The Squamidian Report – Nov. 8 / 03
Also in this issue:
North Nova News
A Note From Brenda
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Just a little more info on our recent floods. Firstly, for anyone of you who has stood on the dyke at the eagle-viewing place and looked way down at the river, that river came to within less than 18 inches of breaching the top of the dyke. That is a lot of water. Secondly, I watched a short news clip that had been filmed during the flood of a large tree being swept down the river. The branches had already been ripped off so it was mostly the long trunk and root system floating along. The film crew had to retreat when the top end of the tree hit the dyke. Due to the force of the water, it was like a battering ram. The large rocks that the dyke is made of were shoved out of the way, up and over the top. Then the tree was dragged sideways and it began to mow down all the trees that were growing on the dyke. Incredible.
*
I spend a lot of time working in a new housing development here in Squamish. Someone with a interesting sense of humor was able to get by the patrolling security on Halloween night and drop a cherry bomb down the toilet in one of those little blue ‘Johnny on the spots’. You do not want to go inside that thing now. The contents of the tank are nicely spread all over the inside. Most of us couldn’t stop laughing when we inspected the damage.
*
The bald eagles are starting to return to the Valley. There are growing numbers of them soaring above the ridges and along the rivers. There is a lot for them to eat. The Chum Salmon are spawning now. They are about twice the size of the Pinks that were in the rivers in September. The riverbanks are again covered with rotting fish. Life goes on.
Warren and I almost climbed the Chief last Sunday. We made it about 99% of the way up the second peak but Warren had brought his dog Bella along. She is pretty good at traveling in this kind of terrain and has tagged along with us up the first peak several times. However, there is a steep narrow crevice just below the top that she couldn’t climb. We couldn’t help her as it takes both hands to hold onto the chain that is bolted to the rock face. However, it was the hike and exercise we were after so it was still a successful trek. We went up to his place for supper and an evening of guitar playing. Janice made some strange meal that I couldn’t identify but it tasted good.
As most of you know, the ever-elusive Sue is in Ontario this week. She flew back last weekend and has attended a bank conference or something in Toronto. She is visiting family on the weekend, including now. That means its just Yogi and me here. We are used to that. In fact, we are quite comfortable with the bachelor life. We are both too old and tired to have any wild parties and stay up all hours carousing around. However, on Tuesday evening I usually go out to the Legion where we have our bluegrass jam session. There was a meeting going on this time so we had nowhere to play. Because our house is empty except for Yogi, and me, I invited the group back here. We had a good time and I don’t think we bothered the neighbours.
The west coast has been experiencing record low temperatures this week. There is a high-pressure area over the interior mountains. This sets up what are called ‘outflow’ winds. This is very cold air that flows out through the valleys and fiords. It has been colder here this week than it was last January.
I’m trying to get my deck project finished up this weekend. Don’t know if I will but if I get off this computer and back to work, there shouldn’t be too much left to do by the time Sue gets back Sunday evening. I’d better remember to pick her up.
****
Winter is catching up to us fast. Weather predictions for this weekend are snow and blowing snow with a possible 5 to 10 centimeters. Right now it is raining hard but that could turn white as the temperature is hovering around 0. Of course I am not ready. My appointment for my studded tires to go on and the winterizing of the car is not until Wednesday. We had such a great fall that it has lulled us into thinking winter was never to come. Peter is off to the curling rink early this morning. Our club is sponsoring the Sobey Classic and he has volunteered to be a timer. The timer’s job is important. Some players take too much time in making their plays and it is not fair to those who don’t. Each team is given 80 minutes and if they run out of time before the game is finished they automatically lose even if they are in the lead. These rules are for big tournaments not for our regular social curling. I volunteered for bartending after 4:00pm today so I’ll have to rush into Pictou when my work day is over. No rest for the weary.
Last Sunday Zane, Peter and I put our 1957 Massey Ferguson tractor in the barn and started to take it apart. The motor needs overhauling and since they successfully did the boat engine last winter they thought of tackling the tractor. Only problem is we don’t have all winter to do it. We use it for snow blowing and the odd time pulling one of us out of a stuck in the snow position. We have an uphill grade on our lane and it usually happens every winter one of us takes a running start at the hill and ends up sideways blocking access to all three houses that share the lane. Anyway I am learning about engines. I’m not fussy about the grease and dirt that comes with the job but I realize how little I know about such things and it never hurts to learn. Zane really enjoys working on any project that involves the barn (workshop). My job is to hold the light and pass tools. We are also going to invest in coveralls because we are always taking Zane home in dirty clothes.
Well I’m making it short today as I seem to be out of things to talk about. Keep up the good work with the Squamidian, it wouldn’t be a good week without it!
Until next time,
****
It’s been six weeks that we’ve been home from a three-week trip to
Ireland. It’s hard to believe that a
trip that took so long to plan could be over so quickly. The memories we will have, though, will be
with us forever.
George & Ethel Morris, old friends from Lindsay first asked us if we’d be interested in traveling with them in Ireland since they knew John’s heritage was Irish and also that he had been working on his family’s genealogy for the past few years. George had emigrated to Canada from Ireland when he was 19. Since then, he had returned to his homeland many times but there were still areas in Ireland he hadn’t visited. Now at the age of 73, he & Ethel were prepared to direct us to a few favourite places they knew but they were excited about visiting unknown areas as well.
The plan was that we would all travel together in a rental car for a week and then while George and Ethel visited friends and relatives, John and I would travel on a week’s bus tour through the northern part of the country, leaving from Dublin and finishing at Shannon. Then they would pick us up for a third week of further traveling, this time along the southern end of the country.
As I look back on our journey, I actually wonder if there are enough descriptions in the English language for the word ‘green’. At home in September, golden fields were being harvested, leaves were beginning to change, summer flowers had reached their peak and fall mums were being planted In Ireland we saw palm trees, tall fiery-orange blossoms called Red Hot Pokers and everywhere lush green foliage including whole hedges of fuchsia blooms.
It took a while to become accustomed to driving on the left especially when making right hand turns. George did most of the driving and John & I were content to sit as passengers or become navigators with maps spread on our laps. The roads were for the most part very narrow and we would inevitably always meet traffic while negotiating blind curves; we never seemed to meet anyone on a straightaway! There were farm machines to share the laneways with but we were never in much of a hurry anyway and it gave all of us, even the driver a chance to look out over the countryside. The only other variance to traffic was an occasional roundabout. After a few days, we became quite used to maneuvering counter clockwise at an intersection and it was neat not to have to sit through traffic lights, especially when there was light traffic or no traffic at all.
More about our trip another time.
****
THE ONTARION
REPORT
November 6, 2003
Greetings from KW! Well, I’ve had an interesting day to say the least. I discovered several messages from friends saying they had received messages with attachments from our son Adam that they couldn’t open and that their virus program said had a virus attached. When I checked my “Junk Mail” I too had the same thing. The attachments were messages and pictures etc from my “My Documents” folder. Now I must say that I don’t have anything of any secret nature stored there so no harm done if anyone was able to open them. It’s just that it’s annoying to the people on my mailing list to be getting these things, especially when there is the potential of opening a virus into their system. I immediately was wishing I had a smidgeon of the computer savvy that Doug or Clyde or Adam have. After sitting thinking for a few minutes, I remembered a virus detector program that my nephew from Guelph had sent me about a year ago so I could check my system every so often. I found it in my favourites list and activated it right away. It checked all 25,998 files etc in my system and found 81 files infected with a “Worm”. It was able to eliminate all but 3 of them and said since the other 3 were programs that were in use at the time they could not be fixed. I wrote to my nephew again and asked what to do. He sent me another “Virus Fix” program and assured me that it would do the trick. I ran that Fix and sure enough the last 3 were eliminated as well. I lost nothing and my system is now back in tip top shape. I have no idea why these messages are still being sent out but I am still getting a couple every hour or so even though I’ve cleaned up my system. If any of you receive messages from an address called Adamsapple@golden.net DO NOT OPEN THEM! This address has not been in existence since Adam closed his account with Golden over a year ago. How this address is accessing my files and attaching them to send out is beyond me! Especially since I’ve cleaned up my system. Maybe Doug can clue me in.
The only person I can remember getting a warning from in the past week or so is Karin in Melbourne.
Didn’t you say Karin that you had had a problem similar and it had sent out messages from your computer without your knowledge? If so, maybe this is where I acquired the problem from in the first place. Let’s hope that nobody else has been bitten by this “Worm” and life can get back to normal.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The weather around KW is becoming quite nippy lately, especially early in the morning. I guess it won’t be long before we’ll be greeted by a blanket of white stuff and have to break out the shovels. I’m hoping the winter weather will hold off for at least another month. Late December is a better time to start Winter, don’t you think? Not to mention that early January is a good time for Winter to end! However, living in The Great White North we don’t have much choice in the matter. Like I’ve said before, the different seasons make life more interesting anyway.
Well, the fish were tucked neatly in 1 10 imp gallon aquarium until my cousin supplied us with a second. This made life a little more roomy for the 10 Goldfish. Adam was looking around the local fish store and saw a sign that said they were selling off their old 60 gallon tanks in order to redesign their displays. He and I went and picked up one of the tanks on Sunday night. He figured the fish were still a tad crowded in the 2 smaller tanks. We were very careful not to break the tank while transporting it home in the back of Adam’s truck. We successfully unloaded it onto the walkway beside the corner of our garage. I told Adam that while he was at work the next day I’d pressure wash the tank and get it sparkling clean for his arrival home Monday night and we would transfer the fish that night. Well, the next morning I went out bright and early to start cleaning the tank. I slid it out further onto the driveway so I could get at all sides of it. It weighed in at around 75 lbs empty. The glass was nice and thick and I figured it was fairly strong. After about an hour I had it sparkling clean with some elbow grease an “SOS” pad, a jug of “Limeaway” and the pressure washer. I had tilted it up on end to drain the water out of it and to access the under side of the tank for cleaning as well.
I
had a great idea. I decided to lay a sheet of plywood on the driveway and lower
the tank down onto it. Then I’d be able to drag the tank into the garage
without risking breaking it on the lumpy concrete driveway. I placed the
plywood tight against the edge of the tank and proceeded to tip the tank onto
the sheet. I had one hand on the top edge and the other under the bottom. When
the tank was about 4” off the plywood, I moved my left hand from under the tank
and was about to grab the top edge with both hands to finish lowering it and
DAMN, the top edging came off the tank and down she went! Not all that far a
drop mind you but enough to shatter the bottom glass panel. I discovered
shortly afterwards that there had been a very small pebble embedded in the
plywood and when the tank contacted the pebble, it acted like a center punch
and away went the glass. What to do, What to do? I looked up and to my surprise
my Fairy Godfather was arriving at the end of the driveway in his Garbage
Truck. It was Garbage Day and he just happened to be passing by. I flagged him
down and told him of my plight. He said he was full and on his way to the dump
but would help me out and squeeze (literally) the tank in if I would help him
lift it. We picked up the plywood and slid the tank into the side door of the
truck. He pushed a button and in a matter of seconds the tank was reduced to
dust. I thanked him and he was on his way. I went into the house and told
Carole the bad news. I said there was only one thing I could do and that was
make a trip to the “Fish Store” and get another tank before Adam got home.
That’s what I did and arrived home just as Adam was pulling in the drive. After
supper, we tackled cleaning the new one together. It was much easier to handle
with the two of us on hand. We decided to leave the installation of the new
tank until the next night. I had experienced enough trauma for one day.
Tuesday
night rolled around quickly and we were back at it. We carried the tank into
the basement and decided it would look good on top of the TV / component stand.
This unit is approximately 48” long by 42” high by 18” deep. A substantial
piece of furniture if I do say so myself. We placed the aquarium on top and
Adam proceeded to fill it with water. He got it about ½ filled and I walked
into the room to see how things were going. I noticed that the top of the stand
was starting to sag a bit under the weight.
It
was then that we calculated the weight of the tank, including the water,
stones, decorations and the fish, not to mention the feces that the fish would
generate. Well, with say 75 lbs for the tank, 60 gallons of water at 10 lbs/gal
and approximately 75 lbs of gravel the grand total came to around 750 lbs. A
quick look at the construction of the stand told us that the 4 screws holding
the top in place were hardly sufficient to take the load. Soooooooooo, out with
the bucket and away with the water! We drained the tank and decided to wait
until the next night to finish the project.
As
soon as Adam got home the next night, we headed to Home Depot for some
supplies. We managed to purchase two 4x8x5/8 sheets of particle board from the
“slightly damaged” bin for the grand total of $11.31 this included HD sawing
them into the exact sizes we needed to reinforce our stand. We got them home
and decided to eat first and tackle the renovation afterward. It was around 7pm
by the time we got at the puzzle. Once we had the top layered with 2x6’s and
the sheets of particle board we figured it would hold the full tank and both of
us if it had to! Back up went the tank. The next item was to fill it with water
and transfer the fish. The tank came with two huge plastic bags of black
gravel. Adam placed the gravel in the tank and being black, it made the tank
look very dull. We had a mixture of red white and natural coloured gravel in
the other tanks and decided to wash it up and add it to the black stuff to
brighten things up. Well, if you’ve never had to clean a fish tank before
you’re in for a surprise. It’s amazing how much the droppings of goldfish
resemble human waste when it comes to the odour! WOW!!!! It was all we could
stand to slosh the gravel around in a pail in the basement utility sink to
separate the droppings from the stones. Eventually we had washed and rinsed the
stones enough times that the odour was gone. Whew, what a job! After all that,
we found we only needed a couple of cups of the brighter stones to improve the
look of the “sea” bed in the new aquarium. While Carole and Adam planted the
plastic decorations etc in the new tank, I tackled cleaning the other two
aquariums. I finally got them presentable enough that they should sell in the
next garage sale we have. I sincerely hope that those darn goldfish appreciate
the effort we’ve made to keep them cozy over the winter. Adam and Carole said
that if I helped them set this project up that they would look after
maintaining the fish until the Spring.
I
say “good luck” and happy cleaning over the next 6 months.
Somehow
I just knew that keeping the fish year round would be more of a chore than it
sounded. These things have a way of mushrooming in size and effort and this
project so far has been no different than any other. Oh well, at least the
fishies have been saved from being eaten by those rogue Alligators had they
been flushed into the sewer system of KW as I had planned in the first place.
Now all we have to do is keep them alive till next April. I’m sure they’ll make
it!
Until next time, have a safe week
and thanks for tuning in.
Bye for now! GREG.
PS: Something To Think About<
A good listener is not only popular
everywhere but after a while he knows something.
****
Way back when we were all young, Hugh, Clyde and I worked together at a land survey company. Hugh and Clyde haven’t seen each other since. That was about 30 years ago. They got together last weekend, along with Mary and Barbara. Their group picture can be seen from the pictures page of my web site. Good looking bunch of old farts.
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/
Have a good one..
the
doug