The reason why some people get strange presents at Xmas

My FOREX Life

Double click pic to see it properly

Okay time for a complete change, lets get away from the nastiness, life is too short for bickering and squabbling.... and the weekend is nearly over.



This weekend has been very lazy and i have done absolutely nothing, bought a bottle of Screech and a couple of bottles of diet pepsi (diet... who am i kidding), flicked on the ice making machine in the fridge and spent the evening soaking in the tub, listening to UB40 on the tubs sound system and sipping ice cold Screech and coke.

Screech by the way is a Newfoundland Rum, its got a very interesting history which i may share with you one day which goes back to the days when Johnny Depp stuck a big hat on and sailed the seven seas in ships with big sails.

Anyway that was Friday night, listening to UB40 and watching the sun go down over Raymond, and supper was a couple of burgers and bratties thrown on the barbie.

Saturday i cut the front lawn and took the lawn mower to the lawn mower doctors for a service, followed by taking Luke to work, going shopping then going for a nice stir fry at the Mongolie Grill and a hot chocolate at Tims while we waited for Luke to finish. Oh by the way Luke has found himself a little job which he is really happy about, its for the evenings and weekends.

Last night we watched Porkies Revenge after another late night soak in the tub and today i have played on the computer, back in the tub, sunbathed in the garden then back in the tub, took Luke back to work, came back and by then the FOREX market was open to trade again. I missed out Sunday lunch which was roast beef and my experimental yorkshire puddings which were garlic and lemon pepper flavor.

So, as for my FOREX escapades, im not going to be a millionaire quite yet although the price action seems to be going in the right direction at last. If you remember i opened the trade a couple of weeks ago and i was about $8 in profit, well things went a little pear shaped over the next week and i dropped into a loss. I took out my safety stop which is not a particularly clever thing to do but it looks like it paid off, in all my years trading i have found that the one thing which has always held me back is my safety stop loss, the price always seems to hit it closing me out of the trade at a loss then reversing and showing me the profit i could have made iff it wasnt for the damn stop.

Well i am experimenting with that at the moment and i am trading over bigger moves with less stake, it seems to be working so far and the stakes will only increase in size if and when the size of my account increases. Heres how it is going so far since i opened the trade.

*** Alberta Immigration News Flash ***

News of new pilot program released today.

Long Haul Truckers' Wives & Common Law Partners in Alberta can now get Open Work Visas

Click the link below

http://thebigredteam.blogspot.com/2009/08/alberta-immigration-news-flash.html

How to trade the FOREX

Double click for better image

Most of you have heard me banging on about my long term hobby which is speculating the Foreign Exchange (FOREX) markets so i thought i would give you a little insight into how its done.

Okay, first of all the basics..........

You speculate the currencies in pairs, my particular favorite is the Euro versus the American Dollar. I enter the market at a particular exchange rate and i bet as to whether the Euro is going to get stronger or weaker against the greenback (USD). This is abbreviated to EUR-USD or nicknamed "The Fiber".

You can bet as much or as little as you like and that amount goes up or down as the rate fluctuates. The units that affect your bet are the lowest increment possible in any given pair and is known as a pip.

If you stake $1 to one pip then for every pip it moves in your favor you gain a $1, in my case i bet 10 cents per pip so it needs to move 10 pips to earn (or lose me a $1). When you make your stake you have to state whether it will go up or go down.

There are many different ways to make your decision on how you think things will go, my particular choice is the candlestick chart coupled with a SAR and Full Stochastic indicator, this type of trading is known as Technical Analysis. I also read the news and follow the periodic statements and news releases of the National Financial Institutions which is known as Fundamental Trading.

So you might say i am a Chart Technician with Fundamental tendencies LOL.

Anyway, enough of the techno-babble, above is a chart that i have cusomised to make it "Lyndon Friendly" and a trade that i opened last night and incidently is still open.

First thing you notice is the red and green candles, red means its going down and green means its going up. The blue dotted line is the price that i entered the market (betting to go North) and the last candle shows where the price is at the moment.

The green line is where i intend to claim my profit and the yellow line is a safety stop just incase things dont go as planned. That yellow line is tied to the price action so as the candles rise they drag the stop along with them. As you see the yellow line is now above the blue dotted line which means it is impossible for me to lose money on this particular bet.

This is known in the trade as a "Free Trade" because it doesnt matter what happens now it will be a winner. Or to put it into money terms, the worsed i can win is about $1 or the best i can win is about $25. At the moment i am winning $8.69 but i am hoping for that $25.

(Disclaimer, this isnt a recomendation or any kind of advertisement, FOREX is a high leverage speculating tool and losses as well as gains can be many times larger than the initial stake)

Thinking of Winter

Theres 2 things you need to know about free firewood:

1. It gets scarse as soon as the weather gets cold coz thats when everyone thinks about stockpiling for the winter.

2. Cutting up wood outside in 3 foot of snow is just nasty.. trust me ive tried it.

Anyway we have started collecting already and my woodpile is about two thirds full, i have about 30 pallets left to cut up then thats the back of the garage full so i might have to start piling it down the side.

There is nothing quite like a real fire when the temperature outside starts hitting the -30's and also it makes a huge impact on the ole gas bill which can rocket over here in the wintertime.

Anyhow, for now the temperature is a nice comfortable 21 at half eight in the evening, the BBQ is just cooling down from supper and there is a huge jug of ice tea in the fridge. The FOREX is being very kind to me (thats why im sat in the home office instead of out in the garden) and i dont really care that the fan (which is on full blast) has just blown all the paperwork off the table.

Well i will give the FOREX another 20 minutes to make me a millionaire (extreem sarcasm intended) then its on with the shorts (im not built for "Speedos" im afraid) and its a hop, skip and a jump into the bubbly stuff with a frosty glass of Iced Tea.

Canada funny questions

Now that Vancouver has won the chance to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, these are some questions people from all over the world are asking. Believe it or not these questions about Canada were posted on an International Tourism Website. The answers are a joke; but the questions were really asked!

Q:I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow? ( England )
A. We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die.

Q:Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? ( USA )
A: Depends on how much you've been drinking.

Q:I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto -can I follow the Railroad tracks? ( Sweden )
A: Sure, it's only Four thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada ? ( Sweden )
A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q: It is imperative that I find the names and addresses of places to contact for a stuffed Beaver. ( Italy )
A: Let's not touch this one.

Q: Are there any ATM's (cash machines) in Canada ? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto , Vancouver , Edmonton and Halifax ? ( England )
A: What, did your last slave die from?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada ? ( USA )
A: A-Fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-DA is that big country to your North...oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is after every Flames game in Calgary . Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Canada ? ( USA )
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Canada ?( England )
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? ( USA )
A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays after every hockey game in Vancouver and in Calgary , straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Do you have perfume in Canada ? ( Germany )
A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you sell it in Canada ? ( USA )
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female population is smaller than the male population? ( Italy )
A: Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q: Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada ? ( USA )
A: Only at Thanksgiving.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round? ( Germany )
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of Vegan hunter/gathers. Milk is illegal.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada , but I forget its name. It's a kind of big horse with horns. ( USA )
A: It's called a Moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the brains of anyone walking close to them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? ( USA )
A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

Storms On The Prairie

I was just talking to someone in UK today about the weather over here and i was telling them how hot and dry it is................

Looks like i jinxed it, we have had an electrical storm tonight and it has just started to rain so Jan and I are confined in doors, Im trading on the FOREX and doing a bit of blogging and Jan is watching the TV, i think its CSI.. it usually is anyway.

I havent really had time to play on the currency markets since coming over to Canada which is a real shame. When i was out on the road i had a little dabble (with a virtual account) but could never guarrantee that i would get an internet connection when i pulled in for the night. Even now i am office based i dont seem to have the time, im either working late, chasing up some issue or just too plain tired.

Anyway these last few weeks i have been determined to make time to research and to trade (speculate) and at the moment i am concentrating on how the Euro is doing against the American Dollar.

For some twisted reason i find this high stress pass-time very relaxing, i can look at trading charts for hours on end, observing how the big players in the market express their sentiments by making and losing fortunes.

By the way, before anyone gets any ideas about me betting thousands of dollars on the outcome of national economies.............. i'd just like to point out that i play for 10 cents per pip and my average win/loss per trade is about $5 to $10.

Anyway thats what my evening consisted of..... Speculating the FOREX market and listening to the rain splattering against the window, every now and then interupted by the crash and flash of the electrical storm.

... So far tonight i am $6.49 up woo hoo !!

Clinton Kitchen Combo Set

Change of vehicles

Last weekend we went into town and did something we have been talking about for the last few months.................... swapping the vehicles.

Now bearing in mind we live out in the sticks, summer is fantastic for driving over here but winter can be a little .................... different.

Last season Jan went off the road twice and went into a snow bank once, this is one reason why we went for the Sebring, its a lot bigger and heavier and i would be able to pull the ford out of any problems.

Well we have now decided that she will be driving an "All Wheel Drive" vehicle so hopefully she wont go in the ditch in the first place.

Also at the same time, i seem to be wishing i had a truck almost every week for some reason or another.

The last straw was at the Stampede, the parking area was across a lumpy field and the Sebring must have bottomed out about half a dozen times. Before that i had to get rid of a load of stinky garden rubbish, time before that i wanted a load of mulch for the garden, last winter it was for carrying firewood............. then i went and rented the Yukon.

Well anyway thats all my excuses so off we went and picked out 2 vehicles.

Jan got a silver Saturn Vue 3 litre V6 AWD, front wheel drive but when the wheels lose traction the AWD kicks in, they have had great reviews for driving in the snow.

And i got a Ford F-150 (half tonne) 4.6 litre V8 in a burgundy red with a full crew cab.

Its a shame to see the old cars go, especially the Focus but never mind, its nice to have new toys.

Only in Canada

Well today was pretty uneventful, last night we went to late showing of Harry Potter so we didnt get back in till about 02:00, so this morning we didnt get up till about 11:00.

Pretty typical Sunday, Frosties for breakfast then cut the lawns, temperature was (if i rember correctly about 34 - 36 and not a cloud in the sky.

Once the lawns were cut i set up the sprinkler and went to hack through the jungle which was the vegatable patch. This took about half an hour with my scrub cutter attachmen on the old weed whacker, then it was off to tackle the woodpile.

We had a new fence put up about a month ago and we asked the builders to throw all the old wood into our garden, trouble was i didnt realise there was so much.

Anyway, Luke and i spent about 3 hours and have cut up about half of it, i reckon there is enough wod now to se us through most of the winter. Trouble was though the sun was beating down and i didnt realise how burnt i was getting ..................... till i looked in the mirror tonight.

Coz it was so hot today i stuck the hose pipe in the hot tub and bought the temperature down. Well tonight i was doing a bit of FOREX and i was all hot and bothered so i grabbed a glass of juice and dived in the tub..... i can tell you it was fantastic, id got the lights on and a bit of music so i just laid back and relaxed.

After a few minutes there was a small splash, followed by another... and another..................

There was chunks of ice in the water, only little ones but definitely ice, then one bounced off my head and landed in the water (remember this is July), completely bemused by this, i sat back and relaxed again, just listening to the hail hitting the water.

Then it happened................................

The heavens opened and we had a hailstorm ......... dont know if any of you have ever been caught in a hailstorm in just a pair of shorts .................... it definitely wakes you up, i have never moved so quick, i was up and out of the water, shut everything down grabbed my towel and flip-flops and was back in doors in about 2 seconds flat.

Very refreshing..................................................

The Raymond Stampede

The Raymond Stampede was on June 30th and July 1st (Canada Day). What a fantastic Day, the whole thing started of with a carnival parade which incidently went straight passed the front of our house, followed by a rodeo in the afternoon and street parties in the evening.

Here are some pictures of the day.

Irish Boys Confession

A young Irish lad goes in to confession:

'Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose girl'.

The priest asks, 'Is that you, Dicky?' 'Yes, Father, it is.' 'And who was the girl you were with?'
'I can't tell you, Father, I don't want to ruin her reputation.'
'Well, Dicky, I'm sure to find out her name sooner or later, so you may as well tell me now.
Was it Mary Walsh?' 'I cannot say.' 'Was it Teresa Brown?' 'I'll never tell.'
'Was it Margaret Doyle?' 'I'm sorry, but I cannot name her.'
'Was it Anne O' Neil?' 'My lips are sealed.' 'Was it Catherine 0' Tool, then?'
'Please, Father, I cannot tell you.' The priest sighs in frustration.
'You're very tight lipped Dicky, andI admire that. But you've sinned and have to atone.
You cannot be an altarboy now for four months. Now you go and behave yourself.'

Dicky walks back to his pew, and his friend Tommy slides over and whispers, 'What'd you get?' And Dicky replied 'Four Months holiday and five good leads".

Driver sticks wiener where its not welcome

The owner of a southern Wisconsin house might not be in love with the Oscar Mayer wiener right now. The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile crashed into a Mount Pleasant house around noon Friday.Mount Pleasant Police Chief Tim Zarzecki said the 22-year-old female driver was turning the giant hot dog on wheels around in a driveway and thought she was reversing but instead went forward and crashed into the deck and garage. No one was home and no one was injured.Oscar Mayer spokeswoman Sydney Lindner apologized for any inconvenience to the home owner. Lindner said the company will work with insurance companies to fix the damage to the house and vehicle.

A police spokesperson said yesterday that the events could have been far more serious if the lady with the wiener wasn't strapped on.......... oops i mean strapped IN..............................

Calgary Zoo

oh well, no bears in Waterton so the following day we did the next best thing, we all went to the zoo.

Finally we get to see bears, moose, prairie dogs, deer, elephants, camels, dinosaurs and all manner of native Canadian critters. Well actually the elephants and camels werent native Canadian but apparently they did have landed status.

i also learnt some disgusting things about koalas, i will never see them in the same light again, apparently the mummy koala (called a shiela) has a giant sphincter (bottom muscle) on the front of her belly and the baby koala (called a baby koala) lives in there. After the mummy koala has finished nursing, the baby then lives on its mummies poop till it is old enough to leave the family. Apparently young koalas leave home at an early age.............................

Any way Andy managed to identify 5 different animals as moose despite the information boards instructing differently, but i think we did eventually manage to find one.

well it was a great day out, even the weather managed to stay nice even though it did threaten to rain once or twice.

Bear Hunting in Waterton Lakes

We had the battlebus for another few days so we thought it would be nice to spend the day down in the Glacier National Park and go and see if we could spot anything wild and dangerous. First thing on the agenda when we got there was food, orange colored mush for Eloise and spicy wraps & coffee for us.

Evergreen is a lovely little town right on the edge of the lake, as you walk along the beautifully kept avenues, you notice the deer that roam freely through peoples gardens and the hundreds of gophers and prairie dogs scuttling around the green areas.

Anyhoo, after experiening the wanders of Evergreen we took to the trails in our huge SUV and went in search of bears, unforunately we didnt see any but we saw some fantastic sights.

Snake Hunting in Great Falls Montana

After a well earned days rest cosisting of "Tubbing", BBQing and sun-bathing, we headed south as neither Claire nor Eloise (obviously) had never been to the United States Of America. Now the problem with visiting the tates from where we live is there is nothing on the other side of the border (apart from Shelby) till you reach Great Falls which is about 150 miles south.

Well we got there and after grabbing some ice-creams and feeding Eloise we headed off to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. By the way thats the guys who explored most of that region around Montana in the name of comerce and developement.

The museum its self was pretty good with artifacts, memorabilia and other exploring stuff, as you walked round it told the story of their expedition from start to finsh. Next we went for a walk down the river while Andy & I went snake hunting.

Now considering there were quite a few people around, surprisingly we found 6 snakes ranging from about a foot and a half down to a couple of inches. Andy decided he had to flick the tail of the biggest one which i have to sdmit i didnt think was a particularly good idea but he did it anyway and the annoyed reptile went slithering off into the undergrowth.

The little excursion took us down to a fish hatchery, we didnt realise how far we had walked down and by the time we got back it was getting on for early evening.

H&R Recruits in UK

The H&R Transport Recruiting Team will be returning to UK for another recruitment round, all the dates, times and venues can be found here

>>> CLICK HERE <<<

Busy weekend to West Edmonton Mall

Well as i may have said before, with Andy, Claire & Eloise over here, we wanted to do everything that we meant to do last time but never got round to it.

So they landed on the Thursday night and at 09:00 the following morning i/we decided that we were going to Edmonton for the weekend, now bear in mind they had just landed and were still jet-lagged.

it seemed like a fantastic idea but we were totally unprepared, i couldnt even put Gizmo in Kennels coz i discovered 2 of his shots had expired a month before, here is a rundown of the days events.

Booked Gizmo in for shots.
Booked Gizmo into kennels.
Booked hotel in Edmonton.
Booked hire car (GMC Yukon)
Took Gizmo for shots.
Took everyone to the annual H&R family BBQ.
Took Gizmo to kennels.
Cut lawns front & back.
Went in hot-tub.
Went to collect rental car.
Spent an hour chatting to neihbours.
Piled everyone into Yukon.
Drove to Edmonton (6 hours)
Stopped off in Vulcan (Star-Trek town) for photographs and beer.
Booked into Radisson Hotel.
Ordered pizza, wings & garlic bread.
Cracked open first beer.
Collapsed on bed.
Drank beer, ate pizza.
Went to bed.

Next morning we jumped in the car and went round the Mall, after going on the rides and going to see the sealion show, we did loads and loads of shopping, ate loads of food, went back into the funfair then shopped a bit more..........

7 hours later we started making our way back to the car and headed back to the hotel for supper and beer.

Next morning we all met up and went down the hotel pool, luckily we had the place to our selves and had a splashing good time till it was time to book out.

It was then a 6 hour drive back to Raymond although the trip was broken up by a quick visit to the Calgary Tower. We dived into Highway 1 West and parked up opposite the VRV office as there is a C-Train station just opposite. We jumped on the train, jumped off at the tower, did the tower visit, jumped back on the train, got back in the car and continued south.

When we got back it was half an hour in the hot-tub and strangely enough everyone was shattered and went to bed........................ no idea why LOL

Claire, Andy & Eloise - Revisiting

If you remember the last time Claire & Andy vivited, we were at the other house (the one we rented) and Claire was pregnant......................

Well this time there was 3 of them, we now have little Eloise.

This was to be another 2 week visit and Jan and i had already decided we were going to do everything we didnt do last time so it was West Edmonton Mall, Waterton, Great Falls, Calgary Tower and lots N lots of BBQ and tubbin'.

For those of you not familiar with the term tubbin', it means Hot Tubbin', just look at the pictures and see for your self.

A few weeks before the weekend we decided to get one as it would be a nice surprise for them, i am so glad we did, its the best thing i have bought over here and we use it just about every night. The power jets are unbelieveable and give a fantastic massage, just the thing after a hard day ay work.

CHAPTER 2 - The Driver Relations Guy

So here starts chapter 2.......................

i now work full time in the office, my duties include Driver Relations, recruiting, training administration, and various other little projects as and when required. No more dashing round North America in a big red shiny truck, just a desk, a computer screen and a phone.

This was the reason for the end of the Blog, i didnt realise there was still a story to be told. i must admit i thought there would be nothing else to write about.

But how wrong i was !!!!!

Its not the end of the story its just the begining, the begining of a new era. This was never meant to be a story of a truck driver going round America, it was meant to be a story of one family and their desire to live on a new Continent.

So read on Dear Reader, read on...................................