The Squamidian Report – April 9 / 05
For the ‘ON LINE’ version of this newsletter, go to:
http://www.thedougsite.ca/2005/apr09.htm
Also in this issue:
Fern Glen Update
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Well, lets see. It’s been a pretty quiet week out here in Lotus Land. Not much at all happening. The weather has been on the cool wet side. We have loaned our warm sunshine to the winter weary folks back east. The lawn needs to be mowed but that’s not very exciting.
I did spend some time working with a town park maintenance crew planting more trees at the local RCMP building. We have a new cop-shop here in Squamish. Less than a year old. But it looks like it should be condemned. The design was meant to portray a mix of traditional native and modern newness. The result is a structure that is hideous. It looks like it is falling down, like it had been through a very strong earthquake and not survived.
We had planted trees along the highway side to help hide some of the building but they are small young trees and can’t hide very much. The mayor has been getting calls from perfect strangers as they pass though town telling him the police station looks like it is falling down and does any one know about it. So he has ordered more trees to be planted in hopes of hiding the building a bit better. Problem is, the trees we are planting are only about 12 or 15 feet tall. They need to triple their height before they can do any good. By then the place will be falling down. And how is this for irony, the police station is kitty corner across the highway from the local Tim Horton establishment.
*
Oh, by the way, Mount Washington is the premier ski hill over on Vancouver Island. It’s situated just inland from Courtenay. They spent most of this past winter closed due to lack of snow. However, they are re-opening for this weekend thanks to a dumping of 2.6 meters. That’s over 8 feet of the stuff, all in one storm. And for more irony, this weekend would normally be their season closure. Go figure.
*
Geek Speak!
OK my fellow propeller heads, we have some more computer stuff to talk about. Computer problems can and will hit any and all of us at some point. I ran into a glitch that kind of bugged me. Somehow at some point in the last couple of weeks my main system developed a software conflict. Or perhaps a corrupt system file, not sure which but I’m leaning toward the conflict. End result was that when I tried to use certain programs or parts of certain programs my system would reboot. Fatal error! Frustrating to say the least.
Now with software conflicts you can spend extensive amounts of time trying to hunt down the culprit(s) and rectify the situation. If the suspect software is not readily apparent, don’t bother wasting time trying to hunt it down. Use you last Ghost image and simply restore to that point in time. If you have kept your data files separate from your system and program files it is a snap. Just be sure your data backups are current incase some disaster happens, and away you go.
My last Ghost image was burned at the end of January. So 20 minutes after starting, my system was restored to how it sat on that date. It is then a matter of letting Windows download and install any updates, do the same with the anti-virus and firewall programs and everything is back to normal, the software conflict is gone. There had been several programs and utilities that I had experimented with during the intervening time. I re-installed only the ones I was sure were good. With the system running well again and updated to current standards, I burned a new Ghost image. Now I’m ready for next time.
I have always advocated keeping data and system files separate. That makes it both possible and easy to protect them from O/S problems. I include program files with system files because any installed programs on a Windows machine are integrated into the system files anyway so trying to separate them is pointless. The obvious way to separate data files from every thing else on a single hard drive computer is to partition the drive. The system section is your boot drive, the C:\ drive. On a partitioned drive the second (logical) partition will be seen as the E:\ drive. The reason for this is that D:\ has already been assigned to the optical drive. This wouldn’t be the case in a machine with two separate hard drives, the second one would be the D:\, but that’s another story.
The best time to partition a hard drive is during a clean install of the O/S. But that takes pre-planning. It’s never too late though. Programs like Partition Magic can partition a drive without destroying the information that is already installed. But of course, always make data backups just in case of trouble.
I had partitioned my hard drive right at the beginning, during the initial setup. My C:\ is used for the O/S and programs. My E:\ is where my data folders and files are. From there I can replicate to removable media or burn archives to CDs. PCs are inherently prone to problems. Keeping everything up to date, backed up and separate makes any problem short of a hardware failure quick, easy and painless to fix. And most hardware failures although very rare these days would be just as easy to rectify within minutes of getting a replacement piece of hardware. So there you go!
Oh, buy the way, Microsoft in its total disregard for good computing makes it impossible to separate your Email data from the system section of the computer and down right difficult to even find the information. It is well hidden, buried deep under layers of nested folders. It can be backed up though, or replicated which is even better. So once you have found your Outlook mail files you can create a copy for safeguarding if that data is important to you. You can also use the Export Messages option under Outlook’s File menu to create a copy of the mail files and then use the Import Messages to bring them back but this is both awkward and confusing.
d
****
Well things are finally moving a bit faster with the construction. The contractors got a cheque from the insurance company to buy more materials and I complained to my contact there and to the owner of the construction company about the pace. Since then, the kitchen cupboards and the hardwood flooring have arrived but are not installed yet. The cupboard style is NOT the one I selected when the contractor had us come up for a meeting back in December. At the time, he had given me a catalogue to browse through and select my choice, which I did. It appears that whole trip up here was a huge waste of time because I think our contractor suffers from some bizarre form of selective amnesia. The frustrating thing is, even if I'm in my rights to make him fix it and give me what I asked for, I loathe to do ANYTHING that will slow this process down any further. Every time something in the repair work turns out not quite how I asked it to, I just remind myself that the finished product is still much better than what we would've had without the fire. Seems like nobody up here sweats the small stuff, or the not-so-small stuff either, for that matter. It's a mindset I've yet to adopt entirely.
At any rate, the electrician has made some progress. Two steps forward and one step back would be more accurate. We've got most of our light fixtures hung now, and we even have power to most of them. There are some oddities, in that some of the few areas of the house that had power before, don't now; the fan in the guest bedroom doesn't turn off, and the track lighting in the kitchen is at an odd angle to the wall. These things will, apparently, be fixed when the electrician is back next week.
We had some excitement last weekend. On
Sunday, Jim was over in the main house, heard a funny sound coming from the
basement under the kitchen, and went to investigate. He started going down the
dark stairs (no light there yet) and was almost to the bottom when he noticed
that the basement was flooded with over a foot of water. Apparently the
contractor or electrician had unplugged the sump pump. The strange sound Jim
heard was the contractor's electric space heater. It was plugged in, sitting on
a ledge in a couple inches of water, hissing like a mad cat. Fortunately the
electric panel is NOT located down there, so Jim immediately ran and shut off
all the breakers. A few
minutes later I sat at the top of the stairs to watch and listen while Jim
tried the different breakers so we could identify the one to the basement. I
knew as soon as he hit the right breaker because the whole surface of the water
came alive, pinging and dancing like a pond with mosquitos on it; and the
heater started spitting and sparking. So we kept that breaker off and called
the contractor to come bail us out. I told him we just about had another fire
for him to fix. It was only well after the excitement that it really sunk in
what a close call that was. If Jim had taken one more step down, he would've
stepped down into that charged water. He would've been fried. I shudder to
think about it now. But he wasn't fried. And close only counts in
horse shoes and hand grenades. Whew.
When we aren't thwarting death, we're keeping busy with other things. I've been painting one of the rooms in the guest house to prepare it for our first guest, due to arrive April 24th. Will we be ready? Who knows. But at least I've warned the guest ahead of time what to expect. She's coming for three nights to visit an artist friend of hers. We also had an inquiry about booking four rooms for the May 24 weekend. We said we can take them and gave them the rate, now just waiting to see if they'll take it or not.
Jim had a meeting in Toronto on Tuesday evening so he stayed at his sister's overnight. That made for my first night up here all alone. Just me and the dog. It was pretty spooky outside as I took Saba out for her last pee of the night, but I survived and rather enjoyed it. On Wednesday we had dinner at another B&B near Huntsville with three other couples, all of them B&B owners. It was interesting to hear from some of the "veterans". It's also great to find out that many of the B&B operators around here have a very cooperative attitude, understanding that it's for everyone's benefit for us to work together and support each other and the tourism industry in general. After all, a high tide raises all boats. There's a lot of support among business owners up here. Many businesses display brochures and business cards for local businesses. I've been offered special pricing when I tell shop-keepers about Fern Glen Inn. Home Depot in Bracebridge had a special event for resort and lodge owners. Jim won a toolbox with a selection of Stanley hand tools inside. Not bad.
On the weather front, our snow is quickly disappearing. We've had temperatures as high as 18 C and some rain as well. We've had beautiful sunny weather for most of the two months we've been up here. I've actually managed to get a bit of a tan--in March in Ontario's near north of all places! The snow is still thick in the woods, but unstable, so our trails are completely unusable. I've been walking the dog up the road instead. Emphasis on "up". It's quite a workout. They don't call this the Almaguin Highlands for nothing. We can also walk along the Seguin trail now that the snowmobilers are gone. It's a pretty walk but not very challenging as it's quite level. It used to be a railway over to Georgian Bay. That was the primary way to transport lumber from the area before the highway came up here. We spent an afternoon with the lady who owned this inn before the lady we bought it from. It was fascinating. She told us a lot of the history of the place, even brought pictures, articles, and letters. She's loaned all the material to us for a few weeks so we can read through and make photocopies of the pieces we want to keep. I'll have to write more about the history another time. I think I've taken up quite a chunk of valuable Squamidian space for today.
I trust that you're all doing well, and hope to read a bit about your own happenings in here sometime soon. Until then, take care.
****
APRIL 9, 2005
Hello everyone!
We’re heading into another weekend only this time
it’s supposed to be a full four days of solid sunshine with temperatures to
match. Ahhhhhhhhhh … ain’t spring grand?
We actually managed to get our front porch chairs
out last week and now I’ve dragged two of the patio chairs out onto the patio
to enjoy the upcoming sunny weekend. I’m sure that by the time Saturday rolls
around we’ll have the full patio set out and cleaned up. You can tell that
spring is here just by the rumble of the motorcycles passing every 5 minutes.
No matter if there is a little noise in the air, at least we know we’ve rounded
the bend into the time of year when everything is bursting back to life. Carole
will be busy in the gardens soon and I’ll finally be able to put the snow blower
away and tune up the lawn mower.
The only thing that is bothering me is the same
problem we’ve had every year since moving into this house. We have a lovely
tall twin trunked white birch tree on the font lawn that is infested with
“Stink Bugs”. This tree is about thirty five feet tall and looks magnificent.
It’s virtually impossible to reach the top with any type of home bug spray remedy. I don’t know the official name
of these tiny stinkers but I’m determined to rid our tree of their horrid odour
once and for all this year. I guess I’ll have to consult a professional
exterminator to accomplish this task. These bugs don’t give off much of an
odour until you squish one. Then MAN to they stink! They have an extremely
strong almond type smell about them. They are about the size of the head of a
pin but they have an odour the size of an elephant! If any of you Squamidian
members happen to know anything about these little critters, would you please
pass the info on to us? I do know that they are common to birch trees. My aunt
has the same type of tree in her font yard and she also has a “Stink Bug”
problem. I guess this is all part of
being a property owner but I’d rather not support these little guys any longer
if I can help it. I’ll keep you posted as to my progress with this smelly mess.
Hopefully we’ll have them for the last time this year. I’ll have to wait a
little longer till I’m sure of the weather before initiating an attack on the
little buggers. They seem to flourish in the warmer weather and I think I
should wait till they are in full bloom before trying to do them in. On the
other hand, maybe I should get a jump on them and get some professional advice
early in the game. Think that’s what I’ll do!
*
From time to time I receive interesting e-mails that
are worth reading. This past week I received one about the relationship between
railroads and the space program AND the ancient Romans. Rather than try to
explain it to you, I’ve included it in this weeks Ontarion so you can read it
for yourselves. Here it is and I think you’ll all agree that it is an
interesting article.
*
Railroads and Rocket
Science!
Does the statement,
"We've always done it that way" ring any bells?
The US standard
railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches.
That's an exceedingly
odd number. Why was that gauge used?
Because that's the way
they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads
Why did the English
build them like that?
Because the first rail
lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and
that's the gauge they used.
Why did
"they" use that gauge then?
Because the people who
built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building
wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
Okay! Why did the
wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to
use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break
On some of the old,
long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old
rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built
the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions.
The roads have been
used ever since.
And the ruts in the
roads?
Roman war chariots
formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying
their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome they were
all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The United States standard railroad
gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an
Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever. So the next time
you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you
may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman army chariots were made just
wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.
Now the twist to the
story
When you see a Space
Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached
to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or
SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at
their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred
to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the
factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs
had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad
track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses'
behinds.
So, a major Space
Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced
transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width
of a horse's ass.
..... and you thought
being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important
Unknown author
Now that you’ve read this article can you
look back and see the humor in all that has been affected by the origin of the
width of a Roman Road? I think it’s hilarious! It’s amazing that such an
ancient feat of engineering can have such a profound effect on a
scientific wonder such as the Space Program. I bet Caesar had a good laugh
knowing that the USA would have to restrict the size of it's booster rockets
because of the width he liked to have his personal chariot constructed! LOL! In
fact, it was probably conjured up by Caesar in a moment of madness as one of
the original April Fool's Jokes! I can just hear him now saying "Hey
Brutus, let's have my engineers make my new chariot an unusual width between
the wheels so the American's will have trouble fitting their Booster Rockets
through that hole in the mountain in Utah two thousand years from now"!
Wouldn't you know it, he was right! I bet his tomb rumbles with laughter every
time he thinks of it!
Who said history was dull and humorless? After just going through April Fool’s Day, it seems appropriate that this little ditty should surface this week. We were all sent another interesting article on the origins of April Fool’s Day a few days ago and perhaps Caesar had a little something to do with it as well. *Guess I should call it quits for this week. Thanks for joining me again and I look forward to seeing you all again 7 days from now in The Ontarion Report. Bye for now….GREG.
PS: Something to Think About>
If you associate with losers, you soon become one.
****
The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
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The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them should be respected as such.