The Squamidian Report – Feb. 7 / 04
Also in this issue:
North Nova News
Wildwood Warren
The Ontarion
Hi All,
It might be time to talk a bit about our infamous Sea to Sky highway again. There has been a lot of coverage about the 2 crashes that took 8 lives, all within 4 days. I don’t use the word ‘accident’ as I don’t believe that word properly applies, it never has. It implies that no one was at fault and that it couldn’t be avoided.
The highway twists and turns, with very tight blind turns. It climbs and descends thousands of feet in every mile. But the highway itself is not dangerous. The drives are dangerous. The highway did not cause a driver to fall asleep at the wheel, killing himself and his 4 passengers as well at 2 people in an on coming car. The highway did not cause a driver to drift across the centerline into the path of an on coming truck. There is a loud cry going out now to make the highway safer. And yes, there are many things that can and will be done to make the highway easier to drive but it is the drivers that must be made ‘safer’.
They must be educated to the fact that it takes all your attention and awareness to be the driver. There is little room for error. If you are tired, pull over. If you want to gawk at the scenery, pull over or have someone else drive. And those aggressive idiots that seem to think they own the road should be shot on site.
There, I’ve gotten my preaching over with.
I spent most of this week working on a job site in Furry Creek. That’s a combination golf course and ritzy housing development one mountain pass south of Britannia Beach. The homes are large and expensive, kind of like a Whistler setting. And like in Whistler, the lots are steep and rocky. The elite thing out here seems to be rock retaining walls, built from the native granite that has been blasted out to make room for the house. So you tend to spend days placing and positioning large chunks of rock in an attempt to get that natural look. What they just don’t seem to understand is that what they see as natural is anything but. Rock that has been blasted tends to be jagged and broken, like very large shards. A truly natural look would involve surface rocks that have a rounded, softened look from thousands of years of exposure to the weather and erosion. Funny that I’m the only one out here that sees it that way.
Sue, Yogi and I went for a nice walk along the Manquam River this morning, down beyond the railway trestle where the river empties into the Squamish. It was mild and spring-like. The water was running fast but not high. That whole area was re-written by last fall’s floods so now there are large flat gravel bars covered with soft sand. The eagles and sea gulls moved out of our way, barely inconvenienced. There doesn’t seem to be any fish spawning right now so dead ones do not cover the banks and the water is crystal clear again.
It’s a popular place for people and dogs to walk, but there are larger tracks in the sand than even our dogs. There have been bear sightings this week down in the valley. For a few days people were being told to walk their kids to school, just to be safe. There was not enough food last fall for the bears to get stocked up and so they are waking early and hungry.
And speaking of Sue, she had a pretty ruff audit this week in Brooks, Alberta. That meant flying into Calgary and then driving for several hours east on the Trans Canada. The manager of the branch had gone ‘bad’ and the auditors were there to asses the damage and try to get things back onto track. So anyone with money might want to reassess that old mattress again.
I’ve posted some pictures of my visit way back in January to Kitchener on my web sites. They can be seen at http://www.members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/Pictures/pictures.htm , just click any of the 7 links under the Visit line near the bottom of the page.
****
Hi Doug, here is a short version of my news also my Dad has a letter
he would like to submit. He enjoys reading the Squamidian too and now
would like to participate some.
I know it looks like l just fell off the earth since you haven't heard from me for awhile. I'm not sure why I haven't been in touch, it could be something to do with the frigid cold we were having. All you feel like doing is hugging the stove. We did go curling but that was even worse. I thought I would die in there it was so cold but no one would give up a game and I didn't want to look like the one who just couldn't take it. You have to be tough to belong to the Pictou curling rink. The building is not insulated so the ice is so affected by weather conditions. Anyway I read all the reports and could see you (Doug) had a great visit to Kitchener. Nice picture of the three of you (Doug, Clyde and Greg). I would have liked to visit Kitchener at the same time but it wasn't in the cards. I sure like the idea of having a Squamidian reunion at Karen's house, that might be the only way I would ever get to Australia!! We are actually thinking of going to Cuba for a two week holiday in March. Winter is getting the best of us and Peter won't have any time off this summer with his sailing business so when is it holiday time? We are also long overdue for a vacation with just the two of us. It was good to see Warren contributing to the Squamidian. Congratulations to the proud parents and grandparents on their new baby girl. I know that was written before the baby was born but he must have had his heart set on a boy! I do remember seeing a tree fall on Warren's truck during one of his wildwood adventures I was fortunate to be on. I try not to think about where Warren goes to get these prizes. It is very dangerous terrain. He's kind of the Crockadile Dundee of the North. I think he could start a Wildwood Excursion tour for the tourists. There is nothing more thrilling as far as I'm concerned. My father, Howard, would like to contribute an experience from one of his many travels.
**
One winter I found myself working for a large mobile home park in
southern Florida. The grounds were
extensive and I was one of perhaps eight or ten maintenance employees keeping
the grounds in exquisite perfection.
One day I was working alone in the maintenance shed when some of the
guys along with a jubilant manager named Jack brought in the most scruffy,
snarly and all-round ugly tomcat, I have ever seen.
He was in a cage and had been caught some time during the
night. Wire cage traps were used on an
ongoing basis to catch unwanted animals wandering the grounds (both domestic
and wild) and the rules were, that wild animals were returned to the jungles by
wildlife officers while domestic pets were kept in the cage for 24 hours at the
maintenance shed. This gave the owners
a chance to identify and claim them.
Animals not claimed were picked up the next day by the S.P.C.A. and
subsequently exterminated in the accepted manner.
During the morning my work kept me in fairly close proximity to this
outlaw and anytime I happened to get within a few feet of him he would sputter
and exude a hate I found difficult to ignore.
It was in fact this total volatile uninhibited hate for the world that
caused me to consider his predicament.
His chances of any one claiming and saving him from certain death were
nil. I decided to set him free. His only crime after all was getting
caught. I used a stick to raise the
latch on the cage, to use my fingers would have been disfigurement and probably
infection. He came out in a blur and
stopped 50 feet away. He looked at me
and I swear the hate was gone from his eyes and I thought, “Oh, no you
don’t!” I picked up a stone and threw
it at him and shouted, “* off!!” He
took two bounds and was gone into the jungle.
That afternoon Jack and a man from the
S.P.C.A. showed up. Jack took one look
at the empty cage and his face turned the colour of raw liver. Where the *’+#@%^:” is that dam cat? He had been trying to catch this cat for
months and now the cat was gone. “A
little old lady showed up and claimed the cat and I turned it over to her”, I
said. I was safe enough with Jack,
after all I was only going by the rules.
The cat was claimed and I released it to the claimant. But it was a lie, total and complete. Ethics I’m sure come into this, it was a
deliberate act of deceit. So where does
that leave the three principles of this story.
The cat couldn’t care less. Jack
has gone on to more important things and has forgotten. That leaves me, the author of the lie and I
feel good about it and always have.
****
I’ve kept a journal fairly religiously since “the Carmen Days.” Doug and his Uncle did. It seemed the cool thing to do at the time. I was looking through my journal for another wildwood adventure to write, when I stumbled across a day in my life that caught my eye. Since it IS an original script from me, I thought it most appropriate to copy it, with some embellishments, for you all to enjoy. Here goes:
Tues. July 3rd 1990.
Wake up 4:15 a.m. at Harold Geingers, grab bags and off to Vancouver airport with him and his wife Flo. Meet Ken Park, our Japanese counterpart, and board a plane bound for L.A. California. 11:00 a.m. change planes for Narita airport near Tokyo, Japan.( 11 hours in the air ) Change planes again and fly to Sapporo airport in Hokkaido, northern Japan.(1.5 hrs.) Then by car to a National Park lake resort at Lake Shikotu and settled in to Marukoma Onsen HotSprings Hotel. Arrive about 9:00 p.m. Japan time where we meet Ken’s friend and business associate, Kinziro` Sasaki, our generous host and proprietor. ( I remember it like it was just yesterday. It was like a scene out of Shogun, the lavish part, for those of you who saw the movie.) We were given separate quarters in very traditional surroundings and apparell to wear. (Photo , it’s the bottom link) The command ,“10 MINUTE”,( which in the days to come would become very familiar,) Ken would bellow and it always seemed to come from out of nowhere. This somehow, I think, helped him to justify the $600.00 plus expenses,per day, he had to shell out for his two Canadian lumberjacks he’d selected.
With a quick shower and change into kimonas and slippers we next found ourselves lounging over great quantities of Kirin beer! No sakki for these hard-core log builders.
The supper was incredible! For starters, tender Australian beef , Kobe stye, with veggies, fresh salad and tomatoes ( thank god, we had the option to use knives and forks instead of chop sticks) and as much Sapporo beer as we could drink! When it comes to beer drinking, the Japanese, way out-do Canadians, eh? Your glass is never empty.
Second course was land-locked salmon ( Kokanee, imported from B.C.) fresh out of Shikotu Lake with a vegetable platter to finish.
By this time, Harold and I are fighting sleep but Ken wants to party and show us a good time. Must abide by their wishes or show dishonor. To revive our senses, we next soaked in the natural hot springs and washed and showered before bed. At this point, I would like to describe our rooms. The floors were covered in bamboo thatching with a squatty table and seats and the bed......oooohh the bed I can’t begin to explain how comfortable it was with it’s double comforters made from, for all I knew, silk worm stuff. I didn’t care, after 25 hours, I was ready for sleep.
Out of the 3 weeks we’d been hired for, we worked 2 days and the rest of the time were wined and dined to the point of boredom. I was glad to get back to B.C. and get on with my goal of establishing a new home base for my family who were waiting for me back in Nova Scotia.
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
February
6, 2004
Hello everyone! It’s Friday night and I’m finally getting around to
writing this week’s Ontarion. I usually write it on Thursday evenings but this
week has been a particularly busy one. To top it all off, I had a breakdown
with the Jeep this week and spent Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning in
the Jeep dealer in Waterloo trying to convince them that the part that
malfunctioned was making a noise since we bought the Liberty last July. They
finally checked their service records and found that they had been looking for
the noise in the front end since the week after we picked the vehicle up and
the part that failed was the cause of the noise all along. Whew!!!!!! Finally!
Now that I’m rid of the noise and the dealer paid the bill, things are looking
up! The Jeep is running like it should “like NEW” and I’m smiling once again. I
don’t like to drive around in a dirty vehicle but this weather is impossible
when it comes to keeping one clean. I guess I’ll just have to settle for a
clean interior and a somewhat clean exterior that only lasts until I pass the
first big truck on the road that splashes it all up again. It never fails; you
wash your car and a block away from home you get dumped on by a big truck
hitting a huge puddle. Oh well, spring is coming and the streets will soon be
clean again. This winter is starting to seem awfully long isn’t it? I don’t
mind the blanket of snow if it’s clean and white but when it starts to get
dirty and turn into slush it’s time for it all to melt. For a while there I
didn’t even think we’d get much snow this winter. I was wrong we got it big
time about 2 days after I made a comment about how green things were. Isn’t
that just like washing your car? You no sooner get it sparkling clean and it
starts to rain. You no sooner comment on the way something is and the opposite
happens. Maybe I’m being a bit pessimistic here but it’s the old “is the glass
half empty or half full” syndrome. I guess I should make an effort to be a
little more optimistic. I usually do look at the brighter side of things if I
can. It only seems to make things worse if I’m pouting about whatever it is
that’s happening. The world is a much happier place when we look at it in a
positive way.
Here’s an example of what I’m
talking about. When that tree jumped out into the driveway at Lorne and
Vivian’s place and hit the back corner of my Jeep I immediately said “Oh well,
it could have been worse, the tree could have been a lot bigger and it could
have been on public property and then I wouldn’t have anyone to sue for the
damage to my Jeep”! so ……you see here
what I mean by keeping a positive attitude? I wonder if my lawyer has contacted
Lorne about the settlement yet? I’ll have to give him a call tomorrow for sure.
He’s a pretty good lawyer he’s a partner in the Law Firm of “Shiester Shiester
Diggem and Gougem”. I’m sure Lorne will be reaching for his wallet within a few
minutes of listening to this guy. When Mr Shiester gets through I’ll be a
partner in the Brubacher Homestead for sure! Hahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa……..you
know I’m just kidding don’t you Lorne? It was entirely my fault that that tree
jumped out at my Jeep. I’m not much good at backing up while looking in
someone’s kitchen window to see what’s happening inside. I guess I should have
taken one more glance backward before stepping on the gas. Oh well, next time
I’m invited over I’ll be sure to park the Jeep on the street. That is, IF there
is a next time! LOL!
I read with sadness an article
about a 3 vehicle accident in Squamish BC. I was so glad that I didn’t
recognize any of the names involved. The whole town was said to be in shock
over this tragic event. Doug has talked about the Sea to Sky Highway many times
in his writings. I guess it’s a dangerous road if one allows himself to be
distracted from the business of driving. According to Doug there are many
magnificent viewpoints along this highway and it’s not hard to find yourself
looking away from the road. Winter driving is hazardous enough without gawking
around while behind the wheel. Usually most winter accidents are fender benders
because people are driving slower due to weather conditions. However, on a
major highway, speed limits are higher and drivers tend to forget that they
should be more cautious there as well.
We had a convenience store robber
making the rounds here in KW. He hit 19 stores in about a month’s time. The
other day he entered a store at Glasgow and Park Streets and met his match. He
confronted an Indian woman who asked why she should give him any money. He
wasn’t expecting to have to answer any questions and had a look of surprise on
his face. She then called to her husband in their native language and told him she
was being robbed. The daughter heard her yelling and dialed 911 while her
husband chased the man down the street with a broom handle. I guess it pays to
have a second language after all. The suspect drove away and was stopped about
2 blocks down the street by plain clothed detectives and arrested for the
string of armed robberies. He claimed to have a gun during each robbery but
none of the victims ever saw one. This guy should have about 5 years in the jug
to study the language of Urdu (an Indian dialect) in case he wishes to continue
his life of crime when he’s released.
Super Bowl Sunday was a big event
wasn’t it? What with the $million dollar TV ad spots during the game, the New
England Patriots winning their second Super Bowl in 3 years and Janet Jackson
finally gaining as much notoriety as her sick brother. I guess she had to do
something to take the heat of Michael. Imagine, exposing your breast on
international TV just to get your name in the news. Of course close up shots of
the event were immediately sent out over the Internet. When I took my first
look at the pictures Clyde sent me of Janet’s “exposure” I thought I was
looking at Michael showing off his latest plastic surgery. Man she’s looking a
lot like her brother. Someone also commented how much she looked like Diana
Ross. Oh well, she can look like Rodney Dangerfield for all I care. She’s lost
any respect I might have had for her after pulling a stunt like that. If you’re
a talented entertainer, there’s no need for such ridiculous antics. Your talent
should be enough to maintain your popularity and if not, maybe it’s time to
retire.
Speaking of retiring, I should
retire to the bedroom for tonight. It’s getting a tad late and my fingers are
starting to hit the wrong keys.
Thanks once again for tuning in. I
look forward to talking to you all again next week.
Bye for now.
GREG
PS: Something to Think About>
The only thing that can cheat some people out of the last word is an
echo!
****
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http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/
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Have a good one..
the
doug
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