Category: Uncategorized

Well, not just my Queen, but everybody who cares about the Royal Family’s Queen. I wrote some of my experiences in a previous blog, so this one will be short.

When I was seven years old and a snotty-nosed little kid, I remember my older brother coming home and announcing that the King had died. Little did I know that seventy years on I would learn that the Queen had died. That happened today.

I have fond memories that probably only those born in Britain would understand. We are fiercely patriotic to some things and for me, the Queen is one of them. I grew up with the old-time belief that the Queen was the head of everything. As the years went by I realized that this, of course, was not true. She was however a huge influence in many of our lives.

Whether you love or hate Royalty, you have to give credit to this amazing woman. Her whole life was dedicated to doing good for her subjects, loyal or otherwise, around the world.

Rest in peace Lizzie. I’m gonna miss you.

Oh boy, did the fall come in quickly! One day it’s summer, the next the geese are taking off and the leaves are falling. I had to put the furnace on the other morning as it’s starting to get a little bit chilly. Only five weeks to go and we’re back in the heat.

One of our sillier moments

It is starting to get a bit colder here, there aren’t many people around and more propane is needed. Because of these minor inconveniences, we have the impression that some people may feel sorry for us. Rosalie and I sat by the propane fire enjoying a glass of wine and the fresh cool air trying to figure this out. I’m sure it’s an unconscious feeling but it’s there, nonetheless. This talking thing happens a lot as we don’t watch much TV.

Rosalie initially said it might be financial; that people think we have to live this way because we are broke. I disagreed, thinking that it could be a property thing. If we lived in a house people would see it differently. It’s probably a bit of both.

There are more than adequate resources to move into a house but we choose not to, simply because we love living in the park model. Why spend money on rent when we are here all the time anyway. We may not have as much money as some people but still have taken trips to Europe and every year we like to take a tour in Mexico. And except for the park model we have no debt. This wouldn’t be possible if we were broke. I’m sure that if we were in a house or condo no one would think a thing about it.

When we decided to sell our condo and live full-time at the resort, we ended up with a chunk of cash that we have invested. I manage this with Rosalie’s input and consequently, we get a good income from it. In fact, it was so good that half of the new park model has been paid off in less than two years.

We don’t want a big house. Cruises are not for us. An expensive car isn’t on the books; although there is a new electric one on order for next year. We don’t crave status symbols as do some people, and as for keeping up with the Joneses, forget that! It’s who we are. A little bit on the odd side but that’s just us.

Sitting outside talking is what we do the most. We’re always planning and scheming and figuring out ways to make life a little more fun. It’s important that if Mexico was out of the picture for health reasons, there should be a plan in place; and we have one.

Selling the resort site to make it work was considered and rejected. Although it’s owned outright except for what’s left on the park model, we love being here too much. Even if we had to stay in Canada year round we would still use it, most of the time.

Us, with our fur coats, in case it gets too chilly

This lifestyle isn’t for everyone, but Rosalie and I love it and wouldn’t change a thing. We love it here.

There are more than adequate resources to meet our needs: Rosalie.

It was Rosalie’s birthday on 2nd September and we both had a great day.

Rosalie started in the morning by reading all the congratulations from friends and relatives. At the end of the day she had about 68 or more people who remembered her birthday. She was also on the phone most of the day with more friends and relatives.

The birthday girl

We don’t buy each other presents anymore but we have had a few coincidences. For one of her birthdays, she got a new car. On one of my birthdays, she got an iPad. This year, for her birthday I got new underpants. I also got a set of tools from AirMiles so it all worked out.

We usually go out for lunch on birthdays so we met Peter and Suzie at the Shady Rest pub in Qualicum. We, of course, started with a glass of wine and we had a lovely lunch. To top it off Suzie paid for the whole thing. Thanks again, Suzie.

When we got home, Peter and I had another glass of wine or two, while the girls went across the road where another neighbour was selling baked goods. After Peter and Suzie left, our neighbours, Bob and Marlene invited us over for another glass of wine. We had to leave earlier than we would have liked as we were invited to dinner with Jim and Ylda. By this time we were starting to flag.

Jim and Ylda had their kids and grandkids over so we had a very nice visit with them. A neighbour dropped in and after we had dinner with birthday cake, Jim disappeared and came back with half the neighbourhood to help finish up the cake. It was great as we met a whole bunch of new people.

Meanwhile , I had fun

Rosalie and I had had a very busy day so we decided to call it a day and head home. All in all, a very nice birthday. And to be able to share it with friends made it all the better. That was the real birthday present.

The so-called summer is coming to an end and we have had such a great time that I’m wondering what we’ll do next.

We have a lot to look forward to going back to our home in Mexico, our new electric car in the spring and whatever life throws at us in the meantime.

Rosalie as usual is getting ahead of me and wanting to pack already. I, on the other hand, wait until the last minute and then panic. I repeat this every year and apparently never learn. We are going to take checked luggage for the first time in several years as I have a lot of extra stuff to take and am also finding it hard to maneuver two carry-ons onto the plane. And of course, there is the extra incentive of bringing back duty-free booze in our suitcase as well as the odd gecko or scorpion.

My hobby with hydroponics has been a lot of fun as well as challenging. This summer I saw a lot of failures as well as some successes. My excellent engineering capabilities came in handy and I only had to fix a few leaks. For next year, I’ve already built my new system which holds sixty plants. I can’t wait to get back here in the spring to try it. I may do a small project in Mexico. The problem is the heat warms up the water and the plants don’t tolerate. that.

When people ask me what it is I tell them that it will take me forward to the last century. If that doesn’t confuse them nothing will.

It does keep me busy. Each day I have to check if the new seeds are growing. (They aren’t!) Then I check to see if the plants have enough nutrients. I just found out that I was giving them too much. The PH level has to be consistent and in this heat, I have to put a block of ice in the water to keep them cool. Now you know why I call them my babies.

The trailer roof is almost finished, I felt sorry for Brad the contractor, even though he admitted he was at fault for hiring idiots. There are a few minor things off a bit, but the roof is safe and will keep the rain and snow off, which is the whole purpose of the thing anyway so what the heck.

The car is still a problem. When I took it back to Fountain Tire, they put it up on the hoist again and found nothing wrong. When I drive on the highway it proves them wrong. I have no clue what to do next but I will come up with something.

Two posts in one day, what’s the matter with me? I usually eke them out to tantalize and titillate. I had spent the day in Nanaimo doing chores so I was a little punchy.

Earlier in the week, I had a rare face-to-face visit with my doctor. (perhaps that was why I was a little punchy.) He said I was as healthy as a horse and smelt faintly of one so now I have to change my aftershave.

I had lots of time so he filled me in on what to expect as I grow older. One of the things that caught my attention was incontinence. He said that women have a problem with peeing while men have the same problem with pooping. Ah great, something else disgusting to look forward to along with deafness, cataract surgery, memory loss and ingrown toenails.

He told me that there were some treatments for men’s incontinence and one of those was botox shots. I thought this needed some thinking about as I wasn’t looking forward to it. Then it hit me that this might be fun after all. After the botox shots, every time I fart it would sound like a duck sneezing. That made me laugh and I asked if I could get it sooner rather than later. He declined saying I didn’t need it. I know I don’t need it but I still want it!

My imagination runs wild!

Old age is so much fun. We can go where we like when we like and do what we like. When I say ‘go’ I wasn’t meaning the incontinence thing. When we were on our road trip we could just take our time and saunter along, as long as we got back for my doctor’s appointment. Ah! life is good.

I mentioned that my granddaughter was about to have a baby, well she delivered our new great-granddaughter ‘Stevie’ on 18th August. Awesome!

The roof on the trailer is coming along slowly. Brad the contractor who is 72 arrives in the morning just after nine and he and his helper Clint, who is 69, start working. At about noon or 1:00, they quit for the day as the roof gets really hot. At this pace, we may or may not see the roof finished before we leave for Mexico. We’re all seniors so who really cares, they are doing a great job and we get to postpone paying him.

There was still a vibration in the front end of the car so I took it into Fountain Tire. They did a high-speed balancing test and found a few problems so I was happy. Once on the highway though the vibration was still there. When I went back for a re-torque one of their guys went with me on a road test and sure enough, he could feel the vibration too. So I have an appointment for another test. It’s getting expensive. So far the vibration has cost well over a thousand dollars and we still have to replace the windshield.

While the girls went shopping, Gordie took me to Kitimat to see the LNG plant. It’s huge! It’s the largest private project ever done in Canada. There are accommodations for ten thousand workers in three camps. They have a fleet of about eighty buses for moving everyone around. The pipe bringing the gas from Fort St John is 48” in diameter and when completed will take between 600 and 800 PSI. Now with the War in Ukraine, there are rumours that the site will get even bigger. 

There has been a lot of sitting around talking and of course too much drinking with Gordie and Giselle and various friends who dropped in.. We also had a great night out at a local Greek restaurant owned by a guy from India. 

The rest of the trip went by in a blur. We stayed with Gordie and Giselle for four days and then went to Vanderhoof, the home of Rosalie’s sister Delorie. It took us five hours to get there. The drive was great, only a few slow drivers so I didn’t have to jump up and down too much. Two more of Rosalie’s sisters, Suzanne and Marina, drove up from Prince George and we had a great visit with them. Being alone with four women was a lot of fun and we caught up with all the news.

That night we stayed with Rosalie’s aunt Betty in Prince George and again caught up with a lot of family news. I didn’t know most of the people they were talking about so Rosalie told me to go and read my book which I happily did. Next day we had lunch with Rosalie’s Uncle Lorne and his wife Ylanda. It was Lorne’s 80th Birthday.

The next stop was Horsefly to see some old friends, Ron and Eleanor. We stayed overnight and again did a lot of catching up. Another birthday as it was Ron’s 77th. My age but much younger.

At about this time I got an email from Jim saying that the crew framing our roof was making a complete mess of it and to get hold of Brad the contractor. Then I got an email from our neighbour Mary-Ellen saying that my hydroponics sounded as if the pump was running dry. I asked them to top it up and hoped that there were enough nutrients to keep the plants alive until I got home.

Kamloops was next and a visit with our good friend Maureen. The three of us spent a nice evening on the deck watching a thunderstorm go by. The following day we met Rosalie’s cousin Hubert and his wife Gloria, for a special lunch at a Chinese restaurant.

After lunch, we drove the Coquihala to Rosedale to see our daughter Lisa, her husband Peter, their very pregnant daughter Katelyn and her partner Max. It was only a short visit and we will go back after the baby’s born.

At 6 am we left for the ferry and caught the 8:45 for Nanaimo and so to home. In all, the drive covered 2,300 km.

At home, the hydroponics were fine but there was a small leak and the water was getting low. I took care of that and was amazed at how much the plants had grown in ten days.

At the trailer, all was not well. The crew who did our roof total hashed it up. they built a wall along each side of the roof and one side was 3 inches higher than the other. Everything was wrong. As soon as Brad came by he fired the lot of them. Brad and his helper took off the whole thing and started again so now it’s looking a lot better. It gets so hot up there that they have to quit at about 1 o’clock so it will take a while to get completed.

Okay, the blog’s working, here we go. Better late than never. The comments are also working again so you may continue to criticize every little thing I print.

The journey to Prince Rupert from Port Hardy and all places south of there started on 1^st Aug. The trip started an hour early, 9:00 am instead of the planned 10:00 am, so we took a leisurely drive for our first stop in Campbell River for lunch. Just outside of Cumberland I realized that I had left my camera behind. As this was a special trip, I decided to go back and get it so we actually left on time after all.

There was an overnight stop in Port Hardy so we had booked a hotel. Fortunately, some new friends live there and invited us for the night. We were joined by another couple and everyone went to the pub for happy hour and dinner. Needless to say, a good time was had and I ended up with a bit of a hangover. A great start to our holiday.

Our ferry left at 7:30 and we had to be in the lineup before six. The check-in process took a while but we finally got aboard. A cabin had been booked for the day although I’m sure I didn’t ask for one. It was fine though as there was a TV as well as a bathroom with a shower, neither of which we used. 

There were also two lounge chairs booked which hadn’t been asked for but I guess, when ordering, I inadvertently booked the whole deal. They were nice though, they reclined and had kick-outs so you could put your feet up. Rosalie even had one of her famous naps there.

The ferry left on time and within 15 minutes they were making announcements about orca sightings. Our lounge chairs were in the bow of the boat in a lounge only accessible with our room cards. (oh, we’re so special.) There were floor-to-ceiling windows right in front of us so we had a great view of all the goings on. 

The ferry arrived in Bella Bella about noon and after unloading and reloading, left to complete our journey. While there we watched the eagles in the trees. We were sitting next to a family visiting from Kent, my home county, and they were loving every minute. 

The weather was very overcast and dreary but we still enjoyed the journey. I friend had loaned us a pair of binoculars. There were a few sighting of whales and eagles but alas no enemy submarines. I also didn’t get any real opportunities for photos. It was getting a bit boring so we took a few naps and spent a lot of time in our cabin toward the end of the trip. As I was going to have to drive in the dark for an hour and a half, I managed to sleep for a while before we disembarked. 

The boat arrived on time and we set up the GPS for Terrace. The road had many twists and turns and it was misty and foggy and hard to see. I drove at what I thought was a safe speed and we arrived at 1:30 am. There was some catching up to do so we eventually closed it down at 4 am.

As you may have noticed, Or perhaps if you don’t read this, you haven’t, I have been offline for a while. Technology again. (Well, me really.)

I got a reminder from WordPress that I needed to renew. I ignored it because I have my site hosted by BlueHost. I was wrong and my site stopped working. I contacted BlueHost and they referred me to GoDaddy as my domain was with them. Now I’m starting to get confused.

I contacted GoDaddy by online chat. They have always been great but this time I got a total idiot. After going back and forth for about an hour they directed me to a recovery site. I uploaded all my information, including a copy of my driver’s licence, and waited.

I’m trying to stay positive and grin through it all.

Finally, a week later, I received an email linking to my account on GoDaddy’s site. Finally, I was connected to someone who knew what they were doing and after another hour of going back and forth my site is up again. (I can hear the groans from here.)

I have a lot of catching up to do so hang tight.

After the blog about phone technology, I had to get into computer technology.

I use Questrade for all our investment needs and they have a great desktop app called IQ Edge. The problem is that it was designed for Windows computers, not MacBooks. It runs fairly well on a Mac but has a few issues I ran into a few times.

Most apps can’t be moved above the top edge of the screen; not so with Edge. While in Mexico I pushed it up above the top and had a heck of a time getting it back again. The menu bar is at the top so how was I supposed to use it? I prayed to the great Google in the sky with no results. After the usual incantations containing many expletives, I finally figured it out.

A few weeks ago I ran into the same problem again; this time I wasn’t so lucky in resolving the problem. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember how I solved the problem last time. There was a reminder note somewhere that chose not to be found. I sent an email to Questrade and received a prompt reply asking all the usual questions like: did I reboot, did I close it out properly, is the screen clean, are you seeing things, are you stupid, etc, etc. I had already done all this as well as reinstalling the darn thing to no avail.

There were several more emails back and forth but I think they were as stumped as I was. I even threatened to pull our account and go back to BMO. Eventually, they sent me the number of their Techie department. I knew they couldn’t lose a big account like ours ( yeah right.) I, however, could see this problem continuing so I came up with my own solution.

I contemplated returning to BMO but it would have cost a lot more in the long run. Also, I remembered the hassles I had with them before, and I think the problem was with my computer and not their end.

So what did I do? I went out and bought another computer on Facebook Marketplace. It was an Asus with a 15 1/2″ screen and a solid-state hard drive. Nice! The guy selling it looked very respectable so I made him an offer that he promptly refused. (If only he owned a horse. Godfather part one.) The only drawback was that it only worked while plugged in. That was not an issue so I coughed up the money and went home.

There was a problem setting up the WiFi as our password was hiding somewhere. I eventually found it, downloaded the app, installed it and held my breath. It worked perfectly! I was so excited that I logged in and made yet another bad investment.

Back in the day, Rosalie was a member of Beta Sigma Phi, an international women’s social and cultural organization. (Started by a man in the 1930’s.) They met twice a month in the winter and did mysterious things that we guys weren’t allowed to know about. We did hear a rumour about sacrificing goats and giving drugged guys really weird haircuts and such but we never managed to verify that.

One of the guys, I don’t know who, suggested that we men form our own fraternity and call it the F.O.O.L.S. The “fraternal order of old lousy shits.” Our goal, while the girls were doing their weird rituals, was to provide entertainment once a year, for the women of the sorority.

Of course, we had to have meetings while the ladies had theirs but we were smart enough to have ours in a pub. The idea of these meetings was to come up with some kind of entertainment as a surprise for the ladies. This was not an easy task and it took many meetings (in the pub) to come up with a suitable idea. This idea usually became clear the week before we were supposed to pull it off.

First, we had to elect a president as a patsy to do all the running around and make phone calls. You had to be an idiot to take this position and I had it several years, along with Gordie.

We did things like BBQs and trips to restaurants. One of our best trips was to Port Alberni with a ride on the train to the Mclean Mill where we had a tour of this historic site and a special lunch of barbequed planked salmon, cooked over an open wood fire, provided by the local native community. I’m proud to say that this was one of my ideas. We did the trip a second time to the winery but it wasn’t as much fun as the first time.

We also did a few camping weekends; several people had RVs so this was a lot of fun. One of the more memorable days was when we were supposed to spend the day on Newcastle island and have a picnic and BBQ. Unfortunately, it poured down so Gordie, whom I suspect was president that year, had us all back to his and Janice’s house and it saved the day. Gordie and Janice also had us all go down to Lake Cowichan for a day at their cabin. We ended the evening firing off our potato guns over the lake.

Most of the things we did for the ladies were supposed to be a surprise and we didn’t want them to know until the last minute but some hen-pecked hubby usually succumbed to the pressure (me) and blurted out what we were doing.

It was so successful that we got mentioned in the Beta Sigma Phi International newsletter; although we were referred to as the Fraternity of old lousy spouses. The sorority chapter contributed a little money to help with the costs but we FOOLS took up the slack and coughed up the rest. As with all good things, it eventually came to an end and all we are left with are some great memories.

This blog is dedicated to Al Blackley who left us too soon.