We are really enjoying life in Calgary. I have a good job which I enjoy going to every day. The work in the office is challenging and I get opportunities to do field work every once in a while. At the beginning of December, I went with the road crew to New York state to install 2 meteorological towers for wind data collection. There are always lots of short trips for maintenance items on these met towers which gets me around the area. I am going to take Amie with me on Jan 1 to Montana for a 3 day maintenance trip.

Amie is learning some good skills at work. However she is looking forward to the end of her contract in March so that she can pursue other areas relating more to journalism and writing.

Back in November sometime, my mom came to visit and when she left, we noticed half our dishes were missing. After several days of pondering, I finally had the idea to open the dishwasher (which we had never opened because the landlord said it didn't work). But there they were, all in the dishwasher. About the same time, Amie discovered a website called freecycle.com which advertises free things that are somewhere between too junky to sell and not quite good enough to put an add in the paper. So before long, we found ourselves driving to a trailer park on the edge of town to pick up a dishwasher. The next phase in the adventure was getting it installed. This wasn't the easiest procedure since in involves plumbing and electrical work which are areas for professionals. That would probably cost money, so after several hours of internet how-to's and some "engineering", I got the dishwasher installed without ever turning off the water or disconnecting the power (The switches are downstairs and because the people who live under us are gone all the time, it would be a shame to wait for them to be home)

We have been getting out of the city whenever possible. At least every second weekend we get to the mountains or on some road trip. We are having to dig deeper for more adventuring ideas in Alberta. We went for Christmas to Regina to visit my parents and then Strathmore to visit Amie's parents who recently moved out of Calgary. One unique event in Regina was Christie practicing her nursing techniques on Robbie and I, or more specifically, setting up IV's on us. With good veins, it is not that difficult to get the needle into the vein. Robbie and I have very small veins on our hands which involved a lot of maneuvering under the skin with the needle tip - that was great. -steve-

We did all the right things. We had 2 big bowls of candy. Enough for over a hundred kids. We live in a decent area of town. We nurtured a pumpkin in our garden and carved it all up beautifully. What a great way to meet some of the neighbors we though. But no...we ended up getting 2 kids all night. They were 2 boys from next door who likely came out of pity for us. They weren't dressed even dressed up.

What are we going to do with hundreds of cheap candy? I should have bought some tasty stuff... -steve

It seems like we fit in a lot of road trips so far this fall. We went to a couple weddings in Alberta and Winnipeg. Amie's good friends Ashley and Jahna got married to Luke and Matt respectively. On Labor Day weekend Amie and I took a trip through BC, Idaho and Washington. We took in some good hot springs, a theme park, and some good US shopping.

Last weekend we went with some friends to the corn maze at Lacombe, AB. It was definitely a unique experience. The maze took at least 3 hours to get through but the best part was how thick the corn was - you could hide 2 ft. off the path and give passerbyers a good scare. The next day we went to a controversial zoo in the middle of the prairies - Gazoo. While they have the reputation of dirty pens and missing phalanges, the added adventure made it a worthwhile stop. That's right, they used to have a zedonk (zebra-donkey cross) that was prone to biting. One visit, a kid was trying to feed him and the zedonk bit off his whole middle finger. Anyway, it was worth the casualties, because the old farmer who set up the zoo lets you play with baby lions and tigers - an experience the calgary zoo probably wouldn't offer.   -steve

We also made the long awaited trip to the WORLD FAMOUS GOPHER MUSEUM in Torrington, AB. We'd heard about it from friends who'd lived in the area, but it took us awhile to make the 1-hour trek north. Gauging from all the pins on the world map hanging on the museum wall marking where visitors to the museum have come from, they aren't joking when they say world famous. Torrington (pop. 177) itself is fairly inconspicuous, but it is completely devoted to the minuscule rodent who reeks havoks on ranch and farmland across the province. We were welcomed by a gigantic gopher monument as we entered the community and noticed that every fire hydrant was painted with a gopher motif.

Call it riské, call it a hilarious way of luring travellers to the otherwise lazy community, the gopher museum is a sight to see. Approximately the size of a medium sized RV (not to worry, admission is only $2 for adults and 50 cents for kids), the museum boasts a couple dozen scenes in which stuffed and dressed gophers are the key players. Dianne, the lady running the operation said they add one more display each year representing another scene from Torrington. The group that puts the displays together uses barbie accessories and craft items to make the miniature scenes. It was an absolute riot and a testimony to Alberta's rural roots.

At first PETA loudly distained the museum but in the end all of the press attention - from the smallest weeklies to the Globe and Mail and Macleans - provided free advertising for the museum. And no one who goes to the museum seems to have a problem with the treatment of gophers...perhaps since we hit more of them on the QE2 or any other Canadian highway every year, that argument doesn't really seem to hold up anyway.   -amie

I am finally switching jobs but it is definitely bittersweet. While this new job with Phoenix Engineering (www.phoenixengg.com) is what I've been wanting to get into for a long time, I am leaving behind a job that I do really enjoy most of the time.

I have had some excellent job experience with Comtech and went on many memorable road trips all over the place. Some of my most memorable trips included work on the Suffield military base, up north near the North West Territories, and working at oil + gas sites near the Rocky Mountains.

Over the last 6 months I have learned a lot about wireless communication and how it is vital for the oil industry to transfer valuable data from oil wells and other sites back to their main control rooms. These areas are often remote with no infrastructure to support things like Internet and phone. They rely heavily on companies like Comtech to install communications via, high speed wireless links or satellite.

I have met many great friends as well as worked for a great boss. It is tough to leave behind good things but I look forward to this new position being able to do engineering work in a field that I really believe in (renewable energy).