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Issue #1026
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From Russ

The Ontarion

Hi All,

Some things are very slowly and to limited degrees starting to improve here in BC. Specifically, the highway system is being re-opened to general traffic, way ahead of schedule. The Coq was originally going to be open for commercial vehicles by mid to late January but was in fact made available by mid December. At the time, many sections that had been repaired or rebuilt sufficiently for traffic use were simply single lane gravel with restricted speed limits. Now, they have been able to pave some of those single lane sections to permit the general public to begin using the highway. It will be a long time before it can be put back to 4-lane condition but thats life. In order to permit general public use of the highway, most of those ‘under repair’ sections (over 100km in all) will stay at ‘reduced speed’ limits. Good luck on that. The drivers around here will simply ignore the posted speeds and go racing hell bent for leather to where ever it is they think they are going. Most of that highway was posted at between 100 and 120 kph so thinking some nut case from the city who can now get to some ski hill in the Interior will obey a 40k or 60k sign is rather optimistic. As well, the single lane sections are posted with ‘no passing’ signs in order to keep things safe for everyone using the roads. That should be interesting. I sure hope there is a LOT of enforcement out there.

Highway #1 up through the Fraser Canyon will become navigable by maybe mid February. There are several small villages along that highway that have been virtually cut off since the rains and washouts of mid November. There is so much construction needed to put the highway back that so far only construction equipment had been permitted along there, leaving the people who live along there stranded.

The Duffy had been opened to limited essential passenger vehicle traffic in mid December but was closed more often than not due to avalanches. It has now been opened to the general public, including commercial vehicles but those are recommended to stay off due to the mountainous terrain and narrow switch-backs. A positive thing about the Coq becoming available to the general public is that it will take a lot of pressure off our Sea To Sky highway. The Duffy is simply the north end of the Sea To Sky and anyone trying to drive to Kamloops or where ever had to take either that route or number 3 over to Princeton and then go from there. As well, until people could start using the Coq again, Whistler was just about the only destination available for anyone trying to escape the city. Thus, our section of this highway has been a mess and a nightmare ever since the events of November. Perhaps, just perhaps, there might be a tiny bit of sanity creeping back into life as more options become available for those who are so desperate to ‘hit the road’. Well, to hope for a bit of sanity is probably being a bit optimistic. We are talking about people and people are arguably the most un-sane creatures on the planet. Like they say, the best proof of intelligent life out there in the universe is that it know enough to stay away from Earth.

And lastly, we’ve been going back up the gondola fairly regularly now for ‘morning coffee’. We get there just as they open, are usually the first up, enjoy our cup of coffee as we sit by the wood stove and enjoy the view. Then, we get to heck out of there before too many other people come in. We do not go on the weekends because thats when hordes of those insane masses of morons come racing up from the city to over-run the place, and, like those intelligent extra terrestrial life forms out there in the universe, we too know when to stay away.

doug

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From Russ

Too old to cut the mustard.

We've all said this at one time or another, "He's too old to cut the mustard", and you might well be saying this of me! There will come a time in your lifespan when they'll be saying this of you. What triggered this subject happened when I was waiting for my prescription in Shopper's Drug-mart this morning. I had taken a seat outside the room where they were giving 3rd/booster shots and it appeared I was there for the same thing. A man and woman were seated beside me, and they were 'in line' for their 'shots'. The man was called in first, and in a few minutes he was back, saying

"Didn't hurt a bit". He was a big man, and was boasting about having both hips replaced, and complaining about 'growing old'. "I used to jump out of bed - no aches or pains - do a days hard work - sleep all night - and now I'm too old to cut the mustard". He'd just turned 70 he told us. I couldn't help myself - I had to say something to this 'poor, old, man' - "You are still a young man in my books"

"Why? How old are you?" he retorted. Just then the Pharmacist called my name, and as I was leaving I told him I will be 93 this spring. I think I hurt his feelings. Do you think 70 is 'old'? If 'yes', you must be under 40. It's all relevant.

When did we start saying too old to cut the mustard? Seems it's a very old expression, the origin is uncertain, but being a fan of Country Music, I recall an American singer-songwriter who wrote a song Too Old to Cut the Mustard, his name was Ernest Dale Tubb. You may remember his biggest hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941) He was nicknamed the Texas Troubadour. His music marked the rise of honky tonk style of music. (Wikipedia).

To cut the mustard means simply, "to succeed, to have the ability to do something". Where does the saying come from? The word mustard itself goes back to (English must), which was an altogether different substance. Must was the juice squeezed from grapes before it was made into wine. 'Mustard' is so named because the condiment was originally made by grinding mustard seeds into a paste, and adding must.

I always thought 'cutting mustard' had to do with cutting down (harvesting) mustard plants. Others suggest a connection to pass muster, when a soldier gets "approval" after troupes are assembled together for inspection. Take your choice.

How do you like your mustard? The rather 'bland' regular yellow mustard? Or, like my son Greg who likes hot mustard, which he says adds 'spice', or 'zest' - he likes to "feel the heat". Long before Greg's time (1600's), "hot/strong/keen as mustard" was a 'figure of speech for something extremely powerful, passionate, or enthusiastic. These qualities are very admirable or desirable, so it's perhaps no surprise that mustard took the jump to connotations of "genuine, superior, excellent".

How would you like to be called "mustard?" Early in the 20th century, people went around calling each other "mustard"! He's mustard, for example means "He's great". It's this idea, of mustard as "excellent" or "great", that seems to be at work in "cut the mustard".

Finally - MUSTARD is......awesomesauce! If this 'mustard' business seems odd or old-fashioned to you, then consider sauce. In contemporary slang, if someone "has the sauce", it means they are amazing in some way; from being stylish, to being confident, to being talented. Next time you see someone doing something "spectacular" – shout awesomesauce! - and then, quickly duck!

Russ

References from Microsoft Bing.

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

It’s cold out side to say the least and I’m sure we’re in for many more Arctic Cold days and nights to come! They said on the weather tonight that we are in for at least 7 more like we’ve been having lately before things warm up a “little”! With the wind chill factor tonight and for the next few nights it’s going to be within the -30 to -34c! That’s cold enough to freeze the nose off an Eskimo if I may say so! Brrrrr…! I’d hate to be a street person at any time let alone on freezing nights like this! It’s heart warming to hear that the government has funded a new project in Waterloo by purchasing a defunct motel that’s only two doors away from the Waterloo Station #1 Fire Hall. They have purchased the motel and are in the process of renovating it to accommodate up to 100 homeless men! Complete with medical assistance and food services. It’s about time they put forth an effort to help these needy men. Now it’s time to find the same sort of help for the homeless women of KW! There is another prime location right next door to that motel that was at one time the White Rose Nursery. That building too is large enough to accommodate at least the same number of women if the government would only invest in and renovate it to help 100 women who are at present living on the streets of KW. I’m sure that with the number of empty office buildings caused by the pandemic, they could easily find more spaces to house our homeless population! It’s high time the government buckled down and put more money and effort into looking after our needy Canadian citizens rather than sending millions and millions of dollars over seas to third world countries! I’ve often said that the tiny houses they have been putting up here in Kitchener to accommodate the homeless are useless and this motel purchase and renovation just proves that point! I hope the government sees this success story as a way to get a handle on the homeless situation and makes an effort to do more in the way of proper accommodations to relieve the problem!

It was good to hear some good news this evening rather than just more and more nattering about the Covid-19 problem! I guess that the latest news about that problem and the fact that the government is lifting the ban on business’s and restaurant operations is also good news. The Premier of Ontario actually stated that the Covid-19 problem is showing promise in that the spread of Omicron virus is not as serious as the earlier one that’s been putting people in hospital ICU’s! However the news tonight stated that Grand River Hospital had only one open bed available out of their 660 bed total because of the number of Covid-19 patients that are currently overloading their Hospital! That’s worrisome in itself for sure! Lets hope that things settle down in the near future when it comes to the spread of this darned virus!

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On the lighter side of things, Wednesday marked the celebration of Carole’s and my 49th wedding anniversary! We celebrated right here at home with a nice quiet evening and a lovely dinner that Adam cooked up for us! He made us a dinner of something we first experienced on our trip to Northern Ireland a few years ago called “Carpet Baggers”! It consists of Asparagus wrapped in very thinly sliced pork chops. Actually the meat is pork chops that are hammered with a mallet to make them very thin and then they are rolled around several spears of Asparagus. Then they are cooked in the oven! Once they are finished cooking, a thick mushroom sauce is poured over them on the plate and they are also served with a side dish of French green beans! The original dish in Ireland was made with thin strips of beef but Adam decided to do the dish with pork in stead and it turned out amazingly well! Even though we could not go out to a special restaurant or any place fancy to mark the occasion, it was still a very enjoyable evening and it was one we will remember for sure for years to come. Hopefully we will be able to celebrate our “Golden Wedding Anniversary” (50th) on a sun soaked beach somewhere on a tropical island once the Covid-19 pandemic is resolved next year! All we can do is hope for that to be accomplished for the sake of everyone here on earth! We’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed that it’ll come true in the near future!

As long as the majority of people follow the health guidelines, things will continue to improve!

That’s about all for this week folks!

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.

Something To Think About>

Keep warm and get your booster shots NOW!

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Take Care And Be Safe
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