Darlene’s Memorial Opening Comments  November 2020

 Thank you for coming out today to honour and remember Darlene. She was so important to me and well thought of by so many friends and family alike. This became clearer when I posted about her illness on Facebook and later about her passing on September 18^th, all of the 87 responses had a common thread. It is quite clear that:

·          She was much loved by all

·         She was a beautiful lady

·         She had a heart for those in need

·         She was a tolerant, kind and a gentle soul

Clearly I knew all of that and more. I knew her as a wife, lover, friend and soulmate. She was my rock when things didn’t go quite the way I thought that they should. She never had a word of criticism through a couple of career changes. She just smiled and said “you’ll figure it out”. We had 29 wonderful years together.

While she was all of the things I just said and I thought I was the only one who knew this, she was also a very self-assured and may I say it – a strong willed person who clearly knew her mind. Turns out I was the last to find that out. All of her family had known that since she was a child. And I’m sure that you will hear more of that later.

Darlene and I enjoyed a good life together. Travel was important to both of us. We started our life together by getting married in Montego Bay in Jamaica. Then we travelled to some other fun places like Hawaii, Florida, Puerto Rico, St Thomas, San Francisco and Las Vegas. We also spent a lot of time in some not so fun places like the Down Town East Side cleaning rooms and helping tenants in four SOR’s on behalf of Community Builders. They also led us to Haiti beginning just after the 2010 earthquake through 2013 where she found her niche working with the kids in the school and the orphanage.

But we also got to go to other interesting places in Canada like southern Ontario, my birthplace. We went to the Badlands in Alberta, to Whitehorse and Dawson City in the Yukon, to Montreal and Quebec City and on to Charlottetown, PEI and to New Brunswick in the Maritimes. As well, we made the usual trips to Vancouver Island and Barkerville. We were blessed to have also many of those trips with good friends in our family plane all through Washington and Oregon.

All through those years we were a family. We argued with each other and we forgave each other. We tolerated each other’s idiosyncrasies. We suffered each other’s health issues. We prayed together. We moved twice. First from Brookswood to Clayton and then more recently to Langley City. In short we lived together. Now she is gone to her well-earned rest but I am going to continue to miss her.

Thank you for your patience in listening to that trip down memory lane and now I will shut up and allow others who know her as well and perhaps even better than me some time to share their remembrances...

I am honoured that people who were very important to Darlene have all offered to speak today. They are three members of her family. We will hear from Geoff and Tom Carr, Doug Lucier and a lifetime friend, Jill Rose.

 

 

 

B.C. AERO HOLDS FIRST TRAINING FOR VOLUNTEER PILOTS AND GROUND HANDLERS.

 

Saturday April 23 was going to be a busy day at the office for BC AERO. The work shop and hangars of the WEST COAST PILOT’S CLUB at the Langley airport would be filled with volunteers and guests. This was the site for the first ever training session for members of the BC Airlift Emergency Response Operation hosted by Sean Heaps, President of BC AERO and owner of WCPC and led by Sigmund B. Sort, Chief Preparedness Officer for BC AERO. The day would also include a well-advertised Open House where guests would tour the facility and meet the volunteers.

Early in the morning however, chaos was the order of the day. There were tables to be set up, aircraft parts to be moved, TV’s hooked up and chairs had to be found. “Swag” in the form of hoodies and T shirts complete with the corporate logo had to be arranged. Once the tables were all set, some higher power decided that the colour of the table cloths were wrong and they all needed to be changed.  Eventually, however all was ready. Volunteer pilots once signed in would spend the day learning what and who BC AERO is, what has been accomplished to date and what would be expected of them as participants when “the big one” occurs. The day long sessions covered a range of need to know items from pilot qualifications to cross border requirements. Sigmund’s dedication to safety and his background as an instructor and teacher was clearly demonstrated and noted that while it might have seemed that he never had an unspoken thought, his instruction was always on point.

We were instructed in marshalling aircraft, parking aircraft, loading aircraft whether they be on wheels or floats, on land or in the water, working around helicopters, awareness of both propellers, and rotors. What to touch and what not to. For example, no placing cargo on the wing of a low wing aircraft. And on and on it went, only relieved occasionally by coffee or nature breaks.

A hands-on session that included both loading and unloading an aircraft with emphasis on safety as well as weight and balance and gross weight concerns rounded out the day. Experienced staff led by Claire Neufeld who was instrumental in the success of the November event provided the expertise.

All of this effort was in preparation for the first international cross border disaster exercise to be held in cooperation with “Operation Thunder Run” planned for Saturday, June 18. The Washington based DART and California Cal DART groups will be testing their ability to respond to a simulated tsunami by flying supplies and personnel across Washington State in a dawn to dusk operation. They have 50 planes and volunteer pilots ready to go. BC AERO has been invited to join in. Our contribution will be the “real time” experience gained responding to the 2021 disaster in Southern BC.

Approximately 20 Canadian pilots will be flying from Langley to Bellingham, Washington and perhaps even beyond carrying some 30,000 pounds of donated non-perishable food stocks to Washington State. Just moving all that food could take as many as 3 flights each requiring at least 3 “round robin” flights. This requires not only the full coordination and cooperation with CBSA and US Customs officials on both sides of the border but also that each pilot have his or her ducks in a row. In addition to personal documentation such as passports, pilot’s license, current C of A, proof of insurance and a current customs decal. CANPAS and eAPIS filings will be needed and even a COVID vaccination proof, pilots will be required to wear photo identification badges that clearly identify them as members of BC AERO. We may even be able provide transportation for some media types such as the Globe and Mail and the Vancouver Sun.

Now I just hope my new passport and customs decal comes in time. Thanks to COVID I hadn’t looked at the passport in a while and sure enough it had expired. And then just for the icing on the cake, I caught COVID - after having three vaccinations.

                                                           

 

 

Political Correctness, Diversity and the Right to freedom of speech.

Opinion is defined by my copy of Mr. Webster’s book of words as:

“A belief not based on absolute certainty or positive knowledge but what seems true, valid or probable to one’s own mind”.

It is ok to have one; an opinion, that is. You just shouldn’t share it with anyone if it could be construed to be a little to the right. One may, however express any opinion that is liberal or to the left of centre. But, it seems that one is not allowed to express an opinion that is even a little bit to the right in this the second decade of the 21^st century.

No one should know where you stand on any issue, as expressing your thoughts could result in a criminal conviction for having that thought in the first place. Does that seem Orwellian to you?

If you should find the activities of a certain group offensive or disagree with the behaviours of persons in a parade, on a public street or park and dare to comment on it, you will find yourself the subject of ridicule, derision and possibly even prosecution for a hate crime. Our society sometimes penalizes those who commit offences of all magnitudes and sometimes not. While most might be offended by such behaviour; public nudity or obscenity displayed during a pride parade; that behaviour is not only condoned, but even encouraged.

People get offended all the time over things going on around them but are afraid to speak out. This seems to indicate that we no longer enjoy the freedom of expression for fear that expressing an opinion will offend someone. In fact we have lost our right to even mention that we are offended.

Standards of decency have been eroded to the point where anything is acceptable. Laws are being broken daily and nothing is being done. Whether it is using and or selling illegal drugs, or an illegal camp site in the inner city to name just a few. There seems to be no consequences for bad behaviour, just for expressing concern or outrage about it.

Current teaching in Surrey schools now includes instruction (to straight kids) how to come out as gay. I thought that we are to accept those who are different in their sexual orientation, not to try and create variations where none may exist. As well, the teachers in these same schools have now added the words boys, girls, mom and dad to the banned list.

Am I the only one who finds this offensive?

Can’t wait to see the hate mail on this one.

   The best lack all conviction, while the worst   

   Are full of passionate intensity.  YEATS – The Second Coming   published Nov 1920

 

 

 

Credit Where Credit is/was due or will the Cancel Culture prevail?

Even the expression: Politically Correct is no longer appropriate. Diversity is key to happiness. Racism is bad – yes I get that. But and there has to be a but…..is unfettered reconciliation the answer? In a climate that says we have to take Uncle Ben off rice boxes, Dr. Seuss off the shelf and Aunt Jemima from the syrup bottle, some ask how long can the US White House last?

Sports teams have changed their names and that list is long. The Edmonton Eskimos became the Edmonton Elks, The Cleveland Indians became the Cleveland Guardians and on it goes Can the Atlanta Braves be far behind?

In 2018 the City of Victoria removed a statue of Sir John A MacDonald from city hall. For those who don’t know, he was Canada’s first prime minister. Greatly disliked by some, considered a criminal by others this does not change the fact that he was one of our founding fathers and our first prime minister. Love him or hate him, Macdonald was responsible for completing the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR) that physically united Canada. In 1885 he incurred the wrath of the Metis population in Manitoba when he refused to commute Lois Riel’s death sentence for his part in the Northwest Rebellion; a sore point for those who demand reconciliation at any cost to this day.

In 2022 a statue of “Gassy Jack” Deighton was defaced and removed from Gastown in central Vancouver because he married a 12 year old native girl in 1870, 152 years ago.
This makes him a pedophile – by today’s standards, but not those of over a century and a half ago.

Ryerson University in Ontario has changed its name due to his (Ryerson’s) connection to the residential school issue. However existing graduation diplomas will still be valid. Surely they should also be rewritten?

These are just a few of the many rewrites that have or are occurring in Canada as we as a nation weep and moan about the real or perceived evil of past leaders without considering the context.

People are human and sometimes achieve greatness in spite of that. They were and are both great and small at the same time. Winston Churchill led the fight against facisism yet was considered by many to be a racist.

To name a few in the US’ past, Richard Cohen, an American writer of note has listed some of the following notables who have come into conflict with modern day revisionists.

Thomas Jefferson was a champion of religious freedom while at the same time, a slave owner; as was George Washington. Henry Ford created the automotive industry that we have today, paid his employees well and yet was an anti-Semite. Woodrow Wilson, America’s 28th president championed Women’s Rights, the 8 hour work day and helped create the League of Nations but also was a racist.

Removing statues from parks or names from schools and bridges will never change the history that these revisionists are upset about. Cohen said it best “Still we have an obligation to place historical figures in the context of their times and accord them what they, in some instances did not accord others: understanding.”

To paraphrase Cohen; people are never one thing or another. They are one thing and another.

Mike Davenport

April 26, 2022

 

Everything Electric

Once everything is electric, I wonder how we will manage. We don’t have enough electricity now to meet current needs (pun intended). I just heard a plea from the electric company to conserve power during the current (that word again) heat wave. It seems too many of us are running fans and air conditioners and not a few have electric cars and all of that impacts consumption.

Where will the electricity come from to meet the growing need? Two clear nonstarters are nuclear and diesel generation; the first because of fears real or imaginary about radiation. The second because it requires the use of that evil natural resource called oil.
That leaves just three options, wind, solar and hydro. But each have issues that have to be dealt with.

Wind generation requires the construction of large windmills on equally large areas of land and preferably in areas where there is consistent air movement. Perhaps both Ottawa and Victoria could be considered logical sites due to the volumes of hot air available in each.

Solar panels are used to absorb sunlight to generate electricity but require vast acreages to be effective and that takes the land out of use permanently.

Hydroelectric generation is the last resort as that also consumes land and river valleys and requires the construction of dams to contain the water to run the turbines to generate the power. A trial of ‘run of river’ was unsuccessful for a variety reasons. By the way, hydroelectric dams are not a very popular concept as illustrated by the controversy surrounding Site C in northern BC.

The environmental groups combined with global warming advocates will be happy when we stop using oil and building dams but how happy will they be when Netflix is off the air and their cel phones and IPads don’t work because there isn’t enough power to charge them and the electric company puts up the rates that makes it more expensive to drive their Tesla?

Insurance defined: The business of insuring against loss.

Insurance is something we are all familiar with. Love it or hate it (depending on whether your are the buyer or the seller) it is a necessary fact of life.

I, like you, have many different insurance policies; life insurance, house insurance, auto insurance, health and dental insurance and as I own an airplane, yes that too is insured. 

And that is what has my hair on fire tonight. It is renewal time again, something that seems to happen more often but the paper work says no. It is only once a year. I have owned and insured this particular plane for 30 years, all of which have been accident/claim free and yet my rates keep going up. 

This year it is an astounding 23% increase. Is there no reward for flying safely, paying exorbitant rates for fuel, $1.60 per litre, buying the latest safety equipment and maintaining the beast to ever increasing standards at ever increasing costs?

At what point does it become uneconomical? During the last 12 months, I flew just 17 hours. This due to COVID restrictions as we were not permitted to fly south to the US and were discouraged from travelling within the province as well. That pretty much restricted us to the circuit and a nearby practice area in order to maintain some semblance of competency. Yes, that is important in order to be safe and continue the claim free status. Using those numbers, each hour flown cost $100 just for insurance. With a fuel burn of 12 US gallons (45 litres) an hour, that is another $72.00 for fuel. Then you need to set some aside for maintenance and of course there is the hangar cost as well. It is getting a little pricey, eh what?

 

The New Normal –what will it be?

As I write this in late January in the midst of the uncertainty about COVID vaccine deliveries and a flattening but not declining incidence of infection, I wonder what 2021 will bring. When will we get back to enjoying life as we knew it “back then”? Everyone is concerned, especially those of us over 70. Uncertainty is the norm as no one let alone the politicos has a clue as to what tomorrow will bring.

The feds have sealed our borders, limiting flights into Canada, travel to the US and even closing the Caribbean to travel. I guess that means my frequent flyer points will continue to accumulate in spite of a desire to get out of town.

We can’t go to church or have a strata meeting. Everyone is told to stay home. No birthday or anniversary parties and even no funerals. Stores are closing permanently and the mall seems empty – because it is. Retailers can’t get inventory as shipments from China have been reduced. Perhaps in the long term that could turn out to be a blessing. Maybe Canadians will start making things once again. Come to think of it, making vaccines would be good.

Fear is everywhere. People are wearing masks in malls and stores, and even when outside or in their car and alone. It is difficult to read someone’s expression through a mask. Some are even wearing two masks based on the theory that if one is good, two must be twice as good.

TV programs are buying into this as well, with the characters wearing masks and making it hard to understand what they are muttering about – especially if you are a bit “hearing impaired”.

Virtual meetings are the current reality and the only option but they really don’t provide a good substitute for the real thing.

Will the vaccine bring relief from all of this? If we are to believe that then we also have to believe that another summer is lost as it won’t be till fall that all have received their shots.

I don’t have the answers, just more questions.