I Got Lost Again

     Over my life time I've been lost a time or two. I'm not counting being as in trying to find a location int the country or city. I'm talking about really not knowing where you were.

     There four occasions of being lost that stand out in my memory. Two of them were when I was a small child and two as an adult.

    As a small child I wandered off the farmyard twice and a search had to be made. Once was in early  January. I was about 3 and my Mom put me out in the yard to play. When she checked , I was gone . She had two younger children in the house and couldn't leave. She phoned the neighbors and they started a search. My Dad found me as he was coming home from town. I think I got a good reminder of not to wander away when Dad picked me up on the road and another when he set me down in the yard.

       The second time a lady was babysitting and I wandered off the yard. Again she had little kids and couldn't leave the house. The hired farm hand found me. Apparently I had decided to walk home.

      At about age 25 I got lost in the Arctic. Four of us had flown into an uninhabited Island to hunt geese. Check it out...Richardson Island. I walked a long way around to get closer to the game, made my kill, dressed the animal and left it to come back the next day . I thought I knew the way back. I crossed the first ridge an things didn't look familiar. A second ridge. A third ridge. Now I was starting to panic. It was getting toward sunset. Finally, I found the shore and got back to camp. To say the least, I was relieved.

     The last Time I was lost was last night. I didn't know anything about it until I got home. I tend to be a little careless about communication with the Micro Manager. She was downstairs watching TV and thought she heard me leave for my walk but thought it was early for my walk. She came up an hour later and I wasn't in the house. She was ready to call neighbors to look for me. She discovered the keys and car were gone but couldn't remember where I was going. Finally she checked the calendar and then knew where I was.

       So I was lost for a while last night just like when I was a little kid and wandered away from the farmyard.

The Learning Curve is Steep

        Some of my readers may remember that my desk top is on it's last legs so I'm using it for only the important stuff.
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         I'm limping along with an iPad. I'm getting blogs read and have posted a few short posts.

          Now I've received a small comment which I understand well. Somebody said my posts were hard to read.as the type is small. I knew that and was hoping no one would notice. Since this is my first time using Apple things have been a challenge. I could not discover how to highlight the text and enlarge it. I always enlarge the text as I know it.'s easier to read.

      Well, this afternoon I just got mad and said I won't quit until I have 
Learned to cut and paste. So I decided to ask Google. After asking three times I finally got the answer and followed instructions. 

       So I have gone back and enlarged the print size on my last three posts.

        So it feels good to have discovered how to do something.

         If I keep on using Google, who knows what else I'll learn.

Eye Examination Day

      Today was the day for me to get my eyes checked. Here, seniors get a yearly eye examination from  Alberta health care. That yearly check makes sure our seniors are active. It also ensures that any eye problems are diagnosed and treated promptly.

     A few weeks ago I had my annual check up and passed with flying colours even though a test gave me some worries until I got the results.

    Today I also passed my eye exam and was declared healthy and that I could drive my car.. I do not have a change in my prescription. Cataracts are not an issue at this time.

    Now one of the great things about my eye exam is that I have an awesome optometrist. He's quiet, gentle and thorough. I certainly feel comfortable and confident that I will be examined in a professional manner.

      Now the kicker with my optometrist is that he is a former student of mine. So I not only get an eye exam but have an awesome visit. We catch up on all kinds of people.
:teachers, students. We also catch up on each other's activities. He's just recently taken in a partner explained why. Business is something I have very little to do with. All his kids have grown and left home to some degree. He's old enough to think ahead to retirement and what he might be doing.

        So I get a first class eye exam and a very pleasant visit. Very few people are f ortunate enough to enjoy this situation.

Winter Storm Oct. 2

.  In my last post I confidently called fall to be well advanced. Friday's temperature was 24C. It was beautiful. I went for a 17 km bike ride...shorts... The whole bit. I came back in a sweat.

    Little did I know things would change. I did listen to the forecast but didn't take things seriously. I couldn't imagine that much of a change. The wind picked up in the evening. It was a nasty gusty wind. I looked out after 1:00AM and the air was full of blowing snow!

    So what a big surprise for me.

     It blew and snowed until early afternoon before it died down. We ended up with about 10cm of snow.

    Tonight it gets very cold...minus 6C.

      Tomorrow it warms up and the snow will disappear.

       I will also be skating tomorrow.

      Once the first snow has fallen I relax and enjoy it.

      By the way I look forward to fine October weather.

Fall is here in full Force

   I just noticed that fall is well advanced here and that if I'm going to get any fall photos I' better take action.

     Now to complicate things my computer died so I have to use the iPad . I have not become proficient with the iPad yet so there are chalenges.

    Most of my garden has been taken out. The forecast is to ,turn wet and cold and I'd rather not have to take the garden out in the cold and wet.k

     Well here I am two days later and I haven't been able to finish the post. The truth is that I can't get pictures on to my post.

     So I have pictures on the iPad but don't know how to get them on my blog.

     So posts will be few until I learn some things and get another computer.

     I do read all your posts.

I DODGED A SPEEDING BULLET

     Well, maybe the bullet wasn't speeding!

     Well, maybe it wasn't a bullet!

     Well, maybe I didn't dodge!

     For a male, I'm fairly careful about watching my health. I'm very fortunate to have good health. But I do watch how I look after myself.

     Two weeks ago I had my annual checkup. I have a very thorough family doc when it comes to check ups. After listening to an area on my chest, he told me that my aorta was not making the normal sound. He wasn't concerned but he wanted me to get an Ultra Sound of my aorta. Now I didn't realize that the aorta went down both sides of the abdomen. So when I was getting the ultrasound I wondered why they were working hard on my abdomen. 

     My Doc said he'd phone if there was a problem. Well the clinic phoned and asked me to come and see my doc in  about 3 days. This was enough time to get me worrying as to what was wrong. The Micro Manager got very stressed by this situation so she didn't do anything to allay any worries I had.. 

     Since they'd gone over my abdomen I wondered if they found something that looked like cancer. Did they find an aneurysm? So I had myself in overdrive with worry when I got to the doc's office.

    Well he told me that what the ultrasound indicated was some stuff on the walls of my aorta. How much stuff I asked. They don't know was the reply. Keep on doing what you're doing.

   Reality told me there shouldn't be a problem. My blood pressure was 121 /63 during my examination. But I still worried. You look up on the Internet about aneurysm surgery and it's serious stuff.

    So I felt like I'd dodged a bullet when it was found to be nothing serious.

    Relief!

RACISM

      From time to time I do a post on some kind of prejudice. From an early age I could not understand why any group should be exclusive. I liked to see all people come together. Now as a kid I didn't understand where I was heading , what this meant or why there were prejudices at all. 

     I probably would never have come to terms with things if I hadn't had the opportunity to teach in aboriginal schools.

    Now since there have been some very ugly incidents recently it's time to comment. Incidents that were highly publicized occurred in the U.S. Incidents of racism happen in many other places but don't get the PR. My home province is well known for incidents of racism. So racism is found in many corners.

    So racism originates from ignorance of other groups. Untruths are spread about racial groups and to really shake things up people have to get in shouting , shoving matches and more. Hatred of others is stoked to a high degree. No acceptance of any differences here. The white guys have it all!!!

   My teaching experience found me in the minority for five years. I was dependent on aboriginals and had to trust them in many situations. I was participating in activities in which I had little experience. I was watched and supported. I could be a few bones scattered on the tundra if I hadn't been cared for. When I was out with my students on the land they would sometimes say, "You shouldn't go there."

   The first time I was referred to as the white man cut through me like a knife. However, it was not used in a derogatory way. After that I got used to it. Whenever I knocked on a door I would hear them say inside "kabloona" which means white man. How did they know it was a white man knocking on the door? The aboriginals didn't knock at doors.

    I found out that I had to accept some differences.

    So I hear people criticizing aboriginals. They seem to find many complaints. Yes , there are some obvious behaviours that are disgusting. But, people are not aware of all the other people who live productive and honorable lives. A few rotten apples spoil it for many. For example, many people other than aboriginals conduct themselves improperly but we don't stop and hate the whole group.

    So now that I'm elderly , I still can't understand why some people will hate others with such vehemence that they are willing to fight and do harm to others.

    All my life I've been hoping that we could accept the simple idea of inclusiveness and live in harmony. 

    Will we ever find that knowledge that we can accept?