The Squamidian Report – Nov. 18 / 17
 
Issue #808

Including:
Lorne's Frustration

Hi All,

This past Tuesday I popped into the city to do something I needed to do. This past Tuesday, like so many other days this time of year, found us under a rainfall warning and a wind warning. Those are normal conditions during November as the late fall storms pump in off the Pacific ocean. One tends to find one's self driving under conditions where the windshield wipers can't begin to keep up and to make it even more exciting, the blasting winds hit the windshield so hard that they tend to cause the wipers to flutter which reduces the amount of time they are actually in contact with the windshield. So, driving requires some care and attention. Then there is the fact that our highways don't seem to be built to the high standards that used to be required. At one time the engineers and road builders shaped a crown into the roadway so water would and could drain off properly. Not the case anymore. That would be too expensive and take too long to do assuming you could even find a grader operator with the skills to do precision grading. And what that means is that the rain water does not drain properly off the roadway. We get huge ponding areas that can drag a vehicle in an unexpected direction, commonly known as hydroplaning. Good tires and a firm hand on the wheel are a must. The roadways often lay quite flat. There are some cases where there is at least some side to side sloping and occasionally that slope might even be in the right direction, but not always which gives a pretty weird feeling when rounding a tight curve thats sloped in the wrong direction. Anyway, it was an interesting drive in and back out. Had to dodge a few tree limbs etc but thats ok.

As to be expected, its not the storms that make driving a challenge, its the other drivers.
The ones who are in such an incredible hurry that common sense and rules of the road must take a back seat to their entitled needs. The ones in the high-end SUV's that continue to pass once past the end of a passing lane just to get one more car length ahead of where they were, or dive across two or three lanes for their exit because they are too important to be in the proper lane, stuck behind some 'nobody'. Or the gigantic pickup trucks that goes flying past sending blinding walls of water in every direction. Can you tell I'm getting grumpy in my old age?

On the other hand, vast quantities of rain equates to countless waters fall cascading off all the rock faces. Surface water has no where to go around here because mountains tend to be made from rock and rock doesn't do a very good job of soaking up and absorbing water, hence, during major rain events we get a lot of temporary water falls.

And here's something both interesting and unrelated to rain, there was a thing on CBC about the completion of a year-round-road to Tuktoyaktuk way up there on the north coast of this country. The locals there had been pushing for road access for decades and the previous federal government along with the Territory government finally got around to building it. Ironically, the incentive to get the road built was not so much to give the residents a way in and out but to open up the far north to resource development, an idea that the current feds have squashed but because the road was almost done when they came to power it was aloud to continue on to completion. (How nice of them). The story went on about how the locals could now get fruits and vegetables on a much more dependable time frame rather than things like that only getting there by air (very expensive) or during winter via an ice road (very expensive). The locals are understandably happy as it also means they can actually drive in and out. Now here's the kicker, some 'expert' came on the air and yapped about how terrible this access road will be because now all sorts of bad things can happen like drug dealer descending on the town and alcohol flowing feely. She felt that the local, mostly Indigenous people, should be kept as isolated as possible to preserve their culture etc. Almost like they were lab rats or something and never mind the fact that there is an airport there and their culture has been 'exposes' for well over a century. She then went on to say how brave the ancestors of those local were to have explored those areas so long ago with no way of knowing where they were or where they were going or how to get back to where they had come from. How totally stupid. They were nomadic tribes that knew exactly where they were. At all times they were 'here' and 'here' was where their food source was. They weren't worried about how to bet 'back' to where they might have been or where they might end up at some later point. They were simply surviving by following where nature took them. End of rant.

By the way, that road was obviously built through sensitive permafrost areas and to protect and preserve the permafrost, the builders laid down layers of geotech material that  would insulate the frozen material under the road base as well as prevent any leaching of road material into the native frozen soil. The road base and driving surface was then laid on top of the geotech material. It will never be a smooth road to travel as its basically an extension of the Dempster which is a muddy rocky dusty bumpy trail at the best of times but its there to do what it needs to do.
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Well now, given the status of our countdown, we could very well be down to #6. Its an interesting and tempting thought that I've been thinking a lot about because it can't go on forever and I'm running out of things to write about.
doug
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Lorne's Frustration

Brown envelopes with windows and the the words 'Canada Revenue Agency' printed across the top left corner is for me one of the most frightening episodes of my lifetime. Having had amounts of $ 800 and $ 1200 clawed back in the past and an assessment of $ 800 a month to be paid back until an over investment by $80,000 of tax free investments are cleared. This came pouncing on me after the death of Vivyan and was reported to be her unwise transaction. NO WAY THAT WAS POSSIBLE ! After lots of  wrangling with Revenue Canada with the help of the local banks, It was 'forgiven' and all monthly payments returned with interest, but  warning that the interest must be declared as income and therefore subject to taxation.

Now this -  Another brown envelope!  TAX REASSESSMENT.   'Pay back $ 2,447.56 including $ 59.27 interest by Nov. 15. It arrived by mail Nov. 17.  This, they claim is because I did not reply to a notice from them dated June 22. I maintain the notice never arrived here.

'Charitable donations, even though they were made and receipts included, reduced to $0.00 from $ 5,807.00. Thus, pay back $ 2,447.56 by 3 days ago. Not good for high blood pressure.

THIS JUST IN!  The phone rings as I am preparing this report and its my accountant informing me that he replied to the letter of June 22 and I don't owe any money!  Sorry to bother you with all of the above.
Lorne
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Have a good one..
the doug
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