HOW COLD IS MINUS 41 C ?

 

  

          Just in case you wanted to know it is minus 41 C here this morning and minus 41 C is the same as minus 41 F. 

          These photos were taken just before 9:00 AM. 

IT'S BEEN A BLUE , BLUE DAY

 

       Today we had one of those winter days with a lot of nasty winter characteristics. We had intensive cloud cover and snow. So the day was very dark even at 11:00 AM when these photos were taken. It was minus 18C (minus 1 F).

      So in the afternoon I began shoveling snow from the sidewalk and driveway. The wind had picked up by them 

      We picked up 4 or 5 cm of snow. Since it's very cold the snow is dry and powdery. 

      ...an nickel to the first person to tell me where I stole the title from!

TMJ

       Most people if they haven't gone on to another blog will be asking what's TMJ. Fair question. Here's why I didn't write it out. It stands for temporomandibular joint. You can now understand why it's cut down to TMJ. This is a joint in the jaw.

      Many people have an unpleasant cracking sound in the jaw when they chew. It's irritating but not harmful. The problem is when the jaw goes out of alignment. Then there's a fair bit of discomfort. It hurts when you chew.

     So this is a long way of telling you that the Micro Manager has TMJ. It has bothered her for about 6 months. She's been doing research at top speed. There are many treatments and most of them debatable. There are many different kinds of people who will treat TMJ. Who to go to is the big question. You can get surgery or mouth appliance for treatment. You have to make a decision because everybody says their treatment is the best.

     Then there is absolutely no kind of coverage for any treatment for TMJ. My employee benefit plan does not include coverage. Our Alberta health care plan does not cover you for one cent. No senior plan gives you one dime. So you find a practitioner and make your choices and what ever you come up with is paid for out of your own pocket. It costs about $2500.00

     So an appliance was made up for the Micro Manager and it was "installed Monday. It's a device to move the jaw over so that it is back in alignment. It takes nine months and you wear the appliance 24/7.

     So far it has gone well . We need two different meals as she has to have her food pureed. This is going to be a fun time.

     

HORROR OF HORRORS

      Like most people in the world I have been anxiously awaiting my turn for a covid shot. It doesn't look like we will get shots here for a while as they have made no plans for administering the vaccine which they don't have. 

     Like most people (well maybe not most people) (well maybe just me) I thought that if you got the shot you were home free and would be immune from covid for maybe a year or longer. Not quite so fast Red.

     I was listening to a radio interview of the woman who is the Canadian rep for one of the drug companies. She said the vaccine is good for and guaranteed for three months. They have no idea how much immunity will be left after a year! That just astounds me. Is there going to be any value for such a short lived period of immunity.? By the time I'm vaccinated a large part of the population will need to be vaccinated again.

    Many people think they have won the lottery once they are vaccinated. Not so fast. You haven't got what you think you have.

    Have we been sold a bill of.... Have we been hiding so much that we have missed information. I will definitely get my shot but it's going to be a little disappointing.

COVID HITS CLOSE TO HOME

       For most of the past year I have looked at Covid statistics, noticed ups and downs and who was having the worst time with covid. We all know the line...people in long term care, people with underlying health conditions...

       It wasn't until October that we began having a huge increase in cases and deaths in this area.

       However, it took one special death to show how cruel covid can be.

       A woman who was a retired church secretary and her husband went to the church too help a new minister learn the ropes. Jim moved furniture and helped with clean up. 

       There were unknowns lurking. It was not known that the regular secretary had Covid. Jim's wife Linda picked up covid from the secretary and passed it on to her husband, Jim. Jim died in five days. 

       It really seems tragic that  man who was a volunteer should pay with his life . It's so simple for covid to pass from one person to another. 

       I now know people who have contracted Covid. You put  a name to a face. A 53 year old Downs Syndrome man has been in the hospital and has recovered. A former student has been in the hospital for two months on another issue and she caught covid in the hospital. 

      When covid gets close it's a very sobering issue issue.

       Be careful and be safe.

THE CHALLENGE OF THE MASK

        We are all supposed to be wearing the "mask" these days. I know that there are some who have a melt down over having to wear a mask but I'm not one of them. I think that all of us should do all we can to help control covid - 19. Recently a person I knew died from covid. That's too close to home.

     However, I've found wearing the mask to be a challenge and not at all pleasant. A simple thing like taking off the mask and putting it on is a problem ...a frustrating problem. I have used some very descriptive language when things don't go well. 

     I wear glasses and hearing aids. So some of you are already thinking ahead on this story. The glasses, mask and hearing aids get completely mixed up when I try to take off the mask. . I only want the mask to come off but the mask is one of the last things to come off. One dark morning I had  my groceries and was ready to go home. I took the mask off and I knew one of the hearing aids had come off. It was very dark in the car and I couldn't see anything. I went into the store to borrow a flashlight but no sympathy there. They just wanted to sell me a flashlight. Going back out I met a tradesman of some kind and I thought, "Those guys always have cool flashlights." Yes, he had a flashlight and would let me use it. I found the hearing aid immediately. 

      The next week I decided to leave the hearing aids at home. That didn't work very well. 

     Then one day I thought , if I grasp the mask band at the bottom by my ear lobe it might come up and not get tangled in everything. Yes, it was perfect!  The mask comes off and the other stuff stays there. 

     Now if I could think of some way to prevent my glasses from fogging up I' d be much happier again. 

WHAT WOULD GOTTLIEB THINK?

        Gottlieb brought his family here for some very solid reasons. He wanted to be able to practice the Lutheran faith. He wanted to maintain the German language. He was a pacifist and did not want to participate in war or armed forces. The family needed the opportunity to find more land so that they could farm.

       In the late 1980's Virginia found more than 900 of us. This included all the in laws. 

       Less than 50  of the family still live at Esk. 

This photo was taken in the late 1950's with some of my Grandpa's family including Grandpa. In the photo are three of Grandpa's sons and three of his daughters. There were many good family times , usually around a big turkey dinner.

      So now very few of us are members of the Lutheran church. Very few of us speak German. Many of his offspring have served in the armed forces. One of his grandsons was killed in the Second world war. My son was in the reserve forces. Very, very few of his family are famers. Two and a half of my brothers are farmers

     So what would Gottlieb think of this situation? I think he was forward enough thinking to see that with all the changes it was a good decision for the family. If one looks back at what happened where they were living you can see that they had a much better opportunity in Canada. Things were very unsafe in central Europe for many years .

    I have some errors that I have to correct. Some of you picked up the errors. My Dad was not in the nursing home for 18 years. He was in a nursing home for five years. He had very good quality of life until his mid eighties. 

    I've been most surprised at the reaction to this series of posts. I was surprised at how many were missing most of their family history. I was the nerdy little kid who sat around and listened to my Dad's stories and all the people who visited him. I've always been interested in Western Canadian history. I've always liked local history. My brothers went outside and played and had a good time which was a normal choice. 

    This is Dad's family in 1966...four sons.