Checkered Lounge Pants

Hi from the 35th floor of my hotel. I hopped the train to Montreal for some outstanding Union business from my working days. It is now early morning and I snuck into the lounge to use the computer. I travel light nowadays and dont drag computers and blackberries around like another appendage. The weather is gorgeous but I am stuck indoors attending hearings in the event I am needed to take the witness stand. I'm missing out on some good sunshine and balmy golfing weather. I will have to make up for it when I get home later this week. Ill be in touch.

Well, this wraps up the month long On the Road trip with my homecoming on the weekend. The sun was shining and the old outdoor weather vane showed a balmy 20C when I looked out my bedroom window. My beloved Val and I sat outside and guzzled a few beers until sundown and headed to the neighbour Tim's (left) for cheater cosmos and BBQ. That balmy weather was history in the morning when it was replaced with windy rain more in tune with the overall weather I encountered while on the road for the last month. The trip was good if I go weather amnesiac (and tongue in cheek fibs to keep from hurting friendly feelings). Holy moly…. everyone bitched about the BC weather on the VIA Rail train out of Vancouver. Families had come thousands of miles to show the kids yearly attractions accessible with West Coast climate and were stunned by snowfall and chilling temperatures. Saskatchewan blizzards nearly forced me off the highway between Moose Jaw and Swift Current, Alberta, well Alberta can neve

Hello from the banks of the Red River, metaphorically speaking cuz Pops would never allow his "hearts" programed computer to venture from the house in South Transcona. I hope you had a good Easter. I did Easter dinner with my folks and brother Gary. It was special, but honestly, I missed my beloved Val something fierce. I found myself cruising out to Grand Beach while on a Timmie's run earlier in the day. Sitting out front of the old cabin brought back a flood of memories of time spent in summers long past... filled with sun-bathing on the white sands of Grand Beach, spitz (sunflower seeds), sunglasses, Sweet Pea beach reading veraciously, swimming, slurpees, sandwich beach picnics, sun-block, summer holidays with my sons, sunburn lotion, cocktails, BBQs and dawn rides to the city on the Hawg. The memories made me lonesome. I had my first live match (well "pay per view" really) of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) or more commonly known as the promotional UFC ( http://en

I must have died and gone to heaven.....no wait its Jasper. My my my.....what a view. I stepped off the train when VIA Rail eastbound Canadian rolled to an "all stopped" at the Jasper station Saturday evening and I was awestruck. My long ago Union colleague, Ron Senz, started his railway apprenticeship in Jasper and my minds eye envisioned him crying when he was transferred to Edmonton. "God's country" immediately came to mind, after reminiscing of my travels around the globe. "Forty minutes" the conductor announced before "all aboard the Canadian" heralding pre- departure. It was all I could do to keep from tripping over myself while scarfing in the eye candy of the surrounding mountains while loading up on chow and souveniers. The mainline out of town was littered with Elk, Big horned sheep, Mountain goats, Hoary Marmot (famous for its whistling alert call), White-tailed Ptarmigan, Ground Squirrels, Pikas, Deer, Fox, and even a Bald eagle.W

Well here I am languishing in Vancouver. The trip to haul the Union office furniture from Windsor to Vancouver, took an unexpected turn when my driving orders instructed me to avoid the US border to avoid any unnecessary delays from US Customs. My virtual GPS was re-programmed to stay on Canadian highways and inherit the additional 1000 kms that went with the new route. My "On The Road" trip (as I dubbed it on Facebook ) removed the anticipated stops in Sturgis and Cour d'Alene and replaced them with Wawa and Dryden. OY . The plum in the reroute was the chance to overnight in Winnipeg at my folks. I could not deny myself the opportunity to park the fully loaded U-Haul on the eastern limits of Winnipeg, in the drive way of my retired colleague Dennis Wray and knock on his door unannounced. "Never let it be said I never brought the Union office to Winnipeg" I exclaimed, when he opened the door, pointing at the U-Haul in his driveway. After a good-hearted la