The Hilton Chronicle

Last night was Nikki's grade 12 grad and other than becoming a very late night from driving the kids around it was very enjoyable. All the kids looked very nice as usual. Here are a couple of shots that I quickly put together before doing any adjustments on them:

The second shot is of Nikki with her new beau Jamie.
I hope to have a bit of an album prepared in a few days with some more shots of the evening.
Here's hoping that everybody out west here is not too sad about being subject to Liberal rule for the next year or so and now that they have to be allied with the NDP it does not bode well. Hopefully Martin will heed the warning and try to clean up the act in Ottawa, but probably not. More later.

Posted 11:35 PM by Jeff

Sunday, June 27, 2004

Pomp & Circumstances

After the long hours spent on the renos it was almost nice to get back to work this weekend to rest up. Tomorrow is Nikki's grad and we will be going to the commencement ceremony in the afternoon and the banquet in the evening so I will probably have some pictures to post tomorrow evening. Nikki has had her hair braided again for grad and is definately going for a different look. (wait for the pictures).
And that wraps up the basic education for all our children as the last one finally graduates. No one could be happier than Nikki to be finally finished high school. Obviously the shock of the real world hasn't hit yet.

Posted 10:22 PM by Jeff

Saturday, June 26, 2004

Blood, Sweat and Tears

The posts have been a little sparse lately due to not having any time. We have been madly renovating the upstairs bedroom for the last four days and finally got that done yesterday just in time for an engagement dinner party for Angie and Lee. Our family was joined for the evening by Lee's Mom & Dad, his sister and her boyfriend.
The renovation looks great and everything went well except for one dissapointing thing. Dianne had spotted a hide-a-bed on sale at Costco which she fell in love with and decided to get for her new "study". We bought it and hauled it home yesterday only to discover that no matter how we twisted it and turned it and cajoled it, it was not going in that room without major explosives. So with tears in her eyes, Dianne had to return the hide-a-bed to Costco and resign herself to the fact that hide-a-beds are not designed for small bedrooms with tiny doorways and that she would have to settle for a futon instead. In the meantime it was several good renovation hours wasted as Lee and I had to haul that thing on and off the truck several times with much panting and sweating. Now the rule is two word: tape measure; don't leave home without it.

Posted 11:40 PM by Jeff

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Home Sweet Home

Went to pick up our wayward traveler from the airport tonight and it sounds as if Sandi will be regaling us for days on the stories and experiences she had while a temporary resident of La Belle Province. She came home to a rather messy house as we are just in the process of preparing the second upstairs room for a facelift before the new floor goes in. I'm planning to get the bulk of that work done next week on my four days off after this present midnight shift.

Posted 9:59 PM by Jeff

Monday, June 14, 2004

Boy, have we ever been getting some lousy weather. It's been gloomy and showery all weekend and today the sun tried to peek out several times but was always chased away by some angry black clouds. I took the opportunity during one of the sunny spells to cut the lawns before the house disappeared in the foliage. And once again we find ourselves battling those nasty little ants who have taken up residence in various parts of the lawn. I have evicted the queens and all their entourage with some carefully applied ant powder. I may have to bring a truckload of it in if they get any more ambitious. The good news is that even with all the rain there hasn't been any mosquitoes to speak off. One can only hope...

Posted 11:19 PM by Jeff

Saturday, June 12, 2004

Renovatin' Again

With Sandi's floor finished we turned our attention to the other bedroom upstairs that is in dire need of restoration. Dianne ripped the rugs and old baseboards out of there yesterday and today I cut up some new baseboards, ready for installation when the floor was done. But looking at the room in it's rather naked state it seemed silly to just do the floor when the walls were a complete mess, so now we have decided to paint before we floor. And thus starts the proverbial "renovation escalating spiral" where a simple "touch up" becomes a "mega project". So we have been poring over paint chips again until our eyes water trying to choose a nice soothing color that Dianne will like in her office. Once again the hallways of the house are full of junk as we work away on this last room. From there we attack the living room again, or maybe the kitchen....it just goes round and round.
It was a big blow to the jazz/blues community with the passing of blues great Rae Charles. I was not a big fan but I enjoyed his music a lot. Sad to see him gone.

Posted 9:00 PM by Jeff

Monday, June 07, 2004

There Is No Joy In Mudville.....

Well, a sad time for Alberta, Canada and our brethren to the south of us in Calgary. The Flame has gone out. The cup stays stateside. A valiant effort to the end but many who were gathered at the outing we were at tonight said that the cup was lost on Saturday night after that OT goal. It kind of knocked the wind out of the sails of the Flames, permanently. It's next year country. Go Oilers!
I didn't know this until today but Ronald Reagan passed away over the weekend. Seems he was one of the better ones.
And it looks like maybe summer came and went again for this year. The forecast is for frost tonight. Better think about getting those Christmas lights back up.

Posted 10:12 PM by Jeff

Sunday, June 06, 2004

Down To The Wire

If you were sitting on your deck in Edmonton around 10:00 last night you could have heard a faint yet audible collective gasp of disbeleif as the city of Calgary reacted to the goal by the Tampa Bay Lightening 30 seconds into the second overtime period. After a neck and neck battle for four periods all hopes for a quick resolution to the series and the chance for the home town crowd to revel in the cup victory were dashed in a split second. It was a gasp heard all acoss Alberta and for that matter Canada, I'm sure. This of course forces the series to game seven, so all hope is not lost for the Flames but it gives the Lightning one more chance as well and, fortunately, on their home ice, so even if Calgary does take the series tomorrow night, the fans will have to rejoice from a distance. Not that that's a bad thing but victory last night would have indeed been a sweet thing.
Many have criticized Edmontonians for rooting for their long time rivals, the Calgary Flame,s but the honour of the country is at stake here and for one breif moment, fans and non fans alike in this here burg can put away our rivalries for a moment and say "Go Flames Go!"

Posted 2:04 PM by Jeff

Saturday, June 05, 2004

Trust Me, It's There.....

Looks like the Royal Bank has been having some fun this week when a supposed "programming glitch"has held millions of transaction in bank limbo for several days. The time it takes to fix the problem keeps delaying the throughput of all those transactions. The money's there, the bank assures, they just can't see it. Puts your faith in the banking industry on shaky ground a bit. Does this mean I don't have to pay my Visa bill this month?
Michael Moore's award winning documentary Fahrenheit 911 has found a distributor and will be out in theatres shortly. This one is a must see and for a preview check this out.

Posted 1:34 PM by Jeff

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

Small Things Amuse Small Minds.....

We're a society of gadgets and sometimes I wonder if we aren't going too far. I have often wondered about the practicality of having a remote control for your car stereo, it's not like it's across the room. Now you can actually download your illegally acquired MP3s to your car stereo from your computer, wirelessly, using your computer's wifi network. And speaking of useless gadgets; Dianne received a sample in the mail the other day of the new Hummingbird flosser. Have you seen this? It has a little piece of floss mounted on a wishbone affair on the end of a handle, but here's where it starts to get geeky. The whole thing vibrates! It really doesn't help you to floss but it's supposed to feel good while you do it. I half expected to see a digital readout of something (RPM's?)on the handle, but there wasn't. Comes with a vibrating toothpick. Wow! I wonder how stuff like this would go over in a third world country where hi tech is having a handle on your water bucket.
But if you want to see something really cool check this out. The new Mini is out in a convertible model called the Cabrio. Funny how the world is still in love with this little car. Very international, too: designed in England, built in Germany and powered by a Brazilian engine. For more info and a really jazzy website go here. I think for me, though, it's a tossup between this car and the MG-TF.

Midlife crisis?...

Posted 12:06 PM by Jeff

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