News To Report

Oh the weather is just so terrible as far as I am concerned anyway. While we have not had a horrific winter with lots of snow storms, it has been much colder than last year. 

Even now, it just seems so cold outside no matter if the temperature is above 0°C these days. A couple of days ago, when it seemed that the weather was getting nicer, my wife and I went out for a walk. It turned out that we walked for about an hour because it was just so pleasant outside with a very high temperature. Now however I just do not want to go outside for merely a few minutes or else I have to dress up with a lot of clothes to stay warm. 

I know that it will get much more spring like soon and that I will enjoy the weather as it gets warmer. It will be interesting to see what the weather will be like this summer and whether we will have a pleasant time outside. 

Let me present some stories to you that I have read over the past little while that have given me the reason for staying inside these days. 

PRESERVING OUR GREAT LAKES 

It is good news seeing how Tecumseh's Mayor is acting these days. Take a look at this article that I just saw: 

"On World Water Day, the Town of Tecumseh’s Mayor is speaking out about proposed cuts to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). He is calling on politicians in Canada to join him in encouraging members of the U.S. legislature to reject the cuts and continue the work underway.  

“This is unacceptable, not only for those of us living in the Great Lakes basin but to everyone around the world,” said Mayor Gary McNamara. “We have a global responsibility to protect these irreplaceable resources, for now and the future. These cuts make no sense. All of the work that has been done to date will be lost and all of the strides we’ve made to clean up the Great Lakes will be gone.”   

The Mayor sent letters to elected officials in Canada and the U.S.—including the Prime Minister and Premier of Ontario and members of their cabinets—urging them to add their voice on cuts to the GLRI."  (Tecumseh, News Release,March 22, 2017) 

Of course, what he said makes a lot of sense to me.  What impresses me is that he sent his letter to so many key people in Canada and the US. I just wonder if he might have a much more important position, say an elected Member of Parliament, in the future and for which he is getting a lot of publicity today. 

WHAT A NICE SELLING PRICE 

Someone obviously wants to make a few dollars selling their rundown property in Detroit.  It might make an interesting lesson for people who may be asked to sell their homes so that some future project can be built. Of course it seems outrageous, but what the heck, there may not be any other way that this land can be purchased. It may be an interesting lesson to learn:

"A home just a few steps away from the new Little Caesars Arena has been called dilapidated, ugly and an eyesore.

It may net the owner $5 million, giving them the last laugh.

“Why wouldn’t it be worth $5 million?” asked Darren Johnson, the housing agent that re-listed the property last week after it failed to sell under the guidance of another broker.

“Keep in mind, we’re not selling the house,” added Johnson. “We’re selling the land and the location, location, location…”

The Red Wings have planned to play in downtown Detroit for quite some time, but the Detroit Pistons recently announced they’ll also play in the new arena. Johnson said it’s the sort of thing that will double the foot traffic, and supersize the profitability for the right investor."  (WXYZ, March 22, 2017) 

Whoever may have bought this property may well be doing extremely well today if the property is sold for a very large price:

"property sold for $25,000 to a family partnership in June 2002."

ARE WE EXPERIENCING WEATHER PROBLEMS

I just wonder if we are seeing something that could be quite negative for the future of our country and other countries as well around the Earth. Are we at the beginning stages right now?

As I said at the start of this article, as far as I am concerned, our weather is rather disappointing to me. It just seems so unusual. What is even more interesting to me is that the weather in my old city where I was born and lived for many years, Toronto, seems even worse now than when I had our family house there. There just seems to be some big snowfalls taking place in that area now compared with the time when I lived there. Could this be the reason why:

"There wasn’t yet much to see. Washington has just had its warmest winter on record (with a February that was warmer than an average March). The warmth brought many cherry blossoms to the cusp of a very early bloom, at which point they’re delicate. And when a cold spell came last week, it killed many, leaving them wilted and brown.

“This is something that has never happened in the 105-year history of cherry blossoms in D.C.,” Mike Litterst of the National Park Service told The Washington Post.

The real-world consequences of climate change are accelerating. The Great Plains is suffering its worst drought in a century, hurting many farmers. Pollen counts are rising, aggravating allergies. Warming oceans have killed huge sections of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, turning their glorious colors to a bleached white that’s as dispiriting as a wilted brown cherry blossom." (David Leonhardt, New YorkTimes, March 22, 2017)

Is all this because of Mother Nature so that this will happen regardless or is it happening because people, in the way that they are living these days, are doing things from an environmental perspective that is ruining this planet?

MORE BORDER LITIGATION

It is interesting to see that at least one lawsuit is now in the Court stage in relation to the possible border crossing relating to the Ambassador Bridge. Who knows, this case may help decide whether a new Bridge will be allowed to be built in the Sandwich area and, if so, what the real costs may be to do so:

"95-year-old Sandwich resident died Saturday, one week into a trial where he is taking on the Ambassador Bridge company for buying up houses in his neighbourhood, boarding them up and leaving them to rot. The Superior Court judge hearing the trial ruled Tuesday the case can proceed with Chaborek’s two daughters continuing the lawsuit as trustees of his estate.

Chaborek, who lived in the Indian Road home he built with his own hands in the 1950s, and a Sault Ste. Marie family who own two houses on Rosedale Avenue they bought when the sons went to university here, are suing a Canadian subsidiary of the bridge company, claiming $16.5 million in damages. They say the houses owned by the Canadian Transit Company are an eyesore that attract vermin and crime and constitute a “nuisance” under civil law.

The lawsuit by Chaborek and members of the Desando family are the first of five lawsuits by Sandwich residents to go to trial." (Sarah Sacheli, Windsor Star, March 14,2017) 

I am not going to get into a discussion about who will win the case because, ultimately, my view is that no matter who wins at the trial stage, there will be an appeal. Moreover, it will be interesting to see if and when a new Ambassador Bridge will be allowed to be built. What I found fascinating was the following:

"Bridge lawsuit continues in June with property valuations

 Doug Schmidt, WindsorStar, March 24, 2017

A multimillion-dollar lawsuit over the Ambassador Bridge’s boarded-up homes will resume in June with real estate professionals introducing competing property valuations.

Real estate valuators, one for each side, will offer the court their estimates for what affected properties in the shadow of the bridge are worth.

Following the submissions of these final expert witnesses, the lawyers for both sides then make their closing arguments before Superior Court Justice Thomas Carey in the $16.5-million civil lawsuit."

I just found the timing rather strange. Why wouldn't this testimony have been made right now as part of the trial? Why would it have to be delayed for so many months? Moreover, how long will it take the trial judge to make his decision and to have it publicized. Many more months?  If an appeal is made, how long would that take to be heard?

As far as I am concerned, all of the court hearings in all of the various lawsuits in both countries just do not make very much sense to me. We have heard that no one has denied that a second Ambassador Bridge should not be built and presumably it should be built where the Ambassador Bridge Company wants to do so. The only issue is whether a Government bridge can be built several miles away.

To be quite direct, if a second Ambassador Bridge is constructed, do you think it makes any sense to build a Government bridge that will cost many billions of dollars! It can hardly be economic to do so especially if there is not enough traffic to flow over 2 bridges to make them profitable. What this means to me as far as I am concerned is that the Governments on both sides of the river have been stalling the construction of the second Ambassador Bridge until such time as Matty Moroun is no longer in charge of the project and so that the Governments can buy this Bridge from his son, Mattthew.

I must admit that the Governments have messed up as well. Matthew will be much more of a competitor to their position with respect to the border crossing than they ever expected. He may not want to sell his Bridge at all and may well be prepared to continue litigation to prove that his family position on what can be done with the border as far as bridges are concerned may be correct. In other words, the Governments have no power whatsoever to build a second bridge where they want to do so in the Windsor area.

What we might see therefore is what happened with respect to the Keystone XL pipeline quite recently. The Governments might finally change their position with respect to bridge crossings here. That Keystone XL pipeline is now presumably going to be allowed to be built assuming that the US Government has the power to do so. The position of President Trump is completely different now from that of President Obama previously:

"During his presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump repeatedly hailed the Keystone XL pipeline as a vital jobs program and one that sharply contrasted his vision for the economy with that of Hillary Clinton.

“Today we begin to make things right,” President Trump said Friday morning shortly after the State Department granted the pipeline giant TransCanada a permit for Keystone construction, a reversal of Obama administration policy. (Clifford Krauss, New York Times, March 24, 2017)

Where Is Spring?

I have to admit that I am tired already of the winter that we are experiencing.

Oh, I am happy about one thing. We certainly have been lucky in this area, so far anyway, and not received some of the massive snowstorms that other parts of Ontario have received this winter.  The weather forecasters were telling us only a short time ago that we should be receiving a massive storm around here and yet, we lucked out in the last few hours as the storm bypassed us. Sure we received some snow but certainly not what we were originally told would be coming here.

The weather forecast suggests that we are going to see some very cold temperatures in the next little while. Even towards the beginning of Spring, temperatures will be around 0°C. I just can't handle that. Aren't the temperature supposed to be going up already?

Oh well, I really don't have all that much interest in heading south even if that means that the temperatures would be much nicer. I must admit that I just don't feel ready to travel since I am still fighting some of my physical conditions these days trying to improve how I am feeling after my massive breakdown a couple of years ago. Sure I am feeling so much better but it is probably because I still am enjoying being in this region. However, it had better get warm soon!

I do try very hard to stay in good physical shape. I have to admit that what I am doing now certainly is not typical of the way that I used to live. Every day now, before every meal, I go through about 15 minutes of exercise work. It is not something that is that "physical" but I do a fair bit of exercising for certain parts of my body that need care be taken for them. What I do has been taught to me by one of the people who were sent here after I came back from the hospital. It certainly seems to be successful for me because I have increased the amount of time I do for the exercise work that I did when I started.

Moreover, every day I am down in the basement, sometimes twice a day, working on the elliptical trainer that I have there. My objective is to increase the time that I "run" on the trainer to help me feel better. I usually spend some minutes exercising until I feel tired. When that happens, I stop and rest for a few minutes and then restart the process again to increase the exercise time. Obviously, I do more minutes on the system now compared with the time when I started but it is still not as long a time as I want to achieve.

I must admit that it is a lot more difficult physically than I expected. The unit I have now which replaced the one that was damaged because of the flooding that had gone on here is not all that easy to use. It does require the use of a good amount of physical energy. Even the basic intro physical services which I am doing are quite a strain physically. I keep on doing it though so that I feel much better and expect to do a better job as time goes on.

Writing on the Internet has continued to be quite a positive experience for me. I do have to admit that I really would like to be able to write more and post more articles but frankly, I just don't have the energy to do it. It does take time to write these articles especially because I want to provide you, dear reader, with good material that I hope still interests you. I generally still do some research before I write something to make sure what I am saying is accurate. Naturally, my articles are intended strictly to set out my point of view on the issues that I am speaking about.

Not only do I not have the energy, but I am not up just that amount of time that I think is needed to write number of articles that I truly want to write. By the time I get up and do what I normally do now to make myself feel better, help make the food I need to eat because  of  my  condition and take the rests I need, plus get involved in the tasks that have arisen because of our move, a good part of my day is gone. I certainly go to sleep hours earlier than before because I must do so.  Nevertheless, I still try to write an article that I hope others will find interesting to read to give them a perspective of what I think is going on here.

I will continue to write as much for you, dear reader, as I can so please keep on coming back to this site as often as you want to see what I have added.

Virtual Dollars That Make Sense

This is a terrific article that my daughter, Melissa Arditti, wrote and then posted on her website http://blissfulmuse07.blogspot.ca   I thought that you would find it of interest especially if you would like to work out of your home.

Virtual Dollars That Make Sense

This next blog will talk about how you can make money from the comfort of your own home. First off, let me say that there are no free lunches in this world, so if you’re hoping that I’ll be telling you how to be a millionaire, go read a Get-Rich-Quick book because this is not the way.

Through my own personal journey, if you’re unable to work outside the home on a regular basis due to illness (this has been my case over the last while), you can still be productive and a valuable asset to a client or company. I’d like to provide tools that I’ve used that will help you gain back your self-confidence and find a new purpose in life. As one of my favourite artists, the Pet Shop Boys would say, “there are a lot of opportunities you just have to know how to make them.”

Developing your online presence:

Okay so I guess I did tell a tiny lie, you do have to invest in some money in order to get started. However, it’s nothing that is unusual to the way the world works now.

1.  A computer is a must!! Desktop, laptop, netbook, Ipad, even your smartphone would work for some tasks. It’s whatever you would be most comfortable to work with.

2. A reliable Internet connection. DSL would be your best option.

3. Other technology add-ons could be a microphone using a system like Skype to actually talk to clients instead of running up high land-line phone bills,  a webcam, if you feel like you want even more interaction and a digital camera, in case your job involves taking photographs and posting them to various e-commerce sites. You can always use your phone since some have excellent camera quality.

So now you’re all hooked up from a technological aspect, so now comes the fun stuff.

1. Getting an e-mail address. It is very important for you to access and keep track of your contacts and sites that you belong to.  Keep the name simple, yet professional. Use a gmail account, yahoo, or one that your ISP provides. Avoid using brand new companies who haven’t yet established themselves because if their site goes down, you’ll be having great difficulty with accessing your mail and that will be detrimental to any potential clients that you contact or who want to reply back to you. Trust me, been there, tried that!

2. Set up an online payment account. Personally I think Paypal is the best. It’s quick, easy and most people use it as a method of payment for those who do work in other cities and even countries.

3. Make a list of skills that you possess. Everything from your typing speed and ability to write cohesive letters, to using programs like Excel to make spreadsheets or your knack for capturing a beautiful photo. Refer to a previous resume or if you’re having a self-deprecating day, ask friends or family to help you with this task.

4. Go to free classifieds ad sites such as Craigslist and Kijiji as a starting point. Begin to look at the jobs wanted/services sections and you’ll be amazed at how many postings are up. Browse through each category too. Note that you don’t want to just look at your city, search through other cities, and other countries too.  You’ll find clients who have no issue with hiring someone to “work from home” that can cut and paste text into a document to more complex tasks like web design. Respond to any that you want to try out and write a brief email about what you’d bring to the table, well the virtual table, so to speak. Also mention that you would be more than happy to work from your home computer to do this job/task.

5. Be realistic on your availability. If you have a lot of doctor’s appointments, take medication that makes you drowsy, or just can’t sit for long periods of time at a computer, you can say that you have a flexible schedule and can work a certain number a week (you have to determine what you think you can handle). If you can work more than the regular 9-5 pm, even better as a lot of companies have no problem outsourcing work at various hours, depending on the time zone.

6. Can you “like” or “tweet?” Learn social networking! A lot of clients cannot spend the time going through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and various other sites updating statuses or doing repetitive tasks. This is where you come in and learn the ropes. If you can navigate the site and send a message, use the search feature, upload pictures, you’re on your way. One great job that is sought out is for someone to compile a list and send out a standard form letter to certain demographics using a site like Facebook, in order to gain more popularity for a business/product/service.

What kinds of online tasks are available?

Writing tasks. You’d be shocked at how many sites have spelling mistakes and never even notice it until someone points it out. If you like grammar, why not offer to be a proofreader? So many businesses hire people to be a second-eye. Many professionals also want someone to look over his/her work before an important presentation. Can you make sure the data is correct by cross-referencing with another site provided? If you’re fond of academia, students are constantly posting for help with essays and other school-related materials.  If you have a good grasp of the English language (or another language that is required) offer assistance. If you’re the creative type, there are tons of aspiring novelists who go on these classified sites seeking out editors and proofreaders, who won’t charge them the price that a publishing company would. As a freelance editor, you’re providing professional service at a fraction of the price. If you charge as an example $2-3 per page, and the person has 300 pages, that’s not too bad for doing something that you enjoy and will help them out.

Translation services. This one is HUGE! If you know a second or third language, you’re rolling in dough. Seriously, there are so many people who want documents translated in a variety of languages. They are willing to pay a decent amount too since you would be a real person fluent in the desired language and not just a translation software program that they would have to double-check to make sure there were no additional errors.

Next is a big one: Survey companies!

Get your voice heard! There are so many awesome sites that you can join up and earn money from. Many are legit, you just have to be cautious about which ones payout and also whether your country is allowed to participate. Some have Canadian or US only, others are broader. I’ve become quite the expert at it, so I’m always willing to help out if you’re unsure of who to join up with. Best of all, these are all FREE!!! You should never join a survey club that asks you to pay money. The surveys range from 5 minutes to the most an hour. If it’s longer than that time-frame, they will often compensate you more. Companies always want your opinion on new products and based on your demographics, you can be eligible to participate. Again, this is all done online. Some even have communities where you can chat with other people and make new friends. They are called online focus groups and forums. If you’re okay with giving feedback on a variety of topics from health to technology, this is a great way to earn some extra bucks or gift cards. You can even donate your money to charity if you wish to.

A few things to note:

• Be honest in your responses.
• Only give out information that you feel comfortable with. Many surveys will include a line of “prefer not to say” so there is that option and they will never ask you things like credit card number, social insurance number, etc… If they do, immediately exit that site and delete your account.
• Make sure to claim any earnings on your taxes. It may not be a lot, but it's just the right thing to do.

The fun and easy referral process:

Many survey companies often ask you to “refer a friend.”  This is always a great incentive too because if a friend joins up on your referral, you are both compensated. Just make sure to follow the instructions so your friend doesn’t go directly to sign up and eliminates your chance at earning more.

So now to find the right job for you:

Find your passion. As an example, if you love watching movies, find someone who wants what is termed as a “ghostwriter” (an individual who posts online anonymously on behalf of a client/company) to post reviews.  Mention that you would be happy to write a sample review, this will entice and see if you are a good fit for the job. You can make excellent money posting film reviews for various sites and also get free dvds at the same time.  Just make sure you find out what kinds of movies you’d be responsible for as some may be along the lines of adult-related material.

Those are just some tips that can help you earn some extra cash and keep you feeling productive!

So Many More Interesting Stories

I have to admit that it is becoming much more difficult. I had a whole bunch of older stories that I wanted to publish so that you could know about my thoughts on them but, unfortunately, I have seen so many new stories these days that I will be writing about them first. 

What this means is that I will publish some of those older stories eventually but I just have to write about the ones that I'm seeing these days. Let me start right now: 

WHAT A STORM 

I must admit that I have not taken a look at a lot of stories about the big storm that we had on Wednesday.  I did not have to do so. Frankly, its intensity stunned me and gave me a great deal of concern. I do believe that it is one of the biggest storms I have ever lived through. While technically it may not have been a "hurricane," nevertheless it was extremely powerful and created a great deal of danger. 

The wind was just so strong and over such a long period of time. The sound of the storm was incredible also. I just could not believe it. 

I was lucky. While in the house, I noticed flickering of our own lights several times. On a couple of locations, the lights went off completely but turned on again a fraction of a second later. In speaking with my daughter, she told me that, at her place in the City of Windsor, she had lost electrical power for several hours. 

Thank goodness, everything seemed to quiet down in my area around 7 PM. Fortunately, it did not seem that anything had gone seriously wrong in my area so I was grateful for that! 

A LOST MARILYN MONROE STORY 

For whatever reason, I did not see this New York Times story published in January until very recently. I have to admit that I do not understand why I did not see it before. Oh well, better late than never. 

Take a look at this: 

"That film image of Ms. Monroe’s skirt rising high in a gust of air? It’s a reshoot of a discarded and more risqué scene seldom seen until now.by Helene Stapinski, January 13, 2017, New York Times…

Though it was around 1 a.m., a large crowd had already gathered, mostly newspaper photographers and curious men waiting to see Marilyn. The movie studio and the director, Billy Wilder, had counted on this, inviting the press and the public to drum up buzz for the new movie, which starred Ms. Monroe as “the Girl Upstairs,” who entices a middle-aged executive, played by Tom Ewell, while his wife is away with the kids for the summer."  

The movie that they are talking about is "The Seven Year Itch."   

I would suggest that you might want to take a look at the news story to see what some the consequences of this movie were for Ms. Monroe. Just take a look at what was posted on the Times story. 

A PARKING GARAGE STORY 

I have to admit that I just don't understand all the ruckus about the City of Windsor garage building downtown. Why so many people talk about it, and on a very tough scale it seems to me, surprises me. 

The issue arose because some people wanted to buy the garage from the City. I must admit that I did not really understand why they should want to "buy it." Why not just "rent it" from the City.  I would not think that there could be a lot of disagreement on a rental because the City would still own it and could use it in the manner it wished in the future. 

Here is what the Windsor Mayor had to say: 

"Just because someone comes forward and says I want to buy your parking garage doesn't mean it’s for sale,” Dilkens said. 

Council will instead move forward with a plan to remove eight ground floor retail sites and install 42 parking spaces.

The mayor calls both parking garages strategic assets the city isn’t willing to part with." (Rich Garton, CTV Windsor, March 6,2017)   

But of course, dear reader, that has to be a lot more going on than what we are reading. Again, here is a lesson that you must learn about reading a newspaper article. Go right to the end of it to find out what is really happening. Here's what the Mayor also said that I found fascinating. The offer really may not have had anything to do with the parking garage if he is right: 

“They played this case out in the media, it's all an optics exercise, and I'm sure 2018 election is next year and this was a big part of their campaign for the election,” he said. He went on to say it’s “fine, they're entitled to do that, but I don't have to play that game." 

Oh, the election in Windsor is going to be so much fun next year. 

WHAT WILL HAPPEN HERE MEDICALLY 

I just hope that we, as patients, do not lose our medical people at all considering all of the difficulties that they have with the Province of Ontario. I just saw this story which frankly is quite scary:

"Ontario Physicians consider job action

Paul Tipple, AM900 CHML, Hamilton News, March 09, 2017 

There is growing frustration with many of Ontario doctors and the ongoing stalemate with the province. 

The doctors have not had a new fee agreement for four years and have been waiting since last summer for talks to resume. 

The members of the OMA have said they will not go back to the bargaining table until the province grants them binding arbitration like every other profession deemed to be an essential service.  The Premier and the Health Minister have indicated they may be willing to consider binding arbitration, but that hasn’t happened yet. 

Dr. Kulvinder Gil, the President of Concerned Ontario Doctors, says the frustration has reached the point that many doctors are considering job action." 

I must admit that I just do not understand why an agreement cannot be reached. Surely, it cannot take 4 years for something like this to be resolved. Just imagine if the doctors and the Government start being extremely aggressive with each other. Unfortunately, the real people at risk are people like you and me, dear reader. After all, we will be the sick people who will be used by both sides in their continuing labour disputes. 

IS WINDSOR DOING WELL NOW ECONOMICALLY 

Of course it is, right! Just look at how well we are doing in the automobile industry and how well that it will just shoot up in growth. Surely, we will see a continuing major reduction in unemployment. 

Unfortunately, that may not be true at all. Take a look at this:

"There’s some areas that we’re below and some areas that we’re above,” he [Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Matt Marchand] says, pointing out the auto sector remains the biggest contributor to economic performance. “The auto sector has had a nice rebound but are we at the peak, or are we going to continue the growth? Probably not.”

He says there’s a lot of uncertainty for the auto sector too; unanswered questions about what renegotiating the North American Free Trade Deal and a possible border adjustment tax will mean." (AdelleLoiselle, BlackburnNews,March 8, 2017) 

What it could mean is that over time the automobile business in Canada could well decline. Perhaps not in the short term but could it get worse later on? 

Here is what bothers me about the industry. Have you seen a story like this before: 

"Fiat Chrysler's chief executive Sergio Marchionne remains interested in seeking a merger with General Motors, saying on Tuesday that such a deal was still attractive after GM's sale of its European operations to PSA Group. 

Marchionne has long advocated more tie-ups in the industry to share the prohibitive costs of making cleaner and more technologically advanced vehicles, but GM has firmly rebuffed his previous advances. 

"I never close any doors. I may shamelessly try and knock again ... on the GM door or any door if I thought it was a good thing for the business. Absolutely, without even blinking," Marchionne told reporters at the Geneva car show. 

"The desirability of GM as a potential merger candidate remains untouched." (Reuters March 07, 2017) 

Does it mean that the industry may still have significant problems?  Is Mr. Marchionne trying hard to eliminate them from his Company by merging with a significant company like GM so that he can have some significant and praiseworthy credit when he leaves the company for which he is working now in a few years.

Etta’s Greeklish Eatery

Another wonderful article from my daughter, Melissa Arditti, which I am posting now.  Take a  look at other articles she has written in the past by going here:  http://blissfulmuse07.blogspot.ca

Get Me To the Greek: Etta’s Greeklish Eatery 

I’ve been out of the loop for the last while with all the new restaurants opening up. I admit that I’m a bit of a creature of habit going to the same places over and over again, so I decided that every once in a while, I’ll try somewhere new.  My lovely fiancé, Bill, usually is my partner in cuisine and so he’s pretty easy-going. When I rattle off a list of restaurants, if he is particularly hungry, the one syllable “food” is usually the response, which means, I'm open to just about anywhere as long as they feed me good food! 

Last night, we decided to check out Etta’s Greeklish Eatery located at 5975 Wyandotte St E, here in Windsor, Ontario. The one problem is that there isn’t a lot of parking on the street, so be forewarned, you may want to plan ahead or be prepared to walk. Luckily, we got a spot right in front! Most people don’t eat at 4 pm on a Saturday night, but hey, when you’re hungry, time means nothing, right? 

Walking in, the restaurant was pretty empty, which again was to be expected at the time we arrived. We were greeted by a rather enthusiastic waiter and he told us to sit wherever we wanted. 

So let’s just jump right into it.  The dinner menu was plentiful, so you have a good variety of dishes from pork, beef or chicken souvlaki, all the way to the well-known gyro pita. 

On special that evening was Kokkinisto, which was chunks of beef with an aromatic tomato sauce and pasta. We’ll take 2!  

I also wanted to start with a Greek salad. How can you go to a Greek restaurant and not have at least a little feta cheese? Mmmm!

Greek salad
Photo by Melissa F. Arditti

Kokkinisto (looks are deceiving, there was SO much pasta underneath!)
Photo by Melissa F. Arditti

Well the waiter wasn’t wrong when I overheard him tell another table (as we started our meal, more and more people started to stroll in) that they don’t “scrimp on the portions here.” Our meal as you can see above was pretty large.  Lots of deliciously tender beef, tons of pasta and just the right amount of such a flavourful tomato sauce. No complaints, except that the menu was a bit confusing saying we were entitled to potatoes, rice and veggies and we never received any. I think there was some confusion due to this being a “special.” However, the food was amazing that our starter salads took care of the veggie part and the mound of spaghetti took care of the carbs.

For dessert (sorry no pic), I was awaiting to hear the choices but I guess they were feeling generous and were offering everyone a free slice of dessert, something we endearingly called “galatic bootycall” with a chuckle from our waiter. Okay, so that’s the non-Greek wording for it, but if you ask for that, I’m sure they’ll be able to tell you the actual pronunciation and realize it is called ghalaktobouriko. It had some kind of custard in it, with a honey wrapped filo dough. It felt a bit similar to baklava.  A nice little touch to show appreciation to your customers! It was very tasty and a good way to end the meal.

Overall, we had a great dining experience! Excellent food, bright atmosphere, and friendly and quick service.  By the time we were getting our coats on, the restaurant was pretty packed. Etta’s is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so there’s no doubt that we’ll be stopping in again. Opa! 

Go check them out on Facebook: Etta's Greeklish Eatery

More News Stories

Lots of articles published in various media outlets that interested me over the past little while. I thought that I would let you know about them because you may find them interesting as well.

I have to admit that I have seen quite a bit over the last few days. I will post about as many of them as possible giving you my perspective on them. I hope that you find this interesting.

ALL THE MONEY ON EARTH

It is an amazing drawing that I saw on the Internet that you ought to take a look at now.  It is just one picture that you might want to see because it tells you so much about the Earth Economy:

"The $74 Trillion Global Economy in One Chart

It just shows you so magnificently how the 74 trillion dollars of wealth are distributed around this Earth.

Just so you know, Canada is number 10 for its GDF numbers on the list of nations! Here is how it was done:

"The latest GDP numbers from the World Bank were released earlier this month, and today’s visualization from HowMuch.net breaks them down to show the relative share of the global economy for each country.

The full circle, known as a Voronoi Diagram, represents the entirety of the $74 trillion global economy in nominal terms. Meanwhile, each country’s segment is sized accordingly to their percentage of global GDP output. Continents are also grouped together and sorted by color." (Visual Capitalist)

Interestingly to me, the Company that prepared this was Canadian, located in Vancouver:

"Visual Capitalist is a digital media brand that uses data, art, and storytelling to make complex issues more digestible for millions of investors around the world.

Our focus is on creating context around the global economy, business trends, technology, and investing."

CANADA IS #2

You might want to go and take a look at this article. Canada's position in this article is a lot higher than what I have seen usually about our country. 60 countries around the world are looked at to determine where a country is positioned.

Go to the Website and look into it what is provided to see if you are agreeable or not:

U.S. NEWS "BEST COUNTRIES"

Fascinating that Canada has done so well isn't it! The most interesting part is that this country is in the #1 position in "Quality of Life."

A TRILLION DOLLARS IN INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING

Here is what the US President wants to do with all of that money. He said this in his Address to the Joint Session of Congress on February 28, 2017:

"If we are guided by the well-being of American citizens then I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades.

Another Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, initiated the last truly great national infrastructure program --- the building of the interstate highway system. The time has come for a new program of national rebuilding…

To launch our national rebuilding, I will be asking the Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure of the United States -- financed through both public and private capital --- creating millions of new jobs."

That sounds pretty impressive doesn't it. It is not just taxpayer money that will be spent but will include transactions involving private organizations as well who will be putting up big sums of money with the expectation that they will make some profits on it.

Could it be that this kind of a transaction could be used to build a new bridge between Windsor and Detroit? After all, to build what they, the American and Canadian Governments, want to do requires something of an amount between $4-$5 billion for their proposal assuming that legally they are entitled to do it in the first place.

I don't know about you, dear reader, but I cannot understand why anyone wants the Governments to build their bridge when I believe the Ambassador Bridge Company cost to build their 2nd bridge is in the area of $500 million. That is about in an 1/8th to 1/10th the cost of the Governments' bridge.  Why taxpayers have to spend so much more money seems absurd to me when there is a less expensive way to do so.

While this is pretty exciting reading, I really don't think that the American Governments  are going to spend that much money in infrastructure spending and certainly not that much to build a 2nd bridge between Canada and United States in our area. You, dear reader, certainly ought to take a look at this article that I read the other day:

"Despite Trump's Infrastructure Pledge, Governors Expect Little Federal Spending

(Stuart Leavenworth, Tribune News Service, February 28, 2017)

President Donald Trump said again Monday that he was preparing to spend big on infrastructure. But even as he spoke, administration officials and congressional leaders were telling governors to expect little new federal investment in roads, bridges, transit systems, dam repairs and other water works…

Yet despite his rhetoric, Trump appears to have little GOP support for a big-money federal jobs program. Ryan is opposed, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell _ a Republican from Kentucky and the spouse of Trump's transportation secretary, Elaine Chao _ has been cool to noncommittal. Both congressional leaders want to cut taxes and reduce federal spending and are philosophically opposed to economic stimulus programs. Former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, head of the Heritage Foundation, has recently become an influential adviser to Trump, and his organization has been pressing the president to scale back dreams of big federal investment.

Ryan and some other Republicans seem open to using tax credits to spur private infrastructure work. Yet it is not yet clear how Congress would pay for those tax breaks and what process they'd use to select projects deserving of special treatment. Ryan has made clear that infrastructure decisions will need to wait until the spring, after Congress has had a chance to work on health care and tax revisions."

Of course, dealing with the Ambassador Bridge Company would be terrific for the US President. I am sure that he could do a deal with them to spend much less money than the Governments have suggested and the Company could spend most of the money on the Bridge construction as well.

Naturally, the President would take the credit for it.