The Squamidian Report – Mar. 22 / 14
Issue #617
Including:
Lorne's Car
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Allergy season is upon us. Actually it has been for a week or so now.
The alders had started turning reddish before that last little poke of
winter and now there is definitely pollen in the air. Certainly a bit
late this year but thats how it goes. Last spring was so cold and wet
that there wasn't any 'allergy season' at all. This spring is looking
more promising, at least so far. For anyone sensitive to pollen, the
side effects can be bothersome, endless running nose, eyes so itchy
you'd like to gouge them out, sneezing and so on. I used to endure
spring with a garbage bag tied to my belt simply to hold all the
Kleenex I'd go through, but over the last half dozen years we've been
relying on some stuff we get at the local health food store. Basically,
its little, once per week for 6 weeks vials of tiny round things that
look and taste like candy that you melt under you tongue. There is also
a similar accompanying thing that is supposed to be taken as well that
I take, but really have no idea what it's roll is except that it
supposedly works with the pollen stuff. Bottom line is, allergy season
is not near as bad as it once was because this stuff seems to help
reduce the sensitivity to pollen.
Its funny how we all like to do things or say things that 'rub it it'.
In my case its talking about stuff that indicates our spring gets
underway way before most places east of the coast. But no matter what a
given situation is, there will always be one that seems better. Like,
no matter how tall someone is, there will always be someone taller, or
bigger, or smaller, or smarter or dumber, or better looking, or more
ugly and so on. Well, a friend of mine lives in Victoria over on
Vancouver Island and he has problems with his knees. Because of the
knee problems, he can't currently mow his lawn, but his lawn currently
needs mowing. Thats a dilemma that is still a little while away around
here. Not the knee part, at least I hope not, the lawn needing mowing
part. The point is no matter where someone is or what they are doing or
dealing with, there is and will always be someone else with a situation
that is better and or worse. Thats how life is.
And speaking of how life is, this certainly made the local news but I
don't know if it was reported further afield. Over the last few years
there have been ever increasing sightings of dolphins in Howe Sound.
Assumably they are after the herring that have returned to the Sound.
For decades the indigenous aquatic life had been absent, driven away by
the toxic pollutants that had been let flow freely from the mining
operations of Britannia and the pulp mill operations of Woodfiber.
Those polluters had finally been forced to stop and the pollution has
been cleaned up. The waters have returned to a more normal condition.
Anyway, last Saturday a very large herd of dolphins (several hundred)
was spotted just off the Squamish waterfront, swimming and leaping
wildly. They were being chased and herded by a pod of Orcas, more
commonly known as Killer Whales. The Orcas herded them right into the
Mamquam Blind Chanel where they were trapped and then killed and ate
their fill. During the feast they also 'played' with their unfortunates
dinners, throwing them around and flipping them out of the water and
into the air. This whole thing was viewed by many people,
unfortunately, I was not one of them. Most understood that this was
simply the way things are done in Nature but there were the usual ones
who demanded someone 'do something', or 'make them stop'. And then
there was the reporter who's report was played on CBC radio. This moron
referred to the Orcas as 'giant black fish' attacking the dolphins. We
are surrounded by idiots.
Several people got pictures of the event and sent them to our local
paper. Here's a link to that page... wildlife in Howe Sound. Hopefully
the link stays valid.
And speaking of morons, my DX6i R/C controller has a built in timer
function that I really should start making use of. Twice now I've had
to sneak over into my neighbor’s back yard to retrieve my SR 120
helicopter because I let it get beyond the boundaries of my own back
yard just as the flight battery was about to drop below main motor
limits. Modern radio controlled electric planes and helicopters use
LiPo batteries which can hold a very large charge in relation to their
size, but are voltage sensitive in that they are not to be run down
below their low voltage cut-off threshold. The on-board receivers on
the planes and helicopters sense when flight battery voltage is
approaching the low voltage threshold and reduces power to the motor,
forcing the heli to land rather than damage the battery. On a plane the
receiver simply cuts main power because a plane can always glide. Power
remains available to the other control functions. Helicopters don't
glide very well. Anyway, to protect the flight battery, the helicopter
immediately descends and there is very little you can do about it
except for minor direction adjustments. What I need to start doing is
use that timer, it beeps at 1 minute intervals and then does several
continuous beeps when the time count reaches the preset time. 6 minutes
would be about right for my SR 120. At the 5 minute beep I'd know to
keep it over my own lawn, especially if there is air movement trying to
carry it away. When I fly out on the street in front of the house,
timing is not so critical as there are lots of places to do a 'forced
landing'. There is a lesson here that I probably should learn sometime.
doug
****
Lorne's Car
Ford Motor sent me a letter in Jan. stating that the 2006 models are
recalled to replace the steering shaft and instructing me to contact
the dealer as soon as possible for a check up. They found nothing wrong
but a new column will be installed when the parts come in. 'On your
vehicle, severe corrosion of the joints on the lower shaft can result
in a steering column separation, leading to a loss of steering control,
increasing the risk of a crash' the notice said in part. Well,
the parts came and were installed to-day. I drove home with that
new car feeling. Everything seems smooth, solid and responsive. What a
great, inexpensive way to rejuvenate.
Lorne
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
No fire reports to write this week! Thank goodness!
They tell us that spring arrived at 12:57pm Thursday but I haven’t seen
any sign of it yet! Wait a minute, yes I have, there’s a little
chipmunk that lives under our concrete patio all summer and apparently
all winter as well. He has several holes of access to his den during
the warm season but I figured he’d be frozen in there all winter. He
peaked his little head out of a hole in the snow bank at the edge of
the patio a few days ago so Carole tossed out some peanuts still in the
shell and they were gone in a flash! I guess his stash from last fall
must be almost used up by now. He was busy stuffing his cheeks with
every peanut we put out for him last fall. We must have put out a pound
of them for him just before the snow came along! A week or so ago we
started putting out praline peanuts for the pair of Cardinals that hang
around here all winter and I think that was what brought out the little
chippie! Knowing that St Patrick’s day two years ago was +20c and sunny
must have come to mind for the Chippie and he likely figured if he came
out this St Paddy’s day he’d find the same conditions. Well, he sure
got a surprise! He has a 3’ high pile of snow on top of his den hole
this year and it’s not going away for a few weeks yet I’m sure! I
must say, we do have about 30% less snow now than we did the week that
Doug was here so things have improved a little. Let’s hope that the sun
makes an appearance more and more each day so we get rid of the white
stuff by May!
It was interesting to see on the news the other night that the waters
just off Squamish were visited by a huge school of dolphins and also by
a pod of “Killer Whales” that were no doubt trying to make a meal of a
few of the dolphins. Luckily they didn’t succeed and the dolphins
managed to get back out to sea before losing any of their clan! What a
sight that must have been to see so close to your home Doug! Did you
manage to get down to the waters of the sound to see this phenomenal
sight? You’re so lucky to live in a part of the country that allows
this sort of natural occurrence right in your own front yard! The best
we can do is visit Rockway Gardens on a sunny summer weekend to watch
the gold fish spawn! Oh well, at least we have that to look forward to
on any given weekend but your dolphins only show up once or twice a
year! LOL!
Getting back to the subject of winter, this is the first time in over
25 years that the Great Lakes have frozen over and that takes some kind
of cold weather to have that happen. In fact, they said on the news
this week that a Government Ice Breaker used on the great lakes is
standing by to break it’s way up the Grand River because it’s so
clogged with ice it’s poised to cause flooding for many miles up the
river. I don’t know how far up the Grand a ship of that size can travel
but I guess the main mouth of the river into lake Erie is the crucial
part of the spring flood control and as long as they can open that up
it’ll allow the rest of the ice on the river to make it’s way out into
the lake. The Grand River Conservation Authority stated today that
there are 289,000,000 cubic metres of water stored in the dams north of
Waterloo Region that are held back by the ice at this moment and if the
Grand doesn’t thaw properly it’ll cause one heck of a flush when it
finally lets go. I guess they can control that flow somewhat with the
floodgates on the dam but all that water has to go somewhere and once
the reservoirs are full, it’s got to be let out at that point. If
there’s no opening in the river course to allow the water to follow it
then it’s going to have to flow over land and that could spell
disaster! Let’s hope for a gentle and continuous thaw from here on over
the next few weeks so we don’t have to face any flooding problems.
I did see one more sign of spring today when I was out picking up some
groceries for Carole, a guy on an electric bike was buzzing his way
down Fischer-Hallman Rd so I guess that’s means Spring Has Sprung!
That’s about all I have 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>
How did Moses make his tea? Hebrew’d it!
****
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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