I am back here today, but this place is still in lockdown. No one allowed in unless they are fully vaccinated and we have to wear a full mask and gown at all times. Fortunately, they provide them but we are still not allowed on the third floor of this building. I am told there was one case that caused the lockdown and one additional case after that but it has been in quarantine for 7 days so they are letting some people come back to work. Not many, but some. It was determined that I am essential this week. They have a server down and they want me to figure out why. Since I will be unable to visit any of the other places I usually go, once I figure out why the server is not working, I am not sure what I do the rest of the day. I think me typing in this blog would indicate I do not have a lot to do.
Let's see, where was I last time. I think it was before Christmas but once again, I cannot be bothered to go look so I will proceed like I have never mentioned Christmas and you are all eager to learn about it. Ok, I went back and checked and I did mention something about Christmas day, so I will not go into that sad tale again. Only sad for me, lack of presents and all, so I am guessing it was actually a good day. It would appear I did that last entry from home but I have no recollection of doing that. Maybe it was a myth.
Since then, we have had New Years eve. It was fun. I thought about it this time and actually tried to book tickets to the free party at Redcliff. I did it the day before and I was able to get six tickets to the event. It is actually a market and some fireworks at 7 and 9 at night, but we had tried last year on the day and were unable to get tickets to get in. Which brings up the actual tickets you get. No one ever checked them at the event and no one seemed to care who was there and who was not. I think it was just a ruse to get my email address so they can send me advertising but since they already had mine, there was no loss there. Not sure if we could have gone the year before but since it was just a market, I am not sure how they would have checked if you had tickets or not. Anyone could just walk in and go to the market and then stay for the fireworks.
Maeghan did not do her thing at this market. It was not that kind of market, although she has done the Redcliff market before, just not the New Years Eve one. There were not a lot of stalls that were not food there. Maybe a third of the normal number of stalls and all of them food related. A couple that were not and the addition of some kids games and things, carnival type games. Throw the ball, shoot the water in the mouth and a few more. Nothing we wanted to do but they are not normally there at these markets and they were all stuck down at one end so we did not see them but once. They did have a baby animal petting zoo that Maeghan really liked so she spent some time there petting some baby pigs and goats and things. She likes it. William went up there too but I don't think he petted anything. Maybe a pig. Leslie was also with us but I did not see him while we were at the petting zoo so I don't know what he did. He had some money and went off and looked at comic books or something. He bought a few, for 50 cents each or something like that.
Our original plan was to get there early and stake out a place for the fireworks show later. I would sit there and watch our spot so the others could go enjoy the market. We thought there would be no parking and we would have to walk a fair ways. Turns out, we were there two hours early and we could park right next to the market. So no walking at all. Caused a problem when we were leaving as we had to wait and wait for everyone else to leave but we got there and parked right next to some stalls and did not have to walk at all.
Most of the stalls were just setting up so we walked up to some picnic tables that were right next to the water and would have a good view of where we thought the fireworks would be. We were right about the spot but right after we got there, the wind kicked in. I think it was about 60 klms per hour wind. Too much to do anything and it was cold and had some rain in it. It was horrific. We waited for about half an hour to see what would happen. With that wind, there was no way there was going to be any fireworks. The guy setting them up was out on the pier with his truck and trailer but the tarp he had on the trailer, which I can only assume contained the fireworks, kept blowing loose in the wind. He spent most of the time trying to keep it tied down. After a while, he just tied it down and left it. Didn't try to put up any more fireworks.
We decided it was probably not going to happen and we left our spot to look around at any of the booths that might have tried to open in the wind. It would seem that most of them were prepared for this and had manged to get their tents and awnings and whatever they were using to stand up and not be blown away. I have no idea how they managed that. It was just about time for them to open anyway so most of them had, not all, some were still struggling, but about three quarters of them had opened and were doing business. Not a lot of people at that time so we managed to get all the way up the street and back without much trouble. By that time, the wind might have been dying down. It was on the street but that is protected by the tents and some trees. It looked like next to the water, it was still blowing pretty good.
We were deciding if we should stay or not. We could not find anybody that was an official or anything so we could not know if they were going to proceed with the shows. We decided to have our dinner, even though it was about 5 o'clock and we had not planned on eating until later. I had made some snacks and stuff for us and the kids were hungry, so we sat on a bench and ate. Not too bad and the wind kept getting less windy. By the time we finished, we had decided we were going to stay for the show. Having lost our original place, the bench we sat on was pretty good also, so we camped there. It was right where the pier started so we would have a good view there also, although by this time, other people had the same idea so we were surrounded. Saw some dogs in raincoats next to us and I made fun of them but Maeghan loved it. She said they were cute. Later that evening, when it had stopped threatening to rain, they dogs were changed into pajamas. I didn't agree with it but that was cute.
The kids would take turns every once and a while to wander through the markets again. Everything was open by then. And there were a lot of people. The street became completely impassable. I am glad we had out spot as it got very, very crowded as it got closer to the firework show. One thing I forgot to mention was the wind sculpture they have at Redcliff. It is a big tower that has two loops on opposite sides of it. When the wind blows, they rock back and forth in a circle. If the wind blows hard enough, they spin all the way around. When we were siting at our picnic table when we first got there, we were about 10 feet away from the tower. The spinning loops were going crazy and the whole tower was shimmering back and forth. I am sure it was not safe but we stayed there for some time before we left. It was scary as these things are not small and they were spinning very very fast. I am sure they are built to withstand these winds but I am not that sure about it. I was glad we moved when we did.
Anyway, when it got to firework time, we had good seats but there was a very large crowd there by then. It our little area where we were there were probably a couple thousand people. We were right above the beach and it was packed with kids and people. Lots of them probably causing trouble but we had a fence and a little hill between us and them so we were not bothered. Standing room only for most of the people but we had our bench. We had brought chairs to sit on but the little lawn that was behind us was taken over by people so we did not set them up. It wasn't bad at all but there were some restless kids around so you had to keep an eye out so as not to trip them as they ran by or push them off the fence onto the beach. Some family took over all the tables that were in front of us, they were the ones with the dogs, and other than constantly moving the tables and chairs around, they were no trouble.
There was no clock around or countdown or anything. The fireworks just started at 7. One big one to start off with and let everyone know it was happening. It was pretty good for a little town show. Some company had donated it all for both shows. Went on for about 20 minutes. Not quite dark enough but it didn't seem to matter. Everyone liked it a lot. They had a couple that were unique or things I had not seen before but most were pretty standard. One big one at the end shot several colours across the sky that all exploded at the same time. A good ending. Then everyone started to leave. All at once so the traffic jam was going to be horrific.
Maeghan and I decided we should avoid the crowds and stay for the second show. Our reasoning was it would be darker and it was probably the better show. Juanita, William and Leslie hated the idea. They were ready to go. I had to promise to buy them more food to make them stay. Juanita was not feeling well but Leslie and William both wanted Subway. All those food tents and trucks and they wanted Subway, which was open right behind us. I agreed to get them a sandwich. Big mistake. Not a problem with Subway, it was the line and the kids in front of me in the line. Seems there were two mothers there waiting. I have no idea where they were from, I did not understand the language, but they had four kids between them that were also waiting in line. Or, they were supposed to be. They were screaming and yelling and playing with each other the whole time. At one point, one of the mothers told them to stop doing something, I have no idea what and they looked sullen and then went to explore all that Subway had to offer in the way of entertainment. The first choice was the hand sanitiser that all businesses are required to keep in supply. Most just have a bottle of stuff for the customer's use. The kids took this to mean they could take the bottle and use it anywhere. They first sprayed their hands, then brought it over so the mothers could spray their hands, then they started spraying each other. That started the chasing each other though the Subway. There is not a lot of room in a Subway and the line was out the door so this caused a few problems with the other customers. I was right next to the mothers so they stayed away from that area to keep from getting in trouble, but everyone else either got pushed or run into or possibly squirted with the hand lotion. The mothers never said a thing. The only thing that stopped this behaviour was when they ran our of hand sanitizer and there was not reason to chase each other anymore.
This led to the worst part. They discovered the fridges where the drinks are kept. They thought they were free to sample I guess. I know the little girl opened four or five of the drinks and when it was pointed out to the mothers, they did nothing except to tell the girl to put them back. She had a drink pouch at that point and with the mother telling her to put it back, she twisted the top off and ran and threw it back into the fridge. I am certain they got away with it as the staff were too busy making orders to keep track of what these kids were doing. I have debated whether I should have said anything or not. I think I should have but by that time, I was ready to order so I was going to tell the cashier when I got up there. The kids and the mother were in front of me and while I can understand it is hard to order for that many kids and keep it all straight, they wanted to split the bill and each pay for their own. Fair enough but they could not tell the cashier which ones belonged to which order. And then they decided they all wanted the combo, with drinks and cookies but again, they could not tell the cashier which ones went on what order. The kids were busy grabbing drinks from the fridge and yelling at the mothers that they wanted whatever food they were expecting right then. The mothers kept talking to each other and the cashier kept trying to figure out what went with what order. In the end, I am pretty sure they walked out with most of the drinks for free and did not actually pay for half the order. The cashier called the manager over to figure it out but he was busy and did not seem interested in finding out what was what. I payed for my order but the others came out the door at the same time I did so I know it was not straightened out. I have a sneaking suspicion that they did this on purpose to get free food but I was not there to figure this out for them so I suppose it was not my problem. Should have made it my problem but the store was very busy and taking the time to sort it out and provide witnesses was not something anyone seemed to be interested in.
But that was the Subway story. 30 minutes of fighting through all that and I did not even get a sandwich. Juanita and I ate the remaining snacks I had and since she wasn't feeling well, I left it at that. Maeghan did go buy some pork buns or something but they were not good and needed sauce badly. Kind of dry and tasteless without the sauce, even soy sauce would have been good. But none to be had.
All this led us to close to the second show and while the crowd had thinned considerably, a new batch had showed up and I think there were just as many as the first time.
But we were right. The second show was better. Not a lot better but it went a little longer and they had a few more big shootouts or whatever you call it when they send a lot of fireworks up at once. It was good. Same ending firework but it was just as good as the first time we saw it. It was all over about 9:30. The market was not expected to end until 10 but I noticed that a lot of the stalls had already begun to shut and they did not have a lot of food left at some of them. We were already close to the car so we went straight there. Took a long time to get out but we made it.
Maeghan and I wanted to go somewhere else but everyone else wanted to go home. I deliberately drove by a couple of places that had very large Christmas light shows and Juanita loves the Christmas lights, so we went looking at the ones in Redcliff. Lots of the apartment buildings put up lights over the whole building. It was pretty spectacular. These are multi-story buildings on the ocean so the people are rich and go to a lot of trouble to put up a big display. About 10 or 12 building all together. It was good. I wanted to go see more but Juanita spotted a carnival further down the beach. It was lit up pretty well and we decided to drive over to check it out. When we got over there, she wanted to park and go in but I pointed out that I had already spent all my money on the food and stuff and did not have anymore to take every one to the carnival. It is an expensive carnival, we have been there many times, and the rides are all 10 dollars or more plus it costs just to go in. It was pretty but the inside is always boring with nothing going on and just some cheap rides that are over priced. I convinced her it was not worth it but that killed the evening for looking at Christmas displays, so we just went home from there to wait for midnight. Took us until almost 11 to get home so we only had an hour to wait. Said our happy New years and went to bed. Not drinking or anything but that was probably for the best. I was too tired to drink anyway.
This has been another long entry. I have spent the better part of two hours typing it. I have noticed that most of my entries lately have been way too long. I should probably break them up into different days so I have more content but once I get to writing, I keep going. And it is hard to find the time so I get as much as I can in while I am at it. Don't know if that is better or worse and I know I leave out a lot of stuff because I get tired of typing and spend too much time on one thing and never get to the others. But its a work in progress. Been going on for over 15 years, off and on. I think it might be worth saving but who knows. I do what I can. Guess that's all from me.
Until next time,
Later
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