The Need For My New Blogsite

It is slightly over a year since I was diagnosed with a rare form of Encephalitis that almost took my life. Fortunately, it was identified and luckily for me action was taken immediately to stop the inflammation in my brain caused by the virus. I am still recovering from that illness and the damage it has left me with. I think I am doing quite a good job. The big dilemma that I have now is: what should I do with the rest of my life? 

 

I still enjoy reading about our local politicians and events that go on. It is very exciting to me.  I also like to browse the news about technology and new innovations going on. I am interested in financial matters and the banking industry. I find weather fascinating.  That's why I like to talk about that subject.

 

But now there are new topics that interest me so much.  How about those new homes that are being built in Tecumseh right behind me. They should be fun to discuss especially about their costs and whether it helps my home's value increase! Wait until the spring gets here and I can talk about planting flowers. I'm now involved with a game called Scrabble, which is a fun activity to play and you won't believe how many movies I have watched over the last while.  Oh and books. I love to read. Winston Churchill was quite a fascinating man and I have many of his books to enjoy.  Maybe you can suggest other books that I might enjoy taking out from the library too. 

 

There are lots of different topics to write about that I have barely written about before. To me now, they are very important.

 

In other words, there are lots of things to discuss of which I really did not do for so many years that are very important. Yes, there were many of those debates on subject matters that I was writing about which had such an influence. Given my state of affairs now, they really just doesn't seem all that important to me today because their solutions are obvious. For whatever reason, our leaders just seem incapable of getting things solved.  After a year of not being able to keep up-to-date on news because of my illness, when I started doing so again I did not see a lot of changes that had been made. 

 To be honest, that surprised me and really bothered me.

There is still fighting over the same ridiculous events that were outstanding before. Now, as an example, you will now understand a little better why I don't want to do very much now to write about the building of a new Ambassador Bridge. I've written about it for over a decade and all that is happening is what I was predicting for so long. Accordingly, I've had enough of the subject and just wrote a column telling you what should be done and that I'm sick and tired of writing any more about it. And I won't!

 

I really do believe that what is important is to write about where I am these days because it similar for so many other people. I'm hopeful that what I write about will be useful for people around my age and for those who are even much younger as well who can learn from me. After all, what people of my age are experiencing is something new for our Society.  Let's talk about it and discuss.

We are people who are post-World War II who have dealt for so many years with new experiences that have an impact on us and which influence us. Let's teach each other about that. That experience that we talk about can also now be used as well by those who are our children and grandchildren who, I think, will find this information useful for their lives as well as they grow older. They can certainly teach us things as well. 

I'm happy that I was able to get a new blog site created so I can post about many subjects that may or even may not interest you. Please come over to my new blog site and take a look at what I have to write about. 

Right now, writing articles for you, dear reader, is very important in my life. The whole concept makes me think a lot better than I did before. I have to get my brain working in order to overcome the problems that I developed because of my sickness. I truly want to overcome it and writing an article for you to read is a good way for me to be doing so.

It's That Special Day

What a great day today!

While it is a fabulous one for Marsha and me as a wedding anniversary, it is that important a day for me especially because of what I have lived through for a bit over a year now because of what she  has done.

Thanks to Marsha who has worked so hard for  me, I have lived to celebrate another wedding anniversary with her.  Because of her efforts, it has become one of  many more that we will celebrate together.

No wonder we met so many years ago and got married so soon afterwards!  She is a special woman  who is so important to my life. 

Thank you Marsha....for being my wife.  Happy 40 (plus one) anniversary!

Very Special Day

 

Tomorrow, January 26, is a very important day for my wife, Marsha and for myself. 

It is our 41st wedding anniversary! 

More importantly, it is of significance because our life has become so much better. It is really our first anniversary time-period in our new life together that we share between us as I am recovering from my illness.

Yes, our marriage has gone on for many years and will go on for many more. In fact, our marriage is even better and happier between us now than it ever has been before! Marsha has always been a fabulous woman as far as I am concerned. She is my partner who has helped me to recover so much over the past year and for which I am so grateful. 

January 26. What a day that will be because of what has happened over the last 12 months. I don't want to talk a lot about the events in 2015 since the beginning of the year because, dear reader, if you have been reading my other entries on my blog, you'll be quite familiar with what has happened and with what I and my family have had to deal. Yet, I just still have that important need personally to talk about it a bit at least one more time. Then, I want to forget about it because I believe my life has changed dramatically for the better. Forever! I do not want to remember any more about the near tragedy of the past. 

As I'm sure that you remember, on December 31, 2014/January 1, 2015, I had to go to hospital because of an illness that I was suffering. I had gone home on the 31st because not much was going on there even though I had stayed around for a good number of hours. I thought I was feeling better. As far as I was concerned, they did not seem to know what the cause of my illness was anyway. However, I had to return on January 1 because I was even more ill and in fact was admitted to hospital quickly because of how sick I was. The information I now have was that the Encephalitis virus that escalated to my brain may be fatal. If I had not been in the hospital, and at least the doctor who was looking after me had a suspicion what was going on and started immediate treatment, otherwise I would probably be dead now. The illness is complicated to deal with. I was quite fortunate being able to survive and that I was treated so well. 

Again, as you may recall, I was brought home in the middle of January and was treated under very expensive and intense medical care and medication for another month. I cannot recall anything that happened to me from January 1 until mid-February, believe it or not. I was so totally out of it by the care and medication I was under. My family worked so hard for me during this time frame at our house along with doctors, staff of hospital people and people from outside medical organizations. They were there to help me recover and to get better by doing all that work. 

Again, as you know, for about the next 3 months, I was pretty much in bed and could not move around a lot especially from my second-floor bedroom. I did not take the chance of walking down the stairs at all during that time because there was no guarantee that I could do that without falling down the stairs and hurting myself seriously. 

I started undertaking increased physical exercises that ultimately allowed me to start moving around. I was even able to go up and down the stairs very slowly towards the end of April. It was during this time frame that the decision was made for us to sell our home and to try and find a new place to live. I really could no longer live in a large, two-story home that was so expensive to look after. Fortunately, my wife assisted by my daughter and her boyfriend were able to accomplish what was necessary to do because of the excellent work provided by the real estate company that worked with us. We were able to sell our house within days once we put it on the market. That was something that I never expected to happen.  Accordingly, we had good reasons for our new life to begin. 

From the end of May, we started living in our new home in the Town of Tecumseh. It was really something that I never expected to happen since I was not very familiar with the Town at all. Our place though was a fabulous one, a townhouse, that we were able to purchase and which required relatively little work to fix up when we moved in. Moreover, living in a more quiet area allowed me, accompanied by my wife, to walk for several hours almost every day to get my physical condition improving dramatically. 

As I have been recovering over the past 12 months, I have talked to and met with so many people that I have known over the years who have been so kind in their relationship with me. Many of them came to our place to meet so that I could enjoy how well I was recovering in my life because they were such good people. To be quite direct about it, not one single person whom I have known has done anything wrong between us over the last year and has in fact made a lot of effort to help me get better. I'm so grateful for that. 

Of course, we met many of our new neighbours very soon after our move and have had a tremendous relationship with them.  Again, they are all good people and have offered us assistance to help me out if required once they knew what my condition was. I am grateful for them being so kind as well. 

By the way, I'm not going to talk about my wife and 2 children very much in this article. You know how appreciative I am of them if you have read anything at all that I have written since I started up this website. They made the decision to make me an important part of their lives to help me recover. The past year for them has been very difficult because they had to deal with a person who was very ill with a disease that not many medical people knew very much about. They had the difficult task of not only looking after me but also learning about something that was possibly so tragic for them as well. The 3 of them all did a remarkable job in helping me recover so very well in such a short period of time. Of course, there is an extra person to add on and that is my daughter's boyfriend, Bill, who was wonderful and also helped me recover.  

I do know that this year my children devoted so much of their lives to assist me out that has hurt them in a number of ways. They just stopped doing anything significant in their own lives to help out me and their mother whose life also changed so dramatically. Yet, I also know that their actions helped them change their lives for the better in a way that none of us ever expected would happen although it quite often does, as I have seen even in my own life with my parents.  As far as I personally am concerned, they should expect that they will do so well in the future because of how much they have learned in taking care of their parents over the past 12 months. 

As for Marsha, well, you know how strong she has become. She has become the key person in looking after me. She learned so quickly how to make my life better. I am not going to say anything else about that because you have read about it already on here.  

I have worked so hard to overcome the bad and believe that I have successfully done so with the assistance of so many terrific people. 

On our very special wedding anniversary tomorrow, the 26th day of January, I know for sure that we are going to work hard to make a fabulous meal and spend enjoyable time together. 

Thank you for reading and continuing to be part of my life!

Dell Does It So Well Again



Yes they do. After reviewing many computer products over the years, Dell seems to be continuing to provide all kinds of interesting offerings for purchasers and really sets the bar high for its competitors.

I'm hardly a computer expert. However, I don't think that is negative because most purchasers are not said to be an "expert." In truth, in my articles, I am just the average person who is going out into the marketplace to look for a piece of computer equipment to purchase. I get a new computer from Dell, work with it for a period of several weeks and then give my comments on it. I describe how I would use it as an individual and not as a professional who works in this area. I've been very fortunate that the equipment that I have been provided with are items that I would actually purchase and recommend to others.

If there were problems with a piece of equipment or if it was something that I would not be interested in purchasing, I would let you know about it in my article. I'm not going to promote something that will cost people lots of money if it is not worthwhile for them to spend a penny on it. I just won't do that.

I'm telling you about this, dear reader, just before I write the article about another piece of hardware that was provided to me by Dell. It is the Dell XPS 13 computer. I want you to understand why I write as I do about the equipment. To be direct, Dell's new equipment really is that excellent. I'm not sure that I have seen something that was designed so well before. I think that it gives Dell a huge advantage in the marketplace.

So what can I say to you? The first thing has to do with the package I received from Dell which was relatively small in size and very lightweight. Between you and me, dear reader, that made me a bit nervous. Why the heck was I getting such a relatively small computer that weighed so little? I wasn't sure if I was getting something that wasn't going to be satisfactory to me.

Well, was I ever wrong to be so anxious! Dell's XPS 13 computer was fantastic for me to use, weighing only 2-3 lbs. Here's how Dell describes it:

"The smallest 13-inch on the planet with the world’s first InfinityEdge display

More screen, less to carry: The virtually borderless InfinityEdge display maximizes screen space by squeezing a 13-inch display in an 11-inch frame. With a bezel only 5.2 mm thin, weighing in at only 2.7 pounds and measuring a super slim 9-15 mm, the XPS 13 is exceptionally thin and light."
 
The description above is accurate as purchasers will enjoy an unbelievably lightweight product that offers many distinct and unique features.

Take a look at its size for instance. Here is some information about the size of the Dell XPS 13 computer. "Height: 9-15mm (0.33 – 0.6") | Width: 304mm (11.98") | Depth: 200mm (7.88") | Starting at weight: 1.2 kg (2.7lbs) non-touch, 1.29kg (2.9lbs) touch."

Yes, the Dell XPS 13 computer is relatively small but after I started using it I was no longer concerned about its size. The display layout was great since the images were large enough to see.

The colour scheme was extremely sharp. It really made everything look crisp and if you needed to adjust anything, which I didn't, the functions were simple to alter based on your preferences.

At times, usability is a problem for those who are accustomed to larger-sized laptops, but I appreciated how they built the laptop to make it perform like a powerhouse computer.

Dell gave itself a lot of credit about how they designed the XPS laptops:

"XPS laptops are thoughtfully designed for performance and function... XPS laptops are precision crafted from printing materials... for incredible durability and a superior experience...

We clearly fit a stunning 13.3 inch display in an 11 inch size laptop making the XPS 13 the smallest 13 inch laptop on the planet."

It is described in this way as well with respect to its screen:

"Stunning UltraSharp™ QHD+ resolution (3200x1800): An optional upgrade gives you eye-popping detail with 5.7 million pixels (276 ppi)."

The colour was quite amazing on the XPS laptop computer screen with its sharpness and detailed graphics.

Let me give you another quote from Dell. They are very confident in how they are promoting this new computer:

"Microsoft and Dell have just raised the bar. Again.

The best windows ever meets the best Dell ever. The result? A whole new era of power, performance and productivity."

It is amazing how two huge companies in the computer/software fields are partnering and publicizing their advantages. The word "best" is something that the parties have to be pretty accurate about if they are to be taken seriously. Otherwise, it ends up being a huge disadvantage for the customer.

There is a lot more from the technical side that you, dear reader, should take a look at by going to the Dell website and reading about the Dell XPS 13 computer given its many unique features and you can easily contact a representative from Dell to answer any of your questions.

So that's it, dear reader. For a small little laptop, this one certainly holds its own and is an exciting additional to the Dell family. With an attractive looking design, superior performance and long-lasting battery life, the Dell XPS 13 computer is a fantastic one that will definitely leave you feeling technologically-refreshed for the start of 2016!

For more information, visit the Dell website: http://www.dell.com/ca/p/xps-13-9350-laptop/pd?c=ca&cs=cadhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

I Have Had Enough With The Border File

 

 What a title isn't it! 

How could that possibly be written you might be wondering considering how much work I have done. It is a very simple answer. There is no reasonable alternative to what I am going to suggest.  If that is so, I'm going to set it out here and then, unless there is some significant issue that comes up, I am not going to write anything more about the border file. I have had enough of this topic and am not going to waste any more time on it. 

I have been involved in dealing with the border file for over a decade. I have been involved in a number of online publication websites that I ran by myself or with others where I have written about it and dealing with different public organizations with others in which the border was the main element. 

Of course, as you  recall, I left the local publication just over a year ago. Then, days later, I almost died. I was hospitalized and had to deal with the encephalitis virus itself and the consequences it brought, which took me so long to try to get back. I'm still not there yet, but I'm getting better. During this time frame, I did not do much writing at all. 

With the nonsense still going on between all the parties involved in this matter, I saw some new information about events that happened to another bridge. This event  became to me a key border element. Thanks to it, I now know about how to get a Windsor/Detroit solution that is workable. 

To be blunt about it, I'm sick and tired of the ridiculous situation that has gone on for so many years here. Let me be direct: I am completely fed up with it all.  

Here's something that has happened in Canada recently that could happen in our area with respect to the Ambassador Bridge. Given how old that bridge is, it too could have a mess that is very serious. While not the same event, the Bridge's old age could produce something similar in Windsor/Detroit if something happened that resulted in a serious flaw: 

"Nipigon River Bridge critical to Canada's transportation network  

The success of the country's commercial transportation network hinges on the Nipigon River Bridge, a vulnerability exposed when the northern Ontario crossing broke Sunday and severed the trucking route between Eastern and Western Canada.  

Roughly 1,300 trucks cross over that stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway each day, carrying $100 million worth of food, mail, machinery and other goods, according to 2012 figures provided by the Canadian Trucking Alliance.  

"Every truck that drives across Canada, will go across that bridge," Nipigon Mayor Richard Harvey said Monday. "The country has been cut in half … and from that perspective, it's an issue of national importance." 

Police initially shut the bridge to traffic Sunday evening after the crossing's west side began to pull away from its abutment, lifting the deck by about 60 centimetres... 

There are rural logging roads in the area, about 100 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., but those don't have the infrastructure to support most commercial or passenger vehicles. There's no alternative to the bridge, other than taking a detour through the United States." (http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/nipigon-river-bridge-critical-to-canadas-transportation-network/ar-CCqLUb?li=AAggFp5) 

Seriously, is it any different in the Windsor area other than the operation here is so  much bigger? Oh sure, there may well be some other crossings for cars here but are there really any others for trucks that make any sense! Isn't truck crossing so important for the Ambassador Bridge for the success economically in this country. The answers are obvious especially considering how important a role it has for our area. 

Without going into a long explanation about why I'm doing it, my solution to how the border file should be finally completed should be obvious. Is it really any different from what I talked about starting more than a decade ago? Of course not. I really have been writing about it so many times and for so long. I finally decided, given my condition healthwise, that I merely have to discuss this one more time to give the best solution and then get out of it. 

The reality really is, given what happened on the Nipigon River Bridge, that something similar could happen here after such long-term, ridiculous fighting between the Governments and the Ambassador Bridge Company. 

IT MUST STOP NOW! 

If the fighting does not, then the economic position between our 2 countries would collapse.  It could be even worse for Canada because what could happen is that the Canadian companies that are involved economically in this country would set up their operations in the United States instead. They would never want to cross the border again. 

For the last time, I'm going to set out what must be done to get this going again in the best possible manner between Canada and the United States. My solution is completely workable and frankly, is what I think that  all have known was going to happen but some hoped they could get something different.  

Let me set it out in a very simple fashion.  It is a Governments/Ambassador  Bridge Company deal and the ending of litigation forever: 

- The Bridge Company and the Governments of Canada and United States will join together to form a relationship in a border crossing company, either a new one or the Ambassador Bridge Company, in which the Bridge Company owns 90% of the shares and each of the Governments owns 5%. I believe that the structure is much better for the Governments because I believe that they are not entitled legally to build anything with respect to border crossing in this area.

 

-That Company will own, build and operate the new river border crossing between Windsor and Detroit that will now be a dual bridge operation.  Each of the Bridge Company and the Governments will be involved because of their shareholdings.

-For this new deal and given the shares that are going to be provided to them, the 2 Governments will pay significant sums of money that should be close to the cost of building the new bridge.  Right now, that money is a mere fraction of what was identified recently as the $5 billion plus cost to build the Governments' new bridge.

-The new Bridge will be built immediately and as quickly as possible. All 3 parties will agree on its construction solution. Once it is finished, then the old Ambassador Bridge will be closed down, updated and repaired. However, the old Bridge will generally not be used once fixed up except in emergency cases or if the traffic increases so dramatically that a 2nd bridge is required.

-If traffic increases very dramatically in the future, then it may well be necessary to build a bridge as the Governments were supposedly going to do so. If so, then the Ambassador Bridge Company will be responsible again to build it and it will form part of the existing company. The likelihood of this happening is quite remote.

-There will be a detailed agreement signed between the Ambassador Bridge Company and the 2 Governments that set out the terms of their relationship and the manner in which they will be operating the new border crossings. It will also require their settlement of their ongoing litigation to end those battles satisfactorily and to prevent them from happening again.

-There will be terms in the agreement that cover if a party wishes to sell its shares or to buy some of those of the other parties. This would be of particular importance primarily if the Bridge Company wished to sell out or to buy out the Governments.

Of course, there will have to be very detailed agreements signed between the parties but the important parts of it will be as set up above.  I hardly think that the contracts would be all that complicated to do. Nor do I really think that they will require a very long time to negotiate a settlement. What I have set out is relatively easy to accomplish and is absolutely consistent with what I believe the Law between the parties requires as a settlement. 

So that is it my dear friends. I'm not going to talk about the ending of the horrible relationship between the parties any more because it should have been something that was agreed to  many, many years ago. In fact, the Ambassador Bridge Company's position as far as I'm concerned has been improved and it is in the interests of the Governments to resolve all of it now. 

That is it. The end. 

Now, I can go and start writing about other matters in my website. I have had enough of the border file and the nasty relationships that I have seen for far too long and which never should have happened in the first place. 

End of topic!

Website Visitors!

It is unbelievable!  You have done it, dear readers.  You have made me feel so good!

In such a relatively short period of time, many of you have come to  my new website to read articles  that I and others have written.  All that I can really do is thank you so much for doing so.

To be honest, it is a remarkable way for me to have done something in my life to help overcome the weaknesses that I had after my horrible illness earlier in the year.

Here is the data  that was provided to me by the website to show how well  I have been doing  because you, dear readers,  have come here to read what has been posted:

Over 10,000 visits to  my website in such a short period of time.  I just cannot believe it to be  quite direct but I am so thankful to you all.

I will keep on writing and I hope that you will keep on coming too to read it. 

Thank you once again so very much.

My Final Medical Article

I want to thank everyone for reading my blogs about my medical illness that struck me last year. If you are just finding my blog right now, you can go back to previous ones and read about my experience.  I am very fortunate to be alive and recovering well, after suffering from a rare virus that attacked my brain.   

Of course, my family members and my friends have been completely supportive to help me improve my condition, which I would say is a huge part of the healing process.  I enjoy having people come over to visit with myself and my wife and so I am appreciative to those who have taken time out of their own busy and complicated lives to spend time with us. I love living in Tecumseh. Our new home welcomes friendly faces who bring positive discussions and laughter. 

With the help of many professionals, including: our family doctor, the entire specialist team at Hotel Dieu, my neurologist, physiotherapist, various personal support workers, social worker and dietician, I am feeling in relatively good physical and mental shape.  I am keeping up with my exercise routines and looking forward to incorporating new activities when I am up to it.  My diet has also changed dramatically and I have learned about proper nutrition for my needs. I have red meat only a few times per week, but more chicken and lots of delicious seafood.  I do not eliminate anything, as that can cause its own problems, so it is moderation and proper serving sizes. Every meal contains a good serving of vegetables and once in a while I get a nice treat to finish off the meal.   

I have had such a good relationship with all of the medical people who looked after me and made sure that I was taking actions that would improve my health condition. I cannot be happier about their fine plans for me especially when I had a few instances of very serious concern which they dealt with successfully.  To be direct about it, in just about every case with the people with whom I was dealing with, they were fabulous helping me out and my family as well.  I have never had such great medical treatment like this before and am so grateful to all of them. 

I don't want to go into a lot of detail about my treatment from the time I returned home but will give you an overview of some of it so that you may understand what my illness required. 

After that first month on returning home and taking very sophisticated medical treatment, I had a number of different doctors and other medical personnel that I saw either by going to their offices or having them come to my place for additional treatment for me.  I still see some of them.  I probably have lost count on how many medical meetings I have had but they were all so important to take.  The number I take now is sharply reduced because of improvement in my medical condition. 

In fact, for those first few months, I could not even cut my food but had to have everything cut for me into small pieces so that I could eat. I understand now how difficult all this was for my wife because she had to look after me. However to be honest, she hid those difficulties from me so that I could bring my life back to normal. She was truly an amazing woman with everything that she did for me for so long without any complaints. This situation was very physically and mentally draining and I really never knew how hard she was working because she never let me know of any concerns she had. Not once.  

Just remember one thing, dear reader. The rare encephalitis virus that I somehow contracted is not very well known and has required special assistance to make my life better.  Honestly, I don't think that I will ever recover completely because it attacked my brain so aggressively. This is disheartening, but I will do the best that I can. Sometimes I get sad at what has happened, but then I am reminded of how terrible things could have been, not just for me, but my family.  It's a blessing to wake up each day and I try not to fret about the future. We now take things one day at a time, or at least try to.  So far, all of my treatment providers have done an excellent job to help me out and to teach me new techniques. There are still a whole bunch of new exercises that I have to learn about to help me improve. I hope to do that soon. 

One big surprise that I'm experiencing is that my weight has increased not because I'm eating a lot of extra food but because my exercising routines are helping to build up muscle. I did get disturbed when the weight increased but I noticed that my physical condition was not changing negatively, so it was a positive outcome. As a senior, it is important to build up strength because as we age, our bones get weaker.  I do not intend to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger though. lol 

The long and the short of it is that I have been treated so well by so many delightful professionals whom I have met over the last year. I'm very grateful to them! 

I'm sure that there's a lot more to talk about but I think it is enough. I probably wrote too much about all this today but I wanted to give you as much information as I could that was helpful. 

My life has been very difficult over the past year but I can see now that it has improved dramatically as well. I'm very optimistic that my next year will make everything even better for me. To be honest, I'm happy that I survived and have survived so well. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly, or just write me and say hi! I love to talk to people.

My daughter's Top 10 movies of 2015

Here is another great post by my daughter, Melissa.

___________________________________________

I certainly saw a lot of movies in 2015. I realize that everyone has their own opinions on what makes a great film, and so you may look at my list and think "Is she nuts? That movie was awful!" Or you may say "Yes, spot on, that was a wonderful film!"  Regardless, I just thought I'd provide you with my personal list with description links, in case you want to watch them.

With saying that, leave me a comment and let me know your favs of 2015! :)

Deli Man (documentary)  -  A fascinating look inside the world of delicatessens, especially in the Jewish culture. No joke, I was looking up the closest kosher deli after watching this.

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – I will admit, not as good as the first one, but I still say it is a top choice. I loved the cast (especially Dev Patel, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy) the playfulness and touching moments throughout the whole movie.

Just Before I Go  - A real surprise on this one.  It looks like a no-brainer comedy romp from the trailer, but I will say look beyond those moments of odd-ball humour because it will reveal more than you realize. If you are hesitant about seeing Seann William Scott (aka “Stifler” from American Pie) I can definitely say his performance is not one to be missed.  Keep in mind that the soundtrack is great too, especially Snow Patrol - I Wear Your Heart On My Sleeve.

Side note:  I could not for the life of me find the actual full version song without movie dialogue (seems no one else can either, as I even contacted the Snow Patrol page), so this was the closest I was able to find. (Thank you Ghost Writer from Youtube!)

Tomorrowland  - I really liked this movie.  Visuals were incredible and I found the story to be inspiring. Many great quotes that I felt connected to.

Shaun The Sheep –  Yes, I just fell in love with this movie. I've seen it three times now.  Adorable story, very inspiring and excellent British stop-motion animation.

The Gift  -  A total mind f*ck from start to finish. Suspenseful enough to keep your eyes glued to the screen. Fantastic acting and completely unpredictable.

He Named Me Malala  -  A great documentary film about hope, survival, human spirit and the power of compassion not only for ourselves, but for the world.

The Walk -  The incredible true story about high-wire artist Philippe Petit's attempt to walk on a tightrope attached to the north and south towers of the World Trade Centre.  I thought Joseph-Gordon Levitt was stellar in this role. Also the movie is packed full of spectacular footage.

Bridge of Spies – Spy junkies unite! This is a historical thriller that I found very intriguing I am a huge fan of Tom Hanks, but I will say that it's been hit or miss the last while with his performances, up until I saw this gem.  A powerful movie, (be warned that it is dialogue-heavy) but an intelligent film.   Way to go Steven Spielberg!

Man Up - I love my British films and Simon Pegg has easily become one of my favourite actors.   Predictable, sweet but fun to watch.

Oh and just an honourable mention because it had to fit in here somewhere! (No sorry, it's not Star Wars, even though I thought it was a superb movie!)

Antman - Paul Rudd was awesome, great effects AND you will hear Disintegration by The Cure. I won't spoil where it turns up, but if you're a Cure fan like me, your heart will certainly skip a beat. Upon hearing the song in the theatre, I had a perma-grin on my face throughout the whole film.

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You can follow my daughter's blog at: A Muse's Life

Going For A Pleasant Winter Walk

We are having another peculiar winter time period now, aren't we? The climate is so bizarre everywhere.  That's an earlier time-frame pic of me in my winter outfit for which I geared up assuming lots of snow this winter.

 

Sure it is not completely warm outside, but really we have not had the horrific experience in very low temperatures so far that we've had in the past.  Why, my wife and I were able on January 7th to go out for a nice walk in the afternoon without freezing to death. I do admit however that we were not as long outside as we normally were when walking in the area in the warmer months, but we still did have a good one.

 

In fact, my son, wife and I were out even earlier today doing some shopping. The temperature today did not prevent that from happening. My son and I around noon went out for a stroll and then my wife and I did so later on too to go to the nearby Library. 

We really have had so little in snowfalls that I am enjoying this winter so far. In other years, we've had extremely low temperatures and big snowfalls and storms by now. I can recall how many times we've had to clean driveway when living in our previous home, so that we could move our car from the garage to enter into the street and then return.  Since we were sharing a driveway with neighbours, we split on the cost of a snowplowing company, but sometimes if there wasn't a substantial amount, it didn't make sense for them to come.  There were also other times when they had numerous  clients and were backed up, so it was important to get the snow shovelled/plowed as best as we could to go to appointments. This did take a toll on my body a bit, especially my back because of standing outside in the cold for long periods of time.   

With our move to Tecumseh, it feels strange sometimes not getting out my snow blower that I had used in the past.  However, I am liking this new concept of maintenance-free living. My daughter insisted this was the way to go, even though for a short period of time, I was insistent on just downsizing to a smaller house. It is a nice luxury being in a townhouse condo where all the outside duties are included with the monthly fees. Goodbye snowplow, goodbye lawnmower!  

I have always been very fascinated with weather. Maybe a little too involved, but it is a great interest of mine that not a lot of people know about. I like tracking weather patterns. We have a joke at home that if I didn't go to law school to become a lawyer, I probably would have been a meteorologist.  

Some are predicting a relatively warm winter this year, with some fluctuating temperatures and then a burst of cold winter weather.  It changes all the time, so I am interested in what will actually occur and if I should be wearing t-shirts or heavy sweaters.  This was an interesting prediction article:    

"Don’t write off winter yet.  

For months, a strong El Niño has had weather experts predicting a mild winter but The Weather Network strayed from the pack Tuesday by saying in its seasonal forecast to expect a mild start but a frigid end for winter. Windsor-Essex and southern Ontario should expect to see classic winter weather especially by February, network meteorologist Doug Gillham said Tuesday.  

“We expect a milder winter than the past two years. That’s the good news that a lot of people are excited about,” Gillham said.  

“We’re different than some of the other forecasts out there. While we think it’s going to be milder, we don’t think you can write this winter off completely as a mild winter from start to finish.” (Sharon Hill, Windsor Star December 1, 2015  http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/dont-write-off-winter-yet-says-the-weather-network   )  

Anyway, I think that is all I'm going to write about respect to weather and our Condo snow cleaning because I have not yet seen so far a big snowfall. I hope that if we do get a large amount, our condo corporation will have the appropriate team ready to handle the tasks effectively. I will probably go outside to take pictures of all the hard workers and machinery that they will use!  

I am now going to sit back and read for a while, as my wife makes me a warm cup of milk; my favourite beverage of choice to drink and very healthy to keep my bones nice and strong.  

This is the kind of winter I could really come to enjoy.

More Interesting Media Articles

 

Periodically, I am going to post stories that I find interesting. Just to make sure that you understand, I do not necessarily take a position for or against what is disclosed in any of the articles. If I do comment, they are just my opinions and you can come to your own conclusions.

This still mystifies me. 

I never understood why the Mayor sat on this information for several months and then only revealed it and discussed it around budget time. Clearly, it was a time when he needed cash to be used and it was readily available. 

Maybe he should have told us why he was waiting for so long. As you will see subsequently, there may well have been a reason for it: 

"Windsor mayor slams economic development group for sitting on $2 million

Dilkens 'flabbergasted' money wasn't spent on attracting new jobs 

CBC News Posted: Nov 30, 2015 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/windsor-economic-development-1.3343948

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says the Windsor-Essex Economic Development Commission didn't spend $2 million in its budget.  

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens can't understand why the region's economic development corporation is sitting on $2 million in unspent budget money, considering the city's soaring unemployment figures. 

Sometime within the last two months, the city discovered the Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation was sitting on the cash, which is the equivalent of a year's operating revenue, according to Dilkens. 

The mayor dropped news about the unspent money while laying out Windsor's 2016 draft budget proposal during a news conference at city hall Monday." 

Is this budgetary nonsense 

What is the game that is being played, in respect to the City's budget position? 

"Only 'faint' hope exists for eighth-straight zero per cent tax hike

Craig Pearson, Windsor Star

Published on: December1, 2015

http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/only-faint-hope-exists-for-eighth-straight-zero-per-cent-tax-hike

Windsor’s impressive string of property tax freezes may be over — though Mayor Drew Dilkens still holds out a glimmer of hope.

After seven-straight years of no property tax increases, the City of Windsor on Monday publicly released a five-inch thick collection of budget documents, with administration recommending a 1.75 per cent tax hike. 

The good news is that for the first time in years, the city is projecting about $1 million in increased revenue, thanks to more building projects, and a decrease in education costs, due to fewer students.

“It’s possible to get to zero, depending on what the growth increase is and what the education decrease is, but at this point I would call it the faint-hope clause,” Dilkens said at a news conference on the budget, where he noted that agencies, boards and commissions will cost $3 million extra if not trimmed.  It’s going to be really tough to find the $3 million. 

“But we can get pretty darn close.”

Of course, this has to be considered as complete and utter nonsense in my opinion considering that the Mayor came up with a huge sum of money a few minutes before midnight on the day in which the Budget was discussed. That money became part of the Budget and was used.

Remarkable isn't it:
 

"Mayor defends last-minute $10 million capital budget items

Craig Pearson, Windsor Star

Published on: December 23, 2015
http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/mayor-defends-last-minute-10-million-capital-budget-items

  

Some councillors are wondering if Mayor Drew Dilkens plays favourites, after he added an extra $10 million for councillors to vote on Monday at the end of an 11 1/2-hour marathon budget session.

The concerned councillors called Dilkens’s introduction of a 2016 enhanced capital budget list unfair in two ways. 

First, they say they had no warning, following a session that started at noon and ended close to midnight. 

Second, the mayor’s “ward priorities” mostly only included specific goodies for half the councillors: Hilary Payne, Ed Sleiman, Paul Borrelli, Fred Francis and Jo-Anne Gignac. 

Coun. Bill Marra voted for the zero per cent tax increase and for the $112-million capital budget, as well as the $512-million budget over five years. But he did not support the $10-million enhanced capital budget. 

“Overall, it was an excellent budget,” said Marra, noting that saving such things as Atkinson Pool and the Water World community centre felt great. “But I voted against the enhanced budget, which was the table drop given to us at 11:20 p.m. for a proposed $10 million in capital spending without the benefit of any budget details.” 

Marra feels the enhanced capital budget ward projects were not evenly spread across the city. 

“If you drill down on some of the details, it’s interesting that it hit a few wards and not others,” Marra said. “And we all have priority projects.” 

Coun. Irek Kusmierczyk also wondered about how the projects were decided. 

“I’ve never seen that much money go out the door without any prior consultation between mayor and council,” Kusmierczyk said. “That’s not how I conduct business.” 

But Mayor Drew Dilkens said the same budget process happens every year, including with former Mayor Eddie Francis. 

“This is something that councillors — certainly, the ones who are complaining the loudest — are very used to,” Dilkens said. “This is what we’ve done for many, many years.” 

Should this be the way that this City uses taxpayer money when dealing with the City's budget funds?

Does it really make sense for it to happen this way "every year" as was done "for many, many years." 

A fantastic program from England 

This was the University group which I joined in London, England when I received my LL.M back many years ago. Here is something that I saw for which people who plan to go to London for their graduate degree ought to consider:
 

Scholarship Program

The application process for the 2016-2017 academic year is now open.  

For more than two decades the main focus of the LGAC has been to provide scholarships to Canadian graduate students studying in London and living at Goodenough College, the pre-eminent residential college for international graduate students in London. Superbly located in central London, the College attracts members from over 80 countries, creating a rich cultural and academically diverse residential community. Goodenough College is comprised of two main residential halls: London House, which re-opened in September, 2014 after an extensive renovation, and William Goodenough House which was fully renovated in 2011-12... 

Since 1990, the LGAC has funded Scholarships for 167 students with awards totaling over $1 million."
 

As people get older, the need for money for health matters gets bigger
 

It should hardly be a surprise to anyone that the demand for money for seniors is growing dramatically. As I can easily verify given what has happened to me, as people get older their need with respect to health issues gets bigger as well.   

The number of seniors is growing significantly as people are living much longer now. Accordingly, a lot more money needs to be found to help deal with their medical problems, especially those who are very ill.

Here is one story about that involving one organization: 

"Surge in demand puts Alzheimer Society services at capacity for first time

Beatrice Fantoni, Windsor Star

Published on: December 1, 2015

http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/surge-in-demand-puts-alzheimer-society-services-at-capacity-for-first-time  

 

For the first time in its 34-year history the local Alzheimer Society is running programs at capacity and has even had to place clients on a waiting list as local demand surges for respite care.

“At times we’re showing small wait lists,” said Sally Bennett Olczak, CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Windsor and Essex County
 

Waiting lists for the agency’s on-site daycare program and in-home respite care range from two to eight people, Bennett Olczak said, and the wait can be anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. 

The growing demand is primarily due to the fact that more people in Windsor-Essex are being diagnosed with dementia and more families are seeking out support services. And the number will only keep growing, she said. Right now, there are about 6,100 people in Windsor-Essex diagnosed with dementia, Bennett Olczak said. That number is expected to double in a generation’s time."

Happy New Year, And A New Life For Me

Early part of 2015 - home to recover, working to get my strength back

Celebrating my daughter's birthday in Dec. 2015. Feeling healthy and happy.
Pic taken by my daughter, Melissa.

In case you did not know it, today is my first anniversary.

 

The celebration, it has nothing to do with my birthday or my wedding or any other activity that might be considered similar.  It all has to do really with me staying alive after approaching death as a result of an illness like Encephalitis that can escalate.  It is the kind of situation that is hard to figure out in the first place and one that develops very quickly to bring one's life to an end unless it is successfully looked after.

 

Fortunately, my doctor in the Emergency Department in the Hospital who had some information about my illness was able to treat me while my medical information was sent to Toronto for final confirmation so that I could be looked after. He was able to keep me alive and that permitted me to be treated successfully subsequently when my illness was identified.

 

Obviously, I'm very grateful for what happened and thrilled at the great job undertaken by so many medical people in our area, along with the support of my friends and of course, my family. Their kindness and best wishes were very important and make me feel optimistic about my future.

 

This last week been very difficult for me because I was afraid that I might have a relapse.  I was concerned that maybe I really was not treated completely. Each day I did my best to try to occupy my time so that I would not think about my past and worry about some of the previous events re-occurring.

 

One matter of concern involved my support worker who regularly comes to see me. I was supposed to have my usual time on Friday, January 1, 2016, so I planned accordingly for that. Unfortunately, because I was not a seven-days-a-week receiver of medical care, my treatment day was rescheduled to December 31, 2015. I was very upset when I was suddenly told this news. I had spent so much time planning about what I was going to do on January 1 that I was very distressed at what was being proposed.

 

The long and short of it is that I spoke to a number of the more senior employees at the organization that assists me and asked them to send my worker to me on January 1, 2016. Finally, after a considerable number of telephone calls, they thankfully agreed!  Everything turned out well and I was very happy.

 

To you, dear readers, may I thank so many of you for coming to my new website.  It is a pleasure knowing that you are still loyal to what I write. Your attendance has made it so easy for me to prepare all of these stories on so many different subjects. There will be a lot more to come as well.

 

Please excuse me now. It's time that I turn away from my horrible past and continue to work towards a great future.