Near Dalum, Alberta, July 2022

Time to cap off January with some colour.

Trying something different

I think black and white works well with winter photos.

I was out for a short bit yesterday and did not see much. I thought I would see how this looks.

The text post

Saturday I did some dog-sitting for a neighbour. My neighbour has a ten month old Shih Tzu / Yorkshire Terrier  cross black female puppy named Luna.

My sister was supposed to be at mom's condo days ago painting it. She wanted the job so I told her to come up with a budget and get it done. The budget is set, the work just needs to be done. There was a minor cold snap in Alberta and a snowy day where my sister lives. My sister is hesitant to travel in winter and tends to travel in absolute ideal conditions. I expected her to be there on Friday, then Saturday, then Sunday, now she might possibly be there Monday. Monday the weather continues to improve and gets warmer. There will be mild temperatures this coming week. Meanwhile it is taking longer to get the condo done and on the market.

A few things needed to be moved out of the condo, namely a dresser and a kitchen table with two chairs. So my canine companion joined me on a trip to mom's condo. I stopped in at the retirement home first to see mom. They allow dogs in to visit. 

Everybody loves a puppy. I got interrupted several times while signing in and getting to the elevator. I let any interested senior, and staff member, pet Luna. Mom was quite surprised when I entered her room with a puppy. Luna jumped onto mom's lap and mom loved it. I am sure mom was a little disappointed when she found out that Luna is not my dog. I plan on getting a dog sometime, I just do not have the time right now. It is easier to borrow the neighbour's dog for now and the dog is a good traveler. The remaining furniture got moved out and the condo is practically empty.

One a recent post about family photos one comment asked what my succession plans are. This sort of thought comes up whenever I visit the retirement home. I have joked to a few people when the topic came up that my retirement plan was Smith & Wesson. I got that from another blogger who died a few years ago and thought it was funny. A number of people I have mentioned it to apparently are not into dark humour.

I have a condo, two vehicles, and a motorcycle that I own outright and some money in the bank. I am not rich but I can live for a few years on what I have. My will is current and everything is left to my sister. The ideal plan would be to spend everything and die when there is nothing left.

I live somewhat frugally. I am stressed out, tired, and I am not in love with working but I really do not enjoy it lately. I am toying with the idea of packing it in for a few months over the summer and then looking for a job in the fall. It might be time to spend some of the funds I have been socking away and do a few things before I cannot do them.  

Leduc County, Alberta, January 28, 2023

 

Random thoughts

Tuesday night after work I drove out to visit mom. She seems to be doing well.

Mom had me dig out a container of photos that we looked through. When I was a kid my family was never big on taking photos. Some of the reasons may have been buying a camera and film and then getting the photos developed. Starting out my parents did not have much and owning a camera let alone taking the occasional photo was likely a bit of a luxury. My father definitely did not like having his picture taken so there are few photos of him.

The photos of days gone by are nowhere near as sharp and clear as the photos of today. The old photos are less sharp, a little blurry, like my memories. We were not good at labelling photos, there were quite a few where mom and I could not remember who a lot of the people were. I wish we would have made notes and comments on the back all those years ago. Mom is no help, her memory is markedly failing these days. 

No nostalgic stirrings for me. I am a solo act with no descendants and no one to pass anything on to. If anything, I think more about the present and the things I have to tackle in the future. I have no interest in taking possession of any of the photos. To me they belong to another time.

One thing that stuck with me after sifting through some memories of multiple places where I lived. We had a lot of God awful ugly furniture. 

If this is Wednesday then this is a Cpt Mo post

Cottonwood School

I managed to visit Cottonwood School in 2021.

The view from here: Cottonwood School (everybodyhastobesomewhere.blogspot.com)

I saw a Facebook post yesterday that the new owner of the farmland where this old school is located burned it down.

I can see  his point. The place was in poor condition and it was a liability hazard. There is the issue of people venturing out to see the property, creating a nuisance, and trespassing. There are a lot of old places that are far beyond saving. Get out to see them while you can.

Various thoughts

I have been busy.

I recently completed a twelve course program. I have been reminded via email several times by the institution that there is a framed certificate waiting for me to pick it up. They are only open Monday to Friday and are not open late. This has been going on for a few months.

Their office is in Edmonton, Alberta. I do not live in Edmonton. I suggested they mail it to me. Personally I do not care if I get it or not. There is an official record of me passing all the courses, I really do not need the framed certificate to hang on my wall. They responded that they cannot mail it me as it is framed and fragile.

I responded that I am busy and I am not going to sacrifice any of my precious time off to pick it up. They can send it to me or keep it. My last response was that one of their members lives in the same town as me, they will arrange to meet me so I can take it off their hands. Since they are going to this effort I will accommodate them. This is some of the dumb stuff I have been dealing with.

My sister has been at mom's condo cleaning out stuff. Most of the items have been removed. Mom is the original owner and she has never used the built in dishwasher. My sister tried out her washing machine, it has been good for years except it leaked with the most recent use. I figure it is easier to disclose this when the unit goes up for sale, let the price reflect those issues, and let the new owner deal with it.

I was there last Saturday and Sunday. Monday was work, then after work I drove an hour and fifteen minutes one way to do some work and drove the same hour and fifteen home. This is getting damn tiring. I have not been there the last few nights, I need some time to do some of my own things.

Mom never did any updates to her condo. My sister wanted to have it painted before it went on the market. I argued against that. I lost. I have a painter hired to repaint it sometime in the next week. Other than that it will need a good cleaning.

There are some items left to find a new home. Some stuff will be trashed. There is a lot of paperwork to destroy, financial records going back almost twenty years. I think I found a place where I can burn them, much faster than shredding them.

I hope to have the condo on the market in a few weeks. Not long after that I have a three day holiday. I will need it.

Cpt Mo Wednesday

County of Stettler, Alberta July, 2022

Time for another summer post. Winter is quite mild right now, I just prefer summer and colour.

 

Winter tree post

Lots of great winter trees out there.

Ladybug

Sighted near Sainte Rose du Lac, Manitoba . . . some country fun.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Napinka, Manitoba elevator - Tim Lockhart

Fog and frost

It is not all that cold but it has been very foggy in my part of Alberta. I tried to get a few shots during my lunch break of the fog and frost. It is pretty, I was not able to do it justice. The days are getting longer, just not long enough to try some shots after work.

I booked accommodations for a road trip in February and in May, both on long weekends. These weekends tend to fill up quick for a place to stay where I want to go which is the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. I am looking forward to getting out.

I might prefer this in black and white.

The Wednesday Cpt Mo post

 

Monday mountain

Recent day trip to Jasper, Alberta.

Kind of an update

During the last week work was kind of busy. Trying to get everything thing in place in order to manage my mother's affairs is tedious. Progress is being made and items are being struck off the list. 

Friday night I was off to Airdrie to stay overnight my sister's place and meet with a bank on Saturday morning. One of the good things about living in Canada is that there are five major banks that have branches across the nation. These days you can go to any branch of your bank to get what you need done. The unfortunate thing about Canadian banks is that they all have the same level of lousy customer service. My sister and I had to meet in person with a banking account manager to resolve some issues on my mother's accounts. Luckily we were able to do that on a Saturday. This was the third attempt trying to get this done and everything went smoothly. The trick must be to keep going back until you find someone that knows how to do their job and then will actually do it.

After that my sister gave me a box of stuff to give to mom. Various things for mom's new residence at the retirement home. I thought I would get that over with and take it to mom. After about three hours of driving I dropped off the items at mom's place in Drayton Valley and visited with mom for a few hours. There are signs up at the home announcing a COVID outbreak. All that seems to have changed is that they killed off some activities for the time being.

Next time I visit my sister I am going to get a hotel. I sincerely believe that she and her husband do not believe in heat. I woke up before six in the morning and it was cold. I held out as long as possible so I would not wake anyone up before caving in and taking a hot shower to warm up. When I was visiting mom later in the day her place was excessively warm. I looked at her thermostat and it was cranked to 30C. I was going to turn it down and she told me leave it as she felt cold.

After visiting mom it was an hour and fifteen minutes home. I made a quick stop on the way, I figured I deserved a beer or two when I got home.

Lake Abraham by Cpt Mo

West of Nordegg, Alberta. A favourite spot this time of year with a lot of people who go to see the bubbles in the ice.

Quick wildlife post

Day trip to Jasper, Alberta yesterday. Lots of wildlife out.

Wish I could have got a video of the Bighorn Sheep that I witnessed head-butting an SUV that was parked on the shoulder earlier in the day.

 

County of Stettler, Alberta July, 2022

Hope your 2023 is sunny and bright.