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So, another 6 days between Blogs.... Sheesh.
Last Sunday, Bob had a flat tire on his Gio that 3 of us tried to help him with. Mid-week, our mechanic friend Bernie finally got him a new tire to end his misery.
We had more consultations with Lorraine about the proposed Photo Booth for the Thursday Tenant Appreciation Day festivities. I forced the issue to use the Puzzle Room with the brick wall for a background without any shadows.
Monday, I got into a tizzie with PayPal, and then the American laywer for Eicher Motors out of India who is basically garnisheeing all my RedBubble profits for taking a simple picture of a friend's motorcycle, with no mention of Royal Enfield... I sold one pic of that shot for $3.59 profit and these ambulance chasers want $1,000..... I told them to go pound sand... So both sites that sell my photos send my profits to PayPal, no other options available, and my account has been frozen for 2 years, so I am making ZERO for my work... I explained this vis email and asked them to unfreeze my PayPal and be happy with the money they have already stolen... Trademark infringement my ass... They don't own that bike, my friend did!
My big package from Temu arrived. I really had bought some stuff that I shouldn't have... like a trail cam that needs 8 AA batteries....
Tuesday, I met with my niece Dawn and friend Tracey who knows Dawn's brother and I also worked with her ex-husband... We met at the Bonnie Doon Food Court. Tracey also bought a Gio like mine and I was shocked that she was in tears when I asked about it.. Her right-side armrest broke (the side of her amputated leg..) and she called the Dealer to enquire what to do, and got some incredibly rude and insensitive clod on the phone. She told me she had used it only twice and now regrets ever buying it..!! I was immediately on the phone to the Manager at Gateway and will help her get it fixed under warranty, next week probably.
I then tried to stop at No Frills for groceries but the parking lot was full, so I just headed near home to the Save-On for veggies, etc. I can't believe how little I got for my $82....
Next I went to my Bank to withdraw my USD cash to travel to Colombia soon. I have a new customer rep named Ranim at the Bank and she is awesome! I am slowly getting all my ducks in a row...
Wednesday, I picked up Bob and took him to WalMart to get groceries and to buy a new vacuum. He was very appreciative.
My friend Bev, also former girlfriend of our late friend Keith Keers, invited me for a roast beef supper and I brought a couple of bottles of really decent Cabernet red wine. Her mother, Helen, is 95, still smokes, but is in amazing shape... Her daughter Carla is also back living in the home as well, as well as 3 cats. We managed to get caught up on our different lives over a lovely evening. I ate way too many dessert offerings too!
Thursday, I helped Don order some homeopathic medicine that he uses and is pleased with his results...
Starting at 4 pm I was set up downstairs in the Puzzle room with Lorraine's giant Teddy Bear called Tie-Dye, and my D5600 Nikon with lots of back-ups, just in case... Once we got rolling, coaxing residents to come in and get their portraits taken, the nervousness went away. I did manage to photograph almost everyone who was down for the Tenant Appreciation Day celebration, with a few done in other ways as requested.
The food supplied was amazing and I loved the beef in a soft croissant the best. Absolutely yummy!
They had a silent auction and I ended up buying 3 different things.
They had a band called Romper Stomp they had used last year successfully and they did not disappoint. The band plays for several senior's residences and they said our group is the only one that dances and whoops it up!! I had a couple of dances to prove how out-of-shape I really am.... A polka almost did me in...
I left at 9pm and worked on the photos until 1am, finishing them off this morning... I kept 71 photos.
Today there was a fairly good snowfall to contend with...
It is a good thing that I called Staples before just heading down there with a memory stick... I needed to upload my photos to a site called mygetpix.ca first and get a code to bring to the store, which I did. It took a while to print 71 4"x6" photos, but at 41c each, I just donated my time and the processed photos to the Manoir. I then came home and used my Grandpa Charles' 100-year-old "Souvenir Photo Studio" impression stamp on each photo before taking them down to the Manager.
This date is the toughest of the year for our family as it is the date of Cristina's son's Birthday (would have been 30 today), and also the 8th Anniversary of his murder by poisoning by the wicked stepmother who was never charged.... This is very tough on my poor wife and it is the reason that we no longer really celebrate the holidays.
I hope you enjoy the pictures, just a sample from last night.
That was the day’s excitement.
Al
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© All my work is COPYRIGHT protected and may not be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.
If you want to borrow a picture to share with family and friends, Facebook or whatever, at least PLEASE give me credit for the photo.
NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.
Bonnie, who I have known for 30 years 
The manoir secretary, Adel 
Verna had sold me the Regal 
Marlene is an avid Cribbage player 
Bernie, our mechanic friend 
Our Vietnamese nun. 
93-year-old Marika 
Me and Marika's homecare nurse 
Friend Roy who drives people around 
Lorraine on the left with her volunteers
