Mother’s Day and other random thoughts…or maybe better worded as odds, sods, and other miscreant behaviours…

Since the conversation with Chief Louis I have been somewhat derailed in my efforts to get the politicos talking about his ideas – but that will happen… The delays have been Dickensian – to abrogate a thought or two…

Firstly I have been in a conversation with a former grad student about the ever-changing rants that environmentalists seem to avail themselves of whenever their latest theme or fad gets called out. For example: first it was global warming and when that was shown to be not quite as advertised, it was altered to climate change. That is turning out to be highly problematic since it will require some serious intervention by a diety much stronger than most environmental folk seem to actually believe in, so now there is a shift showing which seems to be fundamentally anti-oil, except it isn’t quite that because when I suggested that Line 5 be shut down (as the Governor of Michigan wishes), suddenly I was told that we need oil and gas. At least for a few decades. By this time even I was weary – here I thought they would be happy to know I would back the shutting down of Line 5 and I awoke only to find that they thought that now would be irresponsible…

In the meantime I had already traded in a lovely 2009 BMW 6-series Cabriolet with a V-8 engine that would smack down anything that tried to embarrass it on the Coquihalla Freeway (a true freeway since the government stupidly took off the tolls we were so willing to pay in part to keep the cheap-cars off it!!). I gave the car to the dealer before my new one arrived so as to make it available for the convertible sales season – got a better deal that way and as part of the package I was able to obtain a factory-built custom-ordered sedan. It arrive a few days ago.

Because I am interested in cars probably more than anything else that is human-made, this purchase was going to be selective. It was going to be a BMW sedan. That meant it would be a Five [5] Series (of which I have had two iterations in the past). This model may be the best production sedan in the world and it handles like a sports car, cruises like a limo. Forty-four years ago I brought the first new 5-Series to the Okanagan Valley – a 530i. It was a wonderful car and better than the two year old Corvette I sold when it arrived. At that time I took ten minutes off the best ‘Vette time from Vancouver to Penticton through the Hope/Princeton highway!! Well, I have slowed down a bit so I knew I didn’t require quite the same snap so I didn’t need an M5 or even a 550i. The 540i is the new six-cylinder and would have most replicated the original 530i but I was intrigued with another model – the 530e.
This model is a PHEV: Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle! That means it has a 288 combined horsepower from the turbo four-cylinder gas-powered engine and an electric motor. I had previously tried out that combination in a 3-series and was uncertain whether it would be sufficient for my liking, but was not concerned that it would be inadequate. I need not have feared anything – whatever the turbo four might lack is supplanted by the electric motor which has no lag time at all. Moreover it has a M-Sport suspension with superb handling and an eight-speed transmission that is as smooth as glass. The car’s exterior is Carbon Black so that most of the time it looks like a deep ebony, but in the brilliant sun it shifts to a midnight blue. Stunning is the only word that comes immediately to mind. The interior is a combined ebony & ivory with an airplane-style steering wheel, sun shades on the rear window and on the two rear side door windows. It has more electronics that the Apollo Space Mission rockets, including automatic emergency braking, lane & blind-spot avoidance sensing, heads-up display (all the key info is shown on the windshield, including speed), automatic headlight dimming (and returning to high beams) and on and on the list goes. It has not only an advanced I-controller but also touch screen controls as well. And it is very comfortable, very attractive and very fast… Can’t tell you the fuel/energy mileage yet as I haven’t driven it enough to get the rating but that info along with a picture or two should show up later this month. For now know that the dealer thinks it’s cool that the guy that brought the first 530i to the Valley (because there was no dealer in Kelowna then) in 1977 (and in 17 years put on 377,000 kms) now is the first person to buy a 530e in the Valley. I think it is quite of cool that I have acquired a new PHEV before any of my environmental friends and colleagues. Hopefully that will tone down their sermons somewhat!!

The other interesting news relates to the on-going insanity that continues under the guise of Covid-19. I still can’t see my Penticton doctor – I must go to a walk-in clinic or the Emergency Ward of the PRH (Penticton Regional Hospital). Now what the difference is between going to a small doctor’s office where sanitation should be a very simple matter, and visiting a walk-in centre or Emerg where there are a wide assortment of all kinds of people, has long been lost on me! But as you know, no one has been listening to me on this file for fifteen months (even when I had the backing of my Mother, a trained Sick Kids’ nurse). So this week, I visited the Emergency centre at the PRH on three different occasions – averaging about five hours a visit. I’m not going to bore you with the details – if you are on a need-to-know basis, e-mail me!! The most repetitive component – waiting!! While the sessions with the various medical specialists might take no more than half-an-hour, it would sometimes be an entire hour before I would see the next person – and they always wanted to wait for some interim results. So let’s get right to the conclusions: no silent heart attack (remember, I went in about a pain in my foot), not likely a serious case of gout (but quit drinking and take your heart medicine), uncertain why the foot and lower leg are swelling (though no blood clots – according to the MRI) and baffled why the weight gain of over 3 kgs in 4 days… BUT, I got to work on my latest book (which, by the way, is different than Book II which I started after Christmas), got a decent nap on Friday morning, was recognized by the ECG lady when she came to do my second ECG and was also recognized by a triage nurse who then had me explain to another nurse why she recognized me…

Other than the pain not quite a week ago when I tried to walk, I have felt good all week. Now that I can walk again, I am wondering why I seem to be returning to Orca status (and that, by the way, is not a whale joke – it’s a dolphin one!!). Finally, I wonder if I ever will see my Penticton doctor again – he is a nice guy and rides a Gold Wing I think…

Oh well, these are crazy times. A colleague returned from Hawaii with his wife – they had received there, both their Moderna vaccine shots… they were immediately required to stay at a Fairmont (though he got a deal – only a couple grand, I’ve spent more than that at a Fairmont just to sit in their bar!!) – when they were allowed to go home they had to quarantine for another two weeks. Is there anyone out there (other than a member of the PMO) that still thinks we are being led by people who understand anything about managing a virus?

Happy Mother’s Day, although I must say that I got a bit of an awakening on that score too. On Thursday the LTC where my Mother resides, arranged through my Super Sister to have a ZOOM conference call with the siblings and our mother. It was a delightful conversation. As the time was running out our poetic brother (who is a song-writer and talented musician) undertook to conclude the call with some wonderful words about Mom and ended by telling her that we loved her and she was an excellent Mother to which Mom replied: I did the best with what I was given! (While the staff were splitting their sides with laughter and the siblings were wondering what could be a comeback, mercifully the ZOOM conference call was terminated!!)

Enjoy your week!!
g.w.