The Squamidian Report – Oct. 23 / 04
For the ‘ON LINE’ version of this newsletter, go to:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/2004/oct23.htm
Also in this issue:
Hurricane Hazel Remembered
Note from Gale
The Ontarion
Hi All,
We have a very special guest columnist this week. The closest friend of Lorne and Vivyan, Cindy is one of our readers who get the ‘printed’ version rather than the electronic version on the Squamidian. Cindy has quite a story to tell about surviving Southern Ontario’s most famous hurricane.
We also have a note from Gale giving us some neat information about her sister-in-law.
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Well, this was the week that Ryan and Emily departed from Kitchener and headed west. Pretty exciting stuff for them. They spent Tuesday night at Emily’s parents place near Guelph and then hit the road Wednesday morning. By Wednesday evening they were in LongLac up on highway 11, east of Thunder Bay. Thursday evening found them in Brandon Manitoba. They passed through Calgary at suppertime Friday heading for Golden. They got into Golden a bit later than expected, having driven through the Kicking Horse Pass in a snowstorm. We expect them here in time for Saturday supper.
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Here is proof again that it does not take much to entertain my old brain. One of the main things we do at work is lay underground piping, be it sewer, water or tech. Most of these lines need to be installed to very close grade specs. To do this we use laser levels that send out a small bright red light. In foggy conditions, the light creates a tiny straight line visible stretching along our work line. On dark rainy mornings, each raindrop that passes through the laser line in illuminated for a slit second which gives a sparkling effect. Maybe you need to actually be there and see it to appreciate it.
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OK, some more Geek Speak for any of you that are closet propeller heads. As most of you know, I’m a bit paranoid when it comes to data backup. To that end I use several methods including replicating across my little home network and archiving onto CD or DVD disks. But that is still not convenient enough for ‘on the fly’ backups. One of the other computers on the network has to be on in able to replicate across onto it. Replicating to another partition or directory on the drive in the source computer is rather pointless for the obvious reasons.
My current solution, an external USB 2 hard drive. There are two ways to go. A sealed drive unit or a drive cradle into which you install an internal style drive. The latter is the cheaper way to go as long as you don’t mind doing a bit of assembly. The drive cradle route is the way I went. It plugs into any available USB port and is powered like any other external component, a simple AC adapter and plug. The cradle includes a small cooling fan as hard drives can produce a fair amount of heat. Because you pop in the 3.5-inch drive of your choice, capacity is totally up to you. With drive prices at about a dollar per gig, I went with a 120 GB Samsung IDE. (If you remember, the drive in my P4 system is a Samsung 120 SATA, same drive but different interface).
Windows XP recognized it as a USB mass storage device with no problems at all. That meant all I needed to do was initialize the drive and partition / format it. I’ve chopped it up into 3 partitions just for the fun of it. I have no idea what I’ll do with all the storage space available in there but those jpeg’s and html files do tend to add up after a while. Right now it’s a bit like storing a handful of peanuts in an empty 2-car garage.
The reason I like replicating rather than using dedicated backup software is convenience and dependability. With backup software you end up with a single large, compressed file that contains the information from all the files you are backing up. That means you must use the restore feature of the backup program to retrieve any or all of your backup. You must also test your backups to be sure they are retrievable. As well, you would probably need a copy of the same program that made the backups on any system that you wanted to restore to.
With replicating, all the target files are copied whole and intact as distinct units. That makes retrieval simple, quick and easy. Also, with replication you can set the replication program to replicate deletions, so you do not end up with copies of files you no longer want piling up in the target location. And for icing on the cake, one of the best replication programs out there is freeware, no strings attached.
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I’m sure many of you realize, from reading the paper or listening to CBC that last week was the 50th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel. Everyone seemed to have a story to tell so now it is my turn. When Hazel struck my daughter Debbie (then 23 months old) and I were on a train heading home to Uxbridge. We were just north of Markham Station, not travelling at top speed yet, when the train hit a section of track where a bridge had been washed out by the storm. The engine and baggage cars were derailed and in the water. It was later explained that more cars did not derail as we had just left the station and were not yet going full speed. There were some lumps and bumps but no serious injuries. Debbie and I were in the first passenger coach so I felt very fortunate that our car didn’t derail. I have very vivid memories of looking out at the wind and water.
After some hours (memory doesn’t tell me how long exactly) people came across the fields in wagons. They brought sandwiches, coffee and offers of accommodations in local farm homes for any who cared to go. I elected to stay on the train with Debbie rather then taking her to a strange place. The baggage man went to the baggage car and brought me one of my suitcases, a blanket and change of clothes for Debbie. Around midnight a man came on board looking for his daughter. She had been one of the many who had taken advantage of the offer of a bed at one of the farms. Since there was no way for the man to find his daughter that night he decided to return to Uxbridge and offered a ride to anyone who was going there. Since it was now getting cold (without the engine there was no heat) two other passengers, Debbie and I accepted. We climbed onto a flatbed wagon to cross the field and then started our wild ride home. I remember roofs off barns, many trees down and blocked roads.
My husband John had gone to meet the train to pick up the newspapers he sold at the drug store where he was a pharmacist. There was no train so no newspapers but he didn’t worry about Debbie and I, as he hadn’t realized his homesick wife was coming home early from a visit to his parents. We arrived safely home about 2:00a.m., after a very long day. At 21 I considered the whole day an adventure. Adversity brought out the best in people. A neighbourhood got together to make food for strangers, offer shelter and comfort. Debbie and I even had our few moments of fame as our picture was in the paper the next day.
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Hi All
Finally after 2 years of hard work, a fantastic party marked the release of Sue Windover’s first C.D. on Wed., Oct. 20. For those of you who don't know, Sue used to play keyboards and sing in a pop group with Doug, Sus and Dave. She also happens to be Dave's sister and my sister-in-law.
All songs were written, both the music and lyrics, by Sue. Sue does all the lead vocals and some background vocals. The rest of the musicians are guests from all over Canada.
Some of the Squamidian folk are given honourable mention in the liner notes of the C.D. for their help and support throughout this journey.
Musically there is a little something for everyone and the end result is a terrific compilation of songs.
Sue can be found at www.suewindover.com. Check it out!
Cheers,
Gale.
Editor’s Note: This is yet another ‘Sue’, just to add more confusion to our list. Her web site listed above was under construction when I checked it last evening. Hopefully it will be up and running soon.
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THE ONTARION REPORT
OCTOBER
23, 2004
Hello everyone!
Well, we finally did it, we made the trek to Long Point Beach!
As it turned out, the weather was cool and overcast but not rainy. So we decided to take the Jeep instead of the MGB. Oh well, maybe next summer we’ll enjoy a topless drive to Long Point in warmer weather. I think it’s almost time to take the insurance off the MG and store it for 6 months. Ya never know, we may just get a few days of MG weather yet this month. I think I’ll wait a week or so before making the decision to store it. After all, I do remember having nice weather up to and including Christmas in years gone by. However, I did see a sign on the trip today that foretold of the upcoming winter anticipated to be the “worst” winter in 20 years for Ontario. I sure hope the guy that printed that sign is wrong! I’ll have to check the “Farmer’s Almanac” to see if they predict the same.
Anyway, back to Long Point. Although it’s been 44 years since I last spent a summer vacation in Long Point Beach, as we drove south on the causeway that connects Long Point to the main body of Southern Ontario, an eerie feeling came over me. It was like being thrown back to the summer of 1960! I’m amazed how everything looked familiar. I felt as though I was riding in the back seat of my dad’s ’56 Buick Special. The long lonely stretch of two lane road #59 that makes it’s way south to an eventual dead end 15 kms out in Lake Erie seemed to go on forever. One has to drive through what was once prime tobacco country in the Delhi, Port Rowan area of Southern Ontario during the approach to Lake Erie. With the blink of an eye you suddenly get the feeling you’re driving a semi tropical stretch of manmade highway through the Florida Everglades. There is nothing but miles of marsh and 8’ high bulrushes to the west. To the east, one catches glimpses of Long Point Bay through approximately 100 yards of similar marshy terrain. The eastern side of the causeway is dotted with dilapidated tin and wooden shacks that contain boats that reminded me of the movie “Deliverance”. They all seemed to be faded from the sun, beat to hell from 45 or so years of fishing the waters of Lake Erie and badly neglected by their owners. Every so often we could see a channel through the reeds and bulrushes that led out into the open water of the bay. The surroundings gave one the strange feeling that someone was watching our approach from the seclusion of the marsh.
After about a 10 minute drive along this road, we finally spotted signs of civilization. Lying strait ahead was a single story gray board and batten structure with a sign that read Long Point Café. At that point the road made a ninety degree bend to the east and voila, there it was, the village of Long Point Beach. All of a sudden, I WAS back in 1960 and headed for “The Cottage”. Although it wasn’t our cottage, it was the next best thing. It was home in the sun for the next two weeks. As we made our way down the main road toward the “avenues” I tried to describe to Carole what the buildings used to be like. Well, once we made the turn onto 1st Avenue there was no need to explain any further. The cottages were the same as they were 44 years ago. I wasn’t able to remember exactly which cottage was the one we inhabited back then but there was one that looked awfully familiar. It was on 3rd Avenue about half way down on the left. I remember it being a square bungalow covered in white clapboard with royal blue trim. Of course the colours have changed many times since we were kids but it was like time stood still for the structures. Even the boathouses are still at the north end of the 4 Avenues and it appears they are still the original corrugated tin from yesteryear. I’m telling you, you’d be hard pressed to find one that didn’t look like it belonged in the Ozark Mountains. They were exactly as I remembered them. We used to walk from the cottage to the boathouse row and sit between them on the narrow docks and fish for catfish and perch. Heck, I may just do that the next time we visit Long Point.
From the boathouse row, we drove farther down the main road to look for the “Penny Arcade”. Darned if we didn’t find one but it looked too new to be the one we frequented as kids. It’s in approximately the same location that I pictured the old one but is a newer structure. The main street contained a few commercial buildings. There is a tackle and bait shop, a general store, a restaurant (closed for the season) and a “Trading Post”. There is also one small commercial building for sale that looks like it was a Dairy Queen of sorts. These are all on the north side of the road. On the south side there are cottages and a few year round homes as well. For the first 100 yards or so of the main road the cottages on the right are directly on the beach. Then the land widens and there is a side street that takes you to another parallel road called Woodstock Ave. This one has lake front cottages on it and is about 2 kms long. We parked in the drive of one of the closed cottages on Woodstock Ave and took a walk through one of the access lanes to the beach. Of course all the cottages are winterized this time of year but the beach is still amazing. Carole and I walked on the beach and picked up what I call “Skipper’s”. These are flat, round stones that as kids we liked to throw and watch them skip across the surface of the lake. I’m sure you’ve all done this at one time in your lives! The day was overcast and not very bright but I managed to take 50 or so pictures of the beach etc anyway.
After about 20 minutes on the beach, we got back in the Jeep and drove along Woodstock Ave and then back out to the main road. We decided to check out the Long Point Provincial Park at the end Main St. We drove for about 10 minutes or so to the east and ended up at the parking lot in the park. The park is officially closed for the season but the gates were open. I parked the Jeep and Carole stayed in it while I climbed the sand dunes to check out the beach on the other side. I found that the beach in the park is even more beautiful than the stretch of it that fronts the cottages in the village. Other than the fact that there are signs up warning beach goers to beware of Ticks carrying Lime disease, the area is most attractive. I took a few pictures of the area and decided to head back to the car. Our day at Long Point was pretty much complete but we did take a couple more side streets just to check out the newer housing that’s been built in the area. We agreed that we wouldn’t want to live in a permanent residence in Long Point but one of the simple older lakefront cottages would suit our purpose just fine. We did find two small cottages on the main road at the curve as we entered Long Point that have For Sale signs on them. They are apparently one package as the phone number on both signs is the same. I’ve noted the number and will call the vender just out of curiosity. We’re not really in the market for a cottage but if the price is right, one never knows. It would be a blast to have a place on that beach to spend our summers. It’s an hour and a half drive from KW and the roads leading to Long Point are a far cry from the busy highways that one has to drive if you head north to cottage country. On the other hand, neither Carole or I are keen on having a second residence to maintain so, I doubt the cottage idea will come to fruition. Maybe 20 years ago this cottage thing would have flown but not at this late stage of the game.
Our day in Long Point was a new experience for Carole and a blast from the past for me. We both enjoyed the look around and will likely make the trip again next summer. I look forward to seeing the place in full summer swing once more. I have, as I said taken a load of pictures during the visit so if any of you are interested in seeing a few, say so and I’ll send a few to Doug for posting.
Until next time……Thanks for tuning in to The Ontarion.
Talk to you soon.
Regards….GREG.
PS: Something to Think About>
No man is rich enough to buy back his past!
Greg’s Long Point pictures: http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/Greg/LP.htm
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The family site:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/
The Squamidian Site:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/
Have a good one..
the
doug