The Squamidian Report – Nov. 18 / 06
Issue #233
Also in this issue:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Oh yes, the storms of November. What more can I say? Probably lots. They pump in off the ocean one after the other in a long line. This week’s biggie was a Pineapple Express that hit the coast with 90 k winds and half a foot of rain. Now we often get that much rain but it is usually in the form of big lazy fat juicy drops that fall straight down and splash away. This time the rain came in driven sheets that saturated everything. The wind and rain brought down trees and power lines all over the place. Most major roads over on Vancouver Island were closed due to downed trees. Our Sea to Sky highway was closed from Squamish to Vancouver due to downed trees, power lines and mudslides.
A ritzy expensive new condo development just north of Horseshoe Bay had to be evacuated because the trees around it were toppling like match sticks and doing incredible amounts of damage. These are condos that the owners just paid over a million a piece for. Trees were also hitting houses in West and North Van. Lion’s Bay did without hydro for 4 days. Some small places on the Island are still without power.
Our new Wal-Mart, which won’t open for another week, was under water again, for the third time this fall. In fact, the whole industrial park was under water again. That ridiculous fancy drainage system just didn’t stand a chance.
To add to the excitement, the overhead power lines and phone lines in the area of the Industrial Park along the streets that we are widening had to be moved. The phone company was using a boom truck to move its cables and got too close to the high tension wires above. The hydro running through the wires arced and blew out several transformers. That left a bunch of businesses in the dark again.
But you know, these November storms aren’t dreary rainy endless days at all. They are interesting days. There is a lot to see as the storm clouds interact with the mountains. There is a lot to see as the rain falling at an inch per hour turns the hillsides into waterfalls. There is the challenge of working and going about daily life in a deluge. So its kind of fun really. Even the people living in the areas without power, or areas cut off by washed out roads tend to see it as a big adventure. Most people here, the ones living outside of the major urban areas, tend to be a rather self-sufficient adventuresome lot.
Oh, by the way, Whistler opens this weekend for skiing.
doug
****
Hey everybody, Greg’s 200th issue of the Ontarion is coming up on December 2nd. Believe me, it takes a very big commitment and a lot of determination stick to it and come up with something to write each and every week. So lets all let him know that we appreciate his effort, because I sure couldn’t keep this Squamidian thing going without him.
doug
****
Well The
elections are behind us now and we’re bound to our voting outcome for the next
4 years. It was not exactly the result that I wanted that we’re saddled with
here in Kitchener but hopefully the lessons of the past three years will serve
to direct the mayor and councilors that were returned to office in a more
taxpayer conscious direction. They seemed to think the money well was
bottomless over the past 3 years and of course they were wrong! They’ve made
some huge commitments to the future on behalf of their constituents. I sincerely
hope they cut back on their foolish spending during this term in office. If
they get the urge to make big expenditures I hope they at least consult the
taxpayers before doing so. I may just attend a few council meetings personally
to see exactly how they make these decisions. I guess if more citizens took the
time to attend the council meetings we’d have a better knowledge of the goings
on. This would enable us to be more vocal with respect to the spending
practices of the city council and possibly save us a lot of unwarranted
spending. It’s time to keep a closer eye on city hall, here in Kitchener
anyway.
*
I just
heard that U of W had a family of beavers killed by a professional trapper.
They were concerned about the safety of their students who have to walk the
trails through the woods where the beavers lived. The beavers were chewing the
base of trees almost through and leaving them with the possibility of being
blown over by the wind and hitting a student. One tree had fallen directly
across the path and the university administration decided that was too close
for comfort. They called in a trapper who set traps that apparently held the
beavers under water once they were caught in the trap. This sounds quite cruel
to me! Isn’t a trapper supposed to trap these animals live so they can be moved
to another location?
This was
mentioned in the news report but they said this is the wrong time of year to
start a beaver living in a new and strange habitat. One would think that with
winter setting in these beavers will soon be hibernating anyway so what’s the
hurry to have them killed or moved? Then, in the spring they could be moved to
a location conducive to their safety and well being. I think the University was
wrong to have them trapped this time of year. They should have chosen to leave
them till spring.
I’m no
Green Peacer but surely there was a better way of handling this problem than
having them killed!
*
Guess
that’s about it for this week. Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to
talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report.
Bye for
now… Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
Hard work
pays off in the future, laziness pays off now.
****
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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