The Squamidian Report – Oct. 15 / 16
Issue #751
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
It seems to me that this time last week I was complaining about the
endless line of November storms that were pumping in off the Pacific.
Well, not much has changed since then. Mind you, we did have a break in
the weather for a few days earlier in the week, just enough to remind
us what a clear sunny day can look like and what a clear, cold starry
night can look like. Basically, that was last Tuesday, the day I drove
'the wife' to the airport. At 5am the sky was so clear it was almost
overwhelming. The winter constellations where all overhead and the
stars were brilliant. Thats one thing about star gazing in the early
pre-dawn morning, any haze in the atmosphere from the day before has
long since cleared out leaving the air about as transparent as it can
ever be. But it was cold. There was frost on the roofs around here. And
thats another thing about clear nights, no cloud cover means cold
temperatures. Clouds hold some of the daytime heat in, like a blanket.
Kick the blanket off and you get cold. Have a clear night and it gets
cold. We headed for the airport and traffic was lite so it was an easy
drive. Willow hates when we go to the airport because she suspects that
someone is leaving but really doesn't know who until that someone gets
out of the car. Then she's sad. Not much we can do about that. The
flip-side is that in a couple of weeks when we go back to the airport
we will some how 'find' the person that was left there and all will be
well.
So like I just said, Tuesday was a bit of an anomaly, it was clear and
sunny rather that an overcast downpour. And being Tuesday it was my
usual get together evening with my biker friends in Horseshoe Bay so I
rode in on the bike. The ride in was great, as would be expected. The
ride home on the other hand was a tad on the cool side. In the
mountains, when the sun goes down it takes the temperature with it and
thats where heated riding gear comes in so nice and handy. Just plug it
into the bike's electrical system, turn it on and adjust the
temperature to a point just warm enough to offset the cold. In other
words, just warm enough to be comfortable. By the time I got home it
was quite cold out but I was nice and comfortable, so, it was a great
ride. Its only 50 km from Horseshoe Bay to here and on rides like that
I often wish it were further, you just hate for it to end. Oh well.
I knew that the forecast indicated we would wake up the next morning to
the sound of heavy rain pounding on the roof again and that the
forecast didn't show any real breaks for as far as it could predict
into the future so I topped up the bike's gas tank and dumped in the
appropriate amount of stabilizer. The bike's insurance is good till the
second week of November but you just never know. If it takes two weeks
or more for these storms to clear out there just might be a few chances
to get back out on the bike, or, it could be too cold then, or, the
storms might just keep on keeping on right into winter. If the weather
gods have decided that that was my last ride of the season, the bike
can be put away properly. If there are still a few rides before it gets
tucked away in the back of the garage, I'll just be sure to top up the
tank and tread the gas as I do it. Hard to believe the year has gone so
fast and we are at the point of getting ready for winter, or at least
being prepared to not get caught off guard by the approach of winter.
Wednesday morning was actually still nice but you could feel the
weather closing in and you could see it in the sky. However, I didn't
have any available time to think about heading out for another ride as
I was playing up at the gondola for a couple of hours over the lunch
period. Thats always fun. You never know if there will be any or many
people around and it really does not matter. I enjoy playing up there.
I've got the logistics of taking my sounds system along with me worked
out pretty good. I've got two, 1000 wt high end speaker boxes that are
impressively compact but they each weigh about 35 lbs. As well, there
are three stands to bring along, one each for the speakers and one for
my mic. Oh, there is also the guitar stand which is needed to hold the
guitar when I'm not holding it. I used to bring along a music stand as
well but thought that was silly, why not just know all the
words to all the songs. So now that stand gets left behind, in its
place I just bring a song list that can sit beside my mixer. My mixer
is not one of those flat boards with knobs and sliders and dials, its a
small electronic box that you plug all the speakers and guitar etc
into, and is controlled via my iPad. Its all digital. The iPad sits in
a cradle that is fastened to the mic stand and any adjustments I make
are done on the touch screen. Therefore, as well as the speakers and
stands, I must bring along the cables for each thing that gets plugged
in as well as the iPad and mixer and an extension cord with an end that
can take four plugs. All the cables, cords and mixer as well as the
iPad fit nicely into a carry bag, and all the stands fit nicely into a
stand bag, and each speaker has it's own soft bag. Thats a lot of
'stuff' to carry given that its a physically small system that could
blow out a few windows if it were turned up too far, and I also must
bring my guitar or it would be pointless to go in the first place.
Easy solution, back in the summer, CTC had aluminum two wheel upright
dollies on sale. With the speakers on their sides, one on top of the
other at the bottom and then the carry bag with all the 'stuff' sitting
on top of them, and everything held in place using appropriately placed
bungy cords, and, with the stand bag held in place behind the upright
frame of the dolly, I can wheel the whole thing around with one hand
leaving the other hand free to carry the guitar. The only place I have
an issue is getting the loaded dolly into a moving gondola car. For
that I need both hands so I simply hand my guitar to the lift attendant
and once I'm inside, said attendant hands me my guitar. Do the same
thing in reverse at the top for off-loading and we are good to go.
Speaking of the gondola, they have had to shut down for Friday and on
into the weekend due to the weather. Pounding rain and howling winds
don't make for gondola friendly conditions and of course they must keep
safety a high priority. No one wants to have customers stranded in a
gondola thats half way up the mountain. It wouldn't bother me to be
stranded at the top but thats just me.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
It’s amazing but it’s been 10 years since we had
snow on this date but luckily this year’s no repeat! I’m sure it’ll be
a while yet before we get the white stuff this year. According to the
Farmer’s Almanac we are in for a good old harsh Canadian winter this
year. Guess we’ll just have to prepare over the next few weeks just
incase the Farmers are right! With the leaves taking their sweet time
turning colour this year maybe winter will arrive late and leave early
I hope I hope! In the meantime, it looks like we’ll be cutting the
grass for a while yet. I’ve been wondering what the patches of short
grass on our back lawn are from. Thought maybe for some reason patches
were just growing shorter than others. Then, I walked out into the back
yard the other day and saw a big fat bunny lying on the lush lawn
happily munching away on the top inch or so of the grass in front of
him. I guess he’d been picking a different spot every day and snacking
on the sweet green tops of the lawn. Likely the upper part of each
blade is tastier than the lower part! I like bunnies but I don’t like
what he’s doing to my lawn! So I guess I’ll just have to find a way of
discouraging him from eating out back. Trouble is that the huge Hydro
right of way out behind our place is a perfect spot for the rabbits to
multiply so keeping them out won’t be easy! May just have to
resort to the old 12 gauge! OOPS! That’s not allowed in the city so
maybe the BB Gun will have to do. Trapping them and releasing them out
of town is not a good solution since there is likely an endless supply
of up and coming furry little creatures where this one came from. I
wonder if a scarebunny would work? You know, like a scarecrow? Trouble
is the bunnies are too close to the ground for something like that to
work. Maybe putting a motion-activated recording of a dog barking in
the bushes would keep them away! Now that I think of it, when we had a
real dog roaming the back yard, the bunnies were still there so I guess
they aren’t afraid of dogs, at least the kind of fluffy little Poodle
we had and I’m not about to adopt another dog at this point in my life
anyway. Guess I’ll just have to depend on my own bark whenever I find
one munching my lawn. If my yelling and chasing him doesn’t work I may
just have to pave the back yard!
*
I hope you all had an enjoyable and
Happy Thanksgiving last weekend! We were invited to my nephew’s home in
Tavistock. We joined his family and his in-laws for a terrific turkey
dinner with all the trimmings. It was a most enjoyable dinner and the
company was very delightful! Plus, it was nice that Carole didn’t have
to do all the work for a change. She’s a wonderful cook and her special
occasion dinners are always most enjoyable but even the best of cooks
deserves a break once in a while. She was able to sit and enjoy the
company with the rest of us and didn’t have to spend most of the day in
the kitchen. Also, when she’s the hostess she’s on her feet for half
the mealtime making sure that there’s enough of everything on the table
for all the guests to eat and that’s more exhausting than it is
enjoyable. It was nice to see that she enjoyed the entire day and
evening without having to do most of the work. Of course like a good
guest, she contributed a couple of dishes to the collective meal and
also couldn’t resist helping with the cleanup after the dinner.
Nonetheless, it was a much less hectic event when compared to hosting
such a day in her own home! We both enjoyed being the guests for a
change and have good memories from the day.
Well, it’s been a week of Oktoberfest since last
Friday and it’s almost over for another year. We don’t partake in the
event for several reasons. The first year it was on, I attended the
Concordia Club’s bash and after being pushed and tripped and elbowed by
every drunk in the crowd I was witness to a huge fistfight and
wrestling match on the edge of the dance floor right next to where I
was standing. I almost got whacked by one of the idiots in the fight
and before it was all over, one of them puked on my shoes! That was the
last straw of the evening so I washed off my feet in the sink of the
washroom and went outside to hale a cab. As the cab pulled up I dropped
my shoes into the nearest garbage barrel and went home in my bare feet!
Needless to say, that was the first and last Oktoberfest for me! I
gather that Oktoberfest is much more civilized these days but I am
still reluctant to waste my time and money with a bunch of drunken
Schnitzel Munchers that like to think they are real Germans! Guess
they’ll just have to celebrate without me! Besides, we don’t drink
anyway so what’s the point in attending?
That’s about it 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>
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor!
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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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