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The Squamidian Report – Mar. 23 /19
Issue #878
Including: From Lorne From Karl From Russ The Ontarion Hi All, Remember last week when I said spring was just around the corner, or something somewhat similar? Well, it was, and it blipped right into summer for a few days. On both Tuesday and Wednesday, Squamish was the hot-spot for the whole country. In fact it was too hot so sit out in the sunshine, for me at least. The down-side is that those alder trees that were just about ready to spew their miserable pollen back in January have suddenly erupted. It is now definitely and officially pollen season around here. That I could do without. And to answer the question Russ will ask in his column below, no, the bike is not yet on the road. Many of my friends have theirs out but there has not yet been an opportunity for me to get mine out. *
You
may also remember that used Gibson guitar I brought home a few weeks
ago…. I decided to do a bit more ‘tweaking’ to it to get a better sound
and feel. To that end I got rid of the light gauge strings I that were
on it. I hate the sound of light strings, they have a frustrating
noisiness to them that bugs me. They also have a harsh high end and a
defused low end. Don’t like that either. I much prefer medium strings,
they give a more mellow sound as well as more punch if needed. So, on
went a set of mediums but before doing that I shaved another 64th off
the saddle, lowering the strings by that amount. (I had shaved the
saddle a bit when I first brought the guitar home). Once the new
strings were on I then adjusted the relief of the neck by a minuscule
amount. The neck is supposed to have a tiny bit of positive bow to it.
Heavier gauge strings pull a tad bit more than lights and so can pull
the neck a bit more. Most guitars have a truss rod that runs through
the length of the neck and can be adjusted using a small wrench or
whatever via access at either the head or from inside the sound hole.
With the Gibson it is under a decorative cover on the front of the head
stock. An 8th of a turn and relief hight and neck bow was right where I
wanted it.The guitar’s sound is now cleaner and crisper. String noise is gone. I’m happy. The comparison between the Gibson and the Martin is more honest as they are now running the same strings and setup is identical. The Martins tone wood is Indian Rosewood with a spruce top while the Gibson is Mahogany with a spruce top. They each have their own voice as it should be. The Martin will always have a richer sound. As to a final comparison, everyone’s ear will hear differently and they will judge by their own taste. Now on to the other columns below. doug
**** From Lorne ‘The Trip of a Lifetime’ should read ‘the trip can take a lifetime’. We arrived at Vancouver 17 hours late. It seems a none stop procession of cargo trains coming toward Via passenger have priority and it was a case of going from one siding to the next and sitting there while as many as 5 trains all with up to 200 cars would rumble by. When finely we are free to proceed, at full rocking speed ahead to get off the main line to allow another double stacked container monster to thunder by. Who buys all that imported stuff that eventually ends up in this countries landfills? On the up side, to see Canada this way is a trip of a lifetime. The meals are very good with several choices and being late, we enjoyed 5 days for the price of 4. Day three, Sunshine and warm. Low 20s. Sitting on the back deck in summer attire. Up to the mountain top on a gondola car making a total of 52 trips so far over the years. Should hit 60 by going home time. Drove down to Horseshoe bay for our evening dinner. Spring flowers in bloom. Blue skies, shining on me, nothing but blue skies, do I see. High of 25.9 Cel. After a trip up to the top, we drove to Pemberton. Always great to go as far as the grizzly bear caution sign. Now on to Thursday, dawning clear but a bit cooler. Friday, the day of publication of this tabloid. We have returned from our daily morning trip to the upper lodge via one of 20 gondola cars. Looking down we can see clouds, sometimes airplanes and on clear days, across the straight of Georgia, the mountains on Vancouver Island. But don’t come out as there are enough tourists already. That is why we go mornings before the crowd of many nations arrive. I shall make a final report next Monday for next week’s edition as once again we board the Via Rail. The return trip on Tuesday along with no end of freight trains. Destination, the grey old East. Lorne
**** From Karl Had a great day with Ryan today we drove over to the West side of Melbourne ,Stoped in at Williamstown for Coffee and Lunch then drove round my neck of the woods Altona then home to catch up with Karen at our house and another Coffee,I will be going to the Show tomorrow, here is a photo from Williamstown Pier overlooking the City of Melbourne..   **** From Russ “When the red, red, Robin comes bob, bob, bobbin’ along, there’ll be no more sobbin’ when he starts throbbin’ his old, sweet song. Wake up, wake up, you sleepy head, get up, get out of bed. Cheer up, cheer up, the sun is red, live, love, laugh and be happy. What if I were blue, now I’m – “ Spring officially arrived @ 5:58 PM Wednesday, March 20th. The sap is running - the evaporators are humming. Saturday, March 16th, I spotted a Robin eating some from berries from a holly bush at the front of my cottage; not a ‘normal’ part of it’s diet. His red breast was not rounded, but flat – his stomach was empty - -close to starvation. Later, the same day, I counted four more scratching the bare, dry ground under a large Hemlock tree at the back of my property. They were anxiously scratching for food, but I don’t know what they were able to find - if anything. At this time of year, the lake is still frozen out as far as the eye can see, and snow and ice covers most of the ground. “Why did you arrive so early?” I wanted to ask them. There are no earthworms or bugs available until much later. The Robins have flown a long ways, they are exhausted and famished. Old Man Winter is still in command around Point Clark. No doubt, many Robins will die. I don’t get to ride my 3 – wheeler much these days, as we have gravel roads front and back of my place, which quickly turn to mud when it thaws – hard to peddle when the tires are sucked into mud! Luckily, the driveway and parking areas are paved, so I make do by riding figure eights and wheel-eez until I get dizzy. Good thing there are no neighbours around or they would say, “There’s that crazy old man out on his bike again- now he’s REALLY lost it!” But, it’s exercise for me. The Spring Season is always later on the shores of Lake Huron, no doubt Greg is starting his lawn and garden work and the place is over-flowing with Robins! Doug is experiencing a late Spring as well. Have you had the Harley out yet? Russ.
**** THE ONTARION REPORT Hello everyone! Well, we’ve finally seen the edge of spring here in KW. We’ve seen not only our first few Robins arrive but also have had a pair of well fed Canada Geese resting on our front lawn for the past few days. They seem content to just land and lay on the lawn and watch as people and vehicles pass by in close proximity. The fact that people are walking within 10 or so feet of their resting place doesn’t seem to bother them in the least. With the exception of a few bratty young teenagers that think it’s funny to try to scare the geese with sudden moves and screams most of the people walking past think that the geese are lovely to see up close and wouldn’t even think of scaring them off their resting place. I happen to think along those lines as well and as long as they want to use our front lawn as a chez-lounge I’m ok with that! I’ve even managed to take some fairly close up pictures of them as they rest in their chosen spots this early spring. A few years ago when they first started arriving on our front lawn they crossed the street and made their nest on a small patch of grass between two of the neighbour’s driveway ramps. It seemed like a precarious place to establish their spring home but they went about laying their eggs and sitting on them in turns with the eventual outcome of hatching their young. They sat on them for a couple of days but as luck would have it the young kids that lived in the house adjoining the driveway they chose for their nest decided that it would be “fun” to destroy the eggs! Most of the neighbours were appalled when this wanton destruction occurred but of course it was too late once these young vandals crushed the eggs. I hope that if the geese make a nest nearby this year they will choose a less conspicuous spot to build and their eggs will be safe from vandals! I happen to like seeing wildlife in the suburbs and it’s sad to think that there are those among us that make sport of destroying the efforts of Mother Nature’s creatures! *
With
spring in mind, my thoughts also turn of course to getting our MGB out
from under it’s cover and ready for a summer of top down driving. Back
in January for my 70th birthday, Carole and Adam presented me with a
gift certificate stating that they would purchase the one last item I
need to complete the restoration efforts of the MG. They told me that
they would pay for what is called a “Wind Blocker” for the MG. It’s
something that I’ve wanted for the car since seeing an MGB at a car
show last year with one of the same installed on it’s interior. It’s an
item that is mounted behind the seats. It stands vertically behind the
head rests of the seats and it blocks the wind that usually flows over
the windshield and swirls around hitting the driver and passenger on
the back of the head and neck area. On cooler days it’s quite
uncomfortable to say the least. The “Wind Blocker” is a mesh screen
that the driver can still see through using his rear view mirror yet it
stops the flow of strong breezes from behind. Thus making riding in a
convertible much more comfortable! Last Monday I received a message via
e-mail from the British car parts supplier that I deal with telling me
that the Wind Blocker I had ordered had come in from the warehouse in
California and was ready for pickup any time this week. So when the
weather was nice this past Tuesday I decided to drive to Ancaster to
pick it up. It took me about an hour each way from Kitchener to the
supplier and back to go and get it but now I have it in my possession.
Once the weather is warm enough I’ll get the MG out of the garage and
take some time to install the new addition to the restoration project.
I’m looking forward to having the MG with the blocker installed. It
will not only look cool with this item installed but it’ll of course be
more comfortable when driving on the highways this summer. I just want
to thank Carole and Adam for their kind addition to the MGB
restoration. It’s pretty much the last item I’ll need to complete the
little British car or LBC as those in the know call Brit vehicles.
There is one more thing I want to do to the MGB before saying it’s
complete. That is, replacing the oil seal that’s between the engine and
the transmission. It’s been dripping on the garage floor ever since I
totally rebuilt the drive train back in 2001. I did a total rebuild
only to find that it still leaked even after all the seals were
replaced at that time. Just a tad disappointing to do all that work and
find that it still leaked! Oh well, they’ve improved seal methods since
then and there is a shop in Waterloo that is noted for their good work
at resealing engines. I’m going to talk to the proprietors and see if
they can help me with stopping the oil leak and tell me how much it
will cost to do so. As long as they quote me a reasonable amount and a
guarantee for the work I hope to get it done to my satisfaction this
summer. Then, it will be finished totally! Whew! FINALLY! With that in mind, it’ll be, as Murray Westgate used to say in the ESSO commercials back in the 60’s “Happy Motoring”! *
Even
though this winter didn’t start off to be a normal snowy one it sure
has seemed to drag out and be cold and miserable for the second half of
the season. I’m sure if you’re like me you’ll be very happy to see the
spring warm things up after the arctic flow of extremely cold air we’ve
been experiencing for the past two months or more. The snow has melted
off our front lawn since our house faces south and the lawn is actually
green. I guess that’s why the geese took a liking to it so early.
Hopefully it’ll stay green and won’t be covered with snow again before
summer sets in!That’s about all 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> Originality consists not in saying what no one has heard, but in saying what you think yourself. ****
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. |