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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-04-26, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012. PAGE 5. If there was any skepticism about the digital information tsunami we’re currently dogpaddling through, surely it was swept away by the terse announcement that recently appeared in newspapers, magazines – and inevitably, on iPads and laptop screens around the world. I’m referring to the one telling us that after 244 years of publishing, Encyclopedia Britannica would no longer be putting out a print edition. No more Encyclopedia Britannica? No more of those glossy-paged, gold-embossed, hernia-inducing, faux-leather volumes that have anchored libraries, private and public, since…since Oliver Goldsmith scribbled, William Hogarth doodled and Catherine the Great diddled? Well, pardon the hysteria. This is a death notice that was not exactly unexpected. Truth is, Britannica’s been on the endangered list since at least 1990 when the company declared bankruptcy, only to be temporarily rescued by a Swiss businessman. Even before that, Encyclopedia Britannica was coasting on the fumes of an inflated reputation. The information its volumes contained was often outdated before they were printed. The latest (and last) print edition, published in 2010, was 25 years in the making. But it wasn’t just the information lag that doomed the print version of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Consider: if you were one of the 8,000 customers who purchased the latest edition, you would have 32 volumes that would take up a wall of your house, weigh 130 pounds and set you back nearly $1,400. Or, for 70 bucks a year, you could subscribe to the web edition and enjoy instant access in your bedroom, a bus terminal or an internet café. But that’s today. Back in the days when we weren’t in a perpetual rush and portability wasn’t a concern, Encyclopedia Britannica ruled. Ruled the middle class, anyway. And it never really was about information; it was about social status. Families that boasted a set of EB’s in their parlour ascended automatically to the mandarin class. And it didn’t matter whether anyone actually opened a volume. The books just had to be there, where visitors could see them. When people purchased Britannicas they weren’t just buying information; they were buying a dream. I know. I used to sell that dream. I was once a door to door encyclopedia salesman. On my first evening, clad in an ill- fitting sports jacket and tie, I tagged along behind a seasoned salesman who would show me the ropes. By ‘seasoned’ I mean sleazy. This guy was a weasel in a suit. We knocked on every door in a large downtown high-rise. I lugged a satchel full of sales gimmickry. Weasel did the talking. Ninety-nine per cent of the doors we knocked on were either unanswered or curtly slammed in our faces. But finally, some poor, kind soul whose mother taught her not to be rude to strangers invited us in. Big mistake. The weasel had a polished line of patter that bordered on hypnotic. He dazzled the little old dear like a cobra bewitching a sparrow. Before an hour was gone she had signed up for not only an overpriced set of Britannicas but also for a bookcase, a reading lamp and a subscription for an annual ‘update’ volume. We were operating inside the law, but just barely. And morally what we were doing sucked large granite boulders. I was just a kid then, and not nearly brave enough to stand up and shout “Close your chequebook, lady – it’s a scam!” But I often wish I had. My encyclopedia sales career began and ended that same night. The experience soured me on what I had considered to be a noble institution. After all, how noble could Encyclopedia Britannica be if it employed two-bit hustlers like us? I don’t believe I’ve cracked the spine on a volume of Encyclopedia Britannica since. But then, neither have lots of people who bought the whole set. Arthur Black Other Views Rule Britannia! Not anymore With the death of one of North Huron’s most prominent figures of the last few years, it seems inappropriate to write about anything other than Fire Department of North Huron (FDNH) Chief John Black’s passing this week. I’ll admit that I didn’t know John very well, but John’s name certainly appeared in The Citizen often since he started in North Huron in 2009. He had become a central figure to life in this area. With the formation of the FDNH, the fire landscape in a large portion of Huron County began to shift and Black, being the first chief of the newly-amalgamated department, was on the front lines for much of that transition. This transition did not come without its critics and initial negotiations between several neighbouring municipalities were rocky to say the least, but North Huron Council was steadfast in its resolve that the measures being taken would improve fire safety throughout the township and beyond. As a result there were protests on town hall steps, 11th hour meetings and even an angry letter or two and eventually several deals were hammered out with neighbouring municipalities that all sides could agree on. Some would say that things still aren’t perfect, but during Black’s time with the FDNH, the state-of-the-art Emergency Services Training Centre held its grand opening and North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent says the FDNH has worked its way to being a legally-compliant fire department full of volunteers eager to stand on guard for their community and its residents. The mystery with firefighters has always been how a firefighter can run into a burning building as everyone else is running out. The answer, says fictional Baltimore Fire Chief Mike Kennedy in the film Ladder 49, is courage. So what then is the answer for someone who volunteers to do it? Going back to Ladder 49, while bravery is not up for debate in the Baltimore Fire Department, or any fire department for that matter, those men receive modest compensation for their chosen career path. In Huron County, the men who run into our burning buildings make their way, tires screeching around corners, to these buildings from their day jobs. Volunteering their time, and their lives, so that others may be saved. On April 12 Black welcomed the entire department to the Belgrave Community Centre to announce his leave of absence. He said he would be taking the time out to spend time with his family and to get well. Just a few days later he lost his battle. During his time with the firefighters, however, Black clarified his idea of family, telling all of the firefighters that he considered them his family. “Firefighters are part of three families,” he said that night, “the family they’re born into, the one they are married into and the fire service.” It’s true that several families lost a distinguished and selfless member on April 17 when John passed away in Bracebridge. Facing a second round with the world’s most devastating disease, Black named his replacements in the department and had one thing on his mind: his firefighters. “I want you guys to keep the momentum going and keep this family safe,” Black told David Sparling and Keith Hodgkinson. The Citizen wishes all of Black’s families the best during their time of mourning and eventually moving forward with their lives. In mourning Between locking my keys in my car - or my ignition - and flat tires, I’ve found that having services to help you when your car isn’t working are an absolute godsend. I used to have OnStar – General Motors’ (GM) car communication and monitoring service that allowed your car to be remotely unlocked, located or shut down (in case of theft or car chase) as well as putting directions, a hands-free cellular phone and emergency services literally at the push of a button. Unfortunately for me, OnStar, while extremely valuable, is extremely valuable. Confused? Don’t be. The service is absolutely great and hard to do without once you’ve had it and GM knows it. The price tag associated with it is a bit high for my taste. After having been on the road a year without any kind of roadside or in-vehicle service, I considered myself lucky to have had no need for it. At the time I was at my mother’s house and sure enough, the moment I mentioned it had been more than a year since I had ever locked my keys in the car or couldn’t get it started, I found myself wondering where my keys were. Soon after that my grandfather purchased a membership in the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) for me. Fortunately for me I found myself not needing any roadside assistance for the first few months I had it. That good luck lasted until about a week ago. After locking myself out of my car (fortunately that wasn’t much of an ordeal) I had a trip to make to Guelph to visit a friend and celebrate what he called “The first of an everlasting number of 29th birthdays”. Less than four kilometres from my final destination and, of course, on the side of a busy highway, I found myself struggling to maintain control of my little red car as the back driverside wheel blew out. Later I discovered, or the CAA mechanic showed me anyway, that there was a fairly large hole in the tire. He guessed it was likely a nail I had picked up somewhere and, when switching lanes on Highway 6, I must have run over a stone or similar debris that knocked the nail out causing the air to quickly deflate. Anyway – a quick call to CAA and about 20 minutes of enjoying a Tim Hortons coffee I had happened to pick up later the CAA driver showed up. He could change the tire on the fly (he’s a braver man than me, that’s for sure, I wouldn’t try and change a tire beside a road as busy as Highway 6, especially so close to the 401 where people are still moving fairly fast) and within 15 minutes I was on the road again. For the sake of argument let’s say I’m not very mechanically inclined. I can fix my weed wacker, or dirt destroyer or weed weasel or whatever brand it is, but beyond that simple engine I’m lost. Changing a tire, however, is something I think I can handle. It’s amazing, though, how quickly that knowledge leaves your head when you find yourself stuck on the side of the road by yourself wondering where the safe place is to put the jack again. To that end I have to say that the gift of a CAA membership is probably one of the best I’ve ever received. When you find yourself in a situation you’re not used to, having a safety net does wonders for your thought process. No sooner than I had hung up the phone with CAA had I realized I could probably handle changing the tire, I just felt a little insecure about doing so with my back to cars travelling in excess of 100 kilometres an hour. The membership, which was gifted to me by my grandfather last year, ensures that there will always be someone who knows a bit more about me than cars, provided I’m somewhere my cell phone works. It saved me a great deal of time and money and frustration that undoubtedly would have left me a very angry individual when I finally did get to my friends house where I was supposed to have a jovial attitude. Sitting back I now realize that, had I not had CAA, I would have had to either call my friends and have them find me a reputable towing company and garage that was open after 6 p.m. on a Saturday evening. I would have had to then probably pay for a tow and for whatever work needed to be done. Realistically, I believe that would have taken at least two hours longer than the 20 minutes I had to wait for the CAA driver to show up and the 15 minutes it took him to fix my ride. I can’t imagine that after two and a half hours I would have been happy and I certainly would not have been able to afford a night on the town with my friends. So in essence the gift of the CAA membership turned out to be a heck of a lot more than a card and a sense of security. It was literally time and money that I would have lost with no hope of recompense. I would never have been able to get back those two and a half hours and only the mysterious forces of the universe would know how much it would have cost me to have repairs done without CAA. More than that, however, it gave me a story to tell with a happy ending instead of one that ended with me broke, broke down and angry. I can’t think of a better gift to give than one that prevents that kind of situation from ever happening and I can’t think of a better gift to receive. This isn’t the first time I’ve been on the helpful end of a CAA call and I have to say they are heroes to travellers and a subscription is a great gift. Thanks grandpa. Shawn Loughlin Shawn’s Sense Denny Scott Denny’s Den CAA: The gift that keeps on giving