Monday is the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday (we planned it that way so that we will like turkey again before Christmas, you see).  Although its not a statutory holiday in New Brunswick, my company recognizes it as one (because they’re global and have several offices in this country, in different provinces).

With unusual foresight, I booked today and Tuesday as vacation days, effectively creating a 5 day weekend, of which I will still be paid for 3 of them.  To say that its been busy at work would be an insulting understatement.  So, I’ve been looking forward to a bit of a break.  The finances are lining up slowly, so I thought that  this would be a decent time to take a trip to visit my family, whom I haven’t seen (with the exception of one night with my parents) for nearly a year.

As long as everything goes without any major strangeness, it should be a good time.  And, with 5 days and a car to help get there (we’re taking the ferry – maybe there will be pics if the porpoises or whales decide to swim with it), I think that there might even be a moment where I might relax.

I hope so.

My mom and dad came over to visit from Nova Scotia.  They arrived last night with cake and presents for me (and belatedly for Abby and Caleb).  Angela had baked one as well, so it was nice and toasty warm in the apartment last night.  I’m glad that they didn’t insist on putting candles in either of the cakes.

We had some time together this morning and they are now off on their return trip back home.  Its such a shame that we couldn’t have been together a bit longer, but they have cattle that need supervision and my brother could only reliably check on them last night, as he’s on “reserve” duty this weekend (he’s in the Air Force) and has to be within an hour of the base at all times.

These times remind me that a car would be good to have, as I could take the family there more often.  Oh well.  Treasuring the time that we spend together is what we have to do, and I have.

Sand Shovel by Patrick DignardAbby and Caleb were whisked off to the beach today by Grammy. The weather is supposed to be favorable for the beach over the next few days, as the National Weather Forecast seems to be predicting:

Text Forecast from Environment Canada

Tonight
Cloudy periods. 40 percent chance of showers early this evening. Fog patches developing late this evening. Low 14.
Wednesday
Sunny with cloudy periods. Fog patches dissipating in the morning. High 32. UV index 8 or very high.
Wednesday night
A few clouds. Low 18.
Thursday
Sunny. High 33.
Friday
A mix of sun and cloud. Low 19. High 31.
Saturday
Cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers. Low 17. High 28.

So, they’ll be having the time of their lives, and most importantly, Caleb will get a break from his obsession with “Operation Flashpoint – Cold War Crisis“.  That is a good thing.  So, this means that Angela gets a bit of a break from us all through the day for a few days, as they’ll be away until Thursday night.  It’ll be nice to get home and be able to go straight to the shower after my strenuous fun bike ride.

die fleasOur poor cat got the scratchies. Yes, we have fleas, or had (the adults, anyhow). I’m not sure where they came from, since she has been an indoor cat all along. One of us must have brought in one some how. Neither here, nor there, our poor feline has been afflicted and its not a nice scene. I tried a flea collar, as that’s what we always used at home. What a waste.not sergeants but it looks like it I think that the fleas laugh at these things. So, I got some Sergeant’s Flea and Tick spray for cats. One application, according to the directions, and she didn’t have any more fleas hopping off her or hopping back on. So, I hope that this stuff will work. We’ll have to do the apartment, of course. We don’t want any of those tenacious bastards to resurface alive.

Caleb is done school on Friday 22 June.  He can’t wait, either.  I think that this year is different for him, as he’s getting a bit older and less dependent on others to get things done.  He also has gotten thoroughly hooked on a computer game called “Operation Flashpoint”, which is an older game set south of the former Soviet Union and its the USA pitted against the Soviets.  So, the subject material is old.  Its been an educating time as a result, as I have to fill in the history for Caleb.  The game seems to have a reasonable base on some facts as far as places, weapons, and dates (certainly not all of them, though).

His report cards have shown good performance in all areas they measure, so I should be pleased with his year end report card.  I know that Abby will be really pleased that she will have another playmate closer to her age than mom or dad to play with and be tormented by.

As a bonus, I won’t have to get up before 6am for the summer! Woo!

…or at least new to me…

So, I’ve looked around a bit for a vehicle to replace the Buick and come up with a few options. I have test driven a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire GT and a 2002 Chrysler Neon LE, both in showroom condition. I liked the Neon. Its a big step forward from the 1998 that I drove when testing cars last time I was in the market.  The pric, however, was a bit steep, in my opinion, for a used vehicle.

I’ve also talked on the phone to the dealer that I bought my last car from and what he had to offer didn’t seem appealing to me.  The vehicles were in my price range, but they all had an issue or two.So, that’s not an avenue that I want to pursue, as I want a good, reliable car that will get me back and forth from work and to take my family on the occasional out of town visit.

So, that narrowed the choices down to what I test drove last night.  I got behind the wheel of a 2000 Dodge Intrepid which was in showroom shape.  It had a smooth ride and the 2.7l V6 engine produced decent power.  It was quiet and reasonably roomy as well.  The only thing that I’m a bit worried about is the engine.  There seems to be a lot on the net about this engine not lasting, and I don’t need a new car with a new engine required soon after purchase.  By the way, for the Intrepid owners, pure synthetic oil is supposed to be your savior.

This brings the testing down to a 1999 Hyundai Sonata.  I found it difficult to find anything negative said about this vehicle.  Many reviews praised it as a good move on Hyundai’s part, causing some competition for Honda, WV, and Toyota in the mid-sized market.  This vehicle has only 60,000kms on it, which is another bonus.  It may be a ’99, but its been driven as little as a much newer car.  I like it because the cabin is still roomy, but the car takes up less space on the road, while still driving smoothly and confidently, like a larger vehicle.  The price was better than what else I had been trying out, as well.  I’ve chosen this one, so, if all goes well, it will be mine in a few days.  I’ll let you know.  Maybe I’ll even find a digital camera and take a few pictures.

From my inbox:

Some Things That Come Out of Kids Mouths

1 ) NUDITY
I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, “Mom, that lady isn’t wearing a seat belt!”

2 ) OPINIONS
On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, “The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents.”

3 ) KETCHUP
A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. “Mommy can’t come to the phone to talk to you right now. She’s hitting the bottle.”

4 ) MORE NUDITY
A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women’s locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, “What’s the matter, haven’t you ever seen a little boy before?”

5 ) POLICE # 1
While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, “Are you a cop?”

“Yes,” I answered and continued writing the report.

“My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” I told her.

“Well, then,” she said as she extended her foot toward me, “would you please tie my shoe?”

6 ) POLICE # 2
It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me “Is that a dog you got back there?” he asked.

“It sure is,” I replied.

Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van. Finally he said, “What’d he do?”

7 ) ELDERLY
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, “The tooth fairy will never believe this!”

8 ) DRESS-UP
A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, “Daddy, you shouldn’t wear that suit.”

“And why not, darling?”

“You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning. “

9 ) DEATH
While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased. The minister’s son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: “Glory be unto the Faaather, and unto the Sonnn, and into the hole he goooes.”

10 ) SCHOOL
A little girl had just finished her first week of school. “I’m just wasting my time,” she said to her mother. “I can’t read, I can’t write and they won’t let me talk!”

11 ) BIBLE
A little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.

“Mama, look what I found,” the boy called out.

“What have you got there, dear?”

With astonishment in the young boy’s voice, he answered, “I think it’s Adam’s underwear!”

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