Category: Environment


ICE

English: Thomas Nast's most famous drawing, &q...

English: Thomas Nast’s most famous drawing, “Merry Old Santa Claus”, from the January 1, 1881 edition of Harper’s Weekly. Thomas Nast immortalized Santa Claus’ current look with an initial illustration in an 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly, as part of a large illustration titled “A Christmas Furlough” in which Nast set aside his regular news and political coverage to do a Santa Claus drawing. The popularity of that image prompted him to create another illustration in 1881. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The streets about Merritt are covered in ice this morning. Rain yesterday  and freezing temperatures overnight have joined to make it very slippery . By 10 am sanding was near complete in the city and no powerline problems are clear.

Last evening nearly 200 thousand people in Toronto Canada were still without power, do to ice , and were expecting not to have any through Christmas Day.

Editors note:Ice can fall from roofs and although large icicles arte pretty they can seriously hurt or maim if they fall on you.

Today in history: December 24th 1955

Norad begins its Santa Claus tracking program.

English: This is a logo for Teck Cominco.

English: This is a logo for Teck Cominco. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Teck, Highland Valley Mine operation near Logan Lake in BC has been under going an expansion. The mill building was the center of the upgrade as well as three domes that put some operations inside at the huge mine. A source says that the mill will be commissioned in February 2014.

Iron workers at  the project told us that they are in the process of removing the huge amount of scaffolding around the 80 foot tall mill structure.

Today in history: December 20th 1916

Micheal Chartrand , Canadian union leader born. (d 2010)

Weights and Measures Canada

manitence contractors also test for weighs and measures say a source

Maintenance contractors also test for weights and measures say a source

Ever wonder if you are getting what you pay for at the gas pump? Yesterday the Petro Canada station at the top of the hill was half roped off and being worked by technicians from Protec petroleum services 1.888.799.7987. One of the two workers when asked said he was doing regular maintenance of the pumps. When asked if weights and measures do the meter testing he said ” we do that for them every two years we test 20 liters to see if the pumps are accurate.” Here is the context:

Effective January 1, 2007, initial inspections of scales, gasoline dispensers and other types of measurement systems used in any trade sector, must be acquired from Measurement Canada authorized service providers. In cases where there are fewer than two authorized service providers, capable of providing the type of inspection service required, in the province in which the measurement system is to be inspected, Measurement Canada will continue to provide the service. For initial inspections required outside of the provinces (i.e. Northwest Territories), Measurement Canada will only provide the service if there are fewer than two authorized service providers in the adjoining provinces who typically provide these types of services in these locations.

Authorized service providers may be accredited or registered by Measurement Canada. A list of Accredited Service Providers and a list of Registered Service Providers can be found on Measurement Canada’s internet site. The scope of the inspection services which can be provided by registered organizations is directly linked to trade sector review recommendations and may have some limitations. These same limitations do not necessarily apply to accredited organizations.

The use of Measurement Canada authorized service providers to provide initial inspection services is in keeping with our commitment to focus Measurement Canada resources on establishing rules and requirements related to measurement, investigating occurrences of suspected inaccurate measurement, and monitoring the performance of authorized service providers and of the marketplace. Authorized service providers will increasingly do inspections on Measurement Canada’s behalf.

The Government of Canada and this ministry will also take up complaints and not only gas pumps but firewood , electric and gas meters, retail scales and others.

http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/mc-mc.nsf/eng/h_lm00007.html

Editors note: Health Canada has the people responsible for wireless radation from meters.

Today in history: November 27th 2001

A hydrogen atmosphere is discovered on Osiris and extra solar planet, by the Hubble space telescope.

Winter

The temperature is dropping to about -11 c today with serious snow on the ground here in Merritt at our 600 odd meter home. It feels homey and there is less traffic.

When we quipped to Everett Spahan that he was dressed like he had just come out of the Mongolian Step he affirmed the metaphor and posed for this picture.

Everett Spahan in the empty lot that borders coopers in Merritt BC.  First cold day of winter.

Everett Spahan in the empty lot that borders Coopers in Merritt BC. First cold day of winter.

Up date: at 7:30 this morning the temperature was -18 with the windchill.

Today in history: November 20th 1917

The Ukraine is declared a republic.

Antarticia, the key wildlife paradise

Merritt, British Columbia

Merritt, British Columbia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alan Burger the president of the local Nicola naturalist Society is presenting at the Thursday meeting of the Society.

Alan is from South Africa and was a teacher at the University of Victoria in British Columbia he is now a Merritt resident.

Burger regularly works as a lecturer naturalist on Eco tourism ships in both polar caps.

The presentation is on Thursday, November 21 at 7:00 PM in the NVIT lecture theater, no food or drinks there is free parking, and membership or donation requested.

Today in History: November 19th 1863

Abraham Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address calling for the preservation of the equality of man under law.

Quick Charge

500 volt 120 amp quick charger

500 volt 120 amp quick charger

There is a new quick charger at the Arena parking lot on Voght street. The 500 volt 120 amp charger was put in place by Hub electric last week and the worker thought it would be in service this week.

Today in history: November 12th 1927

Joseph Stalin takes control of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky is kicked out  of the Communist party

$1.27.9

Merit of Merritt

Its good that it is friday….

The price of gasoline has dropped once again as the Petro Canada station  at the junction of 5A, 97C and highway 8 is selling regular gas at $1.27.9 down one cent a liter from last week.

A motorist was queried about his use of the premium grade gasoline at a shell outlet this week ” My new taurus requires it” ” I don’t get the power or mileage with the lower grades.” The man said, he also related experience in the trucking industry in the US.

Today in History: November 8th 1895

An experiment with electricity leads to the discovery of X rays

Ocean Wise Super Saturday

Delphinapterus leucas at Vancouver Aquarium

Delphinapterus leucas at Vancouver Aquarium (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

November 9th is a super Saturday for the Vancouver Aquarium, the facility will be open an hour early for its members. BC hydro is endorsing ocean awareness and the Vancouver aquarium. The power smart people from hydro will be there also to give out winter power conservation tips. http://www.bchydro.com/news/conservation/2013/ocean-wise-month.html?WT.mc_id=c-13-11_oceanwise

 editors Note:

There is a great concern about the ocean and its endangered species, over fishing cruelty to sharks and bait. The Vancouver aquarium will give an appreciation for its beauty and value past commercial interests.

Today in History: November 6 1991

The last oil well fire in Kuwait is put out.

Fog

DSC_0220

The whole valley is filled with for this morning . Vehicles were driving with headlights on  in the early morning hours.

Fog is a collection of liquid water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth’s surface.[1] While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term “fog” is typically distinguished from the more generic term “cloud” in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated locally (such as from a nearby body of water, like a lake or the ocean, or from nearby moist ground or marshes).[2] Fog is distinguished from mist only by its density, as expressed in the resulting decrease in visibility: Fog reduces visibility to less than 1 km (5/8 statute mile), whereas mist reduces visibility to no less than 1 km.[3] For aviation purposes in the UK, a visibility of less than 5 km but greater than 999 m is considered to be mist if the relative humidity is 70% or greater – below 70% haze is reported.[4][citation needed].Wikipedia

Merritt remains foggy at mid morning and visibility is limited to the inner valley. Be SEEN

Today in History: October 24th 1229

The Stock market crashes in what comes to be called Black Thursday

E85

 Middleton Petroluem Services tech reading shell station for  the availability of e 85 fuel.

Middleton petroleum Services tech reading shell station for the availability of e 85 fuel.

The local shell station at the top of the hill on Voght street is purging the fuel tanks getting ready for an ethanol upgrade. The technician doing the purge says that ethanol is a cleaner so if they don’t purge the tank of bottom debris then the ethanol will do it and their filters will plug up.

E 85 fuel is up to 85 percent denatured ethanol fuel and 15 percent gasoline. it is often used by flex-fuel vehicles and is popular in corn-growing states in the US midwest.

Other alternatives to gasoline include diesel fuel making sure you have summer grade of winter (stove oil) grade fuel at the right times can be a problem and the cash out lay is greater for a diesel equipped ca;r but users say the economy is good over time.

There is a marked loss in gas mileage depending on the amount of ethanol in the gas, E85 may have less than half ethanol at times for a listing of ethanol free stations go to: http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=BC

Bio fuels are a good thing however the estimate that at 20 percent use of bio fuels would start to cut into the food supply still seem to ring true. Choices and odd man out are still attractive and are often tied to price and what  the person will pay for their preferences.

Update: Today October 1st saw fuel being delivered to the local shell, no e 85. A source says that there is 10 percent ethanol in the regular brand and none in the premium brand. There is a 9 cent price spread between them.

The 10 percent ethanol is said to be the same across the province for Shell stations.

Today in history: September 24 th 1948

The Honda Motor Company is founded.

TGIF

Merit

Have a great weekend.


Today in history: September 20th 1977

The republic of Vietnam becomes a member of the United Nations.

Fish stocking

The non profit society that stocks the lakes with trout fry is about Merritt today. A worker said ” we are stocking Salmon Lake today”. Salmon lake is on the historic douglas lake Cattle company ranch and has a dock at its store and cabin facility there.

The Society is funded by a portion of all the fishing licences sold in British Columbia.

Today in history: September 5th 1969

United States Army LT William Calley charged with the murder of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai.