Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Get an education!


Kids, stay in school! I know, I know, nag nag nag, but seriously.... Here's how my day went today:

Okay I'll back-track a bit, to when I arrived home after ten o'clock last night. It seemed oddly chilly in my house, and when I went to turn up the thermostat, I noticed that I could hear the furnace motor running but the fan wasn't on and there was no warm air being circulated. D'oh! A crapped-out furnace is NOT what you want to discover on a cool winter's eve. However I was tired and a quick visual and cycling of the power to the appliance didn't fix the problem, so I decided to don my flannel jammies and snuggle under my blankies for a shivery sleep and deal with it in the morning.

So now back to today. After I convinced myself to leave the warmth of my bed this morn, I did a little more troubleshooting and headed to work. I got on the phone early and dialed more than a few numbers before I was able to find a technician who had time prior to lunch for a service call. He could be there around 10:30? Great! According to google, the problem appeared to be minor, and I figured that would be ample time for me to run home and return for my 1:00 meeting. Well the 10:30 appointment turned into a 1:15 appointment, and I happened to leave my lunch back at my office. So while I was waiting, huddled next to my lame gas fireplace, I scarfed down some shortbread cookies out of the freezer. Needless to say, by the time the doorbell rang I felt like I was in a bit of a sugar coma, and I probably laughed out loud a little when I opened the door.

This fireplace is clearly just for looks!

Here is the part about staying in school:  In walks this teenager - in fact he didn't even look old enough to have a drivers license much less be a tradesperson - with his bucket full of tools and a big grin. Downstairs he went, and within about 4 minutes he had his hands inside the belly of the furnace and was asking if I had paper clip. I did not, but I was able produce a large safety pin, which apparently served the purpose just fine. Because within another 4 minutes, the thing was back together and fired up like a dream. He shut the furnace down and restarted it a second time, just to be sure, and then he put the one screwdriver he used back into his tool pail, handed me the safety pin, and ever so politely asked for $94.50.

Ninety-four dollars and fifty cents. For eight minutes worth of effort. Nice. And you know what? Who's NOT going to get their furnace repaired? What a smart career - run the numbers on how good of a living this young fellow is making, and I'm sure you'll agree.... Stay in school! It's worth it! Oh and keep a few safety pins handy too, cuz you never know when you might need one.


Cheers!


Cool fall days are upon us!





Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Another season done....


This past Thanksgiving marked the end of yet another fabulous season at Cooke Cove... Chris and I zipped to Shuswap Lake for an extra-long weekend, to enjoy one last blast of lake time and to help close up the cabin for the winter.


One of us is having fun, and the
other one, not so much??

Misty weather, the entire way.

One day, I will stop and take
a proper pic of this cute cabin....

On the lake! Woot!


Cooke Cove view.



Oy! First (and only) wound of the weekend.


Rain rain rain meant being creative with tarps!

The wood was a little damp... but at least no fire ban!


Finally got the fire burning.


Nothing better than a beach fire!



So much rain = tons of shrooms!




The Cookes!

Check out that park job.

My favorite Cooke!

You know the lake level is low when....


One last beverage before heading home.


The behemoth is beached for the winter.

The crew! Another great time at the lake.

The drive home.


Another Shuswap season is behind us....


The end of lake season is always a bit sad, but it means something else is just around the corner.... ski season! Yeah! Bring it!

Cheers!


Sunday, October 2, 2016

We care!


I am extremely proud to work for a company that is so involved in the community and encourages its employees to make a difference. Every fall, my employer kicks it up a notch with its Central Alberta United Way campaign.... last year was a record year for Nova Chemicals Joffre Site, as we raised nearly three quarters of a million dollars for charitable organizations.... But not only are the contributions financial, they are in the form of volunteer work as well - we call them 'Days of Caring'. And last week I was incredibly fortunate, and humbled, to be part of a group of workers from my plant who donated some good ol' fashioned sweat labor to a place out west near Nordegg called Camp Alexo. The camp is amazing - it sees 400+ kids every summer, most of whom are troubled and are really in need of some outside time combined with care and positive attention.

Several different tasks were assigned to us, and I ended up spending the day on the crew that chopped piles and piles of firewood (the Woodchucks is what we affectionately dubbed ourselves!).

Team breakfast! Thanks everyone,
for partaking in the day!

Goin' to camp!


How much wood, can the Woodchucks chuck??!






Ta da! We figure we chopped at
least two cords, maybe closer to three.



And there were lots of bits and pieces too!

What a bunch of posers! LOL!

The Woodchucks





Everyone else had an equally productive, incident-free day, and we all came away a little dusty and tired but feeling good about our contribution to such an important cause.

Thanks again to Jacki, Rick, Jason, David, and Jared for making lumberjacking so much fun!

Cheers!