The Squamidian Report – Nov. 15 / 14
Issue #651
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
That big polar vortex that is dictating the weather over most of North
America has affected us as well which makes sense because we are part
of North America even though most of BC west of the Rockies actually
migrated up from the south Pacific region over the last several hundred
million years. But thats another story, one about continental drift and
plate tectonics. This story is about mowing the lawn. The polar vortex,
which is just a very big Arctic High, is strong enough to spill over
and through the mountains and out to the coast where it has blocked the
seemingly endless parade of tropical lows that had been pumping
incredible amounts of rain onto the west coast. With the rain turned
off, and the sun shining bright and the skies cloudless and clear, it
became very noticeable that the lawn needed mowing. So, on November
10th,, and before the really cold temperatures of later in the week set
in, 'The Wife' mowed the lawn.
The grass around here tends to keep growing right up until December or
even into the new year depending on when and if a major freeze-up
happens. Some of the valley bottoms can have a 10-month growing season,
with the season shrinking incrementally shorter as you climb in
elevation. But thats a growing season, not a sun drenched ripening
season which is why you can have 200 ft tall trees but can't get the
tomatoes to ripen. Anyway, the lawn got mowed for what was hopefully
the last mowing of the year and the mower is charged up and put away.
Yes, we are still using that cordless electric mower we bought years
ago. I'd never go back to a gas powered mower, the battery powered ones
just work, very well, every time, no muss, no fuss, almost no noise, no
fumes, no starting issues, and so no. They don't have the power of a
gas mower but that only matters if you are in a hurry and face it,
whats the point in rushing, its just going to grow again anyway.
A rather unexpected but well received side effect of the Polar Vortex
induced outflow winds has been the very welcome removal of a derelict
freighter that had been moored in the waters just out from the Squamish
waterfront. This ship has been an eyesore since last winter, visible
from the highway, and from the Gondola, and from the shoreline. The
owner refused to remove it and all three levels of government kept
passing the buck as to who was responsible for making the owner remove
it. The waters are Federal so neither the province or the municipality
could force the owner to get it out of there and the Feds could not be
bothered. Then, those outflow winds turned in to a good stiff wind
storm and the rusted hulk broke free. It still held thousands of liters
of diesel fuel which would create a bit of an environmental disaster if
the ship were to break up or sink, and the ship itself quickly became a
safety issue as Squamish has an active ocean port and several marinas.
The coast guard was forced to act once the vessel was drifting in the
gail force winds, and secured it until a contract tug company could
arrive and tow it to a salvage yard along the Fraser somewhere. Now,
finally, the floating piece of junk is no longer anchored off the
waterfront, and, the Feds will be going after the dead beat owner for
costs encored. About time. See, wind storms can be a good thing.
*
With Ryan over in Europe for the next 5 weeks, we have
Kyra again, on and off, mostly on. Thats ok, exhausting but fun. She
will be 3 in 2 months and is no longer a baby, shes a little girl with
attitude and ideas of her own. Thats a polite way of saying she is a
little self-propelled bundle of energy running wild though our house,
terrorizing us and the poor dog. My biggest question is, where oh
where, do they get all that energy?
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello Everyone!
This week has been one to remember for sure. With the weather being
beautiful here and in Ottawa for the Remembrance Day ceremonies and
with two more names of Canadian soldiers actually killed on Canadian
soil being added to the list of the thousands already memorialized each
November 11th it was indeed a sad day. I’m sure we’ve all had relatives
who fought in WWII and that gives us all reason to take November 11th
seriously and to give thanks for their sacrifices on our behalf and on
behalf of all other Canadians living or dead since the war. It is
mainly because of the sacrifices of these brave men and women that we
enjoy the freedom and liberties we enjoy today! With this in mind we
must continue the fight to keep the freedom and liberties that they
fought to maintain so long ago. If we allow any outside and different
peoples than true Canadians to infiltrate our society and try to force
changes in our way of life to suit them and the way of life they lived
before coming to Canada we will be doing our war heroes both alive and
dead a great disservice!
It was indeed heartwarming to see the large number of Canadians that
turned out to attend Remembrance Day services both in Ottawa (over
50,000) and here in Kitchener (1,000 +) on November 11th. Let’s hope
that this enthusiasm continues in years to come and also that there
will be no other names to add to the list of those who died on Canadian
soil.
I’d like to lighten up the mood a little but the next topic that comes
to mind is one that causes me to take pause to wonder how many lives
will be taken or changed forever by this next topic. That topic happens
to be people walking and texting without paying attention to traffic or
traffic signals. The other day Carole and I were sitting at a red
light. There were several cars to our left that had been waiting for
their light to turn green as ours turned red. When we came to a stop,
the first car to our left began to make his turn onto the street we
were on and as he did so, a young boy about 16 wearing ear buds and
texting on his phone stepped off the curb right in front of the driver.
Thank goodness the driver was paying attention or the youth would
surely have been run down! It so happened that I looked at the
“pedestrian signal” that governed whether or not the young man should
be walking across the street. It was RED indicating that he should have
still been standing on the curb awaiting his turn to cross. The driver
stopped about one foot from the young guy’s left leg and the kid didn’t
even flinch! He was totally oblivious of the vehicle or the colour of
the signal! The driver just shook his head and continued with caution.
I personally have seen this happen many times since the invention of
these cell phones and am just waiting for the first person to be killed
right in front of my eyes and hopefully not due to one of these idiots
stepping off the curb into the path of MY car! The time is long past
due that the government institutes a program to educate our youth and
other users of cell phones to the dangers of not paying attention to
their own movements while talking or texting on these devices! Not only
are these devices responsible for auto collisions due to using them
while driving but they are just as dangerous to be using while walking
the streets of our cities. Wake up people and smell the roses before
others are forced to smell the formaldehyde preserving your corpse!
That’s all for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now …Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
Nine out of every 10 living things live in the oceans!
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Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.
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