Rhubarb Rhubarb Rhubarb

Rhubarb is an Interesting Fruit... Vegetable?

I am not sure if rhubarb is a fruit, I suspect that it is really a vegetable. I believe that tomatoes are considered a fruit by botanists, however by agriculturalists -- at least those who are in charge of import, export and shipping type stuff -- they are considered vegetables like most people do when considering their mealtimes.

I shall call it a fruit!

Rhubarb is the first fruit that I ever really experienced that was actually being grown where I lived! We had a huge yard in the city and a huge garden. We did have a crab apple tree, but it kept getting "winter killed" and never bloomed for a long stretch of my childhood and we didn't have any other fruit trees or even berry bushes or plants on our yard. We did have a very strong pair of rhubarb plant roots though!

I recall that we received the plants from an elderly neighbour -- though we were in a very new district -- and rhubarb plants with older large roots produced better rhubarb. Our plants sure were good! As a child we would be allowed to have a stalk each and our friends as well and we were given a cup with sugar on the bottom to use as we ate it. It was fun to leave the great elephant ear like leaves on the stalk as we dipped the end into the sugar and bit off bites of the sour flesh.

In some ways it was an excuse to eat the sugar, but the rhubarb was neat too! Then we were left with the huge 40-50cm across leaves to play with!

I think even better was what Mom did with the rhubarb! She would cut the stalks into 1cm chunks and then cook them down into either a sort of sauce or she would mix it with brown sugar and oatmeal and other stuff to bake into rhubarb crunch and rhubarb crisp... probably rhubarb crumble too, though I don't recall that name. I think Mom also made rhubarb pies and experimented with rhubarb upside-down cake and muffins. The rhubarb sauce would sometimes be made into a jam, I think -- but it has been so very long.

I loved the rhubarb crunch warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream melting over it. I think it really was one of my favourite foods in the world -- next might be apple crisp...

I think that when we moved from that house in Calgary to the West Coast hear in BC we did not have quite so sweet a rhubarb in our garden patches. True later we had strawberry patches, blueberry patches, and raspberry patches. We also had producing crab apple, apple, pear trees and even a hazelnut tree! Mom made what I figure was the World's best crabapple jelly -- red as ruby and clear as glass -- but the rhubarb crunch has a very special place in my heart.

Later!
~ Darrell

89.

Wandering Wags

Travelling Time With Your Dog

I was going to title this Pet Pilgrimages, but my experiences in life lead mainly to travelling with the family dog so I figured best to write about what you know at least a little about. While I am on that topic -- don't take my word as gospel! Ask your Veterinarian, SPCA, Groomer, or other Pet Professional for advice and take that before you take mine -- Please! I know they should have good advice and information. I imagine that should include "Kennel Clubs" and Breed Associations, though not being an expert I can be missing some... and I think in the US, what we call the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is called the ASPCA.

Perhaps we have always been lucky in our family, but our dogs always travelled well. We never had a problem taking them on the highway with us on our vacation trips and quite often those trips could be 2000 mile round trips. (That was in the days the Mile was King which is why I used miles... that's over 3200 kilometres.) That was the round trip between Calgary and Southern Manitoba where my paternal Grandparents lived and it crossed the very hot and dry Canadian Prairies in Summer and equally frozen and windy same Canadian Prairies in Winter. As a child I much preferred the Winter crossing -- I didn't do too well in hot temperatures -- although with a parent who smoked in Winter with the car closed in we were all fairly well cured by the time we reached our destination. (I wonder how many packs 20 or so hours of second hand smoke is worth?)

Those were on simpler times, many of them at a time when seat belts were options on North American Cars and no thought was given to dogs or children being lose in the back seat. (or front seat for that matter) Mom would fret about the dog sticking his head too far out into the 80mph windstream... (sometimes faster) in summer worrying that the dog might take a hit from a big bug like a bee and the dog would end up being content with his head on Dad's shoulder while driving getting not quite so much air. I would worry most about the dog getting lost in a strange town. Dad was confident that the Dog would always come when he called him. We never did lose a dog. (A golden lab, a long haired corgi, a Chihuahua-Pekinese, cross, and a miniature poodle, over the years.) We never had problems with car-sick dogs or whining and crying or barking in the car. Maybe we were lucky or maybe we just acclimatized the dogs gradually with short trips that most often did not end up at a groomer or vet.

Today though we are a bit more conscious of things. They even have seat belts for dogs! -- I hear they don't allow children in the front seat any more though. I'm thinking that they'll be having us kennel the children in the near future.*

I totally agree with the concept of having a kennel for the dog. Dogs are den animals and so having a den in the home can be a comforting thing I am told. A nice cozy kennel with favoured blankets and cushion (I almost said pillow! We all know that never happens.) and a place for some toys. We never had a kennel for our dogs, but I think there is provision for food and water in the too. There are appropriate sizes for the different breeds too and if you ponder getting a nearly 50kg dog plus kennel into a car, van, SUV, or truck -- the dog has 4 legs and can jump up and into the kennel after it is in the vehicle. Then not only is there a secure place for the pooch that you can strap down, but the dog has their own home den with them and there is a place for the dog to stay at your destination as well.

Kennels are also well ventilated and while there are some cage sorts there are others that have vents that can be opened or shut. Regardless you don't keep the dog locked into the kennel the full time either, just as you wouldn't keep a child locked in a small room.

For shorter trips, I know there are harnesses which are intended to allow you to link your dog to the car's seatbelt system. I recall ones that allow limited movement allowing the dog to sit or lay down, but not run around and if there should be an accident keep them from being hurtled about the car. I think I might invest in a harness style collar though rather than the simple neck one. I have also seen systems for the backs of trucks which allow larger breeds more freedom while still restricting them and keeping them safely in the box of the truck. I note that professionals tend to use kennels still and if I recall K-9 squads actually have the back of the car set up as a kennel?

Most important is not to leave the dog in a car on even a warm day. The temperature will climb quicker than you would ever expect to levels lethal for a dog -- or for a child or elderly person for that matter. This is even with the window cracked a bit for ventilation. Dogs can not survive the heat that a Human can. Their panting is not as efficient as our sweating. When it gets hot, canines in nature have already sought out cooler spots with good ventilation and a source of water. That is one of the natural instinctive ways that animals survive heat. A dog in a car can not do that. Dogs, children, and the elderly die each year in cars due to heat on days that you wouldn't consider part of any heatwave or even excessively hot. I would imagine that cats and other small animals might even have it worse.

The last horse trailer I saw had air conditioning! Of course it was for the horses of the police department.

It does make me wonder if there is a market for air conditioned kennels...

Still, not all dogs travel well, for some it would be a gift to put them up in a canine kennel for the vacation time. They might fret and whine a bit when you leave them, but from my experience they tend to just settle in for a wait after if they are the sort who really miss you. For the ones you might have to sedate to travel with, maybe better they nap and mope a bit in a kennel rather than having to tranq and sedate them for a journey which might make them sick. For some dogs it might even be an adventure. I think it would be a good idea to know how they treat animals there and if you are comfortable leaving your dog in their care. Then at least there is an option if you absolutely must leave your dog -- even if normally you include them in on vacation trips.

Traditionally some people also have had house sitters who were also pet sitters. Often they were neighbours, nephews, and nieces who were responsible enough -- sometimes under supervision of an adult -- to come into your own house to take care of your dog. I have done it a few times. Traditionally too some people would leave their pets with a friend or relative for the duration of the vacation.

Regardless of what your plan is, do that -- plan! Do more than throw a cottage cheese container and bag of kibble in the back seat before making sure you have the leash that works with the collar. Do your homework, find out about hotels; motels; relatives allergies; shots and paperwork needed if you cross the border or even enter a national, or provincial park; special booking and requirements if you travel by boat, plane or train; and so many other things...

Consider this, even on a day trip -- if you plan on eating in a restaurant, where will the dog be? If it is anywhere between spring and fall and not a rainy day it will be too hot to leave the dog unattended in the car, someone might have to dog-sit while others are in the air conditioned restaurant. Some picnic grounds might even be a problem. How about getting the dog across a lava hot parking lot?

Things to consider. We normally were travelling to Grandma and Grampa's farm and only had to worry about keeping the dog out of the barn and cow pies.

Later!
~ Darrell

88.

__________
*Yah, yah, I know why children are not allowed in the front seats of cars. I do not agree with it... I think there is something wrong if airbags are too dangerous to allow children to safely ride in the front seat. But that is another article.

Six of One a Half Dozen of the Other

Could You Give Me Two Dimes For a Nickel?

There was an old joke when I was in school where you'd go up to another kid and say "Give me two dimes for a nickel?" and the other kid so used to being told there were two nickels in a dime and just hearing the "two" "dime" and "nickel" assume that you were just asking for change rather than trying anything tricky. I figure it probably never went so far as to anyone counting out two dimes to give for a nickel, but perhaps it got a person thinking that things might not always be what they sound like and to be a bit wary in life.

I was just talking about vitamins in email with a friend and how I finally decided last time I was buying my multivitamins on which I was going to buy. I just turned 50 and pondered whether to buy "Senior-Over 50 Forumula"or "Men's Forumla" or just stick with the "Extra Strength". I know that one main difference with the Men's Forumula is that they don't have any iron in it and that this is appropriate for men. I am not sure about the difference for the Over 50 Forumla. What finally pushed the direction of my decision was a matter that the Extra Strength came in bottles of 100 pills and I get my prescriptions renewed every 100 days and that is so very convenient to me. The other two forumula come in bottles with 90 pills in them. They come from the same company, but those ever so slightly more specialized formula come in so slightly smaller sizes. That makes them less convenient meaning I would have to come in 10 days earlier for vitamins each time...

I got to thinking about it. "Why in the world do the other sizes come in smaller sizes?" I realize that the more specialized formula are more expensive, though I imagine too that the cost of manufacture, and transportation doe not change significantly with the different formula - it is all economics and the price the market will bear. Ie. They charge what they believe will give them greatest profit. If they charge more they will sell fewer, though at the higher price and if the charge less they will sell more but at the higher price. It is a matter of balance and checks and balances and I did tons of problems like that in my applied mathematics courses in university among other places.

(Did you know one of the most complicated actual mathematical operations that you ever do is the "quadratic equation"? More complicated stuff just breaks stuff down so you can solve it using simpler stuff, trigonometry, and the quadrtic equation. Of course you have to learn how to break things down and apply them, just like a carpenter needs to know where to hammer and where to saw.)

I do not "know" this, but I figure the whole thing behind the 100 pills for regular and 90 pills for the special vitamins comes from profit margins. They figure they can get away with charging a bit more for the speciality, but they want a bit more than that so they realize that they can also get away with a slightly different size. They get customers coming back 10% more often. It doesn't have to do really with the cost of the product, just the money coming in. Most costumers just by "a bottle of vitamins" and they are nearly the same size -- right?

I remember in my youth that they used to call it scandalous when companies would shrink the size of products while keeping the price the same. I am sure that they have recently reduced the width of a toilet paper roll. Actually I have an empty spool from before I noted the shrinkage and comparing it to the current size find that they are currently at least 1/4 inch narrower than before! (Probably 6.7mm or 1/3cm) Now when you consider the paper companies cut the rolls to the width they want and aren't slaves to buying the spools at the finished width, you have to figure they were behind the shrinking. It means that they can keep the rolls with the same number of squares per roll and the rolls will have the same diameter, but they can have more rolls to sell per tree harvested or per ton of pulp processed or recycled*.

I think the whole thing is a psychological-economical game. They want customers to feel like the are not spending more money even as they are actually spending more for the product they are getting.

I have seen pictures showing how some products that are sold essentially by the item rather than by the gram or millilitre have shrunk over the decades. As I recall many are things like chocolate bars. While they do have the mass in grams listed, I think few actually used to read that and so didn't notice the slow shrinkage. Some products I think once were packaged where they gave you a bit more just to guarantee that you got the amount listed, but now they have trimmed down so they that give that amount and only that amount or averaging that amount rather than a bit over.

Mostly though they simply change the numbers on the packaging to reflect the now downsized product and don't advertise "Now less for your money!"

I went looking to see if I could find a few quick images to link articles to, but figured maybe I would just share the Google Search for "shrinking products". So just click the link for Google Search: shrinking products and have a look for yourselves.

I think that perhaps it might fit the companies' bottom lines, but I think that it is morally deceptive just like "two dimes for a nickel". They aren't lying, but they are implying something by not indicating their products are of less and less value for the price you pay.

I know I found myself going to the store more often for toilet paper, that bars of soap don't last as long, that bags of chips just can't be shared as far, that there aren't so many bowls of cereal in a box or bowls of ice cream in a carton. I read in an article on USATODAY.com:

* * *

Few track this and those who do, such as The Nielsen Co., are tight-lipped about the data except to their clients, who pay big bucks for the proprietary stats. But Nielsen's executive for consumer insights says up to 30% of packaged goods have lost content over the past year. Some prices went down, others did not.

"I don't think we've seen anything like this since I've been in the industry," says Todd Hale, who has been with Nielsen for 29 years.

In an unscientific visit to a supermarket this month, Lynn Dornblaser, new-products guru at market tracker Mintel, looked at 100 products and found about 10% appeared to have shrunk in contents, but not in price.

* * *

Shoppers beware: Products shrink but prices stay the same -- USA TODAY.com -- by Bruce Horovitz, USA Today 2008/06/11

So when shopping it is like listening for the kid offering a nickel for two dimes. It was bad enough comparing one brand with another using unit pricing, or one size or packaging with another. It is even harder if trying to remember just what the price was a few months ago... on the other hand, just what can you do when all the producers are offering you nickels for two dimes?

Later!
~ Darrell.

__________
*At the Gnomestead we use paper products like toilet paper -- where practical and possible -- that are made from recycled materials. Our toilet paper is a brand made from recycled paper products. It is inexpensive and still soft and strong. It doesn't have any cute kittens or bears dancing on commercials, but perhaps leaves a few more trees for the bears to dance in when the do what-not in the forest.

80.

KA-BOOM! Celebration!

Canada Day Fireworks

Before I moved to the Gnomestead here in Port Moody BC there were Fireworks every July 1st for Canada Day! I am not sure if the last year they did that was July 1st 2000 or 1999. The fireworks were wonderful.

Port Moody stretches around the end of Burrard Inlet and the fireworks took place on a barge anchored in the inlet off Rocky Point Park. People could gather in the park for the Canada Day Celebration at the "Golden Spike Days!" with all the performances and other events and then finish the day with the fireworks. The fireworks could be seen from all around the inlet and the surrounding mountain slopes.

Sadly they decided that hosting the fireworks display just was too expensive because in particular of increased policing expenses. People would come from other surrounding municipalities to enjoy the show with their families and I think it was a great event. There were larger fireworks displays in downtown Vancouver for other events including an international fireworks competition held annually now. But where I think most places once had fireworks for Canada Day - once called "Dominion Day" and representing Canada's independence as a nation in 1867.

I think that the Canada Day fireworks displays dwindled to maybe 3 or 4 in British Columbia a year or two ago with locally there being one show in Port Coquitlam and another in Surrey. I am not sure if the one in Victoria - BC's Capital - still has been happening. I did not see very many local private shows either this year. But this year and in 2007 Vancouver had a fireworks display again finally.

The last show I went to was at Port Coquitlam and it was pretty impressive. It was held in a park surrounded by homes in a subburban neighbourhood. That did lead to some parking and traffic issues, but Port Coquitlam did seem to have things well planned. Scattered across the park were many portable lighting towers with telescoping booms and their own generators. The organization of the event was as impressive as the actual fireworks display was. The fireworks were indeed impressive too.

I was impressed at watching the police going quietly through the crowd making their presence known in a relatively non-threatening way - in a way that gave some feeling of security for what was intended to be a family event. I didn't mind watching them confiscating beer and other alcohol from underage drinkers - in fact being that it against the law to drink in public locations they could confiscate it from adults too - alcohol was restricted to the beer garden which was on site if I recall correctly.

There was a cheerful joyful sound of families having fun - children squealing and laughing, teens giggling and chatting, adults murmering - and then with the fireworks silence and a few shrieks followed bye oohs and awes. When the display ended, the generators on the light standards were started and the park became awash with electric light and there was light for families to pack up to leave for home. There was also enough light to give security and prevent vandals from making problems.

But I imagine all that had its price. Port Coquitlam seemed happy to have people from all over come and celebrate with them.

Other places are not so willing to pay the price to invite others in to celebrate.

I do wonder what the value is of a child's delight at a fireworks display? What is the value of a family outing once a year to something like a summer holiday complete with picnic or barbecue and maybe some cotton candy or other things you shouldn't have regularly finishing up with fireworks?

Some people might think that it is okay to have displays which are far afield, but more and more families do not have cars and buses do not run so frequently or to all neighbourhoods for coming home after a display. Not so good for parents with tired children.

The Port Coquitlam fireworks display is pretty neat, but I think that the display would be so much nicer in Port Moody - and that is not just because I could probably see it from home. The inlet would be a much nicer setting and is right net to major transportation corridors for public transit even for those parents with tired children. The Port Coquitlam site is a bit out of the way transit-wise. In future the site will even be close to rapid transit. There will also be a large chunk of population a walk away from the site or able to see it from parks close to home.

Now all we need to do is find a way to fund such a show and display?

I think that such family events are important for healthy family life and creating good memories for the future.

I remember things like fireworks, family picnics, and air shows from my childhood - but maybe I am getting ancient?

Later!
~ Darrell

76.

__________
Fireworks image above is used with permission from Image*After - The Raw Base For Your Creativity

Hare, Toad, Moth

Rabbit, Frog, Butterfly

I can remember a time when the distinctions between Rabbit and Hare - Frog and Toad - Butterfly and Moth were of extreme importance. I think there were a few others too, but they are forgotten in the mists of my memory.

Do you remember? Rabbits had long ears while Hares had short ones. I am not sure if Rabbits had longer feet or not? Toads were found more on land and didn't have as big webbed feet as frogs and also would have warts. Butterflies rested with their wings standing upwards and had plain antennae while moths would rest with their wings flat down and had fringed antennae. I recall now a fourth set, Turtles had webbed feet for swimming while tortoises had feet for walking on land and were more terrestrial.

These distinctions came - I think - from elementary school (Grade school for some, not sure what the first grades of school are called in all English speaking countries. Grammar School?) and I think it was in "science" or the science content of those early years to get us thinking of the differences between animals.

What got me thinking about it has nothing to do with animals at all actually but rather fruit, or berries to be exact. I remember the day that my Grandma asked me to go downstairs to the cellar and get a jar of strawberries. I was happy to do so and it was neat to go down to the cellar. It wasn't a dug out earth walled cellar but had smooth concrete floor and walls and nice wood partitions for the pantry/cellar area where the canned goods were stored. At the time they still did a lot of canning. I guess a hold back from the days before most houses had electricity and electric fridges and freezers. My Grandparents on Dad's side were Mennonites and so they might not have had electricity quite as early as some... though I think they were pretty progressive.

Anyway I went down to get the canned strawberries - wondering why canned foods were always in jars - and looked at all the pickles, tomatoes, tomato sauces, beets, sausages (Yes, they canned sausages, and knew how to do so safely.), peaches, pears, and so many other things... and spotted the canned berries right beside the couple types of cherries and the whole canned crab apples. I noted another shelf of the red berries on the shelf below as well.

When I got upstairs with the jar, Grandma asked if she had asked me to get raspberries by mistake because that is what I had brought up. I was confused. "Aren't they the same thing?" I asked Grandma, and then she was confused. She told me that you could tell the difference because strawberries had the seeds on the outside. I noted that, though didn't quite understand because the round bumps on the outside of the raspberries looked a lot like seed as well to me. I told Grandma I would try to remember.

I can't remember if I went back down for the strawberries or if we had raspberries instead or if someone else went and got them. I really didn't know the difference or that they were two different fruits. I was somewhere in that nebulous area of age between 4 and 6 where it can be hard to tell when some things happened. At that age I had never seen where berries came from. I knew they grew on plants, but all the berries I had ever seen growing on plants were like the little red or white once that you aren't supposed to eat... well and the choke cherries on the choke cherry tree. But we were afraid to eat them. We meaning me and my friends. I guess that comes from being city kids even though we had a huge garden. Probably average sized by farm standards, but huge by city standards.

Anyway, I got thinking today about the strawberries and raspberries and how although you can see the seeds easily on the outside of the strawberry, they never seem to be a problem. But the seeds of the raspberry (Also blackberry, salmon berry and all their kin.) are out of sight but can really be felt between the teeth and get stuck between them. That even goes for in the yogurt I was getting at the time today.

I wonder if the difference between dog and fox or wolf was a part of that school thing?.

Later!
~ Darrell

67.

Belgnorman's 500th Birthday

Preparing for Belgnorman the Gnome's 500th Birthday!

I know! I'll be coming out with an article Later! But for now I am preparing for the Gnome's Birthday Celebrations. They'll be going on until at least the 22nd or 23rd, but hey, you only turn 500 once in a lifetime or two! (Not that the next article will be waiting until after the 23rd. Probably later today - the 19th. My Grandma would have been 101 today! Happy Birthday Grandma!)

Later!
~ Darrell

63a

Howdy Again!

What is in a day? Yesterday I had my 50th birthday and really nothing much has changed other than a number on some paperwork when I fill it out. Though there is a feeling of change especially because we put a bit of emphasis on the Decade-Centennial-Millennial system. I have just crossed in the the second half of my first hundred years. Perhaps I am strange in fully intending to see my 100th birthday and in fact seeing it possibly in better health than I am in today.

I figure a number of my ails will be dealt with and I am working to improve my physical shape, albeit slowly. I am heading once more to my high school graduation weight and I think I actually am at least a half inch taller than I was then. We shall see. I didn't quite make it for my 50th birthday.

I did have an enjoyable birthday, though my family get-together is still to come tomorrow. I spent yesterday with one of my best friends and her 20 month old daughter. That was a kinda cool way to spend my 50th. It really was nice when she grabbed my hand because she wanted me to escort her from the restaurant while she waved "bye bye" to everyone and even bowed to the Korean hosts. (Many of her Mom's students are Korean so her Mom figured she picked up the habit of bowing at certain times from them.) I even babysat her for a while that evening. Babysitting a toddler isn't too bad a way to spend your birthday if you don't normally have the chance to do something like that. She's like a niece to me and I hardly ever get a chance to see her.

Anyway I am tagging this on to the end of 63a because I figured 63 was really just a teaser for it and I don't want to mess up the count. I'll include a note in one of today's post directing people to the now edited posting.

Later!
~ Darrell

__________
PS 63b was added June 20th at 3:50pm PDT

63b