Checkered Lounge Pants

I got a call the other day from my friend Peter Kydd, a rail worker here in Windsor, asking if I was going home to Winnipeg for Xmas this year. "No" I said, "staying home this year". Winter storms are wreaking havoc on Xmas travellers this year, eh? Once we caught up on the rail gossip he signed off. The next 24 hours seemed to include a kaleidiscope of the harshness of Old Man Winter. Its started snowing outside and it seemed to be a string of crappy weather from coast to coast. I had hoped it settled down before Boxing Day. I got my eye on some sales. BRB...gotta get the shovel and do the sidewalk.... .....no sooner had I shovelled the walk, and, Xmas came and went, the weather m an changed the forecast from snow to rain. The snow disappeared, that covered the electrical cord to the lights in the little tree in my back yard, and is laying like a long orange snake (see pic on the right) winding through the yard feeding off my outside plug. Well, we had a white chr...

"Well it looks like we are going to have a white Christmas after all," Kevin said, "it finally feels like Christmas", regarding the heavy snowfall on the drive to his work this morning. That is pretty much typical for a Winnipegger that's moved to Essex County. I remember the first Xmas I had herein Windsor Essex County, and it snowed Xmas eve. Sweet Pea Valerie and I were in some kinda funk that we were going to have to experience a green Xmas (which is a bitter sweet phenomena for Winnipeggers, because, we dream of such a thing when living in the prairies, but go into culture shock when thrust into a green Xmas). I remember my folks saying, "it might be a green Xmas this year", when the snow had not yet arrived, on the prairies, at November's end. Have no fear of that, was going through our youthful prairie minds. Speaking of youthful...its my mother's birthday tomorrow. Happy Birthday Ma (do I recall an earlier blog regarding a gauntlet of D...

Fireplace is crackling (built a fire early today to ward off the dampness from the rain) and most of my Xmas shopping is done. The remainder on my Xmas shopping list has to be purchased in town (Windsor) and Thursday is "town day"on this months calendar. I couldn't wait for a haircut so I got Kevin to cut my hair the other day and he did a good job. Its pretty short, but the "mop" was getting annoying, so short is good. Speaking of good, my long time friend John arrived home from a mission to dig wells for drinking water in Liberia. His wife Charlotte sent us a few pictures of the adventure, but, this one is so typical of John Kuban. I would describe John in one sentence... "A man with a strong sense of determination and will, with a heart as big as all outdoors, and a very good friend to make in life". Welcome home John. I wish I could drop in to Lorette to hear the stories, sitting in your shop over a case of Blue. Speaking of a mission of mercy, I w...

POLAR BEAR DIP...... Hoooooooly Moly that was cold. I walked out on the stacked ice pack ( don't ask me why!!) yesterday and fell through when I stepped on the lake ice, 50 feet from shore. Good tha ng its shallow out there. Now having to plod through the broken ice and halfway back to shore, I had to turn back to thrash around and fish out my boots....wasn't going to lose them to the lake. By the time I was back on shore, my sopping wet clothes were starting to get pretty froze. Val said I was turning an ever darker shade of purple while peeling off the wet clothes in the porch. I had to promise Val that there would be no more winter swimmin' or Polar Bear dippin ' without supervision. Yo, did I just throw down a rhyme?? LOL . The day was not a total loss. I took Kevy job hunting, after dropping Val at work, since his layoff (greenhouses are inherently seasonal) and we stopped at the (Un)Employment Insurance offices (actually they are now called Service Canada) an...

So this is Christmas......house rules have prevailed and Valerie Sweet Pea's birthday is complete so on to the Xmas festivities. The weekend was quiet and reserved (Forbes and Suzanne opted to stay home in Sudbury, but Audra brightened our weekend) and now its tree time. We will get out our little munchkin tree and ceremoniously decorate it with Sweet Pea placing ALL the decorations in their proper place (her OCD kix in big) on the tree, while I observe. We spent Saturday morning at the local hockey rink watching the neighbour's Austin play in his peewee hockey game. It was mega fun. So many things reminded me of the boyz playing hockey back in the day. I got right into the game and caught Valerie and Alexis (Austin's sister) looking at me like a nut while I was cheering on the lil guys. I found myself recalling the winter I was coaching the kids (bantam) one year and losing my voice in the playoffs. Nevertheless, with a decisive victory for the Kingsville Kings, as the bu...

Hi Hi Hi Ho Ho Ho......how are things going? Have you done all your Xmas shopping? I have not even started.......GeeeeZ. I have a gauntlet of December birthdays to get through before Xmas. Just sent 2 cards off today with gift cards (from Timmies.....dont tell, k?) and Valerie Sweet Pea has a birthday on Saturday ( and neighbours threw a party 4 her last weekend ) so, house rules prevent me from any Xmas preparation until after birthday girl is celebrated fully. Furthermore, Kevys fiance is flying from Boston and Forbes and Susan are driving in from Sudbury for the weekend. Speaking of house rules, have you seen the crazy drama in Canuck parliament??? I saw a hasty interview with GG Jean from Europe and she was hardpressed to fill in the sound bite. Canadian politics have finaly outlegged US politicians for spinning fervour and misspoken rhetoric. Its very very difficult to keep your finger on the string of developments that lead to a coalition option for parliamentary governance. Ever...

I was exercising responsible news philtering, and surfin my media sources when I came across this in the Las Vegas Sun. Is this a sign that the green conscience of North America has seen behind the curtains of the Coal Industry's greewwashed "Clean Coal" campaign???? "Times they are a changin" as Bob Dylan sang. "Up in smoke Environmentalists say future of three proposed Nevada coal plants in jeopardy By Phoebe Sweet Sat, Nov 15, 2008 (2 a.m.) Sun Topics Coal Power Plant Debate The Environmental Protection Agency’s rejection of a permit for a Utah coal plant this week spells trouble for three coal-fired power plants proposed in Nevada. Environmentalists are hailing the decision, released Thursday by the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board, as the final straw for new traditional coal plants. Utah’s permit was denied because it did not limit greenhouse gas emissions — and every new coal plant will emit millions of tons of the climate-change-causing carbon dioxi...

Helloooo, did you all have a good Guy Fawkes day? November 5 is the anniversary of the Gunpowder Conspiracy and Plot (and coincidentally my nephew Jeffy's birthday) in 1605. Sometimes I think some governments throughout the world are deserving of a successful Guy Fawkes mission. "Government should be afraid of people, not people afraid of government". I let you google the plot for further details. Kevy and I are baching it this week. Sweet Pea Valerie has gone to Winnipeg to see her family. I drove her to London to catch her plane on Thursday. Man, what a ride, some 18 wheeler operator was playing highway monitor on the trip out and tried to run me of the road while making a pass that he thought badly of. I see why they dont lets us bear arms in Canada. A touch of road rage and my possession of a loaded weapon would have been "lights out" for that rig. For some reason I imagine the scene in Good Will Hunting when Matt Damon asks the pretentiously obnoxious grad ...

If there ever was a picture that spoke a thousand words, for me this is it. Nuff said.

“Trick or Treat…. smell my feet!” echoed from the door this morning, when my Sweet Pea Valerie wandered in from a night-time of Devil's night gallivanting with her cronies. That will most likely be the nearest Chez Valyon on the Lake gets to a Halloween haunting from tricksters or treaters on this day of hallowed haunting. We have not gotten any ghosts or goblins since our migration to the rural countryside. I may have blogged that factual tidbit last year, n'est pas? (interactive image-print cut out stencil and trace on pumpkin for carving) Nonetheless, Kevin and I stocked the cupboards with some goodies just in the event there is a surprise-haunting visitor. It would be unconscionable to be empty handed if some Lil ghosts happened by our cottage. I was watching a revered talk show the other day on PBS hosted by Charlie Rose. Since retiring I have been a pig for news and the media spins concerning the labour and business world…albeit a labour editor is as rare in the media com...

Hummmm.....just reading my last blog post and wondered why I had never mentioned it was my Thanksgiving post??? Oh ya, I got all twisted up over crony capitalism.....or what I like to call "Dixie Chick stigma", but that's another story for some other forum. Speaking of meltdowns, I had a meltdown on Thursday last. I booked a foursome on the local golf course I frequent and fully expected to blow my game through the roof (and my partners) after several games of sub 20 handicap strokes alongside hours of practising short game fundamentals. WELL, triple bogey, triple bogey, double bogey, quadruple bogey start and blow me down. On that pace, I was destined for the worse game of the year and so much for my expectations of grandeur. They were purely delusional...LOL One partner, attempted consoling me, when, after enduring my whining and griping about practicing all week for naught, said to me, "even Ben Hogan said that there is such a thing as golfing too much". I g...

I am giving thanks for this weather.....28C on Sunday and I was sweating it out on the golf course...whew. It was sooooo good I did again yesterday to wear off some turkey calories. LOL I hit the local winery after the game and stocked up for dinner. Val had made cranberry sauce the night before. We dined with my son and my golfing friend, John, who drove in from Dresden. The meal wrapped up with the usual pumpkin pie, and, an ice wine treat from John. It was delicious. I am also giving thanks for the governments embracing principles that will save working folks pensions and savings. Pension funds and 401K lost almost 25% of their portfolios over the last 6 weeks. Many good folks university funds for the kids have dried up while corporate executives still practice lavish excesses. Did you hear the one regarding the retreat the globalized AIG funded ($450K) for its top sellers shortly after they were bailed out with $80B tax dollars?? Lehman Brothers was not so fortunate..... No one w...

Just a quick update before I run into Windsor to the passport office. I finally delivered Kevin's fiance's long promised hawg ride. Audra mentioned, on an earlier visit, she never rode a Harley before and giggled something about the vibration ( I think its a girl thing cuz I shiver over the pipes!) while I coached on the necessity of long pants and leather (yummy...LOL). We drove along the Erie shore, and, cracked the throttle returning back down the highway from Kingsville. We also got in an overnight camping at the local RV park, even though Val pulled the "duck" on us and drove home after dark to sleep in her bed (not that I minded having the sleeping bags all to myself...LOL) and closed out Audra's visit with a stop at our favourite local Asian restaurant (Kev and I really feasted like neanderthals at the buffet counter *smack smack..burp*) that we had recommended while on a junket in Quebec. Val and Kev have brutal work schedules through the next week so I sq...

Hi all, The weather has been very kind to us for fall. Kev's fiancee Audra is visiting for a few days. Val suggested we go camping so we camped out on the weekend and did an overnight er at the local campground. I just got back from gassing up the bike. I promised Audra a ride and all that s left to keep that promise is gettin her on the pad and crackin the throttle. Its the Gars birthday next week so I got to get a card in the mail (can you s[pot him on the drums at Union school?). I had a great time at the charity golf tourney I attended last week. They made $100K for Alzheimer's research. Nonetheless, its always nice to see how some of the priveleged class lives, but nuff about that for now. C ya all layer.

Just a quick note before I load everything up for a charity golf game up in Muskoka. The Union sponsored a foursome at a corporate fundraiser and asked me to attend. Imagine, a hacker like me golfing on some exclusive island course at $2K green fees. It freaks me out just thinking about it. We just got back from my last Rail Council at the Unions Education Centre. The CAW put on a social evening and squeezed in a retirement ceremony for my predecessor, the wily John Moore-Gough, and I. It was a fine evening. I brought Val along and she sat back and watched as John and I were presented with a number of plaques, clocks, apparel (I would be remiss if I neglected to mention my confreres de francais had slipped me a chapeau du Masters) and tokens of appreciation. The evening was special when I realized I was ending my professional activism at the very same facility that hosted the initial merger talks of my birth rail union with the Canadian Auto Workers Union. Ohhhh those were heady days....

Good Day eh (circa Bob and Doug McKenzie, eh)!!! I just spent the morning cooking up some pasta gravy. It seems we have an abundance of tomatoes piling up on the counter so I fired up the cook stove and filled a pot with my secret recipe for pasta sauce and have a 10 litre pot simmering with red gold. Yummy. Its nice to be back at home.... my post-retired colleagues asked me to attend a hearing in Montreal this week. I got home after midnight Monday after catching the red-eye flight into Windsor. It was nice to see Montreal (especially Old Montreal) again after being "away from the action" for the summer, but I don't miss the travelling. I was sitting in PET airport waiting to board my flight home , when I heard somebody shouting "BRYON" from the walkway. "I thought you were retired?" came the query from one of the VIA Rail bargaining team members stationed in Vancouver, who was en route home. I stumbled for an answer, when , sitting at the gate, it ...

Hey that's it for August, eh? Man that was fast. No worries though, cuz the season lingers here until October. Good thing, I have put less than 200 kilometers on the bike. I have put more miles on the mountain bike this summer. Its been an outdoorsy kind of summer. I even got my beloved Val out camping. It seems like we had company all summer, what with working with the landlord and family to cut down the overgrown trees, and, family and friends dropping by in July and August. Kevin got a job at a greenhouse here this week so it looks a though Kevy will stay with Val and I for a spell. Val and him are "thick as thieves" so I`ll have to be on my toes. Wassup with this listeria epidemic. Over two hundred recalls of meat with announcements of more to come, and, closing in on a dozen deaths in Canada?? Holy Moly, and I thought I had the privilege of patronizing a brand that deserved my business, when, it appears they are all the same Corporation. Bullocks on that. When I thin...

Lets seeee, whats new since our last gab? The house is almost fully painted, the bike is out of the shop, I scored an Arnold Palmer putter for 50 cents, my beloved Val is cuter than ever, and, I have a new daughter in law. Well almost. Kevin (my son) proposed to his hunney while her and her sons were visiting us from Boston. Audra was whisked to t he back yard one evening and on the shores of Lake Erie, Kevy asked her to be his wife. She said yes, and, that all but guaranteed a tearful goodbye when the visit was done. Chez Valyon on the Lake was a respite of vibrant resonance and activity with the guests. Shane is 8 years old and Davey is 12 months so I got to relive my old habits acquired when I was a single parent with my boyz. I can still whip up a lunch or dinner in under 30 minutes with limited resources in a flash while doing laundry and wiping sticky fingers...LOL. Chez Valyon on the Lake is a mecca for filling the day with adventures as long as the weather is cooperative, AN...

Helloooo or Yooooo Wassup as the hip-hop crowd say?? Its been a full week. Kevin arrived just over a week ago. I hardly recognized him getting off the plane. He was so skinny last time I saw him. Gramma had him well fed and looking..... well, as the neighbour quipped as we observed Kev painting the lawn shed, and I referred to Kevy as the little guy, "he isn't so little". LOL He is a good worker and he has been finishing a steady stream of chores since he arrived. We squeeze in some R&R most every day.....but his idea of R&R is much different than mine. Val and I have put miles and miles on the mountain bikes (the neighbour lent us a bike for Kevy) with Kevy insistance we "go for a bike ride" whenever there is a "dry time" or "wait time" in his schedule. I find myself choking up every now and then, when, my mind takes me to regretting the time I gave to work rather than my Boyz. It takes a second to give my head a shake and snap mysel...

Hi yall, Val’s birth mother was here earlier in the week. Vera and her husband, Wayne and daughter Shannon (right) drove from Winnipeg and spent three days with us. I had only met the family once before, but felt positive we would have a good time. I was wrong… we had a GREAT time. They were absolutely smitten with our clandestine, peaceful little bungalow on Lake Erie and Vera announced she wanted to move here, Ha Ha Ha. I was really impressed when I saw Wayne had brought his sticks (he had invited me for a golf game when we first met) so I set up some tee times and we stole two days for golf. Travel day came all to early, and, before I knew it they were heading off to complete their vacation. It’s been hot hot hot here for two weeks and no let up in sight with forecasts of +30 all through the long weekend. It’s all good, eh? That’s what living on the lake is all about (but thanks be given for air conditioning…LOL). We spent every evening outside with our guests and the BBQ got a goo...

Howzit going, eh? Long weekend just around the corner..... Companys coming. Vals kin were supposed to be here yesterday but they wont arrive until tomorrow. Vals been twitchier than a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. The house is spotless and I have done every thing in my chore jar. I sent Val to town when she was told her kin were gonna be delayed. Her mood was heading toward something akin to when her lil feet hit the bedroom floor in the morning, the devil hisself is heard to say "Oh shit, shes awake". LOL. More company is coming in August. Kevin and Haley are flying in. Da Gar says he is gonna ride the train to Wpg and on to Windsor in August. Thats too long for me on the train, but da Gar is much younger than me. He sure is gettin continental...he was at Union school last month in Port Elgin and now Windsor. WhoooooWeee. My neighbour says we can use his jet boat this summer so we can tube and ski. That should be a gas....and my bike should be back on ...

Hi there.....the weather has been great this week. We cut down the trees in the front yard (remember the storm knocking one down into the neighbour's house?) and now have enough firewood for two winters. Well, one fer sure, keeping in mind Vals tendency to burn long and hot when wood is readily available. LOL The tree cutter (Kevin) and his Groundman (Martin) worked for 1.5 days and a handful of us did the log lugging and clean up and spent another day feeding a wood chipper to dispose of the cuttings. I have a whole trailer full of chips to dispose of. Any suggestions?? Kevin was like a tree ape with his spikes and his three chain saws, cutting and trimming and tethering branches and trees. Martin was a veritable library of knots, ropes,riggging, pulleys and leverage for lowering the limbs and branches and tree falling without once using a ladder or machinery. After s everal hours of catching branches and holding ropes, I asked if this was their vocation and, soon, learned Kevin i...

On July 1, 1867, Canada took its first steps towards official nationhood. It has grown and developed as a nation, and distinguished itself in times of both peace and war. Canada is widely recognized as a place of harmony, liberty and diversity and is routinely ranked as one of the best countries in which to live. And today is Canada's birthday AND my first day of retirement. Happy Birthday Canada

Just a quick post while languishing in a hotel room in Moncton. Its my last official week before I retire. I spend a few days next week handing over the office to my successor and teeing off with John and some employer colleagues (adversaries this week...LOL) who are treating me to 18 holes as a send off. The Windsor members (my adopted Union Lodge since leaving Winnipeg) had my beloved Val and I to the Union meeting last week and presented me with a plaque. Nothing really sunk in though, until, in the middle of an Executive conference call on Monday, when, the Chairman of the Board thanked me for the all my years of serving the membership. Flashbacks suddenly streamed by my mind's eye starting with the first time I was asked to steward a shift to administer the overtime work and do the calling.......over 25 years ago. I guess, after the call, I was noticeably time-travelling, because Val jarred me when she announced "has it finally sunk in?" It sure has. That is a lifeti...

Yawwwwwwn, Ohhhh I slept like a log. We just got back Saturday from almost 2 weeks of travel. I spent Father’s Day snoring on the couch. My beloved Val bought me a movie and some wine (was she hinting something???) for me to relax through the day, and, I fell asleep. A wee bit toooo relaxed, eh? My bad. Its ok though….we never sat still the whole 2 weeks (at my age, OY) and drove over a thousand kilometres (my Dads poor car) seeing the grandkids and attending my nieces wedding and catching up with Dennis and Bubba, grabbing some jerky at OG’s, brekky at the Salisbury House, meeting Val’s birth parent and spouse, meeting my sons girlfriend who flew in from Boston, as well as the usual/unusual family customs (and role in some work meetings to boot). The wedding was a grand event. It was outdoors and the weather cooperated (although wedding eve was looking calamitous) and everyone was dressed to the nines and all the kinfolk was well mannered and cleaned up nice. LOL It was off to Toronto...

My beloved Val and I took the customary 90-minute drive today to the Rez (Delaware First Nation) in Maroviantown to stock up on cigs for Val. It seems like only a few weeks since I made the last run. I took Joe’s son, Simon, with me last trip. I told him we were going to tour the tepees when we got to the Rez. Needless to say I was spinning a yarn to rev up his imagination for the ride, He was bummed when we got there and he saw the driveways filled with Hummers and Harleys instead of the stereotypical images I had yarned for him. I soothed his youthful imagination with a gift of a couple scratch tickets from the store(here he sits as we plan and map the best trail home). HEY…the Ontario Indigenous Nations do pretty good, trapping and hunting smokers and gamblers with $10 to $20 bags of smokes (200 in a bag). Considering a tariff carton is some $80 under the feds, the market is better than historically traditional sustainability for the Rez, and for smokers, its not a bad deal either. ...

Krystle's getting married next month. Going home for the wedding. Yup, going home. Its the first wedding of the Y generation of our clan. Krissie is my niece. Traditions have changes so much from us boomer's. I was the oldest sibling and I got married first and had the first kids.......lets see, Krystle is the second born, daughter of the third son in the lineage from my generation. What does that tell me?? That the Y boys are milking the cow for free. Anyhow, Cams birthday on Sunday. That would be the 28th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helen's. I sent him a singing card. I thought it appropriate, a graphic of a neo-audiophile settled in a recliner awaiting the assault of a wall of monitored and speaker equipped tunes accompanied by the melody of "Play that Funky Music". I inserted a Blockbuster gift card for two new releases of his choice. He will appreciate that more than treasures immeasurable. Grammy sent him a card depicting a neolithic humanoid a...

So, what is the price of gas in your neighbourhood today? I drove by the local gas bar (pictured facsimile) that borders the local dealers cartel (price fixing at its best) and it was $1.18. I slowed to pull in, but the pump area was a mirror image of the chaotic streets of Italy and Greece from my backpacking days of the 1970s. It had all the ingredients of the bumper cars in the summer fairs. I decided to drive by, when; I noticed the cabby’s from the neighbouring town also lined up for fuel. Well, that was a signal or omen I could not ignore. Speaking of high prices, if you have been paying any attention at all this week, you will have undoubtedly heard about raising prices in rice, milk, wheat, Soya and corn. OMG, I used to reel in revulsion at the thought of the marketeering of water. But the agri industrialist price fixers have taken a page from the petroleum marketeering hogs. The media reported that the rice producing countries were copying the neoglobal industrialist business ...

Well, the phone woke me up from a dead sleep in my hotel in Montreal. No getting back to sleep anytime soon. Dont you hate when that happens?? Gonna be a long night. Speaking of long nights....downtown Montreal is still a little skittish from the post game festivities after the first round festivities from the playoffs earlier in the week. Philly is in town tomorrow for the start of round two and the Centre Ville is beefing up security tighter than Independence Day in Baghdad .*cymbal crash* I don't get to leave town until Saturday (2 more nights) so I will keep my sorry self indoors this trip, thank you. Which brings me to current events..... This has been a hell of a month. The miracle is no one was hurt from these two pictures. Val rolled the car dodging a deer on the county road to town, and, a rare southeast gale off the lake blew my elm tree over onto the house next door. I am still trying to determine if rolling the car or my tree falling on the neighbours house,...

Earth Day 2008 is a memory......but what a memory. I was laying over in Winnipeg at my folks place when Ma announced we had to switch off the lights to save the planet. "Hey, I am all for saving the planet" I said, so, *click*. I spent the week working in Vancouver and crashed at my com padre Gerry's place. We went to the Casino in Coquitlam twice (we had good luck on an earlier junket) and the picture will tell it all. Nonetheless, after my work day was done, we did have a gas visiting his grandkids in their new house in Mission and commandeering the air-hockey game Santa gave his son Dan, and, watched Dan and Danielle riffing through Guitar Hero, while "us grampas" enjoyed the kids. It was a great evening. Its obvious, our age is getting the best of us. I remember a time when we would have frequented every road house and pub in the nearby neighbourhood, but now we run straight to the favourite neighbourhood Chinese restaurant for the dinner special. LOL. Work...

So like I am shovelling out the car from a drift at the lane where the mail box stands just before the road, FOR the third time today………when is it going to end???? Now I have to rush Val to work at the Kingsville grocery. Lets see, that means I have to revisit the drift on my return, and, one more round trip to retrieve Val after her shift. Oy-Ya-Yoy. I read somewhere, where spin-doctors were trying to remedy the “global warming” hysteria by re-coining the phrase to “climate change”. I tend to agree with the word smithies that love to hoodwink the masses with spinning the truth (or “Greenwashing” as its come to be known). I am hard pressed to believe there is a warming incline of Mother Nature’s planet. Speaking of greenwashing….BBC reported last week that Virgin Atlantic has flown a jumbo jet from London to Amsterdam fuelled by bio fuel derived from a mixture of Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts. But is this really green progress, or just greenwashing? Virgin Atlantic called the fli...