Salt Spring Island Archives
| Accession Number | |||
| Date | 21 April 2022 | ||
| Media | digital recording | Audio | mp3 √ |
| duration | 150, 36 min. |
448_Charles-Sampson_About-Life_21-04-2022_Pt1.mp3, 448_Charles-Sampson_About-Life_21-04-2022_Pt2.mp3
otter.ai
12.02.2024
no
Outline
Part One
Part Two
Part One
Speaker 1 0:01
I am a member 13 And my family so like, I have a big family. Yeah. And my dad he always farm with horses. Okay, we had a we had a big chunk of property here. He was one of the original pioneers on Saltspring. Wow, we have a big chunk of property here and from Fernwood down to Walker hook. They took a lot of that property away from my folks because we couldn't bear taxes. My older brothers, I had six older brothers going overseas fighting. Oh, wow. So basically, my parents had no money, so they just took our property. And so then say you're gonna do Yeah. Poor farmer.
Speaker 2 0:53
Yeah, at that point, you weren't given an opportunity to be able to sell the land. No,
Speaker 1 0:59
there was nobody here to want a bite, of course. And I was too young to go to work myself. I was just a kid. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:05
So
Speaker 1 1:08
basically, that's about the whole life story. We farm right here and at Fernwood, actually, and as I'll show you some pictures of my older brothers. Yeah, I'd love to see that we're in the forces. I have to see where they're at. I think there's some. So
Speaker 2 1:30
is where you're living right now currently on that land? No, no, no,
Unknown Speaker 1:35
I knew we all had property of Brentwood.
Unknown Speaker 1:39
And I sold mine and bought this chunk here. I
Unknown Speaker 1:42
see it
Speaker 1 1:47
don't go Yeah. I got my jump here.
Speaker 1 1:58
That's my six brothers that went overseas. Wow. I have my oldest brother Harrell. He was in the army. My next oldest one is Bill. He was in the army. Albert in the army. Ernie, he was in the Navy. Then he was in the Navy and Vic was in the army. Wow. We were very fortunate. They all came back. I was just gonna ask if they came back. Yeah, they had some of them were wounded quite badly. Like they had a lot of Stratton online. Bill also. Most of them were pretty good shape considering Yeah, what they went through five years. Vic was the youngest five years in the Army.
Speaker 2 2:46
Wow. And how old were you when they returned? Oh, wow.
Speaker 3 2:52
When they returned, I was like about 15 I guess. 15 Maybe 16 summers
Speaker 2 3:00
area? That's kind of an adjustment to tell the so I have a bunch of brothers come home.
Speaker 1 3:05
See my oldest ones that went overseas. None of us kids were even born then. Right. When they came back. Vic my and I sweated and we were all running around there were friends there and whatever. And Vic's said to my mom, we're all these kids. My mom said that's your brothers and sisters.
Unknown Speaker 3:26
Yeah, it's quite funny.
Speaker 1 3:30
Yeah, my dad was the hardest working man I'll ever know. Yeah. Used to get up before daybreak hitch up his horses go to Ganges work for like 50 cents an hour all day come home was dark when he got home. Wow. And yeah, he liked his horses you go and put those horses away and brush him down and feed them then he gonna have suffered himself was it was a he was he was a hard working man and my mom 13 kids, you know, she was she
Speaker 2 4:03
must have been very busy. Yeah, exactly. And how are the relations amongst all your siblings?
Speaker 1 4:10
Oh, foreign? Yes, yes. I only got one brother left now. Oh, wow. Yeah, my younger brother cat and my younger sister Leila. She passed away like about four years ago. Okay. Or five years ago and my and my wife she passed away about five years ago. With Cancer. Yeah, I have two boys myself.
Unknown Speaker 4:33
Oh, nice. How
Speaker 1 4:34
old are they? Oh, they're they're all my eldest son is retired now. Okay. Yeah, he lives in Nanaimo and I've got another son and there's a Duncan. Do they have kids? No, just while the Son has a girl. Yeah.
Speaker 2 4:49
Yeah. Your grandfather? Great Grandfather. Great Grandfather. Oh, wow. Yeah.
Speaker 1 4:57
Yeah, my oldest son had a sudden new power. Stay away when he was like 22 years old. I had a heart problem. But then he has a daughter. She has a little girl herself. Cute as a lawyer you want to see smart as a whip? Did you go to the hall meeting? I
Unknown Speaker 5:18
did. Yeah.
Speaker 1 5:19
I didn't make it. It was pouring down. So rainy. Yeah, I came home from a night or beat. I want to go to bed. So I did that. Yeah, it
Speaker 2 5:29
was really interesting. Was there many people there? There's Yeah, I'd say most of the chairs were for. Good. Good. Yeah, it was a good turnout. Excellent.
Unknown Speaker 5:37
That's a good turnout. And how did Chris Miko?
Speaker 2 5:41
I think fairly well. Yeah. The first time I've heard him speak so he's quite a speaker. He's
Speaker 1 5:48
a character. He's a nice guy. Yeah. Yeah, other than that, there's my whole life. I when I got out of school, I first started on a working in the garage and Ganges with my older brother Bill. And then I went in to Victoria had worked down there for a while, not very long. And then I got a job with the BC Hydro. And I worked with them for 10 years. And then I got to work job with the BC Ferries and I work with them for 35 years. Oh, wow. Now retired.
Unknown Speaker 6:24
What did you do for BC Ferries?
Speaker 1 6:25
I've worked on deck. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good job. I love it out there. You're on your water every day, you know?
Speaker 2 6:37
couldn't be beat. Were you on the same route most of the time.
Speaker 1 6:42
All from Saltspring. I did a little bit once in a while from source Bay. And then north ones I went, but that was just a one trip. And then I Yeah, from Zuckuss. I started out and then I went to long harbor and then I went to fall for it very, very short time. And back to LA Harbor and that's where I retired from, actually. So you do the milk run. Oh, yeah. I enjoyed every minute of fairies I can imagine. Yeah. Yeah, that was a good job. Other than that, I just have a whole life history.
Unknown Speaker 7:24
Very boring. No. Yeah.
Speaker 2 7:28
Do you have any, like memorable moments from your childhood? That you want to count?
Unknown Speaker 7:34
Not really. We're born
Speaker 1 7:37
and raised friendly. So we spent all our life in the dark and Fernwood dock and around the area
Unknown Speaker 7:44
that sounds pretty fun Yeah,
Speaker 1 7:45
it was Yeah. Very very solid went to Ganges never went to fall for that was too far.
Speaker 2 7:52
Wow. How long would it take you to get to Fulford?
Speaker 1 7:56
Well, when my dad if we went to like Isabella point with a horse and wagon, we'd have to wait for a long weekend. We have to wait for a three day weekend took us all day to get there and we visited for two nights and then took us all day to get back say like a Monday if Monday was a holiday to go back to school on Tuesday
Unknown Speaker 8:17
yeah
Speaker 1 8:19
yeah, it's good deal. It was a good like I enjoyed you know once I think back on I hate it when I was a kid because there was nothing to do really but all we did is work almost. Yeah, on the farmer for a while we never had no holidays. We could not go like to Vancouver, Victoria. I can remember a friend of our online parents that he took them he took my parents and my younger brother and sister to Vancouver one time and that was a big deal Holy mackerel.
Speaker 1 8:56
Saw anyhow, you know it was it was quite quiet here. These roads out here were paved when I was a kid. Yeah.
Speaker 2 9:04
I wouldn't imagine that there were many paved roads. No, there was
Speaker 1 9:11
just around Ganges and places like that. Yeah. Yeah, we lived off a farm we lived off hunted and fished all our lives. We always had a big big garden when we were kids always Yeah, of course there's that many miles to feed Yeah, I do.
Speaker 2 9:30
Yeah. It sounds like you're fairly self sufficient as a family is very much
Speaker 1 9:35
so yeah, I'm very much and there was no such thing as welfare and then like that if you didn't work either neat and simple is that when I first one in Victoria, I got a job down there as a front end man on the garage like pumping gas and that nice and thinking to myself. Oh man, you get into the big city. I got to go Research shows I gotta go swimming I gotta go bowling and all that kind of stuff well time I paid my rent and some food I had no money leftover I couldn't do any of that stuff you know I mean you're working as a front end and then you only get like $1 and a half an hour or something like that wow but it was good it was good lesson
Unknown Speaker 10:19
Yeah How did it feel to be in Victoria coming from Salzburg
Speaker 1 10:25
Oh big city. Oh my goodness. Yes. Even Duncan was a big city to us from here
Unknown Speaker 10:30
wow yeah
Speaker 1 10:33
yeah, they're looking at all the cars so you know know there's war cars no insults very nice all the time. I was in Duncan it was good. I had a good life. Yeah. My parents are great they're hardworking people when I when I was a kid I used to think it was very boring but when I think back on it No, you couldn't I couldn't had any better life. Yeah, I hated school. I didn't get my schooling or grade 10 But that's assuming go I've seen a lot of work and go fishing and hunting instead of going to school that was a waste of time
Unknown Speaker 11:25
that's good. T 30
Unknown Speaker 11:27
Okay, that sounds great
Unknown Speaker 11:35
yeah, I'm very proud of my six brothers Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 11:38
they're They're great guys. Service when you take in your feet what kind of do you like to
Unknown Speaker 11:56
write girls on a regular basis take a little bit
Unknown Speaker 12:12
okay, bear with
Speaker 4 12:15
that we don't use food that's perfect thank you this short video I'm pretty good
Unknown Speaker 12:44
doing your normal that's the kind of cheap coffee first. So we're excited to
Speaker 3 12:55
bring on Scott here right now myself but you please help me. Hello, are
Speaker 4 13:02
you okay? I said there's a picture of see, I have my status card. Okay. And that's my grandmother's
Speaker 1 13:16
sister. That that marrow is made in Croft in my view if you ever fire tremendous, you are going to tremendous I have been through it but I haven't been there. Okay, you got it. My older son Wayne got that painted?
Unknown Speaker 13:34
Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 2 13:35
So your mother's sister you know her name was
Speaker 1 13:42
Mary Mary Mary rice. Mary right. Yeah
Speaker 4 13:49
that's Chief Dan George. That was just a soft at my younger son gummy that pitcher. Many many guys have been hunted and stuff said that some of the best pitchers have a painted looks have ever seen.
Unknown Speaker 14:03
Yeah, I mean, it's
Speaker 4 14:05
natural. Yeah. Most pitchers likely to yourself the odds are well, of course. Not. Yeah. My younger son Gobi. workers and small refrozen miners of Romania. Wow. That's a beautiful town.
Unknown Speaker 14:26
I got those
Speaker 4 14:28
two islands in the States. made my way for three and a half months on the trip first traveled across Canada. Oh, wow. And we came through back through and Agra falls and stuff like that. And through the end of two hunts, and I blacked out and halfway through, come up on the power come across and she said when said no. So that chart, kind of pointing West. I knew we were gone. Want to get home my younger sister though she did that type of work how wow he was really really good it's really good. My neighbor saw that other grandchild he took the phone and made a friend of yours Oh yeah
Unknown Speaker 15:17
yeah very nice
Speaker 4 15:20
book we bought from her yesterday and there's some pictures us as friends of Doc wow and not years
Unknown Speaker 15:29
ago and that's the picture my dad walking down the dock there's my mom and my three oldest brothers arrow and that external document behind there and there's some more pictures and like brothers all those canoes it all had our own moves made like we've done
Speaker 4 15:56
some stuff that's a couple of the crews that they made yeah it was it was good that helps
Unknown Speaker 16:21
my granddaughter, great granddaughter
Unknown Speaker 16:36
I'll say some old pictures. Yeah. Nothing in there
Unknown Speaker 17:04
that's my oldest son.
Unknown Speaker 17:06
What's his name? Wave? Does he come often to visit?
Unknown Speaker 17:14
Ah, I'm seeing him for like two days now. We talked back every day. That's so great. And my youngest son both of them follow me continuously
Unknown Speaker 17:29
get along great.
Unknown Speaker 17:35
Show me some of these. And you can maybe see by this picture. I got my status. My grandmother's from an elegant
Speaker 2 17:48
you know we're gonna do it's just not the Salzburg
Unknown Speaker 17:52
that's my folks. My dad my mom.
Unknown Speaker 17:56
Say What's your dad's name? Chester Chester,
Unknown Speaker 17:59
and your mother's name Elizabeth.
Speaker 1 18:03
And there's my grand parents. That's my dad's parents. Okay. That's my grandmother on my dad's side. My grandpa.
Unknown Speaker 18:14
You could tell
Unknown Speaker 18:16
where I get my native from.
Unknown Speaker 18:19
See, so your grandparents names were?
Speaker 1 18:22
Her name was just all I can think of right now. That's fine. That's some pictures. Wow. That's the house of words born and raised. That's me right there. It's my younger brother. My younger sister. Wow.
Unknown Speaker 18:41
Is that the house that all of your siblings grew up?
Speaker 1 18:45
At first, we just have a family doc. Here's me and my younger brother Ken. And that's my friend George Greenough. And that's me. We're doing
Unknown Speaker 18:55
splits falling. Wow.
Speaker 1 18:58
That's me. I don't know what your What's that? Say?
Speaker 5 19:01
I think it's a 7878 Yeah, probably.
Speaker 1 19:09
And there's my older sister and her husband said that's their family. That's my family here. So younger brother can IV my sister Bruce. Harrell. Me. Cliff. Stan. Ernie, Vick. Albert, George. Mother sister mill.
Speaker 4 19:38
And my other brother Bill. Wow.
Unknown Speaker 19:43
Did they all stay on? Saltspring
Unknown Speaker 19:45
Well, I miss No, no. Not violence not big enough. Yeah.
Speaker 1 19:50
Well, when they came back from the war, they pretty long just gotten married and stuff right? That's me when I work on the very sound
Unknown Speaker 20:03
Yeah, you look happy.
Speaker 4 20:04
Oh. And there's a picture of a bunch of us and one of my family
Speaker 1 20:17
or mine in there. Maybe they wouldn't let me Oh, yeah, they're right. That's yeah even like mere black air. My younger brother can there's my parents right there. My dad and my mom my dad wager as long as I can remember. That's a bunch of my nieces and nephews. My older brother, Bill, I'm our little my sisters. And these guys, these women here, the wives of these guys here. Okay.
Speaker 2 20:50
And were you all close? Did you do lots of gatherings as a family?
Speaker 1 20:54
Very close. My whole family was really close. Yeah. And there's my dad was on that's me. Oh, my dad's horses. As a young whippersnapper, I've done mowing. And there's my parents. And this horses. And that's me. There is George. And there's Rick and Cliff. My sister IV in this. Some of these people are from England. Okay. See, they were related to my mother. Okay. They're quite funny when you come over here holding back a lot. It's pretty awesome for the HSC Yeah, but I couldn't understand what the hell are you saying? They're really funny. That's me, and that's my wife. Audrey.
Unknown Speaker 21:42
How old were you when you got married?
Speaker 1 21:44
I was 25 When I first got married. I was married twice. Okay. And there's me working on the physiotherapy How nice wildermuth gym has got it sodium
Speaker 1 22:06
See, my main my brain. He was the mate. He was the cabinet as the back end chief engineer. He was Euler Ozzie Hardy house from all those guys who did not accept that guy and I'm not too sure about him Have
Unknown Speaker 22:36
we got tons of pictures.
Unknown Speaker 22:37
Yeah, that's great.
Unknown Speaker 22:41
You'd be here from once if you went looked at more
Speaker 2 22:54
something I've been thinking about too, just as far as like trying to retain this if you remember any, like childhood stories or myths or bet like bedtime stories or anything like that, that your parents would tell you or do not have time for that kind of thing when you're growing up? Not
Speaker 1 23:12
really my parents never didn't tell us bedtime stories and stuff like that. You know there were so many of us that you just eat your supper and get the bed you know you gotta get up in the morning and whatever how Yeah, yeah, it was they never had time for no
Unknown Speaker 23:29
Would you eat meals together?
Speaker 1 23:31
Yeah, pretty well. Anybody else home yeah, we all ate me us together. My mom is a great cook man. She could make Potter chicken roast that big hot chicken she makes like a chicken go a long ways. And we raise our own chickens and our own beef and pigs and whatever that's why I guess it doesn't really sink in me most of the time because me we mean my kid brother we get a chicken we carried around and make a pet out of it. And the thing is to follow us along and we feed it out of our hands and carry it and whatever have you. Yeah, and that night you come home from school and you eat the same chicken for suffer you know it's it's hard for me to relate to these people and I can understand what it's all about. But when we had a dog that ran outside you wouldn't want to suddenly thrown a bone you didn't have a special stuff. Yeah. And people nowadays a cry with the dogs and they whatever. I can understand that Yeah, but to me the deluxe adult
Unknown Speaker 24:36
right yeah,
Speaker 1 24:38
the farm the farm. Farm. Yes, you lived on a farm. You raise your own beef and the next day you're eat now. That's a farm life is it embrace a few of my beef myself when I lived it for anyone right at the top of Fernwood Hill. I got two and a half acres. Well to me and I billows on there, and I'm raising my own beef and stuff right there. And that's the way it is. Yeah. Bargo for me, you didn't do that. You'd start with that. Yeah. I raised a nice beef. There's my kids used to call him Bronco was a steward to raise my friend and Victoria, he raised one. I can't remember what the heck the name of my beef was. Oh, brown color. That's it was a steer. And he called his spot.
Unknown Speaker 25:40
There were retained you've gotten
Speaker 1 25:42
scratch every year. Yeah. Yeah, they were good cattle. But next day, you know, you're, you're on your face sticks with the heck part of life. Yeah. Yeah, this. Yeah. And my dad he had about grade three education. Okay. And so he never ever Well, he couldn't read his. My my mom read everything to him. He couldn't even write his own name.
Unknown Speaker 26:14
Wow. And if there was some code, they had to sign she signed.
Speaker 1 26:22
You know, we spoke English until he's like three or four years old. Okay, because he was raised with his mother, of course, who is native from?
Unknown Speaker 26:31
And she spoke her own tongue. Yeah.
Speaker 1 26:34
So that's how you learn to talk. And then they moved to Salt Spring. I think one of the reasons they moved to Salt Spring is because that school on putting out her which was a big Indian school. Yeah. And then we're going to take my dad and his brother and his he had lots of sisters, too. My dad had 11 sisters. Wow. And two boys. Just the opposite to his family. Yeah, yeah. Lemon boys and two girls. And he had a brother named Charlie that's was named after okay. And I think they moved to Salt screen because they were going to take the kids away from them. And so they got other moved down here. Wow. You know how they like they've done now. They found all those
Unknown Speaker 27:23
little Indian residential school.
Speaker 1 27:26
Yeah, exactly. That's what they're gonna do with my my parents.
Speaker 2 27:30
Somehow Saltspring actin it's like a haven for them to get away.
Speaker 1 27:35
My grandfather came here when he came from England. He was the first constable on Saltspring he was a policeman. He had my the guns and in his handcuffs and all that stuff is in the archives in a very low road. Okay, and that. You know, where they call it?
Unknown Speaker 27:58
Is it farmers?
Speaker 1 28:00
The farmers there? Yeah. Okay. It's in there. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 28:04
I have to look for it.
Speaker 1 28:07
And I donated a sea anchor. From the Calusa Indians used years ago,
Unknown Speaker 28:14
I've never seen that. It's a big rock
Speaker 1 28:17
about that big and I shaved like a teardrop and it's gonna hold in. Okay, I donated that to the archives or the premises to do this sitting there with all our rest of our stuff. I fall into at my place at Fernwood. And I had, I had to nap figures that our front part plowed up. All the guys come in with a tractor and our cat pile of roots and stuff in the trees. And I burned that and I wanted to build a field there so I can get some hay from my animals. And I was walking along there's this little humping ground and I just sort of kicked it. I thought it was a rock and I was just gonna get aside. And I kicked the dirt off, but then I could see this little part of a rock with a hole in it. And I just thought, oh, they must have blasted and I made my six steps and I thought to myself, why would they blast a rock that small? They can just pick it up. So I went back and dug it under it was a sea anchor. Then I found another one. That's pretty incredible. Yeah. So I don't need a one to the pharmacist to do it. And I got one here at Kaplan.
Unknown Speaker 29:28
Oh, nice. Yeah.
Speaker 1 29:32
This here so yeah, that's where it's at now in that they'll handcuffs my grandfather using his old musket. He was a policeman. And it's all in there in that. Hall at Central that was the jail at one time. My grandfather got any bag People they put them in jail. That was the shale right there. Wow. Of course I wasn't around that even born yet. No. But these stories are hurt. Yeah. As a kid.
Unknown Speaker 30:11
Did you ever get to meet your grandfather?
Speaker 1 30:16
They passed away before I was born and my oldest brother Harold, he was the only one born. And that's he got a 60 acre chunk of Fernwood. Okay. And because he was the only child, and that was left to him by my grandfather. And then the rest of us got two and a half acres because it's all divided up.
Speaker 2 30:38
I guess that was kind of common practice back in the day that would get very
Unknown Speaker 30:43
much so I was. And the old English tradition like you don't give them nothing to your daughters.
Speaker 1 30:55
Oh, all the stock goes to the boys because it is mostly that's the way they were in England. 100 years ago. Yeah. And one of my older brother, I think it was found out that my parents left my younger sister and my older sister out of the will because they're girls, they don't get enough. Slowly got a hold of our parents and said, No, that's not right. You have to give them an equal amount. So that made me well and divided it off even among this. That's
Unknown Speaker 31:23
incredible. Oh, yeah. Well,
Unknown Speaker 31:25
it's fair. Yeah,
Speaker 2 31:26
it's definitely fair. But yeah, again, not common practice.
Unknown Speaker 31:31
No, that's true. Yeah, but those girls, they were just so hard us guys. I'm not firm. My older sister, she was really strong lady. She worked out with us. Wow, doing Hank stuff. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 31:52
The horses just like any other guy. I guess that's one of the reasons we did that, too. I didn't know Dino or Fernwood Doc is you know much about the area.
Speaker 2 32:06
I mean, I've been to it. But I don't know much about the area. Now.
Speaker 1 32:10
All that just above the dock where you go down those hills, all that property on the right hand side that belonged to my grandparents. Okay. And you come up over a hill like this and then live in leveling up over another hill. You know how that is? Yeah. Well, right on top of that first hill on the left hand side, that was my house. Okay, I build the house. I got to that had two and a half acres there. And I built a house there and my younger sister she was next to me then my youngest brother. He had the the alone.
Unknown Speaker 32:44
Does the house that you built Is it still there? Yes.
Unknown Speaker 32:46
Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 32:52
Yeah, even well, homeless dead house is still there. That's that pretty much. 350 years old now.
Unknown Speaker 32:59
And who built that? My
Speaker 1 33:01
my dad and his dad. Okay. They all have farmers are on a good Sunday. I the only one I think either worked on it. My grandfather, yeah. You still live down to houses built?
Speaker 2 33:17
I was wondering about that. Like being back then when there's not that many resources and how the neighbor relations were. Oh,
Speaker 1 33:25
excellent. Yes. Excellent. Yeah. My grandparents actually gave some of their property away that way down towards Walker hook. Just because they want a neighbor. So most days and one of the neighbors did marry one of my aunts. Okay. And they got a turn down there and there's nobody around those days. Yeah, one of them when they first came here. My grandparents are the first white my grandfather the first white when they live here. Wow. So I know they were glad to see people I spoke English How's good? I guess, you know, hardware. We worked all the time. Yeah. Never had a holiday or retirement or like summertime when we're out of school. We'd go pick up rocks and help my dad do the Hey. Did the gardening and stuff who never ever got off the island? Right? Just worked? Yeah. There's certainly enough so my youngest brother Ken. He was only when I graduated number family I had a younger brother Ken and the other sister lil and all the rest of them were older than the surge from the youngest but but that hard work didn't hurt us. paid off. Yeah, I got a nice chunk area. I got to know half acres good.
Unknown Speaker 35:04
Yeah
Speaker 1 35:10
my wife she designed that gate out there. But wait wrought iron.
Unknown Speaker 35:15
Oh yeah that's nice.
Unknown Speaker 35:18
Yeah
Unknown Speaker 35:21
Yes outside you look
Speaker 1 35:34
yeah when you think about it when you get to be my age you think that I did have a good life. I saw I did work but that's okay didn't hurt me.
Speaker 2 35:45
Yeah Did you did you want to be doing other things besides working or you're happy doing it?
Speaker 1 35:52
Yeah, just happy working and no education. I had no education. Basically, I work lots and lots and lots of my kids were little I was always on campus. I was never home. I mean, what are you going to do in Salzburg? Yeah. There's no me Donald. So you can order McDonald's and it was a taxi. Are you gonna get a job? As a bartender in the pub? I guess which pub was the harbor house? But there's no worker. No. So I had to go to camp you got a wife and two kids to support you gotta go
Unknown Speaker 36:39
that's never here. Yes.
Unknown Speaker 36:42
So when you say cat, where's that?
Speaker 1 36:45
All over the place? Okay. When you worked on the hydro you are worked on all these Gulf Islands. So turna main Pender and we live the caps on those lakes. Okay.
Unknown Speaker 36:58
And North Vancouver while
Speaker 1 37:00
you're waiting another guy rented a basic house. And then I got transferred from there to where to go to Dawson. I got the chair one. And then Dawson Creek and all the way through that area. What course when I worked the hydro they paid our room and board
Unknown Speaker 37:22
and what would you be doing for hydro
Speaker 1 37:24
iser groundwood truck driver? Okay. Hard work. What else fun. Yeah, now worked up in Dawson Creek area and Hudson whole Kolko country in wintertime. Wow. Cool. This I've seen in Hudson always 60 Do Willow.
Unknown Speaker 37:44
Didn't know that was possible.
Speaker 1 37:46
We didn't work of course, it was too cold. And we're now with compensation. When I was a truck driver and had a brand spankin new Dodge truck. It was great. Out of North Vancouver. And it was just after Christmas and I couldn't get a bus or train or plane or nothing. They were all full. I had to get to Dawson Creek to go to work through I had to go on a bus all the way from Vancouver to Dawson. About tickets to that happy
Unknown Speaker 38:17
what year would that have been? Do you think? Oh, let
Speaker 1 38:20
me see. 50 No, so this just early 60s. Wow. And of course the bus driver you said they changed drivers and everybody had to stay on the bus. And I was sitting there we're heading into the window we pulled in the officer Creek it was just getting day like I don't know it's getting dark. I thought it was unhealthy. And I pill on as many as and I'd look it out and here's this guy coming out of the pub. And I was like 30 below walking down the street and he had no shoes on and I thought to myself What the hell did you get yourself and then what I found out later and it was a pretty wild town at that time. These guys get into the pub and they get drinkin and they're they always wore these boots with a felt lining in it. Okay kick the boots off get drunk forget them and walk out without them boots I I found that out later I asked the bartender about that he said we just take them put on behind the bar and they come back for him the next day goes on I looked I didn't like the looks of that like I could walk out of there with no shoes on. socks on. Oh what am I got myself into now? But it was a good job. Yeah, and the next day I went out to the office and of Boston. They said to me, you just the guy I'm looking for and I said, Well, I said and he said, You got to go to Vancouver and bring up a truck. Just left there two days, they should have told me that. So I hopped on the plane and got the truck of Vancouver's a brand new Dodge and drove back up. That was my truck all the time logs, there was my responsibility. I've never had a scratch or dent in that when I left. I used to polish it and stuff like that. Good. Now, it's fine. Those guys are happy to pull work and I never claimed and not for a while at first I didn't plan but so I used to just polish center, maybe yakking away out there and we're gonna lay and nothing else to do. That was a good job. It was really really hard work. But you know, is a young man's job.
Unknown Speaker 40:54
Still up to your ass all the time. Freezing cold. There was this one I first time I went up there.
Speaker 1 41:03
Or there was a guy got on a stool at so I said he was from Galliano. I knew from before. His name was John Bell. And he had a little I had my suitcase and all my gear and a nice and handle bag about that big. And I said John, where's your suitcase? I don't need I gotta right there. You know it's cold out there. So a lot of those guys don't want to cold as easy. And so you know, we just had this close he had on I come driving on the truck very near shape and
Speaker 3 41:38
either everything so I gave him my coat. I thought he's gonna kiss me. Anyone in the commissary bought all kinds of clothes along Johnston's.
Unknown Speaker 41:49
That's pretty funny. Good for you John
Unknown Speaker 41:59
It was fun. Good job
Speaker 1 42:10
and I got home Christmas time. And I was pretty poor and I was doing because I had a wife and two kids and I said pretty well all my money at home. And then I'm not I hated to go back out there because my kids were here in Salzburg and whatever How are you so I went down and applied for the fairies? Yeah, but I had an old dodge car and I got a flat tire my tires are all bald and I think they've done a fair shake change the tire. When an apply for the job and nilgai Fulford he said, Well, I could see your hard work of madness and how's that? And he said look at your hands are all dirty Well, I just got any changing a flat
Unknown Speaker 42:59
slice. I said come on
Speaker 1 43:01
you started he said, I'm we need you like yesterday, you start first thing tomorrow morning
Speaker 1 43:14
and I made way less than half money than it did wouldn't have worked for the hydro. Right. And I thought to myself, he gave me my paycheck. And I looked at undeciphered and I said I only got half my check one. Oh good. Hang on. He said Hang on. Hang on. No, that's it. That's all you get from this month. Holy mackerel. I went with $830 or something for the whole month work. I thought to myself, this job ain't gonna last very long. 35 years later, I finally got out of there
Unknown Speaker 43:58
I'm assuming you got raises along the way.
Speaker 1 44:01
Oh, yeah. Not really not for the first three four years because we had no union or nothing. Okay, we do we just worked for the government and I really just never got bigger and taller. And finally they got a union going and I was one of the pushes for that. And then we got a good race. And then we wanted another reason finally we're getting up to where we could maybe buy a loaf of bread or something. Wow. For little guys who've never had very much for Christmas, or kids love course we never either so after we got the job and my second wife Christmas time rolled around, you could not even see the trees or just suddenly twice and presents and see that much of that Christmas tree naijaloaded Uh, yeah, she had four kids, too. That was her second marriage too.
Speaker 2 45:06
Okay. Yeah. How old were you when you got married to her? Oh, about
Speaker 1 45:16
3334 Something like that. What was turning after? We were married for what? 45 years or so. Then she got cancer and passed. Now, she had four kids. I had to she had nothing. Absolutely not. She worked. You know, they'll whether, oh, hospital is up for up and again. gsal. Yeah, she worked there for $1 and a half an hour. So I took her and her kids and my two kids and I was working on the fairies of that time. Alice, steady, steady job was getting better all the time. Oh, sorry. Wow. Man, we're tired. That's when we go across Canada. Three nap once. And then we were we were here another year or so. And then a friend of mine from Victoria. He retired and we drove across town with them. Same thing. And then I've been back three times after that. What
Unknown Speaker 46:28
kind of vehicle to drive across?
Speaker 1 46:30
I had a Ford pickup. Okay. Yeah. First I went across Canada and Ford pickup with a trailer. Fifth Wheel Trailer
Speaker 2 46:45
and the second time would you go all the way to the Maritimes? Correct? Right to move on that? Wow, I have yet to do that. That's amazing.
Speaker 1 46:54
You ever go where there's a lot of people from here go over. But they don't go to real fun them because it's really expensive. The fairies are 10 times more than they are here. So I said to August luckily come this far. Let's do it. So we did cost us like, I don't know. 70 some dollars for and this is way down. For us to get on and like 200 $300 for the trailer. Wow. So then oh there and gone through. We start very cool back city. And I thought for myself, nobody in Quebec City speaks English. They'll speak French. I heard rumors that they were they didn't talk to you if he didn't speak French. We will write down Tom Quebec City. And I got before we got right downtown. There was a campsite so we pulled it in there. And that's I will be here for two three days. Because I want to have a look at this. Okay. So I'm in the office and I said to the lady is there a bus coming through here so we've got a bus down town she got on her phone and gambled on French. Next one, there's a bus like a 35 foot or three seater, seater bus. Maybe for you I know. It's a huge bus. Pull right in front. We got on with honor people on went downtown. And they gambled. And those people were so friendly. And everybody spoke English. If you pick me spoke French, I'm sure. And man and we stayed there for two and a half weeks. Wow. Yeah, we had so much fun and the people were so nice.
Speaker 2 48:43
Beautiful city really is really good food and architecture.
Speaker 3 48:48
I got all those pictures right there. Oh, yeah. From our trips. Yeah.
Speaker 1 48:54
You got what? You want to see them? Yeah, sure. Okay, sure. Come on, over here. I don't even know where to start. They're all 100 kept really pretty well. Nice. And then I got hold on then they're off. That's all that's yeah, that's what we that's the graveyard of the Titanic.
Unknown Speaker 49:22
Oh, my goodness. Yeah. No.
Speaker 1 49:32
Oh, yeah. This is probably where we started. That's Audrey sister, Saskatchewan. They look very much like those two. And they talked like you view another room. You couldn't tell one from the other. Oh, wow.
Unknown Speaker 49:46
That's right. Andrew is from Saskatchewan.
Unknown Speaker 49:48
Yeah, bigger Saskatchewan. And yeah, they're wheat farmers.
Speaker 1 49:56
nicest people in the world. I really enjoy Coronavirus The smallest Chertsey that's Audrey standing she wasn't a very big lift there she's standing there church on a hill like four people or five
Speaker 1 50:19
is great trips we had one good thing about that before she passed away I thought to myself man we had some great trips together that's this Terry Fox
Unknown Speaker 50:41
everyone
Speaker 1 50:44
is Winnie the Pooh so water taxes this these were at the end of Lake Ontario
Speaker 5 50:55
and they they go through the locks Oh yeah. A ship goes down all of Ontario
Unknown Speaker 51:06
big construction area around there
Speaker 1 51:14
we went on that trip. And this is more product and going into the lakes as Karissa said this is the first July looks like a big
Unknown Speaker 51:28
celebration and
Speaker 1 51:30
apartment buildings yeah Wow big clock up there they had all those shut off nobody was in but for some reason or otherwise you haven't really got and he said come on we'll have a little theories work guys that scaffolding up there I could reach up and touch o'clock
Unknown Speaker 51:47
oh my goodness Wow
Unknown Speaker 51:49
was so neat. And they were just the two of us there's the all the provinces so flame comes out of there Yeah, and we got to see all the parliament village just ourselves. We just walked around Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah. I couldn't believe that they just let us go that's all true
Speaker 1 52:21
wow, I guess they thought these guys hang on still. So we did we just walked around the whole place that's one of the politicians Audrey took this picture. The flashing everyone off? He was wandering around or like he was last year what the heck was this to him? I forgot right now. That's looking over to cross the river behind that's what we're up into Berlin because just imagine just two of us wandering around like we're lost probably two or three foxes. There we're right downtown Colbeck.
Speaker 1 53:17
We were looking up Saint Archer, freighters going up
Unknown Speaker 53:23
first of July.
Speaker 1 53:26
All those guys. Wow. It was it was really impressive. The people I was in all the time, whatever. You know. I was amazed. And we are coming down from our campsite. And we did pick up people on the way dominant a big bus. And he said and they had the changing or the guards at the $7 and he said I'm sure we're kind of late for watch the changing of the guard. But maybe we'll go around through the back way and we might see a guard changing
Unknown Speaker 54:05
and you got to see it. Yeah, we went through that. There was no he just laughed.
Speaker 4 54:13
That's one of his jokes. I thought was quite funny and we had a big laugh
Unknown Speaker 54:20
through the back we might see a guard changing
Unknown Speaker 54:31
that's called us sleeping giant.
Unknown Speaker 54:34
Big Rock out there.
Speaker 1 54:37
Alright, if I'm going too fast or you want to stop see something just say someone else
Unknown Speaker 54:45
explain it to you. Oh yeah, this is the last one.
Unknown Speaker 54:50
Yeah
Unknown Speaker 54:57
yeah, oh yeah, that's Signal Hill and fella got tours out there that's a pretty neat place if
Unknown Speaker 55:07
you ever go across you got that the food yeah
Unknown Speaker 55:11
that's very coming back
Unknown Speaker 55:17
and it was so foggy My goodness
Unknown Speaker 55:21
are you representing your BC Ferries that
Speaker 1 55:25
I took a while for him when I gave him all those guys they felt a little bit egregious things
Unknown Speaker 55:29
that's pretty fun
Unknown Speaker 55:30
yeah
Unknown Speaker 55:33
that's pretty nice yeah this is all new farmers
Speaker 4 55:42
fishers or lighthouses whatever am yeah.
Speaker 1 55:47
Yeah, we went up to the top of that lighthouse and it was like, I can't remember how many steps there's hundreds and hundreds. I wish I'd written
Unknown Speaker 56:00
but how long is up there
Unknown Speaker 56:04
don't worry about the tavas poop
Speaker 1 56:13
pitch now that we are on new phone we were the nicest people are plants there. I forget her name is Carol I think and his name is that's really loved. And we kept in touch with them for years and years and years
Speaker 1 56:44
most awesome tons and tons of Musa Kumar Musa
Speaker 5 56:49
people and they found Yeah, wow. They
Speaker 1 56:54
have a great big sign going into that park. We were arguing a simple contract that CP Toki he never said a word. He never turned his eyes and look better than you're always supposed to. Right. She's asking all kinds of stupid questions and he never fold a smile or nothing. That's showing the Scotch when they first came out. New fun saw screen out first Yeah, that's the phone. I took that
Speaker 1 57:30
there's people from Titanic that's really born buried over there so we just saw that show the Titanic before we went so I wanted to go and have a look at that. And that's Peggy's golf guy fell off that rock scissor. We could go on off oh no got killed. Yeah, I heard that on the news. Now they did it they get crazy.
Unknown Speaker 58:00
Come right in here. Look at the size of that. Oh,
Speaker 1 58:03
gosh, it was huge. Resize on my hands. Yeah. So the next time we're going back to this is a little cafe right on the beach down and Peggy's Cove. The next time we went back but last year was on the Windows seller. It had died and he just kept the sculptor preserved and I said to him Hey, you want to sell me that lobster and he said no way that's my pet he's had it for a long long time
Speaker 1 58:36
this is over and something B ties are this quite famous Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 58:43
Definitely seen images of the tides
Speaker 1 58:46
coming into like crazy after got they got big whistles on the beaches of the rocks. With the tide washing off I was oh yeah I'm talking this along wisdom so I just stood there and waited Audrey God Oh wow. Look at that height disclose the kissing rock. Of course. Bay of Fundy. Yeah. And that's the Green Gables swish. Oh, nice. I think they said this was the longest covered bridge in Canada or in the world. Audrey walked across all the way across. I walked up with one button got the chart because I'm not gonna walk all the way over there. So I went over and picked her up. These are the guys I knew this guy here from Saltspring buddy from in Lake Ontario. And we went fishing and I caught a 23 pound salmon and Lake fresh.
Unknown Speaker 59:49
That's it right there.
Speaker 1 59:52
And that was quite an eye trip to have beautiful photos of 18 forever with teak riding around the back. All was gear was up there his fishing line is downriggers and lines and everything else that's that's a Niagara Falls. Okay, and Anyhow the screws in the draining rotted out and the whole thing alright. Just one has gone over our grab one of the lines we got the whole works back pull the care that happened while you're on the boat. Yeah, we're a fishing Oh my goodness. And then the flow grabbed that and that was the end of our fishing day. This is in Lake Ontario. Niagara Falls that's where I proposed to Andre to get married on one of those boats made in the mist
Speaker 1 1:00:52
they go right up in there. Wow. I give you all kinds of suits rubber poncho more or less like rub your shoulders Yeah
Unknown Speaker 1:01:09
All righty.
Unknown Speaker 1:01:10
It's pretty incredible.
Unknown Speaker 1:01:11
We had a great trips. My goodness. This the sleeping giant closerie
Speaker 4 1:01:27
Where was that was in Shediac.
Speaker 1 1:01:33
Lots of monsters. Out there we are eating Kant was eating contest I was. So the guy that we were sitting there we met another young couple from monetary they're a nice it was really really hot. And we're gonna grade 10 I said they can walk in. Come sit with us. You guys want a beer, some of your nice cold beer? Oh, are you adding where they were from? And the guy went walking by who runs us? And he heard me talking to this funeral. And they said, Where are you from? I said from BC. I'll come on up, be in contests. Come on, get in and get out. And I said no way. Hi. And I never even seen a lobster before that will eat one context who's gonna need the most and the fastest? So the guy we're sitting with, he said, You go and I go. Oh, okay, then. I don't know anybody here. make a fool of myself. So I'm going up walks up there and I gotta find the stage and you put those great big rubber bid been, you know, looked around for the guy to sit back in
Unknown Speaker 1:02:37
the Duma laughing
Speaker 1 1:02:40
funny, so I was there. And the big guy that was right next to me. This guy here.
Unknown Speaker 1:02:49
He was eating like crazy.
Speaker 1 1:02:51
I said, slow. You're gonna get indigestion. And he laughed at anyone. Fries. Me I never I didn't know him. But yeah, there's this lid on on the back so you can open them up. I didn't know that. I was trying to get the stupid thing open. And I saw his and so then I did that. But I had a lobster and a half leftover. They gave you three lobsters and they were all done. I still go. And then they let you take those lobster with you.
Speaker 3 1:03:22
Oh, wow. Yeah, always fun. That is Confederation bridge going across and Newfoundland or not PEI. Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 1 1:03:33
We went across on that it was only 10 months old when we went over on it. Oh, wow that's quite a story. That's a huge huge region that runs you can build three of those half of one of those take us from here profit. Yeah, let's just huge huge there's no Green Gables house. That Well, it's full money. Right up to there. Wow. Wishing Well yes. Everybody looks in there and throws money. That's into her house
Speaker 1 1:04:22
Wow. That's Rita MacNeil. Yeah, that's our tea house. I got andreotti's A couple of sources that from their way they had three different nail written on it. As was achieved by it for themselves. There's some age groups filming in there. That is amazing. Those things. Yeah, they are amazing, huge issues. See there 90% of that underwater Yeah, so that they can't come close to shore. Yeah. Wow, we're away on a cafe right? Various tip of new found in having a cup of tea or something, something to eat and I can hear these four old guys in the next booth talking they were talking about this huge iceberg or come in someplace not very far. So I asked them, where's this iceberg out? And they show me Oh, you have to go back down here and through the through the garbage dump on this kind of stuff. And so we did. And we were up to here water, because it was a swamp and it goes through round passes. Climb up these rocks and through the brushing of brambles. And we got out and this is the iceberg that we saw. It was huge. And that was a long ways out. And it was in middle of July, cooking like crazy. And that thing made us cold sitting on the beach, because it was so huge. Wow. We can see long before we got to beautiful. Yeah. And then we're sitting on the beach. And just being naughty. Nobody else is crazy enough to go there. And then here comes this guy along. And he walked planned up and he cut he took a bicycle. I don't know where it came from. He was over and and I don't worry. And he said, I see why you're licensed. But you guys are from BC. And I said oh yeah. We're at he said, I said some little town that you probably never heard of called Salisbury on and he said My parents just moved to Salisbury on you There we go. I've never been there. He said but my parents moved there and I'm and I found out that Jack ran was a friend of mine knew them. He was a mechanic here. Wow. This is downtown.
Unknown Speaker 1:06:59
See all the houses?
Unknown Speaker 1:07:01
Yeah, they really are.
Speaker 1 1:07:06
So he had it with this guy and then we left. That's one of the lighthouse fee I think
Speaker 1 1:07:17
oh yeah, but on the way back. We were all wet in their shoes or whatnot. And we've seen this guidance wife out there picking why they call they look just like blackberries are called. I can't be in there right now. No, no. And they look just like blackberries but they're really small and when they're right they're red Monday and so yellow week goes down there we're picking up these berries. So when we walked out there were a white anyhow. And
Unknown Speaker 1:07:57
yeah, there wasn't for a while and they said tasted
Speaker 1 1:08:01
they're not ready. Yeah. So decent newer solvers could be put on when we back this this couple here a friend of mine who lived here on Salisbury one time that's his sister and her husband live out there. And so I tasted them and we walked along. This is a tunnel. Yeah, and Newfoundland vi someplace. And 100 years ago the revenues used to come in there and peddle rum. Oh wow. And this is just a big visit a big hill here and the police or whatever you want to call them you sit on the other side of the hill when they see these guys up there come on in their sales of course and they come over and they paddled around downtown and the police used to shoot at him wander up on top a little Moscow guns really so they divert tunnel fell we don't want to go over the hill this shoot so they dug a tunnel and go through there and that's the Thumbelina and so yeah needs to go over the hill and down into this town here but further down it's bigger
Speaker 1 1:09:26
and so suddenly did that Tom where I was I was so tiny about before that the berries oh yeah they're called them off finger and and so we were walking back from when we're talking these guys were so big feel of their swamp more or less. In your comes to the wife running up the road and cheese yellows held on hold on so we stopped waiting for she come on and she said you got to come to my house. Where I parked the truck. There's a gate across the garbage Michonne and she live right there too. And I was thinking why does she want me to run she ran up caught up this my husband sent me to catch up to you you got to come to my house I want to bring you in for coffee and cake we gone into that we're all wet she said that's okay. You just come in so we took her shoes off and rolled our pants up and went in there sat there and they were so friendly. They bought us coffee and the cake and they went out the neighbors and introduce it to them and because only rather they're picking these berries I told them we're from BC and then she saw the truck license we had a deer for a long time pretty soon they got dark and Latin and fine rain come down she said watch out for them loose because you can't see them big black yeah and that tells you how far it is to oh yeah so we went out and had a golf hit gig and yet that's I think this is
Unknown Speaker 1:11:11
your farm and I'm not too sure Baker
Speaker 1 1:11:18
that's certainly berries is baked and you see them people out there all over the place and they're sitting alongside Drew and they got all these bottles of big apple on noses are there and they sell it
Speaker 3 1:11:35
to tourists and goodbye and we did we had some big apple pie and it was darn good
Unknown Speaker 1:11:51
yeah that's one of the major the Miss votes
Unknown Speaker 1:11:59
there I don't know how to get those pictures
Unknown Speaker 1:12:03
by the chip that you proposed
Unknown Speaker 1:12:06
yes
Unknown Speaker 1:12:10
we're on a made a mess on this boat. But that we were married we lived together for a while
Speaker 1 1:12:17
she had children this was coming up often. To answer I bought the dream catcher there's a bit of a dark then this whole thing swings the whole thing so I like to get a picture of that noise and that goes really solid it takes about an hour for open and go and we sat there and wait and wait and wait there to swing it and there was another guy there were yapping away so just want to start the swing anyway this Cameron I'm out of film.
Speaker 5 1:12:52
So what he what I never did see him again.
Speaker 1 1:12:56
We're the longest side we waited for that this thing you got no film I got a few pictures this is on the way back porn activities in Ontario summerleaze
Unknown Speaker 1:13:07
Yeah
Unknown Speaker 1:13:10
nice nice country there's my truck and that's a little trailer I had it was on let's just say low camera that's not what we took this was up in high did why and the Charlotte's and this is on Long Beach there's our friend from Vancouver and her friend
Unknown Speaker 1:13:47
what was the road like to Long Beach back then?
Speaker 1 1:13:53
It was pretty good up to just the other side of your neck for not far off yeah. Yeah. Was halfway so it was gotten into rough law but it was paved our worked on that road up there when I worked on hydro. Okay, we were in a hydro wind out there and hydro and actually the road now is down the bottom goes along the river. Well when we put the hydro lines up over top of the hill and one guy was his name was so restaurants last name, Redhead guy and another guy and there were villain fires we had to burn all these branches and stuff that come on there but the 100 line up the fella trees were burned them on the road. I was running my father saw these Famy from my father saw her hand in front of me. And there's some guy up there working on the fella tree And then they would have lit a fire and the log burned through and roll down and hit this other guy and kill them right there on the Sylvester guy. And they said, okay, oh yeah, he fell a tree. That's right and then just took off and killed these guys. They're both downstairs living in a fire and I was draining them. They're quite close that nailed them both kill them nobody works below these guys up on the hill from then on. So I was working on the road and log burned through that half of a roll Bell and hit my hard hat and I went flying off, broke my arm. And my power saw was that thick. We pulled it off. I had to go Ross was in the program. That's so close that my heart is with around that's how close I come to getting killed. But anyhow, Sparta life, your your work.
Speaker 2 1:16:07
Has dangers involved? Exactly those kinds of jobs.
Speaker 1 1:16:12
I always consider myself and I did a lot of logging. Because when we ran a hydro line end up place, like from point A to point B and we got that line and they lay it all off. And at that time they had a lot of in was and they wanted anybody who log in. So I phoned up, kept working on Jaffa one on hydro falling. I said come on and go back to them. And then we get that line done. And then I come back and unfold another logging company. Nobody wants to work ongoing because that was really really hard work. Very dangerous. Yeah. And so they said When can you come on as a wall to art? No, we want you right now. So this charting or playing big mountain Ganges we're fully back in the camp
Unknown Speaker 1:17:07
with a floatplane? Yeah. Wow. Okay,
Speaker 1 1:17:10
that just was the other side of the sea show where they worked there for a while until hydroforming and Campbellton went back to them. Because it was good. Wasn't good pay what we you know, we've on weekends or stuff I would just, I wouldn't go anyplace because it cost so much to go home. You get off work Friday night, and it's dark. So you need Saturday morning. Coffee like two 300 bucks on that was a lot of money in those days to fly from sea shoulder wherever down here. I'd get home a Saturday stay Saturday night and have to go back Sunday to go to work on Monday.
Unknown Speaker 1:17:55
I stayed long
Speaker 1 1:18:00
that's why I never saw my kids when they're young. My voice a hearty song
Speaker 1 1:18:10
it still bothers me. To this day. It bothers me i crazy. Yeah. You never get over a lot of people and they get divorced. They got kids like that. All of them get over the road. But they don't. I've seen that all my life. I've seen those little guys grow up and you never get over it. It's a hard thing to do. Yeah. People don't even realize that. No, I was forced and I had no other choice. Yeah. But now I mean, you'd get a job down here was was like this then? I would I would have stayed right here. I would have gone Oh, well. He's part of life. Doesn't stop rising water all the time. Never. It'll never leave my head. What I missed watching those go guys, girl. It's a lot. Oh, harder life. That's enough on my life. Okay,
Unknown Speaker 1:19:09
tell me about your life. Where did you come from? Are you an American? No.
Speaker 2 1:19:14
Well, I lived in the States for the last nine years in California.
Unknown Speaker 1:19:21
So wherever you're from Canada, I
Speaker 2 1:19:23
was born in Murrayville. Oh, yeah. Which is now part of Langley. And I lived there for a few years then we moved to basically sorry. Oh, yeah. Free okay. For a couple of years and then boundary Bay. Oh, yeah. Awesome. And I had six years growing up there. I know those places Yeah.
Speaker 1 1:19:48
Born and raised here. We after I got up my kids girl. We got around a lot I had to pick up and kaffir and a trailer and Andre was such a great person to To travel, yeah, just I need six of us. Twice, we went across Ghana with six of us. And we all had our fifth wheels, Ranger and Hanson from Victoria, Jack and Caroline, where else they used to live here. But they moved up to Chromebook. And us.
Unknown Speaker 1:20:17
Yeah. And
Speaker 1 1:20:21
all six of us traveled together. And it worked out. So great. We did that for years and years and years. Most guys are dual and driving cars and fifth wheels. We'd like after all of the, like, maintenance for the trucks, the vehicles and everything. Yeah. And women did the cooking. And so there were three winners. So Audrey would cook, say supper one night and lunch for the next day. We don't have leftovers, of course. And then she wouldn't have to cook for two, three days. Because one night we'd eat in a cafe and then Sharon would do the third or fourth night. Caroline would do the. And she cooked maybe twice a week. And it worked out great. That sounds really great. Yeah. Good trick. We had a lot of good trips together. And I still say with rain, Sharon, we talk all the time with your close friends. And Jack Reynolds. He passed away about four years ago, five years ago now and his wife similar from grandma, because she lives over in germaneness. And we talk all the time. Yada yada
Unknown Speaker 1:21:37
it's nice to have contact with your friends like when they're
Speaker 1 1:21:39
close to you. They're just close enough forever if I'm really want to see him. I'm gonna stay there. I say oh nine anytime I can get away from you know, don't come now that fairies do fall
Unknown Speaker 1:21:57
so now you live on top three.
Speaker 2 1:21:58
Yeah, I moved here. December 2020 mid pandemic to be closer to my family. They live here. Well, they live in to most of my family lives into Austin now. Oh, yeah. But then since moving there, my parents bought a place which we've been helping fix up and yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But we're renting on myself and my husband and I. Oh, yeah. But I also came from a big family. Did you have eight brothers and two sisters? Oh, not all from the same parents. Oh, yeah. But nine of us all grew up in the same house. Yeah. Yeah, we were living in Vancouver proper then at that point.
Unknown Speaker 1:22:40
Did you get on? Well? Yeah,
Speaker 2 1:22:42
I got along with all my all my siblings, but I left when I was still in high school to move out because I was the oldest of the clan.
Speaker 1 1:22:54
Yeah, it's really great when you get along, and we all get along. Good together. Us guys. You know, it's so why don't we never drove our parents nuts. My dad was always always a calm guy. Nothing made him exciting. I never saw our farm truck whites. never drank never smaller. And my mom listen see her? It's just worrying where if someone haywire she dropped something or whatever. Oh, sugar, she'd say that was a sugar. And then my daddy never sort loving wasn't really jumped, but he was pretty well, well on his way. He when He sold his horse the doctor said you got to sell those horses. You got to get rid of them because they're gonna kill you. He was just working too hard. Yeah. So he sold him that guy and got down and in fact, it was Caroline Rails is parents. My dad went to go meet with him on a barge and we'll be putting together the bottom. Had a bottle of whiskey to celebrate right yeah,
Speaker 2 1:24:11
how was your dad when he like? Got rid of the horses?
Speaker 1 1:24:16
Oh man. He must have been 68 summons that area. Wow. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:24:22
He worked for a long time long long
Speaker 1 1:24:25
time forever. Yeah. Our property out in Fernleigh there him and his dad my grandpa the policeman Yeah, clean that property with oxygen. Okay, they dug holes on there and started to stumps on fire and so they had to make a field get paid for their animals
Speaker 2 1:24:48
was this was the soil is rocky there isn't isn't a lot of places.
Speaker 1 1:24:53
Yeah. And that bottom field of our press Fernwood there Yeah. That was pretty rocky what The rocks are a
Unknown Speaker 1:25:00
big day. Okay?
Speaker 1 1:25:03
And that's where we spend 99% of our summers down there picking up rocks from me my kids brother Ken my dad just loved his horses and he and then we're really taking yoga walk up and playing on him anytime. On the field no Brian no nothing. And my buddy George V NFL and I was playing with I see he came there and he was way up across the field. So I went down and I got I love dad's horses. And I thought I'm gonna run out there and see like, hits up to George Well, he just started running it as a fence there. And that was on old Tom there we've gone up higher and he started to weep because a horse wouldn't run over he could help it okay. And I was falling off guard and I'm hanging on through my arms were on the horse's neck and I slipped right around and right underneath me ran over and it stepped foot my leg and my legs swell up that big. But I wouldn't tell my dad had no way to pedal my answer we knew as for using his horses for hobbling around long we're going to school and just get my pass on a lot Oh. I was well fall I deserved
Unknown Speaker 1:26:31
and I knew that I know interested in us Mr. Tyronne.
Unknown Speaker 1:26:34
I'm okay now.
Speaker 1 1:26:41
So now you live in Salisbury. Surrey. Did you like insert?
Speaker 2 1:26:47
In sorry, I don't remember much. I was in Cloverdale. Oh, I live just above the rodeo. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah, I don't really remember too much about kind of my house and things that I
Speaker 1 1:27:03
went over there. Yeah. I used to go to the one in Calgary all the time. And nwim slick. Yeah, when I lived worked on the hydro, we'd go to the one word hydro. I've done afterwards
Speaker 1 1:27:24
one of the guys that I work with, who is a pretty well built guy just like a tank. We're all sitting there having suffered his place and Georgia myself and a couple 100 Boys and we had a few beer. And his wife came along we're sitting there she pulled up his pants. Look them pull a bell and he said they were wondering you do that. She said I know you're going into the stampede. And if I see these feet sticking out from underneath one of those tents I want to know a colored socks after Dragonball Z choose a character to laugh at a great loss and that was George Greenough. In the end is Pontiac beautiful Clark big old 55 When they call the dance hall, they call it the squat Hall. Four walls all the way around the doors and stuff but I had no roof. So you could go up on the hill behind there and watch watch all these people events and stuff and so I didn't did that. And we drove he was driving when we pulled up and the grass was about this high. Pull under stopped and we're sitting there watching and pretty soon a little kid sat out right beside the car. We damn near ran out we're not so close. All these little mini kids are what they're asleep while our parents were in there dancing and getting drunk and the kids that don't sleep so they just got in the grass and those nice mossy grasses. And you said and I thought holy crap, Georgie Danner and we'll have something there's another little kid symbol head popped up and a little ahead popped up. Oh, my goodness. I said we very simply get out of here. So I said I'll get out walk behind you make sure there's no no kids and moved back out St. John where we come in? Yeah, we did that.
Speaker 2 1:29:25
Oh my goodness. Where was that? Williams Lake.
Unknown Speaker 1:29:30
Stampede. Yeah, okay. Wow.
Unknown Speaker 1:29:38
We're just lucky. Yeah. All right. How do you spell your name?
Unknown Speaker 1:29:44
Je ja.
Speaker 1 1:29:46
How do you pronounce it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was right. That's how I pronounce stuff.
Speaker 2 1:29:54
Yeah, my parents are Swedish. Oh, nice. Yeah, so my dad first came first time to Canada was when he was doing mandatory military service and was on he was lucky enough to end up on a boat that went from the cross the Atlantic up the Panama Canal up the west coast of North America. And when he saw Canada he was just like, this is where I want to live.
Speaker 1 1:30:21
So is your mother gorgeous person? She is. I thought so.
Speaker 2 1:30:29
Swedish women run. She's actually dark. Oh, yeah, she's got darker and darker skin. Beautiful.
Unknown Speaker 1:30:36
I was watching it on what are they doing currently? Washington that curling? Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 1:30:42
I
Speaker 1 1:30:43
we went to lift up in Dawson Creek. I curl over that, okay. That hotel that we lived in one of the team to they were in, they had a team and they were in these bonds field that we want to call it. And they wanted to seven guys to go and play and some more or less. And I've never occurred before one guy girl. None of us. The rest of us did. And we currently gets them all summer. Never did beat him ever so good. Yeah, but at the end, we gave him a good run. At the end of the winter there. We are making a game.
Speaker 2 1:31:19
That's fun. Yeah, I've never called myself but my dad's recently gotten into Oh, yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:31:26
Yeah, to have our data rig here in Salt screen. Yeah,
Speaker 2 1:31:29
there is no rank isn't there? Has there ever been any kind of ice rink Yes, occasionally you'll get free frozen ponds. Yeah. Lakes
Speaker 1 1:31:42
very often No, maybe we could have this year but worked out Maha run the ferry right down into that roadway. Go on down the main road there. And there's a big place here that that, folks? Yeah. And a friend of mine I worked with on the ferry. He came from Winnipeg, and he knew how to skate. No, you're reading skate right? Never had any I said never had a pair of skates on the money solely went down there and he was not quite tall enough. I think he could have became an NHL player if he was a little taller and a little bit bigger. And the name of the game when they went down there was get the puck away from Cliff carry. He was so but nobody can catch him. Right He did that pocket need skate around everybody. thought was a great joke. Everybody ganging up on stokin
Unknown Speaker 1:32:38
Yeah
Speaker 1 1:32:46
that's good. What's your last name? Show blue.
Speaker 2 1:32:49
No, it's SJ. O with two dots. M lot. B l o m o Lake flower. Mercy balloon, depending on how you Yeah. Good for you. Yeah. Thank you for sharing your stories. I
Speaker 1 1:33:11
had enough of excited to tell that's that's really my whole life has been very
Unknown Speaker 1:33:16
dull. I don't I don't feel that way at all.
Unknown Speaker 1:33:18
General making more clear.
Unknown Speaker 1:33:21
I'm okay right now. Thank you. Yes. Okay,
Unknown Speaker 1:33:23
relax.
Unknown Speaker 1:33:24
Can I use your rest? Oh, yeah. Well ridden No. I'm still I haven't Oh okay.
Unknown Speaker 1:34:59
On Here's the camera or
Unknown Speaker 1:36:00
spin on the end of this month or me about three weeks.
Unknown Speaker 1:36:03
Are you planning on where? Yeah, that's great. And
Speaker 1 1:36:12
I got a trailer. Yeah, but every place on Vancouver Island is full so I thought if I get a camper I could just park Yeah, was it surely you need to speak to this thing you very good park your truck? Yeah, that's great. So I ordered it and they said the shoe year by the end of this month
Speaker 2 1:36:30
you're lucky because you're ordering things these types of like around this time that can be difficult.
Speaker 1 1:36:35
I thought that I would get I use one Yeah, and I look for over a year and I couldn't find a good use I gave up I said yeah, just order one so I did $30,000 But if I sold it I can get my money back easy. Yeah, it's definitely a competent Yeah. Oh, I know. I've got one look on my cap. Yeah. I got a story about I can't do everything I have or do I got a story
Unknown Speaker 1:37:13
but two years ago
Speaker 1 1:37:17
I was sent here and this cat came across and there's snow on this you know it was so a week ago hearty walk it was just the starving to death right there
Speaker 4 1:37:34
already you ran away? Yes. stupid cat. had come.
Speaker 1 1:37:40
But if you go out here, it'll be gone right away. Oh, try no new person.
Unknown Speaker 1:37:44
It's pretty skittish though. Really is.
Unknown Speaker 1:37:47
I've never been touched
Unknown Speaker 1:37:52
family food for it then.
Unknown Speaker 1:38:04
It comes up when there is okay. You got real slow wanting to stay there? Slow there seems it seems to me you slept a dog
Speaker 3 1:38:32
rub against my legs. never reached down to touch it. It's gone. But still
Unknown Speaker 1:38:39
needs to have a companion.
Speaker 3 1:38:42
So it came across from up there. Yeah, it was so I betcha at that time I
Speaker 1 1:38:48
wanted to do I gotta walk down picked it up because it was so weak that I can hardly walk and I said to a friend of mine. She was there. And I said I'm either gonna shoot that cat or I'm gonna feed it I don't like seeing animals suffer. So okay, now falling around. She left. Pretty soon she come back by the grumpy cat. Begu cat food.
Unknown Speaker 1:39:10
I guess I'm feeding. And it's been years since
Unknown Speaker 1:39:18
hasn't got a name? Never ever.
Unknown Speaker 1:39:22
And it's really, really scared.
Unknown Speaker 1:39:25
I call it a scaredy cat.
Unknown Speaker 1:39:29
seems appropriate. Yeah. It does. Yeah.
Speaker 1 1:39:37
Come on. Relax. I'm retired, remember? So my kids say well, what do you do? Well, I'm nothing. I'm retired. I'd take it seriously.
Speaker 2 1:39:49
Yeah. What do you do to fill your days? playable?
Speaker 1 1:39:53
Yeah, I got to the app makers. you're fumbling around. Yeah, it was nice to just sit down and watch the hockey game or whatever. Ever
Unknown Speaker 1:40:01
but it was nice to go outside. Yeah, I got a little tractor downstairs. I got I got a full basement. Yeah, little tractor got to. That's my toy. I go there play with it all the time. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:40:16
Are you friends with all your neighbors? Oh, sure.
Speaker 1 1:40:20
My neighbor Tony. We don't have a fence between the two is I don't know where the property is. Yeah. He comes from all his life place. I know his wife. Yeah. And he's away and then grasses need to go and I just go do it. We both go right in LA mores that are friendly for any. Yeah. He he owns the cafe was sushi.
Speaker 2 1:40:42
Okay. Yeah. I've never actually been because it hasn't been open since. Yeah.
Speaker 1 1:40:47
He actually has listed out. Okay, you don't worry. Now we took all the courses and the worst part of that. And now he's got a part time job on the ferries. He goes there once in all fairness, he's 55 years old 57 or something like that. And he works part time on a lot of dicey. Okay, yeah. And they're great people. Yeah, there's life. We at or back and forth. I go there and have software them or they go Mac software me. And that's what he does for a living. He's a cook. Okay. And if I get a nice roasted beef or some form and say you're going to suffer since you walk in, you're making the gravy get. I've never been I can't make room for some stupid reason. And he makes good security nice. And he wanders in and out here just like he does his own place. You know, he got in there. Yeah, have yourself any liquor. Gavin isn't like over there. He just goes and helps himself. He's definitely fallen. Okay. Yeah. And he's got rouses, or I've been over there last night when I was up there working on my little tractor fumbling around him around and he said to me, let's go to my phone then. Why? Oh, my niece, my cousin. Oh, there's retired. So are you going to law right now? Okay, you're working? I am. But she's retiring. They're having a party for? Are you gonna wrestle? He said, Well, I don't think so. I told everybody know that we're not common. And I said, Well, what the heck, let's go. I've got nothing else to do as I got older. I said, yeah. Okay, let's go. We went to Vancouver and stayed back overnight. We flew from here to Toronto had to switch planes then flew in and didn't move on land. It took us three days to get over there. And we were there for two days. And then we came back
Speaker 1 1:42:57
Yeah, and that was pretty good. If you have to pardon my language, but his cousin on the she has, like it's kind of haywire. She had someone She's good. She was out onto the deck and her and her friends are out there and the other lady lives her phone just said Come on. They're all on the deck come in now. So we went in there we kicked her boots off and she had a drink ready for us and Tony and his wife sat down just sat in the chair sitting there drinking and when she came in for all of a sudden like we'd been there for weeks already and she looked like she saw Tony his wife and she looked at when your eyes are really big and she said Holy fuck. And then she started to cry
Unknown Speaker 1:43:41
leave from falling up
Speaker 1 1:43:45
she was surprised we stayed there for two days two and a half days and went and got the plane back. Yeah, we're party Oh Holy mackerel. We did she was well liked person and she worked in a dental office or something like I remember and she had lots of friends in there instead of backyard and the grass is this thick and mean Tony we get up in the morning we went under we just worked our butts off cleaning out by yard went out and borrowed him or come back mowed all the grass and oh we're near one of the cornerstones are kind of firepit hey they got a firefighter let's some a fire so Okay, so we got a fire going on all these women were up there and having fun in a party and this is like Layton Yeah, maybe it's three
Unknown Speaker 1:44:30
o'clock in the afternoon. All of a sudden
Unknown Speaker 1:44:32
roar and you're gonna go bunch of firemen in there.
Unknown Speaker 1:44:35
You know I love that fire looks
Unknown Speaker 1:44:40
and then put our fire out. It was quite funny.
Speaker 1 1:44:48
We have over them for a while and don't wait for more ego fire to jump in the line. They all love the kind of aerosol way they went. Yeah, it was fun. It was very party for two days to that day. is feedback well we did Surpriser yeah
Speaker 2 1:45:07
you've done a lot of traveling in Canada Did you ever try outside of
Speaker 1 1:45:10
Canada very well yeah. When when I was working me and Ray in the 60s Ray Jackson or was used to go down to California Indio in that area all the time every year we go down there for I guess seven eight years in a row we all traveled together I CBS we talk and my fifth wheel was smaller than they're so great. I could pass and speed up on my truck. Then I get up and we have to turn up another lane. And then I'd slow down and they'd come out in front of me because I've stopped the traffic
Unknown Speaker 1:45:50
for it
Speaker 1 1:45:52
so then we go after whichever way yeah but we did and the six of us are great times those are the ones that Audrey did the cooking and every weekend yeah yeah we did down in the California area right on the border of Mexico border we stayed there long length a little towns. The last time we were done in this one little town and it's just shops all the way long. In Mexico one of these I can't remember what the name of that place is now. And there's always some little Mexican and they're trying to Pat us on there. There you ever been done in that country traveling around? I know Andrew was walking along there this little guy said hey SR Mita I've been waiting for you all day I got some special for you. I got a Mexican mirror and it's cheap today come on our and he started the picture up a mirror and he said I got a Mexican television and he picked up a mirror and you laugh each other's funny there you are you're on TV said
Unknown Speaker 1:46:59
Yeah, and
Speaker 1 1:47:03
yeah, we walk around all those little towns and didn't find very much just trinkets and stuff. And they wore what those islands down there with FA called a few years back they had a war Falken from the Falkland Islands and they had that war going on there. We were down there then and within I don't know when it's actually started but boy we looked up and there's all kinds of guards on the border.
Unknown Speaker 1:47:31
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 1:47:33
Bullets all over the chest and big rifles and and nobody was allowed to go across the border. Oh, wow. And I said to those guys, so you know, we might have to learn how to speak Spanish you've got to be here for all and this little guy said you want to go to the other side. Follow me so then down the stairs just through this tunnel when we come up on the American side. So we have a tip from really good across the Falkland wars started when we were down there. That's
Unknown Speaker 1:48:07
very chirps
Unknown Speaker 1:48:07
Yeah exactly. I love traveling.
Speaker 1 1:48:15
Yeah, we did a lot once. Once I Audrey and I retired to say nice. You worked on the various okay. She was the chief steward on the long Harbor on Oh wow. She was a great chief steward. Everybody just loved her. Yeah, she was after a while I guess for about the last three or four years before he retired. I know I know our work together a lot she was on deck and she was in the catering and I never saw her all day we go together and never seen and felt would come home. And so then one day I was raising the ramp on the cardio and put those ramps on a big post that to look around this way. And that the lever here and I was going on I heard a bunch of screaming and some guy come on a tight is dog no knowledge around and his dog was like two feet in the air. And he come running down and and so I loaded on anyone goes dog and knee tightened down into the ship and then put the ramp up and he went upstairs and Aubrey was the first person they saw with a uniform on or outputs and all this kind of stuff. That old blending gray haired guy down there on the car, Nikki was hanging my dog and on and on. And John he was really mad. He was yelling at her and she said I'm going to worry about him. I know you're talking about I will make sure he is spoken to I didn't know nothing about this. So we got in the car to come home. And he said she said to me hi how are you? Fine. Yeah, no big deal. Whatever. She said Consider yourself spoken to and then she told me what this guy you've been living with you long consider yourself spoken to. All right. She was a great person. She was from Saskatchewan. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:50:28
How long would she worked for the
Speaker 1 1:50:31
2028 years? She did. Almost as long as you were 35. Good job. She's a good chief steward. She said, ever lied to her crew this. You know you have to do and you got to do it. And once you get it done, done properly, what can we do for the rest of the day, it's up to you. I want to make sure what you have is done. And so they did that before becoming an alarm or before we got off and she do her checks, a walkthrough and everything is done. Nothing else said but they could do whatever they had to do to take the rest of the day off, more or less. And that's why they all liked her. She was very fair. And very Apollo one time there was a boat somehow it was across the, across the Gulf. And Audrey is the chief steward. And she had a second sister. Her name was Jean Jenkins two ladies up there. And I was on the cardiac patrol and I get here all those rattling and bang and going on up there. I'm gonna go up and see what's going on. Maybe there's some serious those two ladies that those six lifeboats are on the inside of the ship. Well, we're down on Reddit and we lowered within minutes. Wow, I couldn't believe Holy crap. And she had never been seen before she was from Saskatchewan. Yeah. Didn't know nothing about these life, folks. She worked her way. Right. Right to me, sister. She's a very, very smart lady. Really? Sorry. My son Bob always said that she was the smartest lady they ever knew. She was she's she can answer that. Jeopardy and stuff like that. She knows those answers. Stuff like nothing. Yeah. Well, of course. You're younger. There's no TV or nothing. And there's 40 below it and it's snowing. All you got to do sitting there read a book. Yeah, that's all they do. All our family was like, she had a couple of sisters that were teachers. She has nieces and nephews back. Right and our teachers was great. smart, smart people. Tony, so he come. He's like from new Volman what else you're gonna do you live around the rock away. So either reader nothing.
Speaker 1 1:53:04
Exactly. Yeah, it was a good job. I enjoyed working on the ferries. I was quartermaster with athletes across the Gulf. A steering away there and mate was in the corner doing some work. And I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There's two people on there standing on water. And I want to grab them one last person. And I could see them standing there next set to the mate. There's two people out there. They're either on a big mountain or they got their Jesus shoes on because they're walking on the water. And he's like, What are you talking about? Oh, well, and they both had some and they were standing up. I'm
Unknown Speaker 1:53:48
wondering if that's where they're standing up. And
Speaker 1 1:53:53
he was just standing there holding a little puppy dog and he was holding a logbook. Oh my goodness. And we've practices dozens and dozens of times how to rescue people. And there was a guy there with a camera. And he's filling all this in the cat that took the ferry writer on the other side of the boat because the linerless will in this way. Put us off on a lifeboat. And we rode those days that the big ol lifeboats and a new road down pick those two people he loved right around him in a big circle. And we rode with the when they picked us up on the other side. And everything went just perfect. There was not one person not aligned with our nothing. And the guy that was filming it. He said you would have made the Navy feel ashamed. They are proud of they get it done that any technology showed it to us and then did it was just perfect. Yeah. And so I wanted to get that film.
Unknown Speaker 1:54:53
Yeah, I wonder how you could get a hold of that. Yeah, I
Speaker 1 1:54:56
don't even know who he was. He left when they got the other side and I never but it did it works really well and I thought all our practicing really paid off
Unknown Speaker 1:55:07
what year was that?
Speaker 1 1:55:08
Well that was early early 80s I guess Somerset area work for you well now is Rafi several people in distress things like that and we've made all the three stops going over live Galliano and regatta Pender and Main and go I am across lots and lots of times. People would miss search box on the way back to use it. Because it's nighttime and they go to sleep. Right when you hear the announcement or go too far, and they wind up missing their stop altogether and mean Andriy, many, many times, brought people home and let him stay here overnight. And there was this young follow him as he was up there playing video machinery. And his mother drove off her Galliano and left him on board the ship, he was like 10 years old. Oh my goodness, and he was really worried. And he tried to phone her and he couldn't phone her. She wouldn't answer. I don't know where she was. Don't worry about it. I said, You come and stay with us or name so mean Andrei bottomhole. And he was really scared. He was really tense. So I said to him and just trying to make conversation getting relaxed and I said, you were putting darts. I got a dartboard at home. You want to play darts. good at it. So you give me three darts. And I'll show you three bull's eyes so when we got here, he phoned his mother. And she didn't seem too excited about it. You know? There is not I don't know what the conversation was. And we kept hearing I did give him noncancer first version of monitors you gave him some money for breakfast and on and on and on and on. He got off a guy No, I guess. And the next weekend they came on and he was pointing out Audrey said there's a lady there's a lady mom, too. Who took me at home and give me breakfast and she never she just looked the boundary and kept back and she never said thank you kiss my butter oh my goodness she didn't see me word are excited about it yeah
Unknown Speaker 1:57:36
so that's fun
Speaker 2 1:57:43
yeah not not all families are created equal no I
Speaker 1 1:57:48
guess not. No, I live with Maureen sick Yeah, is that my phone
Unknown Speaker 1:57:54
on vibrate that's great.
Unknown Speaker 1:58:01
I can see that Jack I should
Unknown Speaker 1:58:04
just sit here doing nothing
Unknown Speaker 1:58:14
relax this is
Unknown Speaker 1:58:18
a bottom is a negative Adria matching I don't know ever had hurts
Unknown Speaker 1:58:32
Thanks. That's really
Unknown Speaker 1:58:35
proposer when I got these your rent in America false.
Unknown Speaker 1:58:39
I have once Yeah. I didn't go on a boat.
Speaker 1 1:58:41
Oh, yeah, we went and places just packed with little store selling T shirts. Oh, yeah.
Speaker 2 1:58:51
Yeah. Yeah. Felt like a little Las Vegas. Yeah.
Speaker 3 1:58:56
Without the slot machines. Yeah. When we were there, of course.
Unknown Speaker 1:59:01
Wax Museum. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:59:07
Yeah, because that's one of the thing we had is great trips together. She was so easy to travel. Oh, well. Part of life I guess. They are, you know, my whole history now. Where did you actually go to school?
Speaker 2 1:59:31
Um, well. High School all of high school. I was in Vancouver. Okay. Yeah. When I was 12 and a half. We moved from boundary Bay to Vancouver.
Unknown Speaker 1:59:45
Your dad was in the forces. No,
Speaker 2 1:59:47
my dad was a flight attendant. Oh, I mean, he was he was that. I did say that he had to do mandatory military service. But that was as far as it went. Because yeah, Sweden was As a neutral country and so everyone had to do service or at least all the young men at that time.
Speaker 1 2:00:07
Yeah, my neighbor Tony, his dad was in the forces I think he was in the army so I never did know him. I know it's wonderful.
Unknown Speaker 2:00:18
Yeah great, great.
Speaker 1 2:00:26
I got tons of pictures up here for three days.
Unknown Speaker 2:00:31
Well, maybe we could do another visit to
Speaker 1 2:00:35
Sure why not? What the heck? Yeah. I'm not going to inflict it's home to me. I should I'll show you the hugs before you go. Okay. You have to excuse the masks because I made hasn't come in yet. I'm going to fire when they say
Unknown Speaker 2:00:55
you ever made that comment? Oh, no, I didn't see joking.
Speaker 1 2:01:03
Yeah, I'm the maid. Yeah, there's a lot of work to keep two and a half acres in the house to you. Oh,
Unknown Speaker 2:01:09
yes. For sure.
Unknown Speaker 2:01:10
You're busy all the time. Yeah. Probably I plan to live huddle all the time.
Speaker 2 2:01:21
It feels like you're well around here peddling time.
Speaker 1 2:01:34
Those wagon wheels. I don't know if you notice them when you come in. And that's why you know, some of the posts they came from Saskatchewan from Oddish brothers place out there. And they wanted to keep one so I brought three
Unknown Speaker 2:01:53
fun
Speaker 1 2:02:00
Yeah, we have this house built. Oh my goodness. It's like 22 years ago now. Okay. We're both working and I was going to build it myself. And I thought man, we're putting in a 10 hour days. And I gave him one hour I got him feel like coming home begging nails at midnight. We're up at like four o'clock in the morning working on the fair.
Speaker 2 2:02:22
I can imagine you have to get up early. So I thought ah
Speaker 1 2:02:27
was a couple of guys your brothers. And then I heard about them. So I asked them if they'd bill me out of something they said not too busy. They just couldn't no time at all. Then one day he came on the ferry with CBC and he said I just had a cancellation from California lady you can get up to get a visa and stuff like that. Do you want me to slightly and her place and I said You betcha. So they built it so one of the guys did to Jeff Hawking and they said who build this house and I said to Bill brothers and they said Great everything fits because there were such particular they just come up with the sheets of plywood up and
Speaker 1 2:03:16
and I still see one one of the guys that did the heat is up 100 Ramos Okay, let's see oh once I got out relative something 100 miles and my older brother Ernie he worked there for multi years and very satisfying to me and I worked on when I did work on the hydro I worked there too. I met a lot of people and we still keep in contact matter of fact Jack Bell was here not a month and a half ago he came down his family he had a son that lives up in Kearney so they came down here visited me yeah hey guys
Unknown Speaker 2:03:59
hard workers
Speaker 1 2:04:07
exactly well I can't think of any more questions to ask you know your whole history now
Unknown Speaker 2:04:19
you got to take it moment to moment all beings on one for
Speaker 1 2:04:23
sure. Yeah, when you get to be my age the moment before that I need your help told me about I forget about
Unknown Speaker 2:04:35
your memory seems pretty good and you seem pretty sure
Speaker 1 2:04:40
Oh, that's good. This picture here and there's two on the wall over there. I bought them and Duncan from I don't some furniture store or something of that never on a wall and this one was in the middle of those two and I thought hey, great. Nice like that. So I bought them they came home Don't ever haven't got a wall big enough to put the all three of on there together so I put this on here those two over there
Unknown Speaker 2:05:08
Nice. Nice and bold.
Speaker 1 2:05:09
I liked it because you know there's so many pictures of killing whales and eagles and everything else. These are kind of different Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 2:05:23
Nature tunnel.
Speaker 1 2:05:24
Yeah. Yeah nice to have that kind of match you're pretty good
Speaker 1 2:05:37
yeah, my property goes up on the main road out there and right down to the top of that little hill a little bit of an old street back down. And field on nursling please
Speaker 2 2:05:55
do trees like orchard trees or anything?
Speaker 1 2:05:59
Yeah, all lots of apple trees and pear trees and cherry trees. tons on this whole place at one time was orchard. Yeah, this my neighbor's. He's got a bunch of apple trees there. Yeah, but they're all roll roll. They're like 150 60 years old. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Going up by the road. There's crabapple tree. Yeah, that's rotten all the way around the outside in the middle. The whole middle of rotted out. Just a bit of a varchar on that. Yeah. I think produces fruit like crazy. It figures gonna blow or it hasn't yet right up there by the gate. That's incredible. Yeah. Wow, kinds of fruit on it. It's amazing. And all these apple trees down their sun. They should have been drawn over years ago. But they're still bearing fruit. There's one of one over and it's laying on the ground and growing up like this and tons of apples on it. They're tough. Yeah. Wow.
Unknown Speaker 2:07:07
Resilience
Unknown Speaker 2:07:13
now, so you're getting interested in life. What do you homeless people do that? antiques are they? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So we're your doer? Yeah.
Speaker 2 2:07:27
Well, I'm just volunteering there. Yeah, my friend Karen went had told me about it. Oh, yeah. And I was really interested in like, I just love old things and kind of collect old things. And I thought I'd be more interested in that aspect of it. But then as soon as she told me that they were needing interviews from people. I was like, oh, there's something that sparked with me and I was just like, I love listening to people telling stories. So I am in a good opportunity.
Speaker 1 2:08:02
I am actually I am with a pharmacy Institute. Yeah. I belong to that. Okay. I go to meeting every month. Oh, nice. Yeah. And a friend of mine. I went to school with George laundry and he lives at Fulford Hill. There's another guy you should interview Okay, same as George laundry George Landry. He's a real nice guy. He's born and raised here in Salt Springs. Okay. And he does a fool for his wife's name is slow
Speaker 1 2:08:40
and he'll tell you a lot more stuff than I do. He was he was a nice little neat little guy when we had a sports day there is no way to go to church and he to run circles around all of this little short Are you gonna hit that shortcode?
Speaker 1 2:09:18
I took my niece Phyllis out for supper last night. That had Chinese food. She lives in Campbell River. Okay, she has cancer. Shooting shoes here on Salisbury with a couple other friends. They ran into Kevin Dunn, a Christian Nick nice. And they were having fun and my nephew Kurt took him on his boat and they really enjoyed that. And then I took her out last night for supper the Chinese switch
Speaker 1 2:09:54
and I find that had George laundries phone number here, but I don't see
Unknown Speaker 2:10:11
Well hello oh I can tell I'm sure I can try
Unknown Speaker 2:10:15
a phone book. Oh here it is ready?
Unknown Speaker 2:10:20
Yeah 250-653-9095
Speaker 1 2:10:21
Thank you Yeah, he's I am going to school together here and he won as a teacher in Ontario someplace down there okay he's an interesting guy to talk to he's born and raised so Fulford okay he still he lives there now he when he retired he Kaylynn built host on
Unknown Speaker 2:10:55
What school did you go to with him? Ganges
Speaker 1 2:11:00
Aaron yes that's what they called it. kanji school as I still got my old school ring can you imagine that?
Unknown Speaker 2:11:16
Was it inter Island back then to yes
Speaker 1 2:11:18
they've got a bunch of kids from other islands and a lot of taxi over and now at the school
Speaker 2 2:11:23
they would come every day over into the water taxi. Yeah, a lot
Speaker 1 2:11:28
of them stayed over here they get billets and that's what I feared ago Yeah, but now they come every day Yeah. And I actually worked on as water taxi for a while
Unknown Speaker 2:11:38
okay
Speaker 1 2:11:40
it was fun something to do when I retired you know I wonder where that ring is I should show it to relax is kind of nice. Can you mention Edna Reno how many years 100 years since I've been in school?
Unknown Speaker 2:12:43
Right wow the rear of things
Unknown Speaker 2:13:42
well worn guess
Unknown Speaker 2:13:47
Saltspring all and consolidated school
Speaker 1 2:13:55
we had to buy those on the way up. I had no money. Poor family. Yeah. After work. For my neighbors. Most of the time when I worked for anybody. I never got paid for it. Because they're all relatives or friends. Everyone somehow they pay little bit. Walk around and pick up beer cans and whatever else it could.
Unknown Speaker 2:14:22
Can't get it on. Can't get it off now.
Unknown Speaker 2:14:24
Yeah, be careful of that.
Speaker 1 2:14:28
For that, so they've got enough money to pay for this ring. Wow. It's amazing. I mean, one of my old friends he passed away about three four years ago five years ago and then I will he had a jack he had this sweater get the salt spray on me and his ring and yeah, all kinds of stuff to school. Oh my goodness.
Unknown Speaker 2:15:02
One finger all good on the other fingers too big
Unknown Speaker 2:15:07
Yeah, it's hard to think
Unknown Speaker 2:15:10
oh my fit on that one oh yeah, maybe
Speaker 1 2:15:22
this this finger here that little one was too big that little fingers haywire run up powers all files through it when I was working on the hydro I was running my power saw and I wanted to put a handle on the file. So I put it in a hit it on the stump to make the file blend a little bit further and the handle broke and the file came out to the IRS scene and powersoft file it around and sharp paddle and it came out in Illinois right through these two fingers the file and it was sticking out like right here like that. And these two fingers right there and a couple a muscle in my little finger. Okay Ben that anymore. Wow. And so I went the first day guy was up on the roads, fold my hand behind my back and I walked up and I said I hurt my fingers and he said how did you do that? I said well I kind of hit him with a power saw five and he said let me see so hold on
Unknown Speaker 2:16:38
so I pulled it out.
Speaker 1 2:16:39
And there are some black electrics is tape around written went back to work again. A lot of guys nowadays it takes a week off or something like that. But I just had this taper on both those fingers work and lay my powers off. And that cut that muscle and didn't even know that. I can't bend anymore
Unknown Speaker 2:17:08
for all first day You
Unknown Speaker 2:17:10
scared the hell out.
Unknown Speaker 2:17:14
And you're lucky
Speaker 1 2:17:18
all the jobs I had like hydro was pretty darn safe and the ferries are safe but login was real bad job. Yeah. I got it didn't do that too much. But I did want to have to between lines that had to work.
Speaker 2 2:17:39
Would they teach you the ways to fall trees correctly and kind of born
Speaker 1 2:17:45
and raised around. I'm older brother. He showed me a lot. Bruce, he was a cat driver.
Unknown Speaker 2:17:54
And I worked with him on the walker hook. And he started and chat and I got a job as a choco
Speaker 1 2:18:03
working behind a set of jokers. I wanted to get us at lunchtime and they were in there Bruce, my older brother Bruce and his boss, Bill Swanson. You're ready to Swanson file.
Unknown Speaker 2:18:16
I've heard Swanson
Speaker 1 2:18:18
I worked on that when they built it. And my older brother Bruce was the cab driver who built this pawn and Bill Swanson was the guy that owned the property there in Riyadh in the school. So I went to WWE orchid dot Hudson point or Walker fouling these trees and buttering them up and he put him on down into the bay and as a joke on one side after walking along behind him and so he would show me how to follow these trees and these will use a great guide easy to work with
Unknown Speaker 2:18:56
taught me a lot about following stuff. And there was a fence in this tree had leaned like this and there was a fence and
Speaker 1 2:19:07
we're gonna wreck that fence. So we follow that tree over there. Flatten that fence right out and they said oh no, we'll work around that so we put the other cut in and he got a rock about that big and he put it in the article we put a big undercut and you got to rock with that big and put it in the undercut and then we did the back cut and one of the cheek come over with the way to that tree onto that rock and it jumped right over the fence. Wow. And I thought oh my God isn't that amazing? Never even touch the events and the weight just toward the back of the undercut right off. Wow. He taught me a lot I've never even seen a joker and Joker before until I got a job as a joker. I went in there never had ever been in a cafe and somebody goes do that. here and they said oh my choco and just quit so you don't over another and as he's uh yeah well I said you got it radio so elegant work Bruce on the show me what a joker Joker was
Unknown Speaker 2:20:17
hard work was hard work. I was young and stupid I didn't know any different
Speaker 1 2:20:26
logon is hard work and you run run all the time just up and down these hills and over those logs the more logs you get out the more the boss gets paid so we just ran all the time. Jarvis said that I'm older brother, Vikram. So he worked for that company for a long time. They got a contract, take all these logs. So I got a job lead. I forget where neck we work in Porto or here someplace and we finish that line. So I've done a job up there. In Jarvis inlet. And obviously chaser he's the guy that runs up to his grave with piles of logs and hopes a joker up top and then all the rigging goes back and then you hook another log on and come up and have to run up this is highs this house and you have to run down because he wants to give me choker back to get another log so you don't have to Joker that run down and it was hot as hell. And I was just sweating my backside off and up and down up and down on takes a few minutes ago those logs come back in again. I'm older brother Vic was there and he was a hooker behind them electric arch he worked for that over it for a long time and they take like an hour and a half to go down to the beach to dump the logs and then we come back up again and he was sitting in the shade of this tree is a big problem and he's swatting these big black flies and pull upon laying off and he throw it in a puddle lots of them are under the circle now way down there at she looked at me said are you working hard and you said they're making fun of me use a plane so then I got another job probably up nor five went to North Vancouver and they had me over there for a little while and they had a crew they wanted I was the foreman of the crew for 25 days and they were all little Italian guys and they worked hard like crazy. They're good workers easy to get along good workers and they brought their lunch and those a big chunk of cheese and a big chunk of homemade bread and a bottle a line of
Unknown Speaker 2:22:54
work every day. Sounds pretty good.
Unknown Speaker 2:22:57
And they said they're gonna hold gavel
Speaker 1 2:22:59
and whenever I found I go sit talk to them and they always offered me some drinking wine or whatever I had my own lunch of course. And they weren't supposed to be drinking on the job but I never said nothing. They're good workers I just let them do it that they're good to work with 25 of them working under me and I got transferred to Dawson Creek have a fun job I liked it hydro was good to work for because they paid your room and board yet you had to do not just go to work every day. Yeah. And then to call for me that a breakfast calling phone rang in the morning six o'clock or 530 and it was frequently I get up could I have breakfast? They'd see me come in no noise versus a name exactly what I wanted. Put a glass of apple juice right down the table I was sitting there in bed Julian be just like your baby that's one big thing I always said about my work and yours. I got along with everybody. All the guys I work with on the farrier had no problem. They never had arguments and nothing. We just didn't glue it to do and then go. Simple as that.
Speaker 1 2:24:35
Audio is a good word. Just we never missed a day. That one time was snowing. And I picked up another lady live in St. Louis. Like I was saying stationary a little station wagon and mean odgers. We're going up to the road out to the main road and a snow plow that gone by a big bank of snow like If this wasn't gonna get up shuffle so I backed away up here and I looked up towards the church up there nothing Come on I said Hang on and I just Florida we hit that big snowbank Donner and I went right up top inside there and we were stuck Oh dear so that I wonder we've ended in a lot kind of thought maybe we missed a day's work but I guess the heater the motor it settled down to the wheels that touch the ground and that Florida and we jumped right over top and went to work the time I think that the lady lived up to their once you definitely Ganges road and down that hill and had to make the corner go into long harbor it was snowing icy like crazy and my car went like six donuts right in the middle of the road. And we made it to her and I think when I sold that car her fingerprints are still in the dashboard
Speaker 2 2:26:03
because yeah there's a lot of roads on Saltspring that I find questionable in the snow
Speaker 1 2:26:08
oh man all these all these roads are putting in their head horse and wagons attack they don't have no crew over here I think there's three guys on the crew love flying to do when it snows
Unknown Speaker 2:26:31
pretty big space.
Unknown Speaker 2:26:33
Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 2:26:34
just a crew of three.
Speaker 1 2:26:36
Yeah, lots of work for Curtis I am done we've got a little job in the highway is a flag one two that's after I retired something to do when the guy said I worked with on the ferries East stop and as other flags he rolled onto in Asia I never ever thought that you find the easier job than you had when worked on the ferry. As I got it where are we up top ups outside of DC was there one day no work with department highways guys. They'd all worked away in the afternoon somewhere where they're at Well some of them will wander off of the side roads and stuff and then guy come along from that direction and I stopped him he was looking down and you could see nobody working and nothing after while we added for a while and he said well why didn't you stop me for no reason I wanted somebody to talk to you third Katsucon call me other kinds of bad names and that
Speaker 1 2:27:58
that's probably the reason why I got along with all those people I work with weird sense of humor
Speaker 1 2:28:11
my youngest son Duncan, he's that way to laugh so it's stuff he looks at me says now you know where I got it from
Unknown Speaker 2:28:31
Oh, well. That's good.
Unknown Speaker 2:28:34
What can we
Speaker 2 2:28:37
do? Oh, wow. It's 25 After four
Unknown Speaker 2:28:42
Do you want to
Speaker 1 2:28:43
a glass of water? Or a cup of tea or something?
Speaker 2 2:28:48
I'm okay. I think I really start heading off soon.
Speaker 1 2:28:51
We've got our glasses so number one your coupons or
Unknown Speaker 2:28:58
the school? Sure. Okay.
Unknown Speaker 2:29:06
Just relax. I'll bring it.
Speaker 3 2:29:46
About a Pepsi. You like Pepsi? Um,
Speaker 2 2:29:50
I don't really drink pop so much but I love water instead. I got some water. Okay, thank you. No problem. You
Unknown Speaker 2:30:10
got some apple juice you want apple juice?
Speaker 2 2:30:14
What what is good for me? Thank you. Okay
Part Two
Speaker 1 0:09
Neither water my my moleskin I've been talking too much
Speaker 2 0:23
are those good? Well they call me they call them scones cheddar scone with some herbs in them
Unknown Speaker 0:28
nice
Unknown Speaker 0:31
kind of a savory treat
Speaker 2 0:49
how's it been for you throughout this period during the pandemic? Oh, fine. Yeah because you have lots of family close by yeah
Speaker 1 1:01
I stay away from everybody Yeah. Well not to go to my neighbors are really good because every time they go to Dunkin or Ganges They phoned me say you want something oh that's great. And when I was really thick that pandemic that COVID stuff they just put on the doorstep Okay, so then they get you know milk or bread or whatever I needed they just leave it right there behind you where you come in and I it was all I put a bunch of money out there for him pay for
Speaker 1 1:31
it yeah they're good and when I got again cheese I don't I go into that country grocery Yeah, I put my mask on put my hat down so nobody can see who I am and going to grab it. I haven't come home again.
Speaker 2 1:46
So you don't get stuck chatting to somebody Yeah, that's the funny thing about small towns. I lived in Nelson for almost 10 years. And there was days where you just didn't want to talk to anybody. So you take the alleys in behind Baker Street and anyone who was walking in the alleys if you just wave and nod and keep walking because everyone knew you're trying to get your missions done
Unknown Speaker 2:36
this is a big meal
Speaker 2 2:37
is a big meal I don't know if I can finish it all either
Speaker 1 3:00
yeah my Nisha came down from Campbell River to her friends and they say don't Cushing Lake Kurt to come on and Kurt's my nephew. Yeah. He took them out in the boat and he went for a trip around did they got some prawns that's gonna say it's good planning right now. And they took some problems back with them nice. And they just cruise around and only went to the shop with us. That's all I could talk about was how she enjoyed it all that occurred and had a good time and then blown their friends. Yeah. Yeah, it was great. She doesn't Campbell River she has cancer. So she's Deke and all kinds of chemo stuff like oh, that's hard. Nice lady.
Unknown Speaker 3:48
Yeah, that's really hard. Where did it start for her? Cancer? I don't know.
Unknown Speaker 3:57
No
Speaker 1 4:03
no, all that kind of stuff. I never asked questions. I feel they want to tell me they'll tell me for sure. That's good enough for me
Unknown Speaker 4:13
yeah
Unknown Speaker 4:30
I never asked questions like that. No, anything No.
Speaker 1 4:36
Somebody told me they got a new car that's all I have to know somebody else and say Oh, sounds like a new car. Oh, colors. I'm gonna blue No, never done.
Unknown Speaker 4:59
It How old is your father approximately
Unknown Speaker 5:42
My father was born in 4819 48 What year were you born to personal
Unknown Speaker 5:56
1935 Get Old
Unknown Speaker 6:05
I figure on them luckily most of the guys I know my age are dead
Unknown Speaker 6:08
yeah
Speaker 2 6:13
you did your parents die of old age? Yeah
Unknown Speaker 6:24
now my dad died first but I think he pretty all worked himself to death
Unknown Speaker 6:30
yeah
Unknown Speaker 6:36
and he did and you're gonna hear that
Speaker 1 6:44
my mom lived 20 years after he did Wow. To quote quite funny she lived in there a big a little house with different blood. She was getting up in years. I was warning us about going after because I lived just not very far from where she did. So I check on her all the time. found me she was up hanging up some clothes or something the suit balance you actor had took her to the doctor and yet her were there for a while and let her stay there for a while and then my Greenlands was just opening up. Well, they got a great price for you in Greenwood they serve you meals and everything else they look after you like crazy make sure she wouldn't. She was taking pills once you sometimes miss and DiggerLand dramatize that. No, she wasn't gonna go there no little anyway, here I'm gonna put me in a home. So that is not for a while, uh, you know, you got to be in there just for the week. And I'll pick you up every Friday and bring you over the weekend and stuff. She didn't want to do that. And then finally I talked her into putting her in green lights and then picked up Friday and to go home for the weekend. That only happened once. Next weekend, she couldn't go home because Mrs. Jones was having a birthday party and get gone tomorrow because we're having a crib tournament and that that was the last time once I take her home she really had a great time in there. Okay, and they were so good they're looked after Oh
Speaker 2 8:25
that's nice. Okay, I think so much about like growing older is just you know, having community and keeping social and
Unknown Speaker 8:36
and see a lot of friends in here like they're from Salzburg and who yeah
Unknown Speaker 8:49
it's quite funny. I mean, Andrei went down to visit or one time weird we're sitting there yapping away watching the news and stuff.
Speaker 1 9:00
I just remember somebody says she got up and left we sat there and waited and waited Watch some more news I wonder have you now that one rare moment so I walked down the hall and issues at night four doors down they're playing crew with some other little lady she forgot all about the crew game that's more important
Speaker 1 9:29
great ice Yeah, she could sit there reader just right up until she died she can read those magazines or something like that. Oh glasses. Wow.
Unknown Speaker 9:40
Yeah, I just got glasses myself. So it's all that computer work.
Unknown Speaker 9:48
It does say You know, I gotta I gotta get some new ones rather Brooks. One of these days pretty quick. I wasn't gonna on those pairs on the drugstore. Yeah, they're not right. No Zeferino redone here. Yeah, that's pretty good
Unknown Speaker 10:30
so what is your husband new work here in Salzburg?
Speaker 2 10:33
Well, he just got his permanent resident status. Okay. Took a lot longer because we're going through the pandemic time
Speaker 1 10:41
now, you know, yeah, this time everybody's having problems.
Speaker 2 10:46
Yeah, we we've both done very many different things throughout our lives. So we're pretty open coming here as far as how we can plug in and what's needed on the islands,
Unknown Speaker 10:58
Dr. Dusty work as a carpenter tall
Speaker 2 11:00
he has in the past, but his body's not really up for it anymore. But yeah, we both do design work. He used to operate a CNC machine. And it was five axes. So his last project before we left California was he built his own speakers. But they're like sculptural, really, really beautiful. Because he was building them for what they call the W A F factor, or it's called White wife approval factor. Because the sound the sound industry is generally like male dominated, but a lot of times the woman has like is subject to having some big speakers and taking over the living room space. He was trying to meld those two so it was fun
Speaker 1 12:06
I noticed that carpenters laborers on Saltspring they're busy all the time all the time. You know, they actually what they're the guys that get the contract what they need is grunts to do these hard work. Yeah,
Speaker 2 12:22
yeah. Yeah, that's something we were told early on even before moving here that it's really hard to find people to do work on your house. You just need an electrician to fix something. Yeah, there's just so many so many too many opportunities. I think
Speaker 1 12:50
yeah, the good experienced person was somebody like a license or something an electrician or whatever. They're hard to come by
Speaker 1 13:05
I lucked out when we got this place bill. Because those two guys they were great workers. Yeah. And they've been building houses pretty well all their lives as their father did. He was a carpenter too. Yeah. So they started out very young let me just work together
Unknown Speaker 13:29
yeah
Unknown Speaker 13:35
I'm full big they're awful
Unknown Speaker 13:46
They're huge.
Unknown Speaker 13:47
Yeah delicious
Speaker 1 14:15
now, these guys are wearing Mexico and I laughed. They are perfect but they don't stand straight. Just for the
Unknown Speaker 14:26
Yeah, they have the like finger holds
Speaker 1 14:32
I'm quite amazed. I still got four left I think as many many years ago, I guess are pretty. Yeah, they're pretty thick glass. Typical Mexican velvet body now you start a lot of fun when we've done those little guys or shirt characters. yeah
Unknown Speaker 15:02
yeah, it's quite a different culture.
Speaker 1 15:04
Oh yeah. My youngest son David. He went down there with his girlfriend. They're not girlfriend boyfriend anymore. She's not very tall. Well belt, beautiful girl. Blond hair blue eyes just Yeah. Most Mexicans just fell in love with her right away we've offered on the street now once you guys have died in mind, they come to the screaming stop back up and they look at her and then yellow. Belinda is in the reader. I love you
Speaker 1 15:48
she loved to party. My son said, I'm not going to party with her anymore. So she got one night and linen party. And she lost her purse. Maybe somebody swiped it. I had all the money on plane tickets, everything and took them two days to get through to me because of the language difference. Yeah. And he's had one hell of a job trying to explain let's do the Mexicans to get here. Yeah. Finally he got through. He said, We're stranded in Mexico and I knew exactly who I was. Because we had been there capital. Yeah. And we're in hotel. Yeah. All you paid for and he said I got one more day down here. And I said, well hang on. I'm going to hop on the plane next morning. flew down there. And I they didn't know what time I was getting there. And so I seen him walking on the street and Elena the hotel were there and had to ally like going in where the desks are and stuff. And over in the corner, there's a coat hanger. With a good big Mexican sombrero. I don't know went over and I put the Sombrero on I said on the chart chair with a big Mexican hand down. And I can see lock him by a Z Yeah. What are you doing down here? And they didn't mention that you your name is Dave. Nanny. I can see Seaton he stopped and he looked at me a few more years to come on back. David and his girlfriend. Certainly Megan Megan, where are you going? Then they look through RunCam that started a lot
Unknown Speaker 17:46
there glad to see me. We stayed there for a couple more days. I went and got some tickets and brought it home. That's really sweet
Speaker 1 18:00
what a great time. It was fun. Oh, actually five days those five days or? I was wandering around there swimmin doing stuff as wandering around on the beach and as I wouldn't call this big Fisher I'll catch you down there I'll take my mind is gone. Holy mackerel. Anyhow, I was walking down and they had all these with a big sword on him. They are
Speaker 2 18:31
they called swordfish. sailfish.
Speaker 1 18:38
I forgot Marlon. Yeah. And they go get their picture taken. And they cut the sword off and then throw the fish over on the beach. I was looking at all kinds of these big fish down or it was a bloody waste it shouldn't be allowed to catch up that's all they want to do is get their pictures take them on these. That's terrible. And they bring the sword home so I said one of the guys that lived there and he said that's terrible is wasted. And they said oh every once in a while a guy that hill raises pigs not that far comes down with his leg and then take some bunch but not very often because the part starts to taste like fish after a while so they don't do that very often. Men this should be a log in Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 19:28
definitely.
Speaker 1 19:31
Long guy was on the plane. He was doing the same thing and we we got up there and he forgot his big sword out. And what does he ever say? I really started to scream and yell and run up and down and he's gonna jump out the door and we finally gotten settled down but I guess he lost his big sword
Speaker 1 19:58
you know when I was thinking they should have a An artificial one hang in there so that we can get their picture taken away that
Unknown Speaker 20:03
that's a smart idea. I like that.
Unknown Speaker 20:08
That's terrible. I thought what a waste.
Unknown Speaker 20:11
Yeah
Unknown Speaker 20:15
One day there won't be any left. Yeah, I knew they would walk down. They were way over and hotel. I had my I had a condo there when I call my condo
Speaker 1 20:29
was one room about this big. Had a light hanging down from the ceiling on a cord. You had to pull this cord. Yeah. And the florist flatten it off and there's a scupper. Right in the middle. Yep. And the showerhead right there. That's where you're sure sure you had one room. Walk across there to get your into your bed. That's all it was. I call it my condo. Cost me like seven bucks a night. Wow. Come on, look at my condo. So I knew I'd walked down in the morning. And it was a little cafe in the corner and right across the rebuilding hotels. And they make the whole lot of cement because they never had no lumber. And so they want a window they go chipper window out of the cement. And then they they take this cement and they sweep on put it on a wheelbarrow. One guy was shuffling the other guy standing and watch him was in his job to several he was a wheelbarrow operator. So he wheeled down the end of the hauling dump down and there's a truck down there. He will just slide all the way down and finally satisfied and he picked up his wheelbarrows back there he'd sit there watch the other guy shovel. I don't want to clockers on nail had a siesta disappeared, they'd be sitting in the corner with a headstone sleeping. And every day they got paid, and didn't work for that little Phaedra wanted a pair of pants. The real man would go to work that day and the next day wouldn't go to work. Don't need them pass today. I said to David, hey, let's go get a job. Come on. We can get paid by the end of the day.
Speaker 1 22:19
That would have been an experience though. Yeah, literally fun. They'd be given us out for working too hard. Oh, yeah. It's hard working in that heat to imagine Yeah. I didn't one read it. A couple of motorbikes were raring all over the place. What on top of this hill, behind Cabo San Lucas and I was taking pictures. And this guy came out and they had a bunch of these roofing, tin roofs for robbing big circle, and that's where they lived in there. And he took one of the seven of the side Ecomondo news, what six very little kids with him and he was hollering at me too. Me too. And he wanted me to take the picture. And I said, good thing to picture him. We're gonna have to pay him for it. We hopped on our bikes and left. Yeah, no. Food digger pizza room
Speaker 1 23:19
was fine. We were paying him we're falling all over the place and our motor wakes ran out a couple
Speaker 1 23:46
that's all my exciting life. You got home, the whole story. So you won't write a book or because of the two pages
Speaker 2 23:59
think it's important to sort of get a feeling of what life was like during the time 100
Speaker 1 24:04
years ago on Saltspring it's very quiet. Yeah. Okay, that road down the Fernwood. I can remember when they pave that road. We just did prior to that. Yeah. Go sorry, how old I am. Sorry, it was a good life. Worked. We worked hard. ghosties lots of work. Living on the farm, my dad. They never had no money. He'd work all day for 50 cents an hour
Speaker 1 24:46
but that's part of life. We just took it. We just took it as that's the way life is never nary a thought or complaint. Whatever. Yeah, it was quite an experience. And from away from software printer Victoria all people all that traffic oh my goodness
Speaker 2 25:08
yeah I can imagine that'd be pretty stark contrast yeah
Speaker 1 25:14
I used to laugh at myself when I was I didn't know none about batching their coffee
Unknown Speaker 25:19
or eating or shopping or anything because we live differently I never even got to see a star but once a month
Speaker 1 25:30
I went in there and I rented the apartment there used to be a big round robotic right there in the eights and whatever the heck that means was different in structure. And there was a gas station I got a job as a front end man on a gas station and right across the street was my apartment I rented an apartment and then just walk across the go to work and then get down to shopping and now I need some coffee so God well coffee beans are a lot cheaper than regular coffee. I didn't know what coffee beans were so I looked in there and I got all these beans and put them in a bagel and pray for him and went home and I put some of these coffee beans in the pork coffee one is aluminum ones put on in the morning got up parked away law as getting dressed and washed his shower whatever Come on this is straight line for some bloody coffee already seen parked there for another hour and then went to work shut it off.
Unknown Speaker 26:30
Nothing for water so after about three days of this for Dummies beans
Speaker 1 26:38
what the hell you're supposed to do? Coffee beans are supposed to have coffee. I found my sister and I she said oh no, you have to grind them. Oh, don't beat down we got a grind. I'll just I thought the coffee was inside of these beans. That's okay, I just get a camera and break them open and then I get some coffee starts hitting these damn things. They're flying all over the place and they're really hard just like a little rocky.
Unknown Speaker 27:06
Bang bang can't do that. So I tried to perk up again no way and so when I left there they're still sitting in the cupboard I could do nothing I didn't know what coffee beans were
Speaker 2 27:31
you went to Victoria from Saltspring Would you go how would you get there on bus but like Would would you take a ferry from full firm yeah
Speaker 1 27:44
before the mysterious content very soon the guy his name was Bill Evans. AKA members he was like this
Unknown Speaker 27:52
is 200 years ago. It's pretty incredible.
Speaker 1 27:56
What attacks are and wreck apart and a little brown dog and in there. That was what it was it was a water taxi just took passengers no cars and you had a string hanging down from the light with a rag on the end of it. And we get the vesuvius's and tie up the boat and all this kind of stuff in the open door and the little brown baggy Saran down and pulled a string turn the layout and they shoved it there we go that's pretty neat. Dog train full turn the light off. Bill Evans he lived at Rainbow rota used to raise sheep
Unknown Speaker 28:45
birds
Unknown Speaker 28:56
that was quite an experience for me going into the big city and then when I grew up, I got older maybe as at 19 one of my buddies come into Victoria from salt bring
Speaker 1 29:15
him and I rent an apartment Montrose apartments, Yates from Blanchard and then another one would come in. He comes stay with us and another one would come on. There's like four or five of us or we're young, crazy. Oh, my God. So we're all live today. Overnight, as you wonder we made it through that era. Yeah. I was a year older than this one buddy. I go into the liquor store and they kick me out but they let him go. And so he goes by our boozers all the time without second and get a couple of boxes of beer. Just be crazy.
Speaker 1 30:00
I'll tell you some exciting parts now sure don't go live there where you know we go polling and stuff like spend all our money and we were hungry so we need some meat and we worked at the coke plant in Victoria that time James V my buddy was truck gyro now is swamper and we said deliver this cool new years everybody wanted rum and coke solely just drive around everywhere we weren't somebody goes drink by the end of the day or we just loaded we want to go home and we had some leads so we had an old Pontiac car we took the floorboards out don't say nothing about this but we've got on the Beacon Hill Park and we dropped breadcrumbs through the floorboard and we took it out and the ducks used to come along and eat the bread we've done grab one ring us neck ticket only had supper
Speaker 2 31:14
that's that's fun kids on the city where the wait
Speaker 2 31:32
yeah survivalist mentality that's Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 31:36
We could get along we all phones like the yes for sure. Yeah. Go rate somebody's garden Yeah. Oh, we always did that. He was a kid he used to walk along from a doctor and on the beach. Get a stick and dig up some climbs and smash them won't need him or on the beach or oysters or whatever. Yeah, that was our lives
Unknown Speaker 32:00
yeah
Unknown Speaker 32:02
go read somebody's garden we did that in the city. Come on running around a little garden you
Speaker 1 32:09
just take some carrots in a couple of spas wouldn't do nothing no big yeah wouldn't hurt another no no yeah that's amazing we never got caught oh maybe we did maybe they seen us and then Kara
Speaker 2 32:24
yeah yeah probably be different if you're a repeat offenders Oh
Speaker 1 32:33
wreck something Yeah, we never do that we just take a few carries and a few spots Yeah. I guess they know we knew somebody up
Unknown Speaker 32:46
kids and weekends
Unknown Speaker 32:47
yeah
Speaker 1 32:49
people majority people like that are very understanding even to this day they're like if you're not doing any damage you need something to eat good yeah.
Unknown Speaker 33:03
Yeah
Speaker 1 33:06
it's when people get start stealing stuff from breaking stuff and I don't blame on get upset too. Yeah. I used to have a fence on I never had a fence on my friend plays sonar many many many times we've gotten more and lucked out so many camping out there get off the ferry at nighttime this late right they come driving around first place they'd come with they come this way it was nice. So the good cam Yeah. Yeah. I never did put a fence up until Tony sons and what's in them? I know it wasn't them but their buddies would come through and then go right to my place down and Tony sleaze and then they'd be doing donuts. Oh, yeah. And then we got to mow the grass and it was really rough. So I hope that's enough for that. So I put a fence up just to stop but I didn't mind Tony's kid drove through there all the time.
Unknown Speaker 34:12
Yeah, ripping up your lawn.
Unknown Speaker 34:15
Was there buddies? I've seen their cars Yeah, I know which ones are worse
Speaker 2 34:32
Well, I think I'm gonna go and second start thinking about making dinner for tonight.
Speaker 1 34:38
Me too. I never got nothing. That's one of the reasons I took my niece out last night. Well, one of the reasons I never gotten an offer software. She phone I said, I'll bet you will go for Chinese food. She came right here so nice. They went back to the camera River.
Speaker 2 34:58
Yeah, I've yet to go up to Campbell River. I'm excited to see that the north end of Vancouver Island.
Speaker 1 35:06
There's a lot of areas there you can go. I go up there quite afternoon. Camping is suffering. Yeah. And I like fishing. I like fishing. Try to catch a couple of nice trout. That's my software. That's good enough. Yeah. And my other buddy, he's him and his wife. He's got a motorhome and they will travel together. Fish for a day or two and wander around and hike and water. Yeah. That's good. Nice to have an open space. We're so lucky. I've always said that. We are so lucky living here. It's unbelievable. And lots of people here. Did like the American side said we are so lucky having them as our neighbors. It's just the best place in the world. Yeah, can you imagine living next door Russia or someplace like that? Yeah. be terrible. Yeah. That's good. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 36:09
Thank you again.
Unknown Speaker 36:14
I enjoyed your company. Yes. Talk to us. Nice. Yeah. Thank you. Good. Oh, probably see you. One of these days on around Oh, probably. Yeah. Yeah, if I don't see just give me a kick in the butt and say hi or something. Okay. I'll just say hi.
