An Icy Start Today

As Mike Warnke used to say...

Slicker than snot on a door knob!

CLUNK

well.. when I took my hat off tonight, i sat it on top of my papers and saw that weird band of green on the cap... EWWWWWWWWWW.... I thought a bird had christened my farmers mutual hat..... then i remembered........ Was walking along, at an inspection today, not watching where I was going... and BOOM.... tree branch.....................

jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepers!

Up North this week

I spent the day Thursday about an hour north of Peterborough... GORGEOUS country up there!
I would sooo love to live there some day, but... you have to be married to your sister to be eligible... so I'm not buying property up there just yet!!!

Skating on the Canal

When I was a kid, ice skating was an outdoor activity... it was only EVER done outside! There was one indoor rink that we got to skate on every now and then, at BCS, but it was real ice with a building over top of it, so it was still way cold in there.
Skating outdoors is something that is a part of every Canadian kid's fibre. When I first played hockey in Quebec, Doug Bowker was my coach, and we only EVER played outside.... winter coats on under our sweaters, and toques under our helmets... our feet would be frozen by the time we were done..... and our nostril hairs caked with... never mind... you don't need that mental image!!

When I got older, and lived in Ontario, we played outside ... just for fun... there were no rinks, per se... it was in Forsythe's field down the road... man, it brings back good memories!!
Though I've been wanting to for years, I've never had the chance to skate on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa ... I may have to settle for the Trent Severn Canal in Peterborough!.. the above picture is the Canal in Peterborough, about 150 feet from the house I live in when I'm in Peterborough... I took this picture tonight when I got home from work...

Next week, I'm bringing my skates.... Too many good memories came flooding back tonight, to let this opportunity pass!

Today's Photos....

Coming through Toronto Monday

sometimes, when the traffic backs up on the 401, I'll take the Gardner Expressway, through downtown, and up the Don Valley .. its actually a lot quicker sometimes...... the scenery is incredible... there's a BMW building at the bottom of the Don Valley, that has about 4 floors, all lighted, it looks like a parking garage display... with beamers on each floor... incredible view... SOME NIGHT... I'll stop, get out my tripod... get a really good picture.... and probably get creamed by a truck..... they will show the photos in a power point presentation at my funeral !LOL!

anyway....saw this on the way here Tuesday :

ELECTION RESULTS

spelled differently is :

Lies - Lets Recount....

oh well.. minority is still better than NO PC Prime minister! GO HARPER!

43 years ago today....

43 years ago today, my mother brought forth her first born son, wrapped him in cloth diapers
and laid him in a crib.... and the world has YET to forgive her!

% of Vote Share

Vote Share:
---------------

PC : 36.4%
Liberal : 30.1%
NDP - 17.4%
Green : 4.5 %
Other 1.1%


Seats :
--------
PC 125 = 40.58%
Liberal 103 = 33.44%
NDP 28 = 9.09%
BQ 51 = 16.56%
Green 0 - 0
Other 1 = 0.32%

what the Seat Totals would be if they were based on Popular Vote:

PC : 112.1 seats
Liberal: 92.7 seats
NDP: 53.6 seats
BQ: 33.3 seats
GREEN: 13.9 seats
OTHER: 3.4 seats

interesting eh?!

Election Day

well.... Election day is almost over... it is 10:32 p.m. and the BC votes are just starting to come in....
I'm not a political person, but there is something exciting to me, about election day...

The tv coverage, the see saw totals that goes on as the votes are being counted, I find it all very exciting. I'm not an activist, and I probably won't ever have a sign on my front lawn ... unless my brother decides to run someday..... but in my heart, I didn't want Paul Martin to win....
I don't think he can be trusted, nor do I like the way he's been slinging mud over the last few weeks...... its just not nice.

The score at this point is 120 to 97, with BQ at 50 and NDP at 26... the one thing that scares me, is that the only independent leading at all, is in Quebec... and he's not a politician.. he's a radio talk show host .. yikes!

anyway... at least we won't be waiting days like Florida... we should know by morning......hopefully it won't be mourning!!

Clutter

well, I spent a couple of hours last night, going through some old scrap books and files, looking desperately for something I'd filed away ..... the end result, was that I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find some incredible treasures....

among the noteables, were these :

- A bumper sticker from 1986 when the Habs won the stanley cup
- my Grade 11 Highschool Schedule... holy....
- a picture of some cute girl who I don't remember
- phone messages from London when I was a youth pastor... the calls still haven't been returned!
- a Ticket stub from a Bill Gaither Trio concert in Toronto... wow... it was only $10 back then!
- a hand written note from Rev Jame's MacDonald's mom.... i lived with them when i first was a youth pastor
- my Drivers Ed certificate...
- a love note from some girl named Sue.... yikes!
- my dorm inspection checklist from college... no, i didn't pass , at least, not on that particular day! tsk
- A petition from the guys I worked with, at Sears, trying to get me fired.... LOL! it was signed by Jerry Falwell, Pope John Paul VII, and 3 real guys that I worked with.. who evidently loved me dearly!!!
-A golf score card from 1987 --- when I took some of the guys in the youth group golfing... Gerald Lassche was one of them.... the only putt he sank all day was when he lay face down on the green and shot it in with the handle of his club, like a pool cue .... jeepers!
- My name on the polling list from 1987... I wonder who won that election, i don't even remember if I voted
- A receipt from No Frills in Owen Sound, for Kraft Dinner... WHY would I save that?!?!?
- A parking receipt from Parc Olympique in Montreal, when I went to see the Expos play in 1985
and a whole bunch of thank you notes..... some from people I don't even remember


sigh..... sometimes, I miss the good old days.....

My Daughters Birthday Gift

Don't know if I ever told you... but my grammie used to sell Royal Albert China, in her little country store in Randboro.... at some point in my childhood, I developed a love for fine china.. when we were older kids, Grammie gave us each a 12 place setting of Victoriana Rose ( i think that's what it is ) ..... It is buried in boxes, in my dad' s basement... until someday, when I have a house and a china cabinet...

For Anna's birthday this year ( she was 14 on the 15th of January ) .... I got her a little tiny tea cup.... with January on it. The flower of the month is the Snow Drop . These little tea cups are sooo tiny... that a twoonie covers the entire bottom of the cup!

I don't know if anna liked her gift... but I loved it!!!

Healthy Eating

well.... my kids arrived for the weekend today.... on a mission. They've decided to eat according to " Canada's Food Guide To Healthy Eating " as outlined on Health Canada's web site

alas.... there is nooooooo food at my house that qualifies.... other than the 1/2 bag of frozen peas in the back of my freezer, that I've had since I moved in June of 2004 ..... I figure if I present that for breakfast tomorrow, by noon, they'll be back on real food....

In all seriousness, buying healthy is REALLY hard.... for starters, Anna and I spent two hours at two different grocery stores, trying to find out which chicken pot pies had the fewest calories.... finally we narrowed it down to two... and in a fit of frustration, I bought them both... TIME IS MONEY kid!

And it is EXPENSIVE ..... get this... I went to Food Basics, to get a tray of fruit for them to snack on... I mean.. you have to snack on something... IT IS FRIDAY NIGHT..... so the tray of fruit, which included 1/2 dozen baby blue berries, 4 strawberries, and then the rest was grapes, pineapple, canteloupe, and watermelon..... $18.99 ..... and there'd not be enough for 4 of us... jeeeeeepers.... I guess watermelon must be out of season.....nope.... too much money.

Instead, we went to Zehrs... ( the Loblaws of Western Ontario ..... Brantford has 3 of them...) and we bought all the ingredients ..... $5.99 for pineapple, $3.99 for Kiwi, $2.99 for canteloupe,$2.25 for apples, $3.35 for grapes, for a grand total of $18.57
Boy, was it brilliant of me to buy them individually so I could save 42 Cents!!

And don't forget all of the incredible excercise I got, cutting, peeling, cutting.......... and now..... my back hurts from standing so long ( either in line at the grocery store, or cutting canteloupe)

..... so I guess I'll have to go to the chiropractor.... add that $30 to the cost of the fruit.... and that $18.99 tray is starting to look like a bargain............!

I did realize in the process, though, how much work Mr Christie goes through, to make all those cookies, to frost them, ( in some cases.. he DOUBLE frosts them, ) and then packages them up in nice little rows, easy to grab.... and the re-sealable bag, to keep them fresh !!!

I think tomorrow, I am going to petition Health Canada to add Oreos to their list of allowable foods...!!!

I'm going upstairs to snack and watch a movie

Slow Drivers.........

ok. so I'm on my way to inspect this morning... and I got behind this uh.... well.... DRIVER!
I won't say which gender, or what age bracket.... but it rhymes with little old lady .......... ANYWAY... I sat through two lights at the corner of Chemong and Lindsay Highway because the Left turn lane doesn't have a flashing green.... and the afore mentioned sweet little old lady was afraid to pull out...Midway through the second light.... all of a sudden .... she DARTED OUT like a shot out of a gun... almost creamed a pickup truck coming from Bridgenorth... JEEPERS..

when I finally got to go through ( cause I waited for the truck from Bridgenorth... I HAVE TOO MANY DENTS ALREADY ) ........ I thought to myself : when i catch her, I have to get by... its 44 kms to Lindsay.... single lane each way... i do NOT have that kind of patience....

so about 300 feet up the road, I caught her... ( well maybe more like 1/2 a mile but anyway ) ... I followed her for 1/2 a klik or so... and then saw my chance.... dotted line, nothing coming.... GO

so I went .... once I got along side her, I realized that what I thought was a dotted line, was in actuality, intermittent sand/gravel/gunk on the road.... indeed.... a double line......
going up a short little hill... with a pick up truck coming at me...... CRAP..... and it is about then, in situations like this,... that I remember that I have Farmers Mutual Signs on the side of my car..... LORD HAVE MERCY ...... Frantic, I pulled in front of the poor little old lady, afraid to look in my rear view mirror..... punched it and took off...
I figured if she was as old as she SEEMED...by lunch time, she'd have forgotten it ever happened anyway...

Continuing west, I put a HUGE distance between me and the little old lady, and was almost ready to gloat... when I got to Fowlers' Corners.... and that stupid light.... went red... nothing coming from the north or the south... NO REASON for the light to change!.... I guess it was GOD that made the light go red...... and there I sat.... waiting, watching NO cars cross in front of me.... and putt putt putt....... up pulls the little old lady.... in her little dodge Shadow..... I HATE when that happens... JEEPERS

Finally back to work

well.... after a weekend from hell fighting a cold, I'm back to work... yup... back to work on Wednesday night..... have been either on the couch or in bed for the last 4 1/2 days....
jeeeeeeeepers.... so now it's back to work, frantic to get some major inspecting done to try to salvage the week.... and head home Mid day Friday, to pick the kids up at school Friday afternoon......

on a different note, Belleville Bulls are in town tomorrow night, to play the Pete's ..... might be a grudge match after last weeks squeeker in Belleville... so this means I'll have to burn the midnight oil to get my paperwork done tomorrow night, cause I don't want to miss the blood bath!

Cats in the hood

well... I must admit, I've never been a cat lover... in fact... that's probably an understatement!

Be that as it may, I've had a hate on , of late, for some neighbourhood cats. The neighbours, in a moronic gesture of kindness, have been feeding a bunch of cats.... I DO not know why.

Every time I arrive home, or when I open my door to go out, 2 or 3 cats scatter. They apparently lie in my doorway ( and take advantage of the heat leaking out the door ... tsk Renting a lovely place EH?! tsk )
anyway, it got much worse one night when one of those IDIOTIC cats got into my townhouse...
15 minutes and 800 scratches later, i got that "thing" out...... he is buried over behind the basketball pole.
ok, i'm kidding... and yes, there IS a point...

I have complained all summer and fall, to my kids, and to anybody that would listen.... about those STUPID cats....

until today. I had an epiphany ( that sounds like it should be either fattening or sinful ) ...

last winter, ALL winter, i had mice ( eat your heart out Carol ) .... caught a whole bunch, but never could stay ahead of them... it dawned on me today... i've not had ONE mouse all winter... not one sign.. no droppings, no corner of the bread bags eaten... nothing.

know why? cause of those stupid cats.... they've scared the mice away.

sigh.

Check this out

Saw a guy on WEIRD roller blades today.... I was inspecting just north of the University, almost to Lakefield, and saw this guy go by .... I found out afterwards, that "blades" like this, are used to train for Cross Country Skiing ... sure caught my attention anyway!!!

Wonder if they come in MY size!

The Parker Trio

As most of you now know, one of Ontario's Gospel Groups was devastated this week, with the death of their founding member. The Parker Trio, originally from Pickering, was traveling in South Carolina. Late Saturday night, while they were parking the bus, Warren Parker was hit and killed by a drunk driver. It sounds so cliche.... But it happened. Warren was standing on the road, guiding the driver, who was backing the bus in, when he was hit.
It has been a very disturbing incident, particularly to people in the gospel music field. I only had the chance to hear him twice in my life, once as the Parker Trio, and once when he played piano for the Sonshine City Quartet. But it's still spooky. I think, though, the thing that shook me up the most, was the WAY in which it happened. Having had the chance to travel the last 3 years with a part time group, one of the things that we did every weekend, was to stand in the road, and block traffic, while Dave backed the trailer in ..... It's SO common place, that it has been hard for me to imagine that Warren would lose his life this way..... I said to my mom this week : I've DONE THAT ... Stood out in front of cars, waved them down, while we backed in... yikes.....
And I've mulled it over in my mind... What if? What if the bus had arrived 2 minutes later, that drunk driver would have already driven past ... What if they'd chosen to drive the bus IN, rather than back it in.. What if they'd stopped at a truck stop until morning .. What if what if what ifffffffffffffffffffffff ..... And yet, over and over this week, there has been a calming sense of God's Sovereignty. Though God never orchestrates confusion or disaster, His Hand is sovereign, and I am convinced that God has allowed this to increase His Kingdom.

Warren will be buried today, in a funeral at Bayfair Baptist Church, in Pickering, surrounded by family, and likely most every Gospel Singer in Ontario .... I think we all, no matter how close we were to him, are feeling the loss.

www.parkertrio.com

Belleville Bulls

Once a Bulls Fan, always a Bulls fan... I drove to Belleville after work today, and went to the Bulls game with my dad.. The Peterborough Pete's were in town... the rivaly between the Bulls and the Petes has been raging for years... lately, it seems, the Pete's whomp the Bulls .... I have to try and forget that I live in Peterborough 60% of the time, and I daren't bring it up when I'm around my brother or my father! Anyway, tonight, I thought I'd come to Belleville, if for no other reason, to get to see some hockey, even if the Bulls did get beat..... but they surprised us... got outshot 41 to 22, and still pulled off a 3-2 victory. Pete's appeared to go ahead 3-2 with about 2 minutes left, but they disallowed the goal, and the Bulls came back and scored on the next rush... I felt bad for Shantz ( the Pete's goalie ) ... he's a neat kid, that I have met a couple of times, through my association with Dave Fisher, the Chaplain for the Petes..... but too bad Shantzy... tonight, I cheared for the BULLS!!!

Tomorrow, its back to work in Peterborough... might wear a Bulls Sweater over my Farmers Mutual coveralls... whaddaya think???!!!

In the Studio

I had the chance Friday to go in with my dad to the Christian Radio Station in Belleville, and to help him with the Southern Gospel Radio show. Dad co-hosts the weekly 2 hour show, and invited me in to help..... I don't know that I added anything, but I sure had fun!!

Canada Wins Gold!!

oh baby, was that a good game last night....we were in Belleville at my folks house.... and we invited some friends in... in the end there was 18 people at my parents house, watching the game, eating shrimp and screaming our heads off at the score... man was it a neat night...
I'd like to tell you I feel bad for the heavy favourites.... USA .. and the second heavily favoured team ( Russia )..... I'd LIKE to tell you I feel bad.. but I just can't .... cause I'd hate to lie to you!!!

so now it's time to get down to business... diet, work, and wait until February 10th, the start of the 2006 Olympics in Italy so we can cheer on Gretzky and the boys...

Music

Music

The tide recedes, but leaves behind
sea shells in the sand
The sun goes down but gentle warmth
still lingers on the land.

The music stops and yet it echoes
on, in sweet refrains;
For every joy that passes,
something beautiful remains.

M.B. Hughes

Landscape on Highway 115

Took these photos yesterday on Highway 115, South West of Peterborough...... pretty hey!

Heading to Belleville again today with the kids... we're going to squeeze as much family time as we can in, before school starts Monday... Mom and Dad finished their basement, they have 3 tv's and a house full of food.... why would we stay HOME!!!

The Burnin' Ring of Fire

ok.. this is not about Johnny Cash .... it is about my brother in law David .... who has yet to understand what his 9 alarm chili does to my system....

For starters, my esophegos will never be the same....

# 2 - My grandchildren will likely have heartburn now, because of this.

# 3 - I am convinced I will be up until 3 or 4 am tonight....trying to put the fire out in my heart.... and I don't mean heart ACHE ....

so here's the thing... being prudent and circumspect, tonight at supper, before I put any on my plate ...I ASKED HIM... is it hot chili? HOW BAD IS IT? you'd think I'd know better than to believe him....

oh Paul, its' fine... really.. it's not bad this time....

Liar!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2006! spent the late evening at home last night, watching the hockey game and playing computer games! Looked down at one point, and it was 12:01 ... OOPS! I stood up, screamed and sat back down.......
ok, i lied...what I actually did was :
I sat there for as second, thought to myself " oh well, whoopteee stinking dooo "
and went back to my game!!

Today am heading to my parents house, they have a big shindig every year.... we go to the Belleville Bulls game, at 2, and then we all meet back at my parents for a pot luck.... since I spent the evening.. uh.... wasting time, my contribution to the pot luck will be.... a 1/2 eaten box of chocolates ( forgot to mention that i DID do some binging last night ) and 1/2 a bag of icing sugar... old father hubbard's cupboard is uh.... hurting!

at any rate, Happy New Year! My prayer is that 2006 is a wonderful and happy year!