Another Set Of Stories

I am doing a bit more walking outside these days. Even a little bit more is a huge change from the fact that I did not do a single outside trip this entire winter. I just found it too cold to be honest.

Sure, in past years, winters were quite chilly but they seemed to warm up nicely several times for a few days. I immediately went outside and walked for as long as I could just get some exercise to help me overcome the problems that I had when I was recovering from my severe illness. Obviously then, it was disappointing for me to be forced to stay inside for so long.

I did have some alternatives though to help me get along.  I made it a definite task to make sure that every day I did my set of exercises before each meal. I also completed the exercises that I had learned before to keep me in good shape. Luckily as well, I took on a whole bunch of new exercises over the 12 week VON program. Putting it all together kept me in better shape.

One of the biggest issues that I have to tell you about, dear reader, is one of the negatives with exercising. I think that I may have written about this before. Nevertheless, I want you to know all about it again because it is very important. I am quite surprised in fact that I have not been told this by any of my exercise leaders in advance.

Just to let you know, right after you start exercising seriously, feeling stronger, and seem slimmer, you make a huge mistake as I did in going onto the weight scale. Why wouldn't you go on it you may wonder. When you do, you will find the answer! In fact, your weight has probably gone up a pound or two higher than it was before you started and you have not lost one single ounce. That was so distressing for me that I did not know what to do.

Just to tell you how extreme it was, I thought that I was eating too much and started cutting back on the food that I was having each day. That certainly did not help me out at all either.  In any event after a period of honest weight increase distress, I finally learned that I was in much better shape and that the extra weight was not "fat" but new muscles that I was building. I finally could relax and start eating back to normal again to feel better.

There, I hope I remember this next time I put on some weight without having more food. I hope that you will remember this as well when you start taking off some excess weight but put on lots of muscles.

Now let me tell you about some stories that I have seen recently.

FORD CANADA LUCKED OUT

I saw this in the news:

"Ford is basically giving up on US car business, and GM is not far behind" (Robert Ferris, CNBC, April 26, 2018) 

No, no, no… These 2 companies are not going bankrupt. Rather they are changing their business dramatically:

"Ford said Wednesday it will only offer two new cars in North America over the coming years — its iconic Mustang and the Focus Active, a rugged-looking hatchback that has already debuted in Europe, and somewhat resembles the Subaru Crosstrek or the Buick Regal TourX.

GM is moving along the same lines...

"Virtually eliminating Ford's NA car portfolio makes a lot of sense, in our view," said Adam Jonas, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. "No more Fusion. No more Focus. No more Fiesta. No more Taurus."

Whether this makes sense or not in the future, I have no idea. Sure people may want a different type of vehicle today but will they want to go back and drive cars tomorrow? What happens then?

Whatever it is that they may have to do later, today the car companies have to meet their market requirements. The changes will be very dramatic. They will have to manufacture the new style of vehicles that their customers want. They will have to meet the Government requirements to make sure that the vehicles run in a very environmentally friendly way and at a cost that most purchasers can still handle.

At least Canadian Ford employees should not be concerned that they might be losing their jobs very soon. It looks like they are in a very good position now especially after the latest negotiations in their union-company labour negotiations finished satisfactorily.  The employees are not really in the "car" business any longer:

"Ford’s decision to discontinue almost all of its car models in North America within two years will leave its Canadian operations intact, since they are focused mainly on sport utility vehicles and light trucks.

The car segment of automotive sales has been shrinking since 2012, while sales of sport utility vehicles have grown over the same period — a trend that’s expected to continue.

“So, we are focusing our efforts on vehicles customers prefer,” Ford Canada’s Lauren More said in an email Thursday." (Canadian Press, April 26, 2018) 

It should remain all right for Ford in Windsor hopefully. Here is what was said by Jerry Dias, national president of Unifor:

"Also, if I take a look at our Windsor engine plants . . . I think we should be all right there as well.”

Here we go again. A whole new business that needs to be dealt with right away especially in our area.

WHY CAN'T THEY RUN A BRIDGE PROPERLY

If you got stuck in a huge line-up trying to cross over the border between Windsor and Detroit a few days ago, then I am sure that you going to be blaming the Ambassador Bridge Company for being a crummy border operator. Can you imagine, they still want to be in control of a major crossing between Canada and United States and yet they had a huge backup at their bridge between the Canadian and American cities.

Or so you may think unless you read this story:

"Commercial vehicles were lined up leading to the Ambassador Bridge due to an issue at the border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection told the bridge company Thursday they are experiencing some national system issues and are doing everything that they can to minimize the impacts." (CTV Windsor, April 26, 2018) 

It is not the first time that this has happened. Just for fun, dear reader, you might want to do your own Google search on Bridge traffic problems to see how many are caused by Government failures.

THIS ACTION SCARES ME DRASTICALLY

I certainly hope that you have read the story because I find it very troubling. I am certainly glad that I do not live near a nuclear plant. The consequences of something drastic happening are quite shocking. It would not surprise me to see people who have read the story and who happen to live in the area decide to sell and move away:

"The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and the Town of Amherstburg will be starting Potassium Iodide pill distribution in the primary zone near the nuclear generating station...

In the very unlikely event of a nuclear emergency, KI pills would help to prevent the long term development of thyroid cancer." (CTV Windsor, April 26, 2018) 

Now it may be that people who live near plant know about this already. Here is why I say that. I saw it on this website https://preparetobesafe.ca/:

"About KI Pills

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) — the federal agency that monitors the safe operation of nuclear stations — now requires that all homes and businesses within 10 km of a nuclear power station receive a supply of potassium iodide (KI) pills. The pills have been available free of charge at select pharmacies, but will now be sent by mail due to increased safety standards.

In the very unlikely event of a nuclear emergency and a release of radioactive iodine to the public, KI pills will help prevent the development of thyroid cancer, and are especially effective at safeguarding children's thyroid glands. It is important for each household to have a supply of these pills because they are most effective if taken just before or soon after exposure to radioactive iodine.

The distribution of KI pills is not due to any change in the risk of a nuclear emergency and is not meant to cause alarm. We believe that staying safe means being prepared, even for the most unlikely of events."

Yet, I saw this which would suggest that this has not happened before in this area nearby us:

"If you live directly across Lake Erie from the Fermi nuclear power plant, you will be offered a pill that blocks radiation.

On Thursday, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit released details of the plan to educate residents of Amherstburg about potassium iodide pill distribution for those living in the 'primary zone' of the Enrico Fermi 2 Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan." (CBC News, April 26, 2018) 

I know nothing at all about this issue probably because I do not live near that plant. All I know is that someone is rather worried about it right now for some reason about which I know little. Here though is the reason it probably took so long to happen here:

"Town officials last year complained after Amherstburg had largely been left out of the Ontario government’s nuclear safety and emergency planning since Fermi II is located across the border." (Dave Battagello, Windsor Star, April 26, 2018) 

I have to admit that I wonder whether there are other risks about living near a nuclear station that need to be dealt with now, in advance. If so, I wonder when they will be exposed and what will be done to minimize them.