Axioms, maxims and other unimportant things

The Antique Business

2011-12-11T00:29:00.001-06:00

An old advertising sign I sold on the Internet

Well, after two years I have found the antique business is both fun and sometimes stressful. People are starting to get to know out store so it appears to be busier on a more consistent basis. People are seeming to enjoy the store now with lots of stock - more than ever before - so that helps. I like talking to people about what they collect and I like it when people bring in things for me to see. If I won a million dollars I'm sure I'd quit my day job and do this full-time.

It's fun!

Summer is here and I am Happy

2011-06-30T12:02:00.002-05:00

Sure, summer has it's downside like bugs and shit but they are just doing the evolutionary duty you know, keeping us humans in check by occasionally killing us with diseases like encephalitis and all that. Anyway, I live in a temperate climate where the winters are long and cold so I love summer - especially the warm days and the cool nights. I love being outside on my deck and looking at the sun set without getting frostbite. I love being able to go fishing or for a hike in the woods. I love being able to take photos of nature and its wonders.

Summer is good - don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

When is Spring Coming?

2011-03-13T13:56:00.002-05:00

Up here in the Northwest region of the Province of Ontario, winter is a part of life but given it is almost mid-March, it is depressing to see very little indication that the first day of Spring is 5 days away. There is still almost 4 feet of snow on the ground and the temp overnight dropped to -18C - not much melting occurs under those conditions.

For all those who may read this who live in a climate where it is warm or starting to get warm, please send some of those weather patterns this way please...I would be eternally grateful.

Buying a New Truck

2011-03-12T21:32:00.002-06:00

Well the transmission is going on my 1998 GMC Sierra and the brake release button just broke on Monday. It also needs new brakes and the gas gauge doesn't work. The windshield has a two foot long crack in it and my inside door handle on the driver side door has been broken for over a year. This means I have to roll down the window to open the door with the outside handle. After a whole Canadian winter doing this, I have finally had it!

The transmission issue is forcing my hand. So I decided to buy a new truck, and yes I mean a new 2011. I have decided on a 2011 Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab SLT with the "Outdoorsman Package". That means it has a few extras. The thing I like about this truck are all the extras including the 5.7L Hemi V8 engine and the running boards, spray on bed liner, bed cover, power rear slider, all terrain tires etc, etc.

Looking forward to owning my first new vehicle. My wife thinks we can't afford it. I guess she'll have to cut back on them shoe purchases lol!

Bedtime Story

2011-03-12T21:24:00.001-06:00

BEDTIME STORY

Once upon a time, a guy asked a beautiful woman, "Will you marry me?"

The woman said “NO.”

....And the guy lived happily ever after and rode motorcycles and fucked skinny big-titted broads and hunted and raced cars and went to naked bars and dated women half his age and drank whiskey, beer and Captain Morgan and never heard bitching and never paid child support or alimony and ate pussies and ass-fucked cheerleaders and kept his house and guns and never got cheated-on while he was at work and all his friends and family thought he was fuckin’ cool as hell and he had tons of money in the bank and left the toilet seat up.

My Antique Shoppe

2010-04-11T23:20:00.004-05:00

After a few years thinking about it, I finally took the plunge last November and started my own business, an Antique Shoppe. Some call it a Junk Shop others a Second Hand store, whatever you call it, I did it for fun. It has been fun but disappointing at times. Sales have been slow except for just before Christmas - but we were expecting that. Although, maybe not expecting it to be as slow as it has been in Jan. Feb. and March. Oh what the hell it is only money!

Anyway, we are also on-line with our own antiques and collectables website.

It's too early for this shit!

2009-10-14T23:46:00.005-05:00

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow........

...yeah right, to hell with that!

After the crappy summer we had, Mother Nature appears to be ready to stick it to us again with one of the earliest ever significant snowfalls that I have seen in Kenora. Usually Halloween is the demarker of snow in these parts and sometimes we even make it into the middle of November before we see the white stuff.

Not this year.

On Saturday October 9th it began to snow and it didn't stop until about 20 centimeters or so fell on this fair city. As you can see in the photo below, even the damn halloween ghosts are wondering what is going on. It's hard to look scary when you're freezing our ass off!

Yes snow is pretty and all that but when you think that if the snow that fell a few days ago stays, we won't see grass again until late April - almost 7 months away! You know all the BS you may have heard that Canadians are "hardy" when it comes to climate, the cold and wintry weather?

Well for the most part that's all bullshit! Only a complete moron would want to see snow this early in the year let alone having it stay on the ground. The kids are happy - as you can see from the picture below - it was the "first" snow of course - but even they were kinda grumbling about being cold and wet. My 12 year old son Matthew is seen here about to whip a snowball at his Dad's head - he just missed....

The dogs don't seem to mind too much though as you can see from the pic below, my Golden retriever is in heat and seemed more interested in answering Mother Nature's reproductive call than playing in the snow.

When I think of the months to come, I dread those continuous -30 days for weeks on end that are sure to come and all the shovelling, car problems and related headaches that winter is sure to bring.

In the end I only have one thing to say about it all:

FUCKOFF WINTER!

D-Day Anniversary a Reminder to Everybody

2009-06-07T23:53:00.006-05:00

The 65th Anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion to liberate Europe from the Nazis came and went this past Saturday. I was watching a number of documentaries, read some news articles and thought lots about the men who lost their lives on those beaches so long ago. I think war can be over glorified at times and sometimes, this is done for the wrong reasons but D-Day is not that at all. It is a focal point in the history of mankind, an event of such monumental scale and sacrifice that what happened there should and must be remembered. If only for the reason something like it doesn't have to happen again.

Unfortunately, mankind is always the agent of his own demise. As a species we just can't get along and history clearly shows that because of either politics, nationalism - and in the case of Hitler - genocide, ours is the most violent and uncontrollable species on the planet. Thankfully, like on D-Day, there are enough humans out there across the globe to do something about it.

I grew up in the 60s and 70s and it seems we are getting further away from the goal those soldiers died for at Normandy. I mean we still can't get along. The Middle East has been a disaster for the entire globe and American Foreign Policy has also created problems where none existed before. Take a look at the news and there are still a variety of wars going on at any one time,

I wasn't there but if I had to guess the men that fought and died on the beaches on June 6th, 1944 would say that we should remember why they did what they did and don't forget the fundamental values they fought and died for. What was at stake that day were the fundamental under-pinnings of modern societies - democracy, rule of law, human rights and freedom of speech. As we march on as a species, I hope we continue to remember what those guys died for.

We can't afford not to......

The Moon is cool.....

2008-12-28T00:40:00.000-06:00

I took this image of the moon a couple of years ago. It show some of the surface detail. This was shot using a 300 mm lense. I read the other day that the foot prints of the astronauts who landed on the moon will remain intact for thousands of years beacause there is no weather on the moon - no atmosphere. Talk about leaving behind something for the future eh :>)

Testing

2008-12-28T00:25:00.000-06:00

I'm just trdting out the "blog this" feature on picasa 3. It look's like it works....

Cold is a relative term.

2008-12-14T23:41:00.002-06:00

As I sit in my house out of the -40 celsius weather, I wonder what the term "cold" means to people around the world. Cold to me is death to someone say, who lives in the tropics - they just could not deal with what is outside there today. For someone say in the U.S. Midwest, it is much colder than they get most of the time but still, they have probably felt this weather at least once in their lives.

It's -40 celsius here.... BTW that is also -40 Farenheit - (with the "wind chill" factored in) and by any definition, I think, that's COLD!!!!

What does cold mean to you?

Puppies are a lot of fun.

2008-10-18T19:51:00.003-05:00

My golden retriever had 8 puppies on Wednesday October 15th. They are awfully cute little critters. Halley their mother is doing well and is an excellent care giver. Very attentive and caring dog. My kids love it but always want to handle the puppies - too small for that just yet. Here are some photos.

Restoration of the Argyle II

2007-12-23T10:15:00.000-06:00

I am the Secretary-Treasurer on the Argyle II Restoration Committee, a group of people from the Kenora, Ontario area who have dedicated them selves to the salvage and restoration of the old wooden boat Argyle II. This boat once plied the waters of the Lake of the Woods as a transportation vessel - essentially a "water bus" that took people who could not afford their own boat out on to the lake to enjoy its natural beauty and recreational opportunities.

One of the major trips was the excursion to Coney Island Beach, just a 5 minute ride from the Kenora Harbourfront where you could spend the day swimming, playing on the beach and enjoying a beautiful summer day. I went on the boat at least once when I was a child and perhaps more - I can't remember exactly how many times to tell you the truth.

Regardless, I do remember what a thrill it was to step on this boat's deck and watch as we pulled away from the dock and embarked on the short trip to Coney Island. The fare was around $1.25 per person or something ridiculously cheap like that. The boat was manufactured in 1936 and plied the waters as a commercial transport for almost 5 decades. It was sold to private interests in the mid-1970s and the folks who bought it used it as a cottage on the water for several years. However, the boat eventually fell into disrepair and the owners had planned to scuttle it in September of 2007. This is what the boat looks like today.

After looking at this image, you may be thinking I and the other people on the Committee are crazy - there is nothing to save. Hardly, the superstructure of the boat is still in fairly good shape and the steel ribbings on which the carvel wood plankings are attached is in very good condition. We do realize that it is and will be, a monumental effort to restore the boat and that it will take tons of sweat equity, time and money to do but what the hell, anything in life that is worthwhile is usually challenging - otherwise it would not have been worthwhile in the first place.

Our first task is to prepare a business plan for the salvage of the boat and present it to and have it accepted by, the current owners. We have to float the boat from its current location on Channel Island on Lake of the Woods to a drydock location at Kenora Forest Products in Keewatin. Once accepted by the current owners of the boat, we plan to execute the salvage phase of our plan between May 1 and May 14,2008.

As a Committee, we are in the process of incorporating as a not-for-profit entitiy and we hope to also obtain charitable status so we can provide tax receipts to people who give donations towards the restoration effort.

We are in need of cash right now however - and have raised about $6000.00 so far - but we estimate the salvage effort alone will cost between $10,000.00 to $12,000.00 to pull off. So if you agree this is a worthwhile endeavour, why not consider sending a donation to our Committee? Cheques can be made out to the "Argyle II Restoration Fund" and mailed to the Argyle II Restoration Committee, c/o Box 647, Kenora, Ontario, P9N 3X6.

As a token of our Committee's appreciation, anyone who makes a donation of $250.00 or more will receive a limited edition, 16x20 inch signed and numbered print of the Argyle in her hey day taken by re-knowned Kenora photographer Tom Thomson. There is a value to history and to preserving things from the past so why not consider lending us a hand?

Fall is a Time of (Quick) Change in this Part Canada

2007-09-29T09:38:00.000-05:00

Well it is almost October and up here in Canada, Fall is here and it is here NOW. Compared to most of the United States, our Fall in this part of Canada lasts only about 2 months and then the last month to month and a half (although technically is still "Fall") looks a heck of a lot more like winter. We get snow in this part of Canada usually by the first week of November and it doesn't go away until mid-April on average. Sometimes the snow and cold weather linger into the early part of May but that is pretty rare.

While our Fall is short and winter comes early, the "change" is truly beautiful and it occurs rapidly. Our "Fall colours" only last for 2, maybe 3 weeks and then all the leaves fall. This doesn't make it any less beautiful however. While I am used to winter, snow and cold because of where I live, and I don't mind winter too much, the fact it comes so early and leaves so late can be a little depressing. On the positive side the fishing is great at this time of year and since I love muskie fishing, I try to get out at least two or three times before the snow flies. It can be cold in the boat especially when the wind blows but the fish are hungry and are usually in the mood to bite. This guy certainly was and my buddy Marc caught him trolling last week. He was about 40 inches long and he weighed somewhere in the range of 15-18 pounds. Once we got him in the boat we took a few quick pictures and released him back into the lake. Maybe we'll catch him again next year!

I am not looking forward to winter this year, at least not now anyway. My kids love the seasonal change of course. Playing in the leaves is one of their favourite things to do in October - as it is for just about every kid I'm sure. I remember loving it as well when I was a kid so I guess some things never change and in my opinion, that is a good thing. Since we have two dogs one of the important things to do in our yard is making sure you clean up the doggy d00-doo BEFORE you rake the leaves. If you don't well, I'm sure you can figure out the potential consequences.....

Hockey season is also just about to get underway and boy, I hope the Maple Leafs actually do some this year. Making the playoffs would be a good start. They have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967 so hell it's about time don't ya think? Anyway, hockey means winter so I guess that I don't want to rush things as pretty soon, the beautiful fall colours will be gone and the land up here will look a lot like this- yikes!

All those lost yesterdays

2007-08-18T14:01:00.000-05:00

I was surfing a site I like to visit called Find A Grave. It has biographies and information about famous and not so famous people, where they are buried and other interesting facts about their lives. Usually I surf through the famous graves - mostly actors and actresses - as I recognize many of these people from watching TV and movies throughout my life.

As I was surfing through the names it occurred to me just how many of these people I recognized from the past and then it occurred to me that all these people were dead! I didn't realize that time has a way of passing quickly and all those men, women and even a few children I remember seeing on TV and the movies are all gone.

For example I didn't know that the actor who played the son of Captain Kirk in the first Star Trek movie was dead. Neither did I realize the guy who was the shopkeeper on Sesame Street for all those years was dead - but he is! Hell, over 50% of the actors and actresses I remember watching on TV or at the movies when I was a kid are dead - it still seems hard to believe - and I don't necessarily understand why I feel that way. There were many examples of this occurring every time I clicked on a new name. I didn't even recognize some of the names but I remembered the people from the pictures they post with their Biography.

Anyway, as I was looking and seeing how all those famous people have had their lives end it made me realize it wasn't all that long ago I was watching them on TV. Made me realize time flies and maybe that is a sign to do some things I've been wanting to do now, before its too late. I know that my kids, now 10 and 11, will be gone and out of the house in no time really, so NOW is the time to be with them. Not that I wasn't doing that mind you, but it reinforced by commitment to spending quantity and quality time with my kids. It also made me realize that both my parents don't have much time left at 77 years old.

In the fullness of time an individuals own lifespan is meaningless, not even a drop in the bucket in the big picture. What it did the most though was bring home the importance of the here and now, and that "seize the day" really is a meaningful expression. With all those lost yesterdays in my life, now is the time to act and make the most of the opportunities that come my way.

Cause in in the end, no one knows what tomorrow will bring. If you want to visit the website I was talking about click here

Words of wisdom from another time

2007-07-26T16:13:00.000-05:00

One of my favourite historical figures from the 20th Century is Albert Einstein. I am sure most of you know all about him or have at least heard of him and if not, then what rock have you been hiding under? Just kidding! If you don't know who he is here's a link to his biography:

In my opinion. Einstein is one of the greatest minds of the 20th century if not of all time. Yes, he contributed to the development of nuclear weapons but realized the potential consequences of those contributions and stated them clearly. if one looks back at his writings - which were extensive - one should come to the conclusion that his ideas were well ahead of his time and probably still are today.

I am no fan of the current world situation be it Muslim fanatacism, American foreign policy or religion in general. I think the latter (formal religion anyway) is one big conspiracy inflicted on mankind by man. Don't you notice that at the end of a sermon in church or on one of those stupid religious programs inflicted on TV viewers every Sunday it always comes down to "make sure you donate". For most of these so-called "men of God" all that really matters to them is money. Look at the the sex scandals of the Catholic Church or the way Muslims treat women etc - it is all bad in most cases.

The dogmatic nature of most religions - Catholicism and Islam are just 2 examples - have contributed to more death and destruction in the history of the human race than any other cause - even more than imperialism. To me the only religions which make some sense are Buddhism (essentially don't harm others is its mantra) and some of the beliefs of native Americans which I don't really think were really "religion" in the formal sense of the word. I admire the latter because the Native Americans believed in the link between the earth, the animals, plants, themselves and what they called the "Creator" - which most other religions call God. Unlike most other religions, native Americans saw themselves as part of the earth, not the supreme beings the other religions say we are. Most of our environmental problems we see today are the result of this "species superiority complex" humans have.

In relation to the subject matter of this post is that Einstein was a leader of the World Government Movement, which essentially proposes that if any order or peace is ever to be found amongst humans and some of the problems we face/create on a global scale, there must be a level of Government that looks at things from a global (as opposed to a nation-state) point of view. Sounds like a good plan to me yet there is little talk of it in todays world even with all the problems we are facing. Religion and nationalism are of course the major stumbling blocks as are human racial predjudices of course to achieving World Government.

Anyway, I want to encourage anyone who reads this post to learn more about Einstein and the concept of World Government. If we reflect on his wisdom and start looking towards global solutions while worrying less about national concerns or interests then and only then do we have a chance to survive what inevitably, will be our own self-destruction. The saddest fact is humans will take down the rest of the world with them when this happens and if things keep going the way they are, the "End" may be closer than we think.

Here are a few quotes from Einstein for everyone to read and ponder what meaning and application they might have in today's sorry world situation.

Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.

Albert Einstein

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.: Albert Einstein

Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population.

Albert Einstein

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

Albert Einstein

The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible.

Albert Einstein

The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.

Albert Einstein

Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value.

Albert Einstein

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.

Albert Einstein

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

Albert Einstein

The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.

Albert Einstein

You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.

Albert Einstein

If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.

Albert Einstein

Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.

Albert Einstein

2007-07-20T22:07:00.002-05:00

My First Blog Post - Dryberry Lake

2007-07-20T14:42:00.000-05:00

My brother is an avid blogger so I thought I'd give it a try. He is great at thinking of things to

post so I will (initially at least) pale in comparison to him. I thought I'd begin this journey with a post about my favourite place in the whole world. This is a lake in Ontario called Dryberry Lake. I love to go their to relax and to fish of course. This lake is known for its excellent trout and muskie fishing but really, I go there primarily just to get away. If you are ever searching for that perfect place where time seems to stop and where nothing is really all that important, then Dryberry Lake certainly qualifies as one of those places.

I have been there at times on a warm summer day and after beaching the boat, I find a nice granite outcrop to sit on and enjoy the view. I swear that if you close your eyes and listen to the silence, the feeling of peace and contentment you get is truly remarkable. To me this place is Heaven on earth! While the relaxation of visiting the lake is a real important reason I go there, even more important is the fact the lake has awesome muskie fishing.

The muskie, is one of North America's most sought after game fish. It is larger than its close cousin the northern pike and probably a bit smarter. They call the muskie the "fish of 10,000 casts" because relatively speaking, it is hard to catch. The image at the top is of my first ever muskie caught on Dryberry Lake. That's me on the left with my friend Marc holding the fish. Not huge or anything at 37 inches (they can grow to almost 60 inches and weigh over 50 pounds) but a great fish nonetheless.