Calgary Tweak

Calgary Alberta, Canada September 8, 2007

I'm in Calgary today with Duncan and we're tweaking this deck that we built last year. Suzanne and Steve are great people and we want to make sure they are really happy with this project so I've flown in from Waterloo and teamed up with Duncan; who I worked with last year; to make sure everything is just right here.This is one of my favorite projects of all time because we got to do so many interesting things. This lot has a big slope to it and so we built this multi-tiered deck to extend the living space. Then we built around these beautiful old trees
Our clients live in a beautiful old neighborhood and they say they are getting wonderful use out of the new deck. You can see other photos of this deck on my construction page.

Calgary Karma

I'm in Calgary taking care of some old business this week. I have some tools stored here that I am shipping to Waterloo. I am staying with my friend, Duncan. This is his faithful companion; Roxy. I enjoy being back here, very much. I even managed to have sushi with a woman I think of as a daughter; Sarah. I wondered what it would be like to talk with Sarah after being away so long, but it was great. We laugh and talk about the things that have happened in our lives. I tell her about my strange experiences in India and she tells me about her new home and how her new job at the bank gives her good challenges every day. I'm glad for Sarah because she is so bright and loves to learn.
I promised my friend Mac, that I would get my Lincoln Town Car out of his friend's driveway. I have been meaning to do it since I got back from India in April but I have been very busy getting my business going in Ontario. He and I team up on the last day here and drive the car to it's new home; Sarah's place. It's a strange feeling to watch Mac driving my old car for the last time. A lot of things have been accomplished this week. I feel like I've burned off a lot of karma on this trip.

Aw Canada Snow

Alberta Canada has been experiencing a cold snap for the last week. The weather report yesterday said it was -37 degrees Celsius. For some reason they like to add: "feels like -45."
Yes, it does.

My dear friend 'Aw' in Thailand says it is 'lawn jin jin' (very very hot) in Bangkok right now. She says she wishes she was here where it's cold. So for Aw's benefit I will go over a few tips for enjoying this wonderful Alberta weather.

This is me in the cold. The temperature is -33 degrees. Oh my God.

This is my car. I wasn't sure it was my car until I swept some of the snow off it to make sure. By the way, Aw thought it was funny when I told her I drive a 1985 Lincoln Town Car. 'So old Stevie'. But remember it's paid for and it runs.

Okay. Maybe it doesn't run. In Thailand they have Thai massage. In Canada we have 'battery hot tubs'. I didn't plug my car in last night so I had to take my battery inside to warm it up in the sink. And I did actually manage to start my car.

I don't want to go out today but I have to. Today I have an appointment with the International Travel Clinic to get some shots for my upcoming India trip.
I drove to the Travel Clinic where I got some wonderful advice. This is Mary-Beth. She's from the Philippines. She gave me shots in both shoulders and got me excited about visiting her country in the future. I had my consultation with Chris. He's from Northern India and we spent most of the time pouring over a map while he gave me great advice about how and where to travel.

After getting my shots and some very important information about what to do if I eat a bad chapatti, I headed over to see my fellow carpenter; Duncan. This is Duncan's dog; Roxy. This is how Roxy deals with the cold weather.

In Canada when it's cold, we eat. In this case, we had Ted Heller's favorite meal at Ricky's Restaurant; The Roast Beef dinner with Yorkshire pudding. 'Aroi mark mark' (very delicious).

At the end of the day I got a call from my friend Malcome (who sounds just like Raymond Burr). He invited me for dinner at the Olive Garden...where we had some more great food.

I had lots of adventures today but what I enjoyed most was settling in to my Monk's Cell in an unfinished basement room, where I'm staying for a few more days, and reading my Wilbur Smith book. All I kept thinking when I was reading was: 'I wish I was in Bangkok. It's too cold here'.