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The
Squamidian Report – March 7 / 26
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Of This And Past Issues Issue
#1242
Carol ****
From Carol
A week before I took this picture of crocuses blooming in my front lawn there was about two feet of snow there. By the time you read this we will have snow again. I’m glad spring flowers are resilient. I had gone out front to pick up garbage that had blown into my flower bed during winter. Among the pieces of garbage was a 10 dollar bill. Flowers, sunshine and money, my day was made. For those of us in Canada we lost an hour sleep last weekend because of the shift to daylight saving time. Doug will never have to change his clocks again because BC has decided to stay on daylight saving time. A number of articles in the paper, written by sleep experts claim that the time changes should be eliminated but that regular time is healthier for us. They claim that morning sunlight is necessary for setting our bodies rhythm and stealing an hour of light in the winter mornings is bad for people’s health. One study referenced spoke about the spike of fatal car accidents the Monday morning after loosing an hour’s sleep and the spike in strokes for a few days after the change. I know Gary would choose daylight savings time year round but my preference during my working years would have been standard time year round. As a retired person the issue doesn’t impact me. I gather when surveys went out in some provinces the choice was between always changing the time or keeping daylight saving year round. The third choice of keeping standard time year round wasn’t offered. Like I said, the experts all felt standard time year round was the healthiest choice, as they have in Saskatchewan. I am curious to read what your preferences would be if given the choice. By the way most provinces said they are waiting for our trade partners to the south to make the change. BC decided that isn’t important anymore.
Carol ****
From Nova Scotia Sus
We finally reached comfortable temperatures...it almost seems like spring. There is still a lot of snow to melt but at least the driveways are clear. It feels so good to wear less coats. The chickens too are happy to get outside in their pen. We also had a chicken lay a huge egg...not as big as the New Brunswick egg but larger than I have seen before. Also I have no idea which one laid it. My brother Warren called to say he is planning to visit us soon. He wants to be here in time for lobster season and maple syrup. So far the season is slow and not much in our buckets. That is disappointing and hope it won't continue that way. Warren likes to spend time here. Ward and he will keep busy on his property. I may join him on his trip home...Michelle wants to have a get together at her place in Alberta. After losing Dennis we want to make an effort to spend time with family.
Sus ****
From Wayne
Hi Squids: I want to thank all of you for your kind thoughts and wishes concerning the poor chicken that laid the giant egg. Although she is nearly back to normal and laying regular eggs, her trauma returns from time to time, like last Wednesday when it was so windy during a spring storm that the poor thing laid the same egg three times! Last Tuesday the temperature was close to 20 deg. C and Monday was neatly as warm. That cleared out most of our snow as you can see in the picture of Sylvia sitting on Gabi’s swing soaking up Vitamin D. with the killer pigs watching closely.
Wayne ****
From Gary By the time you read this Friday the 13th will have come and gone. I suspect it will have been just like any Friday. The calendar doesn’t have superstitions. Nothing new around here. Last Sunday was very mild and nice for this time of year. 66•(18 celcius). The quick melt caused water to leak into the basement. Total about 1quart in 3 days but is starting to ease. Turned cold quickly and calling for a couple inches of snow today. At this stage in my life I’m ok with not much happening. Take care and stay safe everyone. Tuesday March 17 is St Patrick’s Day and dad would be 100. I miss him so much. ❤️ Gary ****
From Doug
Carol is pondering the time change and its ramifications. Yes, BC has supposedly switched to daylight savings time permanently. I say supposedly because I have no reason to trust anything this provincial government says. However…. When BC did the referendum on whether or not to stop the time changes way back in 2019, the Yukon said “what a fantastic idea” and stopped doing it right then and there. They stayed on daylight savings time, just as we are now supposedly doing, and they are doing just fine. Almost everyone I’ve talked to is in favor of DST because it makes the ‘day’ a lot more useful. At our latitude kids go to school every morning in the winter in the dark, as do people going to work. Then and the end of the day everyone is coming home in the dark. With DST, there will still be a bit more daylight at the end of the work or school day. Yes, the mornings will be dark longer but we all have lighting in our houses and work places. In summer, it starts getting light here before 4am so if we had stayed on Standard Time, it would be getting light here before 3am. The argument of peoples sleep patterns etc go right out the window when it gets light that early. DST is simply more useful and easier on everyone and every thing. There is no ‘extra hour of daylight’, there is no ‘I could have slept in’. It all balances out and besides, ST was only 4 months long, DST was 8 months long so it would have made zero sense to stay on ST. Settling on DST is a good thing. * On a different note, we have things in our cupboards that have been there a very long time, as probably many people do. Packaged food items that need to be used up etc. As I try to come up with some degree of variety in our meals, I try to use up some of the things that have been there for a while. Problem is, some stuff ends up being shoved to the back and forgotten about. I made some soup the other day and while we usually have soda crackers with soup, I figured it would be a good opportunity to use the unopened box of Ritz crackers that were hiding in one of the cupboards. I don’t actually like Ritz crackers and have no idea how or why that box was even in there. But, using it would be a good way of getting rid of it. Those stupid crackers were dry and tasteless. Good thing we still have a box of the usual soda crackers to fall back on. As I enjoyed my soup with the ‘proper’ crackers, I got to wondering how long the Riz’s had been in the cupboard and decided to look at the ‘best before’ date. I found the date mark on the box but had to use a magnifying glass to read it. Would you believe it said ‘Feb 2018’. Yup, best before 2018. That means 8 years past the best before date. No wonder they were dry and tasteless. I had only eaten a few and I’m still here with no ill effects so no harm done but I was glad to have a reason to toss the box into the garbage. Doug ****
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