Archive January 2020  - July 2021

Barry Barth - R.I.P.

Message from Michael Barth and family:

We are sad to announce the passing of our father Barry Barth. I truly believe we hit the lottery as kids to have such a great dad. Always there for us and Mom. Always available to take us to countless sporting events and anything else we needed. Dad was a long term Lions club member serving the towns of Two Mountains and Campbellford for over 30 years. Dad was the guy at the party, playing guitar and singing for hours as people shouted for the next song. He was the bonnehomme de Carnival for as many years as I can recall. He loved the Two Mountains community, He loved the Arundel countryside as well as the last 20 years in Campbellford with mom. He loved his friends and family.

Thank you Dad. I love you buddy. We love you. So many people loved you. Rest in Peace.....

Two-Mountains' 100th Anniversary Coming Soon

On August 18th, Two-Mountains turns 100. I have been commissioned by the city to produce some videos to celebrate this milestone. I have been busy gathering pictures and video for this production. It will be a look at the past and present of our city. If you think you might have some pictures from the Two Mountains of old, I would gladly include them somewhere in my final product which will be available on the city's website. If you think you might have something of interest, drop me an email and I will arrange to have it digitized. Let's celebrate this fine anniversary.

Canada Day 2021 - A Look Inward

Canada Day celebrations were subdued this year as much reflection must be done regarding our history and the residential school treatment of native peoples. The planned community ride was cancelled and a sombre moment to remember was held on the grounds of Veteran's Hall. The event was recorded and then broadcast on YouTube in the evening. Due to the pandemic, Canada Day was marked virtually for the second year in row with an hour long YouTube compilation of songs and a tribute video by local group Skyline Drive. The first video of the noon time homage can be accessed here and the second where you are surely to see many people you recognize can be accessed through this link.
 

Stan Rose Open Horseshoe Tournament

Although Canada Day activities were mostly held virtually, the annual horseshoe tournament in memory of Stan Rose was held in Central Park. Tournament organizer Les Boyd was happy with the turnout as a few dozen participants competed for the honour. In the end, the team of Rollie Fiset and Steve Schoenthaler defeated Shawn McCarten and Paul Goyetche in a hard fought final game to claim bragging rights for the year.

Carol Wetmore Art Exhibit At The Deux-Montagnes Library

Two-Mountains' own Carol Wetmore has been inspired to paint landscapes for years. When they moved to our little city in 1977, Carol found many places in the surrounding area that she loved to paint. From June 1st to July 29th, 15 of her works will be on display at the library. If you can't get to see them in person, a video is available with Carol narrating what her thought process was for each of the paintings. It's an 11 minute look at her beautiful works and it can be seen by clicking on the picture to the right.

Cal Atkin Celebrates His 90^th Birthday

Long time Two-Mountains resident Cal Atkin marked his 90th birthday on Thursday June 3rd. Due to COVID rules, a big party wasn't an option so a drive by shout out was in order. The weather didn't really cooperate but the big rain calmed down just in time for a fire truck to drive by to commemorate the event. Cal worked for 30 years and retired in 1991 as Captain of the Mount-Royal fire department. Mr. Atkin is also a decorated Veteran and been a Legion member for years.

Click here for the May/June Edition of Community Connections

Census 2021
Last evening around 8:30pm, someone dropped something in our mailbox. It was kind of a strange time for the mail to arrive this late. There were 3 items dropped off; two pieces of junk mail and sandwiched between them was the 2021 Census. There doesn't seem to have been much fanfare around this year's census but it's an important document which I could have easily chucked into the recycle bin. The deadline to fill in the Census is May 11th and it is required by law to be filled in. The paper we received just contained a secure access code which you then use on the website, which is www.census.gc.ca. It's not that long of a questionnaire (5 to 10 minutes). Stats Can uses this information that is  'important for you and your community and is used to plan services that support employment, schools, public transportation and hospitals'.
My concern is that you may have not realized that you received this document and that you might not be counted. There are specific questions relating to education language which might affect the way that schools are allocated. Remember, unlike the vaccine, filling out the census is the law.
 

Robert (Bobby Ray) Raymond - March 17, 1945 - April 6, 2021

Our dear friend Robert Raymond or Bobby Ray as many of us called him, passed away on Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 after a brave battle with Cancer. Bobby was a devoted family man and a loving husband to Micheline. Some of his great passions in life were golf, Les Canadiens and the Rocket. He was an excellent wood carver and served as a mentor to many. Bobby had a great sense of humour and loved to make people laugh, even if it was at his own expense. As you will see in the attached video link (click on picture at right), we have many fond memories of time spent with him.

Bobby exuded a joy and a zest for life that was infectious. He could talk a mile a minute and leave you reeling. Bobby enjoyed cigars, good music and a nice cold beer shared with friends. He was also a competitive swimmer which explained the Speedos and shaved legs. We will remember suppers at the pub, days on the golf course, and time spent together in Mexico and at numerous parties (Bobby could dance a mean rock and roll). We will miss you Bobby. Keep watch over your sweet Mimi and maybe you can do something about the Habs.

Another Drone Video But A Twist
This video was supposed to be a combination of drone footage and Google Earth shots of the area around the Grand Moulin Station and Jed's. That is what it is but it even has more of a Two Mountains flavour. Gary Griffin reached out to me this week after seeing one of my videos. He offered to send me a soundtrack that I could use on one of my videos. It just happens that he sent me a little ditty he called Jed's Light Lunch at the same time that this was going to be my next project. If you would lke to get in touch with Gary, he has a website centered around his musical talents. The website is aptly called songmaker.ca. To hear and see the video, you can click on the picture below.

Droning My Life Away
As you can see, my new toy is making me work overtime with my editing software. It might be a temporary flurry of action as golf season has started although I am holding out for a few more days. The latest video (the train bridge explanation) is a result of hearing everyone's different take on what's being done to make way for the new REM train bridge. No, they are not salvaging any part of the old bridge except for the bases at river level. Yes, they are using the old bridge as a temporary work platform. Yes, it will take years to do it. Anyway, take a look at the video and it should clear things up if you are wondering what all the noise is about.

Things Are Up In The Air

After months (maybe years) of contemplating getting a drone to do some aerial videography, I finally broke down and purchased a drone. Since June 2019, flying a drone has become quite an ordeal in Canada and elsewhere in the world. You need a license and you must take a course and pass a test to be allowed to fly. There is however one exemption. If your drone is less than 250 grams, no license is needed, therefore no test. I wasn't ready for 'higher' learning so I opted for the small drone route. My DJI Mini weighs in at 237 grams so it passes. The thing is tiny but powerful. It isn't recommended to fly this drone in a strong wind but I was anxious to try it out as I received it on Easter Monday, the day I also got my Pfizer vaccine. I had a few scares in flight but it all worked out (sort of). Anyway, I went out to the open space of Central Park in order not to fly into anything and the drone survived. I didn't get too much footage but it was a good first flight. Click on the video on the right to see how things worked out.
With all the work going on in 2mo, I will be flying over it to keep everyone up to date. Click on the pictures to view on YouTube.

St-Eustache Gets New REM Station and Two-Mountains Loses One - April Fool's

The city of Two-Mountains has had to rethink its current plan to build multi-unit/multi-floor buildings near the two new REM train stations. In order to meet TOD (Transport Oriented Development) requirements, the city was obliged to rezone the two areas within a one kilometre radius of each station. Since all the progress around town was causing a lot of anger and distress, the mayor has made a deal with neighbouring St-Eustache and the REM. The Deux-Montagnes line will now be extended into St-Eustache (see Map) eliminating the Deux-Montagnes station altogether and in order to make the Grand-Moulin station more accessible, it will be moved to the center of town near Oka Road. The St-Agapit church which was supposed to be demolished anyway, will become the parking lot for the new solo Two-Mountains station and will be renamed Chemin d'Oka. As a result, the REM will rename the entire line the St-Eustache line and the new station will be just north of the Walmart near the 148. This will give easier access to the line for Mirabel residents.
As a result, city will be rezoning much of the proposed development, except for projects that have already started on or near Oka road. To the delight of many residents and ex Two-Mountainers who left in the 70's, all other condo developments will be halted and the area around the old Grand-Moulin station will be repurposed as a green space since all of the surrounding buildings were expropriated and demolished. The centerpiece of the new park will be a life size working reproduction of Jed's with a skate park beside it that will be refrigerated for a skating rink in the winter, just like in the old days. There will also be a sculpture park with art work commissioned by the city and solely made up of pieces of the old train bridge. The pièce de résistance of the new park will be a full size model of the Oka Road viaduct where part of the bike trail will pass. The city has also committed to plant many trees, since there are none left in the town.
As for the area around the old Deux-Montagnes station, that will be redeveloped as part of the 100th anniversary of the town. Much of the parking lot will be torn up and made into gravel roads. The roads will be lined with replicas of some of the old structures of St-Eustache-sur-le-lac circa 1920. Many of those will be rentable through AirBnB for ex-pats visiting the town so that they don't feel too disoriented by the changes in their hometown. The entire area will have an Upper Canada Village feel. Part of the parking lot will be toiled and replanted as a corn field complete with a farmer and a pepper gun.
These are huge projects, so lets hope that with the reduction of the municipal tax base, the city can still afford to come through for us.

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Scams On The Rise
The internet has become the wild west and the sheriff has been run out of town. This morning, you may have received an e-mail from someone asking for urgent help. It might have looked like it was from somebody you know. This is not the first time this has happened. Someone poses as someone you know by making their email look the same. This is called spoofing. If you answer that email, you will get subsequent emails requesting you do either buy gifts cards or wire money or some other non-traceable method. So how did someone get into your email account in the first place to get all you contact information? It was probably a Phishing (pronounced fishing) expedition. You may have gotten an email like the one in the picture on the right. It looks fairly official and if you have a Bell mailbox you might think it is real. Beware, as this was the phishing email and the link that says New Version is the hook. If you dared click on this, the result could be anything. In some cases this will install a virus on your PC or it could access data somehow. This type of email takes many forms. It could say that your mailbox is full and that you need to change your password. This type of attack preys on unsuspecting people and although I consider myself fairly tech savvy, I have almost fallen for these evil tricks in a moment of inattention.
Please very careful navigating the evil world of the internet. Phone scams are just as prevalent. Millions of dollars are stolen from unsuspecting and unfortunately usually elderly victims. The authorities are always on the hunt for these fraudsters but their remoteness is their shield.
Some people take matters into their own hands. There is a really great video of a few people getting caught in the act by Mark Rober, a YouTube engineer and inventor. He developed a 'exploding' package that catches crooks that are stealing money from trustful seniors who have been duped by the scum of the earth. It's a very detailed view of how these people operate scams out of India and how the mules here in North America are collecting the money. The video is troubling as it shows how skilled these people are at swindling money from people that have their guard down. Here is a link to that video that as of March 26 had over 26 million views. 

Golf Ball Sale Fundraiser
As you probably realized, last year wasn't a great year for golf tournaments. Among the tournaments cancelled where the Legion's and the Heritage Social Club. These tournaments usually raise some funds for both places but in 2020, it wasn't to be. As as result, some brand new golf ball donations destined for these tournaments weren't distributed. As the golf season is but a few weeks away, this would be a good time to stock up on some new ammo at a great price. Every cent of this sale will be split between the Legion and Heritage. It's time to dust off the clubs and the wallet and support a couple of local establishments which hopefully will open for post golf chatter in the near future. To find out what is available, please use this link.
Update. I was contacted by the Legion executive that due to their situation with their building that is fully administered by the city, their finances have weathered the COVID-19 storm probably better than the independent Heritage Social Club. For this reason, they have gracefully opted to have all the funds from this sale to the HSC as their situation is quite different. That's what community spirit is folks and that's why Two Mountains is such a great place to live or be from.

This Is For People Pining About Old Two Mountains
I was looking for a picture from the late seventies that I photographed and stumbled upon another interesting picture. Since it's on a slide that I had 'digitized' a few years ago I can't remember the exact year but I would venture around 1975 since the speed limit seems to be in miles per hour. Canada officially went metric April 1, 1975, no joke.

I probably took this picture because there was a big moon rising over 20th avenue. It was shot from around where the bicycle path crosses 20th avenue. It's not a very good picture but if you click on the picture on the right you will see the transformation. I could have brightened the picture, but it washes out the moon which is the reason I took this picture in the first place.

People who want to have old Two Mountains back can have it. When the top picture was taken, Jed's was open. In the 2019 picture on the bottom, Jed's had been closed for 30 years. Get over it.

Growing Pains of Two Mountains
Every time some posts something on Facebook about changes going on in our little town there is automatically a bunch of people posting how sad it is that Two Mountains is losing its heart and/or soul. A few weeks ago there was still someone pining about the fact that Jed's was closed. Jed's closed 32 years ago. Yes, it was a nice place and they don't have those kind of places anymore, not in 2mo and not many other places. There are also the complaints about the town turning into condo ville. I am not a big fan of condos but they need to be built around our two new REM train stations. Two Mountains has very little say in it and is doing their best to keep the whole town from being transformed. I will say it again. The REM is overkill for the Deux-Montagnes commuter line and it has been made more evident by work patterns that will probably permanently changed due to COVID-19 and the realization that a lot can be achieved in a 'work from home' environment. The proliferation of Zoom teleconferencing (and all its competitors) to conduct productive interactions with fellow employees and customers has probably shone the light that travelling just to meet people face to face is a cost that can be easily avoided. Business travel will certainly never be as essential as it was.
The light rail system will finally propel  greater Montreal to the 21st century but it's a very expensive solution. It is also surrounded by a lot of controversy. There are even petitions to stop elevated tracks as they deface neighbourhoods. That was probably said about all the elevated highways built in Montreal but there is a need for that kind of travel to get to places.
Getting back to the proliferation of condos and multi-unit dwellings. It's not ideal but no one is forcing anyone to move out of their houses. Yes, the price of houses in 2 MO has skyrocketed. If you are not moving, then it's not really a problem. If you are moving, even better, your house is now worth more than ever so you will have more to put into the new place. If you think Two-Mountains is turning in condoville, take a little drive to where Golf Deux-Montagnes was in St-Eustache or drive up to Mirabel. I don't know where they are finding all those people to move into these places but obviously there seems to be a need. Or maybe not, and we will end up with a lot of empty dwellings. With the new normal and less need to GO to work, will the REM attract as many people to own town as planned. And the next time you complain about condoville, next time your are in Toronto, take the Go train from Mississauga to downtown, and let me know where condoville really is.

Olympia Arena to be the Regional COVID-19 Vaccination Centre
Starting soon and going until at least September, the Olympia Arena will be the vaccination centre for our area. Currently, the rules for Laurentides region is that you must be 80* and over to book an appointment and if you have a caretaker that is 70 and over they can be vaccinated at the same time. Here is the link to the reservation website. Once you choose the service and enter the postal code, you will enter your information and book an appointment. *Keep checking the link as the minimum age for vaccination keeps going down. When I started writing this it was 85 and now it is 80.
UPDATE: All regions of Quebec are now taking reservations for 65 and over. Click on this link to see if that changes.  

REM Presentation for Deux-Montagnes
Last Wednesday, February 24th, the REM (Réseau Express Métropolitain) did an online presentation to describe the developments of the Deux-Montagnes stations and rail. It was virtually attended by over 400 people which was a record attendance for any of their sessions. Although the presentation was mostly in French with some questions answered in English, the informational slides were available in English. The 2 hour session went into a lot of detail and answered many outstanding concerns. The 'slides' are available on the REM website or by clicking here to go directly to them. It sheds light on where exactly the rail will be elevated and where it will be on the ground. For example, the crossing at OKA will see an elevated track with a clearance of over 5 metres whereas the former viaduct was only at 4.2 metres. As some of you may have noticed, the Boulevard du Lac crossing will be closed (see note below) to vehicular traffic as of this Monday (March 1st) (Revised to Wed. March 3rd)*. I was said that pedestrian traffic will only be be halted in May but that is to be seen. Also, because of the closure of the street, the buses that were leaving the Grand-Moulin station will now leave from the back parking lot of the St-Agapit church.
One of the beefs I had with the REM project was the fact that instead of the train going over Blvd du Lac, they were expropriating many houses along the street to building an overpass. From the plans now available, it is clear that other than to make room to build the structure, one of the goals was to replace the parking lost around the station as this area will be where buses serve the station. If I was a daily user of the old commuter train, my biggest beef would be not having any train service for 3+ years while this is being built.
I have always thought that the REM was overkill and that it was a project that would cost billions of dollars more than the 6.7 billion planned. There is currently a one year delay blamed on COVID and an explosion in the Mount Royal tunnel (Click here for that news story). Perhaps the REM was required to link the western part of the south shore and the west island but the Deux-Montagnes line was already fully electric and was completely overhauled in 1995. All it needed was double tracking which would have cost a fraction of the REM cost. Now we have to hold our collection breaths until at least 2024 or later, and will we have state of the art transportation. Another big selling point of the REM was that it would service the airport. Most major cities have public transits options from airport terminals to downtown areas and I agree that this was lacking in Montreal. However, the current REM solution of tunnelling under the airport runways is expensive and definitely not the best point A to point B solution available. It think that leg of the REM might be put in question and is currently the last section in the plans.
Another big concern I have regarding the REM is the long term effect that COVID-19 has had on the entire workplace scenario. If anything, COVID has proven that much more 'work' can be accomplished from a distance. I personally know many people who have been authorized to work from home for the rest of their careers. Now that most everyone is comfortable with online meetings, is there really a need to be face to face with anyone. Will the new paradigm be working from home 4 days a week and go to the office one day to 'socialize'? The world has changed a lot since the REM was in its embryonic stage. In the words of the Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose, Too Late To Turn Back Now.
* According to the latest REM info, it seems that the Blvd du lac closure will only take effect in May, therefore there will be a temporary detour around the work area.
The REM has just updated all the info regarding all crossings in Deux-Montagnes and Laval. Clickable links to REM work sites.
** The REM was unclear on their website. It looks like the temporary road is only open to pedestrians right now. That may change but the diagram above is misleading.

10,000 Clicks and 8 Months of EV Driving
Last week, it had been 8 months since we bought our first fully electric car, a 2020 Nissan Leaf. It was also the week that the odometer turned the first 10,000 kilometres. If you are an avid reader of my website, I did a review after a few months of ownership but I was reserving some comments because I didn't know how an electric vehicle would cope with our winter. One thing that is apparent from the picture on the right is that EV's get as dirty as any other car in the winter. Before you judge me on parking over the line, it was the last spot in the row and the car next to me had parked over his allotted space. Now that winter is technically 2/3rds over, I can make a more complete review of the car and its handling of Mother Nature's 'worst' season. One of my main reasons to hold off on running electric was that I didn't trust car manufacturers to make cars that could run well in the winter. I was afraid is how well you could heat the inside among other things. An advantage of waiting to buy, was that the range of these vehicles kept getting  and further on one charge.
Before going any further in my 'review', I have to disclose that the car is parked in a garage that is heated to around 12ºC so I am not leaving the car out overnight in negative temperatures. Bitter cold will affect the battery but since there is no engine to 'start', it is quite different getting into a 'cold' car. One advantage of this car (and many other EV's) is I can remotely control the temperature inside the car from any distance. When we go on some of our hikes when it is really cold, I start the climate control when we are about 15 minutes away and when we get to the car, the inside is a toasty 22ºC and the steering wheel has heated up. The other advantage is that the windows are often all clear. Bottom line, my worries about heating the cabin in the winter were all for not. The heating system is like any other gas vehicle. If anything, since it doesn't have to wait for the engine to warm up, it produces heat more quickly.
The one thing I did notice however is that the range of the car has suffered considerably during these winter months. This summer I was easily getting 300kms on a full charge. This winter, I would be lucky to get 250kms. Here is why I think there is a huge difference. Firstly, the battery array which is basically the entire floor of the car is much colder in the winter. I am not sure what the ideal temperature of the batteries is for maximum efficiency but there is obvious degradation the colder it gets. Running the heater also seems to use a lot more energy than it's air conditioning counterpart,, so that will eat into the range. Finally, and electric car uses the slowing down of the car to regenerate or recharge the battery instead of using the brakes. Driving around town is usually very efficient as there are many stops that recharge the battery. Unfortunately, since most of our roads are snowy, if the car detects any little bit of slipperiness, it doesn't use this feature therefore not recharging the battery at all.
One last 'problem' of having an electric car is that you may ignore your gas vehicle to the point the its battery will die. Since June, we have spent $27 of gas in the Camry and $35 on buying a charger to keep the battery alive. Of course, COVID-19 is the main reason that we rarely need to have two cars in use simultaneously, so that is why the gas one stays in the garage. If you have been listening to the news lately, you may have noticed that the automotive industry has made major announcements about going all electric by a certain year. Jaguar is leading the way by being all electric by 2025. We might be going all electric in our household before then, I will let you know when a low mileage 2016 Toyota Camry will be for sale.

A Couple of Videos
Here are a couple more videos to round out the week. It took less than 5 days to demolish the overpass in the video on the left. The video on the right will show you that nordic skis are not always easy to control, especially when you fall off a small bridge into a dry creek. Hope you enjoy laughing at me.

An Poem For Her Mother
 

Last June, Marion Bernice Hurley passed away due to COVID-19. 'Mitzi' as she was known as, used to live in Two Mountains and was the mother of Bill Hurley, owner of Hurley's Pub. In December, her daughter Barbara wrote a poem dedicated to her mother who passed away in her 99th year and were it not for the pandemic would have probably celebrated her 100th birthday next year.

To read this poem, please click here. It is also available on the Gone but not forgotten page using the link on Mitzi's Name.

Demolition Has Started On Oka Road Overpass
The dreaded train viaduct which has always been too low and narrow will finally be history during the week of February 15th. Oka road will be closed during demolition which is supposed to be finished by the end of the week.

The picture on the left was taken on day 2 of the job and by the looks of things, it's a major challenge. A lot of concrete was poured in the 1954 structure and perhaps some of it might need decontamination.

In case you have been under a rock, this work is to make way for the REM light rail system. The track should be elevated at this point therefore the low clearance should no longer be a problem. The elevated double track will also go over Henri-Dunant and boulevard Deux-Montagnes as the new system does not allow for level crossings. Since the track will be at ground level at the Grand-Moulin station, an overpass on boulevard du lac will be built. Please refer to the REM site here for further info on the new system that is planned for operation in 2024.

Oka Road Train Overpass Almost Gone
The 67 year old train viaduct over Oka Road is about to be history. The so-called can-opener as many a truck has been sliced open by its low clearance will be demolished next week to make way for the REM. The road is only supposed to be closed for one week during demolition starting February 15th. The video is the last chance to ride and walk through the old hourglass.
 

Videos Galore
As you can see below, I am doing double time putting out videos. Obviously, in lockdown we have been spending a lot of time indoors except for our outings at Oka park. I have been at Oka Park 9 times since the beginning of the year. That is 5 times more than I had ever been there. When we were 16 or 17, a bunch of us (guys) went camping there for a few days. Once our parents had dropped us off with our camping gear, one parent, who shall remain nameless, went into the village and bought us enough beer for the stay. I don't remember much else about those days but it was over 45 years ago.
Due to COVID,  it’s mandatory to pay your access fees before your visit, either online or by purchasing an annual card. A single entry is $8.90 per person but an annual pass is $44.50. The weekends are really busy there, and because some people try to pay at the gate (which they can't), getting in can be a little slow. If you go on the weekend, the Calvaire side (north of Oka Road) is slightly less busy. There is an extra charge for using the groomed cross-country ski trails and they are really good. With our wide skis, we stay away from those trails. The snowshoe trails are perfect, except for the steep ones on the Calvaire side.
Apparently it's a no-no feeding the birds although we haven't seen anything official stating that. We always carry bird seed because most other places allow it. They are not always there but when they find us they seem happy.
For the last couple of days, editing videos and using my computer in general has been a little more fun. On Monday, I ordered a new ultra-wide monitor for my computer. It went on sale for $100 off at Costco on Monday. I had set a reminder to order it as early as possible. At 7:30am, I went on the Costco site and it said it was out of stock already. I was a little upset that Costco would put something on sale and be out of stock on the first day of the promotion. I sent a 'complaint' to customer service and they apologized and basically said I was out of luck. Since Quebec Costco's only can sell essential goods I knew it wouldn't be available in the warehouse so my plan was to go in the warehouse as soon as it reopens for 'regular' items (maybe next week) to see if they had any. A few hours later, I happened to be back on the Costco site looking for something else and I went back to look to see the monitor. It no longer said 'Out of stock'. I clicked on it and lo and behold it let me order one. It took a while for them to confirm my order but it arrived on Wednesday afternoon. As you can see in the picture above, it's massive compared to my second monitor which is 24 inches itself. For video editing, I see so much more and it makes it much easier. My neck gets way more exercise too as my entire display is now 4½ feet wide.

A Few Changes Above
Not sure if you noticed, but the top of my page has changed slightly. The train schedule icon is now a EXO icon and is a link to the schedules of the buses replacing the train until the REM is in place. I left the Environment Canada link to the weather but I removed the Wunderground weather link as it wasn't working well. It's been replaced by a link to my YouTube channel which contains over 100 videos that I put together like the ones below. Everything else is virtually the same except that I changed the 'Road to 50' to the current Road to 65 link.

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Was The Ride Worth It?
If you haven't noticed, I stray from political and religious topics as much as possible. I believe in freedom of choice within boundaries of civility and the law. I have opinions and if you read chapter 7 you might understand that I am on the fence on many subjects. I find it hard to take sides of many issues because few that are black and white. Some might say it's a wishy-washy attitude. I say it's called level-headed. Anyway, as you may have from my entry screen, I have strayed from my usual position of neutrality. (In case you are reading when the entry screen has changed, this was it.). The picture is from 2005 when we visited one of our favourite cities, Washington D.C. We had planned to go back as we enjoyed it so much, but we have been busy exploring other parts of the planet. I am not so sure if and when we will repeat our visit. The cherry blossoms and tulips will return in April and on the outside it may appear as beautiful as it ever was. To put everything in perspective, My front screen was posted on January 7th, the 'day after' and I am writing this Saturday January 9th after watching news channels for most of the last 3 days (and nights). Full disclaimer, I don't have Fox News except that I did listen to some of Trump's pre war pep rally on Fox while in the car. When I am in the car, I sometimes switch between CNN and Fox during commercials but when I was hearing Trump on that fateful morning, I stayed glued to Fox, also there were no commercials. I was listening much like when I watch NASCAR, waiting for the accidents and the last lap when it really matters. I never made it to the last lap of Trump's speech as I got bored but I knew something was going to happen after it.

On Saturday, November 7th, when the media declared Joe Biden and Kamela Harris victors in the 2020 election, I said to my then wife, oops to my wife then, that it won't be a done deal until January 6th. I am not Nostradamus by any measure however a few years ago I had seen a report of someone in the electoral college of Colorado who didn't like the fact that Trump had won the state, try to overturn that count. The plan failed but I realized that there was something there and that if there was any weakness in the system, that a certain somebody could try to exploit it. Also, being an avid watcher of Bill Maher who has been predicting for years that Trump would not leave office if he lost the election, I knew that ceding control of the U.S. would be difficult for DJT. As I think I saw somewhere, Trump take the us of the U.S. and puts the me back in America. It's something like that or I invented it.

As a Canadian, it was really hard to watch what was happening to the south. I can't even imagine how I would feel if I 'born in the U.S.A.'. To see what happened and probably even worse, how it got to that point, must perplexing. In the land of the conspiracy theory, this was real. Not since 9/11, had been so enrapt in television coverage of an event. If this was NASCAR, I wondered if there would be a checkered flag. I guess that's why I watched until 4 in the morning until it finally came down and Biden was 'officially' declared the next president. Democracy had prevailed. The ballots were finally counted, now it was time for the casualties to be (counted). If you believe that there was enough fraud or 'irregularities' to overturn the results, then you haven't been able to read this far because there are no pictures in this piece.

I am worried about our neighbours. Especially the ones that think that it's ok that some people in the richest country in the world can be deprived of (free) health care and even enough food to stay alive. We do have poverty but not on the level we see in America but when we have a health issue, it's nice to know that we don't have to empty our life savings to get it fixed. A few years ago when in Boston. I met a guy who was missing a finger. I didn't ask but eventually he volunteered how he had lost it. He said it he had cut it somewhere and he went to the hospital with his digit hanging by a thread. He had no health insurance and they told him that they could try to sew it back on but it would be a complex operation. It would cost him about $50,000 for them to try or they could just sew the wound up and throw the finger away. He didn't have the money. That's when I realized how lucky that as a Canadian I would never have to face such a choice and no one else in this country would have to. If that is socialism then I will take it. Ok, we pay higher taxes then our U.S. counterparts and I am not always happy in April when I don't get a refund but I accept that. Canada is not perfect by any means but it's in a much better place than where Trumpism has carried that nation. U.S.A. you are in my thoughts and I hope you can heal these wounds and get back to some semblance of normality. Donald Trump has bankrupt many businesses. This time he has bankrupt an entire nation not of their wealth but of their democrary.

I record Jimmy Kimmel for something to watch while eating my morning cereal. The day after the uprising he did a little montage of a story that DJT  used to tell on the campaign trail. It's an interesting analogy for the last 5 years. It's here on YouTube, queued to the start of the story.  

The Road Ahead
The retirement of our trusty train was a definite a milestone in the history of our little town just ahead of 2021 which marks the 100th anniversary of Two-Mountains. St-Eustache-sur-le-lac was founded in 1921 and eventually became Deux-Montagnes and just plain Two-Mountains to many of us. Ste-Eustache-sur-le-lac was a bit of a misnomer as the city borders the Milles-Iles river for about a third of its shore. A few years ago I wrote a little rant about how people interchange talking about the lake as the river and visa-versa. For clarification purposes, let's just say the lake ends at the dam and downstream is the river. There will be more on the 100^th anniversary of our whistle-stop in these pages as the year progresses and we hopefully come out of hibernation to mark it accordingly.

As I was editing the The Final Voyage video, it occurred to me that I was also reaching a minor milestone. The last train was 'sailing' into the sunset at 10:22 pm which actually and exactly 6 hours after sunset. Flashback to 11 years prior and I was getting ready to shutoff my work phone for a final time. Some of you witnessed the event and although I wanted to destroy my flip-phone in a dramatic fashion on that memorable night, my respect for company property prevailed. As head of a technical support group and being on call more or less 24/7 it was relief to press the off button but it was really the start of a new retired life I was celebrating. Truth be told, I had a great technical team whose number one priority was not getting calls during their free time. As a result, my phone was mostly idle and other than carrying it around, it was not a big burden. Even on Y2K night, it sat silent as we were confident that we had done enough preventive action for a smooth entry into the year 2000.

Fifteen years before the Final Voyage, I was contemplating turning 50 in a few months. I sat on the that very train with a laptop and started writing about how it felt to reach the half century mark. A few of you, very few, saw that atop my webpage, a new icon appeared. It was called 'the Road to 50'. The icon is still there with a description change. It was the first chapter in a fairly boring story. I was actually writing it as a personal diary so I could go back and read it to see what I was feeling at different points in my life. I knew I had one reader because he asked me when the next chapter would be written. I wasn't sure I would ever write another one, but I did. The second chapter was only a year later, again on the train to make the trip go faster. I just wrote chapter 7 after a 5 year hiatus. 65 is just around the corner for me and the lockdown is giving me a little extra time to work on things and I am tired of trying to clean the basement. Chapter 7 is long winded and scattered but so are the other ones because I wrote them. I only expect one person to read it and that's me when I am about to turn 70 (finger crossed) in over 5 years or on the first day of the REM reaching 2mo. 

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Sharon (Landry) Azeloglou 1957 - 2020
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Sharon (Landry) Azeloglou, loving wife of Thanasis, at Hôpital Cité de la Santé with her family by her side. She was 63 years young.

Sharon was born in Halifax, N.S., to the late Leonard and Serena (Peters) Landry and resided in Ste-Dorothée, Que.

She was predeceased by her brothers Donald and Joseph and her sister-in-law Vasilia.

She will be forever loved and missed by her surviving brothers Cyril (Kaye), Gerald (Helen) and Richard (Marge) and her sister-in-law Rita Landry. She also leaves to mourn her children, Shawn (Lisa) and Sabrina (Marc), her grandchildren, Christopher and Jonathan, her sisters-in-law Barbara (Timothy) and Popie (John) and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Sharon was a kind and generous person who enjoyed life and was devoted to her family. She was in her element when she was organizing and planning family dinners and parties and loved cooking and trying out new recipes. She loved to dance, and she loved a good joke – and could tell a good joke too! Sharon had a big heart; her door was always open, and she was always ready to lend a helping hand.

A private family service will be held at Komitas Salon Funéraire (5180 de Salaberry, Montreal, Que. H4J 1J3) on Monday, January 4th. Interment to follow at Cimitière Saint-Agapit (22nd Avenue, Chemin du Cimetière, Deux-Montagnes, Que. J7R 3Y0).

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Canadian Diabetes Foundation, the Canadian Mental Health Association or a charity of your choice. Please click here for view her online obituary.

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Commuter Train Service Soon To Be a Thing of the Past
Click on the picture below to see a video of one of the last trains
A long standing Two Mo tradition is about to disappear. That involved trying to remember a complex train schedule and hopping on a train that swiftly carried to your destination. The last train home will roll on December 31st and for the foreseeable future which be replaced by bus service and, probably for many, a painful romp into town in their own vehicle. Working from home will never have looked so good. The REM, will eventually take it's place with service every 6 minutes during peak times and 20 minutes thereafter. The original planned launch of this service was 2022 but don't hold your breaths waiting for that. COVID has been a great scapegoat as an excuse for the delays already announced but you can count on more delays. Cost overruns are another thing and hopefully that won't transfer to the cost of the fare.

Don't get me wrong, the REM will be a wonderful asset to the community and will definitely make some people lives a lot better. The city of Montreal was one of the few major cities around the world that did not offer a rapid transit service to and from their airport. The REM will solve that. As a terminal with 2 stations, Two Mountains will become a place to live for people that want to get away from the city when not at work. The only problem, is that having two REM stations within the city limits is forcing the city to rethink its urban plan. Within a 1 kilometre radius of each station, the number of dwelling units per hectare must be increased. This will, and already has, changed our 100 year old sleepy little community. You might hear the term TOD being slapped around. It stands for Transit-Oriented Development. It's a way to prevent urban sprawl and keep commute times to and from work to a minimum. A 20 minute maximum commute is the quality of life standard being promoted. Being 26 kilometres away from downtown as the crow flies kinda puts the 20 minute mark beyond reachable but sitting in a train reading a book or playing video games can virtually make that time fly. Herein lies a small problem. The new fully automated 'trains' (no conductor) will be more like subway cars. 'Sitting' room will be at a premium. Fortunately, we are first to get on the trains when going into town. Coming back might be another story. You might say 'well at least it's a short ride'.

Here is where you may be in for a surprise. When the commuter train was running at its most efficient a few years ago, the fastest train from Two Mountains into Central Station was taking 35 minutes (now it's 45 minutes due to track slow orders). Everyone assumes that the new REM trains will be faster. Well there is one little 'problem'. There will be an additional 3 stations along the route, so that means 14 stops to get to Central Station. The line is 30 kilometres from start to end. The Alstom light rail train's maximum speed is 105km/h. If the train would leave Two Mo and travel at top speed without stopping, it would take 18 minutes. Obviously, it will have to stop and it may be travelling at top speed only for a few stretches of track. Also with most people standing, acceleration and deceleration rates will have to be within reason to not 'fly' around. My best bet for the fastest trip into town is between 35 and 40 minutes. I could be more pessimistic but the fast boarding and 'unboarding' should make up some of the time. I am also questioning the light rail approach for a 30 kilometre route but that's another debate. Also, with the up tick in the working from home scenarios, were the billions of dollars really needed especially on the Deux-Montagnes line which was working 'perfectly' for years and was a 'green' solution long before anything else.

The whole point of this article was to warn you about the train cancellation. Those who have been using my website to consult the train schedule with the link on the above left, the buses' (404 and 499) schedule can be accessed through the same link.   

The Mystery Continues ...

Last December (2019), a video of the 47th Annual Two-Mountains Santa Claus Parade that I had posted to YouTube in December 2016 started getting lots of views. By Christmas of 2019, my video had reached over 1 million views. I didn't understand it then and a couple of days ago, this video hit 3 million views. I still don't quite understand the popularity of this 9 minute video. 13 months ago I had 70 subscribers to my YouTube channel. Two days ago I reached 10,000 subscribers which is also a mystery. I have been using YouTube for years but the last year has been crazy.
When I reached 1000 subscribers and so many hours of views, I was allowed to monetize my channel. This means that before viewing a video, a 5 second 'skipable' ad shows up. Every few months, YouTube sends me a bit of money which is paying for my web hosting services, video editing subscription (Cyberlink 365) and photo storage using SmugMug. The Santa Parade seems to get more views around this time of year, so hopefully it will be the gift that keeps on giving. This is a link to that video which is really not big deal. I just noticed that they now show 2 ads before the video which is something new.

Going Electric - A 6 Month Review
Today marks the six month milestone of owning an electric car and here are my thoughts on going green. I had been looking at electric cars for a few years but didn't like that you could only go so many kilometres on a charge so I was waiting for better batteries. I was waiting for more range and lower cost from maybe a new development in battery technology. In the past 10 years, that has been happening slowly and there is still a lot to go. I eventually bit the bullet and decided to go ahead with replacing one of our gas guzzlers with a fully electric machine. To be honest, I hadn't done that much 'real' research prior to my purchase but the government was providing $13,000 towards the purchase ($8,000 provincial / $5,000 federal), so I decided it was time to make the big move. The first question was which car do we replace. The answer was fairly obvious: The 2016 Toyota Camry (65K kms or the 2005 Volvo S60 80K Kms). The Volvo had to go to make room for new electric car. Parting was such sweet sorrow as this was Myrna's 49th birthday present. She loved that car but it didn't really make sense to sell the fairly new Camry.

This is where the dilemma begins. I was the one that really wanted the electric car because, especially in the summer, I travel a lot to the golf course. Myrna's trips are to a nearby gym and taxiing her mother to various places around town. So, guess what, I started using the electric car almost exclusively and all the time when were going out anywhere together. After only 6 months, we have 9,000kms on the electric and barely 300kms on the Camry. A lot of this is due to COVID-19 as we rarely need 2 cars at the same time as we aren't going anywhere. I have gone to the the gas station once since June 17th for a fill up of $27. Almost 100% of charging the electric car was at home at 11¢ per kilowatt hour. Our Nissan Leaf does about 5.5 km on 1 kilowatt hour so that means our electric bill has increase by about $180. If all those kilometres had been driven with the Camry, that would have cost around $900. The saving of over $700 in 6 months is substantial but it doesn't come close to offset the much higher purchase price of electric vehicles. The is one priceless aspect of driving electric, it's smugly driving by gas stations just as they boost the price per litre by 14 cents.

So why even consider electric? Sorry Albertans and Republicans, but oil for moving things around might be a thing of the past. The internal combustion engine or ICE is very inefficient. Only about 20% of the energy to run a car actually propels it. The other 80% is given off as heat and powering things to run the car. The best ICE efficiency is in F1 car that run at 50%. By comparison, an electric vehicle or BEV in the lingo (Battery Electric Vehicle), 80% of the energy goes back into moving the car. No only that, when a BEV slows down, the energy used to slow it down recharges the battery. Also, operating a fully electric vehicle is 100% emission free except if you are recharging using a electricity generated from a non-renewable source such as coal.

Until you have driven a BEV or actually a vehicle that uses electric motors to turn the wheels (rather that a transmission), you can't appreciate the direct effect of pressing the 'gas' pedal and getting immediate response. Driving a BEV is just plain fun and quieter that gasoline counterpart. It's so quiet, that below 30 km/h our Leaf has to emit a spaceship-like hum to warn pedestrians of the oncoming car.

Okay, now for the negative aspects of owning a electric car other than it limited range. When I say limited range, you can now get over 500 kilometres of range out of some BEV's. The charging station infrastructure is also expanding, so range is less of an issue. One of the problems that we have had is that we use the Leaf all the time. The Camry has sat idle for weeks. The last time I went to back it out of the garage to rearrange something, it wouldn't start. I had to boost it and now I back it backwards to make boost it easier. Speaking of garage, we have always parked our cars in the garage. One of the reasons some people put off buying electric is the cost of adding a charger at home. The Nissan Leaf and maybe others, come with a portable charger that can either be plugged into a 110 or 240 volt outlet. Since we are in a garage, away from the elements, all I had to do is get an electrician to run a stove 240plug out of my panel in my garage. Instead of paying over $1,000 for a charging station, it cost me $200 for the installation in the photo (the 110v adapter is on the top). FYI, charging at 110v is very slow. In my case, over 30 hours to get from 0% to 100% on 110v but since I am always on the 240v a full charge would take less than 10 hours. The Canadian Government Website has good section on Electric cars and other options such as hybrids and plug-in hybrids. Click here to go there.

Laura-Marie Leboeuf - November 14, 1980 - December 10, 2020

We are sorry to announce the passing of Laura-Marie Leboeuf on December 10th, 2020.

Beloved wife of Jody Capogreco. Beloved mother of Abigail, daughter of Brenda Larivière Leboeuf and Steven Leboeuf, sister to Allyson (Patrick) and Sarah (Mark). She also leaves to mourn many aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces and loving in-laws Brenda and Dale.

A ceremony to properly honour Laura-Marie's life will be on December 18th, 2020 at 10 o'clock at Holy Family Parish Church, in Deux-Montagnes.
With COVID-19, the family prefers to have a private celebration. Donations may be made in Laura-Marie's name to Laurentian Elementary School.

Thank you for celebrating Laura-Marie's life with us

Click here to view her online obituary. A GoFundMe page has been set up for Laurentain Elementary School. Click here to go to it.

Danielle GRANZOTTO (née Narbonne)

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Danielle Granzotto (née Narbonne), on November 27, 2020, at the age of 70. Beloved wife of the late Natalino and loving mother of Sandro and Ico (Charlene). She will be dearly missed by everyone who knew her.


A visitation will be held Thursday, December 10 from 6 PM to 8 PM at Les Salons Funéraires Guay, 146 rue St-Louis, Saint Eustache. Followed by a private service for the family at 8 PM.


Please note that only a limited amount of people will be permitted inside the building at a time and face coverings will be required. In lieu of flowers, a donation to the The Kidney Foundation of Canada would be appreciated.

Published in the Montreal Gazette on December 5, 2020
Click here to view her online obituary.

Ross Watkins - 1958 -2020

It is with great sadness we announce the sudden passing of Ross Watkins on Tuesday, December 1st. Ross is survived by his beloved daughter Carly (Carl Boucher-Syvrais), his sisters Lorraine and Brenda (Ken Searle), extended family and his friends who he always referred to as "The Gang".

Whether you knew him as Ross, Rossco or Rusty, he was a man devoted to family, friends and community. From involvement in sports as a youth, to coaching and involvement in the Soccer Association, organizing social events for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 185 and the Drive for the Cure tournaments. Ross simply cared for everyone he met and with everything he was involved in.

Ross would now be asking “what is the plan?” A celebration of his life will be held once gatherings are permitted for all to reminisce, share stories and give him the send-off he so well deserves.

Click here to view his online obituary on the Guay Funeral Website.

Click on the Play Button

To see a short video of some shots I took in the summer around the yard. Our feeders and bird bath were a welcome attraction to all kinds of wildlife and not so wildlife. I didn't get to capture the rabid skunk that haunted our neighbourhood or the one(s) that visited us in the middle of the night and used their fragrance to wake us up.

Now that we are in full isolation once again, I got some time to edit this compilation.

Gertrude Dore, Honorary President of Christmas Drive

Gertrude Dore, pictured on the left with Sylvie Roy, president of Dépannage St-Agapit, was appointed honorary president of this year Christmas Food Drive. This year's drive will be a huge departure from previous years due to COVID-19. Also noted is the retirement of long time president André Ouellet who has been the force behind this effort for as long as I can remember.
Due to the pandemic, the usual Christmas baskets will be replaced by gift cards from various grocery stores and instead of dozens of volunteers going door to door collecting non-perishables, the onus will be on the public to donate via the website here. Donations can be done by cheque, Paypal or through an Interac e-transfer. You will be provided with a tax receipt for income tax purposes. You can also donate gift cards that you own or can buy, just make sure you haven't 'emptied' them. If you scroll down this page, you will see more information on how to help.
Congratulations to Gertrude Dore for her appointment and thanks for all the other work you do with organizations like 4Korners and Women's Time-Out.

Click here for pictures of the Laying of the Wreaths at Legion Branch 185

Lions Club Christmas Fruit Cakes On Sale

The Two Mountains Lions Club will be selling their famous fruit cakes from the Lions Den at 111 13th avenue (in front of the municipal pool). They will be on sale Saturdays starting November 7th through December 12th from 9am to 2pm. For more information you can call Dave Byers at (514) 602-7054. You can also send a DM through their Facebook page by clicking here.

Marion Bernice Hurley nee Allen (Mitzi)

Marion (Mitzi) Bernice Hurley nee Allen passed away peacefully in her sleep June 6th in her 99th year. Beloved wife of William (Bill) Joseph Hurley deceased (1999). Beloved mother of Bill Hurley (Irene Baczynsky), Betsy (Rick Miller), Barbara Hurley, Bobbie (Bruce Whittington), grandmother of Alanna Whittington (Dejai Barnes), Andrew Whittington, Alicia Miller (Alex Layton) and great grandmother of Hailey Whittington and Willa Barnes.

She grew up in Saint John, N.B. where she met her husband Bill. They moved to the outskirts of Montreal to the small community of Two Mountains and raised their four children. The last 19 years she enjoyed her life at St. Patrick's Square in N.D.G. She loved good food, playing chess, bingo and watching hockey and tennis. She could discuss Canadian and American politics with the best of them. She was a very sociable person and spent many happy times at her son's pub (Hurley's Irish Pub on Crescent Street). There is a very special booth at the pub with a plaque that reads "Mitzi's corner". She will be missed. A celebration of her life will be held at 5:00 PM on February 6th, 2021 at Hurley's Irish Pub, 1225 Crescent Street, Montreal, QC, Canada.

Published on June 11, 2020 in the Montreal Gazette View it here

Dan Klimas Drive For the Cure Fundraiser
As you might have expected, the annual Drive for the Cure golf tournament had to be cancelled due to COVID-19. It was originally planned for June and then delayed until August on the chance that 'things' would clear up. Obviously that didn't happen. Just before the pandemic started fundraising had already started with the Score for the Cure ball hockey tournament raising $4700. On top of that, many people who had registered for the golf tournament donated their entry fee. Had the tournament taken place, it was likely that the million dollar milestone would have been reached in this, the 20th year of the annual event. Much of that money is raised at the dinner following golf in a silent auction. Many of the items were already purchased for this auction and are now available through an online bidding process. A website for the DFTC (Drive for the Cure) has been developed to ease the process. The deadline for bidding is October 31st at 4PM.
The website can be reached at this link: dk-dftc.com.

Click Above to see a video of our new shed being built in just 3½ minutes.

Click Above to see a video of the 2020 version of the Wyder Cup

Harold Millington 1920 - 2020

Passed away at St-Eustache Hospital, on September 13, 2020 at the age of ninety-nine. Mr. Millington was a member of the Legion Branch 185 and also attended to the Anglican Church in Deux-Montagnes. Beloved husband of the late Evelyne Finney. He will be sadly missed by his children Henry (Therese), Harold (Gabriela), Robert and Helen (Adam), his 4 grandchildren, his great grandchild, his 2 private caregivers Barbara and Irene, the Finney Family in Nova Scotia as well as Alan, Ricky, Lyle and Steven Townsend (raised by Mrs. Millington).

The family will receive condolences at Complexe Funéraire Guay, 146 Saint-Louis in Saint-Eustache, Tel: 514-871-2020, on Sunday, September 20 from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, September 21 from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. and Tuesday, September 22 from 9 to 11 a.m. Funeral service will be held on Tuesday, September 22 at 11 a.m. at the funeral home. Special thanks to the caretakers of the Deux-Montagnes CLSC as well as nurses and doctors at St-Eustache Hospital

To view his online obituary, please click here.

An Open Letter To The Community
When we think of the Heritage Social Club there are, I am sure, many good memories that spring to mind. Dances, Dart evenings, plays by Forever Young, marriages, birthday parties. Holiday standards like, St. Patrick's day, Santa Claus for the kids, etc. So many memories too numerous to recall.
The COVID-19 virus has made many changes in our life, and for the Heritage club the pandemic situation has cut drastically in the funds that are generated to keep the club going. Weddings and parties had to be cancelled, the bar was closed, rental income stopped. The expenses did not stop, Hydro has to be paid, and the maintenance of the premises has to be ongoing. Funds are needed, The Heritage Club has served us well, and now it is our turn to serve the club. We have to preserve the Heritage for our generation and our kids. How can you help out the Heritage Club and ensure that we keep this community treasure. Additional bar revenue would help a lot.
The bar is now open, with the proper COVID precautions being enforced, on the following days:
Thursdays from 3:00 to 7.30 - Fridays from 3:00 to 9:00 - Saturdays from 3:00 to 7:30 - Sundays from 3:00 to 7:30
Come in and have a drink, and meet the friends whose companionship you have been missing for the past few months. Eventually the COVID-19 misery will come to an end. It is up to you to make sure that the Heritage club will be there when it happens.
Signed: A friend of the Heritage Social Club.
Note - Although membership is not mandatory to enter the Heritage Social Club, your support is much appreciated. October is the typical renewal time and for just $25 a year you will be helping to keep the club alive and kicking.

Click here for the September/October Issue of Community Connections

Robert Kane -  May 14, 1940 – Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland - August 26, 2020 – Calgary, Alberta

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Robert (Bertie) Kane on Wednesday, August 26, 2020 with his family by his side at the age of 80 years.
Bertie was born in Galston, Scotland and married the love of his life Elizabeth in 1964 before immigrating to Canada in 1967, with their three sons; adding a daughter two years later. They settled in Two-Mountains, QC to raise their children. After thirty-nine years they moved to western Canada, where they split their time between Airdrie, AB in the summer and Tucson, AZ in the winter.
For the last few years Bertie was devoted to the care of his beautiful wife Liz, and was broken hearted by her passing in January 2020. Family was everything to Bertie, neither time nor distance could fade the love he had for his family or the love they had for him.
A great story teller, Bertie loved to share tales of the life he lived and was never short of a captive audience of family and friends. The door was always open to a steady stream of visitors. Bertie and Liz enjoyed their later years travelling as much as possible to visit friends and family across the globe.
Bertie is survived by his loving children, Robert, Brian (Laura), Michael (Tara), and Maggie (Wayne). He was an adoring and adored grandfather to Andrew, Meghan (Jacob), Catherine (Andrew), Amanda, Emily and Owen; proud great-grandfather to Alivia, Gavin and Sophia. He will be dearly missed by his sister Moira and sisters-in-law, Janet, Margaret, Christine and Sandra; and his extended family in Canada, Scotland and the United States. Bertie was predeceased by his devoted wife Elizabeth Kane (nee Gibson) who passed away earlier this year and sisters, Ellen, Annie, Grace and Isabell.
Condolences, memories and photos may be shared and viewed on Robert’s obituary at www.McInnisandHolloway.com. If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Alberta, 200, 119 – 14th Street N.W., Calgary, AB T2N 1Z6 Telephone: (403) 264-5549, www.heartandstroke.ca.
In living memory of Robert Kane, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES, Airdrie, 300 TOWERLANE DRIVE, AIRDRIE, AB T4B 3L8, Telephone: 403-948-1100.

Life On Hold
We are now into our 6th month in the strange new world. As you may have noticed, there hasn't much activity on my website. That would usually mean that we are away on vacation. Unfortunately, that is not the case. There is not that much 'news' to deliver. I have been busy every morning playing golf. Since I am usually in the first group to play, 18 holes never takes more than 2½ hours. Home by 10am, I have the entire day to 'enjoy' other activities although there are not that many activities going on. My local watering hole has shut down partially due to COVID-19 and the fact that the building has been sold for yet another condo building although demolition has not started yet. It looks like Pub Deux-Montagnes (formerly Tartan Pub) is now history as relocation was not an easy task. Some people have adopted the pool hall (the Huit) as a replacement for their happy hour beverage(s). The Heritage Social Club and the Legion have opened on a limited basis but some people are still a little reluctant to take part.
If you have to have anything done over the phone like changing your insurance coverage, life on hold can have a different meaning. I was on hold for over 3 hours to get our new car insured. That was 2 months ago and getting a hold of somebody for any kind of support has gotten better but nowhere close to pre-pandemic levels.
Even though things have slowed down, time still goes on and summer is on its way out. We are preparing for our hockey season with the new rules. Getting to the dressing room no more than 15 minutes before game won't be a challenge for me however only 15 minutes post game in the dressing room and no shower will definitely push my limits. We thought our Friday hockey 'league' was losing its home last year but contrary to all the rumours of demolition, the old Patinoire Deux-Montagnes has gotten a major facelift. The now Complexe Sportif AP will be ready for us in early September. Click here to view some of the renovations in progress. This is one example of not all land needing to be converted to condos.
As life gets back to 'normal', I will be attempting to post more updates on what is going on in the city in a world that has gone to sleep. Next year, Two-Mountains celebrates its 100th anniversary and plenty is planned. By then, a viable vaccine might make easier to get back to regular activities.

Electric Car Report After 2 Months
It's been 2 months since we bought our fully electric car (a 2020 Nissan Leaf SL Plus) and I am ready for a review and I have some data to back up my observations.
Firstly let me say that it is a lot of fun driving by gas stations and not being frustrated by the constant yo-yoing of prices. We still have a gasoline powered car but it's been on a full tank for 2 months now. We are only using as a last resort.
I have been looking at EV's (Electric Vehicles) for a while now but kept being told to wait as the driving range would get better. There are certain EV's now that claim to have over 500km ranges but that is to be taken with a grain of salt. Our Leaf has a range of 363 under ideal conditions. Air conditioning takes about 12kms off that range but heating seems to be more of an issue. I will make a full report after the winter but one of the 'problems' with fully electric cars is that the batteries do not fair well in really cold weather. The batteries have to provide power to heat themselves and therefore will reduce range by a lot. Also the heater for inside the car needs a lot of power when it's really cold out. Since our car will be in a heated garage most of the time, this should not be an issue. If parked outside in bitter cold, it is recommended to keep it plugged in to keep things warm.
As I wrote earlier in a piece below, the initial cost of an electric vehicle won't be easily recovered by by money on gas. That being said, in July, we drove 2112kms. My energy consumptions was 382 kilowatts. That gives an average of 5.5 kms travelled per kilowatt. Hydro-Quebec charges $0.1077 per kilowatt for the ones over 40kw per day. So the month of July cost $41.17 in electricity. The car itself produced 97kw through re-generative braking because the actually energy used to move the car forward was 479kw. This is why the range is lower on the highway since you rarely use the brakes. If you do the math, had I used my Camry to do that distance, at $1.07 a litre it would have cost $193 in gas since it does 100km on about 8.5 litres of gas. In one month (of summer travel), the savings was $152. This is probably not enough to justify the higher cost of an EV but when you figure out the lower cost of maintenance such as eliminating oil changes and the low impact on the environment, it's a good choice. Driving by gas stations with a smile is also a priceless benefit.
If you are considering an electric car for your next vehicle purchase, Consumer Reports has a good webpage with a lot of answers. It also talks about PHEV's which is a hybrid solution that uses gas when the batteries run out. Their electric range is very limited but gasoline kicks in to extend their range. That article is here.
Although this is an American article, most of it is relevant in Canada. It mentions at home plug in options. You have to calculate the cost of having charging outlet at home. In our case, the Leaf comes with a portable Level 2 charger. It plugs into a regular outlet for Level 1 charging (about 8 kilometres per hour plugged in). I had a stove plug (14-50P) installed in the garage to get Level 2 charging from of the charger. This gives about 33 kilometres per hour of charging so a full charge from 0% would take 11 hours. Without a garage, you would probably have a charging station installed outside. This can cost between $1000 and $1500 but in Quebec there is a $600 rebate to have one installed at home.

An Eco Friendly Toot to Test The New Wheels

Last Tuesday, I took a break from golf and we decided to go for a little ride in the new electric car. It was a test to see how far we could go on one charge and we took advantage by packing a picnic and driving to find somewhere to eat it. First of all, electric cars have come a long way in the past few year. Their range has increased quite a bit but there is still a ways to go. Our new Nissan Leaf has a supposed range of 350 kilometres as it is the Plus model with a 62kw battery. The base model has a 40kw battery and has quite a shorter range. Autonomy (or range) is a big factor is purchasing an E-vehicle although the recharging network is very good, you probably wouldn't want to go on a long trip if you were in any kind of hurry. The other thing about electric cars is that are the exact opposite of gas vehicles as their highway mileage is much lower than city mileage. On the highway, especially at higher speeds, the battery is drained constantly but when in traffic or when stopping a lot, the battery recharges using the energy to stop the car instead of the brakes. So if you want to go the furthest on one charge avoid going more than 100k/h and stop a lot. So if you are not in a hurry to get somewhere, the scenic routes will be your best bet.

Hence our little 350km trip you see in the map on the right. At first, I didn't know where we were headed but I thought going on the Chemin Du Roy was a possibility as it goes along the St-Lawrence river. Learn more about the historic Chemin du Roy here. We ended up in Sorel-Tracy after a few hours since we took our time. One of the perks of owning an electric car is that tolls and some provincially run ferries are free. We found out on Sorel ferry that the car can cross for free but its passengers including the driver have to pay. It cost $7.30 instead of $15.95. Once in Sorel, we found a nice place for a picnic on the shore of the river and happen to drive by a fast charging station which we used for 6 minutes to add about 8% charge to our battery. This extra boost ended up saving as we arrived home after 350kms with only 10% juice left in the battery. In case, you don't see it in the map above, we ended up coming back by crossing at the Trois-Riviere bridge. In the end, it was a nice day on roads we would have never taken in 'normal' times. The cost of electricity used was about $6.25 plus $1.16 at the fast charging station. Here are a few pictures that we took along the way. When looking at the pictures, if you click on view details (bottom left). A map will pop up to tell you exactly where the picture was taken.

Lions Club 18th Annual Giant Annual Book Fair Deux-Montagnes Cancelled

A note from the Deux-Montagnes Lions Club - It is with great regret that we have to cancel the 18th annual book fair, which was to be held on October 3rd and 4th, 2020. Due to the necessity of keeping distance, holding a book fair which normally attracts about 2 to 3 thousand buyers was deemed too risky. We do not want our book fair to be responsible for an eventual outbreak and cause heartaches to the population. The mere task of disinfection of books between was impossible. This was a very difficult decision, as the book fair has become very dear to our hearts and the proceeds of the book fair helped a lot of individuals and organizations in the community.

Consequently we also cannot accept any books at this time, as we do not have the storage facilities. The premises that we use are also used by Agape to store and distribute the Christmas baskets, and they need our space for this period. We hope, if the COVID-19 situation improves, to start again in the New year with collecting and sorting, and that will be announced in due course. Thank you again for your past support, and stay healthy.

Heritage Club Reopens On A Reduced Schedule
The Heritage Social Club will be open once again starting on Thursday July 23rd. All COVID-19 rules and regulations will be followed. Masks must be worn when moving around the hall. For now, the new hours will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 3pm to 7:30pm. The club is open to guests however membership is strongly encouraged and is only $25 a year.

Dreaded Corn on The Cob
Here is another diatribe, not really that acrimonious, but something that happens every year and makes me realize that time goes by even during times of social distancing. It's been at least 4 months that we have been in suspended animation waiting to get back to normal (if that ever happens again). Yesterday, I noticed that the corn on the cob hut at the gas station was open. To me, that spells only one thing. Summer is on its way out. I hate being negative, but the days have been getting shorter for almost  a month and if you haven't taken advantage of summer yet, you better get going. Of course, during these times, getting going is mostly enjoying your own backyard. Of course, the arrival of corn doesn't mean summer is over. Tomato time is when it's really over.

It seems that almost everyone (and I know who doesn't) loves corn on the cob even with all its next day side effects. Other than providing fuel for your car, corn is but a delivery vehicle for butter and salt (and pepper but that's weird). Here is something that you may not know or as Trump would say 'not many people know this but' as I only learned this only a few years ago. Each corn stalk, only produces one ear of corn (sometimes 2 is you are lucky). That means that one of those giant plants that grow as high as an elephant's eye produces only one cob. You would think that with all the GMO related work done that someone would have come up with a better yield for a corn stalk. I personally won't buy corn this early in the season. It's usually really small and you probably have to re-mortgage your house for a dozen. What you pay now for 12 cobs is what you will pay for a bushel bag on Labour day weekend when everybody has already gone to five corn 'roasts'. Anyway, summer is not really over, but Costco is only days away from putting out their Halloween costumes. I already have my mask, so I will be practicing for the next 3 months. Stay safe and chew your corn well as your digestive system is not really good at breaking down cellulose if you get my drift.

My Rant for Today
A few weeks ago, we entered into the Eco-friendly world of Electric Vehicles. We bought a brand new Nissan Leaf that is totally electric. It only has a real autonomous range of 300 or so kilometres so we have the gasoline Toyota for longer trips if need be. In the end, buying an electric vehicle is not really a money saver as the initial outlay of cash to buy one will never get paid back unless you drive 50K a year for years. The $13,000 government rebate ($8,000 Quebec and $5,000 Federal) should bring prices closer to 'regular' cars but the car companies have artificially raised their prices to take advantage of the government's generosity. Funny enough, that's not what my rant is about. My rant which you may have guessed from looking at the picture below is about how some people are either totally clueless or just down right inconsiderate.
In case you didn't know, I play golf often. 80% of the time, I play in the first foursome (or threesome) out in the morning. Our average playing time is less than 2½ hours, so the day is just starting when I get home. Another advantage of arriving at the course early is I get my pick of parking spots. Since the car is new, I want to delay the inevitable door ding for as long as possible. In public parking spaces, I try to park far away from everyone and are happy to add a few steps to my shopping experience. At the golf course, I always park in the last spot close to the grass to leave a lot of space from the line of the next parking space. By the end of our round at around 10am, the parking lot is always filled to almost capacity. This morning, was no exception and with the Humidex at almost 40°C by 10am, I actually felt bad for golfers heading out to the first tee. Anyway, when I got back to my car (technically my wife's car but we are saving the planet), I could not believe how someone had managed to miss his/her parking space by that much and how our car managed to stay 'dingless'. I wanted to stay around to see who had parked this way, but the next foursome were at least one hour behind us. After seeing this, another member just arriving said they wouldn't want to see that person putt. I am sure that the driver of this vehicle doesn't visit my website but maybe I will print this picture and put it on the windshield when I see it again.

Click Here for the July/August Community Connections

Long Time, No Update

It happens to the best of us. I haven't updated my web page for a few days now. The problem is that my computer died and I wasn't able to get it going again. I was going to bring it in to get it fixed but it was acting up a bit in the past few months. One major problem was that it could not come back up on a restart. This meant that whenever there was Windows update it would hang until I pressed on the power button for a while to get it going again. The last straw happened about 10 days ago in the big wind. We lost electricity and the UPS (uninterruptible power supply or battery backup) didn't have enough power to keep the PC going through the power outage.

Today, I bit the bullet and bought a new PC. It only took a few hours to get back up to speed mainly because over 95% of my files are on external drives and the cloud. The only thing is I had to reinstall all the apps from scratch including the one that I use to update my website. It worked. My new PC does not have a conventional disk drive which is usually what fails in an aging computer. There is a motor that spins a disk around at 7200 RPM and eventually it fails. My new computer has a 1/2 terabyte (512GB) SSD drive (Solid State Drive). There are no moving parts so likelihood of failure is reduced. A solid state drive accesses data at 5 to 20 times the speed of a regular hard drive. It makes getting data and rebooting a lot faster and quieter if that is a issue. My other PC that is still working, has a mix of SSD and HDD which is also an option as SSD is a much more expensive but getting more reasonable. I think that eventually hard drives will be replaced by solid state memory as it gets less expensive.

Anyway I am now that I am back online, I hope to have more time to update my site. Don't forget that Wednesday is Canada Day and the Deux-Montagnes MRC Canada Day committee is putting on a 2 hour live stream on YouTube. It starts at 7pm and can be accessed at this link. You can now view the show anytime at the same link.

A Little Surprise for some of LHA Grad Class of 2020

The last few months have have been trying times for many people, not least students who are reaching important milestones in their academic lives. The pomp and circumstance of grad ceremonies have been muffled and many proms have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. For some Two-Mountains students attending Lauren Hill Academy in St-Laurent, like Summer Klimas, there was a little ray of sunshine on Wednesday morning.

In the middle of the night, someone had gone around town planting posters, like the one for Summer on the left. That someone was Riley Heavens whose gesture will be remembered forever as a highlight of what will be a lowlight of a graduation year. Many thanks go out to Riley for lifting the community spirit by marking this special occasion. It made a difference.

Also, congratulations to Summer and all 2020 graduates of LHA and LTMHS, my alma mater. It will be a memorable year for all the wrong reasons but we will get through it.

Supporting Local Businesses - Buyer Beware

Here is a little lesson I learned this week and something you should watch for. I have known this practice existed long ago, even in the times of the yellow pages, but until yesterday, never realized how sophisticated the method(s) had gotten using the internet. Years ago, I had a pest problem in the house. (She's ok now, lol). Before the internet, you use to thumb through the back end of the the phone book and try to find the business you were looking for. So when I found an entry clearly listing an exterminator from Two-Mountains, I called and made an appointment. Once those people arrived, they didn't seem like local folk as they didn't really know the area. Eventually I found out, that they had travelled from the South Shore to do the job. The company in question, had many entries in the phone book to give you the impression that they were right next door and would provide prompt service. The eventual problem with that is after 3 visits, these people had travelled well over 6 hours to do three 5 minute jobs and their prices reflected it.

Nowadays, the yellow pages have faded, and Google has taken over. Yesterday, I was looking for a local electrician so I searched 'Electrician - Deux-Montagnes'. I found a few entries and found one in particular that seemed interesting. It mentioned it had been serving Two-Mountaineers for years and even displayed the Ville des Deux-Montagnes logo. In my program to support local business, I called and asked when they could do my 'job'. Since they weren't available for 10 days, I told them thank you but that I would try to get someone in faster if possible. I also casually asked where in Two-Mountains they were. The receptionist said they were actually in St-Jerome which explained their high ' frais de déplacement'.

I continued my quest expanding my search to neighbouring towns and found the exact same company displaying it was 'from' St-Eustache. It wasn't long until I found just how many more entries for the same electrician in many different towns. In the example above, the 3 insets show how the page would change depending on the city you are searching. Since your browser probably knows where you are searching from, if a website has been setup to establish your location, it could show you 'local' info to fool you into thinking that you were indeed looking at something local. Even as I am writing this article, I am finding a more dubious practice used on this website. They even mimic the star rating at the bottom of the each page. Depending on the city, their rating is different. It's not real but it's made to look legit (as much as star ratings are).

Whether this entire practice is legal is not really the question. In my books, it's definitely unethical and I am still looking for a local electrician if you have any suggestions. Update - Thanks to everyone who suggested an electrician. It seems there is a back log of work, so these services are not easy to schedule.

After a little more investigation, I found this practice being used in the plumbing industry as well. Websites can be manipulated in many ways. With a little Photoshop and some fancy coding, anything is possible. If you are in dire need of a service, for example a water leak, you might rush to the first website that pays to be first in the Google search. If you do contact them, ask a lot of questions to see how legit they are.

Barber Pierre Laparé Retires After 58 Years

My long-time barber (when I had hair) and former neighbour, Pierre Laparé has decided to call it a day after 58 years in the establishment at the corner of 11th and Oka Road. He didn't want it to end this way without a final good-bye and thank you to all his clients, but re-opening after COVID-19 new rules was too risky. At a young 79 years old and an avid philatelist (Google it), he can now spend many hours enjoying one of his favourite pastimes.

Pierre is very active in the community and served on city council from 1990 to 2005. Lots of people were waiting patiently for him to re-open as social distancing practices have taken a toll on many coifs. Reading the comments on Facebook from many people, he certainly cut a lot of hair in his 58 years. He was many people's first 'official' non-home haircuts.

Good luck Pierre on your next stage in life. When things get back to 'normal', I am sure Mr. Laparé will be around to see his ex-customers and might be tempted to snip a little on the side. Thanks for your many years of service to the community.

Virtual Canada Day Celebrations

As you may have heard or at least anticipated, this year's Canada Day celebrations will not take place in a live form. Instead, there will be a 2 hour YouTube webcast from 7pm to 9pm on Wednesday July 1st. For more info on this live event, please visit the MRC Deux-Montagnes website site by clicking here.

A popular part of Canada Day celebration is the Bingo tent. That event will be replaced with a virtual bingo from 1pm to 3pm on Facebook live. The cost will be $15 for a 9-on pack. You have until June 17th to purchase your ticket for this event. To register, send an email to CanadaDayBingo2Mo@gmail.com . You can then enjoy this from the comfort of your own abode then you will have 4 hours to rest up before the Canada Day Webcast.

Support Local Businesses

COVID-19 has had and will have for the foreseeable future a incredible financial impact on everyone and every business. As the world tries to get back on its feet, it will be very important for us to return to some form of normalcy. During good times, businesses in our little town struggle to stay afloat. Although the federal government has some programs to help businesses navigate through these hard times, there is one more key element to helping our local merchants stay alive. There are many ads telling us to buy local and never has it been so important especially in our neighbourhood. So the next time you are thinking of ordering food or get a loaf of bread, there are places in Two Mountains that are open for business. Currently, restaurant only offer takeout and some like the Lotus Restaurant are offering delivery. Try to stay away from delivery apps that charge more and give less to the restaurant. Lots of people forget that we have a bakery at the corner of 18th and Oka road. Les Moulins La Fayette have been open for business throughout the isolation period. Restaurants are available to take your orders too. Café Totumos, Pizza Deux-Freres, Lotus and Super Burger are all anxiously waiting for your orders. Surely you must be getting tired of home cooking. Here are links to our local businesses ready to serve you:

Pizza Deux-Freres Café Totumos Lotus Restaurant Super Burger Les Moulin La Fayette Dairy Queen L'Oeufrier

Let me know if there are other to include in this list. L'oeufrier is now doing take-out and delivery

Fox and Friends In Two-Mountains
No, not the Trumpeted TV show. This year, there are a few foxes scampering through our town. When I post a short video of the fox at our front door on Facebook, many people commented that they had seen one (or two) in their yards or on the street. It's always early in the morning and since I am not usually awake or am awake but the eyes have yet to kick in, I don't get to see them. Unfortunately (but fortunately in this case), my Ring doorbell has developed a little bug where even a squirrel will trigger the motion detector and will record the action. I have reported the problem, but they don't seem to understand and are asking me do all kinds of tests which I have no time for. Anyway, almost every morning like clockwork, There is a video on the 'cloud' featuring one (or two) foxes whizzing by the front door. A couple of times they stop for a second.
On Sunday May 17th, I was in the kitchen around 7am, which is early for me but late the foxes, I thought I spotted the neighbours big orange tabby in my backyard through the chairs that I had just taken out of the shed. Ok, I took out days ago but the deck wasn't ready for them. Anyway, I had never seen that fat cat move so fast so it caught my attention. It wasn't a cat, but it was the fox on a return visit. I managed to get my phone on to catch it through the window but it took off. I then went on to my side balcony, but he was long gone. A couple of seconds later either he was back or another one showed up. He (or she) didn't notice me there until he walked within a feet of me and then did a quick step as he strolled by me. In case you haven't seen the fox in person, this video shows it much better than my Ring doorbell. It also has better music. Click on the picture above to view it.

Gazebo Replacement
For the last three summers, we had enjoyed sitting on our back deck free of bug due to the installation of a screened-in and netted sun shelter. It wasn't the fancy kind and was on sale at Rona for just over $200. For the price, it was a good deal and we would have been happy for it to last 3 summers. Since I can't leave anything on my back patio due to show and ice sliding off the aluminum roof, I dismantle it every year. It would have definitely lasted a 4th summer except that last August. Something strange happening. All of a sudden, a squirrel decided that the mosquito netting was to his (or her) liking and started to rip large pieces out of it. I guess the mosquitoes were bothering the squirrels too and they decided to use some of that material in their nest. Anyway, the sun shelter was of no use anymore as its main raison d'être was to ward off bugs while enjoying the back deck without annoying pests. I was looking for replacement netting and the price was basically the same as buying a whole new 'gazebo'. I noticed that Rona had a sale on what looked like the exact same unit at $225 (from $299). My existing frame was still in good shape but just in case I would have another one. Here is where the story has a little twist.

When I ordered it, I looked at my previous online order from a few years ago and it said that I had ordered a 9 by 9 sun shelter. I distinctly remember ordering a 10 by 10 but the order said 9 by 9. This year, I ordered the same 10 by 10 unit and it show up on my invoice as 10 x 10. I remember the reviews from the old sun shelter that many people complained that the box said 10 by 10 but the actual area was 9 by 9. The manufacturers were cheating calling it 10 by 10 by measuring the overhanging roof. Long story short, this new one is actually 10 by 10 which gives it a floor area of 100 sq ft. instead of 81. Huge difference. The other huge difference, the frame, although looks identical, is completely different and so is putting it together. I had a graduate degree in assembling and disassembling the old one and was doing alone. This new one was a little different and in the manual in the tools required for assembly it says: (included) Wrench and Allen Key. In the not included section, which I didn't read before hand (of course), it says hammer (which I didn't have and not sure where is would have been required) and...get this 2 ladders (no less than 8.2 feet tall). Other than construction companies, who has 2 ladders over 8 feet tall. I am lucky to have 2, a 5 footer and a 6 footer, the latter (pun intended) one left behind by someone that worked on the house 16 years ago. The instruction manual also says the estimated assembly time is 60 to 90 minutes. We took an hour more than that and didn't fight once, not physically anyway. Anyway other than the 45 minute phone calls to tell that them that one part didn't fit, it's all captured on this time-lapse video that you can view by clicking on the image on the right. 

Community Connections Edition Only Available Online

Due to COVID-19, the May/June edition of Community Connections will not be available in print form. It is available online at this link. The newsletter has a distribution of 2,500 copies is usually available in various spots around the area which are mostly closed at this time.

Community Connections is a community information magazine published in English every two months. Based in Deux-Montagnes, its volunteer writers cover what is happening in the Anglophone and related communities from Kanehsatake to Rosemere. Click here to access their website.

4 Korners Live Music Session Streaming on Facebook
This Friday (April 24th) at 7:30pm, 4Korners will be doing another Facebook live music stream. This week features Two-Mountains own Jim Brown. Click here to listen live. 4 Korners Music sessions will be held every Friday on Facebook until they can be done in person again every second Friday at Café Totumos at the corner of 15th and Oka road.

Attention local talent: If you are interested in performing at one of these sessions, contact 4K for more info at (450) 974-3940 or sign up at this link. 

Costco Hours Changing Again
OK this is my last Costco COVID update. They have changed their tune once again. This applies to the Boisbriand store. not sure about other outlets. Senior hours are on Monday through Thursday and they 'officially' open at 8am although they can decide to let people in from 7:30 if they feel like it. I had to go back to get my new tires installed but had I wanted to shop I would have had to be in line which was a one hour wait. If you only need a propane fill up, you can go straight to the tire shop through the exit and pay there for a fill up. No need to wait in line, but don't try to sneak into the store from there. Watching the people check out while waiting for my tires, I noticed that toilet paper was still being purchased. A good thing TP doesn't have an expiry date, or does it? One strange thing about tire installation. They were asking everybody, including me, to come back after 40 kilometres, to have their wheel nuts checked to see if any had loosened. Not sure if this a store specific request but it seemed odd to me and a little inconvenient as you would have to return there the next day after only 40kms.

A Flash from the Past - LTM 1974
Being in isolation for weeks has made people do some spring cleaning that wasn't planned. We have done some, but not as much as we should be doing. One of my visitors, Gary L, sent me pdf's of a class newspaper called LTM Concept from October 1974. It was published by the journalism class. This one is the first edition. It's 4 pages long, and has some interesting articles. Although I graduated in 1973, there are a lot of people in the pages that I remember from school. It's an good read for LTMer's just turning 60 as they might find themselves in these pages. Even, if you are not from that era, you might get a kick out of a complaint that $1.50 was too much to charge for a live band, called Software that drew 450 people at a school dance. Take a peek. Page 1, Page 2, Page 3 and Page 4.

Another Update On Costco Senior Hours
This morning (Thursday April 9), I went to Costco for one last time in a while. This is about the Boisbriand Costco so it may not apply to other warehouses. First let me tell you about what happened with my tire purchase. About 3 weeks ago, I ordered new summer tires from Costco online. They had a deal ($80 gift card) and they were delivered to the tire centre. I made an appointment for next Monday to have them installed as this was the earliest day that I could get them installed because of the Quebec law on servicing only essential vehicles. That date changed to May 4th, so Costco phoned me to pick up my tires as they were getting too much inventory. That should not have been a problem as they stopped taking any online tire orders. Anyway, when I picked them up on Tuesday around 11:30, I was able to go through the exit to get them. The line up to get in the entrance was the length of the store and back right to the propane filling station. I asked the guy at the door how long the line would take. He said that people were waiting 90 minutes to get in. I had a list of things to get for us and 3 other people but there was no way I was standing in line to get in.

Fast forward 2 days, to Thursday and since I was awake, I decided to give the senior hour another go. This time, I was going to try to get there at 8am because I knew that senior hour really only went to 8:30 and then anyone was allowed in. Although the line looked long, the wait was around 5 minutes because many people were off to the side as they were under 60 and they were checking ID. They didn't check mine which is not a great sign for what I looked like. As I walked in, there was somebody coming out of the store with a full cart. How could that be? It was 8:05 and people were already leaving the store with full carts. Here is why. I guess people (seniors) had complained that the Costco policy of having a full hour for seniors only wasn't being followed. So instead of not letting juniors in until 9am, the new senior hour actually starts at 7:30. Again, this may not be the case at other Costco's but this was the solution at Boisbriand. This should be my last visit until things get back to 'normal'. Another change that happened since my previous visit. The Plexiglas that was just at the cash, is now the whole length of the 2 rolling carpets. Also people are still bringing their own bags. They will not put anything in them. You still have to go the parking lot to fill the bags. Also, the propane filling station only opens at 10 along with the tire centre and snack bar.

Update (April15th): Costco's website, now says the senior hours are available Wednesdays along with Tuesday and Thursday. Not sure if that applies to Boisbriand but I am not going there on a Wednesday to find out it doesn't apply.

Last Night's Pink Super Full Moon

Tuesday April 7th's full moon wasn't pink but it was the biggest full moon of 2020. The reason is that yesterday almost 9 hours before the exact full moon, which was around 10:40pm, the moon was at its closest proximity to the earth, some 356,907 kilometres.

The term 'super' moon is a very big exaggeration as it only 13% bigger than a regular full moon. It's usually a big disappointment to see a less than noticeable difference. I took the picture on the right last night and the white circle is an approximation of how much bigger it is than is usually appears. The fact that the moon is closer to the earth does affect the tides as the pull from the moon is stronger. This is not directly related to the full moon, as the tides should be at their peak later this week. You might have read that the last full moon in March was supposed to be the largest of the year. That was a mistake in the Observer's Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. The moon was 115 kilometres further than last night's but you could not have seen the difference.

Yesterday's was probably seen in many more places around the world, since the COVID-19 slowdown of activity has reduced pollution in large cities where people can actually see the sky now.

Moulin Légaré Video
Click here for a video on the racing spring water of the Riviere des Chenes (Schitt creek) at the Légaré Mill in St-Eustache.

Costco Senior Hours Update
Last week I did the Costco run and wrote a little article on how easy it would be to get in if you showed just after the senior hours start on Tuesday and Thursday. All that has changed at the Boisbriand Costco at least. We had to go back this morning (April 2nd) to do a run for a couple of folks in isolation as well as a soon returning snowbirds. I took my own advice and showed up at 8:30 (half an hour after senior opening). The line from the door to the end of the warehouse back to the door. It took about 20 minutes to get in but here is why senior hours are a farce (in Boisbriand anyway).

Although Costco Canada (and USA) has said that senior hours are from 8:00am to 9:00am, this Costco lets anyone in at 8:30, so in theory senior hour is actually senior ½ hour. Add to that the fact that Costco usually opens at 10am, so many no seniors are trying to get a head start on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There is also a lot of security at Costco. Other than the 4 police cars that were parked outside, there;s a guy just outside the door that obviously been a bouncer at some point in his life, tattoos and all. Before 8:30, I wouldn't even go close to him if I wasn't 60. I must say that Costco (and its customers) is doing a very good job at keeping the 6 foot distancing. There is staff at all the walk-in fridges to make sure they are not too crowded and stopping people from bringing in their carts. The pharmacy section is also well controlled with one way in and one way out, although a woman walked in through the exit and it wasn't long until someone told her to go the other way around. Hopefully this will be our last visit to Costco in a while. Now, in Québec, all stores, including Costco are closed on Sunday throughout April. One more thing about Costco which I think is great. They are not accepting returns on toilet paper, paper towels and Lysol wipes. So anyone that hoarded during these times are stuck with a lot of inventory. Not sure if I am ready to buy TP at a garage sale.

Bells Will Be Ringing
For the next 2 Sundays, church bells will be ringing for 10 minutes at noon in many churches in the Montreal area and the St-Jerome diocese which includes Two-Mountains. This is to tell people that they are being thought of in this time of isolation.
Lorna and Ellen from Holy Family parish had a great idea and are encouraging anyone with bells of their own to go to their front doors and ring them to be heard through the neighbourhoods. Great idea!. Set your reminder. If you have Alexa, say Alexa, set reminder for 11:55 am on Sunday.

April Fool's Tradition
My 'regular' visitors have probably caught on to my annual tradition of making up a local story for the first day of April. My favourite was the one about former mayor Marc Lauzon converting the 13th avenue swimming pool to a public aquarium with Lake of Two-Mountains species for everyone to visit. This year, although I've had a lot of time on my hand to dream up a new caper, I have decided not the spread any fake news. So happy April Fool's or April Fools' Day, whichever is correct. April 1^st didn't exactly start off on the right foot. At exactly 00:00, the 'new' tenants in the house next door decided it was time to do some very loud 'renovations' along with playing music (inside) at a level that would put Osheaga's sound system to shame. Can't wait until the weather gets better and the speakers are brought outside so that everyone in the neighbourhood can hear it. NOT!. If my blood pressure ever gets back to normal, it will dealt with although it stopped when I got their attention by letting them kindly know what time it was and that we were attempting to call it a night. More to come I am sure.

Anyway, yesterday we went for a tri-city walk that included a stroll over the dam to see the ice flowing off the Lake of Two Mountains. The loop can be done in either direction and you can be close to shore for a lot of the way. On our trek, we witnessed the staff of the Selection residence, led by Cheryl Dore, entertain their residents with a couple of dance routines to brighten up their isolation. Many times on our walks, I bring my trusty camera (along with my phone) in a FOMO kind of way. So I have put together 2 videos and a slide show of the rising water in Laval West. The black dot shows where a lot of the rising water pictures were taken. Click on the icons above for each item. The map shows the walk which is around a 9 kilometre circuit, we did 2kms more to get there.

Rainbows Everywhere
If you are not in isolation and you've been walking around town, you may have noticed rainbows in windows of various houses. It's part of a 'campaign' to say It's going to be OK! or Ça va Bien Aller in French. We've gone for a few walks in the past week and noticed that rainbows are spreading, thankfully a lot more than the virus itself. Yesterday, I put together a 2 minute video with around 50 of those rainbows from around town (click on the picture on right). They aren't all masterpieces but it's nice to know that people are optimistic about getting through this pandemic.
The main message is Stay Safe, and you are in your house except that there are still some people that want to take advantage of the situation. Online scams are spreading like crazy and you might be getting emails and text that look legit from the government. Don't fall for these scams. The only way to reach the federal government for relief is through the Canada.ca website (phoning has been futile for most people).
Another thing I have noticed lately is that people have lots more time to be on Facebook. There are lot of cute little surveys asking a lot of innocent questions or lists that people have to fill in with their own likes and dislikes. It might be fun to fill out, but with identity theft being a rising issue, be careful of how much personal information you are divulging. As with COVID-19, don't let your defences down and stay safe online and health-wise.

Costco 'Senior' Hours - Are They Worth It?

This morning, I set my alarm for 7am in order to try the senior hours of Costco. If you are unaware, Costco has established early opening times on Tuesdays and Thursdays for anyone over 60, which unfortunately I qualified for almost 4 years ago. I arrived at exactly 8:00am to find that the doors had just opened and the line-up was the whole length of the store and partway back. At that point, I decided that it just wasn't for me and was ready to turn back home. I drove, yes, drove, to the end of the line and it seemed pretty civilized, so I decided to take a chance. After all, it looked like everyone was respecting the 2 metre distancing. I entered in the line at 8:10 and was inside the store at 8:15 to my amazement. I bumped in to someone that arrived at 8:20, and the line had disappeared completely by then. Moral of the story, if you are there at 8:30 there shouldn't be any problem going right in. But here are a few (new) COVID-19 rules you need to know before you head out to go there:

1) If you are 2 people, you both need membership cards to get in. If you are not over 60, they won't let you in. An older lady, was there with her son that was going to help her. They told him he couldn't accompany her. They then said he could go in after 8:30.
2) Your cart will be disinfected by staff as you go in, but you probably have been pushing it in the line for a while.
3) Forget bringing your bags in, they won't touch them and they tell you to put things in your bags in the parking lot not in the store anywhere as traffic must keep flowing.
4) When paying, stay behind the Plexiglas shield at the cash at all times until you pay. Don't try to help the person putting stuff in your cart. Also, the bill is pre-checked at the cash. The people at the exit don't want to come close to you.
5) Don't expect to eat at the canteen, that is closed until the official opening, as is the tire section and the cell phone booth.
6) Also don't believe them when they say the aisle are empty. There is plenty of food and toilet paper. The roasted chickens are not ready until around 9:00 though.

All in all, what looked like was going to be a terrible experience when I first arrived turned out ok.

REM Suspends Mont Royal Tunnel Work Until At Least April 14th
Good News/Bad News Department - The REM announced that train service that was supposed to only go to the Bois-Franc station will continue right into Montreal until at least April 14th. The work in the tunnel is on hold because of the COVID-19 virus. That is good news or bad news depending on which side of the fence you are on. If you are still required to go to work, I guess it's good news although your obviously working remotely. The bad news is that this will put some additional delays on the re-opening of the line and the REM itself. The other bad news is that because of a much reduced clientele, the REM has implemented a reduced schedule until further notice. They have removed 5 trains which are in grey on the schedule on top of my site.
To reach the REM site with this information, click here.

World Water Day - March 22. Click Here for a Video I Threw Together to Mark the Day.

For People Who Copy And Paste Messages On Facebook - Please Read Especially in These Days of Facts or Fiction

Why do a lot of messages implore you to Copy and Paste instead of simply sharing a post? The answer is simple and and here is why. While not all these kinds of messages are hoaxes, the ones that are like the 25 Facebook friends hoax that or any conspiracy theory post want you to repost on your timeline by copying and pasting and then add then adding a comment in their own timeline.

If you copy and paste (instead of sharing) a post, you get a brand new instance of the message. If you shared this post and somehow it was removed (for example, proven to be a hoax), all shares of the post would be deleted by one command. By copying and pasting, that post propagates itself just like a virus and is way harder to remove. That is why you are being asked to copy and paste. It's not unlike the old chain letters you used to get in the office where it would tell you to copy it 10 times and pass it on or you would get bad luck. I am sure those chain letters were started by photocopying companies, my own conspiracy theory, JK.

And about that Facebook hoax about only seeing posts from only 25 of your 200 friends, it's been debunked. This morning (March 21^st), I was only seeing posts from March 17^th on top of my feed and I thought that was strange. If you click on the three dots of the News Feed line, you are probably set to Top Stories. If you switch to Most Recent, you will get the most recent posts of all of you friends. In the morning, you'll see who's been up all night. To get back to Top Stories, you will see a message at the top of you timeline that you are viewing most recent stories with an option to go back to top stories. You might go back to that option if you see that one person is just too busy posting stuff that you don't want to see.

Also, on the News Feed menu you will also see a Preferences option. You can use this to snooze posts from people but more importantly you can prioritize who's post you want to see first. This is also where you can unfollow your 'friends'. They won't know that you are not following them just like when you are not listening to them in person. 

Train Service Soon To Change
The closing of the Mount-Royal tunnel to make modifications for the new REM line will affect the Deux-Montagnes commuter line in a major way. Count yourself lucky if you use the train to only travel to the Bois-Franc station as this will be the end point of the commuter line for the next 2 years or so. This service will be free of charge. Once you get to Bois-Franc, if you want to reach downtown locations, you will have to take a bus to the Cote Vertu Metro station and ride the Orange Line to your destination. So if you are going from the Deux-Montagnes train station to the Bonaventure Metro Station for example, that trip used to take 35 minutes but is now 45 minutes due to only single track through the tunnel.

The best case scenario as of March 30th is the following: The Train from DM to Bois-Franc - 24 minutes - Bus From BF to the Cote Vertu Metro Station - 18 minutes - Cote Vertu to Bonaventure on the Metro - 20 minutes. Total travel time 62 minutes, this is assuming that you don't have to walk between transfers and they are miraculously there as you arrive. I would add a conservative 8 minutes for the 2 transfers and an additional 5 minutes to find a parking spot at Deux-Montagnes. So as I mentioned, the best case scenario is a 88 minute commute in one direction and the same coming back if you are lucky enough to get to the train just before it leaves. If you see the train leaving and you are not on it, there is another one leaving in 30 minutes at rush hour. Bottom line, you are looking at commuting 3 hours a day for the next 2 years. A by-product of the COVID-19 virus may be that you got to work from home. If that is the case, you might be able to make the same deal for the next 4 years until the 'full' REM comes to fruition. Remember that when the REM actually go online in two years, the train from Deux-Montagnes to Bois-Franc will cease operation for construction of the REM line into our town. I have posted the new train schedule here in condensed form and it's available through the link on the top left of this page.

Another point regarding the REM that most people are not aware. When the REM does operate between Two-Mountains and downtown, people are under the impression that we will return to our 35 minute ride which we enjoyed a few years ago. The trip will probably closer to 40 or 45 minutes. This will be offset by departures every 6 minutes during rush hour, but the longer travel time will be due to 3 additional stations along the way. There will be one at Université de Montreal and one at McGill Metro station serving McGill university. There will also be a surprise one called A40 near where the Metropolitan crosses over the tracks. There is a little controversy regarding this one as I don't remember it on the original plan but there is a story behind it. The additional stop at Université de Montréal is quite an engineering feat. It connects to the Edouard-Montpetit Metro Station which is 17 metres underground. The 'problem' is that the REM track is 53 meters further down. To get to street level from 70 metres below will require elevator(s) They will travel the 21 stories in about 20 seconds and will be able to carry about 5000 people an hour. That station will be the second deepest station in North America after Portland Oregon's 79 metre deep Washington Park Station. Take a look at this drone video of the abyss needed to get to track level and they are still digging.

Bye Bye Landline
A few months ago I was looking at our ever inflating telecom bill. Hovering in the $350 range for TV, Internet, Home Phone and 2 Mobile phones,  add to that Netflix and a cheap Amazon music plan. Our 'entertainment' budget was hitting an all time high. Both our mobile phone contracts were expiring in early March and we were both eligible for 'free' new phones when signing a new 2 year contract. Since we were both using our mobile phones most of the time, the question was why are we keeping our home phone and paying close to $60 a month for that service. Basically 90% of the reason was that it was associated with our phone number of over 40 years and that most of our incoming calls were from that phone, mostly calls from telemarketers although we had registered on the no-call list. Since everyone we know knows our phone number we didn't want to lose it. So a couple of weeks ago, I went to the Costco's mobile phone kiosk and asked how easy it was to convert one of our cell phones to use that old number. It ends up it was very easy, especially since we were changing our phone contracts anyway. Let me rephrase that, it wasn't quite as easy as originally thought but it happened and here are a few things to watch for.

First of all, you will lose the current number of the cell that you are reassigning your landline number on. In our case, my wife's would lose her number since I had more contacts in my address book. That was a easy decision for me, not so for her. Fortunately, she was getting a new phone, so the old phone remained active with the old number until we cancel it giving some time to make the transition. This means she can contact all the people she normally would to change number in their address book. The down side is carrying 2 phones for a little while something even Hillary Clinton wouldn't do. On my end, I didn't see any change except that I went from an LG G6 phone to a Samsung S10 and had to manually reinstall over 30 apps on my phone and reconfigure them. On the wife's phone, she was upgrading from a Samsung Neo5 to an S10 and all her apps and contacts migrated automatically to her new phone. I don't think I will change manufacturer on my next upgrade.

One thing that made it easier to get rid of the landline are our current Panasonic cordless phones. We have 5 handsets throughout the house and they have a feature called Link2Cell. This means you can link cell phones to the cordless phones via Bluetooth. This also means that wherever you've left your cell phone you can answer or make call via any phone in the house. Believe me, it really beats running around looking for your mobile phone and saves you having to carry it everywhere just in case.

Now for the downside of getting rid of your landline and this may not apply to you at all. There is a slight chance that your all-in-one printer uses your phone line to send and receive faxes. That feature won't work anymore on your printer, however I can't remember the last time I had to use a fax. The other thing you might have to think about as we had to, was that our alarm system was linked to a central via a phone line. I only thought of that, as I was leaving Costco after signing the phone changeover. What now? you ask. Well there is a solution and that solution will use the first year's saving of not having a landline. My alarm company installed a module that will contact the central via a 3G network. The module and installation will cost over $400 and will increase my monthly alarm bill by around $18. There goes the $60 saving from the phone company. The up side, is that I can now monitor my alarm system through my mobile phone and get alerted immediately if something has gone wrong. Through the central, there could be quite a delay as everything was done manually and the alarm system would have to dial a person that would then relay the calls to us.

In the end, was it worth the effort of getting rid of the landline? Time will tell. In the long run, there will be a saving but not as much as anticipated. There is a 2 minute article that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post (in 2017) called 7 Reasons to Hang On To Your Landline. (Click here). None of the 7 reason were enough for me, especially reason 6. If you have taken the leap and found anything negative, please contact me and I will add your concerns to this article.
Note: One thing that wasn't covered here was that many 'landlines' now are VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and are therefore very inexpensive or at least should be as free as the internet. They are not technically landlines at all so they have some of the same reliability problems as cellular.  

St-Patrick's Day Sing-A-Long

Since most (if not all) St Paddy's day celebrations and parades are cancelled today, there is a movement to go outside today at 1:00pm and sing When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. The Forever Young Theatre Group will be joining in from their abodes.

Also, for the 'younger' generation who are not reading this, On YouTube tonight at 7:00pm the Dropkick Murphy's from Boston will be streaming their audience free concert live on YouTube. Here is the link. This is not traditional Irish Music. You have been warned.

COVID-19 And Its Effect On Two-Mountains
In the past few days, the COVID-19 spread and fears have gotten to a feverish level (pardon the pun). Life as we knew it has changed, perhaps forever. The practice of 'social distancing' has been promoted to reduce the risk of transferring the virus from person to person. The practice of staying at least one (or 2) meter away from everyone is strongly suggested and is called social distancing. Meanwhile, our leaders to the South are giving press conferences regarding the virus while standing shoulder to shoulder behind the podium to make sure they are in the camera shot.

Closer to home, the municipality has shutdown are public areas like the Olympia Arena and the Library. The Selection residence has shutdown any visitors from entering the building for 60 days and strongly suggests that its residents over 80 not leave the building. I am not sure if the other residences in that area are doing the same but there is a province wide directive to do so.

On a personal note, we were planning our annual spring vacation which included Italy at one point, the west coast of the US was also considered, then it was changed to a road trip down the east coast to some warmer weather. Our plans are still up in the air but actually air will be out of the picture. Of course, the road trip certainly looks appealing with the gas prices plummeting back to double digits per litre, something that I thought we would never see again. But as gas prices sink, so does the value of our Canadian dollar cancelling out any advantage of travelling to the U.S. even with the low gas prices. Add to that the dent that the stock market has done to your investment portfolio and you have the perfect recipe for self isolation making Netflix and Chill the order of the day. Welcome to the global village! Enjoy the spring, which starts early this year on March 19 (because of leap day) and Happy St-Patrick's Day without a parade. My last question, if you pass on from COVID-19, will you bequeath your toilet paper?

Laurie Heather Ashford - 1952 - 2020

From Doug Monette: I am saddened to say that my wife and soul-mate Laurie Heather Ashford, born in North Bay, Ontario passed away on March 9^th, 2020 at The Streetsville Care Community Centre in Mississauga, Ontario after a long and brave battle associated with complications from heart and brain surgery in 2006. Laurie and I met at the Lake of Two Mountain High School in 1969 and reunited again in 2002.

Born April 16^th, 1952 to Alvin and Lorraine (Stevenson) Ashford in North Bay, ON., Laurie is survived by spouse Douglas Monette, Niagara Falls, ON, daughter Leah Girard, Oakville, ON, siblings David Ashford, London, ON and Cathy Ashford, Montreal, QC, plus many wonderful nieces, nephews and friends. Laurie was predeceased by her beloved daughter Amy Girard.

Cremation will take place immediately at Glen Oaks Funeral Home, Oakville, ON, followed by a chapel service and internment of a "Mother and Child (Amy) Reunion" at Pleasant View Funeral Home and Cemetery in Fonthill, ON later this summer. Laurie and Amy will be deeply missed.

4Korners Launches Live Music Nights

The 4Korners Family Resource Center has appointed ex-Two-Mountainer Ken Duff to coordinate a live music initiative. They will occur every second Friday starting Friday March 13^th at 6:30pm at Café Totumos 1406 Oka Road. This will replace the open mic night that was previously happening at the restaurant.  

There will be different Two Mountains and area guest artists performing every second week. The first guest group will feature Two-Mountains own Ken Duff, Larry Cool and Frank Everett. See you there!

You Otter See This

Last Sunday (February 23^rd) was a beautiful day that gave us hope that spring is not far around the corner. It was a teaser as three days later we were walloped with snowstorm. It wasn't as bad as predicted but it definitely added a few days to the the melting season. Sunday and Monday for that matter, it was too nice to stay indoors, so I went for a walk and crossed over the dam to the Laval side of the world. While on the dam, I spotted a fairly big animal lying on the edge of the ice under the train bridge. At first I thought it was a sea lion but I knew I hadn't walked far enough to be anywhere near a sea. It was large, so it couldn't be a muskrat. Fortunately, I had my travel zoom camera that I quickly took out of my pocket. I was only quick enough to get 2 pictures (the better one on the left) as it went in and out of the water and eventually dove out of sight.

I knew it wasn't a beaver because of the tail but I thought it was too big to be an otter. The only other otters I had seen were sea otters which I think are smaller than what I was observing. In the end, it looks like this was definitely a North American River Otter. I guess it didn't know it was in a lake but the river probably starts near the train bridge anyhow. That is one of my pet peeves about some people from Two Mountains. They sometimes refer to the Milles-Iles river as the lake and the lake as the river. Technically, I am not sure where the line is but neither does the otter. For now, lets use the dam as the boundary and get it right.

Women's Time Out Celebrates its 40th Anniversary

According to the legend, it all started on February 14, 1980 in a house on LaSalle street in Two-Mountains. Marlene Holden invited a few other moms to spend the afternoon at her house while a babysitter would take care of the kids in the basement. A little time out to chat and do other activities. After six weeks, the day was popular enough to move to All Saints church hall. Little by little, the movement grew and after a couple of other moves in 1995 they made it to their current meeting place, the Veterans'' Hall. It's been their home since, every Thursday afternoon with summers off. There are currently over 80 members that partake in various activities.

On Thursday February 18th, they celebrated the 40th milestone with a lunch and some entertainment. I was also commissioned to produce a video to commemorate the event. It's a 25 minute presentation of some of the many pictures taken over the years. The current organization was also invited to sign the golden book at City on Thursday February 14th.

Pictured on the right is the cake that was decorated for the occasion.
You may click here to view the video on YouTube.

Do You Need A Little Help In Investments?

Ryan Goldsman, a certified financial planner and grandson of Two-Mountains' own Harold Galley, has written a book called Elmer's Investment Approach. Ryan used to caddy at Laval-sur-le-lac and always had a passion for golf. Over a 3 year period of writing and re-writing, his book is finally complete and available on Amazon in e-book (Kindle) or on paperback.

Ryan always wanted to write about investing but couldn't find an interesting angle. That is until he put four golfers and a caddie out on a golf course. Three of these golfers are very good while Elmer bogeys every hole but still makes out pretty well. Throughout the book, parallels are made between the golfers and investing in the stock market. Each of the 18 holes is a chapter where a new concept related to investing is presented. The large majority of the contents will be appreciated by the average reader. It's an interesting twist on learning about investing and the stock market.

The book is available at this link and is only $9.99 in the Kindle version and $29.99 in the paperback version. Reading the e-book does not require you to have a Kindle as you can download the Kindle reader app on your tablet, phone or computer.

Score For the Cure Raises Record Amount (Click on Picture for Video)
On a beautiful February day, the SFTC, in its 12th edition, was a complete success. It was a very tight race to the championship and Beurling came out on top in the final game that went to a shootout for the first time in tournament history. The real winner however was the MUHC Cancer foundation which will receive a record $4700 more as the first step of the Dan Klimas Drive For The Cure which will take place in June. This year's record amount was partly due to major sponsorships from Chase The Ace (thanks Jeff Nelson) and to Norm Hacker and from a very successful raffle sales and generous donations at the food and beverage tent. A video of some of the action will follow in the next few days however pictures are ready at this link.

Score for Cure Ball Hockey Tournament

On Saturday February 1^st, the 11^th (or 12^th) Annual Score for the Cure Ball Hockey Tournament will be held at Klimas Recreational Center (See Map). This tournament helps kick off the 2020 season to raise funds for cancer research while having a fun and friendly day. The event the first stage of the Drive For The Cure fundraiser that is scheduled for June 2020. Two divisions of 4 teams will be vying for bragging rights once again.

The first game starts at 8:30am and there are 16 games that lead to the finals at 4:30pm. Click here for schedule. Your presence and support are encouraged. Refreshments (beer, water and soft drinks) and food available for donations all day long. There is also a raffle (tickets 3 for $10) for multiple prizes being drawn throughout the day including a pair of tickets for the Canadiens vs. Rangers on February 27, 2020. (You do not have to be present to win).

Once again we appreciate your continued support and look forward to having you make this another successful community event! Click Here to see pictures from previous tournaments.

Claire Gleeson (Migneron) - 1934 -2020

It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of Claire Gleeson (Migneron) on January 25th with her children by her side. Predeceased by her loving husband Ronald 'Sonny' Gleeson in 2008. She was a loving and devoted Mom to Bradley (Corrie) and Anne-Marie who will be forever grateful that she was their Mom. She was a cherished Nana to Garrett and Justin who will miss her words of wisdom and long loving hugs. In her last few years, she took great joy in caring for her cat, Sam. She was a woman of pride, class, intellect, love and wit. She devoted her life to raising her children until she re-entered the workforce at Sea Air when they were both in high school. After retiring, she enjoyed travelling, volunteering, playing bridge and spending time with family and her many dear friends. She lived life well and always counted her blessings.

The family will receive condolences at Complexe Funéraire Guay,146 Saint-Louis in Saint-Eustache, Tel: 514-871-2020, on Thursday, January 30 from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A celebration of life will take place on Saturday, February 1 at 2 p.m. in Holy Family Church in Deux-Montagnes. In lieu of flowers, a donation to The Montreal Chest Institute Foundation would be greatly appreciated by the family. https://mcifoundation.ca/ 

Click here for her online obituary.

Click here for a Video of January 25th's Lions Club Carnival

Wanna Dance? Learn some moves!
The Heritage Social Club is offering some free* dance lessons every second Friday from 7p to 8pm just before Karaoke kicks in. Dance master, Frank will teach you the steps. There will be line and partner lessons in an informal social setting so you can leave your ballroom shoes at home. It all starts on Friday January 31st at the HSC.
* Free for members - $5 for a session for non-members. Membership is only $25 a year. Click here for a poster with the info.

Is This Site Secure?
A few months ago, someone told me that my website was not secure, or at least that what his browser was telling him. A secure website, is one that uses a SSL certificate (Secure Sockets Layer) to encrypt (makes unreadable) data that is input into it. Since my website doesn't capture anyone's data, I didn't think it mattered whether my website used SSL. How can you tell whether a website is secure? It's pretty easy. On some browsers, if you look at the address bar, you should see https:// in the url, The S tells you that it's a secure site. Sometimes, the http part doesn't show, but just to the left there will be a little icon that you can click on. If it looks like a little padlock, it means the site is secure. The padlock appears on the right side of the address bar if you are still using IE (Internet Explorer). It ends up my site is secure and I didn't realize it for sure until today. That is thanks to a discussion I had while helping a friend figure out a computer problem with a scanner. Here is is why I didn't think my website used an SSL certificate:

There are many ways to get to my website. Thanks very few websites starting with the letters '2mop', my site is the top hit in search engines, so that easiest way to find it. Actually once you have found it, the easiest way is by bookmarking my web address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator). I bookmarked my website years ago, so when I used my bookmark, it was defined as http://2mopaul.com (without the S). It ends up that my website is accessible without using an SSL so when I was using that old bookmark, I was getting a little warning that my site was not secure. I changed my bookmark to read https://2mopaul.com and now my browser shows it as secure. So if you are like me and use bookmarks, you might want to check that it includes an s in the address. In an informational website such as mine that doesn't ask you to enter data, it's not a big deal. On other sites however, where you enter a password for example, you may want to make sure that you are on a secure site. SSL has actually evolved into something called TLS (Transport Layer Security). It very technical, but you can read about it here.

Windows 7 Panic
A lot of people have asked me about the end the world. Actually it was the end of support for Windows 7 which happens in 2 days (January 14^th). If you are using Windows 7 (or even XP, Vista or God forbid Windows 2000) and reading this, see you in the next life. Seriously though, there is no real need to panic yet. The only thing Microsoft has done is to stop updates to the operating system unless you purchase extended support which you certainly don't want to do. Some companies are forced to do this as updating a entire 'fleet' of computers is a major undertaking. Running Windows 7 is like when your car's extended warranty expires. Your car is still running but if something goes wrong, you will have to foot the bill entirely. Also, Windows 7 has been on extended support since January 2015. If you remember, at that time they were giving you a year to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. There were two problems back then with that upgrade. One, Windows 10 was getting a bad rap as it was a little unstable and it looked different, the fear of the unfamiliar. Two, if you PC's power was just getting by with Windows 7, W10 needed extra resources and would run really slow if at all.

So if you are thinking that your current PC running W7 can be 'upgraded' to run today's W10, stop thinking. Firstly, your current machine would probably need a major hardware upgrade. A computer repair shop will probably convince you to upgrade your hard drive, then add memory and then add a better CPU. That would be the equivalent of taking your car and changing the engine, dashboard, transmission and wheels and keeping the chassis and body. If you like you old car that much, keep as is and buy a newer one for the family vacation. With the price of computer these days, a brand new box, with 25 times (at least) the power of your aging PC will cost you less than trying to mod you current hardware. Before you do go out and buy a new machine, here is my suggestion to you. Firstly, the Windows updates often revolve around security. Without updates, your PC can become more vulnerable to viruses. If you have security software installed on your PC, this should help protect you. There are free solutions such as Avast and AVG. Also some providers, like Bell, offer free security when you use their internet service. Secondly, as a Microsoft user, you have 5 gigabytes of free cloud storage using One Drive. Put all of your critical data on the cloud in case your PC gets hacked. If you don't trust the cloud, back up your data on a USB key or external drive that is not always connected to your PC. Face it, if your PC doesn't get hacked by a virus, it may just die of old age along with it's local data. Your third option is to buy a new PC running Windows 10 and slowly getting use to it and keeping your old one to run that old software (eg. MS-Money or my golf app) that no longer works on Windows 10. Lastly, the words I don't want to hear; Get a MAC. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions or problems. There is a comprehensive article on the End of Life of Windows 7 on TechRadar (Link Here). They seem to think that you could upgrade a Windows 7 machine to 10 by buying a 10 license but your hardware would probably not be adequate.

Local Old Film on YouTube

One of my readers, Nick,  has been converting some of his dad's 8mm films from the 50's and 60's and posting them on YouTube. There is footage of St-Eustache, Barbe's Hill and the Oka and Laval-sur-le-lac ferries. The YouTube channel called Lemuria Project can be reached at this link.

Here are links to specific video: Ile Bizard Ferry, Life on Houle St. St-Eustache, Oka Ferry, Skating in St-Eustache Thanks for sharing Nick.

A Break In The Action
Once again, you may have noticed a lack of activity on my website. We spent most of our holidays (right after Christmas) in Florida so I didn't have time or inkling to update my website. That means I didn't have time to wish everyone a great 2020! So I hope that the new year brings health and happiness to you. On the YouTube front, the action has slowed down a bit on the watching of the Santa parade which is normal. Amazingly, that video has gotten over 1.5 million views and because there is a link to this year's parade at the end, that one has gotten 19,000 views. I now have over 5,500 subscribers. The only problem is that I don't really have any interesting videos to post. Meanwhile, I have uploaded a few pictures from our Florida trip which involved a lot of golf and some bird watching. We had a good time in the Sunshine State although the sunshine only arrived on our 4th day there. Here is a link to the pictures.

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