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The
Squamidian Report – Dec. 9 / 23
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#1124 Russ Nova Scotia Sus From Wayne The Ontarion
Hey Kids…..
Christmas is coming. You probably knew that but I thought I’d remind you of the fact that next week’s Squid falls on the 16th and then the following one falls on the 23rd. So, our Christmas issue is just around the corner. Time to give some thought on sending in a contributing story for either or both of the upcoming issues. You know you can do it. We’ve had some great replays lately and that’s really good, keep it up because we all like to hear from everyone. It keeps us all feeling connected. It’s been great having Nova Scotia Sus as a regular contributor, please keep it up. Gregs been there for us whenever he can, and we sure did miss Russ while he was unable to do his stories. However, to everyones relief and delight, He’s back. So, lets all make the next two issues as good as they can be. * Do you remember those Honda motorcycle commercials from back in the late 60’s or early 70’s, the ones that said ‘you meet the nicest people on a Honda’? Well, that is a very true statement, you do meet the nicest people on Hondas and other motorcycles. Most of my friends are or were bikers. The people I hang around with the most are all bikers and most are gentle, caring intelligent people that simply like to ride. That’s why I’ve been a member of a motorcycle club for years. You meet the nicest people on a motorcycle. My ‘gang’ (that’s a joke, we are anything but a gang) got together for an end-of-season brunch the other Sunday morning at Troll’s in Horseshoe Bay. We do that every year. It’s always a great time. A few of them rode their bikes to the Bay but most drove because it was a bit chilly out and the roads this time of year can be slippery but everyone made it there just fine. A few will continue to ride all winter except for those times when the streets in and around Vancouver might be icy or snowy. Up here in Squamish we get more winter conditions so riding opportunities don’t happen very often during the winter so my Harley is tucked away until spring. My Enfield is also tucked away but in a way that I could get her out if we were to have a stretch of ‘rideable’ weather and I hope we do. Anyway, we will continue to meet up with our biker friends throughout the winter for coffee etc down in Horseshoe Bay because that’s what we do. But we’ll probably go there in the car because a 50 kilometer ride along the side of Howe Sound in the winter can be pretty cold and wet. * And then there are those ‘atmospheric rivers’ that hit this part of country this time of year. They bring heavy snow to the Interior mountains and they bring very heavy rain to the coastal areas. It’s common to get half a foot of rain over a 24 hr period when these things hit. We had one again this week and it lived up to it’s reputation, drenching us with rather incredible amounts of water. It would be interesting to know what my grandfathers would have thought about these atmospheric rivers. (We used to call them ‘pineapple express’s’ but the name got changed a few years ago). Grandpa up on the farm would have certainly sensed that a big rainstorm was on the way but he could never have believed that so much rain could be delivered in a short day or so. It’s a good thing that these ‘rivers’ didn’t and don’t exist in those old Ontario farming areas because the dumps of rain that occur would simply wash away any sign that the farms had ever been there. It was 2 years ago that most major highways in and around the west coast were washed away by these rains, and most of the Fraser Valley was submerged under 10 ft of water. Hopefully that won’t happen again but the rains of this week have a lot of people on edge and some low areas were stacking sand bags just in case. We are ok here in the Highlands of Squamish but the lower sections along the local rivers are definitely at risk. Fingers crossed. * All of a sudden and quite unexpectedly, I have another bare bones musical video for you guys ‘cause I know how some of you like to be entertained. So, here is my version of the Waylon Jennings song ‘My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys’. Enjoy.
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
And thats all I’ve got for this week.
Doug ****
From Russ
"The Little, Red lie"
Let me take you back a few years- say 85 or so; picture this> In a small village on Highway #8, 5 miles East of Kitchener, named Centreville, we Brubacher kids looked forward to Christmas with great anticipation. Living directly across the highway from our church meant we attended Christmas Service(s) without fail! Christmas back then was, firstly the celebration of the birth of baby Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem.
I can still smell the sweet aroma of the sugar cookies mom baked especially for this important occasion, but we weren't interested in cookies, even though mom sprinkled them with red, and green sugar. No! We couldn't wait for Santa and the toys and maybe even an orange (a very rare treat!) that would be dropped off on Christmas Eve.
Times were hard in the late 30's, so we could expect but one toy each - we boys usually got a wind-up toy made of tin (from Japan), while Evelyn generally got a new doll (a new doll because Howard treated Evelyn's dolls with cruel disrespect, leaving them damaged beyond repair). Oh, how we cherished our one-and-only toy! Once I got a wind-up toy race-car, it made one very loud noise, but travelled at the speed of a turtle!
I still enjoy the smell of a real tree for Christmas, somehow Pop was able to find one every year. (I think he "borrowed" one from one of the nearby farms, but it was never discussed). It was a real tree or nothing - there were no 'fake' trees in those days. Pop always chose to hang the lights - and thank God he did! Those early electric lights were wired in series which meant if one burned out, the whole string was dark! Looking for the 'culprit' was all pop's patience could stand!! Our dad was a 'gentle giant' - he never lost his temper - never threw the damned lights all over the room like some people I know! (Eh, Greg?) * Next week you'll be invited into our small, rented home in Centreville when Santa arrives on Christmas Eve.
Back in business, Uncle Russ. ****
From Nova Scotia Sus
Christmas is closing in fast. Suddenly there is so much to do. Having family in far away places makes you think early for sending parcels in time for Christmas. My niece and her family live in Switzerland so her parcel has to be sent by the end of October in order to reach her by Christmas. This year I decided to send them very light in weight Christmas ornaments just to bring the cost down at the post office. So hopefully the parcel reaches them before they decorate their tree.
Our shopping mall in New Glasgow once was the place to go for all your needs. Now it is so empty of stores. Something is going on and there must be a plan for those vacant spaces. No one seems to know why they all left. We had to take a trip to Truro to complete our shopping.
We got hit hard the other day with tons of heavy snow. It took a tractor and a plow to clear our driveway and then wait for the main road to be plowed. I had to cancel my work day and explain to people the road was impassable. Since we are at a higher elevation we always get more snow.
We have a black cat visiting us regularly. I can see his tracks everywhere probably looking for a new home. We left food out for him and a comfy spot to sleep in our woodshed. So far he runs away when we show ourselves. Not sure if he is looking for a home or just a free loader. He looks healthy and so easy to see in the white snow.
Sus ****
From Wayne
Hello Squids: In case brother Russell is still absent from the Squamidian newsletter, or, even if he is back, here is a little contribution from his youngest sibling, hardly even 90 years old. Nevertheless a vignette transpired lately that made me aware that time is passing and that others are viewing me as 'old'!
My daughter Sonja, said that the kids in her daughter's kindergarten class did not have a puppet theatre to play with so would I make one for them? Sure, why not? Here it is ready for delivery.
Soon the kids and the teacher sent a thank-you note written on a sheet of paper as big as the theatre.
Now I feel like some kind of old Grampa - which I am, but I'm not used to feeling that way!
Wayne ****
The Ontarion
Hello everyone, For some reason I’m sitting here freezing my buns off! I’ve been very cold even in the summer time ever since my heart surgery! I guess it’s to do with my thin blood created by the blood thinners I’ve been on ever since my surgery! I guess thin blood no longer keeps one’s body warm naturally! It seems that if I take a couple of Tylenols I tend to warm up some but never enough to be comfortable! Oh well, I’ll just have to pile on the sweaters to warm up but most times that doesn’t even help! Maybe I should just get back on the tread mill regularly to generate more body heat! Of course the winter temperatures don’t help either! It’s cold here now but we have no snow as of yet in KW! It might help if I dig out my insulated winter coveralls and wear them around inside the house. I’ve done that before but they are out in the ccccold garage and I don’t feel like going out there to find them! LOL! Oh well, I’ll just have to tough it out I guess!
The Office is always cold even when the furnace is on but I do have my nice electric heater that Carole and Adam gave me for Christmas about 6 years ago so I’ll just have to make due with that! Trouble is, it only heats the side of me that it’s sitting on. I have it on a small stool beside my chair and that side is cozy for sure but the heat doesn’t permeate right through me to the other side! Just my tough luck guess!
We’re almost ready for Christmas but before that occasion arrives, we have to celebrate Carole’s birthday on December the 11th! She’s turning 39 again just like Jack Benny used to do every year! LOL! I’m surprised that Doug’s Uncle Russ hasn’t kept up this tradition of staying 39 forever! Hahahaha….! I don’t mind admitting that I’m over 39 in fact I’m well over 70 at this point! I’ll be 75 on January the 11th! For the most part, the only time I’m really nice and warm is when I get out in the car to do some shopping for Carole’s household list! I still have to do my Christmas shopping yet but before that there’s still Carole’s Birthday to look after! At this stage in our lives there’s little that any of us needs but we always manage to think of something for each other on any special occasion! * You may remember that we had purchased a new fridge a year and three months ago and right off the bat it malfunctioned and we had to have the service person come to try to fix it 4 times until Whirlpool finally replaced it for us with a second new fridge of the same model. However the second one froze everything we put in it and they couldn’t figure out why that was happening. On the occasion of the third service call to attempt to fix it the service man found a wire had been broken inside the control harness of the fridge and was shorting the compressor out to make it run all the time. This caused everything to freeze and it could not be fixed. So, it was another manufacturer’s defect and consequently we are now waiting for delivery on our third new fridge to be delivered. The Whirlpool company has a shortage of the next model that will suit our needs. It’s a different model by Whirlpool that will fit in our kitchen and they are going to phone us when they have one available to send us. It should be here before Christmas, or so they told us! We aren’t holding our breath in anticipation of an early delivery!
When they delivered the first replacement fridge, the delivery guys severely scratched our hardwood floor all the way from the kitchen to the front door so Whirlpool is now replacing the flooring in that area, when they get around to it that is! In the meantime, they are sending us a different fridge for the third time and, fingers crossed this one will be a working new fridge so we won’t have any more problems with it! Now all we have to do is get the floor replace after they send the third fridge! It’s been a real shmozzle for sure and to handle all this stress before Christmas has been a difficult time for sure! Wish us luck please! Dealing with a company that is located in Tennessee has been a real bummer for sure but at least they are standing good for their products and our troubles!
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 and stay healthy!
Happy Christmas shopping everyone and don’t leave it until the last minute!
All the best…. Greg. ****
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