Patrick Dirks
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diggler67.bsky.social
Patrick Dirks
@diggler67.bsky.social
450 followers 720 following 340 posts
Proud dad and husband. Bomber fan. Lifelong Winnipegger. Wannabe world traveller. Still waiting for a Weakerthans reunion.

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diggler67.bsky.social
As of 3:30pm today, appears that the Bombers will be playing tonight.

#CFL #Bombers #BlueBombers #Argos #ForTheW
Email from Bombers indicating that they will be playing the Argos tonight August 1, 2025
August 1, 2025 at 9:15 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
From crapbook, the Bombers are saying that the game is on as-scheduled, for now. They expect air quality to improve throughout the day and will provide an update this afternoon.

#CFL #BlueBombers #Bombers #Argos #ForTheW
Air quality update from the Blue Bomber Facebook account - game is on as-scheduled, for now. Further update this afternoon August 1, 2025
August 1, 2025 at 3:51 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
The air quality forecasts look like crap for Winnipeg. I can easily see tonight's Bomber game getting rescheduled.

#CFL #BlueBombers #Argos #ForTheW
Air quality forecast for Winnipeg, Canada showing 10+ for air quality through end of day August 2, 2025
August 1, 2025 at 3:25 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
Found it:
February 26, 2025 at 2:55 AM
diggler67.bsky.social
For bourbon lovers in Manitoba, Sleeman & Sons bourbon-style Canadian whiskey is now on the shelves at Liquor Mart.
Sleeman & Sons Canadian-made bourbon style whiskey bottle
February 25, 2025 at 8:49 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
I received an email from Yupik (Quebec-based retailer for nuts and snacks and such) today with just such a marketing campaign:
Marketing email from Yupik offering $10 to $30 off of orders on Canadian products.
February 20, 2025 at 4:51 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
I've found that volume-weight conversions differ across sites. So I end up checking 2 or 3 and making a call on which one is likely more accurate. I've created my own running conversion chart so I don't have to do this over and over again. I'm open to better ideas!
February 18, 2025 at 4:13 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
Also:
Screen shot from Google Maps showing Newfoundland and then a circled area with St. Pierre and Miquelon, part of French territory.
February 13, 2025 at 1:00 AM
diggler67.bsky.social
Perhaps someone more artistic and tech-savvy than myself can produce a takeoff on this:
Picture of album cover for British Steel, by Judas Priest
February 12, 2025 at 7:24 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
I have this exact t-shirt! I bought it from Canadian retailer Red Canoe. Excellent quality.

redcanoebrands.com/shop/cbc-tes...
Picture of short label showing that it is Made in Canada.
February 10, 2025 at 3:49 AM
diggler67.bsky.social
If you know that your great grandpa died in Manitoba in 1944, you could start your search that way. Once you get some kind of hit in Ancestry, you might be on your way.
February 9, 2025 at 5:35 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
It's comments like this that give me hope for our city:
Comments from Granite Curling Club members in favour of the proposed development in the Granite parking lot: “When our neighbours don’t have a safe place to live, that’s a bigger priority to me than having a convenient parking spot once a week,” said Woods, adding their sentiment has been echoed by most of the members they have spoken to since Tuesday. “I’m a proud Winnipegger, and one of the things that I think defines Winnipeggers is we live in a city that is so cold, and that when the city that we live in is this cold in winter, I believe we are called to look out for each other.” Chantel Mierau, a member for two years, helped organize the Granite Members for Affordable Housing. Mierau said the small group came together because it was disappointed the Granite executive created a petition on behalf of the entire club without any input from its membership. “With reading the email and realizing that this was potentially a win-win for both the city and the Granite — and not the threat to the Granite, in my opinion, that the club put forward — I was disappointed. Still, I feel very strongly for the club, and feel strongly that its future and the future of housing are both important and that they can coexist,” Mierau said. “With visiting the club and you see unhoused people that are trying to make a go of it on the river bank… you can see the desperation that people have. People being outside in the winter, it pulls at my heartstrings and I’m just so glad that the city is trying to find solutions, and I don’t want to be standing in the way of something that could be so positive.”
January 31, 2025 at 4:28 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
I'm amazed by how many people complain about gas prices. I see very inefficient vehicles and endless idling in Winnipeg. If people are still buying vehicles that cost $180 to fill, or sitting in long lines at a Tim's driver-thru, I'd say that gas prices are still too low.

From today's Free Press:
Partial text of Winnipeg Free Press article on reapplication of Manitoba gas taxes as of January 1st. MIKE Standing phoned all his friends and told them to get their last tank of discounted fuel while he was filling up at the Petro- Canada gas bar on Madison Street. The posted price was 117.9 cents per litre. But not for long. “It’s going to hurt a lot,” he said, referring to the return of the 12.5-cent provincial fuel tax. He said he’s seen prices creep higher across the city recently, before the yearlong tax holiday ended at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Although there is a permanent 1.5cent cut to the tax, which was 14 cents per litre prior to Jan. 1, 2024, Standing figures it will be a barely noticeable “break,” when he pays for his fuel. Motorists lined up to fill their tanks Tuesday before the tax kicked in and the price spiked. Darren Barnesky said he should have taken a couple gas cans with him when he rolled up with his Ford F-150 on empty. He’s expecting it’ll cost at least $180 to fill up his truck in the new year. “We don’t really have much of a choice (when paying the tax),” he said. “We’re going to have to bear down and look for cheaper prices wherever we can.” Fuel prices were up to 149.1 cents per litre at many stations across the city, up from 135.9 cents per litre on Dec. 31. Some cheaper fuel could still be had, with customers reporting prices as low as 124.9 cents per litre at Canco on Isabel Street on GasBuddy.com. Simranjit Singh, a delivery driver, pulled up to the pump midway through his route. He said he puts a lot of kilometres on the odometer and has to buy gas daily. He said the price jump from the reinstated tax concerns him. He’s already working two jobs to make ends meet amid the high cost of living. “It’s going to affect everybody… I hope the prices come down soon,” he said. Uber driver Hartley Macklin drives at least 250 kilometres a day. He said the tax holiday made a significant difference to his bottom line.
January 2, 2025 at 3:50 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
I do not remember this theatre at all. Even after googling for photos.

www.dancebob.com/Winnipeg_The...
Photos of the old "Downtown Theatre" at 363 Portage in Winnipeg. Streetscape photos from around the 50's-70's.
December 17, 2024 at 8:29 PM
diggler67.bsky.social
This letter to the editor in today's @winnipegfreepress.com seemed like it was aimed directly at me.

'The temptation to crawl into a “Ukraine is screwed, the Middle East is doomed, NAFTA will crash, democracy will fail, etc.” rabbit hole is almost overwhelming...'

"Dealing With Darkness"
Letter to the Editor in Nov 16, 2024 Winnipeg Free Press. "Dealing with darkness Re: Repugnant campaign, ballot-box shock our last wake-up calls (Nov. 8) Free Press columnist Rebecca Chambers asks, dramatically, at the start of her column “What does one make for dinner on the last night of the world,” and gets darker and darker as she works through her feelings about democracy and the world’s immediate future. To listen to expert commentators, pollsters and most people who have paid any attention to the U.S. election campaign and subsequent vote, one gets the distinct impression that we’re all going to hell in a hand basket, and that there is precious little that anyone can do to brighten that outlook. Clearly, Donald Trump is horribly unfit to handle the role of U.S. president, and all indications are that he’s preparing to fill his cabinet with people that range from doofus to dangerous as long as they show loyalty to an orange clown, and who are prepared to carry out his wishes, all the while acknowledging that the emperor is the smartest in the land. The temptation to crawl into a “Ukraine is screwed, the Middle East is doomed, NAFTA will crash, democracy will fail, etc.” rabbit hole is almost overwhelming, but I try to remind myself that the future rarely turns out the way we think. Human beings are notoriously off-target when it comes to predicting outcomes of just about anything, especially something so complex as the geopolitical impacts of a very bad U.S. leadership for the next four years. It’s extremely unlikely to be positive, but it’s also not certain to be the end of the world as we know it. But I am going to buy a 100-pound bag of Y2K rice and cover my windows with plywood before next January, you know, just in case. CLIFF J. GREENHALGH Winnipeg
November 16, 2024 at 3:42 PM