Back to Bert Lammer’s farmhouse Pt 1

Though I intend to return to Bert Lammer’s property (Dorchester Rd. South) to pick up two sections of a log for birdhouses, I have simply retuned to a photo file to show other houses he has made.

Bert had birdhouses on every post, and he had a lot of posts.


This one was tucked atop a trellis. Perfect spot.


This one followed a common style.


The slate roof sets this one apart


Yes, the hole is on the longer side this time. Lovely tin roof, eh.


I can only attach 5 photos per post, so, I’ll be back.

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Climate Change Concerns Pt 5: Will chickens come home to roost?

I’m talking real chickens, real homes, real roosts in London, Ontario.

City councillor Stephen Orser is preparing to ask London’s council to consider allowing residents of Deforest City to raise chickens in their backyards.

“Growing your own chemical-free eggs is not a silly idea,” said Mr. Orser. He added that the practice would benefit the poor. (April 17 issue of The London Free Press)

His idea will be discussed at a council committee meeting tomorrow at 4 p.m., and I’m going to listen in on the discussion because the issue interests me from a personal and writer’s perspective.

For example, the issue of personal interest because my Dad raised chickens and was rewarded with free eggs and chicken soup for decades. I like the sound and taste of free eggs!

As well, the issue has drama. Some are in favour, others are not.


["I met these birds, and purchased organic eggs, while motorcycling toward Algonquin Park in 2006": photo GH]

On the same day that I discovered Leo Phillip’s letter to the editor re reducing meat and dairy (the same letter I used as a spring board into this exciting - and brilliant - series) another letter appeared that opposed Mr. Orser’s proposal.

“In this era of food safety, traceability and animal welfare, S. Orser’s proposal runs contrary to these important issues. It would represent a huge step backwards in avian disease prevention and animal welfare... As for his assertion this would benefit the poor, this is unlikely, since safe, chemical free, reasonably priced eggs are readily available throughout the city.” John Miller, Rodney.

Good points?

Not really.

With proper education, many people are fully capable of caring for hens and collecting eggs. Dependence upon factory farms located miles from London needs to be questioned.

The issue is also timely. Buy local, some say more frequently now. Reduce meat and dairy, say others. Lower fossil fuel use and reduce carbon emissions, say others.

And another letter writer said, “If they can do it in beautiful Victoria, B.C., (for the past 30 years) and now in Surrey, I do believe London could handle it.”

(At least three other Canadian cities allow backyard chickens as well, i.e., Niagara Falls, Brampton and Guelph, all closer to London than the two cities mentioned above).

Will Mr. Orser’s proposal pass muster? We’ll soon find out.

I feel I’ve come full circle at this point.

I’ve gone from ‘reduce meat and dairy,’ to fertilizer, to fossil fuels, to environmental degradation (Part 4), to backyard chicken coops that would help people reduce meat and dairy production and consumption in some small ways.

The last thing on my list for this series is to attend tomorrow's meeting at City Hall to see if chickens will come home to roost.

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Trading one birdhouse for another

After leaving Bert Larmer’s farm property (w several excellent birdhouses) on Dorchester Rd. the other day, and after finishing a cheeseburger ($3.55 - pretty reasonable, I think) and coffee at The New Sarum Diner, I headed toward Gord Stacey’s farm on my motorcycle.


[“The first pair of bluebird houses on Gord’s farm”]

It was my second visit to Gord’s farm. I’d stopped in last week for the first time in order to photograph six birdhouses in his garden.


[“Can you do better than barnboard?”: photos GAH]

Within a few minutes of stopping he invited me onto his property, and when he learned I built birdhouses too he offered me an old spare.


[“Several boxes were lined up in the garden; one has a visitor”]

So, during my visit a couple of days ago, I gave him one of my models in exchange.


[“I gave Gord this GH model; the roof comes off easily”]

“I came out ahead on this deal,” he said.


[“Gord’s old spare will get new life somewhere - after I check it out”]

I think the trade was even. I was happy to get his old spare because I’ll use it as a model for a few of my own creations next week or the week after.

Right now I’d better get busy. I have six others ready to assemble, then they’ll need custom trim.

***

If you spot some interesting birdhouses, let me know.

I rescued more lumber recently and like to steal ideas!

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Climate Change Concerns Pt 4: From a free lunch to a dead zone

So far, this series has touched on points from a recent letter to the editor and two books, i.e., Super Freakonomics and The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

The letter by Leo Phillips suggested we not only celebrate Earth Day but ‘every day by replacing meat and dairy products in our diet with healthful, eco-friendly foods.’

He made his case by stating that production of meat and dairy products may account for half of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, contributes more pollutants to our water supplies than all other human activities combined, is causing global shortages of drinking water and is the driving force in global deforestation and wildlife habitat destruction.

Mr. Phillips didn’t say, however, why meat and dairy production are such heavy hitters to the environment, so I shared a few paragraphs from Super Freakonomics about our heavy reliance on chemical fertilizers to boost food production to keep up with booming population growth.


To help establish the link between fertilizer and serious degradation to the environment I turned to The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.

In it we learn that chemical fertilizer is not a natural, clean product from start to finish. Quite the opposite.

Though I think what I said at the conclusion of Part 3 is true, that ‘the link between food choices, fertilizer and fossil fuel is visible to all, as is the link between fossil fuel dependence and environmental degradation,’ I’d like to share a few more lines from Pollan’s book (pg. 45 - 47) to underline the fact that as long as ‘the economy’ takes precedence over ‘the environment’ there will be no such thing as a free lunch.


When farmers turned to chemical fertilizers, farm production turned a corner.

Mr. Pollan writes, '(A farmer) could buy fertility in a bag, fertility that had originally been produced a billion years ago half way around the world... fixing nitrogen allowed the food chain to turn from the logic of biology and embrace the logic of industry. Instead of eating exclusively from the sun, humanity now began to sip petroleum.'

And we sip a lot of it. One major crop that is found in a variety of forms on everyone’s dinner plate is corn. Pollan writes extensively about corn production in the US and by so doing informs us we have much to learn about our current food chain.

'When you add together the natural gas in the fertilizer to the fossil fuels it takes to make the pesticides, drive the tractors, and harvest, dry, and transport the corn (or other crops), you find that every bushel odf industrial corn requires the equivalent of between a quarter and a third of a gallon of oil to grow it - or around fifty gallons of oil per acre of corn. (Some estimates are much higher.) Put another way, it takes more than a calorie of fossil fuel energy to produce a calorie of food. Ecologically this is a fabulously expensive way to produce food - but ‘ecologically’ is no longer the operative standard. As long as fossil fuel energy is so cheap and available, it makes good economic sense to produce corn this way. The old way of growing corn - using fertility drawn from the sun - may have been the biological equivalent of a free lunch, but the service was much slower and the portions were much skimpier. In the factory time is money, and yield is everything.'


Unfortunately, factory farms can get pretty sloppy with fertilizer application and thereby pollute our surroundings.

Some fertilizer isn’t taken up by the plants and evaporates into the air ‘where it acidifies the rain and contributes to global warming. (Ammonium nitrate is transformed into nitrous oxide, an important greenhouse gas.) Some seeps down to the water table... the nitrates in the water convert to nitrite, which binds to hemoglobin, compromising the blood’s ability to carry oxygen to the brain.'

Maybe that’s why the brightest idea to come out of North America lately about our food supply has been the KFC Double Down sandwich.

While food production has grown, ecological degradation has taken place.

Pollan writes, ‘The flood of synthetic nitrogen has fertilized not just the farm fields but the forests and the oceans too, to the benefit of some species (corn and algae being two of the biggest beneficiaries), and to the detriment of countless others. The ultimate fate of the nitrates (e.g., applied to vast cornfields in Iowa) is to flow down the Mississippi into the Gulf of mexico, where their deadly fertility poisons the marine ecosystem. The nitrogen tide stimulates the growth of algae, and the algae smother the fish, creating a hypoxic or dead zone as big as the state of New Jersey and still growing. By fertilizing the world, we alter the planet’s composition of species and shrink its biodiversity.'

Environmental degradation spreads as our waistlines grow.

Any bright ideas?

Eat less meat and dairy? Plant a garden?

Certainly.

And tomorrow at 4 p.m., our own City Hall will discussing another one.

Please click here to read Part 5.

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Malt-flavoured Muffets - the search is on but...

I need help.

Quaker Co. may not make malted Muffets anymore because people have been lured away from their wholesome goodness (I know what I’m talking about) by every kind of sugar-coated cereal under the sun.


["I can find the blue ones; I want brown ones": photos GAH]

Sorry, I lied.

I’m certain, right now some guy in a lab coat is constructing a new breakfast cereal from bran or oats or wheat or corn or cheap, left-over beet greens and six kinds of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup and thereby banishing my round and malty shredded wheat to the trash bin of life in the morning.

It’s just not fair.

However, I could be wrong. (But I doubt it).


["Little round bales of shredded wheat - no sugar added. Years ago they were not wrapped in paper either. Cardboard was used as a divider inside the box. Mothers used the cardboard for grocery lists. Then we ate it. Nothing was wasted in the 1950s."]

If you ever spot malt-flavoured Muffets (they might be in a brown box) please let me know.

I’d like to buy a lifetime supply.

Oh, where are they?

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I said to myself, the old farmer made this for a what?

I stopped at Bert Larmer’s property yesterday after spotting a bird feeder in his front yard.

Once I’d introduced myself and asked if I could take a few pictures Bert happily showed me around his yard and out buildings.


[“Old farmers like Bert make sturdy, long-lasting birdhouses”]

He made several of the birdhouses and his son makes feeders. Good thing they don’t live in my neighbourhood; they’d put me out of business.

(FYI Canada Revenue Service: I don’t have a business but birdhouses do pay for gas for the motorcycle - so it’s not like I’m not paying taxes).


[A piece of local history: “I raced this dugout on the Thames for Bunny Bundle, 1973,” said Bert]

Bert also showed me a duck house he made from canary grass (cut from ditches) and binder twine, and told me that in Holland they have a holiday or festival where many handmade duck houses are placed in the wild.


[“Honestly, this duck house was a first for me”: photos GAH]

Great idea, I thought, while examining this unusual but practical construction. (The straw is twisted into a long rope, and the rope is sewn together as spirals are formed).


[“Bert has more canary grass to make spiral-shaped houses”]

Last week I stopped and chatted with a Mennonite farmer. Yesterday with Bert. Next week - who knows?

But I think it will be awhile before someone can beat Bert’s line, i.e., “I made this for a duck.”

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Accidental detour leads to funky birdhouse discoveries

I packed two cameras onto my motorcycle yesterday because I was fully intending to do some birdhouse spotting while delivering a rustic birdbox to another builder.

I had my route planned: Take 401 (more practice on the freeway before my June ride to Halifax) to Belmont exit, then head south to the New Sarum Diner for a cheeseburger before my meet up with Mr. Stacey.

(I know: Retired life is rough, eh?)


[“Feeder on Lammer property, Dorchester Rd., south of 401”]

But, I got distracted while watching traffic (“The truck over my right shoulder is huge!”) and missed my exit to Belmont.

Next stop: Dorchester Rd.


[“Hollow post with active bluebird nest; funky roof!”: photos GAH]

I’ve been on the road before but not with the intention of spotting birdhouses, and when I saw an ornate bird feeder on a farmer’s property I turned around and parked in the driveway.


[“Triple decker. Chainsaw created openings for thin dividers”]

What a great bunch of finds. Bird feeders and boxes everywhere.

The farmer even grabbed a pitch fork and lowered a unique creation I’d never seen the likes of before. (Next post)


[“This is one of my favourites. Perfect w barn board.”]

I will return, because Mr. (Bert) Lammer is going to cut a hollow maple log in half and set it aside for me.

The accidental detour was worth the time it delayed my cheeseburger lunch.

***

“The path less travelled...” springs to mind.

Please click here for more birdhouse spotting on a Mennonite property.

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The sweet smell of linseed oil fills the air

The aroma also gets into what's left of my hair.

How I suffer for my art!

After coating two birdhouses and the pieces for four more (duplexes) I smelled like my work. (Please click here to see duplexes before the linseed was applied.)


[“Applying stain assembly-line-style is fast work”: photos GAH]


[“Now I buy double boiled linseed oil by the gallon”]

Next, I want to attach the duplexes to tree limbs.


[“Maybe one w a feeder will be next”]

Busy times ahead, including a shower.

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Climate Change Concerns Pt 3: No such thing as a free meal

As a conscientious observer I think it’s true to say most people know that many technological advances have helped food production keep pace with Earth’s growing population but overall results would play to mixed reviews.

There has never been more food choices at my local Valu-Mart but many choices come with a cost.

As mentioned yesterday, the development of cheap fertilizer, i.e., ammonium nitrate, helped boost crop production but environmental degradation followed. In many quarters, the degradation is as visible as the nose on our face.

The reason: Fertilizer is not a natural, clean product from start to finish. Quite the opposite.

To refresh my understanding about the development and environmental cost attached to cheap fertilizer (it’s cheap only if you have the mind of an economist) I turned to The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan (please visit Read This... in side margin).


["High yields are linked to high fertilizer use": photos GAH]

“The great turning point in the modern history of corn, which in turn marks a key turning point in the industrialization of our food, can be dated with some precision to the day in 1947 when the huge munitions plant at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, switched over to making chemical fertilizer. After the war the government had found itself with a tremendous supply of ammonium nitrate (an excellent source of nitrogen for plants), the principal ingredient in the making of explosives... The chemical fertilizer industry (along with that of pesticides, which are based on poison gases developed for the war) is the product of the government’s effort to convert its war machine to peacetime purposes.” (pg. 41)

Since 1947, have changes occurred in agricultural production?

Certainly. Some we might possibly view as positive.

E.g., “Though hybrids (re corn) were introduced in the thirties, it wasn’t until they made the acquaintance of chemical fertilizers in the 1950s that corn yields exploded.” (pg. 42)

‘Exploded’ is an interesting way to describe what happened, isn’t it?

Though more food could be produced our agricultural processes shifted from natural to scientific supports.


["High fertilizer use is linked to high fossil fuel use"]

“When humankind acquired the power to fix nitrogen (the process by which chemical companies turn naturally occurring nitrogen into a product sold by the bag) the basis of soil fertility shifted from a total reliance of the sun to a new reliance on fossil fuel. (The) process works by combining nitrogen and hydrogen gases under immense heat and pressure in the presence of a catalyst.”

“The heat and pressure are supplied by prodigious amounts of electricity, and the hydrogen is supplied by oil, coal, or, most commonly today, natural gas - fossil fuels.” (pg. 44)

The link between many food choices, fertilizer and fossil fuel is visible to all, as is the link between fossil fuel dependence and environmental degradation.

And as long as ‘the economy’ takes precedence over ‘the environment’ there will be no such thing as a free lunch.

Please click here to read Part 4.

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Bumble bees are buzzing, one of them is me

While working in the backyard for the last few days I’ve seen more bumblebees than ever before - and I like it.

They are helpful insects and provide a bit of background music as I buzz around and finish off several tasks.


[“Two posts need a final coat before birdhouses are attached”]

Last week, the duplex/feeder (without it’s linseed oil finish) looked a little pale. Now, it shines.


[“Duplex/feeder ready for a customer”: photos GAH]

A batch of six, tall duplexes are now under construction and while assembling them I’m also thinking about what type of trim will make them stand out from the crowd.


[“Duplexes awaiting trim and linseed oil finish”]

I’d better buzz off and make hay while the sun shines.

***

Have you noticed more bumble bees?

Are you acting like one too?

.

How can Muffets make you feel older?

I visited The Red Roaster again this morning (no surprise there, right?) and while enjoying coffee I noticed that Kendra, the owner of the cafe, was eating half of a huge cinnamon roll at a nearby table with her husband and a friend.

The KFC DD, and its affects, came to mind so I said, “Kendra is enjoying a very nutritious meal, I see.”

I was soon asked what I had had for breakfast since I seemed to be the expert around them parts.

“Muffets,” I said.

“Muffins?” asked Kendra.

“Muffets,” I said again.


["How do people not know about Muffets?": photo GAH]

By the blank stares that followed, I realized I was talking to folks who were too young to know that Muffets is the name of a breakfast cereal - a whole grain cereal made by Quaker and packed with sunny goodness.

“What’s it like?” I was asked.

Well, I mentioned a few words about shredded wheat and how Muffets taste a bit like how they look - like small round bales of hay.

More blank stares.

Gosh, I felt old.

***

Does anyone remember the best kind of all - malt-flavoured Muffets (in the brown box)?

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Climate Change Concerns Pt 2: Are heaps of food and fertilizers just good news?

While reading and riding last night (42 miles of cycling helped me burn over 600 calories) I read a passage in Super Freakonomics that linked back to a letter in yesterday’s newspaper that touched on the damage to our water supplies caused by meat and dairy production. [Please link to Part 1]

Timely, I thought as I pushed past Mile 30.


I read that over 250 years ago, when Earth’s population was about 800 million people, there were those that worried “agriculture could not respond to the pressure of feeding extra people.” (pg. 141)

But then a variety of innovations, e.g., higher-yielding crops, better tools, etc., spurred the Agricultural Revolution.

‘In late eighteenth century America, it took 19 out of 20 workers to feed the country’s inhabitants and provide a surplus for export. Two hundred years later, only 1 of 20 American workers was needed to feed a far larger population while also making the United States the largest single exporter of food in the world.’

I also read that the millions of hands that were freed up went on to power the Industrial Revolution, and by 1850 worldwide population had grown to 1.3 billion; by 1900, 1.7 billion; by 1950, 2.6 billion.

‘And then things really took off. Over the next fifty years, the population more than doubled, reaching well beyond 6 billion.’

‘If you had to pick a silver bullet that allowed this surge, it would be ammonium nitrate, an astonishingly cheap and effective crop fertilizer. It wouldn’t be much of an overstatement to say ammonium nitrate feeds the world. If it disappeared overnight, says the agricultural economist Will Masters, “most people’s diets would revert to heaps of cereal grains and root crops, with animal products and fruits only for special occasions and for the rich.”’ (pg. 142)

To an economist, heaps of food on the back of cheap fertilizer must sound good - might even look completely nutritious.


["Heaps of peppers by the roadside on the back of cheap fertilizer?": photos GAH]

However, when positive agricultural growth leads to negative environmental results, i.e., “such production contributes more pollutants to our water supplies... shortages... global deforestation... wildlife habitat destruction” (Part 1) we should be more concerned about how our food is produced and how much and what we eat, shouldn’t we?

Especially if the link between food production and serious environmental damage is as visible as the nose on our face.

***

More to follow about ammonium nitrate production and use.

Please click here to read Part 3.

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Climate Change Concerns Pt 1: Reduce meat and dairy products - a good idea

And not just during Earth Day, i.e., tomorrow.

Leo Phillips, in a Letter to the Editor (Apr. 20, London Free Press), suggests we ‘celebrate Earth day and every day by replacing meat and dairy products in our diet with healthful, eco-friendly foods.’

He makes his case by stating the following:

A recent study in WorldWatch magazine found production of meat and dairy products may account for half of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions


["Our farming practices leave a lot to be desired": photo GAH]

Such production contributes more pollutants to our water supplies than all other human activities combined

It is causing global shortages of drinking water

It is the driving force in global deforestation and wildlife habitat destruction

Perhaps the magazine article to which he refers shares more information related to each point, but his focus nonetheless is a good one, i.e., changes in our food production methods and eating habits are required.

Leo encourages us to consider ‘healthful, eco-friendly foods.’

I suppose when he says the above many think about the following:

Eating more locally grown produce

Eating more locally raised and butchered meat

Reducing the amount of meat in a meat-rich diet

Planning and planting a garden.

What else? Please, you tell me.

I do know that one other thought entered my mind, because last night, while reading and riding (gotta lose a few pounds), I came across a paragraph in Super Freakonomics about fertilizer.

So, to the above list of four thoughts I’d add a fifth:

Using compost in the garden rather than industrial fertilizer.

***

More to follow re fertilizer.

Please click here to read Part 2.

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While in Cuba, my sister thought of me

Lannie attended a wedding in Cuba recently and had a mahvolous time.

While there, she and her hubby took millions of digital photos, and from the many she sent me, I have posted three here.


[“For five extra pesos, you can kiss a dolphin”: photos by J. Senechal]


[“Now I know what happened to my ’64 VW Bug”]


[“Wow. I’d love to tour Cuba on this bike”]

I’ll be motorcycling to Halifax in June, sans sidecar, so I’ll get my biking fix this year for certain.

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Zoom w a View Pt 2: The church’s lawn is covered with...

Flowers.

Last weekend, while petals from the apricot tree fell on my front lawn, flowers bloomed across the street.


[“Forsythia blooms near the church’s side door”: photos by GAH]


[“This magnolia blossom will soon open”]


[“It will join thousands of other blossoms”]

What’s happening in your neighbourhood?

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Fun and Fitness: New way to measure healthy body size

Under the heading of ‘Keeping Fit,’ a topic that’s near and dear to my heart, C. Castagna writes about a new way to measure healthy body size in the Aug. 19 issue of The London Free Press.

Out with BMI (Body Mass Index, in with MWL (Maximum Weight Limit? Please read for yourself.

[Please click here to link to article and MWL height/weight chart]

But it makes sense to me.

At 5 ft. 5 in. tall, under MWL proposed by Prof. G. Fernandez, my maximum weight should be 155 pounds.

While marathoning (1995 - 2006), my weight was usually 140 - 145 pounds, most of it made up of blue twisted steel - insert laugh track here - and I looked under weight.


Now, I’m slightly over 155, know I could lose a few pounds (there’s one pair of jeans that just doesn’t feel right) and am trying to do so by walking where I can, riding an exercise bike (I’ve upped the mileage goal per week) and mixing fun with a regular fitness activity, i.e., hockey with the boys twice per week.

I'm motivated because...

... the majority of Canadian seniors (age 65 plus) have 5 prescriptions or more

... 37 cents out of every dollar my home province (Ontario) spends now goes to health care

... a vast number of prescriptions are tied to poor lifestyle choices and diet.

I think trying to hit the MWL target sounds like a good idea.

Good luck with your own fun and fitness goals.

And if you’re holding a KFC Double Down - put it down and back away slowly.

***

Does the MWL chart seem to make sense to you?

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Series of Some Significance: KFC’s Double Down Sandwich

After reading a bit of my commentary re KFC’s new sandwich in the USA, a reader double-checked on Google because he thought the Double Down was a hoax.

(Hey, it's not Hallowe’en yet).

Though it’s a stupid sandwich, and getting too much positive press State’s side, I added the 4-part series to Series of Some Significance (see side margin) because - in my opinion at least - the salt and fat bomb is linked to another current news item here in Canada.


["No hoax. The DD is a fat and salt bomb"]

I.e., the rising cost of health care.

And the cost of health care is linked to another of my pet concerns.

I.e., the growing national debt.

As well, one day soon perhaps (in time for high school graduation?), the DD may come to Canada and I wanted my fellow citizens to be warned.

We are what we eat and are poorer and unhealthier for it.

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Birdhouse Spotting: Mennonite property, Walker Rd., Aylmer

When the weather warmed up after lunch yesterday I warmed up the motorcycle.

I had Port Burwell in mind, took the back way, and found several purple martin houses (various ages and sizes) at the Miller’s property (Mennonites) on Walker Rd., east of Aylmer, north of Highway 3.


[“This is the oldest box; not on a pulley system; repairs go untended”]


[“Clean out in underway; on a pulley system”]


[“Same size as other units but with an oblong hole”]


[“The smallest box, with only one entrance”]

All photos by GAH, April 19, 2010

Zoom w a View Pt 1: The front lawn is filled with...

Petals from the apricot tree. Not snow.


[“I had to look twice. Snow in April?”: photos GAH]


[“Petals are gone; leaves and apricots (I’m optimistic) are next”]


[“Myrtle is thriving in Old South clay under the tree”]

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My Morning Rant: You wanted peace and quiet? Forget about it

Just about everything I touch is getting more expensive.

The number of Thing$ Going North ($$) keeps growing.

(That’s why I carry a travel mug to The Red Roaster. I’m charged the cheapest rate for coffee. And I know how to get my refill for free! Call me).

Ontario’s Minister of Health knows what I’m talking about - except for the free refill thingy.

As in other provinces in Canada and countries around the world, health care budgets are climbing. (Ontario - $46 billion/year, no ceiling in sight).


Part of the growing cost relates to the number of drugs people are administered, many of them seniors, and ‘the high number of prescriptions’ is something I’ve written about - after I picked my jaw off the ground.

In part one of an earlier two-part series re prescription costs I mention that you could visit a fast-food restaurant wherein a group of 65-year old people are tucking into cheeseburgers and fries and discover that, on average in Canada, 67% of them possess five or more types of prescription drugs, 21% have 10 or more and 6% have 15 or more.

And in part two I offer several brilliant suggestions.

When I consider growing health care budgets alongside growing provincial debt ($200 billion in Ontario alone), I feel it’s little wonder the provincial government recently did two things:

One - “put plans in place to ban about $750 million in annual fees paid to pharmacies by generic drug companies to stock their products”

Two - informed Ontarians that we have “much higher generic drug costs than other provinces and the change will cut costs by 50% for consumers, employers and government drug programs.” (Apr. 17 issue of The London Free Press)

Expect the push back from pharmacies and drug companies to be huge.

The bigger they’ve grown, partially on the back of high prescription prices, the louder they’ll shout.

Don't expect peace and quiet around here anytime soon.

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Hudson’s will become a housing complex for seniors - a good move

Thumbs up to some good planning in Old East Village.

At present, as a boomer in Wortley Village, I hope one day I can move down the street and around the bend (not too far from Wortley and Craig, the corner of Coffee and Hardware) to a seniors’ complex much like the one depicted in April 10 issue of the London Free Press.

It’s affordable, for those who need it. It looks pretty stylish.

And it combines commercial and residential units so that on a Saturday morning a person can walk a few steps and grab a newspaper, coffee and chat with neighbours.


["Pretty nice looking building on Dundas St., East": photo of artist's rendering, London Free Press]

As many know, especially the health care system and finance departments, the boomers are coming, i.e., getting older - in huge numbers - and will heavily tap into health care, pension, even social services shortly.

I would be surprised if half of municipalities across Canada are prepared, but the plan to put an affordable, good-looking seniors’ building in Old East is a sign London is at least thinking in the right direction.

Some of the seniors will also get a kick out of knowing they are living near the exact spot where they once bought polyester pant’s for less than 5 bucks a pair and could attend Midnight Madness sales in their pajamas.

How cool is that?

Thumbs up.

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It Strikes Me Funny: I may have found the perfect job

Because of a June motorcycle trip to Halifax I’ve been trying to save money where I can.

Whenever my wife prepares to leave for an adventure at Costco she wishes me good luck with that.

I’ve also agreed to help build a fence with a home contractor and know it will be hard work.

Recently I came across an interesting paragraph in the book How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Arthur Herman.

It made me feel that, since retirement I’ve become part of a class of people that have roots going back to the beginning of the industrial revolution, and that I should give up hard labour.


["The conscientious observer - will bring my own chair": photo GAH]

In the book, Herman writes about the time when capitalism was blossoming, economic change was happening in startling ways, people were becoming buyers and sellers, customers and suppliers and outputs were growing to gratify people’s needs.

The division of labour produced people who spent more time thinking about improvements - he mentioned engineers like James Watt and scientists and, in the words of Adam Smith, “those whose trade it is not to do anything, but to observe everything.”

I love those words - not to do anything. That’s me.

Observe everything? Give me a small piece of that.

I’d much rather watch someone else build the fence and ply the trade of conscientious observer.

How much should I charge?

***

Have Chair Will Travel

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