Travel

1413 Days

In the middle of March 2020, due to the beginning of Covid, we were forced to cut short our visit with family and friends in Malaysia. We made it back to Canada just in time, although we did have to go into isolation for fourteen days. Two of Kim’s brothers, who were also in Malaysia, were not able to return to Canada until several months later.

Today, 1413 days later, we begin our journey back to Malaysia to see our daughters and grandchildren, having missed nearly four years of their lives.

Oh sure, we have maintained contact with them via electronic means on this thing called the “world wide web”, however as anyone can figure out, it’s not the same as being with them in person. It’s not even close.

Well, wouldn’t you know it, this has become another blog post stretched over a period of time. In this case, about six days, or maybe five, depending on how one looks at it, because the International Date Line is involved.

At 1600 hours on 30 Jan, we left home and headed to YEG to begin our journey.

Okay, if you know me, I use military time, the 24 hour clock, and write my dates different from some folks, and use airport designators. I write my blogs and you read them, that’s the way it is. <<Grin>>

So, off to the airport we went, have to get there a minimum of two hours before the flight, as everybody knows. Check-in was good, four checked bags, all comfortably under 23 kg, so no issue there. Then it was off to security, there we had a bit of an issue on a couple of fronts. Going through the detector, I beeped. Was asked if I had a hip replacement, said yes, so secondary it was. Hmm… there I beeped all over. It seems that the buttons on my cargo shorts are metal, so you guessed it, I beeped. Okay, got that sorted out, only to discover that my backpack had been pulled aside. Hmm… seems somebody had not emptied out his water bottle. The security chap was kind and did it for me so all was good. Nobody arrested me or even yelled at me, they were very good about everything. Away to the departure gate, waited a while and boarded the aircraft. At 1935, on schedule, we lifted off for YVR, experiencing a relatively uneventful Westjet flight, getting our glass of non-alcohol drink and bag of tiny pretzels enroute.

Now in the interest of transparency, I need to let you know that for this journey I am still having some issues with both my legs so am listed as requiring assistance, meaning a wheelchair. Having heard tales in recent months about folks with disabilities and the issues they have had when flying, I was unsure as to how things would go. I must state that for me on this trip, the service I got was exemplary from start to finish with the various airlines and airports doing exactly what was required. And I thank them for that.

Back to the journey. Upon arriving in YVR it was necessary to make the trek, and it is a lengthy trek, from the Westjet gate to the EVA Air gate. Thank goodness for golf carts. Once there, we had an almost three hour respite until we boarded the aircraft. At about 0015, on 31 Jan, we were ready to taxi away from the gate. I say we were ready, however Mother Nature was not. Vancouver had been experiencing a couple days of an “atmospheric river” and there were so extremely high gusting winds. After a half hour or so, Mother Nature said that we could go, so we did.

It was our first time flying EVA Air, I found the economy seating on the Triple 7 comfortable and the flight attendants were very efficient. Even so, it was nice to arrive at TPE thirteen and a half hours later. Once there it seems that connecting passengers have to go through what amounted to a mini security screening prior to heading to their next departure gate. This made us quite confused, however through we went. Our water bottles didn’t have to be emptied and our laptops, tablets and phones didn’t have to be removed from the bags. Personally I’m still not sure of the purpose of this process. Guess there must be some reason for it.

Then it was off to the departure gate for another close to three hour respite. I should mention that there was quite a distance from the arrival gate to the security to the departure gate, all done by wheelchair, no golf carts.

Boarding time came and there was a problem. Passngers were there, flight attendants were there, aircrew was there, but oops, seems there was no aircraft there yet. It appeared realatively quickly, however it had to be prepared for us to board, which took a while. Okay, then we were ready to load, but wait, it seems there was a passenger who had to be escorted on first. We don’t know what her situation was, but she didn’t want to go and was carried on by four or five people, while making quite the disturbance. Kim and I noted, although there was certainly a major kerfuffle, and while people were certainly paying attention, we didn’t see people videoing the event with their phones and we appreciated that folks seemed to be respecting her privacy.

Eventually we boarded the aircraft and departed just over an hour later than scheduled. Our flight to KUL was four and a half hours. The economy seating on the Airbus was not great and for some reason my seat would not recline, making it rather uncomfortable, with the result I was fairly sore by the time we landed. Once again the EVA Air flight attendants were highly efficient, although I will say that on both flights they were not all that friendly, basically just business.

Arriving at KUL was uneventful, deplaning went well, and then the KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) trek began. At KUL we land at one terminal, however customs, immigration, baggage, and passenger pickup is all done at another terminal. Joining the two terminals is normally a train, but currently it is under long maintenance, so buses are employed. Not horrible by any stretch, however they are less efficient in moving the people. Once again there was an extensive wheelchair trip. A bit of a wait for immigration as it was quite busy, then baggage was acquired and contact made with our arranged ride who had been waiting patiently. Wait you say, what about customs. It seems that you only go through customs if you are selected, randomly or otherwise. I’m sure that baggage is screened on arrival. We try to do things properly and, I guess, have been successful thus far as I’ve not be called for customs on this, or previous, arrivals.

Now we are talking about baggage, this is a good segway to an action I took prior to this trip. One always hears horror stories about travel and baggage. Things like “I flew from YEG to YOW and my luggage went to YYC”, or worse “my luggage has disappeared”. We make sure that our bags are well marked, strapped, and we also place sheets inside providing information on our destination and contact numbers. In addition, for this journey I decided to purchase Samsung Galaxy SmartTags for each checked bag. It was kind of cool, at each stop, I would check my phone and see if all our bags were still with us, and they were. On a couple previous trips we had been short a bag upon arrival, but in both cases the bag had decided to spend an extra day in HKG. Both Cathay Pacific (our airline for those trips) and KLIA, preformed admirably and the bags were delivered directly to us the next day. To have the SmartTags was reassuring however, and according to reports, they, along with similar other tags, have proven their worth when baggage goes astray.

Once through all the process at KLIA, we also picked up Malaysia SIM cards for our phones, we connected with our driver and commenced our roughly two hour drive to Malacca and our accomodation provided for us by our granddaughter. The drive was uneventful other than a brief rain deluge and the ever present traffic.

Bottom line for the journey. We left home at 1600 on 30 Jan (Edmoton time), and arrived at our destination at 1930 on 01 Feb (Malaysia time). We essentially skipped 31 Jan entirely due to the International Date Line. Total time from door to door was thirty-six and a half hours, which was considerably longer than any of our previous flights, all of which were with Cathay Pacific through HKG.

So, 1413 days between trips, but now we are here, we have reunited with some of our family, a number more to go, and and are making contact with friends so as to arrange visits. Now we must make the most of our time here, but that is another story, or should I say, blog post.

Thanks for reading, catch you next time. Look after yourselves, and look out for others.

Birthday and Calendar Contemplation

Well, they tell me that I’m a year older today than I was yesterday. Now if that isn’t some high power time shifting, then I don’t know what would be. Seems it’s some curious occurence called a “birthday”.

This auspicious (??) event put me in a bit of a contemplative state, particularily after receiving a multitude of congratulary greetings from family and friends around the globe.

Those who know me in real life understand that I like math and science and consider many things in a precise fashion. I have at times been accused of as “being anal” in this regard.

With this in mind, in reality, I am now a year older than I was 365.2425 day ago.

((Note: The Gregorian Calendar is the dominant calendar used in most countries around the world today. Officially introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in October 1582, the calendar was simply a modified version of the previously favoured Julian calendar. It reduced the average year from 365.25 days to a more accurate 365.2425 days.))

Now my contemplation grows as I feed Otis the cat and then have my morning coffee (notice the order, it is very specific).

You will likey all be familiar that in order to account for the extra portion of a day each year, the calender makers simply added an extra day every four years. It was decided that this extra day would be tacked on to February and would be called “leap day” indicating that a person’s age would just leap over that day every fourth year.

Now I won’t go into a long dissertation about calendars, how there were originally ten months, that a year was 364 days, how the Romans added January and February to account for more days, and that February was chosen because it would host the Roman rituals honouring the dead and to make sure that the first day of spring was always aligned with the right time. Oh, I guess I did, a little anyway.

So, on my birthday, why the fascination with February 29. Well, it just so happens that my wife Kim is what’s known as a “Leapling”, a person born on a Leap Day, one of an estimated five million around the world.

The anniversary of my birth occurs annually, whereas hers technically only occurs once every four years. Hmm… does that mean that she is a teenager four times longer, that she has to wait sixty-four calendar years to get her driver’s licence? In both these circumstances we could probably say “thankfully no”.

But as a result, every four years we do try to put a little extra emphasis on her actual, this is the real day, birthday celebration.

Next year is one of those special birthdays, February 29. 2024, and we will be celebrating in Melaka, Malaysia, where Kim was born and where we have our second home. Interestingly enough, in 2020 we celebrated there as well, and in 2016 she celebrated while she was there visiting family (I was in Canada for that one).

I realize that this is not the typical type of contemplation that most (perhaps read normal) people would have as they annually celebrate their earthly entrance, however I am well known for being slightly (okay, a lot) different.

Here endeth this particular contemplation (undoubtly there will be others).

Moral of the story: People are often similar, however if we were all the same, how boring it would be, so remember to be unique.

Two Goods – Samaritan and Service

So this past Sunday afternoon, wife Kim was at work, cat Otis was sleeping, the sun was shining, and my motorcycle called me from the garage. I answered, and we set out for a wee ride.

It was a nice ride, mostly secondary roads, not much traffic, quite relaxing.

Well actually, it was mostly a nice ride. I rode south from Edmonton, then headed west through Wetaskiwin, north to Carvel and then east towards Leduc.

Just after leaving Carvel came a loud rumbling kind noise to the rear of the bike and the bike began to shake. Came to a stop and tried to diagnose the issue. Accelerating, noise. Coasting, no noise. Hmm… seems to be powertrain. Crawl under the bike, grasp the drive shaft… oh oh, it’s not supposed to move like that. Conclusion… seems to be an issue with the rear end/differential.

Action taken. Four way flashers activated and call AMA (Alberta Motor Association) to arrange for a tow home. Approximately 1900 hrs contact made, location confirmed and tow request made. Told I will receive notification when operator is dispatched. About 2030 hrs call made to AMA to update status.

Once again getting an excellent phone operator, I was told they had good news and bad news. The good news being that I had been assigned a mobile operator, Justin. The bad news, he was currently involved with a call in Stony Plain, and once complete would have to travel to Leduc to pick up the appropriate service vehicle for my bike, a flat deck truck. Anticipated time of arrival would be 2245 hrs.

No worries, it was a pleasant evening. However, I noted that my 4-way flashers were becoming dim. Oh oh, and battery was too low to start bike. Oh drat. Now getting dark, and I should mention Hwy 39 is a very busy highway. On top of that, the friendly neighbourhood mosquitos decided to come and visit. Maybe no longer such a pleasant evening.

And then, a small red car passed by, slowed down, turned around, stopped on the other side of the road, and the driver crossed over to see what the problem was.

Lisa, the good samaritan, had arrived. She introduced herself, indicating that she rode with her biker boyfriend, and that she knew many bikers in the area, so she felt that she had to stop. She offered to see if she could get someone from Calmar or Leduc to help me out. I told her thank you much, however AMA was on the way.

Seeing that my 4-way flasher was not working she turned her car around, parking behind me with her 4-way lighting up the road. She then offered me a seat in her car, shielded from the mosquitos, staying until Justin arrived with the AMA service truck. While we waited, she spoke with Gord, her boyfriend, letting him know what was going on, and I spoke with my wife Kim, so that she would not worry. We had a great discussion, becoming friends, in person and on Facebook.

When Justin arrived, she gave me a hug and headed off home. We also arranged that Kim and I would see her and Gord on Tuesday at bike night.

Justin, from AMA, immediately proceeded to load the trike on the flat deck, working with great efficiency and keeping me engaged with the process as well. Once loaded, off we went, heading to my place, chatting about a number of things along the way. Justin was from the north, had been doing this work in the Edmonton area for about ten years. He very much enjoys his work and likes the company he works for.

Upon arriving at my house, Justin arranged his truck so that bike, when unloaded, was right in front of the garage door, where Kim was waiting, and it was an easy push to get it into the garage. Great work all round from him.

Justin was the good service.

Even though an unfortunate event had ended my ride early, the day was, in my consideration, an overall positive event. I got to meet Lisa, the good samaritan, and Justin, the good service provider.

As an addendum, Kim and I did go to bike night, met up with Lisa and Gord, and had a great time with them and a number of their friends. We are staying in touch and will get together with them again.

This Retirement Thing

Today I have been thinking.

Now, to some who know me, that would be considered a dangerous thing.

Perhaps not, today anyway. However it has been an interesting thing for me. A bit interesting that is. You see, it’s a holiday Monday, here in Alberta it’s called Family Day.

One might imagine that due to the day, I would be thinking about family, and I did a little, however my main thinking has been about my retirement, and some of the factors which have been affecting it.

It is no surprise that topping the list has been COVID. I use capital letters here because that was the way it arrived. Now it has become more like #@&%*$ Covid.

For millions of people, the ramifications of Covid threw the proverbial monkey wrench into the system. My thinking today is more limited to retired folks, because I are one.

Back in late 2018 I retired for the final time, and yes, I even had plans. More than just plans, they were being put into practice.

For a good portion of the winter I would be in Malaysia, based at our apartment, spending time with family, friends and just doing some traveling around. My wife Kim would join me for part of the time as she was still working. The late spring, summer and early autumn would involve quite a bit of time on my motorcycle, going on rides with mates and fellow veterans, or just by myself touring around Alberta. On the weekends my wife and I would relax and travel around a bit, as well as being involved in weekend motorcycle and other community events.

For 2019 most went according to plan. I spent three months in Malaysia, Kim with me for a month. Summer saw some 6000 kilometres put on the bike and we were involved in various activities most every weekend. Right up to the end of the year we took part in both Kiwanis and veterans events. Life was doing okay.

2020 started out quite well, however there seemed to be ominous rumblings. Mid February Kim and I were off to Malaysia for six weeks. For the first three weeks we were joined by our daughter and her husband from Edmonton. For me this was a big event as she would meet her two sisters in Malaysia, in person for the very first time. (If you have been following my blog posts over the years you’ll know we have a blended family.)

After we arrived, the ominous rumblings increased, and people started talking about this Covid thing. The first three weeks went well, daughter and her husband headed home, and the rumblings increased. After another week they were more than rumblings and we reluctantly made the decision to err on the side of caution and headed back to Edmonton ten days earlier than planned.

Turns out, it was a good decision, as air traffic was essentially shut down shortly after we got home. We had to do our two week quarantine and then Kim was laid off as her workplace was shut down (only for about three months it turned out).

I’m sure that everyone is pretty familiar with what followed for the remainder of 2020 and basically all of 2021, so I’ll just talk about how this affected the retirement thing.

Now is a good time to touch on another factor affecting retirement, that being my health. I have always had a pretty robust immune system, however I have had some mobility issues, particularly in the last ten years. I was diagnosed with a bad hip and the decision was made to put me on the list for a total hip replacement. For those who have experienced this, it is an interesting process. Immediately I was scheduled for a whole battery of tests, including, but not limited to x-rays, heart tests, lung tests, dental tests, nervous systems tests, and more. These are all intended to determine if I was suitable for surgery.

All the tests were completed, however our friend Covid had laid a beating on all scheduled surgeries. Then, towards the end of 2021, I was notified to expect surgery in January 2022. About the same time I received a small injury to my lower leg and it was slow healing, which they thought likely due to me being diabetic. Injury, small or not, has a risk of infection, hence the surgery was cancelled.

Turned out that over the years I have developed poor circulation in my lower legs, causing my legs to be discoloured, and have extremally thin skin, which can be easily abrased, and any wounds would be very slow healing. Following that determination, there came extensive treatment by the wound clinic and home health care (kudos and thanks to these awesome medical professionals). End result, I will now be wearing compression stockings for the remainder of my time.

Good news is, the surgeon seems happy with my condition now and I may be looking at surgery in April of this year. After still more tests of course.

Now, back to this retirement thing.

Of course, any social activity had become a non-starter during 2020, so it was just me, or Kim and I, for the majority of the time. With my hip issues, I made the change from two wheels to three and bought a trike to ride. This made Kim happy and she now rode with me quite a bit. Between the two bikes I managed to put on over 8000 kilometres in 2020. As well the weather was helpful as Kim and I had our last ride of the year the first week of December. Throughout the year our riding was mostly solo. On the odd occasion we rode with others, whenever stopped we would be outside and maintain the suggested two metre distance.

For 2021, social activity remained at a minimum. Kim would go to work and get groceries, being masked and maintaining her distance at all times. Basically I would just stay home, so much that even Otis the cat was getting tired of me. Between the weather, a blown radiator and my leg issues, less than 4000 kilometres was accomplished on the bike. Veterans gatherings were almost nonexistent, while Kiwanis took on an extremely low profile.

2022 was more of the same, however we were starting to get out for our weekly dim sum, socially distanced of course. For me, I think Otis was starting to maybe like having me around, or not. He’s a cat so go figure. Very little riding this year, only about 4000 kilometres again. For my legs they were doing regular appointments as well as home care, so I had to be cautious and was not able to plan much. Come summer our veterans group was having weekly gatherings once more, however they were socially distanced in a parking lot. Oh well, at least we were getting together. Then in the fall, we were able to get together, actually inside. With some of our members being immune compromised, they were not comfortable attending. For Kiwanis, meetings were by Zoom only.

In September, we were lucky enough to add a vehicle to our garage. Defined as a Classic is our 1999 Mercedes SLK 230 sports car. For the next couple of months it was able to steal a few thousand kilometres from the trike, however they seem to get along well anyway. The nice thing is that it expands our ability to have some fun travel, day runs on the trike and longer with the Merc.

So now, here we are in 2023.

Soon it will be three years since we have seen our daughters and grandchildren in Malaysia. Otis and I have held down the home front with me getting out of the house for a few hours averaging one day a week. On occasion maybe two. Right now, this is retirement for me… my house. What day of the week is it? Oh it must be the weekend because Kim is home on Saturday and half of Sunday, and sometimes on a holiday (she works most holidays).

But, things are looking up. As I mentioned, possible surgery in April. Late last year I had a coffee with a friend, then with another friend in January, and now one tomorrow, this with a regular coffee mate from before Covid, but now for the first time in about two years or so. The two “summer rides” are resting in the garage, awaiting Spring and the opportunity to get out and about. An increased level of activity with Kiwanis is being contemplated. Our veterans group is getting together more often. And… we hope to be back in Malaysia about a year from now.

So… the retirement thing, what’s it all about. My experiences have been up and down, back and forth, good and bad. Well, that’s what life is, not only for me, but for every person experiencing the retirement thing. We are all different, not better or worse. All unique!

I’ve thrown a bit of light on my retirement thing, how is yours going?

Want to share? Please do! It would be great to hear from you.

Until next time. Ciao!

Working To Move The Empire Forward

As some of you have noticed, and in some cases, commented on, things have not all been sweetness and light over the last few months for me.

Thankfully Kim has been my rock, especially the times she had to put up with the grumpy old fart persona.

Hopefully though there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, as long as some nasty bugger doesn’t lengthen the tunnel again.

This past Wednesday I was finally able to get out of the house and went for coffee with my friend Jacqueline. In amongst all her talents, she is a motivator, and I can attest that having a motivator for a friend is excellent. I try to be a motivator, with some success, however it seems that I’m totally ineffective when dealing with myself.

I mentioned Jacqueline in my podcast today which can be heard here. I also created a YouTube video of my podcast. It is available here on my YouTube channel. She has agreed to do a podcast with me in the near future, perhaps more as she has much to share.

I have also been adding to my Flickr channel, now having more that 3000 photos (some only available for family/friends). Today I added photos I took in 2011 during a tour in Annecy, France. Here is a small slideshow sample.

Slowly, but surely, I will be catching up and posting more of the thousands of photos I have, many yet to be digitized. I often say, what good are all these photos if people can’t see them.

I remind people that the best way to keep in touch with Wee Internet Empire activity is to subscribe to my newsletter, Old Guy, New Tricks. When changes, updates, or other interesting things, become available they will all be noted in the next issue of the newsletter.

I am on a number of different platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TicTok, Twitter, Matador, LinkedIn and others. All the necessary links are available on my website. I invite you to visit, and feel free to connect if you so desire.

Now I have come to the conclusion of today’s self promotion. However if I don’t work to spread the word how will you know what great stuff you will be missing. So thanks for your attention, your comments are always welcome, and hope to see you soon.

I try to wrap up most things by saying take care of yourself, and, if you can, help take care of those around you.

Thoughts and Considerations

Nine years ago this week, Kim and I left Malaysia after a six-week visit. It had been my first time to Malaysia, and it was a most wonderful experience.

Not only did I get to see, for the first time, the country and city where my wife had been born and grew up, I got to meet, in person for the first time, the two daughters from her side of our blended family and our grandchildren. That was so special to me.

Since then, I have been back to Malaysia four more times, in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Kim and I went for four weeks in 2015, in 2017 we flew over together with Kim staying four weeks and me for eleven. In 2019 I was back in Malaysia for eight weeks by myself. Kim and I traveled for six weeks in 2020 and were joined by daughter Anita and her husband Aaron for the first three weeks, allowing her to meet her sisters in person for the first time.

And then came Covid-19. And it came fast. We actually had to cut our visit short by ten days so that we could get home. Then we had to isolate for two weeks and then Kim got laid off. But that’s a story for another time.

It is now closing in on three years since we’ve been to Malaysia. And we really have no idea of when we’ll be there again. No idea of when we’ll see our daughters and grandchildren in person once more.

Now I started this blog post more than two weeks ago and walked away, leaving it uncompleted. Following that it just sat when my brain kinda went blah. Until today.

To be honest, I have been feeling great frustration within myself. I have things to do, why am I not doing them! I created this “Wee Internet Empire” thing so that I could keep myself involved in something. So what if few people seem to pay much attention.

In reality it’s more than that.

Yes, I want to be in Malaysia, see our daughters and grandkids, but even more I want Kim to get to be with them. She worries so much about them as they have struggled through Covid (most of them actually caught it at one time or another) and the economic turmoil the pandemic caused throughout Malaysia.

And still more than that.

Pre-Covid I had been placed on the list to have a complete hip replacement. As the medical system was stretched so thin during the pandemic it took quite a while to work my way through all the required tests and procedures to be ready for my surgery to be scheduled. At the end of 2021 it was. However, just prior I had developed a bit of an issue on my lower leg and the surgery was cancelled until it could be dealt with. Long story short, ten months later we are still dealing with it. Once dealt with, I’ll have to begin redoing some of the tests and procedures to prepare for surgery as they must be done within a certain time period pre-surgery.

Don’t get me wrong, all is not doom and gloom.

We have been out on the motorcycle over the summer (limited a bit by my leg condition) and have enjoyed traveling around in the Mercedes convertible. We often enjoy our regular dim sum and get together with fellow veterans on occasion. We see our daughter and husband here in Edmonton, my sister from Calgary, while our son from England and his wife came for a lovely visit.

I guess it kind of boils down to the lingering cloud of uncertainty. It seems to fluctuate between shades lighter and darker grey, never becoming black however white remains elusive.

We are trying to make some decisions. Do we hold off on traveling until all is complete, leg issues and surgery. Or do we call our travel lady and book a trip. Certainly something we are trying to work out.

Our future path remains to be seen. I am hoping though, that by sharing these thoughts with you, my readers, it will help me get back on track doing some of the other things which I should be working on.

Thanks so much for reading. Your feedback is always welcome, as is your support.

If you have not already done so, you can keep up with my “Wee Internet Empire” by subscribing to my newsletter, “Old Guy, New Tricks“.

Until next time, be well and take care of yourself.

A “New To Me” Car

So, just over a month ago I got a “new to me” car.

I wasn’t looking for another vehicle and really, didn’t need another vehicle. We already had a van that Kim drives as well as a car and a motorcycle that I drive. So, why get another vehicle? How did this happen?

Well, every morning as part of my online routine I have a look at Facebook Marketplace, mostly out of curiosity, just to see what’s there. I saw this vehicle, had a look, and moved on, as happens many times. Of course, because I had looked at it, Facebook made sure it appeared on other occasions as well. One day I noticed that the price had decreased quite a bit, so, I figured, why not check it out.

I contacted the seller and arranged to have a look at it. It was an older vehicle and appeared to be in excellent shape with very few flaws. The owner stated his bottom line for the vehicle. Okay. I made no commitment, and that evening mentioned it to Kim, showing her the posted ad. She said she would like to see it in person.

So, an appointment was made, and we went over to have a look, taking it for a test drive as well. When we returned, I was looking over the vehicle, checking things out and Kim was talking to the owner. As I joined them, he said that he would take an amount that was a fair bit lower than his “bottom line”. Kim seems to have this ability with people.

The end result was that we drove home the proud possessors of a new to us vehicle.

So, what is this vehicle you ask.

It is a 1999 Merecedes SLK 230 Hardtop Convertible, a two-seater sports car. Twenty-three years old and only 73,500 kilometres. Oh, and I should mention, because it was originally from Japan, it is right-hand drive and talks to us in Japanese on startup.

It was so nice to get back into a convertible, having had three at various times previously, and it being a true sports car was a bonus. It runs as good as it looks and we are enjoying it as much as possible before the ground turns white, at which time both the Mercedes and the motorcycle will buddy up in the garage until Spring.

Well, now it seems that I have become another old guy who drives around in a Mercedes.

However, we are realizing more and more that we need to do more of the things that we enjoy while we are able to. Of course, it will be different experiences for different people. Our health and financial aspects will differ, but the principle remains the same.

We certainly have our ups and downs, however as long as life continues, we’ll do our best to live it from a positive perspective.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy this blog post and the rest of what I share on my Wee Internet Empire. By all means subscribe to my newsletter and keep up with what’s happening.

Itchy Boots Visits Haida Gwaii

During my military career, I had a tour in Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands, from 1977 to 1981. On June 3, 2010, the group of nearly 400 islands was renamed Haida Gwaii by the Haida Gwaii Reconciliation Act as part of the Kunst’aa guu – Kunst’aaa Reconciliation Protocol between British Columbia and the Haida people.

I very much enjoyed my time in “the Charlottes”, as we knew it then, and as well, son Colin was born there.

Unfortunately, I have not had an opportunity to return since, although it is on my hope to do list.

As I develop my “Wee Internet Empire” I try to follow quite a few different people as they do different things on social media.

One of those people is a lady named Noraly, from the Netherlands, who goes by the online handle of Itchy Boots. She is a real adventurer and travels around the globe, solo on her motorcycle, documenting her journey on her website, blog and YouTube channel.

Recently her travels had her traveling through Canada, and this took her to Haida Gwaii, making me even more interested in her adventures.

I really liked the four videos which make up this section of her journey. They brought back many memories and, as well, provided information that I was not aware of. In my opinion they can provide people with a really good idea of what Haida Gwaii is like.

Here, in order, are the links to the four videos.

I thought these videos were very interesting, in addition to being well done. I hope you found them to be as well.

Itchy Boots is just one of many folks I follow online. Here I will provide for you her website, and YouTube channel should you like to know more about her.

As well, I invite you to have a look at my “Wee Internet Empire” and check out the different platforms like my blog, podcast, videos and photos. You can also subscribe to my newsletter to be kept up to date on what is being posted and where.

Thanks much for reading. If you like what I do, please share it.

I always appreciate any feedback. Should you have comments, like something, don’t like something, please do let me know.

Melaka Morning Memory

Today I am trying something just a bit different as I experiment more during the building of my wee Internet Empire. I am using this blog to show you a couple of videos and using the audio from them on my podcast. Both will be referenced in my newsletter. We’ll see how it goes.

Three years ago I traveled to our place in Melaka, Malaysia, this time for a three month stay. This morning, up popped one of my memories of awakening on my first day there. I had taken a couple of videos during my early morning coffee, and they were quite poignant considering how the world has been the last couple of years.

Of course, not being able to travel to Malaysia and spend time with our daughters, grandchildren and friends, due to Covid, provides the type of unhappiness that millions of people around the globe are feeling.

As well, another aspect of being at our place in Melaka is that I miss the mornings, having my coffee, watching the sun rise, and listening to the sounds.

That is the memory which I am highlighting today.

This first video is taken about 5:50am, it is still dark and you can hear the frogs, crickets and the praying at the local mosque. As a country boy at heart, I really enjoy these sounds.

Melaka Apartment Pre-Dawn

The second video is taken just after 7:30am, the sun is just above the horizon and you can hear the birds as their activities increase.

Melaka Apartment – Sun Rise

Thank you for allowing me to share these memories with you today. It is my hope that soon we will all be able to once again actually experience these types of moments instead of simply reviewing memories of them.

Want to follow me on my journey as I develop my wee Internet Empire? You can do so by subscribing to my newsletter, Old Guy, New Tricks, and be notified of new posts and updated on what’s happening. You will find the link to today’s podcast there.

Your comments are always welcome. Please have a safe and healthy day.

Melaka Home – High Waters

As I spoke about in my podcast earlier this evening (link here), our second home is in Melaka, Malaysia. I am retired and my wife is close to retirement, but still, since 2015 we have been spending part of each winter there, except for the last two years (thanks to Covid). With children and grandchildren in Malaysia, it is a natural place for us to go, not to mention all our friends, and oh yes, the food. This photo is a selfie of me standing on our balcony in 2020. Behind you can see the small farm I talked about and in the distance are the buildings of downtown Melaka.

Recently, Melaka, along with much of Malaysia, has been receiving a great deal of rain, very much more than they have seen for many years, particularly when one considers that January is typically one of the driest months of the year, whereas November can be one of the wettest.

What I have done here is to provide you with a number of photos taken around Melaka and posted on the Melaka Facebook Page, so that you can see the impact that the flooding has had.

While many in Canada or the US would typically experience vicious storm conditions associated with flooding, that is not always the case here. The flooding comes from a large amount of rain, causing the rivers to overflow their banks. As well, Melaka is a coastal community, hence ocean tides can have an impact also. The lunar new year is approaching, and generally this is the time of the year’s highest tides.

Regardless of whether the water comes from a storm surge or constantly rising levels, it manages to do a considerable amount of damage and create many issues. The photos in the gallery below will certainly give you an idea of that.

I know a number of the areas shown very well, and am hopeful that our family and friends will not be greatly affected.

With Covid still playing it’s games, we have no idea when we will be able to return to our second home, however we have been assured by our daughter that all is well there up to this point.

Thanks for reading this blog post. I do appreciate any thoughts or comments you may have, so please do share them. I also invite you to visit my web page and check out some to the other sites that I share.