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.

Birthday With Dignity

Last year my family had fun at my expense when they portrayed me as 'coming out of the closet' in my birthday video. The movie was degrading. The movie was embarrassing. The movie was...okay it was funny.
Fortunately, my sister, Melbah Toasty, showed a little more sensitivity for my feelings this year. Don't you wish your family would publish videos like this for your special occasions? Ahhh, yeah...

Koh Tao 2

Koh Tao is a beautiful Island to relax on.

This rock behind me holds a Monogram inscribed when the King of Thailand first visited this Island. The Rock is considered sacred. Our Bungalow was just a few yards from this monument.

I spent a very relaxing day talking with Nicole, while it rained. It has only rained one day since I arrived in Thailand on February 5th. Nicole is from East Germany and saw the Berlin wall torn down. I asked her what it was like. She says it was exciting but she was only ten years old at the time so it didn't have the same impact on her as it had on her countrymen. She has travelled for several years and is certified in Scuba diving, Computer Technology, Thai Massage and speaks seven languages. When she's not relaxing she runs a small Country somewhere.
Nicole was also on the Beach the day the Tsunami hit Phuket. She says she had been sleeping in her hut and had just gone for breakfast when the wave came in. Her hut was totally gone and she would have died had she been in it an hour before.

This was Dennis's occupation on Koh Tao; holding the waves in place. His relatives insist I show him in the Blog every so often so they can keep an eye on him. He's still losing weight Angie, and is still a major chick magnet.

Litton is from Sydney Australia. He suggested the bungalow we stayed in. I love the serendipity of just meeting a traveller as you're walking down the path and he ends up giving you just the information you need when you need it.

I finally figured out the master plan of mosquitoes. It's not about biting. It's about recreating the stars of the night sky on my leg; one bump at a time...

These birds are exactly like the string of birds I talked about in the story: Calgary to Thailand in 2 Minutes. The psychic who gave them to me said they had belonged to someone who met the Dali Lama and that I will meet him too.

And here we have the turtle mascot for the Island.

We took a walk around the outcropping of rocks on our last day.

I never knew I could feel so peaceful as I did on this Island. Dennis and I would get up; usually very early and swim in the ocean, and dry off in the sun and drink coffee and cool down in the ocean again. Time just didn't mean a thing. I wish all of you that same sense of peace that I have felt here on Koh Tao.