My Morning Rant: “Hyping oil now will lead to harping down the line”

[“Given the state of the EU, it needs all the economic help from Alberta and Canada it can get, including decently priced petroleum that doesn’t come from a country where they chop people’s heads off every Friday afternoon.” Feb. 25, The London Free Press, in an editorial borrowed from the Edmonton Sun]

I think it’s safe to say, you know your country is in economic and environmental trouble when it has to hype its tarsands oil projects to make a buck.

About the hype: It isn’t just in the news in the city and province rich in toxic tarsand, i.e., Edmonton, Alberta. It’s here in oil-depleted Ontario, and across Canada.

And thanks to the dogged determination of our Prime Minister, the hype has reached China’s and Europe’s shores and several other countries around the globe, particularly countries that still have money and economic wheels to grease.

Enough with the hype.

Surely most of us instantly recognize that “decently priced petroleum” is a gross exaggeration. A quick peek at oil prices over the last century reveal a steep upward climb in the last three decades, especially since 2005. However one wishes to paint the portrait of oil prices - in acrylic, water colour or oil - I predict it won’t end well.


[Please click to view details - History of crude prices]


That being said, however, as supplies of easy oil dwindle in more apparent fashion and the price per barrel of crude continues its steady march past $100 toward $200, the ‘Made in Canada’ hype will perhaps grow less desperate, as China and a few other major buyers ink deals for long-term, oil-based economic security (if there is such a thing, when we consider so few countries have a back-up plan). Then the PM will perhaps be able to sit down, relax a bit, unpack his suitcase and take his kids to a hockey game.

Unfortunately though, after the time of hyping, the time of harping will no doubt begin in earnest.

More to follow.

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Please click here to read more about oil.

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The Simple Life: “Me Porridge. Okay, maybe it’s not oatmeal”

The price of oil will likely be parked above $100 per barrel for the next 10 years or so (before it hits $200), but the price of oats should stay pretty steady.


["The simple life. Boil water for coffee and mush": photo GH]

Good thing too. It’s simple. I love oats in me porridge.

Breakfast can’t get much easier. I boil water and make coffee and mush. Once the oats are bubbling I add Red River cereal, pieces of walnut and dried cranberry, and a small handful of diced raisins. Sometimes some natural bran. Or maybe banana on top after the hot porridge and milk is in the bowl.

Regular readers will know why I call my breakfast ‘porridge’ and not ‘oatmeal’ anymore.

Years ago, after writing about my natural oatmeal breakfasts, with all the toppings, I received the following email:

“Gordon, what’s with the nonsense of cooking up your oats for a whole week and adding cream of wheat and bran, etc.? Just doesn’t add up to oatmeal.” Pearl S.

I admit now, Pearl was right. Porridge is a better name for my concoction. And based on a principle related to the simple life (i.e., “keep your accounts short”), there are no hard feelin’s between Pearl and I.

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Please click here for more about The Simple Life.

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Walking: Discovering London in one pair of pants

It’s early days. Gord doesn’t have the walking habit yet, though he has hit the street three times this week so far.

I watched him walk through Harris Park this afternoon. He has a determined stride from my point of view, rolls right along, so, if he gets out the door about 20 times in the month of March for 45 - 60 minute walks, I’d say we have a good habit forming.


["Yellow blooms are a few days away."]

He dresses for the weather. He wears comfortable running shoes and slacks. And though he seems to lean toward wearing the same jeans each day, from behind they look pretty good.

I also notice he chats with strangers and likes to stop every once in awhile and take pictures. Curious fellow.


["A double-decker mud nest under bridge, near Harris Park"]

If you see him, give the old boy a big wave.

[Photos by G.Harrison]

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Please click here for some Fun and Fitness.

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Zoom w a View: General Sherman, the largest of the large trees”

A friend sent the following photo of General Sherman recently, and the old red wood is looking pretty good, I must say.


[‘Though not the tallest, the General is the largest”: photo G. Benes]

You can learn more about the world’s monumental trees by clicking here.

I’m sure my friend will be impressed. I sent him a photo of the shortest white pine in my backyard. (I only have the one there, though a taller one is in the front yard.)

It’s minimental, isn’t it?


[It will be monumental in another 100 years!”: photo GH]

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Please click here for more Zoom w a View.

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Fun and Fitness: “Walking with birds on my mind!”

Though I faithfully ride my recumbent exercise bike 110 miles (or, for 7 - 8 hours) per week on average, and enjoy reading while the miles pass by, it dawned on me recently that spring is coming and I should head outside and walk a few miles per week as well.

I can’t be exact at the moment, but it takes me about 15 minutes to walk one mile and not far from my house a walking and biking trail exists that leads be throughout the city.

I spotted nests of mud under a bridge downtown and shortly thereafter noticed a purse-shaped nest in Harris Park. If you’d like to hazard a guess as to who made it, let me know.


Outside of a shop in Wortley Village, about 6 minutes from my front door (Let’s see; that’s about one-third of a mile from home.), I saw a lovely tin-roofed birdhouse sitting in a patch of ivy and myrtle. It may provide inspiration for another round of birdhouse building.

If so, you’ll be the first to know, as usual.

[Photos by G.Harrison]

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Are you feeling the urge to get outside and walk a few miles this week? I recommend the walk/bike path through Harris Park.

Please click here for more Fun and Fitness.

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Welcome to Harperville: “Robosmoke and fire up your pants”

[Harper brushed aside accusations of sleaze... Feb.28, London Free Press]

Is it true? Canada may have a Robo-Prime Minister?

Yes, it’s true.

Canada may have a Roboprime Minister and all that goes with it, i.e., Robovoting for major bills and policies that affect all of Canada, a Robogovernment that includes such illustrious features as a Robofinance Minister (Jim “Nuts” Flaherty) and Robominister of Foreign Affairs (John “Bolts” Baird).

And why would Roboharper and his Robopolitico Machino stoop to include robocalls (automated phone calls to misdirect voters) in their bag of election strategies?

One can only imagine... and so I did.

I imagine the Conservative politico machino is so thirsty for power (like a robot thirsty for it’s life-giving oil from the tarsands) it is willing to do anything to achieve prominence.

I imagine the Conservative politico machino looked at Roboharper’s minority numbers before the last election and realized it needed something more clever than speech and policy writing to turn the tide in his favour.

I imagine the Conservative politico machino looked at the riches pouring into its coffers from Conservatives across the land, felt great pressure to succeed (“This may be our best chance ever! Hoorah!”) and considered a few less-than-stellar brain waves.

I imagine many Robomembers of the Conservative party had no idea how serious was the affront to democracy they considered, blinded as they were by the possibilities of political victory and subsequent power.

To those who believe that one little kid is responsible for the Robocall incident currently making headlines across this wide and wild land of ours, I can only say they have grown far too accustomed to our Roboprime Minister blowing smoke and fire up their pants.

Welcome to Harperville. Next stop, Judicial Inquiry!

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Please click here to read more Smoke and fire down your pants.

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2,012 Challenges in Modern Times: “Let’s flaunt our clean oil image?”

[“It’s a good start toward reversing the push by the zealous but grievously under-informed environmental lobby to stop oilsands bitumen production.” Feb. 25, London Free Press]

Word is spreading. Coal is the dirtiest fuel on the planet, and it’s so dirty that some people now want people across the globe to believe that tarsands oil is squeaky clean by comparison.

Cigarettes don’t kill people, proclaimed tobacco producers and cigarette manufacturers not too many years ago. And their bogus claims ruled for decades while lung cancer and respiratory illnesses shortened and ended lives around the globe.

DDT is great for killing weeds, proclaimed chemical producers in the 1940s and ‘50s, as post-war agriculture boomed. And their claims about DDT’s benefits and their accompanying silence concerning its ill-effects resounded for decades while the land, lakes, rivers and streams, and upper atmosphere stored its poison for future generations to deal with.

The list goes on, and today the common man must deal with headlines in local papers that read ‘(It’s) Time for Alberta to flaunt its new, ‘clean’ image’ and accompanying articles that hold out good news concerning the multi-billion dollar oil industry on the one hand, and hold out no information on the other about the industry’s ill affects upon the land water and atmosphere, as if to say ‘it’s all good, all the time’.

In other words, the truth about the oil-industry comes up half-empty, and business-as-usual becomes the order of the day. About the environmental lobby being “under-informed” (as reported by the Edmonton Sun in the Free Press article): It’s no wonder the lobby and the rest of Canada doesn’t know everything about the oil industry, especially the harm done. It is never fully reported for common consumption!

And that is but one challenge of many to deal with in modern times. (We’re really not so modern as we think, are we).

In my opinion, to combat the ‘oil is good, business-as-usual' approach to life, we must adopt the following principles:

Reduce spending

Pay down debt

Save money for tough times ahead

Replace shopping skills with social and survival skills

Consume less, commune more with others and nature.

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Please click here to read more 2,012 Challenges

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It Strikes Me Funny: “Oh, that shirt looks nice on you”

It came as no surprise, that an hour or so before going to our friends’ house for supper on Saturday night, my wife presented me with a new shirt.

She knows I don’t often make the effort to buy new clothes because - not that I don’t appreciate them - new duds are far down on my list of needs or priorities in life.

In the late 1960s, early 1970s, I was a very impulsive shopper, especially related to clothes. They make the man, I thought. And the shopping habit makes one poor as well, I slowly learned.

‘Live small and prosper’ is now my motto and my ‘saving habit’ is now much stronger than my ‘spending habit’. (E.g., in the last year I’ve saved enough to train across Canada in ‘The Canadian Train’, from Toronto to Vancouver, in an upper berth, all meals included. And I’ll look pretty snappy in my used jeans and T-shirts).

However, when my wife buys me a new shirt, to make her man, I won’t turn it down, especially if it’s plaid - my favourite colour.

[Photo by GH]

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Please click here for more It Strikes Me Funny

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Zoom w a View: Hattie Cove sunset

Currently, I’m trying to put together plans related to biking or taking the train out west in a few months.

Perhaps my first view of the prairies, Kicking Horse Pass and Strait of Georgia (between Vancouver Island and the mainland) will be as spectacular as the first sunset I viewed at Hattie Cove, Lake Superior in 2007.

I’ll let you know what I find out.

[Photo by GH]

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Please click here for more Zoom w a View

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It Strikes Me Funny: “So, you think you got problems!?”

While checking my computer’s photo files today I found this picture.


I must put it in the category of ‘World’s best shots’ or ‘You think you got problems?’ And what's happening? I'm glad you asked. Read below.


“The Shot Felt Around the World!”

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Please click here for more It Strikes me Funny.

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Welcome to Harperville: “Curses! More smoke and fire down our pants”

[“The government has kept tight-lipped on details of its plans, only releasing bits of information in dribs and drabs.” Feb. 22, London Free Press]

If I wanted to sneak up behind you to steal your wallet, I’d probably try one of the oldest tricks in the book called ‘Hey, look over there. Is that your sister?’

Though you may call the trick by another name, it works like this: I don’t want you to see me slip ten bucks out of your wallet and into mine so I distract you. I point to your left and, in a very serious tone - to make myself sound very believable - I ask you to see if that person walking by is your sister.

Now, this ploy works very well if you in fact have a sister and want to engage her in a long conversation. If you don’t have a sister, then I get caught with my hand in your back pocket. Whoops.

While we speak, Prime Minister Harper is trying the same trick on all Canadians as he makes plans to reform Old Age Security (OAS) by making some or many older Canadians work longer, e.g., to age 67 (for now), before collecting hard-earned benefits.


["Is it out of this world to pay a bit more now than later?": Toon by GH]

Why, only last Tuesday, Conservative Human Resource Minister Diane Finley “tried to persuade Canadians that those changes are indeed necessary, warning doing nothing would create an undue burden on future generations of Canadians.”

Finley’s trick is very slick. She warns that we will all place an undeserved burden upon the shoulders of our grandchildren if we don’t follow the Prime Minister’s plan. Though there’s not a word about anybody’s sister, many Canadians will at least be a little more fearful now of the prospects facing children and grandchildren across this once mighty land. And when people are fearful, they’re a little more willing to sacrifice, a little more willing to spend a few more years at work in their later years.

In my opinion, though the information about PM Harper’s plan is only coming out in ‘dribs and drabs’, at least that’s better than the zero amount of information Canadians are receiving about all the reasons why revenues on the government ledger seem unable to support OAS benefits.

Yes, we hear about how people are living longer (from conservative think tanks, no less) but nary a word about how revenues have been affected by the Conservative decrease in the GST. We hear about more boomers “coming down the pipes” (Feb. 22, Free Press) but about how recent corporate tax breaks have affected the coffers - nada, as in ‘not a word’.

To help with giving Canadians even more useful information, maybe the Conservative Federal Government could conduct a poll and ask how many Canadians would like to see corporations pay 1 per cent more tax now, and be willing to spent one per cent more on the GST now, rather than work longer in the future.

Don’t hold your breath.

If you feel more heat around your ankles than usual, that’s just the smoke and fire our Prime Minister is blowing down your pants.

Get used to it, for now.

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Please click here for More Smoke and Fire

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It Strikes Me Funny: “Dude, what are you cooking?”

Out of curiosity I recently checked one of my favourite blog stats, i.e., the top ten ‘search keywords’ or words that people ‘Google’ that lead to my lovely site.

And here they are, for those readers who are curious as well.

Search Keywords

solar oven plans 858
1996 everest disaster 626
northern lights 581
ants 534


["Henry, one of the big bad bug brothers, might be a hit"]

how to make a solar oven 406
permafrost 190
rob hall everest 165
how to build a solar oven 164
squirrel meat 148
squirrel 145

Some will notice - out of 3,817 total hits under consideration - my brilliant ideas about solars ovens burn the other entries, and receive 37% of the traffic. My Mt. Everest stories collect 21% of traffic; substantial, but a distant second in my opinion, and I think it deserves better. (I’ll get on it right away).

Some will wonder, as do I, why cute ants are so popular.

Other readers may be looking at the last two entries in my top ten, i.e., ‘squirrel meat’ and ‘squirrel’ and wonder what the heck I’m planning to have for supper, or what that smell is coming from my solar oven!

I can explain. I wrote a song - very popular I guess - about squirrel stew in a Mason jar, as well as a few entries about how squirrels always seem to find their way into my bird feeders.

I can’t explain the ‘permafrost’ entry definitively. I guess I’ll have to Google it to find out.

And if you’ve already done so, thanks for stopping by.

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Please click here for more It Strikes Me Funny.

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Motorcycle Miles: PT 6 Vancouver Island or Bust

["As per usual, a snippet from a ’60’s song will be stuck inside my head, repeating itself as the miles disappear. And I’ll be singing as part of a skilled background chorus, my rhythm in sync with the Virago’s pistons." PT 5 Vancouver Island or Bust]

In July, 2012 I’ll leave Wawa with a full tank of gas in my motorcycle at about 9 a.m. The weather will be lovely (says the author, optimistically), as it was the first time I drove that piece of highway north of Sault Ste. Marie in August, 2007.


["A biker, having just past Wawa and its giant goose, heads toward me."]

I’ll head west 93 kilometers, so says my map, and reach White River about an hour later. While I sip coffee outside one of the town’s few restaurants, I’ll review a few photos I took back in Wawa. Maybe I’ll have one of a moose, if I spot one like I did in ’07 somewhere along the just completed stretch of lonely highway.


["The cold, wild water of Hattie Cove, west of Wawa and White River"]

After my last swig of coffee, I’ll detour north (103 km.) on highway 631 to Hornepayne. At 11:30 I should be standing beside an old CN rail station in that town (“now unused and in disrepair” says Wikipedia re the station), stretching my legs, sipping from a thermos, and wondering if my dad saw much of the town when he and at least five other merchant mariners (members of the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve) stopped there in January or February, 1944 on their way to Vancouver Island. I’ll look around, form some impressions, and wonder if he formed some that were similar.

Right around noon, my stomach will probably tell me to form an impression about how good a hamburger might taste at a local diner.

Off I’ll go to lunch. I’ll talk to a few locals. Maybe I’ll show them an old photo of five of my dad’s friends (‘oppos’ the sailors would say) outside their station. Maybe an old-timer will recall the year quite a few sailors passed through on their way west, while he lugged lumber in a nearby yard.


["From the side of the road, near Terrace Bay."]

After one last stretch of the legs I’ll ride back to the Trans-Canada highway 17, then point myself west and aim for Terrace Bay, about 460 km. total from Wawa, including the detour to Hornepayne. The bay is a pretty little spot, thanks to the fact it’s situated on the north shore of magnificent Lake Superior and has an unrestricted view of some of the prettiest wild, cold water in the world.

If, from my home base in London, I’ve biked to Massey, Wawa and then Terrace Bay, I’ll have covered about 1,350 km. in three days. I’ll be on my 5th tank of gas, down between $500 - 600 and sleeping like a rock, with thoughts of sugar plums - and the 3,500 km. still to go - dancing in my head.

[Photos by G.Harrison, 2007]

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Please click here to read PT 5 Vancouver or Bust

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Rare Family Photos: Rare photo. Rare bicycle?

The last rare photo posted here, showing my mother working on a tobacco farm in 1939, is still a puzzle.

For example, I don’t have answers to the following questions: Who is Mr. Lee, one of five gentleman in the picture? Did my mother and I work for the same family during our youth, though 30 years apart? Why didn’t I inherit her good looks?

And a person I turned to for help left me with another puzzle. How did mother get to work?


["Mother relaxes on or near her childhood home, circa 1939"]

I don’t know. However, I do know her mother and siblings were penny-pinchers because they had to be. I know an uncle who lived nearby shared produce with them from his garden. And thanks to today’s rare photo, I know my mother could have biked to work, though, because she wasn’t typically known as an early riser, she might have grumbled at the 20 - 30 minute commute after a very early start to the day.

The photo is likely from the late 1930s and contains a few details about my hometown of Norwich. It’s Main St., running left and right one block north of mother, was dominated by the two-story red brick Post Office, and its clock tower is visible over mother’s head. (The telephone pole almost completely hides the round face of the clock, and from inside the square tower, for many years, the clock chimed to mark each quarter-hour. Also behind mother’s head is a round globe atop a street lamp pole; the pole bears a very distinctive design, and the next rare photo will show it more clearly.

Just out of the picture and to the left stands her uncle’s house, with a healthy garden to be sure. Beside it is the Knox Presbyterian Church (both it and uncle’s house remain today), and though the church was close by, my mother was known to attend the Quaker meeting house, two miles away on Quaker Rd., now the site of the grave yard in which my mother is buried.


["Metal emblem on my 1964 Raleigh"]

If you can, tell me what kind of bicycle mother owned. A Raleigh? I’m not at all sure. But I’d be interested in knowing.

Wouldn’t it be nice to toot around Wortley Village, London on such a bike in spring? I think so.

[Photos by GH]

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Please click here to see more Rare Family Photos

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It Strikes Me Funny: cardinal in the treetop

cardinal in the treetop
sings his clarion call
“I’m as buff as other birds,
So Girls, come one, come all.”


cardinal in the treetops
puzzling o’er the odds.
“Will I find my true love?
Or join the sods and clods?”

[Prose and photos by GH]

***

I’m sure things will turn out okay. Keep singin’.

Please click here for more It Strikes Me Funny.

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Zoom w a View: “Shades of gray”

I’m back on home turf again. I love it.

I didn’t even mind that snow pellets filled my hair, i.e., what’s left of it, when I arrived home this morning from the Little Red Roaster, refill and camera in hand.


When my front steps are dampened, hundreds of patterns emerge from the gray stone. Distinct designs disappear as they dry or as the snow deepens.

[Photos by GH]

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Please click here for more Zoom w a View from Fenelon Falls.

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Fenelon Falls: "Time to go"

By the time I have my two small bags packed and the car warmed up the sun will be on my son's back deck and glass fence panels.




By the time I stop for coffee at the half-way point (Milton) on my drive home to London, the frosty designs will have melted.




Do you take pictures of natural scenes on a regular basis?

{Photos by G. Harrison]

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Please click here for more 'free' photos from Fenelon Falls.

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Zoom w a View: What do you see here?

I enjoyed the scene enough to snap a few pictures. But as I peered through the view finder I wasn't sure if the scene would be recognizable to others.

Do you see what I was seeing by studying the first photo alone?

How about now?


Do you see art work completed by nature with snow upon the ice?

[Photos by GH]

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Please click here for more Zoom w a View.

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Fenelon Falls: Free hop rhizomes

When I visited Fenelon Falls in the fall, I spotted wild hop flowers during a morning walk. I was unprepared at the time to dig them up and cart them home.

For those wondering. No, if I dig up the hop rhizomes quietly, and don't kill the mother plant - the flowers contain no seeds, just flavour for beer - and don't get caught, my action will not be considered theft.


Here I am again in Fenelon, but now it is too cold to do the digging. I must content myself with snapping photos of the river and hoping for an early spring in the land of opportunity.


For if I can dig up the rhizomes early and successfully replant them in London, I may have vines laden with hop flowers growing upon my backyard fence by September.

And if opportunity knocks twice, I'll be sipping an IPA homebrew by October.

[Photos by G. Harrison]

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Please click here for more photos from Fenelon Falls, the land of opportunity.

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It Strikes Me Funny: "Why, when I was a boy..."

After a great supper at my son's house tonight, I volunteered to do dishes. (Don't let my wife know. As a general rule, I pretend to fall sleep after supper when at home, and wake up at 6:29, just before Coronation St. begins).

While scraping leftover lasagna out of a pan, the large spoon I was using bent almost double around my hand.


["Cheap spoon! What's this world coming to?": photo by GH]

I didn't want to complain. I might get sent home early, I thought. So I straightened the spoon and tried scraping from a different angle. Again it bent almost double.

Good grief. You don't get good cutlery these days.

Why, when I was a boy, one good sturdy soup spoon was all the cutlery I needed at scout camp. I cooked and ate every meal, scraped every dish and fought every battle with it. When Ron Manicom tried to steal my eggs I chased him into the woods and pinned him against a fence with nothing more than an angry look and my dirty spoon.

You know, looking at the bent spoon in my hand, I think my fighting days are over.

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Please click here for more It Strikes Me Funny

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2,012 Challenges in Modern Times PT 4: "Have a senior's moment when you're 12!"

["Phasing in 70 as the new retirement age at the rate of one month per year for 60 years should give everyone plenty of time to adjust as well, especially if everybody agreed with Sonneberg's hasty editorializing. Do you?" G.Harrison, Feb. 15, 2,012 Challenges PT 3]

By now some readers are wondering, if Gord doesn't like M. Sonneberg's "hasty editorializing" in the London Free Press and ability to "grease his own rails" concerning the withholding of Old Age Security Benefits for Canadians until they're 67, what does he like?

I like clarity, for one thing.

When Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says the withholding of benefits isn't for now, "it's for 2020... maybe 2025", he doesn't seem to have much of a handle on his own plan. I mean, Jim, do you know when you're going to afflict some seniors with a longer work life or don't you?

'Flaherty's clarity' is lacking in other areas as well. He is quick to tell us that OAS will cost us a lot of money in 10 years (Oh, it will be millions.) and even more in 20 years (Oh, it will be gazillions.), but he has said nary a word about how much PM Harper's drop in the GST has lowered government revenues (Oh, it will be billions.) or how much PM Harper's corporate tax cuts have lowered revenues that could support pensions and OAS benefits (Oh, it will be gazillions.).

And if we could get a clear answer from the Conservative Government about the price of just one F - 35 stealth fighter jet it's planning to buy, we would learn two very valuable pieces of information.

One, we would learn how the cost of one jet compares to the increased cost of OAS benefits the government is railing about. Two, we would learn how much the cost of 65 jets (the government's current plan) will rip out of government coffers during the same years the Conservatives want to keep seniors at work longer.

Here's what I propose that is as clear as clear can be.

Raise corporate taxes by 2 per cent and put the additional income toward the OAS benefit program.

Raise the GST by 2 cents so that Canadians - even kids buying their first iPhone or whatever else they spend their allowance on - will be supporting their senior years when making many purchases.

I also recommend the money from these changes be put into designated accounts for pensions so that it doesn't get spent on prisons.

Thots?

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Please click here to read 2,012 Challenges in Modern Times PT 3.

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It Strikes Me Funny: If I had a hammer...

In the past, when I visited my son in Fenelon Falls, I pitched in whole-heartedly with certain hard tasks.

For example, I helped attach strips of lumber - whilst perched atop a tall ladder - to many exterior walls before applying new siding. I helped level stony earth - whilst standing at a precarious angle - to support cribs for cement. I helped build the cribs and pour cement for footings to support posts for an exterior balcony. I helped cart a lot of lumber up and down a hilly path. I helped build a deck outside his back door.

After every task, my son thanked me for all my work. And surely it goes without saying, I come highly-skilled!


Last night, shortly after I arrived in Fenelon for a visit, he mentioned that he'll probably start a very big job related to expanding his dock in the spring.

So, between now and then, whenever he and I are together, I'm going to grab my back ("Oh, I think it's twisted!) a few times per day and drop any tool I can find on my toe. Maybe his.

As a matter of fact, I'm looking for a hammer right now.

Photo by G.Harrison

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Fenelon Falls: "The snow falls quietly..."

When I stood on an upper outdoor balcony at my son's house and looked up river toward Fenelon's lock system, about a mile away, I heard not one sound.

I felt the steady snowfall. Hundreds of cold wet flakes melted on my unprotected neck, face and hands.


I listened intently for any sound. None came, except for muffled noises from inside the house.

Is it snowing quietly in my hometown, London?

Photo by GH

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That reminds me. I should call my wife to say "all is well."

Please click here for more wintry scenes.

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Zoom w a View: There's no business like...

There's no business like snow business.

Now, if I can find a coffee shop open in Fenelon Falls I'll be a very happy camper.

Does a layer of fresh snow lift your spirits?

Photo by GH

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Please click here for more Zoom w a View

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2,012 Challenges in Modern Times PT 3

[“Now that we live longer, some people do want to work longer, for various reasons, as mentioned in PT 1. But our longer life span is not a compelling reason to deny benefits longer. There are 4,367, 892 better things to do than slug it out at work for an extra two years, and that’s just in Canada.” GH, 2,012 Challenges PT 2]

I don’t buy for a minute that “Canadians have to come to terms with the idea of a higher retirement age” as expressed recently by M. Sonneberg, London Free Press (Feb. 7). Just because the title of his news article (Pension reform requires sacrifice from everyone) seems to suggests he’s offering a balanced viewpoint doesn’t make it palatable to me.


[2,012 Challenges in Modern Times - a brilliant book: photo GH]

Years ago my parents took my siblings and me to an Anglican Church pot-luck picnic in Otterville, a village in the southern part of Oxford County. As I recall, after sitting on a cannon that overlooked a bridge near the picnic area (During my turn astride the barrel, I pretended to blow up the people coming across the bridge who were not carrying large picnic baskets. “No free food for you!” Boom!! “No free food for you!” Boom!!), my ten-year old eyeballs grew as round as saucers when a saw all the desserts spread upon one particular table.

I was asked to eat a sandwich first, which didn’t sound reasonable at the time. So I ate one containing round bologna slices, very quickly, but when something got caught in my throat I began to cough and splutter.

I imagine my mother said, “Don’t eat so quickly.”

Tears streamed from my eyes. I gasped and gagged.

I imagine my siblings said, “Snot is coming out your nose. Ee-yuck.”

I turned beet red.

I imagine my father noticed and smacked me on the back.

Fortunately, though I couldn’t speak, I had enough sense to reach as far back into my throat as I could to grab onto the offending material. I’m sure the scene is one my folks remembered for some time. They likely wondered what on earth I was doing with three or four fingers in my mouth.


["I didn't make that sandwich. Maybe Gladys Cole," says Edith Harrison, circa 1959]

I almost made myself throw up. But I snagged what I knew hid deep inside. I caught the end of the thin plastic wrap that someone had forgotten to peel off the bologna slices and pulled it up from my esophagus, past my wind pipe (or out of my wind pipe) and out of my mouth.

Very few onlookers were impressed as I held it up for inspection.

And I could finally breathe. How lovely. I took several deep breaths.

If I had the mature presence of mind then that I have today I would have said, “Well, it’s time for some dessert, eh.” I likely just wiped my nose on my sleeve and finished the sandwich.

As a result of that experience, however, I no longer eat bologna without looking at it very carefully first. And in my estimation, Sonneberg’s bologna doesn’t pass the sniff test, and greasing the rails of his hasty editorializing doesn’t help matters.

Greasy Factoid 3: “As a means of helping Canada balance its books, it is not asking too much of an aging population to log two more years of work before collecting the federal pension.”

Gord says... In all the years that the government’s books have not been balanced, and there have been more than a few, how many times has a Prime Minister talked about making people “log two more years of work” in order to create a revenue stream for himself? And once the door is open, when will he ask for three, then four more years of work so that we can all work together to balance his books?

Before any senior citizens reach for their wallets they should ask, why are Conservative PM Harper’s books so out of balance that he must with-hold their long awaited benefits? What has happened to his primary revenue streams over the years? Why does this smell like bologna and social engineering all in the same sandwich?

Without answers to the above, Sonneberg and the PM may in fact be asking way too much to help Canada balance its books.

Greasy Factoid 4: “The Canadian economy is not as labour-intensive as it was 40 years ago. And workers today are in better condition in their 60s than their predecessors.”

Gord says... Just because workers are not breaking their back as often (machines are doing more of the work in some cases) doesn’t mean they have to work longer to help PM Harper balance his budget. And because people are reaching their 60s in better shape could also mean they will benefit more from the benefits they supported through taxation policies. (Thus the term OAS ‘benefits’.

Greasy Factoid 5: “Phasing in 67 as the new retirement age at the rate of one month per year for 24 years should give everyone plenty of time to adjust.”

Gord says... Phasing in 66 as the new retirement age at the rate of one month per year for 12 years should give everyone plenty of time to adjust too. Let's do some more math. Phasing in 70 as the new retirement age at the rate of one month per year for 60 years should give everyone plenty of time to adjust as well, especially if everybody agreed with Sonneberg's hasty editorializing.

Do you?

Stay tuned. More to follow.

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Please click here to read 2,012 Challenges in Modern Times PT 2

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2,012 Challenges in Modern Times PT 2

[“It may just be a coincidence, but I have created a list of 2,012 challenges we face in modern times, and here it is, the year 2012.” G.Harrison, Feb. 13, 2.012 Challenges]

Recently, a writer cleared his throat, did some hasty editorializing (aka Challenge in modern times #412) and informed readers that “Canadians have to come to terms with the idea of a higher retirement age.” (Monte Sonneberg, ‘Pension reform requires sacrifice from everyone’, Feb. 7, London Free Press)

Really? That’s the only direction we can go as a nation? Make people work longer before receiving some benefits?


["2,012 Challenges in Modern Times - a brilliant book!"]

Though Monte doesn’t impress me much with his opening gambit, he tries really hard to convince people he’s right by sharing a compilation of related facts and details, in his opinion. His facts can be called ‘greasing the rails under hasty editorializing’, or ‘Challenge in modern times #413.’

He writes the following:

Greasy Factoid 1: “Age 65 has historically been used to determine eligibility for Old Age Security. This milestone was set at a time when seniors considered themselves fortunate to live till their 70s.”

Gord says... Now that we live longer, some people do want to work longer, for various reasons, as mentioned in PT 1. But our longer life span is not a compelling reason to deny benefits longer. There are 4,367, 892 better things to do than slug it out at work for an extra two years, and that’s just in Canada.

Greasy Factoid 2: “Today, thanks to improvements in health care, seniors routinely lead active lives into their 80s.”

Gord says... Yes, health care is improved and most workers have helped pay for the improvements. Some may, as a result, wish to be active at work until they’re carried out in a pine box. Let them. But ‘better health care’ that doesn’t mean all Canadians must consider staying at work longer. Many may wish to enjoy their good health while expanding their garden, or while doing one of the other 4,367,891 other worthwhile activities.

While readers check the veracity of my figures (I.e., is it “4,367, 892 better things to do” or some other huge number?), I’ll prepare a comment about Greasy Factoid 3.

More to follow.

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Please click here to read 2,012 Challenges in Modern Times PT 1

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Zoom w a View: “One of the greatest old general stores in Ontario”

This photo from Wawa, Ontario is going on five years old, and is from a motorcycle trip I took in August, 2007 to Thunder Bay.


The subject, one of the greatest old general stores in Ontario, is about 100 years old, I think. I’m only going by fuzzy recollections.

As well, I can’t recall it’s name. I know it’s not Robinson’s General Store, because I’m pretty sure that one is in Dorset, Ontario.

It might be Young’s General Store, situated just off the Trans-Can 17, as one enters Wawa.

Maybe you can help. Does the moose or old guy in the flannel shirt look familiar to you?

[Photo by G.Harrison]

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Please click here for more Zoom w a View.

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Motorcycle Miles: PT 5 “Vancouver Island or Bust”

[“If I notice any new metal sculptures beside the highway in Massey I’ll stop for photos. Adding an extra five minutes to my journey won’t bother me in the least.” G.Harrison, Feb. 10, PT 4, Vancouver Island or Bust]

This summer, in July, after leaving the unique metal sculptures of Massey behind me, I’ll ride toward Sault Ste. Marie, my first glimpse of Lake Superior and the town of Wawa on Trans-Canada highway 17.


["Sweet campsite" (one of many): Agawa Bay, August 2007]

My Virago 1100 will be humming like a finely tuned Swiss watch and with two days of riding behind me I’ll feel at home with the bike, the tarmac, my leather coat, gloves and heavy black boots. As per usual, a snippet from a ’60’s song will be stuck inside my head, repeating itself as the miles disappear. And I’ll be singing as part of a skilled background chorus, my rhythm in sync with the Virago’s pistons.


["View opposite my campsite": Agawa Bay]

Before reaching Wawa I will stop for certain at three places for breaks. The first - along the side of the highway near Batchawana Bay, for the view. The second - at Agawa Bay Park, home to some of the sweetest camp sites in Ontario, also for the view. The third - at a full-service center near Pancake Bay, for gas, because there aren’t too many places with gas along the way and in 2007 I only reached Wawa thanks to fumes.

While at the gas station I’ll also buy, as per habit, a few sundries for later in the day. (Definition - sundries, n., two cans of cold beer for the motel room in Wawa.)


["Sunset at Agawa Bay": Photos by G.Harrison]

And while in Wawa, I’ll walk down the street from the motel to one of the greatest old general stores in Ontario. Once inside I’ll take a few pictures of the camp and fishing gear on display from the early part of the last century, and one or two shots of the largest metal stove or store furnace I’ve ever seen.

I know I’ll drift off to sleep easily at the end of Day 3, with another 440 km. in the books, and with quiet thoughts about the next day’s detour to Hornepayne on my mind.

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Please click here to read Motorcycle Miles: PT 5 “Vancouver Island or Bust”

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Zoom w a View: Symmetrical Snowdrifts

As a child I grew used to seeing countless snowdrifts caught by the snow fence placed yearly at the edge of farmers' fields.

If my mother said to me, "Go outside and play in a snowdrift," I'd have millions from which to choose.


Yesterday morning, while peering out my back door, I was reminded of such times.

Q: How did I help create a few symmetrical drifts?

A: By not hanging up my aluminum ladder.

[Photo by G.Harrison]

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Please click here for more Zoom w a View

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2,012 Challenges in Modern Times PT1

It may just be a coincidence, but I have created a list of 2,012 challenges we face in modern times, and here it is, the year 2012.

The list - a fat tome, really - is based on opinion, speculation, suspicion, the odd fact or detail, and indigestion, or the feeling I get as soon as I hear a certain type of writer, politician or prognosticator clear his/her throat.


["The tome just keeps getting fatter": photo GH]

Let me give you an example from one of the middle pages.

Challenge in modern times #412: Hasty editorializing

In Monte Sonneberg’s recent ‘point of view’ (‘Pension reform requires sacrifice from everyone’, Feb. 7, London Free Press) a few good points about pensions are shared.

He writes, for example, “Given that companies are stockpiling the proceeds of recent corporate tax reductions, perhaps pension reform could coincide with an increase in the corporate tax rate.”

If that’s how he'd started his article I’d have initially thought Monte was sticking up whole-heartedly for the little guy or at least trying to get corporate Canada to take carry a fair load.

But nope. The article starts with the following:

“Canadians have to come to terms with the idea of a higher retirement age.”

WTHeck? Really? Is ‘a higher retirement age’ for the majority of Canadians the key plank in pension reform? Did I miss the referendum, straw vote, memo or nation-wide telephone poll?

Phffft! I don’t think so. Monte is just taking a quick stab at telling us what to believe, but he misses the mark with me.

Admittedly, there are people who want to work past the age of 65 and retire when they’re more ready to hang up the old apron, or sell the old metal lunch bucket at a yard sale, so to speak. They have various reasons for doing so; e.g., they like their job, they want to be active as long as possible and make their own decisions about work and retirement, they have kids in college, they’re saving for a trip to Disneyland, they have a big mortgage, etc. But that doesn’t mean Canadians, or even the majority of Canadians, have to accept or ‘come to terms with the idea of a higher retirement age.’

Monte later tries to get more people on board re Freedom 67 by concluding that “a lot has to change before Canadians will accept (phasing in 67)”, e.g, the aforementioned change or increase to the corporate tax rate, MP pensions, etc. But before doing so he greases the rails under his hasty editorializing, which highlights, in my opinion, another challenge in modern times.

Challenge in modern times #413: Greasing the rails under hasty editorializing

Stay tuned...

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Please click here to read “Smoke and fire up your pants”

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Zoom w a View: “Frosty fingers were soon gone”

Shortly after opening the back door recently to take a picture of small snow drifts upon my deck, my fingers began to tingle from the cold.


[“I shut the door and frost upon the glass began to melt”]

I snapped a photo and shut the outer door. Then I noticed a frosty design upon the outer pane of glass and, hurrying - the warmth from inside the house not only warmed my fingers but attacked the patterns of frost - I caught one wintery scene.

And then it was gone.


[“The frost melted and disappeared, the spruce tree came into focus”]

With the frost melted, only a light covering of miniscule droplets remained, and the camera focussed more easily on the outdoor scene beside the back fence.

Winter. Lovely.

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Please click here for more Zoom w a View.

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