The Squamidian Report – Aug. 22 / 09
Issue #378
Including:
North Nova News
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Do you ever watch people standing or walking and notice how we have evolved to life in a gravity well? A fairly deep one at that! All life on this planet has evolved under the pressing force of gravity. We must stand upright if we are to stand at all. The only animals that don’t stand upright either use an extra pair of legs for support or submerge themselves in water so they can avoid supporting their weight completely. Any plants with enough mass to have weight must stand very upright, as close to perpendicular as possible in order to hold themselves up. When something gives in to the pull of gravity, it is instantly and forcefully pinned to the surface of the planet, like iron filings pulled onto a magnet.
Power poles, whether wooden or metal or concrete must be set plumb in order to avoid being pulled over by gravity. I’ve been working with a company that installs poles and power lines, using one of our big excavators to did the holes needed to stand poles in. Wooden ones in this case, up in the Callaghan Valley where some of the winter Olympics are going to be held. Digging holes in the mountains is no easy chore; mountains tend to be made out of a lot of rock. Mountains are also affected be gravity, which is why they have those sloping sides that have been pulled down from high above. As the rock and rubble succumb to gravity’s relentless pull it is ground up and packed together into a very hard material that wears excavator teeth down in no time.
Once I’ve managed to chip a hole deep enough for the pole, about 7 ft usually, the power company uses its boom truck to lift the pole into the vertical position and stand it in the hole so I can backfill around it. Again, great care must be taken to make sure it is standing plumb so the pull of gravity is equal on all sides. Otherwise it would slowly give in and fall over.
Not all pole locations could be dug with the excavator. A couple spots had only a shallow cover of overburden sitting on top of pure bedrock, or mountainside. Same thing out hear when it comes right down to it. So those spots will have to be blasted. The force of the blasts will overcome the force of gravity for a few seconds but then all the rock that is propelled up will come right back down. Gravity wins again.
While we were working we met the funniest little bird I’ve ever seen. Birds know a lot about gravity. They can fly but as soon as they stop flapping, they come right back down again. This bird did a lot of running. It could fly quite well and that’s how it would come to where we were but once there it mostly ran around like crazy. It was a tiny thing about the size of a finch but was a gray brown colour and had a smallish head. It didn’t seem to even be aware of us and showed no fear. It was interested in the machinery. It would perch right at the big bucked and watch the digging. It would run along right by one of my tracks as I drove the machine along. It would sit on a tack as the machine bounced and banged as I chopped away at digging a hole. It reminded me of one of those birds that sit on elephants and hippos pecking up insects. I think it was looking for insects and larva that the machine was uncovering but I’m really not sure. It didn’t pay any attention to the many deer flies that were around. It was too small to deal with them. It didn’t pay any attention to the ground wasps that swarmed all over the place when I dug up their nest. It was too small to deal with them. It must have been looking for really tiny critters.
Each of those days came to an end and gravity took over again as I fell into bed. We can fight it, but we can never win. Gravity is relentless and will never give up.
doug
****
Well it's hard to believe the Brubacher Reunion of 2009 is here and gone already. I want to thank Warren, Janice, Doug and Sue for hosting a wonderful event for all of us. It couldn't have been better!! The weather was perfect for outdoor barbecues and activities but I know rain was desperately needed to reduce the many forest fires that were blazing. It was so great to see everyone and I know we all had the time of our lives. The music was incredible and I thoroughly enjoyed singing with you guys. I didn't want it to end!! Everyone including the kids were absorbed in the sound. Hopefully your neighbours, Doug, didn't mind. Your deck and back yard made a perfect setting for a big party, and two nights in a row. The food was fantastic and plentiful. I know that Lorne, Vivyan, Evelyn and Ed were very comfortable in your beautiful home. Gary and (Owen Sound) Sue were there to help in every way possible.
We discovered that our family has many multiples of names. Such as "Sue", so we named each Sue: Squamish Sue, Sound Sue and Scotia Sue. Then there were two Michelle: Swiss Michelle and New Westminster Michelle; two Emilie: Swiss Emillie and Prince George Emily. Three Jason: Squamish Jason, (Danielle's) Jason, Prince George Jason. Two Chris: New Westminster Chris and Canmore Chris. I hope I didn't miss any!!
The youngest person there was Logan, (Rebecca' son) (Warren and Janice's daughter) at 8 months and the oldest was Lorne( Lorne won't like this but he doesn't act old anyway). Aren't you supposed to do this at reunions?
Warren and Janice hosted many gatherings including accommodations for a large group of us. They generously donated 5 days of their very much in demand chalet so we could be spend more time together. Dennis had his own trailer parked in the yard and two tents were set up too. Danielle and Jay slept in the back of their truck. And Heather and her family had a motel in Squamish. So we were all close and could spend as much time as possible together. Again the meals were out of this world and very plentiful. Stories were told that made us laugh till we cried. I found out more about my brother's adventures than I ever knew. Their endless jokes and pokes at each other brought us close again. I actually feel I've led a pretty dull life in comparison. Ward and Warren had fun trading places and testing everyone on which one was Ward or Warren since they are twins and still look very much alike. I think Evelyn and Lorne got fooled the most!
Well I could go on and on. As you can see we had the best of time. I like the idea Beth had about having the next Brubacher reunion at the Brubacher House in Waterloo. That would be so appropriate. There is something to work on!
Thanks again you guys for everything,
****
Hello
everyone!
WOW! Did
Ontario ever get hit with rough weather yesterday! I guess with the hit that
the town of Durham took, it should finally take the stigma out of saying you
come from Woodstock. (The former tornado capital of Southern Ontario) Even the
tornado that hit Barry a number of years back didn’t seem to take the “Tornado”
monkey off of Woodstock’s back. I guess it depends on how much press your
particular tornado receives after ripping your town apart. I remember when
Woodstock got hit, they were in the news for weeks after and that seemed to
imprint an indelible brand of “T” Town (“T” ornado Town) on their corporate
logo. Maybe Durham will take over from this point on. It’s unfortunate that a
young lad was killed in the Durham storm. He was inside a work shed at the camp
ground north of the town with his mother when the storm flattened the shed. His
mom was ok but he was gravely injured. The rest of the town of Durham sustained
a lot of damage as well but there were no further deaths thank God! We here in
Kitchener just got the tail end of that storm about an hour and a half later. I
had just stepped outside to BBQ a couple of steaks for supper when the
lightening and thunder started and down it came! It was quite a heavy rain but
only lasted a few minutes before the sky started to break up once again. It
just so happened that I watched a show on TV the night before about people that
had been struck by lightening and lived. It was a very intense show and gave me
cause to be concerned about being outside under a metal clad shelter roof over
my patio while BBQ-ing on a stainless steel BBQ with an 18” long metal pair of
pincher tongs in my hand during a heavy lightening storm! Sheesh! Not the
safest situation to be in I might say! However, I managed to make it through
the session without so much as a burned finger from the grill and the steaks
were excellent!
*
Earlier
in the day I had decided to get my motorcycle out of the garage and see if it
still ran. After all, it’s been a few weeks since I had it out for a spin. It
seems that every time I think about riding it something comes up that takes
president over a spin. The night before I had left home for a ride when less
than a block away from our house, I noticed Adam approaching home in his
company truck. I had wanted to talk to him about something and decided to turn
around and go home to have that conversation instead of taking the ride. That
put the kybosh on a ride for that night. Then to continue the story of
yesterdays ride, as I backed the motorcycle out of the garage I felt a huge
drop of rain hit me on the back of my head. I turned and looked over my shoulder
to see thousands of droplets on the driveway. So……that put the damper on
yesterday’s ride and back into the garage I went. It only took about 10 minutes
for that short burst of rain to dry up. I looked outside and of course the lawn
was staring me in the face saying “Shouldn’t you really cut the grass before
you do such a selfish thing as take a motorcycle ride, just in case that nasty
rain storm comes back?” At that point I placed my keys back on the key rack and
headed out to the garage to change into my lovely bright blue coveralls that
just happen to be my “Lawn Mowing” uniform. On with my new lawn mowing shoes
and my floppy sun hat and out to the shed I went. It takes me about an hour to
cut the grass if I don’t have to do the edging first. If the grass needs edging
it adds another hour to the process. Yesterday just happened to be a “non
edging” day. I had thoughts of taking a quick spin after getting the lawn
finished but that’s when the storm rolled in again and it was an end to the
riding for another day. I guess I’ll just have to bide my time until another
unbusy day shows it’s head and then I’ll get the bike out once more. I’m sure
it’ll be soon.
That’s it
for today folks!
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The
Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
Might
just be worth while checking your insurance policy or with your agent to make
sure you’re covered in the event a Tornado touches down in your neighbourhood!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
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