Deforest City Blues Pt 2: Can cities fail?

Good news, I think.

“Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s next federal budget is now widely assumed to contain a national infrastructure program to help municipalities repair and replace their buildings, bridges and similar civil bric-a-brac.

“If so, it couldn’t come at a better time for cash-strapped London.” (The editor’s view, The Londoner)

Why? Because Deforest City is broke. Our infrastructure is everywhere, it’s old and consistently under-funded.


[Old Dundas St., London]

From the same article, by Phil McLeod:

“Problems face the water and sewer pipeline system, also underfunded with a growing gap (between what monies are required, and what monies are allocated).

“Left to its own finances, city council is unlikely to be willing to further burden taxpayers, despite the fact roads and bridges, et al, on which proper maintenance and repairs are delayed, incrementally become less safe.”

Our city has followed a recipe to bring about its own demise. I’m certain our city is of the type that can fail.

Perhaps Jim Flaherty will bail us out.

***

Are city taxes too low? Is big business paying its fair share?

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Mt. Everest disaster from 1996 still chilling Part 2

[Please read Part 1 for context]

I read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer recently (not an easy book to put down), a personal account of a 1996 Mt. Everest disaster, and searched for answers to the following questions:

What drives people beyond a point of (what I consider) reasonable risk?

Could the disaster, in which several lives were lost from various teams of climbers from many countries, have been prevented?

My curiosity was partially satisfied with the following from Ch. 17, Summit, 3:40 P.M., May 10, 29,028 Feet:


[Everest route photo link]

“Shortly after Fischer (USA, leader, head guide) left the top, Gau (Taiwan, leader) and his Sherpas departed as well, and finally Lopsang (Fischer’s Sherpa climbing leader) headed down - leaving Hall (New Zealand, leader, head guide) alone on the summit awaiting Hansen (USA, Hall’s client).”

“A moment after Lopsang started down, about 4:00, Hansen at last appeared, toughing it out, moving painfully slowly over the last bump on the ridge. As soon as he saw Hansen, Hall hurried down to meet him.”

“Hall’s obligatory turn-around time had come and gone a full two hours earlier.”

When Krakauer wrote that last line I was reminded that earlier in the book Rob Hall, the leader of a large group of guides, staff and paying clients, had told everyone, no matter where they were in the last leg of the ascent, to turn around at 2 P.M. and return to Camp Four, their closest refuge.

Turning around any later would severely hurt their chances of a safe return to their highest camp.

Why had Hall waited until 4 P.M. for Hansen, the last climber on his team, knowing the risks to himself and his client were so high?

“Given the guide’s conservative, exceedingly methodical nature, many of his colleagues have expressed puzzlement at his uncharacteristic lapse of judgment. Why, they wondered, didn’t he turn Hansen around much lower on the mountain, as soon as it became obvious that the American climber was running late?”

Hall’s lapse of judgment brought about the worst of consequences.

***

Part 3 to soon follow

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Deforest City Blues Pt 1: Our city’s bones are bad, getting worse

Once my bones get too weak to support my skin and muscles I’ll likely just fall to the ground.

I’ll be on my porch, whining:

“I can’t get up.”

“I should have paid attention, taken more calcium.”

And when Deforest City’s bones get too weak to support it’s skin and muscles it will fall to the ground as well. Maybe roll into the Thames River.

A week ago, in my column, I asked, “Is our infrastructure (roads, sewers, water lines etc.) in big trouble?”


I answered, “I’m sure it is” and mentioned several reasons for it’s sorry state.

This week my editor, Phil McLeod, elaborated with more proof - in numbers:

“Over the next ten years, as you might expect (certainly from consultants), the situation will only get worse unless London spends more money fixing its roads. Problem is, at the moment the annual budget for road repairs is about 50 per cent less than the $19.2 million said to be needed.” Jan. 14, The Londoner

Our bones are bad and getting worse.

***

Where will necessary money come from?

Can cities fail?

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Near extinction: One premium tuna nets $104,700US

Before we get back to our regularly scheduled program (Mt. Everest disaster from 1996 still chilling Part 2) I’d just like to say:

$104,700US is a lot of money and I wouldn’t part with anything remotely close to that amount for a fish, unless...


[Fish facts and photo link]

Unless what?

Before I answer here are the facts, nothing but the facts, Ma’am.

“Two sushi bar owners paid more than US$100,000 for a Japanese bluefin tuna at a Tokyo fish auction (recently), about 10 times the average price and the highest in nearly a decade. The 128-kilogram tuna fetched the highest price (9.63 million yen or $104,700US) since 2001, when another bluefin brought an all-time record of 20 million yen.” Jan. 6, London Free Press

I wouldn’t part with that amount for a fish, unless I was a rich sushi bar owner and knew that large bluefin are almost extinct.

***

When will rich sushi bar owners become extinct?

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Mt. Everest disaster from 1996 still chilling Part 1

My oldest son bought me three used books by Jon Krakauer for Christmas gifts and I was unable to put the first one down once I’d read the first page.

Into Thin Air, a personal account of a 1996 Mt. Everest disaster, sounded familiar, perhaps because I’d seen TV shows in the last few years about the same event, and I was immediately hooked even though I remembered many details related to the outcome.

I wasn’t hooked because I’m a mountain climber.


[Photo link]

Far from it. My low tolerance for risk wouldn’t allow me to climb higher than Base Camp (17,600 ft.) on Everest (29,028 ft.).

Of course, if I became light-headed, I might try for Camp One (19,500 ft.) or Camp Two (21,300 ft.). But that would be as far as I would go.

(As a former marathoner - 13 in all - I’m not confident I could develop suitable strength and endurance to even reach the Base Camp.)

I wasn’t hooked because I wanted to revisit the disaster and read about gory details.

My main reason was to see if there were answers to questions I had about the climb:

What drives people beyond a point of (what I consider) reasonable risk?

Could the disaster, in which several lives were lost, have been prevented?

Would I try to even reach Base Camp?

***

Part 2 to soon follow

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Discovering Ontario and More: Biking & Camping in One Pair of Pants Page 7

[Yes, the title has changed. I learned a lot of lessons on the road and one was - squeeze as much as possible into a title and saddlebag.]

After I parked my bike and took a few pictures of my surroundings at Sandbanks Provincial Park, I unloaded necessary supplies and gear, set up the pup tent, blew up the air mattress, rolled out my sleeping bag, unpacked a bit of food from a saddle bag, poured water into the kettle and scrounged around the immediate area for free kindling.

A short time later I walked to the camp store to call Pat on the pay phone.


“Everything going well?” she asked.

“Very well. What happened on Coronation Street tonight?” I asked.

She explained a few details:

Shawn yelled at Janet, Tracey went to jail, Karen discovered she was pregnant but didn’t know who the father was, Ken marked some English papers and Roy raised the price of his two egg sandwich.

“How much?” I asked.

She wasn’t sure. Roy’s accent made the words hard to make out.

We exchanged important details about our day.

“I saw a snapping turtle and then a guy who looked just like one,” I said.

Pat was happy I was having a good time and hadn’t been hit by a bus.

We eventually wished each other well, I said I’d call tomorrow evening and hung up the phone.

As I checked out the tinned goods in the camp store I wondered what would heat up nicely on the Kelly Kettle and at the same time go well with two organic eggs.


Trust me, it was a tough decision.

Would it be Puritan Irish stew with its preformed chunks of meat or Chef Boyardee ravioli filled with mystery meat?

Irish stew? Ravioli? Irish stew? Ravioli?

I realized it wouldn’t take much more than two eggs and toast to fill me up, so I settled on a small can of ravioli priced at $1.39.

After paying the cashier I walked back to my camp site by way of the beach, took a few more pictures of happy families and children fishing under a bridge, picked up a few more twigs and branches and thought, $1.39 for this little can? It had better be good.


Sure, the ads say that ‘when you serve Chef Boyardee to your family, you give them more than great taste – you give them a wholesome, nutritious meal as well’, but I’m not easily swayed by claims made about meals in a can.

I returned to my campsite and cooked a satisfying evening meal as the sun set and my immediate surroundings, in the middle of a thick wall of brush and many trees, fell into darkness.

I knew sleep would come quick and easy as soon as I slipped into my sleeping bag.

For a minute or two my mind replayed the gentle curves and hills on highway 10 north of Welcome while the sound of duelling banjos in the wind mixed with that from nearby campers who sat around an open fire, mumbled to one another and swatted mosquitoes.

Someone pedalled by on a squeaky bicycle but before they reached their campsite and smacked an unsuspecting sibling with a flip-flop or towel I was out like a light.

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Coming Soon: Discovering Ontario in One Pair of Pants

This week, page seven will be added to the continuing and dashdang exciting adventures of local writer Gord Harrison, a motorcyclist and star hockey player who calls Canada 'The Land of Twigs' and wears one pair of pants 'til they stand on their own.


Yes, he’s still in Prince Edward County with his Kelly Kettle, small bag of kindling and twigs, and can of ravioli.

Link to Page Six for context.

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Illuminating Green Tip and ‘50 per cent off’ deal Part 1

My sister Lannie sent me a gardening newsletter last week because she knows my Victory Garden could easily be defeated by my ineptitude.

The newsletter shared this green tip:

"If every household in the country replaced its next burned-out light bulb with a compact flourescent bulb, it would save the same amount of carbon dioxide as taking 1.2 million cars off the road for an entire year." (from 1001 little ways to save our planet, 2007)

It got me thinking:

A better way to reduce carbon is to get most North Americans into a highly fuel-efficient vehicle.

Would you support a government rebate program, up to 50 per cent off the price of the most fuel-efficient cars available on the continent?

["Ollie, what do you think of the rebate idea?"]

If the government stipulated the rebate would only be provided for certain cars (e.g. 6 - 10 of the most fuel-efficient, small to mid-size cars, including an electric (e.g. ZENN), one or two hybrids and North American cars) then our own auto industry just might become more efficient and sustainable.

Rebates are better than bailouts because it puts responsibility on consumers to choose wisely.

They also provide an instant incentive for business to supply a larger supply of highly efficient vehicles.

50 per cent off would entice more people to get clunkers off the road, the cause of high gas consumption and steep carbon emissions.

***

Thoughts?

I’m already tinkering with the rebate idea. (Next column will relate).

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Liberals bounce back as contender - but how far

This in today’s London Free Press:

“The Liberal party has bounced back into contention with Michael Ignatieff at the helm, a poll suggests.”

I wondered, how far?

Bounced back like an Indian rubber ball or an orange street hockey ball?


[This kind really bounces: courtesy photo link]

I ask because I know there’s a difference.

According to the Nanos Research survey “the Liberals have moved into a statistical tie with the governing Tories, i.e., at 34 per cent, one point ahead of the Conservatives, who have slipped five points since the election.”

Sounds more like the street hockey ball, in my opinion.


[This kind really stings on your shins: courtesy photo link]

Game on. Tories vs Grits.

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PM offers olive branch - a branch short by half

Occasionally (quite often in my case), in a marriage, one spouse has to step up to the plate and say something like, “I’ve been a jerk (nerdnik, dipweed, stunned bunny, dorkuss etc.) and that caused us both to step into some pretty deep crap.”

“And, I’m honestly sorry.”

The following olive branch (?) appeared in today’s London Free Press [CanadaWorld pg 1] related to PM Harper’s promise for a conciliatory approach to an upcoming federal budget:

“Now is not the time for parliamentary games”, Harper said - a reference to the storm that erupted when the opposition sought to overthrow the Conservatives by forming a coalition government.

The lack of any reference to his own jerk-, nerdnik- and dipweed-iness lessens the sincerity in his conciliatory approach, doesn’t it?

And wasn’t he conciliatory back in November, about 30 seconds before the last parliamentary meltdown?

***

Is it just me, or does you too smell some fish-iness?

Dreaming, planning and gardening in a wee backyard

My oldest sister, Lannie, has heard about my plan to bang around the backyard in the spring in order to start a small, but ultimately victorious, Victory Garden.

Lannie sent a newsletter from Mark Cullen, a gardener and keeper of chickens, in which he said:

“As for the garden, well the good news is that there is less than 3 months before spring arrives and in the meantime we have lots to do. Like read and dream about the great garden that you will have in ‘09.”

["At home, dreaming and planning for spring": photo GAH]

“Dreaming and planning are no small tasks – and every bit as vital to the long term health and performance of your garden as weeding and watering. Take your time with this – make notes of good design and garden techniques as you encounter them.”

Good on you, Mark, I say.

Dreaming? Check. (I dream of vegetables fresh from my wee plot).

Planning? Check. (I have plans for a mason bee house and bat cave).

I’d better sharpen my old spade. Spring’s a-comin’.

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Ollie and Me: As a multi-tasker he's way ahead

By the time I grabbed my camera yesterday Ollie knew I was up to something, so he stopped doing what he was doing.

When he resumed work and play I had a very short window of opportunity and forgot the flash. Stink.

He likes to hold the stereo remote to his ear like a cellphone and tell his mother what road conditions are like.


“Mom,” he said. “Snow.”

At the same time he pushed and pulled several trains and cars around his play table and, in a grown-up voice, provided the narrative to the ongoing adventures of Thomas the train and his many friends.

Ollie is a natural multi-tasker.

The kid is only two and already he’s way ahead of me. It took me forty years to do two or three things at the same time.

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Are your children multi-taskers? Ahead of you?

Motorcycle Miles: Discovering Ontario in One Pair of Pants Page 6

Feel free to follow my thrilling adventures from London to Morrisburg, the Gatineaus, Algonquin Park and Bracebridge, made over nine days in the summer of 2006 - while wearing just one pair of pants.

Someday these stories might appear in an expensive book and you’ll be able to say you read them here for free.


[Sandbanks P. P., Prince Edward County: photo GAH]

Link to Page 5 for context, or if the excerpt below isn’t enough excitement for one day.

I discovered Picton has everything I like in a town - except for an easy-to-find gas station.

But instead of stopping to ask for directions (people don’t actually do that, do they?) or wasting more time and fuel I decided to backtrack and take my chances the next morning.

Fortunately, to my relief, while driving on fumes toward Sandbanks Provincial Park I saw gas pumps in front of the West Lake variety store.

The store, a small and cluttered building that looked like it was slapped together in the early 1900s out of leftover lumber, had nothing on its shelves that caught my fancy for supper so I was soon on my way.

A few minutes later I registered at the provincial park and fell into what would become my normal evening routine:

I looked for a camp site that had a clean and sturdy picnic table and was near a washroom and shower.

I explored a bit of my new neighbourhood to see if my site was relatively private.


[Privacy is free at Sandbanks P. P.: photo GAH]

I consider a site to be relatively private if I can sit at the picnic table and not see or hear children hitting each other with flip-flops, wet towels or foam noodles.

Or cursing in a high-pitched voice. I don’t like cursing.

Or high-pitched voices for that matter.

I parked the bike, and because a large body of water just happened to be in the neighbourhood (in this case, Lake Ontario), grabbed my camera and walked to the beach.

If this is too fast-paced for you, please sit down during the next installment.

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Page 7 is underway - coming soon.

Motorcycle Miles: Life lessons learned in the right hand lane

During a short camping stint near Wiarton in 2006 I decided I could survive on an upcoming nine-day trip with only the Kelly Kettle as a cooking device and sleep better on a time-consuming air mattress than my trusty Thermarest.

Good tips, eh?

And while biking to Wiarton I learned I’d live longer if RVs that shared the road (or ‘tried’ to share the road) were closer in size to a VW microbus rather than a motel.


As a huge one whipped by me on a sharp, flat curve and crowded into my lane a ‘life lesson’ for RV drivers popped into my head:

“If you can’t leave home without your home - don’t leave home.”

[More ‘Motorcycle Miles’ coming right up.]

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Have you learned life lessons on the road?

Oil Prices: Nowhere to go but down? Part 3

Wanna take on Gwynne Dyer, astute journalist from London, England, in a debate about oil prices?

On any topic?

Didn’t think so. Me neither.

I just can’t help thinking he’s being pretty optimistic when he says oil prices are likely to go down in the next 10 - 15 years (following lower demand) as oil-fuelled cars go the way of the dodo and horse-drawn vehicles.

Though he makes very good points in a recent article [see Part 2 for full details] I don’t see our move toward electric cars and bio-fuel (e.g. from algae) by a large percentage of people happening as quickly.

Why? (I’m glad you asked).

We would have to divert a lot of available fossil-fuels toward...

the production of electric cars

hydro plants to produce the necessary electricity

algae farms


[Courtesy link to photo @ Thoughts on Global Warming]

...and all of that work and diversion of resources depends upon a cooperative effort between countries and continents throughout the world.

And right now the economy sucks in many parts of the world (creating a terrible distraction from environmental concerns).

As well, cooperation isn’t always the human race’s strong suit.

China and India would also have to buy in to a bio-fuel focus, and who is capable of driving algae production right now to supply fuel for a growing world population?

Sorry, Mr. Dyer. I wish you were right. I hope you are right.

Unless I see consistent evidence of co-operative effort, however, to overcome oil-dependence in the next five years between major industrial countries I won’t see your 10 - 15 year prediction as a safe bet.

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Thoughts on Global Warming: Are algae farms a growing commodity?

I’m not betting that oil prices will go through a downward trend in the next 10 - 15 years, as Gwynne Dyer, an astute journalist suggests.

Because he mentioned a growing reliance on bio-fuels, I searched for a picture of an algae farm and found one at a blog entitled ‘Thoughts on Global Warming.’

The site is worth a look - one or two posts relate to green crude, and it also provides a long list of other sites for your viewing pleasure.


[Courtesy photo link and related post]

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Coming Soon: Discovering Ontario in One Pair of Pants

This week, another page will be added to the continuing and dadgum exciting adventures of local writer Gord Harrison, a motorcyclist who packs small and wears one pair of pants until they stand up on their own.


Yes, he’s still in Prince Edward County with his Kelly Kettle and pocketful of small change.

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Oil Prices: Nowhere to go but down? Part 2

Will oil prices go up or down in the next 10 - 15 years? Wanna bet?

(I’m sitting on my wallet. See Part 1 for context).

The safe bet is down, says Gwynne Dyer [link to recent article]. And “the same fate [as befell horse-drawn vehicles] is likely to overtake oil-fuelled vehicles in the next 35 years.”


Dyer makes the following points:

The shift will be driven by concerns about...

foreign exchange costs

energy independence

the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions

The shift will start with...

ever-tightening standards for fuel efficiency

The shift will be followed by...

the first mass-market generation of electric vehicles, due in the next two or three years

The coup de grace will be delivered by...

third-generation biofuels, probably produced from algae... fully competitive with oil in price and energy content

Based on the above factors, Dyer predicts American oil consumption will fall “quite fast, quite soon” and the same is true elsewhere.

Then he concludes, “It is a safe bet that the demand for oil is going to fall faster than the supply over the next 10 or 15 years...and if demand falls faster than supply, the price will also collapse.”

I’m going to think, and sit on my wallet a bit longer, because I smell something fishy.

Could it be the algae?

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From bee houses to bat caves, the Victory Garden is taking shape

Just the name sounds inspiring - Victory Garden.

Better yet - just about anyone can plant one.

[More details and fine comments at earlier post]

Thoughts of spring are multiplying and making my toes feel a tad warmer.

I have bamboo for a mason bee house. [Complimentary photo a few posts down]

I also found pictures and plans for a bat cave... sorry, bat house.


[Courtesy photo link]

So, once the two projects are completed in the workshop (hopefully, they will attract and keep plant pollinators near my house) I will draw up a plan for my own Victory Garden.

And it will certainly be a victory of sorts if anything actually grows. I do not possess gardening genes (like my father and older sister) but I do have a few other qualities that will stand me in good stead.

For example, I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. And I own a rake, shovel and hoe.

What more do I need?

[Bat cave construction link]

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Oil Prices: Nowhere to go but down? Part 1

Are you a betting man? Or woman?

Are oil prices going up or down in the next 10 - 15 years? Got big money on it?

I’d wait to place a bet, if I were you.

According to Gwynne Dyer, independent journalist based in London, England it is urgent to develop alternative fuels if we are close to peak oil, “but this may not be as great a crisis as it seems.”

[Link to summary of Mr. Dyer’s recent article @ Energy Bulletin]

[Link to full article @ straight.com]


[Will oil-fuelled cars be next to disappear?: photo link]

He goes on to say “the same fate [as befell horse-drawn vehicles] is likely to overtake oil-fuelled vehicles in the next 35 years.”

And, yes, I know, though it appears fairly logical that if numbers of oil fueled vehicles don’t almost completely disappear for 35 years then the safe bet is ‘oil prices will go up’ in the next 10 - 15.

However, keep your money in your pocket for now.

There’s more to it than that.

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