The Squamidian Report – Nov. 10 / 07
Issue #285
Also in this issue:
From the Shores of Lake Huron
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I put it off as long as possible, but that sad event in every biker’s year would simply not be denied. I put the bike away for the winter. Living here where winters are mild and our garage is kind of inside the house, putting a bike into storage is not near as big or traumatic a job as it was back on Hidden Valley where I had to store the bike in that old deep-freeze barn / garage we had. It used to take a fair amount of preparation to get the Yamaha ready for hibernation. I would start by filling the gas tank to prevent any condensation from forming, and then add some fuel stabilizer to keep the fuel stable. I’d pull the plugs so I could squirt some oil into the upper cylinder area. I’d drain the carburetor bowls. I’d pull the battery. Then I’d coat the bike with silicone spray to protect the paint and chrome, and plug the tailpipes to keep out moisture and rodents. I would then place the bike in a back corner out of the way where it would wait for winter to end and the ice to melt from our lane. And finally I would cover the bike with whatever sheets and blankets I could smuggle out of the house.
Occasionally, throughout the long cold dark winter I would notice the bike sitting neglected and lonely under it’s cover, against the concrete wall. Various hand tools and pieces of equipment would be blocking it in, adding to the disparity. A sad event indeed.
So now I’ve put the Harley away for the winter, but it’s not quite as bad. Sad, but not as sad. It sits along the inside wall of the house garage where the temperature will never drop below freezing and it will not become buried under shovels and tractor parts. I’ve lifted it up off the floor using a motorcycle jack, just enough to take the weight off the tires. I’ve plugged a battery minder into the battery. It’s a tiny little battery charger that senses the charge level and simply maintains it without over-charging. The Harley has a security system and on-board computer stuff that would slowly drain the battery if left on it’s own. I’ve covered the bike to protect it from dust with a bike cover made specifically for the big touring style bikes. It even has an opening for the radio antenna to poke out through. Cool.
While it’s true that I now have to wait till spring to go rumbling down the highway on the Hog, at least I can check on it every time I drive in or out, or whenever I find any reason to pop down to the garage. Spring is a long way away, but I do have the little dirt bike sitting in there as well, licensed and insured and ready to go on the next sunny weekend that comes along. And it’s not stuck against the wall under a cover.
And I promise, this is the last you will hear about the Harley until spring. Well, probably the last. I think, maybe.
*
Don’t know about you, but I hate this ‘fall back’ time change. Everything seems to be so late. It is dark way too much and everyone walks around exhausted, barley able to drag themselves about. You don’t gain an hour of sleep or any such thing, you just loose an hour of daytime. Not much I can do about it, but it felt good to vent a bit.
doug
****
Greetings everyone. This past week it’s been very hectic, last Friday down to Kitchener for the Rangers game, Saturday winterized trailers, Sunday back to Kitchener, Monday work Tuesday back to Kitchener, Wednesday Halloween, and Friday back to Kitchener. I must say the rangers are doing great with 8 wins in a row. This week marks the opening of deer season in Ontario. An article on the radio last week said that the OPP from the Owen Sound area have recently investigated 19 accidents of which 17 involved deer. I have been fortunate I guess traveling back and forth to Kitchener that I haven’t got up close and personal with meeting a deer on the road. I don’t hunt for the creatures but I don,t plan on getting one with my vehicle either but the best laid plans can go wrong to.
Also speaking of wildlife there have been numerous sightings and sounds of coyotes in the town area like I mean in residential areas. The local police have warned people not to eave you small pets out side alone as the may become coyote food. Both Wednesday and Thursday evening around 10:15 I was going from my shop to the house and I heard a pack of them in the woods behind my place. Their howls have a very eerie sound.
Will looking at the long range forecast I will be winterizing my bike and boat today. I have found a local young lad who dose detailing on vehicles so I had him do the truck the eek prior to last. His price to wash, wax, shampoo the carpets and condition the interior according to his sign was $99.99 dollars and as I have a large vehicle I thought this wasn’t a bad price. He also hung out with my boys when they were younger so I don’t know if that made a difference but he only charger me half of that and did a mighty fine job. So when i picked up the truck I checked to see if he did motorcycles. He said yes so today I go back to pick up the bike. I don’t know the cost yet but even if it’s the same as what I paid for the truck I figure thats cheap because it frees up my time. When I get it home I will cover it up and prepare it for winter as looking at the long-range weather they are talking snow the week after next. I hate that four-letter word.
Well its time to rest the fingers again so everyone have a great week and a safe one.
****
Greg has sent in a very touching video
that is well worth watching. The link is down at the bottom of his column. The
video is just over 6 meg in size, so it is best viewed over a high-speed
Internet connection. Please take the time to watch it.
Hello
everyone!
It’s been
one of those weeks where everything piles up and you seem to get nothing done.
Guess I’ve been so busy doing all that stuff that I almost forgot to do my
column. It’s been the week of wearing your Poppy and hopefully remembering our
Veterans. Way back when I was in public school they used to make a big deal of
Remembrance Day and I recall it as being one of the most special days of the
year. We would gather in the gym of Prueter Public School and Mr Loney would
read a preplanned service. He’s also talk about the wars gone by and make
reference to WW II in which he served in the Canadian forces himself. He was a
gruff old guy and when he spoke, you listened! They would show us movies (no
videos) back then of the troops fighting in the trenches and on the beaches of
Normandy. I remember sitting oh so quietly throughout the entire ceremony and
thinking of my uncle Herb Payne. He lived in Preston and had been in the Army
during WW II. Whenever we would visit him and my aunt Phil and their 4 kids I
would see bits and pieces of his army memorabilia around their house. I asked
him about them many times but he never seemed to want to talk much about it. I
guess when you’re a kid, you don’t understand how painful it might be to think
back on the years you spent at war. Anyway, to me Uncle Herb was a true hero.
Not for any specific reason other than that he had been a real soldier and had
fought in a real war. Kids seemed to think it was cool to play soldier and when
that young, never gave much thought about how gruesome war really was. The only
time we were reminded of the true horrors of war was on Remembrance Day.
I
received an e-mail the other day from my cousin Patrick. His father Ken Hoy was
also in the RCAF during the war but was fortunate enough to have spent his
enlisted time right here in Canada. He’s no less a Hero to me for not having
spent any time actually in battle overseas as he was performing a valuable
service over here training and preparing our pilots for battle. The e-mail
contained a video and a song written by an artist from Nova Scotia by the name
of Terry Kelly. It’s called “A Pittance of Time”. It’s about the respect we
show for our Vets every November 11th and how he experienced one
person’s lack of respect for our fallen heroes. He wrote this song after the
incident and it’s now a heart wrenching standard to be played and respected
this time of year. I have attached it to this week’s Ontarion and I sincerely
hope you will all be able to open it and enjoy it.
Gotta go
for now.
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next time in The
Ontarion Report.
Note:
This is a 6 meg video, best viewed using high speed Internet, not dial-up
Bye for now.. Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
No matter
where you may be at 11:00am tomorrow, be sure to observe that 2 minutes of
silence in honour of our Veterans.
****
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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