More Stories For You To Read

[Sigh] It is still cold outside. 

Oh I remember that I am not supposed to be writing so much about the weather these days, but I saw a story that said that our area probably won't see the real "spring" weather until early May. Now normally that would seem to take much too long. However, I remembered that fall took forever to end last year. It just seemed that leaves did not fall off the trees for a very long time so the late spring may not be all that surprising. Anyway, that is all that I will be talking about today about the weather.

There are lots of things for me to think about these days. Clearly, I have to get myself prepared for all those long walks that I am going to do. As you may recall, in the summertime when it is pleasant to walk outside, my wife and I will try to go out several times a day for a walk in total for over an hour. Oh sure, it is a bit tiring at first but it makes us both feel so much better as summer goes forward.

While I like to look summer-like with a nice suntan, I am also well aware that this can be dangerous because it can give rise to skin problems. It is not very pleasant completely covering up, especially in warm weather, but one has to be careful not getting a bad burn. I also have to admit that I don't like putting on suntan lotion all that much, but it is something that I will have to keep on doing whether I want to or not. One of the things that seems to make a lot more sense to do with this matter is to be careful where one walks in the first place. As an example, in the morning, we walk in an area where the trees block a good part of the street with their leaves so that the sunshine does not fall through.  That means our risk of being sunburned is reduced significantly. Accordingly, another of our tasks is to find good routes to walk to eliminate potential skin issues.

Fortunately, our condominium complex has a nice swimming pool where we can go. I have to admit that I do not do a lot of swimming these days. In fact, last year, I did not go at all because the summer temperatures were not all that high I felt to make swimming desirable. After all, I like very warm water! I am hoping that this year changes with warmer weather so that I can do a bit of swimming this year to allow me to exercise to help myself feel better. Even if I cannot do a lot of swimming, I would also like to be able to suntan myself better by staying at the pool and getting the right amount of sun on me. That is something about which I will make sure that I am careful.

Just one other matter that I wish to discuss.  Perhaps this year we will take some trips out of town to take a look at a lot of different locations.  Yes, I'd like to see what some of the towns look like just by walking around them.  Who knows, perhaps we might have a lunch in one of the places or just enjoy an afternoon tea to make our trip a very pleasant one.  This would be quite an accomplishment for me since it would be the first time since I was very ill for me to take any kind of a trip away from my home.  It would be an accomplishment for me because it would give me confidence that I have recovered quite well from the horrible situation that jeopardized me so much.

As you can see, dear reader, I am looking forward to a wonderful summer this year.  I would love to be able to accomplish something so exciting now to feel that I am doing very well from a personal perspective.  So come on, warm weather.  Get over here already and warm up the area to make this one of our best summers forever.

Here are some stories that I hope will keep you interested about some interesting matters.

UNEMPLOYMENT ROSE AGAIN

The Windsor Star reporter made this comment about the increase in unemployment.  As you know, the percentage rate of unemployment went up from 4.9% to 5.2%:

"Windsor's unemployment rate inches up to 5.2%

Windsor’s unemployment rate crept up in March but remained below the national average." (Dave Battagello, WindsorStar, April 6, 2018) 

Sure it's not too big an unemployment rate compared with how it was in the past.  However, if you do a bit of math, you will find out that percentage increase in the unemployment rate was about 6.1%.  That is a quite a big step in my opinion which I hope does not happen again.

OUR NEW TRAIN TRACKS

Finally, an "official" announcement has been made.  Frankly, it does not say very much.  Rather, in my opinion, it is nothing more than to help out the Liberal Government in Ontario get some Queen's Park seats at the next election which is coming up shortly:

"Premier Kathleen Wynne says a high speed rail line is on track to carry passengers between London and Toronto by 2025 with the help of an $11 billion investment from the province.

It’s the single biggest investment in the Liberal government’s 2018 Budget, Wynne emphasized." (Liny Lamberink, 980 CFPL,April 6, 2018) 

Well, here is an interesting matter in this that should be considered by any elector with respect to the spending of the money:

"The project’s environmental assessment and related planning and design work are well underway, and are expected to take three years, said the Premier."

Oh, it really is not going to be a lot of spending for the next 3 years at all.  In fact, it would not surprise me if this time period took an extra year to complete which would bring this matter close the next provincial election.  The Government at that time should be able to make all kinds of announcements about the project starting that should get them good publicity to help get them elected at that time as well.

Again, I felt that this line was rather hilarious because it confirms again to me that nothing will be built west of London:

"Phase two will eventually extend south to Windsor, with a stop in Chatham."

I wonder when "eventuality" will actually start since no timeframe was set out in the newspaper article.  In other words, no excuse yet not to vote for the Liberals here since they are still committing to build a new rail line to this part of the province.

MICHIGAN CENTRAL STATION PROJECT

I sure hope that the Michigan Central Station project does go forward soon.  I am not going to say what I think the best approach is going to be.  In other words, it does not matter to me whether the Moroun Family sells out its interest in the property completely or whether it still maintains ownership but leases it out for a very long period of time to Ford or some other organization for their usage.  It just has to happen already!

Here is what was said many years ago about the difficulties around this project:

"Mr. [Mickey] Blashfield said his company was not interested in demolition, but needed an anchor tenant or at least “a critical mass” of businesses or government agencies before it could pay for any renovation. And that is the hard part; grand and varied plans have been proposed over the years, with none coming to fruition." (Susan Saulny, NewYork Times, March 5, 2010) 

The history of this building is an interesting one.  Take a look at this article by Dan Austin of HistoricDetroit.org and especially these specific comments:

"In 1995, Controlled Terminals Inc. of Detroit acquired the building, by then already hit hard by scrappers, and erected a razor wire fence, but the building has been far from impenetrable. The company is owned by billionaire Manuel “Matty” Moroun, who also owns the Ambassador Bridge and a network of trucking companies. He bought it with the idea that it might hold future value with his rail yard...

“I hate being associated with that,” Moroun told the Detroit News in December 2008, said of MCS. “What the hell am I supposed to do with it? I can’t sell it, and I won’t give it away for a dollar. I can’t redevelop it. Who would want to go in there? Nobody. There’s no reason. That’s throwing money to the wind. Can’t tear it down, it’s an historic landmark...

Still, the Moroun family has spent a decent chunk of change in recent years cleaning the depot up, doing asbestos remediation and adding landscaping and architectural lighting. Seeing it lit up at night is truly a breathtaking sight. It instills hope for both the city, and for saving this architectural marvel.”

Given what is going on now, are people in Detroit hopeful that a deal will finally take place?  Or will this just be more talk about a wonderful project that might happen, as in the past, resulting in another failure at the end?

We will just have to wait and see.