The Legend of Kramer (Blog 6 of 30)

It was almost November and it was getting cold.  Too cold to be riding a motorcycle - especially in the morning - but I bundled up and headed to the office.

When I got there, an older couple who works in our clothing outlet saw me and asked, "Why are you still riding your bike this late in the season?"

"Well, the kids took our two other vehicles to university with them", I replied, "And Sara is out of town with our SUV, so I have to ride the bike."

"What will you do when winter comes?" they asked.

"Sara and I will just work it out and share the SUV".

"You should buy our car!" they exclaimed.

"What do you have?"

"A 1993 Chrysler Intrepid!"

"I don't think I am interested, but thanks anyway!"

Fast forward a bit and they come to my office, "Have you thought any more about our car?"

"Nope!"

"Well we had it at a garage and they said that it was worth about $2500.  It only has 80 000 kms on it, ya know?"

80 000 kms on a 1993 car got my attention, but I still did not want to buy another vehicle especially not an Intrepid and certainly not for $2500.

"Make us an offer" the man said.  When I shrugged he yelled out, "Give us $500!" 

Now I was interested!

Sara and I went to look at it and it was immaculate!  Hardly been sat in.  New battery.  New tires (the tires were worth more than $500).  Not a scratch on it.   I bought it on the spot and named it "Kramer" (On Seinfeld, more than once, the neighbour Kramer is referred to with words like "big ugly duffus" and since I thought this car was big and ugly........)

Now some people would be embarrassed to drive Kramer.  They would not want to be seen in an old Grandpa car like that.  Not me! 

I have driven Kramer every day all winter and all he does is make me smile.... every time!   Not because it was a good deal - which it was.  Not because it is a reliable car - which it is (I took it to Regina a couple of weeks ago - drove like a brand new one).

Kramer makes me smile because it is an every day reminder that.....

A.  There are still good and kind people in the world!

B.  God is working things out in ways I would never have imagined!  I had all kinds of ideas of what we could do regarding another vehicle..... finding a 25 year old mint condition Intrepid sitting in someone's garage for next to nothing was not part of my plan!

Good things happen if you are patient.

There are lots of good people out there (one just stopped by my house tonight - but that is another story for another time).

We are being looking after - whether it know it at the time or not!

Old is cool (Blog 5 of 30)

No, the title of this article is not a reference to me (though I am getting old.... you can debate the "cool" part amongst yourselves).

What I am really referring to is old stuff that is still going.  For example, I was reading about the Isle of Man the other day and there is something called the "Manx Electric Railway" that runs for 27 kms along the island.  It opened in 1893 and two of the original three cars are still being used!  125 years later!!!!

Then, yesterday too, I saw a show about Havana, Cuba.  Of course, there are all kinds of old American vehicles on the road there (like from the 50s before the trade embargo).  They interviewed a mechanic and asked him where they bought parts to keep these cars on the road and he said, "We cannot buy parts.  We must make them!"   THEY MAKE THE PARTS!!!!

I find that to be sort of cool!  Here we are throwing away everything and there they are making parts so that they can keep their 60 year old cars on the road.

Granted, they may not think it is so cool when their stuff breaks down all the time, but there is something about knowing how things work and keeping things going that makes me smile.

Conversely, there is something about our throw away, who cares I will just buy a new whatever, society that makes me cringe.

I have said it before and I will keep saying it..... I think if the pioneers could see the way we do things, they would kick out backsides!

I know a couple of old guys that can seemingly fix anything.   I would love to be like that.  Those people are a dying breed!

It must be February (Blog 4 of 30)

Some people know it is February when Valentine's Day rolls around. 

Some mark February as the time that they take their annual ski trip in the mountains or their hot holiday down south.

Me - I know it is February when I start dreaming about motorcycle trips.

This year my dilemma has been made worse (or better) by the fact that, this past Christmas, the girls gave me a couple of motorcycle magazines that had articles in them that looked like this......

So this has me reminiscing about various trips my brother Lenny (not his real name) and I have taken.  They all end about the same way, so let me recount last year's ride for you.

- It started with a plan to watch the RCAF Snowbirds perform at the army base in Dundurn, Sk.  It was 8 degrees when I left home..... it got colder!  By the time I got to the other side of Regina, I could not feel my fingers.

- The airshow grounds had no shelter at all.  We spent extra time in the port-a-potties just to warm up

-  Then we rode 3 more hours to our campsite for the night.  Set up the tents and found out that there was no fire wood.  Spent the next 4 hours loitering at a Tim Hortons

- By 3 am, I was so cold that I put on all the clothes I could find and pulled my heavy leather jacket over top of me.

- The next day was nice..... until we nearly died (Going around a corner, the pavement stopped and we hit the deepest gravel I have ever seen on a grid road...... oh and there was a truck coming toward us in the middle of the road).

- After 14 kms of deep gravel we got to a back country site at "Meadow Lake Provincial Park" where, at 3 in the morning, I could not tell what was roaming around by our tents..... was it a deer or a bear?   I hoped it was a deer and went back to sleep.

- Having not been eating by the bear, we packed up and started riding toward Viking, Alberta where we got caught in the biggest storm I have ever seen (other than the one that blew us both off the highway in North Dakota the year before).  Three hours in a cafe dripping all over the floor and then we hid in hotel.

- Froze all the way over to Wetaskiwin.....  went to a car museum..... and then had ONE NICE DAY riding to "Cypress Hills Provincial Park"...... where is rained all night and I froze in my tent.... again wearing every piece of clothing I had and hiding under my motorcycle jacket that helped keep my core warm, but did nothing for my extremities.

- To end the trip, we headed to Moose Jaw and then to a car show in Weyburn.  On the way home, I got caught in rain storm so bad that I almost pulled over because I could not see!

The ground was hard..... we only ate two meals per day at the most (breakfast and supper)..... I froze my fingers so much that the ends of two of them hurt for three months afterward.....

I can't wait for this year's ride!  :)
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As an added bonus...... Lenny and I do video diaries most every day when we are on the road.  Without his permission.... and without paying royalties..... here is the video we did on our last night on the road in Cypress Hills.  PS.  For those of you who are concerned..... I did find my hat!

A Great Idea!!! All I need is a little help! (Blog 3 of 30)

A Saskatoon man has built a camper using a 3D printer.  Like, he designed it and then had a machine squish plastic out in the shape of a camper.  It is beautiful, light-weight and it will not rot or mildew  (Click on the picture to get the full story). 



What a great idea!!! 

And it got me thinking..... why can't I do the same thing? 

Granted, I do not have a fancy 3D printer...... but Sara has one of those flat iron thingers for straightening her hair.  I touched it once when I almost knocked it off the shelf.... it gets super hot!

I have a garage that has room in it..... as soon as I kick Sara's SUV out into the cold.

I have an old camper in our backyard that I can use for measurements and reference points.

All I need from y'all are like 6083069930690036 old pop bottles! 

My plan is that I will take a bottle... run the hair straightener over it until it is nice and hot and pliable..... and then scrink it into place.

As long as I am not asphyxiated by the toxic off gases, I should be fine!  What could go wrong?

After all, some guy in BC built a house using old, empty embalming bottles (click here for to read more about that).  This has to be way easier than that.

Besides, giving me your old bottles will actually put them to use.  After all, everyone know that this recycling thing is a scam!  As if they are re-using your old plastic and bottles to build new stuff!!!  Deep down you know that your "recycling" is just riding to the dump in a different coloured truck.... and you are paying extra for it!  By helping me out, you get to feel good about yourself AND get back at the recycling people.

And - if it doesn't work out - I can always drag the trailer in at SARCAN and get my deposits back!  :) 

A Beautiful Saturday (Blog 2 of 30)

One of the things that we believe as a family is that we can have fun anywhere as long as we are doing something together.  Today was a good example of that.

The day started, as most Saturdays at home do, with us making brunch and then watching "American Pickers".  How did that become the tradition, you ask?   Well, how did cutting down a tree, plopping it in your living room and then eating candy out of your socks become a tradition????   Who knows????   It is just what we do!

Then, because the temp was closer to 0 Celsius than -30 for the first time in several weeks, we decided to go play in the water.  Well - some of us were in the water - most were just near it. 

There is a rumour out there that Estevan is a dirty, ugly place to live.  That is not true.  Boundary dam on a warm day in Feb is pretty nice as Sara's pictures show. 

If you are not scared of freezing or getting hit by the odd snowball, you can join us next time.  Just give us a call!  :)

Let's try this again (Post 1 of 30)

My last real post on here was July 24th of last year.  Seems like 7 months is enough time off.  Enough time to come up with something funny to say.......  However, as you will soon learn, it wasn't!

Never-the-less, I am going to start blogging again because I need to do it.  I need to remind myself to see the funny stuff in the world.  That is why I am writing again (and because my Aunty Marilyn told me to... and who can say "no" to her?).  :)

Feel free to follow along.  If you want to make it even more fun, comment on stuff.  That makes it more fun for me at least!

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We went to Minot, ND for the day yesterday.  Half way to the border, I turned and asked Sara, "Did I turn off the coffee pot off?"

Why is that our biggest worry?

Why are we so concerned about leaving the coffee pot on?

What is it actually going to do? 

Has anyone been sitting in their house, heard a loud bang, ran into their kitchen only to find that their coffee maker had spontaneously combusted?  

Who sits around at the coffee shop saying, "Well, sure, you may have fallen off a cliff and survived, but let me tell you about the time I left the coffee maker on!!!"

What are we worried about?  Are we making coffee by nuclear fission?   Are we expecting a Chernobyl-esque meltdown?

How many homeless people are wandering the street saying, "My life was going great!!   Good job!  Wife.... kids....the whole nine yards!!!   Then I left the coffee maker on and..............ppppppffffftttt!!!!"

The most bizarre part of this...... everyone reading this has wondered about their coffee maker.  Weird!  

YOUR COFFEE MAKER CAN'T HURT YOU!!!!!  IT HAS AN AUTOMATIC SHUT-OFF!!!!!

But I am going unplug mine before I go to bed - you know - just in case!  :)

Yaaaayyyyy!!!!!

I haven't posted anything on here in a long time, but if there is anything worth posting it is this.... my mom ringing the bell celebrating the end of her rounds of Chemo treatments!  :)

Sunday Nov 12

Murphy

We got Murphy 14 years ago.... and we said goodbye to him today. He was a good puppy!

 

Sunday Stuff for Sept 24

Sunday Sept 17th

Sunday Aug 20

Sunday morning stuff (July 30)

I finally feel like a Pippus

I have always harboured a secret jealousy against those who know their family tree.  Or those who know where their great-great-grandparents lived.  Or those who actually have family reunions (Ok - I realize that last one may be more fun in my head than in real life - but go with me here).

Through a series of odd events (mostly screaming, yelling fist fights) I know very little about the Pippus side of my family. In fact, I still have cousins all around Moose Jaw and I never see them and would not know most of them if you introduced me to them.

However, today I did something that makes my kinship with the Pippus side feel stronger than it ever has before...... I got fingerprinted!

It all started last week when I went to get a criminal record check done so that I could volunteer at the church's "Vacation Bible School".  I filled out the form, waited more than the suggested five days and went to pick it up today.

However, the officer could not find it.  She found Sara's right away and asked, "Did you come in at the same time as her?"   When I told her it was the same day, but a different time she seemed even more confused.

After about 15 minutes, several discussions that I could not quite overhear and some strange looks from the other officers, she finally announced that she had finally found my form..... and that I had been selected for fingerprinting. 

"It sometimes happens as a random thing.... like getting pulled out of line at the airport for extra screening" she said sort of unconvincingly.

The officer asked me to follow her and led me down a long hallway, around one corner, around another one and down another long hall.  As we went, the décor changed from nice, modern office to stark, Communist cell block. 

Then she took me into a room...... in fact, it was THE ROOM where they take people to be identified by others.  You know what I mean...... lines on the wall to show how tall you are..... numbers under which you can stand so that the identifier can say "It was number 3"....... the one way mirror so that they can see you but you can't see them, etc.

Then the officer said, "Sometimes, if your name is like someone else's name, you will get flagged".... and then it all made sense!  Our family joke (one of them anyway) is that there is almost always a "Pippus" on the court docket in Moose Jaw either because (a) my brother - who works with young offenders - has a client there or (b) one of my cousins has been charged with something.   "B" was starting to make a lot of sense.

(Side note:  My other favorite family joke - that I made up is..... "The Pippus side of my family does not do family reunions.... unless you count everyone getting together for the parole hearings!"....... Of course, I am just joking.  No one ever attends the parole hearings!)

The other thing that I noticed was that the longer I sat there, the more comfortable I felt.  It was not a nice place.... very stark.... great big lights ready to shine on each suspect in the line-up..... but I felt very calm.   Maybe not on the surface..... but at some deep, genetic level this place seemed very familiar!  Long, lost memories of "Pippus jail nights past"?   I am not sure, but something made me feel like I was at home.

Anyway, we filled out some forms and the officer said, "I need to take your picture.  Please step up to this line"..... it was the "Mug shot" line!!!

And here is the best part...... I had not seen a mirror since I entered the place, but I had been riding my motorcycle, so when I took my helmet off, it messed up my hair really badly.  When the camera went "zit" and the picture came up on the screen, here I am standing there in my leather jacket with my hair all over the place like Einstein or Carrot Top!!!   I looked like I just crawled out of a dumpster!!!!

"Oh ya" the cop says, "that looks good!"

LOOKS GOOD???!!!!  FOR WHAT???????  A ONE WAY TICKET TO THE POKEY??????

Anyway, then they took my prints (they do that digitally now - not with the old ink blotter method.... that is for all y'alls that have never been "on the inside" like me!) and that was about it.  They led me to the door, thanked me for my co-operation and told me that the results should be back in about 5 weeks.

5 weeks!!!!!   VBS starts mid-August!

Oh well - at least I got a good mug shot on file now!

(This post is dedicated to my mom who - when I told her this story this afternoon - could not stop laughing)  :)

Sunday the 23rd

A Cheer

One of our local newspapers carries a "Cheers and Jeers" section where people can write in and cheer about something in town or complain about something.

Look at what appeared in the last row of the "Cheers" section this week.

The Curse Continues

I wish my first big motorcycle trip had been a complete disaster.  That way, I would have just quit right then and there and saved myself a lot of misery.

The first year my brother "Lenny" and I went to the Black Hills and it was great!  Perfect weather.  Perfect roads.  Tons of fun.  Since then we have endured eight days of rain in BC, freezing temperatures in Montana, more cold and a tornado warning in the Black Hills (part 2), and broken tent poles and being blown off the road in North Dakota.

This year had to be better, right?

Nope!

This time we thought we had a really good plan which was - no plan at all! We really had nothing to see or do, so we dubbed it the "Anything can happen tour".  We should have been more specific and called it the "Anything GOOD can happen tour".  In short, we rode for seven days in Northern Sask/Alberta and got rained on for six of them.

We even tried chasing the sun, to no avail.  In Meadow Lake, we looked at the forecast that said it was going to rain in Prince Albert, but be sunny in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.  Since we did not have a plan and since we knew there was a really good car museum in Wetaskiwin, we decided to head west toward the sunshine.

Half way there it started to rain a little.  About an hour out of Viking, Alberta it rained A LOT!!!  One hour to the east - nothing!  One hour to the west - nothing!  Where we were, where it was supposed to be sunny, 2 inches of rain.

When we got to Wetaskiwin, we found out that the hotel we booked was over a liquor store.  We asked if we could check in early and they said we could, but we would have to pay the hourly rate which was $10/hour.  Interesting that they knew the hourly rate right off the top of their head.  We stay in classy places!

The next day it was still raining, so we looked at the forecast and it said that "Cypress Hills Provincial Park" was in for four days of sunshine.  Decision made and we rode through decent weather all the way to the park..... where it was really cold and wet.  We woke up the next morning to the sound of rain pounding on the tents.

Last stop on this misery tour was a show and shine car show in Weyburn- one of my favorite events of the year.  Usually lots of cars, lots of people, lots of food and just a good time.   But it was raining so we had less cars, less people, no food and not much fun.  So I headed home, only to be caught in the worst rain storm of the entire trip!

I am not sure which one of us is doing something wrong, but which ever one of us it is, he needs to stop it!  I can't take the punishment any more!

It wasn't a total loss though.  We did manage to share some of our joy with others.  For example, as we came out of our hotel in Viking, this man approached us and asked if we were riding those motorcycles, where we were going, etc - standard stuff.   He then said that he was a farmer and that he did not mind the rain.  In fact, they needed it.  We told him that anytime he needed more, he could call as it seemed to be following us around.

As we walked away, an RCMP cruiser pulled into the parking lot, drove up to our farmer friend, grabbed him and tossed him in the back and took off.  The next morning, his vehicle was right where he left it the night before.

We thought about going to the jailhouse to apologize to the poor guy, but we thought that maybe he would get a life sentence if he had any more contact with us.

If anyone knows how to remove a curse, please write to me..... preferably before our next bike tour!

The Perfect Ending to the Perfect Week!

This past week was the 6th edition of the Pippus Motorcycle tour with my brother "Lenny".  We were gone for 7 days..... and we got rained on for 6 of them (and that is the best part of the week..... stories and details to follow.  Check back in coming days).

However, tonight we went to the fair.   I like the fair!  I like walking around and visiting with people. I like watching the little kids laughing and having fun.  I like the small town feel of the whole thing.

Most of all though.... I like caramel apples.

As usual, I waited until the very end to get one.  In fact, the girls actually stood in line and got it for me - and I was so happy!!

Then - I went to take my first bite....... I put it up to my mouth..... and the stick broke!!!!

My precious apple treat fell in the dirt and rolled 5 feet down a hill.  I just stood there in disbelief.

I WAITED ALL YEAR FOR THE FAIR TO COME TO TOWN SO I COULD GET A CARAMEL APPLE AND ALL I GOT TO DO WAS LICK THE STUPID THING!!!!

Sara offered to get me another one, but that seemed silly.

Besides, it was the perfect ending to my bike tour week!

Umm - what now?

Preparing for an upcoming camping trip, I went to Canadian Tire where I saw this.....

It is a package of sticks!!! And look at the price tag above it......

1. Compare the size of that little tag to that bundle of sticks and you will realize that the bundle is not very big and ......

2.  Someone is making a killing on sticks!   $9.49 for a pile of sticks that is smaller than what falls off my tree in the front yard on any given night???  What sort of tree-less concrete jungle do you live in if you can't find a handful of sticks outside????   For that matter, where are you going camping that you can't find kindling and have to buy it at Canadian Tire??????

Then I thought that there must be something special about these sticks.... that they had been doused in some chemical to make them burn better or something.  NOPE!  The side of the box actually says, "All natural fire starters!" 

So here is what I am gonna do..... I am going to stand in Canadian tire - right beside this display - with a slightly bigger bundle of sticks and sell them for $8.

I may have just found my retirement fund!

SundayStuff