The Squamidian Report, Oct. 26/02

HI ALL.

Picking up where I left off last week, Sue and Janis went into the city to do some shopping on Saturday. Sue didn't want to be gone all day but you know how it goes. I headed up to do some wiring for Warren. Turned out he'd fallen off a ladder earlier in the day and had shaken himself up a bit. This was up at the upper house and he luckily landed on the deck area or his fall would have been a lot longer. He was using my cordless drill at the time and it went flying. He ended up replacing it as it didn't survive the fall. If Warren hadn't landed on the deck, he wouldn't be around to replace the drill. We'd still be looking for him (and my drill). Even guys like Warren aren’t indestructible.

Aside from the fact that we should have moved out here 10 years ago, our timing has proved to be good. Houses on the local market are selling in 3 days this summer and fall. That's certainly good for us.

Just to be different, Gary, Warren and I hiked in to the base of the Chief. It's quite rugged going as you get near it. A millennium of fallen rocks have built up at the base making a huge jumble to climb over. At the cliff face you look straight up. There are all sorts of climbing routes visible by the bolts and rings they leave in the rock.

Sue was in Lethbridge this week. They had to transfer in Calgary, to a turbo prop. For a while they thought they'd be diverted back to Calgary due to snow conditions. That would have meant a bus trip. They were able to land but it took them quite a while to scrape their rental car. I guess it's winter is some parts of the country.

The job site I've been on for the last week or so in Whistler is a new fire station. The work is typical Whistler. Rampant incompetence and wasted time and materials. A very large portion of the construction trades there are European and Australian, and they all have giant egos. It would get very frustrating if it wasn't so funny watching them strut around thinking they are important. There is one carpenter there with a mustache the size of a truck bumper that actually thinks he can walk on water.

There is another construction site beside the fire station where they are doing some heavy duty blasting. I can't hear the warning whistles when my machine is running but I sure hear and feel the blasts. The shock wave goes right through you. Kind of fun.

We picked up Sue's parents at the airport this morning. Nice sunny bright day to drive up Howe Sound and see the sea and mountains.

Have a good one.

the doug