The Squamidian Report – Jan. 31 / 15
Issue #662
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
According to various news sources, earth (as in the planet we live on)
had a close encounter with a passing meteor this past week. Now 'close'
is relatively relative. In this case it meant the meteor passed by at a
distance of about equal to 3 times further out than the moon's orbit.
Also, depending on the news source, the meteor was anywhere from a half
kilometer in diameter to one kilometer in diameter. Either way, it was
supposed to be visible through binoculars on Monday night, sitting just
above and to the right of Jupiter. We had a nice, convenient break in
the clouds that permitted a really nice view of Jupiter and through my
binoculars I could see the 4 moons that us normal people can see. The
rest of Jupiter's moons require equipment far beyond the scope of
normal, back yard viewing equipment. Those tiny specks of light show up
in a nice row, in this case 2 were tight against Jupiter's lower left
side and the other 2 were out a bit further to the upper right. I have
no idea as to whether or not I actually saw the meteor, there were a
few, very, very faint objects in the area it would have been in. So, as
far as I'm concerned, I did see it. I simply don't know which one it
was. Works for me.
In comparing notes with Greg, we have both come to the conclusion that
neither of us has all that much to write about this week. You certainly
don't want to hear about how routine medical checkups for people my age
include the rather perplexing but almost comical requirements of
collecting a stool sample. Not something you'd want to do in public.
And out in this part of the world we don't even have one of those
Pineapple Express weather systems happening at the moment to complain
about that would be inundating us with staggering amounts of rain. In
fact, its been so 'springlike' that I've been thinking about putting
the bike back on the road. It is tempting. However, next week is
supposed to be wet with more seasonal temperatures so perhaps I'll wait
till the week after that. There is actually a good reason to put the
bike back on the road for the second week of February. We've been
trying to instigate a 'Friday the 13th' bike gathering at the gondola.
Port Dover's is a big deal and it would be cool to get one going here
as well. It might flop, or it might become a cool, fun event. We shall
see.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Well we are now officially half way through winter and are on the
downhill side! I sure hope it goes quickly now that we’re almost facing
the Groundhog appearance of 2015. Maybe he’ll be kind to us this year
and find that spring is “Just around the corner!” Wouldn’t that be
lovely? I know that here in KW area we really haven’t had a very severe
winter but I am kind of tired of the cold temperatures. The only thing
that warms my thoughts these days is the fact that Income Tax time is
drawing near and hopefully we’ll all get a nice chunk of “our”
own money back so we can afford to take our loved ones out to McD’s for
a splashy meal! LOL! Hopefully if you do receive a refund, it’ll amount
to a whole lot more than a Happy Meal! It’s bad enough that most of us
overpay to Rev Can each year without having to wait and wait for that
illusive refund. I know we have some pretty good benefits here in
Canada when compared to other countries but when you look closely, we
do pay for them with all the tax dollars we fork over to the
governments who manage our funds. I must say though, paying taxes is
akin to working for a company that requires you to pay into a mandatory
pension plan with every pay cheque you earn. If most of us were left to
devising our own retirement fund system, we wouldn’t have a pot to pee
in come time to actually retire! So when I say this, I’m actually
stating that I am grateful for the overall outcome of our tax system in
that it is for the most part well managed by the government even if it
is most times looked at as too taxing and poorly managed. At least we
do benefit as Canadians from the programs our government has set up for
us! How else would our health care system, roads and their maintenance
and legal system etc etc etc …… get paid for? A country cannot run wild
with all of these systems left up to the individual to make a fair and
equal contribution to paying for and managing their operation! It just
wouldn’t work!
I really can’t think of much more I’d like to talk about this week so
I’m going to cut it off at this point and hope you all have a good week!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
A whale swims all day, only eats fish and drinks water but is still fat! How come?
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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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