End of July... end of an Era?!

All my friends know I am not a drinker.  

Disregarding my birthday at the peeler's with Ron N.  or the "business lunch" with Tommy G.

past and future Dr.

But... after this move is done... if I still have a pulse... I hope all my PEI friends will get together at the new digs... and get me plastered!

Day Off?

It's Sunday, the 29th of July, 2012.

What just past was another in a long series of Blitz weeks. 

I can't even begin, but here are some of the lowlights:

Dealing with U Haul.  One word to sum that up... nightmarish!

Yard sales.

Deadlines.

Sore back.

Sore neck.

Pretty much everything south of the eyebrows, sore.


Some of the highlights:

Setting the cruise control at 90 kph and leaving it there until the outskirts of Leduc.

16.9 MPG!  Buying that cheap diagnostic tool and changing an O2 sensor seems to have done the trick.

Seeing Liz and family a last time.

Visit with my old buddy John Metcalfe at his home in Devon.

The drive back at 90 kph on cruise.

Watching the Moto GP qualifier from Laguna Seca last night

Then there is today, Sunday, the last of it's kind in Calgary...

I'm determined somehow, against all odds, to "take the day off today."

Yup, you got that right, with a million things left to do, I plan on doing none of them today.

 

On my agenda... a walk, a regular meal, and the afternoon running of the race.  Jorge Lorenzo is dominating this season while Casey Stoner, during his last year of racing, is bitter and done.  He is still an amazing rider, but listening to his brief interview after qualifying was over, criticizing fellow competitors (understandably for their level of riding) is unbecoming of a true champion. Sometimes the best thing to do, is call it quits.  Know when to move on.

I am moving on...

Stress will kill you dead.

I have no photos for you tonight, just some chit chat.

I want to talk about stress, that "silent" killer.  Killer of dreams, killer of joy, killer of hearts.

I know about stress.

May 4th, 2005... I was out cold, laying on a stainless steel operating table at the Foothills hospital here in Calgary.  It was the 2nd heart attack I'd had, this one nearly did me in.

"Mr. Simon, how much do you smoke?"
"I don't smoke."
"How much did you smoke and when did you quit?"
"I never smoked."
"How much do you drink?"
"About a dozen bottles of light beer in a typical year."
"You mean a week, do you not?"
"I mean a year..."
"Do you do any drugs?"
"No."
"Do you exercise?"
"Yes." 
"Are you careful with your eating habits?'
"Yes, I am."
"Ummm, well if you don't smoke, or drink and you eat and exercise, well it must be stress."
"Ummm, must be."

That's  pretty much how the conversation went.  


Since, ahem... retiring from what many consider to be a stressful career, I have seen nothing but daily stress.  A new building project that is running overtime and over budget, by quite a lot.  Having to vacate my home on what amounts to short notice for yet another showing, these past few weeks, trying to cut down on my life's projects, success' and failures in short order.  A child that doesn't understand that it's adults who make decisions, not 11 year old's, parting company with many/most of my prized possessions that I was saving for said retirement, and just general mayhem, I have been as tight as Eric Clapton's six string, or Kim K's g string!

As the time of departure approaches ever closer, as the clock ticks away it's minutes, as fuse's gets shorter... my stress levels have risen.

Of course I have often pointed out to friends, relatives and passersby, you can't climb Everest in a single leap.  You climb her by single steps, stopping to rest as you need.  These days, even rest does not come easy.

I fall asleep when I am too exhausted to continue watching television, only to be troubled by dreams that make no sense and keep me from a sound slumber, waking at 5 am to Phoenix and his loud and plaintive 'meow'... 'let me out Dad... meow'  it ain't gettin' any better.

My only hope at this point in time as I face clearing off a lifetime of things, wrapping up dozens of major  and hundreds of minor details, crossing my fingers that the next three weeks go in the right direction, my only hope is that after this 5000 kilometer move is completed, after we arrive at our new home, after the lights get turned out the first week, after the Cargomate gets unloaded, after all the bills are tallied and paid, and after I unload my bikes... I hope that I don't have a third "event".

That one will surely kill me dead.

Ten Million Tears

Queen Willy past away yesterday at 10.30am.

She was adopted as a stray kitten 20 years ago at about 4 months age.

She lived her entire life with Brenda, safely tucked away in a home where she was loved and adored and pampered.

She outlasted her partner Tasha, who succumbed to diabetes at an early age.  For many years now, she was the numero uno gato in the house.

Willy and I met almost four years ago when I began my relationship with Brenda and Anna and the Queen.

As unpretentious of a feline as you have ever seen, in the early days she'd hide out until Anna was off to bed and many a late night conversation with then girlfriend Brenda, took place with the her sitting on Brenda's lap, purring away content.

There were many times I would pop by late at night on my way home from an appointment to find her greeting me outside on the porch or laying on the bed.

Willy had a very unusual meow, almost like a small cry, as if she were talking to me.

We accepted each other, she me, and I her.

She loved being outdoors and often even after moving from her long time home on 20th ave, she would wander around outside in the jungle at my place.

At 20 years of age, she most definitely had slowed down, sleeping much of the day but would arrive in the kitchen in the early morning for her milk and often came to me sitting on the corner of the bed, regal like looking for a treat or two.

This last year, she's had my company throughout the day, many times laying on my chest while I read a book or magazine or watched TV.

Content, like I said.  Both of us.

We could tell she was feeling her age, her hind legs would be reluctant, and there was an occasional wobble, but even after I set up a pillow for her next to our bed, she'd surprise us by leaping the three feet across the chasm from her bed to ours.

Like I am prone to do with cats... I really loved her from the start.  Her gentle and tolerant demeanor, her spunkiness and her domination of our little guy Phoenix, always made me smile.  Even at twenty, she'd hiss or smack him if he came too close.

This heat wave, I brought her downstairs where it was considerably cooler... but you could tell she was in distress.  She's had kidney problems as cats are prone to do and when she stopped eating or drinking Monday, my feelings were ominous.


By the second day, I was having the conversation with Brenda about her condition.  I have had two dear cats die early of renal failure and it wasn't pleasant.

It took Brenda a few moments of thought to decide to have the vet come to my home and put her to sleep.  That has to be one of the hardest decisions for any cat or dog lover to make.

Willy has moved on to Rainbow Bridge.  At some point in the future all of my past cats and Willy will be re-united with us, to live happily ever after together. 

For this pretty, calm and beautiful friend, Willy the cat...





Rest in Peace sweetie.

P.S.

News Flash:  Dateline Calgary AB

In all the years I have owned this motorbike, it has never run.  Well, she is headed to a new home this week, and just for fun, after a brief check over in which I found the plugs to be of two different heat (both incorrect)  ranges and one short reach (correct) the other long (incorrect), with a donor battery hooked up, a little filing of 42 year old ignition points, two new NGK plugs and a bit of pre mix gas squirted into the carbs... presto!

After a few brief kicks with the left side K/S, the ring a ding two stroke burbled into life.

This is why the Japanese changed motorcycling history.  Back in the day, they had reliable electrics, engines, brakes and controls, something the previously dominant Brits seemed to have missed somehow.  Even today, after mere minutes of fiddling, she is alive.

Course, in about 30 seconds running on the pre mix, the garage was full of smoke, but... ya gotta love em!

Decisions,decisions...

YOU guys have noticed, I haven't been doing much Blogging (geez I still like that word) as of late.  There are many days I simply feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of this task of changing a life here in the West, once again, for one in the East.

This may yet prove to be a bigger decision than the one I made in my twenties, the first time I made just such a move.  Back then I was motivated by different feelings and inputs.  Now, thirty years later, I'm certainly not looking to set the world on fire with my business ideas... nope, I simply want to ride my bikes, cut the lawn, build snow slides for Anna, make love in the afternoon, and generally... relax a bit.

AS with any such move, there are a hundred, no... a thousand decisions that have to be made.  Sometimes my friends, it seems like all of them are being made at once.

UPROOTING an entire life takes foresight, planning and even guts.  I don't go into these things lightly.  Being a Capricorn and not a Sagittarian, means I weigh everything several times over, maybe too many times.

THESE past few days, I have wandered around my yard in the late night warmth, summer heat finally arriving amid thunderheads and hail, wondering if this is the "right" move at the "right" time.  After all, there is nothing inherently wrong with my home, Calgary, the West or my lifestyle.  When I see the Rockies distant on the horizon, clad with snow topped peaks, and take in the vastness that is Western Canada and in turn the USA and even Baja Mexico... I question if I will truly be happy trading it for an Island. 

OF course technically, we are all living on an Island, but one as small as Prince Edward...  can I do it again?

IT'S been brought home to me, as I sell off many of my cherished possessions, that this decision, has affected me in ways until now, I have simply 'glossed' over.  Seeing my Seca roll down the street, my old bike collection whittled down substantially, and my beloved MGB, driven away... by a stranger, well I can tell you guys, I was tearful every time.

ALL of these machines represented something, some time special in my life, made up of thousands of individual experiences.   Those that know me well understand I am an emotional creature of nature.  This isn't the first time I have made such decisions nor will it be the last, but walking around my yard last night around 3 am, after another night of fireworks at C.O.P.* just banged home the realization that in three weeks, we will be on the road leaving this home of mine for the last 17 years, trailing away in my rear view mirror.

NOT that I haven't done it before, but this house, this home... has seen so many emotional changes during that time.  I am leaving behind a sometimes turbulent, but still satisfying life here, for... well an unknown.  Yes I lived on the Island of Prince Edward for a decade, yes I have poured my heart and soul into this new home, yes I have at least one willing accomplice in all this, but still, Calgary and Alberta will always be the place where I grew up.

TIME is getting short now.  Soon all our worldly possessions remaining will be packed in the Cargomate and I will, with a new woman and child... be hitting the Trans Canada Highway for the 12th time.


*COP Canada Olympic Park