Kevin's Ramblings…

On Monday evening, the Montreal Canadiens made an unlikely (sort of) comeback against the Toronto Maple Leafs and advanced to the second round of the playoffs. They were down 3 games to 1 and won 3 in a row to take the series. This likely surprises few people as the Leafs have been playoff chokers for a number of years and have not won the Stanley Cup in my lifetime (67 was the last time, I believe).

Now, I realize this is fairly un-Canadian of me, but I am not a huge hockey fan. I actually find the game to be a bit boring. I do like the Calgary Flames. My brother lived in Calgary in 1980 when the Flames moved from Atlanta and he bought be some Flames merchandise. At that point in my life, alone with most people from Southern Ontario, I was a Leafs fan. Although my brother and I aren’t close (we really don’t know each other at all), I do thank him for turning me away from being a Leafs fan and a life of misery.

So, after the Leafs completed their collapse, I posted a few memes on Facebook, you know, just to rub some salt into the wounds of Leaf fan friends of mine. Harmless, right?

Well, apparently not. A friend of mine, not a close friend at all, actually unfriended me and he posted on the first post that I made that he was unfriending me. I laughed at it, thinking he was kidding, who actually unfriends someone for sports hassling? Later on, in Facebook, I noticed that my friend count was down by one and sure enough, he actually unfriended me.

I guess we really aren’t friends – he’s the husband of a former co-worker, so it’s not like he’s a close friend or anything, in fact, we’ve only met twice, but I did enjoy many of his posts and he often commented on mine. I am unsure of someone’s mindset if a simply post on Facebook makes you unfriend someone though, are you that insecure that you just can’t handle it? Pretty pathetic, I think, sort of like the Leafs effort in the playoffs.

So, we are no longer friends on Facebook and, to ensure that you don’t refriend me (is that a word?), I have blocked your account. I would, hesitantly, describe you as a “snowflake”. Enjoy being a Leafs fan, and, undoubtedly, continuing with a life of misery as a Leafs fan.

Congratulations to the Canadiens for eliminating the Leafs. I don’t mind the Leafs really, it’s the fans. And that particular fan in general is why Canada doesn’t like the Leafs.

I booked a return flight to Ontario today for the beginning of August. I am going to spend my 50th birthday in the Homeland. I fly out on the Red Eye flight on August 4 and return in the early afternoon of August 10. Not a long trip, 6 days, I am cramming a LOT into those 6 days though.

In their infinite wisdom, the Ontario Government extended emergency powers until December 1. In my view (and in many, many others views as well), this is an unnecessary over-reach and power grab by the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, henceforth referred to as Czar Ford. Anyway, Czar Ford can extend lockdowns and what-not, without any oversight from his party, no debate, nothing. It’s insane. So, who knows if restaurants will be open for dine-in yet, who knows if the patios will be open, no one can tell. Czar Ford is borderline crazy, everyone but the idiots in his own party see this. A number of PCs voted for this, more abstained from the vote and they are likely worse. All of them should be removed at the next election, presuming Czar Ford allows elections moving forward. I digress.

My flight was dirt cheap. It cost me $222.11 return. I can’t even imagine that, it’s nuts. A typical return flight is about $550. That’s $330 some cheaper than normal. The airlines complained they weren’t making any money, well, what are they doing now? Losing it hand over fist? I have no clue. All I do know is that I have a hell of a deal on a flight.

I rented a full-sized SUV for the 6 days while I am in Ontario. It was about 2.5 times more than the flight. Insanity. But, I am going to be travelling all over and I need a vehicle. I am also used to a bigger vehicle now, so I refuse to squeeze into a sub-compact.

I have already arranged to see many family and friends while in Ontario. My 6 days will be a blur, I am sure. But, I am also sure that it will be fun. Everything is in my calendar. If it wasn’t, there is NO WAY I’d be able to keep everything straight.

I am hoping to do something with friends and family on my birthday, need to speak with my host first though. Should be a blast.

The dogs are booked in boarding already. A secured parking spot is secured for the truck at the Calgary airport. All is set. I am ready to go.

August will be here before we know it.

On Saturday, the dogs and I took our last drive together in the truck to Twin Butte, Alberta. I have heard nothing but good things about the Mexican restaurant that’s in the general store. I ordered a smothered chicken burrito with refried beans and rice. OMG, amazing, it was absolutely awesome food and definitely some of the best Mexican food I have ever had. I will be back, just too bad that it’s an hour away, it’s a nice drive anyway.

After that, we headed further South to Waterton National Park. We didn’t actually go into the park as I didn’t have 3 leashes in the truck and I didn’t want to pay $20 to go in and then not be able to walk around with the dogs.

We found an abandoned campground and we went for a little hike around there. At one point, Hera was heading towards the river, by herself, and she didn’t listen to me when I called her back. Well, she did something down there and hurt her back paw. She’s been limping since, although it is better today. No cuts, nothing jammed in between the toes so I have no idea what she did. She doesn’t complain when I look at it or rub it so I am not overly concerned. Silly dog.

I did capture this picture though:

So, as you can clearly see, it’s a No Trespassing sigh and all THREE dogs are on the other side of the sign. They are all scofflaws.

We headed home, it’s about an hour from where we were and I spent the rest of Saturday watching baseball.

Yesterday, I dropped the truck off to get it detailed, here are some before pics:

This is the after:

The truck really is as good as new. I took Blondie with me when I dropped off so I would have someone to walk home with. It was a long walk at 9am, luckily it was still cool. Once we got home, my fitness tracker showed we walked 6.9km, it took us 1:45 to get home, we were both tired, my feet were killing me.

The only complaint that I would have about the detailing is how long it took. I dropped it off at 9am and was told it would be ready by 5pm, that in itself is a long time for a detail, but, I didn’t get it back until 1020pm… I think the guy doing it just overbooked himself. He was doing 3 details that day, I might suggest it would have been more logical to do one 9-1, then 1-5 and 5-9 or so… That’s me. Anyway, the truck is immaculate. The dogs now have their own vehicle that I picked up last week, a 2007 Dodge Caliber:

I don’t know if it’s normal for a dog owner to buy a car for his dogs, but I did. It wasn’t expensive ($1300) and the insurance is really cheap ($78 for the YEAR) so it was a good idea on my part I think. The back seat folds down and the dogs have that entire area. Twix can also be a front seat dog again now. It will ensure that the truck stays nice and clean.

Well, that was the weekend. Let’s see what the week brings. Enjoy yours.

Friday was a rather busy day.

I left for Ft. McLeod at 830am to meet with a person from Facebook Marketplace to but a hand-made tin and wood-framed Canadian flag. We were meeting at the Tim Hortons, easy for out of towners to find I guess and it keeps her address a secret, better to be safe, than sorry, I suppose.

She brought two flags with her. On one, the tin had a ripple going vertical and the other had it going horizontal – she wanted to know which one I wanted. I couldn’t choose, so I asked her if I could buy both, so I did.

I think they are very cool. She makes a bunch of stuff like this so I will have to check out her website.

I was originally planning on continuing on to Lethbridge and do a Costco run, unless I got a call back from Truckcessories in Calgary, I had called to see if they could push my appointment up a couple of weeks and install my truck bed cover and mud flaps. Just as I got onto Highway 3 heading East where it expands to 2 lanes each way, I got a call back and he could fit me in. So, at the next turn, I turned around and headed towards Calgary.

I arrived shortly before 12:30 and they got me in right away. The owner and I chatted for the next hour or so and the install was done.

I think they look awesome. I also got LED lights installed for the bed, very cool.

I did some running around in Calgary and got out of the city far later than I wanted to, it was after 3pm. I headed towards Okotoks where I was going to Costco, finally. I stopped for gas (7 cents a liter cheaper) and there was a line so I waited about 15 minutes before being able to fill up. Costco itself wasn’t overly busy, I found almost everything on my list (3 people, including myself) and checked out.

I headed for home and arrived around 6:30, just enough time to fetch the dogs and my old cell phone, a Google Pixel 3a XL that someone in BC wanted to buy, we arranged to meet at Save-on-Foods in Sparwood. She took the phone, at asking price (priced to sell at $200 including a great www.carved.com case) and I did some grocery shopping. The dogs and I headed home, they ate a dinner far later than they are used to and I wrapped up the day with some TV.

Sleep came quickly when I did go to bed, it was a long day of running around.

After a miserable weekend of snow (22″ or so) and then Monday and Tuesday rain, we finally had some decent weather on Wednesday and Thursday. It’s about time that Spring decided to finally arrive. I know we will get more rain, and we need it, but nice, warm, sunny weather is always welcome. In a few short weeks, I am sure I will be complaining about how hot it is. 🙂

I made a large purchase on Facebook Marketplace on Thursday. As readers know, I bought myself a new truck back at the end of February. A Dodge Ram 1500, and I absolutely love it. What I don’t love, is how messy the back seat area is after I take the dogs anywhere. They seem to be able to dirty it up in no time at all. Don’t get me wrong, I love my dogs, but they are messy. Blondie sheds as a career, I think. Hera drools all over the inside of the back driver-side door like she’s a Saint Bernard and Twix, well, Twix doesn’t actually do too much to mess it up – she doesn’t shed much, doesn’t drool, she just tries to sit in the front seat.

So, to alleviate the issue of my truck being funkified, I purchased a 2007 Dodge Caliber off of Marketplace. It was cheap but the vehicle is in decent shape. It needs some cosmetic maintenance for sure, but the engine and transmission seem decent, it has new tires and all of the electronics work. The back seat folds down to give the dogs plenty of room and now, Twix can once again be a front-seat dog.

We went for our first hike using the Caliber yesterday, I wish I had my truck though, it was pretty steep – we stopped where we did because the car was really struggling.

The dogs like it. So do I, it will be perfect. It was just over $1000 to buy, so it’s not financed so I didn’t need to put collision insurance on it, the insurance was $78 per year which is dirt cheap, perhaps cheaper than dirt.

I hope that it will give me a couple of years of service. It was cheap to fill, the tank was near empty and it was $52, so about 1/3 the cost is the truck is empty. I am sure that the dogs will again be in the truck, heavy snow, for example – I’d be dumb not to use it. Also, our vet is still in Calgary, so those once a year examinations, I will need to use the truck, much more reliable. I have had a Caliber once before, it was a decent car to get around in so this will work well. Gotta love Facebook Marketplace.

For the first time in 4 days or so, there is no snow on the ground this morning. It is lightly raining, but at least it’s rain, not white rain. It’s 6C outside as well so just a little warm for snow. I am not sure how warm it is supposed to be today (or this week) but I think we are supposed to actually hit the double digits. So, perhaps that is it for snow for a while. Oh, I am sure it will snow again but, it shouldn’t stick at this point – I hope anyway. I am done with it until, let’s say the middle of October. That may be wishful thinking.

Yesterday was a stay at home type day. I watched some TV scattered through the day. I made a couple of Facebook Marketplace sales. I stopped at the grocery store. That type of day.

The Rockies started a road trip in New York against the Mets. They have been awful on the road this year with only 2 road wins thus far. They were able to hang on against the Mets and pull out a 3-2 win. Great start for the series. The Astros had the night off and host the Dodgers for a 2 game series starting tonight.

I have the mega-excitement of going to the dump today. Ooooh, what fun. Needs to be done though. Nothing else much planned. If the weather clears up, the dogs and I will go for a hike.

Welcome to the week everyone. Enjoy.

When I was in Saskatchewan early this month (or was that last month?) I went grocery shopping and happened to purchase a box of Chocolate Frosted Flakes. I have always sort of had a sweet tooth (very hard habit to break) and I thought I would try them. I had low expectations. I do like Frosted Flakes, except that they are so sweet, typically, if I buy them, I also buy Corn Flakes and mix the two.

Well, I was very surprised with Chocolate Frosted Flakes, they weren’t overly sweet, they did not have an over powering chocolate taste and they did make the milk slightly chocolatey, which is a nice add-on. The stayed crunchy, right to the end and that in itself is one of the most important things for cereal.

So, I thought that I had found another regular cereal to add to my rotation. I am eating far less cereal now that I am off of work. I used to eat a bowl right around 730 in the morning but now that my schedule is more wide-open, I often don’t. I did however finish the box of CFF and wanted to buy a new one.

As those who read this blog know, I live in the Middle of Nowhere, Alberta. We only have one grocery store, an IGA and its selection is somewhat limited as it is not the largest store in the world. They did not have it. I was disappointed but figured they would have it at Walmart in Pincher Creek.

I hadn’t make the trek to Pincher Creek lately, or more accurately, I had not gone to Walmart so Sunday morning, I asked the dogs if they wanted to go for a truck ride – that question is always answered with a resounding YES as they all do a mad scramble to the door. Off we go, West into BC to the Save-on-Foods in Sparwood. It’s a really nice store and I have considered doing a majority of my grocery shopping there as its selection is far better than IGA.

Anyway, they had CFF, for $5.99 a box, a little pricy, but at least I could buy it. My friend also thought to look on Amazon and they carry it as well at, get this, $2.99 a box – for the same sized box. So, someone here is making an amazing profit on cereal and it isn’t Amazon. I know some people don’t like supporting Amazon, but hey, if I can save $3 on a box of cereal, I will.

The rest of Sunday was spent watching the Rockies win in the bottom of the 9th inning with a walk-off homer, quite exciting. It was also, I believe, the first pitch of the inning and boom, gone, right-center field. The Rockies swept the series against the Diamondbacks. They are still in last place in the NL West and that is not likely to change this season. They are doing well at home, have a winning record, but they are purely awful on the road. They are definitely in a rebuilding phase and have been for some time. The issues are with ownership from what I’ve read. The team and the GM did part ways which is a good thing, now people feel new ownership is needed, but we will see what happens.

Last night, I went to bed at 730pm. I was unable to stay awake. I woke up at 1230am, went to the bathroom and said I am NOT getting up this early (that was my typical 5 hours sleep) and went back to sleep until just after 4am, so that was one of the best nights sleep I have had in a while, I feel completely refreshed today.

I went outside with the dogs and that bitch, Mother Nature gave us about 5″ of snow last night. Thanks, Mother Nature, just what we needed for Victoria Day. Enjoy yours.

Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day. As per usual, I woke up at stupid o’clock – it was shortly after 2am. I didn’t get up until shortly after 4am though.

I went and had a great 1.5 hour nap and was up again around 1030. I watched the Rockies game in the afternoon. It was a stressful game as the Rockies are not playing good baseball, at all. They held on for a 7-6 win against the Diamondbacks with Bumgarner pitching – I have always enjoyed watching him pitch, although he’s a suck at times whining about this and that. He is on the downslope of his career so I suspect he’ll retire in the next few years.

I invited a friend over for dinner. I was making Texas Twinkies as the main course. That’s a chicken breast stuffed with a cream cheese stuff jalapeno pepper, all wrapped in bacon. They are big and take about 45 minutes on the BBQ to cook. I made roasted potatoes with onion and peppers and there was a Caesar salad and bread to complete the meal. I was planning on making dessert, but we were both VERY full.

We assembled a new chimney type stove for outside and got it done in about an hour.

I really like it and am looking forward to using it. I stopped by 7/11 and was going to buy firewood. A small bag, about 5lbs or so was $15.99 – yeah, hard no there 7/11 – their prices on things are ridiculous. I pretty much only go in for Big Gulps and coffee. Big Gulps used to be 89 cents in the summer, no more. Their rewards program sucks now as well, used to get every 7th drink free, that went away. Oh well…

Anyway, I have a backup firepit, propane, so I used that one.

It’s great and I can use it when there are firebans in the area, which happen often. The hose is long, as you can see. It provides great heat as the evening was getting cold. Springtime in the mountains, I guess – I am glad that all the snow that fell Thursday and Friday is gone.

Enjoy your May 2-4 weekend.

I was scheduled to bring my truck in for an oil change yesterday. I made the appointment for first thing, 8am and arrived a bit early. I decided to bring it into the dealer in Fort McLeod and I am glad I did. First off, it only took them 30 minutes to do which is pretty good and it was only $75 which is also pretty good.

I know that some would say “change your own oil”… No, I have no idea how I would do that and it’s too damn messy anyway, I will let the experts do it and I know it’s done correctly. Changing it myself might save some $$$ but it’s not worth it to me.

When I was at Cross Iron Mills mall, I bought a wireless charger. I asked the sales person if it would work with my OtterBox case – she brought my phone into the back and came back 30 seconds later saying that yes, it was charging. Great.

I setup the charger when I got home and low and behold, does NOT work through the case, works perfectly without the case. So, all I can assume is that the sales person lied to be to get the $50 sale.

So, since I was already in Fort McLeod, I figured I would drive the additional 30 minutes to Lethbridge where the nearest Rogers store was. I stopped to wash the truck and got to the mall a bit early. Once the Rogers store opened, I told the dude working what happened, he had to call his Manager and I was told that it had to be returned to the store where it was purchased. What kind of stupid policy is this? I was, to say the least, not happy.

I am not going to drive 2.5 hours back to Cross Iron Mills, it would cost me $70 or so in gas and at least 6 hours of time. Absolutely ridiculous. I did see that the receipt did indicate that returns needed to be made at the store where purchased, but that’s a bit nuts.

So, I guess I won’t be returning it – I will be calling the store today and asking to speak to the Manager or having him/her call me back so I can complain about the employee – there is no way it worked there and didn’t work when I got it home, not a chance. If he/she offers to allow me to return it the next time I am there, great, if not, well, I don’t know. I might get a different case and return this case maybe, I am not sure. I bought an OtterBox because they are great for protecting the phone. I will see.

I headed home from Lethbridge, stopped to get my dogs on the way. They played outside for about 30 minutes with the owners Great Dane. The puppy, Chiquita, is about 5 months old, a really nice dog, very friendly – needs to learn some manners still. They dogs had a great time running about, getting dirty. We headed home and I had an awesome 4 hour nap in the afternoon. Getting up at 2am makes that a requirement some days, that’s for sure.

No plans for any travel at all today. No plans on travelling tomorrow either. I think it will be a stay at home type long weekend, not that a long weekend means too much to me right now.

I hope you enjoy yours.

Yesterday morning I dropped the dogs off at boarding for the day and night. I was originally supposed to get a bed liner sprayed in my truck but I have rescheduled it for a later date, likely July. The dogs love going to boarding and have a great time playing with the owners Great Dane puppy.

We woke up to about 6-8″ of snow as well. Gotta love snow in late spring, but, it is the mountains and it isn’t June yet, not that June will stop the snow. The roads were too warm so the snow melted when it hit so it was only accumulating on the grass. Some of the roads leading to the kennel were a bit slick, but, in general they weren’t too bad.

I headed to Calgary via Ft. McLeod and had an uneventful trip. I stopped in Claresholm at 7/11 and the roads were basically just wet. As I got into Calgary they were dry. I got to Cross Iron Mills, a huge mall just north of Calgary and brought my cell phone to get a screen protector on. I know I can do this more locally, but I like this particular brand of screen protector and have used them for a few years.

I did a lap of the mall while waiting for my phone – it is almost 4km around, according to my fitness tracker. Phone in hand (wallet only $35 lighter), I went to explore. I stopped at Rogers and bought a wireless charging station for my phone and at Stokes for a fruit bowl and a pizza stone.

The trip home was great. I stopped in Okotoks at Costco for gas ($1.19 per liter) and continued on my way. No snow on the roads at all and by the time I got home around 4pm, the snow was mostly melted here as well. We can use the precipitation for sure, everything will be green in the next few days.

I am leaving this morning just before 7 to head back to Ft. McLeod for an oil change. I could get it more locally, but wanted to take it to the dealer. I want them to update my uConnect system, or tell me how to do it – some minor issues that drive me insane, I know, short trip. I will stop to get the dogs on the way back so it will be just over a 24 hour stay for them.

I have firmed up plans for visiting Ontario in August for 10 days or so. I hope all of the nonsense has been wrapped up by then, but, who knows? The Politicians and public health people seem to be power hungry with their restrictions. I think we are getting quite tired of it and if the restrictions don’t end soon, a revolt is in order I would think. Good thing Canadians, in general, are patient and non-violent.

Enjoy the May 24 weekend.