The Squamidian Report – Aug. 29 / 09
Issue #379
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
They sure don’t make things like they used to. On about the last day of having our reunion gests here our oven packed it in. The stupid thing is only about 5 or 6 years old, a good dependable Sear Kenmore model. NOT!!! It blew the breakers on the electrical panel and stopped working. I reset the breakers but the oven would not come back on. The top burners work just fine, the clock works just fine but not the oven. I pulled the back panel off and checked for burned or shorted wires but found none. I checked the elements with a meter and they are both good. We had a repair person come and check it out and he told us it was the ‘on board computer’. Now one would think that it should be a fairly easy procedure to remove the computer board and replace it but NO, well, yes, its easy to replace but it is was too expensive to replace.
The replacement cost of the stove’s computer is almost half the cost of a new stove but comes with virtually no warrantee. So you have to do just what they want you to do, which is, buy a brand new oven. I guess this is just one more example of our throw away society where we fill our landfill sites with junk that shouldn’t really be junk in the first place. Anyway, bottom line is we have to get a new stove, like it or not.
And speaking of how things sure have changed…. there is a Sears catalog sitting here on the desk. It’s the 2009 one and features swim wear and other light summer clothing. The model on the front cover is in a one-piece swimsuit and the display of models and swim suits over the following 50 or so pages (not that I’m counting) are enough to put Playboy out of business. I can remember purchasing a Playboy magazine way back in high school (hoping no one saw me do it) and checking out the pictures within. They had nothing going compared to how these Sears models are dressed or not so dressed, and compared to how much was revealed. If I were a 16-year-old boy again I’d be hiding the Sears catalog under my bed in hopes that my mother didn’t find it and toss it out.
And speaking of hot…. BC is still having its very hot dry summer. Here on the coast we have had a few cooler days of light rain but not enough to even dampen the vegetation. Our nights have been dropping down to about 10, which is where it should be and which is very nice and comfortable and the night sky has been clear and starry. But the days have been heating right back up. The fires in the coastal region are mostly out now but the ones in the Interior are still raging. Some of them have burned thousands of hectares and are still out of control. So how about you people back east stop hogging all that rain and send some of it this way. We would very much appreciate it.
And speaking of starry nights…. I happened to look up at the clear pre-dawn sky yesterday morning. I was out on the back deck spreading some peanuts for the Stellar Jays that would be descending on our house as soon as there was enough light to fly. It was about 5:08 AM and I did my usual scan of the sky and stars and was delighted to see the International Space Station pass swiftly and silently overhead. It is very bright, about the same apparent magnitude as Venus, who just happened to be sitting above the eastern horizon. It swings from west to east on its orbit, each orbit taking it over a different track. Pretty cool thing to see.
doug
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Hello
everyone!
Well, it
seams fall is here early this year. With the weather getting consistently
cooler each evening I find it hard to believe we’ll have much more of a summer.
Did I say “summer”? WHAT summer??? Sheesh, c’mon Mother Nature what kind of
joke are you trying to pull on us? I sure hope you’re planning to surprise us
with a really great classic autumn!
I say
fall is here because things that always happen in the fall are starting to
happen. Talk of fall fairs and air shows is hitting the papers and news
programs. In fact, we are hosting our own air show this weekend at our own
“International Airport” out in the big berg of Breslau. It’s a show of classic
aircraft both on the ground and in the air. There are acts from both Canada and
the USA and there is even a Russian Mig aircraft on display. I think it’s
scheduled to fly in the show as well. That will be cool to see for sure! I’ve
always loved airplanes! Every since I was a kid I wanted to fly planes. As I’ve
told you all before I intended to fly as part of the RCAF Golden Hawks
aerobatic team when I grew up. However, soon after I formulated this desire to
do so, the RCAF disbanded the Golden Hawks and I moved on to other aspirations
in life. My goal became one to retire in my early 50’s and once a week write a
little column for a private family based news letter. SHAZAMM! WOW! I made it!
What a successful outcome to a life long dream!
Anyway, I
get to live that “Golden Hawks” dream every time I see the Canadian Snow Birds
in action. I don’t think they’re making an appearance at this weekends Breslau
show but they’ll most certainly be on the minds of attendees. There is a great
team of Canadian Harvard airplanes that will be involved in the flying show and
to me this will be the highlight of the weekend. I’m going to check the weather
closely and probably attend whichever day has the best weather. From my
preliminary check on the weather it doesn’t look promising for either day.
Maybe it’ll be washed out but I certainly hope not.
In years
gone by, Carole and Adam and I have attended many air shows and seen many
spectacular sites at these shows. In Toronto back in 1992 I believe it was, we
witnessed the crash of one of the Snow Birds which resulted in the death of
Captain Shane Antea. What a traumatic day that was! He plunged into Lake
Ontario right in front of us as we stood on the lake shore. The crowd went
silent in disbelief as the rescue boats and helicopters gathered over the entry
site. The tragic incident had most of the audience in tears. The crowd was
silent for a good hour after the crash. I found out after returning to work the
next day that the wife of one of the guys on my crew was best friends with
Captain Antea’s mother. So the tragedy really hit home for his wife and indeed
my crew member as well. He took a few days off work to see his wife and their
friend through their difficult time. I’ve always thought of that connection
with the Snow Birds whenever they are in the news.
During
our attendance at the Hamilton Air Show one year, Adam and I had the
opportunity to have our picture taken with a famous aircraft. It was a P51
Mustang that belonged to a Hollywood actor by the name of Cliff Robertson. He
had a pilot that traveled with his vintage aircraft to all the shows around
North America and flew it in each show.
We got to talk to this gentleman for a few minutes about the P51 and it made
the day a really cool event for us. I don’t know if Cliff Robertson ever flew
the plane himself but his name was painted on the side as the Owner/Pilot. I’ll
be checking the P51 at this weekends show to see if it belongs to Cliff
Robertson. In fact, I’m not even sure if Cliff is still alive. I’ll be on the
computer as soon as I finish this column to find the answer to that question. I
hope he’s still around but if not he did have a long and prosperous career and
will be remembered for his films as much as anybody in Hollywood. The last
picture I remember seeing him in was Spiderman. He played the uncle of the
young lad who was “Spiderman”.
Well,
this has been a mixed bag of stuff for this week. I’m hoping to enjoy the air
show and if I do go to it, I’ll report on it for next week.
Until
then, thanks for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next
time in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now…. Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
With all
the recession problems the average Canadian has had over the past year, it’s
surprising to hear that CIBC and Royal Bank have just posted record profits
over this past quarter. They have both achieved higher than a 24% gain in their
profit margin which translates into over half a billion dollars in each case.
Poor buggers are really suffering aren’t they!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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