Bone Marrow screening

Jenn told me about the bone marrow search system in Canada, which is run by the Canadian Blood Services. She is not sure if she will ever need a bone marrow transplant, but Jenn likes to be prepared. The screening procedure involves sending away for a free kit that arrives in the mail. To learn about it you can go to the www.blood.ca website.
To learn about whether you qualify for bone marrow screening, check out this page: Click Here.
I read into it and was all set to sign up ... but for some reason it says people over 50 cannot apply. Hmmm ... as if I never lied about my age! : )

She is determined eh.

Well, you have to know Jenn to know how determined she can be. She was taking physiotherapy Monday and wasn’t fully aware that her blood counts were low. Anyway, she was working away, working hard, when whoosh!~ she fainted, passed right out! So she was feeling absolutely pooched after that. But later last night, she seemed a bit more chipper about things in general. The final round of chemo-therapy is done … well it has been applied to Jennifer’s system. But it's not over yet. Now Jenn will endure several days of her immune system crashing and then rebuilding itself. She is pretty confident she will come out of this one stronger, but she knows she is going to have some rough days ahead. That being said, Jenn is convinced she is in remission because the med-team is pretty sure of that too. But with the billions of the cells in the human body, they're not taking any chances... they want to ensure that every cancer cell has been killed.

Another Saturday morning updater

They’ve started another session of chemo-therapy for Jennifer. She is back on the original double-dose that the med team gave her on her original session. So Jenn is confident it will be effective, just as the first one was, and it will be a tough experience for a few days this coming week, just like the first session. She sure sounded tired on the phone last night after supper, but she was having a nice visit from her guys, so that was good. She also had a hard week of physio-therapy, but Jenn says that’s a good thing.
SOLD THE HOUSE!
I am in for a busy week ahead. The offer on the house went through and the buyers are happy. The deal closes Monday December 7 so I will be packing this week. I can’t believe how much stuff I have accumulated over the years -- Stuff that I sure don’t need. But I will be holding onto important stuff and calling the St. Martin de Porres charity for things other people might use. There is a young couple buying the house, so I will be pleased to “donate” a lot of things to them. I am looking so forward to having a quiet little apartment. I will miss my neighbours a lot. I have been blessed over the years that wherever I lived, I always had amazing neighbours. But Timmins is small enough that I am sure I will see them often.
I am also going to be closing off my e-mail. Instead of lgillis@nt.net... I will be using my hotmail – lengillis@hotmail.com

Jenn's weekend

Jennifer had a very nice weekend, spending time with her hubby and her boys away from the hospital. Jenn says it was a bit more fun than she expected as she got out to a movie and even went out for dinner! ( They were celebrating Nate’s birthday.) Jenn also had a little surprise of her own. She and Denise dropped by the Daffodil Terrace Lodge which is run by the Cancer Society and they picked out a nice glamourous brunette wig that Jenn was able to borrow for the weekend. How cool is that? Jenn said she is thinking that when her hair grows back (it’s just peach fuzzies right now) she is going to grow it long and then cut it and donate the hair for a wig for somebody else. She said is learning to cope with being in a wheelchair in public places and she said it’s a whole new world of learning. For example, she was happy to go to the arena to see the boys playing hockey and while there was a place in the stands for her wheelchair, there was no heater nearby like in the regular stands. Hmmm… could be a newspaper story.
On a different front, Tyler Town moved out today. Tyler Town was the name of the model railway layout I had in the house for nearly ten years. I started building the layout shortly after he was born, and now that I am moving, it had to move as well. It had a lumber mill, a brewery, a general store, a church, a town hall and great train service. Over the years, the boys had some fun with it, especially making one train crash into the other. I am happy to report that a nice couple in South Porcupine will be setting up Tyler Town in their home for their grandchildren this coming Christmas.

Jennifer is feeling better

It’s going to be a good weekend in Sudbury. Jennifer will be enjoying a three-day pass away from the hospital. Her doctor wants Jenn to rebuild her strength for several days. I told Jenn the doctor likely believes that being in a good mood leads to better health. Jenn agrees because she is excited about spending another weekend at home and she says she is feeling stronger. So far so good. Jenn says she has mixed feelings about her next session of chemo-therapy. No firm word yet on exactly when that will happen, but Jenn says it will be soon. She is not looking forward to it, but she says she wants to get it done and over with so she can make plans to be home for Christmas. Hmmm… Christmas … just six weeks away.

A weekend pass ... and ladders.

It is an overcast Saturday in Timmins but I hear there's some blue skies down south ... in Sudbury. Jennifer is having a good day today. She has a weekend pass! Yup, she is able to spend a couple of days away from the hospital, at home with her family. So that's all good. She says her doctor will let her build up her strength for several days and then there will be another session of chemo-therapy.
I noticed people in Timmins today are putting up their Christmas lights already. I won't be doing that. For some reason I don't like ladders. I don't think I am afraid of heights... but I am not comfortable on ladders. I don't mind airplanes. I recall some years back when brother Ronald was taking part in the airshow in North Bay. He invited me down to meet him. Ron was sky-diving with the Canadian Forces Skyhawks and the US Army Golden Knights jump team, and he invited me on the jump-plane with him. I got a seat right beside the open door so I could shoot some nice photos. The guys strapped me in with two seat belts because my feet were dangling in the open air. The plane climbed to 13,000 feet and I was able to lean out and shoot photos straight down as the guys jumped from the plane. I felt quite comfortable. Good thing I didn't have to stand on a ladder eh.
Oh by the way, it was the first time I had flown at such a high altitude in an un-pressurized airplane. There was about two dozen people on the plane and Ronald explained to me the phenomenon of "fear-farts". That's a story for another day.

Things are nicer...

Jennifer has been having a great week so far. One of the nicest things was a visit by several of her aunts on the weekend who made the drive from Timmins. Jenn said she loved seeing them all and it really gave her a lift. Then on Monday, Jenn was moved to a new room in a newly renovated part of the cancer centre. She is now in room 4-600 and she is quite happy with it. Also this week, Jenn was so pleased to hear that her cousin Zach and Melanie are the happy new parents of tiny Noah Maltais. Hmmm… so that means that Uncle Mo is now Grandpa Mo! So congrats to Marie and Mo and Mel and Zach.
Some of the best news this week came from Jennifer’s oncologist Dr. Lopez who told Jenn for that for all intents and purposes it now appears she is in remission. That is such incredibly good news. (Isn’t it amazing what all those good thoughts and prayers from people can do?) But the doctor is not taking any chances. Jenn will be given several days to build up her strength and then there will be another session of chemo-therapy. She will also be getting more chemo-infusion shots, which are essentially needles of chemo-cocktail right into the spine, which apparently has had very good results for Jenn in the past. To make things even nicer, if everything goes according to plan, Jennifer will get to spend the whole weekend at home this week with her husband and her boys. I just know she is gonna cry some happy tears when she gets in the front door. Jenn says she is looking forward to all that. But she adds her hospital days are far from over. Indications are that when she eventually leaves the cancer centre, she will spend many, many more weeks in the hospital for rehabilitation and physio-therapy. Jenn said tonight that none of the med-team is discussing whether Jenn will ever get the ability to walk again, but she said “I believe I will.” And I learned such a long time ago not to argue with my little girl.

Hey Ronald ... you old %#*!!

This is a separate post for my fave "little brother" Ronald. Tomorrow is his birthday, but by this afternoon in Timmins it will already be "tomorrow" in Afghanistan. So Bro, I hear you're stuck in some hole-in-the-ground forward operating base in the Panjwai district, so take care, keep your head down and have a good day.

Things we take for granted

Had a great chat with Jennifer last night. Her back was a bit sore, but she says that was likely to due to the fact that she did so much physio-therapy this week. She said she did enough work that she was actually feeling tired. And she was happy with that. The other good news is that she is no longer “brown bagging”. The brown bag refers to the dark brown color of the bags for the IV solutions of nutrients. Jenn doesn’t need them anymore. The med-team is also stopping her anti-biotics. So that means for a little while anyway, Jennifer will be tube free. There will be no IV tubes anywhere. That will enable her to move around a bit more freely. --Just one of the little pleasures that most of us take for granted.

Things are good.

Jennifer seems to be hanging in there pretty nicely in the past few days. And she has been happy to see some visitors too, but they have to wear the masks, gloves and gowns. Just when Nate got over his sniffles, it looks like it is Tyler's turn to have a touch of flu. I sure hope most people are coping with the flu thing okay. It has been nine days since I got my shot... I guess I am okay by now, because the nurse said it would be eight to ten days before full immunization would take effect. I still go by the best advice from the public health people ... keep washing your hands and use plenty of tissues.

Jenn was enjoying another good post-chemo day today. She said today was the last day of the "helper drugs" the med team had been giving her to offset some of the nasty effects of the chemo-therapy. Jenn says overall she has been feeling pretty good, but she says its anyone's guess what will happen in the next few days now that the helper drugs have stopped. At some point soon, they will take another bone marrow sample to see if any new leukemia cells are still around in Jennifer`s system. If not it will be very good news indeed. Let's all keep positive thoughts. We ended the call on a nice note. Jenn was smiling. I could hear it in her voice... and oh by the way, the Leafs had just scored on TV.

Weekend update!

Had a nice visit with Jenn this weekend and was amazed at how good she looked. Still, no one was taking chances, so I had to wear gloves and a hospital gown for the visit. It was nice to just sit and chat as if we were in a living room … and for Jenn that’s what it’s getting to be like. As of November 1, she has been in the hospital for 66 days. It’s the “new normal” for her, and as much as she wants to get better, get out and get home; she knows that while she is in the hospital she is getting the best care possible, not only from the med-staff but from people like Denise who spend some much quality time looking after her. It looks like the hospital room is going to be Jenn’s home for several more weeks at least. Some good news from that is that she may get moved to a new section of the hospital as some point soon. As I looked out her hospital window this morning, I noticed that the Sudbury Super Stack was empty. No smoke. Inco has been on strike for several weeks now and unless things change dramatically, it’s going to be a long, long strike.
I remember covering the big strike of 1978-79. It went on for nearly nine months it made a lot of people unhappy and angry. I fear the same sort of thing could happen again.
Anyway, I got a kick out of spending part of Saturday night with Jenn watching the hockey game. Scott was out doing Halloween round with the boys, so I was with Jenn. As I was blabbing on, she shushed me because Toronto scored a goal. I had to laugh. A few minutes later, Jenn suddenly blurted “Oh shit!” when Montreal scored and tied up the game. I laughed at that because Jenn never swears in front of old Dad.
Overall, Jenn seems to be handling this second round of chemo-therapy better than the first. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It amazes me how strong she is mentally and emotionally.
As for the boys, it was grrreat to see them too. Of course they were all excited for Halloween and it was fun to watch them enjoying the candy. Nate was down with some flu symptoms for most of Saturday, but with lots of rest of a bit of medicine, he looked to be in fine shape on Sunday. I don’t doubt that Tyler will be next. The flu is making the rounds, but the boys are strong and healthy. So I am not too worried.

A little better...

Jennifer was feeling much better last night when we had a chance for a quick chat. She said she finally beat her fever, but said it was a rough night on Wednesday. She had sweats and chills and sweat and chills. I can only imagine how poorly she felt. She said the nurses came in around three in the morning to change her sheets and bedding because she sweated so much everything was soaked. Jennifer said at one point her temperature was plus 40. I know she is feeling better now because she said she was able to eat half a hamburger. That pretty darn good for Jenn. I will be pleased to see her tomorrow.

Jennifer is fighting a fever

Today was a rough day for Jennifer. She has a fever and feels very sick. She was not able to talk on the phone, just a quick hello. I hope she sleeps well. It makes me remember when she and Neil were kids and how I would peek into their room and check in on them every night before going to bed. I don`t know why but it`s comforting to watch a child sleeping. Sweet dreams Jenn.
On another topic, I got my H1N1 flu vaccine shot today. I was covering the opening of the flu clinic and was in the clinic before the public was allowed in. I was speaking to the woman in charge of infection control for local public health. She said anyone who comes into contact with a person undergoing chemo-therapy should get the shot because the chemo patient is especially vulnerable to flu germs. I rolled up my sleeve and got the shot right away. I feel much better now.

Just yukky sometimes...

I spoke to Jenn awhile ago and she said she's actually feeling yukky right about now. The effects of the chemo-therapy are now coming around and, once again, there's just nothing pleasant about it. I hate to see it happen, but on the other hand, Thank God for the treatments. She's one tough woman, but I can tell by her voice when she's hurting. I told her I just wish I could take the pain away. "It's okay, this is supposed to happen." she said. I can't for the day when this will be all over and she will be up and around.

Good for morale

Jennifer has been feeling pretty good the past few days, despite the fact that she has just come through the second session of chemo-therapy. She said the med team has given her a new medication to help fight some of the nasty side effects from the first session. In simple terms, the new meds are designed to help stabilize her white blood cell count. I don’t know much about that, but Jenn assures me that she is feeling better. I guess that’s one of the benefits of Jenn having the same people looking after her for so many days and weeks now. They doctors and nurses are learning exactly how her body chemistry responds to every type of medication they give. She knows she is in for some rough days ahead, but she says she is ready for it. Of course Jenn has become the darling of the Oncology floor because she has been there for so many weeks(Since early September) and everyone knows her and everyone drops in to say hello. I think that’s pretty nice and pretty good for her morale.

Jennifer deals with things her way ... that's okay.

Well Jennifer has lost most of her hair, but she is dealing with it with the help of some nice hats and scarves. Candace and I were with her several days ago when Jennifer decided to cut her hair. And as she was brushing it out, most of her hair came out in clumps. I am sure it was a tough moment for her, but it was a private thing and she dealt with it her way. As we mentioned here weeks ago, losing hair is part of the process of chemo-therapy. And yes, Jennifer has lost weight too, but that had a lot to do with the digestive problems after her first round of chemo. Jenn is keeping a lot of these things private. It's her business after all. Jenn and I talk several times a week, sometimes twice a day. If she doesn't want to talk about any certain subject, or a private thing, that's her decision. Jennifer is very strong mentally and amazingly strong emotionally. She is confident that with time, she will be physically strong once again.

Scott remembered...

Jennifer has completed her second round of chemo-therapy and she was a bit nauseous today. She says she is ready for a few rough days but her spirits are good. I would do anything to take her place for her. Jenn's legs are still getting spasms, but they've given her new medication that should help control that. Let's hope so. I mentioned that Oct. 21 is a special day for Jennifer... actually it's a special day for Jenn and Scott. It's their wedding anniversary. Scott remembered, and showed up at the hospital Wednesday with flowers, their wedding photo and a lovely diamond ring. How nice is that?

Jennifer and diamonds

I had a nice chat with Jennifer this morning. She is on day-three of her new round of chemo-therapy and she says she feels okay, and she sounded okay, but we both know that the chemo will make her feel poorly in a few days. She did sound a bit tired today, but I think that’s because I called earlier than normal and woke her. The encouraging thing is that the chemo sure seems to do its job in killing the leukemia cells in Jenn’s blood. The med team has added a new tube to Jenn’s body. They’ve put a line into her belly and they’re giving some sort of a pain medication. This one is to help her cope with the pain in her legs. It’s a recurring pain that is more like a continuous ache. Jenn says she doesn’t know if it’s a good or bad thing yet, since there was a period when she had no feeling. Let’s hope for the best she says. This is also a special week for Jenn and October 21 is a special day for her. More on that later this week. I had to cover a little story with De Beers Canada this week… they have a diamond mine near Timmins and they’re donating a beautiful one-carat diamond to the Timmins hospital as a fundraiser. I don’t know much about diamonds, but the one they’re donating is a Princess of Hearts cut, valued at $20,000. That’s kind of cool. As part of the announcement, the De Beers people handed out these big fat, fake diamonds … but jeez, they sure look impressive don’t they.

Jenn's chocolate brownie breakfast...

It was good to talk with Jennifer last night (Thursday). She sounded in good spirits despite the fact she had some digestive cramping. She is also getting ready to start her new round of chemo therapy. I think the real reason she was in good spirits was because she had a chocolate brownie that Denise picked up for her at a bake sale. Jenn got a kick out of letting me know. Just to keep you in the loop, I have a habit of having chocolate cake for breakfast… I just find it improves my whole outlook for the day. Jenn was pleased to let me know she has picked up on some of my good habits. I was busy all day Friday, but I will chat with her again Saturday.

More chemo-therapy on the way

About time I updated things here. I have been busy ever since I got back from Sudbury on Monday, because I have decided to sell the house. I had a good chat about it with Neil and Jennifer and I decided I just don’t need a house anymore. It takes more time and effort to keep this place going than I am willing to commit to, so I am going to find a new apartment where I don’t have to shovel snow, cut the grass, work in the shed, fix the faucets or look after the thousand-and-one other things that need attention. The real-estate lady is quite excited … she says I could be out of here in a few weeks. So it should be interesting in the coming weeks and months to see how things unfold. I will be sure to get a two-bedroom place so there is always room for visitors.
My visit to Sudbury was excellent. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Jenn’s place with Scott and Jennifer, Neil, Candice and Gee. It was just perfect. Of course there was way too much food, but just enough wine.
Jennifer is going to be on a new regimen of chemo-therapy treatment on Friday. The med team says it wants to be absolutely certain that all the leukemia cells are gone, so more chemo is prescribed. Jenn has mixed feelings about it. She knows its going to make her feel terrible, but she says she now knows how effective the treatment is because the first round of chemo-therapy resulted in zero leukemia cells when they did the bone marrow test last week.
But the oncologist explained that just because there was no cancer found in the sample, it doesn’t mean that a cancer cell is not lurking somewhere else in Jennifer’s body. Of all the billions of good cells in the body he said, all it takes is one bad cell to grow a tumour.
That’s the reason why the med team is being so aggressive with the chemo. You can’t argue with that. I chatted a bit with Jenn tonight, but she was struggling with an upset stomach that was quite irritating for her. She thinks it may be due to the fact that she is now allowed to eat solid foods again and her stomach is taking awhile to get used to that. I hope she feels better soon.

A nice day in the North

It's another nice day in Northern Ontario. I actually slept in to nine o'clock. Wow... I never sleep that late. It's so quiet in the country. Plus, there's the fact that I don't have a scanner with me, which likely helps out too. Woke up to find that Scott had returned from Westree with some carrot cake that Denise had baked. Hello breakfast! I put the coffee on and made enough noise that Scott got up. Hegrabbed a coffee and put the TV on the check out the hockey news from last night. So we've got the turkey ready for the oven, the stuffing smells great and Scott just headed to town with a long list of errands ... including a stop at the liquor store. It's going to be a grrrreat day.

Good, good news

Apologies for not being here sooner, or more often this week. So many good things are going on. Just got back to the house after spending the most of the day with Jennifer. Actually I am not at my home but at Scott and Jenn's place. Jennifer had a good day today...thanks to so many good people. I hadn't seen her in awhile, but it was nice to see how much better she looks now that things are improving overall. So that is hugely thanks to Denise, Jenn's mom in law, and Candace, Jenn's cousin. Jenn is also blessed with a fabulous medical team. And of course, there is a steady stream of visitors from Jenn's friends and co-workers. It was nice to meet Jenn's longtime friend Nikki once again, who was at the hospital when I arrived. Oh, I sucked up today... I showed up with a couple of boxes of butter tarts from the amazing Vicki D'Amours bakery in Timmins, and dropped them off at the nurse's station in the oncology ward. There is nothing sweeter or more mouth-watering. The nurses loved them. Tyler and Nathan both had hockey games today and then they're heading up north to Westree to spend some time at camp with Don and Denise, and cousin Victoria along with Christine and Dimitrios. It was nice to chat with the boys for a bit. They're looking great. We also had a chat with Neil on the phone today... he is flying east at this very mnoment and should be landing at Pearson sometime around midnight. He will be arriving in Sudbury tomorrow and we'll all have a very nice Thanksgiving dinner.
Michelle and her husband Neal in Timmins are going to be checking out my house today and suggesting some improvements ... Michelle is the real-estate lady who will be selling my house. Yup, time to change my lifestyle... Hopefully I will be in some new digs before the snow flies. And I have no plans of shovelling driveways anymore. So we will see how that all unfolds in the coming weeks.

Jennifer is improving

Jennifer got more good news today. Her doctor said the bone marrow test from earlier this week was negative, so far, for leukemia cells. So it appears the first session of chemo therapy was doing what it was supposed to. Jenn says it means her medication is heading her in the right direction. It doesn’t necessarily mean all the cancer is gone. It means there’s a whole lot of new hope today that she didn’t have a week ago. Whew! Her oncologist says now that the marrow appears clean, a new procedure will begin Friday. They will begin a series of chemo-injections directly into Jennifer’s spine to make something of a direct attack on whatever is left of the original tumour that was located on her spine. Jennifer says at some point after that, the med team will initiate another round of direct chemo-therapy. She says now that she sees how good the results are she isn’t too worried about coping with the next round. Jenn says she is determined to fight to get better. I think that slice of pizza she had on the weekend really perked her up eh!
~ ~ ~
On another note, my little brother Ronald is back into the thick of it again with some army buddies. Ron, who lives with his fabulous wife Loni (the air force gal), on the west coast is this week heading to Afghanistan. He will be going with another bunch of young soldiers to a hole in the ground known as a Forward Operating Base (FOB). So be sure to add him to your Christmas Card list: Sgt. Ronald A. Gillis, C-company, 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Afghanistan. That’s the place there, Sperwan Ghar, in the photo. Photo Credit: Canadian Forces Combat Camera.
Someday I will tell you the story of the time I went to see Ron on a winter military exercise in Northern Ontario where a thousand soldiers para-jumped in at minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit. He convinced me to sneak him out so we could go for a beer. So he lay down on the floor in the back seat of the car while I drove through the military checkpoints. That was fun. Stay safe Bro!

A grreat day for Jennifer ... at home!

What a fabulous weekend for Jennifer. She is indeed feeling stronger and more energetic. You can imagine my surprise when I got a call from her on Sunday, saying not to call her at the hospital… the doctor had agreed to let her go home for a few hours! Jenn says she was just as surprised as anyone. Her doctor was visiting Sunday morning and Jennifer asked when it might be possible to get out of the hospital and spent a bit of time at home. The doctor said “how about today?” Jennifer burst into tears and before you knew it, Scottie picked her up, put her in the truck and they drove home. Jenn says it was an excellent day and of course, she was also pleased to see Buddy and Lucky, the dog and cat. So they ordered pizza, which Jenn says she was able to eat. How cool is that? Jennifer also gave a bone marrow sample from her hip this morning, so sometime this week, she will get news on how effective the chemo therapy was in killing the cancerous blood cells. Jenn says she was told to expect another round of chemo-therapy regardless. The success of the first chemo-therapy session will likely determine the exact nature of the drugs used on the second session. Let’s keep a good thought.

Some good news

It was so nice to chat with Jennifer this morning. She picked up the phone and was having a hard time moving it to the bed -- and I could hear her whispering some nasty words … So I knew that was a good sign! We both laughed about that. But today seems to be a good day for her. “I feel really good Dad,” she said. “ I think I’ve turned a corner…”
You can imagine how good it was to hear her like that. This is four days in a row of no fever and the med team is cutting back on her anti-biotics. The doctor told Jenn that her blood counts are coming up really well. That is also restoring her strength and energy.
She is still on the liquid nutrients through the I.V. tube, but she is also allowed some liquids by mouth now. Yesterday she had chicken broth. Today she has had apple juice and cranberry juice and they’re urging her to drink lots and lots of ginger ale. It seems that ginger ale has lots of phosphorous which is something the body needs. The pain in her back, the radiation burn, is still annoying her, especially when she moves. But she says she doesn’t think about it that much and that she can take pain medication if its really bad. So Jenn is having a better time right now. She’s hoping to get back to a more regular system of physio-therapy so she can hopefully get feeling and strength back in her lower body. Hope is such a good thing.

Holding hands will make you cry...

I had mixed feelings when I chatted with Jenn tonight. She was feeling pretty good she said. But we watched the last of the Toronto Maple Leafs game together and just when we thought it would be a win for the Leafs, Montreal scored and tied up the game. “Welcome to the Leaf Nation” Jenn sighed. Then we watched the overtime period together and with seconds left to play, Montreal scored again! Oh, oh ... What a letdown eh. Anyway, Jenn says she thinks she is getting a bit stronger each day. And there is no fever. Today the doctor let her drink some apple juice. Eventually, she will be able to drink broth and then some soft foods. She says she is sure looking forward to that. The MRI imaging she had earlier this week shows nothing new and the doctor told Jenn that is good news. She says she still feels pain in her upper back and the doctor thinks it is a radiation burn from the intense radiation therapy. It’s like a really severe sunburn. So we will follow that. Scott treated Jennifer today by showing up with a photo of their front yard. They live in the country and have a nice big parcel of land with beautiful trees and shurbs, all surrounded by forest. Scott tacked the photo up on the wall in her room. How nice is that! Another good thing is that Jenn’s isolation rules are being relaxed. Scott brought Tyler and Nate to the hospital and Jenn told the boys to go and make sure they washed up their hands really well. When they came back into the hospital room, Jenn said she was able to touch her little boys and hold hands for the first time in many, many days. She said she started crying when she held their hands because she was happy. I cried when she told me. Funny what we take for granted eh?

Jenn is feeling better and stronger

Like the song says, what a difference a day makes. Actually those were Jennifer’s words today when we chatted. As soon as she picked up the phone I knew she was feeling better. In fact, Jenn said as soon as she woke up today, she knew it was going to be a good day. “I’m not a hundred per cent yet,” she said, but she was sure upbeat and said she was feeling better and stronger. She also had physio-therapy today. She said she was able to move her legs quite well and she is happy that her legs muscles responded. But she says the physio workouts really make her tired. She added that the med team has provided her with pneumatic leggings to increase the circulation in her legs. I clued into that right away because fighter pilots wear something quite similar - a G-suit - to ward off the effects of G-Forces that would pool blood in the legs. The pneumatic leggings inflate and deflate to improve blood circulation. Cool or what.
Jenn says she doesn’t have any word back yet on the results of her MRI imaging from Tuesday, but she said she’s not worried. Her doctor is a straight shooter and if there was any problem he would have said something.
The other good thing is that although her digestive problem persists, Jenn says she hasn’t had a fever in two days. She is on some new meds and she says it may be possible that they’re working better than the previous prescription. Jenn also has not needed a transfusion of platelets for two days, so that is good news as well. Keep up all the good thoughts and prayers!

This sucks... another rough day for Jennifer

It was difficult talking to Jenn today, she was so sick, weak and tired. Her system is still taking a beating from the chemo-therapy it seems and her body is fighting hard to get some strength back. But sometimes, it doesn’t happen easy. Jenn is absolutely exhausted today and feeling terrible, but she says it’s just something she will have to work through. In Jenn’s words, she is not about to ‘sugar-coat’ her situation. She said she was feeling really sick today. On the upside of things, she says she is happy that her regular doctor, Dr. Lopez, is back in town. She said he already dropped by for two visits to check up on her while he was making his rounds. She also had an MRI imaging done today. She says she hopes to find out the results tomorrow. As frustrating as I feel about my inability to do anything or say the right thing, or contribute in some positive way, I can only imagine how much worse this whole thing is for Jenn. I will only think good things for her.

Neil is coming home...

Jennifer had a relatively good weekend, thanks to a lot of people, she told me. She was really happy to hear that Neil will be heading back this way early next month. Her favourite little brother spent some time on the phone with Jenn over the weekend and that sure brightened her day. I have to admit I will look forward to seeing Neil as well. Maybe I will learn more about the business of running a brew-pub in Vancouver. Poor Neil has to manage two of these places and no doubt has to keep up on all the flavours of the new beers they produce. Sounds like the perfect job, … reminds me of Norm on Cheers! Jenn and her men (Scott and the boys) had a family weekend at the hospital. She says they all got to sit down in front of the TV and watch the Leafs game Saturday night. She was sure pleased the Leafs won. I can’t wait for the day when Scott and Jenn can go back to Toronto to watch the Leafs again. Tyler and Nathan also had their hockey tryouts and Scott was happy to go along and make sure the boys had fun. When we talked today, I said to Jenn… “He is such a good Dad.” Jenn said, “He is Grrreat Dad!”
Jenn said she also had visitors over the weekend, despite being in an isolation room, and she’s always glad to see them. Luckily, Jennifer’s cousin Candice lives in Sudbury, and is able to be there so often. Candice and Jennifer - I can’t help but think of those two as the snotty kids who were always underfoot at Grandma’s place when they were little. It’s amazing to see them as two wonderful women these days who are still the best of friends .. even if they are still basically a couple of nice beer-drinkin' gals from Timmins.
So today was a new day and Jenn had some pain in her back. The med team is not sure what it is, but Jenn says they may be able to book an MRI to find out more. That might be happening tomorrow. Her digestive system is still a worry. With all the meds, and chemicals that have been forced into her body in the past month, I am not surprised. She is still on liquid nutrients and that means she cannot eat or drink normally. That is upsetting. When we are healthy, we just take so much for granted.

Another good day... so many good people

I didn’t get through to Jennifer last night because her phone wasn’t working yesterday. The hospital staff replaced it and so we had a nice long chat this morning. There is good news. Jenn’s CT scan on Friday went well. She said it was all clear and nothing was showing. The med team was worried about her digestive system and decided to have a close-up look at things. So good news is always welcome. Jenn added that she is often overwhelmed by the good thoughts, good intentions and good things that people do for her. She said she was in tears yesterday because her co-workers decided to take up a collection to help her out and it was matched dollar-for-dollar by her boss, Junior. Jenn said she couldn’t get over how generous people are. She had only gone back to Pat & Marios earlier this year, after being away for many years. Jenn had worked there before in her university days and always liked it. I remember earlier this year she said she was happy to be back because it was such a good place to work with great people. No kidding eh. We also talked today about how so many ordinary people want to be able to do nice things to help other people. What a good life-lesson that is. It was just a few weeks back that Demetrios (Christine’s partner) was able to bring holy water and holy oil from Greece that his devout grandmother had sent specifically for Jennifer! How cool is that? Jennifer was so touched and grateful for that kindness. Today is hockey tryout day for Valley East. Jenn says Tyler and Nathan are all excited and will be dropping by the hospital later in the day to talk about the upcoming season. I know she wishes she could be with the boys … actually she is more of a hockey nut than most people realize. I remember one Saturday morning around last Christmas when we went out to watch the boys at a game. Nathan scored a goal and began pumping his arm, just like the NHL guys do. Jenn looked over at me and we both laughed, it was so funny.

An interesting day . . .

Part of my job involves listening to speeches and meeting well-known people, usually at a news conference. Over the years I have met many, but today, once again, I met the man who is probably my favourite speaker. I did something I’ve never done before. I asked Stephen Lewis to pose for a photo and he was kind enough to do so. I covered Lewis back in the 1970s when he was the firebrand Ontario NDP leader. He remembered and we chatted briefly.

His speeches were so good that he was often written up in TIME magazine. TIME also named him as one of the Top 100 people who shape our lives. In later years he became Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, the deputy director of UNICEF and in recent years, has been suggested for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was in Timmins again today and I was delighted to listen to him for nearly 90 minutes. It’s a good day.

A good day for my fave daughter

Today was a good day for Jennifer. I could tell as soon as she picked up the phone ... she said she was feeling a lot better than she has been feeling in the past few days. There is no fever and no nausea and she said she knew she would be feeling better from the moment she woke up.
Jennifer was losing more of her hair today, but she says it doesn’t really bother her. I am not surprised. Jenn is the type of person who quickly gets a handle on reality and sets priorities. She says she knows her hair will grow back once the chemo does its dirty work on the cancer cells … and besides, like Tasha says, Jenn is gonna be beautiful with or without the hair. No argument there … all the Maltais women are so good looking.
By the way, she sure enjoys the notes people send. She told me she was especially pleased that her Uncle Ronald took the time to write a nice letter. She really enjoyed reading and re-reading it. The Care Mail thing is one of the best things at the hospital. Scott’s Mom, Denise told me about it a few weeks back … if you want to send Jenn an e-mail just send it to the attention of Jennifer, Room 4665, Cancer Centre at caremail@hrsrh.on.ca . Every weekday, the volunteers at the hospital print out the messages and bring them to the patient’s room.
So that’s a good thing. Here’s another good thing.
Jenn says Denise is becoming like her own personal ‘super nurse’ because she provides such good care and just spoils her. How nice is that?
Jennifer had another CT scan today. The med team is checking on her digestive system because its acting up a bit. They’re pretty confident it’s just a reaction of the chemo, but they’re not taking any chances. Jenn will get the results on Friday. We had a discussion today about the level of care she is getting. So far, Jennifer has nothing but praise for the people at the Sudbury Cancer Centre. We are lucky to have it.
In the meantime, this means no food or drink for Jenn. She is being fed by a tube that carries liquid nutrients right into her body. I felt bad last night because I absent-mindedly told her about the steak and mushrooms I had for supper. Jennifer was jealous. She says her mouth waters when she sees a food commercial on TV. The good thing about the nutrient tube is that Jenn says she is getting her strength back. But I have to remember not to mention food when we chat. Funny how we have to be careful what we say … Jenn was mentioning to Scott just today that she felt really tired earlier in the week. She told Scott… “I felt like I’d been hit by a bus…” Nathan and Tyler suddenly looked at each other in shock, thinking their poor Mom had really been hit by a bus. Scott had to explain to them that Mom just felt that way. Jenn and I had such a good laugh when she told me about that tonight. By the way, Jenn says thanks for the cards, the e-mails and the kind comments and sends her love to everyone.

Carrying on...

Jennifer says the medications she is taking are making her more tired that usual. I sure believe her. She and Scott were supposed to watch the Maple Leafs exhibition game last night, but poor Jenn fell asleep when the game was on. Knowing what a hockey fan Jenn is, especially a Leafs fan, I know she would do anything to watch that game. But she says it could also be the new bed she has... she's says it is toooo comfy! We chatted a bit last night and I could tell she was soooo tired, so we ended our call early. Yesterday was interesting in that I had time to chat with an old friend whose family also coped with cancer. Terry Laporte was able to provide some helpful advice and insights. He actually wrote a very nice book about the situation in his family. I read it all before bed last night and I will be pleased to share it with Scott and Jennifer, soon. Today Jennifer sounded upbeat. I think that's because Denise dropped by for a nice visit. Jennifer also said she noticed that she is now beginning to lose some of her hair... but she says she doesn't think she will be too bothered by it. Scott has already shaved his head and Jenn says the boys are thinking of it as well. What a cool gang they are. Some things in life are sure not perfect, but they are carrying on.

Something new!

Just a quick update today. Jennifer was certainly upbeat when we chatted awhile ago. She is still fighting a fever, but they’re trying out some new meds and she is hopeful. They’re also giving her extra nutrients through the I.V. which she says makes things a lot easier and gives her strength. The big news is that they’ve given Jenn a new air-bed … it’s valued at about $70,000. The nice thing is that it inflates and deflates so that the patient can adjust it to their personal comfort level. Jenn thinks it is pretty cool. Me too! I can imagine the boys will get a kick out of it once they see it too. I have to admit I am amazed at how good the treatment is at the Sudbury hospital. I know the past few days have been rough on her, but I am confident she is slowly getting her strength back. I hadn’t talked to her since Sunday… she gave me hell for that too. That was nice. I like it when Jenn gives me hell … I can tell she is getting stronger.

Round one is over...

Good news and less-than-good news to report this weekend. The good part is that Jennifer’s first ever session with chemo-therapy is over. The final dosage was administered Saturday. One dosage of chemo was a three-day dosage and the second was a six-day dosage. They were done simultaneously. Jenn didn’t have too much nausea during the week, but she did have some today. Another side effect is extreme exhaustion and a nasty fever. The fever let up for most of today, and because I was driving back to Timmins, I haven’t talked to her to find out how she has been in the past few hours. Luckily, the chemo has NOT affected her hair too much… (Knock on wood!). But the next week or so will be a time of rebuilding her strength and getting her body systems back to normal. Then there will be testing to find out how well the first session of chemo worked. Jenn says it is likely that a second session of chemo-therapy will be done just to be sure. The nurse said that Jenn’s white blood platelets were almost non-existent today. A member of the med-team explained that’s not good because we all need those platelets otherwise we could suffer unusual internal bleeding, heavy bruising and life-threatening nosebleeds. On the other hand, it means the chemo – cocktail is doing the job of destroying all the cancer cells along with the platelets. So today Jenn was getting a transfusion of new blood platelets, an I.V. solution to hydrate her and replace her electrolytes, another solution of anti-biotics to fight the fever, muscle relaxants to fight the spasms, and anti-nausea drugs. At one point today, I counted six bags of fluids on the I.V. pole! Jenn also had no appetite last night or today. Poor me, I had to eat her chicken and rice at lunchtime….. Yecchhh, not gonna offer to do that again! It was grrreat to spend time with Jenn and talk and get caught up. It was not great to see her struggling with the exhaustion and discomfort. But Jenn says she is going to get through this. She really loves the encouragement she gets from all the cards and e-mail care messages. And sometimes if she can’t answer the phone, it’s because she is sleeping or is not able to reach the phone.

I think Spock (the Vulcan) had it right

Jennifer had another less-than-pleasant day on Thursday (Chemo Day 6). I spoke to her late last night and her fever was back. Things had improved a bit during the day, but towards evening, she was feverish again. Jenn says she expects it is just one of those things she will have to work through. And she says she has full confidence in the medical team looking after her. She says she has a whole new respect for the work of nurses and other medical staff. Another good thing is that Jenn says although she was weak and feverish, she wasn’t nauseous. She was happy to see Nate for first time in a couple of days. She said he had to wear a mask, gloves and a gown, but it was still nice to see him. As sick as Jenn feels, she does enjoy the Care Mail messages people send. She also admitted she watched the new Survivor program on television and says its something for her to look forward to and follow. I thought how much we take for granted being able to get up, get out of bed and so somewhere. As Jenn was talking I started thinking of Mr. Spock and the Star Trek movies and Vulcan medicine where the healthy Vulcan can place his hand on the head of the sick person and absorb all the pain and suffering. I wish it could be that easy to just reach out and take all the sickness away.

Gonna miss that voice...

It was sad to hear that Mary Travers died on Wednesday. Her name may not mean much to a lot of people unless you say it was “Mary … from Peter, Paul and Mary”, the famous 1960s folk singers. Her voice, loud and pure as a bell, was the mainstay of songs like If I Had A Hammer, Blowin’ In The Wind and The Times They Are A Changin’. I miss folk music. It was so simple and meaningful. Peter, Paul and Mary made people think and it was emotional music. They performed at the famous civil rights March on Washington in 1963 when Martin Luther King spoke. I believe their sound was the sound of 1960s protest movement more than any other.

A rough day for Jennifer

Wednesday, Day 5 of the chemo-cocktail and Jennifer is feeling weak, tired, and a bit achey. If that wasn’t enough, she got a fever somehow today and they’re treating that with anti-biotics and more IV fluids. She said it was a rough day. Despite that we were able to share a few laughs tonight just chatting about daughter-dad stuff. She says the fever is making her weak and the medical staff have isolated her from most visitors. But she says she does enjoy the fact that she’s has received many, many very nice Care Mail messages. She also got a couple of very nice phone calls including a chat with her favourite little brother, Neil. She felt pretty good about that. One of the good things about the meds she is on is that she is sleeping a lot more. I am sure that makes the day a bit easier for her. She said she felt bad a couple of times today when Denise or Scott would come by the room … she would be awake for awhile and then just drift off to sleep. With that in mind, I didn’t chat long with Jenn tonight. But I knew she was awake when I told her I loved her and to have sweet dreams.

Not a bad day after all : )

Today (Tuesday) was Day 4 of chemo-therapy for Jennifer and she says she was feeling sick as soon as she woke up, but says she is a bit amazed that the medical staff is giving her Benadryl to fight off the nausea. She says it seems to work okay, except for a few times when she thinks about certain foods… and then she gets woozy. But Jenn says she was happy with her physio therapy today. She said she was able to lift her legs a bit so that’s a positive sign, but like Jenn says, there is still a long way to go. She says it takes a lot of intense concentration to make the connection from her brain to her legs, but she says it seems to slowly be getting better. She said she was pleased that her physio therapist was so happy. Jenn also had some quick visitors today. John and Gerry dropped by and that was a good thing, and so did her long-time girlfriend Roberta. Roberta drove up from Owen Sound. Ontario is a big province and the drive from Owen Sound took five hours! To make the day nicer, Aunt Sue called from Timmins and Jenn said that was a really welcome call. Scott was in with Tyler today, but poor Nathan had to say home as he still has sniffles. Nathan is promising to get better real soon. But she said she really had a nice talk with Tyler. Scott is back at work and while he is glad to be back on the job, he tells Jenn it is sometimes hard to stay focussed on work. I sure know that feeling. I also had some positive thoughts today as I ran into two different people, at two different times and they each know of adults with leukemia who are survivors. That made my day. I am also feeling guilty that I have missed three phone calls from my brother Ronald … Either I am on the phone with Jenn or out of the house… or sometimes just sleeping. It doesn’t help that my phone is busy when I go online, because I still have dial-up internet service. I am sure we will connect soon.

Monday was her first rough day

Just got off the phone with Jennifer… it was a quick call because her breakfast was sitting on the table in front of her getting cold. But she sure sounded tired. She says she is pretty loaded up with meds, including anti-nausea drugs, muscle relaxants and the chemo-cocktail as she called it. She said Day 3 of chemo-therapy (Monday) was a rough day for her for the first time, and last night was uncomfortable because she has spasms in her legs. But Jenn says that could be a good thing if it means that more feeling is coming back to her legs. She was also feeling a bit down because she didn’t see her boys Monday. Nathan caught a sniffle at school, so he and Tyler stayed home. Jenn says they might able to come up to the hospital today if they wear masks. With the H1N1-flu scare in Ontario now, the hospital now has masks and hand wash stations at every door. Jenn did say the day was nicer when Scott dropped by with a dozen roses to freshen up the room and Denise, Scott’s mom, brought in an amazing salad. And then Scott came back with a feed of home made spaghetti. The best thing is that Jenn had a smile in her voice and I know she is strong. We'll keep you posted.

A lot to learn

Jenn was tired, or maybe just really, really relaxed when we talked tonight. I almost didn’t get through to her. I found out that the hospital switchboard won’t take patient calls after 10:00 p.m. But I guess my plea to the switchboard person was urgent enough, yet polite enough, that I got through for a quick chat. Jenn says Day 2 of chemo-therapy seems to be okay, but she says she feels tired, likely because of the anti-nausea drugs she is taking. Anyway, she was tired enough that in the middle of our chat, she would just do a really big yawwwwn… I laughed. Then I started yawning. It happened a few times. Maybe she was giving me a hint. She usually dozes off before 11:00 p.m.
Jenn says she got a graphic impression of how powerful the chemo drugs are today. The nurse had to wear special white coveralls and goggles as he hooked the IV solution up to her PICC lines. Jenn said the nurse explained that the drugs are highly acidic and cannot come into contact with bare skin. I have the feeling that we will be learning lots about these things in the coming days.

Something different

In the past, this would be the time of year I make choke-cherry jam. But I noticed that most of the fruit on the tree has been disappearing this year. I thought it was the birds. But then this morning, when I was in the backyard putting clothes on the line, I heard something rustling the choke-cherry tree. Sure enough I surprised the furry little thief of a chipmunk and he was too frightened to get out of the tree. You might be able to see him the first photo, right in the middle. If not, I zoomed-in on the second photo and lightened it so you can see the little booger. I will have to go shopping now and get some seeds. The little guy looks too skinny with the cold weather on the way.

There he is!

I am proud of Jenn : )

Jennifer’s first day of chemo-therapy went okay, she says. She didn’t feel anything unusual but she is aware it will take a couple of days for the medication to kick in. She is amazed at the huge array of medication. There are the steroids to reduce inflammation, there are blood thinners to increase circulation, and there is vitamin-K (whatever THAT does). And she and Scott are now doing “a shot” of carrot juice each day.
She also had plenty of visitors and that sure brought her spirits up. Even when she took a nap, visitors dropped by and left gifts. Jenn was pleased with the soup that cousin Valerie brought… and she sure likes the new DVD player that Val left as well. Of course she was happy too when Candice arrived with John and Gee (Giselle) who drove down from Timmins. Gee’s sister, who is a hairstylist, sent along some scarves and hats Jenn might like when she loses her hair. The hair loss thing still bugs Jenn a bit, and she mentioned she might take the advice of a nurse and just get it cut beforehand. She is still not too sure.
We talked for the longest time last night (Which is great – but I think I talked too much after half a litre of wine) and while we talked about cancer patients we’ve known in the past, we agreed that even though chemo-therapy is not easy, it seems that they’re making it easier for patients to cope with it these days. Jenn says she sure feels grateful for the treatment and says she feels she has to do something now to “give back” in her words. I am proud of her for that. Hmmm, I’ve always been proud of Jenn.

A refreshing day for Jenn.

Tomorrow (Saturday Sept.12) is going to be an uncertain day for Jennifer. She will begin her chemo-therapy. She is a bit worried about it. But her spirits were sure high tonight when we talked. I think part of that is because she had enjoyed a refreshing shower today with the help of the nurses. She said it sure beats those bedside sponge baths. How much we take for granted eh?
Jennifer also had a visit from Denise, Line and Amy, (her mom-in-law, aunt and cousin) who were able to bring her outside to enjoy the sunshine for awhile. How nice is that? Jenn says she also enjoyed her physio-therapy session and is feeling good about the feeling and strength in her legs… it’s not complete yet, but she is optimistic. She is also practising her balance for sitting up. She says it is amazing how much we rely on our stomach muscles to do things. She doesn’t have full feeling of her abdominal muscles so that’s a challenge right now.
If you read the posting earlier today, you will have noted the information about Care Mail. Jenn says it works. She got my first message today. I plan to send more messages whenever the mood strikes me. But the best part of the day, for me, is the wonderful long talks we have. What a treat that has become.
So let’s hope the chemo-therapy does what it is supposed to do. Jennifer knows she will be feeling poorly, but her main worry is the fact that she will be prone to infection if any germs get through. Scott told the boys today that Jenn is off limits for kisses for the next two weeks; hugs only and lots of hand washing. The upside is that the side effects of chemo-therapy are said to be only temporary and will end once the treatment does. My worry is that with all this H1N1 Flu going around, somebody might be a carrier of the flu bug and not know it. Regardless, I am going to take my cue from Jennifer and keep smiling.

Care Mail!

Denise sent me a wonderful e-mail this morning telling me about an excellent service provided to Sudbury Regional Hospital patients. It's called Care Mail. It lets you send an e-mail message to a patient, which is then printed up by volunteers and the message is delivered to that patient's room. What a nice thing. So if you want to send a quick note to Jennifer you can send the e-mail to her attention at room 4665 of the Laurentian Hospital cancer treatment centre to caremail@hrsrh.on.ca.

I already sent a message this morning to see how it works.

Jenn's new room

Jennifer had her final radiation treatment today; at least for the time being … She said she was happy to do it. And she is feeling pretty good. Next is the chemo-therapy treatment. The medical staff told her that Friday is a day off to relax and gather her strength. Then on Saturday the chemo begins. Jenn says she is pretty sure she is ready for it. She says she has been eating lots and lots. But for Jenn, that’s a relative thing. Jenn was never a big eater. She weighed 120 when she was admitted to the hospital two weeks ago, and she lost a bit of weight since then. She says she is learning to like the hospital food, but she was spoiled today when Junior sent up a deluxe Greek Salad and Bruschetta Bread. If you’ve ever eaten at Pat & Mario’s you know how good that is. On the other hand, I’ve known Jenn to eat only half a dessert of chocolate cheesecake. Who could possibly do that? How on Earth can anyone stop eating cheesecake? Oh well, that’s Jenn. Good thing I like leftovers!
Anyway, she has had her PICC lines installed… they are the double-tubes that will carry the chemo-medication inside her body. They’re inserted through a vein in the arm and go all the way inside her to a point near her heart. You can read more about it here: http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Linesports/PICCline
Jenn’s cousin Valerie and Dennis dropped by for a visit today. Jenn said she was happy to see them since they just returned from a vacation in Newfoundland. She said they helped her move down the hall to her new room.
Oh by the way, Jennifer has a new room. She is now in room 4665 at Laurentian Hospital’s cancer treatment centre. If you are able to call her, the toll-free number is 1-866-469-0822. Jenn said she loves the room because it’s the same size as the regular ward room but she has it all to herself. And she is happy that it has a window too. I know Jenn really misses being outside. She and Scott and the boys live in the country and they like it like that. If you look in the Archives over there on the right side of the page, check out September ’06 and see a photo of Jenn and Scott after a day of fishing. She was the “pickerel princess” back then. Anyway, Jenn is pleased the hospital has put an extra cot in the room so that Scott can spend more time there. She figures she will be in the hospital for another month, and so she is already planning a few movie nights with Scott and her boys.

'Kick it in the ass' said the doctor!

Jennifer was sure upbeat tonight when we chatted. It amazing how much we can talk because anyone who knows me knows I am not much of a phone freak. Anyway, she said her Oncologist Dr. Pedro Lopez came in to her room today and had a nice long talk and Jenn says he is sure speaking positively. I sure feel good about that because I am thinking the doctor wouldn’t speak that way unless he was feeling fairly certain there will be a good outcome. Jenn says the doctor is confident the radiation treatments have done much to shrink the original tumour. Today was her fifth round of radiation. Jenn quoted the doctor when she said he told her there is a “very, very good chance we will kick this thing in the ass.” Dr. Lopez also said the effort now is not just to deal with the cancer but also to eliminate it. On the other side, Jenn says she expects the chemo-therapy will begin tomorrow or Friday. The chemo is to kill the cancer cells in her blood. She says she has been told she will lose her hair within a week. She is putting on a brave face, but I know she will miss it because Jenn has always had long beautiful hair. She is also preparing herself mentally for the challenge of dealing with the weakness and sickness of being on chemo-therapy. She also says that as soon as she loses her hair, Scott has promised to shave his head as well. That doesn’t surprise me. Scott is an amazing man. I told Jenn that she and Scott are truly lucky to have found each other in their lives. She says she was also told that her hair can grow back differently. We laughed and joked about whether she would be a chatty blonde or a wild redhead. Once the chemo-therapy begins Jennifer will be moved to an isolation room. But there will be a phone there and I will post the phone number here. By the way, she was pleased tonight when I read her some of the comments that so many people are posting and sending in e-mails. I too am so pleased at the love and kindness so many people have shown her. Let’s all keep good thoughts.

Three phone calls to get through...

Jenn had another busy day today. The first time I called she was on the other phone with Scott. The second time I called she was getting a bath. On the third try, I got through. Yes she was busy, but she was feeling upbeat about her physio-therapy. She says she is feeling more sensation in her legs. But the medical staff was quick to suggest not to get too hopeful too soon because there is no guarantee all feeling will come back. Jenn is hoping that the radiation treatments on the leftover part of the tumour still near her spine will eventually shrink that tumour to the point where it no longer applies any pressure on her spine. Also she is grudgingly getting used to being poked with needles. Today they took a bone marrow sample from her hip and she has to give blood samples every morning so the lab can check her blood platelets. The one thing she is a bit worried about is how well she will handle chemo-therapy. She is a strong woman, but that sort of treatment can be upsetting. We will all be there for her.

A nice Labour Day morning...

I chatted with Jennifer today and she was in such a good mood. She had her second radiation treatment this morning and is feeling optimistic. I think she is glad that something is being done and she is so hopeful that progress will be made. Jenn says she already misses the nurses at Sudbury General, but I am sure she'll soon be friends with the staff at the cancer treatment centre. I didn’t get a chance to see her this morning because I had to head out early to get back home. It was a nice quiet drive along Highway 144 and I enjoyed watching the sun come up. At one point I pulled over on the highway for a stretch, a yawn, a whiz and a scratch when I noticed how pretty the scenery was as the fog lifted off the lake. So I snapped a photo.

Busy Sunday eh.

Updated news about Jennifer. She had a radiation treatment today at the Sudbury Cancer Centre, which is part of the Sudbury Regional Hospitals (Laurentian Hospital) at 705 523-7100 Room No. 4661 (Bed 2). Or if you are out of town, call toll free at 1-866-469-0822. I tried the number and got as far as the switchboard, because her room line was busy the times I called. I haven’t seen her today, but Scott says she is doing okay. The boys and I had a good day. We enjoyed a very nice barbecue at Aunt Line and Uncle Mo’s place. The burgers and sausage were grrreat. Line’s cream cheese-caramel dip dessert was fannnntastic! The boys had fun swimming and once we got back to the house, it was such a warm day that we spent another half hour in the pool. It was also nice to spend time with Victoria, Christine and Demetrios.I also took a nice photo of the kids this morning. Tyler just read this over and says its all cool!

Leukemia

It was a long, long day at the hospital today for Jenn. The nice part was the fact that Scott and the boys headed out early with Buddy in the back of the truck. Jennifer loved seeing the dog and yep, she got all teary-eyed. Later in the day Christine, Demetrios and Victoria arrived from down south for a visit. Danny and Collette arrived from Timmins as well. Candace’s husband Ron also dropped in for a quick hello. And then Uncle Mo and Aunt Line dropped by for awhile. So Jenn was indeed pleased with all the love and attention. She also had a visitor from the medical team who informed Jenn and Scott on the type of cancer she has. Jenn has something very similar to Acute Myeloid Lymphoma, which is a form of Leukemia. It’s hard to say much more than that, except it is not a welcome ailment by any means. I don’t know much about Leukemia and I am not willing to speculate on what it all means. Jenn was told it will likely mean her treatment will consist of radiation and chemo-therapy. She admits she is not looking forward to the treatment, but says she does want it to be done so she can get better. Jenn was upbeat just before supper when she was able to move her toes and her ankles too. She says when she concentrates, she is able to do it when she looks right at her feet. So as a test, we put the blanket over the feet and I held her toes. I said try to move them, and she did. It was so cool. She was upbeat enough that we snapped a nice photo when Danny and Collette were there. Click the pic, Jenn looks pretty good eh. Jenn and I also enjoyed a few moments of making smart aleck remarks about the world in general. It was so nice to have a good laugh.

More wine and a manicure please...

Jennifer had a good day on Friday with more visitors and more flowers she could imagine. She really enjoyed seeing everyone. Cousin Candice dropped by along with one of their lifelong friends, Carol Chamberlain from Earlton. It was a great day for those girls. Jenn says she may take Candice up on her offer of getting a bottle of wine and sitting around and doing their nails! Her CT scan on Friday went well so that the medical team could take another tissue sample of the tumour for a biopsy. It wasn’t as puzzling as expected. Scott and Jenn were told than in order to determine the exact type of cancer, the lab people needed another tissue sample. It seems there are many, many different types of cancer and knowing the exact nature of the cancer will allow them to respond in the most effective way. Scott says he and Jenn have been told that Jennifer will likely need radiation treatments. Sometime in the next week or so, Jenn will be transferred from Sudbury General over to the Sudbury Cancer Treatment Centre at Laurentian Hospital to begin her treatment. Today promises to be another good day. We'll keep you posted.

The latest stuff...

I saw Jennifer last night and it was so very nice to spend some time with her. I got into town just before her bedtime, but the nurses were kind enough to let me sneak into the room for a bit. And if that wasn't enought, Jenn had saved me a piece of chocolate cake! Woohoo. What a good kid she is. So Jenn is looking well and she is in her usual good spirits, but I think she is getting tired of being stuck in a hospital bed. The physio department has provided her with a wheelchair and she also has a daily workout with the physio therapists, which she really enjoys. Scott said she was working hard enough to work up a sweat, but after a couple of hours of that she really enjoys hitting the bed for awhile. She is able to move her toes, and she has "twitching" in her legs, but other than that, Jennifer is still "numb" from the waist down. That is certainly concerning and puzzling. There is no indication how long that will last. Jenn says she will take it one day at a time. She is learning to move from the bed to the wheelchair on her own. Like Scott says, she is very independent. Also today, the medical team is taking another biopsy from whatever is left from the tumour on her spine. That's a bit puzzling, but Scott sees is as being more frustrating that worrying. That's because they have to do another CT scan so they can pinpoint precisley where to insert the needle for the biopsy. Scott doesn't like that Jenn has to endure more discomfort than is necessary.

Jennifer is also the animal lover in the house, and when Scott showed her a new movie of Buddy romping the yard, Jenn got all teary-eyed. So Scott and boys will be bringing the dog the hospital parking lot on the weekend, so Jenn can see him. If you haven't seen Buddy lately, he is a massive white husky about the size of a bear. (click the pic!) I snapped a photo of him this morning after we waited with Tyler and Nathan at the school bus stop. The boys were pleased I was in town. As usual, we honoured the tradition and we had chocolate cake for breakfast. We have to save some cake for the weekend. The boys' favourite cousin Victoria is heading north for a visit.

Hoping she gets smart-alecky

What a change from this time last week! I spoke to Jennifer earlier this afternoon and she was in good spirits and feeling a bit tired after a session of physio-therapy. She was waiting for Scott to get her lunch from the restaurant. Her boss Junior says he doesn’t want her eating hospital foods so she has to order her meals from the restaurant menu everyday. Jenn’s a salad hog… wait till he finds out how much lettuce he’ll be missing. : ) . I will be visiting her soon and more of Scotts family will be heading for Sudbury as well. It’s going to be a full house. Can’t wait to see Jenn. Can’t wait for her to start getting smart-alecky again.

She hung up on me!

Just kidding. Actually it was Jenn's cell phone battery that cut out. I spoke to her this morning and she said she has had so many calls from friends and well-wishers that her battery was just about done. She said 'Dad, if the phone cuts out, it's because the battery is dying...' Yeah, right! Jenn is still in the Sudbury General hospital and was having a good day today. She said the nurse was washing her hair and today she begins the physio-therapy on her legs.

Overall, it's a nice, nice day eh.

Much better now...

Updater! Scott just called to say that the results from the CT scans done on Monday show no more tumours and no more cancer for Jennifer. Scott was so happy. Scott said it gave him goosebumps to finally pass on some good news. We both laughed. Damn, it's great to get good news. I can't wait to chat with Jenn again.

Feeling better

We’re sure feeling better today about things. I spoke with Jennifer last night and then again this morning, and it was a great to hear her. She sounded much better than she has in the past few days and said she was feeling better too. She said she had some feeling in her toes. The best part is that she has had lots of visitors dropping by. Even her boss, Junior, dropped in with a take-out supper -- Jenn said it was much better than the hospital food. It’s kinda nice when your boss runs the biggest restaurant business in Sudbury. The boys were up to see her and she says they will be dropping by after school today as well. She also said she is grateful for the many expressions of kindness from so many people. Jenn has her cell phone with her, so if you know the number, give her a call. If you don’t have the number, e-mail me and I will send it to you.

Let's all keep a good thought eh.

I spoke to Jennifer last night, and she was in some pain, but overall feeling better. I could tell by her voice that she is nervous about today. Today is when she will have a full body CT scan so that it can be determined if there is any more cancer in her body. We are all hoping and praying there isn't, but we have to be realistic as well. The good thing is that Jenn is determined to fight whatever is ahead. Like Scott told me, "she's a tough as nails".

On the plus side, I will be picking the truck up from the shop this morning. $14.95 for a fan belt. Whew... that sounds reasonable. I don't know what the labour charge will be. Keep smiling.

A few days in hell...

It was Thursday that Scott called to say Jennifer wasn’t well. For a couple of weeks now, she had such a sore back that she could hardly sleep at night. For several days, her only sleep was on the couch propped up with a bunch of pillows. Scott took Jenn to the emergency room several times and the doctors said they couldn’t pin down what was wrong. Jennifer was having severe back pain along with numbness in her belly. First they thought it might be muscle pain, and then they thought it might be a kidney infection. Then Jenn was out grocery shopping with the boys last week and she was having difficulty walking. She couldn’t feel her feet as they would touch the ground. Finally, the hospital people decided to do an MRI. That was Thursday and that’s when they discovered the tumour on Jenn’s spine. What a shock. A tumour! Where the hell did that come from?! Jennifer has always been healthy and fit and always makes a point of eating the right stuff and being safe and healthy. So our big question was, is it benign or malignant? That doesn’t matter said the doctor. He said we have to cut it right now and take the pressure off the spine.
Seeing her in the hospital bed was heartbreaking. Scott was hurting so much to see his sweetheart like that. Jenn and I spent some moments talking and she saw the fear in my face and I saw the fear in hers. She reached out and grabbed my hand just like she did 20 years ago when she first came to Sudbury General Hospital. She was in high school then and was washing dishes one night after supper when she seriously cut herself on a broken glass. I remember seeing the cut and telling Jenn we’d have to take her in for stitches. She was terrified then and I remember being with her in emergency when the doctors sewed up her hand. She had a fierce grip on my hand. It was the same thing a couple of days ago. Jenn grabbed my hand and held it hard. We both knew how scared we felt. We both had tears in our eyes. Jenn was worried for the boys. Thank God Scott’s Mom and Dad, Denise and Don, drove in from Westree to look after the boys and keep the house running.
On Friday, the surgery didn’t happen, but Jenn was prepared with anti-biotics and then steroids to reduce inflammation.
Friday night Jenn seemed in better spirits. I sat with her and Scott for awhile and then she said she wanted to walk. So Scott and I held her arms and we walked all around the hospital. For a moment I was so encouraged, but then the reality of it hit me… Why did we have to hold her up? Why was she losing all feeling in her legs? What the hell is going on?
This morning as she was getting ready for the surgery, things were not better. She had less and less feeling in her legs. I tried to be positive. I told her Jenn - you’re gonna be okay, you’re gonna get through this. Jenn seemed to sense my own fears. “I love you Dad,” she said with tears. “I love you Jennifer,” I said as I started crying. “I love you Dad,” she said again. I couldn’t talk. I could barely see as my eyes fill with tears.
I had to come to Timmins this morning for a few hours. I cried all the way home.
This afternoon, Jenn was still in surgery, I showered, put on fresh clothes and started driving back to Sudbury. My thoughts were everywhere. I barely noticed anything. Suddenly steam started coming out of the engine, from under the hood and then through the vents in the truck. The engine was overheating because my fan belt broke. I sat on the side of the highway for a couple of hours waiting for a tow truck. We dropped the truck off at the shop and I got in the door just before 11:00 p.m.
Scott says Jennifer came out surgery okay this evening, but not everything is okay.
It broke Scott’s heart to tell me that the tumour on her spine was cancerous. The tumour was also bigger than expected. The surgeon says he hopes he hopes he removed most of the tumour, but says he is not sure. Tomorrow Jennifer is resting and recovering. On Monday, the doctor says she needs a full scan, head to toe, to see if there is any more cancer. I spoke to Neil some minutes ago. I could tell by his voice that he too has a hard time accepting this. This is all so unhappy. I can barely write anymore. My heart is broken.

FROST WARNING!

Yes, it's hard to believe for August, but Timmins has it's first frost warning of the "fall season" for tonight! Oh well, such is life in Timmins.
ENVIRONMENT CANADA: Forecast
Issued: 4.00 PM EDT Wednesday 26 August 2009
Tonight:
Clear. Low plus 2 with patchy frost.
Thursday:
Sunny. Becoming a mix of sun and cloud in the afternoon. High 15. UV index 6 or high.

Grumpy stuff

Saturday Things:
I am grumpy about phone voice systems… they keep telling you to hit the Pound Key! This is the Pound Key - £. They really want you to hit the Number Key, which is this - #. I sure hope somebody else speaks up about this.

Don’t argue. I got into an argument this week with a guy on the phone. I was fed up about something else, but this guy didn’t like something in the paper so he called to B*tch about it. Well, I B*tched right back. It wasn’t nice. I should really know better. We agreed he should write a letter to the editor. That should be interesting when it arrives.

Lost any socks lately. Yeah, me too. For about two weeks I have been wondering where my socks went. Today I went to throw a load of clothes into the dryer. Woohoo… there was about six pairs of socks in there.

I will be going to the library today to do research. I notice lots of kids go there on Saturdays… but nobody reads books anymore… they’re all on the internet. Everyone thinks Google and Wikipedia are research. Hmmm… they’re not. They will point you in the right direction, but always check it out. NEVER trust the internet.

I having buying beer lately, but not at the Beer Store. In Ontario we have Beer Stores and the Liquor Store. Lately I have noticed that its cheaper to buy beer at the liquor store!

Hmmmmm. That is all for now.

Sabre makes a comeback

I am sorely going to miss seeing the annual air show at the Canadian National Exhibition this year. When I was a kid I went with my Dad often. When I grew up, I took my own kids many times. This year the Ex air show is featuring a CF86 Sabre fighter jet, in the colours of the Golden Hawks. What a fabulous plane. I remember seeing the Hawks when I was a kid living on the airbase at Portage La Prairie. The Hawks would land there often. It was a time when Canada’s air force had real fighter jets for an air show team. The Snowbirds are nice, but nowhere near as cool or fast or good looking as the Hawks. Interestingly, in those days, the jets were not required to fly at a safe distance from spectators. Flying low and fast right over the crowds was done often. The Sabres were fabulous birds and even though they were created by the US, the Canadian-built version was actually faster since it carried the Orenda Engine. And oh-my-god they were so fast. I remember seeing one zooming over the field at Portage. It was like a blur. There was not a sound. That’s when we knew to cover our ears. It was breaking the sound barrier. Then the sonic boom hit like the sound of the throat being ripped out a dragon. What a thrill! When we lived in France, the Canadian Sabres were screaming over the base all the time. Canada had two complete fighter squadrons there and they would patrol over northern Europe back in the days when we all hated the Soviets. If you want to see the first flight of the “Hawk One” Sabre, go here: http://www.asb.tv/videos/view.php?v=605190c0
Photo Credit: Canadian Forces Combat Camera

Just some stuff...

Saturday morning and it’s a hot morning in Timmins. I shouldn’t complain. We’ve had so much rain this summer that it’s nice to get some days without rain. But the heat just comes on so quickly. I spent the night flipping my pillow trying to find a cool spot on the cotton. The only thing I enjoy when it’s hot is my cup of coffee.
I went to grab some photos last night as the Trailer Park Boys were at The Mac. I didn’t hang around for the backstage stuff. I find concerts just too crowded and noisy. Its one thing when I’m working, but I can’t relax with all that noise. They keep sending me free passes to concerts, but I don’t find it relaxing. It didn’t help that the arena was sweltering. It had to be 35 degrees in there. The show itself was as funny as I expected. But I couldn’t believe some people brought kids to the show. How dumb is that? I went to bed early and got up early. It was 6:00 a.m. and I suddenly had this craving for stew. Then I remembered that I had a really good beef stew at Jennifer’s place a couple of weeks back. Funny how cravings happen. I had coffee and chocolate chip cookies for breakfast.

Grrreat weekend

It was sure a nice weekend. I got back into town last night after visiting Jennifer and Scott and the boys. It was nice to just relax and forget about everything. Jenn and Scott live in the country and it is sooooo quiet I actually slept eight hours! I was able to spend time with the boys and we went out to a restaurant where it was fun to order dessert BEFORE our meal. So we had a round of chocolate fudge sundaes as appetizers. I was able to snap a nice photo of Tyler and Nathan because they're great guys and really cool brothers for each other. The drive along Highway 144 was interesting. Aside from seeing two bears, I also noticed there has been plenty of claim staking going on near the junction of Highway 101 near Timmins. Prospectors are finding lots of new gold zones out there so it seems everyone is looking to cash in on the action. I could easily count at least a dozen claimposts along the side of the highway. And even though I was tired getting into town after a four-hour drive, I stopped at Wal Mart to grab a few things before going home. That's where I bumped into Aline who was on her way home for supper. So I was pleased to enjoy a nice hot meal of lasagna, garlic bread, red wine, chocolate cake and ice cream!

Friday, another summer Friday : )

The sun was shining in Timmins today, but only briefly. I was out in the bush for a bit and saw a very nice blue flower. I don't know why, but I like BLUE flowers. So i snapped a nice close up. Hmmm... maybe i should make it into a nice framed print. It's a nice close-up if you click on the photo.
Today was also interesting because there's a bunch of people over at the college tearing apart old cars. It's an auto-extrication competition for small town fire departments. It's interesting because small town firefighters are usually the first ones called out when there is a bad auto crash on nearby highways. These guys have to know their stuff and how to rescue people who get trapped in car crashes.Also had a nice chat with Jenn this morning and it was good. But I feel guilty because I haven't seen the boys in awhile. I will have to do something about that soon eh.

In other news that day...

On Thursday I posted a photo from the front page of the Toronto Daily Star showing news about Apollo 11. If you noticed at the very bottom of that page, there was another interesting news story that happened at the same time. Yeppers,... That's when U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy crashed his car, drove off a bridge and left the scene of an accident and a woman in his car (wait a minute, he was a married man!) was left to die. Her name was Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy did not report the accident until her body was discovered the following day. It was a HUGE scandal back then.

End of an era

Walter Cronkite’s death on Friday indeed signifies the end of an era in journalism. He sure was admired, mainly because he was a straight shooter… no B.S. about Uncle Walter. I have read his book “A reporter’s life”. Interesting that Cronkite noted that TV journalism is losing its edge with soundbites being as short as eight-seconds. He also noted there is too much “entertainment” in TV news. “There is a powerful lot of junk on our airwaves.” Well said, Walter.

Hard to believe it was 40 years ago this day that the Apollo 11 rocket lifted off on the moon mission. I know my friends and I were amazed. Some of us wondered if it was really possible. I remember watching TV and seeing Walter Cronkite on, hour after hour, explaining how even though the rocket was travelling three times faster than a bullet, it would still take three days to reach the moon! I kept a copy of The Toronto Daily Star newspaper from back then. I took it out last night to read through it. Amazing times back then. The real funny part is there are still people who believe that it was all fake, that Apollo never actually reached the moon. Check it out here: http://www.newuniverse.co.uk/Apollo_Moon_Landing_hoax_accusations.html

Timmins rocks!

Construction in Timmins usually means there has to be some blasting. There is just so much rock all over the place. When somebody says Timmins rocks, they usually mean it literally. I was waiting in traffic on Ross Avenue today when the road crew had to blast the big rock on Texasgulf Road... That rock actually used to be an island because at one time this whole area was underwater as part of the original Gillies Lake. (Click on the pics to see 'em full size!) Here are a couple of shots; one taken just before the blast and then another taken seconds afterwards... ....BOOOMMMM!

Crazy times eh

Well it sure has been a crazy week since I was here last. Aline and I made the trip north to James Bay, but it was overcast and raining. The train was more than two hours late arriving on the coast and then it was late leaving, and then it was more than three hours late arriving back in Cochrane. Thank goodness for the trip to the liquor store where we grabbed some Bacardi Breezers and drank them on the sly! We did meet an actress, author and opera singer on the trip. All the same person! Quite an interesting lady she was. Also met a fellow from Washington DC… he gave me his business card and he was from the US State Department -- and get this -- he was the Director for Political Affairs in Iraq. Okay, I have read too many spy novels. This guy is not from Foggy Bottom. He had Company written all over him! But he was nice to talk to.
Anyway, the train trip was 20 hours of less-than-great travelling. But I did manage to beat Aline at Crazy Eights somewhere around Otter Rapids. She will deny it of course.
Work has been good this week, but today I had to write an obit for an old friend. That sort of ruined the day. Jim Prince died of a heart attack Wednesday. That just sucks. Jim was just a damned good reporter and broadcaster. I’m sorry I didn’t make the time to check in with him more often.
Had dinner at Aline’s place with her Mom and Dad. She made barbecue pork chops and mashed potatoes. I like meat and potatoes. With all the fancy foods we can pick from these days, it’s nice to have meat and potatoes.

The Flag March

Timmins has a nice tradition which has been on for nearly 15 years.Every Canada Day, rain or shine, a group of local citizens takes part in a flag march, and they walk a couple of miles to a local park where they sing O Canada. And sure enough, even though it was raining steadily this morning in Timmins, the people were out with the flags and smiles. It's a nice thing. So Happy Canada Day.

Oooh Yuck... stuck in the muck!

Every now and then something unusual happens in Timmins that raises the level of conversation at Tim Hortons.This is summer road construction season and so its not unusual to see large pieces of construction machinery around town. Except one poor fellow decided to move his excavator off the road and got too close to one of the swamy areas near the old Hollinger Mine tailings. Schlurrrp! He sure had that sinking feeling Thursday. They had to build a new section of road to rescue the excavator... they got it out Friday afternoon.

Good movies!

Saturday night is good for movies. I watched a great one last night that I hadn't seen in years.
The Joy Luck Club. I liked it years ago and I liked it again last night. I recommend it highly. Amazing story. The screenplay was written by author Amy Tan, the same person who wrote the original novel. I will have to find a copy. Hmm... I am betting Jenn will really like the movie.
And because I was at the video store I picked up Clint Eastwood's latest film... Gran Torino. Really good story. I watched it this morning with a pot of coffee. Eastwood is always great to watch. The ending really surprised me though. Never saw an ending like that!

Good Saturday morning, people.

What a nice morning in Timmins. Only 16 degrees so far. I have been up for awhile; put the coffee on; made a fresh batch of muffins; got two loads of laundry on the clothes line and read about 30 pages in the latest novel I am devouring. It's amazing what happens when the weather is "nice" eh. I must be getting older. I am working on a story about how young people in Timmins have managed to find an open pit mine filled with water and they go "cliff diving". There was a time when I would have thought it was a cool thing to do. But now I can only imagine how crazy dangerous it is. Because it was a former mining operation, there are slabs of broken razor-sharp rocks everywhere.
I had a nice chat with the Jennifer and the boys last night. Those kids are amazing... Both Tyler and Nathan had excellent report cards and they're all excited about the first week of summer. By the time you read this, their cousin Victoria will be on the road for a trip of a lifetime to Newfoundland with Don and Denise. I imagine they'll have a fabulous time. I sure hope so. And Jennifer and Scott and the boys will soon be heading off to a place called Great Wolf Lodge, sort of a them park and luxury hotel all in one. Aline and I are planning a trip "down North" next week. Here's a hint. We might see a Beluga.
Well now that poor Michael Jackson is dead, the rumours are alive and well. Even though the autopsy indicates no foul play, the conspiracy theories are already spreading. It seems that MJ may have been the victim of over-medication. I can just imagine what the supermarket tabloids will be writing. I will predict that Elvis is involved somehow. LOL. Stayed tuned. Keep smiling.

Too darned hot.

It's just after 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday and already the temperature is 25. It has been crazy hot all week. On Monday, Timmins was the hottest place in Ontario with 32 degrees. I have to find a lake soon and get cool. I am NOT a warm weather person. Oh well, lots of other people seem to be enjoying it. I just close my eyes and think about how much I enjoy snowshoeing!

Father's Day

Father's Day is nice only because I remember how lucky I am that I have two truly amazing children... They're adults now of course, but they're both kind of special and unique and I am so blessed to have them in my life. I never took any training to be a Dad. It just sort of happens, but I am glad to be their Dad. Yup, Father's Day is good.

It's still June eh?

It's funny how I feel guilty when I haven't dropped in here with a note. Usually in June, there's lots going on that I write about. I have just been lazy. Some good things have been happening with my life. One is that Neil dropped by Ontario for a visit and was able to see plenty of his friends. He stayed at the house for a few days and I think the best part was that he was able to just crash and take it easy without any pressure to go anywhere or do anything new. The warm weather has arrived in Timmins and for sure there are a few forest fires going on. Luckily Northern Ontario is so huge that there is no serious threat to any towns yet. Interestingly the entire area of Southern Ontario, stretching from Windsor all the way to Ottawa to North Bay, doesn't even make up one-tenth the size of Ontario. I took a hike in the bush the other night and the bugs were pretty bad. But it was nice to hit a few bush trails and feel the breeze through the trees. I even heard a loon, but I couldn't get close enough to the shore to see it. It has been pretty warm though for most of the week... temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s! That kind of heat just saps all the energy out of me. So I have been hiding in my cool rec room and reading a lot. I promised myself to get over the the library to do some more research as the Wintergreen group is planning to publish another history almanac to make the Timmins centennial. I was thinking about that when I was out on the trail near Simpson Lake Wednesday night. Goldcorp is turning most of the mining lands back to a natural state. After 100 years of industrial abuse, it is amazing to see how quickly the bush restores itself. It's not perfect, but it sure is getting better.

Park with the cops!

It was a great weekend. So much going on and I was on the run Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes when I park, I just pull over into a fire zone (my friends at the Fire hall won't be happy to hear that!), but it's always good to get cozy with a cop car when you park illegally. That makes it real hard for anyone to give you a ticket. ; )
More good news. Got a text message this morning. Neil is back in Ontario for a few days and he is heading for Timmins. I guess I will have to stock up on a couple of cold ones. ...or I could just give him all the beer that Jennifer so generously left in the fridge after her visit. : )

Cool riders

It was a good weekend. The RCMP Musical Ride was in Timmins to help celebrate the 100th anniversary. I was allowed to pose a shot on the shore of Pearl Lake. It was also cool to watch the riders going through town. The horses were stabled at the McIntyre Arena, but the performance was at the Hollinger Park, so they rode through town.

Cool cruisers eh.

Timmins has done something interesting to mark its 100th anniversary. The local police service has come come up with a new design for its police cars to mark the occasion. The new black and gold design was unveiled last week and is winning a lot of approval locally. I think it's pretty cool. And at night, the gold trim is super highly-reflective. That should make it interesting for anyone getting pulled over.

Michaëlle Jean is too cool.

I don't care what any bleeding heart Europeans think, I think Governor General Michaëlle Jean rocks! She went to the North and met The People (literal translation of the word Inuit). She showed them great respect by engaging in their traditions and she ate a tiny raw piece of a seal's heart. Of course this action just flies in the face of the decision by the European Union to impose a ban on all seal products. I think it's a fantastic gesture. And I say to hell with the Europeans. Like my Dad used to say, we saved their asses twice in two world wars, why don't they just shut up. LOL. That is my rant for this week.

Lucky me! : )

Woohoo! I must be special. I just know I am lucky. This is what arrived for me at work today... flowers and chocolates! I even checked out the card, and it wasn't a mistake. Of course, working at a newspaper, I always figured I was the nosiest person in the office. It seems everyone else around here is just as curious as moi! Interesting eh?

A nice weekend... and poutine too!

What a grreat weekend. Jennifer was in town so we could drop by at a nice family gathering for Gerry and John. It was indeed a nice time to see most of the gang again and everyone seemed especially happy that it looks like the warm weather is here to stay. Jennifer asked for a weather update before heading home. We fired up the airport weather frequency only to hear there is a FROST WARNING for tonight. It was still nice enough this morning get two loads of wash out on the line. I took it easy most of the day and did something I've never done before. I enjoyed a take out order of Poutine from the famous Chez Nous store in Timmins. Apparently it's where Shania would hang out for poutine. It's also the first ever time I have had an order of Poutine. Oh I tried a taste of it before, when Neil used to come home late at night, but up until today when Aline treated me, I've never had a full feed of it. It tastes great, But I think I will be on the treadmill early tomorrow morning.

100 years of gold

It has been mentioned here before, but it's worth mentioning again because of a couple of things I have seen. Last night I got up close and friendly with a rare piece of high-grade gold. It was found in the Dome Mine in 1928 and sent off to Toronto where it sat in various government vaults and offices. Yesterday, the Ontario government gave it back to Timmins since the city is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of gold here. It is a gorgeous sample. (click the pic) This is the sort of stuff that prospectors drool over. The Klondike gold rush was seen as one of the greatest in history, but it lasted about five years and yielded 12 million ounces of gold. The rush is still on here in Timmins. It has been 100 years and 75 million ounces! Sometime in the coming months, the newest mine, Lake Shore Gold will officially go into production. They've already identified a million ounces in their ore zone. A couple of weeks ago, I was invited on a scavenger hunt to find things that represent what Timmins is all about. I found something interesting that I now have in my office... although I am not sure it's legal to do that.It's a genuine four-foot long claim post. The claim was staked in a remote area north of the city. It was left in the bush some years ago, but its not that old because the claim tag is aluminum. They used to be brass. Either way, i think it looks cool.

Snow on the morning after the long weekend!

So here is a photo I shot at 6:30 a.m. today as I was heading out to the office. I threw a copy of Friday's paper on the windshield so you know this is not a joke shot saved from last February. Look at the snow on the truck and the neighbours lawns! Can you believe this is May19th? LOL Lots of grumbling at Tim Horton's this morning.

The list.

A friend recently e-mailed a copy of their list of things to do and things they have done. It's the thing now to have a "bucket list" as outlined in the popular movie with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. I was inspired. I am working on a bucket list, but I already have a wacky list so far:

I have slept outside in minus 35 temperatures and taught others how to do it.

I have interviewed five Canadian prime ministers. (Trudeau, Clark, Turner, Mulroney, Chretien)

I have interviewed one PM’s wife.(Mila)

I was at the controls of a cargo plane flying through the Eastern Arctic one night with five tons of frozen halibut from Greenland. The real pilot had been drinking and needed a snooze. He woke up a few hours later so we could land in Sanikiluaq.

When I go canoeing, my blood pressure goes down.

I once went 14 days without a bath or shower. I was on a northern canoe trip and this sure helped keep the bugs away.

I was in a coma for three days from injuries after falling out of car when I was a kid, which might explain why I think I have a problem when I read.

On the other hand, I read about two books a week.

I dread going to the dentist. But my dentist says it’s okay to have a shot of whiskey before going in for a check up if that’s what it takes to calm down.

I am blessed with two grandsons. I marvel at how smart my grandkids are. They are probably no smarter than any other kids, but I enjoy talking with them and am amazed at what they see and how they think.

I am afraid of heights. I don’t like ladders and that’s why I don’t put up Christmas lights. This does not include airplanes. When I am in a plane, I don’t mind hanging out the door upside down to shoot photos.

I was a smoker for 22 years. I quit a two-pack a day habit when I was 32.

I am an airplane freak. If it flies, I like it. When I go to air shows, I go to the display area and touch the airplanes. Some days I go to the airport, just to watch planes take off and land. Some of my earliest memories as a child were of living on a jet fighter base and hearing supersonic jets taking off day and night.

I also like trains, especially older trains. But not as much as I like planes.

I once rode a freight train through the Rockies from Banff to Revelstoke, through the Spiral Tunnels and the Rogers Pass. It was awesome.

I don’t like hot weather. Anything hotter than 25 and I am uncomfortable. I am okay with cold weather.

I got horribly drunk on lemon gin when I was 14. I chopped down a tree in a city park, puked all over the place and passed out.

I woke up early on Christmas morning when I was six and opened all the gifts. My mom didn’t think it was funny when she found me playing with stuff that was supposed to be for my brothers.

I have been in five oceans. Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Mediterranean, and the English Channel… but that’s not really an ocean is it?

I ate raw caribou in the Arctic once. It wasn't exactly a sushi feast, but it was good.

Forest fire season

I don't usually do this, but I am putting another person's photo on the blog. I think this is the first time. OPP Sgt. Mack Pettigrew got a nice shot of a flying fire tanker at work south of town this week when they closed the Sudbury highway because of a forest fire. Apparently, despite the fire, there were still patches of snow in the bush! Only in Northern Ontario eh. And wouldn't ya know it, with the long weekend coming, we've got rain in the forecast for the May Run.

Finally...

Clothesline weather is here in Timmins. I have been doing laundry for the past two days 'cause I love the smell of clothes from the clothesline. Gotta tidy up the house a bit. Jenn is coming to town next week. Better get rid of those dust bunnies eh.

Busy, busy

Saturday morning, the coffee is good and I am a bit tired. I stayed up late last night watching that old favorite with Bogart and Bergman, ...Casablanca. Watching it on Blue Ray HD TV was amazing. Each time I see the movie, I get a kick out of seeing some of the characters in a new light. I really enjoyed Claude Rains in his role as Captain Renault. I think I am on a classic film kick. Last week we sat down to watch The Magnificent Seven.
I was happy to attend the Ontario Mine Rescue dinner in Timmins last night. Some people may not know it, but Ontario mine rescue began in Timmins 80 years ago, in 1929 after the Hollinger Fire Disaster. The dinner was nice. They were honouring the winners of the mine rescue competition and the 80th anniversary of mine rescue. It was great to meet some of the older fellows I worked with years ago, and I did take some pride in the fact that I was once a Drägerman when I was a hardrock miner. It has been 25 years since I left the mine, but it's nice to see the guys every now and then.
Blogging here is a fun thing and I am happy to advise that a very nice friend of mine has joined Blogging. Victoria is Scott and Jennifer's young niece and she has started a blog to outline things going on her family and I enjoy it because it's about her and Tyler and Nathan. It's pretty cool. You can see the blog here. http://familybuzz-victoria.blogspot.com/ Nice work Vic!

May 1 and SNOW!

I knew it! Here we are, the first day of May and the snow in Timmins is all melted on the roads and grass... but the snow still fell from the sky for more than hour today! You can see it there in the photo. I was heading out of the office just after lunch when I decided to shoot this pic. I don't think it will last... but it sure is annoying.

Happy Day Neil Michael Gillis!

Woohoo. The young man is 29 today. Pretty soon I am gonna have call him Mister Gillis! Keep smiling Neil.

Pontiacs

It is sad to hear that General Motors is phasing out the Pontiac line. I always had a fondness for Pontiacs because my Dad liked them. He bought his first new Pontiac in 1965. It was the same year Uncle Rannie took the train to Toronto and he bought one too. I remember the first time I drove a car on a public road was my Dad’s new ’66 Pontiac Laurentian (above). We were living in Toronto and got hit with a snowstorm. Dad didn’t take the car to work but called the base to be picked up in a staff car. He told me to move the car and shovel the driveway. Yes sir! So I shovelled like crazy and when the time came to move the car, I didn’t merely move it to another part of the PMQ parking lot. I decided to take the long way around. I drove the car out of the parking lot and around a few streets and then back onto Sheppard Avenue. I was 12 years old. I could barely see over the dash and reach the gas and brake pedals at the same time. It was a hoot. People kept staring, but I just kept driving. I got back to our neighbourhood and parked beside the road. When Dad got home I could tell by his look he was wondering how the hell I got the car out of the parking lot and onto the road. He didn’t ask. I didn’t tell. A few years after that, I was thrilled because Dad bought another Pontiac… a sleek new ’69 Parisienne, which was the Canadian version of the classic Bonneville (below). This was the car I drove all through high school. Cool or what?

Maybe it's spring... maybe

I've started putting away my winter clothes. I have this funny feeling that this might somehow cause a turn in the weather. It has been nice weather all week. The snow is melting on the lawn. There's still about two feet of snow there, but it's going away fast. I wouldn't be surprised if we had one final winter storm. It has happened before. A few years back, I think it was 2001 or 2002 we had a late cold snap and there was ice on the lakes for the May 24 weekend. The river is open but there is still ice on many of the local lakes. Oh well. Back to putting the clothes away... I am also bagging up any winter clothes I did NOT wear this winter. Those go to the Salvation Army store.

Food stuff

Monday morning was a good start to the week. There was a communion celebration in Aline's family on the weekend and somehow a nice piece of cake ended up in my fridge on Monday morning. It was a nice breakfast.
While on the topic of good food, I have to confess that rice pudding is a really nice desert, and very easy to make. Here's a tip: Uncle Ben's makes great rice. But don't buy the bag of rice that is pre-flavoured with garlic. It just doesn't jive with rice pudding.

Melissa heads west

In my rush to write Sunday, I forgot to mention that we all had a nice little get-together last week at Casey's. Melissa, Ray and Diane's youngest daughter, is moving back out west. She'll be living the good life working at a golf resort in Victoria. We are going to miss her, but I have a feeling she will be burning up the e-mail lines in no time. And of course, Neil is happy because he has another west-coast beer drinking buddy to call on now.

Such a nice weekend

This was a nice Easter weekend. The weather was perfect. The highway south from Timmins was clean and clear Saturday morning, but there is still plenty of snow in the bush and even on the boughs of the spruce trees. I got to Don and Denise’s camp at Westree in time to enjoy a great cup coffee and say hi to everyone. And of course, everyone was there enjoying the day including Christine, Demetrios, Victoria, Tyler and Nathan. I was so tempted to stay for a late breakfast… the house sure smelled good, -- but I had decided to move on to Sudbury to spend the day with Jennifer. She has a new job and had to work on Saturday. It was a good thing I dropped by since Jenn took me out to dinner Saturday night, and even paid for the Guinness. We got all caught up on the gossip. Sunday morning was nice and lazy, and oh soooo quiet at Jenn’s place. Jenn made brunch and then I hit the highway to head back home. I think spring is finally arriving. I stopped at the chutes north of Onaping Lake to snap a photo. The water was running high and fast and the snow is melting quickly.

A good day eh.

Today started quite nicely, thanks to couple of birthday cards (yes, I finally picked up the mail!). I received two fabulous hockey cards from my grandsons, showing off the achievements of couple of outstanding little guys who are the most important hockey players I know. Do those guys look cool or what, especially Nate with that missing tooth! I just had to celebrate. So I grabbed the last two chocolate cupcakes I had and decorated them ... and named them for Tyler and Nathan! And then I ate 'em for breakfast. Yum yum! Thanks guys!

Well the weather has cleared a bit today, but the forecast calls for snow on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday... cloudy Thursday and Sunny on Friday! I just know that spring is on the way.
Spent about two hours clearing the driveway yesterday. Actually, the shed door was iced shut and I couldn't get at the snowblower. But once I did (after chopping away the ice), I finally got the driveway cleared. Went out to see Aline's new mega screen TV. Watched an old movie and had brie with strawberries stewed in Amaretto. That was good. Got home to discover that the plow drove by our street and created a new snowbank in front of the driveway. I was tired, so I put the truck in four-by-four and drove over it. Sometime today, I will have to get out and clean that mess.

Snowing again!

It has to be my fault. On Friday morning I put the truck into two-wheel drive. The roads were clear and dry. It had been four-by-four all winter. By 2:00 p.m. Friday we were getting slammed by another snowfall. By suppertime, it was a blizzard. Then the power went out in the North End of town around 8:30 p.m. It came back on after midnight. This morning I found out that police had closed all highways into and out of Timmins. Highway 144 from Timmins to Sudbury was closed. Highway 11 between Timmins and North Bay was closed.
Here's the Environment Canada forecast from this morning:
Issued: 5.30 AM EDT Saturday 4 April 2009
Snowfall warning in effect.
Today:Snow at times heavy and local blowing snow. Amount 10 to 15 cm. Wind northwest 40 km/h gusting to 60. High minus 1.
Tonight:Snow. Amount 2 cm. Local blowing snow early this evening. Wind northwest 40 km/h gusting to 60 becoming light overnight. Low minus 5.
Sunday:Light snow ending in the morning then cloudy. 60 percent chance of flurries in the afternoon and evening. High plus 1.
Oh well, so we are all stuck in town. ...well, my goodness, why would anyone ever want to leave Timmins?

How do ya like them Apples!

Just to bring you up to date on my Mac problems... I took the G5 into the Apple repair shop yesterday. The guy at the front rolled his eyes and yelled to the guy in the backshop "Another Apple for ya..." The guy in the back shop just groaned. I described the problem of the monitor blacking out, and he advised it was common with Apples. Why, I asked. They just do, he said. And they're expensive, he added. How expensive, I asked. He went to his computer... which by the way was a PC... in an Apple repair shop. (Oh, the irony!) Fifteen, he said after punching in a few keystrokes. Hmmm, I thought. That's not so bad. Yeah, he said, fifteen hundred dollars with all parts and labour. I nearly choked, then I grinned at the thought of breaking this news to the boss. The repair guy explained that Mac parts are "good parts" but they're very expensive. I asked, what if we just hook the Mac up to a different monitor with a long cable. Yeah, that should work too, he said.
Mac Repairs:
Their solution = about $1500
My solution = about $50
Explaining it to be boss = Priceless.

It's April!

What a day. Busy as heck. Today was Tyler's ninth birthday... woohoo... can you imagine that? I got a phone call from Tyler and Nathan last night. They sang to me on the phone. It was soooo funny! Jenn and I had a good chat as well. And Neil called too! We yakked and yakked like a couple of old women(as my Dad used to say). I also got a call from my fave sister Debra, but I wasn't home. She left a very nice message. But here's the funny part ... just to be sure I knew who it was on the phone, she said something like, 'oh by the way, this is Debra...". And her call came in AFTER I wrote up yesterday's entry in the blog, in case you read the comment attached to the March 31 posting.(good thing there is a time stamp at the bottom of each entry)

I think the warmer weather is gonna hang around this time. We got 20 centimetres of fresh snow on the weekend, but I don't think it will last long. I still have the snowshoes rattling around in the back of the truck, but I think I will put them away on the weekend. I was out in the west end tonight and I noticed the river is open. There is still plenty of ice, but the water is flowing pretty strong. It will be a few weeks yet before the big melt begins and we find out whether there will be flooding. Then between May and June, it will be forest fire time. And then... you know it, blackflies! So floods, fires and flies and you know that summer will be here. Ahhhh, the good life in Northern Ontario.

55 and counting

It's a good day. I forgot what day it was, but for some good reason I had chocolate cupcakes with my coffee this morning. I don't know why that happened, but I feel good now that I didn't just have cereal! Then at work, my calendar popped up on the screen to note that it was March 31. That's when I remembered today is my birthday. I used to think being middle-aged was old. Well I sure don't think like that now. I am old-ER, not old. Luckily I have some great friends who keep me young... or at least I can pretend eh. And when I turned my home computer on this afternoon I noticed I had several birthday messages on Facebook. I even got a note from one of my cousins who is traveling around North Africa, but was nice enough to drop a quick line. How cool is that?

Dust to dust...

It’s Saturday morning and I dust. I should say I try to remove dust. It’s one of those house cleaning things I don’t like. So I took a cloth and ran it along the board that frames the top of my bedroom closet. I did this two weeks ago. I did it again this morning. Dust. Damn dust. Where the hell does it come from? Surely I don’t make that much dust. Somebody is sneaking in and putting dust in my house! That’s gotta be it! Whew! Now I feel better.

* * * *

I felt sad, and yet somehow heartened yesterday, when the body of slain soldier Trooper Jack Bouthillier arrived at the Timmins Airport and was being carried to his hometown of Hearst, a lumber and railway town not too far from here.

Hundreds and hundreds of Timmins residents stopped what they were doing on a Friday afternoon to line the roads and highways from the airport, all through the north end of the city and on the highway leaving town. They stood in honour of the dead soldier and held flags as the procession escorted by police and many of Bouthillier’s childhood friends moved slowly through Timmins. It was a thing of kindness. It was a thing of respect.

Medical research?

I have a bit of a cold today. It's annoying. I am going to blame the reporters from the other paper. On Monday I was at a city hall meeting and the reporter there had sniffles. On Tuesday I was at the press gallery in court and another reporter was there...and had sniffles. So last night, I was stuffed up and it continues today. I was reading recently that 16th century monks would deal with this by praying, singing and drinking copious amounts of wine. Sounds like good science to me!

Bad news: My glorious I-Mac G5 finally crapped out yesterday. The monitor is fried and because the monitor and computer is all-in-one, I can’t use it. So I called company I.T. department in London, ON. They don’t have a solution either. I cannot even download all the current files because it requires a special cable.
Better news: I will be doing all my work on the Mac G4 laptop. Interestingly, despite its age, it always ran better than the G5. I spent Friday evening setting it up for work and everything appears to be running fine.
Best news. It’s Saturday morning. I made a half-decent pot of coffee and I am enjoying that with chocolate cupcakes! Yum. Too bad the boys aren’t here.
I guess I shouldn’t complain. The world is not a perfect place. Some people are poor. Some people go hungry. Some people go to war. Some people are in bad relationships and some people, sigh; have to use a McIntosh computer.

Spring is on the way eh.

In just a few hours from now, it's gonna be spring again. It's always one of my favorite times of year. It'll be slushy and mucky for awhile, but then the trees will have new buds and the air will smell a bit fresher. Yep, it's gonna be nice. Of course, in Timmins we're always good for one major blizzard before spring really arrives. I hope it's not the long weekend in May!

Macs are so frustrating

Talk about embarrassing. A police officer showed up at the office today... they needed some of our news photos as evidence in a criminal case. So once we agreed on what photos we could share (just the one's we actually published) we were pleased to give him an electronic copy of the digital photos. So here's the problem... Macs only seem to work well one function at a time (they're just so useless!). So I wasn’t able to burn a copy on my Mac, which happens to be the newest one on the market. And the other Macs in the building were just as useless. The poor cop was as exasperated as I was… He has to keep a “chain of evidence” going from the point where he sees the photo to the point where he gets his own copy. This was important since each photo was stamped with the time and date and it establishes that certain persons were at a certain crime scene (I had no idea at the time who I was taking photos of!) Finally we found a computer in the classifieds office that was able to burn a fresh disc and get the photos handed over the policeman. If the bad guys get away, blame it on a Mac!

My cool new coffee machine.

It was several days ago I noticed my old coffee pot (Well, not THAT old -- maybe a year old) had a rust stain on the bottom. Then I noticed that the heating plate on the coffee maker was all rusty... and I clean the danged thing everyday! So I figured I would buy a new one. I was out at Wal Mart and was not impressed with the selection, or the prices. On Wednesday this past week, I checked out the Airmiles rewards page on the net... sure enough, there was a nice coffee pot for only 700 airmiles. Ooooh ... a Cuisinart with all the bells and whistles! So I ordered it. I got an e-mail back a minute later, saying that delivery would be about four weeks. No problem. Friday afternoon, I drove up the driveway and there sitting on my front step was a cardboard box with an Airmiles sticker on it. I was impressed. I had to read the instruction book because of all the stuff on it. There's even a charcoal filter to filter the tap water... for a better tasting cup of coffee. Oooooh, how cool is that?

My place on the planet

If you go to Google Earth and enter my address, this is what you find... my neighborhood. Actually I was cleaning out photo files today and I came across this one I shot last September. That is Blahey Court, in the north end of town, right beside the bush. I never thought we were so crowded! Maybe that's why the bears like to visit so much.

Anyone we know?

When you enjoy your morning tea and really read a newspaper through and through, you find all sorts of interesting things… such as a tiny personal classified ad from the New York Times. It seems there is an “alluring red head with model figure and beautiful legs” who is seeking an 80-year-old man. Hmmm… I think I have been around the mining business long enough to know a gold digger when I see one!

Grapefruit....Mmmmm. Yum.

I have to confess it’s a good thing no one sees me eating breakfast … I have been enjoying grapefruit this week. I think I am on a grapefruit binge. I picked up a couple last weekend and they were just so juicy and sweet I just inhaled them… slurping and slushing grapefruit juice all over my face. Well, not that bad… but close! I cut them into four pieces and eat ‘em like orange wedges. That way you get all the juice. I bought four more today and had one before supper. It’s like I can’t get enough, they’re just so tasty.
Oh well, I’ll be over it next week … back to Quaker oats.

All the news thats fit to print ... and then some.

Aline snuck off to New York City for a few days and brought me a couple of fabulous souvenirs. One is the Sunday copy of the veritable New York Times.  The other is the Saturday night copy of the notorious New York Post. Talk about opposites eh. One will be pretty serious reading; the other is a scandal sheet.  Which is which depends on your point of view!

The quest for gold...

The annual prospector’s convention has just wrapped up in Toronto, and even though mining companies around the world are hurting, everyone is still talking about Timmins. That’s because the price of gold is as strong as ever. What’s even more interesting is that there are nearly 100 mining exploration companies active around Timmins… they’re the people looking for new gold mines. That makes Timmins the mining exploration capital of Canada… if not the world. No one seems to be able to name anyplace else where there is such a hunt for new gold. I know a few prospectors. They’re interesting people. One thing they keep saying is absolutely stunning… they say there’s been lots of gold mines in Timmins, but every one of them is convinced that the big one, the motherlode, has not yet been found. I can’t imagine how big a find that will be … I hope it happens in my lifetime.

Cold weather and cobwebs

Well I have to write something of interest here … so today it’s cobwebs and cold weather. So I noticed a cobweb in the upper corner of the hallway downstairs. So where did that come from? I keep a clean house. I really do. Some of my friends think I am a clean freak. Anyway, I went on the attack with the vacuum cleaner and found five or six friggin cobwebs! Actually they’re not really cobwebs… because those are made by spiders. I don’t have spiders. What I have is dustwebs… very annoying. But now they’re gone. But from what I’ve read… they’ll be back.
And now cold weather. Okay I like winter. I do. But here in Timmins we’ve had quite the cold snap… and snow, more snow last month than we’ve had in years. For some reason today, I was daydreaming of nice sunny skies, warm temperatures and summer breezes. Oh well, two more months and spring will be here.

It always happens.

An interesting story Saturday took me out to a remote bush area north of Timmins where Cree Indians- Canadian Rangers - were teaching bush skills to Canadian Forces infantry guys. Some of the fellows were reservists with the Algonquin Regiment. Sure enough one of the fellows asked me about my name and about a certain Sgt. Ronald Gillis. It always happens when I meet older Canadian Forces guys. Sgt. Rob Bartlett, the guy on the left, was based with Ron at Petawawa back in the days of 2-Commando of the Canadian Airborne Regiment. They also served together on a peacekeeping mission in Cyprus. So Ron, if you see this, Rob says hi.

Celebrating flight

I was hoping that the 100th anniversary of Canadian aviation, which was yesterday, would be noticed in some special way across the country. There was a commemorative flight of the Silver Dart which took place in Cape Breton. But not much more than that. I remember several years ago, when TCA (Trans-Canada Airlines) celebrated its 50th anniversary with a cross-Canada flight of a rebuilt Lockheed Electra. It was a cool thing. In 1984, Austin Airways of Timmins celebrated its 50th anniversary with a display at the Timmins Airport. That cute kid there in front of the DC-3 is my son Neil Gillis. He was all of four years old back then. Toward the end of the day, Austin had a routine flight to Iroquois Falls and back. Knowing that it would be likely be last time Neil would ever have a chance to fly aboard such a legendary aircraft, we climbed in and took the flight. Neil got a kick out of the fact that passengers got on the plane from a door at the rear and then had to “walk uphill” to get to their seat. It was a good day.

One of my favourite moments in aviation was not in actually flying, but visiting the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa a few years back. Just as you go through the main doors, there is a full-sized Fairey Swordfish biplane. It was just right there, a big jumble of wooden struts, canvas and steel wire. I remember being amazed that this was the airplane that dropped the torpedo that crippled the Bismarck of the German navy in May 1941, which at the time was the largest, fastest, deadliest battleship in the world. I remember standing there being amazed at the guts it took to fly this flimsy piece of flying-machine into the face of no less than 60 anti-aircraft guns to drop a torpedo. Amazing.

I need inspiration.

I have been reading today all about the Oscar celebrations and the Academy Awards. For some reason it seems people are more interested in what the stars are wearing as opposed to whether a film has been or good not. I’m sorry; all this Oscar stuff is such crap. I haven’t seen any good movies in awhile. I certainly have seen anything to inspire me. Movies just don’t do that anymore. It’s not enough to be entertained. I think a good movie should leave you feeling overwhelmed and exhilarated. Books do that. The good ones sure do. When I think about all this talk about economic recession and a possible depression, I think about John Steinbeck’s great novel, The Grapes of Wrath. It won Steinbeck the Nobel Prize for literature. If you haven’t read it, put it on your bucket list. I have to read that again this year. The book was written in 1939 and the movie followed in 1940. Both became classics. I think I will read the book and see the movie again. I need inspiration.
The movie, which is about an American farm family struggling in the Great Depression, has a wonderful scene at the end, where Tom Joad’s Ma, played by Jane Darwell, gives her famous speech about the suffering, endurance and survival of ordinary people: “I ain't never gonna be scared no more. I was though. For a while it looked like we was beat. Good and beat. Looked like we didn't have nobody in the whole wide world but enemies. Like nobody was friendly no more. Made me feel kinda bad and scared too, like we was lost and nobody cared.... Rich fellas come up -- and they die, and their kids ain't no good -- and they die out, but we keep on coming. We're the people that live. They can't wipe us out, they can't lick us. We'll go on forever Pa, ‘cause we're the people…”

Another good week zips by...

I haven’t been here for a week, but that only means I have been busier than usual. The weekend was good. I didn’t realize that last Saturday was Valentine’s Day… don’t ever try to go out to dinner on February 14, with someone you’re not romantically involved with… it just sends all the wrong messages. LOL. And you’ll never get a reservation. So we stayed at home and had lasagne, salad and loads fresh garlic bread. Then we went to the Zoo in South End to take in the lip-sync singing contests… which were hilarious. The fireworks show on Sunday was also worth the trip. I also enjoyed a drive across Porcupine Lake, which surprised a couple of snowmobile drivers as I booted past them. The ice was solid and safe at 30 inches of thickness. It was a busy news week, so it zipped by in a blur of stories and photos… but I did enjoy a chat with a fellow named Ray McLean. He is a former pilot with Austin Airways and had loads of great stories from working there for nearly 50 years! I did the story with Ray since Monday is the 100th anniversary of Canadian aviation, and Ray was a true northern bush pilot. It was also a good news week for the Timmins call centre workers. A Charlottetown firm, On Line Support, chose Timmins over 26 other Canadian communities, as the location of their newest call centre. I noticed among friends on facebook there is a trend now to list several things about yourself that others don’t know… it’s quite interesting, I don’t know where to start, but I might mention I was at the controls of an airplane flying through the Eastern Arctic one night with five tons of frozen halibut from Greenland. The real pilot was asleep. Hmmm…. That was an interesting time.

And now ... some more signs!

Winter carnival weekend is here... well almost! Here a couple of signs I will likely check out Saturday night! : )

Just in passing...

I mentioned in the blog last week that I was at an industrial fire. As you can see in pics a bit further below, the fire was not that big when we got there... unfortunately, it was a stubborn fire, and it got out of control later in the evening, as you can see in the nighttime photo above. The building was destroyed.

Nice weekend

It was another beautiful winter weekend in Timmins. We had plenty of snow Saturday when the Ontario Provincial Police commemorative patrol arrived in town. The patrol is to re-create the early days of the OPP which began in Northern Ontario in 1909. They’re traveling 1000 kilometres through the wilderness in three weeks. Of course, they had to stop in at Timmins which was one of the first detachments for the OPP back in the wilder days of the gold rush. It was sure cool to see the sled dogs. I was amazed at how small they are. And despite the temperatures of minus 35, they curl up and sleep in the snow. But when the time comes to hitch up to sled, they sure look happy. The two OPP officers on the patrol are also having an adventure, despite the fact they have to wear the old fashioned wool tunics and itchy-woolly long-johns.

What a day eh...

It was a busy darn day, but overall a good one. I caught a bit of hell from a police officer for driving too quickly while on the way to an explosion and fire at an industrial building in the west end. I was very apologetic, of course. But at the same time, I was a bit pleased that I got there before the cops closed the highway. The other newspaper in town was stuck behind the roadblock while I was at the scene, shooting pictures. By the way, here is a photo of a fire truck arriving at the scene. The good thing today was that I got a chance to drop into a book store where I found a used copy of The Source by James Michener. It was written in 1965. My Dad had a copy and he got me to read it around 1970.
I didn’t absorb it all back then, but it was great reading. I can’t wait to dig into it again. Interestingly, on page 16 on the book I found a bookmark… It was a boarding pass for a Canadian Airlines flight in economy class to Toronto, seat no. 7A, held by a person named L. McKay. It must have been quite a while ago… it was a no-smoking seat.

A good send-off for Mike Campbell

It was a bittersweet thing this weekend when the family got together for Mike’s funeral. It was great to see everyone again, just like on New Year’s Eve. The terrible sadness of course was that Mike’s great smile, laughter and silly jokes were not there. The funeral service was okay, as such things go, and it was good that so very many people showed up. People came from as far away as Manitoba and New Brunswick. There was a nice reception and lunch at the Miron Wilson hall afterwards. Then the family migrated back to Sue’s place where beer and whiskey flowed and then came the stories, tears and laughter as everyone remembered Mike the husband, Mike the brother, Mike the uncle, Mike the dad and granddad and, of course, Mike the crazy character who mooned his guests from the head table at his own wedding reception. Thank goodness for Harley Davidson underwear. It was also a chance to snap a photo of the Maltais brothers and sisters and some of the cousins.

Only in Timmins...

I was checking out the schedule this morning for the South Porcupine winter carnival which is on next month. The schedule shows 10:00 p.m. on February 12, and says "Skinny at Jakes". I had to laugh. Only in Timmins would anyone have any idea of what that means. Skinny is a very well-known local entertainer and Jakes is a popular pub. Better plan to get there early. If Skinny is on stage, it's gonna be a good time.

Death in the family

We lost a sweetheart of a guy this weekend. Mike Campbell, 49, died in an auto crash in Manitoba on Saturday. He was driving back to Timmins to be with his wife Sue, Terry's eldest sister. Mike always lived life to the top and he never slowed down. He came into our lives years ago when he rode his Harley into Timmins to get a job in the mines, years before riding a Harley was fashionable. Mike never worried about fashion. He lived life his way, never held back and always had a big smile for his friends and family. Yes, we are sure going to miss him.

Another hike...

Another hike today, this time across Pearl Lake and up the north shore to get a close-up look at the McIntyre headframe. It was surrounded by deep snow and the whole place was deathly quiet. It looks huge the closer you get and I wondered if this is how it looked back in the winter of 1927 when it was first built on top of No. 11 shaft. By the way, Stompin' Tom wrote a song about this place back in 1965. It was called Fire in the Mine... fire burned for 30 days.

More than a thousand men were laid off. Draegermen were brought in from as far away as Kirkland Lake and Sudbury to fight the fire. Only one life was lost. Interesting times those were. Anyway, I hiked along to the north side of the headframe ... the side that people rarely see. You can see my snowshoe trail in the lower left side of the photo. It was a good workout.
I didn't mind it, except that when I am really hoofin' along I sweat too much. My toque got wet with sweat and then it froze solid on my head because it was so darn cold out today (minus 34 windchill). I didn't dare take it off until I got back to the truck. It was uncomfortable, but I figured frozen hair would be worse, so I just put up with it.

And just so you know, this month marks the third year that I have been blogging. Jeez, you'd think I would run out of things to yak about by now.

Another blog!

Oh well, I knew it wouldn't last forever ... I am not the only Blogger out there. Yeahhhh, I know it's hard to believe, but today I found another blog. This one is in the States at some place called The White House. Check it out here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/

Goosebumps eh

I don't know what you're doing right now, but I've joined millions of others around the world this moment to watch CNN.com and the swearing-in and speech of President Obama. Amazing stuff. This is a "where were you when..." moment. And yes, it gives me goosebumps.

Good words...

Have you had a frisson lately? You may have, but not known it. I didn't know until this week what a frisson was. I was reading a novel and as the detective walked down the dark hallway with his gun in his hand, he felt a frisson as he passed an open door. That sent me running for the dictionary to learn that a frisson is a "shiver, quiver, shudder, thrill of sudden excitement". I guess it's a good word, but I don't think I can use it in newspaper writing. It's not the kind of word we use everyday. Hmmm.... I can imagine the frisson when I get into the the line-up at the Tim Horton's drive-through!

On the cover of the Rolling Stone...

Lots of excitement about President-elect Obama these days. It's going to be an interesting week. I am sure looking forward to his inaugural speech. I noticed that Obama's image is becoming iconic. I was lucky to grab several copies of the Rolling Stone magazine, which interestingly changed it's format just before Christmas to become the same size as all the other news magazines. And the first edition of that new format has Obama on the cover. It has become a collectors' edition already. I sent Neil a copy for Christmas, because it looks like he's becoming a little bit political. Go figure - - A Gillis with a political opinion! I think that old Bob Dylan's amazing words from his folk song 45 years ago are still ringing true today ... The Times They Are A-changin'

Come gather 'round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'.
For the loser now will be later to win,
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway , don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside and it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn, The curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Another scanner : )

It's been cold today, but it was a good day. I got another scanner today! I dropped by the TV newsroom and noticed that their old scanner was unplugged... apparently it hadn't been working properly, and they have a newer portable scanner. So I asked Sean, the head techie about it... he said, go ahead and take it. Here's the good part ... this is the very same scanner I bought in the early 1980s and I used it for years at the TV station newsroom... when I left Timmins in 1987, I sold the scanner to the TV station. So I took it home today, cleaned it up, opened it up and poked around a bit and got it working again! The speaker is fried, so I hooked up an external speaker and it works perfectly. Cool eh.

Sunshine and snowshoes

I got out and got some sunshine today ... a bit too much in fact, as I got a bit of a burn on my nose and cheeks while snowshoeing across Pearl Lake. I have a tube of sunblock ointment in the truck, but it was frozen. I am gonna have to remember to wear my sunglasses too, except that I find the metal frames are uncomfortable in cold weather. One thing about snowshoeing is that it makes you walk like you crapped your pants ... not that I am too familiar with how that feels. But it sure feels good and it's all good exercise - - the snowshoeing I mean! : )

Feeling good

Finally feeling a bit better today after that miserable cold. I made only one pot of coffee this week. I think tea is better for a cold. I like hot sweet tea with milk. I think that's something I got from my Mom and Grandma Gillis. When I was a kid and I came in from the cold weather, Mom always gave me a hot cup of tea. I always added sugar. Grandma Gillis always gave me tea in the mornings, when I stayed in Mira. I guess tea is one of my comfort foods. I am pleased that so many people sent Christmas Cards this season. I thought that was something from the past. Obviously not. Canada Post also came through this week with a card and letter from Leilani and Ronald, all the way from Vancouver Island. Leilani is my cool sister-in-law who is one of the few people I know who got her picture taken with the Stanley Cup ... in Afghanistan! Leilani put in a real nice Christmas letter with the card, which is a nice tradition. It's amazing to hear that Dominique is 24! Christina is 17! and Matthew is 15! Wow, we are all getting older eh. Ronald was home on leave for Christmas, but is soon heading out to Afghanistan. Leilani is back in uniform too, working at the air base in Comox. It's so nice to hear that things are well with them all.

Staying warm in the bush

I finally dragged my lazy butt out of the house today for a nice hike in the bush. The weather was perfect. It was snowing and mild at about minus 20 ... still cool enough to try out my new Canada Goose parka for about an hour. There was a problem. After about 20 minutes of hard hiking, it was too warm! I was actually sweating.
I had to stop at one point and open the front and cool off. That's not a serious problem. Santa Claus was generous this year but the parka should last a few years longer than most. My first extreme weather parka was a Woods brand... it lasted 17 years. I remember it was so warm I could go ice fishing and lay down on the ice for a snooze and not notice the cold. The Canada Goose cost a few extra bucks, but I think it will keep me toasty warm for a few years.

Circumstances

For the past few years I have been thinking of snapping some nice photos of the Northern Lights. But circumstances don't always allow it. I have been waiting and preparing. I bought a special tripod because you just can't get a nice shot by shooting a handheld camera. I have all my cold weather gear ready and I always travel with my cams, fresh batteries and lots of photo memory cards. As luck would have it, we saw the Northern Lights on New Year's Eve as Jenn, Scott and I drove to the house party at Moe and Marie's place. It was bloody freezing out and I couldn't stop the truck to set up for a good photo. Since it was New Year's I was wearing a kilt, which doesn't quite lend itself to working in cold weather. I figured since the aurora is caused by magnetic anomolies at the earth's poles, it would likely continue on Thursday night. But Thursday night was clouded over. All day Friday I grumbled with my cold and sore throat and then at midnight I checked for aurora. Nothing. Same story Saturday night. Clear skies. No aurora. I will keep watching. Oh well, I am tired of staying cooped up in the house with a cold. Gonna load up on some Neo-Citron and go snowshoeing this afternoon.

Happy new year ... poor Reuben D'Aigle

Well here we are in 2009 and I am still puttering along in low gear. But I am having fun. New Year’s Eve was a hoot at Marie and Moe’s place as the Maltais gang came together for a party. It was nice to see everyone again. Jennifer and Scott were in town for that and so we all partied the night away. Everyone slept in on January 1, got up for steaming pots of coffee and then went off to Aunt Sue’s for some 'hangover soup'. I stayed home to nurse a sore throat. Last night Scott and Jenn took me out for supper at the new Boston Pizza restaurant. It was nice and then we rented some movies and snuggled on the couch. I think everyone was too partied out to do anything more than that. Jenn and Scott got up early this morning to make the trip back home to Sudbury. I know that I have to be back in “work mode” by Monday… but I was already out at a fire alarm this morning. Some poor guy on Norman Street had a garage fire. Life goes on eh.
Oh by the way, happy 100th anniversary for Timmins. It was 100 years ago that the Porcupine gold rush began. You’re gonna hear a lot about that as they plan to celebrate this for the next FOUR years, which includes the discovery of gold, the start-up of the mines and then the incorporation of the municipalities.
One of the most interesting stories was that gold might have been discovered here in 1908, instead of 1909. A famous prospector named Rueben D’Aigle came through this way looking for gold in 1908. Reuben knew his stuff. He’d made money in the Klondike gold rush and came back east to find a fortune in the Cobalt silver rush. He was a bit late for that so he headed north to the Porcupine where he did drilling, blasting and rock testing, but for some reason had no success. It was a year later that another team of prospectors came through. They found Reuben’s camp; they even saw the old bootprints in the moss and the mud. As the legend goes, they kicked aside the moss and found a beautiful vein of gold that eventually became the world renowned Hollinger Mine. Poor Reuben.

The best Christmas...

It's Monday morning and I am enjoying another day off. It's nice to be home, but I have to admit that this Christmas at Jenn's place was just one of the best ever. Maybe it was the fact that we all managed to get together, despite the weather and then enjoy each other's company. I felt lazy because I had absolutely nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the time. All I had to do was eat and drink and get hugs and kisses when we went visiting. The food was fabulous and the whiskey was fine, but I think I caught a little cold from somebody. There were some funny moments. We visited one home where the host asked what I'd like to drink. I held up my thumb and forefinger closely together and said "just a whiskey with one ice cube, please". He came back with a full tumbler of whiskey ... and one ice cube. Good thing Don was driving.
Jenn and I even managed a nice phone call with Neil on Christmas Day. He's in Vancouver and was heading off to enjoy what he called "an orphan's Christmas" with several of his friends. Neil even bragged they had a nice 30-pound turkey. But since he's an avowed vegetarian, I hope he got to enjoy some of the stuffing.
Well, I tackled the driveway this morning. It took an hour to get rid of all the snow. I will have to tackle some housework today because Jenn and Scott are arriving Wednesday to celebrate the New Year in Timmins.

Finally back home in Timmins after a fabulous visit with Scott & Jennifer and the boys in Sudbury. What an eventful week. Take a close look at my old beak there. It’s still a bit swollen and bruised from my adventure with Jenn’s storm door last night. I even managed to get a few cuts. (click the photo) I was coming back to the house after taking the kids skating and it was raining. So once the kids got back into the house, I wasn’t paying full attention to the storm door, which was a one-piece all-glass door. I thought the door was open when I barged right through it! Luckily the glass was safety glass and it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces… but I still got a few cuts on my hands, scalp, face and even one cut on my elbow! Nothing serious, thank goodness.
Today was fun. I was able to get out to Nathan’s hockey game today and witness his first official minor hockey goal. Nathan was quite pleased and it was nice that the whole family was there to see the goal and cheer for him.
The week was also great in terms of the excellent food. Oh my god, I can't believe I ate so much. Denise (Jenn's mother in law) brought some excellent Christmas pastries and an amazing jar of picked eggs. I think that's all I ate for three days. But it was soooo good.
The drive home from Sudbury took several hours. Jennifer called me on the cell phone to advise that the highway had been closed at the Watershed. The sun was still shining, so I pressed on. Within an hour it was obvious that winter was in control. The plows had not yet passed and the roads weren’t that slippery, but just so packed with snow that you couldn’t drive any faster than 60 K/ph. When I got to the Watershed, there were no roadblocks, but there had been a power failure. Not able to get coffee, I pressed on. The driving was very slow and tiring, four-wheel drive, second gear. Twice I saw vehicles in the ditch. I got to Highway 101 at Timmins and that’s where police had indeed set up a roadblock. There had to be more than fifty vehicles there, mostly transports, waiting for the highway to open.
They seem surprised to see me coming through. The police officer at the roadblock said a snowplow was about 30 minutes behind me.
Oh well, it has been a long day. I am so tired. I am hitting the sack shortly. It's too quiet here at home. I was just getting used to the sound of the kids laughing, shouting, fighting, crying and laughing again. I miss them already. I am lucky though.. we spent hours together talking, laughing, shopping, eating chocolate cake, playing games, telling silly stories and laughing some more. I am so blessed.

Lazy holiday time.

I got tired today of being lazy and eating rich foods and drinking Baileys. Today was a shopping day with the kids, so Tyler, Nathan, Victoria and myself jumped into the truck and drove to the New Sudbury Centre. That's where each of the kids grabbed a shopping cart, - yup they each took a cart, - and pushed it all around the Dollar Store to buy stuff with some of their Christmas cash. It was fun. I actually had more fun with the kids this morning in the driveway. The weather was so mild that I was out there in my housecoat and pyjamas playing frisbee and then we played for awhile with the remote control toy truck, driving it through the slush! It was almost lunchtime and there I was in the driveway, slippers and jammies, playing with the kids.
I can't believe how mild the weather was compared to earlier this week in Timmins when I got frostbite on my fingers. Christmas Day was perfect. Sunny and mild. The kids were all about snowshoeing before lunch, and then they were skating. I think the warm weather is my fault. Santa came through with my new Canada Goose parka, reputed to be the warmest parka in the world. I was looking forward to testing it out in the ultra-cold weather, but no such luck. Jennifer tried the parka on as you can see in the photo below.
I was sleeping-in Christmas morning, but my room was next to the kids' room so I heard them getting up and checking out the gifts, when I snapped sone photos.(see the top photo here)
It was a fun Christmas morning and the kids could barely contained their excitement. I think the best laugh was when we could hear Nathan hollering urgently, but no one could see him... that's when we realized he had climbed behind the Christmas tree and was lost in the tangle of branches and gifts.
Jennifer made the morning a bit more enjoyable as she made the rounds with a pot of fresh coffee and a bottle of Baileys. It was an absolutely perfect Christmas Day with Jennifer and Scott and the boys; Christine, Demetrios and Victoria from Whitby and Don and Denise from Westree.

So this is Christmas Eve...

I love this time of year. Everyone's in such a good mood eh. I was in the line-up at the liquor store in Timmins yesterday...Oh my god, what a line-up... but everyone was joking and laughing. At one point, one fellow hollered "hey why don't we open a few and pass 'em around...?" The liquor store staff looked nervous for a few moments. I can just imagine how busy it will be there today.
It's early morning and I am having my coffee. I awoke before 5:00... but there's no way I could go back to bed. Pretty soon, I will load the truck and get ready for the drive south. We had some snow so it should take about four hours. The drive should be nice and quiet. I hope. The highway should be in good shape. If not, I have discovered there is a logging road that runs south from Timmins down to Matachewan, then there's a connecting road southeast to Elk Lake, then west to the Watershed and then south to Sudbury.... Yeah right, I should arrive by New Year's.
Got all the wrapping done last night. I ran out of Scotch tape and had to use heavy packing tape for some gifts.
I always think I didn't get enough gifts, but I think the real reason is that we all have so much it's difficult to buy for people. I can't wait to see the fun that Tyler and Nathan, my grandsons, will have tomorrow morning.
Tyler called me at work yesterday, just to remind me that I have to visit him and Nathan at Christmas. I was laughing so hard.
I also got so many nice Christmas Cards this year. With Facebook and e-mail, you'd think Christmas Cards would be obsolete... but they're still so darn nice to get. So thank you for those.
I checked the truck a while ago. New bush tires. Snowshoes, Survival kit, blankets, extra parka, compass, GPS unit, CDs (there is no radio signal between Timmins and Sudbury!. I am such a Boy Scout eh. Tyler reminded me of one more thing... I gotta buy a chocolate cake...that's what we're having for breakfast on Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas everyone.

Other things

Some clown jumped on the hood of my truck today. Really. Click the photo. She was part of the firefighter’s annual candy run, where they drive through the streets each winter and give out candies to the kids in return for donations for the food bank.

I dropped by Tim Horton’s today. Tim’s makes you polite. There are two doors to go through to get inside, or outside. On the way in, I met another fellow coming out. He held his door for me, and I held my door for him. We were about two metres apart. I said “you’ve carrying coffee and stuff, I’ve got the door.” So he came forward. On the way out, I ran into a teenager… Same thing happened. He smiled and held his door for me. It’s a good thing to hold doors for people.

Dropped by the Book Bin after coffee. I bought five new books. That should keep me going for awhile. I’ve read four books so far in December. I don’t think I miss TV at all. Well sometimes when I get together with people and they talk about stuff on TV, I think I am missing out.

More good news, I was chatting with Jennifer today about spending Christmas with her gang and she revealed some nice news. Tyler scored his first goal in minor hockey today. Woohoo for Tyler!

Winter has officially arrived.

Happy winter! Yup, It arrived at 7:04 this morning. Minus 28 here in Timmins. Windchill minus 39. But that will improve... Environment Canada says it will warm up this afternoon to a high of minus 25. I will be out and about. It's gonna be a nice day.

Good reading.

One of the good things about the net is the fact that it has so much FREE online stuff. I am referring to magazines and newspapers. There was a time you'd have to spend hours in the library or make a trip to a specialty news store to get this stuff. I have bookmarked a couple of new websites that are great. One is for The New Yorker magazine, which has a very funny section where you get to insert the caption for their cartoon. The magazine has some good writers, but its a bit snooty overall. Pretty political too. There is also another website for the New York Magazine, which is totally different. It's all about pop culture and street level New York. Still, it's interesting reading. It's a good way to blow off a Saturday morning and ignore housework. A steam hot pot of tea and peanut butter cookies helps out too. : )

Photo ethics.

Some days it's a struggle. How ethical is it to touch up a photo? The issue is an urgent one in the news business because a Reuters staff photographer was fired a year or so ago, for making an explosion in Lebanon look worse than it was by enhancing the smoke and flames using Adobe Photoshop. This week I shot a local news photo -- nothing special really -- but afterwards the guy mentioned that he was embarrassed about a nasty cold sore on his lip. So I fixed it. And yeah, I wondered if it was the right thing to do. It's not a national story, but it's the principal of the thing.
When I worked in broadcasting, we would edit audio tapes when a person stuttered too much so as to save them from feeling embarrassed. I think that applies in this case.

Too much stuff!

I am not sure whether to laugh or snarl... I am reading more and more about the practice of "re-gifting". That's where somebody takes a gift they have received, and obviously don't need, and gives it to another person for Christmas. I can't imagine doing that. I think my mother taught me better. But, I think it was done to me once, at an office gift exchange where you reach under the office Christmas Tree and grab a gift. I grabbed a bottle of wine, so the next person had the choice of taking the wine or grabbing another gift. They took the wine, so I was free to reach for another gift. I did. There was beautiful wrapping on the box. I opened it. It was a vinyl steering wheel cover. What the hell is with that? - LOL - Of course nobody tried to take away my lovely new steering wheel cover. So i got stuck with it. I think this re-gifting thing just tells us that we have too much stuff.

Random thoughts... Sunday morning.

I am angry at myself for a rookie mistake I made yesterday. I drove out of town...
all of about 30 kilometres, for a quick shoot at a community centre. It was nice to drop in and say hi to lots of people I hadn't seen in awhile. But I forgot to re-set my wonderful cameras to automatic. I was on a shoot Friday night, where i set the cams on manual so i could do some nice outdoor shots. The outdoor shots turned out nicely (see the photo at right) but when I did the Saturday shoot, i was still in manual mode and therefore forgot to focus. Only when I got back into town, did I notice my mistake. What a rookie!

Friday night was cold... when I was outside doing the shoot I really felt it. The windchill had to be minus forties. I used my bare hands to pick up the tripod and it felt like my hands were burning, and then nothing. No feeling at all. I was afraid of frostbite, so I tucked by hands into the top of my sweater... it worked. They warmed up fast. I was near Pearl Lake and figured if it was that cold, then the ice would be safe. Actually, it was been really cold for several days. So I grabbed my snowshoes and stepped onto the ice... the snow seemed solid, I decided to leave the snowshoes on the shore and just walk on top of the snow... well that worked for about ten paces and then the snow got soft and I sank a bit. Then I smelled something.... it was that musty odour of swamp-rot, cattails and loon-shit (that's what we call it here in Northern Ontario) and then I realized there was no ice... I had broken through to the bottom of the lake. Hmmm... this is not very smart I thought. So I gently began walking backwards and got back on shore.

Another thing about the cold. I really feel it in the morning, when I get into the truck. I don't have heated seats. Some mornings it feels like I am sitting on a block of ice! And it's colder than I expected... maybe it's an age thing. So I explored the idea of getting heated seats... Well, there are a couple of wonderful shops that will do just that, they will install brand new heated seats in the trucks, for about $1,200. So guess what. I went to Wal Mart Saturday and got a nice sheepskin pad.
Cost of driving to Wal-Mart: About $26 cents.
Cost of the sheepskin pad: $11.97
The feeling on my toasty warm butt: Priceless!

I never check my mailbox. That's because Canada Post drops my mail off in a stand-up postal box beside the street, about 100 metres away. Saturday I got a Christmas card that wasn't in the mail. It was hand delivered, which seems a pretty good idea considering that Timmins is not a big place at all. But the smart thing was that the card was left by the front door, and NOT in the mailbox. But you never know...I think I will get in the habit of checking the mailbox...hmmm, maybe once or twice a month eh.

We have a new restaurant in town. Boston Pizza had a big opening last night for all the important people and friends of the owner. I was only able to go because I had to snap a few photos. The interesting part was that the new owner, a prosperous guy in his late 30s, maybe early 40s paid a nice tribute to his dad. His dad is a well-known businessman in town. But what I didn't know is that he came to Timmins in 1949, as a poor immigrant fresh off the boat from Italy, worked on the railroad and then did pick-and-shovel work in the gold mines. Eventually he got his own business and did well. Today, that family owns 18 restaurants. Nice story. The first time I ever went to Boston Pizza was with Neil, in Sarnia. They had a promotion called "Drink your Dad's beer night". They were selling beer at $2 a bottle for Labatt's 50, Carling Redcap and O'Keefe Ale. Funny eh.

Speaking of Neil, about every two or three days I get a notice from his Facebook account, where somebody has posted a new photo of him. In every picture, there's Neil in some new bar in Vancouver, with a beer, a new lady and a big grin. What's THAT all about?

Politics

It was interesting to watch the news of the political rallies held across the country Saturday. Whatever your political views, I think it's a good thing that more and more younger Canadians are taking an interest in their government. Interesting times eh.

Busy December so far...

No Kidding. This Ottawa nonsense has rebounded into every little small town newspaper in Canada, including ours. Oh well, it keeps me busy. I won't get too political... but I saw the video on Stephane Dion the other night. It was terrible... in this day and age, one must be able to get the message out. I think Dion should check in with Osama Bin Laden.... Bin Laden lives in a friggen cave and he puts out better videos that the Liberals.
Happy Birthday this week to my fave big brother Gary. Everything cool Gary? "yup" Any problems? "nope".
Today is telethon day in Timmins. Gonna drop by the TV station tonight and urge people to spend a few bucks for the poor. Winter has arrived... I will be digging out the snowshoes this morning. No... I am NOT that energetic... I am just gonna put them in the truck on a "just in case" basis.

It has been 45 years... and the debate still rages.

It was this day in 1963 that shots rang out in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas ... setting in motion one of the strangest and long-lived conspiracy theories ever concocted. US president John F. Kennedy was shot to death, at least that's what the evidence shows. I was fortunate last Christmas to get Vincent Bugliosi's book "Reclaiming History - The assassination of John F. Kennedy". I am now convinced that Bugliosi's research is right, and it backs up the Warren Report, that Kennedy was shot by one 'nutbar' named Lee Harvey Oswald. Unfortunately, people around the world have the hard time accepting the fact that one person acting alone can kill a president. I used to have to my doubts. Bugliosi addresses every conspiracy theory and they all have one common thread... they're all based on misinformation. That's a little tidbit of information placed in front of you in such a deceitful way as to make it sound true. With more than 1600 pages of fine print, and more than 20 years of hard research, Bugliosi proves 'em all wrong. Don't take my word for it. Read the book. Wow... can you believe it's been 45 years?

Signs at night

One of the busier corners in Timmins is Mountjoy and Wilson. That's where you will see a couple of well known local signs. I still like the old neon style signs... but I think the London Cafe signs needs some sprucing up, eh.

Happy Day bro!

I have to say Happy Birthday to my favourite little brother Ronald. I didn't get through to him on the weekend. Allegedly he is away on-duty somewhere. But I did run into one of Ronald's army buddies right here in Timmins... This is a photo of Ron Drouin of the Algonquin Regiment. He suggested I snap the photo and send it to Ronald so he can admire those new stripes on the sleeve. Captain Drouin assures me they mean something! I know Ronald checks in on this blog every now and then, so I figured he would enjoy the photo.

Another sign

Here's an older sign in Timmins, showing off the old Arcade Restaurant. I like it because when I first moved here in the 1970s, i lived right across the street from the Arcade (upstairs at the Vic!). I also like the old 7Up sign at Vet's Taxi. Been so busy as usual, but it was nice last week to take a quick trip south to Sudbury with Aline, who was on a business trip. I was pleased to meet Jennifer for lunch and she paid for it too! Woohoo!
And I had to sneak in this photo of the St. Charles, located right next door to the Arcade. It's a country and western bar in Timmins, but I am pretty sure Shania steered clear of this place. I think this is where Ultimate Fighting Challenge began.

Drilling for gold - again.

There's a saying in the gold business... you look for new gold in the shadow of the headframe. There's no doubt that's why a drilling rig has set up beside the parking lot of the Shania Twain Centre in Timmins. It's right on the edge of the world famous Hollinger Mine property. I know that people down south get all antsy when they hear that a mining company is drilling on their land. It's not quite the same around here. Hmmm...maybe it's a sign!

Signs!

Not long ago I read how one can read something about a community by looking at the signs. It got me thinking that there are a lot of interesting signs in Timmins. So I am going to start photographing them... my own little quasi-history project. One of my favorite signs is at the Airport Hotel in South Porcupine. I like the old neon style. And Zudel's grocery on Elm South has been in business for years. A to Z. That's a good start. I think if I start getting enough sign photos I just might begin a special blog. We'll see how it goes. (click on the photos to see large size)

Back in? or Back Out?

Here's something I found on my son's blog... I don't know what makes me smile more.. the fact that he remembers one of my pet peeves or the fact that he reads The Globe and Mail... anyway, here is the link about the Great Debate, as Neil put it:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080718.wwisdom19/BNStory/specialComment/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080718.wwisdom19
...By the way, I always back in to the driveway, or any parking spot. I think it's something I learned when I was a cab driver.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

That's not my title... it's the title of an article in the American magazine Atlantic Monthly that looks at the fact that too many of us have stopped reading. I heard about it from Michael Enright on CBC today. The article discusses the idea that too many people who use the internet for their daily intake of information are getting used to the idea of reading short little tidbits. I can see that happening. People do not seem to read long articles anymore...I am hoping it's a temporary thing. Anyway, click here to read the article.
I have to read for a living. But thank goodness I still read for enjoyment. My problem is that I am reading so much these days, I forget what I've read. I was in a book store some days ago and try as I might, I couldn't remember if I had read a book that looked interesting. Now I have started an excel list on my laptop, so I can keep track of the books i have read. So far I am averaging six a month...mostly fiction, a few biographies, the usual mind-candy. Now if I could just find some extra time in the day to catch up on my sleep!

Neil has all the fun...

Neil, my favourite son, gets to have all the fun. I was sitting here at my keyboard about 20 minutes ago, when my cellphone went "ding" to indicate a text message! It said "Hey, hey, my, my..." and then went on to explain that he was at a concert in Vancouver waiting for Neil Young to walk on stage. Wow. Cool. And then I thought... hey what's going on. I've never seen Neil Young... but my son has. I have never seen the Rolling Stones... but my son has. Oh yeah, he just reminded me he got to see Tom Petty as well. Oh well, i never liked crowds anyway...

Great moments in sports? Not really...

Well it may have been a great moment for a bunch of fellas in Timmins who got together for a hockey game at noon hour at the McIntyre Arena, today. Who knew that hockey great Ken Dryden was having lunch next door in the coffee shop and dropped by to say hi to the guys on the ice. Dryden, who was in Timmins campaigning for the Liberals, was good enough to shake hands with the guys and pose for a team shot with the gang. It was a cool thing to see.