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The
Squamidian Report – April 13 / 24
Online
Versions
Of This And Past Issues Issue
#1142 Russ
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From Russ
Feds are in the dental care business. Was invited to apply - was accepted - eligible for 100% of care - but insurance Co. (Sun Life) will pay only 40% of my bills. The Plan is called, "The Canadian Dental Care Plan" (CDCP) contribution percentage. The 40% will change if my income changes. As it becomes lower, the Plan may increase the percentage of my dental bills. Had a dental appointment this morning - showed the 'cashier' my paperwork (which becomes 'activated' May 1st) She said they will honour my 'Card' from Sun Life because I'm a 'Regular Client', but they will not accept any 'Cards' from "new clients"! Question: Are any of you 'signed-up' for this Federal Plan? If so, what do you think of it? If the 'Plan' is in the hands of the Feds - don't you worry they will "screw-up" as they usually do? I hope this thing works - a saving of 40% is better than a kick in the rectum with a sharp boot! * I was going to write about mud puppy's, maybe next week. Uncle Russ. PS Thank you, Carol (who is visiting Doug in Squamish this week) for phoning my Daughter-in-Law with your concerns about my story for this week's Squamidian not been sent as yet. I'm still OK. ****
From Wayne Wayne sent in this interesting account of their eclipse viewing. Due to it’s length, it is included as an attachment of our reading enjoyment. ****
The Ontarion
Hello everyone I’m back! Still on dialysis at grand river hospital for another two months but after that I will be able to do my own dialysis at home so that will make my week less hectic! Other than that, my life is quite normal! Spring has sprung finally so things are warming up! We’re looking forward to getting the MG out so we can enjoy some top-down touring! I’ve already seen a few convertibles out and about! There are also lots of motorcycles on the roads, even with the days still cool, I sold my motorcycle about 8 years ago but when I see them on the roads, I still miss my riding days a little, but then I realize my current limitations health-wise and know I’m better off in a 4 wheeled vehicle! I still have to connect the MGs battery before we can drive it this spring! That’s not a big project so one of these warm days I’ll uncover the MG and get things ready for this year’s sunny enjoyment! It’s been a long winter and we are all welcoming the spring and summer warmth for sure! I hope that April doesn’t turn cold to spoil this warm spell that’s started April off in a nice way! No April showers to speak of so far! The sunshine has most certainly been a welcome start to spring and I hope it continues! That’s pretty well all that’s on my pea-pickin’ little brain for this week! Speaking of pea-pick in’ Carole’s garlic garden is really spouting well so far and should yield a great crop this year! Of course it can’t be harvested till fall but, so far it looks promising! We’ve love her use of garlic in a lot of her cooking and it’s cool that Carole gets to cook with her own planted garlic! With that said, we can only imagine how gratifying it must be for farmers who plant and use a variety of food crops on their farms! At this time of year we can see the growth of planted crops on rural farms and it’s great to know that farmers in the area are still producing crops that feed the people in Waterloo region and sell these crops at local markets! Our favourite market is the st Jacob’s farmers market on weekdays and weekends! We don’t go there all that often but when we do, we always come away with lot# of fresh veggies to enjoy! Well, thanks for tuning in this week and feel free to share your thoughts and memories with the squid members by writing them to Doug any time you feel like doing so!
Bye for now… Greg! ****
From Carol We went from early spring to deep winter and back to spring again. Yes, I’m talking about our train trip. The cabin felt more cramped then on our first VIA Canadian train trip and I wasn’t able to eat much of the delicious food offered because my stomach issues but other than that we had a wonderful trip. My daffodils were blooming when I left Kitchener and they are blooming here on the west coast but in between winter still has a grip on the country. The pictures following this show northern Ontario with the lakes still frozen and snow everywhere, Al at the Jasper station and Mount Robson. This was the 5th time we have gone by the tallest Canadian Rockies mountain but the first time we actually saw the top half of it because it is usually shrouded in clouds. I enjoyed the trip but was very happy to get off the train and meet up with Doug and Sue. On the way to their home we stopped for our first trip up the Sea to Sky gondola and we were back up again this morning. We are looking forward to our 2 weeks out here before our flight home.
Carol **** From Me
How’s it going…..eh? It was a dark and stormy night… Well, it wasn’t actually all that dark because is wasn’t really night. And it wasn’t really all that stormy because it was just a steady cold rain falling from a gloomy overcast sky. That cold rain in the valley was snow up top and at the elevation of the gondola lodge where we sat by a nice wood fire while enjoying our morning coffee. We could see the snow covered trees all around us, very nice looking and picturesque. What we could not see was the eclipse. That overcast totally blocked any possibility of seeing the sun on that chilly Monday morning of this past week. Of course all we would have seen was about a 28% partial eclipse because this part of the country was too far away from the path of full total coverage. So, while disappointing, it would have been a lot more disappointing had we been lined up for a full or almost full eclipse viewing and couldn’t have seen it. That would have been a real bummer. The last time we had any kind of eclipse here was in 2017 when we had fairly favorable sky's yet even for that one we only had about 80% coverage. We just can’t catch a break. In fact, there won’t be a full eclipse around here for another 70 years. I may have lost interest by then. If you were able to see it, full or even partial, congratulations and I certainly hope you enjoyed it. They are kind of cool things to see. As you obviously know, Carol and Al are out here. Their train was scheduled to pull into the Vancouver rail station at 8am Thursday morning. The web site indicated it would be running about 6 hour late. The train did in fact pull into the station about an hour and a half late. No problem. They disembarked and caught a taxi to Horseshoe Bay were we met them and brought them up to our place. On the way we stopped at the gondola where I procured passes for them. A quick up and back down, and then we headed for home. And thats about it for now.
Doug ****
Have
a
Good One ****
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