The Squamidian Report – Aug. 29 / 15
Issue #692
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
The Pinks are back. Pink salmon spawn in late summer and have returned
to the local rivers. I stopped down by the Manquam to check them out
and sure enough, the river is full of them. Pretty cool to see
thousands of big fish swimming just below the surface. They create a
big black cloud effect as they work their way against the current. In
the shallow areas their backs stick out of the water as they scoot
along leaving a wake behind from their powerful tails.
Due to the heat and drought all the sport fishing on the BC rivers has
be cancelled this season. The fish are under enough stress as it is.
Usually the river bank would be crowed with people trying to catch the
salmon. Sport fishing has not been cancelled in the salt water and so
accessible areas along the Sound are shoulder to shoulder fishermen,
kind of dumb but I'm not in charge. You'd think if the fish are
stressed in the rivers, they would also be stressed as they enter the
rivers. There should be no fishing, period, until stocks are healthy.
And on that line, so to speak, several fishing boats were given license
to set their nets in the Sound, just out from the mouth of the Squamish
River. That created a lot of protest, including from the local first
nations and those licenses were pulled after a few days. I guess one
branch of the fisheries department doesn't know what the other branches
are doing, commercial licenses should never have been granted at all.
As I stood on the bridge watching the salmon below, I phoned Lorne via
my cell phone and told him what I was seeing. He would probably have
liked to see it himself.
And on the topic of stupidity within the systems, heres just another
example of how it works when dealing with criminals. Ten years ago a
young gas station attendant was dragged to his death by a low-life that
didn't want to pay for the gas he had just pumped into his car. The
young attendant's name was Grant and this event eventually lead to a
law in BC called 'Grant's law' where one must pay for fuel before it
can be pumped. I wrote about this years ago. Its a good idea and yet
many gas station chains continue to fight that law because it also
requires a minimum of two attendants on at all times. That law has
saved lives but unfortunately, the gas station chains would rather save
dollars and there is a very real possibility that the law could be
changed or even dropped. Gotta love politicians and big business. But
thats not what I'm actually writing about this time. The creep that ran
down the gas attendant only served about six years in jail. Since then
he has been arrested by the police for numerous infractions including
car theft and robbery. The courts just keep on letting him go. A short
time ago he was found to be the drunk driver of a stolen car that had
crashed, somewhere in the Vancouver downtown area. He was hauled back
in to court where he was sentenced to the one day served plus
probation. Can you imagine how the parents of Grant must feel every
time he is set free, at virtually no cost or inconvenience to himself?
Set free to do it all over again and again and again. Its no wonder old
guys like me end up grumpy.
But getting back to the heat, I've finally finished the little deck
that the grand daughter's playhouse will sit on. It wasn't a very big
project but the only time I could work on it was first thing in the
mornings, and then in the evenings when it had cooled off a bit. Its
been so hot here that doing anything outside in the afternoons has been
unbearable. Well, except for motorcycle riding and that kind of thing.
The deck has 'little person' size steps, and 'little person' sized
railing that match the fence. It will have a climbing rope as well. The
steps come up from the lower back yard and the climbing rope would
bring a little person(s) up onto the native granite rock that sticks
out of our upper back yard and runs right through the house for that
mater. So, next step is to design the playhouse but there is no hurry.
And, and hopefully the forecast is right, we are in for a week of rain.
Up, with six or seven inches expected over the weekend. Wow, do we ever
need it. It could rain for a month up and down the coast before anyone
would complain.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Hope you’ve all had a great summer so far. It’s coming to an end pretty
soon and here’s hoping we’ll have as wonderful a fall season as we did
a summer this year!
The grass has survived in a lovely green condition and all the plants
have flourished in the gardens this year so it hasn’t been a struggle
to tend to them at all. I’ve been mowing the lawn every three days as
usual and with the new mower it’s been a pleasure to do so. After
cutting the neighbour’s pine tree’s branches that were overhanging my
driveway the sap that was dripping on my car and concrete is dripping
more than ever. I guess I should have cut them back enough so they were
dripping on his property rather than just trimming them to the property
line. The wind has been helping the sap to make it onto my drive anyway
and the concrete is just as messy as it was before I cut the darned
things. Guess that’ll learn me to mess with another guy’s trees! Oh
well, he’s told me they are moving to Mississauga in the spring so
before the new family moves in I’ll have another go at the trimming.
Maybe I’ll get lucky and the new owners will have the messy monsters
cut down completely. They are an unsightly mess anyway and if they were
mine, I’d get them turned into mulch for sure!
*
About a month ago I noticed that my passenger front
door window would only go about a third of the way up when I pulled the
“one touch up” switch and then it would stop and descend back down into
the door. In order to have it close all the way I had to hold the
button in the up position until closed. I took the Jeep to the Jeep
dealer on Fairway Rd and they had to order a new regulator mechanism
for the window. It finally came in and I took the Jeep to have it
installed on Thursday. It took them over 4 hours to install and get it
working like new. I’m sure glad I didn’t have to pay for that
repair/replacement! It would have been almost $600.00! I checked with
the service dept and they told me that my warranty will be up as of
September 8th 2015. Guess I just made it in under the wire for a major
repair. Hopefully this will be the last problem we’ll have with this
Jeep for a long time to come. I also checked how much it would cost for
me to pay for an extended warranty and was told it would cost me
$2800.00 for a two year plan and $3500.00 for a three year plan and
that would not be total coverage from bumper to bumper like I just had
on the vehicle. It would only cover a specific list of items and there
would be a $100.00 deductable each time there was a problem. Guess I’ll
just take my chances and hope that my vehicle problems will be few and
far between like they were in my previous Jeep Liberty. The biggest
problem I had with the 2002 Jeep was installing a new muffler. Other
than that we did very little in the way of mechanical repairs on that
vehicle and we had it for 11 years. I think in the 11 years I had that
Jeep I did little more than have new brakes a few times, 4 full sets of
new tires, a muffler and a ding in the right rear corner that was
hardly noticeable thanks to a tree that jumped out behind me when I was
backing around Lorne’s circular driveway the first week we owned the
Jeep! I thought about suing Lorne for the damages but someone told me
that it was my fault and I wouldn’t get a dime out of him in court!
LOL! So I quickly gave up on that idea! Besides, I wanted to be invited
back to the family gatherings a second time and more! Hahahaha…. !
Over the years we’ve certainly enjoyed our association with the
Brubacher clan and I would never have become such a great journalist
had it not been for that association!
My only regret is that I never took up learning to play a worthwhile
instrument so I could join in on the musical events of the Squamidian
gatherings. I took accordion lessons when I was a kid but that fizzled
out after three years of playing “Batter Up” and “The Battle Hymn Of
The Republic” till I was blue in the face! The accordion is much more
interesting when someone else is playing it and doing it well than
trying to do so oneself! I also played the Tuba in the cadet Band at
KCI but it’s hardly an instrument that blends well with guitars and
mandolins! The third and last instrument that I played for a few years
during my teens was a B flat Baritone Single valve and Rotor bugle for
the Preston Scout House Drum and Bugle Corps in the 1960’s. I can still
toot and few tunes on the bugle but once again it’s hardly an enjoyable
instrument to listen to around a family campfire or in someone’s living
room! LOL! I guess I’ll just have to continue to enjoy singing a few
tunes with the family when and if we ever get together for a musical
evening in the future. Until then I’ll do my best to stay in tune when
I’m in the shower and pretending I’m Mario Lanza! Even that sounds
better when there is nobody else at home! Hahahahaa………. !
Once again, I’ve had a great summer of writing my Ontarion and hearing
back from other Squid members on occasion and I intend to keep on
writing for as many years to come as I’m able and of course as many
years as Doug will accept my contributions.
Carole and I are going to take a month’s break and I’ve asked Doug to
keep my Ontarion spot open so I can continue the fun after our hiatus.
I’ll be thinking of you all while taking a writing break and I assure
you I’ll be raring to go when I start up again!
Many thanks to everyone who has been a loyal reader to Doug and myself
all these years and even though I will miss the weekly edition of the
Ontarion, I’ll also enjoy this little break from my routine. Until the
first week of October, please read Doug’s Squamidian with the same
enthusiasm as always and support his continued efforts to entertain you
all while I’m absent!
Thanks again for being there all these years and remember, It’s only a
break I’m taking. After all, I can’t retire a second time from
something that isn’t even a job, it’s just plain fun each and every
week and I’ll be back soon!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research!
See you in October!
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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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