The Squamidian Report – July 4 / 15
 
Issue #684

Including:
The Ontarion

Hi All,

I hope any of you who were interested were watching the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus this past week. It was pretty nice. While in reality they are actually very far apart, visually they came ever closer together until Jupiter passed just above Venus. They are now visually drawing further apart with each viewing. Of course Venus is an 'inner' planet and Jupiter is and 'outer' planet. They just appear to be close together as they are both on the same visual plane. Sadly, Jupiter will soon be out of sight and no longer visible for a while, just like Mars and Mercury currently are not available in the evening sky. But, as those planets move further ahead of the Sun, they will soon be visible in the pre-dawn sky. Always something to look at or forward to.

Aside from that, there really isn't much to write about this week. All we've been doing is hiding from the intense heat that has been gripping much of the continent for weeks. We've been hunkering down in the house and not doing anything that would create or ad to the heat, trying to keep things as bearable as possible. And I do mean heat. We've been up into the low – mid 30s for several weeks with almost no relief. This coming weekend could very well see temps in the high 30s which would put it at the incredible level of 100 or over. Thats historically unheard of on or near the coast, at least within our rather short recored history.

The on going none stop heat has devastated the local ice fields. The local mountains have lost most of their snow and ice and whats still there is melting fast. The forests are unbelievably dry. BC had to ban ALL private fireworks on Canada Day, a very wise move. All camping fires of any type are banned as well, again, a very wise move. One spark wouldn't just set the forests on fire, the forests would explode. The humidity levels are almost none existent, making everything even more dry. When back east gets extreme heat, it also tends to get high humidity levels, humidity so high that its almost unbearable. Here, the air is so dry that I've got to run my humidifiers to keep my instruments from drying out.

In a way, the heat is forcing me to behave myself. I'm itching to get back on the bike. I have not redden since the beginning of June due to that surgery and I'm probably supposed to give things a chance to heal for another week or two. Because things seem to be coming along so well I'm very tempted to go riding, except for the fact that its actually TOO hot to go riding. Even if I could, I probably wouldn't, except for the late evenings but the heat has us so exhausted that by then I'm too tired. Bummer, who'd 'a thunk it, too much summer.




doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

What is it that makes people stare at things that have nothing to do with them? Especially when they’re passing your house in their car they tend to gawk. I find that this is a common occurrence as cars pass when they are turning the corner of the street in front of our house.  Maybe they’re just intrigued with the handsome features of the man sitting enjoying a tea on the porch or they’re jealous of the beauty of the property they’re looking at! It makes me want to yell “Take a picture it’ll last longer!” At times I find it hard to believe they have time to gawk when they’re busy running through the STOP sign at the corner. They most certainly are not paying attention to the traffic on the cross street! When we sit on the porch most times it’s easier to count the cars that stop than those that don’t! If the police would only take the time to sit near the intersection some day, they’d be amazed at how many cars run the stop sign. I’d hazard a guess that less than 10% of them come to a complete stop. In fact most of them barely slow down at all let alone stop. I’d say that 25% of them just drive through without either signaling or slowing down. I’m amazed that we don’t have regular collisions out front with the distracted drivers that pass through the intersection. We’ve often stated that if the cops would put a traffic camera up here they’d be able to buy a new cruiser every month with the revenue from the fines! I must say that many more drivers stop when the Crossing Guard is on duty during school hours but that’s only a total of about one hour a day when the kids are walking to and from school.

A number of years ago I contacted our city council rep and asked if we could have a three way stop set up since its a T intersection. He told me that if I could get a petition written and signed by the homeowners within a block of the intersection that council might consider doing something. He also said that I would have to make an appearance in front of council to state my case in person and then they would likely want at least 100 signatures on a follow up petition. Then, they’d have to do a traffic count over a three-week period to see if the amount of vehicles passing the intersection was worth the expense! He candidly said that a quicker way of getting the attention of council regarding the matter would be to have a child hit by a car at the intersection on several occasions.  I said ok, you supply the kids and I’ll present the number of casualties with photo evidence to council! Or maybe better still supply one of the councilors to get hit and then it might wake them up to the fact that this intersection is dangerous enough to warrant a three way stop!

It’s been a couple of years since I last requested the additional stop signs so maybe it’s time to try again! Once again, dealing with government of any level is like banging one’s head against a brick wall!

Our guests are safely home in Saskatchewan once again and won’t be back this way until the end of August. They will be taking possession of their new home in Grand Bend at that point and will be beginning their new life as retirees. I’m sure they’ll both be happy to have finally ended their constant moving to accommodate his job requirements. At least they’ll be close enough that we will be able to get together with them more than once every few years! It’s amazing how employment responsibilities can turn into long distance friendships and it’s also amazing how long distance friendships can endure after all the time some friends spend apart in the better part of a life span! Oh well, if a friendship is true, it’ll last through the difficult and long distance times!

That’s about 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 Abour>
It is said that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. – Winston Churchill (1856 – 1950)
 
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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.