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Issue #1011
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From Russ
The Ontarion

Hey There,

One of the most stomach sinking feelings a home owner can get is when one discovers that their roof is leaking. It’s right up there with a burst water line or cracked foundation. We’ve been having some incredible rain storms lately. I was out on the back deck where the roof overhangs the deck, sitting watching the rain. I became aware of that unpleasant sound of dripping water but could not figure out where it was dripping. It sounded like it was above the ceiling of the deck overhang. There are two skylights up there, one directly up and the other further up the roof. The dripping sound became a ‘running water’ sound and then water started to fall out between the ceiling boards. Crap! The most likely source would be the upper skylight, or more likely the shingles or flashing around that skylight. We had replace our roof about 12 years ago and I had never been happy with the workmanship of that roofing company. The flashing and shingles around the skylights had been left rough and uneven. All I could do was watch the water coming down from the deck ceiling and be thankful it was coming down outside the actual house and not inside.

Finding roofers or any other tradesperson around here can be very difficult and costly. Everyone wants to work in Whistler where they can charge as much as they want and do as little as possible. A few years ago we had found a tradesman who was willing to do some work for us and he had worked out well and done a good job, a rarity here. We had ‘found’ him when he was working at our neighbor’s place. I knew from talking to several people that this guy was very busy but I intended to try calling just in case. I didn’t want to have to try to get a roofing company to come as that would get frustrating very quickly.

That was Thursday of last week and low and behold, out tradesman, Danny, was standing on the same neighbor’s porch that Friday morning as they were arranging to get some more work done by him. He almost cringed as I walked up as told him how glad I was to seem him because we had a big roof leaking problem. However, he came over to have a look and told me he’d fit it in on the first dry day of next week (that now being this week) as roof leaks are a bit of an urgent issue. There was a sudden change in our weather forecast and Monday miraculously became sunny rather than rainy. And, bright and early Monday morning Danny and another guy pulled up and unloaded their equipment, include the scaffolding needed to work safely. Wow. He was scheduled to start at the neighbor’s that morning but told them he needed to deal with our leak and that he’d get to them next. They were fine with that. Our repair could be done, promptly and properly. And it was. It took most of the day but thats ok. The old flashing was indeed basically a mess and its a wonder the roof hadn’t leaked long before this. What is frustrating is that I’ve become too old and stiff and sore to do these kind of repairs myself. When I was young I could tackle anything and accomplish anything. Not anymore. Bad back, bad hips, bad wrists and so on, all from a life of working a bit too hard. And face it, getting old is like a cruel joke that mother nature plays on us. She may be laughing but we sure aren't. But, I’m happy to pay a good contractor to help us out and we are ready for the next non-stop rain storm. And, we’ve got several other projects for Danny when he can get to them but there is no hurry for those.

One thing I can still do, in spite of my warn out old body, is make my little music videos and recordings. So kids, for this week I’ve got a video of an old bluegrass tune called ‘Blue Moon Of Kentucky’ (and yes, I’m scratching the bottom of the barrel a bit for this one). It was done by many performers way back when and was a Bill Monroe standard. To do this song right, it needs a full bluegrass band which I don’t have and it needs bluegrass pickers which I don’t have and of which I’m not. So, you get a more laid back, just sort of ‘jamming’ kind of result. Have fun.

Blue Moon Of Kentucky

Oh, almost forgot…. Apparently this is the Thanksgiving long weekend. Of course, us old retired folks don’t get long weekends so its hard for us to know. Heck, its hard enough to know that its ‘a’ weekend let alone a long one. Oh well, enjoy it.

doug

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From Russ

Great Lakes Drownings

As most of you know, I have had a home on the shore of beautiful Lake Huron for many (65) years. When I was able, I'd spend many summer hours swimming - in cold, calm water as well as in warm - high waves water. And, the higher the waves, the better! Sometimes I'd swim out so far that my wife/family would see only a 'speck'. I never gave drowning a thought.

"I'm a good swimmer - nothing's going to happen to me", and luckily it never did - in the lake. But, those of you who've read my little books may recall the "near-death" I experienced while swimming/diving in the warm, dirty waters of the Grand River. That incident scared the life-out-of me! I had been swimming under water, and stayed under too long. Being desperate for air, I surfaced, and was about to get that 'life-saving gasp of air", when a young man thought he'd play a trick on me - just as I broke water, he threw a large, heavy, entangled gob of seaweed over me. I couldn't get air through the stuff. I couldn't get free of it - I WAS DROWNING!! The pain in my lungs nearly surpassed the pain in my heart! What a HORRIFYING way to die!!

You would not be reading this had not a nearby man rescued me - I owe him my life. I've had many a nightmare where I'm drowning - so real I wake up in a sweat - and a ruined, night's sleep!

An article in The Kincardine News caught my interest: UWindsor profs study economic impact of Great Lakes drownings. "The economies of Canada and the United States lose more than $US 130 million each year due to drownings off Great Lakes beaches, according to a first of its kind study by three University of Windsor professors". And can you believe it?

"That staggering figure doesn't include the cost of expensive helicopter-assisted search and rescue services, hospitalizations or the emotional toll on families."

I don't know if they have life guards on popular beaches such as Sauble beach and Wasaga where, on a weekend one may expect several hundreds of swimmers. The only 'life-saving' thing on our beach in Point Clark was a "Life-Saver" hung on a short post near the water. These were soon vandalized, and were never replaced. We tend to discount drownings as a problem. How many of us have even thought drownings would have such an economic $ impact?

Kincardine has one of Ontario's best surfing beaches. On a windy day, surfers come from far-and-wide to strip off their clothes and pull on those 'skin-tight' suits (in public) in readiness for their exciting, if not dangerous sport. My daughter-in-law and I watched them just feet away from us in the parking lot doing their "strip-tease"! No modesty.

On the serious side; "The researchers estimate the total economic burden of surf-related drowning fatalities alone, over the past 10 years to be in excess of $1.3 billion". And if you believe statistics, there are on average 50 drowning deaths each year associated with the Great Lakes. Last year pandemic fatigue drove many surfers to the beaches - 74 died. And guess what, guys? males between 10 and 30 years of age were the most 'daring'.

Its true, drownings don't make much news, but if there's a tornado some place in Ontario, everyone knows about it. So far this year, there have been 56 drownings (according to the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project) - 12 in Lake Erie, 8 in Lake Ontario, 10 in Lake Huron and two in Lake Superior. All of these lakes share a border with Canada.

"The study showed that the economic burden of surf-related drowning fatalities is significantly greater than the cost associated with seasonal life guard services" if you can believe that - and here's the kicker, "The study calculated Value of Statistical Life lost to drowning in Canada is $1.8 million".

Finally, let's look at all drownings between 2010 and 2020, the distribution of economic burden across states and provinces is highest in - you guessed it - Ontario at $290 million (compared to Michigan $250 million, and Illinois $244 million).

This information needs to go to individual municipalities who are trying to figure out the cost of life guards and education programs, and it needs to go all the way to Doug Ford, and Justin Trudeau as well! I believe we must invest in 'beach safety'. Life guards are the key to reducing the number of drownings, but we're not putting the investment where it needs to be.

Drowning is a form of suffocation - they say one could drown in a basin-full of water. I believe it! The other day I took a gulp of lukewarm coffee - it went down my wind-pipe - choking - couldn't breathe - terrifying!

Uncle Russ.

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

Have any of you ever had a similar problem to this one? Buses sitting idling beside your house! We happen to live beside what is considered a busy access street to the Forest Heights subdivision. We know this and understand that there will be traffic on Driftwood Dr at different times of the day. Mostly because of the two schools that are in close proximity to our location. However there is a bus stop on the opposite side of the Hydro right of way that we happen to back onto. This bus stop was moved from beside our house 15 years of more ago because we asked our local city councillor to do something about the constant noise and smell that was emitted by the buses as they stopped and many times sat idling beside our house. I contacted our council member and through his contacts the bus stop was moved from directly beside our house to the opposing side of the Hydro right of way. This was fine and solved the problem of 24 hour noise and diesel smell for quite some time. However once again we have noticed that the buses have been stopping beside our back yard fence at all hours of the day and once again this is very annoying at any time of the day! So, once again 5 months ago I contacted our present day council member to ask if he could use his contact with the Regional bus line to please make sure that the buses stop at the proper location of the bus STOP! The big boss of Grand River Transit contacted me personally about this problem. I simply and politely asked him to look into the problem and direct his drivers to stop at the proper bus stop, especially when they find the need to stop and sit at idle for up to 10 minutes to make up time on their route several times a day! The big boss of GRT assured me that he would make it clear to his drivers that they must stop at the bus stop even if they have to sit and make up time on their route.

I felt certain that he would keep his word and tell his drivers of the problem and that would be a solution to the problem! However, over the past 5 months we have contacted the GRT superintendant many many times over to let him know that the problem still exists! IF he has directed the drivers to follow his orders, they most certainly haven’t been doing so! They are still constantly stopping beside our fence and sitting with their noisy stinky buses idling for up to 10 minutes at a time several times a day. It’s as if they have decided to teach us a lesson for ratting them out about their bad habit! I’ve even sent him pictures of dozen’s of occasions when the buses have sat beside our place and he again assured me that he’d do something about it! This last week I contacted him once again and explained that his directions are not getting through to the drivers! They are still sitting in this offensive place, being at least 4 bus lengths before their proper bus stop! About three months ago there was a GRT inspector sitting across the street from the bus stop I assume to watch for the offending bus drivers to catch them in the act. However, the inspector was sitting in plain view of the oncoming buses and their drivers!

I went over to the inspector and explained to him that his location was allowing the drivers to see that he was there and of course this put them on their best behaviour and they wouldn’t stop beside our fence! He told me that he would still be able to catch them in the act so, obviously my discussion with him didn’t sink in! Over the following months they kept on stopping beside our fence. I once more made an effort to explain to the Big Boss that his inspectors location was giving the drivers a warning but was still not breaking them from their annoying habit! Finally, a few days ago one of the buses stopped beside our fence and only once he had stopped did he notice the inspector’s SUV sitting across the street from the bus stop. The inspector had been hidden behind a large bush further away from the road than before. He suddenly pulled his SUV out onto the street as the bus driver noticed him and was slowly moving to the proper bus stop. Carole was out back at the time and watched as the Inspector opened his window and was obviously chastising the driver for stopping in the wrong position. Carole couldn’t hear what was said but she could see the inspector pointing toward the proper bus stop and for a couple of minutes lecturing the driver and obviously directing him to correct his improper positioning of the bus! For the next few days the buses stopped at the proper bus stop and we thought the problem was finally solved! NOPE, that only lasted three days and today we once again had two buses that stopped next to our fence and idling to make up time. In fact one of the drivers even got out of his bus and had a smoke while the bus continued to run! In one of my communication with the Big Boss, I even suggested the drivers turn off their ignition while they make up that 10 minutes. That got no response from the Big Boss!

As asked by the Big Boss, we have been recording the time, dates and bus numbers and sent them into the Big Boss via email!

Obviously, he’s not getting though to his drivers or they just don’t have enough respect for his orders or him to follow his directions! I know that there are over a hundred drivers on the GRT and they rotate to different routes at different times but surely to heck he can send out a blanket email to all of his drivers to solve this problem! I’m to the point where I’m likely going to have to phone him directly in order to get some action! I’m sure he’s a very busy man that has to deal with overseeing all of the region’s transportation needs including the new ION system but this problem should finally be annoying enough to him as well as us that he’ll finally do something about it! It only in my view would take the Director a few moments or even seconds to send out an email to all drivers that would solve this problem. The location of the bus stop is such that if the bus drivers stopped at the bus stop the noisy end of the bus would be located mid way across the Hydro right of way and their noise would not be offensive to people living on either side of the right of way! That is why the bus stop was moved to that location 15 years ago when the problem first arose! Good grief! What will it take to solve this problem? If the Big Boss can’t handle such a menial problem then I question his ability to manage the whole Regional Transit System! Fingers crossed, hopefully my next contact with him will finally get through to him and he’ll finally be the Big Boss and call a meeting with all drivers if necessary to have them all GET THE MESSAGE!

So there! I’ve vented more than enough for this week and hopefully enlightened more people to the problem of long idling Grand River Transit buses!

That’s about it for this week folks! Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!

Bye for now…. Greg

PS: Something To Think About>
Don’t be afraid to contact your local politician when you have a beef about something that is supposed to be under their control!

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Take Care And Be Safe
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.