Oct 25 - a three way tie

I'm sure that it's happened before but I've never noticed. My indoor/outdoor thermometer, theweathernetwork.com and weathereye all read 34F. There is always ... but I cannot say that anymore ... there is USUALLY some variance. After all, they all have different sources. In REAL temperature (Jason & the guys tease me because I still run my life in Fahrenheit) that would be 1C.

Ok, it's not really earth shattering, but sometimes the smallest things catch my attention and/or amuse me.

Yesterday the weather was yucchy. There's no other way to describe it. Drizzle all day long, sometimes light, sometimes almost like rain. The temperature was a warm 58F yesterday morning, according to my indoor/outdoor and it wasn't screwed up because it was wet.

I puttered around ... after a conversation with Jason I tried to siphon some of the gas from the Bayliner, getting a couple of gallons. There is still more in there but the boat is on too much of a slope for me to get to the rest of it -- probably another 5-7 gallons. Oh -- the siphon isn't mouth-on-hose, it's a pump-like affair that I use to put gas in the boat from a container. It has an end that looks like a roadside gas pump and when you squeeze the lever to turn it on you're actually priming the siphon.

I moved some trash up to the garage; watched and kibitzed with Jason as he put guy wires on his tree, replacing the ropes that had been put there temporarily; refilled the inside woodbox; ... cannot think of what else I did.

Sandy spent a lot of time on the computer researching Bonaire; we nailed down what we're doing on that front. Interestingly enough, Ched had asked me a few days ago via email what car rental agency we were using. I had tried to find that out but could not find the credit card charge on Quicken. Well, yesterday's research discovered the reason for that -- the Sand Dollar rates (this is the hotel where we always stay) include hotel, unlimited shore diving, six boat dives and truck rental. Most people do as we do, rent pickup trucks. They're great for throwing your gear in the back. They rust out quickly with the salt water but better that than salty gear in the backseat of a car.

Ched had booked with an owners association website at the Sand Dollar, rather than the hotel/condo itself. I gave him a call and we chatted at length, probably more than a half-hour, about that and boating. He uses his boat -- a 22' Four Winns bowrider -- in the ocean off New Hampshire. That's the boat that we went out on at the end of the bike ride across the U.S. He's planning on going out today and has only put 100 hours on the boat this year. He says that he normally puts on 200 over the summer but the weather there has been like the weather here -- cool and wet. I asked him about New Jersey -- he always spends a couple of weeks with his Mom -- that was the best weather that he had all year -- hot and sunny. He still keeps his Hobie Cat in NJ -- I've been out on that with him in the Intracoastal Waterway.

It was good to catch up with Ched. I asked him about Diane and Rose -- they're still at Raytheon; Rose hasn't retired yet; Diane only had two kids. I always feel a little twang of guilt that I haven't caught up with them since retiring. Some day we have to drive north/south that way ... visit with Rob Ruppel in NH too ... life flies by.

Sandy also did some research on places to stay in Banff. As always, Abby is the issue. She didn't come to any conclusions. We'll also need places to stay for one night in Russell Manitoba on the way out and Brandon Manitoba on the way back. I've done some detailed work on our itinerary, and here's what it looks like, starting with our trip to NSB in two weeks:

Nov 10-11 -- travel to NSB (1475)
Nov 12-Dec 15 -- in NSB
Nov 26-Dec 2 -- Angelika in NSB
Dec 7-14 -- Jeffrey in NSB
Dec 16-17 -- travel to cottage (1475)
Dec 18-20 -- at cottage
Dec 21-23 -- travel to Edmonton -- cottage to Thunder Bay ON (680); Thunder Bay to Russell MB (663); Russell MB to Edmonton AB (594).
Dec 24-26 -- in Edmonton
Dec 27 -- travel Edmonton to Jasper (226)
Dec 27-31 -- in Jasper
Dec 28-30 -- ski Jasper
Dec 31 -- travel Jasper to Banff (179)
Dec 31-Jan 1 -- Banff ?
Jan 2 -- travel Banff to Revelstoke (176)
Jan 2-9 -- Revelstoke
Jan 3-8 -- ski Revelstoke
Jan 9 -- travel Revelstoke to Saskatoon (634)
Jan 10 -- in Saskatoon with Sue
Jan 11-13 -- travel to cottage -- Saskatoon SK to Brandon MB (382); Brandon MB to Thunder Bay ON (578); Thunder Bay ON to cottage (680).
Jan 15-17 -- at cottage
Jan 18-19 -- travel to Florida (1475)
Jan 21-26 -- David in NSB (arrives in FL on 19th)

There could be some small variance especially with the winter travel and I'm not 100% sure of David's dates. I believe that he flies into Orlando on the 19th and intends to spend a couple of days there before coming to our place. We'll likely celebrate Christmas with Jeffrey when he's in Florida; with Stef on the way up or down; with David on Christmas Day.

The numbers in parentheses are in miles, not kilometers, I needed to work that out so that we have "reasonable" travel days. Everyone's definition of reasonable is different of course and some of those days could turn out to be long days or different days if the weather doesn't cooperate. The north/south travel assumes our usual, i.e. overnight in Beckley WV. Also, that travel MIGHT also involve leaving the day before and staying overnight with Stef ... Sandy wants to do it that way so that we're not rushing out of here in the dark on closeup days ... and staying with Stef on the way back north. Closeup takes longer in the winter. I need Sandy ready to leave 30-45 minutes before our departure time so that I can drain the water and add plumbing antifreeze to toilets and drains.

We got together with Jason and Lorraine at their place just after 5pm and yakked until after 7:30. Sandy had gotten out some steaks from the freezer earlier but we decided to short-cut dinner and have the chili that I made a couple of days ago. That, some Naan bread and a salad made for a good & quick meal.

I'll be heading down to Britt for 10:30 Mass this morning. I was surprised to see the parish priest last week -- thinking, based on what I'd read in a diocese bulletin a couple of months ago, that he'd gone back to Scotland to tend his ailing mother. Then at the end of Mass he was thanking the parishioners ... clearly I'd caught the end of his tenure. There will be a new priest today. The church in Britt is fairly small although larger than Port Loring -- but always full. The Catholic community is very active. Contrast that with Port Loring where there are probably just as many Catholics but they don't attend Mass ... outside of the summer cottagers there are usually only 2-3 people in attendance. No wonder they've trimmed back all the off season Masses ... but then again, which is the chicken and which is the egg ?

I can just see definition of the tops of the trees across the lake. What caught my eye though is a star over those treetops which is probably a planet. It is very bright. Obviously there is some clear sky. That planet won't be visible for long. As I watch there is a gradual brightening. The joys of retirement -- stop to smell the roses ... no. Stop to watch the sunrise ... yes. The roses bother my allergies :).

That planet has doubled it's height over the treetops while I went back and made some mods to this blog. It's not an aircraft ... they move much quicker. It cannot be a satellite ... it's way too bright. It's not an airplane ... they move much faster. Hmmm. A UFO !

Onward !