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Not so unusual except that he used Skype. It was costing him (he called our land line rather than my computer) fractions of a cent/minute — cheaper than calling (regular) long distance in Canada. About the only problem was that the connection seemed to be half duplex; that is, if one of us tried to interrupt then the other person couldn’t talk for a brief period. I’ll have to dig out the headset and try giving him a call.

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I used to think barking dogs in a backyard meant a negligent owner. Now that I have a dog I know that things might be different. Our dog wants to go outside every so often just to run up and down the yard and bark at everything or nothing. He’s happy breathing and wagging his tail after this show of exuberance. It’s a dog thing I guess. Or maybe a soft-coated wheaten terrier thing.

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My younger son won a Science and Technology award for “the best newspaper or magazine article which demystifies technology”. Son and proud mother are pictured.

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A person tried to merge into our car when our son was driving one evening. No-one was hurt and the car was drivable That person claimed it was my son’s fault and, I guess, this guy was near home because the father and a friend joined in to confront my son. He got in the car, locked the door and called the police on his cellphone for advice. There was a witness and my insurance company says the other party admitted being at fault so we don’t pay the deductible. Those few scratches across front and back fenders and two doors amount to almost $4k of repairs.

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One of my youngest cousins got married on the weekend. I did try and take some pictures after the ceremony but the selector button pointed at P instead of AUTO. I fixed this and took some pictures at the reception:

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My Dad passed away this Tuesday in Vancouver of pancreatic cancer. I had the fortune to have been invited as special surprise guest to my brother’s 50^th birthday party by my sister-in-law Rosemarie. So we had the party and then my brother Tom and I visited my Dad during what turned out to be his last few days. I’m glad we chatted and I gave him a hug. Now I’m the only Jim Service in the immediate family — kind of sad that there won’t need to be a Jr. appended anymore.

He is survived by five children: myself, Tom, Jane, Bob and Chris, their spouses: Julie, Rosemarie, Dan, Chrissy and Sharon; one wife and 3 ex’s: Helen, Helen, Jean and DJ; and thirteen grandchildren: Ian, Stuart, Alexis, Nicolia, Rhea, Kyle, Ryan, Nicole, Crawford, Holly, Alex, Sarah, Emma. There are also some step-children and step-grandchildren; however, I either don’t know or can’t remember all their names.

We were working in the same company, Ontario Hydro, for fourteeen years though he didn’t actually do anything to have me initially hired there. The closest we ever got was when I was on rotation as a Trainee Engineer in the same division. Otherwise, we worked at two different locations. So, we were both, nominally, electrical engineers. I tended to use and program computers and he managed to avoid ever having a computer prior to his retirement in 1991.

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After several weeks, Finnegan’s owners know how to give treats and, in return, the dog does “sit”, “down”, “stay”, “come” and “heel” among other things. Finnegan learned by himself that when this owner gets the small bowls from the cupboard and the scoop from the drawer means that ice cream will be served and he’ll get in some licks. He also knows that if my son or I are peeing in the toilet then, very shortly, there will be fresh cold water after the flush.

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Mom needed a receptacle on her balcony. I drilled through the wall with a 16 inch bit in my hammer drill. Problem: wall is 18 in. thick, brick veneer and two layers of concrete with an empty (?) middle part. As best I could I projected a spot inside for a mating hole and drilled. Then tried two more. I couldn’t see daylight. I figured there must be some opaque insulation in between those two layers of concrete. After much poking I managed to get a stiff wire from the inside to the outside and pulled a 3 conductor wire and telephone cord (with modular jack) through the holes. The major problem was the hollow middle wasn’t as wide as the concrete parts so, in the end, it was sheer luck that I managed to bend that wire enough to find the outside whole from one of the inside ones.

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My father makes the ¾ century mark today.

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She was born to my sister-in-law and half (only in a family relationship way, certainly not height) brother last Friday. Now the generation span from my oldest son to my youngest niece spans over a quarter century!

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My brother teaches “middle school” near Chiang Mai in Thailand. I thought his recent travelogue was quite interesting.

We’re on the last leg of the trip, the ferry ride from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi. We’ve run into a bit of a squall so if my writing is worse than usual it’s the waves and wind to blame. St far the trip has been uneventful. I can’t say I enjoy checking in 49 people at an airline counter, but they were very efficient and at least the kids didn’t have to stand in line. We should be arriving in about ½ hour and then we’ll have a 15 minute walk to our bungalows (five only). Just about everyone changed into shorts when we got to the ferry dock. The long pants had been nice on the train though as they always have the aircon cranked up high. Most of the grade 10’s actually tried to sleep on the train which was more than could be said for the grade 8’s who shared one of our cars (Thankfully not mine). Once we check in we’ll take the kids down to the beach for a run around and a swim. I don’t think that they’ll give us a lot of trouble tonight as they’ll be so tired.

Happy Valentine’s Day

I had to get up last night at 1:15 a.m. to knock on the bungalow door of some young tourists because they were singing ABBA songs at the top of their voices. My students were great. I lodged a complaint with the resort owner this morning and she wondered whether it was one of my students? DUH! Would I complain to her if it was one of my students? This morning fortified with two strong cups of coffee and a banana pancake I’m off on a two hour hike (climb) with a group of 12 students. We’ll also be abseiling (climbing down a cliff using ropes, then snorkeling. Got to go now and brush my teeth.

20 Feb – Well my good intentions went out the window. Time was not always available and then this book got wet due to spray from the waves. So I’m safe and sound back in Chiang Mai. The trip was a success and there were no major problems. Lots of sunburns, a few coral scrapes, slivers, but overall great fun. I’ll now try to back up and go day-by-day starting back on Tuesday.

Tues

We set out in 4 different groups on a hike. The groups were staggered at 1 ½ hour intervals which meant we had to entertain group 3 & 4 for the morning. Luke (the staff member who was in Phi Phi during the tsunami, where he lost his brother) took the late starters on a tour of the village showing the students where the water came up to, and generally answering their questions in a very matter of fact manner. I missed out on that talk but got informal ones as the week progressed.

I was with group #2 so we started hiking at 9:30. Phi Phi is karst topography like HaLong Bay(in Vietnam) so the hike involved a lot of steep climbing. We had a number of great view points en route and experienced a part of Phi Phi that few tourists would visit. Abseiling was down a vertical crevasse about 20 metres—about half way down the rock face your feet are on [a] receded [surface] and one had to lower oneself down about 3 M then turn around and put one’s feet on the wall that had been behind at the beginning. I had done abseiling many years ago so know the basics. The students found it thrilling. I just felt that it was a long wait for a short trip. Scrambling down from the base of the sheer cliff to the beach we realized how high we had gone earlier in the morning. Most of the kids had dirty butts by the time they reached the beach because they slid most of the way down.

At the beach we met up with the first group and our lunch. Lunch was very welcome as was the water. Although we all carried water on the hike it was used up long before arrival at the beach.

After lunch we snorkeled off the beach. This was the best snorkeling I had ever done up to that point. There were lots of fish, coral, sea anemones with clown fish, lobsters, sea urchins, sea horses. It was great! We fed the fish pineapple and I was able to get over some of my fear. The tunnel vision, the fish nibbles all made for concentrated relaxation exercises. I found it very difficult to dive down and swim underwater because I would immediately experience shortness of breath. I snorkeled until I got leg cramps, took a break, drank some water, ate some more then snorkeled again. By about 4:30 we climbed into a long tailed boat to go back to our bungalows. Phi Phi Don is shaped something like a dumbbell. The handle in the middle is sand with coconut trees and lots of development. The tsunami went right across the sand bar (from both sides). We took the long tailed boats from Monkey beach, (yes, we saw monkeys) to the shallower bay. This bay used to be all sand but the tsunami brought in lots of coral chunks. We got there at low tide and the boat had to drop us about 100M from the water’s edge. Luckily I had my flip flops in my backpack so I was able to walk fairly easily over the broken coral. Most of the students had to slowly pick their way in. I actually ended up piggy backing some students to make it easier on them.

Wednesday

In the morning we walked over to the Phi Phi Island public school to do some community service. They had a ground floor classroom (2 storey L shaped building) filled with what looked like the remains of two or 3 wooden outbuildings that had been destroyed by the tsunami. The school is hoping to add M1 & M2 (grade 7 & 8) next year but are not allowed to build (only resort owners have enough money to pay the bribes to get around the no building banns imposed in the wake of Dec.26 2004) It took all of us about 1 ½ hours to empty the room and for many of the kids it was their first experience with any form of manual labour. All the kids pitched in and genuinely felt positive about their efforts. After lunch we grabbed our overnight bags and jumped on an old wooden boat. Before we left, actually before boat started, Andrew, our guide on Phi Phi, tried to explain rules of the boat. #1 Don’t jump off the boat if it’s moving, #2 the toilet is a sea toilet which empties into the ocean so don’t go if the boat has stopped. Then the engine turned on and it was impossible to hear. We took the boat up past Phi Phi Don, past a pod of dolphins up the Mosquito Island where we did some open water snorkeling on a reef that was about 3 M below the surface. Again great sights! We also had fun jumping off the top deck into the water. From there the boat took us to Bumboa(sp?) Island where we were to camp for the night. The boat was too big to get over the reef so students had to be ferried in a long tail boat. Or they could swim to shore. I chose the swim and was rewarded by seeing a couple of stingrays. The swim in was fine until the reef where it took us a few minutes to find our way through. (Again we’d arrived at low tide.) The island is part of a National Park as are all part of the Phi Phi chain but this one had a park office which rented the tents and foam mats. We had asked all the students to bring a sheet or sleeping bag but there weren’t really necessary. Come night time we just crawled in and went to sleep. There was a beautiful breeze which swept the mosquitoes away and made for a pleasant sleeping temperature. The island campground boasted two showers and two toilets which meant that you lined up for a shower or didn’t bother. I was smart and grabbed a shower right after arriving while the students were still playing house in the tents. Meals were simple but hearty: rice, fish curry, chicken curry and fruit. The Adventure Club, the group that arranged things for the trip treated us well and even put on a performance (Fire Dancing) on the beach.

Thursday

Woke to the sound of waves and the sea breeze in the trees. We did a couple of group challenges after breakfast, one where the students had to use two wooden poles to carry all team members back and forth over a small field. The kids had a great time and attracted the attention of all the tourists who had arrived with morning high tides. Around 11 a.m. we climbed into the big boat. High tide meant that it could come right up to the beach. Destination Phi Phi Ley (small Phi Phi Island. This island had some beautiful coves with sheer rock walls and tiny white sand beaches littered with trash from all the groups that come through. Such a waste. Snorkeling this day meant swimming along side a rock wall which extended after a small shelf deep into the water. The shelf and below were covered in both hard and soft coral. By this time I was a relaxed snorkeler and we much more able to hold my breath and dive down to inspect things. The first group saw 5 sharks (alas I was in the third group) But we did see a banded sea krait(snake) about a metre long, flattened tail which acts as a paddle, and highly venomous. Although as lethal as a cobra it’s mouth is so small it would have to bite you on the web between your fingers to actually be able to latch on. I now see why people spend so much money on dive trips. It’s a whole other beautiful world down there. We had swum along with the current and the boat had moved to pick up but still I had to swim against the current. With flippers not a problem. As I neared the boat I heard a few students and teachers yelling my name in warning…jellyfish? Shark? No someone had broken rule #2. That’s the sea toilet rule. In other words there were a couple of logs floating off the stern of the boat. I was a lucky survivor, a couple of minutes later someone swam right into one. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

For our last evening we tried to get the kids in one restaurant but it didn’t work out which was just as well because the service was slow and the food mediocre at best. The kids had time to do a little last minute souvenir shopping then bed.

Friday

Our ferry was to leave at nine so it was a scramble from the moment we got up to get 44 students checked out and fed. The teachers had to get take-away breakfast because we were short on time. The ferry left a little late which was a problem because we had a 12:50 flight and had to be at the airport by 12:000 at the latest to check in. I had a few worried phone calls on the ferry. When we docked in Phuket I had kids jump off the ferry and onto the first van and we sped off to the airport on the opposite side of the island (Phuket is Thailand’s largest island) We made it with time to spare. Then it was a short flight to Bangkok, a 4 hour wait, then our overnight train home. I’ve never been on a train in Thailand that arrived on time. This trip it was on time both ways.

Well this concludes my travelogue.

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Last night it finally felt like Christmas after spending a quiet evening and this morning with my aunt and uncle (the U.C. minister). Considering he has been in the hospital for a couple of months and that December 2005 might have been his last time in the land of the living: quiet is good. I had the pleasure of walking their dog (a 10 year old golden retriever and former seeing-eye dog) and my own last night. I had the displeasure this morning of picking out a dozen or so kind of burr I hadn’t seen before. It was pine cone shaped, about 2 to 3 cm long with sharp points. My dog got them in bushes next to the sand at the beach in Port Hope.

This might be the first Christmas Eve in 30 years I may be in bed before Christmas. We aren’t going to a Christmas Eve service, we aren’t participating in one, I don’t have to assemble a bike, sled or hockey net. Quiet is good.

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• We wondered why dog “boots” are sold. Now we know! At around the freezing point the little snowballs accumulate. They are as difficult and tedious to remove as burrs; however, unlike burrs, we can just let the snow melt. After this picture I put him in the kitchen and closed it off until the snow melted and I could dry him off and mop up the floor. He gets snowballs on his face, too, as Finnegan likes to poke his head into every snowy footprint or just sniff in the snow as he walks along.
• Thanks to Christmas family letters I have learned that one of my cousins has separated from his wife, another had a baby girl on the same birthday as my brother, Aug. 28, 2005, and yet another has bought her first house next door to her Mom’s. That way she doesn’t need to buy any tools, lawnmower, rake, BBQ, shovel, etc.
• Last night our choir, The Bell’Arte Singers joined with the children of the York Region Children’s Choir to present a Christmas concert. Grace Church on the Hill was packed.

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And I’m not talking ukulele-tuning!

The groomer found a few fleas on Monday. We got $100 worth of dog flea treatment and residual spray for the rugs and furniture from the vet. I have now vacuumed and sprayed the first and second floors. I’ll do the basement tomorrow. And our nine-month old puppy has had his first cutaneous dose. Apparently now he is a flea-killing machine.

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I was going to write a lot today about Thankgiving but the cold tearing my eyes is making monitor viewing a bit of pain. In brief, my wife and I served 20 of her family yesterday. Today I have been through more than a box of kleenex already. I believe I should sleep for a couple of days…

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Today I did something my father never did for me: I helped my son prepare two second story wood windows at his house in Guelph for painting. We removed the loose and flaking paint and I caulked around the outside and applied a coat of primer to each. It appeared to me that the windows had never been painted since they were installed when the house was new, perhaps a decade or more ago. There were no traces of paint on the plastic slide part of the inner window. Perhaps you can get away with this on the south side of the house—the wood drys out too fast to rot. But they did look terrible with the peeling paint and greyish frames.

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Literally! We have had two vendors in to give us estimates, a third tomorrow. Looks like it’s going to cost us 7 to 9 grand if we decide to get the L/R bay, kitchen and three family room windows replaced.

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We celebrated my Mom’s 75^th birthday about a month after the actual event at her request. My brother Robert is back from Thailand with his family for the summer break and my niece is visiting from Victoria. Though I took lots of pictures I present just the “family portrait” ones for now. I hope to get the others up soon.

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My older son dropped in with his darling girlfriend. Our dogs had a great time playing in the backyard. Later I actually had supper and conversation with my younger son. That, to me, is good father’s day. I remember my first father’s day. Back in 1981 I had to leave early Sunday morning for a field trip. I got a “Number 1 Dad” T-shirt and, since I was working at a thermal generating station, I could wear it that day.

Since my father left when I was 13, I don’t have memories of a Father’s Day with my dad. I haven’t heard from him in several months though I did send him a card recently for his 74^th birthday.

I spent part of the day planting the second of two serviceberry bushes my older son brought yesterday evening. I took advantage of the long evening twilight and planted the first last night.

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Finnegan was getting rather ripe. I figured the only way to get him bathed was to put on my bathing suit and take him in the shower with me. This worked OK though Finnegan did a lot of slipping and sliding: two feet with skin beats four furry paws in the traction department this time. Lots of fine clayey dirt in his hair and feet went down the drain.

He didn’t like the hair dryer. In fact I had to take a second shower after he emptied his bladder and then some on me during that episode. I think I’ll have to get him used to the noise by just turning on the hair dryer every so often while I’m in the kitchen doing other things. After all, he just ignores the noisy coffee grinder.

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I couldn’t resist the Broadwayesque pun. Happy Birthday to my brother who teaches in the Chiang Mai area in Thailand. Hugs and kisses to him and all his family.

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Today, we put down a deposit for a male Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier puppy. We visited the breeder and saw a litter of puppies and young “Mikey,” a three-month old returned because a family was “allergic.” We met several of the dogs: all very friendly—I have lots of kisses on my face. At this point we are waiting to hear if we get a puppy in a few weeks or the three-month old almost immediately. Now will have to get the gear: crate, leash, toys, food, dish, etc and choose a name. For the moment, I like Fugue.

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The event was quiet — just like me. We spent the evening at my older son’s place in Guelph among the 3 cats, 2 dogs, budgie and various aquatic wild life. My older son’s partner cooked a great meal (thanks, Brianne) and my wife baked my favourite cake (angel food with a delicious, sweet and gooey corn syrup / egg white icing from Edna Staebler’s Food that really schmecks). My younger son put in an appearance though he had to leave early in order to make another phone call / interview for one of his college journalism courses.

Now that I have reached the half-century mark it really doesn’t seem as old as I thought it was going to be when I was a young lad back in the 20^th century.

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A very happy birthday to my older son.

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My sister turns one year better today. Only five years to go until the half-century mark. Hey, wait a minute, I’ve only got 20 days to reach that milestone—gimme that walker!

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I went downtown and picked up my baby bro' at our Mom’s and drove him to the airport this evening. He has to back teaching in Thailand on Monday. My sister-in-law, nephew and niece will follow next week. Anyway, I had to drive the car in to work. Ugh! It was snowing and very slow going. I went for a run at lunch time: the first time I’ve had rain freezing on my jacket and glasses. Fortunately the snow and rain stopped in the afternoon and, I guess, everyone went home early. I made it to my Mom’s in “non rush hour time” and out to the airport, again, in “non rush hour time”. I left work at about 4:15, grabbed a quick bite to eat and was home before 7 p.m. My brother said it wasn’t necessary to come in the terminal with him: he said he’ll be pretty antsy until he has checks his two large suitcases, gets his boarding pass and goes through the security check. I wasn’t going to argue since short term parking at the airport seems to be at least a tooney every 15 minutes.

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My youngest brother, sister-in-law, 5-year-old nephew, and 5-month-old niece stayed at our house for a couple of days in a round of family visiting that’s lasted for almost three weeks for them. My nephew is so cute: he led us in Christmas carol sing-a-longs for two evenings. We all accompanied on my wife’s selection of Orff instruments. And my niece, she’s a darling, starting to smile and vocalize and just adorable. My nephew thinks Canada is a great destination: He got presents at every stop. He’ll surely be disappointed next Christmas when the family spends it in Thailand where my brother teaches.

Though it only be just after 9 p.m. I’m ready for bed: a) because we gave our bedroom and queen-size bed as the room could fit an extra single bed and sleep a family of four with their own bathroom, b) we slept in the double bed in my study but mostly c) because I had to get up an hour and a half earlier than usual to go back to work after two weeks of vacation and holidays.

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In typical “by the shores of Lake Ontario” fashion, there’s a crust of freezing rain forming on the 20 cm of so of snow that fell during the night. It was tough slog to shovel this morning due to the weight of the snow and ice. Though I worn a rain jacket over a sweater, I was soaked to the skin.

Yes, I could write a family newsletter; however, images are so much better. Last night’s pics of the family get-together at my sister's place are available courtesy of my older son and his digital camera. Special guests: my brother and his family back from Thailand. Missing: my young nephew Crawford, with his timezone still in the Pacific Ocean somewhere, went to bed, younger son went to gf's family Christmas on account of they (her family not my son) are leaving for Mexico today (weather permitting ).

Brianne, Dan, Jane, Jim, Holly, Mom
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Brianne, Jane Laughing
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Chrissy, Danny
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Chrissy, Ryan, Nikki, Brianne, Julie, Jane
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Christmas Tree, Julie
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Dan, Mom, Julie
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Dan, Mom
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Dan Laughing
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Grandma Dorothy
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Holly, Ian, Julie, Ryan
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Holly, Robert, Jane
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Holly, Robert
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Holly, Robert-profile
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HollyAnd Alligator
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Jane, Mom
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Jim, Julie, Ryan, Nikki
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Mom, RedWrapped Present
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Mom
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Nikki, Ryan
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Robert, Chrissy
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Robert
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Kyle, Brianne
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My BIL complained of a weak arm when the superintendent at the condo found him in the elevator in the mid-afternoon. She called 911 and the ambulance took him to a hospital in Mississauga. Unfortunately he was coming down the elevator to go and pick up his wife from her physio. appointment. In his agitated state (he’s very hard of hearing and difficult to understand), he either didn’t know or didn’t remember the address of the clinic; just the street name in Milton. I phoned around to several places and the Milton hospital to see if I could locate such a place. Eventually, as I travelled home from work, my sister-in-law and my son located her. My wife picked her sister-in-law up and brought her back to the apartment.

By this time my BIL was feeling better and the neurologist said he was fine though he wanted a meeting with my wife, her brother’s POA. Presumably they would discuss what drugs he may be taking, etc. It looks like it will be a long night for my wife as she’ll have to drive him home again as well. More good news is that her school will cover her work tomorrow if necessary.

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December the third is a significant family date: my wife’s birthday. Usually we are too busy rehearsing or concertizing; but not this night this year. So I treated my wife, my two sons and our daughter (ICL) to supper at the local Canyon Creek Steak and Chop House.

Until February the fifth of next year my wife is now the same numerical age as I am.

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My cousin emailed me this image of his daughter and his brother’s (uh, that would be another cousin) daughter. So cute at this age!

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The family (perhaps 60 or so?) plus one friend of my great aunt Edna’s cousin came to a memorial service in Aurora, Ontario. My cousin’s daughter asked her grandma (another of my aunts), “Where’s the box?” Several weeks ago she had been at her grandpa’s funeral where there was an open casket. My aunt tried to explain about cremation and that Edna’s ashes were in that small box on the altar and her spirit was in Heaven. My cousin’s daughter still couldn’t believe the body wasn’t around somewhere.

My reverend uncle led the memorial service and my aunt played the hymns on the keyboard she brought as the funeral home had no piano or organ. After the service, the Services and other relative went to a lunch reception at a local golf and country club. Quite pleasant. My wife and I agreed that our final services should be like that. The older people had a place to sit and eat their sandwiches and drink coffee and the others could circulate and visit.

What I learned about my great aunt was that she lived in Windsor for many years before moving to Oakville when Ford, where my uncle Ed used to work, moved their head office. This is probably why the “Windsor” and “Chatham” Services got up very early in the morning to attend the memorial service: she was as much “their” aunt as “ours.” Edna taught one of my uncles to dance when he was a teen. It helped him get over his shyness in Grade 11. When Edna moved to a nursing home north of Toronto another of my cousins got to know Edna and learn about the family’s history. BTW, I have 12 cousins on my father’s side of the family who now have 9 kids, then there’s my 3 brother and sister and our 12 children.

Later my wife and I visited her parents, played cards and went out for supper. Then we came home and cleaned the old fridge we are giving to my older son as the fridge in their house they just moved into “is crap.”

You know there are other things in life besides family; however, those other things are less important.

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Uncle Bill called me tonight to say Great Aunt Edna died today (Sept. 3, 2004) at about 3 p.m in the nursing home. She had had a couple of bad strokes just recently. Even when we visited her a couple of years ago she declared to us then, that she was “ready to go.” At last she got her wish and the Lord has taken her into His arms.

I’ll always remember Edna as the kind of warm-hearted, great aunt and classy lady you read about in novels: except that she was a real person! How she ever survived being married to Uncle Ed all those years — I’ll never know.

Her grand nephew.

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Well, it poured rain all day which made for a pretty stressful drive from Toronto to Guelph (pick up something from older son) to Cambridge (lunch with another Aunt and Uncle) to Chatham (party). This explains why I was (literally) cross-eyed last night since I didn’t have that much to drink at the party. By the time we got to Chatham, the rain had stopped though it continued to be damp, windy and chilly. We had the food and then the speeches from my four cousins. Brett also sang a couple of songs and joined in a duet with his wife. My aunt and uncle were obviously touched by their sons' devotion. Normally my youngest cousin of that Service family is quite aimable; however, he was the organizer: trying to get food and facilities ready for 50 or so guests. His brothers nicknamed him “Uncle Krusty” for his efforts.

My thoughts wandered during the speech to contemplating my own parents. They separated when I was 13 so I would never have been in my cousins' places. Nor would I ever considering calling on my own father for advice. As another aunt said, sometimes we use the role of one or another parent as a counter-example; i.e., we will definitely not raise our kids this way. This aunt’s father used to beat them with his belt. When her kids (other cousins) were growing up and they did something “bad,” my aunt would go into her bedroom and close the door until her intense anger and desire to beat the child had passed. Gradually over the years these anger episodes subsided. I guess I was lucky: my dad just wasn’t there for us.

Perhaps it was yesterday’s lousy weather, today it is clearing and this introspective mood passed. We stayed at an “inn” near London last night and had a “bacon and egg” breakfast before driving home today. And I don’t have to cook tonight as my wife’s “Orff” class is having a BBQ.

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Finally, after 3½ months, our driveway has asphalt. We hired another company as the first company, the one that removed the old asphalt and put down a layer of crushed rock, wasn’t returning our phone calls. They did have $500 from us, though, so I figure we have kept up our end of the contract.

I signed the contract with Burl-Oak Paving on Tuesday and 9 guys (“all from the same village in Newfoundland”) came out to do the work today (Saturday). It took them about 2 hours with about ½ hour spent waiting for the asphalt truck. Now, in 4 or 5 days, I’ll be able to drive straight into the garage with no “bumps in the road.”

My next youngest brother, living in Victoria, had his birthday today. I woke him up at 09:00 his time to wish him a “Happy.” Apparently they stayed up Friday night to finish watching a movie they’d rented. I wasn’t too sympathetic as I had been up since 07:00 this morning not knowing when exactly the paving guys would be coming.

Today’s run was a scorcher: it was so humid that my “sta-dri” shirt was soaked by the end of the hour. My time was a couple of minutes slower, too — probably because I had to wipe the sweat off my brow periodically and drink some water.

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I finished off the film on my old camera with a few pictures of the garden. I took that old (analog?) camera on the recent canoe trip and ended up using it since the “official” photographer’s camera got wet on the second last day. Anyway, the pictures on that old roll dated from Dec. 1999 to Jan 2000 including my son turning 19, my sister turning 40 and Christmas at my brother’s before he went to teach in Thailand.

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My cousins held a 60th birthday party for their dad, my uncle with a Hawaiian Luau theme. Lots of food and lots of fun, especially seeing some of my own siblings and my now, Guelph-native son. His dog had a great time vacuuming up food and drink. Unfortunately the weather was overcast and cool so that only the kids went swimming in the pool.

My sister is happy to have been laid-off off her job: the commute is long, most of the work isn’t very interesting and all her good work friends have already been laid off. She’ll be a very discerning job hunter this fall.

My son is discovering the joys of owning a house. Sometimes it’s the little things that bug you — like crappy faucets.

My commentary on the party is that pretty near all of my aunt’s side of the family showed up: even her seldom seen golf-pro son-in-law and her rural sister. My uncle’s side of the family was represented by myself, his oldest nephew, my sister and my youngest brother and our families. None of his brothers or their families deigned to show themselves. I should probably be checking with my cousins first before I sound off. Perhaps they weren’t sent an invitation. My Dad in Vancouver seemed to have known about the party, though. He could have called his brother on his actual birthday last Thursday rather than during the party-time.

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We spent yesterday afternoon and evening moving my son off to Guelph to their first house. No major problems just a hiccup when my U-Haul crapped out on my son’s truck reservation. He managed to find another larger truck but it took all morning to do it = less last minute packing time. It rained once but, fortunately, it was a short shower and we had mostly loaded the truck by then.

Once, in Guelph I went to Can. Tire bought new locks for the place. The only real problems in moving in is that the Queen size box spring, the large filing cabinet and a sofa all needed some persuading. Dings in the walls are easy to fix!

Well I’m off to canoe and camp for a few days…

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I bettered my usual run of between 11 and 12 km (note to self: get that bicycle odometer soon) by about 2 min — perhaps because the air was breezy and about 22°C.

Today’s supper guests were my youngest brother and sister-in-law and their two children, Sarah and Alexander. Sarah the two+(?) year-old was scared of the dog because of a previous encounter with a Jack Russell terrier but Alexander, almost one, ignored her. Their family got a car just recently so it was nice to have them visit us for a change.

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While my son and girlfriend enjoy a week away at a luxo-cottage near Wasaga we are looking after their golden retriever. At a year-and-a-half she’s still a puppy. She doesn’t jump all over you as much to greet you as she used to though. There’s some maturing going on.

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I received this email today. My cousin, a wonderful woman, is about half a year younger than me. I have had my share of slipping and tumbling down steps but never with consequences as serious as this. I wish her a speedy recovery. I’ll take her advice and be careful.

“I was looking forward to continuing my running training at the cottage. But on July 12th my plans changed after I took a tumble down some stairs (more a ladder than stairs really…). At first I couldn’t move my legs and was terrified. Feeling came back to my legs, however back pain remained.

“I went to Bancroft Hospital by ambulance; the x-rays were inconclusive. Then I was transported by ambulance to Belleville Hospital; the CT scan showed a middle column injury involving the inferior quadrant of the T12 vertebra (fractured vertebra at my bellybutton level). Fortunately the fracture was stable and did not encroach on the spinal canal :). Treatment required that I stay horizontal until the swelling went down. Then a tilt table was used to bring me to vertical without bending or twisting my spine. Once I could stand on my own two feet, I was casted.

“I am home now, sporting a body cast from armpits to hips. I can sit, walk, and use the toilet independently! I will see a neurosurgeon soon to determine what’s next, probably 6 weeks in the cast or a brace, followed by physiotherapy. Hopefully I’ll be ready to go back to school [to teach] in September. I’ll keep you posted.

“I hope you’re enjoying your summer. Please Be Careful.”

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Daniel, in his car, was cruising slowly on the road alongside Ethan, his 8 year-old son, riding on an electric scooter on the sidewalk. At a cross street, a guy in an SUV was anxious to get around Daniel and creamed his son on the scooter. Now Ethan is at Sick Kids' in a drug-induced coma with broken bones, surface abrasions and cranial swelling. Daniel and his estranged wife are staying at the hospital 24-7, taking turns being in Ethan’s room.

Bob, along with his brother, was going to be constructing a deck for their mother on the Canada Day long weekend. He was feverish, had indigestion and just felt “sluggish” for the next couple of days. Telehealth advised visiting the emergency room of the local hospital to check out possible virus or heart problems. The hospital said it was probably a virus until the heart enzyme results showed a high level. Now Bob is getting some reading done while he is “under observation” at the hospital and awaits an angiogram appointment.

My thoughts are with these two guys from my “work family” at this time.

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My niece clear over on the Pacific coast in Victoria graduated from high school. Here’s my sister-in-law, Rosemarie, Alexis, and my brother Tom.

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I was awakened shortly after 6 this morning by a phone call from my brother Bob (a.k.a. Robert). He was calling from the hospital in Chang Mai, Thailand where Chrissy had just given birth about an hour before to their daughter, Holly. She’s already a big girl at 10 lb 1 oz (4.56 kg). Holly’s four (?) year old brother’s reaction when called by his Dad: the news was “exciting.” Holly is my mother’s tenth grandchild and fifth granddaughter.

—Her proud Uncle Jim

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The news is out. My son and girlfriend will be moving into a house of their own in Guelph at the end of July. He can hardly wait to have high-speed Internet access. Dad * helped out with his credit rating.

* Namely me. Knock me over with a feather if my dad ever did anything significant for us! Well and truly we have moved into a new stage of parenting which my parents never experienced with me. Not bitter — just an observation.

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Unfortunately we didn’t get to his memorial service. Two express lanes and one collector lane were blocked ahead of us; the traffic was moving at a walking pace. By the time it was 7 p.m. we were still stuck in traffic and at least 20 minutes away from our destination at the posted speed limits. We took the next exit and returned home.

Of course Art doesn’t care about our worldly concerns anymore. I believe he was my father-in-law’s cousin.

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My son and his girlfriend put an offer in on a house in Guelph yesterday. Being the accomodating Dad I am, I am taking the day off to do a “house inspection.” My qualifications? I grew up in a pre-World War I house. I have owned several houses dating from an early 1900s model with knob-and-tube wiring and balloon framing to 1980+ models. I have repaired roofs, windows, walls, appliances, furnaces, faucets, framed and installed windows and doors, shingled a roof, installed and plumbed an entire bathroom, painted myriads of rooms, cut down tall trees (hmmm, this one doesn’t seem to fit), etc. Anyway, if my son and I discover some problems he can always call in a “real” house inspector before the offer expires.

Let’s all give a warm welcome to my older son’s imminent entry to the Sorry-I-can’t-afford-it-because-I’m-paying-off-the-mortgage group.

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The greeting card companies and the florists got together to declare the second Sunday in May as “Mother’s Day.” I don’t think my mom needs a “special” day. Maybe it’s selfish, but I would like to think that when one of us (four) calls her to say hello that is one of her “Mother’s Days.” I’m not sure what I would call the day if my brother phones her asking for a loan or I remind her that I haven’t done her tax return yet. These are probably not as exciting “Mother’s Days.” She’s our Mom and we love her. What more of Mother’s Day can there be than that!

The weather God(s) have worked everything out this year so that our magnolia tree is in full bloom on Mother’s Day this year — just the like the year I bought it for my wife perhaps fifteen years ago this day when the boys were small. It’s grown and they’ve grown.

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My son moved back home this evening. I unloaded my wife’s car of his residence belongings which included a large cardboard box that was oozing 'poo. Shampoo, Head and Shoulders™ I believe! A least it smells better than poo but in some ways it was just as messy. I had to unload the box since I could see the printer-scanner we bought him was in there. Fortunately only the plastic bottom got a little 'pooey. I had to shampoo and rinse one end of the USB cable, though. We are glad to see him back at home—perhaps a little older and wiser in the ways of the world and women.

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We celebrated Easter supper with my wife’s family chez my closest (as in distance) sister-in-law’s place on Saturday evening this year. We all ate too much: none of us were coming from other family dinner parties. I just had to have a bit of everything including ham, turkey, two kinds of petahai (perogies), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with pecans, carrots, brussel spouts, salad, gravy and at least five different desserts. As usual I found out what the other brothers-in-law were up to over a few beers and glasses of wine.

Because of the re-scheduled Easter dinner, my wife and I can attend a wine-tasting party tonight with some of her french school colleagues. I presume the lingua franca will be Français so I will probably be rather (more?) quiet than usual until the wine loosens my tongue.

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In Thailand it is already April 2^nd and my “baby” brother is now “well into” his 40’s. This will be an eventful year for him as my sister-in-law is expecting their second child about June 17. (Usually I wouldn’t remember such an abstract date; however, it’s inscribed in my wedding ring. ) The other part of this adventure will be the novelty of giving birth in Thailand. This may not be as bad as it sounds given the experience of one couple I know whose twins were born in the midst of the Toronto SARS crisis last year. What does this have to do with Bob’s birthday? Nothing whatsoever, but this, after all, is a rambling blog.

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My son and daughter-in-law have gone off to a party out of town so we are looking after Cricket, their golden retriever. She has just turned one year old. This time we got a manual: The Bible of Cricket telling dog sitters how to care for her. I wish I had this sort of manual for people’s kids when I used to babysit them when I was a teenager.

Cricket just came up to visit me. She says hello!

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Parts of this seem to be from a reading at Audrey Hepburn’s funeral and other bits are found on lots of places on the Internet. This struck a sentimental chord in me when I got in an email. Naturally, I dedicate this to the most beautiful woman of all to me, my wife.

A little boy asked his mother, “Why are you crying?”

“Because I’m a woman,” she told him.

“I don’t understand,” he said.

His Mom just hugged him and said, “And you never will.”

Later the little boy asked his father, “Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?”

“All women cry for no reason,” was all his dad could say. The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry.

Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, “God, why do women cry so easily?”

God said, “When I made the woman she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children.

“I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining.

“I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.

“I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.

“I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.

“And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed.”

“You see my son,” said God, “the beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

“The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart — the place where love resides.”

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He had counted on borrowing the van. Hah! The factors “why not” are too numerous to list here but include potential inclement weather on the drive back, his usual lack of sleep combined with one of the most boring highway drives in North America, no free parking, parking outside a university dorm next to an unsavoury part of town, zero maintenance and upkeep contribution, etc. Thus, we drove him and his girlfriend there Sunday evening and then my wife and I stayed at a hotel on the way back. After a good night’s rest, we drove the rest of way to Mississauga this morning. Added bonus: gas had dipped below 70¢.

I sat at the computer this afternoon and did some work while my wife went off on some errands. One particularly sad one was to attend the funeral visitation of the son-in-law of my in-laws' neighbour. He died of complications from a heart attack. Dead at 42 — about the same age as my “baby” brother!

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My younger son is now a published author. His opinion piece appeared in the University of Windsor student-run paper The Lance.

Today’s stats: #3 / 344 ↑ / 107 ↑ / 3.0% ↑ / 4.43 / 10.5 / 80 / 49 ↑.

Good thing I used the treadmill this morning as I almost fell flat on my back while walking to the corner to get the newspaper later on. Yesterday’s partial thaw and freezing rain have made the sidewalks and paths “somewhat” icy.

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Instead of going to work I took the subway to visit my Mom. She’ll be off next week to visit my brother and his family in Thailand and to “hang out” in Chiang Mai for a couple of months. She’s both excited about going and excited that my sister-in-law’s expecting their second in June — my mom’s 10th grandchild.

I did some “work” such as helping to clean the ceiling vents, hanging a few wall hangings and fixing the leaky toilet but mostly we visited, drank coffee and talked about “family stuff.” No big news here but, being the oldest, my memory (sometimes) can stretch back to some of the “great” relatives such as Great Grandma “Puss,” for example.

I also managed to get a picture of my maternal grandparents for the “relatives” collection on the china cabinet.

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Contest — My younger son left a message that he had “amazing” news. We thought: magazine article published? perfect term test? got into the program he wanted? No. He won US $500 in a phone-in contest on the Howard Stern radio show. Oh well, at least it can pay off some of his student line of credit.

Imminent Divorce — This isn’t in my family but is happening to a colleague at work. I asked him how his wife was and he told me he had enough and he was going to divorce her. I’m “happy” for him: this guy has been treated like a doormat for many years. Can you spell B.I.T.C.H? In his career at work he must have wasted several months of vacation time helping her with her schemes. Her recent café endeavour failed though my colleague was called up from work many times to fix things while it lasted. It seems he found out that there was more than just business going on between her and the business partner.

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My wife graduated with her diploma in early childhood music education today at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Now she has the initials: A.R.C.T., D.E.C.M.A after her name. There were zillions of piano students receiving their ARCT in performance or teaching. Someone asked why there were so many oriental students? Well, how many oriental students do we see at the hockey rinks across the land? It’s just a different set of priorities depending on the culture.

The graduation had the usual speeches from a bank CEO and the-famous-orchestra-conductor and lines of grads getting hooded and pieces of rolled up paper. Bob Rae, as chairman of the Royal Conservatory, shook everybody’s hand. The woman who received the gold medal in organ performance ARCT told Mr. Rae that he was responsible: when Mr. Rae was the 21st Premier of Ontario she lost her public health job because of his government cutbacks. Apparently Bob was speechless. The woman felt great after that.

Today’s musical instrument is the erhu. Even though it was a virtuoso performance by George Gao at the graduation ceremony, it still sounds to me like a whiny violin and resembles a long stick and a tin can.

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My sister turns a year older (better?) today.

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My nephew asked a bunch of the family over (Dad was paying) to Memories of Japan for a Teppanyaki-cooked meal to celebrate his 21st birthday. Great food. Good sushi. While we waited for the rest of the party to arrive, two of Metro’s finest picked up some takeout then a couple of ETF guys picked up some takeout. Proof positive that not all who “serve and protect” are coffee and donut eaters.

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After a month of waiting where a professor apparently couldn’t even be bothered to write a commentary my younger son was turned down for the first-year Creative Writing course at Windsor U. A comment by another professor in that department, “Damn good thing she didn’t accept you, she’s a terrible teacher.” Or words to that effect. He was supposed to have found out Dec. 15. Meanwhile, his English composition teacher can’t praise him highly enough. Now he’s finding that all the good courses are full and he can’t register on the Internet until he lines up for hours at the Registrar and changes his major from business to English. What’s a young lad to do these days? Will Dad have to phone some Dean and complain?

The son of a colleague of mine can’t find a tech. job in IT for his first work term. Only 50% of the class has been placed. It would be a disappointment to be forced to take a “McJob” for the next four months. What’s this young lad going to do?

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Our younger son continues to be like the moody daughter we never had. Today we drove him and his girlfriend, plus a trunk full of luggage, back to residence, a 750 km round trip. No hugs and kisses for his mom nor a “thanks Dad.” Just an attitude: “Haven’t you left yet?” I assume what’s bothering him is that he has to try and change his faculty, choose a new set of courses and adjust to a new roommate since the first term’s roommate is leaving today. We don’t know because he didn’t share those or any other of his problems with us. He kept very much to himself and his friends over the holiday period. Perhaps his brother, cousin or girlfriend can find out what’s bugging him and let us know.

The good news of the day was that the “WINTER STORM WARNING” issued for southern Ontario only happened to us for about an hour on the 401 between Windsor and Chatham. It was dry the rest of the way. Now at about 10:00 p.m. it seems the snow has started. We also found a nice restaurant near St. Thomas while looking for the Swiss Chalet “signed” on the highway.

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I’m about 500 ml short of blood today. Maybe that’s why I’m tired or maybe it’s the late hour of the day. As always, there’s a few more diseases on the have-you-ever-had list including Chagas’ disease, babesiosis and leishmaniasis. And SARS was an extra checkbox this time, too. The nurse asked me 19 AIDS/HIV/risky sex questions, which I answered in the negative.

We had my younger son and his girlfriend over for supper. I had promised a barbecue earlier this week but my son went to his cousin’s this morning and didn’t get back until 4:30 p.m. We had assumed the supper engagement had been forgotten. So, we picked up Swiss Chalet instead of our intention to have the other half of that baked beans recipe.

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Using the left over ham bone from the ham my cousin served at her party on Boxing Day, my wife made a great batch of “made from scratch” baked beans. She called in my in-laws and we had a feast tonight. Now I find myself tilting every so often, but, hey, there’s no else around to bother at the moment. And, apparently, beans are good for the heart, and, as for the flatulence, it doesn’t bother me. You just avoid those types of food before you go out among a crowd of people such as singing in a choir concert, for example.

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Almost everybody showed up at my in-law’s Christmas dinner last night: about 22 I think, spanning four generations. The food was great once again. This year my mother-in-law was more than ably assisted by my wife and her sisters. Yes, one of “the kids” could host it as we do at Easter, mid-summer or Thanksgiving but it just wouldn’t be the same at Christmas-time. It’s a good thing that I have received more running clothes: all those extra sweets and full meal calories need to be worked off over the next week or so while I’m on holidays.

This afternoon and evening it’s off to my cousin’s for another family party. She lives about 15 minutes away — no 401 traffic jams to suffer through. Though I do like a white Christmas, I have enjoyed (and been thankful for) the great driving conditions in the past couple of days. Tomorrow the forecast is for 8°C.

Today’s image features a turkey, naturally. I have had several servings this week, already. Though it’s hard to see in this thumbnail image the carving knife is backwards!

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Earlier this week, say Sunday, I thought today would be a quiet one. We’ve now been invited out to my aunt and uncle’s in Port Hope for supper. Then the four of us will sing at my uncle’s church for the family Christmas Eve service. I proposed “Away in a Manger,” with music by Victor Mio, a member of the Bell’Arte Singers. It’s kind of short notice and my wife and I haven’t performed this piece with the choir since Christmas, 1999. I also suggested “In the Bleak Midwinter” or “All Poor Ones and Humble.” At the later Christmas Eve communion service my aunt has asked me to sing “O Holy Night.” I’m happy to oblige: I’ve sang this at almost every Christmas time for the past, oh, going on 30 years. In fact, I bought my own copy just a couple of years ago though I don’t remember singing it last Christmas and there’s no marks in the music.

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In celebration of my wife turning one year better yesterday, I took her, my older son and his lovely partner out to Milestone’s. We had great meals and my wife got a complimentary slice of cheesecake and no annoying birthday antics from the staff.

Today is my last “free” evening until Sunday.The one after that is next Wednesday and after that it’s the following Sunday. All the other evenings are taken up with choir rehearsals and three concerts. Blog entries may be less frequent for a while.

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