Bear Flat is one of the areas that will be submerged if the Site C dam is completed. It was a stopping place along the Peace River between the old Fort St. John trading post and Hudson’s Hope. Ken and Arlene Boon live there now - thankfully their house is above the level where the water will rise to. Ken is an experienced log house builder so it was a natural for him to move and restore the original Bear Flat School, which was built in 1921. Arlene explained to me that he took it apart labelling the logs as he went. Any logs that were in rough shape he would replace. The school house was transformed into a cozy home for Mrs. Boon’s mother.
Home Owner’s Grant
To claim your home owner’s grant, go to gov.bc.ca/homeownersgrant. When I did that, I ran into a snag. The roll number at the top of my tax form began with two zeros. It turned out that there should only have been one zero at the beginning of the roll number. The moral of the story is don’t give up if you run into trouble with online forms.
B.C. Recovery Benefit
There is still time to apply for the $1000 BC Recovery Benefit. You receive a confirmation number within a couple of hours.
Second Dose
If you want to register for a second dose of a COVID vaccine go to gov.bc.ca/get vaccinated. Have your health number handy. It takes about five minutes to get your registration number. You will be phoned and told when you can make an appointment.
Learning the Lingo
The word this week is ‘tablet’. A tablet is a portable computer smaller than a laptop. To give the tablet commands you touch the screen. The apple tablet is called an iPad. Tablets have no keyboard. If you have to type, a keyboard will pop up at the bottom of the screen and then you touch the screen to type. The advantages of tablets are that they are small and relatively inexpensive. The disadvantage is there are awkward if you are doing a lot of writing. Voice to text can make this easier. Most people buy a case for their tablet so that the screen is protected.
Quote of the Week
“In ancient times cats were worshipped as god. They have never forgotten this.” - Terry Pratchett.
Ruby McBeth lives and writes in Fort St. John.
