November 11, 2007:

Not that bad a day, sunny and well above zero. Kinda windy, though but not as bad as during the night. There was another skiff of snow overnight but it didn’t last long. I notice some spots in town, likely where the sun doesn’t get a good shot at the pavement, where the ice forms and doesn’t melt; those spots will get bigger and bigger as fall progresses and pretty soon the pavement will be all ice.

We had a visit from Welcome Wagon last Tuesday, represented by a very pleasant lady, Verna Pogoda. She brought some information about the city services along with a bunch of offers from sponsors in our area. Lovely visit!

Many of our small towns have Welcome Wagons, or services of that type, but they are having a hard time getting information about who to visit. The Privacy Act, I am sure, causes far more problems than it cures. Did you know that if you go to the Park Office at Greenwater and ask where someone is camped, they won’t tell you? Same thing if you want to know where one of the cottagers had his place. Pain in the butt.

Wednesday was a busy day – we baby-sat Taryn and Braxton, our great-grandchildren, for a few hours in the morning. Maybe that is over-stating it a bit – Doreen baby-sat while I napped. Except that everytime I nicely got to sleep, Taryn would come over and scream in my ear. Actually, those kids are a dream to have around.

Also on Wednesday, our office furniture was delivered so we spent the rest of our time unpacking office stuff. When we saw how much stuff we have to put in not much space, we kind of spaced out and went for a ride to Robin’s Donuts. Bad move!

We went shopping to the Co-op on Monday, at least, Doreen shopped while I went to the coffee shop. And in walked Joyce and Ron Weber, so we had a good visit.

On Tuesday, I tried walking to the mall; it took me five minutes to walk to McDonald’s, but I didn’t stop there; eight minutes to the Co-op, but I didn’t stop there, either, and twelve minutes from home I was sitting down with a hot cup of coffee in Reggie’s, a popular little café beside the Co-op. Pretty soon, along came Joyce and Ron again – They live just a few blocks from us and often coffee at Reggie’s. I walked home a different way, and it was only about eight minutes. All level going and very easy walking, but an east wind does get mean, with nothing to slow it down.

We had snow a couple of mornings, but it didn’t hang around long. Thursday morning the roads were pretty icy. It didn’t bother me walking, but I noticed quite a few vehicles slipping and sliding. That made me a little more cautious crossing the streets.

Another election is done with, this one a very decisive win for the Saskatchewan Party, and a personal triumph for June Draude in our constituency (we voted there in the advanced poll, since we don’t officially live in Saskatoon until after November 23). They have the approval of the majority of the people of the province, and they have a strong majority in the House. Let’s see what they do with it.