The Hilton Chronicle

Today we are heading off on an excursion into the jungles of deepest, darkest Saskatchewan for a few days. We'll be there most of the week and apart from me not being able to get my daily fix of Tech TV, it should be fun. I'm taking the camera to get some shots of the native wildlife so when we emerge next week I may have some interesting stuff to post.

Yesterday Angela celebrated her 23rd birthday with a quick supper of pizza and Dairy Queen ice cream cake before everybody headed off in all directions for their weekly Friday night activities.

The 2003 income tax returns have been sent and now we wait with bated breath for the cheques. Too bad the money has already been spoken for.

Yesterday the kids rented the movie "Mean Machine" which is sort of a remake of Burt Reynolds' "The Longest Yard" about an ex-star soccer player who is sent to prison and is forced to form a team to play in a big exhibition match against the guards. Although a bit violent, it is quite hilarious especially with the British and Scottish accents and David Hemming's eyebrows.

Posted 12:15 PM by Jeff

Friday, March 19, 2004

After waiting what seemed an eon for all the receipts and forms to come in I finally got down to it and tackled this year's income tax. The nice thing about doing your taxes with a software package is that all you have to do is input the numbers and it figures it all out for you. Then there is the handy ability to e-file the returns which means we'll get the cheques in less than a couple of weeks. I'm using Tax-Wiz again this year which, although not free, does allow me to do all 6 returns for the one low price.
I have one more week of day shifts to go and then I'm on holiday for a couple of weeks. We still haven't decided on what to do other than spending a few days in Saskatchewan. May just take a jaunt to see what early spring looks like in the mountains. Either way I have to get out with the camera. I haven't done any decent shooting since the fall.

Posted 3:26 PM by Jeff

Sunday, March 07, 2004

So it looks like Martha Stewart is heading to the Big House where she will probably have matching sheets and pillow cases in a nice spring taupe...and that's a good thing. Her stock is probably going down the tubes though...I'd better check my portfolio.
Went to see "The Passion of the Christ" last night and wow, what a powerful movie. Not for the faint of heart, mind you, as it is definitely not a sugar coated gospel. Very sobering, but not a dry eye in the house by the end of it. We would both like to see it again, but not for a while.
I may have given the impression yesterday that we were in the deep freeze with blizzard conditions here in the frozen north. However, no sooner had I quilled those words when I noticed water running in the very street. Seems that despite the wind it got pretty mild here as it was again today and as much as I like to think it means spring is here, which it definitely is not, it makes for one messy drive to work. The cars are filthy and we are going through windshield washer like crazy. Nobody's washing their cars as they are dirty again by the time they are driven home from the carwash. So while we bask in the lugubrious weather and watch the snow slowly shrink from our yards, we wait. What color was that car again.....?

Posted 6:01 PM by Jeff

Saturday, March 06, 2004

Today the winter winds are howling and the snow is flying, reminding us that, even though it is the beginning of March, we are still subject to the vile cruelness of the Canadian winter. Such are the joys of living north of the 49th parallel.
I read a book this week called The Life of Pi which is the story of a young boy who gets shipwrecked and ends up in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger, a hyena, an orang utan and a zebra with a broken leg. It makes for a fascinating read and kept me up real late the other night trying to get through it. Good reading.
And from the "Life is like a Soap Opera" department comes the story of the Liberal MP's caught on leaked audio fearing for their careers. And so they should be. Of course it's not good to paint them all with the same brush but let's face it, the life of a politician these days is tainted from the get go. I don't care which party you are from, most politicians are seen as crooks by the GP (general public). Trouble is what do you replace them with? More politicians? Someone suggested maybe a benevolent dictator. Yea right! Maybe we should all move to Cuba. At least we wouldn't have to put up with these infernal winters.

Posted 10:51 AM by Jeff

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