The Squamidian Report – Sept. 13 / 14
Issue #642
Including:
From Coast to Coast
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I'd like to use this forum to thank uncle Russ for including us as part
of his 'bucket list' adventure. The term 'us' doesn't just means 'us',
but this whole incredible area we live in which is the source of my
writings and my music. It was really nice having him here. I've
obviously known him all of my life, as my father's brother and a member
of the 'older' generation. However, as we all age, those generational
gaps seem to get smaller and both 'the wife' and I have now had a
chance to get to know him as not just an uncle, but as a friend, a very
interesting friend. Like I said, its been really great. We proudly
showed off many of the local sites of interest include doing a morning
brunch in Whistler (at the Wildwood of course) and four trips up the
Gondola. It takes four times up to even begin to get a feel for that
place because the whole thing is so very overwhelming the first few
times you ride up and the first few times you sit on that deck
overlooking everything. I dragged him out to Horseshoe Bay to one of my
motorcycle coffee meets (in the car of course), and I selfishly
subjected him to a couple of live episodes of my music including
playing several of my latest compositions, some of which he had already
had a sneak preview of. Some of you have heard some of them, none of
you with the exception of Russ have heard all of them. Perhaps there
will be another CD in time for Christmas, who knows, we shall see.
Time always goes by way too fast, and so bright and early Tuesday
morning we headed back to the airport, well, not so bright because it
was still dark out but it certainly brightened when that full moon
popped out from behind some clouds. Conveniently, both Russ and 'the
wife' were headed for the airport at the same time for the same flight
to Kitchener, Russ heading home and 'the wife' heading back for one of
her semi-annual visits with her parents. Its always a bit funny when we
head for the airport because Willow suspects something is up because
she gets suspicious when she sees luggage. Shes never too sure what our
destination is because we could be headed for Ryan's place but as soon
as we veer off the highway at Taylor Way and head into the city she
knows the truth – we are either dropping off or picking up. When we get
to the airport she gets a bit more concerned because if one of us does
not get back into the car it means its up to her to drive home and shes
not too sure she knows how to drive or how to find the way home. So,
when one of us gets back in she is quite relieved but also saddened
because she now knows who is leaving, in this instance her main person,
'the wife'. Anyway, we dropped Russ and Sue off and headed for home,
Willow sad but relieved.
Kind of an interesting thing, Russ had brought with him a copy of his
local newspaper, the Kincardine News, dated Aug 14 that included an
article about the Emerald Ash Borer, a destructive Asian moth that is
starting to decimate the ash trees in that part of Southern Ontario. As
I read the article something on the opposite page caught my attention,
an article about their local chinook salmon derby, because, in several
of the pictures was my good friend Brian Lang who apparently is the
chair of this years event. Cool. Hey Brian, hows it going? Before we
moved out here many years ago, we had attended one of Brian's salmon
BBQs where basically the whole town and county attended. I'll never
forget those huge, 3-ft dia heavy frying pans he was using. I doubt if
I could even lift one of them. Anyway, sadly for us, Russ's visit is
over, and happily for her parents, 'the wife' is back in Ontario for
the next couple of weeks. Hopefully I can make use of the quiet house
to find the inspiration needed to come up with a couple more songs for
that possible next CD which I may or may not make available when the
time comes, should that time come.
Oh, here's a bit of a follow-up to as subject I touched on a while
back.... I've complained about how politicians and bureaucrats and
government and crown corporations get it all ass backward when they try
to raise more monies from the services they charge for. This particular
lament was that BC Ferries had been on a rampage over the last years
raising passage prices over and over and over, far surpassing the rate
of inflation and the rate of common sense. But, they kept saying they
needed to increase revenues and profits, meaning they need more bonuses
and raises for their top executives. Anyway, a study has just come out
that shows that ridership has continually fallen in direct relation to
the price increases of the tickets, and, that the BC economy has lost
2.3 BILLION dollars because of the financial impact of people not using
the ferries which means they are also not using the facilities and
amenities of the places that the ferries would have taken them. But,
according to a top BC Ferry spokesperson, there are no plans to change
or alter their current fair increase strategy which is slated to bring
in yet another large price increase this winter. Why does that not
surprise anyone at all?
Oh, speaking of CDs, I've just picked my last handful of blueberries
from my patch. Not enough for on ice cream but certainly enough for on
my breakfast cereal. Not bad considering this is virtually mid
September. I have that bird scaring CD trick to thank. Without having
hung an old one on the berry bush to scare off the birds, my berry
production would have ended a month ago. Sadly, my berries are now over
for another year but next year I'll be hanging CDs on all the bushes as
soon as the berries start to form.
doug
****
From Coast to Coast
From the West Coast of Ontario, to the West Coast of Canada, that is.
I would recommend this trip to anyone wishing to see the "raw beauty"
of the Rocky Mountains and the Coastal Mountains of British Columbia.
Boarding the Rocky Mountaineer in Calgary@5:45AM, the train took us(all
737 of us) to Banff and Lake Louise, then on to Kamloops, (Indian name
for "Where two rivers meet"), namely the Thompson and the South
Thompson Rivers. Shuttle buses (15 and counting) took us to our
respective hotels, where we all had a good nights rest. (I was still
"riding the train" well into the wee hours, as the bed seemed to swing
from side to side, and my ears were echoing the rumble of the train)
Next day we had a more reasonable wake-up time, and got underway at
8:AM. The food on the Rocky Mountaineer is on a par with that of
a cruise ship. Oh yes! The Attendants are pretty young
girls dressed in cute little uniforms, trained to see to your every
need. The food is served at tables of four, where I got to meet
travelers from all corners of the World; England, Ireland, Scotland,
Sweden, India, Australia, Florida, USA, and on-and-on.
As Doug told you in the September 6th issue of the Squamidian, we
travelled along the Fraser Canyon to Vancouver. Along the way we
saw many Elk, Bears(A Momma with her two young Cubs), umpteen Eagles
and Ospringe....but no Cougars. I took over 100 pictures with my newly
acquired "phone", but from a moving train they're no hell. The BEST
pictures are in my memory!
During the entire period from the time we left the airport in Kitchener
to Doug and Sue's beautiful home in Squamish, I was in SOME discomfort
and had to pay a visit to the local Clinic. After providing a
specimen(which indicated an infection), they sent me on to the Hospital
where they drew blood, checked my vitals and massaged my belly with
jelly. The ultrasound showed pee trapped in my bladder.
"We'll have to catheter you and strap a bag onto your leg" announced
the young doctor. "No way! I'm on vacation and I don't need the
hassle!" He looked at me with disgust and said, "OK, we'll start
you on some antibiotics, but if you can't pee....you come straight back
here and we'll catheter you. When you get home, see your family
doctor pronto, as backed-up plumbing is nothing to fool with!"
Yes, Sir(wheeoo) Today(Sep.11) I did just that. Guess
what? I get to see an Urologist!
But, back to Squamish.....Doug and Sue are the BEST! They bent
over backwards to show me a good time. Doug.....you're a whiz
with a BBQ! Red Pacific Salmon one day, pork loin another, burgers,
then chicken breasts.....what a feast!
And here's my "Dream come true". Doug got me a Season Pass to
ride the Sea To Sky Gondola......which we did....FOUR times! The
scenery from the top is awsome......and ever-changing with the time of
day. This "Old Fart" even had the guts to walk across the
Suspension Bridge over-looking the trees and clouds with a drop of
about 400 feet. I hung on for dear life when the bridge began to
"gallop". The pictures they took don't show my white
knuckles! Wish I could share the photos I took with you readers
of the Squamidian, but I don't have that ability.....yet. In addition
to the thrills of the gondola, Doug and Sue showed me around Whistler,
the famous ski resort, the BC Ferry boats and docks. Doug and I
went to Horseshoe Bay where I met some of his Biker buddies.....big
tattooed tough Guys with gentle hearts of gold.
Was nice to be with you on your 41st Wedding Anniversary, and to enjoy
the antics of Kyra, your delightful, energetic Grandchild, and her Mom
and Dad, Lauren and Ryan. It was good to see Michelle and her
quiet husband.
Thanks again for a wonderful time with the most generous hosts, Doug and Sue.
Uncle Russ.
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
It’s only two days after the 13th anniversary of the attack on the
World Trade Centre in New York and to tell the truth, it seams like the
whole tragic event took place only yesterday. The new buildings and
memorial fountain as well as the museum commemorating the attack are
now completed and New York is destined never to forget that horrible
day! In fact, the world will never forget that event and well they
shouldn’t, any more than they should forget the holocaust of WW II. Of
course, the radical Muslim population of the world will most likely
claim it never happened just as they claim the holocaust never
happened! Here’s hoping that the peaceful nations of the world will
finally put a stop to the troubles in the Middle East. With their help,
President Obama is going to do his best to end the Islamic chaos in
Iraq and restore peace. For some strange reason, that seams like only a
pipe dream when I think of it! Unfortunately this world will always
have more than it’s share of troubles to contend with and the Radical
Islamic faction is growing rather than shrinking! All the decent
countries of this world can do is try to control and contain the hatred
that is perpetrated by such monstrous organizations as the ISIS Muslim
Radicals!
*
Another topic of interest hitting the airwaves these
days is the “September” Snow Storm that’s walloping Calgary lately!
What a shocker that was for the folks of Alberta! Unfortunately the
citizens of Ontario and all provinces east of Alberta tend to chuckle
when they hear of such nasty weather out west and they really should
not be doing so. It won’t be long before the temperatures that brought
that snow to Calgary make their way to our neck of the woods and then
it won’t be so funny! Fortunately, we here in Ontario don’t have the
Rocky Mountains bordering our western boundary to instigate such brutal
early weather patterns. Of course it’s bad enough when we get the
incredible winter weather off the Great Lakes surrounding Southern
Ontario. It seams that once our winter sets in it’s here to stay until
well into the spring months. Calgary at least gets periods of mild
weather with the Chinook winds that melt their white stuff a few times
during their winter months. Oh well, I guess there’s no controlling
what Mother Nature decides to do to us each year. All we can hope for
is a bearable winter and some lovely weather during the other three
seasons to make up for it! The “Old Farmer’s Almanac” predicted we’d
have a very hot and long summer this year and look what that prediction
brought us! LOL! Now their saying that we’ll have a “milder” winter
than last year for the upcoming one but what the heck, that’s not
saying much is it! We can only hope for one that we can handle and
afford here in Ontario! Of course if the government has more than they
can handle when they have to clean up after and during this winters
storms, they can always raise our taxes AGAIN and hope they’ve put
enough money aside for next year!
Another item in the news that’s caught my attention is the purchase of
Tim Horton’s by Burger King! I’m not really much of a Tim Horton’s fan
but then again I’m not much of a Burger King fan either. It’s just
interesting how they try to justify these huge business ventures.
Apparently Burger King realized that if they moved their head office to
Canada they’d pay 27% taxes to the government rather than the whopping
48% they pay to Uncle Sam at the moment. Of course they claim that’s
not the reason they’re making the purchase. They say it’s purely a good
investment to buy a successful alternate business that’s world wide as
well for the paltry sum of 2.6 billion in cash! What a deal! Burger
King said they just couldn’t pass up such a bargain! They also have
stated that neither food chain will be affected by the others menu and
nothing will change for Tim’s or BK’s customers. I’d say that with the
addition of more buying power for the entire organization, shouldn’t
the prices change? I would think that the prices for the products they
sell should go DOWN since they can now purchase their raw materials for
a lower rate from their suppliers! It’s still the same old story when
it comes to such mergers. The reality of the situation is that 27% tax
paid on 2.4 billion dollars of profit every ¼ out weighs 48% tax paid
to Uncle Sam and THAT’S the real story! Guess it won’t be long before
we’ll be eating “Big Timmy” burgers from Horton’s and “Whopper Bits”
from Burger King stores near you!
There’s just no consideration for the little guys of this world is there!
I’ve always wondered what the Burger King’s name was and now I know, its “TIMMY”!
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>
Zero is the only number that can’t be represented by Roman numerals!
****
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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