Summer has arrived.

It was sooo hot today. How hot was it, you ask? It was so hot that after work today I took my dog swimming and I went in with him. Just outside town, in the gravel pits, there is a hole in the gravel pits about the size of a soccer pitch, and only about 4 feet deep. At least that is the deepest I have found. After throwing Roscoe's stick for him a few times and seeing how happy the swim made him, I took off my shirt and jumped in, again. Oh yes, this is not the first time that I have gone swimming with my dog in the pits. The water is just barely cool enough to refresh you, and if you don't mind stepping around the odd bit of goose poop on your way to the water, it is a great swimming hole. Later on in the year the algae kind of takes over, so then we don't go in, at least I don't. Roscoe doesn't seem to mind. Although I have heard that he could get sick if he ingests a certain kind of algae, so we usually go somewhere else.
All in all I just don't care if people might find this a tad odd. When it hits 31 degrees, and I have been inside my trackmobile all day without airconditioning, and the sun scortches you from one side and on the other side the muffler is so close to the window that you can't touch the glass, and all this in a cab that is about 6 feet long, 4 feet wide and 5 feet high, I really could care less what that water looks like or who my swimming partner is. It just feels so good.
And if you can guess who my swimming partner was (besides Roscoe) last year, you will win a prize.

Uplifting things that didn't make the news versus...the other stuff.

So my daughter said its hard to comment on my blog when I just get on there and rant about the latest thing I heard in the news that got my blood pressure up. Here are some of those things.
I think my grandson Noah is going to be a pitcher in the majors. Did anybody ever read that book by George Plimpton ( I think) about someone finding this young man who could throw a fastball at around 140 mph. It was of course fiction, but it was a good book. I am pretty sure that will be Noah. You should see him throw a dish of apple sauce, or yogurt. He has an amazing arm. The dish will literally fly across the room and he hardly uses any windup. That is why most of the things he throws, end up where he throws them, because he is so fast. He doesn't need a windup to propel the things he throws across the room. He just stuffs his cute little face with whatever is put on his tray until, without any warning, the next piece he picks up ends up across the room. Its so funny.
Ben of course is still enamored with tractors, trains, cars, almost any type of equipment. The boys at the railroad museum just outside of Saskatoon owe me a favor or two, and the next time Benjamin comes to town I think I will call in one of those favors. If you haven't seen his blog with the loader and truck, you have to go there. That is without a doubt an award winning picture. I just love that boy. And you know what, he likes me too. Yea I know, go figure. I have a hard time saying no to him, so he likes to hang out with me.
Sam smiled and I missed it. Gosh, golly gee wiz. The trials of living so far away. If they lived closer I could just go over and pick up a smile whenever I needed one. Yea that's right Becky, you live to far away.
Also in the not reported news. I am back on track to have my big bottle of shampoo last until November. Why didn't I think of this sooner. I just shaved my head. No hair, no shampoo. I mean if worse comes to worse, I'll just use hand soap. The only bad thing about no hair is, your face is that much longer. Now it stretches from just below my chin all the way up and over to my collar. What a money saver this is going to turn into. No combs, no haircuts to pay for, no shampoo or conditioner, although I never used anything but shampoo anyway, but still. I don't have to buy it.

Pride and disgust

On HNIC on Saturday night, Don Cherry challenged everyone to go order a hat to support or troops and their family's. He is always saying something to try and raise the pride level for our soldiers. I got home from Yorkton and I ordered a couple. I am proud of the fact that they are willing to go and try and bring some kind of stability to a country that has been ruled by hatred.

And then today came the disgust.

In 2004, roger borsch, of The Pas, Manitoba, an ex-soldier who served 6 months in Bosnia, broke into the home of one of his co-workers, tied up and taped the mouth shut of this family's 13 year old little girl and raped her. If that isn't disgusting enough, justice nathan nurgitz found him not guilty by reason of mental disorder. His defense lawyer, jason miller, said he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and he has absolutely no memory of sexually abusing this small child. And because he doesn't remember, he is found not guilty. What an awful injustice and what an awful big lie. This piece of filth said he had witnessed some atrocities in Bosnia, a child blown up by a land mine, he killed a man whom he caught raping a young girl, he says he also killed several other people. None of these instances can be verified by the military. This scumbag is the only one who says these events happened. I don't care what you want to use for a defense, you did it, you pay for it. he will now go before a pyschiatric review panel and they will decide if he should be hospitalized or set free. Absolutely nothing will happen to this creep, except maybe some counseling.
This ladies and gentlemen is our justice system. This is the system we depend on to keep us safe, and when someone steps out of line, we expect the system to work and keep slimeballs like that off the streets. But no, we are supposed to feel compassion for people like that, support them, feel sorry for them, pay for all kinds of treatment, while we push the victim and her family into the background with a slap in the face.
The other thing that really got my dander up was the defense lawyer. On the news tonight when asked about the outcome, he smiled and chuckled when he said that his experts (pyschiatrist) really made a shambles of the prosecution. he said his client was not walking away carefree. "my client is depressed. he has a serious illness." Okay, now that makes me feel a lot different. Go away little girl, can't you see this creep is depressed, we can't send him to jail. For pigs like that we should bring back the death penalty. I am so disgusted, ashamed and just really angry.
John Gormely has a segment on Thursday on his talk show that is called "Bugs day, the hour of rage." When people call and rant like I just did, he sometimes asks them if they feel better now. I don't.
I will still wear my hats when they come, to support the military, but somehow my pride doesn't make my heart swell quite the same as before. This injustice may take a while to flush out of my system. I don't know what I should do. I feel like hitting something, or sitting down and crying as the country that I love is going to hell in a hand basket.

Weekend with my grandsons.

Went to Yorkton this weekend, and had a most marvelous time. Ripped apart an old greenhouse, and put up railing around the deck so that Ben couldn't take a header 5 feet down to the ground. I found a small hammer at a garage sale and a nice little apron at Peavey Mart, ( for hardware and a whole lot more) and had him decked out like the little helper he is. I love that boy. I couldn't find one to fit Sam, guess he will have to wait.
Glen helped me until he stepped on a great big old nail. To his credit, he didn't whine or cry, just sat there and bled like a man until Becky brought him a bandage.
Played with Sam a bit, watched the Oilers kick butt, and the Riders get kicked. Now the Oilers are done and most of Canada is sad. I am not an Oilers fan, but I remember the Hurricanes knocked my Leafs out of the playoffs once, so I will always hate them. That of course has happened with almost all the teams in the NHL so my hate list is definitely longer than my like list. Usually in the playoffs I pick my favorite team by how recently they knocked out my Leafs. If it just happened, my wrath knows no bounds. If it was a long time ago, I tend to be a little more forgiving. But this year.... this year will be different. We have a new coach, I heard Aki Berg left to pursue a career in Europe, (I am so happy) now if they would just fire Ferguson I would really be excited about this year. We are such next year fans.
Went home on Sunday and picked up Noah and kept him till Monday night while Johnny and Melissa had a bit of a holiday. Dianne, (Melissa's mom) had Noah Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. I have gained a new respect for stay at home m0ms. Not that I didn't know that your job as care giver is vitally important, but to actually spend a day with a whirlwind after being away from it for so long, has awakened in me a deep respect for the things you accomplish through-out your day. In my mind I am on my knees with my hat in hand. That boy just goes from one thing to the next, with hands that can open almost anything and a mind that just screams for stimulation. When he finally went down for a couple of hours to refresh his body, (so he could see if he could get his grandpa to crash and burn) I went down as well and had a nap. I have no idea how you moms do anything, except look after these little guys. Wouldn't have missed it for the world. If I get asked again, I will jump at the chance. What a fun little guy.
All in all, a great weekend. Spent it getting my grandpa cup filled and a new drill from Canadian Tire.

Does it get any better?

Untitled

The other day I was going south on Spadina and going to turn up 25th street bridge. Now those of you who know Saskatoon will know that if you need to get onto the bridge at rush minute it is quite easy. When you come up the loop and it joins Spadina Northbound people will let you in and everybody just takes turns, again getting onto the bridge a 100 feet further along, it is the same thing. It just warms the cockles of your heart the way people share at this corner. You know, you just relax behind the wheel a little, and the trip doesn't seem as bad.
So what happens to people only a few blocks up after you have left the bridge.
There was a lot of traffic and when there was room to change lanes I signaled my intention and changed lanes. Only thing was that as soon as I put on my signal light, this little brat of a girl in the left lane sped up hoping to keep me from getting in front of her. She honked her horn at me and waved something, not sure what. I had to get into the left lane because I was turning left, she on the other hand went straight through the intersection, again signaling her displeasure at me in the only way people with a limited intelligence have. What is wrong with people. I don't know if she was in the right lane to share the right of way at the corner of the bridge, but if she had been, I'm quite sure she would have. But just a few short blocks further she becomes a lunatic driver intent on not letting anyone in front of her for fear that she may be a millisecond later at her destination. Ahhh Saskatoon drivers are so uncurteous. No wonder nobody uses their signal lights. I think I should be allowed to pull people like that over and tear up their operators license, and set the little pile of paper on fire.

Trav, you want to help?