Okay... for those of you who are curious as to where the heck I have been hiding. I'm in my kitchen. The little reno I had planned has turned into a bad episode of Holmes on Homes Everytime I go to do something which should be relatively simple...say change a light fixture... I find a little something that is not done correctly or to code and has to be redone. I have now completed all the unplanned renos and have now begun to do what I thought I was going to do ohhhhhhhhhhhh... about a month ago... So here is what it looks like as of tonight and this posting. You don't want to see my living room!
Where I was standing to take this picture was a wall and a closet which I had the pleasure of ripping out along with the most ridiculous drop cieling you ever saw. The new drywalled area on the right of the pic just before the fridge is my new pantry...and behind the fridge is the new wall and doorway to hide the furnace and hotwater tank... the perils of not having a basement... My new light fixture (trouble light)can be seen hanging from the illeagal wiring that is no longer connected to anything... thank god. This place should have burt down long before now with all the crap I had found. Its a miracle it didn't. Take note of all the patching I had to do to the walls and cieling. Compliments of a dropped cieling installed by an idiot who could not find the studs or rafters if his life depended on it... there were a minimum of 6 holes (usually more)in the cieling and walls for every screw that was actually holding anything in place.
I will try to post some new pics as I move along. Things should...cross your fingers...go quite quickly now...just have to do a little sanding then I can start priming and painting. Once that is done I will be replacing the subfloor and installing the new cabinets that are now sitting in my livingroom...along with the rest of my kitchen.. oh...and the actuall new light fixtures... then some tile a coulpe of doors and walla...it will be done...
See you all soon.... wish me luck....lol
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Disaster Strikes
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Edmonton Bloggers Unite
Candace over at Waking Up On Planet X is organizing a little blogger get together for thisa weekend. If you are in the Edmonton area, why not join in and put a face to those writtings you have been reading and commenting about? Head over to Candaces Blog for the details.
Harper and the Cone of Silence
Seems some people don't like how PM Harper is doing things. The media are sitting around waiting for anything at all. Nothing... not so much a drip never mind a leak is comming out of the new government. Well... we found out why. All meetings with PM Harper are being held under the "cone of silence". Yes thats right, the conservatives have purchased the "cone of silence" from the makers of "Get Smart". If only the Libs had been so smart during the campaign.... never mind... they still would have lost...
H/T Candace
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The Blogs are Burning and the Beheadings have Begun
It is with displeasure that I must bring to you this sad news. Hours after posting several blasphemous cartoons of Ezra, editor of the Western Standard Magazine, The Wingnuterer has been a victim of fire bombings and one of his sock puppets was beheaded. Fortunately Zorpheous was clever enough to back his blog up on a seperate server so the damage from the fire bombings was superficial at the most. Evil Lord Bump however will be sadly missed by all. Our crack news team was on hand to get some remarkable shots of the fire bombing. The poor insulted folks that performed this rightious act (fanatical right wingers no doubt although unsubstantiated)have posted pictures of Evils beheading on their web site and we have re printed them here purely for your convienence and surely not to offend anyone.
Fire bombing....
The Poor misunderstood....
The fiest da resistance....
Monday, February 13, 2006
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Dissapearing Act
Sorry about the lack of posts in the past week. Not that anyone really missed anything.
Just taking advantage of this wonderful weather we have been having and doing some renovations on my house. I no longer have a kitchen... so if anyone would care to invite me over for a meal or two I would be forever in your debt. A guy can dream can't he... oh well... hopefully by next weekend I will have a brand new shinny kitchen. That or I'll be sitting in the Alberta Hospital recovering from a nervous breakdown... I still have to refinish the hardwood in the living and dinning room... will it ever end? This old house will continue after these short messages....
Monday, February 06, 2006
These damn MEME's
List four vehicles you've owned...
1963 Chevy II... blood sweat and tears... every penny I made and all my spare time went into this car before I was old enough to drive... it went up in flames a month after I got my licence...
1970 Cutlass Supreme... powder blue... 350 Rocket... was clocked on hiway 28 at 150 mph.... sat in the back of an RCMP car for an hour being lectured to by the sargent... sold it two days later...
1980 Ford 3/4 ton 4X4 inline 6... all torque no speed... great in the mud...
1983 Jeep CJ7 Laraedo... How I wish I could get this one back...
List four jobs I've had....
Bus boy... did not last long...
Partsdriver at a Datsun/Nissan dealer... learned that it would cost $268,000.00 to build a 280ZX out of parts... and that was in the early 80's...
Truck Driver... hauled everything from mobile homes to bulk mail....
Furniture repairs... it pays the bills...
Four places I've Lived....
Edmonton Alberta... Born and raised...
Stony Plain Alberta... yawn....
Spring Lake Alberta... Loved the country life... just could not afford it...
Four vacations I've had......
I was spoiled as a kid and went on a camping vacation every summer... don't think there is a lake in BC, Alberta or Saskatewan that you can drive to that I have not been to...
4 week trip from Edmonton to Waterton National Park, down to Yellowstone, over to Oregon back up to Vancouver along the ocean hiway.
Barkerville BC... one of the most memorable places I have ever been to... a step back into the past.
Spoiled again... for the past 14 years I take my ass up to the cabin every year for my vacation.... fishing, watersports, quading and plain ol' relaxing...
As usual... I spare everyone from this meme... I tag nobody... your welcome...
Disappointed to say the least
Thank you Prime Minister Harper. My faith in you has dropped by a mere 20%. Some of us Canadians voted for change. We thought you were the one to bring that change. Were we wrong? I was not impressed when I heard the news that you had allowed David Emerson to walk across the floor... Oh wait... There has not even been a floor to cross yet... Not to mention give him a cabinet position. Does the name Belinda ring a bell PM Harper? Remember the fuss that was made in regards to her little walk? Well as far as I am concerned this smells just as bad.
Then just to help out things a little you appoint Michael Fortier as minister of public works and government services. Someone who is not an elected member of parliament. I know that there is a precedent for this but personally I thinks this is just wrong.
I was expecting much much more of you and these two don't cut it....
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Dogs Smell Cancer in Patients'
From National Geographic News:
Early detection of cancers greatly improves a patient's survival chances, and researchers hope that man's best friend, the dog, can become an important tool in early screening.
Read the whole story Here
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Gone to the dogs
The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
-Anonymous
Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.
-Ann Landers
If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
-Will Rogers
There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
-Ben Williams
A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves
himself.
-Josh Billings
The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.
-Andy Rooney
We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made.
-M. Acklam
If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have
known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
-James Thurber
If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise.
-Unknown
Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
-Anne Tyler
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
-Robert A. Heinlein
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
-Mark Twain
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
-Roger Caras
If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your
pocket and then give him only two of them.
-Phil Pastoret
My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Then and Now
(Then)In the dying days of the campaign, Layton dismissed any notion of co-operation with the Conservatives, saying it would take a major research project to identify the similarities between the parties.
He steadfastly refused to answer any questions about how he might work with a Stephen Harper administration.
(Now) "I am going to make a legitimate, determined effort to find things where there can be common action," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
"I believe there are ideas in all of our platforms for the parties to get something done."
Almost sounds to me like Jack is getting some good advice from Mike over at Rational Reasons. I have to give Mike much of the credit for showing me that no matter what our political leanings, we all have more in common than most would admit. Taking part in a few of the policy debates over at BPoC has definately opened my eyes to others views and I highly recommend everyone take part. Dino's latest is a policy debate on healthcare. It should prove to be an interesting one. To see the results of other debates Dino has held, check out the BPoC policies at his web site. Remember that all of these policies were developed by people of all political leanings co operating and comming to a compromise that all could agree on. If only our governments could work in the same way.
After a few days break
I am back and blogging. Now that the election is over, where does one turn his attention to? Dino over at BPoC has a little CPoC watch going on. Like him I will be watching carefully to make sure that they don't screw up and are held accountable as all governments should be.
I have spent most of the past week reading left leaning blogs and making the odd comment. What I have seen is not pretty for the most part. But I did see a few rays of sunshine peeking through the cracks at a few.
In the comming months there should be plenty to blog about when the liberal leadership race gets into full swing and Mr. Harpers New government gets settled in and parliament gets back to work. Until then...
Well... Ralph Klein seems like a good target. Little old King Ralph, the man who at one time had idea's and did a wonderful job of bringing this province out of the doldrums it was in. Yes we the fine people of Alberta paid a heavy price to get things to where they are today. Ralph slashed funding to eveything and anything to get finances under control. They were not pleasant times here in Alberta. Now times have changed and Ralphs vision is blurred. His best before date has long expired. New idea's are non exsistent. He continually rehashes the same old crap he has been spewing for the past few years. "The Third way" he proclaims proudly. Yet I challenge anyone to show me anywhere, anything in which he explains this in any detail. He keeps sqauking but we see little in the way of what he actually wants to do. Everyone can speculate and most think of the worst case senario. OMG! an American system! Personally I don't see that happening. A meeting somewhere in between the "old" Canadian system and the American system is what I forsee in the future. The option of having "essential" health care being done in the public sytem in a timely manor or having private insurance that may get you in and out a little quicker and covering non "essential" items. What one would consider "essential" and where that line will be drawn is anybodies guess at this point.
Anywho.... it is time for Ralph to go, retire, resign, be defeated, whatever the case may be. We seriously need someone with new idea's and a new inspired vision of where Alberta will head in the years to come. Who that person is... I have no clue at this point. No single person or alternate political party as of yet stands out in the crowd.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
I would like to wish Prime Minister Stephen Harper the best of luck. I know he will do Canada proud.
To Mr. Martin, thanks for your service to this country and the dance. Good luck in your future endevours. I'm sure CSL will have a possition for you.. wink wink.... no hard feelings..all is fair in politics and war... which this election seemed to be a mix of both....
Paul accepts defeat and steps down as leader of Liberal Party
What is Paul reaching for? Where is security? Stop that man! Whew! It is just his resignation as leader of the liberal party.....
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Believe it or not!
On the day before the people of Canada go to the polls, Martin continues to spew his retoric about how the evil conservatives are going to ruin this country. This man is so out of touch with reality it is simply amazing. The non issues he has brought out in a last ditch attemp to smear Mr. Harpers team and steal away victory is proof of that. Believe me Canada will continue to exsist, prosper and yes even progress under a conservative government. We might even find out where a whole lot of our money has dissappeared to and finally have some people face charges for abusing our trust. That is the liberal parties biggest fear. The truth! Something they know so little of.
Canada Is
Just a little reminder to all of us no matter our political leanings.
Music performed by Roger Whittaker
Canada is the Rocky Mountains
Canada is Prince Edward Island
Canada is a country made for love
Canada is La Belle Provence
Canada is the Yukon Mine
Canada is a country full of love
We have love for our neighbour
For whatever creed or colour
We have love for our cities
And our valleys and our plains
We have a voice that is calling
Telling all the world we're willing
To welcome them to this great land
For that's what Canada is
Canada is the Rocky Mountains
Canada is Prince Edward Island
Canada is a country made for love
Canada is La Belle Provence
Canada is the Yukon Mine
Canada is a country full of faith
We have faith in our future
We're ready for tomorrow
We have faith in our children
For our future's in their hands
We have a voice that is calling
Telling us to keep on hoping
For time will make this wild land great
And that's what Canada is
Canada is the Rocky Mountains
Canada is Prince Edward Island
Canada is a country made for love
Canada is La Belle Provence
Canada is the Yukon Mine
Canada is a country loving peace
We have peace in our valleys
We're happy and contented
We have peace in our cities
And our boundaries have no chains
We have a voice that is calling
Telling all free men we're willing
To show them how to live in peace
For that's what Canada is
Canada is the Rocky Mountains
Canada is Prince Edward Island
Canada is a country made for love
Canada is La Belle Provence
Canada is the Yukon Mine
Canada is a country full of love
Canada is the Rocky Mountains
Canada is Prince Edward Island
Canada is a country made for love
Canada is La Belle Provence
Canada is the Yukon Mine
Canada is a country full of love