The
Squamidian Report – May 18 / 13
Issue #573
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I knew what the commotion was before I even looked out the window. Its unfortunately fairly common here on this quiet street and yet it sticks out as it shatters the night time silence. Mind you, this was the first time I’ve been wakened from my sleep by this sort of thing this year but it happened several times last fall. You’d think intruders would be smart enough to at least try to be silent but not this guy. He was big, and black in his furry coat. Especially when he was standing up on his hind legs. His target was the neighbours garbage bin, and it was the plastic bin being banged around that was making all the noise. The bear had entered the neighbours open garage and pulled the garbage bin out and down onto the street where it was trying every trick it could think of to break the bin open. Our garbage bins all have ‘bear proof’ locks on them but the locks can’t actually keep a bear from smashing the bin open. The locks just slow the bear down a bit and frustrate it into a nice interesting frenzy. At one point the bear was using a car parked on the street as an aid, it was banging the bin against the back of the car. It would then lay the bin on its side and jump on it. Finally it was able to get a paw in and pull out garbage. Made quite a mess.
Incidentally, this neighbour has been sited several times in the past for leaving his bin unlocked and for leaving stuff that might attract bears lay around. The bin was locked this time but the odor from within must have been a good attractant to entice the bear to work so hard. Oh well, at lease I wasn’t coming home on the bike from some nice evening ride. I’ve come across bears before on the bike and its interesting. You don’t really know what they will do, most likely run but you never know for sure, and, you can’t roll up your windows for protection.
*
I think I’ve mentioned the communication system my riding chapter has been using and testing. I’ve also mentioned that we had split off a new chapter in Richmond. Well, last Saturday we did a group ride that included some of the Richmond riders. There were 4 of them and 7 of us and we all met up in Horseshoe Bay. Our destination was a park in Steveston, part of Richmond and we took the scenic route as much as possible to get there. It had been our intention to lend any rider that didn’t have one, a com system unit so everyone would be able to hear the information being passed back and forth between the road captain and the tail gunner. We ran into a very frustrating snag. We couldn’t get the com systems to work. We tried several times to get the units to ‘pair up’, but they just wouldn’t do it. We pulled out the manual and ran over the rather simple instructions several times to no avail. At each stop along the way we would try again but the system totally failed to connect. We were stumped. We had done several rides with multiple riders and had never had a single issue.
Some of us got together at our Sunday morning coffee meet to discuss the problem. We were quite disappointed with the com system. We had been posting about how well they were working. We have even posted videos of our testing. The company that makes them had even come on board and has given us 4 more units so we could let other riders try them. It is these units that we were using to hand out to the other riders to try. The only thing we could think of that was different from any of the other rides was the fact that we had these new, un-tried units in the mix but that should not cause any issues. They area all the same model. However, when we were again going line by line through the instruction manuals, we stumbled on some very minor, almost unnoticeable differences in the wording of 1 step in the pairing process. On our original units a button is pressed down for 5 seconds to start the process, on the new units the manual says 3 seconds. We then found one spot in the manual that has the model number with 1 letter in the number different from the first units. We tried pairing using each model’s instructions and everything worked just fine. The 2 versions could connect with each other just fine when each unit’s specific instructions were used. So problem solved sort of.
We were needless to say relieved we had found the problem and the solution. But, that’s not really good enough because we also found that the newer units could still only connect with the older ones if they were paired in at the end of the daisy chain. There is no indication on the manufacturer’s web site about any differences, and there is really no way of telling the two versions apart. If we were to put several units in a box, we would not be able to know which is which. So, we are contacting the manufacturer for some clarification, and for a firmware upgrade for the first units so that we don’t have to memorize 2 sets of instructions and don’t have to somehow keep the physically identical units separated for identification purposes. We also want them to post a notice on their web site informing customers of the differences. A very possible scenario is that 2 riders could go into a retail outlet that sells these things and each purchase 1 so that they could communicate with each other. There would be no way of telling if they were buying the same model even if they knew of this issue. Like the units themselves, the boxes they come in are identical. If they ended up with different models and didn’t stumble upon the difference in the instructions they would never be able to get their system to work and they would end up returning them for a refund. The retail outlet would not have any idea why then didn’t work either. That’s going to make the company look bad and bad press travels fast these days with everyone posting on line.
Anyway, we do know the work-around and it should be interesting to see how the company deals with this. It sure put a damper on our group ride. The rider’s who were so excited about trying the system can only take our word for it that the system actually does work, at least until we get a chance again to let them give it a try.
*
When it comes to politics, the old saying is “only in BC”. Well, that proved true again. We just had a provincial election and all the poles and pundits and political reporters were forecasting to total route of the BC Liberals. In BC, there is no viable Conservative party so the Liberals tend to sit right of center and the NDP way, way over to the far left. The pre-election poles were showing the NDP to be in such a dominant position that it was basically a ‘give-away’. The Liberals were going to be decimated and the NDP were going to form a landslide majority government. But everyone must have forgotten that a very high number of BC voters are originally from Ontario and can remember how under Bob Ray, the Ontario NDP decimated that province, ran it right into the ground and never even blinked. Some one must have forgotten that many voters can still remember the ’90’s and early ‘00’s that were dominated by NDP in BC and the province ended up virtually bankrupt and all the young people had to look to the other provinces to find jobs. Everyone must have also forgotten that on very rare occasions, the general masses can actually think a tiny bit intelligently. Doesn’t happen very often but it can happen. What ever the reason, it must have occurred to enough voters that should the NDP win the election, BC would be a hopelessly depressed welfare state within a year. So, not only did the Liberals pull it out of the can but they increased their majority by several seats. The press was stunned, the polers and pundits were stunned. Global News had their ‘big guns’ manning the NDP headquarters and they had a totally unknown reporter posted at the Liberal headquarters. The ‘big guns’ were completely thrown off guard and had no idea how to proceed, and the unknown rookie reporter was so far over his head that his head was spinning.
The NDP supporters at their headquarters were all blaming the VOTERS. They whimpered that if only more voters had come out and voted that they would have won the election that was THEIRS, and that the ones that did vote had voted WRONG. The Global News federal political reporter, and their provincial political reporter had both said all along that the Liberals were done with, and both were almost speechless, they just kept shaking their heads in disbelief. The voting public had made a choice between a bad party that could at least hint at some degree of economic understanding, and a worse party that would have lead to total economic disaster. Given the choices, for once, the voters voted right. BC has always tended to go in some pretty strange political directions but maybe, just maybe, BC is starting mature a tiny little bit. But its still a very sad Canadian thing to have to choose between BAD, and TOTAL DISASTER TYPE WORSE, political parties. Thankfully choose as correctly as possible.
And I know that this statement is going to get me in trouble with the ‘thought police’ but it is my opinion. The NDP whiner that complained that if more voters had voted, they might have won, could very well be correct. You see, while there are certainly very dedicated, consciences supporters for the NDP platform, the people most likely to support a socialist welfare state government are the very same who benefit from said ‘handout’ state, and want and demand everything but have always waited for someone else to do it or get it for them. And this includes anyone who feels ‘entitled’, be they welfare recipients or spoiled rich kids who are handed high end sports cars for their 18th birthday, and anyone in between who wait for others to ‘do it for them’. They are the least likely to get out and vote. A very fortuitist catch 22.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Looks like we’re
finally getting back into some good sunny weather here in KW! It’s been a
strange winter and also a very strange spring so far too! It’s hard to plan
anything out doors with the weather flip flopping back and forth like it’s been
doing but I finally got the lawn cut AND trimmed properly and it’s actually
looking pretty good this year. Last year we had something making brown spots on
about one quarter of the front lawn and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t get
them to clear up or to grow back in fully. I figured it was some sort of grub
or beetle but nothing seemed to help. So far this year the grass seems to be
filled in almost completely in that area. There are just a few sparse spots but
nothing like last years mess! I fertilized well in the fall and again a few
weeks ago so I hope that will do the trick. Also so far the dandelions are only
showing up on the boulevards and only one or two have sprouted on the front
lawn. I’ve had a few on the back yard but managed to pull them out complete
with long pointed root before they spread. I hope the fence keeps the dandelion
fluff out so I don’t get any more.
You may remember
over the past several years my telling you about the Robin that makes her nest
in a 5” diameter decorative watering can that’s on a small shelf mounted on the
rear wall of our house under the patio roof next to our patio sliding doors.
Well, she did it again this year and managed to lay and hatch three lovely blue
eggs. They hatched about two weeks ago and the babies were rapidly growing in
size. Well, today while Carole was sitting out on the patio, the three babies
flopped out of the nest and attempted to fly. They landed on the patio at her feet
and then fluttered out on to the back lawn. The mother and father Robin were
keeping a close eye on the three of them and Carole said it was an amazing
thing to watch them as their wings gained in strength so quickly. Their first
attempt was around 11am and within a few hours they were doing quite well as
they made their way up into the trees and shrubs of our back garden. It’s
amazing how quickly birds manage to reproduce and successfully raise their
young. Now we’ll just have to watch and see if they produce another brood
before the summer is over! I’ve heard that Robins can lay and hatch as many as
three families in one season. Should be interesting to see if they do it again!
That’s enough to bring a momma elephant to tears!
*
I spent Thursday
hauling materials for a retaining wall home from “The Stone Place” on Manitou
Dr. We had some shrubs in the front garden that surrounds the porch that
haven’t been doing very well for the past few years so we decided to remove
them and replace them with new ones. Carole no longer liked the granite chunks
that I had edged the garden with about 10 years ago so we decided to build a
short retaining wall in their place. I had to resort to wrapping a chain around
the base of the shrubs and hooking it to the hitch on the Jeep to pull the old
plants out! Man were they rooted in good and deep! If I hadn’t had the Jeep
handy it would have taken me several hours per shrub to dig the darned things
out! I had to haul 175 retaining wall stones home for the project. I borrowed a
small trailer from a friend to do the job but discovered that I’d probably have
to make a dozen trips to get the 3,600 lbs of stone blocks home. Luckily Adam
was off today so he offered to help me with his pick up truck! Now, his truck
is one of the nicest vehicles I’ve seen and I hated to ask him to help haul
stone blocks with it in fear of scratching it or getting his bed liner dirty!
He said he’d have to start using it as a truck sooner or later and it might as
well be for a project that would really help his mum and dad! So I agreed and
instead of a dozen trips back and forth, it only took three trips with the
truck! I used the borrowed trailer to haul the bedding gravel home so it did
come in handy after all. At The Stone Place they loaded the wall stones with a
special forklift so that was the easy part. Once we got the stones to my place,
we had to hand bomb them off one at a time and pile them in the garage so
nobody would steel them over night! That was a fun thing to do with my hands
still tender from the surgery! It worked out alright with good heavy leather
gloves to protect them. Once the blocks were piled we spent a half hour
shoveling the bedding gravel into plastic tubs and also stored them inside the
garage. I’ve got a hand cart that will make it easy to transport each of them
across the lawn to pour into the trench for the wall stones to be laid in once
the digging is completed. The trench will be a total of 30’ in length and a
foot deep, as well as 14” in width. The tough part of the digging will be
keeping it level so the wall is straight and level as well once it’s finished.
With the first course of stone slightly peaking above the grass level the
finished wall will be approximately 16” high with the cap on. That should bring
the wall pretty much level with the porch and then we’ll bring the soil level
inside up to allow for a good bed for the new plants that Carole picks to
rebuild the garden. Once that wall and garden are finished then we’re going to
build a “river rock” garden along the length of the driveway and in a curved
pattern along that side of the lawn. The stone garden will have a couple of
large lime stone rocks as accents and also some sprigs of tall grass here and
there. I’m looking forward to having that part completed so I will no longer
have about 1/3 of the front lawn to mow! LOL! It should also look great from
the street and ad to curb appeal of the property!
Well, I’d better get
to bed so I’m rested for all the shoveling I have planned for tomorrow! Wish me
luck!
That’s all 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>
So, this dyslexic
man walks into a bra!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
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