Stream Exposed! inside the dirt by D.K.

Hey, Hey, every body, how it goin? Well I've had a pretty good week, thanks for asking. Although I'm not too sure about this week upcoming, see it started to rain pretty hard for a while on friday, then on saterday it snowed pretty hard, and from what I hear, sunday it did both for a spell. So now work is under a clay based soup, and we are stuck doing other things.(like today we got to drive a scisser lift around the shop to wash the cielings, and probaly for most of the week too!) Last time we had "rain days" at least we had a floor to install, and as promised, heres the proof!

This type of floor was pretty easy to work with, and pops together pretty quick, with the help of a hammer! It has a laminate top and compressed carboard like stuff, sandwitched between plasticy layers. All this means it can be cut with regular saws! Bonus! As you can see we have a plumming stack running right through our new lunch room.(most people around work call it our stripper pole!) Longer story shorter, floor is done, it looks good, bosses are happy!

Remember last month some time, when most of us did our taxes?(somthing most of you smarter people do reguarly, as to make it less pain full...mmmmm...food for thought!) Well I've not made all that much cash in the past few years, so have sort of put off the taxes thing. I vagely remember owing a bit a few years ago, so was trying to brace my self for the axe in the mail. Well holy sheep dip! Seems I owed more then I rememberd, and for longer then I thought. So my bill was almost $3500! This is the first time I've had more then $500 in the bank for the past 4 years, so I guess it seams about right.(like a slap in the face, with a ring on all five fingers, in a metal glove, dipped in acid, and a poke in the eye for good measure!) Oh well, its my fault for being so causual about the whole thing, its the intrest thats killing me. Maybe if I sent them a goverment sized tube of K.Y., it wouldn't hurt so much the next time they ream me! Hehehe, puttin the Mental back in Govermental, or should that be Govermenstal, would explain why thier bleedin me dry!(ooow, that one even tasted bad on this side, its not easy to offend your self, go ahead and try.)(I'll wait,)( if you do offend you self, drop me a line, I'd love to hear about it!)(Hehehe!)

Well its time for the indepth look at one part of the water feature at Coal Creek. This first shot is from atop a tee mound, the vista offers a panaramic view of the surounding course.(and is not quite nose bleed level.)

Scrambleing down the hill, past the pile of boulders I got to move with the Case loader,(I'll try to remember a picture of that beast for the next blog, I'm going to try to finish each blog in one sitting, the three day blogs are starting to get too long!)so when you hit a huge rock and your ball scuttles away to nevermore land, think of me! I arrive across from old coal processing equipment, this looks cool and will stay for course atmosphere effect.(and as a un-natural hazzard!)

Ever walk along a fairway and think how lucky they were to have a stream or creek running right where they needed it to be? Well I have, and now my innocents has be shatterd! This stream is all faked, it even runs up-hill now.(well it runs down hill, but the land runs up.)(did that help or just confuse you more?) This used to be the road where the trucks got loaded with coal, and as you can see it runs up to the main road, but the creek runs down that way now. The rocks are placed with the small back hoe, in just the right spot so the water will fill a small pond, then spill over in a gental water fall. After laying the floor too quickly, we got to help tamp the clay around the rocks, so the water will go over instead of under/around. There has been no water pumped into this stream,(well there has been now, an unplaned water fountian sprang up from where the hoe nicked a line, but because it was just going into the creek any ways, they left it go for a few days to break in the pump, or some thing. Sure was pretty though.)just the ground seepage, and now the rain. I like this last shot up the road, because if you click on the pic. to inlarge it, you'll see our trucks. Mine is the nose on the right, then in frount of it,(to your left,)is the track hoe, then the back end of the other truck.
My brother Carlin sent me the link to this B.C. comic. All you golfers will understand, and for all you vets or animal lovers, he's just trying to save the rapter, if it passed the ball through...it'd definetly be a dino-sore-ass!(apply laugh track here:)

Last thursday eve, I went golfing in the wind. Heres a thought, if your going to golf in Scottland, come pratice in Alberta first! It seems about 75% of the time its windy, and the other 25% is more of a gale. I played much better then the last time, and wasn't so tired. First hole, with a strong tail wind, helping to the left and everything...I hit the green! 328yrds. away! I kept looking for my ball, thinking where the hell am I, oh there it's on the green!(then I 3 putted, but still saved par, so thats cool, well better then 3 putting for an 8 any ways.)

Tip of the day: Say your a young rock truck driver, here's a helpful hint. Your truck is bouncy, don't pick your nose!(I think I touched my brain!)(it was squishy!)In fact try to keep you hands out of what I'll call the,"Punching your self out"zone. Also light shoes are good, its amazing the places you can kick yourself! Have a great week, latter DufferKev

Wild Canadian Coffee?

Well Hello everyone, hope you had a good week too, mine was busy! First let me say happy mothers day to all you birthers out there, and a extra nod to all those who even brought the baby home!(my Mom said she didn't know she had a choice.) I know it was yesterday, but I was out with all the realitives, so we'll just say it today...Happy Mothers Day! Here is a brief summery of what I've been up to.
Now its time for you to put on your remembering caps. Think back to last fall. This wandering duffer had fianally come home. Remodeling of the trailer was well under way. And I went down to Lyns cottage at Gull lake. While I was there painting the cottage, the roof was redone. After the roof was finished, many nails were sticking through the inside of the attic and main bathroom. The bathroom was fixed by adding a pine board drop ceiling, and now I've been asked to do the same upstairs. These first two shots are of the attic as-was. Saterday morning I drove out to transform it into something all shiny new!

Next we have a shot of the drop ceiling frame in place. I put in headers between the roof beams, so I could keep my studs evenly spaced. No two were the same distance, the cottage is of 1913 vintage, and as you can see had no insulation.



Now it dose! Though this cottage is a summer home only, the insulation should help keep it cooler in the heat, and warmer on those frosty fall/spring mornings. Hopefully the plastic vapour barrier will help make the ceiling bat-proof.(ever wonder why insulation was sold in batts?)(me too!) End of day one, the first day of project "save the ceiling"

Enter day two. This day was a lot of running up and down stairs, because the frame was built square, I could cut several pieces at a time, but because nothing else was, I only cut two rows at a time, just in case. This day was realitivly easy, day three and four,(this coming up weekend,)will be trickier! Those will be the days when I carry on down the wall, where every stud is spaced differntly, and none of the corners are square! I can fore see a lot of one-at-a-time, "custom" cutting, and lots of trips up/down those stairs!(usally I woudn't mind the extra cardio, ecspecilly seeing how out of golf shape I am! Oppps! you haven't read that part yet! you have no way of knowing I'm writing this over three day's, and it's already wensday. Or that I wrote the golf part yesterday, spoiler alert: I had golf last week!)(Oh yeah and I'm already "draggen ass" as they say, because of an unusally phycical work week. Remember when I said watching them dig our new stream at work would be cool? Well its a one back hoe job, not much need for trucks to haul anything away. I did get to haul some soup(bad dirt)away, for about an hour yesterday, but the majority of my time was spent installing a smack together tile floor in the new lunch room, witch I painted last week!)(don't worry, next weeks blog will have pic's of the new floor, its nice!) Back to the ceiling, as you can see I started the angle down the wall, with the last couple planks I had left. A wise old carpenter once told me,(and he must have been wise cause he hadn't starved to death yet, and he still had all his fingers!) "Old houses aint square, thats what trims for!" I believe I'll be using some trim!
Cool sunset on the end of day two, I decided to go for a walk down to the beach, as you may have guessed from the banner shot. On the way back to the cottage I came acrossed a couple of patches of wild Canadian coffee! I had no idea coffee grew wild in Canada, but there it was. (I won't say how long it took, or how much actual testing I had done before determining my discovery was really deer poop!)

Later on in the week,(after recoperating for a few days by going to work,) on a snowy thursday, I decided to go golfing! Yes I had golf!(real golf, not just some backyard delusion.) Of course after I decided to go golfing, it started to snow. The snow lasted most of the day, but was melting faster then it was falling, and being sucked into the thirsty soil just as fast. So in a breif patch of sun, I loaded up my bag and was off.(forgot my new glove in my old pratice bag, glad I didn't throw out the old crappy one yet...I still haven't put the new one in my bag yet, probaly forget it for the next game too...sad.)(Just so you know I havent given up all hope, I might still remember it you know.)(Like maybe I'll put it in my shoe tonight, so then I remember to put it in my bag tomorrow...mmmm...if only my shoes weren't sooooo far away, ah, I'll just remember it latter.)(Oh God, I'm doomed, I might as well just throw the new glove away and get use to the crappy old one, with bright orange paint on it from my gopher golf course, and the big hole where the palm use to be...now where the hell was I going with this agien?...) On my way to Toefield golf course,(with new driving range,)(or new since I've been there last anyways,)it snowed on me agien, but after I turned onto the hiway the sky lighted and I saw no more moister for the rest of the day! Tofield golf course,(see map on right,) is a medium 9 hole trek, a good first effort after the long cold winter,(of our discontent!) No cars in the parking lot, but the gates were open, so I went in. No one inside, but a put-the-money-in-the-slot-box, was there, so I did. I walked slowly to the first tee, giving someone plenty of time to tell me to go away, no one did. First drive was worth the $15 I shoved into the box! Sweet! Ball in the middle of the fairway, no one around to slow me down, no rain for the moment, days of gopher golf pratice for just this shot. Confidently I strode up to my ball, well inside the hundred yard marker, and hit it short of the green. Oh well, I use to be good at the short chips,(thats what happens when you always miss the greens!) I skulled it! It shot 20ft passed the green! All night long my chips had no feel, by the end I was playing one ball till I got close to a green, then chiping three! The greens needed more watering or rain or somthing, quite brown for greens! It took me till hole 5 to get the speed o.k. on the greens, and I consitently two putted after that. Hole 2 had a beautiful drive as well, followed by a medicore wedge shot, and a scary chip. For the first time I noticed two kids ahead of me, it was o.k., they let me pass by hole 4. Hole three, I lost a ball, then, found a ball, so still even. Hole 4 was a good learning experince, I hit a lovely 3 wood to almost right where I wanted it! My three wood as been very inconsistent over the years, so it would be great to love it agien! Hole 5 was a real score for me. My first shot went into the mud bank of the creek, so I hit another.(praise be the mulligan!) While I was getting my first ball out of the mud,(I'm cheap, remember!) I found 5 more! Then went to my second shot. Now heres where it gets hazey. Either I lost my second shot, and found another ball,(2lost and 7found,)or I hit my second a lot farther.(1lost and 6found.) Since I hadn't botherd to look at my second ball...I guess we'll never know! Above is a shot of the hole 5 sign. I didn't take this one, too bad, that would have been cool to see! I realilize by now, that I was getting tired. Sadly the months of not walking a course were starting to show. Bad drive on hole 6, lost it to the right on hole 7.(almost wish I hadn't found it! had to hack it out of some bush thing.) Blocked it to the left on the par 3, 8th. Hole 9! And not a moment too soon! Please don't get me wrong, I was loven it out there, but was getting tired and sloppy. (ie, dug the toe of my driver into the tee box, thus leaving the face open, and hitting it about 45 yards off to the right!) Now I'm behind the trees, greens(browns)over thatta way somewhere, so I'm thinking about chopping it over the trees.(or just chopping the trees by this point!) So as my ball goes screaming over the trees,(well off target!)I notice for the first time, the two kids who let me pass on hole 4, are being picked up by thier dad. Great, entire empty course, and I'm gonna hit some one! I slulk around the trees, thankful my ball dosent have my name on it, and am relived to find my ball just in front of a pond I never knew was there, and 20 some feet short of the child retreival action in the parking lot!
All in all a great time was had by all,(me!)and I'm planning to go agien soon. Hopefully before I go back to finish Lyns ceiling this next weekend.

You may be wondering about the mulitpule head shots.(not the first time I've taken multipule head shots!) Well if I've learned nothing about people,(and believe you me, I've tried, to learn nothing about people that is,)its that they like to vote on stuff. You know, let the common voice be heard, and all that good stuff. So send in your votes, help pick the least repulsive hair doo!(polls open to the citizens of this planet only, vote as many times as you like, a handleing fee of $4.95 will be charged per registerd vote, polls open till midnight Jan.01 2072, please note all votes will be estimated and your vote may not actualy count, I retain total "veto" power!, also the top knot may not work after I'm in my 80's but then agien nothing else will either!)
First two shots are just fresh from the beauty salon. I had told the nice lady,(whos name escapes me at the moment, but don't worry, I still remember yours!)I was planning to grow my longer part till I could make a top knot! Well she seamed to take this as a challenge, and in no time flat had me knotted! Still to short for a good one though.

Next two are from the same night, just took the scrunchie out and gave the old head a good shake.(more then three shakes,... and your likely to get brain damage!) I like the velcro effect of the freshly shaven stubble and the longer hair.

Lastly we have what I'll call the "slick willy",(now would you buy a used car from this guy?) And before you tell me, I know its crooked, I was wearing a hat all day. So be sure to cast you votes often, after of course reading the above disclaimer.

Well thats enough for this time, tune in next week for the anatomy of a stream, a before water documentory of Coal Creek's feature water works! Till then, this has been DufferKev, signing off!