Confession is good for the soul so here is mine.........

Yep, those tractor seats are known to spread some wicked germs! hahaha. By the way, what the heck is UTI? ..... oh....go Google! Drink some cranberry juice. I heard that is supposed to keep that away.....um....great advice for something you already have....Um...well, get better soon and hope you get your beauty Z soon so you can get to the bathrooms that much faster!

As for myself, peeing like a champ. No complaints so far! Drinking up to 3 liters of water a day and feeling better for it.
 
Good morning Riley,

An example of how backward my thinking is, my plan was to stop drinking so I didn't have to urinate and the Dr tells me to drink as much as possible to flush the bacteria out of my system!

Now I understand what retainign water is like, is my weight skyrocketing and is it making me cranky!!!!!!!

With luck Manny gets the tires today. Shipping next week oh God I can't wait for conformation of this!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Isn't that funny, eh? And it makes sense to me. If it hurts to do something, I want to stop doing it. Good thing there are doctors to remind us to put up with the pain and how to help get us up back and running...or is that just walking to the bathroom? :D Too bad we couldn't just flush our system as easily as flushing a radiator.

Fingers crossed you get some good news about the car and start whizzin' that weight away!
 
Good afternoon Riley,

Well today is suppose to be the day. Manny said that Steve was coming in on the weekend to do the interior paint and that the tires were due to arrive today so I am sort of excited but no word yet on anything.

I've upped my flow from a dribble to a stream and thank God for gravity! It hurts a lot less and I must give thanks to all those who told me to get my backside into the Dr pronto to get meds to attack this right away rather than my usual waiting and see how much worse it gets attitude.

Replaced my parts on the seed drill and then went in for my All Bran and it started to rain lightly so I came home to cool my heels but it is still dripping.

Oh well, 3 miles on the TM at 4.5 mph so as long as I do something productive with me time SINCE I HAVE NO Z06!!

I just have to keep telling myself that wanting is better than having but it is wearing thin!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Good morning,

Well, another race under my belt. The Heritage Day Race in Peace River, along the dike along the river. Much increased attendance from the 1st time I ran this race back in 2008 or 2009, then there might have been 40 of us in all the different categories, now there might have been maybe 100.

I ran the 10 km distance. I had hoped as this is a mostly flat course to break the 5 minute pace but I didn't. I had a 5:06. I was close for the 1st 6 km, I think I was averaging 5:01 but my last 3 km must not have been that good. I'm going to download and check my Garmin to see what I can learn from it.

But it was fun, the weather was cool with a strong wind on the way out but at out backs on the return leg. I'm thinking that I was somewhere around 20th out of 50 but I'll have to wait for them to post the results in a few days.

Now I'm not sure when the next race I can do is.

Still no word on the car being shipping. It would have been nice to have taken to show off at the race! Looks like I picked up some some spraying to do for a neighbour. We had 1/2" of rain yesterday and showers/rain for the next 4 days. Could be setting things up for a good growing season!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Good morning!

Wow it has been a while since I've added to this post.............

The summer was pretty good. My weight has popped up to the high 180's but I'm good with that at the moment. Still eating WAY too many chocolate covered almonds but one vice in life food-wise has got to be OK!

The running and racing is going well. About a month ago we did a family run at the first of the Wolves Cross Country series races in Fairview. Mom, Dad and my gf (yes she is back) finished 1,2 3 in the 5.5 km walk, my son Aidan finished 1st inthe kids 12 and under and I finished 2nd in the 11 km run.

The 2nd of the Wolves series was a 10.5 km trail run at the Nordic Center south of Grande Prairie, 15th of 61 overall but 1st of 7 in my division - my very first, 1st place in my division so I was pretty happy with that.

Harvest has started, we're swathing canola right now and the crops are rather good, beyond what I was expecting perhaps. It is much warmer than normal which is actually not a good time to be cutting the canola (high 20's instead of high 10's) but you take what you can get. No frost yet which was another bullet dodged as the higher yielding crops of course take longer to mature as well. A few small mechanical problems, one yet to be fixed this morning as soon as we can track down some metric bolts for the drive hub on the 22' swather but that should not be a problem and back to rolling along. We are relaxed and generally enjoying the fall and with luck it should be a good harvest. Markets look good so prices should be positive and with good yields it should make for a profitable year.

Two autocrosses run this fall, one I was within about 4 seconds of the fastest car (Civic) and the 2nd one was less good and I was only able to get within about 6 seconds. I missed the Fort St John autocross and saw that there was a C5 there that would have been fun to support and run against but there are still three more autocrosses scheduled yet for this fall...............

Cheers,

Garry
 
Glad to hear the harvest is going well and looks good overall for the year, Garry.
Congrats on the fine finishes for you and Aidan.....Stellar performances by you both. Give him a pat on the back from all of us here at CCF.

Enjoy what's left of the summer warmth -- and of course the Zed....

Things much the same here tho I am a little low lately. The new C4 and of course the GS as well as all my friends here help me out of the doldrums.:D

Glad to hear you made up with the G/F... She sounds very special.

Stay in touch and keep us updated with all that's going on there.

Cheers,
Coln
 
New news...........

I prepped my son for a race, 1.3 km long, which he was capable of running in 6:15 to 6:20. Sunday my son, my gf and I headed off to Bezanson. No one to be seen where the race was to be held, although I checked twice at the highway turnoff and the sign was there indicating the race to the right. Finally found someone at the campsite where we were to meet - the race was the day before! Another classic Garry moment! And yes I've done this before, driving for a conference in Edmonton and arriving a day late. Worst of all of the 56 kids the winner had a 6:30 time so I robbed my son of a great result I think. And this is not annoying enough yet. I then discovered that the 3rd race of a triad that you had to run to be elegible for a $1000 shopping spree was on Sunday and I missed that thusly. Not a shining moment for me. And ya, I even wrote the race down on my calendar but on the wrong day..........

So there are some more races coming up that I could do with my son but - COMBINING has started!! Hurray! By far my favorite time of the year, all the hard work and worry before this point now comes to a head as one finally finds out what sort of harvest they are looking at. And it looks great. Early in the game but the yield looks excellent and it is just short of being top quality so with luck it may improve a bit as we move through the field or the other fields will be of better quality and it can be mixed off to give #1 for everything. Oddly while the weather is not as it was about 10 days ago when it was 10 degrees warmer than normal, it is still warmer than the normal of lows of 1 highs of 13 so we are lucky again to be pushing our luck this way.

I'm not sure if any other fields are ready to go but we'll plug along through this one and see what happens afterward. It is slow going but hopefully we'll get the 2nd combine in the field today (harvest is always like this at first for us, in fits and starts) and as we are bagging the grain in the field hauling will not be a bottleneck as it sometimes is.

On a whim I found an email from my cancer doctor from back in 2008, the one who at my first post treatment checkup when I was feeling so great looked at me and said "Don't get cocky, you're not out of the woods yet!" What a deflating thing to tell a patient! But I thought he might enjoy finding out that one of this former patients was still not only alive and kicking but doing pretty well. He especially liked the car's license plate!!!! I was surprised he even remembered me but he remembered a knitted hat with Viking horns my mom had made for me to wear when I lost my hair........so my plan is to fish it out later and take a new picture with it to send to him.

Cheers,

Garry
 
Sounds great Garry! Hope harvest is kick ass! Sorry to hear you missed the race. It happens and it's all good as long as you don't beat yourself up over it. Enjoy the weather and combining!!!! Seems to be a great year!
 
Good morning Riley,

A bit of frost this morning so it will be a noontime start probably. One of the problems faced at this time of year. Not only cooler and with less daylight but also when it is frosty in the morning it takes a while for the grain to dry off so we can combine. But, for us on the Ropchan farm, combining in September is a real treat and so I am happy to have started. Mind you some of our neighbours have been rolling for three weeks but that is another story to be shared over many drinks!

But ya, maybe I could have gotten an Arun ground camshaft in hindsight!! But who knows these things and still only 1% of the crop has been combined so there is much left to go. While we had snow on Oct 6th or 8th last year (which did go away) I hope that 1st snow might be more around Halloween time instead!!

I checked the race results and while I should have finished 25th to 30th of 100 overall I would have been 4th at best in my division. But we'll see how the combining goes and if I can go with Aidan to the Dawson Creek race on Saturday maybe. Or the one in Grande Prairie Friday night even. Gotta take advantage of these opportunities when they present themselves!

But clear blue skies and 20 km winds are looking to make a nice day........almost makes me wish I could post from the combine seat!!!!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Good morning,

1st field done! And all dry too! Moved to the next field and it is not dry yet, maybe in two or three days. So off to do the Terry Fox run with my son at his school today, hopefully weigh one of three test plots I have to do near Grande Prairie and work on one of the combines.

Under the why I love cast iron blocks category, poor mom had the bottom rad hose come off on one of my combines and of course all coolent is lost. She sees the gauge go up and does stop combining but then drives 1/2 mile to the truck to unload before she shuts off!! Couldn't see a good outcome with an aluminium block!! So far reconnected the hose and filled with coolent and in the short term no damage - fingers crossed!

Weather to normals for this time of year, lows of 3 and highs of 13 range. If I don't go to GP to weigh the plot I can take the Z06 to my son's school which is a drive I always enjoy. If not then tomorrow afternoon when I get him after school. This is the 5 week countdown until most likely we have that dreaded "s" word!

Should also be able to do the run in Dawson Creek with my son on Saturday morning, another Z06 drive unless my gf comes with us...........then I'd need a McLaren F1 three seater!!!!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Good morning,

Harvest is at a standstill but maybe today and if not tomorrow we should be going again. Thankfully as cold and wet as it was the past two days there was no snow.

Continuing to run. In the fall Wolves College Cross Country running series I am currently standing 2nd in my division after 6 races and my son is 2nd as well for Grade 1-3 boys. Two races to go, one tomorrow but the 8th one we'll have to miss. My son's position is more secure than mine, I'm only 3 points out of 1st but only 6 and 7 points ahead of 3rd and 4th places so it is still open.

I was happy I've been asked to join a relay team for the final race of the season on Oct 19th, a non-points run. That would be fun if harvest allows me to go. One of teh team member sis my winter running mentor Laverna "The Roadrunner" and I have not seen her for probably 2 years since she moved to Grande Cache.

As well the Z06 went in for painting on Monday and should be ready today!!

Hope you're all having an enjoyable fall.

Cheers,

Garry
 
Fall is great! Just getting ansy about fixing the Corvette as I want to put it away for winter before the snow flies! All my time has been spent trying to complete the motor swap in my truck.
 
Good morning Riley,

Field #3 is done and it went well. Not sure if we'll have a 4th field ready today but if not we'll get out stockpiled canola dried and make room for more.

I saw the car through an open bay door when driving past the autobody shop but no call that it was ready and I'd hoped to drive it today.

What may be my final father-son race of the year. In the Wolves Cross Country series Aidan and I are both in 2nd place overall in our divisions, oddly enough behind another father-son pair!!! I don't think I can beat the guy I'm up against but I'm hoping as he is the coach of the school kids that he will have too much on his plate today. But for me no shame in 2nd.

What engine swap are your undertaking for your truck?? Did I miss you had a Corvette problem too???

-3 here today! I'm going to walk back to the field to get my tractor/grain cart and then take it to the farm...........

Be thinking of me 1 pm Alberta time. At least it is only 75 minutes away to go to the race which is very close for me.

Cheers,

Garry
 
Best of luck in the race Garry! If I was closer I would Tonya Harding the guy in first place for you. :D

I am swapping out my gas guzzling 2.5L 4-cylinder in my truck for a 4.3L V6. Going from an estimated 105 hp/110 torque to 165 hp/250 torque engine. I am worried what I will do with all the power! :rofl:

Should be pretty good though, I'm not sure about weight difference but with the 2.5L, my truck weighed 1500 kg on the scale....pretty damn close to the same weight as my Corvette!

The gasket for the water pump on the Corvette decided to take a dump a month ago. I've been too busy to get at it and it's really difficult to get a time to take it to my friends place to use his lift so I think I'll just do the repair in my driveway either tomorrow or Sunday to get it done.
 
Good morning Riley,

So the tractor and cart are home. Dad is bringing the bagger home and then should start the grain dryer. Mom is going to push him along today to get the drying caught up as there may not be anything we can combine today. I'm OK with that as there is nothing wrong with being up to date. Our problem in the past was always having something we could combine and dad trying to stop us from doing so for one reason or another. He's a good father not no farm manager..........

That sounds like you'll have a much improved truck afterward!! A 60% increase in power.......sounds familiar to me for some reason!!!!!!!!!!

Oh gaskets, water pumps, fun times. I changed the water pump on my IHC grain truck, 446 engine. What a prize set up. I'm sure the vaults in most banks have fewer bolts holding it in place!!

The race will be tough, Aidan has a better chance. The dad, Paul, ran 5 km at Bezanson in 19:46, Mike, whom I have run against many times and am slower than him was 23:42 and Laverna who I am also slower than was 27:18. So Paul is in a different league than I am! You'd have to TH'
 
Good evening,

Still no call on the Z06 being ready when I got back from the race - I was surprised......

The race, wow there must have been at least 200 school kids there, it was one of the largest turnouts for a race. These are also, in the main, runners from school teams and clubs so serious types.

Aidan ran with 44 Grade 1-3 boys and came in 3rd! Oh ya was I impressed!!

I had to run with the senior high boys but even managed to beat two of them and finished 2nd in my division to boot. Aidan and I could be well placed overall in the Wolves series, I'll have to wait for today's results to be added and then for the final race on Saturday which sadly we won't be able to attend as it is in Tumbler Ridge and i hope to be combining..........

But it was such a thrill to do an activity like this with my son. I really need to learn how to shrink image sizes so I could post pictures.

Cheers,

Garry
 
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Really, really cool Garry! That must have been a great time! I'm always impressed by people that do well running. I'm not built to be a runner, never will be (I know, I know, I could practice) but it seems to come so much easier to other people so when they do well, I think it is excellent!
 
It is a real blast to do and more so with my son. My only disappointment is that I had hoped to be the only "old man" there to get some easy points and I saw that there was another guy registered who is a good deal faster than me - he coaches the kids from one of the schools in Dawson Creek actually. But you then have the realization that at least I'm going to be second. And then that you'd might as well try your best anyway.

At the start of my race they left me in the dust. But one boy I caught and then I set my sights on the next one and it took me three tries to get by him. The first two times when I was beside or a step ahead of him he would kick it up and pull ahead of me again and so the third time I picked a better location with a downhill stretch and I was able to open up a gap and increased it slightly to hold that position. I was catching the next kid and maybe with a longer distance I might have done it but I was happy that I put effort into it and I was not last which sadly was actually my fear. I told myself no shame in losing to a bunch of boys 1/3 or more my age but was able to finish 3rd last. Plus these kids specialize in cross country and trail runnign which I really don't care for. I am a flat pavement or at worst gravel course runner.

Like you Riley I can't say I have a runners physique, maybe more of a lumberjack, longer torso and short legs. Maybe it goes to show that making an effort counts rather than pure natural ability?

Or perhaps more a case of simply participating and bugger where you finish. Always in the back of my mind is where I was at one point in my life, the isolation ward at the cancer clinic preparing to die, so being alive and being able to run at any speed is always a victory for me, being able to do it with my son......well that's living the dream!.

Cheers,

Garry
 
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