The Squamidian Report – Feb. 28 / 15
Issue #666
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Some weeks there's lots to yap about, others, not so much. This is a
'not so much' week. There was one kind of funny thing, we have been
having some pretty impressive clear starry nights and I've taken Kyra
outside several times to see the stars and planets. And thats where
I've run into an interesting problem. We all know that little kids (big
ones too for that matter) can not tell fiction from reality,
make-believe from real life, and so on. Well, I have no problem getting
her to see and accept the moon and Jupiter and Venus but when it comes
to Mars, I run into a brick wall. Mars to us when viewing with our
unaided eyes is visible as a tiny, reddish point of light. But she just
replies, “where is Mars”, and, “I don't see Mars”. This had me puzzled.
I know her eyesight is good and she can see everything else I point
out. So, I questioned her as to what she thought she should be seeing.
Well, turned out she had watched a Disney cartoon where the character
Goofie went to Mars in Pluto's rocket ship and 'Mars' should be a big
round red ball with 3 holes in it and Goofie should be seen standing in
it. I asked about the 'hole's and she said they are craters although
she had the pronunciation a bit funny. Thats why the real 'Mars' can
not be what her mind has decided Mars is. To her, it should be about
the apparent size of our moon, with a very visible Goofie, sticking out
the way someone would appear standing on the roof of a large car. How
do you argue with that kind of logic. To her, cartoons are reality.
That of course means every kids TV show she watches in making very
large impressions on her, to be believed as if real. Every commercial
is implanting who knows what kind of information in her mind, a very
scary thought.
On a totally different note, I've just about had it with ignorant,
entitled, impatient drivers. Case in point, we were in the car one
evening this week, headed for a shopping plaza just off the Upper
Levels Highway on Caulfield Drive in West Vancouver. We were meeting
several of our friends there for dinner. Anyway, the off-ramp from the
highway takes you to a right turn merge if you are turning right which
we were. Its a stop for anyone turning left. There was an unbroken line
of cars coming from our left so obviously we had to wait until the line
of cars cleared. There was a vehicle beside us waiting to turn left at
the same time. Well, a white BMW SUV pulled up behind us. The driver
was a very impatient woman who didn't seem to have time for us to wait
until the way was clear, and safe. She leaned on her horn constantly,
demanding we pull out into the unbroken line of cars. Neither us or the
car beside us could pull out without endangering ourselves and other
drivers. When the line of oncoming traffic cleared we pulled away. She
rode our rear bumper to where we turned off to the right into the plaza
parking lot. As she blew by on our left I motioned for her to follow us
in so we could have a nice little 'conversation' but she declined and
kept on going, in a big hurry to get to some place that must have been
very important.
Its drivers like that who put the rest of us in great danger when on
the road. Now stick a personal electronic device in her hands and she'd
end up killing someone. Sometimes I envy our American neighbors who are
aloud to carry guns. There are times I could use one.
Oh, and just so you know, its been SO COLD HERE, that one night we actually had FROST. Now I ask you, is that fair?
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Well, here we are at the end of February and still no sign of spring. I
guess the groundhog was a tad off his game with his “Just around the
corner statement this year!” Oh well, we really only started winter in
late December so I guess we can put up with it ending a little later
than usual as well. There have been so many record breaking
temperatures this winter and we’ve managed to bare them all by simply
dressing for the weather or staying inside where it’s warm. The schools
boards in Waterloo Region have even shut down the schools on a few
occasions because they were concerned for the welfare of the students
that have to walk to and from school in such cold temps. My first
reaction as might have been echoed by other adults was “What the heck?
They never shut down the schools because of cold weather when I was a
kid, what’s wrong with the kids of today that they can’t handle a
little cold winter day or two?” Well, Carole was inclined to agree with
my first reaction until last Monday when we decided to take a drive to
the States at Niagara Falls to do a little shopping on Military Rd. Of
course we were all bundled up and had the Jeep pre warmed up before we
even stepped out of the house. As we entered the garage to climb into
the car to start our trip we both commented how cold it was and then
cranked up the thermostat on the car heater as we drove away. We
enjoyed our drive in the brilliant sunshine as we made our way from
Kitchener down the QEW to Niagara. We even talked more about the fact
that the schools were closed during our ride to the Falls. Upon our
arrival at Niagara I asked if she would like to take a walk along the
viewing area of the Horseshoe Falls and take a few pictures of the
“nearly” frozen over spectacle that doesn’t happen very often. Carole
agreed and we drove along the Parkway to the main viewing area.
Once at the location where we wanted to stop to take some spectacular
pictures of the falls, we realized that there was a police officer
sitting in his cruiser with the roof lights flashing in the parking
lane. He was sitting there to prevent anyone from parking along the
tourist area. I guess with the huge piles of plowed up snow at the
roads edge, there wasn’t enough width to allow parking. We drove past
the falls and about a half km further down we found a spot where we
could turn around but no parking unless we wanted to pay $20.00. Well,
we were only intending on stepping out of the Jeep and taking a few
pictures and then leaving again to cross the Rainbow Bridge to the USA.
So, I wasn’t about to spend $20.00 for five minutes. Carole said as we
once again approached the Horseshoe Falls, “Just let me out behind the
police cruiser and then drive up a ways, turn around and come back for
me!” So I dropped her off and quickly pulled away before the copper
noticed me. Well, it took me about 15 minutes to find a place to turn
around and head back and by the time I got to where I let Carole out of
the car, she was nowhere in sight. I kept driving past the falls and
noticed her walking along but I couldn’t stop for her because I was in
a line of traffic. I had to wave at her and motion that I’d be back in
a minute. I finally got to where I had turned around earlier and headed
back to get her after waiting for a couple of red lights. WOW! When I
finally picked her up, it had been about a half hour altogether and was
she frozen!!! She slowly managed to make her way back into the Jeep and
pull her door shut with one of her frozen hands! She was shuddering and
moaning with the cold! She said she almost dropped the camera after
only a couple of minutes when she first got out of the car. She said
that the mist from the falls was turning her into a frozen Popsicle and
if I hadn’t picked her up when I finally did, she’d have been jumping
into the cruiser with the Cop to keep from freezing to death! Her face
and hands were literally covered with the misty ice that landed on her
from the falls. She of course warmed up after a few minutes with the
heat blaring but immediately commented that she could now see why the
school boards had shut down the school for the kid’s safety!
She was bundled up from head to foot with only her hands and face
exposed to the cold but said she would never be able to walk even
several blocks to get to school in such freezing conditions so she now
has great sympathy for the kids that also would have had to walk to
school. I could also see how cold she was and of course agreed with the
school closings after Carole’s experience. I want to thank Carole for
taking all those great pictures of the frozen falls! After all, I
wasn’t about to get out of my nice warm Jeep in such shitty Arctic
conditions just to snap a few pics of something I’ve seen before! LOL!
Screw That! LOL! Hahahahaa……. Of course I’m just kidding, she was very
brave that day and I give her credit for playing the part of the
photographer and allowing me to stay in the nice warm car! Thanks
Carole!
By the way, the pictures are great! Too bad you didn’t take a “Selfie” while you were covered in Niagara Falls Mist ICE!
Of course it’s hard to point the camera at yourself when it’s frozen
solid in your hand! Next time, you’ll have to wear your mittens and a
full-faced balaclava! Of course, being that close to the border, you
might be mistaken for a terrorist and have to spend the night in Jail
and that wouldn’t be very nice either. At least you’d be in a warm
place though!
After all that excitement we finally crossed the bridge to the USA and
spent a few hours shopping on Military Rd. The old Military Mall that’s
been an attraction for years is now totally revamped and is much nicer
than in years gone by. The mall is now about twice the original size
and is loaded with mostly High End Brand Named stores. The prices are
hardly what you would call “outlet” prices geared to attract cross
boarder shoppers. The stores contain such pricey items as $500.00
purses and many other “Designer” clothing and accessory items that the
average shopper wouldn’t be interested in other than to cringe at the
price tags! Carole managed to pick up a few items at what she thought
was a reasonable cost and by that time, we were looking for something
to eat. We were in no mood for a cheap meal after a busy day freezing
and shopping! We looked around while driving up Military Rd and
realized that there were many new small businesses including fast food
restaurants. Directly across from the Military Mall was a brand new
restaurant called “The Longhorn Steakhouse”. It had a large parking lot
and at 4 pm we had noticed that it was already very busy. The lot was
almost full and it was a Monday afternoon! Carole said she would like
to have a good steak for dinner rather than anything from the likes of
McDonald’s. I reluctantly agreed after whining about craving a Big Mac!
LOL! I was just kidding of course and by 6pm we were looking for a
parking space in the Longhorn lot. We finally found a spot and went
inside. There was a wait time of about 20 minutes but it only took
about 5 minutes before our buzzer went off and we were seated. The
place was very well designed and the inside was beautifully decorated
in a bit of a western theme. They even had the head of a Texas Long
Horned Steer mounted over the bar at one end of the room. It was huge
with a total length from tip to tip of the horns of at least 8 feet, it
was amazing indeed! We settled into our booth and perused the menu.
Carole chose a sirloin steak and I ordered an eight-ounce prime rib
steak.
We were impressed with the prices on the menu. The average steak dinner
was priced at about $16.00 to $18.00 and the side orders were $1.50
each. There were about 12 different side orders to choose from as well
as a list of several salad choices. Our choices came with a choice of
salad and a side order included as well as with unlimited “Honey Wheat”
bread! We thoroughly enjoyed our meals and the steaks were perfectly
grilled! The service was very good and we were well attended to by our
waitress to make sure we wanted for nothing. The atmosphere was very
pleasant and even with a full house of patrons we could enjoy a normal
volume conversation with each other. In most large restaurants these
days the noise is so deafening that you have to actually yell to talk
to each other. After an hour or more of dining enjoyment we asked for
our bill and were surprised to find that it totaled out at only a
modest $32.00 including tax! We both agreed that if we had had the same
meal at a “Steak House” here in KW area the meal would have cost at
least twice as much as it did at the Longhorn! Carole commented as we
talked on our drive back home that that style and price range steak
house is exactly what this area needs! The only two steak restaurants
we have in this region that I know of are “The Charcoal Steakhouse” and
“Golf’s Steakhouse” in the Bridgeport area. Both of which would have
cost us at least twice what we paid in Niagara Falls newest “Longhorn
Steakhouse” and from what we’ve experienced at either of our local
Steakhouses would not have been anywhere near as enjoyable an evening!
Maybe some local restaurateur should take a drive down to Niagara Falls NY and see what a class Steakhouse is like!
We actually came away from dinner that evening thinking that it
wouldn’t be unrealistic to drive back to Niagara Falls NY on any given
day or weekend just to enjoy another visit and dinner at the Longhorn
Steakhouse without any intent to shop for anything else. After all,
it’s only an hour and a half away when the traffic and weather are
good!
The weather last Monday was clear and sunny and the highways were dry.
I’d take that drive any day just for a relaxing get away and a good
steak!
That’s it 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
PS: Something To Think About>
Once again now that I’m older, here’s what I’ve discovered:
I don’t remember being absent minded.
And I don’t remember being absent minded either.
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Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.
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