The Squamidian Report – Mar. 15 / 14
Issue #616
Including:
Lorne's Misadventure!
The Ontarion
Hi All,
OK, I lied, so sue me. I had no idea that the weather would turn around
so fast. I had no idea at this time last week that I'd be putting Big
Blue back on the road so soon. But, with low teen temps and nice warm
sunshine there was simply no reason to put it off any longer. On Monday
morning we went down to the ICBC place and picked up the registration
for the bike. I then had to take the bike cover that had kept her
hidden all winter off, and give her a quick once-over, check the oil,
set the tire pressure, that kind of thing. And yes, I'll be doing a
full fluid change in the very near future. Then, how could I resist. I
headed out the highway and down to Horseshoe Bay, a nice 50k run each
way where low and behold several of my riding friends were there on
their bikes enjoying the spring sunshine. This also gave me a chance to
try out that helmet I found at the bike show as well as try out my
heated glove liners. One thing that differs this year from past years
is the lack of sand all over the road. There was very little need to
sand our roads this year so there is very little sand and other loose
material on them. Thats a good thing. Roads covered with loose sand are
dangerous. And that toot in to the Bay and back sure felt good.
Actually, I did that toot again on Friday as well as several nice local
rides during the week.
About the helmet... as I've said before, I have always wanted an
open-face ¾ type helmet that had some sort of face protection above and
beyond the usual plastic face shield. Something along the line of how a
football helmet has that chin bar but with a bit better visual design.
I had found out that they exist at the bike show and ordered one
through our local Yamaha dealer. My first impressions after a short
little 100k round trip is that I really like this helmet. It answers
all my 'requirements' and is comfortable. There is very little wind
noise, and no wind buffeting at all even with the face shield flipped
up. The internal sun shield does a very good job of keeping unwanted
wind out of my eyes. To attach the chin guard once the helmet is on
requires first practicing in front of a mirror but once you can do it
without looking it becomes easy. Same with the trigger for the sun
visor, a couple of times in front of a mirror so you can do it with
gloves on and you are good to go. I like this helmet. I do however wish
they came in white and if at some point they do, I'll get a white one.
Here's their web site if you are interested. LS2 helmets.
And now the heated glove liners... I had picked them up at the bike
show and of course never had a chance to try them until the bike was on
the road. First thing was to run the wiring behind the liner of my
riding jacket and out each arm. These wires terminate at a coax type
connector, and each glove liner has the matching opposite connector.
The liner set came with a battery harness with a connector end but I
already have the prong connectors on my bike for electrical connections
so I had also picked up an adapter, coax on one end, prong on the
other. Plugging in would be easy for both heated vest and heated glove
liners. The liner set also included a controller for adjusting
temperature, a good thing because these things get very warm on full
heat setting. I ran the wires in such a way that the temp controller
mounts to the waist adjuster strap on my jacket where I can easily
reach and manipulate it. To put them on, you simply put them on like
gloves and then pull your heavy riding gloves on over top. I find it
easiest to just leave them plugged in to the wiring in the arms and let
them hang like 'little kid' mitts when I'm wearing the jacket while off
the bike. When I don't need them, I'll just unplug them and store them
in the saddle bags.
My test ride was actually too warm to require the liners be turned on
but I turned them on to test them and they really work well, getting
very warm very fast. Ridding on a very cold night will only require a
low heat setting, but should your hands get cold first for some reason,
being able to get them warmed back up will be very nice, and being able
to keep them warm will be very, very nice.
I had originally started looking for heated gloves, not liners but I
was talked out of that idea by several glove dealers. Heated gloves
only work with themselves, liners can be used with any gloves, even
thin summer gloves. So, heated gloves have limited functionality, and
often do not have good insulation because they depend on their own
heating elements which are thin wires. The liners use a woven heating
mesh all through their material giving even heating around the whole
hand and fingers. Heated gloves can be the plug-in type or have their
own rechargeable batteries. That would be the most convenient but the
'good' ones are very expensive and require having the batteries charged
after use. So, I'm happy very with the setup I've got now, and, I'm
very happy ridings season is here.
And then to do something 'non-biking', on Thursday four of us took our
R/C equipment to a large field in North Van to do some flying. I had my
two airplanes and my helicopter. One of the others had a Champ plane,
another had a Champ and a quad rotor, and the fourth had a camera
platform quad rotor. It was warm and sunny but the wind was perhaps
just a bit past the point of easy flying for the lite little Champs.
Didn't matter, we had a great time. The guy with the Champ had never
flown before and he let it get too high and out of control. It ended up
being blown clear of the field and into a wooded ravine. It took a
while to find it but it came back in one piece. He then managed to
crash hard enough several times that it suffered some damage but
nothing that can't be fixed. The rest of us struggled with the winds at
times but like I said, we had a great time. My Super Cub suffered a
minor failure from a structural issue but a bit of glue has it back
together again. Eventually our flight batteries were warn down and we
were ready to call it a day. Oh, that DX6i transmitter works just fine
thank you. I'm using it for flying the Super Cub, the Champ, and the SR
120 helicopter.
doug
****
Lorne's Misadventure!
It all started Friday. A slip on ice, not a fall, no pain,
soon forgotten. Saturday, a bit of swelling and stiffness
in the left knee. But Sat. is an all day practice with our
chorus and the show most go on. Armed with a cane and
determined to sit often, I attended. By evening the
swelling had increased. Sunday, church as usual, but unusual because
I'm sporting a cane and dragging my left leg. Went to Beth'
Sun. eve. for another great meal, but glad to get home and off my
feet. Mon AM woke with huge swelling. Can't
stand. To-day we get help. Machine at doctors
office says 'have your health card ready'. That piece of
cardboard is nowhere to be found. Without it, no doctor,
clinic or hospital. Carol knew of a nearby Government
office where a new card can be issued. Entering, one recognizes the
stark, forbidding atmosphere that transforms you back to Orwells
1984. I'm pushing a walker and made the remark that it does
not handle like a Harley. Silence was broken by loud
laughter then at once it stopped as though the inmates were suddenly
aware that showing emotion is not permitted. With temporary health card
we then went to a clinic. Log wait, almost losing it, they
noticed and called an ambulance. Off to St Mary's we
went. Had to hang on to side rails because he hit every
pothole. Then the long wait. A bed at last.
Full examination. Good results. Oh, your knee? What
did you do to it? About 8PM sent home with prescriptions
and a walker delivered this morning. Now we got two. Carol stayed with
me the whole time. So good of her.
Lorne
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Once again, we’ve had to dig or blow our way out of another mess of
snow and it’s getting a tad tiresome I must say! By the looks of things
to come it’ll be a few weeks yet before we see any tangible sign of
spring. With temps forecast in the area of -9 to +3 right through to
the end of this month we’re not in for an early spring of any kind this
year. It may be the far end of April before we see some spring-like
weather. We’re looking forward to the days we can enjoy sitting out
back on the garden swing with our morning cup of tea. Right now the
garden swing is covered in 3’ or more of snow, only the top rail of the
backrest is visible these days! It’s hard to believe that only two
winters ago I was riding my motorcycle on my birthday of January 11th!
No such luck this year! Doug sent me a quick note yesterday just to
tell me that he’s thinking of me in my blizzard conditions here in
“Onterrible” as he calls it, while he’s been putting his first 100km on
Big Blue for this season. I guess it’ll be mid June before I can get my
Kawasaki on the road. I hope my hands will be functioning well enough
this year that I’ll be able to get out riding. I’ve had the last two
summers ruined by the arthritis in my wrists and hands. They’ve been
feeling ok this winter except for the three days last week when they
put me through Hell. They’ve calmed down now so here’s hoping they stay
movable and relatively pain free from now on. I’d keep my fingers
crossed but that hurts too damned much! LOL! Oh well, things could be
worse I guess!
*
I have a story to share with you guys that might surprise you knowing what a lovely and gentle lady I’m married to!
My wife tried to do me in!
A few nights ago Carole and I were up quite late watching a few of our
favorite TV programs and when we headed off to bed, she decided to
spend a few minutes checking her e-mail. I told her I was hitting the
hay because I was shiveringly cold and needed the warmth of the freshly
laundered flannelette sheets on the waiting bed! I said goodnight and
Bailey and I jumped into that inviting bed! We were just nicely asleep
when I heard the bedroom door open and Bailey started across the bed
toward whoever had just entered the room. Of course it was the only
other occupant of the household, Carole, as I turned to look at her and
inquire what she was doing, she said “I have a nice warm surprise for
you since you’re so cold tonight!” and she unfolded a large white bath
towel that she had heated in the microwave and was about to lift the
blanket and sheet off of me so she could place the “hot” towel on my
back as her loving surprise! Well, it’s a darned good thing that I had
awakened to see what she was doing because as she unfolded the towel, I
could see the glow of several red embers that were smoldering in black
spots that had been burning in the folds of the towel. As she opened up
the towel the oxygen got to the hot spots the sparks began to glow
red-hot! I said in sheer terror “Stop, the towel is on fire! I can see
the embers glowing from here!” She laughed and said “No you can’t, what
the heck are you talking about?” Then she too realized that the towel
was a smoldering bundle of embers and she ran to the bathroom and
doused the glowing towel in the sink!
We were both in a bit of shock to say the least! She said once again
that she had warmed the towel in the microwave to surprise me with a
nice back warmer! LOL! I said it was a good thing that the towel didn’t
burst into flames as happens in most cases when embers are exposed to
oxygen! If it had ignited she would undoubtedly have dropped the towel
either on the bed and me or beside the bed so the bed skirt and
blankets would gone up in flames! Of course I accused her of trying to
burn me alive so she could collect the insurance! LOL! We both had a
good chuckle about the whole thought of what had just happened but in
reality the results could have been very devastating! I had to turn the
ceiling fan on high to blow the smoke and acrid odor out of the
bedroom. Needless to say, we slept in a bit of a stinky upstairs that
night once we were able to settle down for the night! Let this be a
lesson to all of you, the next time you want to warm a towel or blanked
to surprise your loved one, USE THE CLOTHES DRYER!
From now on, I think we’ll both go to bed at the same time so neither
of us gets the brainy idea to surprise the other with anything more
than a good night kiss!
That’s about 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>
I know a guy who’s addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop any time!
****
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.
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