Pantry Re-Done

What a nasty job this was! But we had the most disorganized pantry in the known Universe. First three photos are "before" and last five photos are "after" - now we just have to keep it clean.

Poulin Family Website

Published our new Website today: www.lottomars.com - created on our new iMac using Sandvox. It's a little simplistic right now, but there's links to our old Site. More stuff to be added soon.

Merry Christmas 2011

We wish you a very groovy Christmas and a far out New Year.

My Gold story: There’s gold in “them thar hills!”

In about 1980, my friend Don and I were exploring some old “Turn of the Century” gold mining sites in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. We came across where a small stream had eroded a way through the mines “tailings” area. The stream had exposed different coloured layers of sandy clay dirt. The coloured layers were in multiple layers 2 or 3 inches thick going dowm about 8 feet and the small area looked like a mini Grand Canyon – very cool looking. One of the layers was a bright blue colour – very unique. Don and I were playing with this “blue clay” throwing it at each other and molding shapes with it. It was incredibly sticky, like touching wet plaster. We went home and I mostly forgot all about this blue clay.

About 5 years later I was reading a fiction book about The Comstock Lode in Nevada by Louis L'Amour. In one part of the story, he tells a problem the miners are having with “sticky bright blue mud.” It’s getting stuck to all their equipment, hard to move in or even walk through. Then, just for the hell of it, one of the miners has the blue mud asseyed – it came out 60% gold & 40% silver. In the story, the miners made a fortune with this “sticky blue mud.”

Aha! I then remembered the sticky, bright blue clay that Don and I found years before. A few Months later, I went up in the hills again to the old mining site and grabbed a tupperware container of the blue clay – about a couple of pounds. I took this into Acme Analytical Laboratories on Hastings Street in Vancouver, B.C. and asked them to check for silver and gold. They looked at me like I was a little crazy because they usually get a bunch of rock core samples from mining companies that they have to grind-up to analyze – I told them they should charge me less, because my sample was already ground-up! They wouldn’t go for it and I paid about $100.00 for the testing (Don paid half latter).

The test came back; no silver – but .68 OUNCES PER TON FOR GOLD – which is good!

I next went to Dominion Maps on Granvile Street to find out about the site – to see if it was already claimed. It was interesting going through the maps – each one narrowing in closer and closer. . . until I saw that the whole area was covered in mining claims!

One day I may look into this further as I’ve been told that mining claims can expire. At a little over $1,700 per ounce for gold today. . . “one day” might be sooner that later. But what the heck will I do with gold bearing ore “sticky blue mud/clay” after I’ve found it? Is there a gold refinery around here someplace? We’ll see. . .

Dale Poulin

Orange Belt for Bobby Today

Bobby got his Orange Belt today. He's doing well at Karate and likes going every week. We are all very proud of our Little Man!

Angela Grade 9

Bobby Grade 3

Bobby passed Grade 3 with a good report card. He had fun all year long we are all very pleased with our Big Guy. WAY TO GO BOB!

Angela Grade 8

Angela finished Grade 8 with a very good report card. We're very proud of her, as Angela did a good job in school all year long. WELL DONE ANGELA!

Olympic Torch & Bobby

Someone brought a torch that was used in our 2010 Olympic relay to Bobby's School and Bobby got to hold it.

No More Daylight

After talking with my Nephew Chris, I signed-up on Facebook. Synced with my Yahoo contacts and had about 45 Friends to link with. Plus I invited about 75 more to join Facebook. My God! I'll never see daylight again!

Poulin Grandparents

My Cousin Denis sent me this photo of a newspaper clipping about my Father's Parents; my Grandmother and Grandfather. It's so nice to learn a little more family history. They had 19 children, not 15. I saw them only once when I was very young, about 4 years old - but I still remember them. This is the first I've seen them when they were young and I can see in their faces a little bit of all of us. (Click on image to enlarge)

To The Wilds of Fort Langley

Yesterday, we went out overnight to the "wilds" of Fort Langley, B.C. This was to test out our motorhome. Everything went well, except November here is definitily not the best time to go camping. The sound of rain on the roof put us to sleep. I put all our camp gear in the RV, except for our tents. There's room for about 10 times more stuff. I managed to dump the black & brown water sewage tanks without creating a 40 foot fountain (Remember Robin Williams in RV?) It's kind of cool to pull in, hook up and everything works. We had a nice lunch at The Java Planet - a 50's Diner, where Angela met Elvis.

The Wrecking Crew

There's a new walk-in shower going in soon, so the Boys had a lot of fun working on the "Wrecking Crew."

1993 Itasca Suncruiser 34 Foot Class A Motorhome

I picked up our family "Adventuremobile" last Monday. It was quite an trip (See the previous post). Angela and Bobby like it a lot and we'll be heading out on adventures soon.

Marysville Speed n' Custom

I travelled down to Portland, Oregon last Monday on Amtrak, which was a nice ride. I had not been on a train in 40 years. Stayed over-night in a Hotel near Sherwood, Oregon. On early Tuesday morning, I fired-up the 1993 Itasca Suncruiser 34 Foot Class A Motorhome I bought on Ebay, and headed back for the Border. Considering that I had never driven anything bigger than a pick-up truck before and that I managed to hit morning rush-hour in three different cities along the way, I was having quite an adventure. I was about 200 miles into my journey, when trouble started. The motorhome started getting noisy and running rough with little power. Luckily, I could pull into a rest area. Problem: No power at all in the batteries - all three of them! I phoned the nearest automotive shop in the area. (Internet is helpful in these situations!) The Guys from Marysville Speed n' Custom came almost right away. Ken helped to jump-start the RV and I drove to their location close-by. They were super! Within 90 minutes, I had two new batteries and a new alternator and was back on my way back to Canada. Their bill was reasonable. Their service was excellent. They are nice friendly people. I cannot thank them enough. See; www.marysvillespeed.com

KCTS 9 and Mashed Potatoes

I sent in my recipe for Poulin Family Mashed Potatoes: http://www.lottomars.com/mashed_potatoes.htm to KCTS channel 9 in Seattle, Washington USA and it was selected to be included in the "KCTS Cooks for the Holidays" Cookbook. This is the second one of my recipes that have been published in KCTS's cookbooks. I didn't get to cook anything "on air" - maybe next time!

Little Red Tigers

Bobby and Angela attended their first Karate lesson today and had a lot of fun. Soon they will be big red tigers.

Now we just have to fill it.

We finally got a nice big (21 sq.ft.) stand-up freezer. We've wanted one for quite a long time. No more digging to the bottom of our old small chest freezer to find something.

Angela Graduates Grade Seven

In a nice ceremony at Harold Bishop Elementary, Angela graduated from Grade Seven with her Classmates today. We're very proud of our Angela and know she will do well in High School next Fall.

Life Near The Beginning

It was a pleasure to experience a little life near the beginning. Yesterday, Catherine and I attended the Christening of Zion Philip Dizon. This cute little Guy is the son of our friends Butch and Mae Dizon. It was a nice ceremony with a good Luncheon. Warm congratulations to the Dizon Family.

Tony Poulin "Heart of Gold"

It has been a sad week for the our Family. My Brother Tony passed away last Saturday, May 23, 2009. Tony was only 58 years old. This is a rare photo of me and my siblings: taken with us all together as adults. The photo was taken in 1980 at our Father's retirement party at Indian Rock (Naramata), B.C. Left to right: Michael, Alan, Tony, Dale, Kevan and Danielle.

Any one who knows Tony well will agree that he had a heart of gold. Gentle and true, always willing to help out. Tony, along with Kevan, took care of our Father for many years.

Tony fell off a ladder about a year ago and broke his ribs. He didn't see a doctor right away and developed an infection in his lungs. He went to the hospital later in bad shape and then caught that superbug infection: Staphlycoccus aureus that is highly resistant to antibiotics. He was in the hospital for a couple of weeks, treated and released. Three weeks ago, Tony had a stroke and was back in the hospital. The superbug infection had come back and had got to his heart, liver, kidneys and brain. Tony went into a coma and never came back to us. He died peacefully in his sleep late that Saturday night.

I love my Brother and will always miss him. Tony has gone to join our Mother and Father, and our Brother Alan.
Video attached January 4, 2010 "Long Ago and Far Away." This is a little video (Turn your sound up) I made with some old super-8 clips and photos of Tony and other loved ones not with us any more; Mom, Dad, Alan and my old girlfriend Holly. There's video of Jason's Mom and Dad (Before he was born). My Brother Alan... is Christopher's Dad. Some of us in the video are still around and still going strong! Some of you have seen this before and some not. It's for us to enjoy and remember.


"Good Times" Video

Lottomars is Back!

The venerable and fantastic Lottomars domain: http://www.lottomars.com/ is mine once again. I started this site back in about 1995 and had a lot of fun with it. But I had let the domain slip away. It was picked up by others who pointed it at some less than savory destinations because there are so many websites that have links to Lottomars. In fact, Lottomars was in the top 5% of the Web for having the most links that lead to it. I felt that I had lost something that belongs to me. A few days ago I noticed that the domain was free again. With the help of Tajh at Blaze Telecommunications - http://www.blaze.ca/ - I was able to acquire my old favorite website again. Thanks Tajh!

Holly McFadden

Long ago (1977) and far away from where I am now, I dated Holly McFadden. In fact, we ended up living together for a while. I let her slip away from me, as I was a bit of a rambler back in those times. I still remember her well and with affection.

I only recently learned of her terrible death and don't wish to say anything about this. I also remember Holly’s Family; Her Mother, Father and two Sisters. They were all very nice to me and treated me well. My heart goes out to them all, as I know they will miss her so much. Most of what I remember about Holly I will keep to myself. I will tell you that she was very beautiful, highly intelligent, and strong willed. She was the type of woman who makes a man out of a man. This is the only photo I have of Holly. She is with me and my Mother and Father. I cannot remember where it was taken, but I’m glad the photo includes her smile. I think that if this photo is here, somehow her Family will get to see her "back then." I will always remember Holly McFadden.

Video added January 5, 2010. Two short Super-8 movie clips from back in 1977 of Holly when we were at a Bellyflop Contest at the old Coachhouse Hotel in North Vancouver. We had a lot of fun that day.

I may have found Holly's sister Gail. I sure hope she and her sister Coral get to see this post.

Sammy on The Wall

Thanks go to the Guys from ConnectPro who installed Sammy up on the wall. An excellent job and just what I wanted.

Sammy Arrived

Our new TV arrived today. It's name is Sammy (Samsung). Sammy is beautiful, tremendous, big and fantastic. 52 inch, 1080p, 120 hertz and so real, it is freaking me out. Sammy cost a lot of money, but worth every penny. It will be mounted on the wall next Saturday.

I hooked up an older PC to it and Sammy is now effectively a 52 inch computer monitor too.

Thanks go to Gurmeet at Future Shop in Burnaby for a good deal and excellent service. The Delivery Guys were super. They moved my old TV upstairs for me (Thing weighs 248 lbs.)

Angela Egyptian

Angela likes to write her name in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Fifty-seven going on Forty-two

I was almost always tired and sleepy, especially when driving. I would fall asleep after about 30 minutes when watching TV or reading. I would get headaches almost every day and some nights. It was sometimes like I had been drugged. I snored very loudly too - I was famous for it. Also and perhaps the worst thing was that I was frequently grumpy and irritable.

I finally told my family doctor and he had me tested for sleep apnea.

"The Greek word "apnea" literally means "without breath." There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common. Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer."

The test clearly indicated that I have sleep apnea. So, for the last two months, I have a machine beside my bed that pumps air into my nose when I'm sleeping. I have to wear a mask over my nose with straps around my head. My Wife and Kids laughed when they saw me with it on. It's quite intrusive, but well worth a little discomfort.

I don't snore now. I have not had a headache in over a month. I'm not tired all the time anymore. I'm not "Mr. Grumpy" at all. If fact, I feel better than I have in the last fifteen years.

If you have the symptoms that I had, go and get tested. . . don't put it off.

Girlie's Sun Run 2008

Girlie completed the Vancouver "Sun Run" Marathon in 2008. Way to go! We're all very proud of her!

We may have Jazz

Yes, Angela is taking "Band" in Grade 7 - the photo explains everything.

VERY PRACTICAL

Given a choice between diamond earings or new set of pots for her birthday present - which do you think Girlie picked?

Young Girlie

Catherine's nick-name is "Girlie." (In case you didn't know) We received this photo today from her Mom and Dad in the Philippines today. Girlie can't remember, but we guess she is "Sweet Sixteen" in this photo.

The Newest Poulin

My Nephew Jason and his wife Kassandra have a new baby boy; Kingston. He's the newest Poulin and good looking too! (It's hereditary). Bobby and Angela hope to see their new 2nd Cousin soon!

PEACH PIE

I rarely ever bake anything. So, this super peach pie is a special event. I only have to wait for it to cool off and . . . Yummy!

Horse Valley

Let's see if anyone can figure this one out. . . as in, what does this have to do with my name?

Sleep Over

Our Angela went on her first sleep over - at a School-Mate's birthday party. This was Angel's first night away from home, other that with family or close family friends. She left us a note. . .

FEE FI FO FUM

I sold the cow for some magic beans. Planted them and a very huge bean stalk grew up to the sky. Climbed up and found a immensely large house. In the house was the biggest and best "Home Theater" system I've ever seen. If you see a really big dude saying, "Fee Fi Fo Fum, where's my remote?" - don't tell him I've got it.

Fun on Ebay

Okay. . . now all I have to do is sell 50 used microphones on Ebay!

Not Too Old

Angela and Bobby are not too old to still play with a cardboard box.

Helen and Gordon Gemmill

These nice Folks are my old friend Karen's parents. Sadly, Gordon is not with us anymore. I've known them for 30+ years. There's not too many people on this Planet that have been nicer to me than The Gemmills. When I was in a bit of financial trouble at Parksville Insurance Agency, because of a cockroach thieving partner, Helen lent the business quite a lot of money and asked nothing in return - not even interest! Helen is the only person I ever correspond with in writing by mail. It's no mystery to me where Karen got her abundant grace and charm from.
Update March 21, 2015: Helen Gemmill has recently passed away. I'm going to miss this Grand Lady, but she had a good long life and will be lovingly remembered by many people.

Bob & Rosanne Johnston are Grandparents!

This is Bob and Rosanne's Daughter; Alesha's Baby, "Xavier" - Born October 13, 2007. (That was a tough sentance!) CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL. Two observations: Cute little Guy and Bob always reaches life milestones before me.

Ebay Store Closed

I closed my Ebay store: DKP Ventures. New lesson learned: it's possible to loose money while sleeping!

Dale's New Car

I bought a new 2007 Toyota Matrix today - fully loaded - a very nice little car. The very best part; 40 mpg city / 45 mpg hwy - yeehaw!

New Laptop PC for Dale

I bought a very nice HP Laptop just for me. It's Super-duper! Does everything but cook dinner. It's not as fast as our home PC, but having "Wireless" access to the Internet more than makes up for this. The good part: I'm the only one that uses it!

Opened an EBAY Store Today

DKP Ventures. Yes. . . I want to make money while I'm sleeping! We'll see how this goes. There not much there now to look at. But, watch out! I'm going to be one of those EBAY Millionaires!