Wednesday 26 August 2015

Andrew Sredzski Blues: Wednesday, August 26th!


Hi Ginette! Thank you for phoning yesterday even though it was to deliver such extremely sad news. I called Lori shortly after you talked to Corinne. One of Andrew's wishes is to have his remains buried with those of his parents. I think I can determine the name of the cemetery, in Winnipeg, as both Corinne and I attended the interment for his father there but if you happen to know it perhaps you could pass that information along to Lori. She hopes to bring Tessa and Alexander, sometime next summer, to have a graveside service there. I told her that if it is possible both Corinne and I would like to attend as well, given we usually travel to Falcon to see her parents and other relatives.

I gather, from talking to Lori, that his memorial service will be this Friday with just her, her sister, Tessa and Alexander. I will send her a short piece about my friendship with Andrew. Not sure if you knew it or not but Andrew spent the afternoon of the day of his father's death with Corinne and myself at my mother's place in Winnipeg. At the time we lived in a co-op, Willow Park, near Burrows and Keewatin, and Andrew cycled past on his way back from the airport.

I had talked to Andrew, about a month ago, informing him of our move to Penticton. He seemed well and excited about the fact that all the details of his retirement were in place and he even talked about a visit to the Okanagan, always the dreamer. Since then we have had an almost continuous stream of visitors. Have been on our own for last week or so and had been meaning to call to say hello as I wondered why I'd not heard from him in a bit. (We often had numerous voice-mails, in Vancouver, on our answering system, left when we were out.) And then your devastating news!

On a slightly brighter note, if that is possible, at this point, we were planning to visit Intersection in mid-September, (if not before), as very close friend, Penny, (You met in 1970, in Winnipeg and addressed her as "Pénélope"!), will be here, with her partner, Mike, and I thought it would be interesting, if you happened to be at the winery, to complete the circle, so to speak. At any rate, perhaps you could let me know when you might be there, over the next month or so, and perhaps we can still tailor a visit in person. Corinne and I both offer our heartfelt condolences to you. Deepest sympathy. Corinne and Patrick.

Pics: These two snaps were taken in 2010 when we drove from Vancouver, stopping in Falcon, to Toronto to fly to London.

Thank you Patrick, No I have no idea where Andrew's parents were laid to rest, that period was such a blurr for me, such a shock with his dad's suicide and then his mom getting cancer and also gone a few months later. Andrew was never quite the same after his parents passed away and then the dabbling in making fast money with drugs etc. what a whirlwind that was. Andrew (and Lori) told me that he had been diagnosed as Bipolar and that explains a lot of his "over the top behavior", his excitability at everything, his personality bigger than words etc. the good and the bad of that illness from which my sister suffers from necessitating frequent hospitalization and my supervision. In any event it is a well known fact that if one of your parents or one of your siblings take their own life one is likely to do the same in moments of depression and stress. Sad!

I cried last evening but now in the light of day I think if one is not happy and has health and financial stress i can understand why he may have chosen that path, people call it the "easy way out" but with my sister having attempted the same twice in her lifetime it should be referred to as "the difficult path"! It is mostly very very sad for his two children.

Not sure when in September I will be at the winery, we are in the process of selling our condo, [
http://www.movedbywill.com/property_details-1-87425.html], and my sister just out of the hospital etc. I have been held captive in Vancouver, I will let you know, Bruce is there a lot though. Glad to hear from your Facebook posting that you are enjoying the Okanagan, the bike ride, your new home etc. As you have discovered one always gets lots of visitors in the Okanagan from May to end of October!Will give you the heads up when I come to Oliver in September and hopefully with enough notice to coordinate things! Ginette

Hi Maret and David! Some very sad news. Ginette, Andrew's first wife, phoned yesterday, to inform us that Andrew had had taken his own life, on August 20th. He was 68. Not sure if you knew but he had suffered two strokes in the course of the past year and was very despondent. I called Lori, his ex-partner and the mother of his two children, Alexander and Tessa, shortly after Ginette talked to Corinne. One of Andrew's wishes is to have his remains buried with those of his parents. I think I can determine the name of the cemetery, in Winnipeg, [Lori couldn't find any mention of it in his papers.], as both Corinne and I attended the interment for his father there. She hopes to bring Tessa and Alexander, sometime next summer, to have a graveside service there. I told her that if it is possible both Corinne and I would like to attend as well, given we usually travel to Falcon to see her parents and other relatives.

I gather, from talking to Lori, that his memorial service will be this Friday with just her, her sister, Tessa and Alexander. I will send her a short piece about my friendship with Andrew. Not sure if you knew it or not but Andrew spent the afternoon of the day of his father's death with Corinne and myself at my mother's place in Winnipeg. At the time we lived in a co-op, Willow Park, near Burrows and Keewatin, and Andrew cycled past on his way back from the airport.

I had talked to Andrew, about a month ago, informing him of our move to Penticton. He seemed well and excited about the fact that all the details of his retirement were in place and he even talked about a visit to the Okanagan, always the dreamer. Since then we have had an almost continuous stream of visitors. Have been on our own for last week or so and had been meaning to call to say hello as I wondered why I'd not heard from him in a bit. (We often had numerous voice-mails, in Vancouver, on our answering system, left when we were out.) And then the devastating news!

On a slightly brighter note, if that is possible, at this point, we were planning to visit Intersection, (owned, in part, by Ginette and her third husband, Bruce), in mid-September, (if not before), as very close friend, Penny, (She met Andrew and Ginette in 1970, in Winnipeg and Ginette addressed her as "Pénélope"!), will be here, with her partner, Mike, and I thought it would be interesting, if Ginette happened to be at the winery, to complete the circle, so to speak. Trust all goes well with you both. Be delighted if you could come for a visit. Fondestos, Corinne and Patrick. Pics: Sent by Ginette.


Oh that makes me very sad. Thanks for keeping us in the loop and for the photos too. The kids look lovely and Alexander definitely has echoes of his Dad. Could you send me Lori’s coordinates so I can send her a card? Also let me know how things go for the Winnipeg leg of his passing. Andrew was a real character and a generous soul.

Would love to visit you in Penticton some time. A very dear friend of mine in Kelowna is not in good health and I have promised to visit her as soon as time allows. Given our current plans and work situation that would make it next spring or late winter. I’ll let you know later this fall how our timing shapes up. We have to go to Winnipeg at least twice a year on account of our elderly mothers, and now another grandchild is on the way there too. Also, we have plans to spend a month in Central America this winter as our niece and her family will be in Nicaragua sussing out work opportunities.

This has been a crazy year for us work-wise with lots to do and no good break. The money of course is appreciated. Daniel and Younglim have just moved back to Canada from Japan and are currently in Ottawa looking for work. Love to Corinne and I really appreciate your sending me the unfortunate news. It’s understandable that he would feel despondent but that doesn’t make it easier for us to accept it. Such a difficult situation. Thanks again. Maret

Hi Al! Trust you are well. Have been so busy with a constant stream of visitors ever since we returned form Winnipeg that haven't had a moment, it seems, to even look at the Power unit package which arrived via Greyhound a few weeks after we were back here. Just did so today and I discovered that the Garage Kit Hibbert, according to enclosed invoice, was not included. Not sure if it is still on back order or simply missed being shipped. 

At any rate, would appreciate an update when you have a moment. I 'm hoping to install the system after Labour Day as  a "handy" friend, (Where is Greg when you really need him!), from Vancouver, will be coming to visit and help with a number of other projects around the house. We will be putting in quite a bit of shelving in the garage and so want most of that in before we hook up Vacuflo so as to be able to mount power unit in most convenient spot, relative to piping in crawl space, etc. Greetings from Corinne. Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Hi Patrick, That garage kit was not back-ordered so we obviously forgot to send it with the rest of the order. Shall we put it on the bus or send it with Greg? Alan 
Hi Patrick: Alan forwarded your e-mail to me regarding your garage kit. Our records indicate you took the garage kit, along with all the other fittings and Hide-a-Hose stuff on June 25th. 

The only things that were on backorder were the power unit and cleaning kit. I was here when you and Corinne were in and I’m pretty sure the idea was to ship as little as possible to reduce shipping costs. We had everything else in stock except for the power unit and cleaning kit. Patrick, you might not recognize the box. It’s just a plans white box with a cartoon type vacuum character on the side in blue. The part number will say TK110. Let me know if you find it. Val Vacuflo MB.


Hi Val and Al, and Mighty Grigor! Thanks for update. However, after a thorough search, we don't have the garage kit. My recollection is that Al said you didn't have one in stock when we were there. The only hose we have is the one for the house. As I understand it, the garage kit hose doesn't have a cover, for obvious reasons. As well, I remember that the one on display came in a fairly large bag of sorts but I might be wrong. At any rate, no such package here, no plain white box with TK 110. Two other boxes, one with inside hose, the other with HH Installation Kit, (less long sections of pipe), pipe cutter, deburring tool, etc. I haven't taken the  power unit out of the box so unless the cleaning kit and pressure relief valve are included in that package we don't have them either.

Anyway, let me know what you think and we'll plan accordingly. I haven't been in touch with Greg, of late, so not sure what his travel plans might be. If he is coming west in the next little while then perhaps I can persuade him to mule whatever we still need once this is sorted out. Thanks very much. Cheers, Patrizzio! 


There is no organized hike for this Thursday, but AArt and I have decided to do one and it sounds like Phil and Jill are interested. We are planning a two-car hike from the Summerland rodeo grounds, around the south side of Trout Creek, investigate a few peaks and end up crossing the trestle to Summerland Sweets (where we can have an ice cream!) – should be around 4 hours. I hope the forecast is correct, for the smoke to clear a bit by then. If you are interested in joining us, meet at Summerland IGA at 8.00am. Could you let me know if you plan to come, as we need to place one or more cars at the endpoint before we begin. Cheers Tony By request, I have moved the hike time, so now meet at Summerland IGA at 9am. Responding to question, the hike will be all on land – we will not be wading across the creek, but coming back over the trestle bridge.
Tony

Hello Peter! Just to clarify things, at the end of Monday's hike it seemed to have been decided that we were planning to hike somewhere around See Ya Later Ranch. Obviously, this seems to have changed but I just wanted to confirm. At any rate, I'm happy to leave my car at the "new" endpoint but I'm not quite sure where this is, as I'm new to both Penticton and the hiking group. If you need me to do so please let me know where I should meet you at 8:45:27 tomorrow. I assume it might be near Summerland Sweets but would appreciate knowing for sure. Thanks, Patrizzio! 

Hi Patrick, I am assuming that next Monday's hike will still go as planned. However, tomorrow's Thursday hike is an alternative to the backpacking trip to Border Lake that was supposed to take the place of the regular Thursday hike this week. I hope that is not too confusing. In any case, the parking for the endpoint of tomorrow's hike is just past Summerland Sweets along the east side of the road just before where the road crosses the railway tracks. I will meet you there tomorrow morning unless I hear otherwise. Peter

Hi again, Peter! I knew about the backpacking trip to Border Lake and after the hike on Monday, at Good Omens, Al asked for suggestions about Thursday. That is why I was a tad confused about Summerland Sweets, etc. No never mind. Had decided I'd explore Canyon View Road in Summerland as a result of hike I'd done in that neck of the woods on Monday. So for my cycling exercise I followed my usual in-town route then along 97 to Lakeshore Drive, Summerland, to Crescent Beach and then up Peach Orchard. Instead of following Victoria Road I took Simpson Road to the Summerland Golf Course, just past the overflow parking lot for the course, where we'd parked on Monday. Back down Canyon View Road, whizzing past my friend's, Erika's, B&B, the Alpine Rose, and then the Kettle Valley Trestle, close to Summerland Sweets where I'll park my car tomorrow, the endpoint of the day's hike. I assume I should park closer to the trestle than to Summerland Sweets. Is this correct? See you tomorrow. Cheers, Patrizzio!












  • 1 Green Acres Ln, Winnipeg, MB R2C 2Z3
    Phone:(204) 222-3241

    Had a morning full of errands, (Toner cartridge into shop to fix a printer; recycling depot; into Penticton Auto Glass to have two small windshield chips fixed, at dealer's expense, part of original deal; then to PPL to return a book. Back home to learn from Cora Lee that Moriane had phoned so I popped around to pick up two Viognier. Chatted with Toshie, a charming young woman from Yokohama who worked in a wine store in Tokyo for two years before spending seven years in Banff, doing the same. Drawn to the Okanagan for the wine now!), so I wasn't able to leave until close to 3:00 pm. Had decided I'd explore Canyon View Road in Summerland as a result of hike I'd done in that neck of the woods on Monday. Followed my usual in-town route as well as Lakeshore Drive, Summerland, to Crescent Beach and then up Peach Orchard. Instead of following Victoria Road I took Simpson Road to the Summerland Golf Course, just past the overflow parking lot for the course, where we'd parked on Monday. Back down Canyon View Road, whizzing past Erika's B&B, the Alpine Rose and then a Ketle Valley Trestle, close to Summerland Sweets where I'll park my car tomorrow, the endpoint of the day's hike. Pretty much all downhill from there until I was back on 97 and then on the flat pretty much all the way to city limits. Did two circles of the Red Wing community just before the bridge to give me precisely the distance I needed when back at Burns Street!

    Stats for ride:

    https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/878857121#.Vd57Xn5w-jE.email
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