The Squamidian Report – Nov. 17/18
 
Including:
From Russ
From Lorne
The Ontarion

Hi All,

Ok, its been two weeks now since we all ‘fell back’ to Standard Time. Most of us seem to have survived to some degree. But the time changes, in either direction do take a toll. People’s health can be affected, their safety can be affected. Everyone ends up in a grumpy mood. It has been statistically proven that vehicle crashes go up during the week following a time change. Every time a time change is looming, various people start to suggest that time changes should become a thing of the past. To that end many people and businesses contact their local or provincial governments and suggest or request that we stop this silly, expensive exercise.

As happens twice per year, people and business lobbied the BC government to stop putting everyone through this waist-full exercise. Our ridiculous excuse for a premier permitted himself to be recorded for a short news clip, stating that no one including regular citizens or business leaders were in favor of dropping the time change regiment and that there was no further point in bringing this subject up again, ever. Changes were not going to happen. He went on to say that it was important to stay in step with the States to the south of us and with the rest of this country. I guess he didn’t notice that we are already out of step by an hour or four with the rest of the country but that wouldn’t surprise me. (Bottom line is they are too lazy to do a bit of paperwork). Then, a few days after the time change a new brief from California filtered its way up to our local news stations stating that California has had enough of the time change nonsense and was very seriously considering dropping it and staying with daylight savings time when we get back to that frame next spring. (Daylight savings time tends to fit the clock-to-sun cycle better than standard time). The other west coast states are quite happy to go along with the idea. Suddenly our embarrassment of a premier was back on the news stating that seeing as how this would be such a great idea and so good for both business and people, BC would of course tag along and drop the costly and unwanted twice yearly inconvenience. Funny how he is so eager to flip to accommodate a southern governor but couldn’t be bothered for his own citizens. Typical I guess.
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I’ve had the house to myself lately and that means lots of opportunities to play my guitar without bothering anyone. There was a time when I would make the most of a quiet house by writing a song or two. That doesn’t seem to happen these days, just can’t seem to get into the frame of mind needed to be creative. Perhaps that ability is gone for good or just hiding in the back somewhere. Don’t know, hope that part of me comes back out at some point. Anyway, what I can still do is record my version of other peoples songs. I think thats called ‘covers’ of someone else’s material. But, while not my own and therefore not as cool to do, its still a very enjoyable and challenging thing to do. So, over the past few days I’ve recorded my version, my arrangement, of two old songs that are part of my current play list.

The first one is an old song that I had heard back in the late 60’s, on the local radio station. It was done by the Lovin’ Spoonful. I think its the only song that they did that caught my attention. Funny thing is, not many others seemed to notice it. For whatever reason it popped into my head a while back and I looked it up on YouTube and gave it a listen, then printed off some words and found I still liked it. So, this first link takes you to my cover of what at the time would have been sort of a soft rock song, my version is more folky. The song was and still is called ‘Never Going Back’. Enjoy.
http://www.thedougsite.net/Songs/Covers/Never%20Going%20Back.mp3

The second cover I did is an old Ian Tyson number called ‘Worn To A Frazzle’. Ian & Sylvia sang this in their early years so that would make it back in the mid 60’s. I know that it is one of the old songs that I and any of my guitar playing relatives would probably jam with whenever we’ve gotten together over the years. Again, enjoy.
http://www.thedougsite.net/Songs/Covers/Worn%20To%20A%20Frazzle.mp3

doug
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From Russ

Why Me?

Not one in our family had diabetes. I’ve lived with it for 37 years.
I was the only one who became a cop. Coincidence? According to the doctor who discovered way back in 1981 I was Type 2 diabetic, the stress of the police job was a main contributing factor...along with the accompanying unhealthy life-style.
November 14th was “World Diabetes Day”, and we’re told 12 million Canadian’s have the disease. With our county’s relatively small population of only 36 million, that means 1/3 of us have it!
 
But why me? Let’s look at the causes:
We all live with stress...only the dead are stress free!
There’s good stress, and there’s bad stress.
Bad stress flows from fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, and hate.
The job of a cop is described as “hours, and hours of boredom, shattered by moments of terror”. Couple this with ‘shift work’, and eating/sleeping at “unnatural hours”. Living on black coffee & ‘gut-bombs’; smoking and drinking ‘way too much’; leading to addiction, financial, and domestic problems. Post-traumatic stress disorders; divorce, and suicide.
 
When my diabetes got ‘out of control’, because I was in denial and carried on with my unhealthy life-style and, after two trips to the hospital in a “diabetic coma”, my doctor said,
“You can die of stroke or heart attack...take your pick”
I smartened-up (through fear), and took the disease seriously.
 
Enough about bad stress, let’s talk about good stress: A healthy diet and regular exercise can control Type 2 Diabetes. My diet is not all that restrictive; I keep a daily log, and try not to over-eat, as a ‘slimmer body’ is a healthier body (for anyone)
My regular exercise consists of daily bike rides (weather permitting), and some simple stretches, and some pole-walking.
Working-up-a-sweat is good stress. Good for the heart and mind.
 
It’s somewhat of a miracle, but I no longer take any medication for diabetes, and today, Saturday, November 17th, I’m proudly celebrating 2 years, 341 days off the insulin injections!
 
Whoopee!!
Your ‘happy’, old, Uncle Russ.
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From Lorne

So often there is not much to write about. This time there is. We had a heavy snow dump, close to 1/2 foot of snow that by Friday afternoon turned to wet and heavy with slush underneath. Slush because the ground, pavement and other surfaces are still warm. However, below freezing will soon turn that all into ice. Now the City has hired 4 snow removal police at $ 173, 000 to follow up on complaints if the  public sidewalk fronting each home is not cleared to the pavement within 24 hours of the snowfall. We are allowed 1 warning, after that a $ 400.00 fine for each offense. Well, my blower is not yet mounted on the tractor. This job I could do back about 1995 but not now. Somebody would have to help me up from lying flat to do the work and I don't have that somebody. So, after returning from my Friday morning volunteer time at Sunnyside Home, I knew that if the out front sidewalk isn't cleared by evening it would freeze and be impossible to remove.  I chose a shovel and started removing 1/2 foot of wet stuff. Anyone familiar with the extent of sidewalk along the frontage will appreciate what lies ahead. I started, knowing that there is no way I alone can do this but if I  don't attempt, nothing will happen. Something did happen! After I had shoveled about 40 feet, a man walking  with a dog stopped and asked if I needed help. That's like saying 'dose the Pope wear a funny hat?' He said if I hold Mona's leesh, he will shovel. he did! The  last 250 feet. His name is Tony, I hope I recognize him if we meet again. An act of random kindness.  Then to complete a good afternoon, Sue Brubacher, that's BC Sue, came by with a pie for me.  PS, neighbors on both sides stopped at their border.

Lorne
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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!
With Christmas still 6 or more weeks away you’d never know it to look outside at all the snow we have. I was shocked to see the snow the first day it fell since it was a tad early for the white stuff! Oh well, it had to arrive sometime and why not November? So far it’s still fairly light and doesn’t need to be shoveled at least. I’m still waiting for a call from the company in Waterloo to say my snow blower is ready for the winter season. Guess they have a lot of blowers to tune up before getting to mine so I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that we don’t get a big dump of snow before my Toro is ready! I’m sure I’ll be able to handle the blower since all I have to do is walk behind it while it does the work. If I have to shovel before I get the Toro back I’ll just have to get Adam to do the manual work! LOL! I think I’ll be installing a heated driveway in the next house we buy! That is unless the driveway is longer than thirty feet! Then it would be a tad expensive to keep the heaters on and the snow off! LOL! Maybe now that I think of it the next house will be a condo with all the work included in the condo fees. That might be the way to go now that I’m over 40! Hahahaha…. Maybe we can move in with Uncle Russ and he can do the shoveling since he’s still less than 40 from what he tells me! LOL! Sorry Russ, just kidding! The other alternative would be to purchase a riding blower with a heated cab! Shouldn’t cost too much, all I’d need is a Lotto win to afford that sort of machine. Maybe one of those little jiggers that the city uses on the sidewalks would do the trick! Now I’m getting ridiculous so I think I’ll change the subject!
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With Remembrance Day past, it’s time to think about putting up the Christmas decorations. We have decided to pear down the amount of decorating this year. Carole has thoughts of putting a small but live tree on the front porch and maybe not bother with the large tree inside! I think that’s a good idea since we haven’t had a real tree in the 46 years we’ve been celebrating Christmas together. It might be fun to go out and search for a live tree for a change. We used to do that with my dad when we were kids and it was always great fun. Of course I don’t know of any Christmas tree farms around here but I’m sure there is somewhere that still has “cut your own” trees. I’ll just have to search the Internet and see what’s available. Most likely we’ll wind up going to our local garden centre or Canadian Tire parking lot to hunt for a tree but wherever we have to go I’m sure it’ll still be fun to get out in the cold and do the Christmas Tree thing for a change. Just wish I had a pickup truck to carry the tree home! LOL! Maybe Santa will bring me and early present and I’ll find a truck in the driveway with a big red bow on it and my name on the tag hanging from the driver’s mirror! Hahahahahaaa…. Not a chance! But it’s fun to dream as usual!
I’m in the same boat again this year as always when it comes to thinking of what I want to have on my Christmas Wish List! I can never think of anything to request since I have over the years collected whatever I want or need whenever I need it! That’s the trouble with getting older, by this time in life most of us have everything we’ve ever wanted and there’s nothing left to ask for! That’s ok; I’ll just leave it up to Carole and Adam to think of something for to put under the tree for their dear old dad and hubby! That’s the easy way out! Besides, I always like and enjoy shopping and buying for others rather than thinking of receiving gifts. I’m not a last minute shopper like Doug and I usually have my shopping finished a couple of weeks before Christmas. In fact, I may just get out in the next week or two and get my shopping done super early this year. I have some ideas for the two people in my life that I still shop for so it will be a pleasure to have it done earlier than ever this year, I think! You never know, I may just change my mind altogether once I start shopping! I guess I should ask both Carole and Adam what is on their lists for this year. It’s always nice to receive something that is useful and meaningful rather than something that will sit in the corner for years after the event! It’s not the best when you have to politely smile and say thank you for something that’s totally useless because you don’t want to hurt the giver’s feelings! Best to put some thought into what you’re buying for that special person before picking up the wrong thing! Ok then, checking their lists is the way to go!

Enough of the Christmas talk for now! Two weeks ago Adam was kind enough to install my snow tires on the Jeep. We had a couple of nice days weather wise and he took advantage of that and changed my tires in the driveway. Then, a week later he managed to get his own snow tires on his Jeep as well. It’s comforting to know that when the big snow dump hits our area that we’ve both got our vehicles ready for the slippery weather. It’s certainly worth the money and effort to have good snow tires on when the winter does arrive. I’ve driven on summer tires a few years all winter long and it’s not a good idea. It’s neither safe nor fun to drive without snows on when the roads are covered with ice and snow. Just makes good sense to have the proper tires on for the season. Last year I bought good snows with nice chunky tread on them so, they should last a few years before needing to be replaced. It’s always fun to drive in the snow when you have four-wheel drive! I don’t know how I ever made due with two wheel drive vehicles in the winter! I don’t think I’d ever go back to two-wheel drive in a vehicle again. Of course, the MG is only two-wheel drive but we only use that vehicle in the summer months. If you can afford to have a second vehicle, it’s no big deal to have one of them that’s two-wheel drive. Oh well, I’m sure we’re going to be safe again this winter with the Jeep for the slippery roads. I’m also sure that Christmas will come and go as usual and life will be filled with happy thoughts and goodies again this year as usual. For now, I’ll concentrate on getting the Toro back for the snow days and the MG home next week before the Toro is needed! The MG is supposed to be finished and home by sometime next week so hopefully it’ll be tucked nicely away in the garage for the winter before winter arrives! The MG may just be arriving here on the back of a flat bed truck if there’s too much snow on the ground once it’s finished and ready for winter storage. I hope the weather warms up before I have to pick the MG up! You never know what to expect when you live in The Great White North!

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>
How many shopping days are there left before Christmas?
Not enough! Ho Ho Ho!


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Have a good one..
the doug
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