Portuguese Sea Salt

If I'm going to buy salt, it makes good sense to buy it from someplace that knows about salt! Coarse Organic Unrefined TRADITIONAL SEA SALT Portuguese Premium Grade 1KG

$10.42 on ebay.

Bought my own name

Yesterday I acquired the Internet Domain name: www.dalepoulin.com - it re-directs to: www.lottomars.com

Eleven Baby Meatloaf

My usual meatloaf recipe, except I used a ground-up prime rib roast and added eleven Babybel cheese in the middle.

Ellie checking out tonight's dinner

Steveston - March 16, 2019.

With the Girls in Steveston on a cold Winter's day>

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War

With a documentary on the Vietnam War by Ken Burns coming out soon on PBS, I'm thinking about this even more:

In the winter of 1968, I travelled with my Family from Nelson, BC Canada to Spokane, Washington USA to do some Christmas shopping. I was 16 years old (soon to be 17) and my Brother Tony was 18, at that time. We stayed overnight in a nice hotel that had an indoor pool.

In the early evening, Tony and I went down to the pool for a swim. While swimming, we met two young guys about the same age as us. The only thing different about them that I can remember was that their hair was cut very short. We got to talking with them; where you from? Are you staying long? Stuff like that.

Then they told us they were leaving for Vietnam the next day. They may have told us which branch of the US military they were in but I don’t remember. Neither Tony, nor I had anything to say about this. The four of us just continued swimming around, jumping in, yelling and splashing; just having fun.

I’ve thought about these two young men that went to the Vietnam War many times over the years. I wonder what happened to them; were they killed or wounded or did they make it back home safely? We had that War every night on the news for many years. I did not learn very much, except body counts. Later on it was Anti-War protests on the news mostly.

When I was older, in my 50’s, I learned more about Vietnam from WW2 onward and how terrible that War was. If I was born 50 more miles south, it could have been me going to War there in 1969 or 1970. Just like those two young Americans my Brother and I met so many years ago.

Dale Poulin, Surrey, B.C. August 2017

Hand Grenades

Me and Hand grenades

When I was in Infantry basic training in 1969, I was taught how to use a hand grenade. It was the older style grenade that looks like a pineapple and weighs a couple of pounds. Instructions were:

Straighten-out the cotter-pin (which will allow the pin to be pulled).

While holding the lever, pull the pin out.

Lob the grenade over your head towards where you want it to go (about 25 or 30 feet away).

Hit the deck! (Lie down quickly and keep your head down).

Big ka-boom and it’s all over – easy shmeezy.

When I was finished basic training and Infantry School in 1970, I was sent to my Regiment - 1st Battalion, Princes Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Calgary, Alberta “Currey Barracks.”

As soon as I got there, we all left for Wainwright, Alberta for a three day “live firing” exercise: a pretend battle - using real ammunition – not blank bullets or flash-bangs: which are fake grenades. The real deal (and deadly).

It had everything, camping-out, digging trenches, tanks, artillery, jet aircraft and riding around in armored personnel carriers and helicopters – very exciting.

It was a Gong Show!

During a staged attack, my section (9 Guys) had to assault an enemy position (no one there, but we had to pretend there was). Two guys with automatic weapons (machine guns) went off on the right to lay down suppression fire on the enemy position. Which means - they fire their machine guns at the fake enemy position to make them keep their heads down. Then the rest of us, about 5 feet apart, advance on the enemy position while firing our semi-automatic rifles. The two guys on the right are supposed to stop shooting when we get close to the enemy. NOT! Live ammunition, remember! As we got closer, live rounds were kicking-up dust on the ground three feet in front of me!
The Jets were constantly doing practice strafing runs on us. We couldn’t hear or see them until they were right on top of us going like a bat out of hell - very close – within 100 or 200 feet and incredibly noisy! One time, we had dug trenches on the top edge of a 300 foot hill. The jets were strafing us – coming straight at us, and then climbing just a little, to go over us – loud as hell. I was getting angry because I was trying to get some sleep – but the damn jets were making too much noise. Just then, I managed to see one coming. . . while swearing – I threw a rock at the jet as it passed and damn near hit it. Then I noticed that everyone was looking at me strangely. So I looked around and saw something I’d never see before: a General – not just one, but four Generals – all looking at me! I didn’t say or do anything – just turned around and looked to my front. Thinking that this whole thing had been staged to show-off to the Generals. Well, I did my part!
How to easily stay-up all night: go for night rides in a big helicopter with thirty guys, being picked-up and dropped-off at different battle positions until sun rise: which are very beautiful on the Alberta Prairie.
Sleep: during this three day exercise, there was no time-off for sleeping. We slept when we could. They were testing our stamina, I guess. The jets would not let me sleep. But I did manage to get at least one hour of sleep while riding in an armored personnel carrier (APC) going cross-country, sitting on a small stool, and holding onto a strap from the ceiling.

Artillery: there was a big artillery live firing demonstration – different types of guns using different kinds of shells and there are lots of different kinds. This was one of the scariest things I’d ever seen. Artillery killed most of the Soldiers in WW1.

Ralph’s hand grenade: two of our guys were supposed to blow-up an enemy trench with grenades. They’re supposed to walk up to the trench, throw in their grenades and run away. They did this – only Ralph forgot to straighten-out the cotter-pin. So the other guy pulled his pin, threw his grenade into the trench and ran away. Ralph is still standing there, trying to pull the pin out. It won’t come-out, of course. (We only have about five seconds here!) We all start yelling like crazy – Ralph throws the grenade in the trench without pulling the pin – dives away – and the first grenade goes off while Ralph is still in the air. He was unhurt, but our Corporals sure gave him what-for. “You look like a penguin trying to f*ck a football” comes to mind. (Ralph was a major idiot – I almost got into a fight with him once – on an airplane). Now, we couldn’t leave a live grenade in that trench. So along comes our Lieutenant, the oldest, and most calm Lieutenant ever: He had “risen through the ranks” to become a Regimental Sergeant Major (which as close to being a God that mortals can get). Then became an officer to make more money. He had a “satchel charge” with him – which is a bomb in a small pack. He calmly walked up to that trench, placed his bomb in that trench and calmly walked away. We were all about one hundred feet away when it blew-up – fairly impressive – and there was no more trench there. That was one brave Lieutenant.

My Grenade: we were doing another attack on a enemy position – only this time I had to throw a grenade at a certain point in the exercise. So I was given a grenade, with a stern warning about "straighten-out the cotter-pin" (this was after the Ralph CF event). Now this grenade was very different: it was smooth and weighed about half a pound – about the same as a baseball. So the time comes for me to do my stuff. I pulled the pin and lobbed that grenade over my head, as I had been trained to do. IT ONLY WENT ABOUT TEN FEET. All I could do was loudly yell, “everyone down!” and bury my face in the ground. It went off with a big bang and a piece of shrapnel glanced off my helmet. There were nine guys very close, but no one got hurt. I was quite shaky, but then, you know what, hit the fan. I had to explain what happened, in this order: my Corporal, my Sergeant, my Lieutenant, and then to the highest of the high: the Colonel of the Regiment. Through all this, I learned that I was supposed to throw this newer type grenade like a baseball. The Colonel gave me another grenade! He told me to throw is as far as I could. I had a good arm – that thing was in the air for about four seconds and went off as soon as it hit the ground. The Colonel said, “very good. Off you go now.” I was somewhat famous for a while because of this incident.

World-wide Family

Family World-wide! After only one year of me starting my involvement in Genealogy, I've learned that my Family spans the globe and has many names though many generations: Andres, Dagenais, Allaire, Barette, Bedard, Blais, Boyer, Brady, Bray, Brewer, Brewer, Charpentier, Chapman, Dagenais, Davis, Didier, Dignard, Downey, Drouin, Droze, Ewart, Dill, Goulet, Groulx, Hains, Hicks, Hope, Johnson, Kerr, Lafleur, Lang, Levert, Levesque, Loveland, Mainguy, Maki, Manca, Masse, Mathieu, Menard, Mercer, Miley, Nadeau, Nash, Noble, Paquette, Paras, Parent, Ploumelle, Ponce De Leon, Ponio, Poulin, Puri, Rowley, Sanford, Serry, Sinclair, Sirard-Girard, Spillner, Sy, Therrien, Thompson, Tiedemann, Trotier, Vadauskas, Vane, Velsink-brady, Vervoort and Yoheswarn. There's 282 people in my Family Tree - going back 15 generations. These are just the one's I know of, that I've recorded - there are many, many more. Yet, I have many Friends also and often think to myself, "they should be in my Family Tree too."

Always With Us (from Facebook Feb. 28, 2016)

Remember, all our Ancestors and all our Loved Ones that have passed away - every atom, every molecule of them and every breath they took, is still with us - here on Earth. As for their Spirit or Soul, it is as you believe. It may be that they're with you when you go to the Beach.

Sentiment and Computers

I get attached to some of the computers I own. I bought my first computer in 1986 - an Atari 520 ST. It was a marvel, but primitive when compared to today's PC's. I helped my Nephew Jason and my Nieces Chantal and Michelle by getting them Atari ST computers in the early 1990`s. I sold my Atari many years ago. But, about seven years ago, I bought someone else’s entire Atari 520 ST collection on ebay for $200 and I still have this.

 In 2007, I bought a brand new HP DV9000 Laptop. By far, the best PC I’ve ever owned. It did everything I wanted, just the way I wanted. But this laptop went kaput two years ago – a defective motherboard. There was a re-call, but I missed this.

 

A month ago, I bought another DV9000 on Craigslist with a cracked case – still in working condition for $100 - it had the motherboard factory repaired – I gave everything to Techmeister James Charlton. He took all the guts out of this laptop and installed everything into my original laptop, which is still in mint condition.

 

James also installed a SSD (replacing the original hard drive) for me.

 

I’ve spent two day installing Windows 7, all my programs, my iTunes, my photos and doing updates. It does everything I want, just the way I want, more quickly than ever. I’m happy – sentiment fulfilled. (Thanks James!)

Bobby - Grade 7.

There's my Boy!

John Charlton Passed Away

He was a good Friend, a great Boss and an outstanding Mentor to me. A few large Salmon breathed a sigh of relief when hearing this news, but I'm sure John will be there in spirit when his Family and Friends catch a big fish. . . I can still hear John say, GET THE NET! There will be a few bad drivers out there that will not know that they are butt-heads, because John won't be around to let them know what they are. John was quite ill for a couple of years and it was finally just his time to go. I'm going to miss him.

Golden Pork Medalions

For the 3rd time, one of my recipes, Golden Pork Medallions, was selected to be included in a "KCTS9 Cooks" cookbook: Kitchen Classics. KCTS9 is the local PBS station in Seattle, Washington. There's a link on my website to this recipe.

How I Spent My Summer Holidays In 2013.

On June 6, 2013, I had a heart attack at work. Strange indications that would come and go: Headache, sore jaw, sweating and weak feeling in my arms - but no chest pains. Went to see my Family Doctor and was told to go Lions Gate Hospital Emergency right away - I drove there (duh!) In the ER, I was told that I had a heart attack. On June 10th, at St. Paul's Hospital, a coronary angioplasty procedure was performed and a stent was placed in my heart - this was not fun at all - very painful at the beginning and the end of the procedure. I got to go home the next day with a very fine set of bruises in places I can't show you and a Mohawk haircut that's not on my head. The medical care I received was excellent from all Doctors and Nurses. My Wife Catherine showed that she has the "right stuff" - she was my Supergirl during and after "My 2013 Summer Holidays."

Angela's Grade 11 French Project

Click to view Angela's Project

Bobby got his Green Belt

It was a tough year for Bobby - he wanted to quit taking Karate lessons after the Summer. But he stuck with it and just got his Green Belt. Well done Bobby!

Ham by Dale

Hickory smoked, honey, mustard & brown sugar glazed ham. Fresh leg of pork, brine cured in a bucket for 9 days. Then hot smoked on my barbeque for 10 hours. Finished off glazing in the oven for two hours. First time I’ve done this. . . but it looks like ham and tastes very good – tender and juicy. Much better than store bought ham and that’s why I did it. Click on the link to see all photos


https://picasaweb.google.com/100205874675010503972/HamByDale?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Angela - Grade 11

Nice photo of our Angela at the start of Grade 11. After viewing this photo, Angela said, "there's dimples that I didn't know I had."

My Dad and the Hummingbird

My Dad and the Hummingbird
Back in about 1979, I was living in Vanderhoof, B.C. – Rick Hooper and I were sharing/renting a house from Rick’s Parents. The house was on about 4000 acres of land they owned. We were having a great time, working hard, drinking a lot and buying more ammunition than groceries each week.

After a long and damn cold winter, my Dad came up in May or June for a visit. He rode up with Don and Karen Charlton. They stayed for only a few days, but many legends were made during that visit. (Some of which I may tell you about later) My Dad and Rick’s Dad hit it off and they were like peas & carrots right away. They were going all over the countryside having a great time together. I think they were both glad to be hanging out with someone roughly their same age and a little alcohol may have been involved too.

Anyway, about the hummingbird - My Dad used to keep pet birds. He really liked them and he had quite a few over the years in the 1960’s – singing canaries mostly – until he had an accident with a pair of finches; he put them beside a window and draped the curtains over their cage, to give them some fresh air. After a while the Sun came around and they died in the hot Oliver, B.C. Summer Sun. Dad felt badly about this and he never kept any pet birds after that.

Hummingbirds used to come in the house in Vanderhoof. They couldn’t find their way out and would buzz up against the windows like a big bug. I would put my finger under them and they would sit there looking at me and huffing and puffing because they were very tired from buzzing on the window. If I walked away to take the hummingbird out the door, they would always fly off my finger back to the window. To take the little birds outside to set them free, I would have to catch them “cupped” with both hands, then go outside and let them go.

One of these hummingbirds came in while my Dad was visiting, so I showed him how they would rest on my finger. Then Dad tried this and sure enough, the little bird just sat there with its little chest heaving, staring at my Dad. Dad looked at me and smiled just a little. Then the hummingbird flew back onto the window and started buzzing around again. I told Dad to catch the hummingbird in his cupped hands; which he did. Dad then slowly walked outside and opened his hands to let the bird go. But it didn’t fly away – it just laid there, on its side, looking at my Dad. Dad brought his hand closer to have a good look at the colourful little hummingbird.

The hummingbird stayed on my Dad’s for 5 or 6 seconds, with the bird and my Dad looking each other in the eye from about a foot away from each other. Then it took off – buzzing away so quickly that it was out of sight in about a second. Dad turned around, look at me and he had the biggest smile I had ever seen. His face was just beaming when he said to me, “I liked that.” I’m certain my Dad felt some redemption for those little finches that fried in the Sun all those years ago. I was only happy to see my Father, who I loved more than any other man, so happy about freeing that little hummingbird.

This simple story is for you and my family – so you will know a little about my Father. There are none alive now, but me, who will remember this. If I don’t write this down, it’s gone forever. Think about this. . . what stories should you write about?

Poulin Family Vacation 2012

In August 2012, we drove down the Washington, Oregon and Northern California Coast. This is the slide show I made - turn your sound up.

Poulin Family Vacation 2012