What would your grandfather think?

If there is one thing I know about my wife it's that she adored her grandfather Howard Russell. He was someone who left an everlasting impression on his family. Almost every summer our immediate family travels to Port Elgin for vacation just so we can stop at the school house were Grandpa and Grandma Russell spent the early part of their retirement years. There hasn't been a single occasion when we've left the school house when Heather hasn't teared up. The times she spent there when her grandparents were alive were special, they were happy lifetime memories for her. I wasn't there but through Heather's stories about her grandparents I know they have helped shape the person she's become today. Howard and Hazel were much loved.

Howard worked for CCM for most of his working career. He was very much a man of the people and a proud union supporter. As such when the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was organizing in the 1930s he put his energy behind the cause helping sign members. With Tommy Douglas as a leader it was a righteous cause, one that benefits Canadians from coast to coast to this day thanks to our universal health care system that was heavily influenced by the CCF and later the NDP.

When Heather became a woman's advocate and later the first person to set up a Workers in Motion Action Centre after Lear Seating eliminated the third shift at its Whitby manufacturing plant in 2006 family members often commented, "Your grandfather would be proud." His labour roots were branching out through the actions of his granddaughter.

Heather met Liberal leader Justin Trudeau
at a campaign stop in Whitby.

Today Heather is seeking the federal Liberal nomination in Oshawa riding. She commented to me the other day some people think her grandfather would roll over in his grave if he knew what she was doing. I disagreed. He may roll over but I think he'd also sit up and applaud.

Heather isn't seeking the nomination for personal gain. Like her grandfather before her Heather is standing up for people just like herself, people who want a better life, not only for themselves but for their children. The fact she believes this can be accomplished through the Liberal Party and not the NDP wouldn't disappoint her grandfather. If anything I believe he would be proud that his actions, his passion and his good example had a profound influence on his granddaughter. An influence that has inspired her to stand up for what she believes in and to help her community.

Heather's involvement in Oshawa spans years, many of which were spent with the Boys and Girls Club of Durham Region. She served on the board for six years and later as president of the foundation for three years. As part of the Whitby Chamber of Commerce she served on the Community Education Committee for three years and she also served on the Literacy Network of Durham Region's board of directors. And just last month she joined the Campaign Cabinet of Feed the Need Durham. This isn't something she does to pad her resume or for personal gain. She's just hard-wired to being active and she cares enough about her community to do it.

Her actions have not gone unnoticed. In 2011 she was given a Volunteer Service Award by the Province of Ontario, in 2013 she was given a business award from Business and Professional Women of Durham  and this year she was nominated to attend a Bold Vision at a national Woman's Leadership Convention.

What would her grandfather think? He'd be the proudest grandfather in the world and rightfully so.

There's no guarantee Heather will get the Liberal nomination but I can think of no better person for the job.

Contributing to your community is something to be proud of and something that won't change for Heather whether she gets the nomination or not. It's what she does, it's who she is.

Books are here to stay

I'm reading a really good book now by Joe Hill called NOS4A2. It's the first of his novels I've tried and it's been a real page turner.

I say 'page turner' in reference to the book because it's a real book, not one read off an e-reader. Books are dependable, you can count on them. E-readers, not so much as I've discovered.

I've tried using a Kobo before and must admit I found it easy enough to use. When the black line of death crept across the screen though it left me less than impressed. My wife Heather sent it back and it was replaced free of charge. But the other day when she picked it up to continue reading the latest Ken Follet novel she started a few weeks ago the black line of death appeared again. It was done.

There's not much you can do with an expired Kobo. It's been three years since it was replaced so the chances of the manufacturer replacing it again are slim. Heather downloaded the book to her laptop so she could finish it. A laptop is not as convenient as an e-reader but it will do in a pinch.

 I do a lot of reading online. Given the nature of the business I'm in (media) much of my days are spent in front of computer screens. The newspapers and magazines I help produce are all compiled using computers. At the end of the day the product is printed but to get to that point requires the use of a lot of online technology. Plus everything produced on paper goes online.

When I want to sit back and read for pleasure it's nice to open a book, you know those things we've been reading from for thousands of years?

Stephen King, who is Joe Hill's father, said in a recent interview with Huffington Post that books are not like compact discs or phonograph records that have now been almost completely replaced by music downloads.

"There's a deeply implanted desire and understanding and wanting of a book that isn't there with music. It's a deeper well of human experience. Here's another thing: if you drop a book into the toilet, you can fish it out, dry it off and read that book. But if you drop your Kindle in the toilet, you're pretty well done," he told interviewer Josh Zepps.

I couldn't have put it any better than King did right there. All I would add to his comment is that you don't have to drop a Kobo in a toilet to render it useless. It pretty much does that all by itself.

I look forward to finishing Mr. Hill's book NOS4A2. It's not hard to tell his father has had an influence in his writing. When I'm finished I'll put it on my book shelf alongside his father's many books. Then I'll go out and buy another and if I drop it in the toilet (I won't) so be it. Real books don't short out or need upgrades. They're perfect just the way they are.

No place to play ball in Oshawa

A few weeks ago I dropped off my son Tavish at Baker Park where he was meeting friends for a game of pickup baseball. They’d met there a number of times throughout the summer but at this last meeting  they didn’t get a chance to play ball.

It wasn’t because somebody else was using the diamond. Rather it was because the ball diamond wasn’t there. The City of Oshawa had torn out the fencing, removed the benches and cleared out the bleachers. The only thing remaining was a vague outline of the former infield.

“Why would the City do that?” Tavish asked me.

I didn’t have an answer for him. My hope was that because this summer was the 50th anniversary of Baker Park the City was in the process of improving the ball diamond. What better way to celebrate a milestone anniversary than to replace an aging diamond with a brand new one? The diamond had seen better days. It was the same one I played on as a teenager and it was obvious the City was doing NOTHING to maintain it. Weeds grew all through the infield.

I contacted Mayor John Henry and asked him what was going on. He told me the diamond didn’t meet City standards anymore and a community meeting with the park association had taken place and it was agreed the diamond would be removed.

I wasn’t pleased with this decision for two reasons. One, Baker Park was my park growing up. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in. So I’m a little nostalgic when it comes to ball diamonds. To see Baker Park without a diamond upset me. Second, I am now in the coaching stage of my life. I coached many years in softball and I now coach for Baseball Oshawa’s house league system. Last summer I struggled to get a diamond to practice on with my team because there weren’t enough diamonds to meet the demands of the various softball and baseball organizations across the city.

How then would reducing the City’s ‘fields of dreams’ by one help kids play ball?

I vented my frustration on a Facebook group I belong to, NASC Softball. Olga Field, who administers the page, replied to my post indicating Baker Park wasn’t the only park to lose its ball diamond this summer. So too did Nipigon Park. Eastview Park was also on the City’s list to have its three diamonds removed as was MacKenzie Park. The City held off removing those diamonds only after the NASC convinced them otherwise. How councillors could ever consider removing the three diamonds at Eastview is a head scratcher. Drive by Eastview Park on any night of the week during the summer months and you'll see teams playing, parents cheering. The NASC uses the park extensively and hosts its tournaments on the three fields. Remove the diamonds? Give me a break!

What should be done at Eastview Park and others across the city is proper maintenance of the fields. The City grooms fields such as the one at Connaught Park and the beautiful diamonds at Alexandra Park but visit Eastview Park or MacKenzie Park and you'll see the neglect. Yet our kids are expected to play on these fields just as often as they are at other parks. It makes me wonder if the City only wants to remove diamonds to save a buck. It's easier to rip diamonds out than it is to maintain them.

I sent a letter to every councillor a few weeks ago asking them to reconsider this foolhardy approach to running the City. Ron Diskey, Director of Culture & Recreation got back to me to let me know there is an upcoming needs assessment study taking place on parks and recreation to determine future needs and locations of diamonds, soccer fields, etc. It takes place Oct. 8 at the Civic Auditorium Complex at 6:30 p.m. You can be I'll be in attendance.

Our city needs to maintain and improve it's baseball and softball diamonds, not remove them. Like I said before my team was shut out of practices during weeknights this summer because there weren't any diamonds available. Removal of the diamonds at Baker Park and Nipigon Park will only make matters worse next summer.

I found it funny as I scrolled through the NASC Softball Facebook page to see photos of this summer's championship teams. There were a lot of kids who played for Baker Park in those photos. Yet the City felt Baker's diamond wasn't being used enough to keep it?

Shame.

Recall a time when quality trumped quantity?

Cars being shipped to dealerships.

Last summer my old 2003 Cavalier died. It was spewing black smoke and wasn't worth the money it would take to keep it on the road.

My wife Heather and myself replaced it with a Chevy Trax, one of the smaller SUVs General Motors produces. It wasn't too big, something my wife Heather preferred because this would be driven by her primarily. It was also big enough to carry our three growing children with room for luggage.

Not long after we bought the Trax we received a 'Recall Notice'. I have been lucky during my car-buying years in that I had never seen one before. The windshield wiper arms needed replacing. I  hoped that would be the last recall notice I'd get but two weeks ago we received another. This one was far more serious as the brake line had to be moved. It was too close to a heat source and could wear a hole in the line causing the brakes to fail. I took it in and had it fixed.

While I was sitting at the dealership waiting for the shuttle to take me to work I thought about recall notices and the increasing frequency you hear about them, not only from GM but most auto manufacturers. GM, in particular, has come under intense pressure lately regarding its ignition recall. According to a GM press release 1.6 million model-year 2003-2007 vehicles and 1 million model year 2008-2011 vehicles were recalled for the faulty ignition. That's a lot of cars with defective parts in them.

Not so many years ago Toyota issued recalls after its floor mats trapped gas pedals causing cars to accelerate wildly.  Just last week Ford issued a recall notice affecting 1.4 million vehicles North American wide. Google 'car recalls' and you'll find no shortage of stories regarding faulty parts on vehicles.

I realize mistakes happen. But recall notices from auto manufacturers have become chronic in recent years. Wouldn't it be nice if these companies got it right the first time and didn't have to send out quick fixes to problems that should have been caught before these vehicles were put to market? They're so busy pumping out cars, trucks, SUVs, sports cars etc. that scant attention is being paid to quality.

Quality trumps quantity in my books. You pay enough for vehicles these days, new or used. The least these automotive corporations could do is get it right the first time.

I hope I don't find myself sitting at the dealership again day dreaming about recall notices.

What about you, have you ever gotten a recall notice for one of your cars?

The sound of running water is never good

Last summer my youngest daughter Bronwyn got out our garden hose and had some fun with her friends. I heard later it was awesome.

The next morning I went downstairs to have a coffee with my wife Heather. We chit-chatted for a bit and then watched the news. As I sipped  my coffee I heard the unnerving sound of running water. My immediate thought was the toilet was running as it has a habit of doing. When I went upstairs to check it sat there silent. If it could have spoken (and I'm glad it didn't!) I pictured the toilet saying, "It wasn't me."

So who was it then?

I checked every sink in the house and found no running water. Then it dawned on me -- Bronwyn! I ran outside to check the garden hose but knew by the sopping wetness of the ground it was on before I could even see it. The water had been running for a good 12 hours.

Both Bronwyn and Daddy paid for that costly mistake. So you could imagine my concern when I heard the sound of running water again in March. It wasn't the same sound as the garden hose but it was running water. The outside hose was the first thing I checked but it had been turned off from inside since the fall. All the toilets and sinks were off too. So why could I hear distant, yet persistent running water?

The answer, I thought, resided with my neighbour who had water cascading down his driveway. A pipe had sprung a leak somewhere in his front yard and water was running to his driveway and down into the street. The Region of Durham came by, some very large holes were dug and the water mess was cleaned up. That was good for everyone, myself included, because I figured the running water sound I could hear from my laundry room would stop.

It didn't.

So I reluctantly called the Region of Durham myself to report the sound and my suspicion there could still be more leaks in my court. A guy came out and confirmed within seconds I was correct. There was a pinhole leak somewhere and that somewhere was within my own plumbing. A 'leak' specialist would have to be brought in and if the leak was on the wrong side of my property line I would be on the hook for the repair and all its costs. If the leak was on the Region's side it would be fixed by them. But I was warned, it would cost me a minimum of $500 and a maximum of $4,000 if that hole was on my side of that thin red line.

Gulp!

I didn't have $4,000. Actually I didn't even have $500 to spare on a plumbing problem so you could imagine the anxiety, the gnashing of teeth, the stress I went through awaiting the leak specialist's final word. When it came I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. The leak was in the centre of my driveway, about a foot and a half on the Region's side of the property line!

I found out my neighbour's leak was also on the right side of his property line so he too dodged a financial bullet.

The repair work hasn't started yet so I can still hear the sound of running water downstairs. But at least I know its source. And the best part is that money won't be running out of my wallet to fix it!

Investigating things that go bump in the night

Oshawa Community Museums curator Melissa Cole has given thousands of tours of two of the city's most historic homes, Henry House and Robinson House. There's nothing she doesn't know about these beautiful houses or the people who have called them home over the decades.

Most days she gives these tours while the sun is up but a few weeks ago she gave me a tour many hours after the sun went down. I was there with the Paranormal Researchers of Ontario (proo(f)) and we were on the hunt for ghosts.

I have seen television shows where investigators walk into old haunted buildings with special equipment. Something always happens whether it be a voice telling them to "Get out!" or an apparition appears walking down a hall or stairway. It's meant to entertain and creep you out.

But proo(f) doesn't operate this way. The organization is there to investigate, document and attempt to draw their own conclusions as to why strange things might be happening. Many in the group are skeptical ghosts exist at all while others have had experiences they can only attribute to the paranormal.

So on this night  I accompanied them as they investigated Henry House and Robinson House. Melissa took us on a tour of the two buildings explaining the strange things staff have reported to her as happening while they worked. Melissa herself said she's a skeptic when it comes to ghosts. She's never seen one and she spends a lot of time working and taking care of the two houses.

"I don't get a sense of fear in here ever," she said.

But that doesn't mean others haven't had rather haunting experiences inside the two historic sites. As Melissa explained it there has been more than one person who has had some anxious moments inside Henry House. One girl who took a tour of the house a number of years ago stopped dead in her tracks outside Thomas Henry's study which is just to the right after you walk in the front entrance. She refused to go into the room and didn't want to finish the tour. Something in there made her extremely uncomfortable.

"People have seen somebody in Thomas Henry's chair," Melissa said. "This room gets a lot of stories."

Caskets are stored in the basement of Henry House.

I figured if there was ever going to be a night where a ghost made his or her presence known it would be this night. After all, I was with a group of professional ghost hunters who had cameras, mel metres, electro magnetic field detectors, temperature gauges and other devices used to investigate haunted houses. If a spirit was going to make itself known, these devices, in the hands of these capable people, would do it.

We investigated both buildings from top to bottom. On this night no spirit set off any of their devices but there were a few unexplained sounds and flashes of light we encountered in Robinson House. Proo(f) investigators Rob DiVenanzo, Brad Mavin and Melissa also complained of feeling a little disoriented near the top of the stairs inside the house as well.

"It felt warm. It felt very uncomfortable," Rob explained.

Then, as quickly as it happened, the feelings these three experienced went away. As for me I must admit to feeling a bit uneasy during the whole tour. It's not every night I get to walk through historic old homes in the dark. And who wouldn't experience the heebie-jeebies in the basement of Henry House where old caskets are stored for exhibits held throughout the year by Oshawa Community Museums? Think about it, I was in a dark basement surrounded by coffins.

Despite the fact proo(f)'s various devices didn't go off during our investigation that didn't mean there wasn't something else in those buildings with us.

Did the cameras catch anything not visible to the naked eye? I spoke to Brad  a few weeks after my tour with his organization to ask him.  Was Henry House or Robinson House haunted, in his opinion? Nothing stirred in either house on that night, he said.

In other investigations in other alleged haunted houses proo(f) has returned multiple times and received a variety of readings. In other places they’ve left their equipment behind and it’s picked up some bizarre activities.

What about the strange feelings that overcame his colleagues at the top of the stairs at Robinson House?

“There was certainly a strange feeling up there,” he admitted. “I rarely ever get some sensation or feeling. I had no fear of that place at all though.”

I can't say I didn't experience fear in either house. Being new to paranormal investigations I was feeling a lot of weird things. Could it have been my imagination? Probably. Could something have been watching us as we searched the two houses? Or maybe on this night the spirits just didn't want to come out and play? Who knows?

But it was a cool experience nonetheless.

Ice storm sheds light on dark problem

When the power went out on Dec. 22, I was one of the lucky ones in Durham Region. I was only in the dark for 12 hours. Others were left without power for days.

In Toronto there were thousands of people who went without power for upwards of a week while crews attempted to fix the grid. It was a cold, frustrating time for a lot of people.

When the idea of distributing grocery store cards came about I thought it was a good idea for the people hardest hit. If you're living on a fixed income or on social assistance and are forced, through no fault of your own, to throw out spoiled food thanks to a prolonged power outage it's nice to know the help is there. Fifty dollars for single people or $100 per family couldn’t be considered a lot but it’s more than enough when you look at the alternative – nothing.

Then the stories of the lineups for the grocery store cards started being reported in the media. Demand outstripped supply. In just three days $842,600 worth of grocery store gift cards were distributed in Toronto, more than quadruple what was expected.

This week another $450,000 in grocery store cards will be given out in Durham Region (Jan. 9), Northumberland County (Jan. 8), Dufferin County, Halton Region, City of Hamilton, Peel Region, Waterloo Region, Wellington County and York Region. It's a safe bet the gift cards being distributed won't be nearly enough for the number of people who will lineup for them. Like what happened in Toronto there will be many people turned away empty-handed.

When news of these frustrated, hungry people comes in it won't surprise me and I know it won't surprise you. However, what I find most startling about this whole situation is the number of people who need the grocery store cards. Knowing there are people living at or near the poverty level is one thing but seeing just a fraction of them lining up for grocery store cards puts the issue into a startling perspective.

That should be a wake up call for all of us, including the government officials supervising the distribution of the grocery cards. Poverty sucks but it’s what happens when middle class jobs disappear leaving people desperate and willing to lineup for grocery store cards to feed themselves.

Being a member of the media I hear the calls from food banks calling for donations because year after year there’s a greater need. Unfortunately these stories aren’t unusual, they’re the norm. Then Mother Nature shows her ugly side highlighting an already difficult situation.

The ice storm was traumatic on all of us for many different reasons. When the lights came back on our real problems came to light and sadly, they had nothing to do with storm.