An Unbelievable Event For Me

It really is fun writing articles for my own personal Website "TecumsehCityBlog" that I can post and hope that many people read.  I know that I do not write as many articles as I did before but my life is different now.  Accordingly, I have had to adjust.

As well, I have to state that the writings are somewhat different these days compared with what I wrote before. Of course, a lot of the articles today are very similar to my past approach when I was dealing with "businesslike" articles on my old website. However, a good number of them are not the same at all now. They are a lot more personal in nature than before that allow me, dear reader, to tell you a lot about my life in a manner that I have not done previously. 

My whole life seems different as well these days. I don't mind sharing information about myself in a manner that I have not done before. I guess I just want you to know more about me because I think it may help you in dealing with some of the matters in your life. For the better, I trust! 

Let me give you one example of how my life has changed in a manner that seems very significant to me. All of a sudden in this incident, I remembered what I did about 50 years ago because of something that just recently had an influence on my life.  To be direct, I was just so amazed about what took place because I have no real explanation for it happening at all. I am just so pleased though that it did.

I happened to be on the Internet just doing some reading recently and came across a story dealing with a Judge in Ontario. The Judge's name was Russell Otter. 

The story was a very interesting one in the University of Toronto Faculty of Law Newsroom:

"The Honourable Justice Russell J. Otter '70 has become the first Canadian to be selected president of the American Judges Association. The AJA is the largest judges association in the United States, with more than 2,000 members, of whom approximately 15 per cent are Canadians.

Justice Otter became a provincial court judge in July 1993, currently sitting at Scarborough Courts.  He was elected president of the Ontario Conference of Judges in 1999.  From 2002-2015, he served as executive director of the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges.  The husband and father of two is also a proud grandfather of five, a marathoner and a long-standing volunteer fitness instructor at the YMCA." 

That was a rather significant role for the fellow who was the first Canadian appointed to this high position. In reading the story though, I thought that the name was a very familiar one to me although my familiarity was with the name "Russ." Interestingly, I read that his timeframe was exactly similar to mine. He graduated in 1970 from Law School, the same year that I did.

I have to admit when I looked at his photograph I did not recognize him at all. I did some more research into him and found a photo of him from the past. It looked exactly like one of the fellows I knew so well so many years before so that it confirmed that we were in fact classmates! He and I were people who knew each other very well for 3 years because we both were in the same Law School class at exactly the same time.  I have to admit as well that we were terrific friends during those 3 years because our backgrounds were similar. We dealt with each other so much and were great classmates together.

However, our lives changed subsequently because I went overseas for another year for my Master's Degree in Law. To be honest, when I came back, I really did not speak very much at all with him because I had my life that I was dealing with at the time that was obviously different from the one that he was experiencing. We were each doing our own careers. I think that I saw his name on several University of Toronto Law School matters over the years that he was involved in but my own life was so different that I did not participate in them. In fact, I eventually left Toronto to live in Windsor so that I really did not participate in very many U of T events in Toronto.

What it really meant to me is that while we were great friends for 3 years in Law School, our relationship changed so dramatically that we hardly spoke to each other for the next 40+ years. I have to admit that I knew very little of him during that timeframe and was very surprised when I read about his life. I immediately phoned him just so that I could say hello again to my fellow classmate after so many years.

Regretfully, although I had a terrific phone conversation with his secretary-- I think that was her position-- we did not speak with each other in that phone call. He was not in the office but was away on a trip I was told. I must admit that I wondered whether he would ever call me later or whether he would just not bother given our separation for so many years. I was not even sure that he remembered me.

Last Friday, the phone rang in my house. I picked it up and a gentleman asked if he could speak to me. To be honest, I knew exactly who it was! Notwithstanding the almost 50 years, his voice was recognized by me immediately and absolutely as my classmate, Russ Otter! He did not have to identify himself to me at all. While the photographs I saw on him on the Internet made him unrecognizable, the voice did not. Nor, was the way he talked with me different either. He was my classmate that I recognized right away even though almost 50 years had passed!

We talked about ourselves and our history over the last many years for about a half an hour until he had to leave to meet some people with whom he had an appointment. We were so open in our discussions with each other that it seemed that we had never separated. We knew each other so very well during our conversation that it was truly amazing.  He confirmed with me that he still knew a lot about me. I truly was so astounded about how well we got along with each other.

I just wish we had met each other a few weeks earlier because he had just gone through Windsor a little while ago and we could have met when he came here. He told me that he expected to be in the Windsor area about a year from now and hopefully we can meet then. I, of course, told him that we may well need an out-of-town representative to deal with an American Judges Association matter here and, if so, I was hoping that he could be appointed for it.

So there you have it, dear reader.  I am so thrilled with what happened. More importantly, I just can't believe that people who haven't talked to each other for half a century are still such good friends! 

Just What's Happening These Days

It is almost 2 years now since I first suffered my weird illness. So very few people suffer from this illness it would appear from what has been diagnosed so far and accordingly, it is so difficult to figure out what it is and then treat it in time before quick death . Fortunately, I lucked out. Although I still have some medical losses of personal actions and have not yet recovered and will never recover 100% of all them, I am doing quite well.  I need to thank once again all of the people who have treated me so well and are continuing to do so.

My life has changed to one that is much different compared with the pre-illness one. I tend now to live a day at a time. It is my objective at the end of every day to solve any problem that has come up during that day and to be able to sleep without any worries at all. Fingers crossed, that has worked out so well that I am so pleased about it.

I look at people differently and hope that they will deal with me in an honest way without trying any tricks. I must admit that I don't give people any chances to try to pull one on me. If I discover that, then I immediately terminate my relationship with that person. My attitude is simple. I want nothing from anyone and I expect them to want nothing from me other than to have a great friendship. Of course, if I believe that they are experiencing a real problem in their life, then I try to get them to explain to me what is going on so that I can provide some assistance to them to help overcome it. Naturally, I tell them that I do not expect anything back from them other than to hear that their problem has been overcome.

I am hopeful that, by reading the articles that I have published here on my Blogsite, you will understand what I have said above and that you will accept what I do online. I especially write articles when I see problems between the parties involved and wonder why it has taken so long and yet, the parties seem completely unable to resolve them.

So let me tell you about a couple of matters that I have looked at recently where I have seen problems to see my thoughts about them.

First, let us examine the Library situation in Essex County with some of the changes coming. How many months has the strike been going on in this area and why? Too many and for reasons that make little sense to me! I have to admit that I really don't understand why that has happened. Just go back and take a look at some of the articles I have written to understand why this situation to me appears so bizarre and what may have to happen now to solve it.  My attitude is that the parties are working together and problems do arise. They ought to identify them right away and resolve them just as quickly. After all, they have a relationship between themselves.

Here is what seems completely ludicrous now but finally may mean the end of this fiasco. It is ludicrous because it seems to me to be the fault of the management especially for this strike to be continuing for so long:

"Both parties will resume bargaining on November 25 with the help of a provincial mediator. This is their first meeting since mid-September, when talks broke off as management maintained the same core position that they held on June 22, three days before the strike started on June 25.

“This is the first meeting we are having in over two months and the first time the employer asked us to resume bargaining,” said Wightman. “We hope to use this opportunity to find solutions and we urge the Library Board to do the same and not come back to dictate pre-determined terms.” (CUPE Website, November 21, 2016) 

Our local politicians better hope this happens as well! 

Tell me, why was there a need for a border strike at the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia? I just do not get it. Here is what bothers me about a situation such as this one:

"Blue Water Bridge workers have been without a contract since November 2014

By Paul Morden, Sarnia Observer September 29, 2016

Workers at the Blue Water Bridge voted Wednesday to go on strike if the Federal Bridge Corporation doesn't return to the bargaining table.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) said the previous collective agreement ended Nov. 7, 2014 for 49 union members who work as cleaners and toll collectors, and in the maintenance and currency exchange departments at the crossing between Point Edward and Port Huron." 

Seriously, who cares now what the issues really are between Management and the Union in this matter. Do you expect to tell me that for some reason the parties cannot solve whatever their problems are over a two-year period! I just cannot believe that something like this has really happened. I guess the interesting question now is how long the strike will take place and what will ultimately resolve the differences between the parties.

It is a nice US holiday weekend this weekend that is being shared between Canada and United States. It will be interesting to see what kind of a border mess will take place in Sarnia with all of the backups. One can bet as well that we will see many problems in Windsor/Detroit as well as a result of the strike because border crossers will come down here to try to avoid the strike situation in the Sarnia area.

One just has to wonder why it is impossible to solve a two-year problem. Here might be a good reason to be upset about all of this stuff:

"Despite talks breaking off this weekend, Haney said union officials are ready to sit down again for a new round of contract negotiations.

“My phone is on,” he said. “Give me a call. We're ready to go back.”

When asked if the corporation was willing to return to contract talks, Girard said, “We're at the point right now where our main concern is to run the bridge. That's our objective.”

(Barbara Simpson, Sarnia Observer, November 21, 2016)

Sigh, can anyone figure this out now!

Blue Water Bridge Strike Update

I thought  that I would post what I have heard about the Bridge border strike that is taking place right now in the Sarnia area at the Blue Water Bridge.  It is after Day #1 of the strike.

It does make it better for the Union people and puts the Government at risk to annoy the border users right now. It could get much worse if the strike lasts a long time if traffic backups get bigger and bigger.

Traffic certainly will not get better over the  next few days as big holidays start in the US and people need to cross the border.  I would guess that border crossing time could take multi-hours.

From a truck business side, there is no doubt that truck users will choose Windsor/Detroit to cross the border rather than take the big backup risk in Sarnia now.  Who knows, that could  mean the truck drivers will like crossing here even when the strike ends.

Here is what I  have  heard so far from the Union  people:

"It went really well today. We know management was scrambling to cover some of the duties of our members. 

We had a tremendous amount of union support, and we received tonnes of messages of solidarity from the public. 

We will be out tomorrow morning for a strategic picket at the bridge at 7am again."

A warning to Management.  End the strike soon or else it will get really ugly for you from everyone including people in our area too!

Blue Water Bridge Strike

 

It appears to me as if there will be some major problems in border crossing over the next little while if in fact there is a strike involving the Blue Water Bridge personnel in Sarnia shortly.  There could well be a negative impact in our area if a significant number of vehicles decide to cross the border here instead of the Sarnia crossing because of problems there.

As I am sure some people who live in our area are not clear about, that Bridge is a strong competitor of the Ambassador Bridge in the Windsor/Detroit area for border crossing. Sure, we are separate in different areas in Ontario by several hours if one travels over Highway 401 between us. However, if one is going to other areas in the US that are further west from eastern areas in Ontario, one might cross over into the US either via Sarnia or in Windsor to get there and then to come back here.

Here is part of what the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which is the Union trade group, wrote in a press release distributed on November 20, 2016:

"The 47 workers represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) who work for Blue Water Bridge are taking strike action after the employer (the Federal Bridge Corporation), refused to bargain fairly and continued to demand major concessions. 

PSAC served the employer with the legally required 72-hour notice as of Thursday November 17, 2016, following a membership meeting with the workers at Blue Water Bridge. Members have made it clear that if the employer is not willing to negotiate fairly, that we would take strike action.  

PSAC and the employer met for one day of bargaining on Saturday, November 19, 2016, in a last attempt to reach an agreement. The employer continued their demands to slash the workers benefits and demand major concessions that would have set workers back years.  

“We tried to get an agreement, but they refused to negotiate in good faith and remove the concessions and roll backs off the table”, says Paul Haney, Local President. “I am sorry that commuters and commercial vehicles will be inconvenienced now because of the disrespect the Federal Bridge Corporation has shown its workers.”  

Effective, November 21, 2016, at 6:00 a.m. our members will be in a legal strike position."

It certainly appears to me as if someone wants a strike to take place or the serious threat of a strike to happen and will require significant changes in one of the parties' bargaining positions to prevent it. Here is also something that I just learned from a Union official:

"We were in mediation with the employer to try and get a contract. Talks broke down when they walked away from the table without discussion our proposals in September.  

Once that happened, we had to go through a legislated “cooling off period” of 21 days. Once this time passed, either side could give a 72 hour notice of a strike or lockout."

Assuming that the strike does take place, Management will still continue to run the Bridge. Here is what is reported:

"Corporation spokesman Andre Girard says the Blue Water Bridge will remain open and the traffic flow will be maintained throughout the labour disruption. 

“Contingency plans are in place to deal with an eventuality to maintain traffic flow as long as the situation remains unresolved,” says Girard. “Management and non-unionized staff have obtained certification in the Transportation of Dangerous Goods and Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System as well as training for toll operation and other related bridge operation duties such as building maintenance and services to tenants of the Blue Water Bridge Corporate Centre on Venetian Blvd.” (Dave Dentinger, Blackburn News, November20, 2016)

One may well wonder how well organized that border traffic will be. Of course, my own view is that traffic will be backed up entering into the Sarnia area from the US, sometimes quite significantly, because of the strike if one takes place. The strike would come at a very difficult time considering it would happen "just ahead of the American Thanksgiving and the Black Friday shopping spree in the U.S." Who knows how bad the situation would be at the Border in Sarnia if there was a large volume of traffic and perhaps the number of employees working would be reduced. How many hours would people have to spend at the border there before they would be able to clear Customs?

It should not be that difficult for us in the Windsor area to guess that traffic here, especially truck traffic and perhaps some auto vehicle traffic for those going into the US west and coming  back, will increase significantly as well.

"We gave the 72 hour notice and will be going on a legal strike as of 6am tomorrow."

I assume that even though there may be backups here because of the heavy additional traffic it would clear a lot quicker than in the Sarnia area. I am sure that the Ambassador Bridge Company would make it clear to the Canadian Government that it expects there to be sufficient Government workers here to deal with any increased traffic whatsoever.

In my opinion, if there is a strike, I would not expect it to end very quickly if there have been so many difficulties already between the parties. Let's just see what happens. Who knows, it may be that the parties will still have some discussions overnight that might put off a legal strike for the time being.  Somehow though, I doubt it.

Where Is The Windsor/Detroit New Border Crossing Already

Seriously, why should I do any writing on this topic since it is obvious, at least to me, that in this area the only group that can build a 2nd border crossing bridge legally is the Ambassador Bridge Company. As far as I'm concerned, that is the legal relationship between that Company and the Governments based on what I think I know which is based on prior legal documents.

In fact, in my opinion, it is so obvious. The Governments have not really built anything for so many years with respect to another border crossing notwithstanding the apparent need to do so. Moreover, the Bridge Company has already submitted their plans for a 2nd crossing and could start building such a crossing very quickly once the Governments give their approval for them to do so.

The big news that I saw in the media that has necessitated this article was that the Governments were going to be having 3 engineering companies bring forward their plans for a new crossing in their tender operation competition. The expectation was that it would take many months for them to undertake and finish their work and then the Governments would have to spend time to make a decision on which one of the companies they would select. This whole process is supposedly going to take about 18 months from now.

In its Press Release, the following was written on November 10, 2016 by the Organization involved:

"Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) announced today that it has issued the Request for Proposals (RFP) inviting Proponents to submit formal proposals to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Gordie Howe International Bridge project.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge project will address four regional transportation needs at the busiest trade corridor between Canada and the United States. It will provide a new crossing option, highway-to-highway connections, modernized border processing facilities and capacity for future traffic growth. The new bridge will make it faster, simpler and safer for both people to travel and goods to flow between Canada and the United States, enhancing trade and tourism.

The 18-month RFP stage is the second phase in WDBA’s competitive procurement process to select a private-sector partner. The three Proponents – Bridging North America, CanAm Gateway Partners and Legacy Link Partners – were pre- qualified through the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) stage. The entire procurement process is overseen by an independent fairness monitor."

Yawn, what is the purpose of this silliness by the Government of Canada? Oh wait, I think I understand the reason for it. I almost forgot. You see, dear reader, what has been said before, for reasons I do not understand, is that there is a need for 2 new bridges to be built in this area. One by the Ambassador Bridge Company and a 2nd one to be built by the Governments on both sides of the river.

Of course, this is completely ridiculous as far as I'm concerned especially considering that the volume of trucks crossing the border has dropped significantly by a huge percentage. Only the Ambassador Bridge Company project makes any sense of being built because of the financial costs involved. For the Ambassador Bridge Company project, the dollar cost is around $500 million. For the Government Bridge, it can be over $4 billion based on some numbers given out previously! If volumes have gone down so much and costs have gone up so much, then please tell me why the Governments are looking at building a bridge at all.  The Government Canada who would be paying for just about everything would lose a huge fortune considering that it will have to put up a good chunk of the costs which may never be recovered.

In case you forgot, dear reader, this construction competition between the 3 companies should have started almost a year ago. It did not and was only started recently. Even more interesting is that the Government bridge will not be built until about a year or 2 after it was supposed to be built. In other words, 2021 or 2022 rather than 2020. Another delay in this project that is stretching it out even longer now:

"The federal government delayed issuing the request for proposals from the bidders because it wanted to “mitigate all risks” before moving ahead on the long-awaited project, Sohi said." (Dave Battagello, Windsor Star, November 10, 2016)

With all due respect, this is so absurd to learn about that it makes me so angry with the Canadian Government who is acting so foolishly. Why they won't just do a deal with the Ambassador Bridge Company already is beyond me. Just take a look at this last line in the Battagello article:

"Sohi called the Howe bridge project “one of our highest infrastructure priorities” but wouldn’t say where it ranks among other major construction projects involving the federal government."

Gee, I thought that this project was the most important one for the future of this country. Hasn't the Government Canada suggested the need for a better crossing in this area for so many years!

Clearly, it is not that vital it seems anymore. The real problem is the inability of the Ambassador Bridge Company and the Government Canada to somehow sit down at this exact moment and negotiate a deal that makes sense for both of them and then to get the new bridge started already. To be honest about it, I can tell them both what makes sense now so that they can complete a transaction now. Trust me, what I would suggest would absolutely work especially because there is no need for a 3rd bridge which supposedly the Government of Canada wants to build.

The timing of this announcement by the Government people is laughable. It came out a couple of days before the meetings that were scheduled between the Government of Canada and outside parties. Those meetings were very interesting as well considering the projects for which lots of money was going to be needed:

"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pitched fund managers from around the world on the merits of investing billions in Canadian infrastructure projects Monday, earning praise from some but leaving others with questions about how such deals would work.

Ottawa is setting up a new entity — the Canada Infrastructure Bank — to promote large national and regional projects, including revenue-generating ones it hopes will draw the interest of big institutional investors, including domestic pension funds.

Monday’s meetings in downtown Toronto — a morning session with Canadian pension funds managers and top bankers, and an afternoon discussion with international investors — brought the prime minister and key cabinet ministers face-to-face with some of the money managers they will need to attract to make the bank a success.

Ron Mock, chief executive of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, said Trudeau and his cabinet have “got their head in the right place” in creating projects that would draw on government money and investment from institutions, such as pension funds.
(Barbara Shecter, Drew Hasselback Financial Post, November 14, 2016)

Hmmm. I did not see in the news articles that I read about this venture anything to do with the Government border crossing bridge in Windsor/Detroit. I would have thought that it would be something very important that would have been discussed not only for the future of our country but because so much outside money was needed to build the Government bridge here. Maybe there were discussions about it but I did not see anything in the stories in the various media outlets that I read that mentioned the Windsor/Detroit new proposed crossing.

Oh well, why mention the project in Windsor/Detroit when legally only the Ambassador Bridge Company can be involved in it and its cost in building its project is a tiny fraction compared with the Governments' cost to build their project.

Let me be serious, dear reader.  I just cannot stand this foolishness any further. In my opinion the one day jail time that was spent by Matty Moroun and Dan Stamper in one of the disputes in one of the trials over the border file changed dramatically the attitude of Matthew Moroun in how he became involved much more seriously in the future of the Ambassador Bridge. Given how often he has been involved publicly since that time in matters involving the border crossing, it is clear to me how important his role is in the future of his family's border crossing. Given his father's age, what Matthew has learned has made him an extremely important person in dealing with the border crossing in Windsor/Detroit. I expect that what he wants will help determine ultimately what will happen in this area.

Given how long this file has been going on, and how long it will go on considering the project that has been started now, you should know, dear reader, that even more time will be taken if the Ambassador Bridge Company and the Governments cannot resolve their differences. Expect even more massive litigation to be started in both Canada and the United States over whether the Ambassador Bridge Company is the only exclusive party which can build a bridge in this area. I expect it will take at least a decade or longer to finish.  In my opinion, the Ambassador Bridge Company would be the winner anyway.

Do you really think that the Governments and/or their private partners will come up with $4 billion to build a bridge in competition with the new Ambassador Bridge even if they were successful in their litigation? Don't be silly. There is no way that is going to happen because it will not work out financially.

To be serious, all that needs to happen is for the Ambassador Bridge Company and the Governments to get together in a meeting and resolve their problems to get the new border crossing built now. As far as I'm concerned, putting in a few dollars from the Governments and giving them some shares in the border crossing Company built in this area is an easy solution that must be done now so that the new bridge can be built now!

It's really that easy to do to get the "Windsor/Detroit New Border Crossing Already".

Just Some Thoughts

                MISCELLANEOUS

                   Items Of Interest

I just wanted to write a Blog about a whole bunch of different stories dealing with matters that are of interest to me and which I hope you might find interesting as well.

There are lots of things happening around here that I find attention-gathering, at least with respect to my own attention. I must admit that I spend a lot more time thinking about different things for a number of reasons. Obviously, since I really don't have a "job" anymore, I don't have to focus on some very direct subjects. I can think about lots of different matters instead. Some are quite important but others just happen to be interesting to me so that I can concentrate a lot more of my attention on them. Let me tell you about some of these matters.

Obviously, the US election results are fascinating. I never thought that Donald Trump could possibly be elected as President of the United States.  I still don't to be honest. I am sure that over the next few months you, dear reader, will be able to read all kinds of theories about why so many people voted for Trump to be President. There are all kinds of them now.

No matter what others say, I have my own opinion on the subject. Perhaps the prime reason for what happened is that, unfortunately for her, many US voters were never going to vote for the wife of former US President Bill Clinton.  Their opposition to him was just so high that they could never support her no matter how highly qualified that she was.

"Clinton’s campaign outspent the Trump campaign by more than 2 to 1. While full spending reports are not yet compiled, campaigns typically spend just about all they raise. As of October 28, Clinton had raised $687 million compared to Trump’s $307 million—a 124 percent advantage.

And that doesn’t even count the spending by outside groups (better known as “outside groups”). When added to the candidates’ own ads, Pro-Clinton ads outnumbered pro-Trump ads 3 to 1—a mind-numbing 383,512 ads for Clinton compared to 125,617 supporting Trump. Outside groups raised and spent more than three times as much on Clinton as on Trump. Super PACs and other groups supporting Clinton raised almost $190 million; those supporting Trump pocketed only $60 million." (Ken Kurson  Observer November 10, 2016)

It just seems to me that this has to be the real reason for it. I was very impressed with Hillary Clinton. She just seemed so bright in everything that she talked about. Yet, she lost. I must admit that I would have found it very difficult to vote for her because of her relationship. Yet, in the end, if I was voting, I would have voted for her because I could not have voted for Trump at all. In my opinion, I suspect that many people who actually lived in the United States decided they could not vote for her no matter what.

I really do a lot of exercising these days or at least what I consider exercising. In the past, I hardly did anything compared with what I do today. I do it now because of the illness that I had almost 2 years ago and which I want to prevent from occurring again.  I want to do this exercising to keep myself in the best condition that I can. Early on, I had a lot of difficulty moving around but now I do a lot better.

Three times a day as an example, before every meal, I go through a number of physical exercises designed to keep my weight down but also to build up the muscles in my body. Several times already I have been very upset because my weight has increased and I could not figure out why because I had not eaten that much food to add on pounds. It turns out that, because of what I'm doing, my muscles keep growing bigger and stronger and that is what increases my weight. Yet, what is also fascinating to me is that my body size does not change very dramatically. I can wear the same clothes notwithstanding the additional weight put on.

Supposedly, the Federal Government may well be building a 2nd bridge between Windsor and Detroit. It is going to take at least 18 months before it will be determined who will build that bridge and what it will look like.

I just don't get it. What is the purpose of doing this? During those 18 months, someone needs to explain to me why the Ambassador Bridge Company would not be allowed to build its 2nd bridge given all of the work that they have done so far to build their own bridge.  If that happens, what good is a Government Bridge considering the reduced traffic? In addition, where are the billions of dollars that will be needed to build a Government bridge coming from?

We are in the middle of November now and to be honest I'm very happy with the weather. I was out for a walk Saturday afternoon and it was very pleasant even though it was a little bit cooler than before. I must admit that I am surprised that, so far at least, the weather has been quite good and we have not seen any significant snow fallings.  I just hope that we are that lucky for a much longer period of time and also that we don't see much snow this winter no matter what has been projected.

I may well write some comments later on about the Anne Jarvis columns in the Star dealing with the border file recently. I must admit that I only see the stories on the Internet and not in the Star itself because I don't subscribe to this newspaper anymore. I wonder how much space these stories take up there.  They seem quite long compared with her normal columns. There must be a reason why there is a desire to have her write so much about this topic. I wonder if the new Star Editor–In–Chief is involved in making that decision.

Interestingly, when it was announced that the previous head of the Star was leaving, his replacement was not announced. I must admit that this lack of information surprised me. All that I saw in Roseann Danese's article on October 7, 2016 was: "Beneteau’s replacement has not been named."

I must admit that I have heard about this music group for a very long time: The Arditti Quartet. It is a string quartet. I must also admit that I know very little about this group and have not heard any of their music so far. Of course, I have no idea if there is any relationship between us given our name. Who knows, perhaps a member of the group may be a relative of mine. 

In a story that I read about what they are doing now, I saw the following comment:

"Of all the leading string quartets around the world, only the Arditti routinely set themselves the kind of challenge you’ll hear when they come to Hampstead Arts Festival next week. And the challenge is they don’t play standard repertoire: the Schubert, Beethoven and Brahms that forms the bedrock of quartet recitals.

They play music by contemporary composers: often specially commissioned, being done for the first time, which means that no one knows if it will fly or flounder.

There are easier ways to earn a living. But as Irvine Arditti, the quartet’s leader, says, “I don’t think I was put on this planet to have an easy life”. And that’s as well because new compositions aren’t just hard to learn, they’re hard to sell to audiences." (Bridget Galton Hampstead & Highgate Express November 9, 2016) 

Very admirable about what they do and why. Here is their reason:

"In Hampstead, the lights will shine brightly. And so will the programmed pieces, which may not be easy-listening but promise to be alive, exciting, and worth whatever it takes to engage with them.

“We ask our audience to trust us”, Irvine says. “I’m glad to say, they usually do”.

Who knows, if they do make an appearance around here, I just might be one of the audience members.

High Hydro Cost Power

It is that time of the year again.

Over the weekend, we had to turn back our clock from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time. It meant that summer was gone and that winter was approaching. Nighttime started earlier and everything was turning dark so quickly it seemed in the late afternoon. Lights had to be turned on so much earlier as well outside, especially when driving.

Of course, it means that we may have to prepare to shovel snow (assuming of course that you are not living in a Condo or an apartment where someone else has that task). Naturally, it is a lot colder outside as well and the sweaters, hats and the heavy jackets are coming out to keep us warmer.

We souls who like the warm temperature are not very happy with all of this and know that some people who are our friends are starting to head down south for the winter months to stay nice and warm. Some of us even have agreed to look after our friends' homes while they are away for the winter to make sure that everything is fine there.

I am certain that there are many matters to talk about but I just want to deal with one about which I have become much more familiar. It is a matter that I am not very happy about to be honest and one that I think should change. However, I suspect the likelihood of that happening is quite remote even if a whole bunch of people get onside to what I want.

Are you familiar with this? Just read it and see what I mean. You should understand what I'm going to talk about:

As you can tell, the cost of electricity depends on the time when it is being used. Its cost during the week is dramatically higher during the daytime. The cost reduces quite significantly, by over half, from the highest cost in the daytime to the lowest cost in the evening. In the middle, there is a mid-peak rate. There are the weekend rates as well.

Here is a listing of the rates as set out by Essex Powerlines:

"The current energy time bands and rates as set by the OEB are as follow:

Summer (May 1 - Oct 31) and Winter (Nov 1 - April 30)Summer Weekdays 11am to 5pm / Winter Weekdays 7am to 11am & 5pm to 7pm - On Peak 18 cents per kWh

Summer Weekdays 7am to 11 am & 5pm to 7pm / Winter Weekdays 11am to 5pm - Mid Peak 13.2 cents per kWh"

Summer Weekdays 7pm to 7am / Winter Weekdays 7pm to 7am - Off Peak 8.7 cents per kWh

Weekends and Statutory Holidays, All Day will be at Off Peak - 8.7 cents per kWh"

What troubles me about all of this is the high cost that has to be paid during the "peak hours." I guess the idea is for people to use electricity a lot less during the very active daylight hours. After all, who needs to put on lights or roast meats or poultry during the daytime, right. Control how electricity is used to keep rates down to as low a cost as possible.

To be honest, that bugs me. I am just speaking for those of us who are retired and generally are of age 65 or older. We are living at home during the very cold days of winter and the very hot days of summer. Seriously, in winter, at most times because of the coldness we need the heat on during the day and on at night time as well but probably at a slightly lower temperature rate. In the summer, although not as much, we put on our air-conditioning to keep us cool during the very hot temperatures of the day and night.

We use electricity for almost everything don't we. We use electrical lights. We plug TV sets, stereos and radios into the electrical units in the walls. Just so many other matters as well: we cook with electrical appliances, cleanup the rooms with electrical vacuums, go on the Internet with our PCs, do a wash with electrical appliances using the washers and dryers and so on. Electricity is the powerhouse behind so much of what we do in our homes.

We need to keep our heating and cooling operations working so that we do not get ill. Generally, I don't use air-conditioning in the summertime until the temperatures get very warm. In the winter though, I like turning on the heating system anyone temperature and keeping it on continuously, because I don't like feeling chilled.

Most of us who are over the age of 65 and older are not working anymore. I don't know how much money other older people have but I know that for a lot of them they have financial difficulties. They just have not saved enough money in their lives to give them the ability to spend money as our government utility rates increase. And of course, hydro rates are having huge increases.

I have to admit it seems to me that older people are facing some financial difficulties because of the way that electrical charges are set out. Aren't most of the older people at home at the time when the electrical utility rate is the highest? Let me be direct. The answer is obvious: Yes. After all, now that people are 65, I suspect many of them are retired and stay at home quite a bit. It means then that, unless people are prepared to remain in darkness or with air-conditioning or heating systems off or to cook or do laundry at strange times, they pay electrical charges at the highest rates because they are at home during time periods when the rates are the highest.

I don't know the full particulars about the electrical industry and its rates they charge to their customers. All I know is that the Hydro rates are going up very high quite quickly at least in a good part of our area. There are all kinds of huge amounts of money that have to be paid out by residents as part of the monthly fee as customers of the electrical industry.

Again, just like other matters, the whole situation with respect to Hydro, its cost and how we are being charged for buying power is something that needs to be discussed now. It is something that we as citizens should be doing immediately with our politicians before their next election. We need to get a good result, now!

Flood Damage And More

I have to admit that it is still very difficult for me not to think about the damage done, or that could be done again to my house in the future, because of the big rainstorm that took place here. It just seems that storms are getting so much bigger these days and happening more often and in so many places. By that I mean not just at my house, but at anyone's home in my area and in other areas of the region.  Just so you know, dear reader, I was told recently that we have never had such a bad storm in the place I moved to that anyone can ever remember. Now we have!

What I am really talking about is some kind of event that happens because of Mother Nature causing a problem which is outside of anyone's control. As I am sure you understand, I just went through a relatively minor flooding incident in my home and suffered some damage. In my case, the amount of water that entered into my basement was relatively low. It was a maximum of about 4 inches. Yet even this relatively small amount of water can cause a huge amount of damage as happened in other nearby  residences.

Moreover, my cost to repair this damage was relatively small compared with the cost to replace the damage in many other homes in this area where their basements were completely furnished and their costs to fix it up were in the many tens of thousands of dollars.

My basement was not completed and furnished as so many of the basements in other premises were. Therefore, that is why residents will have to spend so much more money to repair their basement, recover damage costs and then re-furnish it. I hope for their sake that their insurance policy covered these losses because many policies these days have a very limited insurance coverage where the total amount payable in damages is very low. Costs can be very high, as an example, just thinking about the cost to replace a few pieces of furniture only nevermind the additional cost to repair a floor.

I am writing this article because of a story that I saw in the Windsor Star. Here is what was said about the damages suffered that is just so horrific to think about:

"Swamped homes, stalled vehicles and soaked industrial properties affected by September’s flooding in Windsor and Tecumseh resulted in almost $108 million worth of damage, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

The IBC confirmed Wednesday more than 6,000 claims — for home, auto and business — were filed with insurers after record levels of rain ruined hundreds of basements in Windsor and Tecumseh." (Dan Taekema, Windsor Star, November 2, 2016)

If you do the math, you will see that the average claim is $18,000! Mine was substantially lower and others I know are substantially higher.

I have no idea how much of this is split between Windsor and Tecumseh. All that I know from walking around in my area in Tecumseh is how many homes here had huge piles of damaged materials waiting to be collected by the garbage trucks. Undoubtedly, this was the material removed because of the water damage to the house.

There is no doubt in my mind from talking to people that even the relatively small amount of flooding in a basement caused huge amounts of damage to the flooring and furniture there that necessitated immediate replacement. Everything that was all thrown out was done so quickly right after the flooding so that further damage could not go on and so that repairs could be started right away.  Just to give you a recent example that I knew about, one person that I talked to very recently before the storm had told me that the cost to make his basement quite livable and to furnish it as desired when it was done a number of years ago was close to $100,000!

To be honest, I think that the various local Governments need to meet with their residents to discuss what action needs to be taken if something like this ever happens again. Notwithstanding this kind of flooding has not happened before, no one can claim that it will never happen again for many years. The suspicion is being circulated that our weather conditions are changing rather dramatically.

I believe that Government meetings should take place sooner rather than later so the local Governments can also talk to its residents about what really happened and why there was so much flooding and damage. If there were faults, what were they and what is being done to make sure that they never happen again.  Future actions for dealing with these claims need to be discussed and also what needs to be done now to deal with future claims similar to these. More importantly, what needs to be done to  prevent them happening  again.  Everyone needs to agree with what needs to be done.

The actions that need to be taken at those meetings I think depend as well on what the Insurance Companies may decide to do with respect to any future similar claims. Will the Insurers, because of the huge claims, delete this kind of coverage from residential insurance policies and if so, for how many years? Alternatively, will they just put a limit on how much can be claimed under the policies and if so, how much will that amount be? Will the premiums stay the same or will they increase and if so by how much and for how many years?  I would think that the Governments will not act until they find out what the Insurers will do first.

There are many things that need to be resolved as quickly as possible. I don't intend talking about it in this article because frankly, I don't know what they all are. If there are Council/citizen meetings set up in Tecumseh to discuss what happened, I expect that my wife and I will attend to find out what is going on here and what may happen and then what needs to be done. As far as I am concerned, I believe that it must happen as soon as possible and not ignore it and not talk about it at all as seems to be happening now. 

I just have a feeling that our weather will be changing rather dramatically for whatever reason and that such a change will impact people the way it has never impacted us before. In my opinion, we need to decide quickly what we need to do to minimize or even to prevent damage such as the damage that just impacted so many people so badly from happening here again.