The
Squamidian Report – Oct. 30 / 10
Issue #440
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
There’s a good chance I’ve written about this before but my old memory isn’t what it used to be so if I have, I don’t remember doing it. And, if I can’t remember writing about this before, chances are you won’t remember reading about it before so there’s no reason not to proceed.
I’ve been reading an interesting book about the exploration and first climbs of the bigger mountains on Vancouver Island. I know I’ve read this book before but I often re-read books that I like. Again, a poor memory helps in keeping them interesting. Now here’s what’s pretty cool, many of the interior mountains were not officially climbed until relatively recently, in fact, so recently that those ‘first climbs’ happened within my lifetime. The reason was that while these mountains are not as high as those in the Coastal Range or Rockies etc (but high enough to have stuck out above the Ice Age ice sheets), they are very remote and very difficult to get to. Due to the wild, extreme topography it is often almost impossible to travel cross-country, a few miles can take days to cover. Also, many of these mountains are of volcanic origin causing the rock they are made from to be loose and crumbly.
The ‘official’ first climbs were well documented including all the problems of just getting to the mountains. Needles to say, the easier a mountain was to get to, the earlier it was climbed. Now the word ‘official’ needs to be looked at because it designates that first documented climb, but not necessarily the first actual climb. There is no way of knowing whether or not the local natives ever bothered to explore the upper peaks, but in the case of most of the mountains, someone did…. the land surveyors. During the Great Depression the local provincial land surveyors had nothing to do but spend a few years out in the wilderness surveying. Because no money was available to pay them, they worked for nothing more than the meager supplies they needed to survive on. As they ran their survey lines they needed triangulation points and photographic points high on the mountains, points that were visible for long distances. So it was quite common for some young surveyor’s assistant to be sent to set a post or rock cairn on or near the tops of the mountains. These climbs were not documented as official climbs with names, dates and details, but simply as survey points. Many official first climbers on these mountains were greeted by the sight of an old survey marker on or near the top. Of course, this is a very big simplification of what the surveyors did, and the survey parties were working in these mountains and climbing these mountains for years before and years after the Depression.
If you want to read the book I’ll be happy to lend it to you, its called ‘Beyond Nootka’ and I have no idea where you would find it except on our book shelf but I’m sure it can be gotten somewhere.
Now for some interesting data…mostly not from the book…
The highest mountain on Vancouver Island is Golden Hinde at 7,218ft.
The highest mountain within BC is NOT Mt Robson (12,989 ft) in the Rockies as most would think, it is Mt Waddington in the Coastal Range, at 13,186ft.
The highest mountain that BC shares with another jurisdiction is Fairweather (15,325) on the Alaska border.
The highest mountain in Canada is in the Yukon, Mt Logan with an elevation of 19,541ft. For what its worth, our local Mt Garibaldi sits at 8,786ft.
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One day this past weekend we were out of this country and into the States, for a whole whopping 15 minutes. In a way, I was cross-border shopping, but only in a way. What happened was that while I don’t need it yet but will need it in the future, I purchased a replacement rear tire for my motorcycle. The stock rear tire on my bike still has several thousand kilometers of tread left which is quite impressive considering there are almost 25k on that tire, a 407R. The 402R’s on my old ’07 never got more than about 18k so these 407s are lasting pretty good. (Motorcycle tires are very soft and do not get anywhere near the miles you’d expect from a car tire). The next thing you need to know is that motorcycle tires are very expensive, especially here in Canada. The Canadian price through Harley Davidson for the Dunlop 407 is…are you ready for it…$365. That’s right, $365 for just one tire. That’s probably $100 more than for the same tire purchased in the States. But even that is way too much for just one tire.
Dunlop makes several tire options and has come out with a replacement for the 407 called the American Elite that is supposed to be a better tire. Their American Elites for their other tires sizes have proven to be better for both handling and lasting. These tires just became available in the States after a production delay but are not available in Canada yet. One of the many third party on-line suppliers has them available as an introductory offer at $100 off their ‘normal’ price, so they can currently be bought for $165 including shipping. Problem is, tires cannot be shipped into Canada, just like many other products including oils and other liquids. There is a solution for this hitch and that’s where the 15 minutes in the States comes in.
There is a shipping company out here (called Ship Happens) that has a depot in Sumas, just 3 blocks south of the Abbotsford border crossing. They also have a depot within spitting distance of the border at Osoyoos. Anyway, what they do is let us Canadians ordering stuff out of the States use their mailing address as the shipping address. When your iten(s) arrive they notify you by Email and you have 60 days to pick it up. They only charge $5 for this service. So, this gave me a way of ordering and receiving a new tire. I purchased the tire from the on-line Motorcycle Super Store and they sent it to Ship Happens in Sumas. At our convenience we did an easy enjoyable half-day road trip in the car down to Abbotsford and crossed over into Washington State and Suma. Pulled into the shipping depot parking lot, picked up my tire and were back into Canada quicker than I could write this paragraph.
The border guard asked the usual questions and I was ready with the shipping receipt, fully expecting to be asked to pay the taxes on my $165 purchase. However, the guard just told us to have a nice day and be on our way. That simple and easy. Border guards usually give me the third degree and I was fully expecting a hard time from him. Perhaps having the wife along can be a good thing. Maybe she has an honest face, or maybe he felt sorry for her. Either way, we now have an easy way to receive goods ordered out of the States that can’t be shipped to Canada.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Today was one of those weird days when things just seem different than usual. I was on a mission to drop off some papers at my health insurance company in Waterloo when I passed what has to be the largest Tim Horton’s I’ve ever seen. It’s just being completed at the corner of Victoria and Westmount Rd in Kitchener. There has been an empty field on the corner for many years. It’s right next to a Wendy’s Restaurant and I’ve often wondered why someone hadn’t made commercial use of that property. I can’t remember ever seeing a building on that corner but maybe many years ago it had a service station on it, but I’m not sure. Anyway, this Timmy’s truly has to be the largest one in existence. Maybe it’s just the angle at which one views this new structure as he passes by but it sure looks monstrous from the Victoria St side. I’ll have to make a point of dropping in for a coffee as soon as it’s open to take a look at the inside. You can’t tell me there’s no money in coffee and donuts! I guess as Carole said a large percentage of society is now hooked on caffeine and therefore hooked on the Tim Horton’s habit. Which translates into huge profits for the franchise owners of this particular chain of stores. If only Tim Horton was alive today to see what he created with his tidbit (or is that Timbit) of cash from the lowly salary he was paid by the NHL many years ago. I’m sure he’d flip his coffee lid! Of course he might still be around had he managed to control his lead foot while driving his Ford Pantera down that QEW that fateful night. With the cash generated by his now famous donut franchise system he’d be able to afford a whole stable of Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s to park in the massive garages adjoining his mansion for sure! Too bad he’s not around to enjoy what he started!
This reminds me of a story I heard on a news broadcast the other day. The host of the show was talking about he amount of money generated (I hesitate to say “earned”) by the estates of now deceased famous people. Their names and notoriety are still being exploited by their former managers and of course their surviving family members to full advantage for their own pockets. I’m talking about the estate of Michael Jackson to begin with! His estate generated over $250,000,000.00 in revenue for 2009 and is on the way to beating that figure for 2010. He’s a much richer man dead than he was while alive. Another money machine is that of Elvis Presley’s estate. Elvis produced a whopping $150,000,000.00 so far this year and of course this year is not over yet! The largest grossing famous name on the list was that of John Lennon. I believe the Emcee of the program stated that John’s name and connections amassed an addition of $325,000,000.00 for his estate conglomeration for the year 2009 and is going strong to match that amount again for 2010. These amounts are dumbfounding to me and I’m sure to others who heard this broadcast. If only we could get the same management teams to run our pension plans, things for retired folk might be a little brighter and less worrisome for the future. Unfortunately it seems that only private enterprise has the initiative to produce such numbers year after year and we pensioners are stuck with government employees investing our money with much less enthusiasm and therefore smaller profits. Oh well, as long as the numbers are climbing every year in my pension plan I’ll continue to smile at the end of each month when I look at my bank statement! It’d be great to have the kind of income that Michael, Elvis or John has annually but I wouldn’t want to have to trade places with any one of them to get it! I think I’ll stay where I am and be grateful for what I have. I’m NOT complaining in the least!
That’s it for this week 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>
Have you winterized your gas powered gardening and yard tools yet?
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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.