The
Squamidian Report – Feb. 23 / 08
Also in this issue:
A Note From Vivyan
A Note From Lorne
A message from Maggie and Ron
A Note From Ewan
North Nova News
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Welcome to the 300th issue of the Squamidian. Interestingly, this issue coincides with Vivyan’s birthday. Luckily it’s not the 300th for her but it is certainly a noteworthy number. I just won’t mention what number it is. Anyone who needs to know probably already does.
Traveling across the country is always interesting. For starters, one always seems to have to get up earlier than normal to catch a plane. So last Monday we got up just after 4:30am, got ready and headed for the airport. For us that means driving down the Sea to Sky highway into Vancouver, and then on down through the city to YVR. Takes about and hour and a half if there aren’t any problems with traffic or the highway. My flight was set for 8am, meaning I needed to be there by 7. So that all worked out fine. We were having clear calm weather on the west coast and that tends to create thick night fog that forms over the St of Georgia and the low-lying sections of the city including the airport. So even though YVR seemed to be socked right in, the air was clear just a few meters higher up. Just after takeoff we climbed out of the fog and into a bright clear sparkling world of blue sky and snow-capped mountains.
I sat with my nose glued to the airplane window all the way to Calgary where Westjet has all its connections. My connection was for Kitchener of course and that’s where it took me. This was the first time in years that I’ve looked down on the country and seen a proper covering of snow, right from the coast to Ontario. Last time I flew in the winter most of the country was bare and brown. The flight dipped down into the states and at about Duluth we encountered the overcast conditions that would stay with us the rest of the way. The clouds broke enough for me to spot the north end of Waterloo and Paul and Sherri’s house as the plane headed for Guelph before making the turn onto final for runway 25. We landed at about 5:45, just as a snow squall closed in.
Landing at Kitchener is great. No highway 401, no Pearson airport, no hassles. Step out of the terminal and you could almost walk to where you are going. My parents were there to meet me and after finding my luggage we headed over to Gale’s for dinner. The streets were snow covered and icy but we got there. From there on it has been visiting and eating. I’m not very good at the visiting part but I’ve got the eating part pretty well down pat.
Well, turns out I was right. Someone beat me to those pie pieces I was talking about. However, I managed to get over my disappointment when my mother informed me that she was about to make 3 new fresh pies. I even got to choose what kinds. So, pie number one was plumb, number 2 was rhubarb, and number 3 was apple, and they were all worth the trip from BC to Ontario.
I hung out with Greg for a day as we traveled around looking at motorcycles and the ever-changing Waterloo Region. We checked out the metric bikes and the accessories departments at various dealers. Even managed to pick up a few items I’d been looking for but couldn’t find back home. I hung out with brother-in-law Paul as we checked out the Harley model that he has on order. Looks like there is some pretty nice riding ahead this coming season for the bunch of us, bike wise. Maybe I should get these to guy together. They could head west on their bikes while we head east on our bike and meet in the middle somewhere. Actually, Paul and Sherri are already intending to ride west as we ride east so the stage is set.
I checked out the local tractor / implement dealers with Lorne. He is thinking about replacing his little 9-year-old lawn tractor. That also gave me a chance to drive through the rural countryside and see fields and farms and hardwood forests. These are things that I do miss.
And I must thank whoever was responsible for arranging that lunar eclipse. Wednesday night was clear and cold and crisp. Perfect conditions for viewing the sky. The moon slid behind the Earth’s shadow, with Saturn shining brightly close by. Just after the moon began to re-emerge, the sky clouded over. I’m assuming that was some sort of cost cutting measure implemented by the astronomy department.
doug
****
Since we didn’t have a car when I was growing up my parents depended on neighbours to take them to Mount Forest when they had business to attend to. We had wonderful neighbours that were always willing to help. But when I was about 10 or 11 my dad decided it was time to say thank you.
My dad’s uncle Jack had a stock truck because he took anybody’s cattle or pigs to the stockyards in Toronto. My dad hired him to pick up all the neighbours on our road and take them to Mount Forest for the Santa Claus Day parade. He put a whole lot of fresh straw on bed of the truck and tarps over the sides and top to keep out the wind and snow. The installed planks along the sides for the people to sit on. We had a ball. All the children got a candy bag with an orange in it from Santa. Mount Forest had just gotten its first theatre, called the Roxy. They were playing a Shirley Temple movie and all the kids were aloud in free. That was the first time I ever saw a movie. It certainly made the winters seem shorter that year and we all had a fabulous time.
****
Speaking of winter storms, (as we have been lately), I’m not sure of the year but I remember what car I had. A 1970 Dodge. In 1975 I traded it so sometime in that 5-year period I left work about noon because a storm was getting bad. I crept up Ottawa St and turned onto Old Chicopee.
Visibility was near zero. I moved along at a snow walking pace, caught glimpses of other cars. By this time I couldn’t tell if they were backing up or not moving. Somebody opened my passenger side door. In crawled 2 ladies almost hysterical and wanted a ride to their home.
I didn’t mind because it gave me 4more eyes to watch where I was going. Then one shouted “here we are, let us out” and out they went. I couldn’t see them after they shut the door, but on the seat lay a ring of house keys. After the storm I tried the buildings near the corner, to find the key owners but to no avail. I think the keys are still hanging on a nail in the kitchen.
****
"Hi, I'm Barb, known in my family as Bobbie, the other half of Russ; former electrician, Police Officer, teacher and Retired Professor, Faculty of Law.
I received this Valentine from my niece, and I
find it very touching, and
I'd like to share it."
A friend sent an early 'Valentine' to see if it will
make it around the world by Feb. 14th. Please pass on a wonderful message.
For God so loV ed the world,
That He gA ve
his onL y
BegottE n
SoN
T hat whosoever
Believeth I n Him
Should N ot perish,
But have E verlasting life.'
John 3:16
****
Happy 300th issue Squamidians!
We have had the privilege in sharing in about one third of the publications. The first approximate two hundred issues passed before Gale asked Doug to put us on the list. Reading the Squid each week had been a pleasure for us; also, we forward it on to people who live in Whistler and Fort St. John. The best part of the Squamidian and all the people related to it is that for Ron and I, this has become family. Between the two of us the only actual blood-family we have in Kitchener is my mother as all other family members are out-of-town, out-of-province or out-of-country. Not to worry - in fact, we do have a wealth of family members that we meet through the Brubacher clan at functions and through reading the Squamidian. These warm and generous people have invited us into their lives and include us in so many special family events. From the two of us, a big thank you for including us in such a great group of people.
Here is to hundreds of more Squamidian issues!
****
A Note From Ewan
Happy
300th Squamidian everybody!
Welcome
back to Ontario Doug, I hope the air quality treats you well while you're here.
Hopefully I'll see many of you this weekend too. Doug, just for the record
Torontonians don't listen to Environment Canada any more than anyone else. The
weather channel is used sometimes, I guess. The internet is always popular too.
But most of the time the majority of us get all our weather and traffic updates
from local AM radio. Local weather guys on AM radio are it, the rest is fluff.
True though, that if it will snow in Toronto it's called, "A severe
snowstorm weather alert."
Run
for your lives! Actually, we're all very proud of our current mayor for having
some snow ploughs around to get us through without having to call the army. Who
would have thought that having snow ploughs might pay off some day?
Today's
note from Ewan starts in the summer of 2006. That was about the time that I
decided to leave Rogers Wireless to move to Rogers Cable. I didn't really want
to do that but it was necessary in order to get the position that I wanted. It
turned out to be simultaneously one of the most clever and dumbest things that
I ever did. There are lots of pros and cons, and the truth is that I've tried
to go back. There were times that I cursed the day I changed, and others I felt
it wasn't so bad. One small thing that happened a few months after I changed
irked me. Rogers arranged for an all expenses paid 1 day ski trip for all the
wireless people in Ontario! This doesn't happen often. I wouldn't have thought
ever, it sure hadn't happened before. I wouldn't have changed my mind about
changing jobs had I known, but I was green with envy. There was a snow storm
and no one was really expected back the next day. A bunch of my former
co-workers ended up "trapped" at some nice cottage belonging to the
family of my former boss. This is the kind of baloney that I associate with
Sales and Marketing types, maybe some of the VIPs, but never tech geeks and
engineering types, never the rank and file.
A year
later the game changed again. A few weeks ago our entire department moved from
Cable to Wireless. Sort of. It's very corporate and boring, but some huge chasm
opened up and we ended up somewhere in between. Good news. So I registered to
go skiing this year! True, no one actually invited me or anything, and it
seemed apparent that most of my coworkers were disinterested or pessimistic.
Some of them clearly never heard of such a grand day out. I talked to my manager
and he said fine, but it would cost me a vacation day. Seemed fair enough, a
perfect balance really! Wireless gets a day off and a free ski trip, Cable gets
nothing, I get the trip but no day off. I couldn't complain!
So
just after Valentine's Day I got good and sick. I've been a good boy all around
but I still managed to catch a fever and a cough. UU and I were just laughing
about how this winter couldn't even touch us. I should've touched wood! UU is
fine and can be, and is due back from a lovely day of shushing down the slopes
later tonight. I should be shushing! There was other stuff there too, like a
bon fire, and games and hot chocolate! And cognac. But I can handle none of
these things today. I did get outside for a bit on Saturday, which helped me
feel a lot better. Sunday was worse. I was cold and sweaty on Monday, which was
extra special because it cost me a vacation day! As a nationally regulated
employee I don't get Feb 18th off like some of the Ontarian readers, but was
encouraged to schedule it off. But I'm not complaining, I don't want to be
provincially "regulated" and I was glad for the day off to rest. I
almost felt well enough to work Tuesday morning, but that was fool's gold
because I was worse than ever that evening.
I
don't get fevers often at all. It really is a strange experience. It's weird to
be a little chilly and way too hot at the same time. I believe that at some
point my brain began to cook inside it's own oven. I remembered being sick as a
little kid, and Mom taking care of me. I don't know how much I imagined or how
much I dreamt, but at some point I was trying to mentally sort out the symptoms
in my head so that they could be resolved. I was imagining a whole bunch of
colours all mixed together. I was trying to sort them out, kind of like Tetris.
It was as if the heat were the blue shapes, and the chill was the green shapes,
and the yellow were dehydration, and the orange ones were general fatigue… I
don't know how long that went on before I snapped out of it. Eventually I hauled
myself up, had some water and realized it wasn't all that bad.
I sure
wouldn't want to go through something like that out in the middle of nowhere
though. That would be one reason not to go interior camping all alone. I didn't
really need anyone there, but it is nice to know that if I were ever really
sick I'm not on my own. Not that I trust the hospitals! I can see going in
there with a fever and coming out short a lung! But I'm not complaining! I can
only imagine how scary it would have been, to have been alone, seriously ill,
with ill children, and a very sick baby, in the country, in the old days. All I
had to do was have some Neo-Citron and sweat it out, my biggest responsibility
was my house plants. UU would have saved them too if I needed her too. She did
bring me fresh fruit though, which was great.
So
today (Thursday) I made it back to work, the same day UU and many of the others
are off skiing. If I had been better one day sooner I probably would have went.
One day later and I at least would have had the day off! But I'm almost back to
healthy on the exact day. I worked on a few problems, and really helped two
customers. My department doesn't support many customer's, but they're big and
we go as far as we can for them. I helped out Coke, and at the end of the day I
got a commendation from TransCanada Pipelines.
Then
my boss told me about my annual bonus and merit increase. Bonus is always nice,
but a pay raise means more to me because it reflects the future. He said that I
did an outstanding job last year and that he got me the maximum raise (as
opposed to a sliver of a cost of living increase sort of a raise). He said that
he really values me here, and although he knows that I want to go back to
Wireless he hopes that I do not. He made me feel like it was worth while to
come, and that is better than a bonus in a way.
So it
was a worthwhile day. Now we're being asked to leave the building because it
suddenly smells of methane or something. I mean it's literally filling up with
stinky fumes. Good night everybody!
Ewan
****
I couldn't resist writing in to the Squamidian on the 300th edition and to wish Vivyan a very Happy Birthday. Having Doug there visiting at this time is just icing on the cake! I wish I could be there too but this April I will be doing a long overdue family visit out west. It's been almost 6 six years and there are some new little members I am very excited to meet.
Also I have been playing Warren and Doug's CD so I can keep up with their music since I know we will be doing lots jamming.
Speaking of music just recently in our paper there was an article about Valdy. He loves to come to Nova Scotia to play in not only the larger centres but some of the "out of the way" places where he can get up and close to the people. His latest album, Contenders Two, has a song co-written with a local songwriter Doris Mason. Apparently he met her at a kitchen party out at Big Island (north shore of N.S.) and was told a story about a guy named Dave Gunn from Scotsburn who pulled the plug on a VLT machine. He loved the story so he went back to Doris's place and finished the song, "a damn good song" he says. Well we are friends with Dave Gunn and we are from Scotsburn so I can't wait to hear the song and the whole story. Dave plays in his own band and regularly works with Doris Mason. The musical talent here is incredible.
We've been having a fairly hard winter this year. We are making up for the last two years. If it isn't tons of snow it's ice everywhere. My biggest concern is keeping my parking lot at the shop free of ice so no one slips and falls. I had to have a back hoe brought in to push the snow back further because our parking lot was shrinking. We have been so busy. We just had our 20th anniversary in business and a big expansion. We are now considered a spa. We no longer have an apartment above the shop. We renovated and now include in our salon three spa rooms upstairs. A massage therapist has moved in with us also. So we are set up for individual or group spas such as wedding parties or ladies weekend retreats. Stonehame Lodge and Chalets work with us. They provide the lodging and we provide the pampering. We also have the best staff and I don't mind bragging. Life is good.
Well I imagine the 300th edition will be long so I better cut this short. Good for you Doug and Greg for keeping this going. I love Russell's stories and everyone else who contributes. Thanks for all your efforts.
****
THE
ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Well, it’s the end
of another week and the sun is staying in the sky longer each day. It’s
actually beginning to feel a little like Spring is just around the corner. The
highlight of the week for me was Tuesday when I got together with Doug for a
day of touring and reminiscing. As you all know, he’s in town to visit with and
celebrate Vivyan’s birthday. Carole and I wish Vivyan a very Happy Birthday!
I’m sure her house will be buzzing this weekend with family and lotsa love!
I got a call on
Monday evening from Doug after he got settled in and we decided to head out the
next morning. We usually get together for a day if possible whenever he makes
it “home” to Ontario. The usual routine was no different this time than others.
We started the day with me picking him up at the Brubacher homestead. I managed
to make it through Lorne’s driveway without hitting that pesky tree that jumped
out behind me a few years ago. I’m happy to see that it’s still growing and
doing well in the middle of Lorne’s driveway. We decided to stick to tradition
and have a hearty breakfast at The Country Boy, home of “Heart Attack On A
Plate”! I apologized in advance to Doug for what I was about to eat. My usual
is the breakfast with two eggs over easy, home fries, brown toast and “Polish
Sausage”! The apology was for the bad air that would permeate the interior of
the Jeep for the next few hours due to the unstoppable repeated resurfacing of
the “Polish Sausage” aroma. There’s nothing anyone can do about that except
maybe not eat the stuff in the first place. However, it’s one item that’s hard
for me to resist when it’s offered on the breakfast menu. I guess I can thank
my dad for my love of such delicacies. With him having worked in a meat packing
company for many years he exposed us kids to all the delightful specialties
Burn’s Meats produced and of course polish sausage was one of them. Luckily I
only visit The Country Boy a few times a year so it’s an intermittent thing.
Doug just happened to luck out on Tuesday! LOL!
We spent about an
hour or so enjoying our breakfast and I finally had to let go with some news
that I’d been resisting telling him over the internet for a couple of weeks. I
told him about my new toy that I’d purchased a week or so before his arrival. I
bought a new motorcycle and I knew he’d be excited to hear that news. Of course
most of our female readers will now lose interest in today’s report but I hope
the guys hang in! LOL! I purchased Kawasaki’s newest motorcycle. It’s a new
design in the motorcycling industry called…… well….. um….. truthfully, even the
industry isn’t sure what to call this new machine. It’s designed for what they
call “adventure touring”. They have had every motorcycle magazine available
test drive this new style of bike and they all love it. They have all said that
no matter what type of riding they took this bike through, it passed with
flying colours. It apparently does everything but serious off road riding
better than any of it’s predecessors. Kawasaki named the new bike the “Versys”.
This name is apparently a cross between “versatility” and “system” because of
the plethora of accessories that can be added to the Versys. This is a 650cc
parallel twin cylinder powered motorcycle that is designed to do it all. From
riding around the neighbourhood to commuting to work to taking on any type of
road you can find on a cross country tour. The Versys with added saddle bags
and trunk system makes a great touring bike and simply by removing the luggage
it becomes a nimble “city” bike. I can hardly wait to take delivery of it as
soon as the weather breaks. The dealer is keeping it in the box for me until I
decide its nice enough out to expose my new bike to the elements. Doug was
genuinely excited about my news and wanted to take a look at one of these bikes
in person. This made our day because we both have a love for motorcycling and
our thing when we get together is to make the rounds of all the local bike
shops. Of course we had to hit the TSC and Princess Auto in between the
motorcycle dealers. Doug was looking for what he calls an Elmer Fudd hat so the
most country bumpkinish stores were his only hope for finding one. Other than
taking him all the way to Linwood and Mennonite country, TSC was the best bet.
From Princess Auto we headed to Preston and the Kawasaki dealer where I
purchased my new bike. With it still in the box, we couldn’t very well see it
but there were loads of other interesting machines to view and talk about. I
decided to take him to a dealer in Guelph that had an identical Versys to the
one I bought, colour and all, on the showroom floor. Judging from the smile on
his face he liked the new machine very much. Of course it’s a different style
of motorcycle than Doug is used to but he can appreciate the quality and
features of any well made and designed machine and the Versys is a mixture of
both quality and innovative design. Every rider has his own preferences in make
model and type and I just happen to be a Japanese built motorcycle enthusiast.
Not to say that I don’t like Harley’s but they’re just not my style.
We had a great time
touring the dealers in Waterloo Region as well as Guelph and ended our day at
the Kitchener Harley Dealer. Along the way we picked up a lot of great ideas
and knowledge of the many makes and models of bikes we checked out and the day
was anything but boring. It was over all too quickly so we made a pact to
repeat it again the next time we can get together. Doug had a “home cooked”
meal waiting for him at Vivyan and Lorne’s so I dropped him off around 4:30pm
and headed off into the sunset. It’s too bad that we live so far apart or we’d
be able to take a ride on the bikes together to test my new baby when the
weather breaks. I’ll just have to send Doug a few pictures of the new Versys
when I get it and tell him how thrilling a ride this new design is! I’m sure
it’ll be everything the biking magazines say it is. Maybe we’ll meet halfway
across the prairies sometime, ya never know!
Gotta go for now!
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>
Science is the graveyard of bad ideas.
****
The Family Site:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/
The Squamidian Site:
The Biking And Stuff Site:
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.