George Garbutt:
CLASS OF 1962
Glenlawn Collegiate InstituteClass of 1962
Winnipeg, MB
Glenwood Elementary SchoolClass of 1960
Winnipeg, MB
George's Story
December, 2015
Well, here we are just about at the end of 2015. Another year is about to close and - - - we are all another year older. Ever wonder where the time goes? I'm sure that it was only yesterday that we were wondering what we were going to do to change the direction of the world and now we have all been there and done that but did we do anything to change direction? Not sure I did but what about you?
What did you accomplish other than living a long life? Was it happy? Did you make your fortune? I certainly didn't make a fortune but we live a comfortable retirement lifestyle and our health is good. It always surprises the insurance people when they ask if I am on any medications and I say no! Because if you are over 70, you must be on something, right?
So, take time to look around you and enjoy each day as it comes along. Things could be worse and could be better but chances are, you won't win the big lottery. Live every day as it comes. Merry Chrstmas and all the very best in 2016.
August 6, 2013
This year started out as being normal. January saw us in Arizona again, enjoying the warm weather. Our April trip home was uneventful - no last minute snow storms. But the year has turned pretty crappy in a hurry.
Mid May found me at a cancer surgeon's office being told that I had an appointment with the knife on June 3rd for a routine removal of a "small" portion of my lower intestine. "Small" turned out to be a foot and a half. Results - cancer removed and no concern for further treatment. Considering that I had embarked on a major weight loss plan, it kind of worked out well.
A few weeks late, Mother Nature gave us a kick in the pants - you think you have problems? Hah, we live in High River, Alberta where, just like in Texas, things are bigger. We lost the whole town to flooding - all 13,000 of us. Fortunately, we only lost everything in the lower level of the house. many others lost the whole place. The son and daughter in law of a former colleague took possession of their new house on June 19th and on June 20th, the flood waters of the Highwood River took it all away.
Things will return to normal eventually - the hospital will begin reopening on a gradual basis, businesses will start to open their doors, the banks will continue to operate out of construction trailer for another few months, the grocery stores have re-opened and the silt and slime is being removed from schools so the kids can get back to "book larnin' " in September, Churches will begin to move their Sunday Services into familiar indoor surroundings. Oh yeah, and the politicians will continue to point fingers.
Move the town says one, dredge the river says another or build a floodway like they have around Winnipeg says another.
It has been an amazing time. Neighbors helping neighbors; complete strangers showing up at your door asking if we need help; how about lunch; do you need water? And for the first time in 69 years, we went on the "dole" when the Alberta Government gave us a cash card for $2500 to help us through the interim until insurance money came through.
Insurance - that's been a problem for some people. Some insurance companies have stepped up to the plate and taken their responsibilities very seriously and paid the price while others have not. However, a lot of the problems are of the consumers own making. "I probably don't need sewer back up insurance. I can save $25 a year in premiums. Maybe I don't need a high limit for contents. I'll take $15,000 and save another $25 a year." When you damage is in excess of $100,000, a $15,000 policy isn't much good is it. Word of advice - take a look at your homeowners policy and find lout what you really have.
People here have found out that you can't cheap your coverage. Nobody would have thought the whole town would be under water but it happened.
We were out of our home for 38 days and its great to be back. Looks a little bleak when we look down the stairs to the lower level and see bare concrete and studs where a cozy, carpeted warm area was before but one has to remember that the stuff we lost was just that; it was only "stuff". We are safe, we still have a roof over our heads and our place will be rebuilt because we had insurance. Another way to look at it is we have less "stuff" to move if we had to.
All in all, it has been a challenging year, but it can only get better! Oh, by the way, so far I have lost 61 pounds - a former shadow of myself.
May 6, 2012
Reading through the various individual stories on Classmates of people from Glenlawn Collegiate and GWL, I realized that my own was now a couple of years outdated.
My how time flies when you are having fun! It's great to be a retiree. It's amazing how you sometimes have to fight hard to get things done in one day. Wonder how I managed to work, look after so many things and participate in all those things that we do to make our lives complete. Can't even sleep in because its so busy.
My wife and I moved from the hustle and bustle of life in Calgary just after I retired in 2010. We decided that Calgary was getting more complicated and way too busy as a city of a million plus and looked at moving north and south of the city. We decided on High River (population 12,000) which is about 40 km south, right in the thick of cowboy country, the former home of Joe Clark (his father and grand father were the editors of the High River Times) and the site of the production of the CBC series "Heartland". It is interesting to watch an episode and see the TD branch that we deal with as a backdrop to a scene. Cattle trucks from all over the west drift through during the day to the huge Cargill meat packing plant just north of town. Chances are, if you eat beef and you live in the west (or maybe even the east too) it may have come from High River. Enjoy it - it's some of the best the west has to offer!
I just scrolled down and realized that I have repeated myself about moving to High River but who cares, I'm retired and I can do what I want. Saw a bumper sticker the other day that sums it all up: "Quit honking and go around. I'm retired!!". Pretty much sums it up.
We have continued to spend a few months in the winter in Arizona with the motorhome. We enjoy the time and the comraderie of our neighbors in the RV park that we stay in. They come from all walks of life - a retired police inspector from Calgary, a retired farmer and trucking operator from Saskatchewan, a semi-retired rancher from Saskatchewan, a retired concrete finishing contractor from Innisfail, a retired bank manager from Pilot Mound, a retired school teacher from St. Albert, a retired GM dealer from Ohio.
My wife plays golf a couple of times a week and I have taken up wood carving which is a hoot because it's like a coffee klatch. We carve all kinds of things - miniature boots, birds, caricatures, wall hangings and walking sticks. I found out that with a little patience and good luck, anyone can do it. I've added a couple of pictures of some of my work.
All the world's problems, Canadian or U.S. are solved everyday and at the end of the season, everyone looks forward to the next year and who may or may not be coming back. Sadly, we have lost a few members over the last couple of years due to death or health reasons. If you lose your health, you usallly can't afford the health insurance premiums to venture into the U.S.
Fell victim to the evils of Emergency Medical Travel Insurance in 2009. When you buy insurance for "emergency medical coverage" what you don't realize is that buried in the gobbledegook of words, phrases and clauses are specific protective clauses that enable an insurance company to get out of paying any claim that you might have.
I suffered an acute case of appendicitis. Pretty straight forward, or so I thought. This was an emergency right? I bought "emergency medical coverage" right? WRONG!!! What I thought was "emergency medical covderage" was nothing more than pieces of paper that stack the deck against a claimant. For example, it appears that when a claim is submitted for payment, the first thing that the insurance company looks is a way to cancel the policy based on the questions asked when you apply. Typically, they look for a wrong answer to invoke their right to summarily cancel the policy and the wrong answer may have absolutley nothing to do with your "emergency medical" condition. To make a long story short, bills that totaled $32,000 US for a day and a half in the Yuma Regional Medical Center were submitted by doctors, labs, operating room, etc. and were denied by the insurance claim adminsitrator on the basis that I answered "no" when I should have said "yes". The policy was cancelled. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go! Do not collect anything!! Fortunately, I had the financial wherewithall to pay about 60% of the bill in cash and everyone involved seemed to be happy. Sure I was threatened w...Expand for more
ith a bad credit rating and other mayhem by a couple of bill collectors who didn't understand the significance of the 49th parallel but I survived that. So be very, very careful if you are buying out of country coverage. Find a reputable broker and ask all kinds of questions. Never, never rely on your travel agent nor call a 1-800 number from an advertisement on TV. Both of these know nothing of the intracasies of insurance. They are order takers and earn a commission on what they sell.
I managed to put up a credible fight through letter writing to the claims administrator, the insurance company, an insurance company ombudsman, the plan sponsor (Good Sam Club) and finally contacting our local Global TV channel. After several conference calls, I managed to get a partial settlement from the claims adminstrator. In short, I did their job for them - I bargained down the outrageous medical charges by 40% and then got a negotiated settlement of 60% with no admission by the insurance company that they really were on the hook for anything. But the good news is that I got back the premium that I paid!!
So, what else? Well it's a nice day in High River, Alberta today (Remember Jack Wells?). We recently had an election and the good news is that we have another Conservative government with a stronger majority than last time. The bad news is that we have a opposition party that is led by a former school trustee, turned newspaper columnist, who was part of the Calgary School Board of Trustees who were fired by the Provincial Education Minister of the day becuse they were incompetent and acted like a bunch of schoolyard bullies rather than adults. But who says politics is actually real wehn it comes to elections. Another four years and it will start over again.
In the mantime, we continue to be vilified by such policicians as Mulcair, who self righteously argues that the Alberta Oilsands are ruining the Canadian economy and are the cause of all Canadian ecological problems while he conveniently fails to consider what Quebec's james Bay project does year after year. He also fails to recognize that without Alberta's significant contributions through transfer payments, that his little "republic" of Quebec would be SOL. And don't get me started on student protests about raising the cost of tuition in Quebec. Negotiate with them??? How about kciking their soft little asses out into the real worl so they can see what it takes to survive. Oh, God no! You can't do that because we'd then have to send more money to prop up their welfare system.
Over and out!!
May 5, 2010
Just back from bringing home the 'bus'. Check out the new pictures.
March 20, 2010
Spent the last 2 1/2 months south for the winter. Spent time in Palm Desert and El Centro CA and then on to Yuma AZ.
Met some great people at the RV park in Yuma - about 90% Canadians from mostly Alberta but a few from the east,the the balance from BC,Sask and Manitoba.
Pretty laid back - a little golf, pool time and of course the usual happy hours that went on every night.
The park we stayed in (Westwinds RV and Golf Resort) is a little more expensive than others around but there are more activities. There is a wood carving club, square dancing, line dancing, a weekly jam session with anyone in the park who can pluck a guitar or play anything else, ceramics, lapidary, tours here there and everywhere. Great fun.
Made the mistake of looking at motorhomes while we were in Yuma. The U.S. recession is still running rampant in Arizona and the price of everything is unbeleiveably low, so low that we couldn't pass up a deal on a 38 ft Monaco. Just need to get the 5th wheel back to Alberta and then go back to Yuma to bring back the 'bus'.
Dec 2009
So Grey Cup is over, all the melon heads have gone back to Saskatchewan and the day after the big game, it snowed and now its cold. Almost as if the weather man knew that we had to hold it off until after the game.
Spent some time driving a van for the Grey Cup Committee during the week. Met some really intersting people and some of the old footbal players - Angelo Mosca from the Ticats, Peter Dala Riva from the Allouets and Fred James from the Stamps. Also had a quick chat with Wally Buono outside the Palliser Hotel. Of course I had them all autograph the Grey Cup Volunteer jacket I was wearing. Something to remember the hassles with traffic.
Had some company over the week as well - Al Compton and his wife Lorraine. They came out and we went to the game.
So now we sit back and enjoy a week in Mexico this coming week and the hold out for Christmas and then a few months in the sunny south in January, February and March. Can't wait!
Merry Christmas everyone that I know out there and anyone that I don't know that says they went to Glenlawn or worked at GWL.
October 29, 2009
Retirement gives a person some pretty intersting opportunities! We decided that living in a city of a million plus was becoming somewhat of a hassle - traffic, noise, crime and just a deterioration of life style in general.
So we packed up and moved to High River, Alberta, a small town in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies right in the middle of Canadian Cowboy Country.
If anyone has seen the CBC program on Sunday night - Heartland, then you've seen how beutiful the surrounding country side is and the main street of High River as well.
The population of High River is about 12,000 people. Interesting speaking to people at the local Sobeys, bank, coffee shop, etc. A much more steady life at a much reduced pace.
News filled with the latest failings of the healthcare system in providing the vacinations for the H1N1 flu; long line ups; wating times of 5 - 6 hours. Well how about waiting 40 minutes at the Highwodd Centre in beautiful downtown High River.
All in all, a great place to reside.
April 20, 2009
Have been thinking about things over the last week or two, having approached and then attained the age that put me on the Federal Government payroll - the big one - 65 - the one that we never ever imagined that we would have to worry about, and besides we never thought past 25 anyway. I haven't retired yet but probably will by year end.
Man, have things happened fast. It was just yesterday that Mr. Carstairs and his handle bar mustache graced the halls of Glenlawn. And then there were all those other teachers who really tried to set us straight (Miss McCann and her spike heels) but who we really just tolerated long enough to squeak through and get on with the exciting things like finding a job, getting married, having kids, raising kids, coaching kids, seeing kids graduate, having kids get married, having grand children arrive, and before you know it its retirement time and you are buying the bigger trailer to head south for the winter and try to enjoy some leisure time.
Its been a rush, this life that was supposed to be all about us but turned out to be all about the other people in our lives.
Unlike a lot of my class mates, I moved my family from Winnipeg to Calgary, then Edmonton and then back to Calgary. Occasionally, when we get the chance we come back to Winnipeg or I get back on business, I try to take a few hours and cruise through St. Vital, past the houses I was brought up in on Blenheim and Imperial Avenues, past Glenwood Elementary and the Community Club (surprised to see the new buildings again), past Glenlawn after the new building was constructed following the fire. I even tried to drive behind the building to see if the parking lot still had a place to smoke at break and lunch. Try as he might, Principal Micklethwaite couldn't stamp out student smoking could he?
I was thinking about the times we all turned out to fill and stack sand bags when the Seine and the Red Rivers flooded. Who said teenagers were all bad.
A lot has changed over the years but there are still some things that have remained the same. St. Vital is still home.
August 10, 2009
Just back from a week at the summer retreat.
Hail storm went through the area and caused all kinds of trouble - trees down, vehicles dented, windows smashed and siding ruined on the north sides of buildings. Only slight damage on our place so I'll replace the affected pieces and forget about an insurance claim.
Have some work to do adding some new landscaping and some rockery.
Such is the life of a retiree!(What day is this? What's the date? Anybody care?)
July 22, 2009
Just back from a 2 week trip to the U.S., down the Oregon coast where we saw a lot of fog and not much coast line.
We stayed in some mighty fine RV resorts for some not too bad rates. First class accomodation for $30 to $35 a night in resorts attached to marinas, casinos and state parks as well.
Ahhhhh, retirement. So far, so good!
July 1, 2009 - Retirement! managed to sleep in for a half hour.
June 1, 2009
And its 30 days to retirement - but who's counting? Not me (well not much)!
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