The Squamidian Report – Sept. 10 / 16
Issue #746
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
This isn't my story but it happened to a friend of ours and she shared
it with our riding group the other evening when a bunch of us got
together in Horseshoe Bay for dinner. She is a teacher and therefore
has the summer off. In past summers she has done some rather impressive
motorcycle road trips that took her all over BC, the Yukon and into
Alaska. This summer she headed east, rode across the continent all the
way to the east coast where she spent 3 weeks riding all over Nova
Scotia. She liked riding the Cabot Trail so much that when she finished
doing it, she turned around and did it agin in the opposite direction.
Anyway, between taking her time crossing the continent and then
exploring Nova Scotia on her motorcycle, she decided to make up some
time heading home and that the best route would be through the States.
Its shorter, avoids Quebec and northern NewBrunswick, and most
important, the roads are better. So, while sitting in a coffee shop
somewhere near Halifax she phoned ahead and booked a motel room in
Yarmouth and reserved a crossing on the ferry. A couple hundred
kilometers later on her way to her booked motel, and with daylight
running short, she stopped for gas. Thats when she discovered her
wallet with her license, insurance, money and credit cards was missing.
She phoned the coffee shop that she had made her reservations from on
the off chance she had somehow left her wallet there, or it had perhaps
dropped out of a pocket while she was still there. The coffee shop
manager had not seen it but took her cell number on the off chance it
would turn up.
Running short of gas because she had no money or credit cards, she road
on the rest of the way to her motel room. When she got there she
checked her cell phone and there was a message from the a police
officer saying her wallet had been found in a coffee shop parking lot
and had been turned in to the police. The officer had gone back to the
coffee shop to find out if anyone had reported loosing it and of course
they were able to tell him that yes, a woman on a bike had lost hers
and had left a phone number which is how the officer was able to
contact her so quickly. However, it was now 10pm and it was not a good
idea to try to ride the several hundred kilometers back in the dark,
assuming she could borrow enough money to fill her gas tank. Night
riding is dangerous due to wildlife that tends to jump out onto the
road. To wait until morning would mean she'd lose a day and lose her
ferry reservation but she really didn't have much choice. The officer
said to give him a few minutes and he'd call her back. He called back
about 20 minutes later and said that as much as he'd like to deliver it
to her, he can't leave his jurisdiction but that he had called some
officers from the jurisdictions through which he would have to pass and
had arranged to drive her wallet as far as he could where he'd meet up
with an officer from the next jurisdiction, who would then drive it to
the other side of his jurisdiction and hand it off to the next officer
who would deliver it to her motel. It would get there around 4am. And
it did. It must have looked quite strange to anyone watching to see a
cop car pull up to a motel room in the wee hours of the morning and a
woman come running out to give to officer a big hug as he handed her an
object, that object being her wallet. She was able to make her 7am
ferry connection and continue on her epic lone-rider journey. And yes,
the contents of her wallet were intact, everything was still there.
Something like that could only happen in Nova Scotia. Wow.
*
Ok, this next story is about me, literally. The
gondola's public relations people have been doing a short blog, or
interview, of some of their regular visitors. Pass holders who come up
often enough to become recognized. They post the interview on the blog
page of their web site as well as in their news email letters. They did
the story of several 'regular's' who had been up once per week perhaps,
that kind of thing. Then they did me and us, and we are certainly
'recognized'. Heck, we are on first name basis with practically
everyone there. Kinda blew everyone else out of the picture. Kinda
wrecked it for the other regular's as well because apparently we are so
far ahead of anyone else that its embarrassing. So, if you want to read
the short blog interview, follow this web link and it should be there.
Just keep in mind that the attendance figures I gave are now 3 weeks or
so out of date.
https://www.seatoskygondola.com/blog/passholder-profile-doug-brubacher
*
And here's something that has nothing to do with
anyone in particular but everyone in general.... Southern Ontario has
been suffering under intense heat pretty well all summer while the west
has been shivering in the cold. One day this past week, while Ontario
was under another heat waring, the night time LOW in the KW area was 10
degrees HIGHER than the day time HIGH was out here. We had to break
down and turn the heat back on in middle of the day, because the house
was just too cold to be comfortable in, no matter how warm a sweater
you put on while trying to keep warm. Go figure.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello Everyone!
Welcome to the end of summer! When is fall anyway? When does it start?
Who cares as long as it stays warm till Christmas and then gets really
nice!
Well, we haven’t traveled anywhere since last
week’s episode of our trip to Nashville so I’m just going to wing it
for this week. We were out Thursday to do a little shopping and after
leaving Wal Mart on Ottawa St, we headed to the west side of Kitchener
to the new shopping area of “The Boardwalk” which by the way is built
on the eastern edge of the Waterloo Region Landfill, better known as
“The DUMP”! I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would
build a public shopping area let alone a housing development on or
adjacent to a stinky area such as this! You can hardly breath on most
hot days as you exit your vehicle to enter a store of your choice to do
some shopping. I’m just grateful that all of the stores are
air-conditioned! At least then, the smell of the dump deteriorating
isn’t noticeable in the stores!
Anyway, back to our trip to The Boardwalk! We
exited the plaza on Ottawa St and headed south on Ottawa St and as we
approached the hill that is about a kilometer south of Wal Mart , we
could see a School Bus come over the hill toward us heading
north. It stopped just over the crest of the hill and the driver put
his flashers on to stop the traffic so his child passengers could exit.
In front of us and about two or three bus lengths from that Northbound
School Bus was another big yellow School Bus. The driver had at least
10 seconds before reaching the stopped bus but he ignored the BIG RED
FLASHING LIGHTS on the stopped bus and drove at his normal cruising
speed right past the stopped School Bus! Carole and I were both shocked
that he passed the stopped bus with its flashers on! We both commented
that the driver of the bus in front of us should have STOPPED for the
other School Bus! I waited for the kids to clear the oncoming bus and
pulled up before the driver could pull away. I asked, “What’s with the
driver of that other School Bus disobeying your RED FLASHING LIGHTS?
The driver politely informed me that even when the flashing lights are
on and the bus is stopped, it’s ok for anyone including another School
Bus driver to keep on driving right past the stopped bus! I said “Is
that so?” and the driver said “Yes, as long as the swing out STOP sign
on the driver’s side of the stopped bus is not opened to 90 degrees
from the side of the stopped bus it’s ok to pass it”! If the STOP sign
is swung out from the side of the stopped bus and the red light on it
is flashing, all traffic must stop until it is cleared by the School
Bus driver!
Well, this is total news to me since as far as I know, the Highway
Traffic Act states that traffic moving in both directions “Must Stop
for School Buses when their RED LIGHTS are FLASHING!” and unless the
wording has changed recently this includes other School Buses! I said
to Carole I’d bet my ass that if I had done what that other School Bus
driver did Thursday by passing that stopped bus and was seen by a Cop,
I’d be pulled over and charged for contravening the HTA! There’s no way
in HELL you’d ever be able to prove that the “STOP SIGN” was still flat
against the side of the stopped bus once the COP decided you passed a
School Bus with it’s flashers going! I even hesitate to continue passed
an oncoming School Bus with its flashers going when that bus itself is
still rolling! I got a ticket for that exact happening on Highway 6
going to Hamilton to Mohawk College back in 1970 for Trade School. The
bus was still rolling but it had its red flashers on and an OPP Cop
pulled me over after following me past the School Bus, now top that
one! I said, “Didn’t you just commit the same offence you’re accusing
me of?” The Cop wouldn’t even answer me he just said, “Give me your
license, ownership and insurance!” and five minutes later he handed me
a ticket and said, “Have a nice day!”
The PRICK!
He cost me $26.00 and 3 demerit points! Luckily my insurance company
didn’t catch the infraction so my insurance never took a hit! I was
lucky!
Anyway, I’m going to check this “New Stop Sign Rule” out with the next COP I meet!
Hey, maybe Uncle Russ would know but then again if it’s a new rule, he might be a little out of date!
Uncle Russ, if you have an answer for me, please write me a note!
Thanks: Greg
Well, that’s about it for this week folks!
I think I’ve run out of wind after all the long columns I’ve written
over the past month so I hope you don’t mind me cutting this one a tad
short for this week!
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>
You cannot unsay a cruel word!
****
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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