Paul Alton MBA

We were in Edmonton for the first few days of October before returning home to Meadow Lake except for a brief visit back to Edmonton. A quiet month. Managed to maintain the 10k steps a day at work then around our property.

As the month progressed the trees went from autumn colours to bare limbs. The ponds went from being covered with geese preparing to head south to being covered with ice. The ground went from leaf covered to come and go snow to here until Spring snow.

Before we left Edmonton we celebrated Rebekah’s birthday. Her husband, Nick, was back home briefly as the Montreal job had ended and he had a bit of time before going back to Quebec for another job.

Rebekah and the kids came to Meadow Lake for Thanksgiving. They dropped by during the day. Somebody had abandoned a large truck tire and some garbage on the side of the grid road across from our driveway. The kids and I picked up the garbage then we rolled the tire south through the forest to a gravel pit where people come to do target practice. In the evening, we celebrated Odelia’s birthday. Rebekah made owl cupcakes rather than a single birthday cake.

A week after that we traveled to Edmonton to celebrate Eliana’s birthday and do some shopping and visiting with friends. As part of the celebration activities, we all went to tour show homes in a subdivision near Beaumont. There was a wagon ride, face painting, treats at each show home and a perfect fall day to wander between houses. I was amazed at how spacious homes could be inside while looking so small from the outside. I was amazed at the prices as well. The largest home situated near a water feature was close to one and a half million dollars asking price.

I had hoped to get the car booked in for a minor warranty repair, but they were booked solid. I guess we are headed back to the dealer in November. I would have liked to buy a car locally when we bought two years ago but the selection was limited. The local dealers were overly proud of their products and underly interested in our trade in.

The turnaround wound down. I was laid off on October 4^th. We drove home on the fifth. I drove the truck. Juanita followed in the car.

After eight weeks of ten hours a day six days a week I wasn’t terribly ambitious when we got back home. I mostly took it easy and got caught up on reading but did do a few essential pre-winter chores such as cleaning the chimney and making fire starters for the wood stove.

I suited up, put on my N95 mask and performed the annual chimney sweeping. The sweeping itself went quickly. Removing the clean out stopper at the bottom of the chimney went poorly. The handle and outer sheet metal came apart from the rest of the stopper. Some diligent work with needle nose pliers got the chimney open for cleaning. After the cleaning was done inside the chimney and the pipes leading to it, I put it all back together except for the stopper.

I unsuited, went to town, bought a robust handle and stainless-steel nuts and bolts long enough to extend through the stopper. The handle is attached solidly to the stopper now. After shining the stopper and coating the contact surface with high temperature anti seize I installed it in the bottom of the chimney. Ready for another heating season. Hopefully more ready for the next annual chimney cleaning than it was this year.

Gratefully, we currently have no mobility problems, but who knows what the future holds. We are considering options if we are no longer able to navigate stairs in our tiny home. We met with friends for lunch in Meadow Lake and had a good visit. He does building inspections. We discussed the process of permitting, building and inspecting. We visited some other friends and checked out the sunroom they built. Now we have to figure out what we want, what we need, the possible costs in time, energy and cash and then decide the next steps.

The local pulp mill that I helped design in and worked at until retirement from full time career had a fire this month. A small fire in the log pile was extinguished by operations but smoldered on overnight. By the time it was noticed again it was beyond stopping. Fortunately, the wind was from the southwest and the log pile was empty at the west end of the crane way. They ferried the crane to the west, tied it down and coiled the trailing power cable out of the way of the blaze. The fire burned vigorously for several days despite the best efforts of local firefighters and water bombers. We went and watched for a few minutes along with many other locals. The crane and plant facilities survived the rail and ties suffered and the logs are gone.

Halloween. We have been on one part or the other of this property for 35 years. In that time, we have been visited by trick or treaters once. This year was not the year. Speaking of treats I finally cashed in a Home Hardware gift certificate from Father’s Day and bought a pair of handwarmers and a set of hot dog forks.