Monday March 23, 2026 Bernie

 

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Monday March 23, 2026

 Saturday morning, I got a call from Bob's son, Dylan, confirming that it would be OK for me to purchase Bob's scooter for what he owes at the bank (to be advised).  He is also holding the air-conditioner that I loaned to Bob so I can re-gift it to Dawn, because her suite faces South...

Bernie has indicated that he would be interested in buying either my scooter or Bob's...., and Pam the housecleaner is also interested....  I am not trying to make any profit on it, just to help dispose of it.

I had a small list of things that I had wanted for a while and I located them on Amazon, ordered them, and they arrived Sunday, including a video doorbell!

I had Bernie bring me the pictures he wanted sharpened and enlarged for his wall and I worked on them most of the day.  He especially wanted a 16" x 20" of the pic of an icebreaker he worked on in the Beaufort Sea.  Then an old photo of his parents, and one of him and his daughter.

Dawn also handed me the promised tomahawk steak from Marilyn for working on her photos last Monday.  Dawn says she is "over the moon" about my work.

Don came down with sausages, potatoes and boiled cabbage for supper while I made an accompanying salad.  We watched the Oilers blow another game to a much better-coached team...  I just read a quote from our star, Connor McDavid, conceding that the other team was better-coached, so some sparks may fly...

Sunday, I took Bernie to London Drugs to grab a 16" x 20" metal frame, then to Staples to get the 3 photos printed... 8" x 10" for the family photos.  He was also "over the moon" about my work! 

He also handed me a fourth pic, one of his ex-wife and daughter, that he wanted enlarged.  My Canon printer was doing a crappy job doing color prints until I changed both cartridges with those that I had just got from Amazon.  I adjusted and printed this last pic myself, framed all the pics, and took them to his suite.  He was almost crying over them...  I did all this because Bernie is a good guy and he helped me remove my car battery from the Regal without charge before I left for Colombia, then to re-install it on my return.  Bernie parks his scooters next to mine and he is a good mechanic, always handy to have around.

Something tells me that Bernie and I will become fast friends...

I hope you enjoy Bernie's pictures.  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.

Bernie was quite excited about his time on the icebeaker in the Beaufort Sea.

Bernie and his daughter

Bernie's prents

The ex and his daughter

 

 

 

Friday March 20, 2026 Meals

 

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******

Friday March 20, 2026 

Happy Spring Solstice everyone...  Despite severe temperature swings in some localities in the hemisphere, we are thankful to get temps above 0C and good rain....

Wednesday, Dawn's friend Marilyn came by to see the revised photos for her late husband's Celebration Of Life to be held later.  She was thrilled with the enlargements, color and sharpness I managed to do.  She promised to send me a tomahawk steak on Saturday, because I refused any payment.

I slipped out to the Bank to clear a refund from Jacquie Lawson Cards that was sitting on my old, closed Aventura card.  I saw no other option since they could not return the amount to JLC..  Since they reinstated my account, I will probably contact them soon to re-pay for the time left.

Then I spent some time in Dollarama trying to find back pillows for my seating areas.  They didn't have the ones I wanted in stock at the moment so I opted for regular skinny pillows.  They will serve me until I find the right ones.

We began a few day of nice rain which is very welcome to begin the spring greening period.  Soon I will be out again on my gold scooter, avoiding the high gas prices caused by that idiot Donald Trump.  The only good thing out of this is that the Provincial coffers are growing fast and paying off our debt caused by the previous idiot NDP Government.

Thursday, I slept 12 hours and got up at noon and promptly cut my hair short again.  I also keep hot water in the bathtub and sink, with a fan blowing the moisture back into the apartment.  My nose is thanking me..

Thursday was supposed to be another cabbage salad day but that got squashed by my friends.  Don said he was going to bring Caesar Salad, and I assumed just romaine lettuce so I prepared fixings as best I could.  

Then Dawn called to say she had a steak that was too big for her and I could come and get a half.  She asked if I had potatoes and I said no, I never bother with real potatoes any more, too time-consuming...

So I brought the steak home and marinated it briefly in Worcestershire sauce and beef seasoning....  Then Dawn messaged me that she would have a baked potato ready by 6pm...

Don arrived at 5:45 with a monster dish of Caesar salad that already had the fixings, but no sauce...  I added my fixings anyway, rather than waste them, and added sauce.  Then I took a small fry pan, spayed some Pam, put it on a burner on high, waited a bit then threw on the steak with a touch of oil for around 1 minute only, searing one side and flipping it, then turned off the burner and left it covered to finish cooking...  I ran some salad up to Dawn for her meal and came back with the baked potato and all the fixings!  I shared the steak and potato with Don, and we pigged out on the huge salad.  Needless to say, we all had a wonderful meal.

Don stayed and watched the Oilers get shut out badly by the Florida Panthers...  There is no way the Oilers will make it to a Stanley Cup final again this year, mark my words....

Rain continues and the temperatures are flip-flopping either side of 0C for the week.

I think that I have decided to swap my D5600 camera body to the lower shutter count spare for now.  I am waiting to show photography to Dawn's grandson Trip, hopefully sometime soon and he will have a decent camera to experiment with...

 Don is talking about us having smokies tonight for supper...  We both have packages of smokies and I have some nice buns I picked up at Dollarama.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.  That was the day’s excitement.

Al

******

© 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.

 

Rain

Bad shot of more rain

Don watching the Oilers

 

 

 

Tuesday March 17, 2026 Sadness

 

PLEASE bookmark this page and check daily.

Older Blog:  https://cuencaupdates.blogspot.com/ 

Please see my best artworks for sale at my websites:

 http://souvenirphotostudio.neocities.org/

or https://pixels.com/profiles/al-bourassa

******

Tuesday March 17, 2026

 Saturday morning I was awakened by a call from Dylan Leduc, and, as soon as I saw the name I knew that I would be kicking myself forever for not seeing Bob on Friday as I had promised...  Yes, Bob had died at 4am and I cannot forgive myself...  Bob's last words to me were "I love you", which is strange for 2 guys, but you would have to understand our relationship, ... he counted on me for so much, and I let him down on his last day.....  Dammit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then I got a surprise email from Air Canada saying they were sending me a cheque for $200 for my $169 luggage purchase, which amazed me, plus 20% off the base fare for my next trip within a year!  Yeah for Air Canada coming through!!!

That evening, I was browsing Facebook Marketplace on purpose looking for a cheap but decent lens for my spare Nikon D5600 and came across a DX AF55-200mm for $60, like new, so I drove to the west end near WEM and bought it!  It works fantastic!

On the way back, I asked Google for the nearest best fast food and ended up at a place called Wayburger.  It wasn't cheap, but it sure was darn good!!   

 Sunday, I took the LRT to the Library to pick up 3 books, including "Exit Strategy", the last of the Jack Reacher series.

Once home, I was in contact with my friendly Calgary accountant and emailed her all my scanned tax slips and charitable receipts.  Hopefully no more come late like last year.

I finally saw my niece Dawn's apartment 3 floors up from mine...  Her friend, Marilyn from Leduc, was driving her around.  Marilyn had recently lost her husband, Joe, and divested of most her stuff because she is in a much smaller apartment than ours..  She is looking to have a Celebration of Life for Joe and was upset that her photographs are small and come up pixellated from a projector...  Naturally Dawn said that I probably could assist, so I offered my help.

Monday morning, Dawn was at my door with a memory stick from Marilyn with 272 photos and one movie....  I had told them it might take 3 days...  I started around noon on the photos.

Shortly thereafter, our maintenance man, Yves, showed up with plumbers to fix the kitchen sink leak and to replace the toilet.  I let them work while I put the photos through Topaz AI to enlarge and sharpen what I could.

The kitchen sink leak was from a corroded pipe and that was fixed quickly.  The new toilet is a marvel with a super fast flush from very little water.... I love it!  AND, it has an elongated bowl and sits about 1" higher, which is easier for us old geezers....!!!  I had successfully saved the sticker of the shark in the porthole for applying to the new cover.

I then took the 272 photos through PhotoShop for colour and clarity, refusing to stop until I was done, which was 13 hours later, at 1am...  I was still so keyed up that I watched TV and devoured a bag of chips until 2:30am...

Oh, Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone....

This morning, it was sunny, going to 11C for warmth, water everywhere, and I decided that I had better see my old friend Ken Johnston (KJ) out in Gibbons and enjoy the drive. 

 Tuesday is Bingo day at his home and he just loves the activities.  The cards were free today but no room at the table for me to play, so I just watched and chatted.  Everybody at the table won something from the prize basket of green things, from Ginger Ale to green chocolate Aero bars.

Then entertainment showed up, and it turned out to be fiddler Braden Gates from the Commercial Hotel along with his Dad Troy and another fellow.  The resident sure enjoyed the music and Troy's corny jokes, such as "Did you hear about the hole in the fence at the nudist colony?? Well the police are looking into it... lol".

I took a short video that I sent to Cristina too.  Ken is at the very end.

 I hope you enjoy the pictures.  That was the day’s excitement.

Al

******

© 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.

 

Removing the old toilet

Old and new toilet

Kitchen sink pipe repair

New toilet is GREAT!

Happy celebrant

St. Patrick's Day

Internet bingo program

KJ and his table of players

Nice mural in the dining hall

Ken wins the full card, takes a chocolate bar

?, Troy and Braden Gates

KJ

Resident art on the wall

and another

Re-entering Edmonton from the east

A lovely downtown skyline...