19:35 hrs
Well Campers, the trip up Island with the Mobile Wayward Inn went off without a hitch, so to speak. Our Sr. Loin Fruit and our new Homestay student, MoMo, came along for the experience. We all had a pretty good time and despite the weather we even roasted mushmellons on a campfire. It was a bit concerning that we may not have made the trip as the furnace crapped out when I tested it. The fan would run but the burner would not ignite. Gordo and I desnagged the issue as far as we could with no joy so I ripped it out and took it to the Pro's from Dover. That was t
Friday, a week before we departed. It was repaired by Monday at noon and reinstalled Tuesday. The other issue was a leak in the plumbing by the hot water tank. A seal on a valve was blown. So, once again Gordo came over and we desnagged the issue which ended up sending me to the Pro's once again. Yhis time for additional parts. All was completed and tested serviceable. We headed North Friday morning. The weather wasn't the best. Some rain at night and too windy most of the time for a campfire. But we took MoMo over to Sointula where we wandered the Island taking in the museum and a medieval armed combat competition. That was impressive to say the least.
The trip North was good experience for MoMo as this week, starting Tuesday at 0dark30, he and some twenty more students will be heading to the northern most tip of this Island for some hard core hiking and camping. His pack weighs about 18kg. The distance from the drop of point to the campsite is about 18km. Shouldn't be an issue.
Our Sr. Couch Monkey has started the third phase of his electricians course. I'm very confident that he will be near the top of his class. And our Jr. Loin Fruit is still down East keeping up with his physio and working out so he will be able to complete the Basic Training. The injury, surgery and recovery will probably set him back an entire year from his trades training.
His Holiness, Pope Frank, passed away this week. I am not of his faith but I held him in high regard nonetheless. He was the first Jesuit pope and it sure showed. Here's a question, who has more clout - the Dalai Lama or the Pope?
I'm back to the grind tomorrow. A solid week of work. I hope. None of the really big multi-year projects have started yet. We know they're coming, we just don't know when.
All of the Tangerine Tyrant's talk about The Great White North being the 51st State has thrown a wrench into so equipment purchases. It would seem that the first lot of 16 x F35 POSes have been paid for. The rest of the purchase is being reviewed and former condenders have come forward with deals even sweeter than the first go around. The Swedish SAAB Gripen E, the EurofighterTypoon, and my personal choice, the Raphael from France. One thing kind of sticks in my craw and that is with the Feds always helping out the Canuckistan aircraft industry and knowing that we have a desperate need for fighter aircraft. The last planes built in this country for our military was the CT-114 Tutor which was designed by Canadair who manufactured 212 units from 1963 to 1966. The only two countries to operate the Tutor was us and Malaysia. We used them as lead in jet trainers and for air demonstration. Malaysia had modified the aircraft with a belly cannon and wing hard points. They used them for close air support/ground strike. Yes, the RCAF purchased Dash 7 and then Dash 8 aircraft from DeHavilland but both were initially civilian passenger aircraft utilized for transporting military members. In the early 1990's there were four Dash 8's that were designed and manufactured for training air navigators. That trade has now been deleted from the military so I really don't know what the aircraft are being used for.
Well Kidlettes, that's about all. But there will be more to come later.
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