The View From Here

Take Me Back Home

2023-08-25T14:09:00.004-03:00

It's been a very long time since I've been on here but I really wanted to make sure that this post would be here. I did post it in a Facebook group Willowdale in the 70's.
As strange as this sounds, after watching the Riverdale series finales the other night I was so affected by the feelings of endings and saying goodbye and wishing that I could go back to places in my past.
There are a couple of things that contributed to my emotions which I have not mentioned on here.
My father, Doug Scammell passed away a few months ago. It was unexpected and I never got to say goodbye. When I got to the hospital he was already gone. My son Tyler was the one who found him.
My step-mother was in Florida at the time and messaged me to check on Dad who was at their house. He did not go to Florida. I was in the middle of something so I asked Tyler to drop over and see how Dad was.
He found him on the ground. He had fallen and hit his head. We're not sure of why or any other details.
Damn, I should have been the one to go over there. I haven't really talked about that day with Tyler or Braydon who rushed over when Tyler called.
So now my nuclear first family of Mom, Hayley, Dad and me is now just me.
Something about my dad is that he took many, many photos. His cousin worked at Kodak and got them processed for free. So Dad had slides. More slides than I realized.
When my stepmother sold the house we trucked over 7 large totes and 1 wooden box of slides.
When dad got the slides developed he would show them once or twice and then put them away. So there are many photos in there that I have never seen.
It's a but of a gut punch when I run into these pics of us that I didn't know exist. For the past few months I have been going through these thousands of slides and digitizing the important ones.
I've been posting them to my Facebook as well as the Willowdale page. I'm happy to say that people are really enjoying them. The page administrator really appreciates my contributions as well as the page members. It's a very emotional task but worthy.

Many of the photos I have found are from multiple birthday parties when we were very young. It looks like a wild time with kids everywhere loading up on junk and sweets. A perfect time.
In several of the photos there is a cute little blonde girl named Robyn. She and I were great friends for many years until her mother remarried and the family moved away. I think I was 8 or 9.
When she was moving I took a box of chocolates over to her. We were at her front door. I handed her the chocolates and then we kissed.
It was the first ever romantic-ish kiss for me and I found out years later for her too.
Several years ago we connected on Facebook and became friends again.
I found out last week from a post from her son that Robyn had just passed away a few days prior.

I felt a shadow cross my heart.

So you see, It's been am emotional time of late and last night I decided to say it to my Willowdale friends.

So here it is:

I don’t know how many of the people on here watched the series finale of Riverdale last night and felt what I did. First, the similarity of the name with Willowdale isn’t lost on me.
It was so sad and bittersweet. I’m not going to spoil it for anyone but it hit home hard.
We were like last night’s Riverdale.
To be nearing the end of a long life and ache to get back when it was so much to be with our friends and family.
I think it’s a combination of turning 60 and losing friends and family as we are.
Add this to all of the slides of my father’s that I’ve been going through since his passing.
I’ve spent hours going through memories that I had long forgotten. So many times I’m feeling “God, I wish I could go back to that.”
All the scout camps, weeks spent in summers with guys (and girls), on northern Ontario islands. Jamborees across the country with guys who were the brothers I never had. Hockey teams of guys who were wild on the ice and off but we were a team. And that was family.
Family trips across the globe and spending time with friends and family that we never thought would end. And they would always be there for the next time we visited. Until they weren’t anymore. The warm feelings of the first kiss, that made me smile when she jokingly mentioned it to me a few years ago when we reconnected on Facebook, and the sadness of finding out from her son last week that she had passed away. I had just found several slides of her just recently at my old birthday parties.

And my baby sister Hayley.
The best little sister I could ever have asked for. She did a pretty great job of stopping me from doing stupid things. She advised me on the smart things to do. I protected her when I could. I feel badly for the occasional boy who may have expressed an interest in her and decided not to pursue it after meeting me. Going through these slides has knocked me for a loop many times. Yes, we were close.

Pictures of my family that I haven’t seen in years. Some that I never have seen until now.
Great pets that we have had in our lives and remember them like it was yesterday, even if it was many yesterdays ago now.
When we look at group and family photos now and count how many are no longer with us, and end up with more people gone than still with us.
I hope that I will meet all of you again and get a hug.

I wish that I could have had a chance to say goodbye to my father but I take some satisfaction in the knowledge that I ended all of our conversations with “I love you”. I was there when mom passed and I got to say goodbye. I had a chance to be with Hayley and talk to her while she slept before she passed.

My point is this.

Tell the people you love that you love them.
Tell the people that you like that you like them.
Enjoy every moment with your friends and when someone wants to take a photo then smile and make the photo wonderful. If you don’t like having your picture taken just suck it up!
There is a good chance that one day many years from now someone is going to browse through those photos and admire that person with the warm sincere smile.

Even if we are gone our smiles will still be around.

Take good care,

Tim

A Hero and His Army of Kindness

2021-11-25T13:55:00.000-04:00

Photo from Wikipedia

Last Christmas I received a Mr. Rogers quote a day daily calendar from Cheryl. Every page is a different quote for every weekday. For the weekends there are only 1 quote for Saturday and Sunday.
It’s a fantastic calendar and I love it.

Now, I’m quite certain that anyone reading this will know who Fred Rogers was.

When I was young I would always watch Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood when it was on.
As I got older I didn’t watch him as much but would often sit down and watch or stop for a few minutes as my sister Hayley watched him.

Of course in later years kids would goof on Mr. Rogers and joke about his style.
National Lampoon and Saturday Night Live even did spoofs of him which he took in stride. He was always a good sport as long as there was no cursing or adult themes involved.

There are so many things that Mr. Rogers did and so many messages that he passed along.
It is impossible to measure the lasting impact that he had on so many lives, big and small, young and old.
He wouldn’t hesitate to address serious topics such as war, death, divorce.
He respected the children enough to not insult their intelligence and talk to them about real or scary things.
But he did it in such a way that didn’t blast them and shock or traumatize their souls.

I’ve often wondered if there has been anyone quite like him. There are many that I think have come close to him such as Canadian legends Mr. Dressup and The Friendly Giant but in my opinion he stood alone above all.

I was not really surprised to learn that Fred Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister. However, I am still surprised and impressed at how little he brought religion into his show.
Even my calendar only has references to religion a couple of times.

Photo from misterrogers.org

He was able to teach love and decency to all and remain inclusive of anyone and everyone on the planet.

I remember the day that he passed away. I felt sad. I had not really been following news of his life and didn’t even know that he was sick.

This may seem a bit strange but since his passing I have come to idolize Fred Rogers. This gets deeper with every article, movie or documentary about him.
I’ve actually shed more tears about his passing in the last few years than any time in the past.

I’m not certain why but I decided that every day in 2021 I would take the daily quotes and post them to my Facebook and Twitter timelines.
Just for fun I also message them to Cheryl, Tyler and Braydon.

I regret that my sons never had a chance to watch him but I hope that with every quote of his that they get from me they realize what a wonderful man he was.

Fred Rogers did something that very few have ever done in history.
He created an army of love one television episode at a time.

The quote today is one of my absolute favourites.

“We parents are the holders of a priceless gift, a gift we received from countless generations we never knew, a gift that only we now possess and only we can give to our children.” - Mr. Rogers quote of the day

One of my good friends didn’t quite understand what this was about.
I tried to explain as best as I could what this message meant to me.

“The makeup of all of us is the result of the many generations before us going all the way back to star stuff and the origins of life. There are people going back hundreds of years in our family lines that we will likely never have a clue about, yet physical and mental traits of them have come down to us. We pass them down to our children and the line will continue on into people that will probably never even know our names. Some of these traits are not so great. However, in true Mr. Roger's style, he has chosen to look on the positive side and sees all of them as "gifts".”

I hope that I got it right.

Stay well,
Tim

“You are special. You’re special to me. There’s only one in this wonderful world.”

Not Too Bad if I Do Say

2021-07-17T20:38:00.001-03:00

Look at this!
Now I know that all of my handyman/woman friends are going to say Pffftt and roll their eyes but this is huge for me.

I’ll start this off by mentioning that I am not handy at all and projects don’t often end well for me. For example, when Cheryl and I lived in a condo in Mississauga I tried to install a ceiling fan in the dining room. I went to the panel and turned the power off. I swear I did. And then went over to deal with the fan. Long story short, electricity found its way through somehow and I fried the wall switch, ceiling fan, and myself.

So when I’m at the gym this morning and Cheryl texts me that the front doorknob has come off again I felt that twinge of anxiety in my stomach and did a couple of extra sets on the weights to burn off a bit of steam before the fun starts.
I thought “it’s no big deal, I’ve fixed that before.” It’s just a matter of sliding the knob back onto the screws and tightening them. I’ve got this.
I put the knob on the screws and tightened them.
It didn’t work. The flappy button on the front of the door won’t go down. Great.

This is going into new territory. I’m going to take the front handle and flappy thing off. I carefully unscrewed it and took it off. Some pieces and a screw fell off into my hand. Oh oh. I figured that the pieces can go back and I’ll just put that screw back. Except I have to take the other screw off before I could put the pieces back.

When I loosened the other screw a spring thing and 2 pieces that go with it popped out!
Oh no. I didn’t see how and where they fit together!

Suddenly the flappy thing falls onto the floor and a little pin looking thing that goes with it!
That’s not fair! The flappy thing was okay until now!
I put them on the floor to worry about them later.

Inside the handle part there was a gear thing and other stuff. For some reason the springy thing and its other parts would not go back onto the gear thing. So I pried off the gear and the other things and put them on the floor with my fresh pile of springs and gears and stuff.

Every single part of this mechanism was now sitting on the floor disconnected to all of the other parts.

I can’t describe the feeling of despair that I felt now realizing that I have ruined the whole thing.

That’s why I call people to help me with these things.

“Maybe your father can help?” Cheryl said.

I sat on the floor with greasy hands and my pile of stuff and thought “No way! I’m going to try this again!”

I looked really hard at these things and started from the last piece that fell out of my hands onto the floor.
The gear thing and its parts went in pretty well.
I was happy.

Fortunately it appeared that nothing was broken. The pieces had just fell apart when a screw fell out.

The springy thing and its friends went in easily.
I tightened the handle and flappy part screws.
It looked good.
Now, I slowly slid the handle and flappy thing back into place.
It didn’t go nicely. It was wrong somehow.

I wiggled it and pushed and it eventually clicked into place. Nice.
When I tried to push the flappy thing it didn’t budge.
The springy thing and parts were in backwards. What the heck.

Anyway, a while later when I had switched the gear thing and everything the other way I tried again.

It worked!

The knob wasn’t on though and I still needed to tighten the handle.
When I turned the screw the whole thing started to pop out.
With Cheryl’s help I held the parts and she tightened the screws.
The final thing was putting that stupid knob on and tightening it.
I did that.

The moment of truth.

I pushed the flappy thing. It worked!

Now, I turned the knob very slowly and watched for parts to fly.

It worked!

“Holy crap!” I exclaimed.
Cheryl rushed over to see what was wrong.
I told her to push that and turn that.

She smiled when she realized that I had fixed it and gave me a hug.

A good way to start my day.

As long as I stay away from the front door and don’t try to fix anything else today. 🙂

Summer is Ending

2020-08-31T14:10:00.010-03:00

As summer is ending and the world is getting ready to change again, this song is stuck in my head today. And that's not a bad thing...

Time Stand Still - Rush

I turn my back to the wind
To catch my breath
Before I start off again
Driven on
Without a moment to spend
To pass an evening
With a drink and a friend

I let my skin get too thin
I'd like to pause,
No matter what I pretend
Like some pilgrim
Who learns to transcend
Learns to live
As if each step was the end

Time stand still
I'm not looking back
But I want to look around me now
Time stands still
See more of the people
And the places that surround me now

Time stands still

Freeze this moment
A little bit longer
Make each sensation
A little bit stronger

Experience slips away
Experience slips away

Time stands still

I turn my face to the sun
Close my eyes
Let my defenses down
All those wounds
That I can't get unwound

I let my past go too fast
No time to pause
If I could slow it all down
Like some captain
Whose ship runs aground
I can wait until the tide comes around

Time stand still
I'm not looking back
But I want to look around me now
Time stands still
See more of the people
And the places that surround me now

Freeze this moment
A little bit longer
Make each sensation
A little bit stronger

Make each impression
A little bit stronger
Freeze this motion
A little bit longer

The innocence slips away The innocence slips away

Time stands still
Time stands still

I'm not looking back
But I want to look around me now
See more of the people
And the places that surround me now

Time stands still

Summer's going fast
Nights growing colder
Children growing up
Old friends growing older

Freeze this moment
A little bit longer
Make each sensation
A little bit stronger

Experience slips away
Experience slips away
The innocence slips away

Stay well,

Tim

40 Years Ago Already!

2020-08-23T15:33:00.002-03:00

Please try to make it to the end of this. I’m sorry it’s so long.
This is another of my end of August, end of summer memories, from 40 years ago, August 23, 1980 when I was 17 years old. This is one of my fondest memories of the time.
I mentioned the other day that my cousins had been visiting from England but had to return home when my uncle was killed in an airline tragedy in Saudi Arabia.
We had bought tickets and were very excited to be going to Heatwave Festival at Mosport Park in Bowmanville.

So I ended up going with my friends Mark Downing and Winston Medford.
Heatwave was labelled to be the "Punk Woodstock ", the “New Wave Woodstock", or "The 1980s Big Beat Rock and Roll Party". We headed out the evening prior to the festival to the site and planned to sleep in the car. I had borrowed my mother’s Mustang. When we arrived at the parking area there were thousands of people and cars everywhere.
It soon became clear that there would not be much sleeping going on that night with the huge wild party going on.
We met a couple of guys who had come over from the US and were mainly there to see The Clash play at the festival. Unfortunately, no one had told them that The Clash had some problems at the border and had to back out of the show. They were not happy to hear that.

At the time the price of gas was considerably lower in Canada and the US dollar was doing much better than ours. I asked them if they often zipped across the border for the cheap gas since they lived so close. He said “Man, I would but I can’t go anywhere without at least an ounce of grass on me!”

The parking area was just a huge farmer’s field.
At some point in the night someone decided to set fire to the big barn in the field several hundred metres away. The orange glow lasted for a little while until it burned out. I don’t remember if fire trucks came or not.
I think we did end up sleeping for an hour or so. All we had with us was some warm beer and baloney sandwiches that I had thought to bring along. What a healthy nutritious breakfast.

A couple of weeks prior to the show I was working on a road construction crew in the Queen/Spadina area in Toronto. I spotted the bass player from Teenage Head coming out of a bar just after lunch time. I recognized him because they had played at my high school AY Jackson.
He was a little drunk but gave me an autograph he signed Steve Head. His name is Steve Marshall. Lol.
He told me that they were set to play at Heatwave. I had no information stating this thought perhaps it was the alcohol talking.
I was pleasantly surprised when sure enough, Teenage Head came blasting out to wake up the sleepy folks still trying to get focused after the night before. Their set was great.

When we entered the concert area the security had set up huge dumpsters for people that hoped to bring in bottles or other undesirable things. They were filled to the brim.
I remember one guy with a large watermelon in a plastic bag. It looked innocent enough to me. The security guy pulled the watermelon out of the bag, jiggled the top of the watermelon and opened it to take a large bottle of booze out. They had hollowed it out to try and hide the bottle. It was brilliant but didn’t work.
We were smart enough to leave things back at the car.

Now, I don’t personally remember all of the sets these bands did but Wikipedia is kind enough to refresh my memory. Thanks very much Wikipedia! Look at this lineup!
Don’t get me wrong. I always have and always will love RUSH as the greatest band in the world.
However, when the B-52s call themselves “The World’s Greatest Party Band” there is a reason for it and when I was 17, I wanted to be a part of it. I was a huge fan of almost every one of these acts.
In some cases this was the last time I would see some of them play live.
There are many people in this list who are no longer with us.
Who would have known that on this day the Talking Heads had Adrian Belew playing with them who would go on to join another of my favourite bands of all time King Crimson!

I took this information from Wikipedia.

The groups that played were:

• Vladymir Rogov (opening artist) with his band ARKITEX
• Teenage Head
• BB Gabor
• Holly and the Italians
• Rockpile featuring Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe
• The Rumour without Graham Parker (just after he had gone solo)
• The B-52's
• Talking Heads (at sundown)
• The Pretenders
• Elvis Costello and the Attractions
• The Kings

Teenage Head set list

The reviewer saw "two scraggly guys playing guitar and bass, and a crop-haired singer in long-tailed livery coat and eyeliner. ... good ol' head-banging ramalama punk rock. A large and vocal following cheers them on, and they play with confidence, as if they belong up front of all those people." A year or so later, Teenage Head's live album had a picture from their Heatwave set on the cover. Their set included "Wild One" (from the Frantic City album).

1. Top Down
2. Wild One
3. Picture My Face
4. Some Kinda Fun
5. Little Boxes (Alimony)
6. Fist to Face (Everybody's Growin' Old)
7. Let's Shake
8. Lucy Potato
9. Brand New Cadillac
10. You're Tearing Me Apart
11. Somethin' Else
12. Kissin' The Carpet
13. Disgusteen
14. C'mon Everybody

The Pretenders set list

1. Precious
2. The Adultress
3. Kid
4. Space Invader
5. Private Life
6. Brass in Pocket
7. Stop Your Sobbing
8. The Wait
9. Louie Louie
10. Porcelain
11. Tattooed Love Boys
12. Up the Neck
13. Audience
14. Mystery Achievement

The B-52's set list

Performing the strongest material from their first album and debuting much of the Wild Planet material before the largest live audience they had experienced up to this point.

1. Planet Claire
2. 6060-842
3. Devil In My Car
4. 52 Girls
5. Quiche Lorraine
6. Dirty Back Road
7. Lava
8. Give Me Back My Man
9. Strobe Light
10. Private Idaho
11. Runnin' Around
12. Rock Lobster
13. Dance This Mess Around
14. Party Out of Bounds

Talking Heads set list

The band that toured for the Remain in Light album, including Adrian Belew, performed for the first time at Heatwave as the sun was setting. Their segment began with the four original members and then as the songs progressed, they added musicians and vocalists, including Nona Hendryx (vocals), Busta Jones, Steve Scales, Dolette McDonald, and Bernie Worrell (keyboards).

1. Take Me to the River
2. Psycho Killer
3. Warning Sign
4. Stay Hungry
5. Cities
6. I Zimbra
7. Once in a Lifetime
8. Houses in Motion
9. Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
10. Crosseyed and Painless
11. Life During Wartime

Elvis Costello set list

The Heatwave festival was the only 1980 live concert in North America by Elvis Costello and the Attractions.

1. Shot With His Own Gun (sometimes listed as "How does it Feel"), accompanied only by Steve on piano *
2. Accidents Will Happen
3. The Beat
4. Temptation
5. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding
6. Mystery Dance
7. Green Shirt
8. You'll Never Be a Man
9. (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea
10. Secondary Modern
11. Pump It Up
12. Lover's Walk
13. Less Than Zero
14. Big Tears
15. High Fidelity *
16. Lipstick Vogue *
17. Radio Radio
18. I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down
19. Alison
20. Clubland
21. Oliver's Army
22. Watching the Detectives
23. You Belong to Me *

The Kings

Their set started about midnight, and they played for an hour.

1. Borrowing Time
2. Don't Let Me Know
3. Run Shoes Running
4. My Habit
5. This Beat Goes On/Switchin' to Glide
6. Partyitis
7. California Girls
8. One Day Off
9. Go Away

From what I remember the acts that I was most looking forward to seeing live for the first time were the B-52s, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello and Rockpile.
I liked the other bands of course but I had already seen some of them.
I recall that the B-52s and Talking Heads were the best acts of the day and did not disappoint.

Teenage Head did pretty dang well playing for thousands when they were mainly playing high schools and bars at the time.

When the show finally ended we dragged ourselves back to the car and made our way out. I’m sure it must have taken a while to get out but I really don’t recall.

I DO recall though that I tried to drive home but was so dang tired I had to pull over and let Mark drive. He was in better shape than I was.

This has always been one of the fondest memories of this period in my life.

**Of highly particular note, this day would be the last time that I would drink alcohol or consume/smoke any substances such as weed, hash etc.

40 years ago.

True story.

Check these fantastic links. Great videos here.

New Music coverage of the festival. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCOuaHEGXYc

Talking Heads - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL228SiyUTw

https://www.festivival.com/history/heatwave-festival-1980

B-52's! https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=194&v=3o7MZWs-fT0&feature=emb_logo

Take care, Tim

Teammates For Life

2019-07-08T12:57:00.001-03:00

I wrote a post on Facebook the other day about the loss of Cameron.

Cameron was a pleasant young man who was a friend and teammate of our son Braydon.
We will likely never know the reason why but Cam took his own life about a week and a half ago.

Every year we have a day called Bell Let's Talk day where Canadians take to social media en masse and deluge the internet with messages telling anyone and everyone who may be experiencing difficulties to TALK TO US. We want to help! Not just for one day but every day, any time.
Are we winning? I would like to believe so but I'm not certain.
But we must keep trying to reach them. These must stop. The loss of one troubled soul is too many. We must keep trying.

Here is my Facebook post;

There are a few things that we all experience in life that we really don’t want to but we have to. We have no control over.
We especially hope that our kids won’t have to deal with them. A parent would try to move heaven and earth to protect our kids from experiencing this pain.

But they will, and they do.

Today, Braydon and his teammates will be saying goodbye to their friend and teammate Cameron. A young man who left us far too soon.
They’ll go through this as they have been since the day it happened. Together.

I hesitate to use the word “positive” anywhere near this tragedy but one positive thing from Cam’s passing is that these young men have discovered that they have far more in common than just their love of baseball.

Their love of humanity.

This day is going to be very hard on them. Of this I am certain.
But, when we reach the other side of this these young men will be stronger, wiser, and more sensitive to the feelings of others.
When they need us, we are there for them.
When someone in pain needs them, they will be there to do what they can to help.
No matter how much we plead for someone to please talk to us these things happen.
We must still try to do everything possible to stop them.

One day at a time.

Let’s get through today...

Oh Toy Story, Here We Go Again...

2019-06-20T14:08:00.000-03:00

Hello there. I realize that it's been a while since I've composed a decent blog entry here. I guess it's not for lack of content. Heck, life has been very busy for quite a while now. I can't say exactly what has kept me from here. I think it could have something to do with too much content and being overwhelmed with how to properly compile it to make it readable by others.

At one time I was posting everything from the boy's sports news to what was going on in their education. One thing I do want to mention is that a couple of years ago, Braydon had "retired" from baseball when he completed his final season with the Fredericton AA Midget Royals.
As far as we were concerned he had completed his last season of organized ball. (This was the same season that both guys finished up hockey so you can imagine how rotten Cheryl and I felt.)
I've mentioned before that the Fredericton Senior Royals are the best show in town in these parts. The game is top notch ball and we've always enjoyed attending the games. The next best ball in town (in my humble opinion) are the Fredericton Junior Royals.
We had not gone out to see them very much over the years. Perhaps two or three times.
Last year a whole bunch of guys that used to play with Tyler and Braydon joined the Junior Royals and looked like they were having a great time. Braydon started to feel the pangs of missing playing ball so this season he went out and joined the team.
One thing about players this age is that most of them have jobs and school so the coaches don't expect the guys to be at every game. So far B has played 3 or 4 games. Their record isn't great but the guys all get along very well and have a great time. That's what counts.
Needless to say, Cheryl and I get out whenever we can to the games. I'm the team pitch counter and she sells 50/50 draw tickets when we are at home games. We love it. :)
They play games all over New Brunswick and even in Prince Edward Island so we go when we can.

So, the main reason for this post...

If you've been around my blog for a while you will recall this post from 9 years ago. I'm sorry that I don't know how to get the link clickable but if you copy and paste this you can read it. http://tim4nm.blogspot.com/2010/06/no-toy-gets-left-behind.html

You know that Pixar and Toy Story hold a very special place in my heart with my sister Hayley, my mother, my wife Cheryl and of course my sons.
After posting that post in 2010 we did go to the theatre as a family to see Toy Story 3.
Wow, was it emotional. I still tear up just thinking about it.
Toy Story 3 was the perfect and very emotional conclusion of the perfect movie adventure story.
In our minds Woody, Buzz and the gang had come full circle in our hearts. As much as we would love to see them again we were resigned to the fact that the story was done and the book was closed. We were okay with that. Pixar had carried us along and gently placed us somewhat tearfully at the end.

Or so we thought.
Toy Story 4 opens tomorrow. On my birthday.
Seriously.
So Cheryl, Tyler, Braydon and I are heading off to the movies again this weekend. One of the big differences from year's past is that both of the guys have jobs so we couldn't arrange to go tomorrow on my birthday.
That would have been pretty cool but it will probably be packed to the rafters anyway so it's just as well.
I have heard that this one is the most emotional of them all. That's hard to imagine after the last one. One thing that I know is that I will most certainly be a weepy mess.
I heard that Tom Hanks became so emotional when doing his lines that he had to turn around and not face anyone while he did them.

Okay Tom, thank-you for the warning

Bring it on Toy Story. I can take it. You've done it to me for almost 25 years now. What's one more time? :)

Stay well,
Tim

Don't Give Up, Especially On Old Friends

2018-11-16T13:50:00.001-04:00

My good friend Dave Savage and I first met almost 15 years ago when I was busy with my efforts to save the York Street Station with Steve Boyko and the Fredericton Friends of the Railway. Dave called me from Ontario one day to talk about the station but we talked about everything from rails to politics to family.
We quickly became good friends.
I always loved it when we spoke and would always be at least an hour chatting.

I remember on one of my solo trips to Ontario I stopped in to see him and we drove all over the map to see Dave’s Grand Railway History tour.
My god, the knowledge he had. If you ask him anything about any area he had the history in his head. It was marvellous to behold.

You see, Dave used to look after a little publication called the Canadian Railway Station News. That’s why he initially called me in the first place. Railway stations had always been his passion. He had actually published a couple of books and picked my brain for details of New Brunswick stations. Of course I was only happy to help my friend in any way that I could.

Several years ago the York Street Station was saved and became an NB Liquor store. It was restored and looks beautiful today. I am proud to say that the efforts of the Fredericton Friends of the Railway and our friends and members were successful.

Over the years I switched careers and moved homes but that should not have affected Dave and I.

Yet we lost contact.

The phone number and information I had for him didn’t work any more. I tried sending a letter but never received a reply.
I was a member of numerous Railway Yahoo groups and tried reaching out to the other members if anyone had any information about him. Someone must know something. I had no luck at all. I feared for the worst.
Once in a while I would think of my friend and try another Google search for anything about him. To no avail.

Until about 6 months ago.

A Google search came up with a little paragraph in a little newsletter with his name. He had spoken to some people at a gathering about some local railway history in Cobourg, Ontario.
I sent an email to a contact in the newsletter.
She replied to me and copied another gentleman who knows Dave. He took my information and told me he would tell Dave that I had been in touch.

This gentleman gave me a brief update and I’m afraid that the story of Dave since we had last spoken was not a happy one.

Several years ago he suffered a stroke which confined him to a wheelchair. He had been living with his girlfriend in a house but she had decided that caring for Dave was not something she was up to doing. So she left.

As a result of his stroke his kidneys failed and he requires dialysis three times a week.
Dave entered a nursing home. All of his possessions from his house were placed into a storage locker where they remain to this day.
He lost my contact information among many other things. That explained why I had not heard from him.

A short while later I received a call from him. He had received my message.
It was just like old times. It was so nice to talk to my old friend again.
He sounded pretty good. Considering all that he has been through.

Our family decided to visit Ontario last week to visit family and some friends.
I was determined that I was going to visit Dave and see him for the first time in more than 10 years.
I dropped Cheryl and the boys off at her mother’s place and headed out to Cobourg.

When I arrived at the nursing home the residents were having lunch. I asked one of the nurses where Dave was and she pointed him out. His back was to me.

When he saw me his face lit up. We were so happy to see each other and we gave each other a big hug.
Dave didn’t look quite how he did 10 years ago but he was a sight for sore eyes.
Recently, Dave has developed a hearing problem and requires a device to help him. Between that and my deafness our conversation was not the easiest but we didn’t mind.

After lunch I took him in his wheelchair and we went for a pretty long walk.
Dave knew absolutely everyone we came across and said hello to all.
We went into his credit union so that he could do some banking. Every lady in the place knew him. I took him to the counter.
He didn’t need a bank card or bank book or anything. They know who he is and exactly what he needed. It was amazing.
The photo above was taken by one of the ladies at his credit union.

When we got back to the nursing home he asked me to do a favour and go to the storage unit office where his possessions are and pay his monthly charge.
I told the young lady that it was for Dave and she was disappointed that he had not come with me.
She told me how much she enjoys when he drops in.

She said that in the summer Dave will get dropped off and she wheels him back to his storage space where she will take out the same 2 boxes every time.
She takes him over to the rear of the property beside the train tracks where he watches the trains go by for a couple of hours while he goes through his boxes of memories.

When she told me this I visibly teared up and still do as I write this.

I wish that I lived closer to him so that I could sit with him and watch those trains.

When I returned to the home to give him his receipt I could see that he was looking tired.
It was time for me to get back to Cheryl and the boys.

I gave Dave a big hug and could see that he was sad that the visit was ending.
I promised him that every time I visit Ontario I will visit him.

Without fail.

I’m looking forward to the next time I will see my friend.

Vapor Trails

2018-10-03T23:31:00.000-03:00

Those who know me (and some who do not) are aware of my family’s passion of Rush. This illustrates it well.

On August 10, 1997, soon after the conclusion of Rush's Test for Echo Tour, drummer Neil Peart's first daughter and then-only child, 19-year-old Selena Taylor, was tragically killed in a single-car accident on Highway 401 near the town of Brighton, Ontario.

Only 10 months later, on June 20, 1998, his common-law wife of 22 years, Jacqueline Taylor, succumbed to cancer. Peart attributes her death to the result of a "broken heart" and called it "a slow suicide by apathy. She just didn't care."

In his book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road, Peart writes that he told his bandmates at Selena's funeral, "consider me retired." Peart took a long sabbatical to mourn and reflect and travelled extensively throughout North and Central America on his motorcycle, covering 88,000 km (55,000 mi).

After several years it looked that RUSH was done as a band.

However, after his journey, Peart decided to return to the band. Peart wrote the book as a chronicle of his geographical and emotional journey.

Peart was introduced to photographer Carrie Nuttall in Los Angeles by long-time Rush photographer Andrew MacNaughtan. They married on September 9, 2000.

In early 2001, Peart announced to his bandmates that he was ready to return to recording and performing.

The product of the band's return was the 2002 album Vapor Trails, RUSH’s 17th studio album. Its release marked the first studio album for the band since Test for Echo in 1996 (the longest gap between Rush albums until their retirement).

The band felt that the entire developmental process for Vapor Trails was extremely taxing and took about 14 months to finish, the longest the band had ever spent writing and recording a studio album.

Despite controversy concerning its production and sound quality, the album debuted to moderate praise and was supported by the band's first tour in six years, including first-ever concerts in Mexico City and Brazil, where they played to some of the largest crowds of their career. Personally, I attended the Toronto show. There's no way I was going to miss the return. It was quite emotional for myself and likely everyone in attendance to have our favourite sons back again.

The album was certified gold in Canada in August 2002. The song "Ghost Rider" appeared on the album and was written by Peart as a tribute to his travels around the US and Canada after his personal tragedies, while "One Little Victory" served as the first single to announce the band's return from hiatus.

The original audio mix of the album received criticism for its heavy use of dynamic range compression. Not pleased with the results, Rush had two of the album's tracks mixed again and re-released in Retrospective III: 1989–2008.

The positive response to that led to a completely revamped version of the album, titled Vapor Trails Remixed, released in 2013. It was released both individually and as a part of the box set The Studio Albums 1989–2007.

After the release of Vapor Trails and his reunion with bandmates, Peart returned to work as a full-time musician.

It is for this reason that many people, including my family, feel that Vapor Trails is the most important and meaningful album in RUSH’s discography.

And this is why both Braydon and I have the album cover as tattoos. Braydon has had his for a few years and I have finally had mine done. Both were done by the incredibly talented Joey Saindon at Sacred Owl Tattoo who has done all of my tattoos for almost 10 years now.

Purists will note that the original Vapor Trails album cover was orange, red, black and yellow and the image used for our tattoos was from the remixed album cover. It is a much nicer image with many other colours added.

I point out however that the remixed version of the album was the one that Geddy, Neil and Alex preferred, as they had not been happy with the original.

Stay well,
Tim

It Will Be Okay

2018-07-29T16:56:00.000-03:00

Quite often I’m amazed when I look around and see how amazing most of us have done in raising incredible kids that are going to win this world.
When I think about some of the stupid stuff we got into in the day I have a very hard time getting upset when something goes amiss with my guys.
I’m not only proud of my kids and Cheryl and I, but I’m proud of all of you.
Sure there are the occasion setbacks here and there but overall, we’ve done pretty well.

My Dad

2017-06-18T15:25:00.001-03:00

It's not easy being as awesome and groovy as I am. It takes years of special training and guidance with a highly skilled trainer who has had a lifetime of being awesome himself.

That would be my dad.

I don't often mention special occasions and holidays here but felt that a huge Happy Father's Day to my dad was in order.

Thanks for everything Dad. Thanks for all of the amazing times and wonderful memories that I have locked in my mind for the rest of my days. Thanks for always being there when I needed something. Thanks for being the best sports coach anyone could ever have. Thanks for having the tolerance to go with my friends and I for a week every summer into the wilds of northern Ontario for a scout camp/week long party. Thanks for the coolest family road trips of places that most of the details are now lost, but the awesomeness of the moments are still fresh. Thanks for putting up with me when I wasn't making the best educational or career choices for myself that I should have, but had faith that I would bounce back and land on the right path. Eventually. Thanks for being so great that my sons recognize it in you too.
Most of all. Thanks for teaching me that being a good father isn't easy, but it's necessary. It doesn't pay well at the time, but the payoff in the end is priceless.

You've taught me that in order to build a massive clear bright future for our entire species, we have to take these little blocks that are right in front of us, plant them in the right place and hope that they take root as long as we nourish them properly.

I'm confident that most of what Hayley and I became in our adult lives is a credit to the way you raised us.

I say this with confidence because of what I see in my own sons. Cheryl and I have happily worked hard and continue to do so. We are very proud of the results.
Without the guidance of our parents we likely would not have been as prepared as we were.
Happy Father's Day dad. I love you. Thanks for everything. xo

Village of New Maryland Budget 2017

2016-12-21T22:00:00.001-04:00

Hello there. Tonight the Village of New Maryland Council presented our first budget. It was read by Deputy-Mayor Alex Scholten and accepted unanimously by all members of Council.

BUDGET 2017

Your Worship, fellow Councillors and residents it is my privilege to present to you the 2017 General Operating, Utility and Capital Budgets for the Village of New Maryland.

In the 2017 General Operating Fund Non-Tax Revenue Budget we were able to generate a total Non-Tax Revenue of $317,083. Our tax base only increased at a rate of 0.0027%, resulting in a new tax base of $341,991,050. This represents an increase in revenue of only $113 from the base.

The 2017 General Operating and Capital Fund Expenditure Budget will be $4,536,859 which is an increase of $114,259 over the 2016 amount.

General Government Services will only increase by $967 to $889,094.

Protective Services expenditures will be $1,027,220, an increase of $15,695 over 2016, which includes the R.C.M.P. increase of $13,982, Emergency Measure, Building Inspection and Fire Department costs.

Transportation Services expenditures will be $594,941, an increase of $4,566, of which the snow removal contract was the main driver.

Environmental Health Services expenditures will be $256,500, a reduction of $1,900 for garbage collection tonnage.

Environmental Development Services expenditures will be $157,332, a reduction of $346.

Recreation and Cultural Services expenditures will be $619,949, a reduction of $15,592. The main drivers were personnel cost reductions and a reduction in grounds maintenance costs at the New Maryland Centre.

Fiscal Services expenditures for debts will be $396,910 a reduction of $1,904. This section includes Interest on Long Term Debt and Principal Instalments. This expenditure includes the capital costs for the Gravenstein culvert and the paving project in Castle Acres debentures being issued.

For 2017 the General Capital Fund will be $594,913, an increase of $112,773. Of the total Capital $198,580 has been allocated to Transportation projects, $76,000 has been allocated to Recreation projects, $130,000 has been allocated to the Fire Department and EMO, $7,500 has been allocated to General Government, $142,833 has been allocated for Infrastructure Replacement Reserve, $21,000 has been allocated to a Municipal Plan Review Reserve and Solar Panel project, and $19,000 has been allocated to a site restoration and Specification for Developers review.

In response to the infrastructure deficit, as made apparent through PSAB (Public Sector Accounting Board), Council has again stepped up to the plate in terms of continuing to address this deficit in order to protect the longevity and sustainability of the municipality by setting aside additional funding of $142,833 which equates to just over 4¢ on the rate. This funding will be placed into a reserve for future infrastructure replacement.

This being said, the overall General Operating Budget increased by a total of $1,486 or 0.04% while the General Capital Budget increased by $112,773 or 23.39%, which is reflective of the ever-increasing capital demands on the municipality.

At this juncture I would like to point out that since 2011 the Village has lost $194,966 in revenues through reductions in Unconditional Grant funding from the Province of New Brunswick. In fact, since 2011 the Village has lost $219,966 through reductions in the Unconditional Grant, Provincial and Federal Student funding, as well as Fine Sharing Revenue. This represents a significant reduction in the Village’s revenue, one that neither staff nor Council have any control over. Each cent of the rate represents $34,199 of revenue for the Village. Therefore, the combined reductions since 2011 equates to 6.43¢ on the rate, and if you add in the negative impact of the base reduction for 2016 of $20,457 this equates to 7.03¢ on the rate that has been lost, a loss the Village has to contend with. Faced with this challenge, Council and staff have worked diligently to control costs and reduce where they could without impacting services. We will continue to vigorously review program costs and services throughout 2017 to identify various options available for consideration. In 2017, as a result of the comprehensive study on the Village’s storm water system, we identified potential flood areas that could pose risks to people, property and public health and safety. As a result, residents will see increased capital spending earmarked for new or upgraded storm water infrastructure. With increased demands on the Village to deal with these deficiencies, we want to be transparent about the associated costs and where those funds will come from. Because of the nature and scope of such projects, each will involve substantial borrowing and the additional costs from this borrowing will need to be reflected in future tax rates as we cannot afford to expand or upgrade this infrastructure without doing so.

Over the past several months, staff and Council have worked diligently together in order to bring forward a budget that not only addresses the sustainability of the Village but also affordability for our residents and I believe that this budget has managed to do both.

Therefore, with a total expenditure of $4,536,859 less the Non-Tax Revenue of $317,083 and less the Unconditional Transfer of $6,163 and a Municipal Tax Base of $341,991,050 we are left with a Tax Rate for 2017 of $1.2321 per $100 of assessment. This represents an increase of 2.49¢ on the rate or a 2% increase. To put that into perspective, for every $100,000 of assessed value this increase would represent $24.90 for the year compared to 2016 assessments. On an average home value of $250,000, residents would see an annual increase of $62.25 in their property tax bill or an increase of $5.19 per month.

The Village of New Maryland’s 2017 Utility Operating and Capital Expenditure Budget will be $1,191,585 which represents an increase of $35,302.

Water supply and Treatment costs will be $250,822 which represents an increase of $531 over the 2016 amount. This increase is due mainly to increases in power and pumping costs.

Sewage Collection and Treatment costs will be $319,527, which represents a reduction of $22,376 over the 2016 amount. This reduction is primarily due to decreases experienced in sewage treatment and disposal costs.

Fiscal Services costs equal $347,742, which is a reduction of $2,586 over the 2016 amount.

The following reserves will be made: $50,000 for future maintenance of the Waste Water Treatment Plant; $13,420 for replacement of water meters; and $20,000 for future maintenance of the Water Tower.

The Utility Capital requirements for 2017 are $189,474, representing an increase of $59,593 over the 2016 amount.

On the utility revenue side, under the heading Other Revenues from Own Sources results in a total of $126,771. This leaves a balance of $1,064,814 to generate from user fees. Water service will be charged at $1.38 per cubic meter (an increase of 4¢ per cubic meter), plus a flat fee of $37 (an increase of $1 per quarter) and a meter fee of $5 per quarter (no change). Sewerage service will increase to $512 per year which represents an increase of $16. This is the second increase to the user fees which were identified previously as part of the Village of New Maryland’s 5 Year sustainability program. For the average household with both water and sewer services this will amount to an annual increase of $28.00 or $2.33 per month.

In conclusion I would like to acknowledge the hard work of our Treasurer (Scott Sparks) for being patient in helping to finalize the numbers on Council’s behalf. I would also like to thank our Chief Administrative Officer (Cynthia Geldart), Department Heads, and my fellow Councillors and Mayor for their dedication in helping to prepare this budget.

Staff and Council have worked diligently for several months on this budget and it comes as a result of numerous meetings, debates and studies being completed. I believe this budget reflects recognition of the burden taxes and fees have on residents but at the same time, seeks to balance the need to ensure the long-term viability of the Village, the value of resident’s property and the public health, safety and enjoyment of residents who live and work here.

It is an honour to submit the Village of New Maryland’s 2017 Operating and Utility Budgets for your consideration and approval.

At this point I would like to introduce the motions to adopt the 2017 Budgets.

During the discussion prior to voting on the Budget motion, I provided the following comments:

Budget 2016

During the election campaign I told residents that I would work to keep our taxes as low as possible. To promise that we would not raise taxes would have been irresponsible in my opinion. I am satisfied that Council and Staff have worked very hard on this budget to ensure that we use Village tax dollars in a responsible manner and have sorted projects and expenses in a proper prioritized manner.

I acknowledge that the Village and its infrastructure are approaching a period that replacement and repairs are going to be necessary more frequently due to the rising age of Village assets. This is just a fact of life.

This certainly does not imply that poor workmanship or materials were originally involved by any means. On the contrary. I would say that we have been doing quite well to date and that the staff and Village engineers have done a great job of staying on top of monitoring Village assets. For this I congratulate them on a job well done.

One factor that cannot be ignored regarding our infrastructure is the change in weather events. The increase in severe weather events around the world and at home has resulted in our implementation of the Storm Water Management Plan – a document which details both the need to increase the capacity of our infrastructure as well as the significant costs involved. To ignore the need for financing of these costs would be detrimental to our community.

Costs and expenses for the operation of our services will also continue to rise. Accordingly, the sources of the needed income will need to keep up. This year’s budget increases the tax rate of the Village for the first time in 4 years. All members of Council would prefer that the increase was not necessary. We are after all, Village residents as well. But we agreed that this increase is fiscally responsible and manageable.

I believe that the Councils of the past have worked very hard and diligently and this Council is continuing this tradition.

I would like to thank the staff and my fellow members of Council for the spirit of cooperation and making this process go smoothly.

Take care,
Tim

It is what it is

2016-11-12T18:36:00.001-04:00

I hate to be the one to say this but even though many are not happy with the US election results, this is the democratic process in action. The voters have spoken and like it or not it is what it is.

Protests and flag burning may make some people feel better for a short time but they won't change the results.

I may not agree with how some people cast their votes but many years ago an awful lot of people who we will never get to personally thank fought for our rights to vote as we please and I would challenge anyone who wants to take that right away.

The US Electoral College and election system is one of the wildest systems I have ever seen but it was created by a group of people much smarter than I am and has been in place for over 200 years.

What everyone CAN do is to become involved. Hold the elected representatives accountable and show them that you are watching and paying attention and they should stay on the proper course of decency and good.

Even better, do as I have done. Run for office and keep an eye on things from the inside.

Stay well,

Tim

Boomerang

2016-10-09T11:30:00.001-03:00

So now the old Howard Stern interviews with Donald Trump are surfacing as shocking new revelations.

Really folks, I heard many of those interviews years ago and knew all about them.

At that time I'm sure Donald had no inkling of an interest or thought he would one day have a shot at the most powerful office in the world.

He wouldn't have any hesitation talking like that. That's the way Howard works. He gets people to let their guards down and remove filters (if they have filters to start with).

I have always said and told my kids, if you're going to throw something out there that's inappropriate, the chances are very good that it will boomerang back and hit you in the head.

You can throw a boomerang as far as you want. It may take a long time or a short time but if it's a sweet throw it will come back.

Cat's in the Cradle

2016-09-17T00:23:00.000-03:00

I was just driving home after dropping the boys off at a friend's house a few minutes ago.

I had the radio on and the song "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin came on.

As I listened the song made me feel sad as it always does.

This sadness is for a couple of reasons. The story of the song is a father who was too busy with things in his life that he didn't take the time to spend with his son as he was growing up.

Also, I always feel sad when I think how the world was robbed when Harry Chaplin died at only 38 years old.

However, my sadness is NOT from feelings that I missed out on the cool things in my boys' lives.

Sometimes the boys may tell you that Cheryl and I were there too much and right in the thick of things.

I confess that there were a few occasions during my first term on Village Council that I had to miss a hockey or baseball game or needed to have Cheryl take Tyler to his weekly piano lesson because I had to be somewhere.

When I decided not to reoffer in 2012, the main reason was that I would be available for everything that came up.

And I was.

When Braydon had a paper route for a couple of years, the two of us got up together bright and early and were ready when the papers arrived.

His route was in another neighbourhood a fair distance away so we needed to drive to get there.

We had that paper route down to an art. We both knew what houses got papers and where the they wanted them.

There were many times that we were driving through huge piles of snow that the plows hadn't had a chance to get to yet.

But we made sure that the papers got to the customers.

Many times the papers were delayed in reaching us and it drove us nuts.

Braydon took such pride in his commitment to that paper route.

Of course this made me very proud of him as well.

He and I still talk about the paper route days as quality time we spent together and miss them.

Just as Tyler and I remember the days of driving to piano his lessons every week and having dinner together afterwards.

These were some of the good times we've had so far.

I think I can say with confidence that many years from now our sons are not going to say "I wish that my mother/father/parents had been there more for us".

We have been and will always be there for them.

Traces of Alex Lifeson

2016-07-03T15:59:00.001-03:00

The first two photos here are from my high school's (A. Y. Jackson Secondary School) 1981 yearbook. The last three pictures were taken by me last week when I was on vacation in Toronto from New Brunswick.

This is the band room wall mural which has been there since the 1970's and was painted by our boy Alex Lifeson of RUSH!

What I was TRYING to do was to find an old photo that shows the bottom left corner with the name "A. Zivijinovich" (Alex's real name).

I know it's there because I saw it when I went to the school.

Unfortunately, only 1/2 of the mural is visible right now. The left side of the wall has 2 soundproof practice booths against it and I was unable to see behind them.

When I was there last Thursday it was nearing the end of the day. I was able to get into the school but the band room was locked up and dark. The only people around were 3 people in the front office.

Fortunately, the man is the principal.

I told him that I went to the school over 30 years ago and was now living out of town.

Also, I am a HUGE RUSH fan. He was not aware of the story of the mural but was very interested to learn of it.

It would be nice if he undertook to preserve it and present it so that the kids were aware of its value.

I had heard rumours over the years that the wall had been torn down, repainted etc. but was very pleased to learn that these were in fact just rumours and that this fine remnant of Alex's time at A. Y. Jackson remains in great shape.

I hope it stays that way.

Stay well,

Tim

Where do I start??

2016-06-20T11:27:00.001-03:00

There is so much I have to talk about.

The boys are finishing high school this week. The prom is tonight and the graduation ceremonies are later this week.

The photo was taken this morning when I dropped them off at the school with their friends to pick up their report cards. That's their last time going into the school.

I was elected onto New Maryland council again and sworn in last week.

So much emotion and so much going on.

I don't know when I'm going to sit down and write about the events in our lives over the past year or so but it's going to be huge.

I'll get to it. I promise.

Stay tuned...

Stay well,

Tim

This day has finally come...

2016-03-26T13:02:00.001-03:00

All of these years I've lived to watch my sons in their various activities, most of all hockey.

All of the early mornings and inconvenient evenings were nothing compared to the joy that Cheryl and I have felt watching them play.

As much as I love watching the baseball games I confess that the summers were the spaces in between hockey seasons.

Today, at 4:00, they will play their last game. And it hurts.

I've known this day was coming and dreaded it. So I tried to put it far back in my mind and pretend I didn't see it coming up fast.

They're playing for a bronze medal today. It's not as sweet as a silver or gold but it's something special regardless.

A medal means nothing to me really when I remember all of the golden memories Tyler and Braydon have given to Cheryl and I.

We've always been proud of you guys. Whether you won or lost the games, we alway won.

Win or lose today, you'll always be winners to us.

Yes Virginia, I am Reposting This One

2015-12-22T12:39:00.000-04:00

I was going through the notes on my iPhone and found a copy of this one that I posted this one 5 years ago on December 3rd, 2010 when the boys were in middle school.

It still annoys me that we had to deal with this at all. I hope that there have been changes since then.

Regardless, it's timely and a good excuse to have the Virginia story posted in my blog again.

December 3, 2010

Yes, Virginia, You Will Make Smart Choices

In my mind the most important part of our job as a parent is to try and teach our kids how to make smart choices and direct them to the resources to help them do so.

I’m certainly not one that has made only smart choices in my life but I would like to think that I’ve learned something from the questionable ones I have made. I try to pass this education on to my kids whenever I can.

I think that a major factor of happiness and success is the ability to make smart choices and learn from not-so-smart ones.

We trust our educators to use their expertise and fill the minds of our children with many things that we can’t teach them in their family life. Hopefully, with everything that they learn, the kids will be able to make the smartest choices that they possibly can.

In doing so, we trust that the educators have the ability to make smart choices themselves.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this is always the case.

Yesterday afternoon I received a cc to an email from my wife to the vice-principal of our sons’ school expressing great dissatisfaction and concern of a poem that was read to the Grade 7 English classes. These are 11 and 12 year olds.

The details that I gathered which are only one (two?) sides of actual events are as follows.

The English class temporarily has an intern working with it under the guidance of the teacher. I mention this because the teacher was present the entire time.

According to my son the intern asked the class how many believe in Santa Claus to which the great majority raised their hands stating that they do.

She proceeded to read a poem titled "The Death of Santa Claus" to the class. This made my son and other kids quite upset.

At some point a remark was apparently made by the intern or the teacher that when the kids get older they’ll know more and will understand that there is no Santa.

The poem is about Santa having a heart attack and dying. It’s told by an 8 year old boy to his mother who has some terrible news to tell him. I’m assuming that the boy’s father has passed away. The boy’s friends at school have been telling him that Santa is fake.

I’m not even going to bother pasting a copy of the poem here but if you want to read it try here http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-death-of-santa-claus . Have fun with that.

Maybe it’s just me but isn’t that horribly inappropriate to tell to a bunch of kids during the Christmas season? Or any time really.

If they are trying to teach the kids about poetry and metaphors and symbolism or make a statement about staying healthy or the health care system they failed.

That’s not the message that my kids took away.

And if this crap must be read to them do it at another time of the year! Not during the Christmas season!

Something like this is not for kids the age of my sons. I don’t give a damn if anyone disagrees with me. I know my kids.

I guess you can figure out that I was pretty angry when I found out especially upon hearing that it had upset the kids.

I'll make this part of the long story short and say that I left a message and email for the provincial Minister of Education, Superintendent of District 18 education and the school principal and vice-principal to get back to me.

In it I included the above link to the poem.

I would think that the board was a busy place this morning with various people trying to get to the bottom of it.

Eventually I called the school and ended up chatting with the principal.

As expected, he had received numerous calls and emails from parents who were as upset about this as we were.

He told me that The Death of Santa Claus is indeed included in the list of materials and stories for teachers to choose to read to the class.

Some international expert on middle school material named Nanci Atwell had made the wise decision that this is a good thing to read to kids of this age and school boards have snapped it up because no one thought to say "Uh Nance? Excuse me? I don't mean to question your great expertise but that poem isn't a great choice and quite frankly sucks anyway."

The principal said that it isn't a poem that he would have chosen and will suggest to teachers that they skip over that page of Nanci's material list in the future.

He mentioned that another parent had suggested that they read "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus" to the kids to counter the awful poem.

He asked my opinion and I told him this is a great idea. They will be doing so next week.

Later this afternoon we received the following email from the English teacher.

It turns out this was copied and pasted and emailed to the other parents who had complained as well so the personal touch isn't really there as it appears to be.

It's better than nothing.

Here it is:

Mr and Mrs Scammell

I apologize for this upsetting experience. This poem comes from an anthology by Nanci Atwell, a highly regarded and well published middle school teacher. In the past I've shared this poem with my class because it is a great example of metaphor. This year I passed it on to Mlle P------(the intern) to use because it linked to our memoir theme. The purpose was to demonstrate that memoirs convey emotion and reflect on personal experiences. The poem describes a classic childhood experience everyone can relate to; the 'quintessential moment' as described in the text. In the past I have read this poem in the spring as part of a poetry unit and although the Christmas link seemed like a good idea at the time, in hindsight perhaps it was not good timing. I am sorry. I understand your position and concerns and I will certainly take these into consideration in the future.

Sincerely,

Michelle"

What "quintessential moment" is she talking about? Is she referring to a moment when a child stops believing in Santa Claus?

They had already established that most of the kids had not experienced that "quintessential moment" before they read it to them. How could the kids reflect on that personal experience?

In this case this teacher did not made a smart choice and made a bad one. This resulted in a flurry of activity as people struggled to figure out a way to undo the damage that had been done.

I'm hoping that this teacher stands by what she has written and really will take more into consideration in the future assuring smarter choices.

I didn't want to waste space with the awful poem however, I am going to tell the Virginia story.

In 1897 an 8 year old girl named Virginia O’Hanlon asked her father Dr. Philip O’Hanlon if Santa Claus really existed. She had started to doubt if there was a Santa Claus, because her friends had told her that he didn’t exist.

Her father suggested that she write to the The Sun, a New York City newspaper at the time, telling her that "If you see it in The Sun, it's so."

In doing this he gave one of the editors, Francis Pharcellus Church, an opportunity to rise above the simple question, address philosophical issues behind it and become immortal with his reply.

Her letter:

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.

Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'

Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O'HANLON.

115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

Mr. Church replied to Virginia with the most famous reply ever printed.

“VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.”

Great job Mr. Church. What a masterpiece.

Is there a Santa Claus? You’re darn right there is!

Questioning his existence is not a very smart thing to do. Not a good choice.

Trying to tell a child that Santa isn't real is a very bad choice.

Every choice results in a lesson. Let's learn from them shall we?

Stay well,

Tim

No Harm, No Foul

2015-10-17T23:13:00.000-03:00

Yesterday started out as a pretty average day.
I drove the boys to school then went to the office. I had plenty to do so I got started.

Then, about an hour later, everything changed. My day suddenly became a day that every parent has nightmares about.
I received a text message from one of my sons that Fredericton High School was in lockdown.
A man with a gun had been spotted in the vicinity of the school. I jumped onto the internet immediately to find whatever information I could.

The Fredericton Police had posted a photo taken from a surveillance camera showing what appears to be a man carrying a long gun in what appears to be a gun sock.

It wasn't much to go on but it looked pretty convincing to me that this was indeed a weapon of some type being carried by a man who almost seemed to be trying to conceal his identity with a hat and hoodie.
This scared the hell out of Cheryl and I and every other parent I was hearing from.
The thought of our kids being in danger and us being unable to do anything about it is almost too intense to describe. We've seen far too many stories of situations like this where lives were taken away and no-one could stop it.

Most of all, this made me very angry. How DARE some crazy bastard with a weapon threaten the things I value most in my life! How DARE he??
I'm pretty sure that I was not alone in feeling this.
All we could do was wait and watch as news developed and hope for a good ending to the story.

Photo taken by Ray Borgeois of the Daily Gleaner

You can imagine some of the rumours that were flying around on social media as time went on. I won't even bother saying some of what I heard.
Fortunately, both of my boys and those around them were safe and lying under tables in darkened, locked classrooms. All they could do was stay where they were and wait it out.
At times like this I am extremely grateful that our kids have smartphones and stay in touch with us. I realize there are some folks who don't approve of this but to them I say blow it out your hat. In times like this when nothing is known as fact, the knowledge that our kids are safe is the only thing I want to know and if a smartphone is how I hear it then that's just fine with me.

However, the tension and anger are still there until it's over.

Finally, about 2 hours after it started I received word that the lockdown had been lifted and classes were returning to normal. Both of the boys messaged me and all was well.

And then, something happened and everything changed for me.

A photo was posted of an umbrella that was mistaken for a weapon and triggered the panic.

I certainly understand how it could have been seen as a weapon. It's actually a very cool umbrella to tell you the truth.

It turns out that someone spotted the man with it and a manager at the Canadian Tire store (where my sons both work) captured the above images from the cameras outside the front of the store.

But Sean is what happened that changed things for me.

The Gleaner sent out a Breaking News email alert and everything became very clear.
Sean is a young Fredericton man who just happens to be autistic. He is involved with a wonderful organization called Jobs Unlimited which is located just opposite Fredericton High School. They provide employment and care services to adults with intellectual disabilities. Their website is www.jobsunlimited.nb.ca .
Yesterday morning, Sean was on his way to work at the Giant Tiger store in the mall at the opposite end from Canadian Tire. It turns out that his mother had given him that cool umbrella for his birthday and was the ideal item to have with him on this day. Rain was forecast for the afternoon.

Here is Sean with his cool umbrella.

Photo taken by Ray Borgeois of the Daily Gleaner

When Sean got to work he and the other staff were told to remain safely inside the store. His mother Frances was following the events and was very scared. In the article she tells that her family has always been opposed to firearms. Sean didn't even have a toy gun as a child.
At some point yesterday morning Sean realized that he may be the person the police were seeking. He realized that they were looking for someone walking from Priestman Street and that's where he had been. When he saw the video from the surveillance camera he knew it was him. The police were contacted and everything was cleared up.

This is where the story broke my heart.

The article talked about the concern for stress that Sean is going through over the event and the image that may be transmitted in the city about him. He was anxious at work all morning. He didn't realize that the umbrella could be mistaken for a firearm when he carried it at his side as he did. I wouldn't have thought of this either.
His mother decided that it would be in Sean's best interest if they shared more about him with the public. She says that "If he's recognizable it makes the world safer for him.""Sean is the sweetest, kindest most loving person".

My god. I had been angry at this person. Someone with absolutely no intention of causing any harm to anyone had made me terrified and angry! Sean wasn't concealing himself with his hoodie. He was trying to stay warm! It was cold yesterday morning. I'm sure that Sean kissed his mother goodbye and took off with the goal of doing the best damn job that he could of whatever was asked of him that day.
Then tears came to my eyes. They still do as I write this actually.
I felt ashamed at my thoughts and so sad at the idea that anyone could ever think badly of Sean.

. So, I went to the phone book to looked up their phone number and called his house. I wanted him to know something from me.
A lady answered and I asked if she was Sean's mom. She said yes she is. I introduced myself and asked her to please give him a message.
"Please tell him no harm, no foul. Carry on, my friend. You've done nothing wrong at all".
She said "Aww. Thank you Tim. How do you know Sean?"
I said "I don't, but when the article said you are worried about what people may think of him, I wanted to call and say that I think he's great and not to worry."
She said "Aww" again and we said goodbye.

I felt a lump in my throat for most of the conversation.

I hope that my phone message helped him, even if just a little bit.

Carry on, my friend....

Stay well,
Tim

Leslie

2015-04-29T00:18:00.000-03:00

Over 30 years ago a terrible tragic event occurred. My good friend Bill lost both of his parents in an awful car accident.
I had never experienced this degree of tragedy so closely before and wasn’t sure what my friends and I were supposed to do to help.
All we knew is that we had to rally around Bill and his sisters to help them get through the difficult days that were coming.
I remember spending most of my spare time over at their house for quite a while.

Bill had four fantastic sisters. Cyndy, Leslie and Lorie were all older than Bill and Lisa was the youngest. Lisa and my sister Hayley were in the same grade.
I knew the girls from school but not really well. They were all in different years than I was.
I did go to Bill’s house on numerous occasions but didn’t spend time with the girls. I was there to hang out with Bill.

If there could ever possibly be anything even remotely positive about what was going on, it was that I spent a lot of time with Bill, the girls and their family and got to know them much better than I had before.
Through that awful time I came to really admire and love that family and enjoyed being around them.

Over the days many other friends, neighbours and families dropped in at Bill’s house to offer condolences and drop off items of food and drinks.
I know all too well that during these times the last thing on someone’s mind is preparing food for themselves, even though keeping themselves nourished and strong is critical.

I wanted to contribute as well but what could I do? I was a young guy who hadn’t had to prepare a meal for myself very often.
However, I had an idea.

One thing that I really enjoyed was baking. I had made cookies on a few occasions. This was a good time to do it again.
I decided to make a pile of chocolate chip cookies from scratch and take them to Bill and the girls.
I am proud to say that they were a hit. They were very appreciative.
This was a huge comfort to me. It was good to know that in this time of sadness that I was able to provide something that gave them a little pleasure.

For years after that whenever I would run into Bill’s sisters it was almost guaranteed that my cookies would be mentioned along with the question of when I would be making some again.
I believe it was for Bill’s 25th birthday I decided to make a mega pile of the cookies and stuff them into a big Tupperware container to surprise them.

We had a big party at his house in Markham. It was a wonderful event.
I had not seen most of the people there for quite a while. I was living with my father out in Caledon while going to college in Etobicoke so I didn’t get out to the old neighbourhood too often anymore.
It was great to see Bill and the girls and catch up on things. I always loved being around those girls and their families.
Bill always has been and always will be a fun goofy guy. That’s why we’ve always gotten along so well. I admit that we’ve toned down a little as we’ve become older and gained responsibilities but deep down we’re the same as we were back then.
His sisters are all just as fun but in a classier way. I loved being around them. I wish it were more often though.

When the time came for Bill to open his gifts everyone gathered around to watch.
When he got to my gift he called out to make sure that Cyndy, Leslie, Lorie and Lisa could all hear that the gift was from me.
When he was done unwrapping it he opened the lid and called out “It’s chocolate chip cookies!”
It was so funny when all of the girls cheered.

As the years have gone by I have drifted away from making the cookies. It wasn’t a conscious thing. I guess I just haven’t had a lot of time for them.
I also haven’t seen the girls in a very long time.

I have a thought about these types of friends though. I don't think that years apart diminishes the way I feel about them. We may not be together very often but when do get together it's wonderful, and the friends are out there for the next time we do meet again.
Life happens. People move away. We have kids and lives get busier and busier. Nothing takes away from the way I feel about an old friend.
The warm feelings are just sitting inside waiting for us while new feelings of new people are building inside.

With Bill and his sisters I still feel the warmth for them that I had 30 years ago. Perhaps more so because it's been so long and I miss them.
But I know that they are out there and hope that they know I am here too.

I am in touch with Bill on a fairly regular basis and saw him when Hayley and mom passed away.
Bill knew Hayley quite well.

A couple of days ago I saw Bill’s Facebook status and it was like a kick to the stomach.
Leslie was very sick and was diagnosed about 6 weeks ago.
I messaged Bill as soon as I read it.
I told him to tell Leslie that if she gets better I will send her chocolate chip cookies. As many as she wants.
I knew from his reply that the getting better part was a long shot.

The next day I went to the grocery store and loaded up my supplies to make my cookies. It had been more than 20 years since I had made them but I wasn't worried.
On Saturday night I made a batch and they came out wonderfully. Not a single burned cookie in the bunch.

I contacted Bill and a plan was set that I would send as many of the cookies as I could by mail to his house and he would get them to Leslie for me.

I stuffed as many of them as I could into a large Costco margarine container and put them inside 2 bubble envelopes.

I wrote a note to Leslie that I made those cookies for her, every one of them. But if she isn't up to eating them all then it was okay for her to share with others. I would make more for her.
I was also sorry that I have not seen her in such a long time.

Early Sunday morning I went to the post office in the New Maryland Irving station but was told that I had to wait for noon when the post office would open.
I returned at noon.
The clerk asked how I wanted to send my package. I chose Expresspost and they guaranteed that it would be there in a couple of business days. That would be Wednesday afternoon.
And off they went. I let Bill know that they were coming. He would do the rest.
I told Cheryl that I wish I could see Leslie's face when she got the cookies.

This morning after I had helped the boys make breakfast I reached for my IPhone and opened Facebook. My heart broke.

Bill had posted...

"It is with a heavy heart that I must report that my lovely sister Leslie has lost her battle with Cancer. Her family at her side, she passed quietly early this morning."

I wish that I could be there back in Ontario with Bill and his sisters and Leslie's family but I know that at this moment they are surrounded by love just as they were over 30 years ago.

I hope that they enjoy the cookies.

Today I was in touch with Alex, another old friend of ours. I had not spoken to him in a while. Alex had heard the news of Leslie.

His letter affected me.

"Terrible and very sad. As you know, cancer is shit. Just the other day I was showing my wife the picture of you and Hayley posted on Facebook. As our favourite band said: We’re only immortal for a limited time. Be well, keep in touch, and hug your family extra hard tonight."

Dreamline

We are young, wandering the face of the earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that we're only immortal for a limited time

Time is a gypsy caravan steals away in the night
To leave you stranded in dreamland
Distance is a long-range filter
Memory, a flickering light left behind in the heartland

We travel in the dark of the new moon
A starry highway traced on the map of the sky
Like lovers and heroes, lonely as eagle's cry
We're only at home when we're on the fly, on the fly

When we are young, wandering the face of the earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that we're only immortal for a limited time

We travel on the road to adventure
On a desert highway, straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and hereos, and the restless part of everyone
We're only at home when we're on the run, on the run.

- RUSH

Stay well,
Tim

Sometimes the Future Looks Brighter

2015-02-15T01:15:00.001-04:00

It's 12:40 am right now on Sunday. I just got back from picking up the boys from the movies.

A blizzard is on its way and the snow has started. The roads are slick and will be dangerous before long.

As we were driving along New Maryland Highway and almost at our street we saw a guy staggering along right on the shoulder of the road eating chips or something and clearly not focused on where he was or how he was walking.

There are minimal streetlights to speak of and this did not look like a good scenario.

We turned up our street and all agreed that we should go back and check that this guy was okay. Actually, the boys spoke and suggested this before I did.

So we turned around and headed back to the highway.

It's a good thing we did. When we got back to him he was on a dark section of the snowy highway but now staggering along in the middle of the road.

Again, the boys and I immediately agreed that this guy needs our help.

We pulled up beside him and asked if we could give him a ride. He said sure so I opened the side van door and he climbed in.

Thankfully, he wasn't too drunk to remember his address in the Applewood subdivision and we headed to his house.

There is no way this guy would have made it all the way to his house safely tonight in this weather.

It was very far from where we met him to his home and with his state factored in I don't believe he could have made it.

One of the boys asked him if he had been at the pub in New Maryland and he said he had been.

Shouldn't the pub staff have seen what was going on when he got up to leave and started staggering along the highway? Perhaps call a cab for him or something?

We dropped him off at his place and he thanked us.

The boys and I agree that we did the right thing tonight and even though he was a stranger he needed help.

Calling the RCMP wouldn't have made sense since they would have taken so long to arrive.

I just want to say that I'm proud of my boys for speaking the suggestion that we help this man before I said anything.

I feel good about the future sometimes.

Stay well,

Tim

Wait! Don’t leave yet please…

2015-01-06T10:22:00.000-04:00

Happy New Year.

When Cheryl and I and the boys moved out here to New Brunswick about 12 years ago it was quite full of our Scammell family.
We were moving to a place that actually had a whole bunch of us in reasonably close proximity to each other, give or take 50 kilometers.

My grandmother Annie was living in her house in Fredericton on Hansen Street near the University of New Brunswick. She was entering her 90’s and still getting around and living quite independently.
Her house was, and still is, the one that I associated with Fredericton for my whole life.
As I was growing up, whenever my family travelled here this house was our destination.
When I think about Christmas I will always think about Fredericton and being at Granny’s house.

I always hated that drive from Ontario to Fredericton but man did I love it when we got here! I have so many wonderful memories of the Christmas season in Fredericton I could fill pages of a separate entry on that topic alone.

I’ve mentioned this before but throughout my life I always felt more at home when I was in Fredericton than anywhere else in the world. When we decided to move out here it was quite easy for me.

Of course when we were in Fredericton we drove across the Saint John River to Devon to visit two of my favourite people in the whole world, Uncle Maurice and Aunt Dorie. They were actually my great-uncle and great-aunt, my father’s uncle and aunt. It was always such a fantastic treat when we went to visit.
Sadly, Dorie passed away a few years before we moved here but Uncle Maurice still lived alone on School Street in Devon.
Just prior to our moving here Maurice was moved into a home in Oromocto but the house sat empty.

My dad’s older brother, my Uncle Jim and Aunt Margie had moved back to New Brunswick when Jim retired and bought a house in Beaverdam. Beaverdam is about 5 minutes further out of Fredericton than New Maryland is. Uncle Jim also passed away a few years before we moved here but Aunt Margie stayed in the house in Beaverdam.

My lovely cousin Megan and her husband Peter lived in a great place just outside of Stanley. It was a hobby farm where they had all sorts of different animals such as horses, dogs, cats, chickens and whatever else roamed around the place.
It was a bit of a drive and lousy during bad weather but we loved visiting them. The boys loved interacting with the assorted creatures and would help with whatever needed to be done.
We would have a delicious dinner then head out to the back for a bonfire when it became dark.

Peter worked for Fundy National Park in a little place called Alma which was down on the Bay of Fundy. During the week he would stay at a cottage that they had bought on Mechanic Lake just outside the park. This saved him driving many hours every day to and from home to work.

Many times in the summers Peter and Megan would let us use their cottage during the weekend and our family would have a Fundy weekend in the park and surrounding area.
These trips were priceless with the beautiful scenery and trails to explore.
On one of the trips the boys rented kayaks as Cheryl and I watched from the shore. While they were on the water a mother and two young moose came to the water’s edge for a drink and look around! The boys were able to get within 30 feet of them!
That’s a valuable rare opportunity for certain.

Very shortly after moving to New Brunswick Uncle Maurice passed away and we were robbed of the opportunity to spend more time with a great man.
Their little house on School Street was sold and the “SCAMMELL” letters that Uncle Maurice had put up beside the front door were taken down.
One of my thoughts when we were coming to live here was that the boys would get to spend time with Maurice and enjoy being around him as I had growing up. I think they only saw him 2 or 3 times in their lives. And that sucks.

In late 2013 Megan was taken away from us. Another huge hole was punched into the family that could never be filled again.
Understandably, it was difficult for Peter to remain in the home and life that they had made together without her. Peter sold the place at Mechanic Lake and in the end of 2014 sold the house near Stanley and moved to Toronto to take a great job.

A few days before my birthday in June we lost my grandmother. She was 102 years old!
I thought that perhaps she would make a run for a few more years but she decided that she had done well enough. She used to tell people that she wanted to beat her sister who had passed away in her 90’s.
Now that she had done so she was okay to go any time.
It may have been okay for her but it still hurt like hell for the rest of us. One thing I am very thankful of is that we were able to spend a lot of time with her while living here.
I think that I met my great-grandmothers once or twice before they died but I don't remember them at all. My sons saw Granny quite a but and are old enough to always have clear memories of her.
But it’s a strange feeling when we realize that someone that has been here for our whole lives is now gone.

Granny’s house had sat empty for several years when she moved into the home. My dad told me that even though it was empty, nothing would be changed as long as Granny was alive.
As of this moment, her house on Hansen Street is up for sale.

A few months ago it was decided that my Aunt Margie would sell the house in Beaverdam and move into a place in Ottawa to be closer to my cousin Jamie. The house was put up for sale and sold just a little while ago. The deal actually closes today.

So, in a few short months New Brunswick has gone from having our Scammells in many areas to only two. My father and step-mother in Lower Queensbury and ourselves in New Maryland.

It would be great if someone in the family would move back to New Brunswick someday but in the meantime let’s not get any smaller, okay?

I don’t like goodbyes and don’t want to say any more.

Stay well,
Tim

Wow...

2014-09-09T22:01:00.001-03:00

Something really insane happened at the Transportation Committee meeting tonight when the Mayor showed up to have a word with the members.

I won't get into the details here yet out of respect and the Mayor's request that we keep it confidential until she has had a chance to speak to the members of all of the other Committees of Council as well as the Transportation Committee members that weren't there tonight.

I'll just say that the mood and energy of the committee up to that point tonight came crashing down to nothing.

Plus, I really didn't care what we talked about after that anyway because it is now clear that the Village clearly places a value of zero on what the public members of its committees contribute or say.

I suppose it could be a control thing too. That is probably a very large part of what is about to go down.

Anyway, there will be first and second reading of the Village bylaw amendment soon and the third and final reading will follow the month afterwards.

My biggest fear is that the Village business and expertise is about to be drastically changed and not for the better.

What some people may see as a savings of time and money will end up costing much much more in the long run. Shortsightedness is a constant trait in many groups and organizations that I have been a part of throughout my life.

Too many little bean counters want their little piles of beans to look wonderful when someone comes by to see it.

There is no regard or consideration for what is sacrificed from other crucial bean piles to get their piles so lovely but they usually don't care.

Plus, these beaners HATE when someone comes by and tries to tell them what to do with those beans and suggest ways to use the beans wisely.

So the beaners shut them out and have the well meaning folks taken out of the equation with everything within their power.

I'm glad that I've met several beaners that genuinely appreciate input and find ways to listen and implement suggestions that come their way.

But the Village looks like it's not going to be one of the good ones.

And that's a shame.

It's looking more and more like I may have to take another stab at that Council thing sooner than later to see just what the hell is going on in there.

If the people will take me.

We have a while to talk about that though.

For now I'll just get kicked around along with the other members.

Stay well,

Tim

Another year starts...

2014-09-03T07:24:00.001-03:00

"Be a good boy, have a good day, have an adventure, and be safe."

I've been saying this to the boys at the beginning of each school day since they were little.

My days of saying that to them are numbered I know.

Today they start grade 11.

Another school year begins.

Wish us luck.

Stay well,

Tim