Well the arborist has now completed his work – another value added feature of living in The Villa. Who would hire an arborist for their home? Well, I suppose some, but not many. No, I think the attention that goes into living in a community like this is good.

We’ve had Shaw for Business as our internet provider for the past 3 years. The contract was up and so I was notified of a 60% increase in our cost. Philip comes along and says…ask for 75 up and 75 down. So I did and now we have the same cost of the past 3 years for the next 3 years and I’m getting better speeds – no delay, no buffering, just good speeds.

Happy birthday to Lorraine this week! Friday’s coffee in the clubhouse was a bit of party for her!

Ukrainian by birth, she is a faithful church attender and just a lovely person. It was nice to see her celebrate with her neighbours. Even while we are celebrating a birthday we are sad to learn that our next door neighbour, BUD, has been taken to hospital and won’t be returning. Even yesterday a realtor was in the house to being the process of listing it. At 98 he is now beyond living on his own.

Do you know what a raspberry pi is? It’s a tiny computer – less than $100 and it is what Philip is using to run two monitors for his kids so they can play Minecraft and other software without buying another laptop or two.

Lastly, in discussion this week are three things in The Villa. First is the proposed property tax hike for Edmontonians of 6.1% after a 8.5% increase last year. I’ve written to my city councilor on this matter since I have gotten to know her. I’m sure this will result in the whole city council being replace in the next municipal election. Second has been the discussion on the rising tide of political punches across the border – and the likely trade war that could be sparked by the new Trump administration. I say don’t sell them maple syrup! Lastly is the recognition that getting trades people in to do small jobs is now almost impossible.

And that my friends is the news from The Villa!