The Squamidian Report – Mar. 2 /19
 
Issue #875
Including:
From Nova Scotia Sus
From Russ
The Ontarion

Hi All,

Well that was a bit of a bummer…. Due to high winds the gondola was forced to stay closed last Sunday. The day I was booked to play up there. We’ve been having howling north winds off an on all month, one of the reasons that February has set a new cold record for us. Anyway, I was booked to play from noon until 3 and figured I’d get there early enough to get parked before the lots got too full (sunny Sundays can be very busy there) and to get my equipment loaded into a cabin and up to the top without any hassle or stress. When I left the house there wasn’t even a slight breeze. No indication of wind when I got down to the valley bottom but by the time I got to the south end of town I could feel the winds had picked up. By the time I was driving past the Chief it was down right windy and I wondered if this was going to be a problem. I looked up to check the cars on the cable as I drove by and they were at a stop, not running. Oh oh, not looking good. I did the usual turn-around at Shannon Falls to get north bound and headed back up the highway. The sign out at the roads said ‘On Standby Till 11’ Bummer. Oh well. I pulled in and chatted with one of the parking assistants. He told me about the standby situation and I then headed over to the employee parking area where I parked so I could go in and get an update. By the time I was walking toward the office the attendant was walking toward me with the bad news. Management had decided to make the call, closed for the day due to hight winds. (The gondola can’t run when the winds hit a predetermined speed, which they had).

I went in and chatted with the people manning the base station, had a coffee, hung around for a while to be sure there would be no changes and then went home. I had been looking forward to this gig. I have my material down pat. As per my intentions, I wouldn’t have needed any sheet music at all, just my playlist. It would have been me and my guitar, and my PA system of course but no distracting pages of songs. I was ready, plain and simple. Like I said, bummer. But you know, I’m not the first person who was booked to play a
Sunday afternoon up there that was cancelled due to the winds. Its happened about half the Sunday’s so far this year (Jan & Feb). I’ll look into finding a ‘fill-in’ date for sometime in the near future but the Sunday socials end in 2 weeks and both those dates are taken. We shall see what we can come up with. And, for those of you who didn’t make it out for this one, which is all of you, you didn’t miss anything.

By the way, when I got home there was still no wind at my place at all. Thats normal around here, the mountains tend to funnel the wind, blasting one area and missing another. It wasn’t until mid afternoon that there was even a breeze to rustle the trees outside my windows. And is case you were wondering, they ended up staying closed for the most of the rest of the week.
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TV news stations tend to flash news banners along the bottom of the screen as the news is being read. CBC is no exception. I was watching their news and saw a banner telling the world that Kitchener Ont had pretty well run out of road salt. They were down to having to get by with just plain old sand. With the endless ice storms that hit the area this winter the salt supply has been used up. Interestingly, that same thing happened to Vancouver last winter. By mid January they had run out of salt and there was still no sight of winter ending anytime soon. Retail stores had run out as well. A lot of drivers and walkers ended up sliding all over the place before the slippery roads melted off. Vancouver seems to have learned a lesson from that because going in to this winter they had enough salt stockpiled to last through several winters with the intension being to always have more than enough on hand.

The thing about Vancouver, and area, is that while their winters can and usually are quite mild, they do get winter, with very icy roads usually caused by black ice but also the result of heavy wet snow that gets packed into white ice. As well, while many living in other parts of the country tend to think of Vancouver as tucked in right along the shore, it and the surrounding area is actually very hilly, actually mountainy. Streets and roads can have grades that are way steeper than anything you might find back east, as well as said grades being longer. The ‘burgs’ sprawl right up the mountain sides. Out the valley the wind can whip winter snow into a blizzard. That stockpiled salt will get used, if not this year then next and by then they will have pilled more.

A funny thing (funny to me, not so much to users of public transit) is that throughout the Lower Mainland the commuters are constantly being urged to take public transit whenever there is winter storm conditions. Its funny because the first thing to ‘go down’ under winter conditions is the public transit. The busses can’t make the hills if there is even a trace of ice. Many of those busses are articulated, having a front and back half, bending in the middle. Problem with those things is that the engine is at the rear of the back section and pushes from there. One patch of ice and they end up jack-knifed. Then there is the skytrain and other light rail systems. Drop 2 snowflakes onto the tracks and they come grinding to a halt. All the commuters that would have taken their cars end up stranded for hours at bus stops and train stations instead of being stranded for hours in stopped traffic. Sure glad I don’t live in the city.

doug
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From Sus

I know I did say I would contribute once in awhile I guess I needed a push.
I'm not sure where all that time went but here I am. It's been a long winter already and its only the end of February.  I know the rest of the country has had it hard too.  It's the extra cold temps that are hard to take and the ice in the driveway and not knowing where to walk, so far so good no falls.
I did build my salon in the sunroom over the Christmas holidays and into the month of January.  Lots of work but so worth it.  My clients are super happy and don't mind driving out into the country to get their hair done.  Some are my neighbours and could walk here.  The sunroom is such a bright beautiful atmosphere with all the windows and skylights.  The sun heats the room up so I may have too much heat in the summer.  I'll deal with that later.  Who in their right mind starts a business when they are turning 70,  Me I guess!!

We have a new market building opening this month.  They came from Ontario and their name is Zehr.  I decided to ask them if they sell the summer sausage I am so familiar with from the Kitchener/Waterloo area.  As I hoped he did have it.  Since I moved to Nova Scotia I have been looking for this sausage and most people look at me like I have 2 heads.  Well this man did not and knew exactly what I was talking about.  I hope he has great success in his business here.

My chickens are doing well even with the cold temps.  We have a heat lamp in their coop for those extra cold nights.  We get 9 eggs a day and now we are selling some to my clients.  So there is another business.

Keep up the good articles we enjoy so much.
Sus
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From Russ

'thumbs'

They took me everywhere as kids.
Grandma used one to ‘crimp’ her apple pies.
Useful for punching or clubbing.
Nothing stands out like a ‘sore ’one.
Raccoons have them.
Chimpanzees, monkeys, and apes have them.
Yours work with each of your fingers, so you can do much more complicated things than most animals.
Try handwriting without using it. Awkward, ain’t it?
Try using your computer or texting without them.
 
Which has more bones, your thumb or your ‘pinky’?
Can you bend your thumb to touch your wrist?
Try putting a ‘pinch’ of salt on your porridge, or scooping a ‘handful’ of oatmeal without using your thumb.
Can you catch, or throw a ball without using your thumbs?
Ever get a ‘fishy’ handshake? No thumbs.
Would you stoop to pick up a coin if you had no thumbs?
Tried tying my shoelaces without using my thumbs until I ‘threw up’!
“Thumbs up” = agreement; approval; ‘Kudos’.
“Thumbs down” = disagreement; disapproval; opposite to ‘Kudos’.
Using only one hand, and holding a pistol at arm’s length, are you able to ‘cock’ it? How about ‘half cock’ it? Will it fire if half cocked?
 
A thumb can be used as a ‘scoop’ in a ‘pinch’.
Are thumb-tacks made for ‘left-handed’ people?
The ‘thumb-to-nose’ gesture is vulgar!
No thumbs = no ‘twiddle’.
Thumb prints don’t change, but features sure do! See cover of ‘Memoirs’.
Try giving the ‘Shocka’ sign without using your thumb.
Try giving the OK gesture without using your thumb.
Who “stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plumb”?
“Let your fingers do the walking through the ‘yellow Pages’, but ‘thumb’ through the files.
 
Try ‘rock-face climbing’ if you can’t get a thumb-hold.
“Thumb day my printh will come”.
Can you ‘bait a hook’ without using your thumbs, or your mouth?
How about taking a fish off the hook without using your thumbs or your feet or a rock?
Can you button your shirts with ‘numb thumbs’?
The only thing you can button without using your thumbs is your lip.
Ten-pin bowling without thumbs? I guess not!
 
And finally; a “thumb-screw” is not ‘kinky’ sex.
By Tom Thumb.

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!
Well what can I say about our illustrious federal government? The first thing that comes to mind is, what other twisted behind the scenes schemes have they pulled? Second thing that comes to mind is, I wonder what the few Liberal Party lovers in our midst think of their beloved Justin now??? LOL!
He’s committed one big faux pas this time and methinks it’ll cost him the upcoming election. He seems to think he can just brush it off as an “Oh well, they’ll forget all about this “oops” by the time the federal election comes around in 8 months!”
Unfortunately for him and his party, but fortunately for the citizens of Canada this is too big a mistake to be forgiven by the masses! He not only made a mistake but he committed an offense that’s contrary to the rule of law and in my mind that’s unforgivable when it comes to someone that’s trusted with running our country! I’m sure that Justin “Trump” Trudeau” is on his way out of office in a short 8 months! I am happy to think that the upcoming Prime Minister Andrew Sheer and the conservatives will finally be able to lead our country with more integrity than the Liberals have and get Canada back on it’s feet in short order. Pierre Trudeau was enough of a problem for Canada and when his son became Prime Minister my thoughts of a smooth running parliament hill were dashed and Justin finally proved my point! I’m not saying any government is perfect but hopefully when the Conservatives take over they can correct the mess that the Liberals have made of their time in Ottawa.
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With the extreme diet I’ve been on this past year and a half it’s nice to have a feed of Chinese food once in a while. We have been loyal to a specific Chinese restaurant in Waterloo for many years. It’s a place called Kam Yin Restaurant and they have always served very good food with no additives and it’s always been enjoyable to us. About two months ago we hadn’t had their food in a while and decided to treat ourselves to a good Chinese Canadian meal from their establishment. When I got home with the meal and we dished it out onto our plates we found that the egg rolls and one or two of the other foods we used to enjoy were notably different than what we remembered. The egg roll was not only smaller than we remembered but it tasted totally inedible. It was like spoiled veggies wrapped in cardboard! We could not eat them and the chicken chow-mien was also musty tasting and very watery! We tried their food once again a couple of weeks later and found that it was the same as the bad stuff we had the time before. It was apparent that the owners had either changed hands or were just getting their food supply from a different source to save money or whatever and it was not good when compared to their regular fare. We tried two other Chinese food places but were not happy with their food either. So, we decided not to bother with any Chinese restaurants again. After a drought of a couple of months we broke down and decided to try Kam-Yin once again. I had voiced our displeasure with the change in their menu on the second occasion that also disappointed us in hopes that the manager would revert back to their original menu. Once again we ordered our regular favourite dinner for take out and to our surprise, the food was just as good as it used to be over all the years we had previously enjoyed our dinners from Kam-Yin! Thankfully they had reverted back to their original suppliers! Tonight, we once again enjoyed the delicious original fare of years gone by and will in the near future know that we can order from our favourite Chinese Restaurant with confidence! I’d say they are very lucky that we gave them another chance to make our pallets happy! I guess that we were not the only customers to complain about their move to a different supplier and it caused them to revert! Just goes to show you that if enough people speak up that management will listen! It’s the same thing with government, they have to listen to the masses and hopefully the citizens of Canada will keep this in mind and replace our crooked Liberal government with one that’s more honest 8 months from now!

That’s about all I have 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>
Self-confidence leads to self-realization and successful achievement!


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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.