The Squamidian Report – June 27 / 09
Issue #370
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Some of you who open this Email might have noticed that this issue has been sent out a bit early. Like I said last week, we are off on our annual two-week motorcycle trip so at the usual publishing time we’re already a half a day of so ride from home. The intention is to have left about midday on Friday and travel as far as Osoyoos in the southern Okanagan by day’s end, or if time permits, slip down across the border and find our first nights lodging in northern Washington State. Then it’s the open road, the rumble of Harley exhausts systems, and the never-ending scenery ahead of us.
Greg is going to fill in for me and send out next week’s addition. I’ll Email my contribution to him from a motel computer somewhere and hopefully give you a taste of how the trip is going. That issue, good old #371, won’t be posted to my web site until I get back and have time to get caught up on stuff like that.
Trying to plan for a motorcycle trip of longer than just one day is a bit of a challenge. There is simply not enough cargo space to carry very much of anything and weight is also a major factor to consider. In fact weight is so much a factor when loading a bike that I have to choose carefully which maps to bring. A pile of maps is heavy and takes up space. Packing must be done carefully with the heavier objects such as leather riding chaps placed low in the side saddlebags and only light objects place high in the tour-pac trunk of the bike. It takes very little weight loaded too high on the bike to have very adverse effects on center of gravity and control.
We must bring just enough clothing for one change and depend on laundry facilities along the way. Worst-case scenario is that we pop into a Wal-Mart somewhere and simply replace our unmentionables. That’s not too much of a problem. Riding gear is the biggest challenge, leather jackets and chaps are bulky and very heavy. We also need to bring mesh jackets for the expected hot temperatures and sweaters and vests (the heated type) for the expected cold conditions we my encounter. We also need an array of gloves for riding through the full temperature spectrum. And of course, everything is multiplied by two because there are two of us. Then there are the other necessities like sunscreen, toothbrushes, chap lip stuff, medications and so on. It all takes up space and ads weight to the load. The last of the list includes a few basic hand tools incase something rattles loose (never happen on a Harley) and some windshield cleaner to remove the expected multitude of bugs that decide to spread their generous internal fluids all over the front of the bikes.
*
The hydro duct bank project through Whistler hit a snag for a few days. For the most part, we are a fair amount ahead of schedule and the installation has been progressing along at a pretty good pace. However, the company I work for has a tendency to put profit ahead of prudence. We had been warned several times to adhere to the time windows that the highway department had spelled out but continued (on order from our boss) to be on the highway and impeding traffic much longer into the afternoons than the rules had spelled out. Afternoon traffic into and out of Whistler is very busy. Then, as the surrounding trees and forests got dryer and dryer the fire hazard rating went up. When it hit ‘High’ we were supposed to shut down by 1pm each day so as not to be doing anything that could cause a spark during the heat of the day. Simple things like a metal excavator bucket dragging over stone or pavement can create lots of sparks. Metal tracks are also great spark sources not to mention saws and other power tools.
But of course we were ordered to ignore the warnings. Finally, the fire rating hit ‘Extreme’ and we were ordered to shut down completely and this time we had no choice. However, that only lasted a couple of days because this project has to be finished before winter because of the Olympics, which meant that politics also played a part in any decision making. All of a sudden the fire rating was dropped back to ‘Moderate’ even though there had been only a few brief showers during that whole period. So we are back at work again.
One thing that does bug me though, we see a ridiculously high number of cars go by with smokers in them who are hanging their hands out the windows as the flick away their cigarette ash. And a very high percentage of the smokers are young women…. I just don’t get it.
Anyway, we are off on our road trip, catch you later.
doug
****
****
Hello
everyone!
Over the
past few weeks I’ve been thinking how much the city of Kitchener has changed
since I was a kid. There are so many businesses and buildings that have come
and gone since the 50’s. Simply looking around while driving through any
section of Kitchener will bring to mind how different this city is now. Of
course it’s been fifty some years since I roamed the back streets and rural
edges of Kitchener on the north side of town as a kid. That’s where I grew up,
in the North Ward, Margaret Ave, Guelph St and Lancaster St area. We were so
fortunate to have loads of fun places to play while growing up. We had
Breithaupt Park and bush for instance and the huge soccer/baseball fields that
adjoined the park. In the bush area of the park we had great trails on which to
ride our bikes and great bushy areas in the park in which to build our forts!
This huge sports and general fun field was right at the end of my street Floyd
St. For the first ten years of my life on Floyd St, the sports field was
nothing but long weeds and grass. This if you recall is the field I described
back in one of my earlier “Ontarions” that a group of us kids set on fire with
the stolen cigars we discarded for fear of being caught smoking them by my dad!
LOL! We spent many a day flying our kites and playing any number of games in
these fields and I am most grateful to the Breithaupt family for their generous
donation of this park to the kids and families of Kitchener. It’s still getting
its fair share of heavy usage by the sports teams of today’s youth in
Kitchener. I’m sure it’ll be around for many decades to come.
Another
of our favourite places to play on a hot summer day was down at the Grand River
behind (actually below) a building we called The Casino on Lancaster St in
Bridgeport, a small burg that eventually became part of Kitchener. I’m sure I
don’t have to tell any of you older Squamidian members where Bridgeport was or
is. Bridgeport was the corner of our area that was famous for many things.
First and foremost it was the home of the Bridgeport Speedway. The Speedway
held races on Saturday evenings and you could hear the roar of the stock car
engines and the screams of the race fans all the way up to Floyd St on a clear
summer night. We used to climb the telephone poles in the back yards of the
houses across the street from my place and watch the headlights on the stock
cars go round and round the big oval track that was nestled beside the Grand
River. I always wanted to attend the races but just never got around to it. I
guess if my dad had been interested in cars and racing we might have made it to
a few races. Bridgeport had another attraction that I partook of in my late
teens and early twenties years. It was a place called The Grand Hotel! My
buddies in the Copperpenny used to play there on weekends and we always spent
our hard earned money there soaking up the beer and sometimes rowdy atmosphere
of those summer nights. I am saddened to think that The Grand Hotel is now
nothing but a memory to all who used to enjoy its entertainment and good food
and beer. They have flattened it to allow for the construction of one of those
darned “Roundabouts” that Waterloo Region has taken a liking to rather than
those old faithful “Traffic Lights”. I guess each city and regional council
feels it has to make it’s mark in the annals of our areas history before they
get their political asses kicked out of city hall after their one term in
office. I won’t rant but I will say that I do not like roundabouts and I think
they are a waste of taxpayer’s money. ‘Nuff said on that subject! I only wish I
had taken pictures of all of the interesting places that existed in my youth
and well into my adulthood. Then I’d at least have the pics to look back on.
Backing
up a little, the great fun that we had below “The Casino” on the Grand River
comes to mind this time of year. Each spring we just couldn’t wait for the last
day of school so we could head down to the river to play. We used to make nets
out of burlap sacks and try to catch the huge carp that haunted the river at
that point. Unfortunately back in those days the sewage treatment of the city
of Kitchener and city of Waterloo left something to be desired. Right at the
point where we played there was a huge, I’d say about 5’ in diameter concrete
pipe that carried the sewage from these two cities underground and dumped it
into the Grand. We could actually count the turds as they floated out of the
pipe and headed south in the river. What a crime that was! Things have improved
vastly since those days and I’m happy to see that the Grand has been totally
cleaned up and is now one of the premier Brown Trout rivers in Ontario these
days. The river wasn’t very deep back then either and one day my brother was
standing on a large rock about 4’ from shore. Another one of the Floyd St gang
decided to jump out onto the same rock. As he made the leap out to the rock he
knocked my brother off into the flow of the stinky Grand. My brother flailed
and splashed and screamed for help as he floundered in the brown river. If one
didn’t know better, one might have dived in to save this drowning lad. However,
all it took was for another of the boys to shout “Just stand up you dummy!” and
the dramatic scene turned to uproarious laughter! The water at that point was
only 3’ deep and when calmed down and stood up it was just over his waist. We
laughed and laughed and of course have reminded my brother of how funny the
situation was to us for the past 50 years! I’ll be sure to remind him of it
till the day one of us ain’t here to laugh about it any more! I was just glad
it wasn’t me that gulped a few big swallows of that poopie water on such a hot
summer day. There was a bonus for us if we managed to catch one of two of those
big carp! There was an old lady that was always willing to pay us a quarter for
each one we dragged up to the Casino parking lot. I guess she ate them for her
dinner and was happy to pay. Of course back in those days, you could buy an Ice
Cream Bar on a stick for a nickel and there was NO TAX! Imagine that!!!!?? NO
TAX!!!! Where the heck did those days go???!!!
Mmmmmmm…..speaking
of Ice Cream on a stick, they were made right here in Kitchener by Silverwoods
Dairy on Courtland Ave and they were deeeeeeeliiiiiscious! From the Casino
parking lot we would head home to the Supertest Station at the corner of Guelph
St and Margaret Ave. That was the closest tiny store to our street and they
sold those ice cream bars. Only two or three carp sold could keep the kids in
ice cream for a couple of hours. What a great way to end a perfect day on the
Grand. Of course there was always something that had to spoil the fun of the
day and that was something insisted on by our mother and that was a bath before
being allowed to sit at the supper table. I guess we unknowingly picked up some
of the odour of the Grand during our adventures and that had to go before we
could settle in for the evening at home. LOL!
So much
for the Bridgeport adventures of my youth!
There are
so many stories from those days and I just love writing about them but I guess
I should save a few for future editions of The Ontarion.
That’s it
for this week folks!
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>
Do any of
you know exactly why they called that building on the hill overlooking the Grand
River, “The Casino”? Hey Lorne and
Vivyan do either of you know the history?
****
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.