Archives for October 25, 2019

Mysterious Ways

William Cowper was frequently troubled by feelings of despair and grief. In his deep depression one day he summoned a horse-drawn carriage (this was in the mid to later 1700’s) to take him to one of the London bridges. His intention was to take a suicidal jump into the Thames. But just at that time one of the densest fogs ever blanketed the city. In the confusion the driver got lost and drove around for an hour trying to find the bridge. Disgusted, William decided to stop the ‘taxi’, get out and walk. When he got off he found himself to be back at his own house. The driver had travelled in a circle. Totally overwhelmed by this sudden surprise, he took it as an act of the restraining hand of God. Needless to say, he did not try suicide again. Instead he decided then and there to cast his burden on the Lord for resolution. He immediately sat down and penned the words to a hymn that still appears in many hymnals. The first two verses say:
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head.
That kind of care and compassion from God still operates today.

Henry Wiebe

Damage list we have heard about:

“Wires on roadway 7700 block Tuc-el-nuit Drive – in the loop

Big tree down on the road on tuc-el-nuit near the prison but on the opposite side of the road. A semi swerved to miss it but its on a corner and he almost had a head on collision with a car. I contacted the fire department but just be safe out there today very windy!”

Also trees on highway near Island Rd.  – Oliver Fire Department removed what they could

Small sage brush fire on Ryegrass Rd – causing a medical emergency – Oliver Fire Department on scene to ensure fire was out

Town of Oliver crews worried about old dead tree leaning onto power lines on Skagit Avenue between Hwy 97 and Okanagan Street. ( pix above ) and one cut down on McKinney just west of Park Drive.

If you see trees down or damage from the storm send pix or info to oliverdailynews@gmail.com

THE SEVEN CENT CHEQUE

It was quite a while, many years in fact that I used my American Express card. I probably got it when I first became a member of Costco, or as it used to be called, Price Club.

So for the past, I don’t know how many years, I have received a statement by mail, every three months. The statement always says the same thing, credit balance $0.07!

So, about a month ago I decided that enough is enough, I don’t use the card, it is time to cancel.

I phoned the Customer Service 800 number and spoke to a nice lady. ‘Hello, I would like to cancel my card, I haven’t used it in years and have no intentions of using it again’

‘Certainly sir, can I have your name and I want to confirm your mailing address’

‘Well I think you have my correct address as you are sending me statements every 3 months’

‘But I still have to confirm it’ she said.

‘And now I need your card number’ , I gave it to her and I was greeted with: ‘Oh, you have a credit of seven cents, we have to send it to you’

I hesitated for a moment and said ‘Keep it’,

‘Oh, we can’t’ she said’ We have to send it back to you’

‘I don’t want it, keep it’ I said

‘Oh no, we will send you a cheque Sir’

Is she for real, she is going to send me a cheque for seven cents, I don’t believe it!

A week or so later, a letter arrived in the mail, it was from American Express. With trembling hands, I carefully opened it and there for all to see was a cheque for seven cents.

There it was, cheque number 52012286, sequence number 012286. Gross amount 0.07, discount amount 0.00, complete with two signatures!

It came in an envelope with a printed 85 cent stamp!

I posted it on Facebook asking what I should do with it.

‘Frame it’ many people said

‘Send it back’ someone else said.

‘Yup, frame it as a reminder of the smartest thing anyone can do with an Amex card’

‘Don’t spend it all at once’

‘Penny for your thoughts’

‘Don’t deposit, …it may bounce and your bank will charge a $75 NSF fee’

‘Leave it for the kids’

‘Frame it as a monument to the monumental idiocy of bureaucracy’ said Lorraine.

So now the cheque is pinned to the wall behind my computer monitor waiting for a decision on it’s fate.

***

Two weeks later!

A statement arrived in the mail! American Express!

Previous balance -0.07

New balance $0.00

Your account is cancelled. Please pay the minimum due by the payment due date. Thank you.

***

Then two days later!

Important notice of changes to the American Express Air Miles credit card.

Dear Sir/Madam,

You are receiving this notice because our records indicate that you recently cancelled your American Express Card. We are notifying you of changes being made to the card if you have an outstanding balance, or if you request and if we approve reinstatement of the card.

From – preferred rate for purchases 19.99%

To  preferred rate for purchases20.99%

Effective February, 25, 2020

Please contact us if you have any questions!

I wait in anticipation for the next letter from AMEX

October is Small Business Month in BC but the importance of Small Business needs to be acknowledged all year.

I want to use this opportunity to talk about what a Small Business really is and how significant they are to each of our Rural Communities and to the economy of BC. The definition of a Small Business is a business with less than 50 employees, or, as the case is for most of the Riding of Boundary/Similkameen, a business with less than 5 employees or one with a sole owner/ operator. Nearly 1.1 million British Columbians worked in small businesses in 2017, accounting for 54% of private-sector employment and the number of small businesses continues to grow, specifically in construction and utilities like plumbing and electrical. Small business payrolls in BC account for 32% of all wages paid to workers. Self-employed women account for 38% of those small businesses, more than any other Province in Canada.

I depend on my local small businesses for most of my consumer needs as do many of you. Groceries, dry goods, hardware and basic services are all close by but we, as consumers, must continue to support our local businesses or they will cease to exist. We often take for granted that there is a local business where we can get something as simple as milk and bread, but what if you had to travel 40km to the next community for even those basics, and what if you didn’t have a vehicle or someone to drive you to get your basics.

There are many places in BC where there isn’t a store close by. Let’s not let that happen to us, please support the Small Businesses in your Communities all year, they are owned and operated by your friends and neighbours.

MADE TO LAST

The clothes of my youth were bought to last.

If you were lucky enough to be the eldest child in the family, you quite often were the only one to ever wear new clothes, when you grew out of them, they were handed down to the rest of your siblings.  However, before you grew out of them, you were truly sick and tired of appearing in the same old outfit.

My grandma usually made my dresses, knitted cardigans and sweaters and even hats, scarves and gloves, however, some items were outside my gran’s line of expertise and these she had to buy.

A new coat was a huge expenditure so it was bought to last.  It would be at least two or even three sizes too big which meant the hem was turned up twice, so it was the right length but weighed a ton because of the amount of fabric hanging on the bottom.  Sleeves were also turned up several times, making them quite stiff and uncomfortable.  The lapels would hang too low so a pin would be needed to keep the gap closed and the pockets would be half way to your knees.

The following year all hems would be dropped one turn, making the coat fit better but creating a dark line that showed where it had previously been turned up, the next year the hems would come down yet again, so you now had a coat that was getting rather shabby, but at least fit properly.  It now had two distinct lines showing previous lengths.

By the time I had grown out of the coat completely, it was short enough to show a couple of inches of the underlying dress but, never fear, I would soon be getting a new coat and the process of turning up hems would start all over again.  My old coat would go to the next cousin in line who would then go through the whole procedure of wearing the same coat for several years.

Almost everything I wore was handed down to the next girl in line, thank goodness I was the oldest girl and got new stuff every time, how blessed was I?

English children had to wear a liberty bodice until the girls developed and these instruments of torture would no longer fit her figure.  A liberty bodice was a sort of undershirt made of extremely strong cotton, with additional strips of satin stitched on to give it a ribbed effect.  This made the garment extremely strong.  It fastened at the front, like a vest, with fifteen or sixteen tiny rubber buttons.  These little buttons were terrible to fasten and had to be forced through the button holes, they were made of rubber so they could go through the clothes wringer and not crack or break off.

In those days we only had a bath once a week so the liberty bodice would be worn night and day, for the entire week.  I had childhood asthma and was permanently wheezy so I had grandma’s potion for easier breathing as a permanent companion.  This was a camphor bag that would be pinned inside the liberty bodice, so I inhaled the foul odour all day and night.  I must have smelled delightful but, in those days, most kids had some sort of home made remedy attached to their clothing to ward off one thing or another.  The classrooms of the fifties must have been rank with the combined scents of various cures.

My grandma should have been burned as a witch as she always had some foul potion or other bubbling away on the back of the stove.  Her recipe for coughs was one of the best, it was a concoction of linseed, liquorish and lemon, which was simmered until it was thick and then doled out three or four times a day.  I also got cod liver oil and malt every morning, which was supposed to be some sort of tonic.  The nice taste of the malt couldn’t really mask the horrible fishy taste of the cod liver oil, but there was no arguing with my gran, she held out the spoon and you licked it clean.

Sore throats were treated with another of gran’s remedys, this was a piece of very fatty bacon, wrapped inside an old lisle stocking, wrapped round my neck and held in place with a safety pin.  As I used to have lots of sore throats as a child, the bacon and the camphor bag were constant companions, so I must have travelled in my own fog of stinky vapors!  If all else failed, there was goose grease that could be smeared on my chest.  Burns were treated with a smear of butter and cuts got a smear of Vaseline to keep out infection.  I bet the weekly bath water clogged the drain with all the nasty stuff that was washed off my skin.

I guess gran’s potions and cures for all my various ailments were designed to make my body last as long as my clothes.  I could do with some of gran’s handiwork at the moment, my wrinkles are getting to the point where they need the hem turning up, so my skin fits better.

old photo

Northbound Honda Pilot went off-road right into the rock face near Vaseux Lake.

The male driver, 75 years old from Penticton, was deceased on scene.

BC Coroner services, fire, EHS, MOTI, Oliver RCMP and South Okanagan Traffic Services all attended.

old photo

Box

A boxer is one who competes in a fight using gloved hands. Two boxers compete boxed within the confines of a ring made of three horizontal ropes strung between four corner posts. It is sometimes called a squared circle. The boxer wears the gloves, a pair of shorts (loose fitting and short) and high ankle boots. Boxer style shorts are popular as underwear. Men or women can be boxers and either can wear boxer shorts

A box canyon has only one way in and out plus is surrounded by steep walls almost like a well with a side entrance. Back in the days, when the tribe wanted to have mammoth for dinner, they would make noise, throw rocks, badger and poke the mammoth at the edge of the herd and get it to run into a narrow box canyon. In that small space the mammoth couldn’t really fight so they all had mammoth burgers that day

A box is a hollow container which protects its contents, is closed but opens, usually on the top, to put things into and take things out of. Many products are sold ‘in a box’ as a complete set. For instance, we can purchase a ‘boyfriend in a box’. Yes, really. A boxed set is a special group of items and the boxes that house them are fancy. Cardboard is used for the majority of boxes. Ask Amazon

A box wrench is one that has a closed structure at both ends, sometimes slightly higher or lower than the handle to let it grip recessed nuts without rounding the edges when I apply force. I have, and often use, a 1/2 inch on one end, and, 9/16 inch on the other, wrench that is older than I am. Yeah, olde. The idea is that the tool completely (box in) encloses the nut to be tightened or loosened. Love it

Boxes can evolve. The steamer trunk, for personal belongings when travelling, was strapped onto the rear bumper of early cars. It was so handy that cars then evolved to have a ‘trunk’ compartment as part of the body. That trunk evolved into the suitcase. A box is a container. You can box me in with your logic. A box can provide protection or restriction. The box step in dance is easy to do and enjoyable to experience.

• 5 am – Environment Canada

• South Okanagan – including Penticton

Be prepared for strong winds today.

A cold front associated with a low pressure centre will sweep across the southern interior this morning reaching Washington State this afternoon.

Strong southerly winds have developed ahead of the front. Winds will shift to west or northwest this morning.

Wind gusts of 70 km/h are forecast except gusts to 80 km/h or more are possible in the Fraser Canyon. The winds will ease early this evening.