The Squamidian Report – Jan. 29 / 05
Also in this issue:
A Note from Vivyan
A Quote sent in by WDB
North Nova News
The Ontarion
Hi All,
The record-breaking rainfalls of the past several weeks have let up a bit. Probably a good thing. We were starting to measure rainfall in feet rather than inches or centimeters. I spent part of this past week working for a contractor that is replacing some of the inadequate culverts along some of the local streets. Some of the old culverts under private driveways had not the capacity to pass all the runoff and the driveways ended up washing out. We were working our way along one roadside ditch a when suddenly massive amounts of water began bubbling up. First thought was that I’d somehow hit a water main. Only problem with that was that there wasn’t supposed to be a main there and the water didn’t seem to be under much pressure. After some careful poking around and consultations with the guy from works department we came to the conclusion that we’d disturbed a pocket of water sitting in a massive rock bed under the road and surrounding land. This was proved by the fact that we could seal the flow by packing the trench bottom with soil. Water under pressure would have blown the soil back up in no time.
And also on the subject of water, one day this week while I was working, Warren headed up the Brohm Line on his dirt bike. He found massive washouts where the surface drainage simple ran wild during the rains. Obviously, he turned back when he reached the snowline. And yes, I said ‘on his dirt bike’. We have green grass out here, which is normal for this time of year. You can work outside in a short sleeve shirt as long as you are not just standing around. Lotus Land you know!
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Well now, buy the time many of you read this issue I’ll be either on my way to or already in Ontario for my annual winter visit. Now that Ryan lives out here on the west coast I won’t be able to hang out with him so I’ll be hanging out at the homestead. Hope to run into some of you while I’m there.
Good thing we’ve had a couple of extra articles sent in for this weeks issue because I seem to be having a rare case of writer’s block. Just can’t seem to think of anything interesting or insulting to say. And besides, those guest articles always make for better reading anyway so sit back and enjoy.
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It seems every time in the
winter that we get a mild spell with rain everyone thinks it is more proof that
we have global warming. In the Thirties
we must have had global warming every winter because we sure had our January
thaws. As it rained and the snow melted
the river would rise so there would be open water between the banks and the
ice, which would rise and float. My Dad
would put a 2x4 or 2x6 plank from the shore onto the solid ice for our horse,
usually Dick who was the old driver, to walk on. I never saw him miss the plank but my Dad said he missed with one
foot only once. Of course we would be
pulled along behind in the cutter and when it hit the water it would make a
great splash. We thought it was
fun. Once the thaw was over and we’d be
back to real winter we would have lots of ice to play on as the low end of the
fields would have flooded and frozen.
As children in those days we didn’t have others to play with. My one brother was 3 years older then I and my other 3 years younger. Mostly it was up to us and our own imaginations to make our own amusements. It helped us to appreciate each other and also our dog. Shep was always willing to play and made a great companion, especially if the boys were doing there own things where I wasn’t involved. Of course the best part of winter was always when we got back into the nice warm kitchen with something hot simmering on the stove to warm our insides too. Those were the “good old days” that I sure don’t want to go back to.
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"The
statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from
some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay,
then it's you."
Rita Mae Brown, American novelist
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Well here we go again. Another Monday storm. Actually it’s the third this week but
normally the storms happen on Sunday nights and Mondays so I can’t do my usual
trip to New Glasgow for supplies, mobile hairdressing and groceries. Peter has been picking up groceries during
the week, since he is off work right now, or we would be starving. Winter has come with a vengeance!!! Sundays are our usual day to have Zane (our
Little Brother) over. We picked him up
early since the weather was already turning bad. He said he didn’t mind being
stranded here for awhile. As it turned
out he ended up here for 3 days. The
dog came too so our cats were just a bit put out. They stayed in the loft for most of the time and peered down at
this big black creature that had taken over their domain. Luckily the power stayed on and we were able
to watch movies, bake, use the computer, shower and flush the toilet.
It snowed heavily for two days and the
winds blew strong creating drifts over our windows and doors. The snow was up to the top of the windows in
the sunroom and right up to the roof in some places. We are on a slab so our house does sit lower than most but it was
still impressive. At one point we
decided to dig out the hot tub which was buried beyond belief. If it weren’t for the steady hum of the
motor we might not have found it. Now
there is a mountain of snow around it.
You’d think it was sitting in a hole.
We dug out our vehicles about 3 or 4 times trying to keep ahead but the
lane was beyond help. Zane was a great help and kept us all sane from being so
closed in. School was called off for
Monday and Tuesday so Zane was quite happy.
We played games to fill in the time.
Zane loves crokinole and we must have played it a hundred times. His big goal is to beat Peter who is
definitely the champion.
I ended up closing the shop Tuesday as we
were not plowed out yet and by that evening was a bit worried how I would get
to work on Wednesday. Finally the plow
came in the middle of the night and I was able to do a real workday on
Wednesday. It felt almost strange
driving down the road that morning, a sense of freedom from being trapped in
our home since Sunday morning.
Well I wish Doug a great trip to Kitchener and a good time with his family. Here is a picture of our snow event. http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/Pictures/NSsnow.htm
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THE ONTARION REPORT
January 27, 2005
Hello everyone!
Zero hour is approaching! Doug arrives at 6:30 pm Friday night. It’s nice that Carol is picking him up at the airport. I know I’d rather have a relative or friend accompany me on the ride from the airport than a bunch of strangers in an Airporter Van. At least then you have someone to talk to and something in common to talk about during the drive. After all the rain they’ve had out in BC, I’m sure Doug will welcome the sight of our nice clean white snow. He said he looks forward to the cold crisp temperatures when he visits us here mid- winter in Ontarible as he calls it. I know that the last time Doug came “home” for a visit he faced a week of mostly gray cloud, fog and slush but this year it’ll be different. The forecast is saying we should be sunny for the next couple of days at least. This is something he hasn’t seen in a while from all accounts I’ve heard of BC. I received a phone call from Vivyan the other night inviting Carole and I to drop in on Saturday to visit with Doug and many others. We are pleased to be included in this event again. I just hope we remember everyone’s name. If not I’m sure someone will help us out……Carol HELP!!!!!
I told Doug it’s a good thing I’m retired, this way he’ll at least have a guide for the week if he needs one. I’m not sure what we’ll do but we have planned to spend at least one day touring together. I’m sure we’ll keep things interesting. Maybe I’ll just take him to all his old haunts and photograph him at each location! I know how much he likes having his picture taken. We’ll see, we’ll see!
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Hasn’t this past couple of weeks been wintry? I’ve enjoyed being outdoors shoveling and blowing the snow. I had the muffler on my snow blower explode in my face the other day. It literally blew the top of the rusted out piece of metal into my left eye. It did no damage but was quite a shock when it hit. I jumped back about 3’ and gently brushed my finger through my eye. To my surprise, stuck to the back of my finger was a piece of rusted metal about the size of a pencil eraser. I went inside and checked my eye in the mirror and rinsed it out with water. Luckily it flushed clean and I have no damage. I finished blowing the snow and then proceeded to remove the muffler from the motor. Of course I managed to snap all 3 of the bolts holding the thing to the engine off flush with the head. I cursed a little and reassessed the situation. I figured if I drilled the remnants out I’d likely have a problem re tapping the holes and finding bolts to fit. After looking at the exhaust hole in the head of the motor I realized that it had pipe threading in it. I took a measurement and headed for the TSC store on Victoria St. Once there I bought a few pieces of gas piping. Simple, an elbow out of the hole, a 3” piece up from the elbow to another 90* elbow and a small engine muffler shaped like a big cigar to screw into that and I had the problem solved. The total cost of which was less than $10.00. I checked with Sears and found that the proper muffler replacement would have been almost $30.00. Gadzooks! Another reason to smile, saved myself 20 bucks! I love that “McGuyver” feeling! I pulled the cord on the blower and away she went. I guess that old muffler had been rotten for a couple of years because the new muffler actually muffles! It sounded markedly quieter than it has in a long time. Now I can sneak up on the snow when it’s not expecting to be blown off the driveway. Today, while I was outside puttering around, I noticed that the Jeep was incredibly dirty. More salt than anything so I decided to take it through the car wash. The new Petro Canada station on Fischer-Hallman has a wash that actually does a very good job of washing cars. I always figured that a car wash should do that but most of them do not! This is one of those that has the huge chamois hanging down with loads of soap on them. With the new clear coat paints on today’s vehicles, there is little worry about this type of system scratching the paint. I’ve tried the so called “Touchless” car washes but they seem to miss half the dirt. The jeep came out sparkling clean. That should last at least half a day! LOL! No big deal, I just like to get the salt off the vehicle once a week or so. At least I get something for those pesky “Petro Points” I collect every time we get gas. If I had to pay actual cash for such a wash, it would cost me just under $10.00 with taxes. So using the points is a good idea. Have you noticed that just about every retailer these days has some kind of gimmick points system when you purchase their product? I was in Zeller’s store today and overheard the clerk at the jewelry counter tell a lady customer that she had a total of One Million Two Hundred and Seventy some Thousand Points! Wow! The woman exclaimed wait till I tell my husband that he’s married to a “Millionaire”! Ha ha ha! Wait till she goes to cash them in and finds out that all those points will get her a tube of lipstick or a fried egg sandwich at the Zeller’s Café! LOL! Most times these points systems are a big JOKE and the Zeller’s card is no different. At least with the Petro Points I can keep my Jeep clean in winter. In reality, the Petro Points are pretty useless too. I tried to buy a thermos style travel coffee mug with my points at the station one day and with 18,000 points I was still 600 points short of the price. Holy smokes, do you know how long it took me to accumulate that many points and I still couldn’t afford the mug? LOL! So many consumers are taken by the suggestion that these point systems are a big gift from the retailers when of course the only person benefiting from the system is the retailer. Oh well, at least that lady can truly call herself a millionaire, a “Points” millionaire that is!
The only person that I’ve heard of that has enough points to actually make good use of them is Doug. Apparently Sue flies enough that she accumulates so many “Air Miles” on her card that Doug can fly home to visit us once a year on the “Miles”. Now that’s a nice use of one’s points. I think Vivyan and Lorne should call Air Canada and thank them for flying their son home for free. Most parents only entice their kids to visit from long distance by offering to pay for their flight home. I guess not being a kid anymore, Doug is past hoping for that advantage! LOL! Anyway, it’ll be great to see him in person again and I hope you all enjoy his visit once again.
I’ll sign off for this week. Thanks again for tuning into The Ontarion Report. I’ll talk to you all again next week.
Bye for now….GREG.
PS: Something to Think About>
When one lives on a corner lot, why is the snow always yellow at the corner?
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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