Trixstir and I are in Calgary for a few days, having just arrived a couple of hours ago.  I'm here for training on the Kohler Direct Injection Diesel engine (KDI Diesel) starting on Tuesday, and Trixstir is here for her annual retuning and adjustment of her hearing-aids.  The drive out was relatively uneventful, other than (as usual) we were ( Read more... )

Today marked the final chapter in the story of my owning a bowling alley. We bought the lanes in February 2008, after the real-estate agent put the bug in my ear the previous Fall when we purchased the farm. Back then, the plan was that the bowling alley would be our prime business and source of income, supplemented by software work and ( Read more... )

First, wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the USA. Here's hoping that none of you are being forced to work today, particularly in retail. It's bad enough that there are these insane "Black Friday" sales, even worse that now some retailers are actually opening today and spoiling what one could argue is the biggest holiday in ( Read more... )

    This week has just been...  "bleah"....   It's been cold, miserable, with deadlines and debts looming, and no cash (or very little) coming in.  Computers acting up, things breaking, and a chest-cold that just doesn't want to get lost.  There were good parts too of course, but the stress is getting to me.  We haven't had much snow, thankfully, ( Read more... )

     The first snowfall warning of the season has been issued:

SNOWFALL WARNING IN EFFECT

Warnings
Shaunavon - Maple Creek - Val Marie - Cypress Hills
3:10 PM CST Friday 15 November 2013
Snowfall warning forShaunavon - Maple Creek - Val Marie - Cypress Hills issued ( Read more... )

Things have not slowed down at the shop at all this summer; equipment continues to come in on a regular basis, the U-Haul side of things is steady, and I continue to struggle to keep up with it all. I picked up another 16 clip-boards in Swift Current on the weekend because I've run out of free ones again. The trouble is the the current "job ( Read more... )

     While today was far from a perfect day, it was a vast improvement over yesterday.  I'm still totally swamped at the shop, and there's more work at the farm than I can keep up with, but things are getting done.  My credit-card payment (finally) went through, so I was able to pay my bills on time, save nearly $100 on shipping credits for doing ( Read more... )

    We got hit with one incredible storm last night.  It started around 8pm or so, with just some dark clouds, and a bit of lightning and thunder.  Nothing much, just a normal ho-hum summer thunderstorm.  Then things got bad, fast... I had seen the dark clouds and heard the thunder, so I hustled things that I couldn't leave outdoors back into ( Read more... )

     It seems as if the winter of 2012-13 is never going to end; Things were going well for a week or so there, but yesterday it started snowing again.  We've got about 4" of the nasty white stuff so far, and more is on the way.  As the temperature is actually fairly warm, this isn't the soft powdery stuff that easyily blows away - This is the  ( Read more... )

    The last entry was a quick one - just mentioning that I was cooking for the Elks that night.  The rib-fest turned out to be one of my best meals yet, and was received with great appreciation by the Lodge members and their supper-guests.  I'm just kicking myself for not taking more of the left-overs home, but let's face it - I really didn't ( Read more... )