Belated Thanksgiving and I am now on Autopilot

Dr. Hugh Tildesley

How am I doing? I am walking the dog up to 4.5 miles at a time, the golf course, a distance of 5 miles, now with ease. The dog is listening, the golf ball is not!

I had blood work done to make sure I will be safe to travel October 20, all is fine, a relief but no guarantee there will not be some hacking , infectious person nearby. I arranged seating on the upper deck of the Boeing 747, this should limit infectious potential.

My trip to UK will lead to a poison holiday, probably a good thing, we shall see.

Men Like to touch, Rules of engagement:

Don’t go near my port!

There remains a male need to make physical contact with me, usually massaging my shoulders, this can lead to unintended contact with my port and possibly the need for an operation for it’s replacement. An elbow-to-elbow contact is just as effective!

Why do I write the blog?

Most who know me realize I am a closet micro-manager. I like to control agendas. The blog is designed to “ control” the conversation, thus many who have asked how I am doing will receive a curt reply: “ read the blog”. Some reply that they have, but do not pass cursory queries as to what I wrote, they experience the cone of silence.

So far psychologically this approach has helped, it may have helped physiologically. Like a hockey coach with a hot goaltender I am not about to change.

Giving unsolicited opinions about my treatment are strictly off bounds!

As Donald Sutherland often repeated in Kelly’s heroes… “Just positive vibes man, just positive vibes”.

Tesla Titillations: On Oct 16 there was a new update! It included autopilot;the ability for the car to drive itself on a divided highway, auto park; parallel parking that is automatic,a new screen; better organized, more relevant information, it also shows in real time what the sensors and cameras are seeing. Needless  to say I need to become educated on all these new features. This is not a car for anyone with dementia! Today I drove down 41 st on auto pilot, changing lanes without steering. The kids are nervous, I am intriued, Deborah will be unlikely to drive with me using this tool. The parking feature is not that straightforward, more practice is needed.

 This image to the left shows the new improved dash, well organized with all info readily at hand. You can see I am stopped, the "0", is my speed, behind another vehicle, my front right sensor has detected something but it is not dangerous, if it were the sensor beam would be yellow or red.

The image to the right was taken while I was on auto pilot,I am travelling 50 km/hr. The blue icon to the right of the "50", shows that I am on auto pilot which is only possible when the car "sees" the lane.The blue lines on either side of the car confirm this.If the lane markings disappear, autopilot chimes and disengages.

Thanksgiving:

The kids returned 1 week out of phase to celebrate Thanksgiving

Hamish

Hamish just had a successful interview, job offer not yet received.

Catherine

Catherine is tenacious in her pursuit for a summer job with a local law firm. In general this helps to obtain an articling job upon graduation.

Donovan

Donovan just surpassed his annual sales goal at Buntain Insurance, he has 2 ½ months to expand on that number. He is rightfully proud of this accomplishment.

 






Wonderful to see the kids and we had a spectacular dinner with the Thompsons recounting many old memories of shared time together, especially spring break in Whistler. We shared accommodation for a decade as the kids learned to ski, Deborah and Alice cross -countried and Drew and I stayed up late imbibing single malt scotch in an attempt to attain solutions to the world’s problems.

Baseball Fever: I have not watched a weekday , afternoon playoff game since University. There are benefits of my work schedule. I have never seen an inning like the 7^th…. The replays do no do it justice!

Election 2015:

Nobody Knows! (except maybe me)

PMO

PMO ( Prime Minister Obsessive): Unflappable. Staying on message.Has had some exceptional luck with the Dan Gagnier being exposed as a deal maker with Transcanada Pipelines should the Liberals be the government. This of course smells of 2 things: 

1) the same old Liberal back room running the show 

2) Could there be a scandal here akin to the sponsorship.

The mood is trending away from “anybody but Harper”, to : “ who holds the Trudeau puppet strings”. This undermines commitment and continues to split votes.

The Dauphin

The Dauphin: Dan Gagnier, his co-chair of this campaign has resigned. His letter to senior executives of Transcanada Corp on how to lobby the government smells of influence pedaling, and incredible presumption of victory. This as usual is the tip of the Liberal iceberg which we have known for many years. Damage control is on full throttle. The previously invisible puppet strings of the dauphin are now in plain sight.

The Pretender

The Pretender: There is only so long that one can keep pasting on an insincere smile before the cameras undress you. This guy would grin anywhere, it’s irritating, and framed by a beard , ineffective. The giveaways continue as he defines desperate.

The Hugger

The Hugger: Transparent, hardworking, with some great ideas. Unfortunately in her game she needs seats to be credible, this will not happen.

I am still calling a Conservative win, a majority possible with the split vote.