Adopt a Weimaraner

If anyone is looking for a Weimaraner dog, I am fostering one from Dogwood Rescue.

Dauma is 6 and a half years old. She is very affectionate. She loves to snuggle and give kisses. She likes to get up on couches and beds to snuggle with people. Dauma is perfect for someone who likes a snuggly dog on the furniture. She’s very playful and loves playing with squeaky toys.

She is housebroken, crate trained, knows how to use a doggy door, good with other dogs, and good around horses. I don’t have cats, so it is unknown how she is with them. She’s good riding in the car and has romped at off leash dog parks with no problems. She walks well on a splitter leash with my dog.

Her new owner should take her to obedience school for bonding and to refresh any prior training Dauma has had. Dauma needs to be watched if any food is left out on the counter or table. She walks around the kitchen with her nose up in the air cruising the counters and will steal someone’s dinner if she gets the chance.

Dauma does not like being alone, and would probably do best in a home where someone is home most of the time, or takes her with them in the car when they go out.

If anyone wants to meet Dauma, please contact Lichen at Dogwood Rescue 604-926-1842. Dauma is in Cloverdale and I can bring her to the off leash park at Clayton if anyone is interested in adopting her and wants to spend some time with her.

Here’s Dauma’s profile on Petfinder.

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=14457676

Drive Through at Coast Capital

I heard on the news this morning that the Coast Capital branch here in Cloverdale became a drive through branch in more ways than one. Someone drove their car through the building last night or maybe early this morning. Probably had a little too much Christmas cheer.

Depending on the damage incurred by the car, this has got to be quite inconvenient for Coast Capital trying to find repairmen on Christmas Eve.

At least the driver was caught and will be liable for the damage.

Playing at the Clova from Dec 23 2009 - January 5 2010

OK, the mystery of what is playing at the Clova on Wednesday December 23 has now been solved. I walked past this morning and see its Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, playing nightly at 7pm until Tuesday January 5. This makes sense because the 23rd is the premier date for the chipmunks, and whenever the Clova gets a premier first run movie their contract is to play it for 2 weeks and not to play any other movies during that period.

I also noticed that the special this week is for anyone wearing Santa hats to the movies admission is $4. Regular admission is $7. Tuesday night is $4. Bring a reusable popcorn or drink container and fill up at the concession for $2.

Playing at the Clova from Dec 18 - 22 2009

I walked past the Clova this morning to see what is playing there starting Friday. The Clova will be closed on December 24 and 25 for the holidays. Though they are playing a matinee on the 24th.

The curious thing is they have the showtimes up for December 18 to 22. The mystery is what about December 23? I have no idea. Maybe it was a typo on the notice they put in their window?

7pm: Brothers

9pm: 2012

The second show is a long one. Lets out at 11:40pm. Times approximate. If they are delayed starting the first show due to huge concession line ups, it throws things out for 10 or 15 minutes. Admission is $7 for one or both movies. Tuesday nights is $4.

Stray Dogs

I don't know if I find stray dogs or if they find me.

I do know that there is nothing as panicking as having one of my dogs disappear. Somebody left a door open or the back yard gate open and all of a sudden I have no dog. I quickly search the yard - we're on a quarter acre with hedges, bushes, and trees with all kinds of hiding spots - I check the neighbor's yards, and then I'm in the car searching. Fortunately the couple of times its happened I've found my missing dog within half an hour. But it still freaks me out. My dogs have their City of Surrey tags and also a tag we made at PetSmart with the name, Kerry's cell phone number, and our address. Anyone catching our dog, as long as the collar hasn't come off, will be able to contact us right away.

A few months ago a beautiful golden retriever showed up while Kerry was working in the yard. No humans in sight. No tags on his collar. We got a leash on him and walked him around the neighborhood hoping that someone was looking for him. We finally took him home, took some photos, and posted on the Internet. We took him for another walk. This time we ran into someone walking their dog who recognized the dog as belonging to their neighbor. He had his cell phone on him and called the neighbor who was out in her car searching. Apparently one of her kids had left the gate open. We met up in a few minutes and she was very thankful. And she was heading to PetSmart the next day to get an ID tag made for the dog.

A couple of weeks ago we came home. It was night and pouring rain outside. Standing at my front door is a large Rottweiler. Staring me down. Now I grew up with a Saint Bernard and friends of ours breed Rottweilers so I'm good with large breeds. Its just you never know if a dog is mean or friendly. This one's collar was on so tight I couldn't get my fingers around it. I got my front door open and brought him inside. I towelled him down and he just loved it, rolling around the living room floor. He was not neutered and appeared young, probably 8 or 9 months old. He also was not house broken, so we put him out on the sundeck, which is covered. He wolfed down a bowl of dog food. He was hungry, but overall in good condition. This dog wasn't malnourished. I took pictures and posted him all over the Internet and searched for lost dogs. We took him for a walk around Cloverdale, wondering if he would lead us to his home, but he didn't seem to know the area and had nowhere in particular he wanted to go.

The next day we took him to the vet to check for a micro chip but there wasn't one. We contacted our breeder friend. We had a man from Aldergrove come out and look at him. His 7 month old Rottweiler was stolen from their yard, but it wasn't his dog. I stood out on the street for an hour with him, hoping someone looking for him would drive by and see him. Finally we took him to the SPCA and hoped his owners would look for him there.

I checked the SPCA's website yesterday and the Rottie is now up for adoption. No one came looking for him. Sad. But hopefully he will find a good home.

We can't stress enough to people we meet who don't have ID tags on their dogs to get one made up. Costs about ten bucks. But it might return your dog home sooner if someone catches it.

Here's a couple of photos of the stray Rottie if anyone is looking for a friendly male. He's at the Surrey SPCA.

The Missing Mailbox

Further to my post about the mailbox in Cloverdale at the corner of 176th Street and 58th Avenue, yesterday I drove past and the mailbox is missing. Gone! Hmmm. Wonder where it is....

You'd think if Canada Post removed it, they would have replaced it. Perhaps the same person who took my slightly rusty Frosty the Snowman has helped themself to a slightly rusty mailbox.

Pancake breakfast at the Cloverdale Legion on Saturday December 12

I walked past the Cloverdale Legion on 57th Avenue today and saw their sign up with upcoming events. Just a reminder about their pancake breakfast tomorrow morning, Saturday December 12. $4 gets you pancakes, eggs, sausage, coffee, and orange juice. They're located just west of 176th Street, across from the firehall.

Another bad driver in Cloverdale

Today its lightly snowing in Cloverdale. Sort of sticking to the ground, but not to the streets that have traffic regularly driving on the road.

I had to mail a letter and killing two birds with one stone took my dog for a walk. We're in the crosswalk at 57th Avenue and 176th Street. I saw a pick up truck from Abell Pest Control approach, driving down 57th Avenue, but I know he has to stop at the 4 way stop, so no danger to me.

Wrong! I'm nearly halfway across the intersection and Abell decides not to stop at the stop sign, and careens into a right hand turn in front of me, and sped off down 176th Street towards Highway 10. Going too fast for me to catch the license plate number.

The man was in his forties. Should have known enough to stop at a stop sign and that pedestrians have the right of way in marked crosswalks. It was just after noon so I'm very visible. I'm also walking a border collie, so we're at a brisk pace. My dog does not dawdle.

It just amazes me that companies with their names clearly marked on their vehicles employ poor drivers. Talk about bad advertising.

Canada Post security?

I had to mail a letter so I walked down to the mailbox located on the corner of 176th Street and 58th Avenue today at noon. The mailbox is unlocked. The bottom part where the mail carrier unlocks it is wide open. Oddly enough some people have put their mail in here. I can see it, quite visible through the open door.

I tried to close it, but the door is in the locked position and only dropped down again. It would appear the the Canada Post carrier emptied the mailbox on Thursday December 10, closed it, locked it, but didn't ensure it was in the latched position. So eventually it dropped down. Surprised it didn't drop down while Canada Post was still there.

I decided I wanted to make sure my letter gets where its going so I walked up to the mailboxes in front of the old post office on 176A and 57th to put my letter in.

When I got home I tried to phone Canada Post to let them know about the security breach, only to get a recording that all lines are busy and to try back later. I realize its the holiday season and lots of people are probably phoning with questions about their parcels, but shouldn't Canada Post anticipate this and hire extra seasonal employees? All I could do was use their feedback form on their website and let them know about their unlocked mailbox. Someone will probably read it next week.

In the meantime anyone can come along and remove the mail inside this box.

So if you're mailing anything today, use another mailbox. The one at 176th Street and 58th Avenue in Cloverdale is not secure.

Playing at the Clova from Dec 11 - 17 2009

This week at the Clova in downtown Cloverdale:

7pm is Planet 51.

8:45pm is Ninja Assasin.

Second show lets out just before 10:30pm. Times for the second show are approximate. Sometimes the Clova is delayed starting the first show due to crowds in the lobby lined up at the concession. They don't start playing the movies until most of the patrons are seated.

Admission is $7 for one or both movies. Tuesday night is $4. Bring your own reusable popcorn and drink container and fill at the concession for $2.

Photos from Cloverdale's Santa Parade 2009

It was below freezing on Sunday night, December 6. Plus a blowing wind, dropping the temperature even further. Despite the chill, there was a huge turn out for the Santa Claus Parade. A great turn out of floats and some of the big rigs did a fantastic job of Christmas displays.

We found a sheltered alcove by Mason's furniture and I hopped up on the planter to take photos. Really tough to get a focus due to the moving lights.

Bylaw officers working 64th Avenue

Over the past few months, on the odd occasion I've received a local newspaper, there are letters written to the editor from people who live on 64th Avenue. I believe from people who live in the condos that are located approximately in the 164 block, across from where the old Bose farm used to be. Their complaints are the large trucks that roar down 64th Avenue. They can't enjoy spending summer days on their patios due to the noise.

These people have a point. There is a no trucks exceeding 10,000 kg (I think, I could have the weight wrong) on 64th Avenue between Fraser Highway and 152 Street. I've seen the sign thousands of times just after I cross the Fraser Highway heading west on 64th. But because I don't drive a big rig, I don't pay much attention to the weight limit. Those trucks should not be speeding along 64th. They should be on Highway 10 or other designated truck routes.

Their complaints to city hall are relatively ignored. They are told there aren't enough bylaw officers to catch the trucks and they're busy doing other things. They were told to take photos of the offending trucks and then sue them in court. What kind of response is that? Yep, our tax dollars are hard at work in Surrey.

This afternoon we were driving east bound on 64th Avenue heading into Langley. Just after the Cloverdale Crossing Mall, across from the skateboard park, we saw two SUV's with emergency lights flashing and a large truck hauling heavy machinery pulled to the side of the road, right about where it begins to be 2 lanes coming up to the mall. At first we thought it was the Department of Highways doing a safety check, but as we got closer we saw the SUV's belonged to the City of Surrey Bylaw Enforcement. I knew right away they were pulling over large trucks and ticketing them for being on a route that has a maximum weight limit for trucks. And just then we see a truck cresting the hill from 180th Street. I watched in my rear view mirror. Yep, a bylaw officer ran on to the street, and signaled the trucker to pull over. Got him!

Caving in to resident complaints? On Wednesday, December 9, our tax dollars were indeed hard at work in Cloverdale. But whoever they caught today was probably only a drop in the bucket.

The first Christmas theft

Don't you love driving by and looking at the houses that are beautifully decorated with Christmas decorations. And then if you read the local newspapers there are always letters to the editor in December from people who've had their decorations stolen from their front yard and wanting to get them back.

We decorate the inside of our house, but don't do much outside, other than string lights on our sundeck railing.

A few months ago we were at a client's house who was getting ready to move and had a lot of garbage outside including a slightly battered, rusty 18" high metal snowman holding a welcome sign. It has a couple of prongs to push it into the ground. Its kind of cute so I asked if I could have it and they said sure because they were just throwing it away. I also have two larger signs, a snowman and Santa Claus that stand on their own. They were also rejects, about to be tossed in a dumpster by a former martial arts studio Kerry used to go to, so he grabbed them.

I put the three of them out in our front yard. The smaller snowman in the garden in front of our front yard, and the larger snowman and Santa further away. Kerry is hoping that someone will steal the larger ones.

This morning when I came outside to walk the dog, the small snowman with the welcome sign is gone. So somebody had to come up within three feet of our front door to steal it.

Oh, well. Its not like it cost me big bucks. It was just a garbage rescue. But it was cute and it was too bad that some low life thief decided they needed a well worn snowman more than I did.

Shoddy delivery for the Leader in Cloverdale

Following up my other post about the Surrey Leader, I have a few things to say about their sketchy delivery. And here I can’t fully blame the Leader. They must have a dickens of a time keeping delivery people employed because we keep getting notices in our mailbox that they’re looking for delivery people in our area. Sometimes weeks and months will go by without getting a newspaper, so that’s why I’m not too certain how many days a week its really delivered. I know its supposed to come on Fridays, with the Cloverdale Reporter inside, but it rarely arrives in my mailbox. Not that I care so much whether or not I receive the Leader, but I do like reading the Reporter because its style is more like how the Leader used to be many years ago covering community events and people who live in Cloverdale.

We had one good delivery person, a man in his thirties, this past summer. We regularly got the papers. But then he quit. Hopefully he found better work elsewhere and delivering the Leader was just a temporary situation for him. He was reliable, which is a whole lot more than I can say about any of the others. In the past couple of years there was one lazy sucker who’d deliver multiple copies of the Leader to my house. How many newspapers can I read? I just assumed he got paid by the paper and it was easier for him to dump multiple copies to some of his houses to make his route go faster. I stuck them in my recycle box. And then one day the delivery person, and I’m sure it was a kid, really ticked me off. In the summer we have designated days of the week and times we can run the sprinkler. I went outside and set the sprinkler in my front yard. From where it was set up, it was also getting our sidewalk inbetween the garden and house wet, including the area around the front door. When I came outside an hour and a half later to move the sprinkler, I had several soaking wet copies of the Leader sitting on my front doorstep. Now that kid had to run through the sprinkler in order to get the papers to that spot, so there’s no doubt in my mind that he knew the sprinkler was on. He could see it going back and forth, and the sidewalk and front door were wet. He could have put the newspapers in my driveway, four feet away from my front door. That area was dry, not being reached by the sprinkler. But no. He has to put multiple copies of the Leader on my front door mat. What a nasty, soggy mess. I picked it up and took it right to the recycle bin, only to discover that wet newsprint runs and marks up your hands and your clothes. I complained to the Leader about that. One soggy newspaper would have been bad enough, but a stack of them was another story.

That’s the only complaint I’ve made. Ever since then I’ve only received one copy of the paper delivered to my house. I don’t complain about not receiving the papers. This is one case where its better not to receive.

But what happens to the copies of the Leader that don’t get delivered? Its possible there is currently no delivery person in the area during that time. It seems the Leader goes through 5 or 6 delivery people a year in my neighborhood. I see a lot of things when I’m out walking my dogs. Over the years I’ve seen bundles of the Leader dumped in local ditches, in the alley that runs east and west between 177B and 179th Streets, behind 59th Avenue, in Cloverdale Creek, off 57 Avenue, close to 173 Street, and in the dumpster when I lived in Dogwood Gardens. Its very clear that the people who are getting paid per paper they deliver are finding it easier to dump them in mass quantities somewhere. I’m sure nobody complains that they’re not receiving the Leader.

Once again my copies of the Surrey Leader and Cloverdale Reporter that should have been delivered yesterday didn’t arrive. Though I did get the Leader this past Wednesday.

Hit or miss. That the delivery style of the Surrey Leader.

The Surrey Leader

When I was growing up in Cloverdale, the building on the northwest corner of 176th Street and 57th Avenue was home to the Surrey Leader. Sometime in the 1980’s the Surrey Leader relocated to a new building and their old building became a pawn shop and now La Belle Vie, a retail shop, is located here.

The Surrey Leader used to be a subscription only weekly newspaper, delivered on Thursdays. My parents had a subscription for many years until my mother cancelled it sometime in the mid or late seventies. It used to come in folded format, similar to the format still used today by the Vancouver Sun.

Two or three years after my mother cancelled her subscription, a copy of the Surrey Leader arrived in the mailbox. My mother phoned their office to find out what was going on. The receptionist told her the newspaper was now being delivered for free to all houses in Surrey and asked her how she liked it. “I don’t like it at all,” my mother responded. “The reason I cancelled my subscription a few years ago is because all your newspaper ever writes about is abortion and the school board. And after all these years, the newspaper I received today, that’s all you’re still writing about.” So my mother was an unhappy recipient of the free newspaper. We referred to it as the Shitty Leader.

Over the years the newspaper has transformed to a tabloid style of print and after all these years no longer devotes half its space to abortion, though the quality of the other articles is debatable. It eventually became a twice a week newspaper and then three times a week. How much of the Shitty Leader does one need dropped on their doorstep? I think it has again returned to a twice a week paper. I’m really not sure because delivery is sketchy.

When I was growing up the Surrey Leader included photos and articles of locals getting married. As I reached my late teens and early twenties I recognized a lot of former classmates featured in the wedding section. Somehow this feature has long since been dropped from the current edition. There were more articles about people in the community doing good things or interesting things. More articles about people involved in the arts, local kids doing good in Scouts or Guides, and high school band concerts. I think this had more to do with the weekly newspaper. The Province and the Sun, daily newspapers, covered the news. A weekly newspaper didn’t cover news so much because it was usually stale news by the time it hit the mailboxes, but it certainly covered community events.

The current Leader, covers some events, but its more news than coverage of local people.

Playing at the Clova from Dec 5 - 11 2009

Playing at the Clova from December 5 - 11 is a movie that Kerry wants to see - Pirate Radio, so I guess we'll be heading downtown one night next week.

Starting nightly at 7pm is Pirate Radio.

The 2nd feature is Whip It. Oops, by the time I got home I forgot what time it starts, but it was after 9pm, I think 9:10 nightly.

Last show lets out around 11pm. Times are approximate. The Clova doesn't start the movie until the crowd around the concession has diminished. Bring your own reusable popcorn and drink containers and fill them up for $2. Admission is $7, stay for one or both movies. Tuesday nights are $4.

What's happening in Cloverdale in December 2009

December 5, 12, and 13 – Free photo with Santa at London Drugs in Cloverdale Crossing Mall – 17685 64th Avenue. 2 – 4pm on the two Saturdays and Sunday Dec 13 session is from 1 – 3pm.

December 6, 12, and 19 – Cloverdale trolley tours will be operating between 10am and 6pm. A few years ago this was a trolley pulled by two draft horses, but this one is on loan from the Vancouver Trolley Company that operates sightseeing tours around Vancouver. Its free to ride but they ask people to bring donations for Cloverdale’s Christmas hamper. Trolley stops at Kwantlen College on 180th – across from Stampede Tack, stops at Clover Square Village Mall on Hihway 10 and 177B Street, Hawthorne Square on 176th Street, about halfway between 57th and 58th Avenues, Fraser Downs, Cloverdale Crossing Mall at 64th Avenue and 176th Street, and oddly enough at Clayton Crossing up on the Fraser Highway and 188th Street. Probably has something to do with Coast Capital sponsoring the trolley and they have a branch at that location. Takes about half an hour to do a full loop.

Sunday, December 6 – free movie at the Clova Theatre. Elf will be playing starting at 4pm. This is a really funny movie, should be on TV a few times over December if you can't get to the Clova.

Sunday, December 6 – Santa Parade starts at 6pm. Last year they cancelled the parade at the last minute due to snow. Kind of ironic. Christmas, Santa, snow all seem to go together. Freezing temperatures are in the forecast later this week, so we’ll see if any snow hits and makes a repeat cancelled performance. There are several places to watch the parade, but normally the best spot is on 176th Street around Hawthorne Square in order to watch the Christmas tree atop the Dale Building being lit. The parade starts in the fairgrounds and goes down 176A Street and then down 58A Avenue to 176th Street, and ending at 56A Avenue. Various groups are usually selling or giving away hot dogs, popcorn, and hot chocolate. Bring food or cash donations for Cloverdale’s Christmas hamper.

Saturday, December 12 – pancake breakfast at the Cloverdale Legion. For $4, pancakes, eggs, sausages, coffee, and orange juice. 17567 – 57th Avenue.

Saturday, December 12 – Christmas open house at the Stewart Farm at 13723 Crescent Road from noon to 4pm. Tour the house, make a Christmas ornament, and enjoy a hot apple cider. Admission by donation.

Christmas decorating in downtown Cloverdale

The city crews have started putting up Christmas decorations around Cloverdale. No fun feat for them given the heavy rains and wind we've experienced recently.

There is a string of lights at each end of 176th Street, one closer to Highway 10 and one string closer to 58th Avenue that were put up a couple of weeks ago. The one closest to 58th is only half working. Hope they get that fixed soon.

Some lights are up and they've started putting up wreaths. I don't see the Christmas tree on top of the Dale Building yet. The Christmas parade is only 10 days away so I hope they get the decorating done soon. They usually do a good job and its nice to walk downtown in the evenings and admire the Christmas lights. That is when its not raining.....

Playing at the Clova from Nov 27 - Dec 3 2009

I was walking past the Clova this morning, yes before the rain hit, and saw they have next week's movie posted for November 27 - December 3.

Only one movie playing this week and its Disney's A Christmas Carol. Movie plays at 7pm nightly. No second feature. Lets out around 8:35. But on Friday and Saturday night they are playing it again at 9pm.

Admission is $7 or $4 if you go on Tuesday. Bring your own reuseable popcorn or drink container and fill up at the concession for $2.

The theatre is located in downtown Cloverdale on 176th Street, between 58th and 57th Avenues, east side of the road.

Cloverdale Creek

Yes, there is a Cloverdale Creek running through Cloverdale. Its kind of a joke, similar to the Los Angeles River down in California. Could almost double as an oversized ditch. But its a real little creek and when I was younger small fish, I suppose some species of salmon, could be seen swimming in there. Its been so long that I can't even be sure where the original Cloverdale Creek ran through town. I remember it running alongside and across 176th Street in the 58th Avenue to 60th Avenue areas. There used to be an Anglican Church on 176th, kind of in the area where that big vacant lot near the 7-11 is. The creek ran alongside it. It has since been covered over, but with the big cement culverts to protect the fish and keep the water flowing. Part of the parking lot over the United Church has Cloverdale Creek running beneath it. But these days the only place that Cloverdale Creek can actually be seen is on 57th Avenue, between the Beaver Lodge, and closer to 173 Street. From either side of the avenue, the creek can be seen running back towards Cloverdale, and then towards Highway 10 before it becomes encased in the culverts again. I suppose it must drain out to the Nikomekl River eventually, but I'm not too sure. The creek was mostly covered over before I was ten years old. These days the area around Cloverdale Creek on 57th Avenue is pretty much a dumping ground for people who don't want to deliver the local newspapers or flyers. Ever wonder why so many of the storm drains around 58th Avenue and other parts around downtown Cloverdale are stamped with fish? That's because Cloverdale Creek is still running through town and fish are still living in the creek. Don't send any pollutants into the storm drains or it could potentially kill the small fry that live there. And there you have it. Part of Cloverdale's hidden history.

Playing at the Clova from Nov 20 - Nov 26 2009

This week at the Clova, from November 20 - 26. The movie theatre is on Cloverdale's main street, near the Clova Inn. 5732 - 176th Street. Admission is $7, whether you stay for one or both movies.

Starting at 7pm is The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Around 8:50 is Paranormal Activity.

They're both fairly short movies, the final show letting out just before 10:30pm.

Bring your own reusable popcorn and drink containers and fill up at the concession for $2.

First Christmas song in a store!

And the winner in the first Christmas song I hear in a store goes to the Real Canadian Superstore in Langley.

I was in there yesterday, Saturday Nov 14, and they are playing Christmas songs.

Ironically enough I went in there to buy a food normally associated with Christmas - candy cane ice cream. I wasn't sure if it would be out in the stores yet. My mother used to buy candy cane ice cream every December. But the one sold at the Superstore goes a step further and has a chocolate fudge crackle running through it. I don't always find it because it sells out fast. They didn't have any yesterday, so I don't know if that means its not stocked yet or was and its all sold and they're waiting for more. There was nothing else I wanted to buy there so I left empty handed.

I did see candy cane ice cream (no chocolate in it) at Price Smart Foods in Cloverdale.

I saw Egg Nog for sale in the stores in September. There's something not quite right about drinking egg nog in the summer so I haven't bought any yet. I'll probably buy some in early December and then again closer to Christmas. Kerry makes very nice egg nog lattes so I'll be looking forward to them very soon.

Playing at the Clova from Nov 13 - Nov 19 2009

I walked by the Clova on Thursday night to see what was playing this week. I remembered the name of the first movie, Law Abiding Citizen, but hadn't walked the end of the block when I forgot the second one, though I remembered something about Capitalism. I was distracted by a sign up in the window of the ticket booth. About a month ago the Clova has pinned a notice offering admission discounts to people who are wearing or doing something. For example on Halloween everyone wearing a costume got a discount. Thursday night's discount was for couples who kiss, and for some reason I kept thinking that was the name of the movie so it threw me off. Anyway, when you go to the Clova keep your eye out for the special and see if you qualify for that night's discount.

Playing at 7pm this week is Law Abiding Citizen.

Starting around 8:55 is Capitalism: A Love Story.

Both shows let out around 11pm.

Admission is $7, stay for one movie or watch both for the same price. Tuesday nights is $4.

I say "about" in the staring times because the Clova with its small town atmosphere does not start the first movie if there is a huge line of people at the concession. They wait till the lobby has cleared and then start. Usually the Clova does not show trailers, so once the lights dim the movie is about to start.

Bring your own reusable popcorn or drink container and fill it for $2.

Is it too early for Christmas music?

When I was growing up just after Halloween the stores would all start putting up their Christmas displays. These days, the Halloween stuff seems to come out in August.

But what about the Christmas music? I do like it in December, but not earlier than that.

Who’s the first to come out with Christmas music? I won’t include Staples who start in the summertime every year with their back to school campaign and It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

The first Christmas tune I heard was on November 1, a commercial on TV for MADD featuring the music of Deck the Halls.

Today on Global TV Morning News a group came on to sing White Christmas. After the first chorus one of the singers called out “Its never too early for this song!” and they did another round. Some people might disagree with that statment. It is too early.

Many years ago a company I worked for had piped in music. Around the middle of November we heard the worst rendition ever of Little Drummer Boy. I guess they must have got a lot of complaints because we didn’t hear any more Christmas music until December.

I haven't done a lot of shopping this month but so far none of the stores or restaurants I’ve been in are playing Christmas music yet. Though Christmas music by the end of November isn’t so bad.

Several years ago we were down in Hollywood during the Thanksgiving long weekend, and down in the states that’s pretty much the kick off to the Christmas season. The main reason for our trip was to watch Hollywood’s Christmas Parade. It was the last weekend in November and Christmas music was being played everywhere. Around Hollywood are a few Christmas tree lots, with trees going for well over $200 apiece. Metal trees and trees flocked in just about every color imaginable. I believe there were also live Christmas trees brought down from Oregon, but those were really big bucks. And with Christmas over a month away, what is the longevity?

Although its still a little too early for Christmas music for my liking, I’m looking forward to hearing the carols in a couple of weeks time.

Remembrance Day on Wednesday November 11 2009

If you're planning to attend the Rememberance Day services in Cloverdale on November 11, it starts at 10:15am in the cenotaph next to the museum, near the corner of 176A Street and Highway 10. Arrive early to find a parking spot. 56A Avenue is usually closed off, but parking can be found on the nearby streets, 176A, 177B, etc. Some people park in the lot at the back of the Clova Inn (176A and 57 Avenue) and walk over. You want to play on arriving 20 to 30 minutes early to find a parking spot and walk over to the museum. The wreath laying starts around 11am. There are usually several airplane flypasts during the service as they make the rounds at various cenotaphs across the Lower Mainland holding services. It always rains on Remembrance Day and there is an 80% chance of showers tomorrow.

If you're closer to White Rock, the Remembrance Day Service is held in the United Church at 10am. Its on Centre Street, on the corner of Buena Vista. If you know where the City Hall and Library is, its about half a block away. Wreath laying ceremonies at 11am. Its behind City Hall, kind of off Pacific Avenue and inbetween Buena Vista. Just follow the crowd from the service.

I was going to mention Port Kells because they usually have a Remembrance Day Service too for anyone closer to that area, but I can't find any mention of it this year. In the past its been held at the Port Kells Elementary School on 88th Avenue and about 190th Street. But I just don't know this year. My sources have let me down!

Handydart employees on the picket line

Most people know from the news that Handydart has been on strike for the past couple of weeks. They keep their buses in a parking lot on the south side of Highway 10, inbetween 176th Street and Highway 15. Next to Red Barn Antiques and across the road from the Husky/Mohawk gas station.

The striking employees are standing on the sidewalk in front of their parking lot on Highway 10 with their signs and waving at cars.

Remember when we were kids and walking down the street and a semi truck would drive by and we'd pump our arms in the air to get the driver to blow the air horn? That was fun as a kid. Most of those drivers probably had kids back home or otherwise liked kids and were happy to comply.

But darned if those strikers aren't doing the same thing, pumping their arms up and down in the air to get the truckers to blow their horns. And these are adults. How childish is that? I realize it must be pretty boring standing out there on the street if they have to resort back to their childhood jollies. If I'm driving in the area I can hear the truckers blowing their horns at the striker's request. We were driving down Highway 10 the other day and heard a trucker. Kerry said a truck must be running a light and blowing his horn to alert the other drivers at the intersection. I said it was more than likely the strikers encouraging the truckers to honk. I said that must be pretty annoying to the people working in the adjacent business, hearing these truckers honk all the time. I live a few blocks away and I can't hear the honking when I'm inside the house, but if I'm outside I can hear those truck horns blaring away.

I even had the opportunity to talk to someone who works near the intersection and she said the honking is driving her up the wall trying to get her work done. She's also talked to some of the picketers. What I didn't know is that Handydart is owned by an American company. Doesn't make any difference to me who the owner is, but that might explain the huge Canadian flag that the stikers have out on the picket line.

The other thing the employee said is that the strikers are being rude to any cars that drive past with American plates. Screaming obscenities and giving them the finger. I actually witnessed this, before I knew about that. I wondered what their problem was. I just figured it was one of their managers driving past. But I guess it was aimed at a car with Washington license plates. She said that she spoke with an American couple who were cursed out as they drove past the picket line. They couldn't believe what had happened to them. Their impression of Cloverdale is that its an unfriendly town and they don't feel safe here.

Nice going Handydart employees!

I don't think anyone is challenging your right to strike for the issues that are important to you. But childish antics at getting truckers to blow their horn, creating noise for the locals, and flipping off cars from the states is not the way to get your message across.

Grow up.

Kind of creepy, Halloween leftovers

Here's a very good lesson why its important to put away the Halloween decorations asap after October 31. Our neighbor hasn't put his decorations away and we're enjoying a very windy day in Cloverdale and other parts of southwestern BC. One of the ghouls escaped and is now hanging around the power lines. Kind of creepy watching it getting battered by the wind, almost like its ready to fly away if it wasn't tangled. I have no idea how the neighbor's going to get this one down!

Everyone else enjoying the wind today? It's a warm wind. Rain on and off. I have a feeling we might lose our power later on. Got the candles and flashlights ready to go.

Playing at the Clova from Nov 6 - Nov 12 2009

Chilly night to be out walking the dog, but we walked downtown to see if next weeks movies are up yet at the Clova. And they are for November 6 - 12.

At 7pm is Couples Retreat.

The second feature starts around 9pm Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant.

Admission is $7, same price for one movie or stay to watch both. Tuesday night's admission is $4. Bring your own reusable popcorn and beverage containers and fill up for $2.

What's happening in Cloverdale in November 2009

A few things going on in and around Cloverdale this November. Definitely Christmas is in the air.

Saturday November 7 - 9:30am - 2:30pm - Christmas bazaar and craft sale at the Cloverdale Senior's Centre. Its located in the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, the former museum building. 6022 - 176th Street.

Saturday November 7 - 10am - 3pm - craft and bake sale at the Hazelmere United Church located on 184th Street at 16th Avenue, on the north east corner of the intersection.

Wednesday November 11 at 10:15am Remembrance Day services at the Cloverdale Cenotaph, in the square outside the museum on Highway 10 and 176A Street. (17710 - 56A Ave.). Wreath laying and there are usually several planes doing fly pasts.

Saturday November 14 - 8am - 11:30am - pancake breakfast at the Cloverdale Legion 17567 - 57th Avenue. $4 gets you pancakes, eggs, sausages, coffee or tea, and juice.

Friday November 20 from 6pm - 10pm and Saturday November 21 10am - 5pm is Christmas in Cloverdale gifts and crafts for sale in Shannon Hall in the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. $2 admission donated to the food bank.

Please remember to buy a poppy.

Another Halloween is over

It was a pretty quiet night on our street last night as far as trick or treaters were concerned. The first kids showed up at 6:45 and it was all pretty much over by 8pm. We had about 20 kids. Normally we get 40 - 60. And this year it was mostly smaller kids, the under 5 years old bracket. The last trick or treaters I got were 2 girls about 10 years old and there were a couple of boys a little earlier who were about 8 years old. It also appeared to me that we had some kids walk on past our house without coming in. We were in the living room last night, lights on, curtain open, so we could keep an eye on what was happening outside. Also our front door light was on. Nothing about our house would indicate we weren't home.

We handed out Halloween sized chocolate bars and a bag of chips to each kid. I got plenty of leftovers. Good news for me!

When I was a kid we got started trick or treating as soon as we ate dinner, which was always early on Halloween. We'd join up with our friends a couple of houses over around 5:30 and away we'd go. We'd go down one side of 182 Street and then up the other side. Then down the hill on 58th Avenue, by now crossing back and forth. No one wants to walk up that hill again. We'd continue on down 58th for a bit and then make our way over to 60th Avenue and head up home. We'd finish around 8 or 8:30. My pillowcase would be heavy by that time. I trick or treated up until 12 years old. The next year I was going to Cloverdale Junior High and by that time it wasn't cool to trick or treat because that was only something the little kids did.

Back then we trick or treated with a group of neighborhood kids, no adults in tow. Occasionally parents hired a babysitter, one of the teenagers living in the neighborhood, to accompany their kids. The lazy parents used their cars to transport their children trick or treating. Our parents stayed home to hand out the candies. Last night all the kids had their parents with them. That makes sense for the small kids, but even the older kids had parents waiting on the street.

I'm not sure if the trend now is to drive kids to newer subdivisions where the houses are 5 feet apart from each other and walk those neighborhoods. More houses can be covered in a shorter period of time. Also the news said parent's fears of H1N1 were keeping trick or treaters off the street.

I remember growing up in Cloverdale and we got a lot of homemade treats when we headed out on Halloween. The best score was the lady who made caramel apples. We also got popcorn balls and cookies. I'm afraid those homemade treats are a thing of the past. Too much paranoioa about possible tampering or poisoning.

Years ago when Halloween was over we could expect to see Christmas items hit the stores. Who are we kidding these days? I saw Christmas items in the stores at the end of August.

Playing at the Clova from Oct 30 - Nov 5 2009

With all the rain we've had in the past couple of days I've not been too motivated to walk my dog all over town. But this morning its dry and we had a good walk around Cloverdale and stopped to see what's playing at the Clova this week. Nothing that interests me enough to attend this week, but people have different tastes. Hopefully they'll still get good attendance all week. Both movies are on the short side. The final show lets out around 10:05pm.

At 7pm is Zombieland.

Starting at 8:45 is 9.

Cost is $7, stay for one or both movies. Tuesday nights are $4. Bring your own reusable popcorn or drink container and fill it up for $2.

Sushi in Cloverdale

When I was growing up in Cloverdale we had a handful of restaurants. No fast food joints, but we had a couple of take out drive in restaurants. There were no Japanese restaurants when I was growing up, but today Cloverdale has several places where one can enjoy sushi. Growing up I would have never imagined that one day Cloverdale would have 5 Japanese restaurants to choose from.

The only complaint I have about most of these places is they close around 8:30, varies from restaurant to restaurant, and depending if its the weekend, might be open till 9 or 9:30. We often work late and there's nothing worse than craving sushi after 9pm and nowhere to find it.

Here's a breakdown for any sushi lovers.

Nikko Sushi has been in Cloverdale for many years. Located at 5676 176th Street. Its a small restaurant with a few tables inside and Japanese decor. Family run business, friendly proprietors. We've enjoyed eating here over the years. Sit down dining and take out service.

Sashimi Sushi is located in the Clover Square Village, on Highway 10 and approximately 176A Street, kind of behind Dairy Queen, in that block of stores. They have tables in here but its more of a take out service. No table service. Go up to the counter and order and either take it home or sit down at a table and eat. It was OK. For the same price you can get better service and atmosphere elsewhere in town.

Nan Sushi is located almost across the street at 17618 56th Avenue. They haven't been here too long. This establishment has changed hands frequently over the years. Some might remember it as a fish and chips restaurant or Chinese food was once here too. Sorry, I haven't tried here yet and can't give any recommendations. The only time we stopped to eat here, they'd already closed for the night.

O E C Japanese Restaurant is at 5827 176th Street. They opened about 8 years ago if memory serves correctly. However I'd say at least half this time they've been closed for renovations. I don't know if they just shut down for half a year or longer and go on vacation or what they're doing. But whenever it reopens and I go back, the restaurant looks exactly the same so I'm not sure what was being renovated, if anything. The food is good and its open later than most of the other sushi places in Cloverdale, closing at 10pm. Sit down and take out service. Their walls are covered with photos of patrons. They will probably whip out a camera and ask to take your photo while you're here but you can decline if you don't want your smiling image up on their wall.

Umami Sushi has recently opened earlier this year in the Clover Crossings Mall on 64th Avenue and 176th Street. Sit down service and take out. Their food is fantastic. We've gone back many times. The love fan dinner is a great deal.

But its after 9:30 and you want sushi. And its not Cloverdale, its in Fleetwood, but Il Uk Jo is open until 11pm. This is an all you can eat Korean BBQ and sushi restaurant. They have tamani rooms and table dining. I'm assuming they also offer take out service, but we've always eaten in. They offer all you can eat for $19.99. $1 more on weekends and holidays. 90 minute limit. For the Korean BBQ you cook it yourself on a gas wok that is on the table. Or rather Kerry cooks it himself because its chicken, beef, or pork and I don't eat that. The food is OK. There is better sushi around, but for all you can eat they have to cut costs in places and that's usually the rice. If you're really hungry and craving sushi this is the place to go. They're located on the south west corner at the intersection of the Fraser Highway and 152 Street.

Playing at the Clova from Oct 23 - 29 2009

Only one movie playing this week at the Clova, at 7pm nightly. An animated film. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.

Admission is $7 for this one show only, $4 on Tuesday night. Bring your own reusable container to fill with popcorn or a soda pop for $2.

Haunted barn for Halloween fun

I finally saw a haunted barn near Cloverdale when I drove past 192 Street just south of 32nd Avenue, on the east side of the road. I've seen it open over the past few years and this year its put on by Earl Marriott high school students.

The actual address is 3048 - 192 Street. The web page is www.barnyardphantoms.com but there isn't much there, other than the basic information, which may be less confusing than what I'm about to write.

Hours are now through October 25, then closed for a couple of days, and open again from October 27 to October 31. Opens at 7pm. Closes at 10pm weekdays and open to 11pm weekends. Admission is $7.

Power out!

Power just came back on in Cloverdale. It was out for about half an hour. Most annoying in our house because our home alarm goes onto back up mode and beeps the whole time to let us know the power is out. Like the lack of lights, radio, computer, etc didn't clue us in.

This was a planned outage with BC Hydro working on their equipment.

For information on power outages, visit Hydro's web page:

http://www.bchydro.com/outages/orsMain.jsp

Shaw is bugging me with junk mail

Is anyone else getting inundated with junk mail from Shaw trying to push their cable or phone services?

I had a bad experience with Shaw in 2000 when I was living in Dogwood Gardens. We had high speed Internet with them and decided to change over to Telus. Bottom line was the service from Shaw sucked. But that's neither here nor there. Some people will have a bad experience with a company and someone else will have a wonderful experience. When I lived at Dogwood Gardens we were on a business account with Shaw to provide cablevision to all the units. Cable was included in our monthly strata fee. We did not have individual accounts with Shaw. When the technician showed up to disconnect our Internet - about one month after we'd cancelled - he went to the tech service area. Didn't need to come into our house. While he was disconnecting the Internet he saw that we had cablevision. Well duh, like it or not, everyone at Dogwood Gardens had cablevision. It came out of our strata whether or not we even owned a TV set. This technician noticed that we did not have an account with Shaw for cablevision. No kidding. Dogwood Gardens was a business account, not individual accounts. So he decided we were stealing cable and took it upon himself to disconnect our cablevision. Without a word to us of course. Remember, he didn't have to come into our house. We phoned Shaw to say we had no service. And here we got the big runaround. Transferred to business accounts, transferred back to personal accounts, and back again. No one wanted to take responsibility for why we had no cablevision. After about 45 minutes we got a manager on the phone and it was discovered then that the Internet man had disconnected our cablevision. We were told it would be connected again in 3 days. Huh? Whose fault is it that some guy took it upon himself to willy nilly cancel our cable? You think they'd be out there lickety split to fix this, but they weren't.

I did fax a complaint to Shaw about it taking 3 days to reconnect our cablevision, but they did not have the courtesy to respond to me.

So I severed all ties with Shaw. I'll never use their TV service, phone, or anything else of theirs ever again.

When we moved into our current house a little over 2 years ago we've been receiving lots of junk mail from Shaw. And if that's not bad enough, in duplicate. One envelope will be addressed Current Resident Main. And the second one will be addressed to Current Resident Basement. What does Shaw think I'm going to do? Read one upstairs and then run down to the basement and read the other one? I've been sending them all back marked "refused" but they keep coming. I did complain to them that they didn't have the courtesy to respond to my fax from 2000 but have the audacity to send me junk mail in duplicate. This time I received a response from Shaw that they would remove my address from their mailing list. That was 5 months ago and the junk mail keeps coming in duplicate. Including two more today from Shaw Digital Cable wanting me to sign up for their service. And the odd thing was the phone number to sign up for their service can't be traced while doing a reverse search on www.411.ca.

How annoying can a company be?

Playing at the Clova from Oct 16 - 22 2009

This week it gets a little confusing at the Clova. The double feature plays Friday to Wednesday. And then a single on Thursday.

The double feature playing nightly from Oct 16 - 21 starting at 7pm is The Invention of Lying.

At 8:55pm its (500) Days of Summer.

And then to throw in a curve ball on Thursday night, one movie only Julie and Julia. I'll have to double check this but I believe this is something to do with a fundraiser for breast cancer.

The cost of admission is $7, or $4 on Tuesday. Watch one or both movies for that price. The single feature on Thursday, Julie and Julia is also $7. So just a oner for that price on that night.

Bring your own reusable popcorn and drink container and fill them up for $2.

Price Smart Foods early closing

Tonight we finished up at the farm and driving home Kerry decided he wanted garlic bread with the spaghetti we were planning for dinner. I did not want garlic bread because I find pasta dishes filling enough without it. But he wasn't giving in. Garlic bread or nothing. And so we headed to Price Smart Foods around 7pm because they are closed at 10pm nightly. That's the one in the shopping plaza on 64th Avenue and 176th Street next to London Drugs.

I decided there were a couple of things I needed to pick up at Price Smart Foods. Nothing urgent but seeing as how we were going there anyway I could use milk and cranberry juice.

We arrived in the parking lot about 7:15 and the lot was empty. No cars! What's going on? We drove up to the store and it was shut down with the iron gates pulled tight and nobody inside. There was no updates on the door advising they'd be shutting down early.

I wonder if there was a robbery. No police cars in sight, but if the place was robbed earlier in the afternoon standard procedure would be to close for the rest of the day and put a sign up explaining why.

No signs posted.

Price Smart was open earlier this morning when we'd driven past.

Very weird. I can see them closing early on Thanksgiving - tomorrow, Monday October 12 - because that's a stat holiday. But closing early on the Sunday evening before Thanksgiving? I mean that would just tick people off who realize they don't have something in the house and need to run out and buy a can of cranberries or something.

There is nothing on the website. I wonder what happened. I sure hope all staff and any customers involved are OK.

Pancake breakfast at the Cloverdale Legion

I noticed the Legion is holding their pancake breakfast Saturday October 10. Cost is $4.00 and includes pancakes, sausages, eggs, coffee, and orange drink.

The Legion is located on the north side of 57th Avenue between 176th Street and the Cloverdale Bypass. Across from the firehall.

Playing at the Clova from Oct 9 - 15 2009

This week at the Clova is a remake of the old movie and then TV show - Fame playing nightly at 7pm.

At 9pm its Love Happens.

Admission is $7 - watch one movie or stay for both, same price. Tuesday night its $4.

Bring your own reusable popcorn container or drink container and fill up for $2.

The Clova is located in downtown Cloverdale on 176th Street between 57th and 58th Avenues.

Marble Slab Creamery

A couple of days ago while driving home from Langley I spotted a van on 64th Avenue with Marble Slab Creamery on it advertising their ice cream. We wondered where they were. Wonder no more because in today's mail we got a coupon for their location which is in the new shopping plaza behind Wal-Mart on 24th Avenue and 160th Street. Almost across the parking lot from the Future Shop.

The coupons promoted were buy an ice cream cone and get the second one free. $3 off an ice cream cake. And buy a quart of ice cream at regular price and get the second one for half price.

We were in the area and went in to give it a try seeing as how its a nice sunny day. First thing is 4 people in line in front of us and only one clerk serving customers, so we waited several minutes to be served. I did see another women peeking out from the back room a couple of times. She finally came out to assist just as we were paying and getting ready to leave. By this time several customers were behind us, everyone taking advantage of the BOGO coupon on a nice day.

First off its kind of hard to figure this place out. They have a menu and they have prices but its difficult to figure out exactly how much an ice cream cone is. Basically you choose one of their concoctions which is ice cream mixed with other stuff like walnuts, strawberries, chocolate chips, marshmallows. Must be over 50 ingredients to be mixed in with the ice cream. The clerk scoops up ice cream, puts it on a scale to weigh it, and then returns to the marble slab to mix in the fixings, and puts it in a waffle cone. By now the ice cream is getting kind of soft and melting. I chose a Snickerdoodle - vanilla ice cream with Snickers and caramel. Kerry chose strawberries and cream. When all was said and done at the cash register the total was $6.77. And that's with a BOGO! Wowsers! $6.77 for 2 ice creams, I can see it, but to come in without a coupon and spend that much each on one ice cream cone - no way. The ice cream really isn't that great anyway.

About an hour later Kerry had a stomach ache.

The ice cream cakes were nearly $30 each. The quart of ice cream was $8.95. To buy 2 with the coupon would be nearly $14, comparable to buying Haagen Daz ice cream.

Bad idea to come here if you have nut allergies. The ingredients are mixed on a marble slab that is scraped down inbetween cones, but to my eye it would be plausible that some leftover ingredients from a previous ice cream order may still linger on the marble slab.

So, I'd say if you have a coupon for a BOGO head on in and try it. Otherwise skip this creamery. There are better ice cream places around.

What kind of books do I like?

So with all this talk of waiting for my books from Chapters that was delayed by Canada Post, that brings up the question of what kind of books do I like to read? I’m a big fan of Stephen King. I own all his novels. I still buy them, but some of them have sat for years unread on my bookshelves. I’ll never be able to part with my collection. Carrie was the first novel I read shortly after it was published. And or course that movie is in my collection. Partly because John Travolta was in it! I like Christine, The Shining, and Pet Semetary. Gee, it looks like most of my favorites were what King wrote in the late 70’s through the mid-80’s. I also have his book On Writing which is pretty much his autobiography. The book gives glimpses into what is going on in Stephen King’s mind - do we really want to know how he comes up with this creepy stuff?!

So I haven’t read much of Stephen King in recent years, but I’m still reading. My tastes run from murder mysteries, chick lit, comedy, romance, literary travel, and autobiographies. I also have most of James Michener’s collection. Now those novels are part history lesson part fiction. My favourite Michener novel is The Drifters. The characters, who for the most part were young Americans, traveled to places that I am familiar with and spent some time in Spain, particularly Torremolinos, where I also hung out when I was trekking around Europe in my early twenties.

But lately my tastes have been running to a combination of chick lit murder mysteries with a little romance and comedy tossed in. Huh? Is such a combo possible?

I really enjoy books by Cynthia Baxter who writes the reigning cats and dogs series and the murder packs a suitcase series. In the first series veterinarian Jessica Popper stumbles upon corpses inbetween her animal care duties. Most of the series takes place around Long Island, New York but one novel took place at a veterinary conference in Maui. In the murder packs a suitcase series, a new travel writer Mallory Marlowe goes to Orlando, Florida to write an article about whether or not the old Florida family style attractions from the sixties still exist. She becomes a suspect when a fellow travel writer is murdered. In the second book in the series she travels to Aspen, Colorado to write an article about what non-skiiers can do for fun in this town and to visit an old high school friend who operates a successful spa. Her friend is found murdered in a mud spa and suspicion is the name of the game while Jessica tries to find out who killed her friend.

I’m also into novels by Elaine Viets who also writes about ordinary women who become amateur sleuths and solve murders. One series is called dead end jobs and follows Helen Hawthorne who moves from one minimum wage job in Florida to another and one murder to another. Her other series is Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper. And as the title suggests, Josie works as a mystery shopper and solves murders on the side.

I’ve also started reading another series of book based in Florida by Blaize Clement who writes the Dixie Hemingway mysteries. Dixie is a former cop who now runs a pet sitting business. But she can’t dodge her old stomping grounds or a former co-worker when she comes across dead bodies in her new occupation.

I’ve also been enjoying a series written by Kathy Brandt diving mystery novels featuring Hannah Simpson. Kerry also enjoys the novels about this scuba diving cop. Alas the last novel she wrote in this series was 3 years ago and left us on a cliffhanger. Just who was coming in the door in the last sentence of her last book??? The author has a website but no contact information. I have tried emailing her publisher and her agents to find out if there is going to be another novel, but all I get is sales pitch responses and no answer to my question.

Those are the series and authors who have currently captured my attention. Nothing like putting a paperback novel into my purse and pulling it out to read in waiting rooms or at the barn while I’m waiting for my horses to finish eating their dinner.

Fat Phege's Fudge Factory

Back in early 1978 my mother and I went over to Victoria to check out the University of Victoria. I’d previously been considering a couple of universities in Ontario, but after taking a look at UVic, that was where I ended up going. All irrelevant back story.

It was during this trip that we looked at some brochures in the hotel and discovered one for Fat Phege’s Fudge Factory located in Market Square. That’s a good walk from the Parliament Building or the Empress Hotel. Head up Government Street and turn right at Johnson and the square is down a ways. Its full of curio shops and restaurants.

Fat Phege’s has great fudge. Since that first trip in 1978 I’ve been back there countless times. I’m sure I went there at least every month that I attended UVic and whenever I’m in town I have to stop in for some fudge. I’ve bought fudge all over the world and I’d say Fat Phege’s is among the best I’ve had.

A few years later I was delighted to be shopping at Guildford Mall one day and there was a Fat Phege’s just opened there. I can’t recall if the owner sold his Victoria shop and come over to the mainland to open a sister store or if they had decided to expand and open the second shop. Unfortunately they didn’t stay in business too long there. I guess Surreyites don’t appreciate good fudge. Or maybe it was the prices. They are up there.

Back in the early nineties when Kerry and I started seeing each other he knew how much I liked this fudge and he phoned in to place an order. At the time I was renting the basement suite at my parent’s house so he asked the staff member if they could put the fudge in a plain wrapper and not put their name on it anywhere because he thought my father might get into it first. Ha ha! That’s funny! But the clerk did tell him that a lot of the fudge they mail out goes missing and now that he thought of it, maybe it was due to identifying themselves as Fat Phege’s Fudge Factory on the package.

So I wonder. Was it the Canada Post employees enjoying some fudge? Or perhaps another member of the household who got to the mail first that day?

Fat Phege’s fudge is pricey, but no more so that any other fudge and candy shop. Check them out on your next visit to our capital.

http://www.fatphegesfudgefactory.com

Playing at the Clova from Oct 2 - 8 2009

This week at the Clova:

The Informant starts at 7pm and the second feature playing again this week is Julie and Julia beginning at 9:05pm.

Nightly costs $7 to come in for either one or both movies. Tuesday night is $4, stay for one or both. Bring your own reusable popcorn container or drink container and fill it up for $2. Or look for the ad in Friday's Surrey Leader for the two movies playing that week, bring in the ad for a free medium popcorn.

We saw Julie and Julia and it was a lot of fun. Meryl Streep really throws herself into her roles and its worth going to see just for her perfect rendition of Julia Child. Matt Damon stars in The Informant and it sounds like the kind of movie Kerry will enjoy so we'll probably go again sometime this week.

Update to getting my package of books from Canada Post

We had to pick up something at the Clover Square Village last night so I stopped back at the postal outlet at Shopper's Drug Mart to pick up my books. It was a bit after 7:30pm.

I waited in line for 5 minutes. A woman sending a package couldn't decide how she wanted to send it and got prices on just about every imaginable way of getting her package to its destination.

Finally it was my turn. The clerk scanned the bar code. My package still hadn't arrived!

However, when I returned around 8:30am this morning my package was there and I now have my books in hand.

I did email a complaint into Canada Post. There's no point for the employees to lie and give a date and time to pick up something at an outlet if they won't have it there at that time. They can write in a different date and time, say 2 days later, as it was in my case. By the time I returned home this morning I'd received an email from Canada Post. They did not know about my second visit there last night. I was told in the email that my package was available for pick up as of 6:00pm October 1. An hour and a half before I showed up at Shopper's Drug Mart only to be told my package had not arrived yet.

I don't see the point in lying to consumers.

Canada Post woes

Yesterday, September 30 2009, I arrived home to find a delivery notice from Canada Post. The Canada Post employee stopped by my house at 12:40 and I was home about an hour later. So I missed it fair and square. Can't be home all the time. I know its 4 paperback books I ordered from Chapters last week. Nothing urgent, but I'll be happy to start reading one of them soon. I kind of wondered why it wasn't just left in my mailbox, albeit sticking out a little, or else left in the gap between the storm door and the front door. I mean its 4 paperback books. How big a package can they come in?

My notice says to pick up after 1300 tomorrow. So that would make it today, Oct 1 after 1pm.
Today its raining but I took my dog, Lacy, and walked to the postal outlet in Shopper's Drug Mart at the Clover Square Village. I arrived at 2pm. The clerk looked at my card, punched the number into her computer, and said she didn't think my package was there. To her credit she went into the back room and searched and also went through some drawers behind her counter looking for it. Nope. Not there. She offered the explanation that the driver must not have dropped it off last night and suggested I phone after 7:30pm tonight and see if its shown up.

Gee, I sure hope the package does turn up. I'd hate to think its lost in action or some Canada Post employee is kicking up their feet and enjoying one of my novels.

It makes one wonder why did the Canada Post employee who left the card put on it to pick up after 1300 tomorrow if he or she was unable to meet that time frame? Like I said its raining and being outside for over half an hour and now dealing with a wet dog all for nothing is not my idea of a fun way to spend the afternoon.

Curling up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. Now I'm talking!

What's happening in Cloverdale in October 2009

Hmm, I was expecting to find all sorts of haunted houses put on by school groups or businesses to raise money for charity in the spirit of Halloween fun, but I've come up short. One of the best haunted houses I went to was a few years ago held at the Heppell's farm on 184th Street and it was put on by students at Lord Tweedsmuir. I believe it was to raise money for the school band's trip, so we went to support them. It was actually a haunted barn and the students did an excellent job of decorating and putting themselves in costumes and acting. But as all kids do, they grew up and graduated, and moved on.... Usually I see some haunted houses signs while driving around. One of the local high schools, and I'm not sure if it was Lord Tweedsmuir or Earl Marriott had a haunted house at a farm on 192 Street near 32nd Avenue last year. And whichever school it was, the other one had a haunted house on 24th Avenue, somewhere around 182 Street. If I see around this month I'll post them later. Usually there are fireworks at the Cloverdale Athletic Park on Halloween night around 7:30. I haven't seen any notices of it yet this year. Will update if I find out for sure.

October 3, Saturday - The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is having a Light the Night walk held at the Millenium Park on 176th Street and 64th Avenue starting at 5:30. For more information http://www.lightthenight.ca/bc/

October 16 - 31 - One has to go a little out of Cloverdale for this one but Potter's Nursery in the Newton area is hosting its annual Potter's House of Horrors each night from Oct 16 - 31 between 6pm and 10pm at 12530 72nd Avenue. Tickets cost $13 each. Between 6pm and 7pm, family hour tickets are $10 each. During this hour the actors and noise levels are toned down to make it less scary. No refunds if anyone decides to exit early!

Hazelmere Pumpkin Patch located at 18507 20 Avenue is open on weekends from 10am to 5pm to pick pumpkins. A tractor pulling a hay wagon takes you out to the field to choose a pumpkin. There is also a small petting zoo.

October 17, Saturday - The Cloverdale Legion located at 17567 57 Avenue is hosting Oktoberfest starting at 5pm. Sausages, potatoes, sauerkraut, veggies and dessert for $9.50.

October 31, Saturday - Halloween! Every year Cloverdale hosts a parade on the Saturday nearest Halloween, and this is one of few years that they hit it on the button. The parade starts at 2pm. There is more information on registering children here http://www.cloverdalebia.com/cgi-bin/itsmy/go.exe?page=13&domain=1&webdir=cloverdale

More bad driving around Cloverdale

Right now 60th Avenue between 176th and 177B Streets is closed for road construction. There are several signs around announcing the closure between September 28 and October 3. (I think! Maybe its the 2nd!) There are plenty of detour signs around too. Basically this has clogged up traffic in both directions on 58th Avenue between those 2 streets. I see a lot of traffic travelling southbound on 176th aka Cloverdale Bypass in the left hand turn lane to turn up 58th Avenue to get around the closure.

Yesterday, Wednesday September 30, I was out at the Honeybee Centre to pick up a free jar of cranberry honey courtesy of a free coupon that came in the mail. I also purchased a jar of raspberry honey while I was there. I'm coming back to Cloverdale on 176th Street coming up to 60th Avenue. I'm in the curb lane because I need to turn right a little ahead. There is a lot of traffic in the left lane. The left hand turn lane from 176th to turn onto 60th Avenue is blocked with pylons. And oddly enough I watch one of the cars in the lane next to me duck between the pylons and get in the left hand turn lane. There are 2 other cars already in the left lane, closer to the intersection. Where do they think they're going to go? 60th Avenue is completely blocked with barricades so no one will drive up there. So now these cars in the left hand turn lane have turned on their right indicators and trying to get back into traffic. There is a huge line of traffic and no one is letting them back in. What are they thinking? That the pylons set up on the left hand turn lane are there for driving practice to weave in and out?

This morning - October 1 - at 8am I was on 188th Street, heading north, and stopped at the traffic light at 64th Avenue. In the oncoming lane across the street from me are vehicles ready to cross the intersection and one truck in the left hand turn lane. Our light turns green. I'm in a newer model Vibe and have good pick up, so away I go but that truck hits the gas, cuts me off, and turns left - east up 64th Avenue. I hit the horn. What a dangerous move, especially when its pouring rain and streets are slick. And get this. He's driving a company truck. I read Fraser River Excavating on the side of the door. I can't figure out why companies allow dangerous drivers to operate their company vehicles that identifies themselves. Talk about bad advertising. Not that I have any reason to use the services of a company that excavates. Can only assume some of their employees are working in the new subdivision areas in Clayton.

When I was returning back to Cloverdale around 8:30 I was headed down 64th Avenue. There is a steep hill between 181A and 180th Streets. Between 7am and 9am on weekdays there is a sign stating no left turns onto 180th Street. And sure enough there is a car with its left turn indicator flashing wanting to turn left on 180th and all the cars on 64th were ducking around it on the shoulder. By the time I got there he'd got a break in traffic and made his turn.

Yup, this town is becoming a haven for bad drivers.

This week at the Clova

Playing this week at the Clova is Julie and Julia and the second feature is The Time Traveler's Wife. The first show starts at 7pm. The second show is at 9:20. Price is $7. Doesn't matter if you stay for one movie or watch both or only show up for the second movie.

If you like to eat popcorn while watching a movie, bring your own container and get it filled with popcorn for $2.

The Clova Theatre

The Clova Theatre was built on the main street in Cloverdale in 1947. Its on the east side of 176th Street between 58th and 58th Avenues.

When I was a kid I think it was an Odeon. Though I could be wrong. For all I know it was a Famous Players. Those were the two movie distributors back then and played different movies at their theatres, though they seemed to have merged now.

The Saturday matinees were a big thing for us kids. The movies cost a quarter to get in. I saw many of the Disney classics here. There were a lot of Disney movies produced in the late sixties that were also played here on Saturdays.

I remember seeing Star Wars here after it opened in 1977. I'd come down in the evening with a friend. The street was packed with a line up. The first show sold out but we bought tickets for the second show a couple of hours later. I remember when we returned and they opened the doors. There was a mad rush, everyone pushing to get inside. There's no way the staff could have verified who had bought tickets and who hadn't.

In the eighties it changed and started showing mostly foreign films and even some live shows here. But in the nineties the Clova revived again, purchased by a young man and his parents, and became known for being lower priced than the big movie houses in the area. The movies were current, probably playing at the other movie houses, but maybe a couple of weeks after the original opening date. The Clova became known for two different movies playing each night. For the same price you can see one or both movies, so its a very good deal.

The Clova also does get new releases the same opening day as the bigger movie houses. The deal is they have to show a new release for two weeks and show only that movie. No two fer's during this 2 week period.

The Clova is also known for serving good popcorn with real butter. They fill a popcorn container halfway, put on melted butter, and then fill the rest of the container and more popcorn. These days the Clova does its part to promote being green and encourages patrons to bring their own reusable containers and for $2 get it filled with popcorn. Most people bring in 4 litre ice cream buckets for their popcorn. And patrons who bring in their own reusable drink containers can also buy a pop for $2. Good value all around.

And everyone who purchases a ticket can enter their name in a monthly draw to win a one year pass to the Clova.

Right now the prices at the Clova are $7 per person. Cheap Tuesdays are $4. That price is good for one or both movies. This is the best value around for going out to the movies.

Taking the train from Cloverdale to Langley

Yes, there used to be a passenger train that stopped in Cloverdale to pick up passengers and then continued to Langley.

I never rode it. A little before my time.

I do remember trains stopping in Cloverdale while I was growing up. Mostly to unload grain at the Co-op on Highway 10 near 176th Street. It was because of the trains stopping there that an overpass was built in the early seventies to keep traffic moving on 176th Street.

Before Cloverdale had a movie theatre my father used to take the train from Cloverdale to Langley to go to the movies. The problem was by the time the movie was finished, there was no return train going back to Cloverdale. This was before bus service came to the area. And before every household had multiple cars. So they boarded the train in Cloverdale, got off in Langley, watched the movie, and then walked home. Yes three miles.

Every now and then someone makes a bid to bring train service back to the Fraser Valley. There's the West Coast Express on the other side of the river from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows going into Vancouver and back again. Trouble is only on weekdays and only during rush hour. Four trains go to Vancouver, then wait there till early afternoon, and then head back again, every half hour or so. I've never ridden those trains so I can't say their schedule.

Would it be so hard to bring passenger rail service back to Surrey and Langley and points east? The train tracks are already there. I know I'd ride that train.

Cloverdale's Bad Drivers

I spent a year living in Richmond on Westminster Highway. For cheap fun we'd walk up to the intersection at Number 3 Road and watch the driving. We were living there when there was a huge dump of snow, about 2 feet in a 24 hour period. We stook on the sidewalk and watched the drivers race down Westminster Highway like it was dry and clear. The watch them slam the brakes on and slide through red lights.

I've walked my dogs all over Cloverdale for years. We often walk down the main street and as such have to cross the street. Among other streets, I cross the Cloverdale Bypass at 58th Avenue and 57th Avenue and walk across the 4 way stops at 58th and 176th and 57th and 176th. When I walk across on the Bypass where there are traffic lights I always push the button for the pedestrian light. Never, ever walk across either of those intersections without pushing for the pedestrian light. They are quick lights and one would have to be a fast runner. With a geriatric dog in tow, that ain't happening! Always push the button and get a pedestrian walk.

Even though pedestrians have the right of way in crosswalks, and even more so when they've activated the pededstrian light, I am constantly cut off by cars in the crosswalks. One time I was crossing at 57th Avenue and a young man in a small red car comes zooming out for a left hand turn and cuts me off and nearly hits me, within 3 feet of me. Like he couldn't have waited until I cleared the intersection? I was carrying a bag of dog shit and his window was open, and what can I say. I have good aim. Oh, he was swearing at me. But he had no concern for my saftey and that I had pushed the pedestrian button and had every right to be there. This happens so many times at this intersection. A couple of days ago a man driving a van turning right from 57th onto the Bypass cut right in front of me. I should have kicked the back panel of his van - he was that close to me. And yesterday again I get cut off in the same intersection by a different van, this one with a business name on it - California Closets - nearly ran me over in the intersection, driven by a man. How come it is always male drivers who nearly take me out at the intersections?

Yesterday I was on the corner at 176th and 58th Avenue, on the same side of the street as the grocery store's parking lot. An oncoming car heading west along 58th driven by a man talking into a cell phone blew right through the 4 way stop. Fortunately no other vehicles were there and no pedestrians crossing the street.

When the Cloverdale Rodeo was in town this past May, Kerry and I, along with several other pedestrians, were waiting to cross the street at 60th Avenue and 176th Street, on the same side of the road as the fairgrounds. The light turned, the pedestrian walk sign lit up, and away we all went. Out of the corner of my eye I see a car beside me moving, making a right hand turn and not stopping for the pedestrians. And there were a few of us on this bright sunny day. I screamed "stop" meaning Kerry and the others so they wouldn't get hit. The car continued on and then pulled over a little ahead at the bus stop. I had probably screamed loud enough that the driver thought I yelled at him to stop. Which he didn't do. But I think was shaken up enough to pull over and collect himself before continuing.

What is with these people that they don't look for pedestrians or at least notice the pedestrian light has been activated and look around to see if anyone is in the crosswalk. I don't know whether its the influx of new people moving to the area but Cloverdale is becoming full of bad drivers.

To be fair I see pedestrians breaking the law too, particularly crossing the Bypass and jaywalking. If you're going to break the law and jaywalk, you need to run, not hold up traffic. I watched one man with a child saunter across the street. He had a red light and stop for pedestrians and was holding up the traffic at 58th Avenue who had the green light. Great example, teaching your kid to break the law. I'm guessing he didn't bother to push the pedestrian button and was in no hurry to cross the street either. Cars were honking at him. He was lucky he didn't get run over the way traffic is in that intersection when it comes to observing pedestrians who do have the right of way.

Is it becoming too dangerous to go for a walk around Cloverdale?