The Squamidian Report – Sept. 5 / 09
Issue #380
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
The mystery is solved, all thanks to a small article that the Weather Network ran the other day. Way back on May 17th I had climbed the Chief along with Ryan and a couple of his friends. Shortly after getting home exhausted and happy, I began to feel some itching along the right side of my rib cadge. The itching became very intense to the point where it was almost an excruciating pain. An inflamed rash about the size of my hand had formed, with smaller areas trailing off around my back. By evening the rash was covered with angry blisters and the only relief was the application of a cold wet washcloth. I tried all sorts of lotions and potions but nothing really helped much except the passing of time. After about a week the blisters went away leaving behind a dark scarred area.
Over time the itching went away as well and the area healed, but there is still the dark scar and smaller scars across my back. I did Internet searches looking for a possible cause. I had vaguely remembered being poked in the side by some vegetation while resting at the bottom near the parking area on the way back down but it hadn’t really registered at the time. The Internet showed several possible culprits that ranged from poison ivy to shingles but none fit the symptoms very well. Then, while I was getting my breakfast ready with the Weather Network on TV in the background, I heard one of their roving reporters do a blurb about a very invasive, dangerous weed called HOGWEED. To be more precise, the Giant Hogweed.
I made a note of the plant’s name and went off to work. Once I got home I did a search for it and there it was. All the symptoms right down to a T. Turns out the Giant Hogweed is a native of Russia but had been exported around the world as an ornamental garden plant that can grow up to 15 ft tall. It is very invasive and has long since escaped out in to the wild all across North America and the UK etc. However, the big problem is the sap. This stuff is so dangerous that people trying to remove the plants wear HAZMAT gear. The sap stays benign until exposed to sunlight. At that point it you basically get major acid burns from it that hurt like hell and take years to completely go away. The good news is that if you get any of this stuff on you, you can cover it up to completely block out any sun exposure and then as quick as possible get into a shower and scrub. Get your cloths off and right into a washing machine as well and you might avoid the burns.
If you want more info, just do an Internet search for Hogweed, or check out this web site, one of many on the subject.
*
We went berry picking last weekend. Warren and Janice and Bella, and Sue and I drove up onto Mt Hubbie. That’s the mountain on the other side of Raffuse Creek from Mulligan. We all drove to the gate along the very rough and bumpy Mamquam Main and then they took their quad up from there. We drove my little Ford pickup up to just below the top where the cross ditches got a bit too severe for the truck. The berries were incredibly abundant; you couldn’t seem to make a dent in them. But even though we were ‘blueberry’ picking, I don’t think they were actually blueberries. They were more like black huckleberries. But that’s OK.
The view from up there is pretty spectacular. The ice fields on the back side of Garibaldi are visible as well as all the other high rugged peaks in the area. Anyway, enough talk, if you want pictures and more details, click over to:
http://www.thedougsite.net/F&F/Pictures/Hike1/berrypicking.htm
*
And one last thing… can anyone guess what happened to me within a few days of 36 years ago?
WRONG… well, right, but that’s not what I was thinking of. 36 years ago right not I passed my flight-test and received my pilot’s license out at good old WW airport. I’ve long since let it expire simply because it was too expensive to keep up but its kind of neat to thing back on it. Might make a good topic of a future Squamidian article.
doug
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Hello
everyone!
What a
glorious couple of weeks of ideal summer weather we’ve had here in KW. It’s
exactly what we should have had all summer so I hope it’ll last for another few
weeks at least. LOL! However, they’re forecasting 30% chance of rain come
Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Oh well, even 30% is less than what we’ve
been getting. There was a stretch of 74 consecutive days in which we had some
amount of precipitation just prior to the start of this lovely stretch of sunny
days we’re now in. What a poor record that is for the summer of 2009! Maybe
we’ll get lucky and we’ll have beautiful fall weather until New Years Day. I
think I say this every year and it never comes true. Oh well, I can dream,
can’t I?
*
This has
been a summer of a few more renovations and changes around here. The latest one
that was just finished two weeks back was the replacement of our toilets with
“High Efficiency” units. Carole has been bothered somewhat with deteriorating
knees for a couple of years now and as we all know, getting up from a normal
toilet is a chore when your knees are not as strong as they used to be. For a
while now I’ve noticed when I make use of a “commercial” style toilet such as
the ones they have in some retail store rest rooms, how much easier it is to
rise from their tall potties! I mentioned this to Carole and said that I had
been thinking that if we had taller toilets it would alleviate the discomfort
she feels when standing up from the short units we currently have. I have also
noticed that when I wander in to use the John in the wee hours of the morning I
sometimes get a shock when I sit down on the short toilets in our house as I
tend to fall the last 4” or so to the seat. It’s kind of a jarring experience
to say the least. So, we decided to do some research into toilet height. I did
some reading on the internet but decided that it would be better to do the
research in person at a couple of local bathroom and plumbing supply sales
places.
I first
checked the local “Re Store” to see if they had any from a commercial business
that I might clean up and use at home. On the way to the “Re Store” I decided
that to install a “USED” toilet might be a turn off for all involved when
thinking of what went through such a device before I acquired it for our
renovation. Oh well, I was turning into their parking lot so I figured I might
as well go in and just take a look. To my surprise, they did have a few toilets
in stock but none that were the right size or height to fill my requirements.
At least I figured that I had found a place to donate our old toilets to when
the time came. I drove over to a place called Marks and Company Plumbing
Supplies. They have a new showroom and of course there were three eager sales
people just waiting to talk toilets with me the second I walked in the door.
After a few minutes of explaining my needs, the sales lady was happy to show me
the latest in “High Efficiency / Dual Flush” toilets in the latest “Tall”
model. They were actually very interesting! They are a total of 18 7/8” from
floor to seat level. The ones in a normal home over the past 50 years were
usually 14 ½” to a max of 15” from floor to seat. This made one heck of a
difference in the ease of lowering my butt to the can. I figured that this
style would do the trick for sure. I took a brochure home to show Carole and we
decided to order three of them.
The lady
at Marks told me it would take until mid September to get them in from the
manufacturer. I placed the order and to my surprise, two weeks later I got a
call saying the toilets were in and I could pick them up or they would deliver
them for $75.00. I chose to pick them up. The next day Carole and I went over
to Marks and Co and brought them home. I immediately changed the first floor
toilet off our laundry room. This is the toilet that receives the most use
during the day time. After installing the toilet it was time to install the
seat/lid. It was included with the toilet. I was pleased to find that both the
seat and the lid were a new style that lower themselves slowly to the bowl so
you don’t have to worry about slamming them down in the middle of the night and
waking everybody in the house. What a nice feature this was indeed! Of course
we had replaced two of the toilets when we moved in to the house 11 years ago.
The other one was literally new from the previous owner when we bought the
place. It had been cracked so he bought us a new one in with the deal on the
house. After I removed the next toilet in the main upstairs bathroom and
attempted to install the new tall one in it’s place, I realized that it was
much longer from front to back than the existing one and when I put it in place
the shower door wouldn’t open past it. So, I had no choice but to put one of
the old ones back in that bathroom.
Since the
toilet in our ensuite was a better lined unit, I decided to move that one into
“Adam’s” bathroom. Next, was the installation in our ensuite. That installation
went well and after a total of 4 hours of work, the toilet exchange was
complete in all three bathrooms. The next day I had to return the one unit that
I didn’t or rather couldn’t make us of. They gladly refunded my money without
charging me a restocking fee. I was happy to see that since it said right on
the bill that there was a 30% restocking charge. I guess she felt sorry for me
or something! Anyway, I took my refund and headed home. The refit of the
toilets was a success however, we all noticed that if we made any sort of a
shift in our weight while sitting on the toilet, the seat would slip off the
little legs that rest on the rim of the bowl and it would pinch the back of leg
if we weren’t careful. I called Marks and Co the next day and told the sales
lady about the problem. The seats didn’t seem to be long enough or wide enough
to match the size of the bowl. She said that she would contact the manufacturer
immediately and they would be in touch with me within a week. Well, a week went
by and no contact so I called her again. The next day I received a call from
American Standard Co in Stratford and the service rep told me that within 7 to
12 working days I would receive new seats that would fit properly and she was
very sorry for the inconvenience. I asked what to do with the “old” seats and
she simply said “Throw them in the garbage!” Well, it’s been a week since that
call and I’m still waiting for the new seats. I guess it’ll probably be the
full 12 days we’ll have to wait to get these replacements but if they fit
right, it’ll be worth the wait!
The bonus
that I found out after buying these new “High Efficiency” toilets is that the
Region Of Waterloo will give us a $60.00 rebate in cash per toilet if I take in
the original receipts to their office on Frederick St. No problem there!!! I’ll
be visiting the Region office Friday. These new toilets are actually very cool
and efficient. The design of them allows that they be flushed with either 3
litres of water for a “Tinkle” flush or 6 liters of water for a full movement
flush! LOL! It’s incredible the difference in the sound and recovery time when
compared to the old style 13 litre toilets. There is only a very small amount
of water that sits in the bottom of the bowl when waiting for the next customer
to sit down. The design is such that the flush button is a two part button
right in the middle of the lid on the tank. You just choose the button you
figure will do the job and push it! Very cool and much more efficient water
wise than any other style toilet and I think everyone should consider
installing this style in their homes.
Next…………..new
patio doors!
Well,
that’s it for this week!
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>
Costco is
already selling their Christmas goods!
PPS:
Footnote to the story.
I called
the Re Store and left a message offering to deliver the toilets which I had
cleaned thoroughly. I received a call the next morning and the woman on the
phone asked if the tanks of the toilets were lined. I said one was and the
other one wasn’t. She surprised me by saying abruptly “We’ll take the lined one
but you can deliver the other one to the dump!” How picky can a charity
organization be anyway?
****
Have a good one..
the doug
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