Checkered Lounge Pants

Driving down the road to Kingsville the other day, my beloved Val seemed quite unsettled about the fact that we were, soon, passing by her 40th birthday and zooming in on Xmas and there was no snow to be seen anywhere in our neighbourhood. Now, that really is not all that unusual in our neck of the woods, but she seemed right agitated. Never really gave it much tought, but, while in Montreal this week, I snapped a pic from my hotel window towards Westmount, and, "loe and behold" it is December 17 and ne'er a flake to be seen. Have a peek, see? It occurred to me , as well, I called my folks in Winnipeg a few days ago, and they reported the weatherman was forecasting rain. RAIN.........RAIN. Be still my heart, well Santa really has arrived, when folks in Winnipeg are not freezing their butts off in December. Or has he??? Can you beleive that? Now I dont recall the last time I did not have a white Xmas, but I do want one. It just dont seem Kosher to have Xmas without snow

Hey all, what a weekend. WOW. had some chores to complete in Toronto regarding work and getting these signs up in 18 cities, but once the job was done, it was time for some play. Tons of tinis and good dining was the order of the day. Danny Michaluk from Winnipeg, spared a few hours to give us (my beloved Val accompanied me for the weekend) a tour of Chinatown down on Spadina and, then, walked with us down to Kensington Street and we frequented a few bars that were not much bigger than a post stamp and the beer was not much more expensive, either, and shops that I can only describe as , ecclectic. We scored some good deals and even managed to squeeze in some last minute gifts for Xmas. Great deals, man-o-man, I mean GRRRRRRRREAT deals as some tiger once said. Anyhow, the weekend ended much to quickly, and it was time for everyone to catch their trains and planes and head for home. Ahhhhhh wee laddie, the good times end much too quickly.

Heyyyy Mannnn, only 24 days until Xmas, eh? I can actually say I started my Xmas shopping this year. I normally spend the day before doing the necessities gifts and Boxing Day getting the "out-of-towners" gifts. What made me think of that??? Oh Yeah, the sea of red (as in Santa's suit) in Montreal. I am finishing the week up at the bargaining table for one of the National railwyays, amongst, the heady aura of the Liberal convention to select a new leader. Red scarves, red buttons, red posters, red shirts, red red red red. Its been a real attraction for the Union colleagues to expound on their individual theories on the eventual outcome for the leader of the BIG RED MACHINE (not to mention all the shots about the new "Nation" the Tory party "established"). For the most part, its been more of an amusement of celebrity watching for me. One of my colleagues was determined to take Ken Dryden's autograph back home to her family. I took a great deal of s

Hey boomers, how freaky is the water thing in Vancouver, eh? The stories coming out of BC about the water crisis is hauntingly familiar to Bangladesh and the drought. Lets all think about the story that Matt Damon tells about watching the village school girl that walks 5 miles every day after school to get a clay pot full of potable drinking water. Now flash back to Vancouver and the gas prices arent such a big thing when you think you might have to drink water th at you boiled for an hour and you still cant get the brown silt to allow the water to become crystal clear before you satisfy a thirst that has long since left the realm of QUENCH and gone right into DEHYDRATE, in some parts of the city. Never mind showering in it. KEEP PUMPIN THOSE FOSSIL CABONATES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. Whadda we need, a shot upside the head, or what? I quote, "Amid the controversy that surrounded Environment Minister Rona Ambrose at last week's UN Climate Conference, little notice was given to a num

Aye’s da bay dat wrenches the bike, an’ aye’s da bay dat rides ‘er. I spent the weekend wrenchin and ridin……..which is not a big deal, UNLESS yer a biker aficionado type that relocated from Winnipeg and yer ridin in NOVEMBER. Well now, I remember when a fella would call me from Vancouver on New Years Day to say they were on the golf coarse, to which I responded what possessed them to golf on New Years Day, and was inundated with “BECAUSE WE CAN”. I can tell from the edge on the North wind, though, winter is not far. We had a nice fire the other night after spending the day at Joe’s splitting logs and my beloved Val filled the trunk of the Grey one (term of endearment for the car) after her and Joe bartered for her operating the hydraulics on the log splitter (the pic is Joe teaching Cyress the fine art of operating a wheel-barrow when the kids were visiting in October) . Who knows, might be a few more riding days before I have to start my Xmas shoping. WhooooooW

Sitting waiting for a plane, again......its the first posting from the road. Been away for almost 2 weeks and unexpectedly, I found travel schedule had me going home today instead of later in the week. Its been a long trip this round (by days end I will have rode 4 trains and 4 planes this trip). I been hard-pressed to keep my mind from wondering from the tasks-at-hand. I found myself daydreaming about travel songs and the next thing I know I whipped off this poem. Dont read anything into it, it was just a mind google filling in some wasted moments while I waited in the Montreal airport for my flight to Fredericton. It goes something like this: Poet Tree I called home the other day Just to gab and hear her say How the home fires flickered while Im away And tell about the church I visited and stopped to pray Wasn’t much else going on I had been on the road all too long The thoughts of home and family was getting strong Living in hotels and restaurants got to feelin

Well time really does fly when your having fun.......or when yer chasing kids. Ha ha. As I mention in an earlier post, my son, Kevin and his better half, Laura visited us last week. It was really fun seeing the house get REALLY lived in. Whoaaaaa, the spare bedroom will be forever christened the "Boyz Room" and "in need of a bath" will always hold the image of Kevin running with Baby Haley for the bath-tub after a full diaper was aromatically evident at daybreak. Grandpa and Gramma (Val was a vision to behold with the kids) have never been so vigilant and active around the beach-house since we moved in, unless we were in full yard mode, and then never for a full week un-interrupted. I took lots of pics but my favourite so far (some still in development) is what I like to call "Proud Gramma" (in the tune of Proud Mary). It was a gas, check it out. The time to ride back to catch the train came all to soon and heavy hearts were abundant on the drive back ho

Hey all, its been a good month so far, and thanksgiving was quiet, with my beloved Val doing the turkey today. September was a very busy month workwise. I think I came the closest to "burn-out" ever by months end. Nevertheless, October has been kinder in terms of schedules and my son Kevin and Laura and the 3 kids will be visiting for a few days next week. That will be exciting. Its been a long time since I have had my home "kid-proofed". I hope the weather holds out so we can tour the county to show the kids the complete "Ontario" experience. I am off to Montreal tomorrow so next weekend will be busy getting everything ship-shape for the guests. Val is already stitching up sleeping bag and quilts, and, she will have no end of chores listed for my return.

On the road again, thats me. I am just wrapping up after a few days of working in Vancouver (yes I was here last month) and heading off for home, with a quick stop in Winnipeg tomorrow. All work this time, not much time to visit. I did clip the Coquitlam Casino for a few bucks last nite, but those occasions are right up there with the sighting of a "Blue Moon". My host (the Gar) is an avid gambler, but I have avoided those haunts like the plaque ever since losing my grocery money in a card game some 30 plus years ago as a newlywed. Let me tell you, I knew the honeymoon was over that night. Nonetheless, if there was ever a chance of becoming addicted to gambling, in my horizon, it was certainly cured that night. Ha Ha. Its been a busy time this month and it has no indication of slowing down. Vancouver, the CAW Educational Centre in Port Elgin and meetings in Montreal are all on the timetable right to the last weekend of the month. Not much time to attend to chores at home. I w

Evening all, Its late Sunday night and I am on the road to Montreal in the morning. The week, a la post vacation, went by in a blur. I flew in and arrived home about 1 am last Sunday, and, Monday was a bear of a day in the office. It was a post vacation week second to none. I recall back in the day, when work-mates would spend a winter holiday in some exotic sandy island beach, somewhere warm, and return to the frosty temperatures of the Red River valley and pine for the warmth they had enjoyed while on vacation. Nuff work-stuff (a pledge I made to distance work when deciding to subscribe to blogging) cept to say my friend and colleague, Barb, was a pillar through the week. I spent the time off on both coasts. I was treated to Acadian cuisine in Cape Breton and had one of the best plates of fish and chips ever experienced (and I had the newsprint wrapped version in merry old England some years back) in White Rock. Encountered a virtual endless line of motorcyclists on the Cabot Trai

Ahoy there, j ust sneaking an early morning post while at my buddy Gerry's in Coquitlam. I arrived yesterday and over-powered the jet-lag with some imbibing with my beloved Val and "the Gar" over at Val's sisters home, last night, in White Rock. Cape Breton was a blast ("Da Best" as the Cape Bretoners say). Joe and I spent a couple nights at his Ma's in New Waterford and 3 nights on his cousins 45 foot fishing boat (the "Craig and Jenna") in Cheticamp. The island is one of the best kept secrets, over here, in the West. Not enough people know how much beauty that coast holds. The Cape Breton Highlands and the Cabot Trail are awesome and spectacular. I am not even going to tease you with the moose sighting that Joe's cousin led us too, but the animal was, without any doubt, the biggest, most majestic speciman I have ever seen. His rack was phenominal. We counted fourteen points and Joe crept right close to him to snap some pics. We feasted on

Well, hows your week been?? I survived my first week of vacation without too much collateral damage. I put a few miles on the mountain bike and the scoot. Also did so me ball striking with my good friend John, (and won, but who cares, LOL) all-the-while, the work stuff, although unavoidable as it tends to be, managed to stay on the back-burner. Nothing more harmful today than a wee hangover this morning, to speak of, from some celebratory beers, with my beloved Val, on the lakeshore, circa, post zen golf victory (but like I said, to JOHN * , who cares. LOL), which mysteriously concluded solo with a sunset witnessed on the Erie shore. Nonetheless, the h/o can be quickly remedied by a coffee and an early morning ride on the Hawg. *I jokingly t hreatened John with a website posting on the results, in pennance of his delayed arrival for over an hour from our agreed tee-time, but the blog will suffice.* The next week will b e a larger test of character....my grand-daughter's first b

Stretch, Yawn and Stretch summore................my second morning on vacation, Yawn again. Big plans to fill every minute of my vacation with holiday packed adventures. RIGHT. I been in my sweats, (not even the checkered pair) loungin for two days and the alpha adventures have been on the back burner. I'm thinking this morning I might hop on the bike and pedal to the blueberry farm down the road. Did you know: "The most flavourful Antitoxidant Powerhouse found on the Planet is here!!! Blueberries are ranked #1 as cancer fighters and they taste simply scrumptious" . It opened for business last week and the cars are plentiful and the lines were long on the weekend to buy blueberrys; pick your own, fresh packaged, frozen, milkshakes, pies, ice-cream or frozen in yogurt. My expectations concerning adventures seems to have marginalized some, eh? I think a frozen yogurt after doing 10 kilometres would be better than bacon and eggies with a hangover? Besides, Id have to wo

Ahoy, matey. We finally got HMS "Paddle Princess" into the water yesterday. It was an exciting moment (so much so, I returned a brand new 2006 Softtail, early, to the Harley shop after my Hawg broke down on the expressway) to launch the canoe and check her "sea-legs". Anyhow, enough delusional imagery, the canoe works fine. Joe designed a mount for the electric motor and we spent the remainder of the afternoon tilling down the local rivers and streams, exchanging salutations with numerous fishermen and kayakers, and, slipping up on the different wetland inhabitants and startled the heck out of more than a few Herons and Egrets along the way. The next test will be to drop in the lake and do some fishing. As mentioned earlier, the Hawg died. OUCH. Its like some indispensable body part has been removed. Nonetheless, I was rescued by the arrival of the truck and trailer from t he Local Harley shop and, as we rode back to the dealership, I mused out loud that I was "

Aye, its a lovely marnin' this marnin' sipping my coffee out by the lake. I just got back from Winnipeg yesterday. I was feeling a little under the weather. I got up at 5am yesterday to hitch a ride with Mom and Dad to catch my flight and the stomach was a little wonky (wonky enough to pray to the porcelain God by 5:05 am, YUK!!). It appears I picked up the flu-bug that was stalkin' my granddaughter, Haley, when I drove out to Brandon, with my niece Rachelle (pictured right), to visit my son. Anyhow, the trip was a working trip, but I squeezed in some visits with family and friends, when meetings unexpectedly wrapped up early. I went out to Lorette with OG and visited my old friend, John Kuban and his wife Charlotte and son, Shane. It was really good to see them. John was the reason I got my first Harley. Actually, John was the builder of my first Harley, a 1973 "shovel-head" that I rode to Sturgis in 1984. John had his old "shovel-head", minus the side

Well, did you all survive the birthday party for Canada??? I could hear the fireworks poppin all the way from here, well, when the hum of the a/c was not drowning them out. Its schticky here today. I am gonna carry on celabratin'....I got an email from home remindin me of all the birthdays comin up in the next few days for the kinfolk, so there's no point stoppin now, eh? Well maybe a pause just long enough for a few strokes lookin fore the elusive par over at Oxley Golf Coarse with John and Barb this morning. Speaking of drowning things out, the seas on the lake have been rough the last few days. I had my morning coffee out on the shore and I usually can spot some good stuff washed up, but pickins were slim this time. That old saying springs to mind about "some yada yada yada garbage is some yada yada yada treasure". Maybe tomorrow my treasure will wash up. I get quite a collection of beach stuff piled up some days. Nothing more exotic than some washed up ship bits

Hey, I wanna be around for my Grandaughters birthday. Haley will be one on August 2. Take my word, she's a cutie Anyhow, back to the blog, eh ? I stopped in at my friend Joe’s a few weeks ago and we poured a coffee and got ourselves all fired up over the big “C” mystery. What causes the big C? Where does it come from? Who spoons it out?? All our lost friends, relatives, loves, workmates, and on and on and on. Joe says its all them chemicals, and preservatives, and additives, and sugar, and over eating, and over weight, and poor health, and on and on and on. Well, I don’t know about that, but since I was there I asked what he planned to do about it? Juice, he said. HUH? Whaddya mean juice (I had just shipped him a discarded juicer I had left with Mom and Dad back at the farm from my vegetarian days). That’s your answer, JUICE? Yup, he insisted. He had discovered some old journals on natural diets that had some amazing results in stemming illness that had been

I got a call last week from my son Cam from Winnipeg, saying he had a job in Alberta, if I could get him out to Pincher Creek. Well, let me tell you, I got on that request in a hurry. Those calls are few and far between. Its usually a call from one kid or another, asking for money or help or some such soulful sacrifice that a person would only do for the children. The shitty deal was, I could only get him to Edmonton under my train plan and Gramma (or some such anonymous benefactor, yes Gramma) grabbed him a bus ticket and hauled his few possessions into storage to get him on his way before someone else got the job. He is on his way in the marnin. Lets wish him luck. That made my week, but for the wonky knee that befell me on Thursday. I rode the Hawg to 2 days of meetings in Toronto and headed out Thursday morning to stroll to the offices of one of the railways in our stable, when I felt a strange tightness in my knee. Well, by days end, my leg had gone el pego on me. Wassup with that

Hey, its been a while since I posted. I spent 2 weeks on the road for work and finished off by riding the Hawg back from Winnipeg to Colchester. In the meantime, I closed up the flat in Montreal and said my saluts and snapped a few pics of the "French Connection" (thats Louis on his Road King) and lugged everything out so the place could be prepped for new tennants. Its nice to have the mountain bike and the Hawg and the gear all in one place. My beloved Val was patient and understanding enough to keep the homestead from getting overgrown and overun, and handle my time sensitive issues in my absence, even though she had a busy and harried couple weeks herself, but that is not my story to tell (check out her Blog "Sweet Peas Patio"). The ride home took a bit longer than I planned but I will never make my next May long weekend "ice-breaker" ride a 2200 klms trek. My backside was not fully committed to such an extreme innaugeral run and the second day was a

My good friend, John and I planned a golf game on the weekend. Thats no special deal considering the bevy of weekend golfers, except for the fact that John absolutely refuses to join the weekend hordes of golfers that infest the popular links. Well, much to my surprise, he agreed to come down from his historically recognized home in Dresden and share a game with me on Saturday. I, quite frankly, agree with John's seemingly phobic aversion to standing in line at tee-boxes and watch fellow hackers divot and flop and muff shots well witnessed by a gallery of Mulligan holding, white shoe wearing, designer club toting weekend golfers. We used to take one evening a week to do nine holes before John retired and we would alternate between his home course in Chatham and my favourite course in Lasalle. The only condition was, that, the one evening was never during the weekend to spare the humiliation of standing in, what was once a corn field or a pasture or a bush, and whack golf balls int

I had a travel day I would sooner forget, last week. I missed the afternoon train to Toronto, so I had to grab the 6 am the next morning for my destination to Montreal. I rose at 4 am and peering through the window into darkness, I could make out the outside thermometer to see it was going to be a "coffee on the patio" kind of day. However, time was a premiumm and I had a healthy drive and one stop to pick up my beloved Val on my way to the station. Not to worry, I will pack the laptop and catch up on my volumes of email on the new wireless service advertised on the train from Windsor to Montreal. I hopped onto the club car with about 7 minutes to spare, was received by the hospitable and, always polite and attentive, on board crew and very shortly "clickety-clacked" down the railroad track, as some famous country singer once sang. Anyhow, from that point on things seemed to digress. The wireless service, that I had quickly subscribed to, only worked when the consis

War is waging out side my living room window.....I spent a few pesos on some bird feeders to get the little wing-ged ones some sustenance after a long winter, and, after watching a few little "early birds" snack on some seeds, the squirrels have declared war on my efforts. The big grey squirrel has overcome all my surreptitious and scurrilous positionings of the feeder. I might have to fling open the purse strings and get Val to shop for one of those expensive squirrel-proof feeders. b bOhhhhhh, Mother Nature can be such a harsh task master. We stopped by Joes yesterday and squirreled away some auto supplies to do some work on the car ("Grey-one" as we like to refer to it). Joe and Simon had their mischievious way with Val and I, considering it was April fools. Simon told us one of the dogs in his Dads kennel died and when, we, were suitably shaken and moved, he and his Dad chortled "April fools". We were victimized....Which reminded me of the wee birdie

I struck me, while walking from the flat I rent, in Ville Ste. Laurent to the commuter train, earlier this week, that Montreal is the most eclectic major city I have ever seen in North America. I have an option of commuting to my appointments by train or subway. That, in itself, can be a virtual excursion in the mosaic of two completely different profiles of the unique aggregate that makes up the citizenry of Montreal. "What", I ask my francophone colleagues, "is the most significant factor that seems to make Montreal so special from other cities?" The responses I ge t are rarely the same. The churches, the language, the food, the women, the housing, the depanneurs, the Habs, are some of the suggestions trying to remedy my curiousity. I was getting some supplies for the flat at the neighbourhood grocery when, I realized, I was shopping in a predominantly Greek store and I had all sorts of selections to choose from that could transplant my palate from the neighbourh

Just another day in paradise..............the weather is trying hard to let spring jitterbug into its step and the scene outside my window tells me we should be getting the Hawg ready to roll. I have some yard work to finish from last fall and I was stalling to see if Val would jump on it, but that has gotten old, soooooo the rake and yard bags will be getting rousted from the shed this weekend. My folks are watching over the bike and the itch is starting to bite. I had to leave the sled back home after the Strugis run, last year, cuz I ran out of time to get back to Windsor. I still dont have a proper garage to park it, but the drive from the beach to town is to nice to do in a cage all summer. I am already looking forward to a summer run even though I have no idea where, yet. Things seem to be setteled down with my boyz. Cam has to move and he has found a place and Kevin is back in Brandon and I talked with him last night. Val and I grabbed some clothes for the kids and she is maili

Another week, another whopper.....It seems my days of grandparenting have met a twain. My phone rang last week and my grandchilds mother was ringing up asking for some help to buy some supplies for the chilldren. Where's my son, was my first reaction..."Gone" she cried. "Krikee", I mused. I rushed into town and sent some help. Flash forward a week and I have tracked the lad down. He has returned to his birthplace some 120 miles from the grandkids and his mate. It has a whole different feeling now, when I look at the pictures of the kids I have on the mantle over the fireplace. Its funny how life lets you feel what your parents went through. I hope this week's menu is a cheeseburger rather than a whopper.

I hope this finds all is well with you. I was just musing over the last few developments in the newz that have struck me as rather fetchingly unusual. Newly elected politicians acting like they are part of a sports team trade and the sports icon, nay, sports legacy having a most unusual asscoiation with gambling, and, truancy charges from the school of socialism. Granted the newz is, for the most part, peppered with hooks and grablines, these things seem beyond the realm of reason or common sense. Even the recent revelations of the lost billions of US dollars being grafted by US contractors in Iraq, fall into the unsurprising events category after the prophecies of war watchers and their predictions of future indescrepencies with the like of Haliburton and other "highly placed" contractors, but Mrs. Gretsky teetering the Gretsky legacy......and Socialist guru, Buzz Hargrove being unceremoniously suspended from NDP sanctums.... It must be something they are drinking.

Greetings to my blog...... I have been musing about a blogsite for sometime now, but never really committed to it until today. I was not really sure if I wanted to spend the time on the site when I already seem trialed by the website I have to post for the Local Union I preside upon. When did that become work, eh? The Labour movement and social justice are my passion, but some aspects are never more than a vocation. I was wrestling with a name and I wanted something serene yet inspirational, virtuous yet exotic, unique yet common, and I had been leading towards something reflective of my recent relocation to the Lake Erie shores but here again, I was wrestling with my new found love of the Erie shoreline and my loyalty of my long lost white sands of Grand Beach (in Manitoba). It was at this point I called my beloved Val at home and in passing asked "What are you wearing?" and she answered, "Checkered lounge pants". Hence my blogsite was birthed. I live with my belov