Issue #937
Including:

From Nova Scotia Sus
From Russ
From Wayne
The Ontarion

Hi All,

There are positive sides to this pandemic…. One of them is that our street has turned into a playground for the local kids. Everything from 2yr olds to teens are out there ever day, rain or shine, riding their bikes and skateboards. They build ramps and jumps in the middle of the street. They set out cones to ride around, they even make pivoting ramps to go over. It’s pretty cool watching a street full of kids every day as they gain skills, get exercise in the fresh air and so on. Mind you, driving down the street in the car or truck needs to be slow and careful as a kid can and do come flying out from anywhere at any time. The bottom line is, the kids on this street are having the time of their lives doing things that kids should be doing.

Another positive aspect is the clear air. Our ‘normal’ air here is quite clear but now with the reduction in industrial emissions and reduction in various forms of transportation, the air is incredibly clear. I’ve mentioned this before but I still marvel at just how clear the views are.

There’s the other side too…. Like how frustrating it is to be in a grocery store when the ‘general public’ is in there as well. We have the first hour of each day set aside for us old seniors so we can shop in an orderly manor without being trampled and shoved by young adults as they madly push their way around. And that works fine when we can do our shopping during senior’s hour but when we find ourselves running into a store or where ever to pick up a few items we must put up with the entitled younger adults who have no regard for social distancing and no respect for anyone else and seem to see themselves as ‘immune’. You’d like nothing better than to smack a few of them but it would do no good at all so best thing is to stay away when possible and let the morons do their thing.

Getting stuff that isn’t groceries is also a downer these days. With the exception of Canadian Tire and a few other places, nothing is open. If there is something you need but can’t get it at CTC or a build-all store, you are stuck with ordering it on line. That brings up the whole hassle of dealing with the post office. I won’t even go into that.

Then there is the fact that here in BC there are over 4,500 hospital beds sitting empty. Operating rooms and emergency wards also sit empty. Most doctors and surgeons and other medical staff have nothing to do as all, none virus medical issues have been relegated to ‘2nd class’ and have been put on the back burner. I have a feeling more people will die from the pandemic effort than from the actual disease. We’ll never know because those numbers will never be made available. And I never even mentioned how badly I need a haircut.

On the up-side again, the BC government has laid out it’s re-opening plans. There will be 4 phases with the first phase starting next week. Certain services and businesses etc will be permitted to re-open under strict conditions, dentists, doctors, therapists and so on. Even some restaurants if they can meet the criteria as well as parks on a day-use basis. Social groups will be able to expand a small amount and some schooling will return. Masks and distancing will be important and the next phases of going forward will depend on how this phase goes.

Now, as for this week’s musical distraction, there isn’t one. Never seemed to be any opportunity to work on it. Maybe next week, maybe not.

doug

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From Nova Scotia Sus

I'm very sorry to hear of Sue and Sherry's Mom passing. I remember her very well and always thought of her as a wonderful lady. It is such a difficult time and even more so, in a time, when we aren't able to be together.

And speaking of difficult times before all this virus was in the picture we had signed up for the Bowl for Kids Sake that was to be held April 4th. We put a team together and started collecting pledges for the cause. Leading up to that date we realized since we hadn't bowled in years that we should do some practice runs. First time out and only after two games we were feeling quite sore. All around us were senior teams doing their weekly thing, laughing and having fun. So it was quite embarrassing to see us limping out of the alley. How could that be?? We are outside people what with gardening, collecting and splitting our own wood, tapping and collecting sap, constructing another building for chickens, and the list goes on and on. So how come we can't bowl??? Between asking my yoga teacher and seeing on TV how they train football players I learned what to do. The answer was to walk low with your knees fully bent putting one foot in front of the other. It looks funny but it sure helped. Next trip to the alley went much better and I got through 3 games darn good. And then it all got cancelled because of the virus. So they didn't want to lose all those pledges and have figured out how to do virtual bowling. I don't have those capabilities so I will just send in my pledges by email transfer.

Spring has not quite sprung here in Nova Scotia. Last week we had a foot of heavy snow and had to plow. It took about half a week for most of it to disappear and since there has been rain and snow mix. We did have the odd nice pleasant day. Spring is not the time to visit Nova Scotia but all the other seasons including winter are great. I hope everyone is doing well, staying safe and healthy.

Sus

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From Russ

Wouldn't you know....

I’m in the kitchen preparing a pot of chicken & veggie stew when the phone chirps – it’s Diane, my housekeeper, she’s made a chicken stew for Fred and her and they’ve some left over, would I like some? (my dad used to say, “Never look a gift-horse in the mouth”. That’s good advice. Yes, I would appreciate that, thanks very much (Thinking I could freeze some). She begins to tell me what all she cooks with her chicken; rice, carrot, onion, etc., and just one clove of garlic. Wow! Sounds good, but I can’t handle garlic – it gives me instant runs.

“But, it’s only a little bit”, she whines.
Sorry, but thanks anyway.

“I’ve got something else for you – when would be a good time to drop it off?” Right now is as good a time as any, says I.

“OK, I’ll meet you on the deck – I’ll keep my ‘distance’” she explains. Shortly, she pulls her wee car into my driveway, and first thing I notice as she climbs out is a pretty bunch of Daffodils in one hand, and - - NO! It can’t be – is that really what I think it is? Lemon pie?

“Yes, I know you like it, (I’d kill for lemon pie) so I brought you a piece”. Yummy! Did you bake it yourself? “All except for the crust”, she answers. Handing me the pie, I’m overjoyed to see it’s a big piece – one-quarter of a pie, and nice and deep (the topping I’ll flip off – not very fond of that stuff!)

PIG! I ate every bit in two ‘sittings’!

I think I’ve died and gone to Heaven – second time a lady has brought me flowers this week – and my favourite flavour of pie to boot!

COVID – 19 has MUCH downside, but, there’s something to be said about a wee bit of ‘up-side’; when you are an old man in isolation, ladies have pity, and the result is a welcome treat!

Your old Uncle Russ.

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From Wayne

Neil Ferguson, whom author Jon Rappoport refers to as "Professor Lockdown" was asked to resign from Imperial College for carrying on his secret love affair at less than 6 feet separation and, for the lesser offense of traumatizing his unsuspecting wife. You may recall that I had referred to Ferguson a few days ago as the man who made all the wild predictions about the danger of Covid19, that deaths would be in the hundreds of millions and that he had made the same outlandish predictions about the swine flu, the bird flu and perhaps more hoax plandemics. He had both Trump's and Fauci's ear which resulted in a lockdown of the whole world with about as much evidence as was relied upon to attack Iraq. Remember? "Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction"!

Following Rappoport's article were the usual readers' comments and his followers, for the most part, are serious thinkers.

Rarely, but occasionally, a commenter will eclipse the wisdom of the author even if only for a brief sentence. This one stopped me cold. I read it several times and finally thought that you should read it, too.

Wayne

"Developed societies do get less intelligent as they both advance in knowledge and gain in size. See specifically 'Sex Verses Civilization' and 'Why Civilizations Self-Destruct' by Elmer Pendell."

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

Well, we’ve got another week under our belts and here in Ontario the numbers of infected are slowly declining! Let’s keep our fingers crossed that someone comes up with a cure soon for this dreaded virus! In the meantime, lets continue to practice social distancing and all of the other actions necessary to quell the growth of this virus.

Unlike the States where the people are demanding that the country be opened for business before they’ve got their share of Covid under control. What a bunch of idiots they’ve got in so many of their states. As they said on the news last night Trump is not concerned with anything but being re elected this coming fall so he’s allowing any and all businesses to open too early!

Oh well, as long as they keep it on their side of the border they can do what they want! I for one think that our Ontario premiere Ford is doing a great job of controlling things here in this province. I’m not so sure that even the limited openings of businesses here in Ontario is a smart move as of yet. We’ll just have to wait and see how things turn out here. In the meantime we here in our house intend to keep up the safety practices for another couple of months! Good luck to all of you in the Squid family and stay safe!

Other than the virus situation we’ve been working around the yard and house to keep ourselves busy. Adam and I started the re leveling of the flagstone walkway out the back and side of the house and we’ve managed to get a real good start on it in the first three days of this week. Now the weather is changing for the worse and we’ve had to stop work on it for the next few days until the sun shines once again this coming week. We’ve removed the stones from their original bed and piled them on the patio for now. We’ve also roto tilled the ground and lowered the level of the walkway a couple of inches as well as made it more level. The old walkway had grass growing up between the stones and it was a pane in the butt to have to trim it every time I cut the grass. This time we’ll put down material to stem the growth of grass and weeds and the trimming will no longer be necessary. We just have to wait until we can pick up some bedding fine stone to spread beneath the flagstones early next week and then we can lay the flagstones back down to finish things off. The fine crushed stone will also be used to fill in between the flagstones in place of the grass that used to be there. Then, no more trimming will be needed! Two more days of sunshine should do the trick! Other than this project, I still have to open the pond out back for the season. Those are the two major projects of the season. The only big project we have to face is having a new roof put on the house. We had a roof replacement about 10 years ago but it hasn’t lasted very well and is in need of replacement again. All I have to do is find a reputable contractor that will install a good quality shingle this time. I may even look into a metal roof this time! But then again, why would I go to that expense to have a roof that will outlast me? LOL!

Spring has been a long time coming and it will sure be nice when it finally gets here. We’ve had on and off sunshine over the past month or so but this weekend’s forecast is calling for flurries once again so, who knows when the heck the real thing will finally arrive! Might be a good thing if it does hold off until the scientists get a handle on a cure for Covid before it arrives and entices everyone to want to be outside again! Anybody with any common sense will continue to shelter inside until things get better health wise anyway! Even with all the warnings about Covid spread, people are still venturing out without face masks and not practicing social distancing. So many of them seem to have that “it won’t happen to me” attitude! How foolish can people be anyway? Sorry to say that those people need to be taught a serious lesson! In the meantime, we’ll be keeping our safety guards up for many months to come! The last thing I need is to be exposed to more health problems and I certainly don’t want any of my family members infected by making a foolish move during this serious time in our world history!

That’s all I have to say 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 … and stay safe …. Greg

PS: Something To Think About>

Try your best to concentrate on happy things instead of the continuous gloom and doom of every news cast!

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