The Squamidian Report – July 20/19
 
Issue #895

Including:
From Russ
From Lorne
From Wayne
The Ontarion

Hi All,

Just to start off, I’m pointing out that as you can see, today’s issue is #895. That means we are only 5 issues away from #900. Just saying…...
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It seems to be wasp season. Or hornets or yellow-jackets or whatever they are. All it took was a few sunny days and suddenly they are all over the place. Thats not a problem for me as under normal circumstances they don’t bother me and I don’t bother them. However, the girls are terrified of them and we really don’t want to take a chance of them being stung. The catch is, wasps seem to sense when someone is freighted of them and that seems to set them off. So, we need to keep them separated. We don’t seem to have a wasp nest on our property (at least at this moment) but there does seem to be one somewhere near the back of the neighbor’s house that sends squadrons of them to our place every once in a while, especially during the early evening.

To counter these raids of ravenous and potentially angry insects I’ve set out a couple of wast traps. These are a yellow, transparent plastic wasp-nest shaped container with entrances shaped to make it easy for the wasp to enter but hard for them to find their way back out. The traps are baited with meat and fruit juice. Its mostly the smell of the meat that draws them, the juice acts as a further enticement to convince them to enter and then acts as part of the trap. After a given wasp has checked out the meat and the juice it tries to fly away but can’t find an exit. It keeps hitting the top until it gets tired enough that it falls or slips into the juice where it gets sticky and that makes flying harder so it falls again and at some point just drowns. Sad for the wasp, a good thing if you have little kids around or anyone who might be allergic to stings.

The biggest problem regarding trapping wasps is that you must first attract them to the trap, meaning you must attract them to where you don’t want them to be in the first place. Funny how that works. Also funny watching the Stellar Jays try to catch the trapped wasps. They will peck at the trap, confused as to why they can’t actually catch one. You see, they like to eat them. Whenever I swat a few with the swatter and leave them lay, the jays will come along and eat them, very carefully. They hold the stinger end with a claw that can’t be stung and then pull the rest of the body free. They seem to be aware of the fact that even when the wasp is dead, the stinger is still active and potent. Heck, you can cut off a wasps head and then watch the back end try endlessly for quite a long time to sting whatever might come withing range. As well as the jays eating dead wasps, so do the other wasps. When they come across a dead one (one that I’ve smacked and have left the carcass for consumption) they will work away at getting it into a position from where they can hold on, lift and carry it away, back to their nest where it will be cannibalized. I guess thats natures efficiency at work.

Bottom line is I’m trapping and smacking as many as I can and hopefully the number of wasps that make it too close will just turn around and go the other way without leaving any screaming kids in their path.
doug
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From Russ

Exotic pets continued.

Last week I shared with you, some exotic animals I might consider owning – most of them were not very likely to pee on my carpets.
Here’s an unusual creature; the SUGAR GLIDER: These teeny little marsupials from Australia, are about the size of our Red Squirrels, and have some unusual eating habits – they suck the nectar out of fruits and suck sap from trees! They prefer to live in treetops, and they can glide from tree-to-tree as they have membranes linking there arms and legs; hence there name – ‘sugar’ ‘glider’. They like to ‘chum’ with their own kind, so it would be cruel to keep only one! They have literally died of loneliness if not partnered with at least one or two others.
Now, let’s look at the practicality of owning two or three of these cute itty-bitty creatures; they could never be let outside my itty-bitty cottage as they’d soon be eaten by our many ‘birds of prey’, and keeping them cooped-up in a cage would soon destroy their desire to live, I’m sure.
Conclusion – leave them in Australia.

POT-BELLIED PIGS have been popular pets in the past, but  they soon outgrow their quarters. If you’ve ever seen/held a baby pig you’d want one for a pet – they’re SOO cute!! Even George Clooney had one!
Owners claim their pet pot-bellied pigs are more clever than dogs, cleaner than cats, and they are loyal and loving. Would you ever kiss a pig? If I brought one home I’m sure I’d be happy to have such an unusual pet, and would excuse the fact that they eat a lot (some have weighed up to 300 pounds), and if left unattended, can be quite destructive.
I don’t think I’d keep a pig in the house all day, as they like to graze on grass and dig around in the ground. Looking around my property, I don’t know where I’d be able to provide said pig with the outdoor range needed. Conclusion: Pass on the Pot-Bellied Pig.

Now, here’s something to be given serious consideration, the SERVAL: With the look of a Leopard and the temperament of a house cat, they are becoming increasingly popular as pets. The Serval requires a lot of space to run around – picture a 30 pound cat climbing your drapes! They are instinctual hunters, and if I ever have an infestation of mice or rats – I’ll more seriously consider a Serval. RATS!

MUNTJAC DEER: These tiny deer have been kidnapped from South Asia, and once they overcome their ‘home sickness’, they become affectionate, playful, easy to train pets. I can see myself owning one of these cute, fond-like deer, and training it to use a litter box just like a cat! The Muntjac is also known as “barking deer” as it sounds much like a dog. Can you imagine a full adult deer weighing only 10 pounds?
THIS will go on my “Yes” list.

CAPYBARA: Imagine a hamster that grows to be the size of a mid-sized dog! They were ‘stolen’ from their homes in South America where they feed on grass and bark and, not unlike our Beaver, they have enormous teeth which are constantly growing. And you knew that Beavers have to keep on gnawing to keep those choppers from getting too long. I’ve ‘fallen heir’ to some very valuable antique furniture – and I can see myself leaving ‘Capy’ alone in my house while I am out spending time at Tim Horton’s!! SAWDUST!
 
Thanks for putting up with my “Pet research”.
(think I’ll settle for a Goldfish – they don’t bark, need a litter box, chew on furniture, or die of loneliness).
Uncle Russ.
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From Lorne

As all Ont. subscribers know, we are suffering with this unbearable heat. Therefor, I bow out of contributing to the Squamidian this week because its just too hot sitting here at the computer. So there!
Lorne

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From Wayne

Hosting Mary Haufschild Daughters' Kids and the Grandkids from Emma Brubacher (nee Haufschild) and Spouses.
It has been a tradition for one of Mary Haufschild's grandchildren to host a reunion involving as many of the grandchildren that could (or wanted) to attend. It passed from cousin to cousin in a random manner but attendance has fallen, mainly because of death and so it is not likely to grow again.

The next generation either suggested, or we cousins opined that we should grow the group by including the next generation.
Sylvia and I agreed to do that, but when we realized that the potential attendance could be about 80 people we decided that we needed a new formula.
Unilaterally, we decided that we would extend the invitation only to those of the next generation whose lineage matched the lineage of the Host's lineage, that is Emma needed to be their grandmother.

When it passes to another cousin, I expect that only those whose grandmother was, say Mabel, would be invited along with the original cousins.
Anyway, that was the formula so we are only expecting about 30 people.
Let's hope for good weather.
See you Saturday, cousins, nieces, nephews and spouses.
Wayne and Sylvia Brubacher

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!
We sure have a scorcher going here in southern Ontario don’t we! I’ve been avoiding doing anything with the lawn for the past few days anyway but I’ll soon have to do the trimming and then a mowing session since the grass is starting to grow once again. I fertilized the lawn last Monday and now it’s starting to green up as well as get long once again. Oh well, you can’t fight Mother Nature can you! I just wish the rain would let up so the grass doesn’t get ahead of me by too much. If I can stand the heat tomorrow I’ll do the trimming and maybe then the mowing if not, I could be cutting it with a scythe! LOL!
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We sure have had our share of big stories in the news lately and KW is beginning to sound and be more like Toronto all the time. With shootings and fires and major motor vehicle collisions that usually happen with such frequency only in much larger cities KW is sure keeping our first responders busy these days! Even Guelph is having its fair share of drug overdoses these days. I heard on the news today that there were two more murders in Brantford this morning and the police are looking for a vehicle seen speeding away from the location of those murders. There were two people both in their 60’s shot to death. The police are trying to figure out if the two murders are connected. It seems that more and more handguns are being used in crimes here in Ontario these days and the police figure that they are being brought into Canada from the USA. I guess they’ll have to tighten up  the security checks at the Canada border crossings if they hope to stop such smuggling. Here in KW, we’ve had three incidents of child molestation over the past 6 years and just this week the Waterloo Regional Police made a connection between the three crimes through DNA evidence. I hope they get the perverted perpetrator before he assaults another young child! It’s disgusting to think that anyone could get a charge out of improperly touching a young girl! It might be best if one of the fathers of these young victims catches the pervert before the police find him! On the other hand, I’d hate to see one of the fathers go to jail for assaulting or even killing the filthy bugger! Best to let the legal system handle the situation I guess! Although I know how I’d feel if it happened to a child of mine!

I also heard on the news about a serious head on collision on Hwy 6 south of the 401 at Freelton today. A young woman from Cambridge was killed in that collision and the other driver a 21-year-old male was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Apparently the woman was northbound in a minivan and the male driver was southbound in an SUV. The most the police would say about the collision was that the southbound vehicle apparently drifted over the line from the left turn lane of the highway into the path of the oncoming minivan and the result was a total destruction of both vehicles. The police said no charges had been laid as of news time today but they are investigating the possibility of “distracted driving” I believe on the part of the southbound male driver. If so, he’s in for a rude awakening once he regains consciousness! I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes if that’s the reason for the collision!

It drives me crazy when I see someone on their cell phone either talking or texting while driving! They should make the fine at least $5000.00 for a first offense! If the fine were stiff enough, maybe it would deter more people from driving while distracted!
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To change the subject for a bit, Carole and I were out for the day two days ago and decided to drive up to Elora to have dinner at our favourite restaurant. It’s called the Gorge Country Kitchen and the food has been fabulous and very reasonably priced since we discovered the place about 5 months ago. A few weeks ago we stopped in there and ordered their “liver and onions” dinner. It was amazing if you like liver and onions, which we do! So, we figured we’d try that same meal again this time. We arrived at about 4pm and the place only had about 6 other people seated upon our arrival. We placed our order and waited about a half hour for it to arrive at our table. It looked terrific and smelled good too so we dug in as usual. A couple of minutes into the meal we both commented that there was something different about the taste of the meal this time around. I figured the liver was a bit overdone and that the gravy tasted quite spicy compared to the first time we had enjoyed that meal. Oh well, we figured, maybe a different cook had prepared things a little differently this time. We finished our meals and headed for home around 5pm. We got home and once we got settled in for the evening to watch a little TV things started to make my stomach rumble. Carole stated that she didn’t feel very well either. Both of us had pains in our stomachs as well as feelings of indigestion. I took a TUMS and that didn’t seem to change the ill feelings. SO, I waited about an hour longer and things got even worse for both of us! I then tried some Pepto-Bismol thinking that might do the trick to stop the pain and discomfort. After about three hours of these ill feelings we suddenly both had to run for the bathroom at the same time. I went upstairs and Carole headed to the main floor bathroom. We were both talking to the great white telephone for the next ten minutes!

I’ll tell you; it’s not a pleasant experience to throw up used liver and onions! After settling down a little, we decided to go to bed and see if we could sleep off the ill feelings. In the morning we got up around 9am and fortunately we both felt a lot better than the night before! At around noon I decided to phone the Gorge Country Kitchen and speak to the manager about our experience! I spoke to a manager by the name of John and explained in a civilized manner what we had been through. He asked if we had eaten anything anywhere else that day and what we had had was just a tomato sandwich at home earlier in the day. He apologized for the situation and promised to investigate with his kitchen staff to see if any other customer had experienced similar troubles. He said he would call me back once he did some checking into it! That was yesterday and today he called me back mid afternoon. He explained that the Wellington County Health Unit had been in the very day we had the problem and inspected their facilities and that they had given the place a clean bill of health. He said he wasn’t trying to brush off the seriousness of our experience but he could find no reason for our discomfort. He told me that he found that there were 10 people that had ordered the liver and onions that day and nobody else had called to say they had a problem after the meal. I assured him that I wasn’t looking for anything other than to let him know he might have had a problem with that particular meal. He said again that he felt badly about our situation and apologized once again for the inconvenience.

He thanked me for being honest enough to call and talk to him about it and that he would much rather I had done so rather than just condemning their establishment never to return! He said that to show their good faith, that he’d like to send us a gift certificate for a meal of our choice in hopes that we’d give them another chance to prove their quality and keep us as future customers! He took our address and said the certificate would be in the mail today (Thursday) and he’s look forward to our next visit! I assured him that we’d give them another try since every other visit we’d had with them was a good one but I said I wasn’t likely to try the “Liver and Onions” again any time soon, just to be safe! LOL! We both got a chuckle out of that and he agreed that he would feel the same for a while if it were he who had the experience! He thanked me again for the call and I in turn thanked him for getting back to me readily.

I still think there was something wrong with our meal that night but I also think John was being honest in his information to me about the situation.
I think it pays to be forthright and honest when this sort of thing happens and that most establishments would appreciate such a call rather than their customer simply not return and possibly bad mouth their restaurant to others. Word of mouth can cause great damage to a business so it’s best to have the customer call to sort things out!

Well, 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>
They say it’s better to leave your meal and not complain if you notice an immediate problem with it. They say that if you send your meal back to the kitchen for adjustments at the time, the disgruntled chef might just spit in your meal before sending it back out to your table! LOL! YOU NEVER KNOW!     

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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.