Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-11-05, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2015. PAGE 5. Whenever I find myself getting mopey and longing for the bright dancing days of my exuberant youth I chant out loud a one-word mantra that provides an instant cure. “Algebra.” I was never good at math. Hell, I was terrible at math. Oh, I could add, subtract, multiply and divide decently enough but when math went all Picasso-ish into hallucinations like Algebra and Calculus I was lost. “Let x be the unknown factor” my Algebra text instructed. It was. Still is. I hadn't yet realized that humankind is divided into two major sub sets: those whose brains resemble filing cabinets and those whose brains resemble, well, messy bedrooms. Messy Bedroom Heads give us our singers and dancers, our poets and painters. Filing Cabinet Heads provide clerks and accountants, drill sergeants and lawyers. And, all too often, our prime ministers. I'm not making a value judgement. We need our Filing Cabinet Heads to make sure water keeps coming out of the tap and the Number 9 bus runs on time. I'm just saying that I'm not the guy to fill those job descriptions. Nor was Randolph Churchill who, despite having been Great Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, confessed to bafflement over the decimal system: “I never could make out what all those damned dots meant.” I sympathize completely. Randolph's and my fate were permanently sealed away back in the 9th century AD when some anonymous Hindu scribe scratched out ten symbols to represent the numbers 0 to 9. In subsequent centuries Arab armies invaded India, stealing, among lesser treasures such as gold and jewels, the precious secret code, which they refined and passed on to the rest of the world as the Arabic numerals we still use today. Arab scholars threw in symbols for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Modern mathematics was born. And in our own lifetime, another evolutionary leap forward: binary script for computers. I don't pretend to comprehend it, but they tell me every word I peck out on my computer keyboard is transformed magically inside my computer into various combinations of the numbers zero and one. I can think of only two possible combinations of zero and one, but that's what I get for having a Messy Bedroom Head. Computers have changed everything. Including us. Computers were supposed to be a handy tool to serve our communications needs. Turns out computers rule. To play in their league we have to become the handy tools. That involves among other things, overhauling our language. I came of age in a world where icons were religious statues, surfers were guys who hung out at the beach, browsers were Holsteins and a hack was either a taxicab or a lousy writer. Not only must I update my personal dictionary, I have to make room for a whole raft of lexicographical gibberish such as HTTP, HTML , ISP, URL and VOIP. Not to mention the binary code. All too much for this Messy Bedroom Head. I take solace in an old limerick from my favourite poet, Anon: “There was an old fellow of Trinity Who solved the square root of infinity But it gave him such fidgets To count up the digits He chucked Math and took up Divinity.” Arthur Black Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense While there were plenty of ghouls and goblins about on Halloween and a few running around on Devil’s Night (also known as Oct. 30), I didn’t get my spooks in until Nov. 1 “Remember, remember the [first] of November” because it was the day that a lot of things changed. First off, we lost what little sunshine we had after work with the implementation of Daylight Saving Time. Secondly, we all lost a little more money. Alright, maybe ‘all’ might be too blanket a term for some people, including my editor, but I’m willing to bet that the majority of us are affected by one, if not both, of the price increases that were implemented on Nov. 1. The first increase is the price of electricity as a commodity. The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) announced, just a couple weeks back, that prices would be increased across all three usage times (off-peak, mid-peak and peak). On Nov. 1, those changes were implemented. The price for off-peak electrical usage is increasing from 8 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to 8.3 cents per kWh. Mid-peak electrical prices are increasing from 12.2 cents per KWh to 12.6 and on-peak will increase from 16.1 cents per kWh to 17.5. While those price changes may not seem to be all that bad, adding some background might make this a very scary story indeed. The CBC did a bit of research and discovered that, as of November 2010, before tiered electrical usage hours, the price of electricity was 9.9 cents per kWh. What does that mean? Well it means that using power in the middle of the day has gone up 77 per cent since then. It also means that the price of off-peak usage, at 8.3 cents per kWh is slowly but surely sneaking up to what we were paying for electricity five years ago at all times of the day. Why is that important? Well the tiered system was implemented to encourage people to use less electricity during peak hours by offering it then at a somewhat-discounted rate. Now, the discounted rate is going to be what the normal rate was five years ago. Also, take note that we’re now in winter time-of-use billing which means that, at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., when it’s still dark outside, we’re going to be paying more for the simple joy of not living in complete darkness like some caveman that hasn’t yet discovered fire. The OEB said the increased prices are due to the increased costs it faces related to generating power. Also, in case this isn’t scary enough, come Jan. 1, 2016 all tier prices will go up 10 per cent as the Clean Energy Benefit ends. The CBC reports that right now the average home, with an electrical bill of $100 in 2010, is paying $131 now, and could be paying as much as $190 in just over six years. All of that and we still can’t get reliable electrical service in Blyth... oh wait, that was another column. Sorry. So, you wake up on Sunday, Nov. 1 and you’re paying more for electricity and having to swallow that bitter pill. By the time the afternoon rolls around, you’re probably pretty frustrated and maybe you want a beverage to calm your nerves and wash the taste of increased costs out of your mouth. Well, don’t reach for a beer. That’s gone up in price as well. In the first of three increases that will occur on that magical date of Nov. 1 for the next two years, the provincial tax on beer was increased three cents per litre. Premier Kathleen Wynne and the Liberal Party of Ontario hope that the increase will bring in $100 million a year for the province once all three changes are implemented. Right now, estimates have the increase making a case of 24 beers costing about a quarter more. Don’t worry, however, as the government is looking out for you. They have, through negotiations with major brewers, made sure they are swallowing some of those increases. So, instead of getting hit all at once, the price, per bottle of beer, will likely go up about one cent per year for the next four years. After that, however, it’s no holds barred. Maybe hard liquor is a better bet, or better yet, moonshine. They can’t tax it if they don’t know you’ve got it. Somehow, this is going to affect everyone. Breweries is going to have to eventually charge more to recover the tax increase. Businesses at large are going to need to charge more cover the increase in electrical costs. Even if you don’t pay your own electrical bill and don’t drink beer, this will, eventually, trickle down to you and increase your cost of living. So keep your ghouls, your goblins, your ghosts, your scary movies and your Halloween pranks. This year, the provincial government (as Hydro One, which will be benefitting from these increases in Blyth and the surrounding communities, is still a crown corporation) has seen to it that Ontario residents have all the scare they need the next time they try to balance their books. Denny Scott Denny’s Den Step by step Whether you’re in favour or not, it’s nice to see work being done on the Goderich-to-Guelph (G2G) Rail Trail – a project that has been a long time in the making, to say the least. True, there are many people who remain against the trail and their concerns are in the process of, hopefully, being addressed through a G2G working group and a forthcoming report from the Huron County Planning and Development Department. But, for both sides, I think it’s good to see work being done. If you’re against the trail, this work will give you an idea of what the trail will look like when it’s complete. Those against the trail will know what to expect and they’ll know exactly what representatives of the group are talking about when they try to communicate their vision for the lengthy trail. And maybe seeing it for themselves will answer some questions. If you’re in favour of the trail, the reason work on the trail is a good thing is obvious. After years of discussion and planning, work is being done and permanent structures are being placed in the ground. This means that the trail is actually happening and it’s not just an idea floating around in someone’s head. In my interview with G2G Vice-Chair Chris Lee this week, he said he, and others involved with the trail, felt it was important to have this “departure” site of the trail complete before winter. He specifically cited the International Plowing Match in 2017 as a driving force behind the trail. This event, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors annually to the match’s host community, is an important one on the G2G calendar. If people from Guelph or Goderich could theoretically walk from their homes to Walton to attend the match and the biggest rural expo in the province, think of the value to the Huron County community at large, says Lee. This two-kilometre stretch running east of Walton will show people what the trail will look like. It will be like having a model home, or having a specific model of car on display – serving the same purpose, allowing people to see, touch and experience this concept. Seeing signage, fencing and infrastructure all in place, in addition to a freshly-graded surface for safe travel for adventure cyclists, may put to rest some of those fears carried by opponents of the trail. Then again, maybe not – but it certainly can’t hurt. For the longest time, the trail existed as an idea belonging to Lee and Paul VanderMolen. They felt there was economic potential for the community in the trail and moved on it. Since then, there have been countless stories in The Citizen, as well as other area newspapers, telling many different sides of the story. Whether it was the public relations gaff (admitted by G2G Inc.) of jumping the gun in announcing the trail open before valid leases were set to expire, the numerous delegations spearheaded by area farmers and adjacent landowners or Walking Home, a book written by Lynda Wilson, who was one of the first people to walk the trail end to end, many stories have been told about the trail – some good and some not so good. Now, the trail – at least a two-kilometre stretch of it – will be able to tell its own story through visuals. With the Planning Department’s report still on its way and Huron County councillors yet to make an official declaration of support, the case is far from closed, but this work is a step in the right direction – and if you’re facing the right direction, you just have to keep walking. Other Views Messy bedroom or filing cabinet? Oct. 30? 31? No, Nov. 1 was scary “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Final Thought