A Bunch Of New News Stories

I have to admit that I still like writing stories on my website. I am not really sure now how many readers I have because I find it difficult to get proper numbers these days. No problem. It does not matter how many that I have because the reason that I write the articles is for me to express my point of view.  

Here are some new events which I would like to present to you about how I feel. 

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME RECENTLY 

Believe it or not, my computer had some problems that impacted rather dramatically my access to the Internet. For the reason that I did not know at the time, my online speed dropped significantly from as high as over 2 Mbps to as low as 50 Kbps. It really was that slow! For me, it seemed that it was just going to be a matter of a very short period of time before the whole service declined completely so that I would not have access any longer to the Internet. 

It meant that I needed someone to figure out what was wrong with the system and then repair it. 

Naturally, I contacted my provider of Internet service to find out if they knew how to fix what seemed to be wrong even though I had no clue about what was wrong. On the phone, over a couple of days, we tried a number of different repair techniques to see if my system could be fixed. Regretfully, none of them worked at all. My speed was still terribly low. Accordingly, they agreed to send over one of their technicians to take a look at my system and repair it if possible. 

The fellow who came over seemed to be knowledgeable about problems with the Internet service and how to fix them. Provided of course, that the problems were Internet connected. He tried a number of different "fixes" to improve the speed. None of them worked at all. Unfortunately, for me, he had to tell me that the problems I was having with my computer and the Internet were not related to their service but rather required a technical person to come over to figure out what had happened and then to fix it. In other words, there was nothing more that he can do to help me out. 

Luckily, I found a company that said they had the ability to fix my issue based on the experience they had to solve problems that seemed to be happening to me. In having our phone conversation at first, it was suggested that it might be one of 3 different technical messes that could be impacting my system. Obviously, their service representative would have to identify what was wrong and then, hopefully, be able to fix it. 

It must be that I was a very lucky person. One of their technical people who was scheduled to come over at 8:30 AM the next morning had over 20 years of experience dealing with major Internet issues similar to mine. It was such a pleasure to hear that someone so experienced was going to come over and try to fix everything so unbelievably quickly as possible. 

Without going into all of the details about what he did to identify the problem and, after discovering it, fixing it, I am thrilled to say that he did a fabulous job. There were a number of technical matters that he had to fix up in order to restore service and had to make significant changes with the equipment that was providing the connections. He did such a fabulous job that we now have exactly the download speed of 3 Mbps for most of the time. I have to say that in all the years that I have been online it has been very rare to my download speed ever to be at that number for most of the time! It always seemed to be lower. 

So I am now back online and happily at a very nice speed to suit my needs. 

IT BETTER STAY OPEN 

I would strongly suggest to the owners of the property that the Canadian Club Brand Centre remain open. If not, then I wonder how many people will continue to buy their products. Not many I expect. 

I cannot understand why a deal between the City and the Owners has not yet been completed. Why would it take so long to finalize a transaction? Here is the latest on this matter: 

"Mayor Drew Dilkens tells CTV Windsor they are still talking to the owners about keeping the centre open. 

“We’re on track and the conversations have been very good” says Dilkens… 

“Hopefully we will have a meaningful outcome in very short order” says Dilkens." (CTV Windsor, August 12, 2017)  

Oh well, perhaps everything will finalize during the height of the sale of alcohol, say around the Christmas and New Year's time period. 

WINDSOR SPENDING COMMENTS 

I just found these comments from City of Windsor politicians interesting about the spending of money.   

"On Tuesday, council approved spending $6.7-million for upgrades on Ouellette Avenue from Wyandotte to Elliott Streets. 

The tender is 21 per cent over the original budget of $5.6-million. 

“Would I have preferred that the project come in on budget on the estimate that we were given? Absolutely,” said Mayor Drew Dilkens." (CTV Windsor,August 9, 2017)  

Notwithstanding the increase over the budget, the spending was approved. 

This comment came after another one that was made earlier: 

"A construction price 57 per cent over budget and the pleas of residents and downtown merchants failed to dissuade the majority of councillors from trading retail space for ground-floor parking in the Pelissier Street parking garage… 

Bortolin, who represents the downtown, initially made a motion to “note and file” the tender for the Pelissier Street garage and direct staff to look into leasing out the space commercially again. But he was defeated. 

“We’re about to spend three-quarters of a million for 43 pretty parking spaces,” despite the fact the parking garage is never full, Bortolin said, citing statistics showing Windsor has more parking per capita than almost anywhere else in the country.  

“All the numbers keep showing we just don’t need it,” Bortolin said. “This will do nothing but hurt the area.” (Brian Cross, WindsorStar, August 9, 2017)  

Another case in which the over-the-budget spending was approved. 

WILL THERE BE A CITY TAX INCREASE IN WINDSOR THIS YEAR 

Perhaps there will be no need for a municipal tax increase in the City of Windsor or, perhaps only a very small one. Here is an interesting document that I just read about: 

"The federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) is a permanent source of funding provided up front, twice-a-year, to provinces and territories, who in turn flow this funding to their municipalities to support local infrastructure priorities. Municipalities can pool, bank and borrow against this funding, providing significant financial flexibility.  

Every year, the GTF provides over $2 billion and supports approximately 2,500 projects in communities across Canada. Communities select how best to direct the funds." (Infrastructure Canada) 

 Do you want to know how much the City received? Here is the answer: 

"Municipalities across the region now have more money in their coffers. 

That's because the federal government has paid out the first installment of the federal Gas Tax Fund. 

Windsor received $6.4-million last week, half of the $12.8-million the City will receive from the Trudeau government this year… 

The funding is in addition to the provincial gas tax fund that is shared by Ontario municipalities." (CTV Windsor, August 8, 2017) 

That is a lot of money for the City to receive. I wonder if that will be added in to the City's budget for 2018 so that a decision can be made whether there must be a tax increase or not.  The following is supposed to happen in Windsor and when: 

"Windsor city council is getting ready to discuss 2018 budget priorities… 

Councillors are expected to get the draft budget on November 17. 

It will be released to the public on November 20 with deliberations beginning the week of December 11." (Rob Hindi, CKLW, August1st 2017)