Nashville South

Strange to have it warm up as it did on Friday, the 16th of November. As intended spent a quiet day catching up on photo-editing and E-mail. Walked over to catch the shuttle bus to the Ryman shortly after 5. If only others were as considerate and had not kept us waiting past 5:30. See review of the show in the music section. The Christmas lights were impressive going and coming but not the same to a Canadian without snow.

Waked a mile and a half up to Shoneys for breakfast buffet Saturday Morning after it warmed up. Then crossed the road to take in the Opryland Hotel Complex. You have to see it to believe it.



Sunday morning got off around 8:00 and headed south. After my experience dining out at Dennys and Waffle House made my own lunch and walked over to a DQ at a truck stop for a sundae. After seeing too many grossly overweight Americans took my ice cream back to my Van. Arrived in West Memphis on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi around 1:00 and was signed into my campsite by a young Filipino Lady. Was directed to a site overlooking the Mississippi with a perfect view of barge traffic. After settling in went for a walk along the campground's trail system stopping to climb to the treehouse and noting the nearby rail line. Several permanent homes on the site were on stilts to assist in keeping them above the Mississippi flood line and the bathhouses/laundry rooms were in movable trailers. Aside from the tugs pushing barges upstream all night the place was peaceful.

Monday morning I got off at 8:00 headed West for Texarkana. The only major city along my trail was Little Rock which I bypassed around 10:30 in the morning. At some point stopped for a sandwich and filled up my fuel tank before resuming the journey. At the Texas-Arkansas Stateline the interchange remains as confusing as ever after the reconstruction. It is aligned so that one can get to the Texas Welcome Centre but getting to the KOA involves driving 4 miles west, then coming back to crossover the highway and find the exit to take the frontage road to the park. The nearby motel was forced out of business by this change. The campground was just as I found it a year ago--noisy but convenient.

Got off around 7:30 Tuesday morning to begin the long drive--376 miles across Texas to Dallas on I-30; then down I-35 to Austin. The sky remained largely overcast and the day unremarkable save for the long miles behind the wheel in heavy truck traffic. Encountered only one or two left-lane hogs and with few hills little trouble with passing trucks along a four-lane highway. Stopped at a rest area for lunch and a break. The approach to Dallas is on a bridge crossing a large impoundment lake. Stopped along the frontage road somewhere south to get gas at $3.05. From there to Anderson Lane too much traffic, too much construction, and too many changes in the speed limit. It varied between 55 and 75 for reasons I couldn't fathom.

Got into Austin at 2:00 PM as predicted months ago and got settled. After running A/C to remain alert the 80º F heat hit hard. As his welcome Pastor Karl took me along with two others to visit the Maline Heritage Swedish Graveyard out in Elroy near the site of Austin's F-1 track. What remains is a line of Mesquite trees, an old well with wrought iron pulley and gravesites outlined by concrete enclosures with tilting tombstones bearing Swedish names replete with Umlauts. After dinner joined a community meeting attended by two off-duty local constables in uniform. Enjoyed meeting them.

In my first full day walked the property and dropped in on the church Admin to use their Wi-Fi to send the all clear to my friends and family back home. Attended noon communion and met a few people I'd known from former years. Joined a neighbour for a trip to Whole Foods, Costco, and HEB where we loaded up on free samples. I bought cheese at Whole Foods and Apple Strudel bread at HEB among other groceries. Was back at church at 7:00 where I was welcomed at the youth-led service by more old friends. Settled in for a quiet evening. For my second night actually slept 7 uninterrupted hours.

On American Thanksgiving went walkabout before settling down to read while I waited for my hosts to pick me up for dinner. They were down running the 10 K Turkey Trot. More power to them. Brought along a quart of Nova Scotia Maple Syrup for my hosts and brought music to play as ordered to entertain their guests. My host and I enjoy singing favourite hymns. Sat at table with twenty for a lavish turkey dinner. Got a ride home around 8:00 PM after all the other guests had left.

Black Friday my neighbour arrived 15 minutes before 7 to take me on a 3.25 mile hike around Town Lake. On the way home we stopped to sit at the foot of the new Willie Nelson statue in front of the Moody Theatre. Willie didn't seem to mind but he didn't offer us any bud. The sculptors didn't leave room for anyone to slip a roach between his lips. There's a 20% remote chance of rain today but the most I expect is an overcast gray sky. After I got back refilled my onboard water tank, cleaned my RV windows and the kama-kazi bugs off the front hood and chrome. Made a further circuit of the church property on litter patrol, the wind constantly blows in a new crop from our messy neighbours. It's Black Friday, should I do some online shopping? I still haven't read my daily comix.

In fact didn’t get those comics read until early Saturday Morning. Also did that online shopping at 4:30 AM as well. Got out for another hike around Town Lake, hit the Farmer’s Market and wandered around Zilker Park. The rest of the day was quiet. Well, the neighbours have rented one of those inflatable jumping rooms and the kids are rather noisy. This is just the kvetching of a crusty old bachelor.

 

On the Road South

Haven't written much lately as I've spent the summer reading especially getting to know my new tablet, listening to music, watching DVD's, taking hikes in the nearby ravines, trying to lose weight, and working out in my home gym. The price of fuel and campground fees make staying at my home which is already paid for the most desirable option.

The last month has been spent getting ready for my now annual trip south. Packing and unpacking the RV, medical insurance, vehicle maintenance, shopping, planning, medical checkups, the whole enchilada. Even stopped in across the road for my second pedicure. As the review sections of this blogsite show I've spent a lot of time this summer watching DVD's and reading.

After my dental checkup on Tuesday finally got off at 4:00 AM Wednesday, November 14th as planned. So far I haven't discovered anything important I've forgotten, unless you include my sanity. I may have left a sliver of Parmesan in the grater on my kitchen counter. Got underway with no major glitches and at that hour encountered little traffic. For reasons I didn't discern traffic on the Northbound Burlington Skyway was stopped making me thankful I was headed in the other direction. I'd never been to Fort Erie and since I passed through it at 5 in the morning I still haven't seen it. The rather short agent at American Customs had trouble hearing me due to a great deal of background noise in the area but chose to let me through with only a few of the usual questions asked. The Peace Bridge Toll which I had ready applies only to Northbound traffic it seems.

There's still a toll on I-91 in New York State and it cost me $5.95. The gal collecting it just about to come off shift looked and acted beat. Dawn occurred just as I approached the Pennsylvania Welcome Centre. Only the washrooms were accessible at that hour. There were glimpses of Lake Erie at this point but the Interstate heads inland through Ohio before heading south on the outskirts of Cleveland. I stopped in Austinburg, Ohio for a break and filled my gas tank before heading inside at the truck stop for Brunch at Denny's. It proved to be the worst such outlet in that franchise I've stopped at. None have good coffee but my Ultimate Omelet was missing several key ingredients and the serving of hash browns that came with it was niggardly. The remainder of my drive to Cross Creek RV Resort in Delaware north of Columbus was unremarkable. Overcast and cold. Got in around noontime.

For the record Cross Creek gets my recommendation as a great place to camp. Pleasant helpful staff, clean facilities, quiet site, and rural atmosphere. Great Wi-Fi. My first night in 4 months in the RV trying to sleep with a propane furnace fighting a low of 22ºF was not pleasant but I can't blame the campground for that. A walk along the hiking path introduced me to Hedge Apples, an alien species I'd never before seen.

Got off next morning at 6:00 AM after packing up a cold balky landline. The road south to the Interstate was a narrow rural suburban two-lane with little lighting. Dawn slowly brightened the sky just short of Columbus. While I beat rush hour traffic there I certainly hit it in Cincinnati, a much larger metropolitan area. At least there were no major collisions to stop traffic. Stopped just south of Louisville, Kentucky to get fuel before I ran out and had brunch at a Waffle House. The place is short on ambiance but it served good coffee and supplied fast service. A slice of process cheese does not make a gourmet omelet. During this day's drive I encountered a great deal of frost and sections of dense fog, at least it wasn't frozen fog. After Cincinnati I shared the road with heavy truck traffic. At least there were sufficient lanes to allow traffic to get by.

I was amused to discover that Kentucky's Welcome Centre is closed for the season but Tennessee's was open when I got there. Sometime I have to stop and tour Mammoth Cave and possibly see Fort Knox. Jim Beam distillery is another possibility. Drove 400 miles this day. Boring is good.

You drive by Nashville KOA before you get off the highway and drive over a mile back the way you came to find the place. At check-in encountered catch 22. I wanted to know if I could get to the Opry before I signed in but the Opry Agent wanted my site number to sign me up. Got that sorted and was conducted to my site. Discovered later I could have attended the Nashville Symphony but I'm booked into the Opry now. Thanks to entering the Central Time Zone today I arrived around 1:00 PM local time. Had a chance to catch-up online and go for a stroll around the park before the sun set around 4:00. The noise from the expressway is all-pervasive but quiets somewhat at night. Barking dogs and noisy neighbours notwithstanding.

The sun streaming in my back windows Friday morning served to highlight the dust and dirt on the glass. Cleaned them as best I could until I get some newsprint. Had to wait for the office to open before I could get some coins to purchase Nashville's The Tennessean.

Republican Governors hoping for a Republican Administration are now suing for more time to implement Obama Care. The USPS has lost 15.9 Billion Dollars and are talking about ‘boosting worker efficiency'. The beatings will continue until morale improves. Say goodbye to Twinkies. Hostess Employees are on strike and the company is shutting down operations and liquidating their assets. The stockpile of Twinkies should last into the next century.

William Windsor

Another take on HRH William Windsor

William Wales, Duke of Cambridge. Hereditary jobs are guaranteed, it's
just that pops has to die before you can take over. And then there's the
matter of grandma and those pesky Corgis, the only dogs that get in and
out of England without undergoing quarantine. The only flag to fly atop
Buckingham Palace is the Royal Flag and it never flies at half mast as
the King is never dead, his successor automatically assumes the
position. On that day he can tear up his driver's license, he doesn't
require one. On the other hand he has a legion of chauffeurs to drive
him and estates so large some would require a day's drive to leave. And
he could always take that helicopter. He needs glasses to operate either
and once he gets the job they may frown on his Ducati. For now his job
is sea rescue helicopters. Grandma drove ambulance during WW#2 and was a
fair mechanic in her day. The birth of his wife Kate's first child will
occasion a 61-gun salute marking the birth of an heir to the throne. In
the meantime it's a waiting game, is she or isn't she?

Rant for a Fall Day

Two weeks ago I was forced to turn on my furnace to reduce the chill in my apartment. In the Peterborough Area the first frosts entered the forecast and in the Rockies snow reached the Kananaskis Country. Although Southern Ontario has not seen frost it has been a cold, windy, overcast period so far.

Although hurricane activity on the East Coast peaked early it has entered a period of quiescence. Hurricane Isaac reached all the way to Newfoundland causing more damage to areas still attempting to recover from the aftermath of Leslie two years ago. Rain from that same system caused major flooding in Truro Nova Scotia. When a storm surge hits at high tide rivers back up and major damage occurs.

Once more the spectre of labour unrest threatens to cancel the NHL Season. These days star players get multi-year contracts totalling 8 figures such as the one recently given Sidney Crosby. These wages are predicated on season ticket sales and the advertising revenue generated by TV Coverage of games. Unfortunately in the attempt to build an empire Gary Bettman the league commissioner has expanded into markets where teams are not likely to attain profitability no matter what salary caps, profit sharing, and wage concessions are implemented. Not surprisingly the players are unwilling to make more concessions to save these failing franchises.

As a result of the gold extraction process there is sufficient Arsenic stored underground at the Giant Mine in Yellowknife NWT to kill every human on earth. Not only are there no assets available to deal with this situation but no entity extent to assume responsibility for remediating the problem. Across the North thousands of ancient tailings ponds leach toxic chemicals the result of operations carried out by corporations that have long since taken their profits and ceased to exist. The mercury in the Wobogon River system is just one example of a situation that is actively affecting the health of Native Peoples.

Which  toy  was  the  first  advertised  on  television? The first    toy  product  ever  advertised  on  television was Mr.  Potato  Head.  Introduced  in  1952,  Mr. Potato  Head took  advantage of TV's explosive  growth to  gain  access to tens of millions of newly "plugged-in" households.

Frozen store-bought fish up to 85% water.

First  Aid  kits  used to contain dimes for pay phone calls. If  you  can  find one a pay phone now costs 50¢ and if Bell Canada has it's way will soon be $1.00.

After a seventeen million dollar refit that saw the Bluenose II replica rebuilt from the keel on up it was slowly lowered in its dry-dock into the water at high tide at 8:15 AM on September 29th in Lunenburg by hydraulic winch. To the 30,000 on hand to witness the event in the rain this launching was probably not extremely exciting. On hand was an 82-year-old crew member of the original Bluenose. To see a picture of the Bluenose get out a Canadian Dime which bears the imprint of a picture taken by Wallace MacAskill.

Keeping the doctor away with an apple a day just got way more expensive. The Honey Crisps I bought the other day were of good quality but cost me over $2 each. Price increases due to this summer's drought are only beginning.

Air Traffic ground to a halt in Halifax last weekend due to a pothole in the main runway. Even NAV Canada has trouble finding a paver on a weekend.

Can't keep track of it. Peter Jackson's Hobbit is now up to three installments. The better to skim your wallet my dears.

http://assets.amuniversal.com/a940cac0dd35012fe804001dd8b71c47

http://assets.amuniversal.com/a940cac0dd35012fe804001dd8b71c47

September Ramblings

Conrad Black. Who left him back into the country? Lord Black, any
relation to Lord Voldamort?

Dog TV?

Someone in Quebec stole $30,000,000 worth of maple syrup. Five hundred
thousand gallons is a major sweet tooth and a few tanker loads of syrup.
Someone tipped off the thieves that this haul was stored in barrels at a
temporary location.

I am reminded of the Newfie Joke that goes:

Little Newfie heard that Quebec was threatening to separate. Good he
says, that way Ontario will be closer to Newfoundland.

Politics in Canada just got more complicated by several orders of
magnitude. Memory serves that what is likely is a PQ Government
pettishly playing the separatist trump card anytime Ottawa doesn't give
the province what it wants. Rene Levesque's PQ's gained credibility with
Quebecers by running good government that showed fiscal responsibility.
If Marois' government can, for example clean up the extreme level of
corruption in the construction industry it will gain a great deal of
prestige. It costs three times as much to build roads in Quebec as
elsewhere because the mafia has the industry locked up. This makes
gasoline far more expensive in Quebec. The repressive Language Laws this
party threatens to make even more restrictive if implemented will have a
similar result as last time. An outflow of Anglophones from Quebec as
well as business and industry, and a lack of new immigrants with the
exception of French Language countries such as Haiti. That fact alone
has resulted in an HIV and hepatitis epidemic in Montreal.

In many ways Quebec already tries to act like an independent nation. On
the world stage it stretches it's Francophone Interests to act in effect
like a sovereign nation. It terms its premier a prime minister. It calls
its provincial parks 'National Parks' and in its tourist literature does
its best to ignore the existence of Canadian National Parks within its
borders, tourist bureaus to not carry information about those parks.
Traffic signs in English have become few and far between save in
Gatineau, as part of the National Capital Region. Crappy Tire is being
hauled into court because its signs are English Only and lack larger
French Lettering that reads Pneu Canadien. They already run a parallel
QPP in place of the Canada Pension Plan and operate a separate Workers
Compensation system. And, as you may remember, the historic Quebec
Charter means that Quebec does not operate under English Common Law but
the Napoleonic Civil Code. Since these courts operate in French little
is known about them outside Quebec. Anyone hauled up on a driving
offence quickly learns the differences. Guilty until proven innocent,
separate maintenance for husband and wife, all leases come due May 1st.

Since the CBC is the only network to provide French Language programming
outside Quebec few are aware of the extent of French Language Culture in
Quebec. They have their own authors, only a small fraction of whom ever
see their works translated into English. Romance novels are even more
popular in Quebec than elsewhere and tabloid journalism rules as nowhere
else. Popular music in Quebec is a unique genre all its own and has been
so since the first settlers arrived on North American soil. The film
industry flourishes fueled in part by a rich dubbing industry which due
to Quebec's linguistic differences does not translate well outside
Quebec. Soap operas in Quebecoise are extremely popular though the
cultural references do not travel well outside Quebec. There are even
biological differences that effect clothing styles and fashion. The
Gallic navel is inches closer to the crotch which has resulted in the
fashion craze for so-called Eurofit Jeans, those uncomfortable looking
low-rise waists that hug the hips. The ascendancy of the Catholic Church
in Quebec society is not what it once was but the now crumbling
monolithic edifices erected in past centuries grace every small hamlet
throughout the province. There are more church goers in Quebec than
elsewhere and the cultural influence of the church outside urban areas
is unparallelled.

Poutine has become a North American phenomenon but it is only one of
many examples of local cuisine, a pogo anyone? Anyone entering an
Epicerie has discovered the more liberal liquor laws in Quebec coupled
with a lower drinking age and more relaxed attitude toward under-age
drinking. The Caisse Populaire is a unique Quebec Financial institution
roughly equivalent to a credit union elsewhere. There is also a unique
tradition of hand carving in wood that can be seen even in Lunenburg
Nova Scotia. For good or ill smoking is still widely acceptable and
popular. There are few pictures of Rene Levesque that do not show a
cigarette hanging out of the side of his mouth. I can still remember
attending a sold-out event at the 4500-seat Salle Wilfred Peltier, Place
Des Arts, Montreal and witnessing the mass exodus of virtually the
entire audience at the interval to have a puff. Anyone attempting to
drive a car in Montreal will quickly discover Gallic Driver Mentality.
Don't even think of running an amber light. And anyone such as myself
who studied French outside Quebec will quickly discover joielle and its
unique mix of English, French and slang. Even French speakers outside
Quebec do not understand it.

As one of German ancestry whose forebears typically assimilate and lose
most of their German identity after two generations I do not understand
the degree to which Quebecers cling to La Langue Francaise. I'm not
saying that they should assimilate, just that I don't have a
comprehension of this cultural imperative. The existence of this unique
and separate cultural entity within Canada has had its effect on our
National identity. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 made Canada more
accepting of pacifist groups particularly in Western Canada and the
Mennonites of Ontario. On the other hand the Quebec Regiment, the
Vandoos, Vingt-Deux Regiment, The Royal 22nd Regiment, have a storied
career. Canadians world-wide are noted for their civility and spirit of
compromise and negotiation. It leads Americans in particular to travel
with a Canadian Flag on their backpacks. In the coming years English
Canadians must do more to make their Quebec brothers and sisters feel
welcome and wanted in the rest of Canada. That the election of a
minority PQ Government was marked by gunfire saddens me and makes me
hope that such events are an anomaly and will not mark a return to
violent protest.

Outside hotbeds such as Quebec City and Montreal politics do not play an
important part in people's lives. One can hope that saner minds prevail
and the current trend is just an expression of tiredness in a government
that had been around too long.

August Rant

A problem I'm not likely to encounter. Seems Canada's new polymer $100 bills melt when they get hot.


The  only  muscles  involved  in  an  engorged penis are microscopic in size and regulate the outflow of blood from that rather spongy member. With rare exceptions all males have one of approximately the same size, what is the obsession?

Was moved to look up the complete lyrics to Dawson's Creek's Opening Season Theme:

So open up your morning light,
And say a little prayer for I.
you know that if we are to stay alive.
Then see the peace in every eye.

She had two babies. One was six months, one was three
In the war of '44.
Every telephone ring, every heartbeat stinging
When she thought it was God calling her.
Oh would her son grow to know his father?

(chorus)
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
I want to know right now what will it be.
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over,
Will it be yes or will it be sorry?

He showed up all wet on the rainy front step.
Wearing shrapnel in his skin.
And the war he saw lives inside him still,
It's so hard to be gentle and warm.
The years pass by and now he has granddaughters

(chorus)

You look at me from across the room
You're wearing your anguish again
Believe me I know the feeling
It sucks you into the jaws of anger.
So breathe a little more deeply my love
All we have is this very moment
And I don't want to do what his father,
and his father, and his father did,
I want to be here now.

So open up your morning light,
And say a little prayer for I
You know that if we are to stay alive,
Then see the love in every eye.

Somehow the original intent of the song is belittled in this application to teenage angst. But then teens taking themselves way too seriously is the theme of most teen-aged pop music. Just ask the Beebs.

After spending 4 winters in gun-obsessed America my recent visit to Old Fort Henry had me shaking my head over the way it's seeping North of the border. For a fee one can shoot off a cannon or a historic rifle. I witnessed a father buying that right for his under-aged son. The gift shop even sells expended cartridges because there's a demand for them as a collector's item.

All human infants begin life as females. The 'Y' Chromosome does not begin asserting itself until later in the gestation period, hence the male nipple. It has been known for some time that the abuse of steroids in bodybuilding causes the development of fatty tissue under the male nipple crudely referred to as 'bitch tits'. Now circulating in online media is the story of a trans-gendered male who wants to become a Lamaze Coach. First we had gay marriage, then gay divorce, and now this. I can't wait to hear the fuss that ensues when the first father starts nursing his child in public in a Mall. Jean Drapeau aside, is male pregnancy next?

The Feds own the iconic Peggy's Cove Light but don't want to look after it. The locals decry its crumbling state but can't maintain it without the Feds permission. Sound like a usual bureaucratic nightmare? I'm thinking a coating of vinyl siding and new aluminum windows could be applied without changing its look and save the need for all this annual painting.

The descendants of LM Montgomery have lost interest in maintaining her former home at Ingleside Prince Edward Island and the artifacts inside and have put them up for sale. Surely it would be a National Disgrace if this Cultural Heritage fell into foreign ownership and/or got carted off to Japan. At a time when governments are crying poor this smells of upping the ante and leveraging the government for a better deal.

The people who are taking Canadian Tire to court because their signs are unilingual English are at it again. It is being proposed that in an effort to separate church and state public servants should be forbidden to wear religious symbols including the burka, the turban, skull cap, cross, Star of David. Given what we know about the ascendancy of the Catholic Church in Quebec this feels like reactionary bipolarism. Were the proponents of this stupidity to come to power in the coming Quebec Provincial election and ram through this kind of legislation one could expect a tidal wave of charter challenges. Were Quebec to invoke the notwithstanding clause over such regressive legislation it should make the province international pariahs. One wanders how they come up with these things. Surely there are more important issues Quebec should be facing.

Just when you think they couldn't get more ridiculous, the Parti Quebecois now propose that future residents of Quebec be required to speak French to be granted 'citizenship' and that only French Speakers be allowed to hold civic office. The proponents would include Native Leaders in this farce.

Lance Armstrong won the Tour De France an unprecedented 7 times. He couldn't have done it without cheating could he? We don't need proof to convict him, just the word of jealous former training partners.

Cell phone cameras have rendered privacy a thing of the past. Just ask Prince Harry. Grampa Phil was famous for his dalliances but his wife the Queen has always maintained a stiff upper lip on the subject. Uncle Randy Andy richly earned that wayward title but in their day such intrusive devices were yet to be invented.

Getting back at the Fuzz

Flat-footed cruisers

On Facebook he lists his philosophy as “Livin n love having fun”—which for Roger Pion, a 34-year-old Vermont man, apparently doesn’t exclude monster-trucking cop cars, which he’s alleged to have done after becoming enraged over a recent arrest for marijuana possession and resisting arrest. While officers with the sheriff’s department in Orleans County, just south of the Quebec border, remained oblivious due to the hum of the air conditioning in their building, Pion, a farmer, is said to have used a tractor to roll over seven of their vehicles. Alerted when someone called 911, police could not pursue Pion because their cars were crushed.

Ruminations

Well, Biebs, are you happy with the wages of fame and fortune? Millions
of sex-crazed fans who ensure you have to live under virtual house
arrest; a fancy car you can't drive without being hounded by paparazzi
obsessed with catching that $100,000 shot of you picking your nose or
scratching your willie; neighbours in that ritzy new home of yours to
complain about the loud music you play on that fancy new sound system.
Jealous critics hanging on every word you say to see if any of those
pearls turn out to be frogs. Sad to see that our squeaky clean Canadian
Boy has feet of clay just like every other newly-minted rock star.
Perhaps Brian Adams and Anne Murray should start a school for ingenues
in Stardom 101. Record labels and talent agents should make it a
required course of study for all budding musicians and movie stars.

Events seem to be taking an all-to-familiar course here. Millions of
people squander even more millions on that tax on the poor called the
lottery ticket. Nothing prepares the 'lucky few' for the trials of
actually winning. The outcomes for the majority of those winners leaves
them far worse off than when they started. Nothing prepares that wildly
in love young couple for that freshly fed, washed, and diapered baby at
3 AM that just won't stop crying. The number of victims of shaken baby
syndrome pay testimony to that fact. And unless you grow up with it like
a Kiefer Sutherland, Adam Cohen, Jakub Dylan, or Liam Finn, nothing
prepares you for the pitfalls of stardom.

Should the Canadian Taxpayer be investing millions in training elite
athletes to compete in Olympic competition? However you stand on that
question events in London are taking on an all-too-familiar pattern.
Even the best athlete in a particular sport can have a bad day just like
the rest of us. Shoelaces can break at that crucial second. Metal
fatigue cause an oarlock to give way. When hundredths of a second spell
the difference between first and second place little separates top
athletes from one another. A second-place silver may feel like a loss, a
fourth place finish out of the medals, the honour of just being there to
represent our Country ring hollow. But should an athlete be appearing
before the press to apologize to the country for a poor showing?

Mid-July Rant

Seems the Biebs at 18 is already discovering the downside of the fame game. Whether or not he has also discovered a newfound maturity to deal with the stress is another question. God forbid you get what you asked for. Already he has been charged with assaulting a paparazzi and reckless driving attempting to allude one; can trashing a hotel room be far behind. Welcome to the wonderful world of the American Tort System Biebs. Some woman in Oregon has found a lawyer willing to sue for hearing damage at one of his concerts. If she went to a rock concert without hearing protection what was she thinking. Can’t believe the bitch has any chance of winning but Biebs legal department will still sustain the cost of defending against the charge.

My addiction to Farmville is getting out of hand. With now 6 farms it would be possible to spend one’s entire day playing just that one game. Imagine attempting to visit all 300 neighbour’s farms.Whatever was going on yesterday, July 11th Internet service was slow, unpredictable, and crash ridden. Getting my game to load took 10 to 15 minutes if it would load at all and the game crashed incessantly. Since I have two screens to work on here at home I spent my day finding other things to do while I waited, even housework! Today it opens almost immediately, go figure.

Must remember to get out for a walk before it gets too hot to be out of doors. How do people cope with living in multiple dwellings? Now that I’m back in Oakville everything I use on a daily basis is in my RV parked in a parking lot 1000 ft from my apartment down 4 flights of stairs, two locked doors plus two others, and several smaller sets of stairs away.

Do other people wake up feeling itchy all over? Was it something I et, does my bedding need washing, my clothing the laundry? The calluses on my feet are getting out of hand. They seem to be wearing through my socks at an alarming rate and more recently they’re wearing holes in my fitted bed sheet and right through the mattress cover as well. How do other people deal with Dandruff? I’m tired of creating a dust storm every time I brush my hair.

Don’t get me wrong, at nearly 63 I’m grateful that I’m still around. Unlike so many I still have all my hair and it isn’t going grey; but I was not prepared for the fact that hair would start sprouting in other unlikely places. I know they say that finger nails keep growing even after death but I don’t remember having to scruff off layers and layers of dead skin every time I climb into the tub. Where is it written that hair should start sprouting from one’s ears and even from the lobes themselves; or from one’s nose like the bugger lugs described in Robertson Davies Fifth Business. And what’s with those eyebrows bristling like spines on a porcupine?

Did you hear the joke about the bed? It hasn't been made up yet. Did you hear the joke about the ceiling? It's above your head. Did you hear the joke about the floor? It's beneath you.

Ontario Place is gone. A gambling casino has been ruled out but more condos may be on the way. I have many fond memories of catching the Go Train after work to wander the site beside the lake, try out German fare at Zum Rhein, walk the old lake freighter break-wall, then sit with a book and wait for the Toronto Symphony to play on the revolving stage at the forum. Line up to see the latest movie at the Cinesphere or look at the Toronto Skyline from the roof of the pods. The exhibits were cutting edge when the place opened and Ontario Northland’s movies evoked Northern Lights, shooting stars, and fireflies. I even got back to watch movies in winter on the giant screen, Top Gun was a standout. Alas I was too old to enjoy the children’s village but it was fun to watch. I remember Andrew Davis quip about shooting the geese out of the park with the playing of the 1812 Overture. Who could forget the tens of thousands who showed up to see millions of dollars worth of fireworks shot off to music during the Symphony of Fire. Alas, things went downhill for me with the replacement of the Forum with a venue with ‘mosh pit’. I never had taken in many events at the second stage. Contract issues with the symphony players killed those summer concerts. Without Bill Davis tapping his feet on the grass in those movies and his interest in keeping the place up to date attendance slumped and governments lost interest. Now the place is a relic of history like the Sunnyside Amusement Park of old. The magic is gone and Toronto is the poorer for its loss.

Unfortunately while good things tend to disappear old problems just keep coming back to haunt us like the mercury poisoning in the Grassy Narrows First Nation. The mining industry released mercury contaminated slug into the Wabegoon English River System. While the companies that caused the problem have long since disappeared and left no one to be held accountable for the sins of the past, the pollution they caused continues to dog the residents of the area. Way back in the sixties it took doctors from Japan to diagnose the problems experienced here as minamata disease. The vector for spreading the disease is the fish that live in the local streams contaminated by the mining industry. While it may seem a simple matter to say don’t eat the fish and there won’t be a problem it’s another matter when it’s a choice between not eating a food source that is readily available at no cost and starving. We know all to well about poverty on reserves.

Southern Nova Scotia, it seems, can’t catch a break. The tourism industry in Yarmouth and surrounding areas has taken a hit from cancelling of the ‘Cat’ Ferry. The large tourist bureau beside the dock area is moribund and nearby hotels and motels are going bankrupt. Now comes word of the permanent shut-down of the Bowaters Pulp and Paper Mill in Milton near Liverpool, Queens County. If you wonder why this happened look no further than the state of the Wall Street Journal, market for 90% of its paper production. Lay-offs and down time led inexorably to the present demise.

Being away for a month leads to a backlog of E-mail. By yesterday I’d whittled it down to below 100 new messages but keeping caught up is an ongoing battle at the best of times.

Visiting the East Coast brings back memories of the local dialect. Have you ever been firked?

Note to self, don’t accept any more appointments on Friday the thirteenth. Oh, I got there and back without being hit by anything or colliding with anything but my doctor unbeknowst to me accepted a stint at hospital emergency and I was forced to walk over there to see him. Actually saw him on time but now I have to go back for another appointment at his office. I returned to Ontario specifically for this appointment. Bugger!

So much for Northern Lights. With a solar flare sending a massive ejection of charged particles earthward making it possible for aurora to be visible as far south as the Southern US States it’s all moot from my observation point due to heavy overcast. Alas, the rains, if they come are said to be too late to save this year’s crops in the field. Yet another season of increased prices for fresh fruit and vegetables is in the offing. This on the heels of a premature spring that saw blossoms freeze when the late frosts came.

From the pages of Reader’s Digest quoted from Facebook. No words in the English Language rhyme with depth, month, orange, silver, or purple.

Hollywood claims the life of yet another young actor, this time Sage, 36-year-old son of Sylvester Stallone.

Everyone should already be aware that hospitals are bad for your health but did you know that the food in Canadian Hospitals fed to heart patients contains dangerous amounts of salt?

East Coast Annals

Got back in Oakville Monday after just over a month on the East Coast plus going and coming. After two days have gotten the backlog of E-mail below the one hundred mark. With the heat wave that has been plaguing Central Canada I really didn't want to leave Rivière-Du-Loup with its cool breezes, sunny skies and views of the Saint Lawrence. The campground there is also the cheapest and has the best internet service in my travels.

I set off at 3:30 AM on Tuesday, June 12th making it as planned across the top of Toronto before rush hour traffic would make the highway a parking lot. Stopped at a rest area East of Toronto for breakfast then drove on to Kingston and the Fort Henry parking lot. Heavy rain and strong, gusting winds were not part of my plans but the Union Jack that rose over the Fort snapped loudly in the gale. Since I arrived early I got to see the college kids who form the Fort Henry Guard stumble to work in their civilian garb, they change into their woolen uniforms inside the fort. Unlike their historic counterpart these lads and ladies get to change back into their civvies at the end of the day. I stayed and took the tour but it remained so wet that even the noon-day gun was canceled. David X the Sanan Goat Mascot had the good sense to remain in his pen. We did get to hear the 'men' practicing hymn and folk singing and practice their fifes. Drove over to camp at the Saint Lawrence Thousand Islands Park System's Ivy Lea Campground part of which is crossed by the suspension bridge of the same name. The promised Wi-Fi was a non-starter, the first campsite I was offered mired in mud I dared not attempt.

Next morning the sun came out and I drove over to find a campsite at Riverside Campground in Morrisburg. I've stopped many times at the Morrisburg 1867 Rest Stop Restaurant over the years, now closed and replaced by Tim Hortons/Wendy's but this was my first visit to Upper Canada Village after decades of seeing the signs. I was somewhat peeved at the idea that they'd offer me free admission but nickel and dime me for parking. After I got over my snit managed to enjoy a wonderful day touring the various historic buildings and industries rescued when their original homes were flooded to make way for the Saint Lawrence Seaway back in 1958. Private homes were moved to the planned communities of Long Sault and Ingleside. Some of the exhibits were dumbed down; I see no reason why Semaphore shouldn't be called what it is. The site being quiet I was afforded the opportunity to go behind the ropes and see inside a box piano and to play a reproduction Melodian in the Methodist Church--I even got compliments. The Harvest Barn where I had lunch was built from lumber sawn on site. The campground was nearby.

Next morning drove down the 401 to Hwy 20/Quebec. Stopped at the Tourist Bureau and allowed myself to be talked into taking the Valleyfield Route South of Montreal. It proved to be a maze of detours, small towns and broken highway--ill-marked en Français. I was glad to make Camping Aloutte and this time round prepared for the fact that my GPS thinks it's on the wrong side of the highway. On a hillside facing south I was glad to find the place had a cooling breeze this day. Next morning drove up to Rivière-Du-Loup stopping for gas and then groceries at IGA Extra in town; then St Hubert Chicken before setting up camp. Managed a walk out to the point before bedtime and reveled in the cooling breeze off the St Lawrence. Pierre Noel's Chateau still sits opposite.

Next morning the drive down to Edmondston was along uneven, broken highways under construction for most of the length. It was a relief to reach HWY 2 in New Brunswick and stop at the Welcome Centre which is actually located on Quebec Soil. Drove down to Saint John making it only slightly late--I lost an hour when I crossed the border. All of Quebec is in the Eastern Time Zone, even the parts of the Gaspe that are East of New Brunswick. Met my friend Tom before settling into Rockwood Park's Campground up the street.

Next morning I walked to church. I'd offered to sing at service but I hadn't expected their organist to be a no-show. We all muddled through somehow. Cooked Sunday Dinner for my friend. We went for drive next day. Two days of sunshine marked the first time I've witnessed Saint John without cloud and rain. The rains arrived for my departure Tuesday Morning. Drove around looking for a gas station which I found before I ran out, barely. Stopped at the Nova Scotia Welcome Centre for a chilly greeting. Then paid the $4.00 toll to cross the Wentworth Valley. Stopped to buy Maple Syrup at Masstown and made Halifax and sunshine once more well before dinner. It's somehow troubling that my younger sister should be turning rapidly gray, though I applaud her for not attempting to hide that fact. I do wish I didn't bristle so when I get treated like one of her offspring rather than her older brother.

Over the next couple days I got to see my niece's home in Windsor but only because she needed help moving to Falmouth. Enjoyed the United Church Pastor Sunday Morning but soon learned he was preaching his farewell sermon. Monday Morning found me headed South-West through heavy coastal fog to Bridgewater. There I spent the day with my soon-to-be 94-year-old Aunt.

Made the short drive into Lunenburg deciding that although the signs may have said 80 KMH Speed Limit the roads and my 8-ft high vehicle did not. The Lunenburg Board of Trade Campground is located on Blockhouse Hill beside a replica Blockhouse that acts as Tourist Centre. Just down the hill is the former Smith and Rhulands where the Bluenose II is being rebuilt from the keel up. Since the original keel was put through the chipper this would be more like # III. Being a government project it is months behind schedule and the noise from the site was all-pervasive. The rest of the town is little changed from past memory except for the fact that modern sewage treatment and the demise of the inshore fishery have all but nullified the odour that once assaulted the nose at low tide like a fist to the face. The day I'd planned to spend wandering the town was spent looking at torrential rain sluicing down my windshield. Pity the RV Touring group who lined up at 1:00 for a tour of the area. I suppose fog is an authentic East Coast Sight but probably not what they drove all those miles to see, the fog horn blew all day.

I've been thinking a lot lately about Lunenburg because I've been watching the US TV Series Haven in which the town figures prominently along with neighbouring Chester and Hubbards. Town Hall doubles as a police station and an old rusting dragger moored along the docks as Duke's boat--it's for sale if you want a fixer-upper. Watching the series has given me goose bumps showing views of the harbourfront from the golf course across the way and aerial shots of the town.

June 27th was old age pension day, how soon one forgets, it used to be important to my well-being to know that cheques arrived on the third-last business day of the month. Why is this important? Every mall in the Town of Bridgewater was crowded with seniors whose money was burning a hole in their pockets making parking impossible.

The back-road up to Midville Branch was all potholes and washboard, the bush along side the road encroaching to a degree that made it a one-lane road. Parked at the entrance to a narrow laneway and walked up over the hill to check out the health of my woodland. Then drove out to the corner and up to the cemetery where most of the people I grew up with lie buried. Walked back of the graveyard to look at my home now for sale I hear for $378,000. Stopped to visit my nearest neighbour, new to the community meaning he wasn't born here. Then stopped to catch the gossip from a third cousin I haven't seen in years. Caught him seated in his pickup listening to the funeral announcements. On my way back to Halifax stopped to show my Aunt the pictures I'd captured.

That weekend got to go strawberry picking in the Annapolis Valley at the farm of one of my brother-in-law's childhood friends, stop for a cone of ice cream and then sit around an umbrella table and hull them--25 boxes. Sunday after church we went for Clams and Chips at John's Lunch near the Dartmouth Ferry Dock. Third generation of the same family still run the place. Spent the afternoon touring Pier 21 an immigration centre that between 1917 and 1980 processed 1,000,000 people who arrived on 80 different boats, most catching a train on the adjoining tracks for Upper Canada and the prairies. The place has searchable digitized records for the entire period. Excellent views of the harbour from a second floor walkway. Picked up a solar panel for my RV at Canadian Tire in Downtown Halifax. Monday morning my RV got waxed. I supplied the old socks and the wax and then attempted not to get in the Joudrey's way. They make an intimidating team. In the afternoon thundershowers beaded off the newly polished chrome.

Hit the road for points west on Tuesday morning. The gal at the Coboquid Tollbooth charged me the RV rate, everyone else has classed my van a car. Made it to Oromocto on fumes before filling up on cheaper New Brunswick gasoline. Seems I chose the right place to stop. Camped near Fredericton at Hartt Island RV Resort. The place has been renovated to the point that had I not trusted my GPS I would not have recognized the place. Wednesday drove up to camp again at Camping-Du-Quai in Riviere-Du-Loup. With news of a heat wave in Montreal hung around enjoying the cool winds off the Gulf of Saint Lawrence for three days. At 7:00 AM with fog lifting off the river and the temperature hovering around 62 looked out to see a young Quebecois sprawled in only his shorts on a reclining lawn chair in the sun reading a book while his "wife" cooked breakfast. They'd set up a tent trailer the night before. Before the day was out I was considerably warmer.

Decided to brave downtown Montreal traffic after taking the tunnel on Hwy 15 to Hwy 40 which passes right past Queen Elizabeth Hotel which lies above Gare Centrale. All would have been well but for two serious collisions which caused painful slowdowns. Despite that made Pleasure Park near Mallorytown before closing though I found $50/night rather steep--especially since they have only central Wi-Fi. After watching ping pong balls bounce off my laptop walked back up late at night and was met at my picnic table by the owner who was out on security patrol. We had an interesting discussion. Sunday Morning drove down to Gananoque and fueled there, 12¢/L cheaper than the night before as I drove in. Stopped in Kingston to visit Fort Henry with the sun shining since I had several free passes. The goat was out, the cannons fired, and the FHG drilled. Drove a short distance to camp at the Kingston KOA though I was in for a bigger sticker shock at $55/night. Poor Wi-Fi at that. Went for a walk and met a couple from Rose Bay in Nova Scotia, he a retired Letter Carrier. His hospitality did not extend to offering me a beer though he sat and drank three while we talked.

Monday Morning stopped in Whitby and after finding a line-up at Denny's made my own sandwich before completing the journey across the top of Toronto sans traffic tie-ups. Decided I wasn't up to a visit to the RV Dealer. Made it home by 2:30 and found my parking space open.

Early June Rant

Not much else doing so here’s a rant.

New Zealand has set 2025 as the year the entire country will be tobacco smoke free! Good for them!

Hurricane Season officially began today but already two have churned their way up from the Caribbean, Beryl is presently spreading rain out over the Atlantic as it slowly subsides.


Neil Gaiman got an honorary degree and gave commencement speech. It’s well worth your time:

http://www.flavorwire.com/289594/2012s-best-celebrity-commencement-speeches?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=day+6+%28saturday%29&utm_campaign=unified+mailer#6

Astronomers have determined that our home galaxy is destined for a titanic collision with the Andromeda Galaxy. Not to worry though, Andromeda is presently 2.5 million light-years away but inexorably falling toward our own galaxy. It will take 4 billion years before the event takes place. Just in case you've forgotten in the next 6 billion years our sun will become a red giant and swell to a size that will encompass the orbits of Earth and even Mars.

Racism and Immigration

Until I started on my odyssey 4 years ago I'd done almost all my
traveling in the theatre of the mind through books. But for all their
verisimilitude they cannot totally replace first-hand experience.

One of the realities that has struck me in the last four years is the
degree to which slavery and racism are alive and well after over a
century and a half. As an outsider I recognize that I have to tread
lightly but as a caring Christian I cannot miss the tensions that lie so
close under the surface. I have been in the presence of people I sense
to be Klan and known families that, though they will not discuss it,
obviously once owned slaves.

Growing up in rural Nova Scotia I spent the first 18 years of my life
having never seen a person of colour. I grew up with the language of
racism which seems to be endemic but it didn't mean anything to me,
black people were an exotic species. In college I met International
African Students who were just as homesick as myself.

It wasn't until I read TJ Styles biography of Jesse James that I
confronted the concept of one man actually owning another and an
understanding of the fact that the wealth of a plantation owner lay not
in his crops or land but in the human chattels which he possessed. I
had, of course read Gone With the Wind and its counterpart Uncle Tom's
Cabin but these romanticized versions of slavery and its economy did not
strike home in the same manner.

This morning listened to CBC's Writers and Company, a podcast of a
program that won't be aired until 3 this afternoon. I'm ornery enough
that I resist reading books that are on the best-seller list though
sometimes I'm shocked to learn a book I liked actually made it onto such
a list. My taste in TV is such that I've come to consider my liking a
show the kiss of death for its continuance. This by way of saying that
if Oprah endorses a book I generally steer clear. That book stores will
order 50 or 100 copies of an unknown book just on the strength of that
endorsement seems scary. But I digress. Toni Morrison was interviewed
this morning and what she had to say about slavery and racism struck a
chord.

Racism between poor white people and black people was necessary to
prevent the two from uniting to destabilize the upper classes.
Separating the two guaranteed the security of the position of the upper
classes. It ensures that poor whites and poor blacks will never
associate socially and politically for their own betterment. In Virginia
no black man shall ever carry a weapon and no white man shall ever be
accused of hurting or killing a black man. Equating black people with
slavery was what was wrong. Racism was necessary for slavery to
function. It protected the elite. The wealthy of every nation won their
fortunes through slavery. Although my upper-middle-class white friends
in Austin may bristle at the thought I equate labour laws in Texas with
slave-like conditions, the fact that construction workers are not owned
by their employers is moot.

Unemployment, poverty, and lack of education breed racism as well as the
use of illicit drugs in Canada as well as America. It was with some
interest I learned that an African Methodist Church in Oakville was once
the Northern Terminus of the Underground Railway--in what was the
richest community in Canada. Back on topic another concept I've mastered
is poor white trash. Anyone not a landowner, a member of the small
Merchant Middle Class, or a plantation overseer wasn't long in
discovering that his labour was worthless in the South. Why would anyone
pay to have work done their slaves could do? The manner in which this
circumstance bred resentment and fueled racism is obvious.

There is no easy frontal assault possible against racism. The education
of the public at large, the provision of work, and the raising of living
standards are the surest ways of obliterating these attitudes. Universal
Health Care is one plank in that war on poverty. The provision of
educational opportunities another though I do not endorse a university
education as the Holy Grail for all. Affirmative action programs have
been implemented to ensure a more diverse cultural and racial workforce
but as with forced busing of students to integrate schools the outcomes
for the people involved are not always positive and those passed over to
implement these programs cry reverse discrimination.

Having spent time in Southern California I have become vividly aware of
the way in which hiring practices in police services made it impossible
for Asian Ethnic Minorities to get work there resulting in a situation
where police had no one who spoke the language to combat the Asian
Triads when they moved in. The situation today is such that law
enforcement may never recoup the situation in many cities. I was shocked
to see full-page ads for officers on tourist literature. There is a
price to be paid for discrimination.

It was in Natchez Mississippi I confronted the reality of a Black Man
owning slaves. Somehow that just seems so wrong on so many levels.

Memorial Day

Let's be clear on this. If we send young men to war they deserve to
expect that they will be supported when they return. How open-ended that
support should be and what constitutes abuse of that system is another
matter. Similar discussions could surround the obligations we owe former
slaves, North American Detainees in Concentration/Internment Camps, and
Aboriginal Land Claims. History teaches us that America's present wars
will cost $45,000,000,000,000 in Veteran Support over the next 60 years.
That's a frightening number of zeros and should give our leaders cause
to pause before they engage in future wars.

It should be immediately apparent that I am a pacifist by nature. The
commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." underlies a belief in the sanctity
of all human life. It is at great peril we train young men to suppress
that taboo. Is there such a thing as a good or righteous war? I would
differentiate between conflicts that circumstance made necessary and the
rightness of the cause on either side. Remember, more wars have been
fought in the name of Religion than any other cause and in general both
sides in the conflict were firm in the belief that God was on their side.

It is a natural human trait for those who have made great sacrifices on
behalf of their nations to want to believe that their cause was not in
vain, that their personal costs accomplished something of worth. Witness
the sense of personal betrayal felt by participants in the conflict in
Viet Nam when they returned to protests of the war on the home front.
That a grateful nation should owe its veterans a debt of gratitude is
not in question. However the goals that motivated a declaration of war
may be questioned in the arena of historical observation.

The most costly war in human terms to be waged on this continent was the
War Between the States--the Civil War. Whether or not it served to end
slavery the aftermath of Reconstruction is still felt to this day.
Making the owning of another human being illegal did nothing to
eliminate racial prejudice and intolerance. States of mind are not
subject to legal rulings. The laws that govern the work place in many
southern states including the 'Great State of Texas' make non-unionized
laborers in effect indentured servants and little better than slaves to
my way of thinking. Any society whose standard of living is supported by
such laws has no right to call itself great.

The tangle of defense treaties in force leading up to The Great War to
end all wars made that outbreak unavoidable. The mean-spirited terms of
the German Surrender made the outbreak of World War Two almost
inevitable. The partitioning of Germany after that conflict led directly
to the so-called Cold War. The paranoia with the spread of Communism
that characterized that period leads one to ask, just what did democracy
have to offer as an alternative--McCarthyism? The conflict in Korea
described as a Police Action hangs on as unresolved warfare between
North and South to this day. In Cypress Greek and Turkish Cypriots would
rather score points against one another than do good for their own
citizens. The veto rights held by permanent members of the UN Security
Council serve to make that body ineffectual. The US payments in support
of UN programmes show more arrears than every other nation on earth
combined.

Anyone who believes that American support of Kuwait in the first Iraq
War was motivated by support of a regime that differed greatly from
their oppressor is misguided. Cynically I say that that first war wasn't
pressed to its conclusion because weapons experts wanted an opportunity
to try out new toys. The second Iraq War was merely a continuation of
the first. The fact that America had no plan in place to deal with the
populace once they succeeded led to a loss of cultural artifacts that
will never be replaced and left the Iraqi People in a state of anarchy.

If 500,000 crack Russian Troops could do nothing to suppress Afghanistan
what did America, Canada, and Britain think that they could do. When
these troops finally leave the feudal lords will return to infighting
much as they have for 5000 years. The American Armament industry supply
the weapons for both sides and their only accomplishment is to give
combatants more efficient weapons with which to kill one another. Those
suppliers are the only winners in this conflict.

"War, what is it good for? Absolutely Nothing." And yet, as I have
traveled around America in the last four years, I have never ceased to
be amazed at the number of military installations in every state and
have to come realize that over a third of all Americans have some form
of involvement with the military. Yes, it may instill a sense of
discipline in those who badly need it; but is this the best means of
learning self-discipline. Is America not paying the price for having
such a high proportion of its populace trained to kill. Is the right to
bear arms worth the price?

Everest

Every year Everest claims a new batch of foolhardy erstwhile climbers.
The fact that one can afford to do a thing and find someone reckless
enough to agree to take one is no recommendation as to the wisdom of
going. For people who have lived most of their lives near sea level an
increase of elevation to even 3000 M can cause life-threatening altitude
sickness. Above 8000 M the air is too thin to support human life and no
body can adjust to that condition. At that height all living things
begin dying and the summit of Everest is above that elevation. Summiting
Everest should not be considered a tourist destination. The place is a
junkyard of abandoned gear and a graveyard of unretrieved bodies. Elite,
well-trained athletes make it to the top at their peril. One misstep or
an unforeseen change in weather can spell death in seconds. What the
tourists who pay someone to get them to the top seem to forget is that
above 8000 M all are equal. If they run into trouble their guides will
be incapable of rescuing them because they too are at the extreme end of
their endurance and in a race with death. And at that elevation the air
is too thin to support a helicopter rescue. But still people go because
it is there.

Reminiscing & Griping

Reminiscing

I've been back in Oakville for ten days now and taking my ease. Getting
reacquainted with my own apartment, getting various utilities restarted,
and watching favourite DVD's on my Home Theatre System.

When I stepped on the scale and got scared about what's happening there
decided I needed a walk, a daily walk in fact. At least my BP Monitor
declares that's in check. Walked to the end of the cul de sac at the
east side of Trafalgar on Marlborough Ct. Surprising how tall the trees
grow but then I've lived in the area 35 years. I can remember when the
first apartment buildings were built on this land just after Tree Top
Estates Townhouses were marketed in MacLean's Magazine with much hoopla.
I met four people out walking. Two an elegant elderly couple out for a
stroll with adjustable canes. It got me to thinking about how things
have changed since I came to Oakville 40 years ago. Can it really be
that long.

In Austin my pastor friend who lives in an upper-middle-class
neighbourhood with doctors, lawyers, and retired generals locks his door
immediately upon entry. Makes me think back to my days delivering mail
in the Reynolds/Trafalgar corridor. If one had a parcel for a customer
one opened the front door and tossed it gently inside making sure the
door was closed again before Fido could make it there. Always delivered
the mail through the slot afterward to much ripping and tearing. The
world has changed so much since those innocent days. A few blocks east
of there the egg man used to come in the back door, open the fridge and
check to see if his customers needed eggs.

On to some news items.

The Grand Ole Opry, it seems, began as a radio station founded as a
means of schilling insurance. Who knew? They still flog Humana health
insurance.

Recently the southern most point in Canada, Pelee Island, became
isolated when both it's ferries broke down making an expensive plane
ride the only means of getting onto or off the island. This in the
middle of the spring bird migration.

A recent show I listened to on NPR made the point that Europe doesn't
have a debt crisis, it has a loan crisis. The banks who hold the loans
in question are on the hook and should either Greece or Italy default on
those debts the amounts are so big that no government is capable of
bailing them out. At stake is the collapse of the Euro Zone.

On a lighter note:

Which muscle is the strongest?
The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

Take that Arnold Schwarzenegger.

United Airlines once had a campaign that encouraged business flyers to
take their wives along with them. It was very successful so they wrote
letters to the wives thanking them for participating. Turns out he women
who received the notes were not the 'wives' their husbands took with
them. End of campaign.

Home I Be

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Every kitchen should have a drain in the middle of the floor. After
unloading my RV Fridge, turned it off and left the door open removing
everything that might be water damaged from my ABS floor. Next day I
simply opened the floor plug and let the water drain.

I've been out only once since to pick up another small load. In the days
since I got back I've been allowing myself the luxury of some
decompression. I've watched a couple of my favorite movies and sorted
through six months of mail; most of it VISA Bills I've already seen
online. The amazon in Utica will be glad to know I have a brand new Good
Sam Deluxe Member Card, the b----h went online to ensure my membership
was valid. Guess I shouldn't let people like that get me riled, at least
I held it under my hat in her presence.

The Final Leg

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Left Wabasha 900 miles from home before my host got out of bed. Not a
challenge as he isn't an early riser moving fast only when behind the
wheel of his Shelby Super Snake--who actually needs 1000 horsepower? O
to 60 in 2 seconds. Stopped in Winona for groceries and gas, then drove
East and South through Wisconsin in the rain along I-90/39 staying about
60 miles west of Lake Michigan to miss the cities of Milwaukee and
Chicago. Stopped in Utica Illinois at one of 'those' campgrounds that
find Campers an inconvenient consequence of doing business. The place
was well-kept and organized but who wants to read two pages of rules and
face signs at every turn telling you what you shouldn't do. That night
managed to catch a couple shots of the 'Big' Moon.

Next morning the drive East on I-80/94 to Indiana cost me $1.10 cent in
highway toll fees and was busy with truck traffic but on a Sunday
morning there were no tie-ups, in fact traffic moved at 10 over the
speed limit. Made good time to Michigan City and spent the rest of the
day catching up as my last campsite has nearly non-existent Internet
Wi-Fi. I did take time to walk about the park and check out the Canada
Geese and the wildflowers. My decision to stay over an extra day proved
prescient when thick morning fog blanketed the area the entire day and
non-stop thunder crackled through the afternoon and evening.

Tuesday Morning commenced the 300-mile drive to Emmett, Michigan just
short of the Canadian Border. This highway is groved concrete block with
frequent sections of uneven chinks made so by the heavy truck traffic
that it handles. Much of the highway is 6-lane as it passes Lanzing and
Flint. Not fun when one gets behind two transports passing one another
on a 4-lane. Michigan law mandates trucks drive 10 under the car speed
limit. Stopped in Kalamazoo at Denny's for a lunch break. I have yet to
find one that makes good coffee. The couple next me did their best to
give my waitress a hard time, nothing it seems suited them. Even blacks
can be ugly Americans. Mark Emmett KOA as another place that's off my
list. Electric and Water connections were ill-placed; the site not level
and grass with molding mushrooms. The Internet Service worse than
non-existent. Not only was it slow but squelching prevented me from
opening Farmville even at 3 in the morning.

Wednesday morning after a stop at a gas pump which refused to fully fill
my tank I set off on the short drive to the Bluewater Bridge amidst
heavy construction. The toll is now the same in Canadian and American
Dollars. The young polite male Canada Customs Agent subjected me to the
most thorough inquisition I've suffered to date; then sent me for a
'declaration verification' inspection. Fortunately for me they chose not
to find anything to fuss about but they did make a mess--particularly
the female agent. They were polite about it. Dismissed I set off across
the fields of South/Western Ontario thankful no one was spreading pig
manure.

Although sunshine welcomed me to Sarnia I soon passed through a cold
front that dropped the temperature 10º C spawning thundershowers and
gusting winds. This weather pattern chased me all the way home. Had a
break at the En Route Rest Area in Woodstock sporting over-priced gas
and fast food restaurants. Noted not less than 5 people bappering away
in as many languages on ear-based head-set telephones and as many using
cellphones. No wonder the roads are littered with unsafe distracted
drivers. Police are now disguising themselves as hobos to catch
cellphone using drivers at stop lights.

Was forced to slow down considerably as I came down the Niagara
Escarpment in Hamilton by high gusting winds and fight afternoon
traffic. Got off the highway when I reached the Bronte Creek and
Oakville to stop at Oakville's new postal facility and get a personal
tour from its manager. Best I not make public comments about my beloved
former employer, they still pay my pension. Suffice to say I'm thankful
I don't have to work there.

Drove the remaining kilometers home on city streets finding 50 Km/hr
painfully slow and traffic lights.... Was grateful to find a parking
space waiting for me at my Condominium and backed into it, locked up my
RV, and went home with my laptop. After turning my fridge and furnace
back on visited my neighbours.

Alma & Kellogg

On May Fourth hit the road to see just a bit more of the area. Drove
across the Mississippi once more to the Wisconsin Side and south a few
miles to Alma. The 100-Mile Garage Sale it seems had a few takers who
made the roads interesting with their parking habits. Even on a Friday
Afternoon much of the town had the sidewalks rolled up. Tourist season
won't start until Memorial Day. A barge system was passing through the
lock which with its dam is located right down town. Wings Over Alma is a
combo Art Gallery, Tourist Bureau, and meeting place. The fluorescent
OPEN sign on the Drug Store belied the fact that the lights were off and
nobody was home. The store had plenty of company in this regard.

Found an art gallery owner just opening her store, having fought the
same traffic I had to get to work. Brought the baker up from a trapdoor
to the basement when I walked in and checked out her wares. Got a loaf
of bread and a breakfast croissant. For the rest just soaked up the
ambiance of a small downtown street-scape. Alas by the time I made it up
the hill to Buena Vista Park for the lookout the weather had closed in
again. On the way back to my RV ran into a picnicking high school ball
team. Toured the nearby winery but thanks to impending customs couldn't
buy anything.

Drove back to Wabasha and a few miles south to Kellogg. Lark Toys which
is out on the highway is the only real point of interest in Kellogg but
is accounted one of Minnesota's premier attractions. Combining museum
pieces behind glass it specializes in selling battery-free toys for all
ages along with Nature ware, and books. At one end is a working indoor
Carousel with fast food area adjoining. Ice Cream and Hot Dogs anyone?
The 18-hole mini-golf surrounds a landscaped waterfall.

April Rant--Overdue

The New York Subway is buying wider seats for it's new subway cars to accommodate larger posteriors. Fat asses if you like.

Kodak is going bankrupt.

In Newfoundland a teacher sprayed air freshener on a student because he stank of salt cod.

In Cape Breton Nova Scotia authorities admit the disappearance of the keys to 100 homes used by electrical meter readers. At least the keys were not identified.

The Quantico Firing Range sees millions of rounds fired annually yet not a single deer that lives on the property has ever been hit.

Was just hearing about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Somehow it's hard to imagine him married. Even with all his money must have been hard to build a home big enough for him, her, and his ego.

Germany has a multi-million dollar problem. Seems their police officers can't fit into the new police cars that were just purchased. Seems there isn't room for all the gear the officers are required to wear on their belts. So much for German ingenuity.

A few items from Austin where it's hip to be weird. When I mentioned on a beach in California that even owned I a thong I wouldn't go riding a bike clad in nothing but that thong. My conversation partner replied, 'Oh, you must have seen Leslie.' Leslie Cochran died around noon on a Thursday a few weeks ago A former mayoral candidate who actually once came in second he was 60.
Artz Rib House folds, this time for good it seems. I wasn't impressed with the weeds growing up through the bricks on the patio. Like so many other iconic locations in Austin the place was a dive.

Earl Scruggs, who recorded the theme from the Beverley Hillbillies died 2 weeks ago at 88. The funeral was held at the Ryman in Nashville.

Justin Trudeau is 40, seems only yesterday his pot-smoking mother gave him birth. In any case he engaged in three rounds of fisty-cuffs with a Quebec Innu 37 and reduced the martial artist to a defenseless quivering mass in under 3 rounds. Score one for the Liberals over a Tory Senator. Match in aid of Cancer Research. See the match here:


http://youtu.be/PBXBeTNf-KA

Along with all the job cuts and the continued rape of the CBC Harper's Tory Government's Budget announced the phasing out of the penny, the last ones to roll out of the mint in September. In other news a change in the metal content of toonies and loonies is making them lighter and will create a $40 million dollar headache for vending machine operators and municipal parking meters nation-wide. Way to go.

Canada Post showed an annual loss of $253 million in 2011, the first time the agency has failed to make a profit in 16 years. Guess they ran out of surplus property to sell. Buy your stamps now. Expect them to buy more computers and lay off more delivery personnel. They actually got rid of some 3000 useless supervisors last year. They still have 4 levels of management forwarding the same E-mails down the line. What else they do besides take coffee breaks, read their E-mail, and surf the net no one knows.

The 100-Mile Tour

Monday, April 30, 2012

Having gotten everything ready for travel set out to do the great circle

tour of Lake Pepin. The west side being in Minnesota; the east,

Wisconsin. The Red Wing, MN airport is in Wisconsin mind you. The day

dawned foggy and remained so until the sun broke out around 5:30 PM when

I got back in camp. Sound familiar?

As the route progressed the roads became narrower, hillier, and rougher

though it was all paved. Beginning as a four-lane divided highway 61

becomes a two lane until one heads out of Red Wing toward the Twin

Cities. On the Wisconsin side the road becomes quite hilly, winding, and

uneven though when it follows the river, more scenic. I took few

pictures as the haze obscured the view.

My first stop was in Lake City where I visited the Chamber of Commerce

and a helpful lady chatted me up and offered assistance. I walked the

downtown and visited the one gift shop that was open. Driving on I

pulled into the village of Frontenac home to a few remaining Antebellum

homes left over from the days when slave owners from the 'low country'

sent their families up-river to escape the unhealthy hot weather. I had

no idea they made it this far. This summer 10-story wooden

paddlewheelers will again ply these waters drawing 9 feet under their

flat-bottomed hulls. Dredges are at work as we speak pumping muck out of

the channel.

Red Wing is a major urban centre. I drove through downtown and stopped

at Perkins Restaurant North of town. After a mid-priced brunch and hot

half decent coffee drove up and found the Hobgobblin Centre. It combines

a harp/dulcimer factory on the frist floor, with a sales centre for a

cornucopia of instruments on the second, and a performance space on the

third of an old barn with a growing vineyard out back. On my way back to

town stopped for a few groceries though fresh produce is hard to find here.

Took the bridge across Ole Man River and started down the Wisconsin

side. Actually I started gaining altitude rather quickly and didn't

catch another view of the river for a few miles. I passed through a few

villages that rated speed zones but stopped in the town of Stockholm,

the Dalla horses confirming its background. The corner bakery sold

homemade ice cream and their own pies at $18.00 each. Not prepared to

spend quite that much for just I, picked up a mini pie for $7.00. Next

door ABODE sold furniture, handmade local works of art, Wisconsin

Cheese, locally brewed beer and cider, and hand picked morels along with

maple syrup, coffee and tea--you get the drift. I picked up some

well-hopped Glarus Brewing Company Beer which has a flowery flavour

without the usual bitterness. Wish I could buy more. Walked the four

corners watching the train roll by and noting the two bike racks with

bikes for the borrowing--simply return. What a concept!

Took in the rest of the drive back to the bridge to Wabasha again

regretting the continued haze. In Wabasha finally found the National

Eagle Centre and decided to visit. Without the 3:00 PM presentation it

would have been a bore but a large family from Switzerland whose

offspring became part of the demonstration added greatly to the show

with their stunningly handsome eldest son and his three younger male

siblings, one actively snogging with a girlfriend. The third in leather

pants. Father was presented with a bedpan to catch any fecal matter that

might be squirted toward the audience. A female eagle outweighs her

husband by 2 pounds at about 12 but both have a wingspn of c. 7½ ft.

They get their white head feathers and tails at about 5 years. In the

wild they live about 20 years, the oldest here is 31--known from the

band placed on her talon in the nest. The birds here are injured

specimens that cannot live in the wild. Those brought in for show were

fed raw turkey bits which they swallow whole. Eagles can digest bones

but regurgitate a pellet of fur, feathers, and scales. It was claimed

that birds are faithful to their nest sites more than to each other and

nests can be added to until they weigh 3 tons--capable of supporting an

elephant. Do you suppose they paint their toenails red?

Walked down to the river after supper that night and spent some time

talking with one of the neighbours--Matt, who works at the Mayo Clinic

in Rochester. I have certainly heard of the Mayo Clinic but I had no

idea it was 35 miles distant. According to my partner it employs 3600

people and is accounted a top ten employer in the US.

Day Seventeen

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Not being anxious to brave downtown La Crosse, WI; I drove back into
Minnesota to La Crescent, a rather smaller berg. Learned later that I
should have waited until I reached Winona where the gas was cheaper and
the stores larger. Since I was motoring in driving rain I wasn't moved
to climb up to the Mississippi River overlooks. The drive up the Great
River Highway (61) was variable. I failed to stop for Lark Toys:

http://www.larktoys.com/

Though I later learned it's one of the states principal attractions.

My GPS expressing no knowledge of my campground I used street signs and
horse sense to find it. I asked for a quiet corner where I could catch
up on my E-mail, read, and write blog entries. For once that's exactly
what I got. I wasn't ready for the request that I pay in cash but the
owner was willing to wait until I hit an ATM in town the next day for
payment. Pioneer Campsites Resort is not prepossessing but it's been in
business with its 240 some sites for two generations and several decades
with 200 of the sites occupied by seasonal campers. There's an air of
Evangelical Christian about the place but it isn't in your face unless
you count the sign that indicates up for Heaven and down for Hell. The
wood shed and the ice freezer lack locks and there's an air of trust and
informality about the place. I'll forgive the owner his recommendation
of a Vancouver New Age Religious writer I'll not be reading.

Sunday morning I drove into town and my GPS led me to the local cemetery
in lieu of Faith Lutheran Church. I drove on to the feeless ATM at the
Kwik Trip. For once a gas station with a decent collection of groceries.
Got back to the church and enjoyed worship in a mid-sized congregation
that has two Sunday Services. After drove home and spent a quiet
afternoon exploring the neighbourhood.

Day Fifteen

Got off slowly after a bout with loose stool. Paused to pick up info at
the Minnesota Welcome Centre passing up their coffee. Stopped at
Worthington for gas having to drive into 'town'; I lacked the appetite
to stop at the local Perkins Restaurant recommended by my last host.
During my travels I've passed at least a score of Laura Ingalls-Wilder's
Homes. I suppose if she was going to become famous for writing Little
House on the Prairie it was generous of her to spread the wealth around
however--though I've heard of being born again I don't quite understand
how she can have all those multiple birth places.

Found my way to Pettibone RV Resort in Wisconsin without incident. It is
open but the promised Wi-Fi doesn't exist. Walking a quarter-mile up to
the office to use the internet just doesn't cut it. That a steam-shovel
was dredging out a boat channel opposite me didn't add to the park's
appeal. The bleeping of dump trucks is annoying. The young hunk running
the office/bar while he browsed E-mail and watched a sports channel
seemed utterly indifferent. Pettibone is on an island in the middle of
the Mississippi on the Wisconsin Side of the Border--that border running
close to the West bank. My campsite backed on that backwater. The place
being in a flood plain the electrical hookups are at eye-level. When I
sampled the water I was thankful I'd filled up in Sioux Falls on the
soft water there. That night the temperature dipped to freezing and I
was thankful to awake next morning and see nothing white outside my
windows. Spent the day walking about the park, reading, and talking to
my neighbour; a retired probation officer from Winona. It was he who
recommended I head North-West toward the resort area of Lake Pepin.

Days Thirteen and Forteen

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Set off once more through the Badlands for I-90 at Cactus Flats. The
drive east was once more littered with sign pollution but uneventful
otherwise. There was little to relieve the tedium of the drive. At the
two hour mark stopped at Al's Oasis in business since 1919. Not quite
the size of Wall Drug but hopeful. Gave up on brunch at the restaurant
after no one approached me even with 5¢ coffee after 5 minutes. The
grocery store was well stocked with fresh goods--I picked up Mesquite
BBQ Sauce and smoked Cheese from Kansas.

Two hours later reached Sioux Falls near the border with Minnesota. The
only place open to camping was Yogi Bear's Jellystone and it was a
construction site in preparation for the pouring of the deck around the
new pool behind the office. My A/C covered the majority of the noise.
Next morning drove the 10 miles north and 1 mile east to a dead end that
marked the USGS EROS Centre:

http://eros.usgs.gov/

In spite of the fact that almost all their displays were of locations
outside the US the guided tour emphasized their principle task as being
the tracking of land changes on the US Continent. Tracking the Landstat
Satellite this facility adds 1 Terabyte of information to its existing 4
petabytes daily. The security one is subjected to suggests that 600
people working in the middle of a cornfield do much more but who will
tell. The place has been there since 1972. Interesting tour.

Day Nine and Following

Friday, April 20, 2012

Paused for one last breakfast and set out along Hwy 44 for a grasslands
drive to Badlands National Park. Decided it wasn't worth driving miles
out of my to save a few cents on gas and filled up along the way. Passed
the town of Scenic on the way to Interior before entering the Pine Ridge
Reservation to find the Badlands KOA beside the White River. The place
is surrounded by that river, the Lost Dog River, and the highway.
Wounded Knee is a short drive further. The kampground is quiet save for
the Western Meadowlarks, Killdeer, and woodpeckers. The occasional deer
wanders by and the eagles and buzzards soar overhead. After spending a
day catching some rest set out on Saturday to tour the Badlands. Nature
provided cool weather, a sparkling azure sky and low-hanging fleecy
clouds for perfect photography. The gent behind the desk at the Visitors
Centre was ill-informed and the movie he showed was out of sync with the
house lights and the closed captioning. The park was spectacular.

On Sunday morning biked up to Interior, pop 70 to attend Presbyterian
Church. A congregation of fifteen worshiped in simple surroundings
accompanied by a pianist called in at the last minute. Rode through town
pausing at the general store I'd visited the day before where the meats
were all deep frozen, Bud Light seems to be the poison of choice, and
fresh fruits and vegetables hard to find. Interior has 3 bars, general
store, and gas station; a couple seasonal inns. Spent the rest of the
day quietly walking up to the height of land at dusk.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Today the sky was clear but hazy and the weather hot. Drove up Hwy 240
to see the Eastern end of the Badlands. At my first stop ran into a
young couple whose male member looked like an NFL Player. She was
concerned about non-existent rattlers. Without clouds the views lacked
Saturday's charm. At my second stop ran into a young man who was setting
off on a difficult trail without water or any tracking skills--buzzard
bate in the making. I did catch sight of a perched eagle. The drive up
to Cactus Flats was quiet. I did not stop to see the Minuteman Missile
Site or the oversized Prairie Dog Statue. For convenience grabbed I-90
back to Wall and parked at the National Grasslands Visitor Centre where
the staff were out to lunch.

Much of the rest of Wall was out to lunch as well. The restaurant opp
Wall Drug sported a flashing OPEN sign but all its doors were locked.
The Post Office was out to lunch. The one gift boutique that was open
had a stuffed animal exhibit which included a Polar Bear? I gave up and
went back to Wall Drug for a tasteless Grilled Chicken Salad--the greens
were fresh but the dressing had to be fought out of a blister pack. Back
at the Grasslands Centre the movie seemed long--not for children and the
picture was out of focus. Six Billion a year in revenues from Grasslands
in grazing rights, mining, and oil production. Definitely not a
recommendation for environmental protection. Drove back through Badlands
on roads I'd traveled Saturday seeing it in reverse order.

Day Six

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Took my time getting started today. The drive was due West along
Interstate 91 with only a light head-wind. This stretch of I-90 in South
Dakota displays the most egregious example of sign pollution I've seen
in 50,500 miles of driving. Firehall Brewing even has an old firetruck
parked beside each of its hoardings. The route tracks due West at 270º.
After seeing a score of signs got off the highway at Wall to visit the
Grasslands Visitor Centre to pick up bumph, then walked up to visit Wall
Drug. They have signs posted worldwide advertising free ice water. Must
be seen to be believed. Beware the T-Rex that lifts its head every 12
minutes to scare the kiddies. Chicken Fried Steak at $5.99 was an
acceptable meal. Coffee is 5¢. Not sure why anyone would want wine with
this menu. Bud Light on Tap for $3.99 in a frosted mug. I passed.

Stopped at the Visitor's Centre in Rapid City, then drove down to my
KOA. I am pleased to report that I received a cordial welcome and found
the staff helpful and engaging. The hale storm that blew in with
marble-sized hale as I was out photographing the area was not so
pleasing. When the first balls of ice hit I feared for my rear windows.
Even this early in the season enjoyed the fact that someone was present
to cook bacon and eggs plus pancakes at 7:00 AM in the morning. Lucked
into a two-man guided tour in a Dodge Van of the local scenic backroads;
Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, and The Chief Crazy Horse Memorial. I
chickened out on the idea of Bison Stew, kudos to the Governor-General
for trying raw heart. The prairie dogs whistled for us, the pronghorns
wandered by, the bison imperiously ignored us, and the begging burros
stuck their heads in the windows for carrot treats. The sheer scale of
the effort at Crazy Horse enthralls, I'm not certain how many
generations it will take to complete the carving of an entire mountain.