August 29, 2009
Well, today was my first day of work ... again ! And I made it through my first shift without getting injured and / or fired !
I accepted a job at Mariposa Orchards, one of the largest fruit stands in the Keremeos area. It's owned by an elderly German couple. The fruit stand is run by the wife, and it supports their 100 acres of orchards and farm land, run by the husband. And it's quite an operation ! It's for sale ! For three and a half million dollars ! ! !
My first shift was 6 hours of non-stop packing of 10 and 20 pound boxes of peaches. There was a problem this year with the peach crops in the Keremeos area, so most of the fruit stands in town do not have local peaches. Mariposa is doing a booming business on peaches ! After 6 hours of packing peaches, my back hurt !
As soon as we both got home from work, we went to the Riverside RV Park Resort "Bring Your Own Meat" potluck barbecue. This was another of the themed monthly potluck dinners that Joanne and I had proposed in the spring, but the first potluck dinner not organized by us, since we "resigned" from the social committee. The potluck barbecue went very well.
DSK
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
August 21, 2009
August 21, 2009
Well ... I certainly hope that I'm not going to regret that ! I have just turned down an excellent, at least by local standards, job offer.
Three weeks ago I applied for an advertised position at an organic fruit packing factory in Cawston, the next village to the east of Keremeos. When I hadn't heard from them within a few days, I assumed they were not interested in my application. But two days ago I received a phone call asking me to come in for an interview yesterday.
I was interviewed by the Operations Manager and the Production Manager. The first thing they did was advise me that they weren't interviewing me for the position I had applied for, which they didn't think was a suitable position for "a man of my age and experience". Instead, they interviewed me for a position as their Quality Control Inspector. Excellent job ... decent wage ... but ! I was a bit dismayed to find that their operating season is from August or September to April of each year. What I was really looking for was employment from May to November ... a "summer job".
When I returned home, knowing that there was a good chance I was going to be offered the position, Joanne and I had a discussion about the possibility of not travelling south this winter if I got this job. We made a decision.
And when I got the phone call a few minutes ago offering me the job ... ( sigh ) ... I turned it down.
DSK
Well ... I certainly hope that I'm not going to regret that ! I have just turned down an excellent, at least by local standards, job offer.
Three weeks ago I applied for an advertised position at an organic fruit packing factory in Cawston, the next village to the east of Keremeos. When I hadn't heard from them within a few days, I assumed they were not interested in my application. But two days ago I received a phone call asking me to come in for an interview yesterday.
I was interviewed by the Operations Manager and the Production Manager. The first thing they did was advise me that they weren't interviewing me for the position I had applied for, which they didn't think was a suitable position for "a man of my age and experience". Instead, they interviewed me for a position as their Quality Control Inspector. Excellent job ... decent wage ... but ! I was a bit dismayed to find that their operating season is from August or September to April of each year. What I was really looking for was employment from May to November ... a "summer job".
When I returned home, knowing that there was a good chance I was going to be offered the position, Joanne and I had a discussion about the possibility of not travelling south this winter if I got this job. We made a decision.
And when I got the phone call a few minutes ago offering me the job ... ( sigh ) ... I turned it down.
DSK
Sunday, August 9, 2009
August 5 & 7, 2009
August 5, 2009
HEY ... how come nobody's climbing up beside me to eat my toast crumbs ? ( sniffle ) I miss Teddy ! We hadn't realized until today how affected Bo was by Teddy's illness and dying. He's been ... subdued. Today he returned to his normal enthusiastic self.
Tonight we drove to Penticton for the opening act of PeachFest, the annual festival celebrating peach harvest time. There was to be a 45 minute performance by the Snowbirds, the Canadian Forces' precision flying / aerobatic team. Because of very poor visibility caused by the smoke from the Terrace Mountain fire near Kelowna, the Snowbirds' show was limited to about 15 minutes of "low and slow" flybys over Okanagan Lake Beach. What a disappointment.
August 7, 2009
At 4:00 P.M. I picked up Joanne after work and we headed for Penticton, for more PeachFest activities. On the drive to Penticton we phoned Loving Paws Crematorium to see if we could pick up Teddy's ashes while we were in town. Uh-oh ... trouble brewing ? The owners of Loving Paws Crematorium were on vacation in Newfoundland this week. On Tuesday when we took Teddy in we had been served by an employee ... who abruptly quit this week ! Today the phone was being answered by a neighbour of the owners. The neighbour didn't know nothing about nothing ! I certainly hope there's not going to be a problem with Teddy's remains ! ! !
At Gyro Park in Penticton was the Aboriginal Village and a 2010 Olympics Winter Games "Dome" with interactive displays and exhibitions. I took a turn at the ice hockey skills display then we both experienced a bobsleigh simulator. I did extremely well at the biathlon skills simulator and when I was patting myself on the back afterwards Joanne's comment was "yeah, but you can't slapshot worth shit". HA HA HA HA HA !
At the Aboriginal Village we had a barbecued salmon dinner, then walked a couple of blocks over to Okanagan Lake Park to see the Lumberjack Games. We returned to Gyro Park and the Aboriginal Village to see a performance by Murray Porter, a Native singer / songwriter of The Blues. Great performance ! We were familiar with some of his work from an Indian Blues CD we have. His "signature" piece is "I'm a Red Man, singing the Black Man's Blues, living in a White Man's world".
DSK
HEY ... how come nobody's climbing up beside me to eat my toast crumbs ? ( sniffle ) I miss Teddy ! We hadn't realized until today how affected Bo was by Teddy's illness and dying. He's been ... subdued. Today he returned to his normal enthusiastic self.
Tonight we drove to Penticton for the opening act of PeachFest, the annual festival celebrating peach harvest time. There was to be a 45 minute performance by the Snowbirds, the Canadian Forces' precision flying / aerobatic team. Because of very poor visibility caused by the smoke from the Terrace Mountain fire near Kelowna, the Snowbirds' show was limited to about 15 minutes of "low and slow" flybys over Okanagan Lake Beach. What a disappointment.
August 7, 2009
At 4:00 P.M. I picked up Joanne after work and we headed for Penticton, for more PeachFest activities. On the drive to Penticton we phoned Loving Paws Crematorium to see if we could pick up Teddy's ashes while we were in town. Uh-oh ... trouble brewing ? The owners of Loving Paws Crematorium were on vacation in Newfoundland this week. On Tuesday when we took Teddy in we had been served by an employee ... who abruptly quit this week ! Today the phone was being answered by a neighbour of the owners. The neighbour didn't know nothing about nothing ! I certainly hope there's not going to be a problem with Teddy's remains ! ! !
At Gyro Park in Penticton was the Aboriginal Village and a 2010 Olympics Winter Games "Dome" with interactive displays and exhibitions. I took a turn at the ice hockey skills display then we both experienced a bobsleigh simulator. I did extremely well at the biathlon skills simulator and when I was patting myself on the back afterwards Joanne's comment was "yeah, but you can't slapshot worth shit". HA HA HA HA HA !
At the Aboriginal Village we had a barbecued salmon dinner, then walked a couple of blocks over to Okanagan Lake Park to see the Lumberjack Games. We returned to Gyro Park and the Aboriginal Village to see a performance by Murray Porter, a Native singer / songwriter of The Blues. Great performance ! We were familiar with some of his work from an Indian Blues CD we have. His "signature" piece is "I'm a Red Man, singing the Black Man's Blues, living in a White Man's world".
DSK
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
August 4, 2009
Teddy
June 1992 to August 4, 2009
Teddy died this morning. I held him on my lap, stroked him ... and cried ... as the veterinarian administered the injection that ended Teddy's suffering and sent him across the Rainbow Bridge. Goodbye my sweet little baby cat. We loved you dearly, and miss you already. We feel pleased and lucky to have been able to provide you with a long, happy life, free of major illness and injury. We parrot Joanne's brother-in-law Doug's recent message ... "Godspeed Teddy".
Geeeeez ... I'm crying again as I type this. I've been doing a lot of that today.
After Teddy died we took him to Loving Paws Pet Crematorium to have him cremated. We will pick up his ashes next week, and are still undecided what we will do with them. As we drove home from Penticton we discussed some ideas, and will sleep on it before deciding.
As I was picking Teddy up off the bed this morning to leave for Penticton Bo gave him a gentle little lick. His version of a goodbye kiss, I guess. Bo's been quite worried the last few days. He seemed to know that the end was near for Teddy. Now that we have returned without Teddy, and have removed his litter box and food dish from the trailer, Bo is puzzled.
In addition to the strong feeling of grief we are experiencing, we are relieved that Teddy's suffering has finally ended. His last two weeks were pretty miserable.
DSK
June 1992 to August 4, 2009
Teddy died this morning. I held him on my lap, stroked him ... and cried ... as the veterinarian administered the injection that ended Teddy's suffering and sent him across the Rainbow Bridge. Goodbye my sweet little baby cat. We loved you dearly, and miss you already. We feel pleased and lucky to have been able to provide you with a long, happy life, free of major illness and injury. We parrot Joanne's brother-in-law Doug's recent message ... "Godspeed Teddy".
Geeeeez ... I'm crying again as I type this. I've been doing a lot of that today.
After Teddy died we took him to Loving Paws Pet Crematorium to have him cremated. We will pick up his ashes next week, and are still undecided what we will do with them. As we drove home from Penticton we discussed some ideas, and will sleep on it before deciding.
As I was picking Teddy up off the bed this morning to leave for Penticton Bo gave him a gentle little lick. His version of a goodbye kiss, I guess. Bo's been quite worried the last few days. He seemed to know that the end was near for Teddy. Now that we have returned without Teddy, and have removed his litter box and food dish from the trailer, Bo is puzzled.
In addition to the strong feeling of grief we are experiencing, we are relieved that Teddy's suffering has finally ended. His last two weeks were pretty miserable.
DSK
Monday, August 3, 2009
August 2, 2009
August 2, 2009
Last night just before we went to bed, Teddy struggled and staggered over to his litter box where he had his first bowel movement in a week. WOO-HOO ! WAY TO GO, TEDDY ! Gee ... I would never have thought that I could get excited about a cat taking a shit ! A few minutes later he staggered back to the litter box and urinated, then Joanne took him to sleep tucked into the crook of her arm where he slept peacefully all night. So peacefully that he didn't even wake up this morning when his bladder emptied. Oh, well ... I guess after 17 years, and with only a couple more days to live, Teddy's entitled to his first "accident".
Today was Riverside RV Park Resort's first Family Fun Day, organized by me, Joanne, and the other four members of the park's social committee. The first activity of the afternoon was K9 Agility, featuring Bo and Spencer. Yesterday we hauled all of Bo's agility equipment over to the orchard and set it up. Bo and his buddy Spencer have been doing agility every second weekend since May. I built most of the components of Bo's agility course, and purchased some. For half an hour we ran Bo and Spencer repeatedly through the course, cheered on by the small audience. What Bo lacks in skill he more than makes up for with enthusiasm. From the audience Fraser the West Highland White Terrier and Sugar the Yorkshire Terrier gave the agility course a try. Bo has now lost the distinction of being the only dog in the park willing to go through "small tunnel". Fraser did it !
Following the dog agility exhibition was a couple of hours of old fashioned children's games. Three legged race, sack race, balloon toss, that sort of thing. As the afternoon wore on and some of the children were losing interest, particularly the really young ones, I made balloon animals for them. And balloon hats and necklaces and swords and ... just plain old blown up balloons. Easy to please crowd ! As I was making a balloon animal for Georgia, a little girl about 3 years old, she was standing at my knees, looking quizzically up into my face and asked "are you Santa Claus ?" HA HA HA ... yeah, kid ... this is what Santa looks like when it's 100 degrees outside ! Later in the afternoon, after they were all hot and sweaty from playing games in the 100 degree weather, it was time for them to cool down with a pool party.
After the pool party and before the "cold foods picnic potluck" I performed a magic show. It was my final involvement with the Riverside RV Park Resort social committee. Discouraged and disgusted on an ongoing basis, Joanne and I have "resigned" from the social committee. My magic show went excellently and was well received. The potluck dinner was good.
Family Fun Day went well. It was well planned, well organized, well executed, and not surprisingly, not particularly well attended. Those who did attend enjoyed the day.
DSK
Last night just before we went to bed, Teddy struggled and staggered over to his litter box where he had his first bowel movement in a week. WOO-HOO ! WAY TO GO, TEDDY ! Gee ... I would never have thought that I could get excited about a cat taking a shit ! A few minutes later he staggered back to the litter box and urinated, then Joanne took him to sleep tucked into the crook of her arm where he slept peacefully all night. So peacefully that he didn't even wake up this morning when his bladder emptied. Oh, well ... I guess after 17 years, and with only a couple more days to live, Teddy's entitled to his first "accident".
Today was Riverside RV Park Resort's first Family Fun Day, organized by me, Joanne, and the other four members of the park's social committee. The first activity of the afternoon was K9 Agility, featuring Bo and Spencer. Yesterday we hauled all of Bo's agility equipment over to the orchard and set it up. Bo and his buddy Spencer have been doing agility every second weekend since May. I built most of the components of Bo's agility course, and purchased some. For half an hour we ran Bo and Spencer repeatedly through the course, cheered on by the small audience. What Bo lacks in skill he more than makes up for with enthusiasm. From the audience Fraser the West Highland White Terrier and Sugar the Yorkshire Terrier gave the agility course a try. Bo has now lost the distinction of being the only dog in the park willing to go through "small tunnel". Fraser did it !
Following the dog agility exhibition was a couple of hours of old fashioned children's games. Three legged race, sack race, balloon toss, that sort of thing. As the afternoon wore on and some of the children were losing interest, particularly the really young ones, I made balloon animals for them. And balloon hats and necklaces and swords and ... just plain old blown up balloons. Easy to please crowd ! As I was making a balloon animal for Georgia, a little girl about 3 years old, she was standing at my knees, looking quizzically up into my face and asked "are you Santa Claus ?" HA HA HA ... yeah, kid ... this is what Santa looks like when it's 100 degrees outside ! Later in the afternoon, after they were all hot and sweaty from playing games in the 100 degree weather, it was time for them to cool down with a pool party.
After the pool party and before the "cold foods picnic potluck" I performed a magic show. It was my final involvement with the Riverside RV Park Resort social committee. Discouraged and disgusted on an ongoing basis, Joanne and I have "resigned" from the social committee. My magic show went excellently and was well received. The potluck dinner was good.
Family Fun Day went well. It was well planned, well organized, well executed, and not surprisingly, not particularly well attended. Those who did attend enjoyed the day.
DSK
Saturday, August 1, 2009
July 31, 2009
July 31, 2009
Well ... Teddy has decided today that it's time to die. And with very heavy hearts, we have decided to agree with him.
Teddy has been battling an upper respiratory infection for the last 2 weeks. He has been on antibiotics for the last 10 days that should have cleared up the infection in about 3 days. We know enough about cat behaviour to know, based on his actions today, that he's ready to die now.
We will discontinue administering the antibiotics. We will discontinue force feeding him. We will continue to administer water to him orally by syringe, and we will continue to give him 2 subcutaneous injections a day of saline solution, to ease his suffering. If he does not die naturally by Tuesday morning, we have made an appointment for first thing Tuesday morning with the vet to help him over the Rainbow Bridge.
He hasn't defecated in about a week. The antibiotics upset his digestive tract. He hasn't eaten naturally for about a week. We've been force feeding him. We're hoping that by suspending the antibiotics he may actually develop enough hunger before he dies to want to eat a last meal.
Our grieving for him has already begun. After having him for 17 years, this is a very difficult time for us.
DSK
Well ... Teddy has decided today that it's time to die. And with very heavy hearts, we have decided to agree with him.
Teddy has been battling an upper respiratory infection for the last 2 weeks. He has been on antibiotics for the last 10 days that should have cleared up the infection in about 3 days. We know enough about cat behaviour to know, based on his actions today, that he's ready to die now.
We will discontinue administering the antibiotics. We will discontinue force feeding him. We will continue to administer water to him orally by syringe, and we will continue to give him 2 subcutaneous injections a day of saline solution, to ease his suffering. If he does not die naturally by Tuesday morning, we have made an appointment for first thing Tuesday morning with the vet to help him over the Rainbow Bridge.
He hasn't defecated in about a week. The antibiotics upset his digestive tract. He hasn't eaten naturally for about a week. We've been force feeding him. We're hoping that by suspending the antibiotics he may actually develop enough hunger before he dies to want to eat a last meal.
Our grieving for him has already begun. After having him for 17 years, this is a very difficult time for us.
DSK
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