More hoar frost. More rain next June. I had marked from June 9 to 13. Now I have marked June 20 to 24. It is looking like a real wet June. That is how Mother Nature ends a drought like we are in now. Lots of rain or snow, kids and rubber boots.
Mark your calendars all you non-believers and if I am wrong you all get to jump on me and point out the error of my ways. If I am right just do what you always do, don’t mention it.
On the Hult farm things have given way to visiting and Christmas. Since we have five children and 15 grandchildren, I have encouraged my wife to not try to have them all at once. Two or three Christmas suppers spread over a week is a lot more practical. One year we rented the Waseca Community Center. The whole family came. That worked well as far as enough space, but all the food has to be trucked in there and then the leftovers hauled back home. That was a lot more work for the women I know. I am not involved with the cooking, I just go with the flow, do what I am told and always get well fed and a good visit with the family. What more could a guy ask for?
I have written a letter to the immigration minister offering my assistance with the Syrian refugees. I have had experience with agriculture trainees, getting the paperwork done for health cards, social insurance number and driver’s licence. I also have a house on the farm that could house a large family.
I am dismayed at all the websites on the Internet with the common theme “send money.” I will not be doing that. How much of that money actually gets to the refugees? Whenever there is somebody in trouble in the world all the scum and worms come out of the woodwork and try to take advantage of someone else’s miseries.
I also have little patience for those not wanting them to come because they will take all the jobs. There are not jobs like there used to be that is for sure, but there are still jobs out there. If you look on Kijiji or Saskjob sites there are jobs to be had. The Syrians will come, they will find work and they will disappear into the fabric of Canada and raise their families in peace.
I am dismayed at the negative attitude out there, right from the workers up to the top management. If you are a worker and you lose your job it’s like being kicked in the stomach. It doesn’t feel very nice and you can really get down on yourself. You cannot let this negative flow ruin your life. My wife has a saying that I know is real. When I have been really down I didn’t want to hear it, but the saying “when one door closes, another one opens” is true. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself and sitting around and sucking your thumb like a baby, realize this is an opportunity to do something else. Seize the moment. Seize the opportunity. It is waiting for you. Take it! Try to get some job that you will enjoy doing. This no job business can really depress a person. My Uncle Bill Snell used to have a saying “and this too shall come to pass.” And it will!
In Alberta the NDP government is now imposing Workman’s Compensation on all the farm workers. This will increase the farmers’ costs $700 to $1,000 per worker per year. While this is not an unmanageable cost it is still a cost imposed on farmer with limited benefits. Do not be confused, this is not workers’ safety, this is a tax grab, pure and simple. We had to meet that expense every year when we had trainees. This is nothing more than creeping taxation, that’s what the NDP does and the money just goes into general revenues as not much money ever gets paid out.
In Federal politics the Trudeau government wants to increase the Canada Pension Plan. They are right in saying the pension has not kept up to what pensioners need to live. There are more questions than answers. How much will it increase payouts? How much will the workers have to contribute off each paycheque? The current system is the worker pays a deduction off his paycheque. The employer has to match the worker’s contribution dollar for dollar. For example if a worker gets $150 taken off his cheque, the employer has to match that $150 and then $300 every two weeks or $600 per month to the government. This then becomes an unfunded liability as the government has for 30 or 40 years put this money into general revenue and spent every nickel. Now they are looking for some other system to pay the bills, because instead of a rainy day fund in place, they have spent all the money.
Books are still available at $30 each. Phone 1-780-875-3611.
Happy new year!
Joke of the week: A fella, after a hard night out with the boys, was just sitting down for breakfast when the wife came up behind him and smacked him a good one with the frying pan. After he was able to gather his thoughts he asked, “What did you do that for?” The wife said, “Why did you have a piece of paper in your pocket with Lulu’s name on it?” The man thinking quickly said, “Lulu was race horse I was betting on.” With that the wife smacked him again. “Liar,” she said. “Lulu just phoned.” Ooooh boy, as my uncle Harold used to say.
