The Squamidian Report – Mar. 18 / 17
Issue #773
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
When it finally stopped snowing here it didn't do so because it got
nice out, it did so because it warmed just enough for the snow to turn
to rain. And thats what its been doing ever since. Don't let the term
'warmed just enough' trick you into thinking its back to normal. Our
temps have been below normal for month now. With this being past the
middle March, we should have been long since basking in the warmth of
spring with flowers and blossoms and green grass but said grass is just
now starting to show out from under the snow and the only reason that
snow has and is melting is because the cold rain is slowly washing it
away. Funny thing is, I actually know why we've been plunged into a
deep and prolonged winter. You see, back in early January we started
having a few days of nice sunshine that didn't include those cold
Arctic Outflow winds. Just a few days but it was enough to give us
hope. To that end, I made the mistake of charging up my R/C airplane
batteries thinking that I could start flying my little plane again.
Boy, was I fooled. Within a day or so there was another 3 ft of snow on
the ball park field where December's snow had started to disappear
from. Oh well. At least I hadn't done something silly like pull the
cover off the old Harley. Given Mother Nature's current state of mind
and warped sense of humor, that would have plunged us into the next ice
age.
I did take the snow blower in to be repaired and fixed up all nice and
newish again. We have one small engine repair type of place here in
town that sells and fixes everything from chain saws to lawn mower. I
have no idea how long it will take them to identify all the parts that
need replacing and then order said parts in and then repair the
machine. They will replace both drive belts, the one that sends power
to the wheels and the one that sends power to the blower section. They
will replace any and all bearings that might need replacing and the
friction drive system, then do a general tune-up. As long as its back
before next winter I'm happy. Any more snow we could possibly get this
winter can darn well melt on its own as far as I'm concerned. And we
could get more. Thursday morning I headed up the gondola to do some
snowshoeing, figuring it would probably be raining a bit up there as it
was pouring down below. By the time I was riding past tower 6 the rain
was turning to snow, by the time I was at tower 7 it was all snow and
snowing pretty hard. From there on up all the trees were covered and
there was a nice fresh coating on everything. I snowshoed in a nice
snowfall. On my way back down after coffee, I ran back into rain below
7 and it rained in the valley all day. In fact there has been fresh
snow up there every morning this week and the highway north of here is
under a snowfall warning, again.
And thats about it. Not much new to talk about. Playing my guitar up
there last Sunday went very well and I do it again on the 26th so thats
all going quite nicely. Aside from that it has by necessity been pretty
quiet around here.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
I’d like to start off by thanking the US mid west for sending us that
nice bash of cccccold weather over the past week! It’s been a while
since we’ve been able to blame the US for sending weather like that in
our direction. It’s usually they who are blaming us for their cold
snaps since we’re known as The Great White North! Oh well, there’s no
telling what Mother Nature will send in which direction nowadays! I
know that things are going to warm up soon because our weather girl on
CTV said so and of course she’s always accurate with her predictions,
just like Wiarton Willy. LOL!
Carole actually looked out front yesterday and
saw her first Robin of 2017. I didn’t see it because I was still snug
in my bed waiting for Carole to put on the tea for our morning wake up
session in the kitchen. It’s the one big bonus of being retired, not
having to get up at any specific time. Although, Lord knows I don’t
like to waste too much of the morning sleeping in, being the productive
sort that I am! I waited and waited for that huge storm we were
supposed to get over the past week but in truth, it never really
materialized here in Waterloo Region. I wasn’t sure I’d remember how to
work my snow blower seeing it had been quite a while since our last
decent snow dump. Once the monster storm from the US hit, it wasn’t
much of a disaster after all the hullaballoo! We got about 6 or so cm
and it was barely enough to make it worthwhile dragging the blower out
of the garage instead of the shovel beside it! I decided to use the
blower though, just so I could rub the fact that I have one into the
neighbour’s face as she shoveled her driveway while her 25-year-old son
watched! Something’s wrong there dontcha think? Oh well, I guess that’s
the way they do things in India! I’ve been really hoping for an early
spring but since spring isn’t here yet officially, there’s a chance yet
that it’ll happen as a surprise by the end of March. Keep your fingers
crossed!
*
I was out doing some errands
today and got passed on Ottawa St by a motorcycle. I guess this is one
year that Ontario got out on two wheels before BC eh Doug? I was quite
surprised to see the guy on his Honda 750 from somewhere in the mid
70’s as it was a real nice looking classic and if it were mine, it
wouldn’t be out in the remains of our shitty winter even if the roads
do have some bare spots already. I bet he’d be taking his chances on
the side streets this time of year. Oh well, it takes all kinds to make
a world! First Robin, first Motorcycle and who knows, maybe soon my
first convertible of the year! Speaking of convertibles, I received an
e-mail from the Lucan-Biddulph Recreation Committee the other day
telling me that they are giving away a 1967 Chevelle Malibu convertible
in their annual car draw. They sell tickets all year long and then have
the draw in late December. I have been buying tickets off and on for
several years now and I think I missed the draw last year. I
can’t resist a good deal on tickets most times and these guys sell 6
tickets on the car for $20.00!!! What a bargain! When I saw that they
are giving away a ‘67 Chevelle it brought back memories of my ’66
Chevelle Malibu that I loved so dearly back in the day. The one I had
was a true muscle car of the times. It had a 396 cu in V8 with 360 hp
and a Muncie 4 speed transmission. It was a real beast in its day! It
was a beautiful dark green colour with a black interior and bucket
seats. It was the Malibu SS Super Sport model and man was it fast! I
had a lot of fun with that car and I used to know two brothers who also
had the identical cars. Their names were Steve and Tony. Steve had a
dark green one as well and Tony had a burgundy one. Steve worked in
Refrigeration for Sutherland Shultz when I worked for Zehr’s Stores in
the same trade. That’s how I met Steve and got to like his car. It made
me buy the Chevelle after he gave me a ride in his! That car was a load
of fun but it was a real expensive vehicle to drive back when we were
only making $1.60 an hour as an apprentice. Most of my money went into
the gas tank (at 10 mpg), some went into burgers and chips at Sonny’s
and the rest paid a little board to my folks and my car insurance!
Those were the days!
Oh well, I could go on all weekend about the vehicles I was crazy about
in “The Good Ol’ Days” but then I’d likely bore you all to death and we
wouldn’t want that now would we? I guess that’s enough for this week.
I’ll save my car stories for another time!
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>
What city claims to be the sunniest place in the USA?
That would be, Yuma Arizona!
In this city in Arizona, the sun shines for an average of 11 hours a day. The usual forecast is “sun” for 90% of the year!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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