The Squamidian Report – Oct. 7 / 06
Issue #227
Also in this issue:
A Note From Ryan & Emily
A Note From Ewan
The Ontarion
Hi All,
According to my favorite TV channel, the Weather Network, the fall leaves are in full colour back in Ontario. That’s always pretty cool. Those vast stands of deciduous trees are the envy of the country. We don’t get those colours out here on the coast. Or to be more exact, out natural stands of trees don’t achieve those colours. The dominant fall leaf colour here is yellow. Whole forests of trees all turn yellow. The deciduous trees mixed in with the evergreens all turn yellow. A bright shinning yellow. The low shrubs and bushes manage to turn reds and oranges though so we do get some variations. And the moss and lichens turn interesting fall colours. However it is a bit early here for coloured leaves with the exception of some low shrubs and ornamental plants so I guess this conversation is a bit premature.
We sort of played at the Gelato again. Same place we played last week. Gelato is a gelato ice cream store with seating for customers to eat their purchases. It also sells knitting wool with seating for customers that want to knit. It is also where a twice-monthly open mic happens that seems to draw an audience. Kind of a quirky hangout. To get the twice-monthly thing in sync with the first and third Wednesday of the month, they decided to have one this past week again. Then, on the day, the person who supplies and runs the PA system broke some ribs and therefore couldn’t be there with his equipment. Some of the regulars were notified but we weren’t. So Both Warren and I turned up as we didn’t know not to.
We decided to play anyway, totally un-amplified and un-miced. It actually went OK but after three quarters of an hour we decided it was too hard to play any longer and relinquished the little stage to a guy with a fiddle but not much talent or tunes. But he had fun and that’s what matters. While we were playing, Ryan and Emily walked in along with the girl who has the bright purple hair that was at their wedding. She and her boyfriend have moved to here from back there. Kind of cool for Emily to have an old friend in town now.
*
We had a sad bear sitting on our front lawn the other evening. Just as we were settling down to sleep we heard the sound of our side gate being crashed into and then the plaintiff crying of a bear. I think the poor creature had tried to run around the side of our house and ran head first into the gate. It then sat on the lawn and cried for a while before heading off in another direction.
doug
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First
of all, I would like to thank everyone who came to our wedding for making it so
wonderful for us. Weddings are not just about the Bride and the Groom. They’re
about the gathering of friends and family and celebrating that gathering. We
couldn’t have been more pleased.
Emily and I had a wonderful honeymoon. We took a 12-day cruise to the Hawaiian
Islands. We left from Vancouver on September 20th and got to Hawaii on the
26th. The ocean crossing served us well as we needed the time to catch up on
sleep and recover from the wedding. So we spent our time relaxing on the ship,
swimming and doing the most popular activity on the cruise; eating. Once we
arrived we did everything from volcano tours to snorkeling with wild sea
turtles. I am in the process of completing a website about our cruise complete
with pictures, my cruise log I kept and even a short movie we made! As soon as
I get it done I will send everyone the link. It should be by the next
Squamidian!
Ryan & Emily
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A Note From Ewan
Hello
all,
Last
Saturday I held my annual whisky tasting. It was a fine affair! It's been too
cold to have it on the balcony this year, but I did get everyone seated in my
small living room (a couple of people cancelled, which was lucky). It's a
relatively inexpensive way to try a variety of scotch whisky without having to
shell out for more than one bottle. They were excellent this year! Naturally I
wasn't ready in time, and was still preparing food when people arrived. They're
used to it. But it was good, we had grilled salmon for a change. I'm enjoying
to doing fish more often, because of UU's influence. We also had veg & dip,
nacho dip, salad and potatoes. I totally forgot about the mushrooms I had
prepared to sauté! Luckily, AJ didn't show up until after we had eaten. He
brought marlin, which turns out to be very tasty. So we had mushrooms and
grilled marlin for a second supper! Add on desert, and it meant that we ate for
most of the evening. But it worked out well because that meant that most of us
managed to not drink too much. Only one person drove, and he and his wife had
sobered up by then.
That
may be the end of decadence for a while. My pay stayed the same with the new
job. But now there's no over time for quite a while, and even when there is it
won't be as much. Suits me fine! Apparently our bonus will also be smaller. But
a bonus is a bonus, and I'd never count on it anyway.
I use
a Blackberry device now instead of a regular cell phone. That takes some
getting used to! I think I have it mostly figured out. I don't think I'm likely
to get addicted to it any time soon. But it can do one thing that I thought of
a long time ago. I set it up so that the ring sounds like a sonar ping! I hear
so many obnoxious sounds from people's phones, I hope this one doesn't annoy
people as much. Every time the phone rings (which isn't often) I remember Sean
Connery in The Hunt For Red October, "One ping only!"
Blackberry
is very worth the money, as long as the company pays for everything! Wow I
sound like I'm becoming a miser in this e-mail. You know, I wonder if every
time I drink scotch whisky it makes me cheaper! I had read about a new
Coca-Cola product called "Blak." It's coffee flavoured Coke. They
were giving it away free downstairs one day so I had to try some. It's every
bit as disgusting as it sounds, don't try it. I'm sure it will be a huge hit
with kids. When I was still struggling to figure out how to get my Blackberry
to work I called it a Blakberry. Blak!
In the
early spring we'll be moving to Brampton. People have generally made plans, and
are either staying with the company or not. Some will try it for a while, then
maybe move on. It's a time of lots and lots of change. Some people are stressed
out, for some it's an opportunity. For me it means getting a car of my own. I
don't mind the idea, it's paying for it that I'm less than thrilled about! I
hope the traffic between home and work won't be too insane. Free parking in
Brampton though. People here pay to park at work! Ha ha!
So all
this means I have to grow up a bit and save more money. It seems like such a
waste to buy a car though! Theoretically it'll all work out. I can save money
by planning out what I do properly instead of just charging headlong in to
headaches like that time with the cabinets on the balcony. People pointed out
that if I didn't work so many hours I wouldn't need so much time off. I hope
they're right! Another great way to save money is to not have kids. Since I
don't care much for beer and cigarettes I won't miss that new baby bonus from
the federal government!
One of
the things that I love about renting a car is the total absence of commitment.
The car is always new, usually under 1000 km (that's about a megameter). No
repairs or tune ups, no rust, no paperwork hassles, just have to put gas in the
tank. The credit card takes care of the insurance for free! I'm thinking that
insurance for a 32 year old with no history at all will be slightly worse than
free. Oh well. Had to happen eventually. Maybe I'll find a car that I even grow
attached to.
This
weekend I was planning to go to Kitchener, have two or three thanksgiving
dinners and maybe take in the parade. But UU reminded me that I haven't just
done nothing in a while. This time of year is always busy. Maybe we'll just go
for a walk. Regardless, I'm staying put in Toronto. Next weekend we'll go to
Kitchener anyway. It's always fun, but I'm looking forward to doing nothing
over the long weekend. I have a lot to be thankful for, and many aren't so
lucky. But in addition to giving thanks, I'm also thankful for nothing! Nothing
can be a very refreshing change, and many aren't so lucky as to be able to just
stop and do nothing for a few days. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Ewan
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello Everyone!
Darn, it’s another one of those warm sunny unpolluted weeks that are so common in Southern Ontario. I guess we’ll just have to tough it out! This is however the one week that is usually miserably cold and wet every year without exception. The first week of Oktoberfest is famous for its cold rain so this is a real surprise for sure. Carole and I actually spent a day earlier in the week cruising the country side in the MGB with the top down. There’s nothing like a beautiful fall day with a temperature to match that goes well with top down touring. I mean the top on your car, not the one that goes with whatever you’re wearing on the bottom half of your torso. LOL! We spent a couple of hours touring the countryside out and around Conestoga and Elora. These two towns are located in beautiful areas and it’s always interesting to visit them. Carole has a favourite “women’s” store in Elora that we always stop at. Luckily this time they had nothing that appealed to her. After a quick perusal of their wears we were back in the MG and on the road again. As we exited Elora on the way home, we had to pass the Grand River Raceway which contains the local casino. Of course the MG is conditioned to take up immediate occupancy of a parking spot in any casino lot we happen to be near. This led to a huge smile appearing on Carole’s face. I at first suggested I remain in the car and take a snooze while she performed her usual winning magic. She insisted I join her so if by chance she didn’t emerge a winner, I could share in the blame (at least that’s the way I tell the story anyway) LOL! Hahahahaaaaa…! Carole managed to break even while I lost $40.00. I couldn’t help think afterwards how much cruising we could have done in the MG on that $40.00 I’d just fed into those “One Armed Bandits”. This having been one of the few times we’ve visited a casino and come away without showing a profit makes my $40.00 donation seem hardly worth griping about. After all we have been quite lucky in the past when doing a little gambling. I guess this just wasn’t one of those times. I’m sure we’ll have better luck next time. I hope!
*
On another note, I learned a little something about the role that Carole and other housewives play in managing our home lives. Two weeks ago today (Friday) Carole had a severe swelling of her right knee. She has bad knees in the first place but this attack was more debilitating than any previous ones. We decided to head up to St Mary’s hospital emergency dept and find out what her problem was. Upon arrival we were taken in almost immediately and she was placed in a bed. Within 5 minutes a doctor came in to see her. His diagnosis was an accumulation of fluid in her right knee as a result of some irritation to an already arthritic joint. He asked if she’d done anything unusual to her knees in the previous day or two but she said other than being on her feet a little more than usual she didn’t think so. He pointed out that she had quite a bit of fluid in the joint and he would use a syringe to draw that fluid out. This would take the pressure off and she should be back to normal in a week or so. He proceeded to stab her with a foot long needle and withdrew approximately 30cc’s of cloudy beige fluid from the knee. He said it looked like normal fluid and saw no need to suspect any infection. That was a bit of good news and we left for home with Carole feeling more comfortable. I took her home and headed up to the Red Cross to get her a pair of crutches. After paying the $10.00/week rental fee I returned home. The crutches still require that you use your knees significantly to get around and proved to be not much help to her. The next morning I went to Shoppers Drug Mart Home Help store and rented a “Walker” for another $50.00. I always thought that these aids were supplied for free to those who need them. I guess these organizations have to raise money somehow to pay for this equipment so I really don’t mind paying the small fee for the use of them. The walker really helped Carole to allow her knees to settle down. In the meantime, I must get back to my “lesson learned”. While Carole was incapacitated I of course filled in as the “housewife” and did everything from cooking to washing the clothes. That was a first for me and I’ve always said that anyone can toss in the clothes and a cap full of liquid detergent and push the button. Well, that’s pretty much all there is too it other than making sure you put the right things in with the right things. I still had to ask Carole what colours go with what and how much of a load to wash at once etc etc etc. I can only imagine the mess that I might have produced had she not been there to guide me through the process. Between loads of wash and loads of hanging out to dry, I was climbing the stairs 100 times an hour to make sure that my patient was looked after. Adam was working out of town and I had to make sure his lunch was made in the evening and that his supper was ready for him when he got home. I also did the cooking for Carole and I and I must say I did pretty well. It was none of that soup and sandwich BS that some wimps do. I made real meals of steak, baked potatoes and veggies among other full course gourmet servings. Well, maybe they weren’t gourmet but they were pretty good stuff and even Carole complimented me on my accomplishments in the kitchen. On top of this I did all the other stuff that Carole usually does (under her supervision of course) and to tell you the truth, I was really done in by the end of the day. I used to accuse her of making work for herself but by the time I had finished the week I realized that if she didn’t do all that she does around here, the place wouldn’t be any where near in the constant state of cleanliness it is always in. I take my hat off to her and other housewives that put out this kind of effort week after week and year after year. I have gained a new appreciation for the hard work they do and won’t make light of it in the future.
After a week, Carole’s knees improved enough that she could get around without the walker and this week, she’s hardly needed it at all. In fact, she’s been pretty much back to normal for the past few days. Although her knees are far from normal, at least they are working as well as they did before the big attack. We both hope that’ll be the last time they’ll act up that severely. Although this type of arthritis does not usually improve hopefully it will stay reasonably stable and I’ll have her around for a long time to keep this place in tip top shape. I of course will be here with my new found skills to help out whenever she needs a break or at least assistance anytime in the future. I really am pretty good at dumping the cup of soap in the washer and pushing that button, hell, there’s nothing to that! I can even do the same when it comes to doing the dishes. From now on, if it’s got a button……. I can push it!
That’s enough for this week. I thank you all 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>
Gentlemen, give the little woman a break and push a button for them the next time they start whining about being the only one in the house that can do anything! If you can snap a beer cap, surely you can push a button!
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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!
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