No…really!

Just a quickie tonight, I watched the Oscars and I am exhausted. I’m exhausted from being critical in my mind and beating myself about the head for not seeing any of those great looking movies. Now I have to wait for them to come out on video and that will take longer because they now have a new life in the theatres. Oh well, life goes on…

When Louise and I first moved to Calgary back in 1976, it was a much different kind of place than we were used to. It was a very small city compared to Toronto and the people had that small town attitude. When you walked down the street, strangers would smile and say “howdy” or “hi”, which made me smile and say “hi” back. It was kind of a nice feeling, of being a part of something.

Of course other things stood out as well. There was no rush hour as we had come to know it, there would be 45 or 50 minutes when the traffic got a little busier, but it was very doable. There was no problem in finding a job, the problem came trying to find a place to live. The rental vacancy rate was something like .01%, you would call the minute the paper came out and the place would be taken. We met a couple in the motel we were staying at that had run out of money and were forced to work at the motel to pay for their room. We nearly despaired! Lucky for us someone took pity on us and thought that we were a nice young couple.

Back in those days, I would have seen most of the movies that were being honoured by the Academy, because we didn’t have kids and movies were a cheap form of entertainment. Strangely enough, when the late movie ended at ten o’clock, all of the restaurants and coffee shops were closed. It really was a small town!

One of the things that we absolutely loved was that unlike back in Toronto, Calgarians would embrace the winter. Everyone looked forward to the first snowfall because that meant the ski hills would soon be open and there is nothing like skiing in the Rockies! The radio announcers would get excited and so too would almost everyone you met. Part of the excitement of course is that everyone was employed and the industry that drove the town forward would only continue to grow. It was very exciting to be here.

I’m not as excited about the onset of winter anymore, but I suspect that is my problem more than the cities. The first snowfall still indicates the hills will soon open and even -20°C with sun and no wind is pretty nice. The past couple of years I have gotten older I suppose and winter has become a time to stay inside and watch the world pass by. That is really and truly my problem.

I have fewer years ahead of me than behind me and I had best make the best of them. I promise myself that I will look forward to winter next year and in between I will make the days, weeks and months matter. Yes, I will still complain when it is -33°C and feels like -57°C, but only on behalf of other people.

No…really!

hahahaha

The price of gas went up on Friday night by about eight cents. I’m not going to complain about the high cost of gas because we in Alberta pay much less than the rest of the country. However, the way I see it, is that the industry borders on the incompetent. If a refinery is shut down for maintenance, two days later the price will skyrocket. If there is a natural disaster affecting one of the refineries, the price will skyrocket. How can such an important industry keep such a small stockpile?

I know, I know, there are many complicated aspects that I am completely ignorant of. For all I know, fuel may only last a week or so until it turns into fairy dust. We all know that it turns into money after two days.

I guess I am just surprised how things work or I guess how things don’t work. Mankind can do amazing things, we have sent people to the moon, we have cured disease and we are even working towards treating each other with respect. That last one is a work in progress. What I can’t understand is why some very important things in our lives don’t get the same focus. Earlier this year, my furnace failed to go on in the morning and since it was a relatively new furnace, I was rather surprised. I went on Youtube and found that all that was needed was to take some steel wool to a sensor. That information should have been the first thing that was printed on the TROUBLE SHOOTING page of the instructions that came when the furnace was installed. It was not on that page at all.

The only reason I can think of for that omission is that there is an industry that is supported by the ignorance of the general public. My buddy and I were talking the other day about how schools have in some ways failed us. There should be a class on how to deal with this kind of thing, how to buy car tires, how to buy cars, basic wiring and a multitude of things that are simple. Sure, there are a lot of fixes that are best left to the professionals, but it would have helped to build up our confidence in school.

My son’s furnace conked out last night when the mercury dipped below -30°C. It started again in the morning and I told him about the self fix he could do, but he is calling a pro sometime next week. The furnace is just a couple of years old. I think something as important as a furnace should be built of the highest quality materials by the most skilled workers and last for years, but that would affect the bottom line and we wouldn’t want that.

I guess I shouldn’t write a blog tonight, especially since I can only seem to complain. I’m sure that the people in these industries have our best interests at heart and profits take a back seat to quality.

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