Joe Rooney

Happy New Year everybody. I wish you all you wish yourselves! Joe.

Happy Birthday to all of you, and a happy New Year. But honestly, I think you were all gyped! My wifes birthday is December 27th, and she believes that her parents arranged to have her birth accelerated to save on Christmas and birthday gifts. So now the kids and I always remember to to give her two clearly marked and wrapped gifts. One Merry Christmas, and one Happy birthday. It guarantees a peaceful life, you know! So, Happy New Year, and Happy Birthday to you all. Regards, Joe

Well, thats another one over. The kids are too tired to toot! The dishes are finallyt cleaned up, the floor is clean, and the garbage is in the recycling bin. The children, grand children, and great grand children are all in their own homes, or on their respective planes back home. Thank god thats another Christmas successfully held and over. We look forward to it, but in the midst of noisy excited kids, and exhausted parents we sometimes wonder why we hold here, when everyone else is two or three thousand kilometres away. But when we have a little sleep, we look back and think, everyone enjoyed themselves, and we got through a full week with no serious disagreements. or battles. So, all in all, it was another good, maybe great, Christmas, and we were all here in good health (Or something like it!) to see them all again! And so, to all my friends, known and unknown, I wish you a Merry Christmas, and a ssfe and successful New Year. May you all be well and prosperous! Thank you all for contributing to an enjoyable 2009. Joe and Linda Rooney, Calgary alberta.

Of course you can have your snow back, Camille. We just have to ask Vic for some of his surplus. Where he lives, they have far more snow than anyone outside of the Winter Olympics could ever use. But here in Southern Alberta, the local CTV news is running reports of several hundred cars that are still buried under several feet of the white stuff from last Friday and Saturday, and following that with forecasts of more snow by Thusday. You know, one of my pet irritants are Grandchildren who come over and ask if I am feeling OK because I am so quiet! They don,t seem to understand that if I have nothing to say, then I dont talk. And since they have been burbling about how cool the snow has been, and I cant take it out on them for enjoying it so much. So I take the safe way, and vent my frustrations on unsuspecting friends in Bedlington, and thereabouts. Just one of things you have to do to stay sane in your years of advancing decrepitude, while keeping the peace with various daughters, and one bristling wife. Thank you all for your kind forebearance, and tolerance. And good to hear from you Vic, but I am still thankful that I decided not to live in Banff! By the way, I did have a few weeks of extra aches and pains that kept me off line for a while. But I am fine for now, just a little quiet! Regards, Joe

Did I ever tell you how much I hate snow! Well, I do, but even more I hate cold weather, and Winter! And boy do we have it just now. Ten days ago, the temperatures were in the low to medium teens, not great, but not so bad either. Then last week, it all went to hell an a handbasket! First we had high winds, then the temperatures began to fall, and last Friday, it began to snow, and with it, all Southern Alberta suffered winds of 60 to 80 Kilometres an hour. By noon Friday, every major highway in Central and Southern Alberta was snowbound, hundreds, possibly thousands of vehicles, large and small were left helpless in the blizzard. Emergency vehicls were stuck in snow. Several were stuck enroute to a Calgary fire. Meanwhile Four houses built side by side in a new housing developement burned down to the basements, as the fire crews tried to carry their equipment through the six foot drifts blocking the entrance to the developement. Fortunately, no one died in that fire. By Saturday, the snow was diminishing, but so was the tempurature. From -15C windchill it fell to -28C. My wife was home with our grandkids since our youngest daughter spent five hours completing a car trip from office to home that normally takes 25 to 40 minutes. My wife stayed till dawn, and started home. This is normally a 15 minute trip, she called me twice while en route, and finally arrived home at 3.30pm Saturday afternoon. The final insult was that she got stuck on a major intown route while trying to turn into our enclave. Since then, the snow has calmed considerably, but the cold has persisted. And tonights suppertime news forecast warns of temperatures for the rest of the week ranging from -22C to -33C, with accompanying windchills of -25C to -42C. I stuck her in a hot shower, fed her anything that she could stomach, and tried to cheer her up by telling her how fortunate we are in comparison to people who live closer to the Rockies, and the real bad weather. She may be talking to me by June. But tomorrow night we are supposed to be at my Grandsons school music festival. After that does,(Or does not) occur, we will see who is, or is not talking to whom! As I said before, I really hate cold,Snow,Winter, and for the umpteenth time I have to ask her: Why did we move to Calgary, again! Merry Christmas to all of you, better weather anyway! Regards to all. Joe Rooney

It is always difficult to lose a good friend, even more so when he is some thousands of miles away. But there is something that I promised to do several years ago, and it is now time to honour that promise. Allan Laws, better known to many as Sw@lnalla, died Saturday, September 12th in Bedlington. He is survived by my second last friend in Bedlington, his wife, Maria Laws, formerly of Ontario, Canada, but resident in Bedlington for several years now. Allan had been fighting Cancer for several years, but he simply could not fight any longer. Allan and I met when we both lived in Ontario, he lived in Barrie, and I lived in Oakville, but I enjoyed the attitudes and obvious intelligence of the man I debated with, and occasionally disagreed with, on the Bedlington forum. One day a few years ago, I learned that he lived a mere 200km from me, and decided that I had to put a face to this man from my home town, who could raise my interest, (and sometimes Ire), with a few well thought out comments on any one of several subjects. I called, I visited, and I was not disappointed in what I found. He was as intelligent,outspoken, and thoughtful as I had come to believe that he would be. Like myself, he did not suffer fools gladly, nor did he hold lack of formal education to be any bar to native intelligence. Allan was younger than myself, but we both shared the same wide range of interests, so that our visits were always too brief, and too infrequent, but always memorable. The one person who brought balance, and contentment to his life, hard as it was, was always his wife Maria. If she ever wondered why two grown men would be so near-obsessed with the history, and daily interests of a run down town like Bedlington,her sense of decorum never let express anything but the most supportive opinions. She left us to it, and I will always be grateful to her for her courtesey and discretion. In 2005, a family problem concerning my youngest daughter, led my wife and I to leave Ontario, and relocate to Calgary, Alberta. Contact between Allan and I was made somewhat more difficult by the move, but we did manage the occasional email. I knew about his cancer, and the ailment which made it very difficult for him to follow his profession. But the mutual, or should I say tripartite respect that we shared. lasted unshaken. Allan's death is not an end to my respect and friendship with Allan, nor does it end my deep regard for his wife Maria. I have had a few good friends in my life, and there is no doubt that these two, are among the most treasured. Take care Maria, and remember my name. And forgive me Allan, but my wishes for you are as follows: Agnus Dei, Qui tolis peccata Mundi, Dona Nobis Pacem! Three things I have never forgotten, Being Irish, Being Catholic, and being born in Bedlington! Go with God!

Sorry that I am a little late. But a belated happy birthday Ms Hair, hope you enjoyed it . Regards, Joe

Happy birthday Monsta. Have a good life! Joe Rooney

No, my father was a Bedlington pitman. But I took his advice and stayed away from the pits. I became, in turn, a merchant seaman, a Canadian infantryman and later an admin officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, and finally a Certified Management Accountant with a BSC Economics. In that career, I planned and supervised Lead Smelter refineries in Canada and the USA. I went to Nesquehoning to oversea the construction of a new plant in what was then a very depressed coal mining area of Pennsylvania and stayed there for over five years, before returning to Ontario. Regards, Joe

Happy birthday, Mickey Potts. Enjoy your day! I used to live in Nesquehoning, PA during the Seventies. Good people, good memories! Joe Rooney

Thank you all for your kind wishes! I have'nt been too great for the last few weeks, but the sun is beginning to shine again, so I think I"ve turned the corner. The snow is prettty well gone now, but it is still not too warm, with very cold nights, and 3-4 C by day, but they are forecasting mid teens in the next few days. We can use it! Regards, Joe

I like the new colour scheme. Now if we could get more people offering their opinions on more new subjects. Happy Easter everyone! Joe

I don,t know what proprtion of our gas prices are due to tax, I just believe that they are very high. But yesterday I filled my tank at my local Safeway grocery store and paid 74cents a litre, this is a discounted price, and the UK equivalent is 43.5 P per litre. Still too much! Joe

That clean, cold prairie air, coupled with the prayers and best wishes of your many friends will turn the tide soon. Take care, have faith, and support your wife. Our best wishes to you and your family. Joe.

Happy birthday Brian. Hope this year is a little more placid than last year. No fires, floods, cyclones, or anything like them! Joe

Happy birthday, Hollymount. Just how old are you? After three weeks of bitterly cold weather, Down to -31c, we have now had four days of 5-10c Just can,t make its mind up! Regards, Joe

Well, I havent heard any howling lately, the local Coyote pack is laying low, and I don't really remembver any foxes yapping around the Bank Top, although that was some 65 years ago that I left there! However, closer in time and place, I have been listening to a Calgary radio station reporting on the latest doings of "Doug." Who is Doug, you might ask? Doug is a ten year old adult male cougar. He roams a public park in Banff. A week or so ago, Doug killed a large Elk in the park, and has been feeding off the carcass ever since. Elk are probably some 1000 lbs or so. So Doug has a long term project under way to eat all of it, while protecting his cache of groceries from any other predators. Although the local wildlife people are very familiar with, and fond of Doug, and have studied him for years, they also know what he is capable of, if disturbed. Therefore, they have closed the entire park to any human access, until Doug is full, and moves on to another spot to continue to hunt in. It is incidents like this. that remind me that I no longer live on the Bank Top! Regards, Joe

Happy birthday Denzel, Have a very good one! Joe

Happy Birthday MrsVic, And many more, Regards, Joe

Boy, Threegee must have lived a fast life! He sounds like 35-40, but he looks like a 100. Whats the secret of his early aging I wonder ? Anyway, happy birthday to he and the other three, who I am not yet familiar with. Good luck to you all, and enjoy yet another New Year. Joe Rooney

Actually, I had quite a good year in 2008. Although losing a third of my retirement investments in 60 days, was a bit of a shocker! But we will survive to see better days, we always have. I wish everyone a a better, if not greater, New year. (And prosperous would be nice too.) Thanks for your company in 2008. As always, didn't always agree, but I did enjoy it greatly. Happy New Year. Joe

We all transmit what snippets we know, usually fragments of fact mixed with conjecture. It takes time for facts to emerge as such. And even longer for the whole truth to become apparent. And truth usually does emerge. Less dramatic than instant opinion, but clear and generally accepted. Just be thankful that no one died. Especially not at this time of year. Now get back to enjoying life, and sharing what interesting gossip we may have. Happy New Year to everyone. Joe Rooney

Merry Christmas, a happy New Year, and happy birthday to you Pete. My wife grew up on a farm, and she tells me that no farmers were about to give gifts for a second time in December. I hope your experience was better! Joe

Merry Christmas, Happy New year, a very happy birthday, and Good Health to you Swalnalla. And all in one shot! By the way, it was -45C windchill when we got back from Toronto. Nobody else, but Vic up in Grande Cache, can have worse weather than that. Stay well! Joe Rooney

For a minute there I thought that i had slept through whats left of December. But youre all just early off the mark! Anyway, Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all of you. I hope 2009 is whole lot better than we are currently being promised. Good luck and good times to everybody! Joe Rooney