Belated Weekly Rant for June 8-14

Sorry for the break in service here, I’ve been pre-occupied. This entry covers the week of June 8-14:

I like children if they’re cooked properly.

--W. C. Fields

When did it become socially acceptable for the parents of unruly brats to inflict their squalling, squealing infants upon an entire restaurant of patrons? I may be becoming a misanthropic old curmudgeon but I begin to understand why English Men’s Clubs barred women and children. Since the day twenty years ago when a young miss was allowed to peer over the edge of a partition in St. Hubert’s Chicken and watch every bite I took I’ve become mindful of where I sit and on more than one occasion asked to be moved. I don’t pay good money to eat out while my nerves are shattered by a misbehaving imp. In my opinion parents should keep their offspring home until they’re civilized enough to behave in public; what else is take out for?

The weather? It’s forecasts like this one that leave one feeling unsettled:

Text Forecast: Issued at 3.30 PM EDT Wednesday 18 June 2008

Tonight.. Cloudy periods. 70 percent chance of showers early this evening. Wind northwest 20 km/h becoming light this evening. Low 9. Thursday.. A mix of sun and cloud. 30 percent chance of showers in the afternoon. Wind becoming west 20 km/h in the morning. High 21. UV index 8 or very high.

Thursday night.. Cloudy. 30 percent chance of showers in the evening. Wind west 20 km/h becoming light in the evening. Low 13.

Friday.. A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of showers. High 23.

Saturday.. A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of showers. Low 11. High 25.

Sunday.. A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of showers. Low 13. High 25.

Normals for the period.. Low 14. High 25.

At least I haven’t heard of any tornado watches lately.

Last Tuesday, the tenth lightnig struck anelectrical sub-station plunging the entire south-west-end of Oakville including our office into black-out. Letter carriers do not work well in the dark. Never mind some customers seem to think we’re in the dark at the best of times.

On Wednesday I accompanied a pair whose mission was to assess the viability of delivering mail to a rural mail box on one of our urban highways. Political correctness trumps common sense every time. Since when does a rural area have 3 traffic lights within one quarter mile, curbs, and traffic whizzing by at the rate of one vehicle every 3 seconds at 60 miles-per-hour. Anyone who would stop in that traffic to visit a rural mail box with a cement truck bearing down on their tail has a death wish.

Friday of this week was one of those banes of triskaidekaphobics—Friday the Thirteenth. It has also brought notoriety to the small fishing/resort town of Port Dover on the North Shore of Lake Erie ever since a local biker gang member invited his buddies to drop in for a visit back in 1981. Word has spread and that small gathering has swelled to over 150,000 closely monitored by the OPP and the media every Friday that lands on the thirteenth. Just where 150,00 HOGS find a place to park in that small village I can’t imagine but the media had a bit of fun this time round when one of my supervisors and his girlfriend arrived on their mopeds. Somehow I expect serious bikers slouching on their choppers laughed them off the streets but it’s one way to make the news.

Weekly Rant 2008-06-07

In one day the overnight low has exceeded the daily high which yesterday reached a record 33º C. Anyone who didn’t have to work outside can be thankful and those of us inside were thankful for Air Conditioning. Things have taken a turn for the hot and humid, a distinct contrast from the cold and chilblains of earlier this week.

The rest of the week was equally frustrating. Despite the looming deadline I’m still waiting for Mothercorp to even acknowledge my request for retirement—the only sign I have that they know is the reduction in my annual leave credits online. Next week I’m going to have to shake the corporate tree and see what falls out—not too hard mind you as it’s a fragile structure. The fire drill I planned came off after a few minor glitches. I was bemused when a superior suggested cancellation due to rain wandering just how he thought his employees deliver mail.

Tuesday I attended the last meeting at which I’ll have to act as secretary. Unfortunately one of the discussion points was the bar across the road from me whose application for an outdoor beer garden I’ve been busy organizing opposition. The sour taste that session left in my mouth blighted the going-away send off gifts and celebration that followed. I might as well use this forum to pass on some tips from our Police Service:

• If you park a high-end car in a movie parking lot be prepared to make alternate arrangements for your trip home. By the time you get out of the theatre your car has the likelihood of either being loaded into a container bound off-shore or in the process of being broken down in a chop shop north of Toronto.

• If you absolutely must leave valuables in your car lock them securely in the trunk. Don’t leave them in sight in the passenger compartment, always lock your vehicle, and never leave the keys in it.

• At home lock your vehicle in the garage and keep the garage door closed and locked. If you insist on using your garage to store goods other than your car keep the garage door closed and locked. Don’t provide thieves with the opportunity to “window shop”.

• The tools in your garage and backyard shed are a popular target for thieves; keep them secured.

• As warmer weather arrives bicycles again are popular targets.

• Graffiti continues to be the bane of our urban environment. Report it when it appears on public property and eradicate it promptly on your own. If we allow vandals to believe we find it acceptable they are likely to move on to ever more destructive activities.

All of these security measures have an element of good old common sense but it is a testament to the lack thereof that 40% of all break and entries are thefts from garages attached to homes most of which were open at the time.

Working late on Tuesday and an evening meeting did not predispose me to evince a cheery aspect the following day. At long last someone showed up with a computer that will allow us to do route updates for letter carrier routes. I’ve completed work on our RSMC Mobile routes. Just as one new computer arrived another crashed. Eight consecutive Blue Screens of Death are not a good sign. More calls ensued.

Thursday arrived early to create a list of delivery blocks that need to be checked. Then the computer tech arrived to re-image the computer that crashed the day before. I ended up babysitting that gentleman to ensure he got the computer set up to work with its printers and configured the E-mails that need to be accessed on it. By 5:00 he still didn’t have Active Sync working so we all went home and left the machine to its online updates. On the way home gave my car a $56.00 drink of gasoline after hearing that fuel would take a 3.5¢ a litre hit at midnight—all too accurate a prediction as it turned out.

If I arrived at work ill-humoured Wednesday I was a lamb that day compared to the grump who hit the office Friday. Did what had to be done and got myself out of there early before I caused any more emotional upset. And that is the week that was. They don’t pay me enough!

I cringe to think of the paperwork, calls and arrangements I need to make in the next 6 weeks but unfortunately most of it has to be done at the last minute. Somehow I need to detach myself from work-related activities to leave myself enough energy to attack them all but it just doesn’t seem to be in my nature. At least I go a good eight hours rest overnight last night.

Weekly Rant 2008-05-31

Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.

Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915)

Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows.

David T. Wolf (1943 - )

Today is the last day of May 2008. Hard to believe. As the saying goes it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good. The warm spell we’ve experienced the latter part of this past week went out with a bang last night with a thundering episode of Odin banging his sledgehammer against the roof of the world accompanied by buckets of cats and dogs raining from the sky. At least it served to keep my rowdy neighbours indoors rather than under my balcony window. Company I can do without.

The closer I get to retirement the more I long for that day and the lower my tolerance for the bureaucratic nonsense that is Canada Post becomes. It took an entire week to get a Group Mailbox placed and when it did arrive the contractors placed it half a mile from its intended resting place on a parallel street. Add to that the frustration of being just under two months from my departure date and still waiting for the first shred of the mountain of paperwork that is bound to arrive eventually. It’s not that I didn’t give them plenty (six months) notice—why would the corporate we plan for anything. With one-third of their employees reaching retirement age in the next five years it would never occur to them that they should train people to out-process those who have given such long faithful service.

Despite the rain this weekend I should attack the remaining mountain of laundry I have been essaying the last two weekends. Keeping ahead of it is a losing battle as the pile grows daily. Despite my pile of new DVD’s I switched back this week to VHS and watched The Rock with Sir Sean and Copycat with a fav of mine Dermot Mulroney. Those old tapes looked good on my widescreen. On Thursday I finally broke down and went shopping. The experience re-enforced my reticence in the first place; everywhere I went the goods I was looking for had been moved, there was remodeling in process, unresponsive sales staff, and products changed or no longer available. When I finally made it home there was the struggle to lug everything through locked doors, an elevator, and then the unpacking.

Happenings in the world at large make me reluctant to listen to the news. Every time I turn around there seems to be word of another monster development, the latest being a massive two tower apartment complex that would replace the decommissioned Extendicare Centre on Lyons Lane adjoining Trafalgar Village Shopping Mall. On the banks of the Sixteen Mile Creek Ravine this is a prime location; unfortunately it is also mere feet from the QEW. Beside this proposed complex is a Heritage Cemetery whose deteriorating condition is highlighted in the same edition of that newspaper along with news of an enormous drug bust on Wyecroft Rd not far from our office. I needed neither newspaper nor other media to be aware of the latest collision at Marlborough Court and Trafalgar Road Friday afternoon; the sound of rending metal was audible from my seat here in front of this computer, the clangor of fire trucks, ambulances and police followed. Speaking of automobiles, word came this week that Volkswagon is developing a vehicle that can park itself enabling the owner to squeeze into that narrow parking space.

On a personal level I’ve been feeling tired lately. Shopping took a great deal out of me, whatever my orientation my maleness with regard to an abhorrence of shopping is very much intact. Now that the trees are fully leafed out only the pines remain as a source of pollen and grasses begin their seasonal peak. Some garbage I didn’t get to the garbage chute in a timely manner has led to an outbreak of fruit flies; now I have to wait until the progeny die out and take care lest they find somewhere else to breed. I did say I was feeling lethargic and unproductive didn’t I, the fruit flies apparently don’t suffer from my ennui. Now I must go fold last weekend’s laundry, wash up my kitchen, get out my washing machine, and recommence hostilities against dirt.

Weekly Rant 2008-05-24

Well, it’s official, we’ve had the coldest May on record here in Southern Ontario. How cold has it been, not quite so cold as to send Wiarton Willie back to bed but cold and wet enough to make a self-respecting songbird think of migrating back to a warmer clime. The temperature has barely reached double digits and it’s rained every weekend in May.

In the world at large the Junta in Burma have finally bowed to public opinion and the United Nations and agreed to let in aid workers to ease the suffering of their traumatized nation. In China a one hundred and two year-old woman was dug alive from the rubble of the earth quake there. On Martha’s Vineyard it was announced that Edward Kennedy has a form of brain cancer which is almost always fatal. In South Africa xenophobia has reared its ugly head as Poor Township’s people near Johannesburg riot to protest their perceived accusations that equally desperate immigrants from neighbouring nations are stealing their jobs. The spectre of blacks killing blacks over menial jobs is deplorable to behold.

As pleasant and lazy as it is to enjoy a long weekend as we did last week some sun would not have gone amiss. Oh sol did put in an appearance in the late afternoon on at least two occasions but that hardly made up for the rest of those cold miserable days. Unfortunately long weekends are followed by four days catching up on five days’ worth of mail. Finally on Friday the sun came out and during the day the temperature rose dramatically. Mind you the die-hards in our gang seem to insist on wearing shorts even when the rest of the world feels the weather isn’t quite right for it.

Victoria Day Holiday Weekend

Apparently my mind is distracted lately. It wasn’t until a customer mentioned the fact that we probably wouldn’t be open Monday that it even occurred to me that this was to be a long weekend. My mind has obviously been on other things of late; I suppose this explains the pyrotechnic noises outside my window in the last few days. RABA is obviously selling fireworks. In the world at large nature has been proving that there are plenty of natural calamities possible without humankind adding to the suffering. In Burma the military junta continues to prefer allowing their people to die of hunger, thirst, and disease than allow foreign aid workers onto their soil. In China an earthquake has wiped out an entire generation in some areas as their schools pancaked killing the offspring of entire towns. China is at least allowing aid workers in but access to many areas is so difficult that it will be some time before the full extent of the disaster will be known. With an Olympics impending the communist government could do with more positive news coverage. For the record, Tibet is not part of China—might does not make right; and the Dalai Lama still lives in exile from the country of which he is the spiritual leader.

In a lighter vein I learn that Honda Corporation programmed a robot to conduct the Detroit Symphony Orchestra—after a rehearsal or two the orchestra having learned what to expect adjusted well. As I’ve opined in the past if you watch the Toronto Symphony under conductor Guenter Herbig you’ll notice that aside from the opening downbeat and the final cut only the newest members of the orchestra pay him any attention at all—they know exactly what to expect. This is not a compliment to the maestro in case you’re wandering. It has also been announced that the final instalment of the Harry Potter Novel movie adaptation will be a two-part effort released over two years. Whether or not this is a recognition of the fact that the books are too storyline rich for the plot to be adequately covered in the span of one movie or just a money-grab remains to be seen.

I have spent the week watching the BBC Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood. I’m still attempting to collect my thoughts on the series to write a blog but I am piqued at the BBC for forcing me to watch their advertising before I can access the menu for the main feature on each and every disk—how churlish of them. I spent one evening with my feet in my foot spa hoping to ease what I believed to be a muscle spasm in my left heel. The pain and soreness is easing so perhaps my self-diagnosis worked. This week I managed to cook two meals out of five and desperately need to go shopping this weekend though my distaste for mingling with the common herd and hibernating in check-out line-ups means I’ll probably wait until early Sunday Morning now—most places being closed on Victoria Day. Picked up the Dylan biopic I’m Not There but haven’t gotten to watching it as yet. On Sunday I did finish Eureka season one.

On Monday I acquired the download version of Windows XP Service Pack 3--350 MB of the Operating System’s not broken. Looks to be the equivalent of replacing the engine in an automobile. At work I spent a couple days shredding old files--10 large garbage bags worth. When I wasn’t destroying hard copy evidence I spent the remainder of my time pushing electronic paper. Last night I started the movie Little Children but drifted off to sleep before it completed. At the moment I’m not sure whether I should attack the day or go back to bed for another nap while things are still quiet outside. So far the noisiest critter stirring is an over-sexed robin in the maple outside my window. The leaves are almost fully expanded so finding his perch is almost impossible; the pine trees are candling and will soon spread clouds of greenish-yellow pollen. One compensation for the expected weekend of rain is the fact that it will serve to keep down the pollen.

The Countdown Continues

Days to retirement: 109
I’ve just finished final week 12 to put it the other way.

Bad weather is still the best law enforcement peacekeeper around. So long as it’s cold and wet I get to obtain a good night’s sleep. Thursday morning, however, I was awakened by the chirping of my smoke alarm letting me know its battery was running low. So report me to the authorities, I haven’t gotten around to replacing that battery yet; at least the one upstairs outside my bedroom still works. When I do get around to going out I need to put gasoline in my car. Guess it’s pointless to wait for it to improve, lately the price just keeps rising. So do the oil company profits--ironic how that works. In Burma the military junta in charge would rather let its people die than allow foreign aid workers onto their soil to distribute food and water. Again the issue of political sovereignty comes into question. I’d be extremely suspicious about handing over cash to a regime that has been victimizing its own people for years; I may be getting old and cynical but I’d expect them to line their own pockets and spend the money on arms to support their continued suppression of any dissent. Of course, given the circumstance anyone entering the hardest hit areas would need military support of some kind or they’d be stampeded by the starving, dehydrated masses.

On the subject of the environment this week marks the start of the West Nile Virus season. If global warming continues Malaria will soon be following. The cyclone that hit South-East Asia is only one sympton of the problem that is now a world-wide phenomenon. For the moment tree pollen is my main issue, Oak tree pollen having just peaked. The fact the Oak pollen is still an issue means that at least some have survived Oak Decline. The maples outside my window are in full leaf at this point. Birches are no longer much of an issue here in our urban setting as unless they are regularly treated with poison they do not survive. The flowering crabs are already beginning to open.

I’ve been lazy this week, eating out 4 of the 5 work days. When I get home I just can’t seem to manufacture the energy to cook. At least I get some nutrition this way but having so many different people handle the food you eat is hard on the digestive system. My excuse for not shopping is my attempt to empty my deep freeze before I start travelling.

Spent considerable time getting my portable aps suite up and running on my thumb drive last weekend. I still need to copy my bookmarks into portable Firefox. Unfortunately the import facility doesn’t appear to be compatible with Windows Vista. The list of programs available just keeps growing. I just need to remember that there is a finite amount of space on my thumb drive. The portable menu cannot be stopped in Windows Vista unless one uses the Task Manager to close it.

I’ll write about the movies I’ve been watching in my movie blog and restore the shortcut to my main blog when I get around to it. First I want to catch up on my weekend reading and Weekend America in iTunes. I spent yesterday catching up on E-mail and browsing; then did some computer house-cleaning and housekeeping. There always seems to be something that needs updating.

We’ll see if submitting my blog from PolyEdit works better than it did from Word.

Moving Into May

May 4 Entries

If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time you’ll notice a distinct change. For some reason when I post my entries by E-mail Blogger scrambles the text changing the font, its colour and size. In attempting to correct these problems I appear to have upset my template and therefore to correct that problem I decided to change my template and in doing so lost my links. When I find the time I'll re-instate them. If I were an HTML whiz I could probably have cleaned up the template but as I m not this seems the path of least resistance. I tend to find the present format a better fit for my verbose writing style. If you've visited my Movie Blog I must apologize for the fact that I haven t made time to upload the usual covers.

This past one has been number 13 in my count-down of the last weeks of my working life. I have 145 days to go to the actual retirement day but I'll be taking my annual leave in those last weeks. I began this week attempting to assemble two new modular letter carrier cases. Part way through the second one I discovered there were 150 pieces missing; when I went online I discovered I'm only allowed to order 50 at one time. The case can’t be use without all the pieces. Retirement can’t come soon enough. Thursday I managed to pull off a breakfast for the entire office crew though someone else did most of the work. Friday I took off work early and had lunch with friends but ended up back at work fixing up a case. When you order in outside help count on it they will show up at the least convenient time. The guy finished repairing a case at 3:15 and only then could I start putting the new case plan into it. Retirement looks very good.

My friend claims the Clinton/Obama contest is a set piece designed to keep the Democrats in the public eye; that the backroom boys have already decided the outcome; and that the media are in on the joke. Guess I m going to have to wait until this fall to see the outcome with the rest of the world.

This part of the world has been enjoying a wave of cold air for the last week along with some much needed rain. Seeing a bit of sun tomorrow will not go amiss.

If Life is a Bowl of Cherries Why

If parts of this entry fail to make sense remember; I had to break down last night and start taking an anti-histamine. Matters finally reached the point at which I had to decide that my reactions to tree pollen were sufficiently severe that taking the drugs wouldn’t make me feel worse. I know that for peak effectiveness I should have started taking the things about 10 days ago but I wasn’t ready to feel that dunderheaded at that point. I also had to come down this morning and switch my furnace back to heat—I felt cold in bed last night. Heck, there’s even snow in the forecast for later this week and a call for some form of precipitation every day except Sunday. At least I managed to sleep in this morning; I’m so lethargic I’ll need a coffee to find enough energy to brush my teeth.

Regarding the week that was what can I say? I keep putting off shopping so I ate out three times. I’m not sure that there’s that much difference in cost except to my waistline. I tend to eat everything put before me disliking the thought of wasting good food. On Tuesday I had to drag my weary bones down to Town Hall—I walked down and got a ride back—to attend a committee of adjustment hearing. We attended to beat up, metaphorically, on the local bar owner who would like to establish a beer garden out back. Given its location it could be argued that it would have minimal impact on my building but 60 more drunks are 60 more drunks. We get to have a say in this matter because adding the extra commercial space would exceed the landlord’s allowable maximum. If the landlord wants to close down the Burger King with its drive-through window open until 4 AM we could live with the beer garden and he wouldn’t need our indulgence. Them’s fighting words! Our position won the day on a tie vote but the matter had us holding our breaths for three hours until 10 PM. For the rest, despite day’s worth of new DVD’s I decided to rewatch several movies I’ve already seen. At least that way if I fall asleep I won’t miss anything.

At work I’ve been busy typing up tie-out sheets for RSMC routes. Every time the delivery service people throw in a new call at a Community Mailbox Site, (CMB), they upset the tie-out list. I’ve also been retyping the Mobile Route’s list of customers; this was last done in 2002 or earlier. Getting the addresses and business names of 1500 customers correct is no small task but once I retire I don’t give it being done again much chance. Mid-week a functionary from Canada Post showed up with case plans I’d submitted as far back as January whining that his office is backed up to October and that we used administrative influence to jump the cue. There aren’t enough onions around to make me raise a tear for him. I worked hard to have those plans ready in time and get nasty looks daily because they didn’t show up when expected. I’ve also been sorting through junk stored in various corners of the building to clean out materials we’ll never use that are just occupying space. I know, I know, I’m the last person who should be disturbing furniture buried under up to half an inch of dust but no one else would do it. I am winning. After our superintendent complained to upper management about the quality of cleaning in our dump we received more attention from our cleaners in the last week than we’ve received in the last 6 months. This weekend they’re going to strip and refinish the floors in our work area. I warned everyone to put away things they’d miss if they disappeared but I fully expect to hear wails of woe come Monday morning.

Now, if I want to hear my antique clock strike I suppose I’d better go wind it. Before I can have another coffee I need to go buy some so after I brush those teeth a road trip would seem to be in order. Wal-Mart here I come.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

From April 12^th

Once again I got awakened at 2:30 AM by the drunks from the bar across the way. To add insult to injury yesterday I received notice that its owners are taking another kick at the cat to obtain permission to open an adjacent beer garden—they tried previously 5 years ago. I strongly resent the evenings I’m going to have to drag myself out to meetings on the subject and the fact that my public appearances will make me unwelcome at a local restaurant I might otherwise patronize now that I can do so without dying of smoke inhalation.

I have a parcel to pick up at my local Postal Outlet. The ecologist in me tells me I should walk down to pick it up for the good of the planet and my health; the fog and rain I see from my balcony window and the aches in my joints make driving down a more appealing option. It’s Saturday morning and I’m picking away at my weekend chores and exploring the web. In the background Weekend America from last weekend is playing on iTunes. Next up will be CBC’s Quirks and Quarks; interestingly enough the show becomes available for download nearly 12 hours before it is broadcast on radio. Among my chores are unloading the dishwasher so I can load the dirty dishes into it; cleaning up what won’t go in it and then doing laundry when the coast is clear.

In writing this I’m still struggling with my laptop’s keyboard which has distinct differences from my desktop computer’s; in particular the location of the shift keys. I’m using a Bluetooth mouse so I could use its mated keyboard, I just haven’t decided how to manoeuvre the various bits and pieces and the wires that connect the other peripherals.

From April 20^th

Went exploring and discovered the cost of designer denim. Who in their right mind pays over $300.00 for a pair of jeans? I noticed a pair on the minute frame of Toronto documentary film maker Rob Stewart and they seem to be the rage at Venice Beach but young people obviously have too much disposable income Since most of their models come in 30 to 32 inch waists only, only the young could possibly squeeze into them.

Last week I read about an eighty-year-old who went hiking in Cape Breton Highlands National Park and called search and rescue on his cell phone when he got played out and decided he couldn’t walk back out on his own power. Saturday two teens decided to climb Scarborough Bluffs and got stuck part way up. It took thirty firemen and seven trucks an hour to rescue them. What would their parents say if the city presented them each with a $1000.00 bill for that little rescue? Among my catch-phrases are, “There are no laws against stupidity,” and “Common sense isn’t very common.” With more and more people unable to judge their own capabilities and getting themselves lost and injured in wild areas the costs incurred in rescuing them are sky-rocketing. No one should be surprised that search and rescue agencies want to pass these costs along to the perpetrators of this stupidity.

Ruminations

It’s been the week that was. No, not much logic involved. The president of Canada Post got up early to rally her supervisory troops by conference call. We had Employee Appreciation Day complete with green and white streamers, balloons, coffee and donuts—I know, I set it all up single-handedly. We got the how we did speech and today I got handed my bonus statement. Please note it is not negotiable. No word on why my efforts are worth $10.00 less than others. I also got my money laid out to supply all the above goodies.

The first part of the week I managed to hit my home weight room and get out for some walks around the neighbourhood. I even made $.50 in returnable beer can deposits. Although I live across the road from Sheridan College it’s been some time since I graced the campus. Got to have a look at the newish student residence—from the outside; and stand on the mountain of dirt that was excavated to build the structure. It’s taller than the building itself. Walked over the half-acre sized small hill of chipped wood stored near the fitness centre; if they don’t do something with it now that the thaw has arrived it’s going to get rather funky. Smiled for the surveillance cameras which have sprouted everywhere and restrained myself from waving at the campus cop in the little truck? There are still windrows of snow holding out in the parking lot. Today I worked late so when I awoke at 8:30 the prospect of going outside lacked much appeal. It is still 44º F though.

On my way home stopped off for fish and chips at the Niblick at Upper Oakville Plaza and noted the 3-storey mountain of snow there has receded to merely 5 feet. The traffic around this ‘town’ is getting to be a bit much. That situation is not likely to improve as a drive around North Oakville today shows that the building boom continues apace. Before the year is out we will have Suburban Service Route 58 west of Bronte Rd on the old Golf Course; Route 59 in Lakeshore Woods at Burloak and Lakeshore Rd W; and Route 60 South-West of Bronte and Dundas. No word on how we’re going to squeeze all those new cases into our office.

Lately I’ve been rewatching some of the movies in my growing collection. At least that way if I rest my eyes during the show I don’t miss anything.

It’s spring and the tradition of busy times at the mortuary continues—the other peak time is Christmas. Received word of the death of a former customer who was in her mid-eighties. I saw her in Hopedale Mall just a few weeks ago. And the death of the wife of a retired fellow employee. Suppose I won’t dwell on that overmuch. Given that I’ve delivered mail in every corner of Oakville that gets door-to-door service I know thousands of people.