Who'll stop the rain?

After a good run of very dry years, summer 2026 has been a pretty wet spring/summer. The snow left late, and I think it's rained nearly every day for the past month. 

Overall, being 44, I'm pretty happy about how it's helping my grass. I've been trying to re-grow my front lawn after the City dug it up last summer to replace the sweet, sweet lead in my pipes with lifeless plastic. With daily rain, it means I don't need to haul the hose out every night to keep the thing watered. I am, however, ready for it to dry up a little bit so I can mow. 

It's hit extra hard in Regina over the last few weeks. Back on June 9, we got hit with a massive hailstorm. Toonie-sized hail, y'all. It was a wild night. I was sitting on the back deck watching the clouds roll in. There was a big, loud blast of lightning/thunder, and then I could just hear this dull rumble in the distance. I sat and watched over the next two minutes as it got closer and louder. To the point where I was a little worried I was hearing a tornado coming, not hail. But then the telltale "ping" of a stone hitting a downspout and the storm front hit. Luckily, our new car was one neighbourhood over and was completely missed. And the Traverse was in the garage. Kayah's car, on the other hand, now looks like a golf ball. And that's not the last abuse we're going to hear about that car here. 

Would I lie to you?

This past weekend brought another dump on Regina, this time just heavy rain. I caught the start of the storm on my way to Manitou Beach, where I was performing at the Manitou busking festival. I texted home and advised everyone to move their cars in. Kayah did not get the message. The water got up to about three feet in the street out front. Amazing, since, as I mentioned at the start of this post, they spent all last summer replacing the plumbing under our street. So Kayah's car got flooded and is now drying in the garage. That poor car may not survive the summer. 

It only got worse from here.

To top it all off, I had to go to Saskatoon for a media event yesterday. Got soaked again. I mean, good for the crops, good for the forest fire guys. I might even be able to get through my summer holidays without a fire ban. And I'd like to enjoy my second weekend in Manitou next weekend without all of the mud. I'm pretty good at camping, and I kept myself dry and comfortable last weekend. But guh that mud all over and just slipping everywhere. Plus, I actually had to dry out my guitar and case when I got home on Sunday. A first for me. 

So yeah. There's my weekly report, from the Vancouver of the prairies. Hope you're staying dry, safe and afloat! 

Another Graduation

 With absolutely no forewarning, Kayah graduated from high school yesterday. 

I joke that there was no warning, but in some respects, I'm serious. It was clear in the conversation Rhonda and I had on the way home after dropping her off that it did kinda sneak up on us. Like Kayah talked about it all year, and we only bought 19 grad dresses, and it was basically all anyone was allowed to mention the last couple of weeks. But I don't think either of us really processed that Kayah was here. 

Kayah is a spicy person. She exploded into our lives and has been the center of so much of our family for most of it. That's not all negative - although there were times it was. She's just a very big personality in a little lady. I think that's why this snuck up, we've kinda learned to maybe put some of Kayah's enthusiasm on a shelf just to preserve our own mental space. 

And lordy, how dynamic this little lady has become. She's headed to U of R in the fall to start a degree in Social Work, with some intention to head into law from there. I can see that path adjusting over the next few years, but at the end of it, I know she'll do her work helping people and sharing that big, caring heart with so much of the world. 

For as chaotic as Kayah can be, the grad itself was textbook boring. 3 hours of names just being read over and over and over. Then another half hour at the prom supper that night. Strangely, I was embracing that boredom lately. There's a lot of talk these days about how we don't allow ourselves to be bored anymore. We always have a phone to scroll or a game to play. I just sat back and let it happen. As it is, even though (or maybe because) I hate ceremony, I don't attend many. A funeral here or there, and the odd award thing is maybe all I have to suffer. I did it a lot more when I was younger, going to church every weekend. Plus, the last few weeks have been chaotic, as was the day itself yesterday. Why not sit back and just zone out? Let the brain drain out some of those harmful stress hormones? 

Aside from the ceremony - which was like every other grad ceremony I've been to - we also went to a prom dinner. Rhonda and I finally got to meet Kayah's boyfriend's parents. She's only been dating him for 3 years. Suppose it was time. They seem like delightful folks, about a decade older than us. Their son is their youngest, and Kayah is our middle kiddo. So they're just wrapping up the kid part of life. We've got 3 more years. 

Various offspring

The day and how grown up Kayah's become didn't hit me until we had the dad/daughter dance at the start of the prom. She's still my little Kayah, but she's so grown up, so full of ideas and dreams and potential. I'm so incredibly proud of her. Not the high school thing, there were like 200 people in that room that achieved that. Hell, even THE NAVIGATOR graduated. Nothing to be proud of there. But she's grown into such a motivated and caring young woman, and dancing with her there last night it just sort of all came to me. Michelle even messaged to ask me where the Dad tears were, like just because I didn't share it on social didn't mean it wasn't there. 

So yeah. 2 of 3 graduated, and I'm sure this last one is gonna happen FAST. It seems like just yesterday I was showing Kayah how to take the bus to school, and the next day it was Jonas. So tomorrow, he should be graduating, right? 

Finals

Kayah is graduating next Monday which means this week... is finals. 

Cue dramatic music

I was bugging her about studying and she quickly retorted that I was probably the kind of person that never studied. I told her I did study but only when I wanted to and I didn't want to very often. So I would settle for for a 70 instead of the high 90s that she's shooting for. 

In my adulthood, I'm finding the best way for me to learn is to learn while I'm applying the knowledge. 

A couple of years ago I graduated from the Public Relations Diploma at the University of Victoria. It was a distance education course that took me about 3 years to finish. It was really in-depth and really rewarding, but I think I got the most out of it because I was also working for a media relations shop while taking the education. 

I was able to apply the things I learned at night to my daily work and a lot of things really stuck and connected because of that. Plus I think I challenged the people I worked with quite a bit. This arrangement really worked for me and it showed up in my marks. I finished the program with a 91% average and a deep understanding of public relations. 

I'm finding the same thing as I'm re-entering the music scene. I'm making mistakes and going down. Weird paths but it's teaching me some lessons while I learn other lessons online and read about things. I've been taking seminars and going to songwriter meetups to try and learn more about the craft. But I'm also out there playing gigs making mistakes in the studio. And meeting people all along the way. I'm having a great time learning this way.

 But, I feel like I'm in my own finals. Maybe an easier like grade 9 finals, but finals nonetheless. After the release of Trevor's Tincture back in May, I've been playing almost non-stop with an out of town gig pretty much every weekend. It's not just teaching me to play and entertain, but how to manage my life and responsibilities while being out so much. It's been busy. Very busy. 

That's not something you can learn by watching YouTube videos or practicing scales in the bedroom. You need to actually do the work to figure out logistics like where you're staying the night, how to plan out your travel to arrive on time (but not too early), how to negotiate contracts and how to handle everyone calling you the "kazoo guy" now. 

I still have 3 out-of-town weekends ahead and then there's really nothing on my calendar for a while. I'm kinda relieved. I could use the break from travelling, spend some time watering my lawn and just generally doing a little bit less for a while. But of course - something will come along. 

Oh and in the midst of this all, Kayah is graduating. 

Sigh. 

 

Damn wee wooos

 Hello reader. I'm feeling a bit lethargic this morning, so I've decided to ask a friend to do a guest post on Pilot's World today. Please enjoy and be kind; she's a new writer.  - Pilot

Hellos!

My name is Ahsoka Francesca Newfounland IV. As my last name hints, I am a Newfoundland-breed dog. I am 5 and a half years old. 

Me enjoying the finer things on Doodey Street

As you know, Pilot is a man, and I am a dog, so I am his best friend. Not just a friend, as indicated in that rather weak introduction. Thanks for the rousing introduction, man. 

An interesting fact about me is that I have lived for my entire life on a street named "Cameron". Even before I moved in with Pilot, the house where I was born was also on Cameron. Just a few blocks north of where I live now! 

It's a pretty nice street. There are lots of trees around to sniff, and on any given day, someone has left a hot dog bun or some leftover spaghetti on the ground for doggos like me to enjoy. It's pretty great.  

But there is another street very close to Cameron that's not so great. Sometimes we go walking on that street. Its name is Doodey Street, I think they call it that after a big piece of shit. There are not as many trees, and there are lots of cars that drive very fast on it. 

But there is one particular type of car that's extra annoying. Always looking for attention, they're constantly screaming, "wee woo, wee woo," or sometimes really fast, "wow wow wow wow." All hours of the day and night, "wee woo, wee woo."

Now, I am as fond as the next person of giving a nice loud "AWOOO" or even a few nice "woof woofs" when you meet someone. I mean, you need to let them know you're excited to meet them. But these guys are next level. You can hear them for BLOCKS. 

That noise kind of annoys me, but it sends my brother Liberty into an absolute crisis. He has to howl back and gets all antsy. Sometimes he even needs to go hide with Mom. He puts on a brave face, but I think he's secretly a bit of a coward. 

But sometimes I get to see these loud cars, and it's even worse than all the noise they make. Some of the cars are small, some even look like Dad's car, which he takes us on rides in. Others are really BIG with lots of hoses on them. Liberty always tells me he'd love to bite one of those hoses, that it's probably way better to bite than the little snakey hose we have in the yard. 

But the worst part is that if they aren't attention hogs enough, they're covered in flashing lights! If I could see colour, I wonder what colour they'd be? Probably glitter. 

The noisy menace is filling my street with water

Sometimes they even escape Doodey and come onto our street, at which point these men in big snow suits come out and start breaking stuff! They take big hammers and start knocking holes in things, then they take those hoses and start filling people's houses with water! I mean, I love water, but I don't want to SLEEP in it. 

Rude. 

The menace kidnaps people across the street.

Sometimes these other smaller ones come, and they just straight up steal people. Sometimes they're strapped to a bed with wheels on it. Other times, they tie a person's hands up and throw them in the back, and the car drives away again with those flashing lights and noises. 

These cars are an absolute menace, and since my Dad isn't doing a DAMN THING ABOUT IT, I call on you, gentle reader, will you please come (bring Capone and Sadie) and tell them to be quiet? Tell them to go inside and leave us alone. I know they can go inside, I saw some going inside their home a long way away on Doodey a couple of years ago when Dad would take me on super long walks. (Hey Dad, when are we doing a long walk again?)

I'm glad that I've been able to catch a few pictures of these criminals from the front window. You can see a lot from there, and I'm always very vigilant to let people know when these bad boys are around. Or if there's a dog on the street. 

In conclusion, I wish there weren't so many grandstanding cars around. We all need a bit of noise in our lives, but I'm totally sick of it. And their behaviour is terrible. They need to leave people alone. 

-Ahsoka 🐾

Old Man Yells at Bus

I ride the bus to work every day, plus any time I need to get downtown. I know the bus isn't for everyone, and it's only because I live in a particular part of town that it comes in as convenient for me. Like faster than driving to work, convenient. Faster than walking, convenient. 

What can I say, I ride a chauffeured vehicle that costs many millions of dollars to work every day. 

Score. 

But the shine has started to wear off my trusty transit transportation tale. 

The longest-standing issue has been with many of the drivers. To be sure, there are many great drivers in Regina Transit, and when the ride is smooth, it's kinda blissful. You can just relax and get home. But there's quite a crop of drivers coming out lately that make me wonder if they truly obtained their Class 1 licence. Jerky stops and starts, and rude behaviour can really ruin that end-of-day ride. 

In some cases, I get it. Being a bus driver seems good on paper, but when you look at the reality, it's not all sitting on your butt saying hello to Mrs. Jenkins. I've seen people full fist punch the bus, overdose and get in fights on the bus. More than any driver is paid to deal with. 

The riders are the other wildcard. Sometimes you can have a deep philosophical chat on the nature of words. Other times, they're punching the side of the bus so hard you wonder how they don't break a hand. Seen people overdose on the bus. And don't even get me started on not being able to use the accessible seating while I'm having a gout attack because some loser won't move. 

And I think that those things are pretty universal gripes with transit all over the world. It's hard to deliver that kind of service well. 

But Regina Transit has started to cross the line with me lately. It started in April when the cost of a monthly pass went up by $9. A 10% increase. Just like that.

Now, I am in a place where I can absorb that cost. I get it, the world is getting more expensive. But, for a lot of people, they can't. So there will be more of those violent encounters to look forward to. 

And the coup de gras? They removed both of the stops where I get picked up and dropped off. Like gone. They won't pick me up there anymore. So this mobility-challenged man is now forced to walk an extra two blocks at the start and end of my day. In addition to the two extra blocks I've been walking downtown for the last 2 years while the City takes FIVE FREAKING YEARS TO FIX ONE STREET. It's tolerable right now in clear weather, but once the snow returns, those extra blocks are going to be un-navigable for me. 

Yes, I'll write a letter. And yes, I'll get my blood pressure up when I read their dismissive response about cost-cutting. Talk about the danger of monopoly, as it is companies are trying to charge more for less, and when it's a government monopoly, they won't even hesitate. 

The next time I see the word "accessible" on the bus, I swear to God I'll deface it. Transit is a service for the lowest earners and the lease priviledged among us. If you're making it inaccessible and expensive, then who exactly is this service serving? 

No one.