High Tech Wonders -Kettle Valley Railway Trestles

2007-07 The topic for this month's sports page is cycling and last month's was walking, so cyclists, hikers, strollers and wandering souls in general will be pleased to know that the Kettle Valley rail bed and trestles have been considerably restored and partly opened for business. The serious cyclists are better to enter at the south end, but those who cycle and stop to take photos and chat then cycle some more, may enjoy what is now available off McCulloch Road. The 8km forestry road that takes you to the top is in excellent condition and there is ample parking and washrooms at the start of the trail. The trestles from number 18 to number 12 are ready for use, and the tunnel after trestle 12 is open for walking through, but the south end of the tunnel is still blocked for construction. This section is only a two km walk along a very flat trail, so people of all ages can manage it quite easily. It is great to see how the vegetation is coming back after the fire. Yes, the sheer extent of the damage is a shock, as there are still thousands of blackened tree trunks, but the ground is now thick with alder, aspen and hemlock. Some saplings are over six feet tall, already. Lots of small firs and pines as well. There are wild strawberries, wild raspberries and wild roses, as well as a wide variety of other mountain flowers, so be sure to take a camera with you. The views from the top are spectacular and well worth the drive up. Switching abruptly from the low-tech wonder of McCulloch's railway, we turn to the high tech wonders of the new entertainment systems that are being forced upon us all. These new systems, whether, we want them or not, are going to make our lives simpler and us more efficient. Sure they are. I live surrounded by high-tech labor saving devices. I know how to operate, on a simple level, some of them. I don't understand any of them. I didn't understand them ten years ago, when they were much simpler, and the tide has been going out steadily since then. Last week we had to switch our cable/TV provider (you know where this is going, don't you?) The ads advising us of this changeover made it all sound childishly simple and even fun, rather like a happy technical picnic, with smiling faces all around. Out with the old black box and in with the new, "Anyone can do it," they said. We had the option of taking in the old box, getting the new one, and installing it ourselves while enjoying a nice cup of tea and a biscuit. NOT! I knew better than to fall for that one, so a bright and helpful young man came by to make the switch. It seemed to take him a long time, and he didn't seem to be having fun, but I may simply not understand technical people. However, when it was all done things did seem to be simpler. Instead of three black boxes supporting my TV there were now just two, and one remote control instead of three. This is a good thing. With our old system it took us a full page of handwritten instructions and three remote controls to change from watching TV to watching a DVD or a video (remember them?) The young fellow took the remote and pushed buttons at lightning speed, zipping from channel to menu to movies, "It's simple," he said. "You won't have any problems. Enjoy!" And off he went. Well, it seemed fine. We appeared to have all the old channels and some new ones as well. All went smoothly until it came time to turn the TV off. Couldn't. Pushing the power button killed the channels but the TV screen remained bright. I was surprised but not worried, as the new remote control came with a 44-page instruction book. Yes, 44 pages just for the remote! I skimmed through the basic instructions, but nothing was said about turning off the set - too simple, I guess. I went back to page 5 and reread the 'functions', which referred me to page 18. On page 18 it told me how to use the remote to control an entire home entertainment system, operate multiple TV sets, preprogram recording sessions, freeze controls, control a 'surround sound' audio system - but I don't have any of those things. The one thing it didn't talk about was how to turn it all off - so, I went to bed. The next day I phoned the help line and a lovely young woman explained the two steps necessary to turn things off, and the three steps necessary to turn them on. Life was good once again. As I finished tidying up the new bits and pieces I found a second instruction manual. It did talk about turning things off and on - but, the directions were not the same! I am taking no chances. I am sticking with my friend on the help line, as I know full well that I'll be talking to her again.

 

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