The
Squamidian Report – July 9 / 11
Issue #476
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I think I may have insulted Warren a bit when I objected to the tradition of ‘the blowing out the candles’ on his birthday cake. We celebrated his birthday last Friday and all of his offspring turned up for the party that ‘The Wife’ and Rochelle put on for him. The basis of my objection was the predictable amount of unwanted ejectrate that would inevitably be splattered all over a perfectly good chocolate cake that was destined to be devoured by a houseful of eager devourers. There was a basis for my objection. I’ve see Warren blow out birthday candles before, but it was not Warren I was concerned about. It was the gaggle of eager young assistant candle blower-outers, already in full drool, gathered around him and on his lap that triggered my concerns. I have seen it happen before under the exact same circumstances at pervious birthday parties. I have seen the disturbing results of several very young blowers as they aimed their somewhat juicy blowing in the general direction of a decorated cake. So, at the risk of being considered even more grumpy than most already consider me to be, I raised an objection. A satisfying solution was found in that the subject candles were mounted onto a sacrificial chocolate chip banana muffin and that became an acceptable alternative target for the guest of honor and his troop of slathering pre-schoolers. Aside from that, the food was great, the party was great and the music was great.
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I had intended to head out this past week for a couple of days of riding throughout the BC Interior. A very good friend of mine lives a day’s ride east of here and we were going to hook up at the half way point and go from there. However, between weather problems and family obligations, that ride fell through. Oh well, we’ll try again in the near future. So instead, I decided to attend a meet & greet for our chapter members who live east of the Port Mann bridge. The Vancouver CMC chapter territory is spread out all across the Lower Mainland and that creates logistical problems. Between endless highway construction and heavy traffic, it is very difficult for members out in the Valley to attend some of our events that are held up this way. Likewise, its difficult for our members west of the Port Mann to head out to the east.
So what we are trying is to hold meet & greets at both ends of our chapter territory on separate days in hopes of encouraging participation from as many as possible. We have a member who lives out in Maple Ridge and is willing to ‘host’ weekly gatherings out that way. The location has been a Horton’s in Langley and as 1st officer, I feel a bit obligated to turn up as a show of support, at least until we get some regular activity happening. As a start-up chapter we are still working on getting our members to come out as regular as possible. Anyway, Langley is just over 100 kilometers from here, and our weather has not cooperated one little bit for any of our events so far this year. But, I’m getting tired of turning up at motorcycle events in a car, heater on and wipers going. I had climbed into the car, ready to head out when I got the idea that I’ve had enough. To heck with the cold, the wet and the November driving winds and rain. I geared up and headed out on the bike. The ride to Langley was not too bad. Roads were wet and winds were a bit gusty but aside from the usual heavy, stop-and-go traffic though the endless construction of Highway #1 from Burnaby to Langley, the ride was quite nice.
The ride home was not quite as comfortable. We had our meeting and then checked the sky over toward the mountains. The dark heavy clouds had gotten darker and heavier and we could see walls of rain falling. Time to head home….
I geared up, including my heated vest and my full-face helmet. Didn’t actually hit rain until almost to the Port Mann but then it started coming down. I can’t say enough about the virtues of a good full-face style helmet when riding through inclement weather conditions. I normally use an open-face helmet because I like the feel of the wind but I don’t like the stinging, driving rain that gets into everything including my eyes. With the visor pulled down on the full-face, the rain blows off and visibility stays good. Your face and head stay dry and warm. The temperature had dropped enough that I actually turned on my heated vest. Hard to believe but we are still wearing our heavy cold-weather riding gear and heated vests in July, with no end in site. If we want to ride, we need to assume it’s March, or November and dress accordingly. Anyway, I rode through cold rain the rest of the way home but got home just fine. Traffic was light once I got north of the city so the last leg of the ride home was actually quite nice despite the rain. I was warm and dry under my riding gear. Now I need to wash the bike, again. Bummer.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Don’t know if you’ve heard the latest but Dave MacDonald from CTV here in Kitchener has finally retired! He was our weatherman for the past 42 years and I don’t want to spread unfounded rumors but, we’ve had nothing but sunshine and warm weather since he took leave on Monday of this week! Methinks he’s been the black cloud hanging over our weather for the past too many years and now that he’s taken retirement that “cloud” has been lifted and things will be much more pleasant weather-wise! I don’t want to wish Dave any ill winds so let’s hope his retirement years are subject to many many hot and sunny years of motorcycling bliss! Happy retirement Dave and keep the rubber side down! (Dave is a motorcyclist)
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Since Adam and I went whale watching a few weeks ago, I’ve had several people send me e-mails containing whale stories. The one that most touched my heart was a video of a group of family and friends that were out for a pleasure ride blended with some whale watching in the Sea of Cortez. The Sea of Cortez is located between the Californian “Baja Peninsula” and mainland western Mexico. The family in the video came across what they thought was a dead Humpback whale floating in the Sea. They pulled along side the whale and watched it for about 10 minutes. Suddenly the whale let out a blast of air from its blowhole. They of course realized then that the whale was still alive. One of the men donned a mask and flippers and snorkel and dived in along side the whale. He observed that the whale was fully entangled in a fisherman’s gillnet from head to tail. He had a small pair of side cutters (edged pliers) and managed to cut away a small portion of the net on the whales back. Of course he realized that it was futile to try to free the whale this way. He swam back to his boat and called to shore for assistance. He was told by the authorities that it would be at least an hour before they could “maybe” send help. The others on the boat searched for something to use to free the whale. The only item they could come up with was a jack knife. So, with the help of a pike pole they managed to reach out and hook the net. Two of the boaters held onto the net while the third guy cut the net as quickly as possible. After a half hour they had managed to free one of the pectoral flippers, which had been tightly held against the side of the whale by the net.
This gave the whale a sense that someone was helping him to break free. He began to tow the small boat full of people across the sea. After a while he tired once again and floated on the surface motionless. They continued to cut away at the net and within another 40 minutes had freed the second pectoral fin. The whale feeling the sense of freedom once again pulled them around but could not make much headway without his tail free. The crew of rescuers was beginning to tire greatly as well but would not give up! They took turns cutting the netting until with one final slash the net pulled from the whales tale and he was free at last! They were successful in saving the life of one of natures most magnificent creatures and with that release they all let out a loud and happy cheer! The whale seemed to sense their effort and the fact that they had saved his life. He swam for an hour or more a few hundred feet from their small boat and gave them a continuous display of leaps and surface breaches along with surface slapping with his huge tail and his ten-foot long pectoral fins. It was clear to the rescuers that he appreciated what they had done for him and in his own special way said “Thank You”! They pulled the entire net into their tiny craft and headed for shore to dispose of it properly!
What an amazing feet and one I’m sure that family will never forget!
I had deleted the original video and story that I had received so I can’t send you the same one. However if you Google: “The Great Whale Conservancy” you will see a bit shorter and less detailed version of the same video. I’m sure it’ll bring a tear to your eyes when you realize the beauty of this event! I hope you all enjoy it!
That’s it for this week folks!
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>
Astronauts can’t belch – there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs.
Hmmm…? I wonder if they can fart? Yes, but a “Space Fart” is nothing less than a brown liquid no doubt! LOL! Yuck!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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