The Squamidian Report – Nov. 23 / 13
http://www.thedougsite.net/Squamidian/2013/nov23.html Issue #600 Including: A Note From Carol Grandma's Ramblings Greetings from Nova Scotia The Ontarion Hi All, Well, we made it. There were many times I didn't think there was anything left to write about. Often there probably wasn't. Those were the issues where it was pretty evident that we were scratching the bottom of the barrel. Anyway, here we are at #600. As Russ pointed out, thats 11.5 years of a weekly Squamidian. And I'd sure like to thank Russ for the kind words and encouragement. Its because of the readers like him that both Greg and I have been able to keep this thing going. Thanks Russ. And if it wasn't for Greg's tenacity and determination to come up with something every week, I'm pretty sure I'd have given up long ago. A very big thank you to Greg. Here's a little heads-up. Starting in late November, (as in any time now) and improving right into mid December, a sun-grazer comet called Ison will be visible in the pre-dawn sky for anyone with an east, southeast view. Because these things are a bit unpredictable, various media and astronomers are claiming anywhere from it being brighter than the full moon to so dim that only a scope will make it visible. Regardless, the main thing that will effect it being seen by most people is light pollution. And mountains. I don't have very much light pollution here but my view to the southeast has several big mountains sticking up right in the middle so I may have to find someplace on the other side of the valley for a viewing attempt. Anyway, there is some info on this web link as well as a diagram showing the 'where and when' stuff for anyone interested enough to drag themselves out of bed before the sun comes up. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/193909261.html Another interesting but much more common thing in the sky these days in Venus. But rather than being visible before dawn, she is very bright and visible just before dusk and for a short while after dark. Look low in the south, southeast just after the sun has gone down but before the sky is dark. Venus is bright enough to show in the sky even when its still fairly light. Once the sky is fully dark, she looks like the landing light on some big aircraft pointed straight at you. What you are actually seeing is not a round sphere at all but a crescent, just like a moon phase. Venus is an inner planet and shows phases, just like the moon does. This holds true for Mercury as well although Mercury is usually pretty hard to see. The rest of the planets are outer planets and will always show their full face. So if you didn't already, now you know. Here's a dumb thing that has nothing to do with the night sky unless you were to slip and fall and hit your head and therefore 'see stars'. Our municipal taxes went up a year ago and the excuse was that Squamish needed money so they could fix some of the aged infrastructure, mainly, our leaking water system. According to some study, Squamish has the highest water use per capita of any place in North America. However, when the volume of water leaking from the system was taken into account, our water use per capita is average. Turned out the old system was and still is leaking out and losing over half the water going though it. I know from experience that there are still many streets right down town that still have the old wooden water pipes. Where this is going is that part way down the hill from us on Thunderbird, there is a water leak that has been leaking none stop for several years now. The leak seems to be right on or near the property line. A couple of years ago it started to leak so bad that water began squirting up through the asphalt on the street. They thought they had fixed it but within a few weeks it was leaking again. They have never come back to do the job right. Problem is, we are having clear cold weather and because the water runs right out onto and across the street, the sub zero temperatures are freezing the water. That part of the street is on a hill and on a curve. It has become a very slippery place indeed. We actually avoid going that way when out for a walk because it is so slippery. They send a salt truck up about twice a day to spread salt all over the ice so its not like they don't know about the leak. They just don't seem to want to bother actually dealing with it. Squamish is a great place to live but it sure can be backwards at times. Hey, if we can come up with something to write about for next week, there might just be a 601st issue. doug
**** A Note From Carol Hi Everyone, First I would like to congratulate Doug for reaching such a huge milestone as 600 issues of the Squamidian!!! Thank you Doug, I don’t know how you manage to come up with something to say week after week but I am glad you do. Speaking of milestones, we are having one in our family – our grandson is turning 16. Al & I are feeling very old. It seems like such a short time ago that his mother was 16. Heck I clearly remember the excitement of turning 16 myself and going for my beginners driver license. Not that I had much opportunity to drive back then with 2 older teenagers in the house also wanting turns at the wheel. Now Nick is impatiently waiting to write for his G1. His other grandparents & I said we would help pay for driver training because if our baby is going to be on the road we want him well trained. Al is worried that he will panic in a situation but that is what training is all about. We are not worried about him speeding, running lights or any other infraction because Nick has always been very aware of all rules and careful to follow them. His 2 step brothers already have their G1 so Nick might not have many opportunities behind the wheel either. I finally got around to planting my fall bulbs this week. I know we have had lots of nice weather to do it in but I was out there freezing because it took the cold to push me into action. Al also covered up our patio furniture and we cleaned out the old plants. We only just finished eating the last of our fresh tomatoes from the garden so it is hard to believe winter is almost here. I know Jackie has had snow for snowshoeing etc up at her B & B for awhile now but the first hints just came this week to our sheltered back yard. I’m rather envious of Karin & Karl in Australia heading into spring. Once again, thank you Doug for 600 issues. I hope others have contributed this week. Remember if you didn’t participate this week Doug would be happy to include you in the Christmas edition or any week for that matter. Carol
**** Grandma’s ramblings….. Watching a treasured grandchild grow and develop makes you start to look at the changes technology has brought. I remember distinctly when the old wooden partyline phone made its appearance at my Grandparents farm. Kyra is not yet two but is totally comfortable with talking to her special people via Skype or Facetime. She typically grabs Mommy or Daddy’s iphone or ipad says hi and runs off down the hall, talking, singing or just making noises with a great view of the ceiling as she takes you to see her new favorite thing. Both Canadian & South Africian Grandpas and Grandma get to enjoy her in action. At Grandpa and Grandma’s house, the equipment is not as nimble and she is stuck at a computer desk which gets boring pretty fast for someone who is not that interested in conversation. Standard phones are a bit of a mystery just a voice and no face, what a stupid system. Kyra and I love to spend time outdoors in our backyard flower beds and garden, despite the weather. With the arrival of rainy season, Kyra has been properly equipped with rain boots and a “Muddy Buddy”. This vital piece of clothing is waterproof, looks like a hazmat suit and can be washed easily. Kyra is an eager assistant who is delighted to dig dirt, carefully dumping the contents of her spade on the rhododendron bushes. She loves to put trimmings in the bucket or wheelbarrow for Grandma, earning an occasional wheelbarrow ride. Kyra has her own rake and makes piles for jumping. She is fascinated with splashing in every puddle and every waterlogged flowerpot she finds. Kyra has an uncanny ability to spot every airplane or helicopter over Squamish. She identifies it by sound, spots it then points as she announces her find. Here's a link to some pictures of her in action. Kyra Pics. Granny Sue
**** Greetings from Nova Scotia Hi Doug, this is your long lost cousin from Nova Scotia. Actually I'm not lost just lazy. I enjoy the Squamidian every week and do appreciate the effort that is made every week. When I read the number last week I felt it was time to contribute. You can put this in my report if you want to. So here goes... Greetings from Nova Scotia... it's been a very long time since I have written in as you know. I'm still working in my salon but soon there will be some big changes. I have someone working with me that is interested in taking over in the New Year. After 26 years of running the business I am ready to pass it over to her. My business has become my baby and I'm lucky to have found the right person to carry it on into the future. My clients are all worried that I will want to retire after the sale but actually I'm not in a hurry to do that. I look forward to working less with more time to travel but it will be very hard at this time to just quit. I still enjoy my work and without all those extras of running a business it will feel like I'm on holidays just doing hair. This past year has been an interesting one. For 8 months up until last March, my niece and her family lived with me while they were building their house. It was fun to have two busy kids around everyday. Then in May, Warren and Rochelle came for a week with Rochelle's parents and her daughter. So I had a house full again. We had so much fun, a celebration of their marriage and lots of lobster. Hugh Cameron came to visit in July while judging at the Antigonish Highland Games and the Festival of the Tartans. Later in July my niece and her family came from Switzerland for a 3 week visit. Again we had an amazing time. August and September there were more visitors from California and Massachusetts. After having so many fun people sharing my home I am seriously thinking of having a Bed and Breakfast, only they can do their own cooking. My motto is "My kitchen is yours" I am also very fortunate to have found someone to share life with. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Sus
**** THE ONTARION REPORT Hello everyone! Welcome to the mind blowing 600th edition of the Squamidian! It is indeed hard to believe that we’ve written that many of these fun columns. I think that Doug had written a few of the Squamidians before he invited me to jump on the band wagon but give or take a few, whose counting! Hahaha… I guess Doug is! LOL! Anyway, at the 600 mark it seems to me that is quite an accomplishment in anyone’s book. Speaking of books, it might be an idea to take the Squamidians and Ontarions and print them into a couple of books to be keepsakes for all of the members of our Squamidian group to have a copy of each on our coffee tables. It has been quite an honour to be included in this 11.5 (so far) years project and I sincerely thank Doug for affording me the opportunity to experience such a fun endeavor! We’ve both had times when we’ve had to bang our heads against the proverbial wall to try to come up with something to write about but somehow we’ve managed to, as the rednecks say, “Git ‘er done”! I know that our range of topics has sometimes been a tad limited but what the heck its such a small world. LOL! I guess if we were “Bill Nigh the Science Guy” and “Mr. Guinness” of the “Book Of World Records” fame our list of writable topics would be unlimited but it just ain’t so and we’ve got to make due with what’s up stairs in these aging heads of ours. I do have to say that it’s been a lot of fun so far and we intend to keep on keepin’ on for a while anyway. We’ve had a little bit of fan mail over the years and that makes it all worthwhile for me anyway. I’ve met some very nice people through my association with Doug and I’m thankful for the reception I’ve been given with regards to The Ontarion Report. At times I’ve stirred the pot politically and jumped on my soapbox as well and it’s been fun to read the reactions of those who on occasion respond. I don’t take joy in hurting anyone’s feelings and would hope that I’ve not offended anyone with my writings over the past 600 issues. As most people do, I have my opinion on most topics and like to express it through my Ontarion column. Like Doug has said many times if any or our readers has something to say or a story they’d like to share with the rest of the Squamidians your are all most welcome to send in a write up to Doug and he’ll gladly include it in the week’s Squid! If you haven’t been inspired to contribute after reading the Squamidian’s 600 issues, maybe you just like to read it and hopefully get a laugh or two out of what you’ve read. Regardless, we love to spend some time each week and tap out a page or two of whatever we can think to write about and we can only hope that most of you enjoy reading what we put out! I know that I’ve taken many an exciting ride through the mountains of British Columbia on the back of Doug’s Harley. With Doug’s amazing ability to describe his surroundings while riding on his bike trips he has indeed taken us all through the Rockies on a thrill ride. If you can’t get out there to ride along in person, it’s the next best thing to be able to see through his eyes the wild beauty of the Canadian Rockies from the seat of “Big Blue”. I never get tired of hearing him tell what he experiences from “Big Blue’s” saddle and the impeccable detail with which he describes the beauty of the mountain terrain is second to none. I’ve been on Fairy Rides to Vancouver Island and ridden over the Duffy as well as had breakfast in Whistler. I’ve also enjoyed a Timmy’s while watching the majestic Bald Eagles sore over the waters of the Squamish River and the only thing missing is printed copies of the photos I snapped with my mind as I read of these sites and scenes within Doug’s talented descriptive writings. I may not have been there in person but I thank Doug for taking us all along with him in the Squamidian weekly! I look forward every week to reading what Doug has to say in his column and I for one am glad that this project will continue for a while yet to come! *
We’ve been fortunate in that here in KW the snow has held
off so far this winter. Others in Ontario haven’t been that lucky and
have already had a few significant dumps of the white stuff. Several
inches of snow have fallen in areas that are a mere thirty or so
kilometers from Kitchener such as Linwood and Milbank to the northwest.
Milbank received enough snow last week that they had to get the
township plows out on the roads to clear them for the school buses. I
think it’s melted in that area by now but the temperatures have been
sub zero the past few nights so it’s only a matter of time before we’ll
all get hit and it’ll stay! I got a call this morning from Meetz’s
Small Engines in Waterloo to tell me that my Toro blower is ready to
go. I was a tad shocked to hear that the bill came to $193.75 when all
I asked for was an adjustment to the drive speeds as well as to solve
my hard starting problem. I had been having a bit of a problem starting
it by hand but the electric start was working fine. They did tell me
that when the mechanic checked out the drive train he found that the
blower bearing was “growling” and needed to be replaced so I guess that
added a fair chunk to the cost of the tune up. I’ll find out if all is
working better once I get it home and into some snow! Over the past few days, we put the finishing touches on the Christmas decorations outside and today I put up the Christmas tree and also put the lights on it. Now it’s up to Carole to do her magic on the decorating of the tree. She likes to do the fancy work on the tree while the technical part of the job is up to me! It’s nice that we share the job by having our own separate tasks. That way we don’t get in each other’s way and the end result is always a thing of beauty! Carole put up some decorations around the living room and family room while I worked on the tree assembly and lighting this afternoon. We enjoyed the project while listening to Bing Crosby sing Christmas Carols. Really, the only thing missing was a gentle snowfall passing the picture window of the living room to complete the Christmas spirit. That’s ok it’ll come soon enough and by the way, so will Santa! Do you realize it’s only four and a half weeks until Christmas? Well it is so get out there and get your shopping done before the big rush! This year it’s been quite nice doing the decorating since we’ve done it early enough to avoid the freezing cold of the first blast of winter. Usually I wind up doing it on a very cold day and that makes it very difficult when my fingers are ready to drop off! We actually did most of the outer decorating last Sunday and the sun was shining and the temperature was a very nice 15c degrees. I’ll have to make a mental note to do the decorating during the warm “pre snow” days each year from now on, it’s a much more pleasant experience for sure! Well folks, once again I’d like to thank you all for your readership through the past 600 editions and I sincerely hope you will continue to join us on Saturdays for some time to come! That’s it for this week folks 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’s on your loved one’s Wish List? **** Have a good one.. the doug http://www.thedougsite.net The Fine Print! The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such. |