I woke up yesterday morning

and a blanket of fresh snow on the ground! It was cold waiting for the bus.

*An overnight update; Anne said the guy that is doing our taxes called yesterday. Maybe it's to say he wont be in today (most likely the weather) but I'll call this afternoon before she leaves to meet me later today at the office. I'm so exhausted I could call in and cancel for today, but it's on with the show.

This one is just too weird, suddenly being swallowed up by the earth on a golf course's fairway drove a wedge between Mark Mihal and a stellar round. The 43-year-old mortgage broker was counting his blessings Tuesday and nursing a dislocated shoulder sustained four days earlier when he tumbled into an 5.5 metre deep sinkhole on the 14th hole of the Annbriar Golf Club near Waterloo, Ill. Read more here:

At work this morning I need to ask the boss if I can book off half an hour early so Anne and I (she’s meeting me at my office) at 4:30pm can go to her building to see if we/I owe Revenue Canada this year or if I get a break as one of her co workers does taxes as a business. Now I won’t mind if I owe something like $50, $100 something like that. We need it paid off to get that GST check every 4 months. We might not even qualify for that. Then after that, we’re boarding the #12 bus by The Bay out to the Kingsway Ramada Inn for her birthday dinner.  She’s got some shopping to do and I’m heading back downtown catch the train home to watch what’s left of the Oiler/Wing’s game and watch Smackdown. I’m up early to get my haircut, Tim’s breakfast, Audrey’s for my book down to LM pay off Machine bill at LM catch the #2 bust to The Bay and walk down to Freemason Hall. So, I’ve got a busy next couple of days.

 Another one for my WTF files: One of Britain's most famous "madams" announced in January that she was coming out of retirement to set up a brothel exclusively catering to disabled people and the terminally ill. An ordinary brothel would be illegal in the town of Milton Keynes (45 miles from London), but Becky Adams insists that the government could not shut hers down without illegally discriminating against the disabled. [Milton Keynes Citizen, 1-11-2013] Unfortunately I don’t have a link for it but that’s why we have Google, right?

This is good local news: Yesterday the Ottawa announced $250M in LRT infrastructure money for the Millwood’s/Downtown LRT. The line will begin in 2015 and will be open for business by 2017. It’s the 2nd route over the North Saskatchewan river. This means the City of Edmonton has $1.050B, they still need about another $800M and the City hopes to get that much from the Province (despite current cutbacks) We don’t need the money now, we can get it in 2017. By that time the current Government might not be around. Anyway, that’s about all for now.

So my

wife decides to go to "the truck" over here by the U-Haul. It's like those industrial park trucks that bring coffee sandwiches that type of thing. In this case she get items she can't get at Superstore across the street. She gets our sausage rolls hash browns other items cheaper, so it's worth it for her to go once every other week or so. 

We missed the #11 bus and because it's running half hour Sundays we took the #182. We waited at Londonderry Mall and then she decides she needs a Albert's breakfast at 3:55pm when the Mall closes at 5pm Sundays. I went along with that. We we're going to wait for the #2. I felt ok with that. Then she decides she wants a Albert's breakfast.

The good news is in Sportcheck on our way to Albert's I noticed they have the real Oiler Jersey's. If I can find Ryan Smyth's or Hemsky's  XLG, I'll pick it up. For $240 plus tax, that's a good deal.

Breakfast was good except they only gave me 1 egg instead of the 2. I'm not going in there for breakfast anymore. I like Londonderry Mall because on the way home the bus stops right outside our place. No busy street to cross after I've had a beer or 2 on a Friday night. 

As for tomorrow, I'm not sure if I want to go to Happy Harbor comics or just go across the street to get my haircut but we'll see. Anyway, that's all for now. 
      

About this time of year

I reflect back on the year that was:

I got to admit, 2012 had its ups and downs. I got a nice bit of vacation pay (from December 2011) and began my JW post in January but lost most of that vacation pay when Sparky my cat had to be put down in February. I began my 3rd novel to read. March Davy Jones of The Monkees died at the age off 66 (very sad) and it was Anne's birthday. April I got the New iPad from my income tax return. I had a week off. The Alberta election had come and gone. In May not much was happening but in June I went and got my Government ID which we needed to try and get housing subsidy (which we never got and were turned down for) and still reading my 3rd novel. In July I bought from LM a cheep electric guitar and amp at LM, which was nice and we signed up for Scotia banks Scene for free movies. In August I organized the Lodge BBQ which was stressful on me and later that month Dan and I did our volunteer thing at Fort Edmonton Park for the Lodge the weekend of my 60th birthday. In September I had another week off and faced with no NHL hockey. Still struggling to read my 3rd novel. October I began a lay-a-way plan to rebuild my credit and got Komplete 8 thanks to a colleague, which said bill I'm paying off. Also out of nowhere in my email in a conversation with a Susan Shannon I learned some very interesting things about my fathers side of the family I never knew before, which added a bit of closure to my life. I still need to validate this information. In November I won the (4th Gen) iPod touch at work and stashed it away for my wife's Christmas present. Warren and I went to see a Oil Kings hockey game at Rexall. A first for me. Anne and I went to see the latest James Bond movie in November and in mid December I lose my job and we lost our Budgie bird Sugar, which really upset me but I managed to finish reading my 3rd novel. So, this year really had it all. Add that and there's still a few days left to go for the end of the year and I think I'm in for another let down before it's all over. Yet Anne's right, I should count my blessings. At least I'm onto my 4th book!

This year I'm into another chair at the Lodge called the Senior Warden, or SW. This chair isn't that hard but I'm preparing for my WM year. After that it's the IPM and the IPM (look it up) So, including this chair (SW) I have 2 more to go before I cycle through the chairs again. I don't think I want to go through the JW chair again though.  

There were some excellent things going on this year that I missed. I missed Robert J Sawyer's book signing in April our SF Edmonton Expo in October and Pure Speculation that same month. I hope it's all over, I've had enough for one year. 

One thing is certain (I hope later then sooner) 2013 will see a new job for me. That one is self evident, unless I get run over by a car or a bus. Anyway, that's all for now.