. You go to the Co-op to buy gas and the girl behind the counter enters your 5 digit "Co-op number" without even having to ask (Seriously - this one lady there does that to me all the time - I have trouble remembering my phone number and she remembers my Co-op number)

2. You go to the bank to get some American money for your wife who is heading to Minot and the teller calls up your bank account - withdraws $600 and gives you American money never once asking your name, account number or for ID. (I was hoping she made a mistake, thought I was someone else and took the cash from the wrong account, but she got it right!)

3. You go to the Bruin game with your buddy "Shady Shane" and sit there talking about how the Bruins could do things better, critiquing every play that every player makes - as if we were Gretzky and Kurri themselves - only to have the very nice lady who has sat in front of you for the last 3 games turn around inform you (very nicely mind you) that she is the grandmother of one of the "worst" (in our opinion at least) players on the team! Doh! :) That happened tonght - fortunately we had not criticized her grandson too much tonight because he did not play much - but in what other place would that happen???? Go to a Rider game - yell at Henry Burris - have his Granny take a strip off you! Doesn't happen! However, this lady actually agreed with what we were saying and said that she was going to pass our "tips" on to her grandson. So the Bruins will be greatly improved now because they have access to our vast knowledge of the game - or we may get run out of town - one or the other. :)

PS. My nice wife - who is always nicer and more sensitive than I am - was a little appalled that I used the word "chick" repeatedly in a blog three days ago. She thought it made me sound like a redneck idiot (I reminded her that I was trying to be funny - but that did not seem to help). Then today, when I was riding around in my truck listening to CBC radio (I do that because I like to pretend I am intelligent) I heard the term "Chick-lit" (From literature written spefically for women) used twice! I have heard of "Chick flicks" (Sappy girly movies) but never "Chick-lit". So I think Sari owes me an apology - if the CBC can use it - so can I. What do you think?

An Experiment (31 of 33)

I hate Facebook!!

I have stated this before, but let me recap..... since Facebook came along, 93.39096 % of people have abandoned their blogs. No one writes on them and no one reads them (good for you for showing up here, by the way - way to go). As well, I believe that Facebook's format creates short, useless "conversations" - unlike the witty, intelligent ones that you find here.

Now I admit that I "lurk" on Sari's Facebook (I refuse to get my own) but that is only because it is the only way to keep up with people since the blog abandonment noted above.

All of that is background to this: I was listening to the radio this morning and the Dj guy, Matt, says, "So I changed my marital status on Facebook from single to married and then I wrote in my status line, 'What a wild couple of days in Vegas that was!!!'" He went on to say that it took exactly 37 minutes for one of his friends to read and respond to this posting - he also mentioned that he was leaving it up there to see how long it took until his mother called him! :)

I thought that was funny - so here is the challenge: If you have Facebook - come up with the most outrageous thing you can think of for your status line - time how long it takes someone to respond to it - and then comment here and tell me. This will accomplish several things:

1. It will give me some interesting comments to read

2. It will be a good socialogical experiment (if you end up writing your Doctoral thesis based on this - I get 1/2....... whatever that means!)

3. It will mess with Facebook - maybe even bring the whole thing down because no one will trust it (Just like the guys in the States who have organized a group to vote for the worst American Idol singer to try and get the "worst to first")

So there you have it. That is your challenge (should you choose to accept it). Are you gusty enough to try it - or are you "yellow"? Let me know - either way! :)

An alternative to Dating Services (30 of 33)

If any of you readers out there are single, have I got a deal for you!

(If you are married, you can keep reading if you want - just to see the great idea that you are missing out on - but you are hooped already as far as this discussion goes).

Forget blind dates!

Forget being "set up" by friends!

Forget dating services!

Forget the internet!

Forget stalking people!
(Oh come on!!!! Like you haven't!!!!! A buddy of mine and I used to "just happen" to end up having coffee in the same restaurant as this girl he liked - every night of the week..... he took me along to make it look like we were hanging out and just ran into her, but it was stalking none the less. PS. That did not work out so well - just in case you are wondering. He did not get the girl and I developed a caffeine addiction)

I am starting a completely new, completely revolutionary, completely fool-proof method of picking up chicks (First off, call the ladies chicks - they like that!) :)

This program will also help you single girls get guys, but let's face it..... who needs more help around here????? Not the chicks!

For $1000 I will reveal my new found secret to you...... ok...... since you are here anyway, I will tell you now, but I expect everyone of you who have read to this point to send me $1000 in the mail - even if you stop reading right now - you still owe me the $1000 (you can't stop in the middle and expect to pay nothing - you fill 1/2 of your gas tank you still have to pay, right?)

Ok - the secret....... First, go to broadcasting school and learn to do the radio DJ voice thing (you know what I mean) and then, second....... well, that is about it.

In over 18 years of recording the "Ministerial Moment" (a short devotional thing on our local radio station), I have yet to meet a DJ that looks the way they sound.

In other words, everyone sounds way cooler on the radio than they ever are in real life. The voice never, ever matches what the actual person looks like....... but that is ok! The trick is to get on the radio - talk lots - make people think that you are some sort of Greek God or that you are a really Hot Chick (see there is the key word again guys.... give it a try) ........ and then never, ever, let any of your listeners actually meet you until you are married to one of them!

Now you may ask, "How will I get from people thinking I sound like a Greek God or a Hot Chick on the radio to having them marry me sight unseen??????"

What am I..... Your mother????? I can't do everything for you here.

PS. When I was in high school, I thought about going into radio - and maybe I should have...... I mean, think about it..... I would have been like Fabio over there!!! :)

One step closer - almost (29 of 33)

Thanks to Sari's help, I have almost all the vapor barrier on the walls of the garage - one good day to finish all the little junk and I will be done that part - then on to putting OSB or gyprock on the inside and I will be done - mostly (there would still be a furnace to put in, shelves to put up, walls to paint, things to organize, etc etc - but the main part will be done).

So I do not have a lot to say today. Basically......

1. I sat in my office getting ready to record lessons at the radio station tomorrow - no one came by for coffee

2. I went to noon hockey

3. I went back to the office and read for my sermon - no one came by for coffee

4. I came home, ate supper and worked in the garage - no one came by for coffee

5. Watched "Dancing with the Stars" with Sari - no one came by for coffee

6. Ate some cereal and now I am going to bed


So I would blog about my day - but who would waste their time reading that????? I guess you just did! :)

Come back tomorrow though - I promise the post will be more interesting - I will even go do something wild and crazy if I have to just so that I have something to write about (and remember, you get what you pay for here and since I have not seen too many big cheques rolling into my mailbox........) :)

A Reality (TV) Check (28 of 33)

So I am conflicted...... and because of that, I have two confessions to make.

1. I am getting a little bored with "Dancing with the Stars". If you have been following this blog (and shame on you if you have not been - what are you doing with your life????), you will remember that I confessed that I started watching "DWTS" about a month or so ago..... and I sort of liked it - but now I am starting to get bored with it. This happens to me all the time. Generally, I have the attention span of a gnat! Fortunately, it is almost over and then I can be unconflicted about making myself watch it or not.


2. Even worse...... I am starting to cheer against Brooke! I think she is a bit of an idiot (could it be that she is famous for something other than her smarts???) :) I don't know - I would almost rather see Cody and Julianne win the thing - or Warren - not Lance so much (though I do like Lacey)....... maybe part of it is my "cheer for the underdog" nature or to put it more accurately "cheer against the favorite" (Usually, if everyone thinks something is cool.... I have to hate it - just on principle! "If it is cool, it is stupid" - that is my motto!)


So sum up: I get bored easily and I think popular things are stupid! That makes me fun to hang out with don't you think???? :)


Who says that I need counselling? HA!

The best toy ever!!!! (27 of 33)

Over the years, there have been moments when I have wished that we had more money so that we could buy the kids something really big, cool and nice. Not that I think it is good to spoil kids and give them anything they want (our kids have grown up pretty far away from that), but once in a while I think, "I wish I could give them........"

And then they do something like this.........
Megan was reading in a book about how to make Ju-jube towers - so she got us to buy her a couple of bags of ju-jubes and some toothpicks and she and Katie spent all afternoon making towers - trying different designs to see which were the most stable - seeing who could build the tallest one....... and then Megan took hers and wore it on her head like a helmet (I am not sure what that was about).

Other kids think that they are deprived when they do not have the latest video game system.... my kids play with their food all afternoon. I like that! :)

I've still got it!!!! (26 of 33)

So when I went to the Bruin's game tonight, I walked up to the ticket booth and said, "One please" - and the girl charged me $9 instead of $12 - in other words, she charged me as a STUDENT!!! Apparently I still look like I am in university - or maybe even high school!!! :)

I was feeling really good about that until my buddy Shane got to the game and I told him my story - he thought about it for a second, then checked his change and he realized that the same girl charged him the wrong price too.

Actually, I think that subtracting $12 from $20 confused her so much that she just started handing out $11 change to everyone - it is either that or maybe both Shane and I look like kids yet. That is the story that I am going with! :)

PS. We did give the money back - just in case you are curious.

JOHNNY BENSON.... JOHNNY BENSON!!!! (25 OF 33)

Who is Johnny Benson you ask? He is the 2008 Craftsman truck series champion!

He came into the final race race of the season tonight leading Ron Hornaday by 3 points in the championship (second closest race in Nascar history). For most of the night he was terrible. Riding around in about 10 place while Hornaday led laps and took the championship lead.

Benson stayed on the track with 10 laps to go, passed Hornaday who pitted and then held him off at the end - Benson finished four tenths of a second ahead of Hornaday and took the title.

Johnny is a really nice guy - the championship was back and forth all season long - the race was back and forth all night long - I gave up on Johnny 7 times - but he won it.

In the end, Johnny won by 7 points. Johnny is one of the nicest guys in racing and because of that he has not always had a lot of success. Fun to see the underdog win.

Who cares you ask? I do!!!! And it is my blog so..... woot Woot!!!! :)

Johnny in the #23 truck.
PS. Lenny and I were in Bill Davis' shop in Charlotte - walked up to Johnny's truck in the garage - one that looked just like this..... maybe that is why he won.... the "Pippus Luck" (No wait - the Pippus' name is associated with lots of things - many of which I cannot mention publicly - but luck likely is not one of them) :)

Did you know..... (24 of 33)

Did you know that Estevan is the fastest growing city in the province???? Our official census count says that there are just over 10 000 people here - but estimates are that there are actually closer to 15 000 people living here in "transient housing" (5th wheels, campers, motel rooms etc). A new hotel just opened here and two more are being built. Three new subdivisions are underway and there is not an apartment or a basement suite to be had.

In fact, CBC radio is coming to do their morning show from Estevan next week so that they can talk to people about the "boom times" that we are in.

There are way over 500 jobs listed at the job bank (and those are just the advertised ones). Oilfield worker (with no experience) are getting starting wages in the $80 000 range. Our neighbour just quit his job and moved to another one - the oilfield company gave him a truck and over $100 000 per year (he has been working in the oilfield for only 3 years!). Katie's teacher quit his job in the middle of the year and went to the oilfield. There are openings at the mine - all sorts of service industry jobs (restaurants are closing b/c they do not have enough workers) - anything you want.

So with all this going on here - where are you????????

Pictures and a clarification (23 of 33)

In reverse order, first the clarification...... there was a real cougar in our yard - I am not lying. Another neighbour told me that a couple of years ago he had fresh paw prints and a line in the snow that was made by a cougar's tail. The cougar circled the house and left - crazy, no? And last winter one was seen on the hill by the Shell gas station that is by our house - so "no" I was not kidding about that.

On to more important things: Here are some new pictures of garages, etc.........


First up - garage wall insulated waiting for vapor barrier.....
Next, ceiling - done and vapor barrier in place
Outside lights working - I just finished wiring them and putting up the fixtures yesterday, so this is the first night they have been on.....
A section of our new fence - the fence of compromises..... Sari wanted an 8 foot fence - I talked her down to 6 feet but I wanted spaces between the boards and she did not - so she won that battle.
And last but certainly not least...... my new snowblower!!!!! Given to me by Dwight Muller with an assist from Justin Mooney who told Dwight that I liked fixing old motors etc and would likely be interested in this machine....... I cannot wait for the snow. You can see in the picture that it is sitting amongst scraps of insulation.... just to give it that "sitting in the snow" look (Don't try blowing insulation through it though - it does not work so well! Also it is likely a good idea not to go up and down the back alley throwing rocks around either...... I just got it running and had to try it out somewhere right??????)
So there you have it! As to more important things: Katie got all of her serves in today in her volleyball game..... Megan got 90% on her Social Studies test (Canadian Geography)..... Sari still loves her job (she has still been getting up at like quarter to 7 in the morning - and she is happy about it!!!! That would tell any of you who know her how much she likes this job!) :) She is good at it too - just by the way. And me..... I am happy! "It is good" - as our German buddies say.

PS. One last thing: You would not believe how funny it is to watch Sari giving a recipe to a German lady who is then trying to communicate that to a Ukrainian lady. Sari says something, then the German lady gets her husband to help translate that into German, he then asks the Ukrainian's lady's husband what the German word is in Ukrainian and then he finally tells his wife what to write down. Then the whole thing flows backwards (Ukrainian lady, husband, German husband, wife and then Sari) to make sure it was the right thing. Then they do the next ingredient. I don't know what the end result will taste like but it was funny to watch!!! :)

Oh - and we found a new international language: "Caramel" - it is the same word in all three languages (or at least they all understood that word first try). :)

Interesting visitors on Remembrance day (22 of 33)

We had a very interesting Remembrance Day in that we had two visitors that we have never had before.........

1. Germans! Interestingly, this is the first time that our new German friends (who moved to our country just 2 months ago) have had time to come to visit us. The irony of this was not lost on me. It seems odd that, at one time, people like Jurgen and Pia would have been considered "the enemy" (of course - a different time, place and circumstance obviously). They are so nice and we had a really good time with them - not to mention a really good roast beef supper. When they were leaving, Jurgen told Sara that she was a good "cooking wife" - it was nice! :)

2. A Cougar! No, not some lady in her 50's who is out to get a younger man, but an actual live cougar!!! About 7 pm, Murphy started barking and barking at something. Then, a few minutes later, our neighbour from across the street called to say that she just saw a cougar in our next door neighbour's yard. It climbed one of the trees and then it came down and she lost sight of it. Had her scared to death! So, of course, (with Sari yelling at us) we had to go see if we could see it. I took a big flashlight shot it towards the frontyard....... and two things reflected light back - eyes I thought....... but it turned out to be just the reflectors on the neighbour kid's bike. :) Then as we were sitting in the living room visiting (Pia kept looking out the window every 5 minutes to see if she could see the cougar) Katie yells, "I just saw it! It jumped up in the tree again!!!" We did not believe her..... until we looked out and there was something in the tree for sure. I got the flashlight again and...... it was just a big cat..... a big kitty cat named "Lee" (belongs to one of the neighbours)- so I guess we were a little freaked out about it but it was exciting! :) Soon the cops came and talked to the neighbour lady, looked around a bit and left. It is not unusual for cougars to be seen in town - in the past few years a couple have come out of the valley and have been seen in town - but we have never had one in our yard until tonight though. Also until tonight, Sari has never before put leftover roast beef in my pockets and encouraged me to go for a late night walk with the dog........ odd! Maybe I should re-think that 1/2 million dollar life insurance policy that she talked me into. :)

Anyway, it was a really interesting night - in more ways that one. :)

PS. I have had a ton of requests (ok - just one) for pictures of the garage and how it is going. I put up outside lights today - so that is another step...... pictures of the lights, insulation, gas line, snowblower and many other exotic will be posted soon..... try to sleep tonight if you can - I know the excitement may be too much but........ :)