Monday 31st May 2010…I like this and I am one!!!!

THE  CHALLENGED SENIOR
     I  thought about the 36 year business I ran with 1,800 employees, all without  a Blackberry that played music, took videos, pictures and communicated  with Face book and Twitter.
I  signed up under duress for Twitter and Face book, so my seven kids, their spouses, 13 grandkids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way.  I figured I could handle something as simple as  Twitter with only 140 characters of space.
That  was before one of my grandkids hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree, Twhirl,  Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twitterrific Tweetdeck, Twitpix and something that  sends every message to my cell phone and every other program within the  texting world.
My  phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything except the bowel movements of the entire next generation.
I am  not ready to live like this.  I now keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.
The  kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost every now and then going over to the grocery store or library.  I  keep that in a box under my tool bench with the red Blue tooth phone thing I am supposed to use when I drive.  I wore it once and was standing in  line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife.  Everyone within 50  yards was glaring at me.  Seems I have to take my hearing aid out to  use it and I got a little loud.
The  GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside was the most  annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time..  Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, "Re-calc-ul-ating" You would think that she could be nicer.  It was like she could barely tolerate  me.  She would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a  U-turn at the next light.
Then  when I would make a right turn instead, things got .  .  well  ..  . . it was not good..
When  I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the cross  streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the  GPS lady, at least she loves me.
To  be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our  house.  We've had them for 4 years, but I still haven't figured out  how my wife can lose three phones all at once and I have to run around  digging under chair cushions and checking bathrooms and the dirty laundry  baskets when the phone rings.
The  world is just getting too complex for me.  They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store.  You would think they could settle on something themselves but this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I  check out just knocks me for a loop.
I  bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused but I never remember to take them in with me.
Now  I toss it back to them..
When  they ask me, "Paper or Plastic?" I just say, "Doesn't matter to me. I'm bi-sacksual."
Then it's their turn to stare at me with a blank  look.

 

Thanks for sending it to me Chris…

Sara left this morning and I hope the weather improves for them because I know kayaking and camping in the rain is not fun…but I am sure they will have a great time.

I am heading back to Nanaimo for about 10 days…keep tuned in….

Sunday 30th May 2010… a quiet couple of days..

Sara arrived home in Duncan on Friday night and we spent most of yesterday getting her ready for her big kayaking adventure.  Tomorrow morning she and 9 other medical colleagues leave for a 9 day kayaking trip.  This is an annual event for them and they are going this year to a remote part of the West Coast of Vancouver Island.

So I will spend the days she is gone in Nanaimo catching up on visiting friends, cleaning Ramona and preparing for out trip to England on 11th June….wish all you a great Sunday!!!

Friday 28th May 2010…..In Duncan….

and waiting for Sara to get home from her long stint at work, she should be home by 8.30pm.

We have had some not May like weather lots of rain and gloomy skies but I did manage to cut the grass when I got here.

I was sent this photo by a friend, thanks Mike…..

and in the middle in the white is my dear friend Eileen, pictured with her is her daughter and her husband and his parents.  This was taken last week in Williams Lake.

Eileen and I go a long way back and she is a special and dear friend who has had more than her share of health issues, the last one being some weeks ago when she fell and broke her hip but happy to report she is much improved and getting about and she is really enjoying her new home, she moved to Williams Lake in December,b to be closer to her family…..wish you well Eileen.!!!!

Thursday 27th May 2010…well it had to happen eventually!!!!

Went to Chris’s house for a visit this morning and picked up my book version of this blog.  For the last 4 years Chris has taken the time and trouble(dealing with me) and made incredible books of all my blogs it is a very professional job and I do thank you Chris for all the work!!!

This afternoon I cleaned Ramona and de-frosted the fridge and took her to Eric’s house where she stays when I am not gadding around.  Eric lives on a beautiful acreage and Ramona is very happy especially when this animal is only about 30 feet away..

Eric thinks this is a pregnant female!!!

Poker tonight so we always go out to eat before we play and we came to this restaurant…

This is the place where I spent 14 years working and enjoyed every single day!!

The place still looks the same and I even spoke to some of my old customers..the only difference is that they are not very busy, we used to have line ups most nights…hard to believe that I have been retired three and a half years!!!

So I bet you are wondering what eventually happened????

Well

 

I

 

won

 

at

 

poker!!!!!

Here I am raking in some of the 41 dollars I won!!!!!!!!

Off to Duncan tomorrow to meet Sara…so all is well.

Wish everyone reading a great weekend….

Wednesday 26th May 2010..back in Nanaimo!!

I was planning to hike to the top of these falls this afternoon

but it was raining so hard and quite miserable  so Shannon Falls will have to wait for another time.  This was the drive to the ferry terminal..

As usual got the ferry with plenty of time to spare and now back home on the “Bank”.

So a great little road trip……spent time with wonderful friends….saw some incredible vistas…..Ramona was flawless…….750 miles with out problems…..spent 9 nights in Ramona…camp ground costs   ZERO!!!!!

My itinerary for the next two weeks is to go to Duncan on Friday and meet up with Sara who will arrive home after the long stint in Kyuquot and spend the weekend with her.  She then leaves on Monday for a 9 day kayak trip on the remote west coast of the Island with 9 women friends. The 11th June we leave for England…so I spend the next few days sorting things out and getting ready to see my family oh and did I mention we have tickets for one day at Wimbledon????

Wish you all a great weekend….

Wednesday 26th May 2010…on the way home again…

I am now in the library in Squamish..

Back to Tuesday morning woke up again to sunny skies after a great sleep and was on the road by 9am, saw some beautiful scenery on my way to Lytton.

Just outside of Lytton found the Cisco Bridges where the trains can turn around.

These next photos are of the Lytton Ferry, well worth a Google search.  It is a free 5 minute ferry on a cable/pulley type of vessel.  I must admit I have never been on anything quite like this.

These few photos were of a ranch I passed and the man invited me in to view his place….he was very friendly but I think his views were way over the HILL!!!

Another great vista!!

My next stop was Lillooet and the Old Bridge.

I then took the windy and steep road to Pemberton and here are some views…

This is the very rarely photographed lesser spotted white chested mountain warbler!!!!!

The next hike..

Who would have thought I would be hiking in the white stuff!!!!!

 

Ladies…. I know it is very hard for you but drag your eyes away from the incredible buff and tight leg to see the snow!!!!!!!

Now nearly at Whistler and my last hike of the day.

Sorry this photo was a bit blurry…

The trail was an easy one and the water falls were spectacular…I stopped and listened to the pounding and thundering noise… was quite special.

A few miles before Whistler I found this new building development and thought it would make a good place to spend the night.

I know I say it often but another great day and I even got to speak to Sara on Skype..she is getting excited she comes home on Friday!!!!

It is now Wednesday morning and I had a great sleep I have been lucky to find wonderful places to stop for the night…quiet, great views and no charge!!!

I decided not to stop at Whistler this morning and just outside the village on a safe two lane highway where I was able to pull over and stop safely I had a great thrill…….

This bear was not frightened and continued to chew grass the whole time.  He does appear to have two ear tags…the last bear I saw was on the way back from Gold River a couple of weeks ago when I was too slow, or the bear was too fast, for me to get to my camera….so this sighting was a stunning sight for me!!!

This highway from Whistler to Vancouver has undergone incredible road improvements for the Winter Olympics and this is one of the approaches to the town of Squamish..

There are two Provincial parks I want to stop at later today and I hope to be on one the late afternoon ferries back to Nanaimo…..will post again tonight….I am still on a high over that bear!!!!!

Tuesday 25th May 2010….beautiful countryside!!!!

Had a great drive yesterday after leaving Kamloops around 10am and thankfully my legs were not sore  after all those games.

This was my first stop..

So I went from Kamloops to Savona and Cache Creek then to Ashcroft and I spent the night just outside Spences Bridge.

I had read about a balancing rock just outside of Savona and managed to located it.

I found a rough path that lead to the base of the rock…

The rolling hills and lakes and rivers were very impressive and this was my lunch stop.

Along the highway on the opposite side of the road vehicles were slowing down for this….

being a city boy I love to see animals in the wild so when I could I found a pull off did a U turn and parked and walked very carefully and got these great shots!!!

Looks like Sara gave him a hair cut on his legs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

About 5pm I decided it was time to find a place to spend the night and just outside

I found the perfect place about 400 yards off the highway down a small path with a dead end where I parked for the night…as they say in real estate it is all about location, location, location!!!!

The next photos were taken from Ramona!!!

It was a remote and wonderful place to spend the night even the noise from the very frequent trains did not disturb me.

I meant to post this over the weekend… one of the birthday cards I received was from my special friend Ken, yes he is still a friend after sending me this supposed  image of myself!!!!!!

Yet again another incredible day!!