A Few More Stories For You To Read

I want to get something out of my system. I had the need to buy some articles that I required but had a lot of trouble trying to find them in a store around this area where I could do so. To be direct, I just could not find the products I was looking for at all. That made no sense to me. Moreover, it was quite annoying because I knew what I wanted and had been able to buy them in a local store before.

I have to admit that it seems to me that we are all going to be experiencing something similar as time goes on. We just seem to be having fewer retail stores out there and the ones that do sell to the public do not seem to carry as big a supply of products that stores did in the past.

It is not very exciting to me to go to some store website online to look for a product to purchase. Oh sure, a proper photograph and description of the product may make it appear to be extremely wonderful to buy. However, once it is delivered to you, then you might not be all that happy to receive something that is not as good as what you thought it was. Moreover, isn't it better to be able to actually touch the product and to hold it in your hands to make sure that it really is something that you want to buy before you take out your money to do so. I would think so.

Fortunately, this time I was able to find the products that I was interested in buying at online places of purchase. It is quite easy to do so because one can post the name and/or description of the product and the search tool points out the websites where one can go look at the product. Of course, one can go to a number of different "stores" so much easier and quicker than if one was actually going from place to place "physically."

The sellers moreover were legitimate ones that I had dealt with before and would be prepared to take back products that were not acceptable and return my money. As well, it is quite easy to find a place to purchase the product since one could tell the purchase price for each of the sellers very easily. In my case this time, the product prices were quite low since they were on sale at very nice discounts at the places where I wanted to buy them.  They should be here according to the delivery timetable that I received within the next week or so. That is a pretty good time frame as well.

Like it or not, dear reader, this is a system that you and I will have to learn how to deal with, especially because so many retail stores seem to be going out of business.

Of course, this Blogsite is also important for you, dear reader. It is now the way I expect that you will be looking at stories in the future about matters that may interest you from writers that you enjoy reading. Here are some for you to enjoy reading now.

AN ARTISTIC PRACTICE

This gentleman has made his practice as an artist a very difficult one for himself. One that could cost him a lot of money if he is charged and convicted of an offence:

"This man painted a bridge to spark a conversation about public art" (Chris Ensing, CBC News, April 9, 2018) 

What he did was paint a CP rail bridge on the overpass at Walker Road and Grand Marais.  It seems to me that he may have known that what he did was illegal:

"Mendoza's colours could come with a fine of up to $5,000, according to the Graffiti Control Act.

"Is it worth it? Absolutely it's worth it because I am starting the conversation," said Mendoza, who thinks it cost about $200 to put together the piece.

"It makes people reconsider: maybe this is illegal right now, but maybe we should reconsider what we're doing with our empty spaces."

It would be very interesting for me to know what my readers think about what was done. Should this gentleman be prosecuted and be forced to pay up as big a fine as possible for acting in an improper manner because, after all, he knew about it? On the other hand should he be treated in a different manner completely and not be prosecuted at all or, be prosecuted and found liable but not be punished at all because what he did may have good reason about it?

It should be interesting to see what the police do given this comment:

"On cases like that we're very complaint-driven and if we do get any complaints they are investigated," said Staff Sgt. Steve Betteridge, when asked about potential charges related to this.

He said it would likely be investigated as mischief or property damage."

Has anyone acted to get the police involved by now? Presumably, yes considering what happened. If so, it will be interesting to know who filed a complaint.

"Artist reacts after his illegal splash of colour on Windsor bridge is painted over

CP Rail said the act was illegal and dangerous but will not comment on possible charges (CBC News, April 12, 2018) 

A rail bridge that crosses Walker Road has lost its colour after the artist who painted it went public about his work to spark a conversation about art in public places.

Eugenio Mendoza said the bridge was painted brown within 24 hours of sharing his story with CBC News on Monday."

It should be interesting to see if any charges will be laid and, if so, what will happen if he is prosecuted based on what he said:

"Was it worth it? Absolutely. Would I do it over again? Absolutely," said Mendoza."

EMPLOYMENT IN OUR AREA

It really would be worthwhile for someone to provide some good information about the unemployment situation in our area. On its face, we seem to be doing very well here with respect to people finding jobs and not being unemployed any longer. Yet, some people makes comments that are disturbing given the success that seems to be going on.

Here is what I mean:

"Justin Falconer, who leads the Local Employment Planning Council for Workforce WindsorEssex, said the area has been hovering for months near the five per cent unemployment mark that economists consider full employment.

 “The job market remains hot in Windsor Essex,” Falconer said. “Typically, we’re seeing 2,500 job vacancies each month.” (Dave Waddell, Windsor Star, April 12, 2018) 

Yet, Mr. Falconer also made this comment which is quite depressing:

"However, Falconer said there remains a significant number of people who aren’t participating in the workforce.

“We’ve got jobs with no people and people with no jobs,” Falconer said. “We’re trying to dig into that and find out why.

“We’ve got to try and get more of these people back into the workforce.”

Could this job's issue be due to the fact that people have not yet been trained to carry out the various tasks that will have to be done? I think that is probably one of the main reasons. Take a look at this article written by Dave Battagello of the Windsor Star on April 13, 2018.   In it, you will note how efforts are made to make sure that there are people around who have the skills required. That should help people get back into the workforce:

"Want a job building the Gordie Howe International Bridge? Become a heavy equipment operator, fleet mechanic, iron worker or welder, says Workforce WindsorEssex...

“To some extent it’s getting a bit late to get into a program and graduate,” said Justin Falconer, senior manager at Workforce WindsorEssex. “But through apprenticeships there will definitely be a lot of people getting involved with bridge work...

Hundreds of direct and indirect jobs will be created on each side of the border once the project kicks into gear.”

Here though is something interesting that you may want to consider, dear reader. What happens if the Governments never build their bridge? Does it mean that all of this is for nothing because people will not get a job? Of course not. Just remember that the Companies who build the 2nd Ambassador Bridge will need people to complete the jobs.

In the end, once the Governments and the Bridge Company resolve their problems and decide to work together, expect them to work together to get people trained to complete the tasks required.