Clouds were building on the horizon to the west as my daughter Ashlyn and I drove toward Chestermere Lake from Strathmore. “Those look like storm clouds building.” “No, I don’t think so, Dad.”
Chestermere, AB, 2024-07-19
Chestermere, AB, 2024-07-19
I never get tired of being right, except for the part where I was right and our evening on the lake got cut short as a result. For a bit it looked like the storm would slip past us, but then the wind hit…
AB, 2024-07-19
Chestermere, AB, 2024-07-19
The water went from placid to agitated in a matter of moments and the strong breeze was trying to push me toward the shore opposite of the side of the lake I had parked on. I could paddle against it, but it took longer than I wanted to get to the correct store all the while with the storm getting closer.
Chestermere, AB, 2024-07-19
Chestermere, AB, 2024-07-19
Nothing seemed to go well Friday evening. As a matter of ettiquette motorboats generally stick to their end of the lake and those with people powered craft the other. Not everyone has gotten that memo. A family of morons with their beer out in the open sped toward me, well in excess of the 12 kph speed limit for our side of the lake. They didn’t seem to be paying attention either, so I hurriedly paddled out of their way and found myself deep in the weeds by the shore.
The sodding things are everywhere. You have to paddle slowly and then you only wind up with some of them on you. I was covered in the damn things by the time I got clear of the weed patch.
Chestermere, AB, 2024-07-19
Chestermere, AB, 2024-07-19
Still, it was calm and beautiful on the lake before the wind came up. I enjoyed watching the reflection of the clouds in the water as I paddled; I find it soothing. My daughter also enjoyed the evening taking her new paddle board out for a spin.
I ordered my wife a paddle board for her birthday and myself my own new board at the same time. The company shipped two identical boards from Aqua Plus, not the one Aqua Plus and one Skatinger board I ordered. I got myself the larger, more stable board because of my balance issues. It helps with the water sickness. Two Aqua Plus boards arrived. No problem, right? Just return the wrong one and get the right one.
Well. This was not directly from Amazon but one of their sellers instead. They didn’t want to ship the right board, but wanted me to accept a partial refund on the wrong board, which they said would work for me. I refused. They gave me a partial refund anyhow and closed the ticket. I complained to Amazon. Amazon said, no, they were obligated to sell me the board I had paid for. The company shipped the board. I asked for a return slip to send the incorrect board back and they said I could have it for a discount because it cost too much to ship back. Another complaint to Amazon…
The seller relented and told me to keep the board at no charge, although they tried to flag me as a problem customer and Amazon reversed that as well. I wound up getting the third board for free, the one shown above. It was a pain in the arse and caused a lot of stress. I left them a seller review so heated that it will peel the paint off of anything nearby.
Anyhow, the kid loves her new board and the price was right. She hasn’t decided if she is keeping the old one as a spare to use with a friend or selling it, but that is her problem. It works well enough and she had a fun night on the lake with it before the storm chased us home early.
Images made with the OM System Tough TG-7.
