For the easily amused… a cowboy Nickname Generator on the Calgary Stampede Site. Enter in some names from your household and select their gender. The nickname is not just randomly generated but uses a truly complex algorithm and other assorted voodoo for the utmost in nickname accuracy and characteristics :) For some reason Nick Bako’s cowboy nickname tickled my funny-bone (along with a few others ).
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Well it seems everyone has survived the holiday period (so far). Nick, Eileen and family are on route back home and here’s hoping they make it to their doctor appointments on time. No… no one was in critical condition; just nagging cold/flu symptoms. It didn’t seem to dampen their spirits much, but they had chills, coughs, and heavy chests. It always seems to happen just before a planned trip doesn’t it? …continued
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I hope everyone is finally ready for the holiday celebrations. We are having the Bakos joining us this year and we are very excited about it. The tree is up, most gifts are wrapped, and the house is decorated/littered [depends on your point of view] with almost every ornament made in the previous 23 years. I can’t believe Martha gets all that stuffed in the attic without the rafters caving in on us.  
 Our early season snow is completely gone now. I also found the ground is no longer frozen solid. In an attempt to provide some extra sleeping space for the younger people, we planned on moving the holiday trailer over to the house. Its heated and cozy and would provide a place for the kids to gather and play video games etc. Martha and I talked it over and thought it would work nice if we parked it behind the house with the trailer steps close to the patio doors. That way people could slip back and forth without needing a coat. I got all of 6 feet onto the lawn and discovered the cement driveway would be the ONLY alternative :) I’ll post holiday pictures to the album as they become available and I encourage everyone else to do the same. If you have forgotten your photo album login/password, drop me a note and I’ll fix you up.

GGGRRrr! I was ready to rip someone’s head off today. Mom’s phone has been offline for almost 2 weeks now. With each call (seven in total) I was assured it was Bell’s mistake and that it would be rectified within the day. Today I got hold of an intelligent supervisor in Ottawa and everything was corrected within the hour. I do believe I got their attention finally and a promise to have the “English is not my primary language” beotchs I took notes of, reprimanded (promotions probably) for their incompetence and refusal to put me through to a supervisor! “Sir, I am not able to discuss this account with anyone but the owner and no supervisor will talk with you either… click”. I understand why these idiots hide behind a phone and don’t have public offices.

We have new people in the rental house across the road. They are a young couple with a toddler and they just moved in this weekend. They were recommended by a friend and neighbour and the initial interview went well so… welcome new neighbours. It’s nice to see someone living in the house again :)

WOW… Nice photos Ian. What a beautiful spot for a winter getaway. For the latest McDonald vacation photos click here. It must had been so hard to choose what pictures you wanted to post. If you have an image of Karen riding the burro I think you should share it with us :) How about posting a few stories here for us to read? Just click the link “post/edit topics” link on the right side menu, sign in, then “add a new entry”. Too timid for that? Just click the comment link below and type a few words.