I'd be in remiss

if I didn't mention why this day has huge historical implications for me. It was on this day 35 years ago was the infamous Black Friday. Not to be confused with online shopping. This Black Friday was the F5 tornado that tore through here on that fateful day which took the lives of 21 people. I was 34 years old and living in a studio apartment on 156th street, close to the Petro Can. I was at Cobogo warehouse downtown at the time. It was about 3pm when I heard the news about the tornado. I went to the roof of the building to check. The rain came down hard, thick. Ok, nothing to see here. Our hometime was 4:30. When we went through the front door, nothing. No wind. The clouds looked threatening. Is this the eye of the storm? When I got home to pay the rent the landlady and I looked out the back of their apartment and the clouds had a spooky green tint about them. I didn't have a phone at the time but mom and dad called the LL and she reached me. I caught the events as they were unfolding during the evening and weekend. The weather conditions right now were very similar to that day. Black Friday tornado was a once-in-a-lifetime event here in Edmonton. I didn't know it at the time but the tornado took down the screen of the Belmont theatre. 

Not a lot going on right now just trying to beat the heat. Klondike days is underway, thanks to a 2-year absence. Heritage days is happening this weekend as well. 

This month is the lodge BBQ. That should be fun. August 24th Dan and I volunteer at fort Edmonton park at the Mason Lodge. Other than that not much else is going on. July & August are usually slow months anyway. Anyway, that's all for now.

The Pope lfet out of here this morning for

Quebec City. What was missing from the Pope'sapology over the last few days was something called "Doctrine of discovery" or to renounce "Doctrine of Discovery,". This is an issue that the Pope still needs to address.

A small part of my pension was missing this month because of a change of address. I got that organized but we won't see this issue fixed hopefully this month but most likely the end of next month and it will be doubled. 

Meanwhile, my YouTube channel keeps growing. I'm at 123 subscribers. My content isn't that great. So this comes as a surprise to learn I have so many subscribers. My goal is 200 by the end of the year. Anyway, that's all for now. 

Anne and I went out over here

to Cork & Barley Thursday. I had the fish and chips. Anne had the Roast beef in Yorkshire pudding. She loved it. Mine was ok. Since it's almost across the street, we'll go again. 

The Elks lost again last night at Commonwealth. Last night's loss indicates a record of 1,013 days without a win at Commonwealth. That win was against the BC Lions on October 13th, 2019. Keep in mind there is a pandemic underway. The good news is that our QB and one of our receivers are beginning to make a connection and seem to be in sync with each other. Just as we are heading into a bye week as well. 

I finished reading Crickets, in a record 17 days😂. I don't normally read military sci-fi but I enjoyed this. My next book is: 

Should be a good read since it's in 1st person, which is right up my street. The book above is ~ 450 pages in length so it's going to take me a bit longer to read.

Other than that, not much going on this weekend. The Pope is in town this weekend leaving Tuesday. I think I might put together another beat for my channel this weekend. Anyway, that's about all for now.

Apparently, June and July

are our 2 rainiest months of the year. The bulk of our July rainfall tapers off about now. Other than a brief sprinkle, we're not expecting any rain over the next ten days. 

Normally I'd buy my books at Audrey's books downtown but our hoarding days are over. I downsized a lot of diaries over the years and stuff I've been packing around. So, the other day I bought online my first science fiction Kindle ebook. When Robert J Sawyer comes to Audrey's to do a reading, I'll get a hard copy. However, right now I'm reading:

I've read several books by the above author. I began reading ~ 10 pages/day (more sometimes) and it's easy reading. I'm about halfway through. At this rate, I should be done by the end of the month, which is a record for me reading a book this size. 

Yesterday, was the last day of the Calgary Stampede. The pandemic forced organizers to hit the pause button. Same for Klondike days, which for us means the event comes to Edmonton for 10 days after a brief pandemic hiatus. 

Speaking of which, next month I turn 70 and I'll be able to get my 2nd Covid booster soon after. At my age, I think I'll be living with Covid until I go to the Grand Lodge above.🤣

So far my YouTube channel Jim Shannon on Sounds has 122 subscribers but that count goes up and down once subscribers realize, there isn't much to the channel. I'm not trying to break any new ground or anything. My channel is just a hobby. Anyway, that's all for now.

Not a lot going on this week.

The James Web Space Telescope apparently is expected to show the first images tomorrow after 6 months of getting in position and testing all instruments. Looking forward to seeing what it sends us. 

Anne and I are going out to dinner Thursday. I began reading "Crickets" by Willaim C. Dietz. I'm reading ~ 10 pages/day. Other than the above not much going on. Anyway, that's all for now.

I've been playing with Scaler 2 over the last

few days on my iPad Pro. It works best in AUM apparently. I watched 3 videos on Scaler 2 over the last 14 hours. I have Scaler on Windows but it's nothing like this. 

This week Calgary Stampeders/Elks. Plus Thursday and Friday its the NHL Draft. The Oilers get the 29th pick. We have enough guys coming up the ranks. Oh well. Anyway, that's all for now.

Yesterday was

Canada Day. We're not that patriotic around here but we appreciate this great country, province, and city we call home. We're not into fireworks but we watch them on the TV.

3 games in I finally saw my first Elks game of the season. Elk's were in Hamilton last night. Both teams were 0-3 but we came back and won the game 29-25. When Hamilton Evan's dropped the ball and Elks scored. His fumble really showed it affected him. So much so that after the W Nick Arbuckle one of our players went to the Hamilton bench and gave words of encouragement. 

That's leadership. That's what I like about pro football. For the most part, there is no animosity. Players respect each other even during play. Up next, Elks are in Calgary Thursday, July 7th.

This time last year we (and most of Western Canada) were under the dome of a massive 36+ heat wave. It got so bad around that Canada Day weekend, that the heat caused a fire that burnt down the BC town of Lytton. We had our own fire that weekend as well. Our fire was caused by carelessness. Anne not me. It didn't cause much damage just to the stove overhead but Anne had to cause 311 and that got the Edmonton Fire department here and it displaced a lot of people in the building. It was a crazy weekend. Our fire occurred 1 year ago this evening. Anyway, that's all for now.