31 December 2021
Tubbing

We went up to Sasquatch Mountain Resort, and went to the tube park. Kids enjoyed quite a bit, for myself didn't really enjoy the free fall and coast. Getting to the top of the tube park was easy as they had a moving sidewalk going up.
Nicole drove up to and down from the mountain, as I didn't like the prospect of driving along the side of a cliff on an icy road.

Went over to Nicole's cousin Pam's place for a New Year eve's dinner, then came home. Will have an early night to bring in the New Year.

28 December 2021
Cursid snow

Still snowing. Have snowblowed and shoveled these past few days, and my body does decry the amount of snow we've received. Have been liberal with the salt to keep my slopped driveway free of ice.

Nicole's family was over on Christmas day for dinner. It went well.
Had my family over yesterday, after a pause for cleaning and rest on boxing day, with everyone bringing a dish and Nicole preparing a charcuterie board, it was quite pleasant. Chitchatted and played board games. My family does the Secret Santa, where there is only one gift bought for a person as part of the pool.

24 December 2021
Snow

Generally the last week of work is crazy week, where no real work occurs and things are quite festive. None of the festivities this year, just work.
Taking a long winter vacation this year. First week consisted of more work at home, where I got to sleep in and finish work urgent projects. Second week consisted of several days of cleaning the house and shampooing the carpets, and also finding out that the work I did for my job on the first week will likely now be scrapped—joy...
Have had a dump of snow, and get to clear it for Christmas.

18 November 2021
Bingo Cards

To follow below, neither Nicole or I became sick with Covid. We're pretty sure the vaccination did the trick, of which we're thankful.

Had Thankgiving with my family back in October, which was nice as we able to see almost everyone. Turkey was smoked, it was fantastic.

Kids have been in and out of school with various closures, with the situation of the week (natural disasters, lack of teachers, high Covid sickness).

After this last week, I should've had a bingo card of how crazy the weather has been this year on the Pacific Coast of Canada. Had a massive heat wave (erased a town off the map), drought, rain, floods, not too long ago a Tornado showed up (or very large water spout), and in the last week several hundred millimeters of rain (mudslides, mudslides everywhere), which has violently closed all the highways (and rail-lines). Will be getting all the winter equipment ready, as I foresee snow and lots of it.

Think I need to finish Christmas shopping as soon as possible.

26 September 2021
Danger Zone

The kids have Covid.

Quite a number of other children at the kids school also have Covid, however, apparently that does not constitute an outbreak. The teachers know nothing as the school tells them nothing, so have had to report to ensure they are in the know.
At home we were prepared for yet another lockdown, should be able to handle it within the household, however, having to quadrant off the house with different zones for people to go and having a mask mandate inside the house is quite tiring. It's 10 days for quarantine, so if all's well we'll be out next Sunday.

19 September 2021
Early Fall

Summer fizzled away. We've had record rainfall for the last few days. The ground is a swamp, including pacific tree frogs. The outside is now cold and wet. Thankfully the yard of soil that was delivered was moved into the planter boxes before the downpour started—most of it was moved last weekend, the last wheelbarrow this weekend.

7 September 2021
Summers End

It's been something of a strange summer. With planning work and home life, either last minute or feeling like it's been all over the place. Took a multi-part end summer vacation, with taking a few days off, then work, then a few days off. Everything feels mentally exhausting, which is frustrating.

Went to the Britannia Mine Museum, up near Squamish, which was quite a nice day excursion. Definately recommend as a location to visit.

Finished the year long construction of planter boxes. They are all the same height from one end of the garden to the other, which really highlights the variation in grade of the back yard.

Had family over for a nice get together on the long weekend to finish the summer off.

1 August 2021
Orange Sky

Another smaller heatwave is occurring right now, and other than the heat, the forest fires are causing the sky to turn orange. Thankfully not as bad as the interior, which is currently a burning pea soup.

Went out and had lunch with my Dad yesterday, and then using a discount from my work, bought new shoes for the kids.

Today built a sifter for separating rocks and dirt. The system is a 1/2 inch overlay with a second one offset underneath, which is good for grabbing rocks that I need for fill, however, it's irritating how small rocks can get. Might need to make a second system that is 1/8 inch for the remnants.

25 July 2021
Week Off

Spent the last week off of work.
Started the week with a family get together, which was nice, as haven't seen some relatives since before the start of the pandemic. Everyone was vaccinated with their second dose, and came in good condition, so alleviated some of the concerns. It was a nice family BBQ with lots of conversation.
Following few days were spent gardening and working on retaining walls. We then went to a cabin for several days, with no cell reception or screens. Due to the high fire rating we used a propane fire-pit and all cooking was done on a butane stove. Butane stove was a first, as prior we always either used propane or the fire ring, and we've deemed that we'll use Butane from now on for camping or outdoor trips.
End of this week went in to Vancouver so the kids could go sailing, and spent most of the day at the beach. Today is a relax day.

20 June 2021
Heatwave

Setup the outdoor pool yesterday, and with the heatwave today, has now come to a nice temperature (Water went from 12° to 20° Celsius). Today took a load of rubbish to the dump, as had an accumulation of gardening detritus and old retaining wall material that all needed to go—yard is now much cleaner.

Still have to finish the last segment of the new retaining wall, thankfully the base is now all in, and all the bottom part has proper drainage. Picked up some wood to finish the retaining wall, and it's still $3 a foot for treated true 4x4, hoping for wood futures to crash. This continues to be very much a weekend project, as during the week at the end of the workday my brain turns to liquid.

10 June 2021
Ouch

Received my second dose of Moderna yesterday. Had no sleep last night, body aches and pains, body unsure if hot or cold, no appetite, and generally had a not good day today. On the plus side I'll now be fully vaccinated, and will likely get some sleep tonight—Hopefully tomorrow is a normal day.

24 May 2021
Dig Dug

Took a week off of work. Spent the time digging, landscaping and making retaining walls. Hands feel like sandpaper.

28 February 2021
Good Weekend

Spent a good portion of the weekend rebuilding the box for the raspberry bushes. Had to build the box higher, as the bushes like to push out surface shoots, so this ensures that the raspberries don't overly spread. Body is still achy from all the dirt moving. All the extra canes were happily donated to other local gardeners.
Spent Saturday night doing music bingo on Zoom. Was quite fun, and entry fee went to a good cause.

20 February 2021
Seeing holes in the sky

Well the last month has been interesting. Likely worked too many hours, and wore too many hats. Work flew me out of province for a few days on a charter to provide on location technical assistance. Dealing with a multitude of subordinate locations with me as the advisor—Not too sure how many more publications, directives and acts I can stuff in my brain. Thankfully my primary Job gave some additional time off for doing a 8 day stint, so I've been trying to complete some of the secondary stuff, such as completing moderation for an online course.
During a brief interlude of me time, did some genealogy and noticed an error in my line. 4 generations back I had someone listed with an incorrect death date, turns out they didn't die, married late in life and then had a considerable amount of descendants.

Dishwasher started giving an error code last weekend, doing research apparently if it can't evacuate the water quick enough it will shut down. With the location of the dishwasher, it has to have an extension for drainage, and turns out, the extension steps down in size. Had to do more hand-washing during the diagnosis, and replaced the extension hose yesterday evening. Works. Now no more hand-washing.

On more joyous fun for the new year, our front deck started to leak, nothing excessive, but water was coming into the garage. Deck was end of life, and is now replaced. Thankfully it was caught and dealt with in time so that there is no mould or wood rot. Not ready for any more surprises.

Work is now going full steam, getting emails on top of emails, and getting calls while taking calls. Trying to figure out a better way to provide assistance and advice, as everything feels very house-of-cards like, and is pretty precarious. Either way, dealing with fiscal year out, the office has had to impose a hard cap dealing with end of year related paperwork to all subordinate locations—Foresee angry people, missing the deadline and blaming us for them missing the deadline.

10 January 2021
Dishwasher

With my Brother providing guidance, videos and a material list, I was able to hook up the Dishwasher, and it now works, no more hand-washing.
Thanks Bro.

6 January 2021
Back to Work

Haven't bothered checking work emails for the last part of my vacation, while today wasn't too bad, I'm sure one more people return to work the emails and phone calls will ramp up.

1 January 2021
New Better Things

Happy New Year, and here's to a fresh start.

Replaced the GE Dishwasher with an LG. All the piping is Poly-B, will have to remove it and install Pex and Braided hose, so still having to hand wash.