The Squamidian Report – June 23 / 07
Issue #265
Also in this issue:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
We played our last gig with Neil. He’s that rather interesting ex disk jockey from just west of Denver, Colorado who moved up here 2 years ago to take a media course in Vancouver. They moved from their place high in the arid dry Colorado Rockies where their house sat at about 8400 ft, to a place in Squamish, in the Coastal Mountain rain forest, at an elevation of about 50 ft. Quite a pressure change. And quite a moisture change. They came from a place where the thin air and desert conditions would dry anything in about 6 minutes, to a place where anything wet takes about 6 months to dry. Mind you, his Martin guitar loves it here, and it will need some special attention to hydration once they get back to Colorado.
He moved here with his wife and grandson, and immediately got involved in the local music scene as well as the community. Before he moved here, they had visited this area as tourists and had stayed in Warren’s chalet where we had our first jam session with Neil. Over the past 2 years Warren’s and us have socialized and jammed with them. And lately Neil has joined us when we have played at various local functions. But now his course is over and they are heading back. They had rented out their Colorado home so it is waiting for their return. Being the rather smart people that they are, they had purchased a house here and due to the rapid rise in real-estate values, are doing just fine.
It has been quite an adventure for them. They had moved from a high desert setting to a sea-level rainforest setting. They had moved from the southern US social climate to the socialist Canadian climate. Quite a field trip for their 10-year old grandson. They leave a lot of friends behind, but are returning to a lot of friends. On the plus side, it gives us a US destination for a visiting trip of our own.
Our last gig was at the Gelato ice-cream place in ‘down town’ Squamish. It was a typical Saturday evening, you could have shot off a canon down the main street and no one would have noticed. An ice-cream place may seem like a strange place to play but it is actually one of the few places here that has live music. The pubs all do, but they have the loud stuff annoying aimed at the rowdy drinking crowd. At Gelato’s, you play for the fun of playing, and if anyone happens to come in to listen, well, that’s fine too.
Ryan supplied the sound system, courtesy of Rocky Mountain Entertainment where he works. He brought in enough equipment to satisfy the needs of a large concert hall. Any one of the small stage monitors we used would have been enough for the whole room. But he set it up and balanced it out and ran it perfectly, giving us a natural sound with no distortion or strain. That was a real pleasure. We’ve played through some pretty bad systems in the past, run even badly-er.
Neil was twice the age of everyone else taking the course, but he graduated just fine. In a couple of weeks, after his grandson’s school year is finished, they will hit the road. They will be missed. However, once they are settled back into their Colorado home, they will become members of the Squamidian family so we will all get to know them.
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Now this is going to demonstrate just how dedicated I am to my readers. I figured I should have a second topic this week so we could satisfy a broader interest range. So just for you guys, I climbed aboard that big Harley and rode all the way up past Pemberton to Lillooet Lake where the highway turns up onto the Duffy. All that riding in the sunshine up those mountain highways just to take a few pictures to post on my web site for your entertainment.
Lillooet Lake is where the Green River, Lillooet River and Birkenhead River all end up, as well as the numerous smaller streams that drain that area. The lake then drains southeast as the Lillooet River continues, and empties into Harrison Lake, which empties into the Lower Fraser via the Harrison River. So basically, if you had a good canoe, strong arms and a lot of time on your hands you could paddle your way all the way out to the Strait of Georgia and back to Squamish.
The Pemberton, Lillooet Lake area is also higher and dryer than the coastal rain forest country. Keeps it interesting.
http://www.thedougsite.net/Duffy/LillooetLake.htm
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Here’s a tip for you, if you ever need to get roofing tar off your hands, use WD 40. Feels like hand lotion and works incredibly well.
doug
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Hello everyone!
I’ve got another little story to tell you. This one
makes you wonder what people are thinking.
Carole and I were sitting on the front porch a
couple of nights ago. It was Sunday evening and a tea after supper was making
for a nice relaxing respite in the evening sunset. We could hear a bell ringing
off in the distance. It sounded like one of those old bells you see on the
rural school house yard that clangs to call the children in for their day’s
lessons. As the sound grew louder and louder we could see an older blue Chevy
van approaching us from up the hill on Driftwood Dr in front of our house. We
realized it was indeed a school style bell attached to the side of the van and
the driver was pulling a rope from inside as he drove around the neighbourhood.
As it turned out the fellow is a small business man in a mobile “Sharpening”
shop. He had a sign on the sides of the van picturing lawn mowers, knives, saw
blades and many other devices that require sharpening. I’m sure he does a good
business when weather is good and people are home. Thus the reason for his
traveling around making all that noise on a sunny Sunday evening. As he turned
the corner in front of our house I said to Carole “Maybe I should get him to
sharpen our lawnmower blade!” Just as I said that he pulled his van to the curb
and stopped exactly in the location that had served as a resting place for
Adam’s truck as it burned to a crisp the night before. The driver took his seat
belt off and turned away from his seat into the back of his van. In about two
minutes he appeared in the driver’s seat once more and reached out the window
and dumped the contents of a plastic container on the road beside his truck. It
was a golden colour and both Carole and I said “What the hell’s he doing?” I
hollered “Hey, what are you doing dumping that on the road?!” He looked around
and said in a broken English voice “Ver har you?” I said “I’m right here!” and
I stood up from my chair so he could see me on the porch. He said “What’s
wrong?” I said “How would you like it if I stopped in front of your house and
threw my garbage out on the road?” He looked shocked and said “It’s only hot
water!” At that moment Carole said to me that it looked like urine. Of course
it dawned on me as she said that that it was exactly that, PEE! I said in a
loud voice that it looked like something more than hot water to me and if he
had any respect or decency in him he wouldn’t dump anything on the road, no
matter what it was. I shook my head and just then a truck pulled up behind him
and was obviously a customer. The driver went up to the blade man and I guess
he suggested they pull ahead a little, more to get away from me than to find a
safer place to stop and (pardon the pun) do some business. LOL!
They moved up two houses on the street and they both
got out of their vehicles to arrange whatever it was the customer needed. I
decided to walk over and see just what it was that he had dumped on the road.
When I approached the spot I could clearly see that it was indeed human urine
as it trickled to the curb with a head of foam on it. He was watching me as he
dealt with his customer. He looked at me and I took the opportunity to
reiterate my concern. I shouted so they both could hear “It looks like PISS to
me pal!” As I walked back home I could hear him say to the other man “I dumped
some hot water on the road up there and that guy got all mad!”
I was talking about it with Carole and we were
expressing our disgust. All of a sudden Carole told me to grab Bailey because
the “blade man” was walking up our driveway. Too late, Bailey was off the porch
like a shot and jumping at the blade man’s feet. I walked down to pick up the dog
and when I finally picked him up, the guy said once more “What’s the problem
with dumping hot water on the road?” I looked him right in the eye and said
“Look mister, you and I both know you took a leak in that bottle in the back of
your van and then dumped it out the window!” He stood there dumbfounded and
just said “It’s water, it’s water!” I said “Cut the bullshit and next time use
your head and take a washroom break at a store or donut shop or at least take
your bottle of urine home and dump it in your own toilet or better yet, dump it
on the street in front of your house and see how your neighbours like it!” I
then just turned and walked away. He shook his head and mumbled something as he
headed back to his van. I’m quite sure he’ll stay out of our area for a while
and rightfully so!
I don’t know where this guy comes from originally
but if this is the way his people acted over there he should have left his
lowlife manners behind!
This is CANADA buddy and if you can’t act like a
decent human being and show some respect for this beautiful nation, I’ll gladly
buy you a one way ticket back to “Pigville” where you come from!
SHEESH! Just what kind of animals are the
immigration letting in to this country anyway?!!!
I think they should do a better job of screening the
immigrants. Once more it all points back to the “Liberalization” of the
immigration act. I’m sure they don’t know what the background of 90% of the
incoming masses is and really don’t give a shit as long as they make their
quota for the year. IF they’re not criminals, they have no manners or respect
and enter Canada demanding to be treated with the respect they lack!
Guess I should go have a tea before I lose my cool
altogether!
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>
Are our immigration laws to lenient?
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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
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