Random Fun

Eech .. Oooch .. Ouch! These rocks are sharp.

Waiting his turn for the water sports.

Waiting for all the ducks to get in a row so they can haul the next body around the lake.

Nathan's valiant attempt at getting up on the skis. He was oh so close as you can see here. In the next few seconds he was ploughing water with his face.

Ready for the next victim with Liam shouting encouragement.

Nana (busylizzy) making sure she keeps an eye on everyone so there are no drownings.

Isn't there a law against three year olds driving?

Chad in His Glory

Chad does not care for the water one little bit. He has had swimming lessons, and is relatively comfortable in the water, but he just does not like it. Forget tubing, and even the thought of trying to water ski gives him the willies. But getting on the Seadoo with Uncle Andrew .... now that is another story!

His fear and healthy respect for the water is put behind him and his total trust in his beloved Uncle allows him to forget that he is on the water, and he just enjoys the ride.

Getting to this daredevil stage of Seadoo tricks did not come immediately, but through many gentler rides, each building on the success and thrill of the last ride

Soon, nothing is too wild and wet. Bring it on!

Near spills, severe tilts, submarining, getting soaked, are all just part of the thrill.

There was nothing that would deter him from asking for another ride an hour later.

Coming into shore, the tense and nervous look on his face totally disappears and what is left is a satisfied, happy ten year old boy who has just run out of adrenalin.

On Being Cool

This is Keith, showing Nathan how it is done. This is his first attempt in many years to get up on water skis. There is a lot at stake here because he was giving Nathan some detailed lessons on how it is done.

It was a bit wobbly at first, but he was up on his first attempt and skiing like a pro. When all eyes are on you, you just have to be cool and pull it off just as smoothly as you can.

After a few runs around the lake, he was looking rather like he was in his element. We were all cheering him on.

And then came the more difficult challenge, the knee board. Much to the amazement of all of us, he was up on his first try with hardly a wobble.

He was soon skimming over the water and through the boat wake, like child's play.

The grimace on his face showed that he was struggling, but just a bit, and he soon glided to a graceful conclusion only a few feet from the beach. What a cool operator in the water!

He just has to work on his land presence a wee bit.  

Lazy Daze

By early afternoon, as you can see by the thermometer, it was good and warm and then it was either in the water or in the shade. There was usually a cool breeze up on the deck so we spent a lot of time up there reading and just hanging out. Nathan always has a book on the go.

Just below us, Keith, Rachel and Liam have found a bit of shade.

Looking south to the Canadian border, we can check up on our immediate neighbours, all Canadians, except for the house on the top of the rock.

These are 'prairie like' clouds and they reminded me of my childhood when the summers were all about blue skies and fluffy cumulus clouds.

The hammock hanging from the big old shade tree was well used and even fought over a few times.

Chad and his Uncle Andrew are resting up from some pretty wild riding on the Seadoo.

An ancient mariner, ever ready with his safety gear well fastened, staring out to sea, dreaming of future exploits on the tube.

Water in the Desert

We have returned from a wonderful week at the lake. The weatherman was bang on and we had meteorological perfection the whole time. We were immediately greeted with a very pleasant surprise when our sibling/property partner, Will, informed us that he has purchased an up-dated boat. It is newer and better than what it replaced and he graciously allowed Keith to use it.

This now meant that all water toys were 'on the table' and Liam was one to catch onto this quite quickly. He quite adamantly announced one evening that his plan for the next day was to go 'tubing', then for a ride on the boat, and finally, a ride on the Seadoo. Thinking this might be just 'three year old talk', we were surprised to see him so gungho the next day, with not a single hesitation.

Here he is, patiently waiting his turn, getting familiar with where the handles were situated.

Seeing that he was such a keener, I went along and gave him a serious lesson in signals to give the 'spotter' in the boat, so his wishes could be passed on to the boat driver. "Thumbs up for 'go' or 'faster'" He thought the fingers would work just fine.

"Thumbs down for 'slower' or 'stop'".

And then he invented this one for 'just right' or in nautical parlance, 'steady as she goes'. He was ready to get rolling and could hardly wait.

With mom holding him tight, what could be more fun? There were no 'sideslips' 'wake jumping', or 'flips'. He is not even three. Those adventures will wait for next year. He did get the boat ride and the Seadoo ride many more times that week, and believe me, he is hooked on motorized water sports. Now, if we could just get him in the water and teach him to swim.

This Is Not The Desert

This marvelous display is in our garden here in the Fraser Valley. Where we are going, it is desert and it would take some doing to get this kind of thing going. Living in the desert is a nice change. The weather forecast is for mid to high 20's with next to no wind, about as perfect as it gets. The air is warm and dry there, a very nice combination when there is not oppressive heat. I look forward to time with my family, uninterrupted, and relaxed. I will take some good books with me as there is no Internet or TV there, by choice. I look forward to some good long walks, early morning or evening are the best times. I will see some great sun rises, whereas, the sunsets are all behind the mountain to our west. We will no doubt have some good times with neighbours as our little bay is usually quite busy during July and August. I know I will enjoy the drive on the Hope-Princeton Highway. I always do. We will not have much traffic, either there or back as we will be travelling early Sunday there, and late Saturday back. I will take lots of photos. I will eat too much. I will come back fat and lazy. But then I am already fat and lazy so that's OK.   

Leave of Absence

I am taking a one week break from work, blogging, and just about everything else. Not that I need it, but it was in 'the plan' so I will just go with it. I will leave you with a few photos I took recently. These pretty roses are ground cover that our city uses in most of the parks. They are doing so very well this year and in places the flower beds are covered with them.  

This is Kariton House, a local art gallery in Mill Lake park. Not much to look at but the new colour of the building is rather striking.

A compressed view of the zig-zag board walk over the marshy eastern shore of Mill Lake. Sun rise is just the best light.

That elusive Humming Bird would not get close enough, so this is the best I could do this week. I try almost once a day because they visit regularly and I know I can do better. The plan is to get them used to me hovering around the red blossoms that they like so much.  

The Humming birds like these Sweat Peas too, and just as I was about to photograph one of the birds, he jetted away, but I still like what he left behind.

Maybe one more post on Sunday, but if not, see you in week or so.

What's a Billion Here or There?

Today, I simply give you a link. It speaks for itself.

http://usdebt.kleptocracy.us/

I Loved It

A few days ago, I posted an excerpt from Bill Bryson's book, 'In a Sunburned Country', you know, the guy who slept 'large'.  I have just finished the book and I must say that it was a most enjoyable read. It is a collection of notes and experiences of his travels in Australia. It is packed with history and very interesting true stories of the discovery and development of this nation/continent. If that sounds dry, it is not. Bill travelled through Australia on several occasions and his own adventures, which are for the most part hilarious, are always introduced with the history of the place he is about to visit. This is how everyone should travel as it would make it so much more interesting. Because Bill has done all the research, one gets the feeling that they have travelled with him, and learned almost all there is to know about that great land.

It left me with a bit of a conflict though. As beautiful, diverse, and interesting as Australia is, a part of me does not want to go because there is so much flora and fauna there that just wants to kill you. Seriously! It is a constant theme throughout the book, and is quite fascinating. 

If you are planning a trip to Australia, this is a must read. If you plan to never go there, this is a must read.  

Good For The Skin

I have never posted a photo up side down before, but that is what I have done here. This is an almost perfect reflection of a bridge, with the slight swell in the water giving the rail an interesting undulation. Click to make large.  

I have been bothered by a few minor skin conditions lately, probably inherited from my father. The chemical salves work well, but prolonged use is not recommended. For many years, Vit D from sun exposure both in the summer at home, and in winter in Mexico, has cleared it up completely. This year it is with me constantly. The slight rash is eczema, and the hives that flare up are some sort of allergy. Last night I got complete relief from a most unexpected source.

When I was kid, we used to go swimming at Manitou Beach in Saskatchewan. The water had an extremely high mineral content, not the least of which was salt. Any cuts or scrapes would heal within hours of being in contact with the water. No, I was not in Manitou last night, but was in the pool at my in-laws condo hi-rise. It is a salt water pool. We had a great time with our two eldest grandsons and their great-grandparents, but the big bonus came when I lay down at night and did not scratch myself to sleep.  

Heavy Traffic

Heavy cross traffic at Mill Lake loop trail.

busylizzy and I took advantage of a perfect morning and went for a very long walk. We have often driven to Mill Lake and walked around it, sometimes twice. However, today, we walked to Mill Lake from our home and then around it. Despite my not so subtle, whimpering suggestions to call a taxi, we walked home after that. Actually, it was not that bad. I have been walking everyday for a few weeks now and I was in good shape. busylizzy has always been a trooper when it comes to a long walk. We even stopped at a post office and did a bit of shopping in a mall on the way home. So many birds killed with one stone!

We were more than half way home when we had a really good scare. We crossed a very busy street, in a cross walk, with the light in our favour, when a fancy huge black pick-up, driven by a young man,  made a fast and wide turn, coming right for us and accelerating hard. I was about to jump one way or other, when he saw us and with a hard brake and a bit of a swerve, avoided killing two walking birds with one truck. When we reached the other side of the street, a bit shaken, I asked busylizzy why he did not see us. She did not know. I said to her, "We just passed the reason." busylizzy looked back a few feet over her shoulder and there stood a beautiful young lady, long slender tanned legs, white shorts, red top, and blond hair, waiting for the light to turn green. And they say cell phones are dangerous!   

SPF

While the economy of the USA goes to a warm eternity in a hand basket, there is another type of heat we are continually warned about. Actually, not the heat, but the rays from the sun, which, normally is accompanied by a lot of heat. Do you use sunscreen? Some of it is not safe, you know. Better the UV that you know than the chemicals you do not know. But hang on just a second!

There is some incredible research going on right here in Canada. Had I known about this sooner, I would have been their first volunteer.

Some foods contain high levels of a substance called polyphenals which increase blood flow to the surface of the skin, which, in turn, protects the skin from harmful UV and UVA rays. I always disliked smearing on the lotion and actually I will closely monitor my time in the sun instead of 'greasing up' for a time in the rays. But if I can eat my way to protection, I will do it. What is this food they are testing? If I tell you, you will want to volunteer also. It is chocolate. Yes, dear readers, chocolate. Sometimes I think all these studies are done by people who want to justify their huge intake of this finest of foods. As for me, I will conduct my own experiments. There is still time this summer to eat myself silly with chocolate and then sit in the sun and see what happens. If I burn, an indication that the experiment failed, I will simply console myself with more chocolate.  That is what you call a 'win-win' situation.   

Do You Sleep Quietly?

I was up at 5:30 am the other day and went for a stroll around Mill Lake. I captured the early light in the above photo, but that is not what I want to write about today. I was careful not to wake busylizzy when I arose, and was thinking about that as I was walking. I then recalled a chapter out of the book I am currently reading and began to laugh out loud as I was walking down the trail. Fortunately, there were not too many other early walkers so nobody was there to think I was mentally unstable.

I will give a review of the latest Bill Bryson book I am reading, but here is an excerpt, in the meanwhile, about sleeping, that I think is quite funny. The author has just arrived in Australia and is being given a tour in car, on a warm day, and feeling the effects of jet lag.

" I am not, I regret to say, a discreet and fetching sleeper. Most people, when they nod off, look like they could do with a blanket; I look as if I could do with medical attention. I sleep as though injected with a powerful experimental muscle relaxant. My legs fall open in a grotesque come-hither manner; my knuckles brush the floor. Whatever is inside-tongue, uvula, moist bubbles of intestinal air-decides to leak out. From time to time, like one of those bobble-head toys, my head tips forwards to empty a quart or so of viscous drool onto my lap, than falls back to begin loading again with a noise like a toilet cistern filling. And I snore hugely and helplessly, like a cartoon character, with rubbery flapping lips and prolonged steam valve exhalations. For long periods I grow unnaturally still, in a way that inclines onlookers to exchange glances and lean forward in concern, then dramatically I stiffen and, after a tantalizing pause, begin to bounce and jostle in a series of whole-body spasms of the sort that brings to mind an electric chair when the switch is thrown. Then I shriek once or twice in a piercing and effeminate manner and wake up to find that all motion within five hundred feet has stopped and all children under eight are clutching their mother's hems. It is a terrible burden to bear."   

Enough?

The wait, these days, to get a wallpaper order, is long. There is no competition among the suppliers so they can take their sweet time and they will not lose a customer. After a three month delay, one of our clients finally got their paper yesterday, and as promised, we came almost immediately to install it. Before I set up the tools and equipment, I always check the amount of paper to make sure there is enough. I looked at the wall and then at the rolls of paper in a small box and asked where the other box was. I saw the very troubled look on their faces immediately.

"That is all there is," was the weak reply.

"Can't be," says I, "you need twice that amount, but I will measure to make sure."

I did, and it was exactly twice as much that they needed. The architect had ordered it and had ordered the right amount, but in single rolls, not doubles.

This confusion is a throwback to the days when you paid for and ordered single rolls and they came packaged in double rolls, but if required, you could get a single roll. Now you can only get double rolls, but the pricing remains to be on a single roll.

This happens many times, but another reason for shortages is that paper is so very expensive now that the customer is reluctant to order anything at all extra. They typically do not allow anything for pattern match and waste. If there is not an adequate amount of material, I will not even start because when more is ordered to finish the project, getting the same dye lot is rare. Then one has to strip back all the paper and start over, and this drives the cost of the job through the roof.

I had an elderly lady hire me to paper her bathroom a few years ago, and I knew there was not enough paper. She insisted that I hang paper until I ran out. I did, and it was above her commode that there was about six square feet of blank wall. She told me to put the scraps and pattern match waste in there. She was serious, much to my dismay, so I consented, but on one very firm condition.

"Do not ever, ever, tell anyone that I hung the paper in this bathroom. It will ruin my hard won reputation." She consented, and I never heard from her, or her neighbours, again.

How About a Money Makeover?

I do a lot of reading and I tend to read categories of book in streaks. My latest streak is financial books. This is not because I have sought out this genre, but three books have been recommended to me within the last few weeks. I have just completed the second one titled "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. Dave hosts a talk show in the USA that claims to have 3 million listeners a week. I have listened to him and found him to verbally communicate in a similar fashion to how he writes. He is very practical, blunt, humorous, and money wise.

The book is about getting out of all forms of debt and staying debt free, and beyond that, building wealth. The book is peppered with pithy advice, remarkable statistics, and catch phrases. It is very practical and his methods are not theoretical, but completely doable. Every third page has a mini testimonial of couples and individuals who have gone on his 'makeover' plan and have changed their lives. Even though my philosophy of money management almost totally aligns with his, I found myself learning things I did not know before.

This book is for people in their 30's and 40's and is a must read for anyone who feels that they are not liking debt or not having enough money at the end of the month, or feeling that retirement is looking a little bleak. I would go so far as to say that this should  be a required course in our school system. It is educational, entertaining, and has been a tool to revolutionize many lives, as evidenced by the  success stories contained in the book.  

This read gets two thumbs up from me.

As They Continue Down the Road

Was there ever any doubt? The bickering boys of DC in the once mighty USA are patting, no slapping, each other on the back in congratulatory adulation of the 'historic' agreement they have reached to raise the debt ceiling yet again. It is only historic in that it is history repeating itself, for the 94th time. A six year old can see through the sham. In the last two years, President Obama has added $2 trillion to government spending. Now, he has promised to decrease spending by $1.2 trillion .... over the next ten years! When will these people wake up and smell the coffee? My prediction is: when this house of cards (credit cards) comes tumbling down around their ears, and only then. The situation is beyond repair. The sad part is that we here in Canada will go down too, but maybe not as hard.

One can take a thousand snapshots across the USA that portray the real problem. Every picture will show waste, mismanagement, and debt, whether on a personal level, or some level of governance. Similar to an individual's financial situation, when every avenue of escape has been explored, when every source of revenue has been maxed out, when every structural re-financing has been used, the creditors will hound, the banks will foreclose, 'Bubba' will come with his baseball bat, and YOU WILL GO BANKRUPT! Your life will then be a nightmare for the next 10 years as you try, with great sacrifice to re-establish yourself. It will be painful, but possible.  

Sunflowers and Their Consequences

Every few months I haul out the Blood Pressure monitoring kit and self diagnose. I consistently get lower readings than my doctor does but there are logical explanations for this. When I tell him that my readings are very low average or optimal, he is OK with that. He agrees that home monitoring is more accurate because it is done in a real life situation, not a stress inducing doctors office where you have just been referred to a proctologist,  for example.  

For the first time since I have been doing this, my blood pressure is in the high normal range. Ordinarily, this would please me as well as most people my age, but there is an upward trend happening here.

So, I tried an experiment. I have begun walking in earnest. Well, on the trails, actually. ( Did hear the one about the two worms who were fighting in dead earnest?)

As much as 10K a day has been my norm.

After the third day, I found that a difference was taking place already. Now, ten days later, my pressure is down to optimal on a consistent basis. ( 117/ 73)

The other technique I have used is to to fool my circulatory system into thinking I am calmer than I really am. We have a wonderful bouquet of Sunflowers on the table where I sit to monitor my BP. Just before I hit the 'on' button, I stare at the mellow yellow blossoms and let them take me to a calm, sunny meadow in the south of France. As I feel my heart rate calm down, I punch the button and hope a stressful thought does not pop into my mind at the last second. I think I have mastered this technique now, and have actually fooled myself into thinking I am young and healthy once again. For your convenience, I have posted photos of the sunflowers so you too can lower your blood pressure in the safety and comfort of your own home. Happy pumping.   

Saving More Than Lives

Throughout history, nations have needed and used armies for either protection of their borders, or for expansion. This empire building has been the downfall of most great nations. Now, in our lifetime, the USA has invented another use for armies and it has several names. "Protecting our interests", or "defending democracy", or "fighting terrorism". Many of these endeavours have to be invented or at least propped up from time to time in order to perpetuate the myth that the military, in its present state, is necessary.

When trying to assess what is really going on, I always say "follow the money". The budget for the military is about $1.4 Trillion annually and because we know that a soldier's pay is not that great, there is a lot of big money going to defense contractors. They say it takes about $1million to train, transport, pay, and insure a soldier overseas. When a Taliban takes out a US Marine with $72.00 AK47, that is a good return on investment .... for the Taliban.

Here is a novel idea. Bring all the soldiers home, and maintain an army that will be adequate for home defense, and put the entire rest of the military budget toward the deficit. There would be no more deficit and we could then leave the world to solve its own problems. Military intervention in the affairs of other nations always creates new problems and costs huge amounts of money that is needed at home.

Of course, this will never happen. There is too much at stake for too many rich and powerful people. And just when the idea would catch on, another crisis would magically appear, and wrapped in the American Flag, and in the name of homeland security, the army would go marching off to bomb another camel lot somewhere in some remote desert. Going with my idea would not only save a lot of lives, but it would save the American economy.