I saw Barbie on National Cinema Day

I enjoyed Barbie very much.

I am glad I supported National Cinema Day and got myself two movie tickets at FOUR DOLLAR each.

I wonder if National Cinema Day will become an annual thing and eventually a tradition.

I miss our toonie theatre very much and wish that could be brought back.

I am sorry if you missed this past National Cinema Day which was yesterday, being Sunday, August 27, 2023.

Morning walk

Today's morning walk felt heavy.  The trees looked bigger. Everything was damped from the rain.  After coming across the first tree stump, I couldn't help noticing more tree stumps that were left behind during today's walk.  The very first stump made me ponder when was that tree cut? ....

Holiday Monday 2023

How many Holiday Mondays did we have so far this year? Anyhow, I am enjoying my holiday Monday very much today and decided to blog a bit more about my most recent trip to Alberta.

Day 1 - I woke up at around 2 or 3 am to finally begin packing. Normally, I pack 1 week in advance. I slept very well before I woke. During packing, I got distracted because I began writing mails I intend to mail out in Alberta. Fast forward to arriving to Alberta Airport.  

- at the airport bought annual pass to Parks Canada, asked for general directions and pick up rented car

- arrived at suggested park, had lunch (packed from home) and walked along Bow River. Lots of people were enjoying the nice weather near the river including, but not limited to, beach bums, tourist, photo bombers, wildlife, cops on horseback, dog walker, surfers etc. There were drivers traveling parallel to the river as way on the roads of Calgary.

- arrived at a mall to shop for food & other necessities for the next 2 to 3 days

- enjoyed small afternoon tea at "I'm lovin it" fast food restaurant 

- arrived at accommodation in Town of Penhold, Alberta and received warm greetings from host

- private time

Day 2 

- leisurely morning walk around the neighbourhood/community of the Town of Penhold, Alberta either before breakfast

- Spartan Super at Red Deer

- at Rocky Mountain House Natio nal Historic Site, walked along north Saskatchewan river, conversed with Black Smith, peeked at Metis camp, walked on a big boat, went inside tents with special name that I cannot recall, Tippi?

- arrived at hostel in Nordegg, Alberta with post notices not limited to warnings regard cougars

- private time

Day 3

- morning walk on road before breakfast

-morning walk on Shunda Meadow Trail after breakfast

- photo session at entrance to Colisseum trail (regrettably no time to try for this visit)

- purchased a Gourd Thunderdrum in Nordegg near Brazeau Collieries Mine Site & Nordegg Heritage Centre

- passenger acted badly either just a little before or as soon as we arrived at Abraham Lake

- stopped at a beautiful site to relax and unwind from bad passenger behaviour and explored the shoreline on foot

- traveled on Siffleur Falls trail on foot 

- washroom break at Columbia Icefield

- arrived at Athabasca Falls Wilderness Hostel

- private time

Day 4

- morning walk before breakfast

- morning walk after breakfast on trail leading to Athabasca Falls (no car required from hostel position)

- arrived at Mount Edith Cavell, hiked to cavell pond, hiked to cavell meadows, descend thereafter.

-  grocery, dinner (L&W was very good) and gas at Jasper 

- back to same hostel as Day 3

Day 5

- drove down some road and made a brief stop at an unidentified curve to explore a tiny area with water descending from above.

- Mistaya Canyon

- waterfowl lake

- hiked near Peyto lake

- crossed the natural bridge

- walked around Emerald Lake and tried to change the lyrics of " One Fine Day" 

- took photo at Lake Louise and took a wrong turn during walk back to picnic area

- arrived at Castle Junction 

- after dropping off companion at Castle Hostel camped-out in car nearby as lady dormitory was full and I refused to sign in as a man

Not the end of the trip. To be cont. Stay tuned for Day 6 onwards

August

Today is hump day (aka middle of the work week).  This morning I wanted to write about (a) money, (b) smart devices problems, (c) my trip to Alberta, Canada.

It's currently 426am.  Let's start with topic (b).  I have been wanting to make a phone call since quite a while ago.  I rarely make outgoing call because I have limited airtime minutes.  I tend to make outgoing call to attend to chores.  Usually, I end up using way less than the amount of outgoing minutes I have purchased/subscribed for each month.  Lately, I find that I don't really text msg either (even though I have unlimited text messages).  I tend to miss most incoming calls either because I am away from the phone or the phone does not ring.  When I do answer my phone, it's almost always a recording about unauthorized purchases made online.  I don't like having a cell phone much because it can lead to negative thinking.  The following are actions or inaction by others which can lead me to wonder or ponder: (i) when "friends" don't reply, (ii) when a friend do reply, (iii) when the phone receives a voicemail, (iv) when the phone setting is changed, (v) when the phone receives a call.  My friend who talks to me on a regular basis know that I am somewhat paranoid with my phone.  I know my phone best because I am the only one who uses it and have never took it in for repair.  My phone setting changes by itself sometimes either because it is broken or someone else has been tampering with it without my permission (when I am away from phone or remotely).  For example, someone can call forward my number then I could be carrying my phone all day physically yet I receive no call.  I receive those scamming recordings or calls often enough that I almost fell prey to it once.  Luckily my mom was there and stopped me from releasing any information.  I wish my phone will stop receiving those calls though, it's really really annoying.  The phone helps people communicate from a distance.  My recent phone history will show that most of my friends do not reach out to me via text or voice calls. If I did not make any new friends, I could be friendless by now.  So yes, my phone makes me sad because it makes me feel like no one likes me and it receives way too many (unnecessay) messages (ie. scams, promotions, announcements, reminders). 

Topic (a).  My thought on money has not changed much.  Our monetary system was created by man and therefore anything to do with money is an annoying chore to me.  I don't really want to have any discussion about money and people are constantly throwing out more information about how to potentially make more money.  I haven't generated a big enough pool to allow for the generation of satisfactory passive income.  My pool might be getting smaller and smaller because of poor investment choices.  Most recently when I try to move my liquid assets, I found that my financial institution rejected my request without trying to get in touch with me at all.  Needless to say, I pay no banking fee because most of the time I feel like I have to cater to their business hours and their slow actions.  They sent out a lot of promotion materials though which I don't bother to learn more about.  I try very hard to be aware of all their rules and regulations (which are subject to change all the time) so that I don't get ding for fees.  I never get to take advantages of their promotion because it's too much work for me to help them troubleshoot and find out all problems to new and existing services or technologies.  I don't like to wait in line... by the time I show up, I wonder how many people already pointed out the problem...or if the problem has still not been identified.  Anyhow, I am familiar with the systems I use to make, store and spend money.  This morning i am pondering about exploring other avenues such as fundraising via ... to support myself on a offgrid hitchhiking backpacking trip.  I usually spend my own money to go on trips so I don't have to fundraise but if I don't want to spend my own money, I would have to ask others which means I will have to show others my plans! For example, when is my departure date, how long is my trip, what are the cost, etc.

Topic (c), my mother and I planned a one week trip to Alberta back on April 5th of this year.  We never revisited our plans together until we were at the airport on our scheduled departure date being July 21, 2023.  Our trip planning was quite simple but took an entire day.  We booked all of our accommodations that day.  We didn't revisit our plans so we didn't make any changes.  Originally, I wanted to book some guided tours or trips on our second planning day; however, that day never came.  We probably would have booked nothing anyways, because my mother did not want to go cycling, horse back riding or rafting...  The main event of our trip was Spartan Super, thereafter it was checkin to our accommodation before 10 pm each day.  After this trip, I know Alberta better.  The areas I traveled to are very walkable and some have public transit. 

The image below is a sketch of my most recent route and a sketch of my potential future routes.