Happy New Year

The year that was 2016 is now behind us, and we can move forward into 2017.  I found 2016 to be a challenging year, and although there are some great memories, I am glad to be putting the year behind me.  I guess the highlights of the year would be...  the Spring Break trip out to Vancouver Island with the girls...  the purchase of our cottage lot out at Nordegg... and the September trip that Margarit and I took up to Mount Assiniboine.  From a business standpoint the year has been particularly challenging.  With the collapse in world oil prices the local Alberta economy has taken a beating.  Revenue at my small business is down about 30% for the year, and the upcoming winter months don't look very good.  The election of "The Haircut" in Ottawa and the socialist government here in Alberta has made matters worse.  They seem determined to spend money that they haven't even imagined yet.  No doubt it will fall on the backs of the working people and small business to pay their way out of this mess.  Its too bad that 2017 isn't an election year or we could really stick it to them.  In the mean time we need to bend over and take it, while opening our wallets at the same time.  The dreaded Carbon Tax kicks in here in Alberta today so we get to start paying more for almost all forms of energy.  I expect that 1/3 of the money raised will be wasted on the bureaucracy of the whole process, while 2/3 is pledged to be given back to middle income and poor people in the form of rebates.  We'd be just as far ahead if they didn't bother...

On a happier note I've decided to begin my first post of 2017 with a new image.  This interior shot of an old abandoned house was taken back in late November.  This was during a day trip out with Margarit, and our friends Chris and Connie, and we were exploring with permission.  The calendar on the wall in this old place is nearly 50 years old.  It is from a local Allis Chalmers implement dealer and dates back to 1968.  The photograph was taken in existing light with my new used Ebony SV45TU view camera and a Schneider 110mm lens.  The film was Kodak 100 T-Max, exposed at 80 iso and processed in 510 Pyro.  The exposure was 30 seconds at F18.