Okay, so, I'm back from Alberta a WHOLE WEEK early!

Mission: Accomplished.

Got Karen the new tires for her van.  Got the mower fixed, the yard maintenance done and the trash from the basement clean-up (they had a flood during the heavy rains a few weeks back).  Even got to take the kids out for dinner after they got home from trek.  Helped out Mom with her computer.  Got talked into carrying Erin K's stuff back from Cardston to the Lower Mainland.  She's moving back in a couple days and Arvid's truck will only accomodate about half her stuff - the other half is in the back of my van.

Speaking of the van:

I sort of side-swiped a moose on the way down.

Senor Bullwinkle was standing on the shoulder of Hwy 22 South about 1 mile north of Turner Valley.  He had his head down, and started ambling across the road about the moment I came over a slight rise in the road and spotted him.  I pulled abruptly to the left, and he brought his head up and began ambling faster.  So I'm heading for the Left-hand ditch and Mister Moose seems determined to meet me head-on before I get there.

Now, if I had hit him dead on...I wouldn't have a van anymore.  Also, I might be making this entry from a Hospital bed instead of at home.

But the moose thought better of trying to continue his crossing and turned around to head back to the right.  Only problem is; Moose are big, and a sudden turn-around is apparently not something they're capable of.  So he was more-or-less on the centerline of the road, paralell to the road, and I was almost all the way over into the Left lane when I reached where he was...so I almost passed by without hitting him.

Almost.

My passenger side mirror was clipped so forcefully that it left an imprint on the window.  Fortunately, the mirror is built on a pivot and it didn't break from the impact.  Putting it back was no biggie.  The sliding door on the passenger side, however, was not so fortunate.  I'll need a new sliding door, if ICBC can be persuaded that my vehicle is worth fixing.

Anyways, I'm OK...could have been worse.  I'm back early because I had an appointment with ICBC to get the damage assessed.

Postscript:  I spotted two young deer a fair ways South of Turner Valley on my way back.  Unlike Mister Moose, I saw them in plenty of time to slow to a stop and let them prance 'cross the highway in front of me.

What new, exciting and interesting things are happening THIS month, Uncle Brian?

That's me.  The Weird Uncle Who Lives Under the Stairs. (WUWLUtS).

Well, we got our new Collective Agreement presented and ratified last month.

I resumed Home Teaching last month ('bout time too!).  Our ward choir performed an arrangement of "Praise to the Man" that went so well that we were asked if there was a recording available!  I have been trying to get our Choir Director interested in a side project where a few of us from each section get together and sing the piece again so we can record it.  Hey, I can dream, can't I?

I'm off to Alberta to help out my nearest and dearest.  Well, they are dear to me...but they're also 1200 KM away.

I'm toting along a set of good (used) tires for Karen's van.  She phoned me in a bit of a worry about the "bald" tires the vehicle is presently equipped with.  She was worried the tires might explode, or something like that.  "No, see, first the tires will simply stop holding air for more than a day or so..."

"...then they'll explode."

I can be very re-assuring, don't you think?