Cool Underground Tunnel and Nanaimo's Old Mine Shafts

[Nostradama]

I just need some more cheeseburgers there's nothing wrong with the shorts

No extra cheeseburgers. You'll get older (no way of avoiding that!) and turn into what an American friend of mine, male, and in his mid seventies, describes as "Pretty well every American guy gets himself a pot belly, but he walks down the street in a T-shirt, jeans and a ball cap and still thinks he's a stud." From personal experience, absolutely true. But maybe he has a clearer view of people than most--he's first-generation American, his parents were Norwegian immigrants.

Stop me now (also unavoidable--I've already started)--I'm skipping a "we graduated the day after the dinosaurs died" grad reunion in September, and even 'tho these folks are all Canadians, it's frightening to see them. Overweight, out of shape, the women I went to school with are still wearing their hair the way they wore it when they were eighteen. Only reason I know is because our old grad pix were put together with pictures taken thru our lives and pictures of us now that the reunion committee asked us to send in, along with stories of our lives. Then sent out to all of us. Yikes! What happened, folks? I'm not boasting, I've never had plastic surgery, botox, whatever, but looking at my picture and theirs, I look at least twenty years younger. And no photoshopping, either.

And from the attitudes, opinions, outlooks on life in what they've written about themselves, I'm not spending two days with a bunch of "the world's going to hell in a handbasket, kids these days are all gangsters and monsters, etc." old fogies. If I went and said something like "You know, Lady GaGa is really very, very bright (saw her interviewed on TV for a full hour) and seems like she's really got it all together"--No. 1, they mostly wouldn't even know who I was talking about, and No. 2, they'd probably stone me to death if they did. They've forgotten that Elvis Presley was pretty well considered to be an instrument of the devil when we were young.

See what too many cheeseburgers can do to you?

[Timberhuntersgirl]

I will be organizing a forum donation-drive, to raise funds to buy Seaman a draw-string that works, or a belt, or suspenders.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...poor seaman! Don't be hatin Flugel Horn!LOL!

[GR74]

Robert Dunsmuir 1825-1889
Coal Miner

[BigMac]

Actually, did he ever mine coal, or just run the mines?

[GR74]

Of course he was a coal miner.

[GR74]

Robert Dunsmuir came to the Island as a coal miner back in 1851. Over the next 38 years he developed the largest coal mines on Vancouver Island, built the E&N Railway, and became one of B.C.'s leading industrial and political figures.

[GR74]

I was chatting with pal Garry Britt (GBritt) this evening. At the beginning of July we went quadding and I posted some photos in this thread of our adventures through the back hills of Extension. I failed to mention that I had also dropped off a pair of old coal car wheels as I had 3 pair and Garry was looking to build a bench similar to the ones found in Cumberland - the benches are built to look like half of a coal car. He cut the axle about half way and constructed his own bench which can now be seen at his home in Extension.

The following photo shows Garry's finished product and I must say that I am very impressed. He e-mailed me a photo and told me that I could share it with all of you. I will more than likely be dropping off my other coal car wheels so that he can construct another coal car or 2 more benches like the one posted below.

Nice work Garry!

[Timberhuntersgirl]

That is a beautiful job. A great representation of Nanaimo.

[Nostradama]

That bench is just fantastic! And the garden around it is beautiful, too. A lot of hard work has gone into all of it, I think.

[Harewoodian]

Very impressive work Gary,thanks for sharing the photo GR