Middle of the week but almost to the end of the month and being the end of the month that means I get paid soon. Being on a once a month pay schedule does mean changing the way you spend money over the course of a month. With a biweekly paycheque that many people get, you have a near regular cash flow coming in. If you are married and both work and get alternating payweeks, that means money is coming into the house every week. That was the way it was when Andrea worked at a nursing home and I worked at RJR. Different story now; just one paycheque a month. With so much money upfront, you think you have quite a cushion to spend but in reality you don’t. Still got all of those bills to pay. So we have arrange to have as many of our bills become due at the beginning of the month. Money does not stay very long in the account when that happens. Also, we try to buy as much groceries and necessities for the month upfront which is typically a $700 upfront expense for a family of four. During the course of the month, there are a few bills that are due, some fresh food to buy and of course, gas for the cars. What ends up happening is that we are stretching as much as possible during the last month to get buy. It’s always worst when a month like July has 31 days in it. Just an extra day or two to stretch out the funds. So it will be nice to see the bank account with some money in it even if it last just a few days.
Swimming Championships going on in Rome and Canada is doing well so far with medals in synchronized swimming and diving. None yet in the swimming disciplines but there is potential for one or two yet to come. Canada is assured of one more medal as the womens team plays for gold in the water polo event against the United States or Greece.
Finally, I came across this video which may be of some interest. Now I always pride myself in being able to take care of myself which includes doing my own laundry. Doing laundry means folding clothes which I thought I always have done a good job before but after viewing this video, I can fold my shirts much better than before.
Quiet weekend for the most part. Hot weather and low funds meant few options for the family. I managed to finish up the painting the boy’s room even though I thought I had finished it a few weeks back but some splotches on one wall aggravated Andrea too much so I used up the rest of the paint I had reserved and redid the wall. She is now satisfied with the wall so she can move forward with the rest of her plans of decorating the room.
One highlight of the weekend was viewing the funeral procession of Hell’s Angels motorcyclists accompanying the hearse of the local chapter president who was murdered in his home two weeks. Over a 1000 people and 500 bikes came into town for the Saturday funeral. As can be expected, the police were out in force to keep order, direct traffic and separate locals from the motorcyclists. A large of onlookers viewed the procession opposite the Parklawn cemetery where he was laid to rest. Definitely something you will not see again anytime soon.
Just finished a biography of Nikola Tesla. While many people know of such inventors and scientists like Thomas Edison an Albert Einstein, Tesla truly was a giant whose inventions and discoveries made him at least their equal if not more. But he lived in a country where it is always good to have a favorable press or your own publicist. He was noted during his lifetime but seemingly forgotten in the years past but of his contributions enable us to enjoy the life we have today like electricity, motors, radar, and radio. He was a man with exceptional intelligence who lived in an age where one man’s endeavours can be recognized. Today it is extremely difficult for one person to do anything that can match his productivity given the way corporations make scientists virtually anonymous now. Still, his fame has seemingly been rehabilitated and he is receiving the fame now that should have been his since his passing.
Finally, here is a good video on the best 100 lines from many films in all sort of genres in 200 seconds of video. Most of them have entered the popular culture as very recognizable so no explanation is necessary for most of them though there are a few that I need to figure where they came from.
Enjoy…
… and that is all I wrote.
This past weekend, Andrea and I spend a fair bit of our time working in the garage to clear out any items that we deemed garbage or donations. The motivation for the heavy workout in hot humid conditions was the bulk pickup by the city of any items that could not be picked up by the weekly garbage pickup.
As it was, we never really organised the garage after we moved into the house last year. Anything deemed not everyday use was relegated to the garage. The end result was stacks of boxes everywhere. of course, part of the problem was Andrea and I are somewhat reluctant to part with anything. Her motivation was that we may need it someday whereas mine was perhaps sell everything in a garage sale. I keep saying that every year for years now but I never got around to it and finally came to the realisation that I will never have a garage sale.
So to the curb went damaged plastic storage boxes, old shelving, my broken office chair, and anything deemed as junk. To our local Goodwill dropoff place, we sent old clothing, cookware, lamps, frames and knick knacks. At the end of it, we probably moved three truck loads of stuff out of the garage. We also ended up giving a neighbour’s daughter more bags and purses she might ever need for the next few years. We also discovered a few things we thought we misplaced including my old film camera I bought back in 1999 and I thought I lost somewhere in my life. Still has a roll of film in it perhaps half exposed. Not much use to me now but the case is still good and I have a tabletop stand that may proved useful.
While we were moving things out of the garage, we were also repacking things. Two half empty boxes were consolidate into one. We got rid of the cardboard boxes and used our collection of stacking plastic boxes for storage. This made things easier to store. Certain boxes were labeled for future reference and we swept the floors underneath and filled at least three bags with plain trash.
When we were finished Sunday afternoon and surveyed the garage, we marveled at what we accomplished. There is now room to walk around the garage; the floors were clean, everything looked organised. Mind you the front of the house looks trashy with the pile of junk and trash bags awaiting pickup but that is a temporary thing.
Our backs were aching but we were pleased at a job well done.
We were not the only ones cleaning out our garage. In Deer Lake, my parents were clearing out their garage and every other storage location in the home as they prepare to make their move to Ottawa. After 25 years in the only home that we could call our own, my parents want a property that would be easier to maintain and closer to my brother and sister who also live in Ottawa.
It is going to be a much smaller place and one without the benefit of a 30ft by 20ft outbuilding that served as a garage and as a storage facility. You can accumulate a lot of things over a lifetime but in the end most of it had to go. The camping gear, (tents, sleeping bags etc…) which I remember fondly from my childhood as the only vacations we took as a family were camping trips to nearby parks. Of course, we were not exactly roughing it as we went to full service campsites with showers and so on but it was a place away from home. There was something about having meals out in the woods that makes things taste a bit different and perhaps more appealing.
The bearskin rug that adorned the family room floor. Laying on the rug with my head propped against the bear’s head was an unusual position to watch television but it was extremely comfortable. Going to miss that.
While I have tried to take along as many of my personal effects as I moved from place to place in my life, I could not take it all especially to the United States. Books, knick knacks, personal mementos were all packed into boxes. One notable thing I stored at my parent’s home was my comic book collection. For several years during my teens, I collected a variety of comics: superheroes, war, special editions. I was always very careful with my collection. I would read a comic magazine once and upon finishing it, I would place it in a plastic storage back and create a vacuum seal. Away from hands, sun and air, these comics are as pristine condition as when I bought them 20-30 years ago. Several hundred comics worth perhaps $1000-2000 these days.
So all of these things were left at my parents’ home with a promise that I would return one day and fetch it all. But I never did. After leaving Newfoundland in 1996 to go to the United States, I never returned to Deer Lake. I have never brought my family to see the home where I lived my late teenage years, to see the landscape I built with my hands over several summers. It is all going away now and part of my life will be gone for good.
Never look back, always look to the future. That is the saying you heard often when it comes to letting go of things but the problem with that saying is that the past defines who we are today and who we are today determines what sort of future we will have. There is web of life that connects everything with everything else and the items we keep and treasure are the tangible part of that connection. Sometimes we need more than just memories; we need that physical connection to our past.
But life does go on and sometimes to make room for the present, we do need to clear out the past.