The Squamidian Report – May 7 / 05
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Hi All,
Every once in a while you need to go shopping in the city. Mostly because there is stuff there that you just can’t get here in small town BC. There was stuff Sue wanted, she bought a couple of lamps. There was stuff Ryan wanted, he had come along for the ride. And there was stuff I wanted. Future Shop had 1.5 gig USB flash drives on for $79. Can’t resist that. So we went into Vancouver and bought stuff.
Big changes and improvements happening to the Sea to Ski highway, more construction. They are fixing many of the narrow hairpin turns so there is a lot of construction happening in various locations. Not too much of a problem on the weekends. The delays are on weekdays. But it should be a much easier drive for people not used to that highway, and it should be finished well before the 2010 thing.
Must have been dozens of cargo ships waiting in English Bay for their turn to enter Burrard Inlet and dock at some dock. Just last week a ship came in carrying several of the world’s largest cargo cranes. The ship passed under the Lions Gate Bridge at low tide with less than two meters of clearance. That attracted people from all over. The cranes are for the container handling ports.
Something I noticed on the drive home. The Arbutus trees are in bloom. They are the trees that are Canada’s only evergreen broadleaf tree. The silly things loose their bright coppery coloured bark instead of their leaves. Anyway, they have white-green blossoms, or green-white blossoms depending on whether or not you have your sunglasses on.
*
Now here is something really neat. While still working on the Rose Park cleanup I was brushing out a walkway through the bush and came upon a rusted pile of metal overgrown with underbrush. When I picked up the pile with the excavator bucket I could see the empty socket of what would have been a headlight. Very little else was identifiable as having ever been a vehicle. As I carried the mess out to the scrap pile I noticed an identification plate still fastened to a twisted panel. The plate came off quite easily and was still readable. Seems to be made of lead or a lead alloy as it wasn’t rusted.
Stamped onto the plate was:
Duplex Truck Company
Lansing, Michigan, USA
Model: DR6X4 RC Truck No. 8348
Front Tires: 9.00x20 Rear Tires: 9.00x20
Continental
Engine:
Serial 24233 No. of cylinders 6
Bore 4 5/16 Stroke 4 7/8
H.P. 44.6 Displacement 427 c in.
So here was the remains of an old forgotten truck. Even the make seems to be forgotten. I tried to find info on the Internet but found almost nothing. What I did find is a magazine add that is for sale on Ebay of a 1917 Duplex truck. I’ve copied the picture and posted it to: http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/Pictures/Others/duplex.htm
Don’t know what year the truck remains I found was, maybe some of you can fill me in a bit.
d
****
With all the "mothering" issues flying about this week, I thought it might be appropriate to submit a Mother's Day story but, actually, it is an "Un" Mother's Day story or, maybe, just a story about mud.
Yes, for sure, every baby is born unique and special and full of potential. That is why the healthy nurturing of those souls is awesomely frightening and rewarding. And, according to my mom, the worrying part never ends (Hard to believe considering that she raised five perfect "brats"!!!)
Those of you who have known my sons all their lives will, no doubt, back me up on this. Ewan was born babbling and Jamie was born stubborn. Thanks to the mothering from all the various care-givers around them, Ewan's babbling has become intelligent, quirky and entertaining. Jamie's stubbornness is his strength in terms of goal-setting and steadfastness.
When they were growing up, every once in a while, I would throw an un-birthday party at which anyone withOUT a birthday would get a little gift. (with Ewan's birthday at Christmas, this helped fill the long year gap) These were always a success because the kids had no expectations, no "I want..."s and could just simply enjoy the surprise. And, yes, there is a Mother's (Day) part to this story and I'm actually getting to it!!!
Last fall, Ewan heard me moan and groan about sore muscles in my neck and shoulder aggravated by leaf raking. Out of the blue, an un-Mother's Day gift arrived in my mailbox. It was a gift certificate for a mud bath and therapeutic massage at a local medi-spa. The REAL gift, of course, was the unexpectedness, the thoughtfulness!
I never got around to actually using that gift at the time - first Christmas preparations and then teaching J.K. full time kept me too busy. Now, I'm done teaching and just finished my spring raking so I finally got the pampering Ewan seems to think I deserve.
(This part's for Ewan)
Hey, Ewan it was great! First I soaked in a whirlpool of pine scented mud. It looked weird, kind of like chocolate water, but felt very energizing. Next, I had an all over body massage. The girl (woman to you I guess) concentrated on the sore areas and did not make me feel one bit conscious of my old lady body. The pampering part included all sorts of things such as lemon water, cozy housecoat, trickling water sounds, relaxing music, creams, heating pads, heated rocks, etc. as well as a friendly staff. AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I'm fully relaxed now and ready for "the race" so to speak. Thanks, Ewan.
Mud for un-Mother's Day - perfect!
So, to all you moms, grandmas, aunts and friends out there who helped to raise my kids (or your own or someone else's kids), let's enjoy their uniqueness and celebrate their specialness. I hope you all have a happy Mother's Day but I especially wish you the joys of un-Mother's Day gifts whether it be a tub of mud or a little hug - for those are the best.
Happy Mom Day! Gale
****
Well everyone, looks like winter is almost over here
in KW.
We had our last few flakes of snow yesterday and I
think we’ll see sunshine and warmer temperatures from here on in. We should
never have sent that nice warm weather from BC that Doug loaned to us back to
him. Oh well, no sense crying over past deeds.
Today was an absolutely lovely day! I actually slept
in until 10:20am and it felt good to do so. After rising and getting myself
cleaned up, I tidied up the house while Carole was out for the morning. Bailey
and I took our tea out onto the patio and enjoyed the sunshine for about a half
hour. Then it was time to throw the yellow plastic bone for Bailey for another
10 minutes until he felt his morning washroom break coming on. I prefer to be
present when he has this urge so I can clean it up immediately. It keeps the
back yard in shape for the rest of us so we can feel free to walk about without
stepping on a Poodle Pudding! Most family pooches tend to have a couple of
favourite spots where they do their business but you can’t always count on that
being the case. Once in a while there will be a deposit in a spot that’s
totally unexpected so it’s best to be on top of the situation and keep things
clean. In the house the doggie toilet that I made for Bailey is great but when
the good weather comes, he likes to go outside and sometimes forgets his toilet
is still in operation when we aren’t home. We’ve found a couple of puddles on
the hallway floor after leaving him home alone while we go out for groceries or
whatever. For the most part, Bailey is a well behaved pooch. He’s weighing in
at a hefty 13.2 lbs now. The vet says he’ll lose a couple over the summer now
that he can be more active. I’m sure he’ll trim down quickly. He’s much more
mobile in the summer time.
*
Well, our Jeep is now officially a seasoned used car!
I had to have a new air conditioning condenser installed yesterday. The first
time I tried the AC on when it was warm out two weeks ago it failed to cool.
When I checked the valve under the hood, there was no refrigerant in the lines.
As it turned out, there was a crack in one of the tubes of the condenser and
they can’t be repaired. You have to replace the condenser. The cost of which
was $450.00 installed. I have a good friend that is a mechanic and he did the
job for me for a reduced rate. I called the dealer when I first found out the
problem and they wanted $750.00 for the part and 2 hours labour at $75.00/hr as
well as $75.00 for the recharge of the system. Not to mention the taxes on top
of that. What a rip off! So it would have been over a thousand dollars at the
Jeep dealer. The Liberty is only 3 years old but I guess these things happen.
Being the condenser is mounted right in front of the rad it’s subjected to
stone impacts or whatever gets thrown up from the road while driving. I also
had him check the brakes and he installed new front brake pads. I had plenty of
pad left but one of the linings on a disc pad was separating from the backing
so I had to have a complete new set installed. The dealer wanted $149.00 +
taxes to do the work but Chris did it for me for $100.00. The pads alone were
$69.00 a set for the good ceramic set so he didn’t make a lot on that project
either. It’s great to have a good friend that is also a good mechanic. He
treats me very well when it comes to working on my vehicles. I do him a lot of
favours as well so it pays to work with each other. Hopefully the Jeep will be
in good shape for another couple of years before needing anything else. It
still looks like a new vehicle as well as drives that way too. We are very happy
with the Jeep product so far. I would buy another one in the future. This one
should last us at least another 4-5 years I’m sure.
*
Three weeks ago Adam got his Mini Cooper out of
storage and has had it in the garage with the interior completely out of it.
He’s been installing a new “Super Stereo” and is almost finished with the job
now. He says it’ll take him a few hours on Saturday to finish. I can hardly
wait to hear my Roy Orbison and Alan Jackson CD’s on his new system. LOL! I’ve
been helping him when he’s needed another set of hands and he says he’ll let me
give it a test run when it’s completed. I’ll be sure to hold him to that
promise. Since it’s his system and vehicle, I guess he’ll be using it a lot
more than I. I just want to try my choice of music on it once or twice so I can
at least understand the words to what I’m hearing! LOL! I call his music
“noise”.
I guess I’m getting too old to appreciate the
evolution of what the younger generation calls music nowadays. That’s ok, as
long as they still make something that appeals to me, the younger people can
listen to whatever they like too. Oh my God,,,,,,,,,I’ve become my dad!!!!!!! I
never thought it would happen but it has. Oh well, it could be worse, I guess!
I think I’ve said enough for this week. I thank you all for tuning in and will
see you all again next time in The Ontarion Report.
Bye for now….GREG.
PS: Tara, thanks for submitting a very interesting
and thought provoking letter last week. It’s great to hear from others now and
again. Feel free to do the same anytime, it helps break the monotony of the
chatter by us old guys! Keep your spirits up and opinions coming. Carole and I
enjoyed your submission very much. You certainly did instigate some interesting
and informative banter within the membership. Don’t be shy, do more of it!
(actually, you never did strike me as shy) good for you!
PPS: Something To Think About>
What ever happened to good manners? Does the youth
of today still possess the ability to display them?
****
The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
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