15 April 2012
Commemorative Week
15/04/12 05:40
A lot of things happened this week in history. First, as I’m sure you’re well aware of today is the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic. It was kinda’ hard to miss with all the shows, and books, and stories, and the re-releasing of the movie in 3D. I’m sure you’ve had it up to here with Titanic minutia so I won’t go on about it. But let me add two parts that you likely didn’t know. First while the Carpathia picked up the survivors and took them to New York it was left to several ships out of Halifax Nova Scotia to recover those that did not survive. Most of them were either buried at sea or in Halifax where there is a very nice monument. When we get back to the Maritimes we’ll be planning on stopping to see it. http://www3.sympatico.ca/goweezer/canada/titanic.htm I also think when we’re there we’ll be looking at touring the city by motorcycle sidecar. That looks like fun. http://www.bluenosesidecartours.com/
And speaking of the Titanic, I just want to add one more thing. Over the years I’ve heard lots of theories about why it sank. That the steel and rivets were substandard. That the owners pressured the Captain to go too fast in order to make a scheduled arrival. That an unusual astronomical alignment caused weird tides that released more arctic ice than usual. That a layer of cold air near the water produced a mirage that hid what was in front of the ship. That the engineers missed something and left a huge vulnerability. Even that there was some sort of conspiracy. Well I’d like to distill this all and give you the definitive answer. This is why the Titanic sink:
Because it hit an iceberg.
All the rest is just a bunch of things to be argued over by guys in on barstools.
This week was also the anniversary of Vimy Ridge. You nay not have heard of it but this was a battle in World War I that holds a great deal of significance to Canadians. Briefly Vimy Ridge in France was captured by the Germans in 1914. The French tried to take it back in 1915 and failed. The British tried to take it back in 1916 and failed. In 1917 an all Canadian force with Canadian developed tactics took it back in several days of hard fighting. It was the first time that an all Canadian force drawn from all across Canada operated on its own rather than being integrated into standing British units. That it won where nobody else could was a huge psychological boost to Canadians. In many ways it is thought of as the moment when Canada and being Canadian began. Prior to Vimy Ridge we were British living in Canada. Afterwards we were Canadian’s that were part of the British Empire. It made a huge difference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge
On a lighter note, one of the big issues they are talking about here is that Emergency Services are dealing with people accidentally dialing 911on their cell phones. People will sit on them or hand them to someone and accidentally hit the number. This ties up operator and emergency personnel time and resources. One suggestion was to keep your cell phone in a case. This of course is crazy talk. Another suggestion was to change the number from 911, (or 999 in Britain), to something else that’s less likely to be hit accidentally. Here’s a commercial put together by the producers of The IT Crowd (my new favourite show) about this. Makes sense to me. And the song is catchy too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab8GtuPdrUQ
And lastly, Marsha has officially quit The Real Canadian SuperStore. No more getting up at midnight to work an 8 hour shift. No more dealing with Dilbert Grade management. No more having to go to bed at 5:00 in the evening and pretending to sleep. No more waking me up in the middle of the night so I’m dragging all day too. On her last day I surprised Marsha by meeting her at at SuperStore and taking her out to breakfast (I had the day off from work). Big celebration.
Hope all is going well for you. Spring is here in full force. Things are budding and blooming all over the yard. We’ve got things sprouting. There was a territorial war in the front yard between a couple of hummingbirds. (OK it was a tiny war, but they’re mean.) Bees, and bugs and such are all over. In another week or so I think it’ll be time to put the Jade tree out on the deck, which we’ve just power washed. All is going well here.
Doug & Marsha.
PIX the Winner of the Hummingbird war.
Spring Cleaning Time. Marsha said QUOTE: Power wash the deck and move those flower pots down to the garden." So I did exactly that.
Barbara made this for us for Easter. There's a bottle of wine inside but we haven't had the heart to dismantle it to find out what kind.
And speaking of the Titanic, I just want to add one more thing. Over the years I’ve heard lots of theories about why it sank. That the steel and rivets were substandard. That the owners pressured the Captain to go too fast in order to make a scheduled arrival. That an unusual astronomical alignment caused weird tides that released more arctic ice than usual. That a layer of cold air near the water produced a mirage that hid what was in front of the ship. That the engineers missed something and left a huge vulnerability. Even that there was some sort of conspiracy. Well I’d like to distill this all and give you the definitive answer. This is why the Titanic sink:
Because it hit an iceberg.
All the rest is just a bunch of things to be argued over by guys in on barstools.
This week was also the anniversary of Vimy Ridge. You nay not have heard of it but this was a battle in World War I that holds a great deal of significance to Canadians. Briefly Vimy Ridge in France was captured by the Germans in 1914. The French tried to take it back in 1915 and failed. The British tried to take it back in 1916 and failed. In 1917 an all Canadian force with Canadian developed tactics took it back in several days of hard fighting. It was the first time that an all Canadian force drawn from all across Canada operated on its own rather than being integrated into standing British units. That it won where nobody else could was a huge psychological boost to Canadians. In many ways it is thought of as the moment when Canada and being Canadian began. Prior to Vimy Ridge we were British living in Canada. Afterwards we were Canadian’s that were part of the British Empire. It made a huge difference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vimy_Ridge
On a lighter note, one of the big issues they are talking about here is that Emergency Services are dealing with people accidentally dialing 911on their cell phones. People will sit on them or hand them to someone and accidentally hit the number. This ties up operator and emergency personnel time and resources. One suggestion was to keep your cell phone in a case. This of course is crazy talk. Another suggestion was to change the number from 911, (or 999 in Britain), to something else that’s less likely to be hit accidentally. Here’s a commercial put together by the producers of The IT Crowd (my new favourite show) about this. Makes sense to me. And the song is catchy too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab8GtuPdrUQ
And lastly, Marsha has officially quit The Real Canadian SuperStore. No more getting up at midnight to work an 8 hour shift. No more dealing with Dilbert Grade management. No more having to go to bed at 5:00 in the evening and pretending to sleep. No more waking me up in the middle of the night so I’m dragging all day too. On her last day I surprised Marsha by meeting her at at SuperStore and taking her out to breakfast (I had the day off from work). Big celebration.
Hope all is going well for you. Spring is here in full force. Things are budding and blooming all over the yard. We’ve got things sprouting. There was a territorial war in the front yard between a couple of hummingbirds. (OK it was a tiny war, but they’re mean.) Bees, and bugs and such are all over. In another week or so I think it’ll be time to put the Jade tree out on the deck, which we’ve just power washed. All is going well here.
Doug & Marsha.
PIX the Winner of the Hummingbird war.
Spring Cleaning Time. Marsha said QUOTE: Power wash the deck and move those flower pots down to the garden." So I did exactly that.
Barbara made this for us for Easter. There's a bottle of wine inside but we haven't had the heart to dismantle it to find out what kind.