As the summer sets on the horizon, I’m trying to repress thoughts of purchasing school supplies, packing lunches, and fighting with the kids to practice their music. Entering any store makes it near impossible to ignore the back to school reality, so I bit the bullet and bought a more expensive knapsack for my daughter. Every time I turned around …
Of Mice and Boys
There’s more than one way to skin a cat, or catch a mouse In the latest tale of mice and men, the score could be construed as mouse 0, man 1. However that wouldn’t tell of the sad fall from grace of my partner, Steve, nor would it describe my search for a better mousetrap. I should start at the …
I just jumped out of a plane at 12,500 feet – What’s wrong with me?
People mark their milestone birthdays differently. Me, I chose a fundamental leap of faith. One month before my 40th birthday, at 12,500 feet, I jumped out of an airplane. I did it quite calmly and without any expectations. Strangely enough, it didn’t really hit me until I was in a Delta passenger airplane on my way home from California. Watching …
Beer, hotdogs, baseball, and fireworks spell an American experience
I spent a week out in California amid a wash of lavender jacaranda trees in bloom, fragrant citrus trees and rows of palm trees, not to mention large flowers that looked like white and purple fireworks. (Which I later found out were called lily of the Nile or agapanthus.) They wouldn’t be my only fireworks of the week, I also …
It pays for businesses to go extra mile for customers
The North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce launched its annual Go the Extra Mile program rewarding excellence in customer service last month. The website says: “People encountering great customer service can nominate the individual by completing an entry form on the Chamber website, www.gotheextramile.ca or by picking up a form from a local sponsor.” Cash prizes and gift certificates …
Students who raise awareness of charity can get a real gift
Are you a college or university student underemployed this summer? Being creative and community-minded might just win you more money than you could ever make on the job. A press release headline caught my eye recently: “Have you heard the $50,000 story about the charitable sector? Neither have we … Yet!” Imagine Canada and the Muttart Foundation launched a national …
Firefighters have a good reputation in the community for a reason
Sir Winston Churchill said: “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” When I started hearing through the grapevine about all of the charitable work of the Sault Ste. Marie firefighters, this quote sprung to mind. We read about them fighting fires, our kids bring home their fire-prevention material, and we see …
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Will you please stop holding my grocery bags hostage
I’m not a trained hostage negotiator, and unfortunately, as of late, this fact is putting me at a disadvantage at certain big box stores. I feel quite unprepared when my purchases are “kidnapped” at the cash register until I offer an answer to their charitable donation request as the ransom to get them back. I go into retail stores to …
How smart are we if we continue to agree to pay for smart meters?
In my last column I expressed my opposition to the PUC’s application to recover smart meter costs from us through an increase in our delivery charges. Not surprisingly, Brian Curran, president and CEO of PUC, wasn’t a big fan of my column. Curran replied in a letter in which he let people know that smart electrical meters were mandated by …
We didn’t ask for smart meters, so why tap us for cash?
The PUC wants to increase delivery charges starting May 1, “to reflect the recovery of costs for deployed smart meters.” Did we ask for those meters? Are they of any benefit to us? No and no. Last Thursday’s paper had a very large ad: “Notice of application for an electricity distribution rate change – PUC Distribution Inc.” If approved, the …