The snow we had from last weekend is almost

gone. Still lots of snow patches and puddles of melted snow in low lying areas remain as ground conditions dry out. We're getting some +12's and 14's out there but a bit of a cool down is expected next week. Still, not to bad.

Last night at Rexall was Oiler fan appreciation night: Dallas Stars we're in town. Eberle got the only goal for the first 2 periods. Then the flood gates opened up. 2-0, and in a penalty shot the new guy Andrew Miller got his first goal on a penalty shot 3-0. Then it was 4-0 Oiler's. Not only that but the goal tender Bachman got his first win as an Oiler and a shut out to boot against the team (Dallas) that traded him to Edmonton. Sweet. If the Oilers get McDavid great, if not, meh. Anyone of the top 6 in the draft lottery this year are solid prospects. Dylan Strome is tearing it up in the minors and so is Jack Eichel etc. We also get a 1st round pick from the Perron Pittsburgh trade from the Pens. The off season looks good as well. 

More information is coming forward about co-pilot Andreas Lubitz that brought down flight 4U9525 Tuesday morning. Officials said the plane had been last checked by technicians on Monday and weather conditions were reportedly good at the time of the crash. Apparently Lubitz was suffering from mental illness and was told he was unfit to fly but he disobeyed doctors orders. It seems Lubitz was medically cleared anyway. The passengers were disintegrated. There were no bodies to recover. Very sad.

Not much going on for today. On the agenda is work on my track, reading and hockey sometime tonight. Its a quiet weekend even though Wrestlemania 31 is on my mind, unfortunately its not in the cards due to financial reasons. I can always get the highlights. Anyway, that's all for now.

First day of Spring and we got a blast of winter

out there, typical. I wasn't out in it but Anne tells me we got about 3 inches of snow on the ground. Nothing like they had back East or anything like that. According to the long range forecast, were supposed to get 3 more days of snow after the weekend. Weather related, yesterday was a solar eclipse. There were only a few places in the world that got to see it live. 

Anne received a coupon for a free pizza/wing meal from work last night as a reward for training new staff. After a bit of hassle spending about 40 minutes on the phone trying to get the pizza, she finally closed the order. Its on its way so hopefully it'll be here in 10-20 minutes. Since our finances are so low right now, the free pizza meal was a blessing.

When the pizza meal arrived we sat on the couch watching George Lazenby's James Bond enjoying our pizza meal and a bottle of diet cola. This was one of my favorite Bond films because of the location Switzerland and guest staring Tele Savalas. I used to like him in Kojack. Speaking about movies, we have got 2334 scene movie points. Just in time for the Summer releases. 

*Update: This morning Anne rescued a semi stray cat she was looking after since last Autumn. The "owners" left the cat out in the freezing cold over the winter as Anne discovered the cat under a tool shed for shelter across from us taking cover from the winter elements. Anne brought the cat fresh blankets and cat food every night as part of her take out the trash routine in the early hours. No matter how cold it was, Anne went out there. About a week ago she noticed the cat pregnant. The "owners" still kept this poor thing left out in the cold, abandoned and left to die. After months of looking after the cat Anne couldn't bare it any more and gathered a cat cage and brought kitty in here and made arrangements with a 24 hour vet service downtown and called a taxi. Anne said she was waiting outside at 5:30 this morning and noticed the taxi speeding by her going the other direction. She came back into the apartment to call the cab company and the taxi driver called her back asking where she was. So she went back out got the cab and had a dispute with the driver along the way. She didn't know about Uber. I said "If you knew, you should have said something like, 'next time I'll call Uber' " That would have shut him up. The cab ride cost us $22. Anne wandered in at 6:45 this morning. The sad part of all this is this pregnant semi stray cat was Skippie's mother. At least now the cat can have her litter in comfort. I said, leave those cats alone. I think she got the message. Anyway, that's all for now.

Trees out there are supposed to have leaves on them by now

and just a few days away from mid month they are not even beginning to bud. This is one of the coldest Springs on record. Even right now its partially overcast with sunny breaks, and +6 but it feels like +3. Here's a photo taken about 2:15pm just now:

I was expected to work today but we got the word from the project manager that they only want non-English speaking surveyors to do any calling this weekend, which is pretty much most of our office. Its the end of the "month cycle." The new cycle should begin on Monday. From what we were told by the supervisor that the whole weekend was out, yet the supervisor said she emailed our schedules for this and it shows Sunday 12-8pm. So now I've got to pack my stuff up for the day and at noon call the office to confirm. My sketchy hours is what's causing this current friction between my wife and I and when she got home from her job last night we had a big fight over it. I might have a weekend off but I'm paying for it.

I've got bad teeth, I'm diabetic and my vision is being plagued by some annoying floaters. I've got early stages of Ostereoarthritest in my left knee. I've got psoriasis on my scalp I inherited from my father, I'm itchy all the time (blood sugars) I'm about 50 pounds over weight. I'm a real mess. If I get to live to 79 like good old Milt, I'd be a contented man and 79 isn't that far off. Seventy-nine is just 17 years away. I'd be happy if I keep what I have now and live to 65 and collect my pension.    

I was supposed to go into the Northgate PCN yesterday but since I made the appointment last week, my hours at work have changed. Add to attending Milt's service Thursday and heading into work for my 2pm shift would have been too much. The person I needed to see when I phoned to re-book said I can just leave the materials at the counter. It's not a appointment. If Anne's still talking with me and we can put out this fire, all I need from her is her Government ID and mine to show our address. We can photocopy that. This is not to get assistance, it's to get medical benefits for me so I can get onto Metformin and have my diabetic supplies and my dental work paid for.

Last night I had the chance to pop into Audrey's books just to say I wouldn't be able to pick anything up until next Friday. Not that I didn't have any cash on me but it being in between payday's would leave me short for all of next week.

On tap today, I'm working on my track and maybe watch a hockey game tonight but we'll see how it goes. Anyway that's about all for now.