Sunday, February 23, 2014

Double Yeah Canada!!



These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.
                                 
Misty Hollow Carvingwas launched in October 2008

Misty Hollow Digital Images were launched on September 26, 2012.

                               
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Double Yeah Canada!!
 
(Whew – 15 Days since I had enough time to sit and pour into this Blog. It hasn’t been happening because I forgot – just too darn occupied with everything else.

My third trip to Kingston is happening this afternoon. I sure have been I prison a lot lately.  It will soon be a life sentence. For my non-regular readers… I am a volunteer in a unique role of serving with the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) with Corrections Service Canada (CSC).  And with the role that I serve in there are a number of important committee meetings as of late – with a change in my role coming up soon.)

I just watch the Canadian Men’s Hockey Team win the Gold medal at the Olympics in Sochi Russia.  I also witnessed the Team from Sweden win the Silver Medal. Both teams played hard and should be congratulated for doing so well.

I couldn’t help but think that for approximately one hour of struggling to win on the ice surface – representing their country so well… with most of their fellow country folk watching…these poor guys were dead tired… exhausted in fact. Their legs were screaming for relief.  Their chests were gasping for the vital oxygen that was so needed to make it all happen.  These were athletes at their finest moment.

And the moment of each goal – their country folk back home were cheering their heads off… as if they had made the goal each time.
Then when the last second ticked off the clock and the Gold medal was Canada’s – WOW. The crowd filled with so many thousands of people cheered as if they had won the game… each one of them had played and each one had scored.

Yet the 15 guys, top athletes in the very best shape of anyone in Canada… needed a rest and to let their bodies build up again… nearly 33 Million of us over weight and out of shape desperately needed to get off our butts and do some exercise of some sort – claimed the victory personally.

And the 33 Million won the Gold for Canada!

Ironic isn’t it?  We don’t do a thing but we win.  But maybe cheering helps us win… maybe.

But my win personally will be when I can ride my bicycle again, walk 
again and just get busy doing stuff without any snow to drive me nuts.
I have shoveled enough snow… am sick and tired of ICE that has made it slippery and dangerous for people to walk and carry one business!
Yeah CANADA.

I shouldn’t complain really. I could be stuck on a quiet island in a warm place, eating the local fruit and local fresh fish, enjoying the home baked bread from a local bakery… and just chilling out on a warm afternoon.
But instead I have been located in one of the coldest countries on earth – so our Team could win Hockey Gold.  Because without the cold we would never would have had ice… and never learned that slippery ice can be skated on… and that we could win Gold.

Oh Ya!

Double Yeah Canada!!

~ Murray Lincoln ~

For your inspection

Saturday, February 8, 2014

I need and want a NEW CAR!



These BLOGS are sponsored by my businesses.                                 

Misty Hollow Carvingwas launched in October 2008

Misty Hollow Digital Images were launched on September 26, 2012.
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I need and want a NEW CAR!

Ten days ago I stated I was so busy… it is winter… too cold for old people… and that Life is whirling around me.  Yikes.

Well it gets better, the story that is!  Maybe not better – just more interesting.

Our vehicle broke down when I was in Ottawa.  It died in our driveway when my wife was backing in.

It was the battery… dead … $250… ($90 labour plus $150 plus taxes.
Second the garage people discovered that an orange light on the dash board indicted a problem… looking into that they determined a Brake sensor was a problem – but that indicated that the main ECM (the computer brain for the vehicle) was in need of replacing… and if I didn’t do that the next emission tests to get the license for the vehicle would be a “Fail”… part ordered… and labour charge to be around… $450
Oh ya… I forgot… it cost $106 to have that estimate done… total… $556
Sheesh!

Driving carefully home from Whitby Ontario one last Saturday… there was a terrible fluttering sound below the hood of the vehicle. I was sure we had hit a bird or something was dying in the engine compartment.  Nope! No bird.  The “serpentine belt” which is like the old “V Belt” of days gone by…the $14 kind… had been cut in half, instead of running on 7 grooves we now had three left.

Slowly we crept back to the city holding our breath.
Darn it… should have held our breath a little longer on the way to the garage.  The cost of new belt was to be $50 with $90 an hour to repair it. They ordered the belt. We waited until Tuesday to get the new belt. It came and was the wrong one. Reordered and left the car on their garage hoist for another day.

The call came that Wednesday afternoon to tell me that the vehicle was ready… $159

Can anything else go wrong?  Holding my breath when I say – “no”…?
My optimistic and positive wife said, “Oh well it is cheaper than buying a new car!”

But I NEED and WANT a NEW CAR.
Oh Yah…

Today I rented a brand new Dodge Dart 2.4L for a 4 day business trip.  

Oh ya!  It has everything… a screen that shows the stuff behind the car when I backup… its own GPS… Sirius Sat Radio…heated seats… heated steering wheel … telephone connections (Bluetooth)… and a million other gadgets that I will fiddle with for four days. Oh Ya Oh YAH! OH YAAAAAH!!!

~ Murray Lincoln ~

For your inspection