Race Track Diary, Entry Number 44- Century Mile and Billy Budd’s (August 29, 2026)

 

Race Track Diary, Entry Number 44-

Century Mile and Billy Budd’s 

(August 29, 2026)

Introduction

This blog and some following blogs are sections from an informal diary of “visits to the race-track” at a particular time and place, by a person who has followed the races with varying levels of participation over a long period. These relate primarily to some visits to the track and/or off-track betting venues in the 2025 period and onward. They contain observations about the activity, both specific and general. Although these remarks are personal, they also reflect general cultural and historical trends, as they have impacted horse-racing, wagering and culture in general.

The setting is Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (population of about one million plus). However, I imagine that the observations would apply to many places in the world, as they are a reflection of how changing trends in technology, globalization and culture in general have affected this ancient and honourable activity of horse-racing.

For now, I will use what I call “polished point-form” for the narrative.

======================================================================

• 44 – Billy Budd’s (Aug 29, 2026)

  • This was a somewhat unusual day, as I went to the off-track alone. My brother’s feet were giving him some trouble, as a lot of stair-climbing had been necessary while visiting his in-laws (the elevator wasn’t working). Thus, he had to take the day off.

  • So, I decided I might as well go by myself, as I had already worked out my numbers for this day’s card a couple of days earlier. It takes several hours to enter data, then to update formulas (as required), print out results, compare those to the track touts, etc.. No point wasting all that effort. My wife doesn’t mind, as long as I break even over the long run and bring her back some pizza.

  • Getting there a bit early for the Harness Races, I walked around the general area. I discovered a brewpub just a block south of Budd’s. I sometimes purchase their products at the local farmer’s market, which are pretty good. It is too bad Budd’s doesn’t carry some of their stuff, but I suppose they are locked into deals by the big breweries that prevent them from doing that.

  • The pub was surprisingly crowded and busy at around 4:45. That included the horse-racing area, which is often emptying out by about that time. Why was it so busy? I realized that it was a payday weekend, and possibly a three-pay-cheque month for a lot of people. I recall those from some of my early biweekly pay jobs – they were fun, fun, fun.

  • Most of the people in the horseracing area were regulars.

    • Without knowing names, one tends to give descriptive labels to people: the Chinese guy, the excitable guy, the well-informed guy, the Lady known as Lil, the guy with the folding cane, the Roughriders guy, the guy who looks like a guy I used to work with, and so forth.

    • I suppose to them, I’m a regular too (most Saturdays for the past year or so I have shown up there). Maybe they call me the guy with all the papers or the stats guy. Who knows?

    • I chatted with the Chinese guy about one of the races. How do you bet a race with a 1/19 favourite, with only win betting permitted? We both agreed that it is hardly worth betting, though I bet it anyway (and lost).

    • The Roughriders guy mused rather cryptically: “20-1 is safer than 5 to 1”.

    • The well-informed guy said knew the owner of one of the horses, so he bet on it. That horse came in to win at very good odds. He was going bring home lasagna for his mom. That was nice to hear; I was planning to take home pizza for my wife.

    • The excitable guy, watching a race at Emerald Downs: “Come on 5, come on 5, Yeah! He made it!”. That was nice. His excitement is often of a less positive sort (i.e. the horse usually loses).

    • A couple came in that was known by the Lady Known as Lil. The woman said she quit her teaching job as the principal and vice-principal were implementing crazy policies (the kids were alright). So, she took a waitressing job, which was much less stressful. Which was interesting, as one of the waitresses at Budd’s had once said much the same thing.

  • This day had a lot of high-purse races, many of which were races for promising 2 and 3 year-olds, with horses coming in from big U.S. tracks like Meadow Lands, Yonkers and Saratoga.

  • Anyway, off to the betting:

    • In the first race, the #7 horse had lots of good indicators but I misread my cheat-sheet and bet the #4. However, it had a sharp odds-drop, from 7/2 to 3/2, while the odds on the #7 actually went up during the betting, from 3/1 to 5/1, so my mis-bet seemed ok. But as it turned out, the 7 ran nearly wire to wire, while the 4 died in the stretch, finishing third. It goes to show that watching the odds is important, but not decisive. A fellow sitting a couple seats down told his companion that he bet the #7, as he knows the owner, whom he says is a very sharp guy. I don’t know if that qualifies as insider knowledge, though.

    • In the second race, I decided to bet a sure-thing beer-bet since it was about time for a beer and pizza. Both of my systems really liked the #5 horse, so I decided to ignore the odds and go with the system, with a show bet at 9/1. Unfortunately, it came in fourth, with a stretch run that didn’t quite get there. So, no beer, no pizza.

    • For Race #3, I went with the #5 again, with a place bet (there was no show betting on the race, as there were two strong favourites running). One of the favourites came in; there was a long-shot that came in second, but it wasn’t mine. The winner had a huge odds drop (from 10/ to 1/1), most of which happened in last minute of betting. You’d almost think that somebody knew something.

    • Race #4 was a bit of a nail-biter. Both of my systems had the #6 in the money, though the touts didn’t like the horse. It had a fair-sized odds drop as well, from 5/1 to 2/1. So, on this occasion I put Win money on the horse. The horse ran wire-to-wire, but was challenged all the way. However, it hung in there gamely and paid $6.00 per $2 bet. So, that was a nice beer and pizza bet.

    • In the Fifth Race, I went back to the #6 horse, which my systems had running in the money (the touts didn’t). It also had a big odds drop, from 12/1 to 5/2. It ran a game race, battling for the lead all the way and ultimately prevailing. However, I jammed out a bit and only had him to place. Strangely, the win ticket paid $5.40 but the place was only $2.50.

    • In Race #6, I went back to the #5 horse. The race had a ridiculous favourite, which went of at 1/19, paying $2.10 to win. There was no place or show betting permitted. It was basically a toss-up with the other horses, all of which had odds over 25/1. The exactor paid a bit over even money, so it was hardly worth betting the race at all. A quick calculation shows that probably $50k of the $53k of the win pool went on the favourite.

    • In Race #7, I bet the #5 to show, since my systems liked it to win and it was going off at better than 9/1. It did run a good race, moving up several lengths in the stretch to take a slice of the money, paying $4.20 to show on every $2.

    • I skipped the 8^th Race, as my systems didn’t correlate very well with the picks of the touts. That seemed like a bad omen or something. I was at the break-even level (give or take a buck), so I thought I might as well pack it in while I still felt good about the day. Besides, I had promised to bring a pizza home to my wife and I wanted to leave before it got very dark.

    • Had I stuck around for the last four races, there is a decent chance that I would have done ok. One of my systems picked a nice long-shot winner, as well as some decent mid-odds horses that finished in the money. However, that is all conjecture, for some sci-fi world where all possibilities are realized, but not this one.

  • In summary, I broke even on the day, cashing in 3 of 7 tickets, two of which were at pretty good prices and one of which was slim, but better than a loss. A solo day betting the races was more fun than I expected, though it helps the fun if you win or at least break even.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here’s an account of some road trips in south-western Alberta:

A Selection of Back-Road Trips Around

 Southwest Alberta

There are two main aspects to a road trip: the journey and the destination. Sometimes the trip is all about the journey, sometimes it’s all about the destination. Usually it is a little of both.

This collection of back-roads journeys feature a little bit of both of these aspects. Some accounts are more about the ‘journey’, such as a road trip on scenic Highway 22. Others are more about the ‘destination’, such as the show-jumping at Spruce Meadows. I hope you will enjoy reading some of these accounts and maybe give them a spin for yourself.

Southwest 1 – A Road Trip on Scenic Highway 22

Southwest 2 – The Equestrian Competitions at Spruce Meadows (Calgary)

Southwest 3 – The Bar U Ranch, south of Long View

Southwest 4 – Kananaskis Country

Southwest 5 – Blackfoot Crossing

Southwest 6 – Back-roads, from the Prairies to the Foothills: Brazeau Dam Trip

Southwest 7 – A Back-roads Trip to Hinton and the Forestry Trunk Roads

The reader may wonder “what about the Ice-fields Parkway?” or “where is a visit to Banff?” I would answer, that these famous destinations are covered very nicely by other books. This account is meant to focus on some less travelled areas, thus the “back-roads” descriptor.

I should note that the other three quadrants of Alberta also have a lot of interesting back-roads journeys, but those are material for some other books which will be published in due time.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DCMJP47G

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Zoo Hypothesis

We present a story giving a possible scenario for the so-called Zoo Hypothesis, an explanation known in Star Trek lore as the Prime Directive. It’s an explanation sometimes given to account for a mystery in the Search for Intelligent Life, known as The Great Silence, or Fermi’s Paradox.

Basically, Enrico Fermi argued (quite convincingly, to many observers), that there had been ample time for an alien intelligence to colonize the galaxy since its formation, so where are they? The Zoo Hypotheses says that they are out there, but have cordoned off the Earth from contact, until we are sufficiently evolved or culturally advanced to handle the impact of alien contact.

This story takes a humorous tongue in cheek approach to that explanation. It also features dogs and sly references to Star Trek. Talk about man’s Best Friend.

It is only 99 cents U.S., equivalent price in other currencies. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is sometimes on a free promotion.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B076RR1PGD

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B076RR1PGD

A Selection of Back-Road Trips Around

Southeast Alberta

There are two main aspects to a road trip: the journey and the destination. Sometimes the trip is all about the journey, sometimes it’s all about the destination. Usually it is a little of both.

This collection of back-roads journeys feature a little bit of both of these aspects. Some accounts are more about the ‘journey’, such as Drumheller, via the Backroads of Central Alberta. Others are more about the ‘destination’, such as the Viking Ribstones. The collection even includes a train trip, on the historic Alberta Prairie Railroad, which strictly speaking isn't a back-road trip but rather a back rail-road trip. I hope you will enjoy reading some of these accounts and maybe give them a spin for yourself.

Southeast 1 – Stettler Train Trip – Living History on the Alberta Prairie Railway

Southeast 2 – Viking Rib Stones – Indigenous Heritage and Tradition

Southeast 3 – Drumheller, via the Backroads of Central Alberta

Southeast 4 – Cypress Hills – An Island on the Prairie that Escaped the Ice Age

Southeast 5 – On the Road with Bronco Billy, A Trucking Journal – Southern Alberta Section

Southeast 6 – A Back-road Trip to Bittern Lake and Lake Miquelon Provincial Park

Southeast 7 – A Back-roads Trip to Rochon Sands, Buffalo Lake Provincial Park

The reader may wonder “what about the Tyrell Dinosaur Fossil Museum?” or “where is a visit to the Calgary Stampede?” I would answer, that these famous destinations are covered very nicely by other books. This account is meant to focus on some less travelled areas, thus the “back-roads” descriptor.

I should note that Southwest and Northern Alberta also have a lot of interesting back-roads journeys, but that is material for some other books. The southwest collection is available now on Amazon, the northern excursions will be published in due course.

Just $1.99 on Amazon, or free if you have Kindle Unlimited. It is also periodically on free promotion.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DCWCCTKC

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Dark Horse

In “A Dark Horse”, a gambler’s desire to hit a big win seems to lead him to make a Faustian bargain with a supernatural evil.  Or is it all just a string of unnaturally good luck?

The story is just $0.99 U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and about 8000 words. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MDMY2BR

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Here’s an interesting review from Goodreads

(BTW, the writer has never met the reviewer and was not even aware of the review until very recently – You can look up the review on Goodreads, if you like)

A Dark Horse

Every gambler is bound to run out of luck eventually, right?

By far my favourite type of horror is psychological horror. I was quite pleased with how Mr. Olausen frightened his audience without spilling a single drop of blood or so much as hinting at anything gory. He knew exactly what hints to drop for us that made us deliciously dread the next scene simply by throwing out hints about who or what the dark horse might actually represent. This is the kind of stuff I love getting scared by, especially as Halloween approaches.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this short story. While I certainly wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on this as I would for a full-length novel, I did have trouble connecting to the main characters due to how little I knew about them and how much their personalities seemed to remain the same no matter what happened to them. If not for this issue, I would have felt comfortable choosing a much higher rating as the plot itself was well done.

I must admit to not knowing much about gambling at all, so I appreciated the brief explanations the narrator shared about how placing bets works and why some people have so much trouble walking away from a bet. While I will leave it up to experts on these topics to say how accurate everything was, I did enjoy learning more about the main character’s addiction and what he hoped to gain from betting on just one more game or race. It gave me a stronger sense of empathy for folks in his position.

A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale was a deliciously chilling story for the Halloween season and beyond.

Race Track Diary, Entry Number 40 – Billy Budd’s (July 25, 2026)

  

Race Track Diary, Entry Number Forty

40 – Billy Budd’s (July 25, 2026)

Introduction

This blog and some following blogs are sections from an informal diary of “visits to the race-track” at a particular time and place, by a person who has followed the races with varying levels of participation over a long period. These relate primarily to some visits to the track and/or off-track betting venues in the 2025 period and onward. They contain observations about the activity, both specific and general. Although these remarks are personal, they also reflect general cultural and historical trends, as they have impacted horse-racing, wagering and culture in general.

The setting is Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (population of about one million plus). However, I imagine that the observations would apply to many places in the world, as they are a reflection of how changing trends in technology, globalization and culture in general have affected this ancient and honourable activity of horse-racing.

For now, I will use what I call “polished point-form” for the narrative.

======================================================================

• 40 – Billy Budd’s (July 25, 2026)

  • It has been an insane weather summer locally, oscillating between extreme heat and extreme rain and thunder storms, much of the time. This Saturday was one of the hot days, and would conclude as one of the stormy nights. But, fortunately the air conditioning was working nicely in the off-track-betting area of Budd’s, so we received some respite.

  • It was a pretty good crowd when we first arrived at about 3:00 in the afternoon. There was the usual mix of regulars and non-regulars, largely skewing older and male, though not exclusively, as a couple of ladies shared a table not far from where we were sitting.

  • Our old racetrack companion Ted wasn’t in attendance but I reckon he will show up every now and again. His usual venue is in a different part of town, in the west-end.

  • We had some time to kill before the bucket-pullers would start, so I kept an eye on a few thoroughbred tracks, namely Saratoga, Gulfstream and Del Mar, for big odds drops from Morning Line to Race-time. However, no interesting angles came up during our time of waiting.

  • Here are a few general notes of a non-racing variety:

    • One guy yelling (though not very loudly): “Come on Johnny, run away, run away!” I have heard this encouraging vocalization before; I don’t know if the fellow has a favourite jockey of that name or just uses that as a general term of endearment/abuse for any and all jockeys (like any American G.I. during WW2 being called “Joe”).

    • One of the waitresses laughing, while talking to somebody (off in a far part of the pub): “I needed some extra money, so I brought out the girls today.” And it turned that she had, as became evident when she served our side of the pub, later on.

    • I realized that one of the two women sitting behind us was Lil, the lady that some guy was trying to smooth-talk during another visit. She and the other lady were very intent on the horses this time and seemed quite knowledgeable. I got the feeling that they must have lived around horses in their younger days, maybe growing up on a farm or having relatives in the racing game.

    • Me (to another fellow):

      • “It looks like your high-beams are still on.”

      • He looks around in confusion, then notices light being emitted from his shirt pocket. “I’m not used to these smart phones, this is my wife’s phone that she lent to me.”

      • He turns the smart-phone flashlight off and fishes out a flip-flop phone from another pocket. “I’m used to these.”

      • Me: “Yeah, those are good.”

      • Him: “With smart phones, you touch the wrong part of the screen and you don’t know what will happen.”

      • Me: “Right. Whoops, I think I just launched some missiles.”

    • The waitress nearly tripped going up the small staircase to where some of the off-track-betting tables were located. But she managed to catch herself and recover without spilling a drop. According to my earlier observations, there were glass spilling or glass breaking incidents during racetrack diary entries #2, #15 and #23. So, given that this is diary entry #40, the time is about ripe for this event to happen again, according to Poisson process statistics.

    • The screens were full of tornado and thunderstorm warnings, as the afternoon and eventing wore on. Craig and I traded some dark humour about the weather paranoia of recent years. However, we did get caught in a wicked thunder-storm on the way home at about 9:30, which lit up the sky like high noon and dumped oceans of rain, which necessitated pulling over to the side of the road, as visibility went to nearly 0. There is a lesson there about taunting the weather gods.

  • At about 4:30 the harness races at Woodbine/Mohawk started:

    • Race #1 was a Trot and all my systems had the #6 horse taking it. Oddly enough, the morning line had it third, but the crowd wasn’t fooled, as it was bet way down, to 1 to 2. I went with it, strictly as a beer bet, betting it to show. It came in second, paying a whopping 2.10 to place and the same to show. So I won my beer bet, but a lot of people must have gotten burnt rather badly on the win ticket. Note that this was the only Trot race today.

    • In Race #2 I bet on the #4 horse, to place. It finished way down the track.

    • In the 3^rd Race I was shut-out. That was just as well, as the horse that I planned to bet came in fifth. None of the top three horses in the race paid much on a bet anyway.

    • In Race #4 there was big odds-drop on the #4 horse, going from 10 to 1 in the morning line to 2 to 1 by race-time. In addition, one of my systems had the horse rated quite highly (second), so I put a place bet on it. It won by a neck, paying $5.90 to win and $3.30 to place. It would have been nice to get the win, but you take what you can get.

    • For the 5^th Race, I bet the #6 horse to place, as both of my systems had it rated at or near the top. The #10 horse was the favourite, but it came out of the gate very poorly and was never in the race, finishing last. It was then decided by the judges that it didn’t get a fair start and all bets on that horse were cancelled, with bettors getting their money back. My #6 horse actually won the race, so I won my place bet, which paid $8.70 to win, $5.00 to place. The fact that the judges cancelled bets on the favourite probably cut down those payoffs, likely by no small amount. The decision struck me as a dodgy one that cost me money.

    • In Race #6, I bet horse #6 to show, as my “long-shot with a shot” system liked it. It did come in third, not far off the winner, but it was bet down to less than 2 to 1, so the show ticked only paid $2.40 per two dollar bet. My notes say “kind of a joke”, as it was 5 to 1 in the morning line. So it goes.

    • I skipped the 7^th Race, as it was a short field and had a decent purse. It just seemed like a tough race to call. My systems did like the winner, but picked it 2^nd best. The horse it liked best came in next-to-last, so it was a good race to skip. The winner (#6) ran an interesting race, laying up in last place until the 3/4 pole, then charging down the stretch, to finish in first place. Nice to watch, as long as it didn’t beat out your horse.

    • In Race #8, I bet the #1 horse to place, primarily on the basis of a rather large odds drop, from 8 to 1 to 3.7 to 1. Neither of my systems thought much of it, but I have learned to respect these odds drops. It turned out that it ran almost wire-to-wire, winning the race by two ticks (i.e. two-fifths of a second, which translates to somewhat more than a length). It paid nicely, 9.40 to win and 5.10 to place.

    • As for Race #9 , I skipped it. My favoured horse was a huge long-shot, and I was tempted, given the odds that it was going off at. But I decided against it. It came in 7^th, the crowd’s estimate of its potential being correct. There was no show-betting allowed, which seems odd for a 10 horse field.

    • In Race #10, I bet the #6 horse to place. It was rated second by both of my systems and it also had a substantial odds drop, from 6 to 1 to 3 to 2. It ran wire-to-wire in first place, paying $5.20 to win and 3.20 to place.

    • I skipped Race #11. My systems liked the #5, but I didn’t feel confident about it. As it turned out, the #6 horse won, paying quite handsomely, 16.30 to win and 7.50 to place. One of my systems did rank the #6 second, but only slightly better than a few other horses, so it didn’t seem like a good bet. Besides, I had been hitting most of the races, getting at least a bit of money, so I was beginning to feel that luck was bound to turn against me soon.

    • Race #12 proved that my premonitions were accurate. I bet the #7 horse to show, as it was favoured by both my systems and was going off at 50 to 1. But it came in dead last.

    • Race #13: skipped it.

  • Summing up, I bet 8 races and won money on 6 of them. I skipped 5. Most of the prices were short, but I managed to grind out a profit between 10% and 30%. The uncertainty is due to my bad record-keeping on one race, where I am not sure if I bet place or show (though I am fairly certain that it was place).

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 

On the Road with Bronco Billy

Sit back and go on a ten day trucking trip in a big rig, through western North America, from Alberta to Texas, and back again. Explore the countryside, learn some trucking lingo, and observe the shifting cultural norms across this great continent.

Amazon U.S.: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon U.K.: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Germany: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00X2IRHSK

=======================================================

What follows is an account of a ten day journey through western North America during a working trip, delivering lumber from Edmonton Alberta to Dallas Texas, and returning with oilfield equipment. The writer had the opportunity to accompany a friend who is a professional truck driver, which he eagerly accepted. He works as a statistician for the University of Alberta, and is therefore is generally confined to desk, chair, and computer. The chance to see the world from the cab of a truck, and be immersed in the truck driving culture was intriguing. In early May 1997 they hit the road.

Some time has passed since this journal was written and many things have changed since the late 1990’s. That renders the journey as not just a geographical one, but also a historical account, which I think only increases its interest.

We were fortunate to have an eventful trip - a mechanical breakdown, a near miss from a tornado, and a large-scale flood were among these events. But even without these turns of fate, the drama of the landscape, the close-up view of the trucking lifestyle, and the opportunity to observe the cultural habits of a wide swath of western North America would have been sufficient to fill up an interesting journal.

The travelogue is about 20,000 words, about 60 to 90 minutes of reading, at typical reading speeds.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here’s an account of some road trips in south-western Alberta:

A Selection of Back-Road Trips Around

 Southwest Alberta

There are two main aspects to a road trip: the journey and the destination. Sometimes the trip is all about the journey, sometimes it’s all about the destination. Usually it is a little of both.

This collection of back-roads journeys feature a little bit of both of these aspects. Some accounts are more about the ‘journey’, such as a road trip on scenic Highway 22. Others are more about the ‘destination’, such as the show-jumping at Spruce Meadows. I hope you will enjoy reading some of these accounts and maybe give them a spin for yourself.

Southwest 1 – A Road Trip on Scenic Highway 22

Southwest 2 – The Equestrian Competitions at Spruce Meadows (Calgary)

Southwest 3 – The Bar U Ranch, south of Long View

Southwest 4 – Kananaskis Country

Southwest 5 – Blackfoot Crossing

Southwest 6 – Back-roads, from the Prairies to the Foothills: Brazeau Dam Trip

Southwest 7 – A Back-roads Trip to Hinton and the Forestry Trunk Roads

The reader may wonder “what about the Ice-fields Parkway?” or “where is a visit to Banff?” I would answer, that these famous destinations are covered very nicely by other books. This account is meant to focus on some less travelled areas, thus the “back-roads” descriptor.

I should note that the other three quadrants of Alberta also have a lot of interesting back-roads journeys, but those are material for some other books which will be published in due time.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DCMJP47G

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Race Track Diary, Entry Number 39 – Billy Budd’s (July 18, 2026)

  

Race Track Diary, Entry Number

 Thirty-Nine

39 – Billy Budd’s (July 18, 2026)

Introduction

This blog and some following blogs are sections from an informal diary of “visits to the race-track” at a particular time and place, by a person who has followed the races with varying levels of participation over a long period. These relate primarily to some visits to the track and/or off-track betting venues in the 2025 period and onward. They contain observations about the activity, both specific and general. Although these remarks are personal, they also reflect general cultural and historical trends, as they have impacted horse-racing, wagering and culture in general.

The setting is Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (population of about one million plus). However, I imagine that the observations would apply to many places in the world, as they are a reflection of how changing trends in technology, globalization and culture in general have affected this ancient and honourable activity of horse-racing.

For now, I will use what I call “polished point-form” for the narrative.

======================================================================

• 39 – Billy Budd’s (July 18, 2026)

  • This Saturday visit might be called the “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” episode. I will expand upon that later.

  • There was a pretty good crowd when we arrived at 3:00 in the afternoon. The World Cup consolation game was on, that being the game played for ‘bronze’ (i.e. 3^rd place), between England and France. I should note that England won by a score of 6-4, which is highly anomalous for soccer.

  • I asked the English waitress how she felt about that.

    • “I don’t know what happened, for them to score 6 goals. They should have done it earlier in the semi-final [ed. note: which they lost]. If you don’t win first place, you are just the best loser.” That’s true, though there is actually prize money for third in the World Cup, so there’s that.

    • Contrast it to horseracing, when you make a successful show bet. It’s not a win, but if the horse comes in third, you still get paid, occasionally rather handsomely. However, that consolation is not an option in most sports.

  • The crowd was the usual mix of regulars and non-regulars (or semi-regulars). It skewed older and mostly male, as is generally the case.

  • At first, we first sat at a table off the main area and began waiting for the bucket-pullers to begin. But then Craig spotted a fellow that he recognized. It was a guy he worked with and gambled with, back in the day. I knew him slightly, as well, from the former racetrack era, but not nearly as well as Craig did. So, we picked up our stuff and joined Freddy at his table (name slightly altered for privacy purposes).

  • Freddy and Craig proceeded to swap stories from the past and share news about the present. There were plenty of stories to relate, about work, betting, health, family and friends. Fred and Craig were both (a building trade), so given the nature of the trade, they moved from job to job, picking up anecdotes as they went. And they did a lot of betting, especially on the horses, though sometimes with trips to Vegas. They even knew a bookie or two, which seems rather quaint now.

  • A few random words of wisdom from Fred:

    • “You get bitter when you get old. But then we were bitter when we were young, weren’t we Craig.” (laughing). “The horses do that to you.”

    • “If we could feed the carnage, it was ok.” (referring to the vagaries of betting, especially on horses).

    • “They’re off...you lose.” (when your horse tucks in last at the start of the race).

    • Me: “I’m waiting for the bucket-pullers to bet.” Fred: “I know, you’re a sick man.” (laughing). He prefers the thoroughbreds, but will bet on harness races too, though he considers them crooked as a dog’s leg.

    • Re: an old racetrack crony, nickname “Water Bill”, because he always drank water, not beer. “He died – likely starved to death. They found him dead in his room.” What can you say except Yikes!

    • Re: the old Northlands Racetrack days. “They gave out door prizes, some were pretty good – T-shirts and stuff. Sometimes they gave out wallets and the odd one had money in it. Craig got one with a thousand bucks in it, once.” (Craig nods in agreement).

    • I mention a work-friend who visited the old track with me one time and won the door prize, a selection of meats worth quite a bit of money. Freddy: “I remember her – the meat lady.”

    • Freddy is still working part-time under the table. He notes (building trade activity) a business recently, changing a couple dozen (building trade activity), high up on the ladder. Which is awfully good for a guy his age.

    • Craig: “He’s a hard worker. The horses drive him to make money.” Me: “Whatever gives you purpose in life, I guess.” Once you hit a certain age, you can become philosophical about such matters.

    • Health problems had Craig sidelined for a while. It was good for him to connect with Fred.

    • Anyway, Fred left about the time that the bucket-pullers came on. I thought he didn’t care for the harness races, but Craig said he was probably just out of money, having made (and lost) a bet or two while we conversed. “Fred actually likes the buckets.”

  • After Fred left, we then turned our attention to Woodbine/Mohawk. But the interval before the first race dragged on and on. A note on the TV screen said it was a weather delay. But it looked sunny there (the view was from the barns, but a big door was open in the background).

  • After nearly an hour, it was announced that the races were cancelled that day, due to poor air quality. That was because of smoke from forest fires, way off in northwestern Ontario. I suppose that the health of the horses were the main concern, as they would be breathing hard, which would not be good for their lungs. No point risking expensive horses’ health.

  • Given that, we turned our attention to some other tracks. I picked up a program for Del Mar, in San Diego. That’s a long way from the smoke of Canada. Besides, I have had some success there in the past.

  • I started in mid-card:

    • For Race 7, I made a beer-bet to show, on #6. It didn’t have the best numbers but it did have a rather significant drop in odds from Morning-Line to Race-time. It came in and paid a very small profit. But it respected the beer-bet rule, and that was what mattered to me at the time.

    • I missed Race 8. I enjoyed a nice glass of beer and a pretty good personal-sized pizza instead of betting. This was just as well, since my preferred horse finished out of the money. The pizza was so good, I got another one to take home to my wife. She agreed that it was rather tasty and a nice break from cold sandwiches (it had been too hot to do much cooking).

    • In Race 9, I bet the 5 to show. Unfortunately, it came in 4^th by a nose.

    • For the 10^th Race, I made another show bet, this time on the #7 horse. It had very good numbers, in addition to a substantial odds drop. It came in place and paid tolerably well.

    • I skipped the 11^th, as most of the horses had never even been in the money in their past performances. Amusingly enough, the three that did have some history came in 1-2-3. Too bad that I missed that, but so it goes.

  • That put me even on the day. Actually I came out a little better than that, as when I put my bet through the machine, it gave me an extra voucher. So, from that point of view, I came out ahead, about 10% in ROI terms.

  • This was interesting, as I had accidentally put a bunch of vouchers through the laundry earlier that week (I forgot to take them out of my shirt pocket). That mistake washed every last bit of ink off the vouchers, so I was out a fair bit of money. I suppose that fickle spirit of the racetrack will eventually return the money – the extra voucher was a down payment on that promise. At least that’s how I choose to interpret things.

==========================================================================

  

Hiking the Wild North Shore of Lake Superior

The north shore of Lake Superior is wild and beautiful. It is also quite sparsely populated, so a hiking trip (or other adventure) will truly give you chance to get away from it all, and back to nature in its full glory.

Lake Superior is big – it is the largest of the North American Great Lakes, and one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. One could spend years exploring the area, and still have barely touched the possibilities.

This account focuses on a multi-day backpacking trip in Pukaskwa National Park, some light canoeing in White Lake Provincial Park, and some day-hiking in the Thunder Bay area.

What follows is a journal of some of the highlights of a trip to Northern Ontario in the summer of 1998. That gives the trip a bit of a historical flavor, but things don’t change very quickly in the wild country of the true north, so it will also give the reader a good idea of what to expect during their own exploration of the north shore.

You can purchase it for 99 cents U.S., equivalent price in other currencies.  Alternatively, keep your eyes open for a free promotions, which occur periodically. Or, get it with Kindle Unlimited.

U.S.:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F9TV4C8
U.K.:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07F9TV4C8 
Germany:  https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07F9TV4C8

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07F9TV4C8

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B074LZDQ9F

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B074LZDQ9F

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B074LZDQ9F

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B074LZDQ9F

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B074LZDQ9F
Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07F9TV4C8  
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07F9TV4C8
Australia:  https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07F9TV4C8
India:  https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07F9TV4C8

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here’s an account of some road trips in south-western Alberta:

A Selection of Back-Road Trips Around

 Southwest Alberta

There are two main aspects to a road trip: the journey and the destination. Sometimes the trip is all about the journey, sometimes it’s all about the destination. Usually it is a little of both.

This collection of back-roads journeys feature a little bit of both of these aspects. Some accounts are more about the ‘journey’, such as a road trip on scenic Highway 22. Others are more about the ‘destination’, such as the show-jumping at Spruce Meadows. I hope you will enjoy reading some of these accounts and maybe give them a spin for yourself.

Southwest 1 – A Road Trip on Scenic Highway 22

Southwest 2 – The Equestrian Competitions at Spruce Meadows (Calgary)

Southwest 3 – The Bar U Ranch, south of Long View

Southwest 4 – Kananaskis Country

Southwest 5 – Blackfoot Crossing

Southwest 6 – Back-roads, from the Prairies to the Foothills: Brazeau Dam Trip

Southwest 7 – A Back-roads Trip to Hinton and the Forestry Trunk Roads

The reader may wonder “what about the Ice-fields Parkway?” or “where is a visit to Banff?” I would answer, that these famous destinations are covered very nicely by other books. This account is meant to focus on some less travelled areas, thus the “back-roads” descriptor.

I should note that the other three quadrants of Alberta also have a lot of interesting back-roads journeys, but those are material for some other books which will be published in due time.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DCMJP47G

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Dark Horse

In “A Dark Horse”, a gambler’s desire to hit a big win seems to lead him to make a Faustian bargain with a supernatural evil.  Or is it all just a string of unnaturally good luck?

The story is just $0.99 U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and about 8000 words. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MDMY2BR

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Here’s an interesting review from Goodreads

(BTW, the writer has never met the reviewer and was not even aware of the review until very recently – You can look up the review on Goodreads, if you like)

A Dark Horse

Every gambler is bound to run out of luck eventually, right?

By far my favourite type of horror is psychological horror. I was quite pleased with how Mr. Olausen frightened his audience without spilling a single drop of blood or so much as hinting at anything gory. He knew exactly what hints to drop for us that made us deliciously dread the next scene simply by throwing out hints about who or what the dark horse might actually represent. This is the kind of stuff I love getting scared by, especially as Halloween approaches.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this short story. While I certainly wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on this as I would for a full-length novel, I did have trouble connecting to the main characters due to how little I knew about them and how much their personalities seemed to remain the same no matter what happened to them. If not for this issue, I would have felt comfortable choosing a much higher rating as the plot itself was well done.

I must admit to not knowing much about gambling at all, so I appreciated the brief explanations the narrator shared about how placing bets works and why some people have so much trouble walking away from a bet. While I will leave it up to experts on these topics to say how accurate everything was, I did enjoy learning more about the main character’s addiction and what he hoped to gain from betting on just one more game or race. It gave me a stronger sense of empathy for folks in his position.

A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale was a deliciously chilling story for the Halloween season and beyond.