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The murder heat dome...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 272
It's begun. Highs today, 34, hot, plenty hot enough with an intolerable humidity. I've drawn all the blinds in the apartment, and today, finally, turned on the AC for a few hours. A deliciously cool 17 degrees, although I don't know if we ever got there, only that it was cool, it never stopped running.
The next few days, hot and hotter. The afternoon, hide in the half-light of the apartment with the AC on high, it makes it liveable, although the drawn-blinds, they remind me of visiting grandma in Moose Jaw when I was a kid, all the blinds drawn, 40 degrees outside, you were damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-didn't....
Not happy memories, just memories.
The murder heat dome has just begun...
Running down that hill...
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 206
Thursday, hot. Hot hot hot, the murderous "heat dome" is soon to arrive.
I need to feel the wind in my hair, get out of town, it's my day off.
And so, climb that hill and find my car. It's a little stale, dusty inside, but - damn, for better or for worse it's still there.
So I call the BCAA, ask for a boost. 90 minutes.
I daren't walk down to Baker and grab a soft drink, although very badly I need one, merely find some shade and wait for the boost.
They take the full 90 minutes and then some to arrive. Then, just like that, "boof" and it's running. A little rough, old gas, oil probably settled in the pan, but - hey, and I get the driver to drop my hood and I'm going to make a break for it...
Only there isn't enough room, and the transmission's slipping and I come to a halt half in the roadway and an inch from the truck in front of me's bumper...
There's no chance it'll slip into reverse without rolling forward and hitting the bumper of the truck.
So let's look at the truck.
I'm an inch away. Not 2 inches, not 4, literally a single inch.
The truck, brand new, lifted, brand new off-road tires, boilerplate splash guards for their oversized lifted tires, immaculate paint job, black, not a scratch on the thing. I doubt very much this thing has ever even jumped a curb, let alone been off-road. Somebodies' pride and joy. And so I go knocking at the neighbors, somebody has to move their truck, please, only nobody knows who's truck it is...
After an hour or so I give it up. The car, angled into the road, will have to remain that way.
Later that evening I go back, the truck is gone, probably they saw my bumper right up next to theirs and realized what a close call they'd had. Noteworthy, the car's been parked, been meaning to take it to the wreckers, hence no insurance.
***
I head back a few hours later, the truck is gone, but my battery is still dead, nonetheless slip it into neutral, roll it forward, park, I'll need another boost, not today, but it's close enough now to the intersection that no one can park in front of me, and next-boost, that will be the one that takes me places...
Summer, 2024
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 383
And today, July the 4th, a stray day off in the week. Yesterday, work, slow.
This restaurant, it's not going to make it, he's too far off the beaten path. The product is good, the decor - while not my cup of tea, lots of the customers like, but...
I feel for the owner, although he's from a family that clearly has deep pockets and (I suspect) there might be other reasons for him owning a restaurant than to make money. But this is just speculation.
Last night we closed at 8:30. First time he's closed the place up early. We had a few tables in the early afternoon, all were gone by 5:30, afterwards only tumbleweeds, and the weather, next few days heating up, temperatures climbing to a predicted 37 degrees.
The patio that he's put $20, 000 into building, late, has so far seen not even $500 in gross revenue.
The streets of Nelson, surprisingly dead. Talking with shop owners, some who claim to have recorded 0$ sales in a day. The Alberta plates just aren't here. Baker is busy, in the 3 block section spanning the Cantina to the Royal, but everywhere else is dead.
Now to make some breakfast, head off, find the car, see if I can get a boost, add some gas and go for a drive. Maybe to the wreckers, maybe...?
Serra Pelada
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Found
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This, of interest because all of our gold rushes happened a century or more in the past. Yet not all the gold has been found, clearly.
The Serra Pelada, for example, prompted a gold rush in Brazil with upwards of 100, 000 artisanal miners, with a black market production estimate of 360 tonnes and nuggets weighing up to 15 pounds.
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serra_Pelada
So far my summer has had a dearth of adventure, but I may find yet a way to remedy this...
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