The Squamidian Report – Feb. 14 / 15
 
Issue #664

Including:
The Ontarion

Hi All,

It is perhaps 3 weeks early this year but we are now into pollen season on the west coast. Buds are starting to open, colour is showing in the alder branches, flowers are coming out, the grass is green and so on. But you know, this is not a good time to talk about, or perhaps brag about spring on the coast. Not because the rest of the continent is still tightly gripped in winter's grasp, but because we have lost one of our longtime friends and readers. Clyde Gilmore passed away this past week. Many of us have known Clyde since high school. Some of us worked with him way back when. I worked with him, or he with me, depending on how you look at it, when we both worked at Wayne's survey company. I know that between mosquitoes and pollen, the poor guy was driven half nuts, most of the time. Back then he had a bit of a tendency to burn the preverbal candle at both ends, party late and then try to make it though the day. One summer day he had been dragging along and headed straight home from work to have a nap. At the time he was living within walking distance of the survey office. He woke, startled, and realized it was quarter to 8. In a panic he did a mad dash out the door, hoping to not be late for work, only to find himself sitting on the back steps of the office, alone. It slowly dawned on him that it was 8pm, not 8am. That was kind of the story of his life back then when we were all young, at least from my perspective. He went on to a successful career with the Region or Waterloo, marry a wonderful woman and raise a wonderful daughter. He is now gone, he lost his battle with cancer, a battle he had been fighting for several years. We will all miss him.
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Oh, by the way, I had mentioned that my riding friends and I were hoping to do a Friday the 13th ride to the gondola, with the intentions of having lunch at 13:00 hours. I know, silly but what the heck. Anyway, our incredibly wet spring (we have not had winter, just a very wet spring that started last November) has won. None stop rain and therefore another washout of our riding plans. However, forecast is showing sunshine starting today and lasting for a week or so. Experience shows that the forecast will go down hill fast but in the mean time there will be some opportunities to get the bike out. So, the registration goes back on today and I'll be riding to Horseshoe Bay tomorrow morning to hook up with my riding friends who have been riding all along, between the rain storms, sometimes right through them. At least thats the plan as I write this. By the way, we did do the lunch at 13:00 hours part of the plan, only we all arrived in vehicles that have windshield wipers.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

I wish to start off this week’s Ontarion with a short note and tribute about a good friend that lost his battle with cancer on Tuesday after three long years! Clyde Gilmour passed away this week after developing pneumonia. I only met Clyde 17 years ago but as it turned out we had connected way back in the late 60’s when he played drums for “The Thanes”. They were a local band and a very good one that had partied several times with another band known as “Copperpenny”. The members of the “Penny” were good friends of mine in high school (KCI) and as it turned out Clyde and I first met and began talking about the two bands, we realized that we had attended a couple of parties together way back then and the more we talked about those parties, the more we connected! We became fast friends and I quickly found out what a truly genuine and compassionately good person and friend Clyde was! I was doubly surprised when I found out that we also had another connection in our common friendships with Doug Brubacher. When Doug would come home to Kitchener for a visit we would sometimes when possible connect with Clyde and spend an afternoon talking computers in Clyde’s home in the Beechwood section of Waterloo. Through our mutual connection with Doug I also found out that Clyde and Doug had worked together for Doug’s Uncle in his surveying business. He and Doug had a lot of laughs and stories to tell from back in their co-working days and they shared some of them with me for a great afternoon of storytelling. I know that Clyde had many friends in the music business and that he continued to play his drums even though not in a band but in a home studio that he had set up in his basement! He was a talented musician himself and also a loving family man. I’m sure that those of you in our Squamidian family that knew Clyde will miss him as will I! Carole, Adam and I wish to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt condolences to Clyde’s wife Barbara and also to their daughter Carrie as well as to the rest of his family including all of his friends who will most certainly grieve the loss of a wonderful friend and human being! God Rest Your Soul Clyde! RIP!

I’ve had quite a week with the loss of my friend Clyde and also having found out that I am facing a difficult few weeks ahead myself. After paying a visit to a vein and artery specialist a few weeks ago I was informed that he had diagnosed blockages in both of my carotid arteries. He said that an ultrasound I had just undergone showed that my right carotid artery may be blocked as much as 90% and the left one is nearly as bad. He said to be sure, I’d have to undergo a CT Scan on my neck to determine exactly the amount but he was very concerned! Hey, what the hell, so am I! I had to wait until February 12, at 3pm to have the CT Scan in the Guelph General Hospital. My surgeon is from Guelph and booked my scan in their new 5.2 million dollar testing Lab. I guess it was worth the trip to Guelph to take advantage of the newest equipment available for this purpose! Waiting for this test to be done has been a very nerve wracking experience as of course was the Scan itself. It was my second experience in the CT Scanner but it’s still scary the second time indeed! I had one done three years ago for the same reason but at that time the results were positive in my favour. This time, I’m afraid the tests will confirm that I’m in need of surgery to clear out the blockages in both arteries feeding this strange but creative brain of mine. (Even if I do say so myself!) LOL! Anyway, I’m once again in waiting for the results of these tests as my surgeon will only be getting home from holidays on the 17th. How dare he take a vacation in the middle of my urgent situation? This can only mean one thing I guess, that he isn’t as worried as I am about this situation! With the thought of someone taking a scalpel to both sides of my neck and then to the arteries within, I do find it a tad unnerving to say the least. It seams to me that when someone is cutting below the neckline there’s not as much chance of them slipping and turning me into a vegetable as there is when they’re within 2” of my main hard drive! I sure hope that on the day I have to go through this he’s been away from the booze long enough that he’s got a steady hand for a few hours!

That is not to say the man is a drinker but just a thought to give me some reassurance! I’ve been thinking for weeks about this situation and I know for sure that I want to stick around for at least another 650 issues of The Ontarion Report so I’m lucky to have checked this surgeon “Dr Nasser” out and apparently he’s the best Ontario has to offer when it comes to this particular surgical procedure. Even my family doctor whom I’ve conferred with said that if he had to go through this particular operation, he’d want “Dr Nasser” to do the work! I trust my family doctor completely and he has told me that he has more than 20 patients in his practice that have had this same operation done and they are all well and healthy now with respect to the results of their carotid surgery! I’ll just be glad when it’s all over and I’m back to normal. Who knows, maybe the 10% blood flow that I’ve had to my brain for who knows how long has been keeping me from reaching my full potential of genius? Geese, wouldn’t that be a surprise to suddenly be 9 times smarter than I am right now? I can hardly wait to test the results by whipping up the next 650 Ontarions that’ll be so filled with amazing facts and info that I’ll have to explain each one in layman’s terms so the rest of the world will understand what I’ve written! LOL!

Now, I’m not saying that I’ll be so smart that none of you will know what I’m writing but there is a chance I’ll come out of surgery speaking Greek and I’ll have to re-interpret each of my columns! I’m sure that some of you have trouble as it is understanding my English. LOL!

I guess I’ll put an end to this weeks Ontarion at this point!
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>
Now that I’m older, here’s what I’ve discovered:
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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