Monday, January 30, 2006

Old age and bad memory

I forgot about four movies I can watch over and over.

1. Groundhog Day.

2. The Cowboys with John Wayne.

3. Kellys Heroes.

4. Canandian Bacon.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Four things

Thanks Becky, othes than todays message in church there is nothing in my mind and I could not do the same justice to the subject as Ken Rutherford did.

Four jobs I have had.

1. I worked for a construction company who were building the Western Developement Museaum in Saskatoon. Lasted a whole 4 days, than I got canned.

2. My second job was also my best. I worked for a farmer at Borden Bridge. He was a great guy to work for and I think I was made to be a farmer, I really liked it.

3. My brother Henry and I sheeted a quonset for a farmer when we were going to school. Another great job, he let us have a beer at lunch.

4. Now I work for the Pool.

Four places I have lived.

1. I live in Martensville right now. The place where we raised our children. Good house, lots of great memories.

2. I lived in a house on this side of the the Borden Bridge right down by the river. Every day I could go down to the river and fish or just go walking with my dog Frank. He was a great dog, and my first.

3. I lived in a low rental four plex in Saskatoon that was just terrible. You could hear through the walls like they were paper, and our neighbours drank and then they would fight, usually at about 2 or 3 in the morning.

4. Best place was this little house in Maymont. No running water, oil burner heater, mice all over the place, but it was the house where I brought my bride, and it was the best.

Four TV shows I Love. love is a little strong but here it is

1. Any fishing show

2. Corner Gas

3. 24

4. Hockey Night in Canada

Four places I have vacationed.

1. Traveled to Hanson Lake with my family and stopped at every lake and campground and some lakes that didn't have campgrounds, what a great trip.

2. Went on a fly in fishing trip with my wife and another couple to Andrews Lake, north west of Lac la Ronge.

3. Went on a camping trip for 2 weeks though BC with my wife. Awesome trip, tented most of the way.

4. Many great camping trips throughout Saskatchewan with my family.
Four of my favorite dishes.
1. Cabbage rolls. And not those sticky gooey little things that my ukranian freinds make.
2. Eggs benedict with a little salsa.
3. Farmer sausage and vereniki with a homemade rhubarb sauce.
4. Hotdogs cooked on a fire at the lake.
Four sites I visit daily.
1 to 4. All the blogs of my family and freinds.
Four places I would rather be right now.
1. In Mexico city visiting my freind Paul.
2. Fishing for salmon with my freind Steve.
3. Summertime and at Sylwyn Lake lodge.
4. Again, summertime and at any lake playing in the water with my grandsons.
Four bloggers I am tagging.
1. Benjamin
2. Noah
3. Mitz
4. Travis

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

The city photographer

The city of Saskatoon wants me to pay them $220.00 for this photograph of my car. I realize that there are 4 photos, so the cost is only $55.00 / picture, but really, do you think the quality is okay, or should I ask for a retake.

Yes I got caught running the red light, but I think the cost should be shared by my son's. They were in the car with me and talking to me. If I would have been alone I would have been paying attention to my driving and would have stopped. What do you think?
What really sort of picqued my interest on here was the last paragraph, "as the owner of this vehicle, you are legally responsible for the manner in which it is driven." Nevermind that I may not have been driving the car that day, the car is registered to me and that is all they need to make me legally responsible for the way it is driven. I suppose the only way I would be able to get out of it was if I could prove that it was stolen. Anyway, if I have a minor child, and this child causes damage to someone or thing, regardless of the amount, I am not legally responsible for any of the costs associated with this childs delinquent behavior. He or she can run around, do thousands of dollars worth of damage to peoples property and because this brat is a minor, the law can't touch him and they can n0t come after me for the costs. There are people who are trying to make this into law, but there is a lot of opposition to it.
Why should I not be responsible for little Johnny? I brought him into this world, I create the enviroment he has to grow up in, I teach him right from wrong, hopefully, I put down the footprints that he will follow. I can make his life a living hell as he grows up, so that he has almost no chance to grow up with a decent set of values, and if he brakes the law continuesly, as he grows up, the young offenders law, will do nothing to him or me until he becomes an adult, and then he is on his own. But I get off scott free. But only in this world. A time is coming when I and everyone that has ever had a child will have to answer for the way in which we brought up our children. I think God is going to want an accounting of all the things I did, taught and said to that little soul that he entrusted to me. In some ways this is a bit scary and I wonder why I let myself in for this, but the rewards when you see your children grown and starting familys of their own are huge beyond compare. We all do stupid things, as evidence points to in the photo, but we have a loving God who just longs to help us and give us the tools we need to raise these little souls to become the men and women that He envisioned when he entrusted them to us.
Now if only He could make that ticket that accompanied this photo disappear.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

The airport saga continues

So this is the beauracratic response I got from CATSA. I also got a note requesting the time mom and dad went through security in Edmonton. Mitz supplied all this so I sent away another note. Their note is in yellow, mine in red.

Thank you for your e-mail of January 9, 2006 (it is copied below so that our Lead for the Prairie area can be aware of the details related to your complaint). Sorry for the delay in responding to you.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) plays an integral role in the Government of Canada’s air security initiative. CATSA’s mission is to protect the public by securing critical elements of the air transportation system, including the screening of passengers and their belongings. Its mandate is to deliver a consistent, effective and highly professional service that is set at or above the standards established by federal regulations.

While security is CATSA’s top priority, please be assured that customer service is one of its main priorities in the delivery of security screening for air travel. Screening officers are trained to ensure that passengers are treated with respect and dignity at all times, while ensuring their comfort and safety. I regret that the experience that your parents had with pre-board screening at the Edmonton airport was unpleasant.



Here is the information on my parents flight on Dec 3. I talked to my father and he mentioned that it was a bit embarrassing to be grilled by security when other people were just walking through without a problem. He was made to feel guilty without ever having done anything to warrant this type of harassment. I mentioned to Caroline Mitchell that I was not at all interested in hearing the form letter response, about how this kid was doing his job, and security played an integral part in the safety of all Canadians and a bunch of other bureaucratic gibberish, I am still not interested. There is nothing you can say to make me believe that this was anything but harassment. If you or anybody else,,, were to talk to my father and mother you would instantly see that the publics safety was never at risk with my parents, and this was only a case of someone with a bit of power, who went completely overboard and made an otherwise pleasant trip, unpleasant at the end of it.

Now we will see what kind of response we get. I wanted to tell him that if we did not get the right response my family was going to come from all over north america and heap all kinds of abuse on this kid, worse than he did to the patriarch of our family. But I didn't, we will keep that a surprise. Anyways, when I hear something, I will let you all know.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Carol you are so intelligent. How ever did you end up with my brother, with brains like yours. Glad you came and read this, now I will post all the corespondence with airport security. Here is the letter I sent to them.

Sorry about being so long, with Christmas and all it just got away from me.
My parents flew to Edmonton this fall to see my brother and when they flew home on Dec 3/05 they were treated like some kind of criminal's at the Edmonton airport. I do not know the flight they were on but they arrived back in Saskatoon at 6:40 p.m. If you need more info about their flight I will get it for you. My father, who is legally blind, has Parkinson's disease and requires a cane to walk, will be 80 this spring and mother will be 75. When they go anywhere where he can use it, he also uses a walker. When they went through security at the Edmonton airport, bound for Saskatoon, the two security men said they wanted to see his walker. They looked to see if it could be taken apart easily, but it only folds, so they scrutinized it, looking for contraband or something. This is already foolish, but to this point one could say they were only doing their jobs. Then they asked to see his cane. This is a homemade wooden cane, made by dad's great uncle and very special to him. The younger of the two guards asked dad if the cane had a pipe or a steel rod down the center of the cane and dad told him he did not know. Then again he asked if this came apart and was told no it did not. He proceeded to twist and wrench the cane to see if it would come apart, the whole time grilling my father about the construction of this cane. He then told dad that the only way he was going to be able to check it properly was to break it in half and have a look inside. At this point the older of the two guards said that it would be okay and gave the cane and walker back to my dad. He then told him they had to be careful because there was some kind of "Chinese trick" (not sure what that means) to smuggle things aboard planes this way. I am quite sure the punk security guard who harassed an old man about his cane felt quite big and brave, for keeping the country safe from the criminals of this world. This was not a case of keeping the country safe. This was a case of a little power in the hands of an even smaller person that got completely out of hand. This was not a flight from an international location by someone who could be reasonably suspected to be carrying drugs. This was an old Mennonite couple coming from Edmonton to Saskatoon for goodness sake!
Please don't send me a note telling me that this was only their job. It wasn't. I appreciate that things are different in the world now. People lock their doors now, and we all want to feel safe wherever we are. But I have never felt threatened by an old man who requires a cane and or a walker to get around, with his only accomplice a 75 year old great grandma. I am not looking to have this young boy fired, I only want you to deal with it so that the next old man or woman who needs a cane or walker does not feel intimidated by some punk kid with a badge.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

I know it took a long time, but I finally got an e-mail address and sent off a letter to airport security about the harassment that dad suffered in Edmonton. As soon as I hear from them I will let you know what they say. If anybody wants to see the letter I wrote, you have to tell me how I can put the letter here without retyping the whole thing. Then I will think about it.
I am so impressed with myself. I just hit the spell check and all of the previous paragraph was error free. I know, small pleasures........ you take what you can get.

Saturday, January 07, 2006

alone, alone, alone, oh so alone

Noah should have stopped in Yorkton and left by now so that his aunty Becky could see him one more time, and that is as long as Chris and I have been here by ourselves and it feels like forever. When Ben left it wasn't to bad because Noah was still here, but now that Noah left too, it makes me realize how big a piece those two boys take up in my heart. I have only been without a grandson for 3 hours and I am getting sniffly just thinking about them. I better get some " aww, poor baby" out of all this misery, and in my mind I want to feel some arms around me, making me feel better. I will let you know if it helps. I got to go get busy with something, alone with my thoughts is not helping just now.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Christmas celebration is done but not the calories

No I did not die or anything like that, I have just had better things to do. Today Chris and I cleaned up all the decorations, packed away the ornaments and the tree and said goodbye to another wonderful Christmas. Mike went back to BC yesterday, Jonathan, Melissa and Noah will leave tomorrow, probably evening so that Noah will sleep most of the way, and Glen, Becky and Ben will leave on Tuesday or Wednesday. After that it will be just Chris, me and roscoe. I thought that as my kids got older Christmas wouldn't be as much fun, and in a way I guess it wasn't, but it was always good. But I have to say that small children do add a special touch to the holidays. Being able to hold either of these to boys of mine while they fall asleep or just take a break and sit on you is so great that words fail me. I will miss them immensly while they are gone. I should at least get to see Ben on a fairly regular basis but Noah is all the way in Winnipeg and you can't go that far as often. Oh well, whats a grandpa to do.
To all my extended family, I miss you more at this time of year than any other. Hope you all have a great new year and hope to see you all in the summer.