Monday, August 31, 2026

Monday 6:28 AM


 It rained last night.

All weekend, Brandon had a stuffy feel.

Lord, I know I am a person of little faith. But I want to say “yes!” to you. Help me, Lord, to overcome my insecurities, to break the silly creature-comfort chains that hold me fast, and to get out of my comfort zone.


Sunday, August 30, 2026

Sunday 7:00 PM Mass

 


The day so far has gone according to plan.


Offer it up! said the Father in his homily.  Bear your cross and follow Christ.

Sunday 7:49 AM


 I work 9-5, eat Dinner & attend Mass.  That’s the plan.

Saturday, August 29, 2026

Gladstone


 Train!


Idea for a movie.


Another idea for a movie.

British accent overheard.  I wonder if this person was recruited here in late 1990s.  At that time, they were seeking Brits to buy farmland in MB.

I saw Travellers.  Or I was lead to believe that they were Travellers.  The msn told me they were Travellers. The couple was dressed very conservatively in black. The woman wore a bonnet and shawl.  AI didn’t help me specifically identify them.

I was told a story of suffering endured by a woman suffering from MS.  Apparently, she had to be periodically given 15 needles in her spine.  The pain she had to endure was excruciating  but the subsequent relief was wonderful.

Then I was told of a man who suffered from Parkinson’s in the early 1960s.  He courageously submitted himself to operations on his brain in hopes of finding a cure.

Photos I took in Gladstone today:






Saturday 6:35 AM


 I’m back in Brandon.

Jenny is back, safe and sound, in Wuxi.

Today, I will talk to Beijing and canvas in Gladstone.

The Sumner is over for me.

This Monday ain’t going to be Labor Day. So another week of no school.

The two sides of the trade dispute.  One side insists the other side walked away for political reasons.  The other side says that that one side is evil.

I am curious what my interlocutor in Gladstone will think about it.


Thursday, August 27, 2026

Ten Hours Ago

 We dropped off Jenny at the Airport.

Ten hours later, she’s still on the page.

Thursday morning:

Jenny’s plane left at 6:00 AM tomorrow.





 

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Cheese is a premium topping!?!?

 I was ordering a “two topping pizza” at a special price. I asked to get a pepperoni and extra cheese pizza.  I was told that cheese was a “premium topping” for which I  would have to pay extra.  So, I ended up getting  pepperoni and ground beef as my two toppings.

NGD said “the three enemies of mankind are the devil, bureaucracy and technology.”  Why did ordering pizza have to become so bureaucratic?

Wednesday 7:16 AM


 Today, we drive to Winnipeg.

Jenny’s plane leaves at 6:00 AM Thursday.

Monday, August 24, 2026

Took Brandon Transit

 Last night, I drank too much so I didn’t drive home.

So this morning, I took the bus to retrieve the car.



I caught the bus at the BSM stop on Richmond Avenue.


It was the first time I had ridden transit in over a year. And that was in China. Then it cost me one RMB.  Today it cost me a buck sixty, or about seven or eight yuan. The last time I took transit in Canada was a few years ago in Vancouver.

The experience was fine.  The bus arrived at the stop at the indicated time and got me where I had to go quickly enough.  The passengers were well-behaved.  The bus was clean.

Tony will have to be using transit this upcoming school year.

Monday 7:38 AM


 It must have rained overnight.

Last evening:


I drank too much so we took a taxi back home.

They have a pool:


But it’s too much work to maintain it they tell me.

Here is an AI generated photo:



Sunday, August 23, 2026

Random Miscellaneous Thoughts on my trip to Toronto

 It was my first time to TO.  I was asked how it was that I hadn’t been before since it was Canada’s biggest city.  I could only reply that Canada had a lot of land.  But then I could ask if they had been to Wawanesa, Deloraine, Kenton or Brandon… And to be honest, I never had a burning desire to go to Toronto.  The mountains of the West of Canada were a bigger attraction for me.

But now I can say I have been to TO, NF, and NY, and that I have seen MLS and HHOF; and that I have eaten a MSM sandwich.

It’d be easy to get to a Leafs game from Winnipeg. Take a plane to Toronto Pearson Airport. Then take the UP train to Union Station.  The Leafs’ arena is right beside the station.

I saw Falun Gong.

I overheard a lot of French being spoken.  I don’t hear that much in Brandon.  I’m more likely to hear Spanish or  Mandarin or Hindi here.

Two of my students live in Etobicoke. I hope I spelled it right.

One student told me that I should have taken the cruise below Niagara Falls.  Another student had told me that he had heard that you got soaked.


Sunday August 23rd 8:24 AM

 


I haven’t been consistent with my view photos recently.  Still, I haven’t given up on them.  

It’s my son Tony’s Birthday today.  19 years ago:


Also Today:


Changed my profile on Facebook:


Some interesting images I either came upon or created:









Saturday, August 22, 2026

Saturday 4:00 PM Mass


 I missed Mass last weekend (though I did attend on the Friday before).

This is a rare time for me to attend Saturday Mass.  

This Mass was conducted by a retired priest.  I wasn’t able to catch his name but I gathered that he was familiar to long-time Staug parishioners.  He did a good job of it I thought, quoting Pope Benedict and Mother Teresa.  We don’t worship a thing, said the priest, but a person: Jesus Christ.


Saturday 10:00 AM


 I’m in Brandon for the weekend. I will go to Winnipeg so my wife can fly back to China.

I learned of the trade deal being scuttled from the Epoch Times.  I will not try to jump to conclusions till one question is answered.  What exactly caused the deal to be scuttled?  I have searched but haven’t found any concrete details.  

Carney saying the Americans made last-minute demands that were unfair and uneconomic is not helpful in my search.  The use of the word uneconomic is meaningless.  Everything we do in life is economic in the sense that everything we choose to do in life is an economic decision about how we use the one resource that is common to all: time.  Again, what does  it mean to be uneconomic?  To be dead?  Dead people don’t make economic decisions.  In this world, the dead, unless they are on the voting rolls, can’t be making economic decisions and are thus not being economic.  As I say, it is all unclear at this moment.

McDonald Avenue

  Heading West.