The
Squamidian Report – Sept. 1 / 12
Issue #536
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Last Sunday was Airport Day here in Squamish. Interestingly, the airport is actually in Brackendale, and the majority of people around here don’t even know there is a local airport. That worked to our advantage because not only was parking and admittance free, but there was very few people there. I don’t like crowds and for me, it doesn’t take many people to be a crowd.
I needed a ride destination last weekend for our motorcycle chapter and the Airport Day event was perfect. We were able to do a ride to a destination, and there was something to do once we got there. So, I rode down to Horseshoe Bay to meet up with my riders for 10am. By the time we were ready to ride it was about 10:30 but that was fine. There were half a dozen of us and traffic was busy but fairly well behaved. You never quite know what to expect on this highway on a summer weekend. There is always the mix of tourists wandering all over the road and drivers from the city in such a big hurry that they will run others right off the road. And of course, there are the idiots who seem to think it is ok to yap on their phones as they drive, or drive with their stupid head down as they text. They should all be shot on sight but that’s just my opinion. Case-in-point, the highway had been closed the day before for a couple of hours while a head-on collision was being cleaned up. But, like I said, traffic was fairly well behaved and we had a great ride up to Squamish, it was clear and sunny and cool and the scenery was fantastic as usual.
We rode to the airport and carefully parked on the loose gravel. This airport is too small to have a paved parking lot. Parking our big heavy bikes on gravel is not our first choice when we have a choice but we didn’t, and finding room to park was certainly no problem. There was probably no more than a dozen spectator vehicles there. The event was strictly a ground show, it was not meant to be an air show, and it wasn’t. It was interesting to be able to walk around looking at the planes and their owners. Several were home-builds, one home-build was a bi-wing flying boat that must be a very fun machine to fly. The owner claimed he could take off from water with just a 400 ft run, and even less from a runway. There was a guy with a small, blue helicopter that looked pretty cool (the helicopter, not the guy). He told us how he likes to land on sand bars in rivers to go fishing. He also told us that the fuel burn for his machine was a liter per minute. And this was just a tiny little two-seat helicopter. I’d hate to find out what the big helicopters burn. Most of the planes there were privately owned, and most of them were tail-draggers, and all of them were pretty old but airplanes don’t age like cars do. They are built to stay intact, not to rust and fall apart. My neighbour has his plane there and he was more than happy to show it to anyone who wanted to look at or in it.
As we were wandering around looking at the various machines, a pilot from Sea To Sky Air Services came up to my friend Ian and asked if he’d like to make use of the big camera he was taking pictures with. The idea was that he was flying back-country sight-seeing flights to Whistler and back and still had an empty seat in the 4-seat Cessna he was using, the rear seats were taken but the right front was still available. He offered the seat to Ian for $100 instead of the $150 he would normally charge. That’s when I butted in…. Ian was and still is a professional photographer and has an incredible amount of material available on YouTube under his on-line name of DcMucker. I informed the pilot who DrMucker is and how his pictures and video exposure could be quite valuable to the air service company and suggested that he should be inviting Ian along for free. He ended up countering with a price of $50 and both were happy. They had a great flight. Incidentally, my neighbour who has the plane had already filled me in on who that pilot is, his name is Eric Lightfoot, the son of rather famous Lightfoot, but he doesn’t like people knowing the connection so just keep that under your hat and don’t come all the way out here just to bug him about his father. We enjoyed the airport displays until early afternoon and then decided to ride somewhere for a late lunch. There was a concession booth but the menu was limited to hot dogs.
Our lunch destination was Big D’s in downtown Squamish and we took the back way rather than the now very busy highway. There were things going on in Whistler as well as a big out-door concert in Squamish so the highway and the downtown were busy. We parked the bikes and walked into the restaurant, which was full, only to be told that they were having to close because they had run out of food. That struck us as funny, and typical Squamish but its also a good sign. They are popular for a reason. We ended up at a fast-food place but didn’t really mind, the whole day was one big fun adventure. After lunch my riders all headed back to the city and I headed for home. Ian has posted the video he made from his flight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruKjpzIY8VM
doug
****
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Well, here we are at the end of what we call our summer!
Indeed there is more summer to come yet but July and August are history as of today! For me, that represents the summer of 2012 and “abadee abadee abadee …… That’s all folks!” as Bugs Bunny would say!
Guess we’ll just have to start enjoying “Fall” as of today!
*
I haven’t been on my soapbox for at least two weeks so I’ve got one more topic to get me back up there and it’s a doozie!
This morning I was reading the paper on line and came across an article about a woman who had just been released from a life sentence in prison here in Kitchener. The story began when she was a resident of Toronto and her then boyfriend decided to go back to India (She is Indian as well.) to fulfill his obligation to be married to the woman his parents promised him too when he was a youth. She was apparently enraged by his jilting of her here in Canada so to get even with him for dumping her, she decided to strangle his 8 year old son to death! She was arrested and convicted for her crime and sentenced to life in prison. She spent I believe, 15 years in prison and three years ago was given parole and assigned to a halfway house with day parole privileges. While out of prison, she got involved with a man who involved her in a real estate scheme that was crooked and they were caught. The result was that she was sent back to prison for breaking her parole restrictions. She was sentenced to finish her original sentence here in the Kitchener Prison For Women.
While in prison over the years (and here’s the “kicker”) she had gotten married to another prisoner who was a guy also guilty of murder and serving time. They were (and I don’t know how this is allowed) married while in prison (Obviously in two different prisons, tell me how that happens) and they had three children while incarcerated. I guess prisoners are allowed conjugal visits while in jail, with other inmates of the opposite sex? Hmmm….? What do the prison authorities do, ship them back and forth so they can have sex? How the hell did these two prisoners meet while in the clink anyway? This one sure has me confused and I don’t mind admitting it’s got me stumped!
Anyway, they got married in jail, had sex and produced three kids while in jail, now she applied for parole again and after two years here in Kitchener Women’s Prison has been allowed out once again on parole after a meeting with a board of 2 Parole Judges. They have assigned her to a halfway house with day parole privileges once more because she admitted that she used poor judgment the last time they let her out and promised not to make the same mistakes this time! This woman is a MURDERER and her husband is also a MURDERER and I think he’s still in jail, the article didn’t say if he is out now or not! Anyway, this whole article has me totally befuddled about our justice system and what’s allowed or not allowed for the prisoners in our jails! I’m in total shock and haven’t been able to get this story out of my head all day!
I’ve always thought that when you’ve committed a serious crime against society and have been sentenced after being found GUILTY, to time in prison, you lost all of your normal free privileges until you have fulfilled your term in jail as stated by the court and in doing so, paid your debt to society! Am I wrong or do prisoners still have all the rights that a free person has when they are in jail?
I thought they were protected from cruel and unusual treatment while in the jug but lose all of their “Free” rights! It sounds to me that in this case someone is being afforded a great deal of exceptional freedoms and privileges while in prison that most prisoners do not get!
This smacks of “Special Treatment” for a “minority” race resident of Canada who has committed a horrendous crime! Are the justice officials of Ontario afraid she’ll cry “prejudice” and play the “race card” or what? Something’s just not right here and I hope someone of authority steps in and either clears up some misconceptions I’ve mistakenly taken or at least sees the light and puts a stop to this total miscarriage of justice! I say send her back to finish her sentence and keep her in her own cell and away from the penis bearing prisoners in that other institution holding male prisoners only!
I still can’t see how this all has happened while these people are in separate prisons, miles apart and for such awful capitol crimes!
If any of our readers can explain this to me, please do!
My head is spinning with this one!
That’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
What the heck, I’d say I’ve given you all enough to think about with just the above article this week! Please let me know if you can explain this to me!
PPS: I believe she was also sentenced to be deported to her native country once she’s totally finished her sentence and parole here in Canada. Let’s hope so anyway!
****
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.