The Squamidian Report – Oct. 15 / 05
Also in this issue:
Vivyan’s puppy, Teddy
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Lets face it, you just can’t have rain forests without having rain. So our holiday Monday made sure our rain forests were in good shape. It rained as only it can rain on the west coast. A steady downpour. And since then there have been several waves of Pacific Lows pumping copulas amounts of rain into the area. But our soil is so granular that almost no puddles form. The water runs off or percolates through the soil. In most places the bedrock is at or just below the surface so the rain makes it’s way into the streams and rivers very quickly. A mountain river can go from a quiet waterway to a raging torrent in no time at all during a heavy rain. Surface runoff creates instant waterfalls down the rock faces along the highway. There is always the possibility of a rockslide or debris slide. Sure keeps things interesting.
Soil that has been disturbed is another story. It turns to mud very quickly. It basically liquefies. So our construction site at Britannia is pretty soupy. Every time we dig a hole or trench, the material we dig out turns to slop if it is raining. We truck in load after load of relatively dry fill from the gravel pit and haul away load after load of muck. A truck loaded with mud is not the same as one loaded with dry material. Mud acts like a liquid so the load is unstable and unpredictable. And the trucks are hauling down off the side of the mountain where we are building the new roads for the new part of the subdivision. And the roads are rocky, muddy and steep, all at the same time. So those guys have their hands full.
Dealing with the stuff from the cab of an excavator can be tricky as well. Excavators are rated for a given lifting capacity, but that capacity changes with boom position. You may be able to lift a given weight very easily when the bucket is crowded in tight to the machine but as the bucket is moved out, the effect of the weight increases, just like when a crane reaches out. A bucket full of mud is no problem close in. But as the bucket is moved out the machine becomes unstable, to the point of tipping. The effect is more pronounced and happens quicker when working over the side rather than over the ends of the tracks. You tend to dig or scoop over the ends but then swing to the side to dump the bucket. At times you have to time your swing so that you are dumping as the bucket reaches where you need it, because the machine is already starting to go over. Keep you on your toes.
One of those Pacific Lows slammed into the coast with some pretty gusty winds. The waters of Howe Sound stood on end with high wild white caps crashing along the shore. The trees on the mountains sides swayed, moaned, cracked and groaned. I was quietly having lunch in my machine as I watched the tall trees sway. Typical of most development, trees are cut to make room for roads, buildings etc. That leaves the remaining trees unprotected and vulnerable. As I watched, a straight tall fir perhaps 150 feet tall or more, toppled over into the trees below. The roots could not hold against the wind now that the trees beside it had been removed for the road construction.
*
I’ve put a new link on the home page of the Squamidian web site. It takes you to Langa.com, an Email newsletter about all things computer. Fred Langa was editor and chief columnist of the Windows World magazine that disappeared several years ago. He covers pretty well every aspect about computers, at a level geared to all ranges of computer users. Some topics are aimed at newbies, others at propeller heads and everything in between. There is a free version of his newsletter as well as a ‘Pro’ version that adds a few extra articles for those propeller heads. It’s a great source of knowledge for all things computer related. Check it out.
d
****
Vivyan sent in some pictures of her little puppy, Teddy. He’s about 3 months old now, her first picture is of when he was 2 hours old. I’ve posted a web page for Teddy at:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/Misc/teddy.htm
****
Hello everyone!
Well,
Oktoberfest is almost over for another year and the police have once again
issued more 12 hour suspensions for borderline drunk driving than in previous
years. I heard from Chief Larry Graville that he’s quite pleased that the
majority of the people stopped in the RIDE programs have been sober. I guess
the campaign to lessen the drunk driving is working at least for the
Oktoberfest week.
I
remember when I was on duty over this period each year, especially on nights,
we didn’t bother going to bed late at night because we knew we’d be out most of
the night cleaning up MVC’s from drunk drivers. I was working out of Station #2
one night about 10 years ago and we heard one helluva crash at around 1:30am.
We looked out the front window of the station to see one car crushed up against
the light pole and another on its side and on fire. We quickly pulled the pump
out onto the front driveway and put the fire out. The driver in the car against
the pole was dead and the one in the flipped vehicle was without a scratch.
When we extricated him from the car, he was slobbering and laughing. He said to
one of my guys “WOW, what a f____in’ ride that was! I guess I was lucky this
time eh?” It was just too bad we couldn’t say the same for the other innocent
victim. The survivor was drunk as a skunk and had been drinking beer and wine
for several hours prior to getting into his vehicle to drive home. He said he
lost it when he suddenly puked on himself while driving and crossed the line
hitting the other car. They landed right in the driveway of the fire hall. This
station was on Westmount Rd close to University Ave. This guy had been drinking
at Rink In The Park on Seagram Dr only a few blocks away and figured he’d drive
himself home since he lived on Erb St W, two houses west of Westmount Rd. He
could have walked that distance in 10 minutes and saved a life. What a tragic
situation that was. We really had no sympathy for anyone that got into an
accident while they were driving drunk. I still deplore anyone that drinks and
drives. I must say that the having one drink per hour is acceptable according
to the research that’s been done by the government and the police forces in
Ontario use this as a “safe” guideline. That is the measure I use if I decide
to take a social drink when we are out for an evening. Between having dealt
with these impaired situations at work and having heart problems my drinking
days are few and far between anyway. It’s just not worth taking a chance! It’s
a fact that most of the injured or dead victims of such Motor Vehicle
Collisions are not the drinking driver but the drivers or passengers in the
innocent vehicle. There’s something about being drunk that makes the body less
prone to injuries than someone that’s sober. They say it’s that relaxed and
slow to react state that alcohol puts you in that makes a drunk less likely to
be injured. There must be some truth to that observation.
*
Looking
back for a moment, we finally got the Rogers phone and Internet thing worked
out. They came over on Tuesday and installed the modem for the high speed
server and within 20 minutes we were back in business. It really is a LOT
faster than the old dial up system. I’m glad we finally went to the cable high
speed. Clyde is happy that I can finally open the videos he sends me. He puts a
lot of work into his videos and we were both disappointed many times when my
system wouldn’t open what he sent me. Many times, I just got tired of waiting
for the darned things to download and cancelled them. The first one he sent me
on Tuesday was one that would have taken about an hour on the old system but it
only took about 30 seconds on the High Speed line. Amazing!
*
I’ve been
watching the news for the past couple of nights and they have been talking
about the heavy traffic that is backed up every day at the corner of
Fischer-Hallman Rd and Ottawa St. That’s the location of the new super plaza
just blocks from our house. Until last year, it was a field with a duck pond in
the middle. There are now about 20 stores on the property including CTC, Wal
Mart and Home Depot. The developer paid out of his own pocket to widen the
roads around the location to handle the extra traffic caused by the new
attraction. However, they didn’t anticipate having an average of 50,000
vehicles pass that way every day. It’s an amazing mess both in the early
morning and around 5 o’clock each day. One of the Regional councilors was on
the news saying he’d like to see a couple of “Round a bouts” at that
intersection to clear up the problem. Well, I for one think that’s the dumbest
idea they could come up with. There are two new “Round a bouts” in Waterloo and
they are the most dangerous traffic hazard I’ve ever seen. They work well in
England but I’d be willing to bet that it took a good 10 years for people to
get good at using them. Unless the Region does a major job of educating our
local drivers on the use of these traffic circles we’ll be seeing a hefty
increase in crashes.
I still
would rather see traffic lights or 4 way stops installed than “Round a bouts”.
At least then the vehicles have to stop and think about their next move. With
the traffic circles, they must keep moving and play crash up derby to find
their intended exit and nobody seems to want to give the right of way to the
other vehicles involved. Today’s drivers just seem to be too impatient to be
able to handle the courtesy needed to safely navigate these circular
intersections. I avoid them whenever I can, they scare me!
Anyway,
with the thought of 50,000 cars passing one spot every day, I may just take up
a “begging” position on one of the curbs at the new Ottawa St intersection and
see how much I can rake in on a good day! After all, with the right garb,
anyone can look needy enough to garner the sympathy of at least 10% of the
drivers stopping at that corner and that would amount to a tidy sum now
wouldn’t it? LOL! Just might be worth a try!
Better go
for now. It’s good to be back to normal here at The Ontarion.
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week.
Until
then….. Have a great week!
Bye for now…. GREG.
PS:
Something To Think About>
Only 72
more shopping days until Christmas!
****
The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.