It has been a busy week with the usual obligations plus checking out air fares and hotels and the like for our trip down under.
Funny how the cheapest flights always are through the US of A. But I stuck with Air Canada through Vancouver, costs more but Fran feels better about that.

Initially I was thinking of doing the trip in one go to allow more time down under. But with the flying times in the 30 hours plus range I, in consultation with Fran, decided against that.

So it is a stop in the big TO on the way over, still leaving 21 hours air time from TO. Then shorter stop in Halifax on the way home. It will give us an opportunity to compare sea foods of the two port cities.

I am not very happy with the Amex travel agents ‘Travel Quest’ in St. John’s. I had been trying to deal with them as I did the last two longer trips we made. The agent I dealt with then is long gone and I found the new staff rather casual and laid back and I got the impression they really did not need my business, will they didn’t get it. Must be the new oil money attitude or sum’n like that.

So ‘Mokami Travel’ in Goose Bay dealt with me like they cared, they even did a re jig of the travel and health issuance quote first given when I mentioned it was a little high. OK it was a lot higher but we managed to cut the quote almost in half.

So we are all set to go [not for awhile yet] and my mother is doing a re jig of the interior of the house I spent my formative years in, guess it would be a waist of time to try get her to not worry about it.

There was a strange incident in the early hours of last Sunday morning involving a ski doo and the big green garbage box across the street.

Regular readers may remember me having some issues with derelict garbage boxes in the past. Needless to say in the past little while the only issue I had with the new replacement box was its flimsy construction leading to the lid constantly coming off the Hinges. The only thing I did about it was to periodically replace the lid and the council workers would periodically re attach the lid to the hinges.

So after the strange incident in the early hours of last Sunday the saga of the big green garbage box has been solved, define fate or what I do not know, but I have my suspicions.

I was not going to mention the sage of the big green garbage box at all except I had a call from a young reporter doing some free lance work for the Labradorian newspaper.

Seems he is doing a general piece about stolen ski doos and irresponsible riders and speeders. He picked up on this idea from facebook chatter, seems my name was mentioned in the big green garbage box incident.

Below is the gist of what I relayed to the young reporter. It may not clear me of complicity in the destruction of the BGGB but this is the way it went down.

Woken by whining loud pitch noise at around 6am.

Check inside the house then outside from window, can’t ID source of noise but notice a HOODIE [person in a hoodie] hunkered down behind white car across the street. Get dressed; check out car, no more HOODIE.

Locate source of loud noise, ski doo on its side rammed into the corner of house next door. Engine going all out but track not turning. Notice exhaust glowing red hot and sparks start firing from underneath the engine.

“Better get this thing away from house” me thinks as it could explode any minute.

Pull down on ski, machine hits ground, this somehow kicks the thing into gear and away she shoots into hi speed across the street crashes through the big green garbage box and lodges up against oil tank of house opposite. Engine still at high pitch, sort of out of the frying pan into the fire thingy.

I know I have to get it shut off but in mean time several people come down from up the street [woken by loud pitched noise]; young guy finds the leads and pulls them off the spark plugs.

All the damage to ski doo was done when she hit the house, lodged between house and snow bank.

Next afternoon the owner turned up to re claim the machine, had to get it towed away. Owner said her boyfriend left the ski doo outside the hotel overnight.

At left is what remained of the big green garbage box after the ski doo was removed from scene and the debris cleaned up.

Below is the replacement for the big green garbage box, much more robust and solid for sure.