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The
Squamidian Report – May 18 / 24
Online
Versions
Of This And Past Issues Issue
#1147 Russ Karl The Ontarion Doug
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From Russ
Bits & pieces. First, an update on this old guy's condition: 1. I still have diverticulosis. 2. I'm still anemic. 3. I still have hemorrhoids. 4. I still have an ulcer where I sit. But, now it's OFFICIAL! I don't have Cancer, or a stomach ulcer!! YEAH!! I would 'jump for joy', if I could jump! * We've had lots of rain for the past week or so, now the sun is out and the sky is blue, and Lake Huron is the most welcome colour of Navy Blue! My 'lawn' is ablaze with colour from a large variety of blooming weeds. It's a shame to mow the grass, but it's growing so fast I swear you can see it getting taller as you look at it! I am lucky to have a young man to mow, and trim my 'lawn'. His mother has to drive him and his equipment to his several clients, as he's only 16 and is "without wheels". He's been doing my 'lawn' since he was 13. He's big for his age, and tall - about 6' 3", and is a "good business head". He's bought all his own lawn-care equipment, and I wouldn't be surprised one of these days he'll arrive in his own car/truck. Joel is not one of your 'typical 'teen ager's'; he's polite, properly attired, and trustworthy. He always gives me a big smile and "thank you" when I pay him. * My #1 son Mac, is flying into London airport from Calgary on Saturday, and will be here for my Birth Day on May 21st. He's always "up-beat" and lots of fun, not to mention he's an excellent cook! We'll eat, drink, and be merry!! My #1 son, Greg, and his wife, Bettie will not be here upon Mac's arrival as they will be in Owen Sound for needles Greg gets for macular degeneration. (Sp?) You can be sure there will be a trip to Heidleburg for a feast of roasted pig's tails, as Mac always makes sure he includes that when he comes to this area. His Mother, and Grandmother used to make this dish when Mac was growing up in KW - apparently they don't eat "that part" of a pig in Calgary! Hope you all have a safe, and happy long weekend.
Russ. ****
From Karl Hi everyone I have been meaning to write but time just get away from me so fast but today I will fill you in on my days and nights I have been out a lot taking photos which you all know is my hobby plus I go to Club meetings and get together events by the time I get home Im buggered I put a lot of k’s on my walks ,I love to here about everyones stories from around Canada you may have heard COON came to visit me and we went on a road trip down the great Ocean road then Karin went into hospital but everything is OK now I sent Doug a heads up about the Aurora which hit the Earth both North AND South poles at the same time so I ended up going out BUT not to far because the Aurora was everywhere around us in Melbourne WITH clear sky’s it was magic so here are some of my photos of the Aurora Australis hope you enjoy and take care everyone and have a great Summer. CHEERS.. Karl
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The Ontarion
Hello everyone! I’ve decided to write good and early this week just so I get enough of a column in on time! Uncle Russ always seems to write a nice full story each week so I figured I’d try to match his literary skills this time! Over the years I’ve developed a love for vehicles and it hasn’t lessened at all with everything else I’ve had to contend with! With a short break in my hospital visits Carole and I took advantage of the lull and went car shopping two weeks ago! We first went to the Kitchener Nissan dealer on Victoria st! They had a beautiful new 2023 Qashqai model on sale and it was in a colour we both liked very much! It was a red (burgundy) colour with a black leather interior! We tried to deal on the price but the modern day dealers set the price and there’s no making an offer like in the old days! The price is the price and that’s it! So after trying our best we headed home to think it over! Upon talking it over, Adam looked on line and found an identical vehicle over at Guelph Nissan that was new and $7000.00 cheaper than Kitchener’s price! So, first thing the next day, we headed to Guelph to check it out! To our surprise the vehicle was still available and we were able to try it out and make the decision to buy it there and then! Two days later, the car was ready for us to pick up! We went then and brought the beauty home! We are now the proud owners of a new vehicle we liked very much! It actually is an SUV but a tad smaller than the Jeep has been! Now all we have to do is sell the Jeep! I’m sure it will sell quite easily since it’s a low mileage vehicle and in great shape for its age! It’s a 2011 so it will appeal to someone quite readily! In fact, our neighbour has shown an interest in it already for his daughter! Hopefully he’ll come up with the cash soon and the Jeep will be someone else’s new vehicle! With that said I’m sure it’ll be sold soon! We have a new trailer hitch to be installed next week and then I’ll talk to the neighbour about buying the Jeep! Finally we’ll be able to fit our Nissan and Adam’s truck in the driveway again. It’s been a little tight with the three vehicles this past few weeks! Then, we can start driving our new SUV full time! We’re looking forward to that very much! It’ll most likely be our last new vehicle unless we win the lottery in the meantime! In case you don’t know what a Qashqai is you can look them up on line! It’s an odd name and in the States they call it a Nissan Rogue Sport! They are a little bit smaller than a Rogue in Canada! So much for my car fetish for this week! It’s been a while since talking cars! Hope I haven’t bored you this time! Thanks for tuning in this week and more! I’ll look forward to more columns to come! Take care everyone and be safe all!
GREG. ****
From Me
How’s it going…..eh? This is one of those weeks where I have nothing at all to talk about. Some of you my find that to be a relief, and I certainly can’t hold that against you. So, out of the need to come up with something, I’ll chat about my flight simulator program. That should bore most of you pretty badly, perhaps even put you to sleep, but perhaps a couple of you my find it interesting. I’m just now starting to realize how deep and intense this simulator can be. There is an almost endless amount of configuring that can be done. You start off with the most basic VFR setup where hopefully you ‘learn’ to fly. As you improve and advance, you start to add aspects of reality such as wind, weather, radio work, navigation, and so on, right up to IFR commercial environments. Needless to say I’m still right at the basics and struggling with my landings. I can take off fairly well, and go to where I want to go fairly smoothly, but those landings are proving to be just as hard as when I flew real Cessnas way back years ago. Perhaps even a bit harder as a simulator can’t induce the sensations you’d feel when doing ‘real’ flying. (Big, commercial expensive simulators can give a real feel as they include movement and motion). If my ‘landings’ were happening in real life, I’d never be aloud anywhere near an airplane again. I am still struggling with them, big time. I’ve set my little local airport as my home field and ‘fly’ from here. As said last week, the graphics are quite spectacular and so ‘flying’ here in the mountains is down right scenic. Flying out the Sound gives a great view of the Sound, the islands, and the mountains. I’ve flown through Indian Arm Pass and out into the Fraser Valley where I’ve landed at the Pit Meadows airport, then flown back home just as daylight was fading. I have to get back before dark as I’m flying VFR (visual flight rules) and the Squamish airport is a none-controlled field as well as not having any runway lighting. I have the program set to real computer time so I’m flying in real time. If its noon for real, its noon in the flight. If its getting dark in real time, its getting dark in the flight. If a real flight would take an hour of time, the simulator flight also takes an hour of time. I did a cross country flight, broken into several segments that had me leave here, fly to YVR where I ‘left the plane parked for the night’, and then headed for the Chilliwack field way out in the Fraser Valley where I again ‘over-nighted’. The next leg of the digital flight took me out to Hope and then up the Fraser Canyon. For that flight I held an elevation of just 1500 ft and was therefore below the tops of the canyon walls. That took some tight turning maneuvers but it was fun. It also took all of my attention. I ended that flight segment at the Lillooet field. The next leg of my simulated journey took me to Pemberton. For that flight I decided not to follow the Duffy but instead fly down the length of Seaton Lake and then Anderson Lake to D’arcy and follow through the high valley out to the Pemberton Valley. That flight needed an elevation of 3,500 ft in order to clear the high valley terrain. It took me several attempts to land at the Pemberton field but once landed I again ‘over-nighted’. This flying stuff is really hard and quite exhausting for an old fart like me. The next day I did the easy flight back to the Squamish field where I crashed during my attempted landing. This field is very short, very narrow, surrounded by tall trees and has a mountain just off the north end of runway 15 and in real life is know to be one of the hardest field to fly into or out of in the country. I’m still struggling with my landings here but at some point I’ll get good enough to ‘not crash’. I’ve also done a nice multi-legged fight around the northern section of the Strait of Georgia where I visited the Sechelt field, Powel River, Campbell River, Comox, Nanaimo and so on. I won’t bore you with the details but will say the each flight is so realistic and demanding that I end up quite bushed by the time I shut down the program. It is fun, educational and yes, very demanding, and, I’m quite enjoying it. Oh, I’m under pressure to get fairly good at basic VFR as I have a couple of friends who are getting interested in setting up their own system but would need some basic ‘flying lessons’. Luckily, they are not in a hurry as I have a long way to go before I get that proficient.
Doug ****
Have
a
Good One ****
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