Friday, February 22, 2008

Me and Ben or Ben and I !

Well as you might see I am pretty bored with being off work when I should be there doing my job. So you get a couple extra posts on the blog. Today Ben was off school so I took him to my job and gave him the grand tour after I had picked up my new benifit pkg. I was able to show him a small part of every stage but it was too bad I couldn't show him the new saw while it was running. We then drove down to the store at Shawnigan lake where we bothererd aunty Claire for a bit then we drove to the quarry and went for a walk. We saw three eagles but they never came close enough to get a shot of them but I did get a few of Ben before he started feeling ill and we had to head for home. All three of us have been sick since Christmas time and as soon as we think we are getting better something else hits. Ben has had the worst of it because of his asthma.

The weather is fantastic today so it was nice getting out for a while. We had our bedroom window open all night as the low was only 5 and the high today was 11. Ben and I checked out a par 3 golf course that we were going to try this weekend but found out its closed for good as it was recently sold and will be removed for a commercial building. Maybe we will wait a week or two and try the one in Nanaimo. The bigger courses around here are all open and lots of people are getting out to enjoy it.



Thursday, February 21, 2008

part time job

Well its been slow at work recently and we haven't worked a full week in a while now. I had talked about looking for a part time job before but I've actually put out a few resumes. Today I was at Wal-Mart and have an interview on monday. No not as a greeter (I wish!) but I'm hoping it will be in the photography photo finishing dept. I'll take pretty much anything but I mentioned that because I kind of like doing that sort of stuff.

Another place I put a resume in was the local movie theater. They have been looking for a while now for part time help. I need to pay off the tv and then start saving for the trip to Ontario come July. I talked to the manager the other night and he said hed probably call this weekend.

Tomorrow is the 3rd or 4th friday off in a row and we only work half days wenesday and tuesday was a day off this week but I got called in for 6 hours. Next week they are calling for all half days. They also layed of 7 people with half of them probably not getting a call back. The owner and his brother both told me today not to worry because they have lots of work comming up its just builders take their holidays this time of year and the frost in the morning has slowed down concrete pouring so thats why it is slow.

On another note I went to poker tuesday night. I now know how this thing works. Every night you go you get points depending on when you get out. You also get extra points for knocking someone out and they keep a tally. In the future there is going to be a game where they take into concideration your points and will give you chips accordingly. That night you play for a spot on a big money game in Vancouver. The winner gets a seat and buy in to a championship game of poker that will be air'd on tv. My buddy came in second the other night and is in the top 10 if not the top 5 people with the most points. My buddy had the last guy beat on the flop and went all in. The other guy called with a small pair but got 2 running cards on the turn and the river to give him a straight.

Well thats all for now time to go study for my interview!

Here are a couple photos of the Luner Eclipse from the other night. I just caught the last part as it had said on the news it was too cloudy in B.C. but someone came in and told us that you could see it for a lot of the time as clouds were going past it quickly.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Hard to come up with a title

I come on here once in a while thinking about doing a post but don't really have any one thing to talk about. So I try to come up with a title that will sum up what I'm going to type about but a lot of times I just don't end up doing a post. This is one of those times.

Nothing really new here. We are a family of sick people. Other than trips to the grocery store and to work we haven't done anything. I never ended up going to poker Tuesday night as I started coughing and couldn't stop so decided I wouldn't share it with a room of strangers. Feeling a wee bit better so hopefully this tuesday I will go.
Patty's son Adam calls everyday to talk to his mom about his thoughts on the baby that will be comming in a few months. He is nervous but excited. Patty is pretty excited about it and wants to get healthy so she can go baby clothes shopping. Woo hoo more shopping lol.

Now Patty has three sons and they are all pretty good kids. When I first showed up on the scene Adam was a bit of a different kid and it was hard to try and get to know him. He bassically lived in the basement with his computer and came up when called for dinner but would eat and dissapear. Once in a while we would bump into each other in the middle of the night when I couldn't sleep because of graveyards and he would be up to grab a snack and hit the washroom. He was always nice and would say hello and ask how my day was. The only time I felt any negative feelings was when he informed us he was moveing back to Kelowna and his grandmas place. It was more the way he did it and not that he was doing it. I felt he had hurt his mother but I thought it would do him good because he had no friends here because they were all back on the mainland. The morning he left he woke me up to say goodbye and we had a nice chat. I'm glad he did.

Eventually Adam and a friend or two had decided to move back to the island. Patty asked me if it would be ok for Adam to stay here a couple weeks till they could find a place to stay and get some jobs. Of course I had no problem with it because I love my wife and that is one of her sons. He really wasn't a bad kid and it all worked out better than you could have imagined. Ben kept teasing me that both his brothers would be back sooner or later.

I have to tell you that the Adam that returned was a lot different than the one that left here in January. He seemed to socialize with us a lot more and eventually got a job here and gave us some money for board to help us out. I used to go pick him up at a friends after I had gotten off work and we had some good conversations. It was nice having him around and I really didn't mind helping him out or doing favours for him. In a few months you could see that he had started to grow up and come out of his shell. Eventually he moved to Langford near Victoria with his friends and we looked forward to going for a visit. The odd time he would give us the bums rush because he had plans and didn't want the old folks hanging around getting in the way. Then Adam changed again and for the better when he started dateing Mary who shared the condo with him and another friend. She is a beautifull young woman and you can see it in their eyes how happy they make each other. We went to visit a few times and they came here a couple weeks ago to enjoy a home cooked meal by chef Kevin. Sphegetti and home made meatballs and garlic bread. We enjoyed it while watching a movie on our new big screen tv and topped it off with pie and icecream. Patty and I discussed after they left how happy they seemed together. In fact the only reason I've gotten a photo of Adam is because Mary had talked him into it. He always hid when the camera came out. Patty had always said she wouldn't be surprised if they got married or that the pitter patter of a grandchilds feet appeard. And so it has!!! Or will soon. I know from watching Adam and Mary that they will be wonderfull parents. Patty and I are less than an hour away and we will both help them out how ever we can. They are talking about getting married this summer in Tofino and that should be fun. Patty told them not to feel pressured but they both said that its what they want to do.

Congratulations to Mary and Adam on your recent engagement and the announcement of a little one that will be along this year. They believe it will be October which just happens to be the same month as both of their birthdays.

There was news today that the main hwy through the mountains is open again as of today. It was closed because of an avalanch and the possibility of more. Hopefully in a few more weeks the weather on the mainland will be good enough that Patty and I can go visit her father. I'm sure she would like that and I'd really like to meet him.

I had no idea all this was going to come out here. Sit in front of the computer with a bottle of pepsi and just open up the mind. Who knows what else lurks in my mind waiting to come out.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

some ramblings without photos

Well I'm not sure yet if I'm going tonight or not because I've got that super virus thats going around. Last week someone told me about a poker game thats free but you get points and could earn a seat in a big money on tv game so there are no prizes. Lots of regulars that are pretty good card players. I checked it out and loved it. After I got out I found a game for 10 bucks under the table because no gambling liscence at this bar. I played pretty well but came in 5th out of nine. One of the guys in that game was the guy from work that had told me about it. He has won seats to 3 different tournaments. No limits in BC, a set limit game in BC and he won seats to one of the degree tournaments that was in Niagara falls a couple years ago. Big name players and the game is on tv after a few rounds. Its funny how people played against him giving lots of respect for who he is. On the other hand I didn't and he put me out of the game in the end. He said he liked the way I played and I told him I just got some good cards and they lead me. I'm going to take a shower and eat dinner and then I'll decide if I'm going or not. Its only a half day tomorrow so I might go because I can rest when I get off work.

Now here is something no one ever would have thought they would hear from me. I'm going to be a grandpa!!!!!! Last night Patty's son Adam called to tell his mom that his girlfriend Mary is pregnant. He was worried she would be mad but we had disscussed the possibility of this happening recently. When he started off with don't be mad she thought hed been arrested or lost his job or something so she was very relieved to find out it was only the fact she is going to be a grandma. He is nervous but sounds pretty happy and we told him that we are here for anything they might need.

Adam told Patty last night that they will probably get married and she said don't think you have to rush into it. They had already been discussing that before the baby on the way came into the picture. Today he called to say that he had put a downpayment on a ring and had gotten down on his knees to propose and she said yes. I got to talk to him for about 15 minutes before Patty got home and he seems real excited. They are thinking about a real small wedding on the beach in Toffino this summer. We just have to inform him that July is already taken.

Well thats all for now I'm heading down to make supper, then maybe off for a night of poker.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

For my wife!!

I was hoping to find a way to link to the file on another web site without linking to the web site. I couldn't figure it out so if you want to see a slideshow I made for my wife you have to go to the raiders web site to a hidden page I've made.

For Patty

Thursday, February 07, 2008

stuff

Well yesterday was Patty's birthday but it wasn't such a good day. First Ben passed out at school in wood working class due to an asthma attack. They called an ambulance and Patty had to cancel work to go to the emergency for a few hours. She actually beat the ambulance so was a little stressed wondering where it was and how Ben was. The nurse told her that mothers beat the ambulance to the hospital a lot. Ben is home and doing good but has some new medicine with steroids to help him get better.

Then last night after we had just gotten into bed (after watching American Idol) Patty received a call from her sister. Last week Patty's dad had a heart attack and went to the hospital in Merrit. They then shipped him off to a bigger hospital in another town. Natalie told Patty that they had opened her fathers chest up to drain fluid from around the heart and found some cancer in his lungs and behind his heart. So Patty's dad has to go home and recuperate after the surgery before they will start radiation treatment for the cancer. I haven't met Patty's father yet but I hear he's one tough cookie. I hope he gets well soon and beats this bout of cancer. It sounded like he had cancer before from what Patty told me. If the weather wasn't so bad in the mountains which you have to drive through to get there we would probably be going this weekend.

Patty just came in from work and told me she called her dad today and he's doing fine. He was told it wasn't a heart attack after all it was the fluid from the cancer causing the disscomfort. They are doing some tests to see just where the cancer is.

Its a wee bit slow at work so we get a long weekend this week. They had one last week but I went in for fork lift training and to help the maintenance guy work on my machine. I lost about an hour last week.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Canuck Game

Well I'm finaly getting around to do another update. I've been moved to day shift for a few weeks and it has screwed my schedule up pretty good. I'm wide awake at 4am. I leave for work at 5:30am. I get home before 3pm and I'm falling to sleep at around 8pm while trying to watch tv with the family. My wife helps drag my butt upstairs to bed and we watch some tv for about 15 minutes for me but I have her set it to turn off in an hour cause I like what we are watching. I never see the end of it. I usually wake up around midnight then again 2am but luckily I go back to sleep. the first couple days I was awake at 2am for good.

I'm playing with my camera now and then and bought a little desktop studio with a nice background and two photo lamps to take pictures of small objects. Here is an example or two...





The last one reminded me of something. I haven't been eating McDonalds lately and I see they have mini hockey sticks. Not on a diet just trying to stay away from crap for a while. If some one could get me a Luongo stick I'd gladley pay for it. Even two of them would be nice. Email me and I will send you the cash.

Lastly here are a few photos from the game Patty and I saw two weeks ago. We had a blast and spent too much money but I would do it again in a second. Even the Ikea wasn't too bad and Patty really enjoyed it like someone would enjoy Disney Land LOL. Now they don't allow long/telephoto lenses so I left it at home but I went down to the glass durring warm up and the last 2 minutes of the game.