The Squamidian Report – Sept. 1 / 07
Issue #275
Also in this issue:
From
the Shores of Lake Huron
The Ontarion
Hi All,
It’s been quite a disappointment, when you think about it. This has been a very poor year for blueberries here on the coast. And we all know just how much those berries mean to me. Even my own patch did dismally. There was just too much rain and not enough sunshine. The berries that did ripen up were not sweet or blueberry tasting at all. And most were kind of soft and pulpy. My patch only produced a fraction of what it normally does. The local commercial berries available in the stores and at the fruit stands are poor quality and don’t keep very long. They must be used immediately or frozen for next winter’s deserts. Woe is me.
Oh yes, I mush admit to being a bit confused as to why what berries were on my patch seemed to disappear all at once, and to why the branches of the plants looked so nice and trimmed. Then it hit me. That big old bear that has been checking out our back yards each night must have decided the berries were good enough for him and simply helped himself, branch ends and all.
*
We got ‘bankers’! Have you seen that commercial? The one where the house is infested with bankers? It always makes me smile and it makes Sue ticked at me for smiling. Well, we had ‘bankers’ last Saturday. Literally. Sue had her staff over for a BBQ. About 18 or 20 of them showed up, so we had bankers scurrying all over the house and back yard. Except for doing the BBQ-ing, I kept out of the way as much as possible. Don’t really fit in all that well.
But they seemed to have a good time. Some went home fairly early, and the rest camped out in the back yard so they wouldn’t have to worry about driving after drinking. (Needless to say it was BYOB.) It was mostly the women. They are the wild ones. After most of the men had left they got down to some serious partying. Drinking games, yelling and giggling. Like I said, not my kind of thing so I just kept out of the way.
I must admit to a desire to throw a handful of coins onto the floor to see it they would go scurrying after them, just like in the commercial. However, even I know that doing that would have gotten me into more trouble than I am usually in. So I resisted. Instead is snuck out and went for a late evening toot on the bike. Quiet, relaxing and all alone.
doug
****
Greetings everyone. I am really surprised that I am able to submit a contribution to the newsletter this week because on Thursday morning I booted up my computer and it went through the regular routine. I connected to the net and before that finished I got a screen saying that I should shut down the computer immediately as I was loosing data. I did that and the message said I would be able to reboot again. NOT SO! Being as dumb as a stick when it comes to computers I was lost. When I tried to boot up all I got was a black screen. I talked to the person that set up my system he suggested that if I could find someone up here to look at it and determine the problem and give me a repair cost to do that. Off I went to work got a name from some at the motel and was going to call to set up a time to take it in on Friday. Well one thing led to another with work and didn't get calling so when I got home I tried to boot up unsuccessfully for about a half hour. I tried about an hour later and whamo it booted up no problem and has been working ever since. I think the first part of the week I will call anyway and have it checked out because the unit is around six to eight years old and maybe I should get a replacement.
Had to make a trip to Kitchener Friday with my old cube van the last one together as I sold it. It was a great work vehicle and still is but I don't need that type of vehicle up here with the new pick up and the cargo trailer system I have now. You know I didn't even have bad feelings about seeing it go.
Last Saturday was the annual fish fry and it was another great success. The weather man said that by 2 in the afternoon the rain would stop and be over. By jingles he was right and around 4 pm the sum even came out. I had about a 100 lbs of fish and everyone chipped in for the balance pot luck style, it's amazing no two dishes brought were the same. With my three huge fry pans (24" diameter) I cooked all the fish up in about an hour and everyone had plenty to eat. Later in the evening another guy and myself played guitars and sang until after midnight. I finally got home about 1:40 am. With the fish fry over that's a sign that fall is just around the corner.
Well it about 12:30 or so, so for this week I will sign off and everyone have a safe and pleasant week. Good luck to all the school kids on Tuesday.
****
Hello
Everyone!
It’s that
time once again when the kids are heading back to school for another year. I
guess the parents are smilin’ once more. It’s been a long time since Carole and
I have had to go through that but it seems like only yesterday when we talk
about it. I figure I’d better get the shovel, broom and garbage bags ready for
another 10 months of picking up after the inconsiderate brats that drop their
garbage at their backsides as they pass our corner. Mind you they’re not all
like that but a heck of a lot of them are. Maybe we’ll get lucky and this
year’s crop of gremlins will have better manners than their predecessors. It
all starts next week so we’ll soon see if there’s any improvement in their
ecological thinking. We shall see what we shall see!
*
In the
News: The latest set of arson fires has hit Kitchener once more. This time
there have been 6 new fires in the past two weeks. It seems that whoever is
lighting them likes to walk the railway tracks and light the fires in people’s
back yards as they go. Now, it may seem like this is just a string of pranks by
some wayward kids but it’s only the beginning. Although, the Waterloo Regional
Police now think they have a link to last years couple dozen fires! If they are
connected, the local Fire Departments have their work cut out for them. This
type of activity just seems to snowball and each fire becomes larger and more
damaging. I know because we went through it a couple of times in my 29 years
with WFD. In the 70’s we had our most challenging arson problem with a fellow
that called himself “Hephaestus” the Greek god of fire. Every time I hear of
another arson incident I think back to the days and nights we spent waiting for
the next alarm to ring in reporting another one of his devilish acts. It took
the police from 5 different cities almost two years to catch Hephaestus and in
that time he caused a lot of fire damage and was oh so close to taking his
first victim. Luckily he didn’t kill anyone but he severely scarred both
physically and mentally so many people in his wake. He’s one arsonist that will
NEVER see the light of day again. He’s been deemed a “Dangerous Offender” and
will spend the rest of his life as a guest of the Federal Government. I looked
up the reports of the activities of this criminal we called “The Saturday Night
Arsonist” and have attached the newspaper articles to this report for your
reading interest. I remember living through many a fire that he set and working
in difficult and dangerous conditions to put a stop to his activities before
someone died in one or more of the fires. It wasn’t fun like some kids think
and it wasn’t a laughing matter, it was HELL! Arson isn’t something you do for
the fun of it it’s a serious crime and a matter of life and death. I sincerely
hope the Regional Police and local Fire Departments get this latest fire
starter before it’s too late! I hope you find the following articles
interesting and informative.
****
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.
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