Issue #925
Including:

From Lorne
From Russ
The Ontarion

Hi All,

Some silliness….I don’t have to look for trouble, trouble seems to find me. This past Monday while we were enjoying our usual morning coffee at the gondola base camp I noticed the reporter from the Squamish Chief. That’s our little local weekly news paper. He was there to do an article on the re-opening of the gondola and was waiting for the events coordinator. Anyway, because I recognized him I walked over to say ‘Hi’ because being who I am that seems to be what I tend to do. As I walked toward him, he recognized me. We chatted and then he asked if I would do a pre-opening interview. He had interviewed me a couple of times over the years. (Infamous I guess). So, I said sure, why not, and he did. About the time we were done the person he was actually there to see came along and they headed up the lift. Media and other dignitaries have been going up all week, snubbing us lowly yokels. I didn’t think any part of my little interview would be of much use to them but it turns out he wove a very good story for this week’s paper that includes me just as much as it includes the people he was there to talk to. You can see the article on line by clicking this link.

Article in the Chief

It’s been an interesting 6 month. At times the time seemed to stand still, as time often seems to do. Other times it seemed to fly, as time also often seems to do. The worst was the morning of August 10. That was a Saturday, therefor not a weekend day and therefor a day that we hadn’t planned to go to the gondola. We were out, in the car, and had the radio on. Over the airwaves came the breaking news that the Sea to Sky Gondola was down. That was pretty well all anyone knew at the time. We were stunned and horrified. Then various rumors started coming in, some saying the main cable had snapped, some saying it had come off it’s boggy pulleys. Some mentioned the cabins had fallen from the cable, laying smashed on the rocks and in the trees. None seemed remotely possible. We drove out to the water front to where we could see the tram system and sure enough, it was down. The cable was hanging loose, cabins were in fact in the trees. It was devastating. And time did seem to stand still.

About mid morning the announcement came that the area was closed off and considered to be a crime scene. Believe it or not, that was a better answer than some sort of mechanical or engineering failure would have been. Time started to move forward a bit. Eventually time reverted back to our usual perception of speed and the wait for more answers and information began. The RCMP investigation pointed to the cable being cut sometime in the early morning, just before daylight, by a person or persons, using a cordless grinder. The investigation is still on-going and no one knows if the cable cutter(s) will ever be found, charged, or convicted. We all hope so because until they are, they are still out there. There are untold theories out there as to WHY someone would do such a thing but no one can ever know why until the guilty persons have been caught and questioned.

By the end of August or early September they were able to open the base camp to the public. That was a good step forward and it sort of started the healing for not only the staff but the locals as well. During October they turned the parking lot into a temporary drive-in theatre. That was fun. We’ve made a point of frequenting and supporting the base camp coffee shop and that has kept our close relationship with most of the staff that was able to keep their jobs. The part-time and casual employees had no choice but to move on.

By November, the new, replacement cable was delivered and installed. In December the gondola threw an early Christmas party for the community. It was good. The cabins turned up in December and were finally hung on the cable over the last couple of weeks. Staff has been going up regularly to get the upper lodge ready. Time was speeding up. Things were happening.

And then, opening day was here, or perhaps re-opening day to be more precise. Friday Feb. 14. Just a few days over 6 months since the disaster. Needless to say, staff was already at the top, ahead of everyone else, prepared to receive the public. There was a ceremony at the base that included the provincial tourism minister, the town mayor and some other dignitaries. Politics and business required the dignitaries etc to upload first, then the next level VIP’s uploaded. Very thoughtful on their part, Sue and I were included in the VIP list. Once all the important people were uploaded, the general public headed up.

The day was certainly a success, everyone who could come did come. Even the weather cooperated. I did my music set and that went over great. Following my set was the local ‘pro’ musicians and as far as I’m concerned, I’m no worse than they are. In fact I tend to get a lot of compliments from both the staff and the customers. Pretty cool for an old fart like me. By early afternoon we were done, and headed home for some quietness. I was however, a great day. A lot of hugs and greetings. Familiar faces and new faces. Tomorrow we will go snowshoeing along a trail that we haven’t seen in over 6 months.

doug

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From Lorne

This week, a more vigorous attempt to prepare a SQUAD submission. After weeks of complaining about the roughness of the mattress supplied with the hospital bed, a new one was installed to-day. At $ 256 per 28 days is the cost for bed and all. So maybe 'The Lion Sleeps To-night'. I can remember when the house rent rose to $ 30 a month back in the 30s. 'Pop' as we called him, generally responded, but 'Ma' would have nothing to do with such an annoyance and bade us quite. However, I regress. 'Pop would say '$30 a month? that's the first dollar I earn every day. We are moving! My health seems to return slowly with a couple of 'good days' intersperse with a set back.

Remember Crawler 78? Cut and trimmed trees last fall then broke down. To-day about noon they called to say they are going to finish the work. They did. The machine is mounted on a flat bed truck that is driven where it's needed. The operator sits on the truck bed, not up at the top as with the old 78. Jaws grab the tree wherever the operator chooses, the chain saw does it's thing, then the cut is placed either on the flat bed or at the chipper. They were able to reach over the house to remove an unwanted tree. Quite a way to spend an afternoon.

Lorne

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From Russ

Whale of a tail (cont'd)

We know you’ve been waiting with bated breath for the next three paragraphs of which you’ve been duly WARNED:

Southern Right Wale females become sexually mature around age 9 years (not much different from our own age nine, going- on- age- nineteen girls), and will give birth every 3 to 4 years. Horny season lasts from mid-July through August.

They mate in 3’s – two males one female. She is a ‘teaser’ – will role onto her back to keep her genitals up out of the water and out of reach of the males until she is ready. This is not always successful as the male’s penis is 12 feet long and maneuverable!

Males don’t really ‘fight’ to gain access to females, but will shove each other around. When she’s ready, the female will give multiple males access. The male’s produce a gallon of sperm – enough to wash out that of the preceding male’s baby batter.

Pregnancy can last for over a year. The calf weighs 1,500 Kg at birth. The average weight of a North American baby boy is 3.3 Kg (7 pounds 3 Oz), so be glad you’re not a whale, Mommy. If it doesn’t reach an untimely death, like being harpooned or caught-up in fisherman’s nets, or ‘beached’ because of ship’s sonar screwing-up the whale’s sonar, they may live for an average of 50 years – some have reached 100 years.

Unlike you and I, they are not an endangered species. Those who count whales tell us there are about 10,000 Southern Right Whales worldwide.

Being so huge in size and numbers one would think they have no natural predators. Wrong. They have been known to be attacked by birds! Yes birds! A type of gull known as a ‘Kelp Gull’ can do a surprising amount of damage with their beaks, leaving large wounds in the whale’s skin. In addition to the injuries, whales spend more time evading the gulls, meaning they’ve less time to feed their young. Thus weakened, young whales have been eaten alive by gulls. Young are also vulnerable to attacks by Killer Whales and Great White Sharks.

Seven Surprising S.R.W. facts:

They don’t have a dorsal fin. (other Right Wales do)

The male’s testicles are the largest in the world, weighing up to 500 Kg each! (Who/how would one weigh them?)

They are unable to enter tropical waters – they can’t dissipate the heat fast enough because of their thick layers of blubber. (that rules out ‘hot-tubbing’ too)

They frequently stick their flukes (tail flippers) up into the air and leave them there, letting the wind push them along. This is known as “sailing”, and may sometimes be done just for fun.

They, along with other Right Whales are the rarest kind of Right Whales in the world. The Northern Right Whales were severely depleted by ‘whaling’.

Those ugly white crusts on their nose and head are calluses whose pattern are individually recognizable and are used in photo ID by scientists. (Male prowess = the more calluses the greater their esteem)

And finally, during the ‘whaling boom’, those in the whale-oil business named them the “right whale” because the were slow and friendly with loads of blubber, and easy to kill.

We hope the a.m. story has given you a pleasant departure from what’s going on in the world right now:

The fear of COVID-19 and it’s affect on the World economy; the acquittal of President Donald Trump, and how it will affect the US vote in the coming Fall.

Your kindly old Uncle Russ.

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

The most prominent thing that comes to my mind this week is the teacher’s strike that’s been happening once or thrice a week for the past couple of months. They are blaming Premiere Ford for the problems with the school system and from where I sit, they are right. The last thing he should be doing is taking important sections of the curriculum away from the system. The first mistake he made was to change the program that was in place for the benefit of the kids with Autism. Then he managed to instigate this major problem with the teachers by enlarging the number of students in the average classroom and reducing the number of teachers aids etc that are needed to assist the teachers with the programs. What the heck was or is he thinking anyway? It’s also obvious that he’s got the provincial education minister on a string like a puppet because the minister who is supposed to be the authority when it comes to decisions regarding the school operations is doing nothing but repeat the thoughts and words of our troublemaking premiere! They are both on the news almost nightly saying that the reason the teachers are striking is that they are demanding higher wages not striking to get better programs back in place for the students! I did hear it reported that the teachers are asking for a 2% wage increase when Ford is only offering a 1% increase. I don’t think the teachers are being unreasonable in asking for that little of an increase. Ford seems to be blaming them for his screw-ups! I think he should let them have their 2% and restore the education programs he took away and put an end to this strike bologna! On the other hand, the teachers are making a decent wage for people that only work 10 months of the year so, if they’d only put more effort into their talks I’m sure there’s a way to settle this mess that would suit both sides.

With all this talk about school and teachers, it’s had me thinking of my days at KCI and some of the rumors that floated around when I was there back in the 60’s. There are of course two different gyms in the school, one for the girls and one for the boys. The boy’s gym was the one where most of the sports took place such as basketball, wrestling and judo etc. It was also the place for the holding of the school dances. The one rumor that always intrigued me was the one that I was never able to confirm. Someone told me that there was a large swimming pool beneath the floor of the girl’s gym. I had always wondered if that was true but was never able to confirm the rumor! Maybe somebody that is much older than I and also a former student of KCI like maybe Ron Filsinger could confirm the existence of such a structure! What do you say Ron, had you ever heard that rumor? I also heard that there used to be a rifle range beneath the school where the boys were taught to shoot FN rifles during the Second World War! I do know that when I was first in grade nine we had to become a member of the army cadet corps. They issued us uniforms and since I was a grade nine-music student I was issued a kilt instead of the standard army issue pants. The band members all wore kilts. I played the tuba for that first year and marched in the cadet corps during certain ceremonies at the school. I wish I had my mother take a picture of me in that uniform so I could really look back on that experience! Oh well, no sense crying over spilled milk! I’m sure if I dug deep enough in the old yearbooks I’d find a picture of the cadet band somewhere. I do remember having a picture of our Judo club in several of the yearbooks. I wonder if they would have a selection of those yearbooks called The Grumbler in the KCI library? It would be cool to look through them again after all these years! I think I have one of the Grumblers stashed somewhere. I believe it’s from 1968 if memory serves! Oh well, it would take a lot of searching to find it if it exists so I think I’ll just leave it be for now. I have more important things on my mind these days but maybe someday it’ll surface on it’s own.

That’s about all I have for this week folks!

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>

There’s a very interesting documentary on TV at the moment called Gordon Lightfoot “If You Could Read My Mind”. If you get a chance to watch it, I’m sure you’d find it worthwhile.

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Have a good one..
the doug
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