Kevin's Ramblings…

Tomorrow, Tuesday at noon, I’m taking my 2026 Ford Bronco Sport for an extended test drive. I have driven other Broncos when I was originally looking for the vehicle I wanted, but I have not driven the one that will be mine in a few weeks.

I mean I drove it in the parking lot of the dealership to move it, but that was about 200m or so.

I plan on doing some running around with it tomorrow and take it down to High River Alberta and back (about 200 km round trip). That’ll give me an idea of how it is.

I didn’t really need to, I mean I’ve already committed to the vehicle, but there’s no harm. It’ll be on the dealers insurance with a dealer plate.

I actually get possession of it sometime around August 12 and then I leave for my cruise on August 15. I’m sure I’m going to love it, I already love the colour for sure. I received an order from Amazon today for it, a light for the hitch receiver that lights up when you break. It was inexpensive.

So, that’ll be tomorrow’s activity.

So, I’ve gone ahead and booked a 7-day Caribbean cruise for mid August.

We visit 3 islands, unsure which three at the moment. We leave out of Orlando Florida and return to Orlando Florida.

I fly Calgary to Orlando (not direct) and return 7 days later.

Dates are August 16-23. I think I’m looking forward to it, but I’ve never cruised, so, who knows. I’m sure it’ll be a good time.

I was heading home from a massage session yesterday, at around 11am and I received a text from my buddy at Northside Ford, my 2026 Ford Bronco Sport Sasquatch Edition had arrived on Friday evening.

I headed to the dealership to take a look at what will soonly be my new vehicle.

I was excited, to say the least. I got to the dealership and we went outside to take a look.

I drove it to where they keep the new cars that have been purchased, connected my phone, played some music, sent and received my first text message. All very cool.

I’m getting this by August 14 at the latest, just depends on exactly when my money arrives from my LIRA.

Happy trails to me.

I finally received the update I was looking for today.

IBM agreed that indeed, I’m entitled to severance pay. Well, really? Seeing as it is mandated by Alberta law, yes, I am due.

They gave me way more than I thought I’d get, so that’s good. I should have the $$$ in my account early next week.

That made the day a good day.

My new 2026 Ford Bronco Sport Sasquatch Edition is also going to be at the dealership by Monday or Tuesday and I can take it for an extensive test drive. It will be insured by the dealer so that’s good.

Twix went to the emergency vet this morning, she’s fine, I’m out $199.50. Oh well, hearing she’s good is great news.

Nothing else happening. Enjoy your weekend.

Well, my friends from Idaho visited, it was a great and very tiring week. We toured around Alberta and saw some of the sites, the best that Southern Alberta has to offer.

I’ve been enjoying zipping around on my ebike. I’m going out shortly again. Since we are in the middle of our short summer, it’s too hot in the afternoon to ride, mornings or evenings are best. I don’t know when I lost my ability to handle the heat, but I did. If it’s above about 25°C it’s just too hot. I’m definitely used to Alberta weather, that’s for sure. I’m already ready for fall-like weather now, it’s probably less than 2 weeks off.

My health is the same. The cancer isn’t spreading so that’s good. I feel ok, but definitely not normal, whatever normal is. I suppose I’m getting used to always being tired and out of breath. If I carry anything any distance I’m out of breath and exhausted. It’s annoying to say the least. I think I’m going to buy one of those foldable wagons to bring groceries and other stuff into the apartment. That’ll help for sure.

I’m still waiting for IBM to decide on my severance. I’m getting impatient, I have a feeling they are just hoping I’ll drop it. Shitty company for sure. I’ll follow-up again this week and I’m sure I’ll get more “we are looking into it”… Sigh.

Stampede ended yesterday, Calgary will return to normal now. That means fewer cowboy boots and hats and the crowds will be gone. My sister in law and I split on 50/50 tickets at the Stampede so, we might be rich this morning. Crossing my fingers 🤞

Nothing else much planned now until mid August or so. I’m hoping to do a road trip to Denver and catch a Rockies game. Gotta find someone to look after the dogs for a few days. I also need to confirm that a friend is coming along, I’m not sure I can handle the long driving days by myself.

For now, I’ll enjoy (and complain) our short summer and will welcome Fall when it arrives. Winter will be right on Falls heels…

We’ve had some rather hot weather of late, well, hot for Calgary anyway.

I grew up in Southern Ontario, lived there for nearly 41 years. The summers are long, hot and humid. Temperatures in the upper 30s (Celsius) and low 40s are common (with the humidity). In Calgary, we tend to have very short summers and no humidity, or very little humidity anyway.

It was in the mid 20s last week when my friends visited and the last few days have been in the upper 20s and low 30s which isn’t very common.

The dog park in the complex has turf. Yesterday afternoon it was around 30 and the dogs were doing the paw shuffle the turf was so hot. We didn’t stay out too long. For the next few weeks, we’ll walk after the sun has gone down, or earlier in the morning before it heats up.

I’m glad that I have air conditioning, I’ve been sleeping comfortably which is nice. You really don’t need air conditioning too often here and I’ve lived without it for 14 years, but now that I have it again, I’m glad that I do. Air conditioning isn’t an option in Southern Ontario, that’s for sure.

We’ll have these temps for the next couple of weeks and then we’ll settle into the low 20s, or we tend to. I’ll be glad to see the “hot” weather leave. Soon enough I’ll be complaining about the cold.

My guests headed out yesterday morning shortly after 7am and got back to Twin Falls just after 9pm. It’s a long day of travel, for sure.

I went back to bed and had a second sleep until about 930 then had two naps yesterday as well, it was a very relaxing day.

The dogs and I didn’t go for a walk, but we made a few trips to the dog park and Apollo’s buddy Tonka was there. Apollo and Tonka have a great time wrestling together while Twix is the referee. It goes on for about 30 minutes until they are exhausted. Tonka is definitely Apollo’s best buddy.

I wanted to take my new ebike out for a run, but the afternoon was too hot. I know I lived in Southern Ontario for 41 years where the heat and humidity would often be above 40°C but now when it’s 28°C with no humidity, I find it hot. I’ve gotten used to the cooler temps and lack of humidity I suppose, I probably couldn’t handle the weather in S. Ontario any longer, or at least not at first.

I’ve got some running around to do today, so I’ll try to just nap once. I also slept pretty well last night, 10pm-4am, one of the better sleeps I’ve had in a while.

Nothing else planned for the rest of the month, visitor wise. I’ve decided I’m not traveling back to Ontario this summer. My cousin did confirm that she is visiting over Christmas, so that’ll be good. I’m planning on smoking a turkey for dinner so I need to perfect my smoking between now and then. I’m going to make ribs again this weekend I think and I bought a tomahawk steak that’s sitting in the freezer and I can’t wait to make that.

Here’s the July and finally some summer weather, I’m glad I have air conditioning.

My friends from Idaho head back this morning as they both have to work tomorrow morning. My routine will return to normal.

I realize how much I enjoy my afternoon nap after not napping, when you only sleep 4-5 hours a night, it’s a necessity.

We started the week with an early dinner at Montana’s, they have all-u-can eat ribs this summer and the ribs are excellent. We headed to the Calgary Stampeders game Thursday evening.

Friday took us to Waterton National Park after breakfast and a stop at the Calgary Farmers Market. In Waterton, we toured around, drove one of the mountain loops and visited Cameron water falls. We shopped downtown in Waterton and stopped for an excellent ice cream. We were supposed to stop in Twin Butte for a Mexican dinner on the way home, but they were closed for a week, damn. Dinner was a tri tip smoked on my Pit Boss and it turned out really well.

On Saturday, we had a more relaxed day, we went out for breakfast and then went to the Calgary Tower for lunch and a 360° view of the city and surrounding area. Since it was the 4th of July, we had a very American dinner of BBQ hot dogs and watched Independence Day.

On Sunday, we headed to Drumheller and the Royal Tyrrell Museum. It was the only day where we saw any rain with a few thunderstorms on the way home.

On Monday, we headed to Banff, took the Gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain and had lunch at the mountaintop restaurant.

Tuesday morning, we headed to High River to pick up my sister in law and had breakfast at Smitty’s then headed to Calgary to the Stampede. Admission was free, which was good as everything else was incredibly expensive at the Stampede. I made chicken parmesan for dinner with an excellent Caesar salad from Al’s Pizza and Steakhouse (in Ranchlands).

I’m making homemade egg McMuffins for breakfast and they are hitting the road around 7am.

It was a great and busy visit. Safe travels home.

We headed to Banff yesterday and took the Gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain. The weather was absolutely perfect.

We ate lunch at the restaurant at the top of Sulphur Mountain, great food.

We headed back to Calgary and DH made his nearly world famous spaghetti sauce for dinner, it was good I have 4 containers frozen for later on.

Today, we are heading to the Calgary Stampede. We’ll head to High River to pick up my sister in law and we’ll have breakfast at Smitty’s.

It’s free entry to the Stampede today between 10-1, so that’ll save us $28 each on entry. The weather is supposed to be hot today, 26C-28C, hot for Calgary anyway.

It’s been a great week with my friends, they head back to Idaho Wednesday morning and are back to work Thursday. The dogs and I will get back into our normal routines. I’ve had more food in the last week than I normally do in two weeks, I’ve probably put on 5 pounds.

As I’ve written, my friends from Idaho are visiting, they arrived mid-afternoon last Thursday.

We hit up the Calgary Stampeders game Thursday evening, was a very high scoring game, but despite the score, I still find CFL football boring. Oh well.

We drove down to Waterton National Park in SW Alberta on Friday and toured around the park and the town of Waterton. We were disappointed when the Mexican restaurant was closed on our trip home. I made a tri tip roast in my smoker and it turned out really well, was very tasty and we gobbled it up.

On Saturday, we had an in town day. Breakfast at Stacked, one of my favourite places, lunch in the Calgary Tower, amazing 360° views from the restaurant.

We had a late start today and headed to Drumheller to the Royal Tyrrell Museum. I had previously been in April a few years ago and it was quiet, today it was packed to the rafters so it was harder to see exhibits and what not, but still a good time.

I’m BBQing New York strips tonight for dinner. Gotta get going on that soon.

We are heading to Banff tomorrow and the Calgary Stampede on Tuesday and then they are heading home to Idaho on Wednesday and life will return to normal for all of us. This is their first trip to Alberta and I hope they are having a good time.

I’m heading back to Idaho in September so that’ll be fun as well.