Month: June 2024

Forgot I left the van windows down last evening when I went out to watch the Jay’s Game. I could hear something against the glass, but thought it was the nails and tiny tip tapping sound the upstairs dog makes walking on tile. Then quickly realized it was too much tip tap tapping, and bolted to the van to close all the windows. My poor man’s AC bit me in the behind! AC has gone on the van too, so I’ve revisited the 90’s by driving with all four all the wY down. Luckily I caught the storm early on, and only a few drops had gotten into the armrests. No damage done. Yay!

Also the WestJet strike was averted very early this morning, so my eldest brother and his children are currently in the air for the first leg of their flights over to Ontario from B.C. it was a real nail biter! So I’ve done a grocery shop, and snagged some extra burgers, hot dogs, buns, chicken burgers, fancy desserts, additional sodas, and some beers to have on hand if they should decide to come here to look around.

Our house AC defrosted over night when we turned it off. Had some cold air inlet blockages by ice build-up. Back to working order. Just can’t have it running full tilt for multiple days on end. Luckily after the storm last night the overall temperature dropped, even if the humidity didn’t go away – like, at all. Dehumidifiers were bone dry yesterday morning, and full to the brim by evening. That’s a wet bulb warning if I ever saw one.

Well, back to work before I go and vacuum out the pool. The storm dropped a fair load of debris into the inlaws pool. So that should be a fun clean up to tackle. Might swim while I’m at it! Ciao Bella.

Eighty two years since this last occurred. Could the Oilers “possibly” rebound from a three game deficit to take the Stanley Cup Finals from the Florida Panthers? I don’t know. It seems very unlikely, but they’ve come out the gate ready to roll these last two games. Went from a clean sweep in four, now hot on a two game heater heading into game six. Hell they took game four 8-1. If they’d have put some of those goals into games one through three it would be a different series altogether. I’m happy we still have 3xciting hockey left to see.

I have no dog in this race beyond wanting to see a Cznadian team take it. It really looked like Florida were going to steamroll Edmonton and lounge into the championship parade with nary a break in sweat. But the Oilers have pushed on, now looking at a sixth game in the series. I believe it is highly unlikely that they’ll do the near impossible,  82 years after it has last been done. But, sports can be unpredictable, so don’t count anybody out just yet.

Yesterday’s power outage made it so we had to go out to see the first two periods of the game. Grandmas speed watching Wheel of Fortune meant we missed the opening minutes of period two, and the Oilers second goal. No matter. I saw the rest of the nail biter!

Wednesday – Hump Day is here. Field trips are still on. Heat warnings in effect. Gonna be another warm one.

Was very thankful for the chance to float in a friends pool yesterday afternoon once school was done. Gathered up the whole family, and had a refreshing dip. So nice. It was a sweat rolling down your back, and stinging the eyes kind of day yesterday. So hot right now. Looks like we are in for some storms today and possibly tomorrow. I would prefer all the messy weather blow itself out by Thursday, but I don’t control jack shit, so likely nasty weather is in store for the partial family reunion weekend. Supposed to feel like low 40°C temperatures today. I feel bad for my kids at school. No AC in that old building. Kids on the third floor will positively melt in the heat of the day, and the trapped rising heat from the classes below them. The windows are small and don’t open all the way. Yuck.

Next week is the last official week of my wife’s year off. We still have 9 weeks of summer break, but by late August she will have to head back on the daily. Which means we need to have both cars looked at. AC is down in both vehicles, and he’s has an as of yet unidentified red fluid leak. The red fluids I know of are; transmission, power steering, and the radiator fluid. Plus her compressor on the AC unit is pooched, not the refrigerant, or the belt that drives it. So it requires a knowledgeable hand to repair it. Beyond me at this point.

So that’s Tuesday for ya. Need to sort out our plans for the youngest’s birthday party next week. Also pin down what it is she’d like for her birthday. Turning seven means she flip flops between items on the daily. I’d rather get her an item she actually wants instead of filler/fluff she’s not interested in.

The first of many Heat Warnings have arrived. We will have them all week and eventually it will blow itself out through a series of electrifying storms, high winds, and a hard driving rain. Those summer time storms are a real show if you aren’t petrified of them. Just in time for family coming to visit later this week. Love it.

It’s Monday once more, and boy am I glad I did so much laundry and cleaning over the weekend. Blinds are trimmed down to not allow too much sunshine in. AC unit is ready to kick on should the house internal temperature rise above 24°C. Not too hot, and not too cold. Fine for shorts and a t-shirt combo.

I could always do yet another load of laundry, as we seem to produce so damn much of it. My favourite! Will likely hold off on grocery shopping until Wed/Thurs in preparation for the incoming family. Dietary restrictions means I’ll need to be careful when shopping. Several food/ingredient allergies and aversions. Best to take care with that sort of thing.

Several days ago my lovely garage/shop which usually smells of wood chips, WD40 and wood stain, began to smell horrendously of death. At first glance I was worried the stains on the ceiling were the remains of a squirrel or raccoon going to jelly in the attic. So I braved the ladder and heat, took a torch and respirator with me and crawled head long along the ridge beams to look at the ceiling above the garage. Whilst hot, it did not smell, and there were no signs of disturbance on the vents, beams, or blown insulation. So I started to pull apart shelves where I felt I could smell the stink the most. Nothing along the ground. Nothing behind the wood piles, or in the garbage cans. Nothing near the top shelf where the heavy old doors, and a bed frame are stored. It took several days and I finally located one abandoned nest. So with a last hurrah I pulled out the Christmas lights tote box, and whoo boy! Jackpot. Stink-o-Rama! Got it out of there asap.

I dumped the whole lot out on the lawn and found three baby mice, a few centimeters each, and one massive mama. All four are dead. But mama was the foul beastie that stank up the joint. Man oh man. You always know when you’ve found death, it has a real cloying, stick to the nostrils, blah about it. Hopefully now the garage can begin to smell like wood, wood chips, WD40, and various stains once more.

I’m just glad it wasn’t something juicier like a squirrel, or bunny, or raccoon, or chipmunk family. That’s why I wore the respirator when I went up into the attic. I not only feared the stink, but that blown insulation is no joke either. I recall how hot and unpleasant a job it was to haul my ass up there with the hose/gun and spend a couple hours filling up each section between the rafters and beams. I remember there being more room the last time i went up there nearly 15 years ago. I was about 80lbs lighter, and more nimble. That probably had a lot to do with how i felt about it too.

Problem solved – for now. I don’t think an air freshener is going to cut it, as far as rehabilitating the space. I’ll have to give it a good mulling over. Perhaps I’ll get hit with some divine inspiration. Happy Father’s Day!

Busy day over at the Mini Putt, Batting Cages, Driving Range local. Took the oft forgotten route and did the panning for gemstones activity. Only one other family doing that when we arrived. It was a 90 minute line just to pay for Mini Putt. Then another set of lines for either course; pirate ship wrecks, or the logging camp. I don’t travel with my clubs in the car, so the range was out. I’m not that into baseball, and can not for the life of me remember the last time I took action on a pitch. I know from tossing the ball around with my eldest that my shoulder isn’t what it used to be. Not that I has much of an arm to begin with, but it’s worse than I ever recall it being. I don’t think I could toss a ball over my own house with much success. Lengthwise, not back to front. I’m not that far gone – yet. Ha. Once you’ve paid, and waited in the appropriate course line-up, you still have to contend with the slow moving families, and the fast play ones nipping at your heels. Worst of every option that is. Pass.

I’d rather we have lunch together and watch the original Pixar hit Inside Out. It is a surprisingly good movie, and I like the voice cast to boot. Doesn’t really matter what we watch or do, I like us being together as a family. Perhaps I’ll do dome basement karaoke, and the kids will dance along. That would be fine by me.

Have a great Lazy Sunday afternoon all.

Smells as though one of our immediate neighbours must have had a raging fire last night, as the distinct odours of wood ash is carried on the wind straight through all of the open windows of our house. Smells like the cottage if I’m being honest. If I could hear lapping waves, or the extremely loud caw of black birds I’d be up north.

Since dance season is finally over I thought I would trim my daughters hair to even it out. I took a palm width worth off the length for my oldest daughter. And it looks lovely. Contrary to popular belief it does not appear as though I chopped at it with a weed whacker. I took my time, lined it up. Brushed it out, and started by taking just a little in case I was being too aggressive to start with. It still ponytails with ease, and looks even, and is currently knot free. Bonus!

The youngest is another matter. She doesn’t spend any time of her own maintaining her hair. At all. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. The older one just this year started to tame her own head after nearly a decade of fighting with us about it. Thank the gods! But the young one is mostly feral, and has more hair than she knows what to do with. And, since the restrictions from dance, about drastically altering their appearance prior to the big recital weekend have been lifted. Time to cut, cut, cut that mop. But! She has to sit for a detangle first. Which will be her mother’s job. I go too fast, and tend towards roughness. I don6have three hours to tip toe through it, and still not finish. I’ll take 15-20 minutes, cause tears, but will get done, and can move on with our day. I get why I’m not the first option, but rather a last resort. Ha. But I will be wielding the scissors! I cut a fair ole chunk off last time I cut her hair. It looked fabulous, and plenty agreed. I think she should go for a Bob, or pixie cut. But the Bob is a stretch of my acumen, and the pixie is beyond me. I don’t think I could achieve it with clippers, scissors and YouTube. Maybe with a few additional heads to practice on. But likely not.

Saturday is finally here. Sunny and warm with the sweltering heat to follow on Monday. I spent a good portion of yesterday doing some tidying up as we’ve got family visiting next weekend. Plus I have two years of school work to sort through & recycle that which doesn’t need to be kept. Old toys to organize. Junk to throw away. Same as always. Looks like I’ll need to wait for September to do any real damage around here. Kids are too attached to crap if you ask me.

I cannot stand the overpower stench of sauteed mushrooms. Yuck. What a stink. Makes my stomach turn just thinking about it. The smell is so oily, and cloying. It winds it’s way into your nostrils and camps out there making you gag repeatedly. Ugh. I hate it. Worst part of steak dinners at the inlaws. I stay outside to grill the steaks, and avoid the wretched cloud of mushroom steam. I grill a mean medium rare pink, and just a touch bloody bit of steak. Seasoned and/or marinaded for several hours, they slide down without any trouble at all. I love bbq season.

Friday is here. I’ve run my errands already. Just munching on some breakfast before I head into the studio to work on some conference materials. Weather is sunny and mild. A lovely breeze is blowing. Can’t really ask for more.

Nothing like cleaning up spilt stale milk from the bottom fridge drawer. A full sacks worth of 1% pooled in amongst the juice boxes and various cheeses. Just lovely. Otherwise it has been a peachy morning for us here.

What else can I say? Had some new news about my parents health yesterday. Still waiting to hear about my father’s TIA situation, and need more clarification about my mother’s tumor(s). Not much I can do from here, or even if we were out west. My wife found some information regarding hospital patients seeking a place to stay for the duration of treatment. That’s about as much as we can do, besides order Uber eats for them once they get settled somewhere. Luckily one of my brothers live with them, and can help with their dogs and the house itself. Another brother lives one town over, so we have eyes and ears on the ground nearby.

I’ve started to develope headaches now when we have strong enough inclement weather, which make me feel nauseous. So that’s fun. Nothing debilitating, but not a whole lot of fun.

That’s Thursday June 13th, 2024 for you. How about that?  I’m rewatching The Orville from the very beginning. I don’t know if I saw any of the third season at all. So looking forward to it.

It’s not that it is hot per se, but rather I’m building up a good sweat from walking fast, pushing a heavy mower, and ducking tree branches, traffic, angry robins and the occasional wasp. Taking a few seconds inbetween laps of the property to wave at the neighbours and try to be a pleasant individual. Also keeping straight(ish) lines on the lawn, or an eye catching pattern takes effort.

My exercise goals faded into the background once again. I had a two day running streak which ended with a rain storm, and then we only did a little additional training for the area track meet after that first spurt. My daughter performed admirably, but did not progress to regional, nor provincial meets. Nothing to be ashamed of there. She tried her best. We could either train for next year now, and really give it a go, or pick it up in mid April and see how she fares. I’d love nothing more than for her to find a focus and aim towards it with conviction, but she isn’t built that way. And I don’t want to leg lock her into a years worth of training for her to hate both it and me.

Had a weak moment the other day. A bit of alcohol industry nostalgia. Saw some openings at breweries and decided to throw my hat in the ring. I do not expect any kind of call back. I’m too senior in years to qualify. Not my age, so much, as being 18 years into the industry, jobs looking for 5 yrs experience will pass me over as too expensive, regardless of if I’d take the listed salary. It was a weak moment. I have them once a year when I’m in a quiet stretch. Save your money to weather these patches and you won’t get all hyped up like I did earlier this week.

Covid and the recession, and price increases have left many of my clients hanging on to survive, rather than push ahead with new products, or marketing campaigns. I can’t blame them for it. This to shall pass. Both the good and the bad. Nothing lasts forever. It can’t rain all the time.

So, lawns done. Laundry is in the wash cycle, and needs to be moved over to the dryer. I should go grocery shopping at some point soon, if only for milk, and some bread. If I hit the floors with a sweep, a vacuum,  and a mop I’ve hit the cleaning trifecta. I cleaned out the kitchen sink, and bathroom sinks not long ago, so I’ll have that to do again in a couple more days. It is a never ending cycle of household chores to do. Forget washing the cars, or windows. Laundry, dishes, and floors keep me busy almost daily. I prefer to do a Domestic Duties Monday/Tuesday, depending on schedule, but I was in a funk and put it off until today. Those chickens have come home to roost, along with taller grass, dirty dishes, and an even higher pile of kids laundry, and an emptier fridge than usual. Fun times.

It’s not the office life I’m nostalgic for, it’s the steady pay cheque. I guess I need to work harder at networking and drumming up business. That’s a side I neglect in favour of doing the design work itself. Oh well. C’est la vie! Ciao Bella.