The Squamidian Report – July 30 / 22
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Issue #1053

Hey There,

We are having a HEAT WAVE!. After that winter that wouldn’t stop, the sun finally came out and the temps have gone through the roof. Forest fires have sprung up in the Interior as the hill dry out. It is now too hot to go outside during the day, at least for me it is. Now, as you may or may not know, we had ordered a heat pump last fall and had been told it could very easily be January before it could be installed. Well, the unit itself didn’t arrive until June. So, the unit didn’t get installed until last week. Just as the temperatures began to rise. However, even though the outside base unit is installed and the inside wall unit is installed, and the plumbing that runs between them is in place, the electrical hookup could not be done as no electrician was available. The company that supplied and installed the heat pump has been trying to arrange an electrician to do the job so that they could finish their end of the installation. As of now, the soonest an electrician can come is sometime next week. So, to that end, the installer dropped by and jury rigged the system so it could be up and running during the worst of the heat wave.

He dropped by on Monday and ran a temporary electrical line from our car charging outlet (the one we have yet to use for charging a car or anything else) to the base unit which is under the back deck, out of the weather and protected from everything. He charged up the system and got it working nicely. Suddenly our house was nice and cool. Wow. It will be interesting to see how well this works during heating season too. We could never install a comventional A/C unit here as we have electric baseboard heaters, no ductwork. What really impresses me is how quiet the system is, both the base unit and the wall unit are just a whisper. So, we can now enjoy a cooled off livable house as we wait for the electrician to do the proper hookup.

*

I had a very close call on my motorcycle, perhaps the closest I've ever had. It's a sunny hot weekend, there is a music festival happening here in Squamish and traffic is heavy and the highway clogged with the usual crazies. I decided to do a nice slow ride through the backstreets of town just to enjoy the bike and basically just ‘get away’. Along the street I was riding are townhouses, bike lanes, and so on. I'm riding at about 25 k even though it is posed for 50, because of the walkers, bicycle riders, and traffic all using the street. I'm watching the on-coming traffic as per usual. There is white car approaching with other vehicle following it. It reached the point where I no longer considered it a threat as it must be continuing on by. No! It suddenly pulled that left turn we all dread, so close in front of me that the part of my brain that could think didn't think I had a chance. Luckily for me, that other part of my brain that skills training has helped train applied all the braking that ABS would apply, and leaned the bike to the left in a desperate hope of collision avoidance. I managed to get stopped and avoid that collision but as I was leaning the bike did go down onto the engine bar. I have no idea how there isn't a tire mark on here passenger side rear door.

The vehicle following me and the vehicle following the car that pulled the left turn both stopped to assist. I had stayed on my feet and was not hurt, but was shaken and pissed off. The bike has a scratch on the engine guard but nothing else. The car that had cut me off had turned into one of the condo units. I asked if anyone saw where she went and was told yes, and that someone had told her she needed to come back, which she did. A young mother with a child in the car.

After righting the bike and moving it out of the middle of the road, I met the woman as she got out of her car. She wasn't sure what to do or even what she had done. She stated that she did not see me (so commonly stated when this kind of thing happens) and wanted to turn in ahead of the oncoming car (the one behind me). I calmly explained what she had done and how, how she could have killed me, and so on. I went on to explain that she needed to watch for motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians as the street was full of all kinds of traffic. I stayed calm, I could see the realization build in her face, and held her hand as she began to cry.

Although this could have been very bad, in the end we all went home intact. Perhaps she will be a more attentive driver in the future, no way of knowing but if she is, that would be good. This could have been so different an outcome, something I'd rather not think too much about. Had I let my inner anger explode and go ballistic on her, she would have learned nothing and would have ended up hating bikes and bikers. Hopefully by being calm and gentle as I educated her on the dangers of not paying full attention, she will come away with a better appreciation of others on the road around her.

doug

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