A contractor was flushing out the sprinkler system at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena on the 29th. Fire safe from Salmon Arm had hoses connected to the system on both sides of the building, and water was flushing through a fine filter at the end of it and into the storm sewer. the rusty water was the result of the 15 year time since any flow had been in it, according to a worker that identified himself as just a helper.
The Nicola Valley Memorial Arena, is home to the oldest BCJHL hockey team in the province, and had a major reno and expansion some two decades ago.
Today in history: July 30th 1729
The foundation of the city Baltimore.
Category: Environment
Fire fighting crews got a a break from the heat by way of heavy rain yesterday. Two helicopters were seen over the airstrip around noon, just before a brief ice storm was followed by a summer cloud burst. People were kept in the local Starbucks for about a half an hour as thunder and heavy rain fell. One conversation about what to do if the power went off, was answered by an offical, the plan is use the made coffee and call to see how long it would be off. If it was hours then the store would close. Editors note: most public buildings over a capacity have emergency lighting, some like hospitals have emergency generators.
Three days of rain are in the forecast from Wednesday, thursday morning is forecast to feel like 9 degrees c.
Friday should see partly sunny conditions with 25 degree C temperatures, here.
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/canada/british-columbia/merritt
Today in history: July 24th 1866
Reconstruction, Tennessee becomes the first state readmitted to the US after the civil war.
There is a lake up in the Coquihalla Valley , a small lake about 1000 feet wide in a narrow area. The lake has cabins on it and it is considered scenic. The access is off the freeway near the Juliet creek bridge, in the area of Larson hill. There was a fire South of there and presumable from the conditions of wind and conditions the two helicopter working to extinguish the fire had to go over Merritt and to Nicola lake to get their water buckets filled. The fire was discovered Monday, thought to have been started by lightning it has prompted an evacuation order for the residents in the area, of the fire, not Merritt. The order comes from the Thompson Nicola Regional District.
The Vernon info news has published what an evacuation order means to those effected by it: http://infotel.ca/newsitem/evacuation-order-issued-for-murray-lake/it11597
The absence of helicopters being seen going by Merritt Thursday to Nicola lake may mean that ground crews are in there and have a measure of control over the fire.
Get authoritive information at the regional district site: http://www.tnrd.ca/ click the red button to see what it means to you.
Today in history: July 18th 2013
The government of Detroit files for bankruptcy with a record 20 billion dollars of debt.
A bus used by firefighters from New Mexico,sits in a local motel.
Photo KDG
At one time firefighting was a nuisance tackled by the authorities and community . Decades ago a forest fire saw untrained conscripts and people who logged or mined in the bush thrown at a fire in a makeshift way. today with technology and a closeness of population to possible fire it has become more of a science. and professionals are often sent to help other jurisdictions to deal with overwhelming fires.
The local scene here saw a training facility opened at our airstrip with a capacity of 58 and three classrooms in joins a permanent presence that sees fire fighters trained every summer, often students from college or universities securing employment for the summer. The nearly 5 million dollar facility was opened last September. And echoed the commitment of words by the Forest minister ” we have an international reputation for fire fighting and hit it hard and hit it fast is our modus operandi.”
Lets hope that this a reality this summer as hotter weather is drying out the country side here.
http://infotel.ca/newsitem/new-provincial-training-centre-opens-in-merritt/it4348
Today in History: July 17th 2001
The supersonic Concord returns to service a year after a 2000 crash.
A 58,000 liter fuel truck delivers gasoline to a service station
Photo KDG
A source says this truck , in the 40 degree heat a 6000 liter delivery may have been 5500 liters.
The holding tanks in a service station are in the cool ground and we estimate that the gasoline would return to its volume density fairly quickly, however if you have the choice and you know of a delivery you may get better value sometime after a delivery on a hot 40 degree day. Perhaps gas up would be better in the early morning hours in the current conditions.
Quality gasoline should be stable almost indefinitely if stored properly. Such storage should be in an airtight container (to prevent oxidation or water vapors mixing), and which can withstand the vapor pressure of the gasoline without venting ( to prevent the loss of the more volatile fractions), and at a stable cool temperature (to reduce the excess pressure from liquid expansion, and to reduce the rate of any decomposition reactions). When gasoline is not stored correctly, gums and solids may be created, which can corrode system components and accumulate on wetted surfaces, resulting in a condition called “stale fuel”. Gasoline containing ethanol is especially subject to absorbing atmospheric moisture, then forming gums, solids, or two phases (a hydrocarbon phase floating on top of a water-alcohol phase).
The presence of these degradation products in fuel tank, lines, carburetor or fuel injection components makes it harder to start the engine, or causes reduced engine performance. On resumption of regular engine use, the buildup is often eventually cleaned out by the flow of fresh gasoline. The addition of a fuel stabilizer to gasoline can extend the life of fuel that is not or cannot be stored properly. Some typical fuel stabilizers are proprietary mixtures containing mineral spirits, isopropyl alcohol, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene,or other additives. Fuel stabilizer is commonly used for small engines, such as lawnmower and tractor engines, especially when their use is seasonal (low to no use for one or more seasons of the year). Users have been advised to keep gasoline containers more than half full and properly capped to reduce air exposure, to avoid storage at high temperatures, to run an engine for ten minutes to circulate the stabilizer through all components prior to storage, and to run the engine at intervals to purge stale fuel from the carburetor Source Wikipedia
We think that if you fill your tank in the current temperatures that filling to the top may not be advisable. However expansion of the tank in your vehicle is also a consideration.
Apparent and absolute expansion
When measuring the expansion of a liquid, the measurement must account for the expansion of the container as well. For example, a flask, that has been constructed with a long narrow stem filled with enough liquid that the stem itself is partially filled, when placed in a heat bath will initially show the column of liquid in the stem to drop followed by the immediate increase of that column until the flask/liquid/heat bath system has thermalized. The initial observation of the column of liquid dropping is not due to an initial contraction of the liquid but rather the expansion of the flask as it contacts the heat bath first. Soon after, the liquid in the flask is heated by the flask itself and begins to expand. Since liquids typically have a greater expansion over solids the liquid in the flask eventually exceeds that of the flask causing the column of liquid in the flask to rise. A direct measurement of the height of the liquid column is a measurement of the Apparent Expansion of the liquid. The Absolute expansion of the liquid is the apparent expansion corrected for the expansion of the containing vessel
Our final word is be more careful with gasoline and its vapour in the heat. KDG
update: A comment from facebook:
Rory wrote: “Good article Kev. When I was towing, we would get calls from either the police or fire to tow away parked vehicles that were leaking gasoline caused by full tanks and heat expansion.”
Today in History: July 16th 1994
The comet shoe maker collides with Jupiter
Nicola Valley Cruisers show
File photo KDG
The local vintage car bunch is having their annual show and shine on July 27th 2014. The event is usually at Central park, TBA for times.
The event is mid summer when there is likely hood for very good weather . There are raffle’s and support for crime stoppers as well as some opportunity to purchase rare vintage auto parts in past events.
FMI call 250-378-5761: Nicola Valley Cruisers
Today in history: July 11th 1576
Martin Frobisher sights Greenland.
Gas price, the availability of fuel
Photo KDG
On July 4th there was another step in the ladder for approval of the twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline to Burnaby, the company a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan has operated a pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby for 60 years. The line goes by Merritt by the local airstrip. the twinning is to accommodate Tar sands bitumen and is still controversal. To see the regulatory timeline and construction schedule visit: http://application.transmountain.com/whats-next?utm_source=Trans+Mountain+Today+Jul+3rd+2014+&utm_campaign=TM+Today+07%2F03%2F14&utm_medium=email
The July 4th step was the filing of intervener requests and supplemental filings asked for by the NEB of Trans Mountain. this is leading up to the NEB Public hearings in January 2015.
Nofossil, a Tesla model S charging. The rear plate says nofossil
Photo KDG
There was a new Tesla model S in the charge station on Voght street on Sunday. The car had a rear personalized plate: nofossil,the plates were from the state of Nevada.The Tesla S is an all electric vehicle and is manufactured in the State of California with about 30,000 in service. There are few parts that require servicing and the braking system takes the energy and generates it into electricity to charge the battery this begins immediately when takeing your foot off the accelerator.
The Tesla model S is a four door sedan type car billed as sound stage quiet. Its production replaces that of the Tesla roadster that is seen from time to time but is out of production.The production of these cars in a moderate quantity has in part provoked major car manufactures to go into the production of EVs, there is even a Cadillac model that has a range of about 70 kilometres a charge on electric but has a small 1.4 liter charging engine that can continue for nearly 500 KMs without a fuel stop, the charging engine generates electricity and puts it through the battery system similar to the concept of diesel-electric submarines .The GM Cadillac sells in the 70 thousand dollar range, The Tesla all electric about 100 thousand. GM also has the Chevy volt at less than 40,000 dollars, and Nissan Leaf in that price range.
Still thought of as a novelty they are smooth and quiet and have gotten a boost with the raising of freeway speeds to 120 KMs per hour, in BC, as a fast quite ride is likely to go over well when considering a trip.
The car was at the 90 amp AC charger and not the 120 amp DC charger, Tesla, the original mad scientist was in a contention with inventor Thomas Edison over the desirability of direct current over alternating current a hundred some years ago. Thomas Edison also invented the electric chair and showed off its power by electrocuting Elephants at State fairs.
Edison’s true success, like that of his friend Henry Ford, was in his ability to maximize profits through establishment of mass-production systems and intellectual property rights. George Westinghouse and Edison became adversaries because of Edison’s promotion of direct current (DC) for electric power distribution instead of the more easily transmitted alternating current (AC) system promoted by Westinghouse. Unlike DC, AC could be stepped up to very high voltages with transformers, sent over thinner and cheaper wires, and stepped down again at the destination for distribution to users.
In 1887, there were 121 Edison power stations in the United States delivering DC electricity to customers. When the limitations of DC were discussed by the public, Edison launched a propaganda campaign to convince people that AC was far too dangerous to use. The problem with DC was that the power plants could economically deliver DC electricity only to customers within about one and a half miles (about 2.4 km) from the generating station, so that it was suitable only for central business districts. When George Westinghouse suggested using high-voltage AC instead, as it could carry electricity hundreds of miles with marginal loss of power, Edison waged a “War of Currents” to prevent AC from being adopted.
The war against AC led him to become involved in the development and promotion of the electric chair (using AC) as an attempt to portray AC to have greater lethal potential than DC. Edison went on to carry out a brief but intense campaign to ban the use of AC or to limit the allowable voltage for safety purposes. As part of this campaign, Edison’s employees publicly electrocuted stray or unwanted animals to demonstrate the dangers of AC;[65][66] alternating electric currents are slightly more dangerous in that frequencies near 60 Hz have a markedly greater potential for inducing fatal “cardiac fibrillation” than do direct currents.[67] On one of the more notable occasions, in 1903, Edison’s workers electrocuted Topsy the elephant at Luna Park, near Coney Island, after she had killed several men and her owners wanted her put to death.[68] His company filmed the electrocution.
AC replaced DC in most instances of generation and power distribution, enormously extending the range and improving the efficiency of power distribution. Though widespread use of DC ultimately lost favor for distribution, it exists today primarily in long-distance high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Low-voltage DC distribution continued to be used in high-density downtown areas for many years but was eventually replaced by AC low-voltage network distribution in many of them.[69]
DC had the advantage that large battery banks could maintain continuous power through brief interruptions of the electric supply from generators and the transmission system. Utilities such as Commonwealth Edison in Chicago had rotary converters or motor-generator sets, which could change DC to AC and AC to various frequencies in the early to mid-20th century. Utilities supplied rectifiers to convert the low voltage AC to DC for such DC loads as elevators, fans and pumps. There were still 1,600 DC customers in downtown New York City as of 2005, and service was finally discontinued only on November 14, 2007.[69] Most subway systems are still powered by direct current. source wikipedia
Merritt has recently become part of the charging station grid in BC that includes about 500 stations. : http://www.teslamotors.com/ there is a service center for Tesla now in Vancouver at929 Robson street: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=929+Robson+Street,+Vancouver,+BC,+Canada&hl=en&sll=37.269174,-119.306607&sspn=21.5387,23.554687&oq=929+Robson+Street&hnear=929+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6Z+2V7,+Canada&t=m&z=17
“We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.”[52] thomas edison
The sun the source of all energy Photo: KDG
The current monarch of Great Britain just celebrated her 88th birthday, that was the official birthday it is celebrated some months apart from her actual one. Elizabeth the second was born on April 22 1926. She was crowned in 1952 on February 6th. Her ancestor Victoria was monarch for 67 years, she has served 62 years and 4 months to this time making her 93 years old to reach the record of Victoria. She has caught up to George the 3rd who reigned 3 months short of 60 years to take the second longest crowned monarch in Great Britain.
The Crown of Great Britain has not got power in Canada any longer, neither do her ministers, the legal governing authority is the Parliament of Canada, however we are not representative government as the Americans are. Referendums and other actions are not binding on Parliament however the parliament can only last 5 years without a general election by the people. The Queen is still technically the commander in chief of our armed forces through the Governor General, this is ceremonial and not functional as the Chief of the defence staff, usually a military officer, is accountable to the Cabinet for this, which can make decisions according to the laws parliament arms them with.
The whole thing is dependant on people who vote in or out members of parliament. Private business is subject to laws of parliament which include permits and regulations that they seek to have as advantageous as possible to their interests. The invisible hand of market capitalism is less invisible in Canada then in the US.
The public interest is something more directly valued then the trickle down sentiment in the US and the recent letting of permission by the Federal Cabinet for a pipeline in British Columbia has many demands above simple economics here. The 209 conditions are as potent now as they were before the approval. As are the 5 conditions of the province.
A birth right extends to all Canadians with residual benefit to her commonwealth historical links as a trickling effect. We value our resources and expect the spending of them to be responsible and as sustainable as possible. An as the implementation of their use comes about, that they would not be dispersed as a drunken resource binge. That public safety and enjoyment of aesthetics will be as important as wealth creation.
So to those that historically braved the seas and risked life and limb for the future peace and prosperity of nations, such as David Thompson,and Simon Fraser ,we say, good day!
Editors Note: lots of luck and good fortune to the federal MPs in British Columbia
Today in history: June 20th 1837
Queen Victoria becomes monarch of Great Britain.
Nissan Leaf
At 500 volt 120 amp charging station
Photo KDG
The 500 volt 120 amp DC charger is getting use on Voght street, the owner of this car stopped the charge at 86 percent as he said that’s” better for the battery”. He had charged up in Hope about an hour to the west of Merritt. The approximate 1/2 hour charging stop, was on his way to Salmon Arm, ” I also use the 2 hour charger at my home”
One year ago, electric vehicle drivers in British Columbia would have been hard pressed to find a public charging station to top up their battery. Today, they have access to nearly 500 electric vehicle charging stations located throughout the province: source : One year ago, electric vehicle drivers in British Columbia would have been hard pressed to find a public charging station to top up their battery. Today, they have access to nearly 500 electric vehicle charging stations located throughout the province. source: http://blog.wwf.ca/blog/2013/11/14/charging-bc/
Charging stations have a number of capacities needing more or less time and attention:
New Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
UVic’s two new electric vehicle charging stations come into operation the week of April 2nd. These level 2 (240 volt), 60 amp stations from Sun Country Highway are available for use by the campus community and guests 24/7 outside the Campus Security Building in parking lot #2. They are located in metered parking spaces for a fee of $1.50 per hour (a $.25 premium over our regular parking rates) for a maximum of 2 hours. Funding for these stations has been provided by the BC government’s Community Charging Infrastructure Project, an incentive program that has funded over 500 electric vehicle charging stations across BC. Find out more about the program at the Plug In BC website.
Also note that the province recently announced an extension of the its Clean Energy Vehicle Incentive Program which provides BC residents with up to $5,000 off the pre-tax sticker price of qualifying new battery electric cars. source: http://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/home/news/current/EV%20Charging%20Stations.php
Editors note: The quotes above are dated. However this week sees the arrival of the BMW version of electric vehicle to the Vancouver market. The E1 is being sold as a mid range EV. The Province paper is reporting that it is a carbon fiber body usually only available at ” bank account breaking prices.” The BMW website is promoting a turbo charge cord as a quick and easy way to charge an EV. The cord has an adapter that can access 120 and 240 volt house wiring, Electric ranges and dryers have a 240 volt capacity, the 240 volt system depending on the amperage can increase charging conveinece by bringing time down to about 2 hours. It appears that the cord can be brought on trips where access to friends outlets may be available. There is no free power from private homes and they are metered in the normal way. The charging net work of public access remains free to users.
Access to some charging stations may require a key fob, particularly in the US, some universities are adding 25 cents an hour to the parking fee for charge stations. Key fobs are available at a monthly rate on AV sites and a visit rate.
Sun Country, EV
Photo KDG
Sun Country Electric Hyway is the business that is most seen in operations in Canada. The roadster seen is a discontinued Telsa model, its production was taken over by the Tesla model S with a range up to near 500 kilometers. A jaguar model Ev up to near 1.5 million is coming in the fall of 2015. the sun country website lists numbers of EV models from numbers of companies: https://suncountryhighway.ca/evfinder/
Sun country has an EV with a 1.5 liter gasoline charging engine that can be driven for hundreds of KMs and the vehicle used to run electric tools.
The Tesla model S has been involved in a couple of fires, the all aluminum body is flammable at high heat.
Watch out for proprietary adapters especially on Tesla roadsters, The Sun Country network 30 to 90 amp chargers are only accessible with an adapter, not free, for some Tesla products.
For the record, there were 187,500 “highway vehicle fires” in the US in 2011 (the last year for which data is available), according to the National Fire Prevention Association. But there was a fire yesterday that is starting to catch some attention, and we’re pretty sure you all know why. Electric vehicle fires – whether they be in China or the US, started while moving or stopped – often become comment fodder, even when we learn after the fact that the electric part of the powertrain has nothing to do with with the blaze. source:http://green.autoblog.com/2013/10/02/tesla-model-s-fire/
Today in history: June 17th 1994
OJ Simpson is arrested for the alleged murder of his ex-wife and boyfriend, after a slow speed chase.
June 11th saw a recruiting drive for oilfield jobs hosted by work BC at the Merritt Civic Center. A work BC representative said that there was over 100 interested people in attendance standing room only for the room rented.
“27 dollars an hour base rate” was heard from the power point presenter. We were not sure of the context as we cautioned about going into the room by a workplace BC official. registration was requested in the full-page ad ASCO an international oilfield company put in the local newspaper. They said that attendance was mandatory to arrange an interview. They also advertised that they would have on the spot hires.
They were offering jobs as class 1 and 3 drivers, mechanics, pickers , supervisors. 20 days in 10 out , accommodation provided. The jobs are in the oilpatch, ASCO bills itself as an international operator but the feeling was the session was geared to Alberta.
ASCO lists its headquarters, as: Regent Centre ,Regent Road ,Aberdeen, AB11 5NS United Kingdom on its linked in page.
The job fair is on the same day as a job action by the local school teachers, and the high school being not in service.
Today in history: June 12th 1776
The Virgina resolution, for the Declaration of rights is adopted.
Today in history: June 13th 1933
The Great Depression home owners refinancing act as part of the new deal increases amortization of mortgages to 20 – 25 years.
Today in history: June 13th 1970
The Beatles Long and Winding Road, song becomes their first number 0ne hit.
Kevin Griffiths
percypaschal
The Proprietor Review 