The Squamidian Report – Mar. 10 / 18
 
Issue #824

Including:
North Nova News
The Ontarion

Hi All,

Here is it, DST again. Yup, daylight savings time. This very weekend, as in 2am Sunday morning. That time were that extra hour of daylight will burn your lawn in the dryness of summer, where that extra hour of daylight will cause people to be sleep deprived and so on. And it happens tonight. Don't forget to set your clocks forward, as in 'spring forward, fall back'. We all learned that way back in grade school. But did you know that your lawn won't burn anymore than usual, or that you won't be any more sleep deprived that you'd be any other time, because there isn't actually an increase in the amount of daylight, well, there is for a while but not for that reason. Its just a man-made shifting of the clock, dumb and silly as it may be. Its like cutting six inches off the bottom of a blanket and sewing it back onto the top thinking you will have a longer blanket. Personally I prefer daylight saving time and wish the whole year would be put there and left there. As it is, the powers to be keep shrinking standard time, making that dark dreary part of the year shorter. Thats a good thing because who wants it to be dark and dreary. Away with dark and dreary, lets all relax and adjust into the time change and then leave it there, for good. Move forward and enjoy life.
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Russ did his great series of stories about smells. I enjoyed every word, remembered all the same smells. Well, memories of memories work about the same way. We were listening to a play list on a cable radio station and noticed that certain numbers seem to be played quite often. That stirred a memory of an incident that happened on good old CHYM radio in Kitchener about 40 years ago or so. It was early morning and our clock radio went off. As usual, the morning announcer, DJ, whatever they were called was doing his normal thing,  playing records, giving weather and so on. I even remember his name, it was Vern Rombo (not sure of the spelling). Anyway, we had awakened to a certain song being played, then poor old Vern announced the next song and I assume hit the play button. Instead of the next song to be played being played, the song that had just been played was played over again. When it was over, poor old Vern began telling the radio audience about the radio stations brand new, state of the art COMPUTER aided system that they had just rolled out and this being a Monday morning, he was DJ there to use it for the first time and we were the first morning audience to listen to this brave new world. He then announced the next song and low and behold, that first (and apparently only) song came on again. After it was over he came back on the air and told the listeners more about this fancy new system that eliminated the need to manually place record platters on a turn table, all the music was now somehow stored in this new COMPUTER thing and all he had to do was hit the play button and the next song on his list would be played to the world.

He announced the next song, if memory serves it was either an Elvis song or a Simon and Garfunkel song, not sure which anymore. Low and behold, that same song that had been repeated over and over was again being repeated. If memory servers, and I could very well be mistaken, that repeating song was 'Una Palomo Blanka' and contained both English and some European language, and was very annoying at the best of times. Funny thing was, poor old Vern was hearing the correct song in his headset. We could hear him humming along to the number he thought was playing when it was over and he came gleefully back onto the air. Well now, listeners were getting a bit confused and a bit tired of that song that wouldn't go away and started calling in to the station. Poor old Vern wouldn't believe the listeners when they tried to tell him that all that us out here in radio land could hear was the first song. He thought callers were picking up on his jubilance about using this nice new system and were trying to prank him. By the time we had finished breakfast and were getting ready to head off to work it had reached the point where each time that same old, now very, very annoying song came on, we'd burst out laughing.

It finally took off duty employees of the radio station, calling in on their private line, to convince poor old Vern that what we were hearing was not what he was hearing. At that point they broke off for the morning news and weather. (We were by now on our way to work but listening over the car radio). When Vern came back on the air he was obviously embarrassed and frustrated and very deflated. He had gone from king of the air to a joke although none of it was his fault. This new system still had a lot of bugs to iron out and it would be several weeks before it was brought back on line.

That part of the memory is funny, but Vern very soon afterwords left that station for who knows where. It had not been his fault but I guess what was supposed to be fun and new for the station and the listeners turned out to be not so fun for him. Kind of a sad way to end this memory but to do otherwise would not be true to how I remember it.
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And lastly, my snowblower still has not come back from the repair shop. Thats ok. The chances of any meaningful snow at our elevation this time of year is pretty low and as long as its at the shop, they are storing it instead of us. And face it, the sooner it doesn't come, the sooner I don't have to pay for it.

doug
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North Nova News

This has been one of the strangest winters here in Northern Nova Scotia, having long stretches between snow storms.  We are not used to seeing bare frozen ground in the winter.  It has made things easier for getting around, my snow blower has had a good rest and so have my shovels.

So we decided to tackle all the dead standing trees in our woods.  Most of our trees are over mature spruce and have past expired their time.  Having lived here for over 30 years I've seen the trees grow into nice full trees and now in the stage of dying so the only answer is to remove them before they come crashing down.  With a lot of hard work we now have large open areas where the sun can come through.  I can see the sunrise and sunset and its beautiful.  The huge bonus too is all the firewood we gained.  Softwood isn't the best for heating our home but it still keeps you warm and makes the hardwood we purchased go further.   We are enjoying our wide open spaces and there are still plenty of trees left on our property.

Its so good to hear from Greg again and hope that his health remains good after his ordeal.  I love the pictures Karl sent, what great photography.  And Uncle Russell you are so entertaining with your stories.  Keep up the good work all of you.  Doug you always come up with something interesting to say.
 
Sus
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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

I’m baaaack! It’s been quite a ride but now I’m home and settling in to what I hope will be a normal existence. At least as normal as it can be after the past 5 months!

I can’t believe that Rome was buried in a foot of snow last week! When we were there last year it was late October and hotter than Jamaica on a summer day! I guess it’s been years since they had snow in Rome but with the new weather patterns I guess anything is possible these days. Our snow here in KW is becoming less and less but it’s still falling. I figure the month of March will be the end of winter but you never know! Adam was born on the 31st of May in 1976 and we had snow on our tulips the day before if not the same day! It was indeed freaky! I think I even have a couple of photos of the garden under snow on that day.

Speaking of photos, Karl sure has taken some interesting shots around his city in Australia! He obviously has a great eye for composing photos! I can’t wait to get out and start taking shots around KW with my new Canon Rebel T6 digital camera. It was a birthday gift from Carole and Adam back in January but with all that’s been going on I still haven’t had a chance to use it! Adam has been explaining the operation and functions of the new camera to me but I’ve got to get out and practice a lot to get used to it. I’ve read through the instructions that came with the camera but nothing teaches you like actual hands on experience. I hope to develop an eye for composing great shots like Karl some day. Adam and I were talking the other day about all the local historical buildings that are being leveled and will never be seen again! It’s time to get out and photograph these sites before they are all gone for good! Kitchener had so many beautiful buildings that are now history and it makes me wonder if anybody bothered to preserve their memory in photographs. It’s hard to pick a subject to start with but I think I’ll begin by checking out sites around town that I frequented as a kid, if they’re still standing. I know that Panel Veneer Co on St Leger St is no more and there are condos now occupying that land. I can’t focus on what’s replaced many of these sites but hopefully there are enough places of historical interest to find and photograph just for the sake of my own memories! I know that these sites won’t mean much to most anyone else but it’ll make me feel good just to get to them before they meet the wrecking ball! I think I’ll just have to sit down and make a list of things and places to visit and take pics of before I head out without a plan. Of course, how does one take photos of something that’s nothing but a memory? All I can do is drive around and see if any of these sites I’m thinking of are still in existence!

Some of the places that come to mind right now are for instance, the boathouse in Victoria Park where we used to rent a canoe and paddle the lake. It’s still there but it’s now a pub. The lake itself was the site of many a Christmas skating party but is no longer turned into a rink each winter. Maybe the winters aren’t as cold and the city doesn’t want to risk having anyone fall through the ice on the lake. They used to have a set of speakers on a pole in the middle of the lake and they played music to skate to on weekends. It was a place filled with families and the city didn’t allow hockey playing on the lake so it was safe for kids and adults alike to enjoy the ice. I’m sure I’ll be able to think of many possible sites to check out. Once I get mobile again and the weather warms up it’ll be loads of fun to get into my new hobby. I’ll share some of my photos when I get started and hopefully my results will be as interesting as those that Karl posts. I’m sure that one’s eye for taking quality pictures does not happen over night but with practice all things improve and I’ll just have to work at it. Well, I’m getting a tad pooped out so I will call an end to this Ontarion.

That’s about all for this, my first attempt in weeks so I’ll say good bye for now!
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>
Hasty conclusions often lead to wrong decisions.

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Have a good one..
the doug
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