I froze the Champagne

In order to cool the champagne I just put it into the snow, outside. And yes at minus 32 it freezes up real quick, so now we have champagne-ice. Hopefully it will melt before midnight. We have build a fire and at these temperatures that is not an easy task. Fortunately we have scouts in da house, so no worries there. Click on the photo for some more pictures of this endeavour. We managed to get the fire going and together with some gluehwein it's pretty doable out there.

Fireworks

This is what are going to shoot tonight. These are just your average Canadian fireworks you can buy yearlong. No ludicrous storage requirements, just in the open. But using it to the welcome the new year is not usual here. We will probably be the only ones using it this evening at a fore-casted -32 degrees. Permit required? Who knows.

01-01-2010: All tough the package looked vicious, as always it disappoints a little. The expectations were too high. We like to hear loud bangs but it were more like farts. But the colors and sparkles with very nice. That compensated it slightly.

The Mixed Blessing Of Bitumen

Here is a nice article on the Oilsands, in the Edmonton Journal of today. The picture shows a open pit mining facility, nowadays the emphasys is on SAGD, Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage which claims 80% of the bitumen can be harvested or taped if you will. And of course the environment needs to be taken into the equation, and it will be there is no other option. But the bitumen will also come out, one way or the other. Oil sand projects will fuel, :-), the economy and are a great job and tax revenue creator.

Xmas 2009: Serving The Turkey

Xmas: 2009: Setting The Table

Xmas 2009: Cooling The Wine

Xmas 2009: Preparing the Turkey

Immigration Medical

Tomorrow we, Joka-Marco-Joost-Emma, will go for our immigration medical. We do not have the go-ahead from the embassy, unfortunately. But as Joost is here I took the educated risk to go for the medical. Probably it is much cheaper over here and the 4 of us can have it done in one go. No scattered files, from Canada and Holland. Practical thinking. We have been told to take the medical prematurely to speed up the process a little, still we are waiting almost for 3 years. It is valid for a pretty long time, so we should be good to go. Blood-testing, chest X-ray and a lot of questions most likely. No problem getting an appointment, call today and 2 days later you could go. Only downside about this medical is you could run into a problem, which duplicates itself on discovery. But like Donald Sutherland says in "Dirty Dozen" as the always stoned tank-commander: "Positive Waves, man!"

12-23-2009: It took 2 hours to complete. All balls, the four pairs of them, have been inspected and approved. A lot of questions and a summarization of your hospitalizations later we were sent to the lab for blood-samples and the chest X-ray. All in all it set us back $1500, but we are done and if all goes as planned we have shortened the wait with 2 months. And that was my intention.

"Aircraft forced to return"

Read the KLM flight tracker on KL681, the one Joost was/is on. WTF? Flight#1, ReturnedIndex#1 and Flight#2 stated the tracker (looks like a bloody Java program exercise I once did at the HU), for a while I had no clue. All kind of strange scenario's start to pop up. 911, a technicality (light or severe) and what not else. Keeps you on the edge for a while. It turned out to be a drunk s.o.b. Anything can happen, right. Luckily about an our later as planned they took off. In the meantime he has arrived at Vancouver airport and I am chatting with him, thanks to free WiFi at YVR. Cool technology, eh. Probably he is boarding now and shortly departing for Edmonton where he is welcomed with a Tim Horton's English Toffee Coffee; tooth cracking sweet stuff but every once and a while very drinkable.

Outperformed by Dutch Snow

I was thinking we had a lot of snow. To my surprise Holland is covered with a thick layer, 30-35 cm, of snow as you can see on these photos, at nu.nl. Most likely it's going to be the first white Christmas since 1981. And that's a long time ago. Don't know where I was that year, doesn't matter. I even don't remember that white Xmas.

Ditched!!!

We, Johan and I, were gone shopping and on the return trip we explored a shortcut to avoid Leduc Centre. Going around a corner a truck came the opposite way slipping and sliding another corner. I had to deviate in order to avoid a collision, into the deep snow. We did not collide, but we were in the ditch. I tried to drive out of it, it's a 4x4 right, but that made things only worse.  We just slid down the sloped shoulder. The f***** causing this just looked backward and drove on. I was on the phone to Ford Roadside Assistance, when a SUV stopped: "Looks like you boys need a tow, I have a truck and be back in 10 minutes". Well that's what I call a real nice guy. A while later a Dodge RAM3500 Welding Truck arrived, owned by Mathew it turned out, lifted with pretty cool huge Toyo tires. He shovelled a pathway, as to not damage my truck. Very thoughtful. It was like easy peasy, for that RAM3500, to pull my F150 free; his tires did not even slip. "It's a light truck" he said; see I need a F350. For events like this you need to be prepared here in Canada, clothes- and shoe wise. You never know what will happen. Minimum throw in a pair of snow boots and a warm coat, maybe even a snow shovel. A winch would be nice too, to pull yourself free. Only if a tree or something is present of course. So our grocery shopping turned in to a nice endeavour, and thanks to Mathew, one with a happy ending. My big 4x4 looked very small down there in the ditch.

'Militairen Afghanistan willen gevarengeld'

Ben ik nou gek of hoe zit dat. Militairen die gevarengeld willen. It's the nature of the job. If you feel the job is too dangerous; go find one that is not. To follow the analogy: I want more pay for the fact I have to type the keyboard every day. Bullocs. You picked and choose the carreer, live with it, you knew you could get shot at and that it is not a safe 9-5 job. It's the same as accusing a soldier of murder when he fires a bullet that kills, and yes that happened too in the past.

Fresh Snow @ minus 2

What a difference compared to a week ago, only -2 this morning. And fresh snow is falling, quite a bit. Joost will love this. He can put his snowboard to use at Rabbit Hill or in the Whitemud area. White mud only when it's thawing of course. Not much happening lately. Everybody is Christmas shopping ("Are you already done shopping?" is a question often asked this time of year). Christmas is big in North America, and many people are lightning their homes and it looks good I must say. There are a lot of presents under our, artificial, tree too. Oh and by the way Santa's postal code is H0H 0H0, so you know.

Minus Fourty One

But look at Friday!

Just took a walk outside, my nostril hairs immediately froze solid, feels like horizontal pins.

10:35PM - Minus 43, it's so f******* cold you have to cough every time you take a breath. But I've got what I wanted: -40 and below.

12-14-2009: Edmonton Breaks Cold Record, Saturday night only Siberia was colder with -48

Almost tropical...

Currently we have an Arctic wind blowing thru Alberta. Temperatures will drop this weekend to -39, according to the forecast. Argh... still not below -40. There is also a wind chill warning, to make things even worse. As you can see the scale is off at the bottom side. But next Friday they expect +2, can you believe it? Temperature range of 40 degrees in a couple of days. Joost is lucky, although it would be nice for him to experience it close to -40. I'm sure he feels otherwise. You cannot snowboard in temps like those. Too cold, chances of frost bite are almost 100%. Funny thing is, you get used to the cold. -15 to -20 is not bad at all actually. Like Dave, fellow PC, says: "I consider it cold only below -20, then I change my spring jacket to a winter one". For me that is a bit too much still. But I am getting winterized. I really like the cold. So different.

More Christmas Crazyness

Photograph by: Greg Southam

From The Edmonton Journal:

"Bob Fedina's 70,000 festive lights twinkle only one month of the year, but ideas flicker in his mind all year round for additions to his Christmas display."

Read full story here.

The Greatest Christmas Decoration Ever!!!!

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down:

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost got wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder, almost killed herself putting it against my house, and didn't realize he was fake until she climbed to the top. She was not happy! By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up into my yard."

And did we get some snow.....

Take a look a the pictures listed here or on the photo. We are on our way to buy a snowblower. I was thinking to save some money, but as you can see it is necessary. Not doable by hand, once finished you must start all over again. On the other hand is is a good exercise. No too cold. At least 10-12 inches fell the past 24 hours. Joka had to plow thru the snow on RR234 this morning, with her Jeep Wrangler 4x4. And by the looks of it the snowplow has not arrived @ RR234. Luckily our cars have enough ground-clearance, I'm hoping.

12-06-2009: Added snowthrower pictures

Here we go......Blizzard in the Prairies

From the WeatherNetwork:

Snowfall is expected to begin Friday morning throughout most of Alberta, including Calgary and Edmonton, giving a widespread few centimeters during the day on Friday.

Snowfall will intensify Friday evening for much of Alberta, with sustained winds approaching 40 km/h at this time. This combination will likely result in widespread near-blizzard conditions for Friday evening and through the overnight. Local heavier bursts of snow could result in near-zero visibilities and very hazardous driving conditions.

Snowfall will ease through Saturday morning, with the exception of extreme Southern Alberta. Winds and blowing snow will continue to be an issue through Saturday, diminishing Saturday night.

Total snowfall accumulations: 10 to 20 cm, higher totals in snowdrifts and heavier bursts. Windchill values will approach -20C for Friday night through Saturday.

update 12-04-2009: And did we get some snow!! 6-8 inches! And we are very very happy to have 4x4 vehicles. The engine really has to work, hard. Great fun slipping and sliding, being a macho 4x4. Rear wheel powered cars are virtually useless in this kind of weather, and they have no ground clearance. So a 4x4 truck is a must have. Best you buy a F350, RAM3500 or HD3500.

Never Run Over A Matrass On The Highway

Xmas-Card Early

My brother phoned me up last Saturday and he says our Xmas card has arrived. We were thinking it would take at least 2 weeks to be delivered, hence we sent our card early this year. Look at it this way: this year we are on time and on target. Included is our moving notice, one stamp is cheaper than 2. Still Dutch, eh. Some of you who I gave a card last June will probably notice a different address. That is correct, we were given a wrong one. Even on our land title. Come to think of it, need to have that changed. We have had some 10 cm of snow today, winter has arrived. Last year too it started at the beginning of December and it became pretty cold. I like it. This in contrast with a couple of years ago when I declared someone nuts when going skiing or something like that. But then again who will emigrate at age 50? You've got to be a little nuts too!!

Some Rain..... Finally

At last there is a bit of moisture going into the ground. Last week we had snow and low temperatures, today the cold is gone and it started to rain just a little bit. We need a downpour but any amount is better then none. Overnight it will freeze up probably, so a hazardous slippery commute awaits us tomorrow morning. Not to worry, 4x4 will save us. And a visit to the car-wash is required every couple of days, the rural roads will be quite muddy again and our cars mud-brown. Next week the snow returns, the forecast is about 10 cm. Advantage is the bambii will be more visible in the white landscape and generally it will be much lighter as light will reflect of the snow. Which is also positive on winter grumpiness, the lack off that is.

Crossing Bambii....

This is what you can and will encounter on any morning commute to the office. Problem is you hardly see the bambii because ot their camouflage. And for some reason they always cross the road a couple of yards in front of you. Probably the headlights will trigger that. I had 5 of them crossing this morning, one of them slipped and fell on the icy roads and I only just could avoid a collision. Braking hardly has any effect other then slowing down just a bit and still being able to steer thanks to abs. The only option is to slow down and be very aware on a sudden movement in front of your car and on the shoulders of the road. There was one bull who probably was very interested in a female; he did not hear or see me coming and thus I scared him big time. Luckily for me, and him of course, he disappeared into the bush again. When on holiday in Denmark we noticed a traffic sign "Krysende Cyclister", "Crossing Bambii" would do nicely overhere.

This I do miss...

I really miss my daily commute by bike, just about 20-30 km, with my Storck Multitask. It has been over a year since my last one and up until now I have not been able to incorporate this bike ride into my daily routine, and that sucks. Now winter is approaching. Should I give it a shot with minus 20? If you don't try you will never know. Once, just after Christmas 2005, I did a multiday trip around the IJsselmeer in temperatures of minus 10-15. That was reasonably doable, except for my feet. I had the wrong summer (!!!) shoes, the ones with the small vent-holes. Perfect for summer conditions, in winter a big pain in the butt. I had to walk every 10 km or so to get the blood flowing again, but I succeeded. The last day all the way from Enkhuizen to Maarn, some 125 km. I was pretty happy with me and myself. I have got to find a way to incorporate cycling again. Roads here in Canada are quite boring, straight lines and 90 degree turns to yet another straight line. One possible solution is to take my bike to the river area in downtown Edmonton. Daily? Not going to happen. Somehow I will find a solution, there always is.

Power Tool Battery

This afternoon Johan and I wanted to mount some curtain railing. We have only framed drywall, so that should be easy to drill a hole in. Not true. Every time I need to use my cordless power drill tool the friking battery is empty. So we have to wait, again, until it is charged. And here in Canada it takes twice the time, as we only have 110 volt. Advantage being I can share the wait-for-the-power-tool-battery-charging misery. I'm too cheap to buy a second one, it will be empty too no doubt. Thats one advantage of ageing, you get to know oneself. And by the way Canadians are even more cheap asses as the Dutch, no matter how much money is involved they will search the net/shops for an even better deal. If unsuccessful and outside the limits, the buy is or off or very reluctantly, with a lot ifs and buts, done. Moaning and groaning over a couple of bucks, life is too short boys. Get it over with. Still the battery is not charged, and the wrath of my spouse awaits me. :-)

The Wall

I was listening to Pink Floyd's The Wall this afternoon, and I have to admit; it is a scheit album except for 3 tunes: Comfortably Numb, Run Like Hell and Another Brick in the Wall, a total waiste of money. I could not resist thinking "Thank God, Waters is no longer part of PF", lets keep it that way.

Overnight white

When we woke up this morning all was white, the Weather Network had announced 1 cm of snow. It was a bit more, closer to 5. I think it won't last the day, on the other hand you never know in Edmonton. Maybe winter is here. Last week in Jasper 50 cm of snow also overnight. This is a nice golfers quote "For every day now without snow, winter is one day shorter." and that counts here in Edmonton. Click on the picture for more, if you like. Vosje likes the snow, he runs arround like crazy, burrying his nose in the snow. Its a joy to watch that dog being happy.

Rush drummer hits on hockey

National news in Canada! Rush drummer Neil Peart will record a special rendition of The Hockey Theme. Despite his not so cheerful looks, he can play the drums like no other. Actually I cannot think of a rock drummer who can outperform him. No, there is no one. He is in a league of his own, untouchable. And even better, rumour has it Rush will be recording and/or touring (playing rare and B-side songs only) again in the near future. Life is beautiful.

52 reasons to love Edmonton

Here are 52 good reasons to love Edmonton, according to the Edmonton Journal that is. No deep thoughts, just click away to discover Edmonton via the web.

What is going on?

Today we had a meeting on the bids we sent out. Bottom line is we need to sent out more bids in less time. Basically we now have 3 offices, Edmonton, Surrey (Vancouver) and Parksville (Vancouver Island). All those offices will take a look a the same bid and categorize it, and there needs to be consensus. We can do that, no problem, also in a shorter time frame. After the meeting I asked one of the Parksville guys to take a look at my bid (see previous post), which had to be revised regarding an addenda. He came up with the same amount of hours we have. So we are bang on. So far so good. In order to get this job I suggested a price drop below $400000. No we are not going to lower it cause Waiward is telling us "the lid is going off, probably shortly", again. So what is going on, are we again going industrial only or are we to travel a multilane road, where we also go for the commercial jobs. The latter I prefer, its also technically more challenging, but the industrial generates the dollars. We should go for a balanced mix, 70-30 I would say.

Drafting #1

Drafting is completely different organized here in Canada. Responsibilities are spread out, nothing like I used to do, from quote to final product with all steps in between. Also including connection design and calculations, that part I loathed, like in really hated it, it's just not my cup of tea. Here all is done by a bunch of different people. Below is the overall scheme of things:
1. Customer drawings are issued for IFC.
2. Connection design is started, internal or external, for every node.
3. At the same time modelling for the ABM is done.
4. The model is checked and the ABM is issued.
5. Connections are incorporated.
6. Drawings are run and edited, welds are a major concern.
7. Drawings and model are checked and backfixed if required.
8. Dwg's are sent for shop drawing review, by connection engineer.
9. Dwg's are sent to DC for IFA by client engineer.
10. Dwg's are returned from approval, RFA, with or without comments.
11. They need to be fixed and sent to DC for IFS including cam-data.
12. The client will receive a copy of the fixed drawings only, for their records.
Even for a small model 3 or 4 people are working on the same (multiuser) model, which is not efficient at all. For a great deal it's about keeping everybody busy, and for the oil sands projects invoicing is based on unit pricing, which is a good deal. Therefor it is easy to sub projects or parts of it. All listed items have a date assigned and need to be kept on track by the PC.
All industrial and commercial projects are split into divisions (teilsystemen), anything between 30 and 80 tons, are shipped to a module yard somewhere in Edmonton where they are assembled into, lets say, big LEGO chunks. This complete module is then shipped to site, most likely Fort Mac Murray, some 450 km north of Edmonton. Any steel connecting these modules is in a separate division and is called stick-build. In fact any division that is not a module is called stick-build, i.e. erected on site. The above requirements, module- or stickbuildsteel, painted or not, galvanized and so on, is reflected in the piece-mark.
And all of our drafting is done with 144 Tekla licences. 144? Yes, the company M&D acquired also runs a night shift with 28 licences. Like they said today: "We will have to feed a big mouth!" Everybody is very confident projects will break in the near future, and M&D is ready to take them on. Management had announced this throughout 2009, but so quick and swift I could not have guessed. So different! And I enjoy it greatly.

Restarting growth in the oilsands

This time no rumours but facts. Suncor has dusted off their Firebag 3 and 4 projects and brings them back to life again, hence the title. Even the Voyageur Upgrader project is kind of starting to come off the shelf. See this article from the Edmonton Journal. Just the other day we were talking on the cost impact of steelstructures on these projects, they are peanuts compared to piping and electrical. But still, for us as a drafting company (112 Tekla licences) the impact is huge and gets us all very busy. At least that's what I am assuming; we already did 60-70% of those and all is inter connected. Hopefully our preferred supplier contract will be reinstated also. Then Xmas will be a good one, instead of all the doom and gloom from last year. But then again, situations like those add up to your experience and makes you versatile in coping with complex difficult situations. Especially when starting a new job in a new country in a new language on your own. Fuck actually I did great, if I may say so myself. And I have to pay tribute to our management who kept, and still is keeping, us all aboard. And rumour has it Fort MacMurray will be shy of 55.000 workers next year. By the looks of all this we will be getting busy again next year, as '09 is almost gone.

Did You Know This About Leather Dresses?

Do you know that when a woman wears a leather dress, a man's heart beats quicker, his throat gets dry, he gets weak in the knees, and he begins to think irrationally???

 Ever wonder why?

Smart car...

This morning I had a meeting at Waiward Steelfabricators and I parked my truck next to a Smart, I could not resist taking a picture. It turned out to be the car from the CEO of Waiward, my truck fills up the lot whilst the Smart is only halfway. The man is loaded but he drives a Smart, fits his personality I'm told. Actually I can appreciate that, and the man is a character. Picture him in an expensive, probably taylor made, suit and tie wearing barefooted sandals accompanied by a shiny leather shoulder bag. Indeed it fits him. I'm also told an oil change for a Smart, here in Canada, sets you back $760, for a German engineered car. Big oops. For my truck its only $90 every 8000 km.

112 Licences....

Today M&D Drafting expanded to 112 Tekla licences by acquiring DDDS. Management says "Now we are ready for the big big jobs". And I like that very very much, opportunities keep popping up. Me lika the big stuff. Sometimes I wonder where I/we had been if we did not make this move. Somewhere interesting too, I believe, with other great opportunities and possibilities. Probably not in Holland, we will never know, but then again I could have finished the HU and could have been a Bachelor of ICT. That would have been nice too, certainly opportunity-wise. One really nice thing here in Canada, age does NOT count, experience on the other hand does, Big Time.

700 million

Publication on www.nu.nl - 700 million people want to emigrate.

Confucius says...

If you can't find the book you want,

you're probably shopping at the....

100% Occlusion

I was flipping thru my photo database when I came across pictures that opened up my 100% blocked coronary artery back in 2004. Actually pretty cool, left frame blocked, right frame open again and the start of a new life, as it turned out later. The small frame shows the balloon that did the trick. The procedure is called PTCA (Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty). Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the stent that has been placed. I definitely DO NOT want this happening ever again, but the sensation of the restoration of bloodflow felt really good. All of a sudden my head turned really hot; just before he said "Succes Marco, its open".
This event, better wake-up call or smacking into a concrete wall head on, triggered a new look on life for me. It made me realize there is more to life than work, and if you are open to change it will happen and that one opportunity will come. There are a lot of reasons for us having made the move to go Canada, this is not the start but it's a big part of it all, for me anyways. They were very surprised when I asked for the pictures, it's not standard procedure "but I will see what I can do" the friendly PTCA nurse of section E4 said. Before I left the hospital, the next day, I had the CD and a huge hemorrhage on my right upper leg. That grew even larger the next days. That hurt somewhat, poking arround in your heart doesn't. And you can follow the procedure on two large screens. Very Cool.

Engineering The Drinks

As the holidays are arriving shortly and drinks, of all sorts and shapes, will be served here is a nice guideline on how to produce them. A little engineering background, on how to read and interprete a drawing in required or, even better, use your common sense. The more the intake the easier it gets as the palate gets worn down and it shoots up the brain triggering the mist, eh. Better not let it come to that, you'll pay the next day(s).

I've been in the US

Last Sunday we drove to the US-border. Emma has a workpermit now too, and to get that you have leave and re-enter Canada. It's a 6 hour drive from where we live, so 12-13 hours in total. Actually it is a very nice drive down there, many different landscapes, south of Calgary it is barren, hardly any trees, a real prairie. Sometimes you expect Winnetou and Old Shatterhand to cross the highway. Hi ho Silver... Arriving at the US-border we had to drive thru a battery of camara's who scan you vehicle, you have to hand over your passports and shut-off the engine, explain the purpose of your visit and meanwhile a second officer is visually inspecting your vehicle. We were directed inside where a, to my surprise, very friendly US-customs officer explained the procedure. "When you leave here you will see a sign Return to Canada, and thats what you'll do, right". After being inspected for drugs we made the U-turn when we were met by a very unfriendly and blunt Canadian officer who directed us also inside. There it got really exciting, as it turned out Emma was in overstay. We were told that applying prior to the expiry date, 6 months after arrival, for the workpermit would be sufficient. Not true, you could be arrested and sent back, the officer replied. Fuck me, that will not happen. Right?? Luckily it did not came to that and after explaining to us that we did not have make the run to the border again, for our PR visa, we took off to pick up Joka and Johan who we had left behind in the town of Coutts, if you could call it a town. When reading the webpage on Couts you expect it to be something, but its really nothing, wind and snow tortured houses. Blink you eyes too long and you will miss it, a bit like Rolly View that is. It has one advantage, its Canada's only border-crossing thats open for 24 hours. I learned one thing, again I must say, on Sunday: Allways trust your own gut-feeling, better safe than sorry. If I had done so it would have been a very smooth operation, instead of re-entering being steamblowing angry. Emma and I have been in the US, for what it's worth.

Hell of a name for a vessel full of seamen!

 

Sorry, couldn't resist publishing this.

80 Acres inTomahawk

A co-worker of me, Peter, just bought 80 acres of land in Tomahawk, a one hour drive west of Edmonton. There is a small shack on it but that is not much, its good enough for spending the weekends. He is going to build a kind of a underground house on/in it. In the middle of the lot there is a nice hill to do so, on a clear day you can look far away over the valley, the back of the house will be dug into this hill and his arched curved porch/walkway will overlook the valley.
Last weekend I drove out there to take a look, huge piece of land. "Come on, I'll show you arround" he said, and to my surprise he stepped into his truck. So we drove arround his property, otherwise we had to walk half a day or so to see it all. And I'm thinking we had a large property. So different compared to Holland, you can buy here any amount of land for a very reasonable price. The more rural the cheaper it gets. Many people own a piece of land just for recreational purposes, something that never came to mind when I was still living in NL. Could not affort it, and now it's just for the grabs here. With the economy and the interest-rates the way they are right now, it's as cheap as ever. But we need the PR to buy a piece of land that large. Have to be patient, and that is not one of my best virtues.

Only in the US

Checkout this site for some nice cars and more. Girl magnets they are called. Not here in Edmonton, too bloody cold. In the summer though it would be nice to speed down the North Saskatchewan River. That would attract some female attention for sure.

Mud Pipe Cleaned

It took quite some effort to get rid of the mud. Five go's with the high pressure rinse, highpressure presoak and soap, broom with foam (to get rid of the roadfilm), again a high pressure rinse and a highpressure wax took care of it. Now it as shiny as ever again. Not for long though, as you can see on the adjacent photo. The collected mud splashes are from 3.4 km gravelroad, driving like a Sissy. Come to think of it; much better to have a dual Magnaflow exhaust at both sides of the tailgate, extra power, a very nice roar and cleaner exhaust tips.

Mud Pipe

When I took the dogs for a pee this evening I noticed my exhaust being covered in mud, the bottom 3 feet of my F150 are covered in mud, but the exhaust is worst of. Go wash it? Not much point in doing so, on the return trip it's mudcovered again. That's one thing about living rural, the gravelroads turn from dust to mud after rain or melting snow. Yes, winter disappeaed quickly again. For the now temperatures will stay well above zero and if the weather forecasts are a bit accurate it will also be pretty wet. And that's a good thing, it has been way to dry lately; we have no city water and our well can run dry; at least I think it can. I don't know if it ever did. The well is 60 feet deep and produces 3 gallons of water per minute. I will do a post on well-water shortly, that is a issue in itself. F*** me, a post on mud and water, even the simplest things can be used to share your experiences. Is it interesting? Who knows. Driving those muddy roads is, playing with the throttle......unleashing the hp's......leaving a trail......just having fun.

To All Pink Floyd Addicts

It doesn't get any better than this!!

Shooting Pool

Today we went to The High Run Pub to shoot pool or to play Snooker. It turned out to shooting pool. Actually a fun game, it was my first. And I did not get a practice run, and that showed. On TV, when Ronnie O'Sullivan plays it looks just darned easy. In real life its pretty difficult, but I am going to practice a lot just to get back at them. They were making fun of me and my Dutch balls, wasn't shooting very well. Because of the beer I argued, knowing that's just BS, right. It was a fun time, a nice game, a few beers and something to eat. We will be there again.

Big engines

That reminds me, putting my food down. A couple of weeks ago we had been chopping wood and were driving home with a box full of chopped fire wood, stacked compactly. That's at least 2 cubic meter, weighing some 750 kg, maybe even more. Victor was driving ahead of us with his F350 Powerstroke V8 Diesel and including trailer he was doing 120 km/h, with ease. On highway 16 I was thinking whether or not my engine would notice the extra 750 kg. By no means at all, my F150 5.4 XLT sped forward when putting my foot down. No problemo, but it had a little side sway I must say. So I could have pulled that trailer too, but I felt unexperienced trying it, in the dark also. Next time I will give it a go. Now I know pick-ups are not only eye-candies but also able workhorses with those big engines, tow and haul with ease and comfort. Good to know.

Autumn or Winter?

October 14th, 2009. An all white day in Rolly View Alberta. Winter came suddenly last week. But tomorrow and next week all this snow will be gone as the temperature will rise to, as predicted by The WeatherNetwork, some 15 degrees. For how long? Not sure. But its slippery on the roads, luckily we travel the rural gravelroads, less traffic (we only come across a car or 4 before arriving in Edmonton) and less slippery, still you have to be cautious. Snow is snow and compacted its ice, but with our 4x4's its pretty doable and every once in a while that big engine with all its power has to roar, so I put my foot down and have the goosebumps. Awesome. And I am pretty sure I have a smile from ear to ear when hitting the throttle. Maybe we have a nice autumn after all.

Arctic Fox

Couldn't resist publishing this photo of our Vos dressed up to go Arctic. It looks like he is enjoying it, right. We had two birthdays this weekend, Mac turned 10 and Joke grew one year older too. We celebrated with a turkey dinner for 4, tomorrow october 12th, it is Thanksgiving here in Canada. So we combined it as Joka has to go to work tomorrow. Click for impression.