Happy Canada Day!

Last night I attended a Canada Day event hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner. It was a nice event. Saw lots of friends of there.

I also recieved a great cake to celebrate Canada's 145th birthday. It looks pretty good, dont you think?

I might share it....or it could be my July 1st breakfast, lunch & dinner!

Happy Birthday Canada!

B.

A hole in one!

I was out this morning with a friend to play golf at Millennium Lakes.  From the white tee, the second hole is a 137 yd Par 3. 

Well, today using a 9 iron with a bit of a breeze (a bit of a breeze at Millennium is an understatement), I got a hole in one.  

I thought I had hit it over the green but Ernie found the ball in the cup!

We continued to play but by the 12th hole, it was raining too much to continue so we headed back to the clubhouse where the obligatory buying a round for the house was necessary. I was happy to oblige. 

Because the weather was so crappy, there were only 6 other people in the lounge. Such a good deal. The 6 guys actually got a couple of drinks and we had a good chat about things.

We had breakfast while we waited for the rain to stop - there I was eating pancakes with crisp bacon and a couple of Stags to wash it down.

We attempted to get back out on the course but it was still raining pretty hard so we called it a day. By the rules, a hole in one only 'counts' if you finish at least those 9 holes - we did that.

This would be my second hole in one after getting one on the 15th at Bearspaw in Calgary a few years ago.

Sweeeet!

B.

Equal time

Having a new grandson, it is important to spend time with his big sister.

Since there are now two new grandsons, there will be a need for equal big sister time with both Bex & Sienna.

Sienna is pretty cool with it.

B.

Networking in the neighborhood

We have a very good set up at work. I also have an IT guy with a great sense of humor. We use a wireless system so when you connect, it gives you a peak at what else is in the neighborhood. 

The concensus in the office was that we shouldnt stray too far from our own network.

B.

Mimi and I have bought a new house

After being away from Calgary for some time we decided to get back into the housing market. After all - how can you go wrong on real estate? 
We didnt go crazy - we bought something modest.

We did ask our granddaughter, Sienna what she thought of it.  

She quite liked it.

B.

On Trini time

Look who arrived a little late to the party - our new grandson, Spencer Paul Findlay.

He arrived on Father's Day - June 17, 2012 at 6:53 pm in Calgary.

Spencer was about 8 days overdue - but being late to his own party was ok with everyone.  He arrived at a comfortable 9 lb 2 oz.

It was great that Mimi was there to start the bonding process with him as he will be on our payroll for quite some time. 

This concludes the latest round of Flavelle/Lynam grandchildren and we couldn't be happier.

B.

Tracking station graffiti

There was some very colorful graffiti on the walls of the buildings at the tracking station.

Including the nationalistic '868' reference....

B.

Another perspective of the same thing

On the walk to the tracking station, I came upon this artist painting the Bamboo Cathedral.

I couldnt resist taking a picture of a guy painting a picture of the Cathedral.  It is a pretty spot.

B.

A historical point of view

We had gone on a hike to the tracking station some months ago. I had seen an old photo in a magazine of the tracking station when it was operational. It made me curious - could I find the same spot the photo was taken.

I went back today to see if I could find it.  The array on the left was dismantled years ago but the concrete bases were still there.  The vent boxes seemed strange but when I went for a walkabout in the area, it turns out the photo was taken from the roof of a building about 200 metres from the dish.

There was an exterior set of stairs on the building and I went up to the roof.

Now the roof of an abandoned building may not be best place to stand but it looked quite sturdy and I was able to find the same spot (more or less) where the photographer stood 50 years ago.  The roof was overgrown but some of the vent boxes were intact.

It was pretty cool to find the same spot.

Inside the buildings there was lots of graffiti including this classic Trini pic - in the Trini flag colors. In case you didnt know, 868 is the area code for Trinidad. 

B.

I got to meet the new guy

I was able to get back to Calgary for a quick trip and got to meet Kieran.

He has got the napping thing figured perfectly.

B.

Tarpon Sunday

I had the opportunity to go fishing for tarpon yesterday. We went out on the Pick ll.

We only went for a couple of hours and did very well. We hadnt been out 15 minutes when the first tarpon hit.

It happened to be 'my' turn. O lucky me.

After 20 minutes of fighting this guy - I had to surrender. I couldnt reel it in any more.

I turned the rod over to a friend, Ken who took another 10 minutes to get the fish to the boat. It was (they said it, not me) a 140-160 lb tarpon. 

This was sport fishing - catch and release. We got him to the boat, removed the hook and let him go. It was either that or I was eating tarpon every night for the next 3 months!

The second one was for Ken.

It was only a 60 lb tarpon but it looked spectacular when it came out of the water.

The final fish was for Ray, who after bragging about his P90X strength training program, proceeded to snap the end off of this rod right after this picture was taken. 

The tarpon got away.

We had used up all of our bait at this point so we drank the rest of the beer in the cooler. 

These two looked as tired as I know I am. I am so going to feel it tomorrow.


But you will not be able to wipe the smile off of Ken's face. Nor mine.

Although I may need to do some upper body strength training to avoid a repeat of surrendering to a fish.

B.