The Squamidian Report – Feb. 7 / 09

 

Issue #350

 

Including:

The Ontarion

 

Hi All,

 

Groundhog Day passed by fairly unnoticed out here. Most of the west coast media is completely unaware of Ontario’s Wiarton Willy. They are aware of and do report on the forecasting abilities of that well know American rodent but even that one gets little more than a passing byline. One meteorologist that supplies several Lower Mainland radio stations with current and future conditions does claim to have a weather rat called Speedy, and according to Speedy, spring will arrive just about the time it gets here. So now you have it from a source that is as reliable as any other. It is still winter and spring will get here eventually.

 

We had several days this past week where the temperature actually did feel quite spring-like. We’ve had very few days over the past couple of years here in coastal BC where the temperature climbed even close to the seasonal normal, regardless of the time of year. However, we did hit near +10 under filtered afternoon sunshine. Our normal for early February is about +7 or so. So under nice clear skies and just as the morning sun begins to peek over the mountains I have been enjoying some nice invigorating walks. On one mornings outing I was treated to a beautiful, textbook perfect display of lenticular cloud formations over the peaks of several of the surrounding mountains.

 

Lenticular clouds are named after the lens shape that they look like. As the air moves over a peak it is force upward and an atmospheric standing wave forms. You can see the same effect in a river or stream when there is a boulder on the bottom that causes a surface wave. Just like with the water wave, once the air has crossed the mountain it drops back down. When the stable air is forced upward, it flows into a colder zone that is at or below the dewpoint of the contained moisture. The moisture in the air condenses into a cloud. As it flows back down and the temperature rises above the dewpoint the moisture evaporates back into its pervious gas state. The resulting lens shaped cloud looks stationary but the moisture that forms it is actually moving at the speed of the air passing over the mountain peak, just like the water in that water wave is moving with the rest of the river. Just another neat example of how weather is interesting, visible and 3-D here in the mountains.

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Here’s something that might be of interest to anyone who is a bit curious about the Squamish BC area and its history. This link will take you to a very brief history of the Town of Squamish and the Squamish Valley.

http://www.squamishhistory.ca/shistory.html

 

doug

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THE ONTARION REPORT

 

Hello everyone!

 

Last week I told you about our biking day in Vegas. That was quite a full day and an exciting experience for both Carole and I. We of course did many other things to fill our days there. We were there for a full week and there is a lot more to Vegas than just gambling. We like to play the slots a little and to experience the different eating places that are found in Sin City too. The one thing that is very different between the casinos in Vegas and the ones here is that in Vegas they still allow smoking. Neither Carole nor I smoke so we are not fans of a smoky atmosphere. Other than that the casinos in these architectural wonders are quite amazing in their decoration. Most of them you can view from high up on the second floor and it’s a spectacular site indeed! However once you are on the gaming floor they pretty much all look alike. We spent a couple of hours per day trying our luck in a different casino each time. We had some pretty good luck and after spending a $20 or two each we managed to make anywhere from $100 to $300.00 and playing with that initial win kept us going for as long as we cared to play. This seemed to be the way it went all week long. So as it turned out, we pretty much played on the casino’s money all week and consider ourselves quite fortunate to have come out even by the time we were ready to fly home.

 

There were many shows to see at the different hotels and many that you could see for free as well. Carole had purchased tickets before we left home to the MGM Hollywood Theatre for a concert to see and hear Tom Jones. We had seen Tom in Hamilton Ontario many years ago and have always appreciated his voice. Of course back then (some 25 years ago) he was quite a heart throb for the ladies. Those ladies were much younger and tended to shed their underwear and toss it at him on stage. He didn’t hesitate to pick up each pair and make them part of his show! LOL! He once said he has the largest collection of ladies panties in the world and I’m sure he does! However, now that he’s a mature gentleman (68 years old) his audience is more senior as well and they no longer throw their briefs (or should I say G-Strings, T-Backs or what have you) in his face at his concerts. We were curious leading up to his show whether or not they would still act so boldly. We were happy to see that they have matured in their appreciation of his talents and no longer just spend their hour and a half screaming every time he touches his crotch! LOL! We were also happy to hear that Tom’s voice hasn’t changed more than a smidge over all these years. He still sings as well and as strongly as he did all those years ago. It was worth the price of admission to experience an evening with Tom Jones and for our money he was the best show in town! We took advantage of several of the other shows and exhibits in the major hotels and did more walking in that week than either of us has done in a long long time! It was fun and enlightening and quite an experience to visit the “Entertainment Capital of the World” but we both agree that it’s something we would likely not do again.

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The reason we traveled to Vegas was to celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary on the 19th of January. On that day, we walked to The Paris Hotel. We both want to see Paris sometime soon and may vacation in Europe one day soon. However, Paris in Vegas seemed an appropriate place to celebrate our anniversary this year. We were amazed at the size of the replica of the Eiffel Tower that is part of Paris in Vegas. We decided to venture up to the restaurant at the 50’ level of the tower and enjoy an anniversary lunch in style. They seated us at a half table against the window overlooking “The Strip” and to our delight, we had a perfect view of the Bellagio Hotel across the street and it’s $15 million dollar dancing fountain. As luck would have it, while we were sitting enjoying our lunch it was time for the fountain to begin its series of amazing displays for the day. We watched as it spouted, danced and splashed its way through an amazing routine of squirting water streams. It was a fantastic vision to enjoy during the celebration of our 36th year and made the trip to Vegas a complete success. Maybe some day we’ll do it again in the real Eiffel Tower but until then, we’ve got this romantic happening to think back on. We both enjoyed that day and will consider that the management of the Bellagio turned on their beautiful fountain just for us on our special day.

 

That’s about it for this week!

Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!

 

Bye for now… Greg.

 

PS: Something To Think About>

Is there any sense to Groundhog Day?

 

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Have a good one..

the doug

http://www.thedougsite.net

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