The Squamidian Report – April 7 / 07
Issue #254
Also in this issue:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
A couple of years or so ago I wrote about a country music radio station that we could pick up at night while down in the valley. I still pick that station up at night, and I still have to be down in the valley, or at least a bit away from the mountain behind us here. That station is on an AM frequency, 1060, and is called ‘1060 Classic Country. The funny thing is, that station is in Calgary, Alberta. So between sundown and sun up, we pick up a Calgary station and it comes in crystal clear. Once the sun is in the sky it quickly fades away to static. It’s kind of refreshing to hear good music on a radio. The local Vancouver stations all seem to play that commercial diarrhea that is so popular with the ‘kids’ these days. Our very local station, Mountain FM (Mountain Phlegm as it is know here) plays the worst of the commercial diarrhea and employs morons as its on-air people.
However, I no longer have to sit out in the truck at night down in the valley somewhere in order to listen to the Calgary station. I finally got around to looking for it on the Internet where it can be heard. They site is at http://www.classiccountryam1060.com/ and there is a ‘Play’ button right in the center at the top of the home page. So if anyone is interested in Country music Alberta style, just click on over. Besides, you get to hear Calgary new, weather, road reports, that kind of thing so it makes it kind of interesting.
*
Well, now that spring is here and springtime weather is finally here as well, we have gotten started on some of our outdoor projects. Biggest on the list is tearing down the old dilapidated wooden shed in our lower back yard. The old shed is in the wrong place to be of much use and it is sitting on a floor that has sagged and sunken causing the shed to become twisted and all out of shape. The cedar shake roof was leaking long before we moved here and so the inside is wet and deteriorated. The only part of the shed that might have been worth salvaging was the floor and it is too rotten to even bother with so the whole thing has to come down.
So for starters we knocked off all the siding boards. That left a heavy old roof sitting on top of a bunch of upright 2x4s. Kind of shaky so we tied the structure to a tree and then used that to guide it as we pushed it over. Didn’t want it landing in the neighbors yard. Once down it was just a matter of cutting up the roof into pieces we could carry out to the truck and separating the 2x4s so they could be carried. Managed to take one load of boards away to the dump. There are probably 2 or 3 more to go before the mess is cleaned up.
But we also started to tear down the fence where the neighbor’s ivy has pulled it over. The ivy grows into and over the fence, pushing it apart and keeping it wet so it ends up rotting, and pulling it down. I had replaced some of the posts along that section before and they are OK but the original posts and the panels have had it. That will mean another couple of loads to the dump and then the work and cost of rebuilding the fence. Anyone with knowledge of how to kill off a huge growth of ivy let me know and I’ll give it a try.
doug
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Hello everyone!
We’re back into winter weather for the next few days
but I’m sure it’ll only make us appreciate the warm weather more when it comes
back next week. I’ve been assured that this summer is going to be terrific
weather wise. My source in unimpeachable and he’s the mayor of Squamish BC and
is a man of integrity. You might know him better as Doug Brubacher. Surprise, I
guess he neglected to tell any of you that he’s the Mayor of his fair town!
He’s also so modest that he didn’t want me to say anything but I’m so proud of
him that I just had to share this with all of you. Well………….. I’d better put a
stop to this rumor right now before I have everyone believing me. He’s not
really the mayor but, wouldn’t he make a good one? I really don’t think Doug
has any political aspirations. If he got involved with that he’d never find
time to ride his new motorcycle so I don’t blame him for staying just plain ol’
Doug.
*
I just checked the weather out in BC and also got a
note from Doug about it. They’re getting into their more usual spring weather
with temps in the +20c or more range. Here we sit with an inch of snow on the
ground and our fingers crossed that it’ll disappear by the end of the weekend.
I’m sure it will be gone soon and we’ll get back to normal as well. The weather
break over the past couple of weeks has made it possible for us to get most of
our outdoor preparations done early this year. Now all we need is the sunshine!
I was just thinking back on some of the calls I
responded to while in the WFD. One that really was interesting and kind of
funny at the same time happened one warm August evening. It was 10:50pm when
the alarm rang. Dispatch announced that a vehicle had crashed into a house on a
residential street not far from Head Quarters station. I was driving the Rescue
Unit that shift and was the first on the scene along with my Lieutenant. Upon
arrival we found a crowd of people standing at the end of the driveway gawking
as usual. The police had just arrived as well and we started to assess the
situation. There was a large Pontiac that had crashed through the garage door
of a house after the driver lost control on a curve in the road. The driver and
his wife were standing on the lawn and were not hurt. As I investigated further
I could see that there had been another vehicle in the garage that had been
forced by the impact through the back wall of the garage. The other side of the
wall contained a two piece washroom and a laundry room inside the house. There
were sparks flying every once in a while and we could hear water running. So I
crawled across the roof of the Pontiac to the electrical panel on the garage
side wall and shut off the power at the main breaker. This eliminated any
electrical problems. Before we were able to enter the house to check for
occupants a couple came running up the driveway. They explained that they were
the owners of the home and there was nobody else in the house to worry about.
After explaining to the home owners what had happened, I noticed that the
gentleman looked a little pale in the face. I asked him if he was ok and he
hesitated and then said “Ya….. I guess!” He then turned and kissed his wife and
gave her a big hug. She said “What was that for?” Well, he said “If you hadn’t
insisted that we take a walk around the block before settling in to watch the
news, I’d have been sitting on that toilet taking my usual “pre-news” evening
dump and I’d have been crushed by my own car!” He then turned to me and the cop
standing there and said “Can you guys imagine being run over by your own car
while taking a shit inside your house?” We all laughed at the thought of what
he’d just said but, it was true, he could have very well been killed sitting on
his own toilet. Now that’s one for the books!
I wonder if he went out the next day and bought
himself a lotto ticket?
I know I sure would have! AFTER taking my wife out
to breakfast that is!
*
That’s about it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to talking
to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg.
PS: Something To Think About>
Man who run behind car sure to get exhausted.
PPS: Happy Easter to all!
****
The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
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