The proof

You would not believe how hard they tried to get me to keep the account open. I had to tell the guy about 10 times to shut the bugger down.I thought they wanted people not to havecredit. Aren't people's limits being arbitrarily lowered around the country?

Our little victory

It was long overdue. As of today, Jenn and I have no credit card debt. With Jenn not working full time (very part time, in fact) and the troubles last year, and the expenses of Jenn's classes, we couldn't seem to get ahead, but now, in one fell swoop, we have gotten a rancid little monkey off our backs and taken the scissors to the bastards, for the most part. What joy. Just in time to start saving towards Jenn's tuition for fall.

Jenn and Owen finally get something they want

Notwithstanding the persistent annoyance of water heaters and such, we have finally sprung for a car under warranty.  Last year's (base) model, discounted, lengthy financing, but here we have something that will carry us a while before needing costly repairs, and if it does, someone else will be covering it, thank you very much.  We have swapped the uncertainty of an unreliable car for the certainty of our payment, which is a swap I am willing to make with Jenn going back to school.

She doesn't have a name yet, but she is Bright electric blue, and we love her very much.  If you see someone in their front drive applying name-brand car finishes, it might be us.

This is starting to get a little old.

Just a little bit of winter left for us to deal with here in the gret white north.


HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW EXPECTED FOR TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. THIS IS A WARNING THAT DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS...LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.
A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CURRENTLY DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND MONTANA IS FORECAST TO MOVE NORTH-NORTHEAST THROUGH SOUTHEASTERN ALBERTA TONIGHT AND INTO CENTRAL SASKATCHEWAN BY SUNDAY. SNOW WILL START OVER SOUTHERN ALBERTA THIS EVENING AND SPREAD INTO THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ALBERTA LATE OVERNIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. ON SUNDAY WIDESPREAD HEAVY SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED OVER MANY LOCALITIES WITH AMOUNTS IN THE RANGE BETWEEN 10 TO 20 CENTIMETRES BY SUNDAY EVENING. IN ADDITION STRONG WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM CAN PRODUCE POOR VISIBILITY IN OPEN AREAS DUE TO BLOWING SNOW.

Same day service, classic small-town gouging.

The answer to "How fast can Owen and Jenn get a new hot water tank?" is apparently four hours from first making that call. The answer to the question "What will it cost"? is exactly as much as it would cost to pay a city plumber to come and do it, except the city plumber would be charging almost half the install fee as mileage to and from Spruce Grove, and the locals just jack up their prices and pocket the difference.

So, a thousand bucks later, I get to sit back and bask in the joy of my brand-new water heater, and Wonder just what will be the next thing to go horribly horribly wrong with the house.

How do you spell, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"?

Say, you know that feeling you get when you walk down to the basement to put away the luggage that has been sitting in the garage since summer and you notice that there is an inch of water on the floor and a huge jet of water is shooting out of the TOP of your water heater? You know, its the same feeling you get when you really really really want to drink Gin until you fall asleep. Instead, you shout curses until your very ill wife comes downstairs and finds the shutoff valve. At least I was clever enough to also shut off the gas valve. Oh, and it was a year past its warranty.

Now we get to find out how long it takes to get a new water heater in the boonies. What fun. Oh boy I tell you what I SO want to buy a new water heater instead of a new cashmere suit or half a trip for two to Mexico or Jenn's books for the fall.

Driving into Spring

After the Edmonton Airport posted record low temperatures a couple of days this past week, including a -52 degree windchill, Jenn and I took a couple of days off and drove down to Calgary...

When we left, the temperature was -15, and when we arrived it was +8. Getting out of the car was like stepping into a new season - a season where your skin doesn't fall off within minutes of exposure to the outdoors. Birds were singing, water was running off of the roof, and there were patches of ground visible that had not been physically scraped clean of snow and ice.

The forecast calls for more of the same, above zero temperatures. I shall celebrate with brewing and a barbecue.

The little flashing red lightning bolt on my computer screen sez:

A COLD FRONT PASSED THROUGH THE EDMONTON REGION LATE YESTERDAY EVENING BRINGING SNOW AND STRONG NORTHWESTERLY WINDS. THE SNOW AND WIND HAVE COMBINED TO GIVE REDUCED VISIBILITIES IN BLOWING SNOW. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS NEAR 10 CM ARE LIKELY BEFORE THE SNOW GRADUALLY TAPERS OFF THIS MORNING. IN COLD LAKE IMPROVEMENT IS NOT EXPECTED UNTIL THIS AFTERNOON WITH HEAVIEST SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OCCURRING OVER SOUTHEASTERN SECTIONS. THIS WINTER STORM CAN PRODUCE POOR TRAVELLING CONDITIONS. PERSONS IN OR NEAR THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR UPDATED WARNINGS.


Mmmmmmm.... Winter Storm Warning in effect until well after my commute is over.

I am starting to not like winter. It should stop now.