If there was any doubt, last night was -20 C here. A few nights before, we got about four or five inches of snow. Yep, winter is here. Where are those wool socks? By the way the geese are gone. The are southward bound for the winter.
On the home front, things have slowed down to almost a full stop. Son Ron has gone hunting with his brother Todd. Hunting season started Friday. I am not a hunter, as I always seemed to have corrals to fix or a pen of calves to look after. I appreciated those who hunt, as it always resulted in one less deer on the road when I went home at night.
I eventually built deer killer bumpers on all my trucks. Anyone who tells you to slow down to avoid them is full of oompapa. You are driving along, minding your own business and suddenly they are just right there. Build or buy a cow killer bumper, it is just a sensible form of protection. I used two-inch black wall pipe. It is fastened on the top of the bumper and underneath to the frame. I’ve tallied three dead deer with my F-350, 7.3L environmental polluter and counting. Damage to me or my truck is zero. Well, that is not perfectly true. I had to replace a headlight once. That is minor compared with the damage to my Dodge when I hit the first one. I had to replace the complete grill. The fan went into the radiator so both of those things had to be replaced. Headlights were both smashed. And there you are, out on a back road, in the middle of nowhere, with a smashed up truck and no cell service in that area. When I got out of that jackpot, I said, “Self, that is not happening ever again.” I got used parts from the wreckers to fix my truck and built myself a substantial cow killer bumper. I got the truck back on the road. Life carried on and the deer never bothered me again.
For my 70th this summer my wife Beverly and daughter Crystal put together all the things I have written for the last 60 or so years and had a book made. This was all done in secret. I was dumbfounded when they gave it to me. My Aunt Signe started saving letters I wrote to her when I was a kid and later when Bev and I got married she saved letters that I wrote. I had no idea she had done that. I am humbled and can no longer call her a hoarder. I think she appreciates that because she says she was never a hoarder, but is a collector. These books cost $29 to make and I am selling them for $30. Just like farming, lots of expense and very little profit. I don’t plan to become rich or famous, so if you want a book just phone me at 1-780-875-3611. I started out with 10 and they went right away, so I ordered 30. They went, so I ordered 50. I have only half a dozen left so I have ordered another 50 that are supposed to be here Dec. 8. If you want one give me a call.
In politics, I watched Alberta Premier Rachel Notley give a speech on the NDP’s climate leadership plan for the province. It was a ring ding dingy of a media love in. The room was full of business leaders, NDP supporters and slightly off to the left of the premier was a First Nations chief. I don’t know if there was any political significance to him being off to the left, but there he was in full head gear. The presentation was excellent as when the premier began to speak the lights in the room dimmed and a soft spot light was on Premier Rachel Notley.
I waited, expecting to hear how Alberta was going to save the planet from carbon dioxide emissions. I didn’t hear that. I heard about the biggest tax grab in the history of the province. There will be a carbon tax that will bring $3 billion into the provincial budget. A carbon tax of $20 per tonne in January 2017, increased to $30 per tonne in January 2018. Closing all coal-fired power plants by 2030. All I heard in passing were some plans for more wind and solar power. The price of fuel at the pumps will go up at least seven cents a litre. This will have a snowball effect as all towns and counties that run equipment will try to cover this cost. Their only option will be more property taxes.
That is what Rachel Nothing Notley is doing for climate control, nothing, absolutely nothing, zero, zippo. No mention of how she is going to control carbon emissions. All she did was impose a huge tax grab. That is what the NDP do. We had them in Saskatchewan. They try to tax everything that moves. Every three months they would use the crown corporations to up the cost of power, gas and telephone. Then along would come the unions asking for more money because their cost of living went up. Then their friends in the NDP, after a phantom negotiation, would always give it to them. The only ones who could not escape were the small business owners, the farmers, the average Joe non-union worker and people on fixed incomes. People left Saskatchewan by the hundreds. In Alberta, hopefully the NDP will have one term and be done.
The only good thing about this carbon tax is maybe it is a pre-emptive strike that may stop the Federallies from imposing their own carbon tax. Premier Notley says the money will stay in Alberta. If they are serious about moving to an environmentally friendly power system, give some incentives for homeowners to install solar panels. Every homeowner has a roof. Every roof is a perfect place to put solar panels. Better yet, develop a solar panel made in Alberta. Then watch the economy go. Invent a storage battery system, too. We have sun, we have wind, just maybe not always when we need it.
On the federal scene the newly-elected Liberals have no problem with worries about the environment. The prime minister’s plane, burning carbon-based fuel has been everywhere. He has been to London, Paris, Mali and Lord knows where else. I hope he has a bed on that plane because he hasn’t been on the ground long enough to sleep.
Joke of the week: A drunk comes in the bar and orders drink for everyone, including the bartender. When it comes time to pay the drunk says he has no money. The bartender slaps him around and throws him out. The next night the same thing happens. The drunk comes in orders drinks for everyone including the bartender. When it comes time to pay the drunk says he has no money. The bartender is getting angry now and he slaps him around a little harder and throws him out. The third night in comes the drunk again. He says, I’ll buy drinks for everyone, but not you Mr. Bartender. The bartender says, “Why not for me?” The drunk says, “You get violent when you drink.”
