The Squamidian Report – Sept. 27 / 03

 

Also in this issue:

 

The Ontarion

 

Hi All,

 

We have had to temporarily stop taking Yogi to the river. Once the salmon have spawned, they die. Great life, have sex then die. Anyway, the river is normally pristine clear and cold. Right now it is putrid. The rotting fish are all over the place and the smell is rancid. Yogi doesn’t even seem to notice. Maybe he likes dead fish soup. He just steps over them and wades into the water. There is a small lake about 5 minutes south of town at Murin Park. There are no spawning runs into it as the outlet is through the bottom into the bedrock. So that is where he goes for his evening dip now. Just thought you’d like to know.

 

Sue has me working on a deck project that we have been planning ever since we moved here. There is a large deck running across the back of our house. It is about 5 feet off the ground as it is on the same level as the living area. The existing outdoor steps are fairly steep so we decide to put another set at the opposite end, the south end.

 

This is where the house kind of straddles the native granite bedrock. We have about 7 ft of side yard there but no easy way to get onto our section of rock. I’m creating a landing that will butt into the backside of the rock so we can walk up onto it. There will be a set of short steps down the opposite side of the landing to another larger landing in the back yard.

 

To get started I had to remove a small tree and then a section of fence. The side yard fence had ended at the base of the rock and angled over to the house. The new corner post is on a bracket that is drilled into the granite. A project like this entails trips to the local build all store. The same store that tried to gouge me when we purchased some vinyl lattice in spring. This time they tried to charge me $45 for a handful of screws. You really got to watch some of the people in there.

 

It’s amazing how much lumber you can pack into a mini van when you take the seats out. You can’t carry a truckload but you can carry enough to keep busy with for a day or so.

 

We have been having dry hot clear weather again, hitting close to 30 by mid afternoon. Mountain weather is different from other areas and with the coast right here ours is unique. The valleys heat up during the day and the hot air rises, creating onshore winds. Nothing new there except those winds bring nice fresh sea air with them. Then at night the warm waters warm the air above them which creates the outflow winds. Our valleys get down right cold at night as the air movement comes from the high altitudes of the mountain tops. They stick up through the layers, forming a conduit for that cold air to slide down. Normally, air sits in fairly stable layers.

 

Each morning I sit at Horton’s having a coffee while waiting for it to be time to go to work. Because there are high mountains to the east, the sun is blocked from shining into the valley until it can rise above them. It starts with the tops of the peaks to the west catching the first rays. They begin to glow, and then the light spreads down the slopes. You can see it moving. Currently, the top of the peaks above Mammoth Creak Canyon light up about 8 minutes after 7.

 

 

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This space for rent.

 

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THE ONTARION REPORT

 

September 26, 2003

 

     

Hello fellow Squamidians! Time once again for a few words from The Heart of Canada…………Kitchener Ontario.

 

As I write this edition of The Ontarion, we are nearing the end of the 5th day of Fall 2003. I must say, this has been a very nice Fall season so far! We’ve had a sprinkle of rain on a couple of the days but for the most part, the weather is almost perfect. It cools down nicely at night and warms up to a reasonable temperature during the daytime hours. As far as I’m concerned, this weather could stay all year round. Although I still have yet to attain my record kite flight I vow to do so before the winter sets in. Maybe tomorrow will be the day for the flight. Saturday is supposed to be sunny with cloudy periods and a 40% chance of rain in the morning. I’ll just have to wait and see what the weatherman brings. They say patience is a virtue but I’d rather just get the damn thing up there and be done with it! I’ve been patient enough and I think it’s time the wind gods showed me a little favouritism. I’ll keep you up to date on the happenings of the kite saga. Be sure to stay tuned.

 

Let me see, what else do I have to tell you? Oh yea, Bailey got the big snip this week. He got neutered on Wednesday of this week. He seems to be doing well but the stitches don’t come out until October 2nd. I took him in to the Vet’s office at 8:30am Wednesday and we picked him up at 1:30pm the same day. He slept for most of the next 24 hrs and has perked up to his same old self today. We are hoping he will be a little more subdued when company arrives at the door. He was quite excited whenever someone would step into the house. It usually took him about 15 minutes to settle down. The vet said once they bring his hormones down to a normal level he’d settle down quit a bit. He is a pretty passive pooch other than that first few minutes. We had him trained to do his business on a “Doggie Toilet” that I built in the laundry room as well as go outside when the weather was hospitable. About 3 weeks ago he started leaving puddles on the hardwood floor in the main hallway and also in the kitchen in a couple of spots.

 

We have tried everything from “doggie spray” to the scolding and reward system to break him from doing this but he still wants to leave puddles in the house. The vet said if we reward him with a treat when he goes outside and scold him when he pees inside he’ll soon make the connection that it’s better to do it outside. Well, so far, he’s missed the point of that one. I guess we’ll just have to keep working on him.

 

Not much else new around here. Adam bought a new truck for his winter and everyday vehicle. He is storing his BMW Mini Cooper for the winter. He doesn’t want to use his Cooper for an everyday work type vehicle. I don’t blame him for that, it’s too nice to put it through all that duty on a regular basis. It’s one of the first 500 Mini’s shipped to and sold in North America and he wants to keep it like a classic. The truck he bought is a 1995 Mazda B3000 and it’s in great shape. It’s an extra cab V6 5 speed. It’s a dark metallic blue colour with a gray interior. I’m sure he’ll like driving the truck as well as appreciate the convenience of such a vehicle. He had his Nissan Xterra that he purchased new in 2001 but even that truck was too nice a vehicle to be hauling tools and supplies around in. I’ve always liked the convenience of a pickup truck and now we have another one in the family once again. I told him now that he has a truck he’s welcome to live here for a few more years! LOL! I had the trailer hitch installed on the Jeep so I could pull a trailer if I had anything I needed to haul. However, having a pickup is even handier. Since I don’t own a trailer and will have to borrow one ever time I need one he said I can just use his truck instead. We’ve always been a family that shares and this is no exception. He knows he can use the Liberty anytime he needs it as well.

 

Last Wednesday I worked for Nissan again. I delivered a Nissan Altima to Brantford Nissan and returned the same model in a different colour to Waterloo. Took me about 3 hrs to make the round trip. While in Brantford, I decided to take a side trip to the Casino. I walked in to the Casino and plunked myself down at a slot machine and stuck in $20.00. I started with 80 credits on the 25c machine and hadn’t won anything by the time I was down to 50 credits. I cashed out my remaining 50 quarters and moved across the isle to a different machine.

 

This one was called “Triple Cash”. I dropped in 3 coins and pushed the button and won 15 coins. I repeated the motion and won another 30. Once again I dropped in 3 coins and won a fast 490 credits. So, I cashed out the coins and went to the cashier and walked away with $122.50 profit on top of my original $20.00. Not a bad 10 minutes work. Add that to the humongous $7.00/hr that Nissan so kindly pays me for the trip and I came away with a tidy sum for the morning. Of course when I got home we had to pick Bailey up at the Vet’s and we handed the profit from the Casino over to pay for the surgery. At least there was something useful to put the money to. At $163.50 including tax, that makes Bailey’s missing parts worth $81.75 each. WOW and here I thought Planter’s nuts were costly!!!! LOL! Although he had no say in the matter, I’m sure Bailey will be a happier puppy without those raging hormones he’s been carrying around for the past few months. I only hope that it doesn’t change his personality. He’s such a friendly and lovable little guy. The vet says it’ll calm him down and hopefully help us stop him from trying to “mark” his territory every few minutes inside the house. I hope he’s right or we’ve just put Bailey through all this for nothing. Well, I’m about out of words for tonight. I’ll talk to you all again soon. Take care and thanks for tuning in this week. Bye for now!

 

GREG.

 

PS: Something to Think About>

 

Character is like a rifle. It cannot shoot higher than it is aimed!

 

 

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http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/

 

Have a good one..

the doug