Category: Sports and Leisure


Ice fish

Soap stone

Soap stone carvings
by Ed Hendrix of Ponderosa Sports
a big supporter of local lake fishing.
file Photo KDG

The local fish and game group is sponsoring an Ice fishing derby on the coming weekend at Mammete lake. The time of the completion is from 8Am to 2PM on Sunday the 17th. there is free hot chocolate and coffee and hotdogs will be available. The entry fee is Fifteen Dollars a person and a max of 30 dollars a family.
Various prizes are offered.
FMI: http://www.nvfishandgameclub.ca

Editors note:  Ice conditions may vary when recreating be safe  carry a rope.
On this Day: January 13th 1942
Henry Ford introduces a plastic car 30 percent lighter then metal. The Soybean Car developed in part with George Washington Carver.

Kiosk for education

 

DSC_8640

Broken sign no contract….File Photo KDG

There is a kiosk at a sensitive grasslands area here in Merritt. It is dedicated to a local, Laurie Guichion , a rancher and the former chair of the Nicola Valley Community Round table. Laurie lost his life in a motorcycle accident years ago, however his legacy remains as the grasslands he loved is somewhat guarded by the awareness to the sensitive area. The published information isat the kiosk at the entrance of the Lundbom Lake grasslands area at he top of Hamilton Hill leaving Merritt on the connector east of town.
The Trans Mountain Pipeline company owned by Kinder Morgan is reporting that another such facility is installed through a contribution to a Kamloops social action group.

The project was completed on a sunny day in early October. Constructed off-site, the structure transported to the Lac Du Bois Grasslands in two parts. KBRA volunteers worked to prepare the site by digging two holes to hold the kiosk posts. Once on-site, the kiosk frame was pieced together, placed in the holes and reinforced with concrete footings. After placing a roof on the structure, the map panel was incorporated.

The Kamloops Bike Riders Association has placed it at the head of its Lac Du Bois trail.
It is said to give awareness of the combined value of recreation and grasslands sensitivity and the ability to co exist.
Trans mountain is nearing the end of a process to get permission to twin its 60 year old line to Edmonton that passes north east of Merritt’s airstrip.

Editors note: Trans Mountain has operated here for 60 years without any serious trouble we think that the twinning will bring scrutiny to the aging infrastructure here producing a net security benefit.

http://www.transmountain.com/updates/lac-du-bois-grasslands-trailhead-kiosk-successfully-installed?utm_source=Trans+Mountain+Today+December+31&utm_campaign=TM+Today+12%2F31%2F15&utm_medium=email

On this Day: January 7th 1990

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public for safety concerns

 

 

TGIF-98.9

Crows at local gas bar !! File Photo KDG

Crows at local gas bar !!
File Photo KDG

Gasoline at the local Petro Canada are under a dollar a liter. 98 cents are a lot better but not as good as prices under 80 cents in some prairie provinces.

Average price in the province at this 112.4 lowest 94.9 trending higher: http://www.gasbuddy.com/
on this Day: December 18th 1932

The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans in the first NFL championship game.

Marketing the galaxies

The new star wars movie is coming with a lot of marketing of the images. Big money in that brand. People need to pay for legitimate stuff or pay the price for your crime.

Counterfeit consumer products have a reputation for being lower quality (sometimes not working at all) and may even include toxic elements. This has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, due to automobile and aviation accidents, poisoning, or ceasing to take essential compounds (e.g. in the case a person takes non-working medicine)

Enjoy the excitement of the wakening of all those Jedis.

https://twitter.com/ParisInstagram/status/677251118112620544 

 

 

On this Day: December 17th 497 BC

The first festival in Ancient Rome to the god Saturn.

It’s a movie

On this Day: December 16th 1995

The first official use of the name EURO.

Live auction

Merritt has a walk of stars walk and a hall of fame. File Photo KDG

Merritt has a walk of stars walk and a hall of fame.
File Photo KDG

The Chamber is completing its silent auction with a live auction at 5 PM tonight at the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame building 2025  Quilchena Avenue.  Two of the fourteen trees decorated for the  parade on Friday will be sold by the parade committee.

The Hall of Fame is a progression from the activities around the Walk of Stars and the years of country music festivals in Merritt.:

http://www.ccmhalloffame.com/about/visit/walk-of-stars

 

On this Day: December 3rd 1959

Singapore changes its flag after six months of independence from Great Britain.

 

Finish the Sentence

The Merritt public library is having a finish the sentence contest. Patrons of the 1691 Garcia street facility can take out three books pile them in a staggered row to make a continuous sentence from the combined titles.
The contestants are then to take a picture of the pile of books and submit it to the library for posting and a vote. There is a prize of a large chocolate basket. Entries are due December 1st.

On this Day: November 25th 1999
The United nations makes an international observance of women’s suffrage.

Download Speeds Netflix

We will see if some accounts of 100 megabits per second will stand, for now here is some info on broadband applications we think is accurate. One thing for sure there is a lot of utilities activities in the small central interior City of Merritt.

The upgrade and stitching of Telus fiber optics is in full charge. A line worker said that this community is lucky as we will have the highest speed internet available. “Good for Netflix, digital to the home”. Telus is also installing some new poles on Garcia Street, often phone lines are shared on Hydro poles and are the lower lines about 2 meters lower then power lines.

Below are the Internet download speed recommendations per stream for playing movies and TV shows through Netflix.
•0.5 Megabits per second – Required broadband connection speed
•1.5 Megabits per second – Recommended broadband connection speed
•3.0 Megabits per second – Recommended for SD quality
•5.0 Megabits per second – Recommended for HD quality
•25 Megabits per second – Recommended for Ultra HD quality, source: Netflix
HD Video Quality

Movies and TV shows that are available in high definition will play in 720p or better with a fast enough Internet connection. To watch Netflix in HD, ensure you have an HD plan, then set your video quality setting to High in the Playback Settings for your account.

A source says Telus is providing 7MB/s now and is going to 100 Megs/a second:
stichers on the site maintain it is the highest TELUS will offer meaning 10 megs or 1000 bites a second

What Internet Speeds Are Available?

While there are many rural communities that cannot even reach the 2 Mb/s speed, more of the larger cities, suburbs and urban areas have speeds available of 10 Mb/s and above. It is not limited to broadband/cable internet. In some cases internet speeds nearing 20 Mb/s from a DSL internet connection may be available.

The workers on the project puff the value of the work but it appears that an improvement is coming to this small rural community that will give the choice to those that may want it , higher speeds to watch in particular Netflix films in better definitions. Modems are a concern when matching performance to what is offered. Buyer Beware.
Editors note: David Calloway writes a good explanation of Broadband speeds here:
http://broadband.about.com/od/speedissues/a/Broadband-Speeds-Explained.htm

On this Day: November 4th 1822

Howard Carter finds the Tomb of King Tut.

Not all poles are equal File Photo KDG

Not all poles are equal
File Photo KDG

TGIF- Halloween

Halloween

Trick or Treatment

Wear reflective clothing stay safe this weekend.

On this Day: October 30th 1947
The General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs comes about.

Pacific forest Rally Oct 4-5th

Pacific Forest Rally: file photo KDG

October 23 and 24th ,2015 will see the Pacific Forest Rally, and 21 rally vehicles * brochure 33 according to a source, take to the back roads about Merritt. Dust and spills add to the excitement as the competitors drive ,through Helmer Gates, Coldwater, and Dillard rds., off 5 and 5A/97C.
Our featured event: Friday October 23rd 4:30/5:30 PM car display on Granite Avenue.

http://www.pacificforestrally.com

On this day: October 23rd 1707

The first parliament of Great Britain meets.

Bear deterrent

Bear deterrent Photo KDG

Bear deterrent
Photo KDG

Does this work a recent TV show on Alaska showed a fellow that placed spray cans in trees to stop bears ” they get an bang and a taste” He didn’t show one that had been bitten into however a first hand account of a local ranch person relates a bear biting into a spray can and there was ” no deterrent ” turns out it was a can of whipped cream. I wonder why.
The dumpster in the picture had a deer hide and horns in it illegally dumped no bites yet….
Editors note: using ammonia in balloons can blind a bear permanently and make him very dangerous.

On this day: October 21 2013

Smog closes schools in Harbin China.

Interesting cars, a lifestyle that appeals, access to cheap fuel ,open roads and some leisure time, when this car was new... File Photo KDG

Interesting cars, a lifestyle that appeals, access to cheap fuel ,open roads and some leisure time, when this car was new…
File Photo KDG

The local gas price came down a cent a liter this week . Retail gas prices have a range of value including lower efficiency ethanol content. It is good to shop around loyalty programs can also take of cents per liter.

At this writing the British Columbia average is $1.13 a liter, national average is $1.05 and the trend is rising.

https://www.gasbuddy.com/GasPrices/BC

On this day: October 9th 1604
Super Nova 1604 is observed in the Milky way.