The Squamidian Report – July 24 / 04
For the ‘ON LINE’ version of this newsletter, go to:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/report.htm
Also in this issue:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Hoe-key-toot, is it hot here. Friday hit 37.4 C, which is 99 on the old scale. It’s a new all time high for Squamish. That’s hot enough to make your ear wax run.
*
Went into the city last weekend, Sue wanted to look at vacuum cleaners and stuff. Her old one is not very old but the hose has ripped out of its socket and we can’t find anywhere that has or can get a replacement. It was hot, sunny and clear. This time the ice-cold glacier green fresh water from the Squamish River was following the west side of Howe Sound as it flowed out to sea. The blue salt water was moving in with the tide along the east side. So the Sound was divided down the middle. Sort of colour coded. The waters of the outer part of Howe Sound from Horseshoe Bay over to Gibson’s was almost crowded with sail boats as was the whole English Bay area and as for out into the Strait as you could see. You remember Gibson’s, that was where the old CBC TV show Beach Combers was filmed back in the 80’s.
What we did buy was a little tiny teeny weenie roto-tiller. Its kind of her birthday, anniversary, Xmas, mothers day, grumpy day gift all rolled into one. This little Honda is so small that it has a carrying handle on top as well as the handles you hold to use it. She simply does not have time to weed and work her flowerbeds so now the weeding can be done in 5 minutes. Down side is now she wants to make all the flowerbeds bigger. The little tiller seems to be able to grind up the lawn pretty good so enlarging the beds should not be a problem. Just have to decide how big and what shape.
There is a section of lawn in the back yard where the grass is always burned out because the soil is only about 4 inches deep. Under that is bedrock. So one idea is to till up the grass and soil over this area and then remove that mixture and use it on her soon to be enlarged beds. The bedrock would be power washed and become sort of a rock feature as it already forms part of the drop into the lower yard area. Or maybe not, we will see.
*
As some may know, Whistler is plagued by bears the way towns in Ontario are bothered by squirrels or raccoons. The bears are all over the place. One day this week we were working along the main road running into the development and there was a pair of bears eating berries just off the road about 40 ft away. They didn’t pay any attention to the equipment or us. When they finally decided to leave they crossed the road between my machine and the guy directing traffic. He had his back turned and didn’t see them pass just behind him.
But that’s not the only wild life I saw that day. Down in the trench we were working was a little small gray mouse with big ears. It was scooting along, probably trying to find a way out.
*
Any one up just before dawn will be enjoying the return of Venus as the bright ‘morning star’. Venus had been prominent in the evening sky during late winter and into early spring. Now it sits just over the mountain to our east as the morning sky begins to lighten. That real star up and to the right is Alderbaran. If you have a view of a more level horizon, you should be able to see Saturn just before the sun brightens the sky too much.
****
vacant
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
JULY 24, 2004
Wellllll hello there fellow Squamidians!
Here I sit once again under the threat of thunderstorms in KW. It seems that this area has been a favourite for Mother Nature to dump on this year. We’ve had more than our share of rain not to mention huge thunderstorms and lightening! I think we’ve had enough but it’s not up to me. I guess she has decided to keep the lawns green without my fertilizer help. Good enough for me, I’ll just try to stay up with my lawn mowing. Instead of every 4 days, I’ve been doing the cutting every 3 days. Can you just imagine the physical shape I’ll be in by the end of the season after all that walking behind the mower? I’m sure my doctor will be proud of me when he gives me my annual physical in August. Thanks Mother Nature!!!
*
Speaking of physical fitness, my brother in law is staying with us for a while and he has a mountain bike that he rides faithfully. Adam has just purchased himself a new one as well and the two of them are riding all over heck’s half acre on these things. I’ve been asked to join them a couple of times but haven’t had the gumption to get mine down off the rafters in the garage yet. I think I’ll maybe make an effort to do so in the next couple of days. I used to ride it a fair amount back in ’83 when I first purchased it. I think it was about that year. As a matter of fact it was a special “Opening Day” sale item when Canadian Tire on Highland Rd was brand spanking new. I think I paid around $99.00 for it and that was half price.
It’s actually quite a good bike but it weighs in at around 30 or so pounds. It’s a good thing it has 18 gears to make the peddling a tad easier. Adam’s new bike has all the bells and whistles when compared to my old relic. It’s got a full suspension system, 27 speed gearing system and disc brakes. I haven’t ridden it yet but Alan, my brother in law says it blows his 8 year old $1000.00 bike out of the water when it comes to comfort on the bumps. I’m afraid to ask Adam the cost of his new bike! I can lift it with one finger. It’s amazingly light in weight. If I get back into riding I may just have to fork out a few sheckles for a better model myself. I’ve been thinking about strapping on the old roller skates since I mentioned them a few Ontarion’s ago as well. Although the thought of hitting a pebble or crack in the pavement on the old style 4 wheel roller boots doesn’t appeal to me at my age. I’d be sure to break something if I took a tumble at the tremendous speeds I like to travel on the skates. I’ve been thinking of taking up “Roller Blading” instead of using the old 4 wheelers but I never was much good on Ice Skates and I’m afraid I’d have the same success with the in-line wheels. I’ve been told that the in-line wheels tend to miss the stones and other items that trip up conventional roller skates. That seems to be a plus but then there’s still the problem of stopping the damn things. I’ll have to flag down one of the amazing skaters that go whizzing by our house and ask if they give lessons. Maybe with a little tutoring I’ll be able to achieve some success on them. My legs are susceptible to very painful cramps or Charlie horses as I call them. It seems that whenever I use my legs to any great extent the muscles decide to contract with lightening like speed when I settle down for the night. I’ve kicked the dog to the ceiling in the wee hours of the morning while trying to straiten my leg after being hit with one of these cramps.
I have found over the years with a bit of good advice from my mother in law that taking a calcium supplement helps to dispel these darned things. I take a daily dose of calcium but when one of these cramps takes me by surprise I have to hobble down to the kitchen to dissolve a special 500 mg cal tablet in a glass of water to get rid of the darn thing. This of course takes about 5 minutes to dissolve before I can drink it. Once I’ve downed the drink it only takes about a minute before the cramp starts to subside but in that 6 minutes total, I am screaming in pain. I’ve done everything from special leg workouts to taking vitamins etc to try to ward off the cramps but nothing seems to work over the long term. I can remember hauling fire hose into and around the scene of a fire and having my legs go into a cramp as I search a building on my hands and knees for victims. I used to say “Please God, NOT NOW!” in hopes that he’d help me through the event without a “Charlie Horse”. Sometimes it worked other times I just had to tough it out. Boy did I have some torn muscles the next day after one of those episodes! Now that I don’t use my legs nearly as much as when I was still working I should get back to some kind of exercise program I guess. I do walk but not as much as I probably should. Well, it sounds as if I have just talked myself into getting into better shape. I think I’ll take my own advice and start tomorrow! LOL! Isn’t that what we all say? Hahahahaaa…….! No really, this time I mean it! For sure! No joking! I’m gonna do it and that’s the truth! I may even get brave and send you all a before and after picture. Hmmmm… well, maybe not on that one! Hahaha…! I’ll have to see how it goes first. I mean, it’s kind of hard to improve on external perfection, isn’t it? So what’s the sense of a picture?
I suppose I should go before I have you all reaching for the Pepto Bismal ! It’s been a pleasure once again and I’m already looking forward to next week’s edition since this week’s has been so much fun!
As my dear departed grandfather on my father’s side use to
say, “Ta da for now”. I’ll talk to you all again soon.
Thanks for tuning in!
GREG.
PS: Something to Think About>
Never argue with a woman when she’s tired……….
…. Or rested!
****
For low speed dial-up connections, just the basics:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/
For high-speed connections, a little more fancy:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/
Please submit any articles that you may wish included in a given weeks Squamidian by 9 PM Fridays evening EST to give me time to assemble the issue.
Have a good one..
the
doug