The Squamidian Report – Jan. 26 / 19
 
Issue #870

Including:
From Lorne
From Russ
The Ontarion

Hi All,

First off, we are still here. I haven’t had to change my Email address, at least not yet. My computer was not and is not compromised, just my Email address got into the hands of a creep. After that disgusting cyber creep tryed to coerce or scare me into paying big dollars to make ‘him’ go away, which he wouldn't have if I had done so, I made a list of all the places and things I’d have to deal with if I did change my Email address. A very lot of work indeed. So if I don’t end up having to do it, I won’t. I did get a second creepy email that warned me that my time was up and if I didn’t deposit a rather huge amount of bit coin within the hour ‘he’ would carry through with his threat as well as clean out my bank accounts and so on. Well, I didn’t fall for his threats because I knew full well that all ‘his’ threats were baseless, that ‘he’ had no info on me with the exception of my Email address which he supposedly harvested from someone’s contact list or wherever. I still feel violated and disgusted by this creep and by what he accused me of doing in order to blackmail me but hopefully ‘he’ will find that my Email address is a dead end from an extortion point of view and move on to his next victim.

Something I did do was a search for info on cyber crime and ended up on a Canadian government web site devoted to that subject. Although no crime had been accomplished, one was certainly attempted, and everything I found kept sending me in a circle, back to the fact that this kind of thing, no matter how big or small, should be reported to the RCMP. Well, I figured they wouldn’t and couldn't do anything about it but I did pop down to our local detachment to have a chat with whoever would talk to me. Turned out I was right, they were totally uninterested, wouldn't even take down my name or any details. A waist of time. I would hope that if someone were to have fallen for some sort of cyber scam they might have been a bit more concerned but I don’t really know and certainly don’t want to ever find out. For now at least, the bottom line is keep your computers clean and protected because if some creep gets their dirty hands on your address book or other info, the rest of us are put at risk of being on the receiving end of a scam attack, face it, the creeps are getting our addresses from somewhere.
*
I think it was Wednesday morning, l had done my usual ‘subdivision’ walk but had used my crampons to keep from slipping on the ice. The night before we had been drenched with heavy rains that eventually turned to very wet snow, the kind that turns to slush as soon as it hits the ground. Then during the night the sky cleared and the temperature dropped to a few degrees below freezing and that slush froze solid. So, I dawned my crampons and had an uneventful walk. Then it was time to head for the gondola for my usual walk up there before going inside for a coffee. I hadn’t given it much thought and the web cam showing their deck doesn’t show the conditions all that well so I just assumed I’d be walking on icy trails. I therefor brought my crampons up with my. Much to my surprise, there was a fresh 10 or so inches of snow up there (much to everyone’s surprise). Bummer, I should have brought my snowshoes. Oh well, being I was the first customer up there and the snow was unbroken and inviting I figured I just do the walk as best I could without snowshoes. It was too early to bug the snowshoe rental people and ask for a loaner pair. (We never need to rent stuff like that, if we didn’t bring our own we just borrow whatever we need). I headed up the trail. By the time I’d trudged a hundred meters or so to the top of that first rise up through the trees I was totally pooped, warn out, beat, exhausted. I knew better than to keep going and turned back.

I went in and did my usual visit with the employees, grabbed a coffee and sat by the wood stove as I looked out at the scenery and watched the shoveling crew try to clear the decks. By the time I’d finished my coffee, more customers were coming up and I figured, what the heck, I might as well try the trail again. I went out through the lower doors where there are some benches so I could put my crampons back on (they frown upon people wearing spiky things on their wooden floors). About then Lucy came along, she’s the day manager in charge of retail and rentals, including snowshoes. I had already told her I’d tried to hike the trail and have turned back, and now told her I was going to give it another try. She suggested I borrow a pair of snowshoes from her as she had now opened up the storage room where that kind of thing is kept. So, I did. What a difference. Instead of trudging along and getting exhausted I moved easily, given the depth of the snow. There were now other boot tracks entering the trail head but they didn’t get as far as my original tracks before they turned back.

 I broke trail through snow covered trees with Diamond Head peak showing to the north and the Mamquam ice fields to the east. Snow bombs were coming down once in a while but that just made it more interesting. I was almost back to the lodge before I met anyone heading out and they were quite happy I had broken the trail for them. I confess to having to stop a few times to catch my breath, thats hard work for my old legs and lungs but its what we do.

doug
****

From Lorne

Usually I write a bunch of nonsense but this is different in that it would be bad if it came to a non suspecting  individual who thought they were about to receive some cash. An email with the heading 'YOUR ANNUAL TAX REFUND CONFIRMATION Nr.8361912' . Showing a maple leaf and the Canadian flag with the following -  ''Hi lbru@execulink.com, Just to confirm that we've recalculate your last fiscal activity and determined that you are eligible to receive a tax return of 361.46 CAD.''   And in blue print, ''In order to claim it online, you have to complete a required form with your personal information''. It cried scam to me. Revenue Canada does not send emails of this sort but uses mail delivery in those brown envelopes and never 'Hi'  or end with ''regards'' The misuse of wording is not Revenue Canada or any other government agency. But just to satisfy myself, I called the office of the accountant that prepares my tax return, and they agreed that it is a scam.

Lorne

Lorne was right to NOT respond to that Email scam phishing attempt. Revenue Canada, as well as the banks etc will only contact a customer via Canada Post mail. Unfortunately, many people do fall for these types of scams and end up loosing big time.
Doug

****

From Russ

Family affair

The father worked at a woolen mill in Galt, the mother worked as a seamstress in a clothing store in the area doing alterations for garments of customers, their daughter worked in an office in Preston. All of their employers spoke highly of them, as being “honest, hard-working, dedicated employees”.

One day, the father was caught “red-handed” shoplifting in a local store. Store security made a “citizen’s arrest”, and police were called to the scene. The officer brought both the suspected perpetrator and the store security man to the station where the accused was searched, and placed in a holding cell. The coat the accused had been wearing was seized as evidence, it being ‘altered’ to conceal objects in it’s many pockets.

We later learned the wife, being a qualified seamstress, had sewn many large pockets into her husband’s overcoat, thus enabling him to “ply his trade” more effectively.
A physical description of the man should be described here; he was born in Russia, was tall, muscular, large-boned, and out-going. You would like him. His overcoat was over-size, and in preparation for his shoplifting, he would fill the many pockets of the coat with ‘left-over scraps’ of material provided by his accommodating Russian wife who, by the way was ‘as big around as she was short’. Being ‘so honest and industrious’ she was trusted with keys to the store so she could work evenings ‘in order to keep up with the work that kept coming into her station’. She also took work home with her that was not garments of customers, but stock from the store. Theft.

Meanwhile, the sweet little daughter was busy supplying (stealing) ‘office supplies’ for use in the family business of selling stuff wholesale from the basement of their home in Galt. You should have seen their ‘store’! The  husband who was also a carpenter, had built rows of upright shelves where their ‘loot’ was neatly arranged for their ‘innocent’ customers.  Everything had price tags from the ‘victim stores’ removed, and new tags attached bearing ‘prices below wholesale’!

Getting back to the husband; with the pockets of his big overcoat stuffed with scraps of material, he looked like a very tall, stout man. He would walk around a store looking for stuff worth stealing (while keeping an eye out for security), and each time he went to pocket something, he’d make room for it by removing the material and discarding it into a garbage bin. He would purchase a small item, then leave the store ‘the same size as he went in’! He would repeat this stunt at several stores in different communities getting so good at it, that he became ‘careless’, and that’s when he was seen by store security, and was apprehended on a “citizen’s power of arrest without warrant”

Most private security persons operate the same way; after “catching the perp IN THE ACT”, they follow the suspect through the check-out, and make the arrest outside, after asking the perp if he had ‘forgotten’ to pay for something. If the reply is in the negative, the “intent” part of theft is present. Remembering the ‘simple’ definition of “Theft”; taking the property of another, with INTENT to deprive”, we’ve all heard the expression, “caught red-handed”, but do you know the origin of the expression?
                  The term, “red-handed” dates back to Scottish Acts
                  Of Parliament of James 1, 1432.
                  “If he be not taken red-handed the sheriff cannot
                   Proceed against him”
                
Legal terms are often expressed in Latin: “flagrans delictum” means ‘caught red-handed’ such as “blood on the hands of a murderer”.
 
By the way; all the above information was revealed after executing a Search Warrant in the home, and interrogating the whole family....the young daughter ‘cracked’ first, followed my mom, who broke down in tears; father remained stoic. All were found guilty, and because of the  size of their operation, received prison terms.
 
Finally, you and I have nearly the same “powers of arrest” as a peace officer; but the difference is daunting. WE have to “find the person in the act (red-handed)”, while a peace officer (cop) may arrest on what is called “reasonable and probable grounds”. Many law books are filled with “what may be accepted as R P & G”, and I’ll make no attempt to simplify it here.
Uncle Russ.
 
****

THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!
It still seems weird writing 2019 I guess I was just used to typing 2018 for a whole year and it’s hard to make the change. Oh well, I’m sure that feeling too will pass. With the arrival of sudden blanket of snow the winter has finally come to Southern Ontario. I actually got to use my blower yesterday since we had at least 4 inches of white stuff on the ground. We’ve had a pretty mild winter up until now so maybe this is a sign of what’s in store for the next couple of months. The spokesperson for Weather Canada was on the radio yesterday saying that he is noting indications of an early spring. He neglected to say what those signs were but if he said so it must be true! We can only hope for that to come sooner than usual I guess. It would be nice to see a mild February and March for a change. Right now I’m sitting in the office and am freezing my fingers off. It’s just my thin skin I guess because the temp in the house isn’t all that cool. I think we’re sitting at around 18C on the thermostat, which gives us a two-degree leeway in either direction when it comes to the room temp. That’s not all that cool but I’ve been quite cold since my stay in the hospital last year and I attribute it to having a heart that’s not pumping as well as a normally healthy one! With proper circulation in the body by the heart one tends to keep warmer I guess so I’ve just been layering the clothes to make up for it. Wrapping myself in my electric blanket while watching TV is the only way I can beat the cold feeling while not in motion. Just have to make concessions for the shortcoming of blood circulating in my system.

I had cleared the snow off the driveway yesterday and then went out to do some running around during the morning. When I returned home I found that the city plow had dumped a considerable amount of show on the driveway ramp while I was out. I started up the blower once again and drove it down to the bottom of the drive to remove their deposit. As I started blowing the snow across the street with some of it landing on the roadway a city of Kitchener pickup truck came by and the driver glared at me. I guess he didn’t like the fact that some of the snow was landing on the “cleared” road. I figured I’d better land the snow on the boulevard instead of on the roadway, just in case there was a city fine for doing so. I finished the clearing of the snow by aiming the spout at the boulevard on either side of the driveway. While I was finishing that project I was thinking, “Why is it OK for the city plows to dump their snow on my driveway and not OK for me to blow my snow onto the city street?” just doesn’t seem fair does it?

Speaking of fair, let’s talk for a moment about the amount of tax dollars that the city spends without our ok. I heard on the radio a couple of days ago that the City of Kitchener council is contemplating spending up to $15,000,000.00 on refurbishing Karl Zehr Square. That’s the plot of concrete that is in front of the entrance to our City Hall. As far as I know, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that “attraction” right now, other than the fact that whenever I see video of it on the news the skating rink that cost millions to build in the first place is only being used by no more than a half dozen people at any time. What a waste indeed!  I don’t for the life of me know why they have to spend fifteen more million on something that’s still in good shape. If we have that much money to toss into something that’s already completed, why don’t they do something more constructive with that cash such as help the homeless of our region? It’s time the council started to think more of the people that need help in our cities rather than blowing huge amounts of tax dollars on crap like putting a roof over the useless skating rink in front of their offices! If we the tax payers of Kitchener start contacting our area councilors and complaining about such frivolous waste of tax dollars maybe things will start to change for the better. This is not the only frivolous spending that goes on around Kitchener. I still have a bee up my you know what about the Works Department of Kitchener plowing the streets with expensive equipment when there is NO SNOW on the roads. What the heck are they doing out at 2am plowing wet streets other than making “overtime” pay? I’m befuddled with this practice for sure! Maybe I should run for council and try to make a difference from within! On the other hand, I’m retired, why would I want to bang my head against the wall for even another 4-year term? Maybe a letter to my councilor now and then would start the ball rolling toward change but then again, maybe not!

I guess that’s enough preaching from my soapbox for this week! LOL! Just like a letter to council, my preaching in the Ontarion seems to fall on deaf ears most weeks anyway!

I think I’ll call an end to this week’s column and give some thought to the content of next week’s Ontarion. With spring approaching there should be more to write about than local politics anyway. LOL!
Hope you all are enjoying the cold weather we’re having! Think of what I’ve just said the next time a noisy plow scrapes by you house at 2am! Maybe a few letters to council will start the ball rolling!
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>
If you have knowledge, let others light their candles by it!

****

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.