Dear Dr. Phil, When I retired, I could hardly wait to spend time enjoying my favorite pasttime- bass fishing. I got my own fishing boat and tried to get my wife to join me, but she never liked fishing. One day at the bait and tackle shop, I got to talking to Sam the shop owner, who it turns out loves bass fishing as much as I do. We became great fishing buddies. As I said the wife doesn't care about fishing. She not only refuses to join us, but she also complains that I spend too much time fishing. A few weeks ago Sam and I had the best fishing trip ever. We caught a pair of beautys. I took a picture of Sam holding up the two fish and showed it to my wife hoping she would change her mind and join us. Instead, now she doesn't even want me going fishing any more and wants me to sell the b... 11/05/2009

Tired of traffic jams? Try this. This is new "Transition" being introduced by Terrafugia. It has a flying distamce of 725 KM @ a speed of 115 KPH and a driving distance of 724 KM @ a speed of 185 KPH It completes the transition in 30 seconds and uses regular fuel. Cost will be $20,000 and will be ready for delivery in 2011. You need a special license. FLY LAND FOLD AND DRIVE PARK. NEAT! 11/05/2009

I'm a little down right now; I had an accident today. Today, I was removing a piece of mirror that was cracked. As I was doing so, my wife let slip the top piece which came down and sliced a gash in my hand to the bone. I severed some blood vessels obviously, the blood was profuse. Without getting into too many details, I drove to emergancy, they processed me and I was stitched and given a tetanus shot and sent on my way. All in an hour and a half-no charge. Before I left, I chatted up the nurses and gave them several business cards and the $100 bills I had printed up. One of them has a friend who's thinking of buying. Jeez, ya' never know where business is coming from. 11/05/2009

    WAKY NEWS is a weekly feature from THE BLOGGING GUY Barabara Lambert (D) and Jack Hennessy (D), hard at it, playing solitaire as the house is convened to vote on a new budget. The guy in front of these two is checking out Facebook and the one behind is looking at baseball scores. I realize Lawrence Cafero (R) isn't a particularly riveting speaker, but jeez, this is one of their THREE-DAY WORK WEEKS! This is a true story from THE BLOGGING GUY. 11/04/2009

Sadly, this my final post to Active Rain. I've had to put everything on hold for a few years. As some of may know, in my younger days, I was a football payer, what you in America call soccer. I was actually quite a good player. Well, to make a long story short, I've been asked to coach a woman's team in Venezuela for about 5 years. The problem is, there is no telephone, never mind internet, so posting and blogging is out of the question. The only thing keeping me there is the pay. Apparently, it rains constantly, but for the time I'm allocated there I will learn to put up with it. It's been good experience here and I've met a lot of good people, and you will be missed, however, one does what one has to do. Oh, I've attatched a team picture; maybe send me good wishes from time to time. 11/03/2009

I'm a creature of habit. I awoke Sunday morning at my usual time; no alarm clock needed for me. Grabbed my paper, grabbed a coffee and started doing my puzzles. Something was nagging me. Then it hit me! It wasn't 6:30 at all-it was 5:30! I had been so involved in writing posts on Saturday night, I had forgotten to set back clocks, despite having written a post on how to prepare for daylight savings time. I have got to learn to listen to my own advice. 11/03/2009

Recently, I sold a house to a nice older couple. They had lived for 38 years in the same place that they had built, but it was run down and was becoming too much work. Saturday was moving day at noon. I arrived at 11:45; the last box was being put on the truck by the previous owner. He invited me in for the final inspection. Everything was spotlessly clean. He gave me the run-down on mail, alarm systems and handed over the keys. He shook my hand and thank me for selling his place. I took the new owners through their new home, gave them the inspection and at exactly 12 noon handed them their keys. They were beaming. I wish all my transactions were this smooth. I'll give them a few days to settle in and I'll drop by with a moving-in gift. 11/03/2009

 November 9th will mark the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and I'm sure there will be much written on it. Archie Brown, a Scottish historian and widely know for his work on declassified Soviet archives, has written an important book called "The Rise and Fall of Communism". In his new book, Brown says that the primary myth is the one that the West, particulary Reagan's rhetoric and isolation and confrontation policies caused the collapse of communism. I remember Reagan calling the Soviets the "Evil empire" and madly escalating nuclear arms and launching the Star Wars program. In fact, there is concensus that Reagan's policies not only failed to end the cold war, but probably prolonged it by several years. The more belligerant Reagan became, the more the hard liners ... 11/02/2009

 In the Mojave Desert is a cross. This was erected in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars to commemorate veterans of World War 1. It was later designated a national war memorial, one of almost 50 so-recognized by the U.S. Congress. One National Park Service employee, Buono, (with perhaps a little too much time on his hands), brought a legal suit contending that the cross is inappropriate as it only represents those of Christian faith. and as it was on Federal land, violated the First Amendment's "separation of State and church" clause. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing Buono and it's winding its way through the legal system to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, the cross is covered with plywood. Wouldn't want someone's sensibilities ruffled would we? Is it just me, or... 11/01/2009

Ontario has finally passed the law banning driving while texting and calling on a cell phone unless hands-free. British Columbia is not far behind apparently. Personally, I totally support this law. In the past, I've had several near misses with idiots yapping away on their cell phones, not paying attention and drifting over the line into my lane. The other ones that get me are the cell phone talkers who are concentrating on their call so much that they creep along at half the speed limit. Me? I'm one of the rare breed that actually pulls over when I get a call. My GPS, which I use a lot, I don't look at. I listen to the audible instructions. Anything that cuts down on this sort of thing...I'm all for. 11/01/2009

IN 2010, VANCOUVER WILL HOST THE OLYMPIC GAMES. THE LOGO FOR THESE GAMES IS THE INUIT ICON CALLED INUKSHUK. If you look at the structure of this post, you will see that the over-all construction has a resemblence to Inukshuk or Ilanaaq is the  Eskimo, (or, Inuit),  practice of placing stones one atop each other to form a humanoid figure. These figures are scattered all over the north in Canada. I read some- where that it meant, "We were here".    Officially, for  the                           Olympic games                                                    it means, friendship                        and peace and friends.   11/01/2009

I did a post on Halloween marketing, and a few people wanted to see my pumpkins, so, here they are. OOPs, didn't have quite fifty words, so I've added some. Ha! I'm not brilliant with a camera, but you get the idea. 10/30/2009

WAKY NEWS is a weekly feature from THE BLOGGING GUY. Dateline: Switzerland. An Italian man has confounded authorities by committing 23 traffic violations in just under 10 minutes. The driver first screamed by the police at 160 KPH, before weaving close to other cars and road's curb. Then he racked up other offences for driving on the shoulder and failing to stop for police. When finally pulled over, he failed a drunk test. (He was nissed as a pewt). The driver faces a lengthly driving ban and maybe jail time. A police spokesman said, "This guy might get his license back when Haley's Comet next appears".   This is a true story fron THE BLOGGING GUY. 10/28/2009

I started writing my blog on January 20,2009, and as I write this post, it will be number 451. I'm a prolific blogger and am rapidly approaching the 200,000 point plateau. It WAS about the points, now it's morphed into being more about providing enjoyment for the reader and honing my scribbling skills. My posts are varied, however I tend toward humour and satire, but I tackle pretty much any subject. Along the way, I have attracted a bit of a readership; people seem to enjoy my writing quite a bit. This got me thinking. Others may enjoy reading my stuff as well. Larry Easto, (in Toronto), and I have been talking recently, and we are collaborating on putting together a book of my posts. This will likely be broken down into about 10 chapters: Humour, satire, politics, current events, hum... 10/27/2009

In previous posts I mentioned  my daughter is a stylist at a high-end salon. I had lunch with her on her birthday and I happened to mention that I was planning a trip to Cabo San Lucas, but was having trouble finding suitable accomodation. Turns out she has a client who owns a place down there. To make a long story longer, I had lunch with the owner and I rented it for two weeks. Beautiful place! 2 bedrooms, hot tub, 2 pools, internet, Canadian satellite T.V., wireless internet. (I can blog). He even thought to put in an iron and board, microwave, BBQ & sound system. He sent me the link to the website with all the pictures of the place. Very tastefully furnished with lots of space. I'm looking forward to this. Cost? $800 a week Canadian. I'm going with another couple, so, $400 a week e... 10/27/2009

  I recently wrote a post on H1N1 (Swine Flu), and what the potential risks are and what the odds are of contracting the disease. It wasn't meant to be alarmist, it was just facts that I gleaned from various sources. (I've linked the original post below). Putting Swine Flu Into Perspective So...who are the beneficiaries of this outbreak? Certainly, the main ones are: Drug companies: More medications sold.      Doctors: More visits-patients won't take chances.           Medical institutions: More treatments.                Media: More interest=more viewership and sales.                     ...some politicians. There is only ONE treatment for Swine Flu. "Tamiflu" (Also, the only treatment for Bird Flu) There is only one licence for Tamiflu and that is owned by: GILEAD SCIENCES INC. (Roche... 10/27/2009

November the 1st, is clock-setting-back-time. Setting the clocks back in your house is the easy part, unless you're like me. I have clocks in the bedrooms, offices, den, cars, stove, microwave, wrist watches, coffee pot and the egg timer. By the time I get them all done we're practically into Christmas. Experts have put together some tips to keep your clocks and body in sync.  GET UP WHEN THE ALARM GOES OFF. Hitting the "snooze" button is tempting, but don't do it. Just pick the bloody thing up and chuck it out the window. GET SUNLIGHT. The experts say, get plenty of sunlight first thing in the morning. Apparently, this sends a signal to your brain that night is over. Personally, I run around naked for half an hour snapping pictures. Works for me. CUT DOWN ON THE CAFFEINE. The experts ... 10/26/2009

Lots of hysteria has been in the news recently regarding Swine Flu. Symptoms of H1N1 Influenza include: Fever, headache, cough, sore throat, runny of stuffy nose, fatigue, muscle aches. nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Deaths:  5,382 worldwide in 160 countries 2,659 in South America. So what are the odds? Death by... Assault: 331:1 Falling: 250:1 Firearm: 325:1 Poison: 1,400:1 Car crash: 5,000:1 Choking on food: 5,000:1 Drowning: 9,000:1 Murder: 20,000:1 Lightning: 71,000:1 Dog attack: 137,000:1 Bathtub: 807,000:1 Flood: 713,000:1 Terrorist attack: 6,000,000:1 Based on current world populations and reported deaths: H1N1: 1,900,000:1 That's right, you're at greater risk killing yourself by slipping in a bath tub.   Here's some other facts: Regular run-on-the-mill influenza kills 35,000 Am... 10/26/2009

WHAT IS YOUR HOME WORTH IN  MISSION? With access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data I will provide you with what youneed to: Gauge how the market is trending  Find out what sold most recently and for how much         Understand how homes compete on price with other properties selling in the area  View homes for sale with photos to better assess the market conditions ... and answer any pressing questions youmay have. MLS Market Snapshot  FOR  MISSION? 10/26/2009

Years ago, a very talented young man came into an agents office and asked to be represented. He was funny, talented and good looking. The agent asked his name and he replied, "Peenus van Lesbian". The agent explained to him that he would love to represent him, but the name had to go if he was to make it in Hollywood. Well, the guy refused. This was his name and he was sticking with it. Years later, the agent got a letter with a cheque for $50,000. What the hell? The letter read: "Years ago, I came into your office wanting to become an actor in Hollywood. You advised me to change my name, and I refused. You told me I would never amount to anything with a name like Peenus van Lesbian. After I left your office, I thought about what you said. I decided you were right; I had to change my nam... 10/25/2009