Year: 2014

We had planned on hiking up to Rawson Lake today.  We were about to turn right from Highway 40 onto the road to Upper and Lower Kananaskis Lakes when I saw a left turn 50 – 100 feet before the Lakes turn.  We said let’s go take a peak.  There were a few cars in the parking lot.  We asked a lady from Montana about the hike – she said the trail was kinda wiped out because of the flooding but you could still walk up a ways.  As we are always game for something new… we loaded up our gear and went for it. 

It was not a real hard hike by any means.  Because the trail was gone we had to cross the creek – a fairly decently large one – about 20-30 times there and the same back again back.  The rocks were VERY slippery.  I have cuts on my hand to prove it. 

Lots of gravel from the flooding.  We loved the hike though.  It probably went no more than a mile and a half to two but was gorgeous.  Walls of the mountains went up in some parts I’m sure a thousand feet or more straight up.  And parts narrowed so edge walking was necessary.  Our staffs came in very handy.  A fair bit of climbing over rocks and trees.

The view:  Lots of moss edged by the sun.  Chimney’s and caves all the way along.  Cliffs going straight up all the way.

We got to a point where is opened up toward the end and decided it was time to eat something. This is where the picture was taken.  The walls on the the side we were sitting were extremely high and when they started shedding rocks we made a hasty retreat. One rock landed where I had been a few minutes before. 

We got out of there without getting conked on the head by a rock falling a thousand feet or so – good thing in my estimation.

Took about 3 hours in and out with our picnic.  We were not hurrying. Enjoying the sights.

In the words of Bob Lee Swagger: “I just show up and pay attention.”
from Sniper’s Honor by Stephen Hunter

This is a post that just happens to be plug for a product that I sell.  I sell it at trade shows(Home Shows, Women Shows, some fairs, like the Calgary Stampede, etc) and online. 

This cream – it is called Thentix – ‘A Touch of Honey’ – really is wonderful.  I gave a small jar to my buddy Len a few weeks ago.  He has some eczema on the palms of his hands which developed about 5 years ago.  I told him to put it on three or four times a day for 2-3 weeks.  I saw him after three days and it was cleared up by at least fifty percent.  Another recent story is the lady at the Post Office.  She serves me when I ship out the Thentix.  She recently went through chemo for cancer.  She had asked me about what I was sending and what it was for.  I brought her a small jar to try for the itchy skin from the treatments.  I saw her about a week later.  She exclaimed that it was amazing.  She said she could put it on early in the day and bathe later and her skin was still silky.  I was thrilled that it worked for her.    (I expected that it would but it is always wonderful to hear stories like this.)

Thentix skin cream was made for more serious skin conditions but is great for something as simple as a mosquito bit itch. I use for shaving.  You really don’t have to but if you want to find out more, I have tons of information on the product here:

“Thentix: ‘A Touch of Honey’

If you are at a trade show in Alberta(I’m at a lot of them), see if it is me – I work the Calgary Stampede every year as well.  Come by and say ‘hello’.  Anywhere else in Canada or the USA, try a little out.  I’m sure that you will like.  Mostly natural.  No smelly stuff and no petroleum products. 

Thanks for listening.
– Martin

A lot of what I write here is not so much to be advice but a bit of ‘hatting’ on life.  (Definition for ‘Hat’: the conditions or data to operate a job or post. From the days when one wore a hat(i.e. a conductor on a train) to be recognizable as to a particular function or job).
One of the things that I see missing in the world around us is manners.  I really don’t know if the word has taken on a bad meaning or if parents over the last couple of generations have just forgotten or not have had enough time or energy to teach some basic manners to their families. 

To me it is all about respect and caring.  If anyone ever has the thought that they don’t get respect, I would suggest they improve their manners – they may have to learn some.  Similar to learning how to operate a drill press or drive a car if you don’t know how.  You will be in big trouble if you try and operate one of those without knowing how.  Same with manners.

Like dressing nicely: One of my sons pointed out to me that this is should be done out of respect for the people you are with or visiting.  Not so much of ‘hey see how great I look’ as “I respect you and don’t want to look like a slob around you, I would rather help make your space look nicer…”. 

There are numerous ‘little’ actions that can make all the difference to the general tone of a society.  For example, who should hold the door for whom?  And there are hundreds of actions that are completely missing.  Like holding the chair at a restaurant for a woman or letting the oldest woman at a dinner table start eating before you start. 

I would say the people that don’t care about manners or think they are not important will generally have more trouble in social situations or at work and have more people pissed off at them. 

If you are having good manners around others and they don’t respond in kind, should you just stop being good mannered around them?  Not at all. Why should you lower your own personal integrity and respect for yourself, because they don’t have manners or respect for themselves or others? 

There is a fantastic article on ‘Opening Doors for Women’ on the Art of Manliness website.  This article is as important for women to read as it is for men.  It covers ‘respect’ and ‘working together’.  The article covers those awkward moments and double doors etc.
Read it here: Art of Manliness: Holding the Door for  a Woman

But then there is the question of who lets who go first when two people of same sex and different age approach a door…?

There are specific ways to do things in many cases and learning these things is not all that hard.  If you are not sure, err on the side of more respect for the other.

Things from saying hello to people. I generally don’t wait for them to originate or say hello first.  That kind of falls into a similar category as contacting someone you haven’t heard from in a while.  My mum’s view on this was to never, ever wait for someone to get in touch with you.  You’ll end up pretty lonely if you do.  Write a letter, make a phone call. 

I’ll post more on specific areas of manners – what is good and what is not but here is an important one:

When you get an email let the person know you received it.  Don’t just read it and move on with the idea you will come back to it.  If you find yourself doing this sort of thing a lot then don’t read them until you can take the time to respond.  Saves the person who sent you the communication following up to ask if you received it or to get his or her question answered.  If the email in question is just an informative one requiring no actual information in return, then just say: ‘Thanks, I got it.’

This is a huge one: When you go to someone’s house for dinner, or they pay for you or someone treats you in some manner or way, you would obviously thank them when you are done, at that time.  Well, also, the next day, send a communication thanking them again.  Be it a card, an email or a text.  This goes doubly for gifts. When someone actually sends you something, ALWAYS acknowledge the gift in some way.  For something like this, minimally an email, phone call or text, ideally a card – especially if the person is over 50 years old.

Again, it is all about respect and caring for the other person.  Something as simple as listening to the other person when they are saying something can make their day.

And don’t forget, when someone does anything like holds the door, moves out of your way or any such thing, say ‘Thank You”.
Have fun!