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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-05-24, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, May 24, 1989 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 (DK BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM ISO Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone S19-235-1331 i&A ROSS HAUGH Editor HARM DEVRIES pM BECKETT Publisher & Advertising Manager DON SMITH Composition Manager Business Manager • SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year,'U.S.A. $65.00 T Budget hey- say we can only count on death and taxes. At least we know which is cheaper. . After this latest round of budget releas- es many of us are beginning to realize we Canadians are reaching the absolute lim- itsof taxation. How much more of a bur- den can we carry to our municpal, pro- vincia) and federal governments before we run out of money and our economy spirals into a recession? We've always known we pay higher taxes than most Americans, but have re- conciled those thoughts with the knowl- edge we have a bigger, less -populated country to manage, and we enjoy better health care and education systems. But it seems hard to believe we are still getting our money's worth from our tax dollars when we work well into July every year for our governments. And there is no sign of restraint to be seen. Wilson speaks truthfully of the need to slash the deficit, uses the govern- ment propaganda machine to spend an- other $2.7 million on ` an advertising campaign to bypass the press, and his budget still spends nearly thirty thousand million dollars more than the govern- ment earns. What's missing here? Nixon's latest effort is. another fine ex- ample of how government budgets are not attempts to efficiently spend available funds, but are aimed at enlarging those available funds. slaves It's all our fault of course. We poor misguided souls expect too much of our government. When someone lobbies for government action, they expect law. In stead, they get policy - which requires studies, departments, public education and seminars. The Pay Equity legislation is prime example of government re- sponse to public outcry. The tragic flaw is that ministries are not rated for fuel efficiency, but for seat- ing capacity and sticker price. The mini- ster with the biggest, most expensive portfolio has the most power. A budget cut is interpreted as a demotion. As journalists we are reminded of this situation every time we call a ministry with a simple inquiry. We can be guar- anteed of being transferred from office to office, building to building until final- ly we find someone who will dare speak to the media, but doesn't know the an- swer, can't find out the answer, but. will happily send us the minstry's latest bro- chure. Anyone who doubts this should give it a try. So before you join the next lobby group asking the government what it will cost to set up a support group for reformed white collar criminals, think twice. Use the same rules as when shopping for Fer- raris: If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it. TV + VCR =SOS We don't watch TV a lot. • On average Elizabeth and I may spend 3-4 hours, thc kids 7 hours a week in front of the boob tube. That includes movies on cassette. Far less than the statis- tical mean. But when we want to see a pro- gram, we expect the equipment to work. Lately, we've been plagued by trouble. Everything from "snow" to "horizontal pull: to "vcaicalstripes" to no -picture at all. Some people I know don't panic in situations like that. they get their tool kit, tighten a bolt here, adjust a screw there. They twist new wires from pole A to pole B. They climb up on the roof and shake the antenna. They read the instruction manu- als. And then they call the repair- man. • I don't believe in all that fore- play. The slightest trouble, and I get on the phone. Bob, the elec- tronics expert in town, knows me by now. At first he always trics to talk me down the way the con- trol tower did in The High and the Mighty. "Arc both the TV and the VCR'flugged in? Is the TV on or off' Is the VCR on or off'" When I had convinced him that this time it wasn't me that needed servicing but the equipment, he came out. The first thing hc did was check the plug. He doesn't trust me. He fiddled around for a few mimes and said something that sounded like "Your intage con- verter is projecting on the focus- sing lens when it should be trav- elling along the axis of the optical gravitational field." Or words to that effect. PETER'S POINT • by Peter Hesse! "Just fix it, Bob," I said. He took a screwdriver and opened the back of thc TV. "1'11 have to take the sct in." I had rented a movie for the evening. Even I know that you need both the VCR and the TV to get a pic- ture. Bob phoned me a couple of days later. "Your set works find. I'll bring it out now if you're in." He came promptly, and 1 paid him $58. He's a rea- sonable guy. He turned the set on and tried all stations. All three stations. All three of them. Everything worked fine. At five to tcn that night I dccid- cd to watch the first item on the National. The TV flickered and sputtered as before. Next morning I called Bob. "Well," he said "I guess I'll have to take the TV and the VCR to' the shop. It is now obvious to me that your converter tubc is By Adrian Harte not properly synchronized with the positive tuner potential." "I understand," 1 lied. "Can you fix it?" This time both the VCR and the TV were gone for a week. When Bob didn't phone me, I called •him. "They both work fine here," hc assured me." "I'11 bring them over tomorrow." ' •. But the same happened. Every- thing worked smoothly in Bob's presence. As soon as his truck' had disappeared, down the line, the fluttering and spickcring start- ed again. "It's either that the deflecting path, or the parabolic plates don't quite reach the deflecting paths. I could exchange the signal relay beam transmitter or go straight to the coaxial cable. If that doesn't do it, then it's your antenna." "You mean the thing of the roof'?" That's exactly what he meant. So I'm holding my breath, wondering whether I'll be able to watch. Murder She Wrote next Sunday night or not. We've been without our electronic giz- mos for two weeks now. If Bob brings them back (because they work beautifully in his shop), and if they still won't work at our house, we'll simply move into his shop, kids and all. Or 1 might do what some other people do. Stick a screwdriver here, a paperclip there, run one • wire from pole A to the clothes line and another from pole B to the sour apple tree. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications limited k Popular pastime What is becoming a popular pastime for a lot of our area resi- dents most Saturday mornings' during the spring and early sum- mer months? That's right. Garage sales. And the opportunity for bar- gain seekers is getting greater week by week as not only ser- vice organizations but the indi- vidual home owner puts out their junk which they hope will be- come somebody else's treasure. In last week's issue of this newspaper, a total of 17 yard and garage sales were listed for the Victoria Day holiday week-' end, most of these were on Sat- urday. For a variety of reasons, the phenomenon of yard sales is be- coming a Canadian institution. These sales are an outlet for Ca- nadian entrepreneurial talent. You don't have to be an Eaton or a Bronfman to experience the thrill of seeing your own enter- prise be successful. Most Canadians arc natural re- cyclers. Perhaps it's a residue of our thrifty, pioneering spirit that makes it difficult to throw away broken lawn mowers, bent lamp shades, old bicycle wheels, that old T-shirt, etc. They may come in handy some day. Garage sales can become both profitable and entertaining. To be profitable takes careful planning and entertainment depends on your appreciation of the truism that we mentioned before " one persons's junk becoming anoth- er persons' treasure." Almost like, " We buy junk and sell an- tiques." Whcn talking about these types of sales, we can't forget From the editor's disk by EdRoss Haugh r.1 mentioning the twice annual rummage sales sponsored by the Auxiliary to South Huron Hos- pital. The response to these events is tremendous and the auxiliary derives almost $15,000 each year for their various charitable projects. The success of thc Auxiliary rummage sales arc duc mainly to the tremendous co- operation and' support from somewhere in the neighbour- hood of 150 volunteers. Back to yard sales, there doesn't appear to be any item that can't be sold. None is too ridiculous. A white elephant may just be what thc next per- son is looking for. Just because you can't think of anything to do with a tea pot without • a nandle or a doll missing a leg, that doesn't mean that someone else can't tum the tea pot into an attractive flower pot or the doll can be repaired and become a good friend of some little girl. One important aspect of operat- ing a good yard or garage or lawn sale is to have lots of space to give the customers plenty of idonr to rummage through the ar- ticles. Merchandise should be spread out so it can easily be seen. Lct customers browse to their hearts' content. Clothing should be hung up on a portable coat rack or a clothesline strung across the ga- rage. Make sure articles of cloth- ing are clean, marked for size and free of tears. - Another popular item is sec- ond-hand books. Arrange them so that titles arc clearly visible. Separate hard covers and paper- backs. A good idea is to offer bulk bargains such as "Paperbacks, five for a dollar." It's also helpful to the shopper to have shopping bags provided for unwieldy piles of books. Good luck in holding your yard sale or getting a bargain, if you arc on the other side of the counter. Pun of the week - The best way to lose your shirt is to put too much on the cuff. No gardener in Eden It's a good thing my husband was not the first Adam, or he would have bcert{'kicked out of the Garden of Eden long before he took that fateful bite of fruit. In fact, if he had been allowed to linger too long, there would have That was the year she had no ir- ises. Events in the past two weeks have put an almost unbearable strain on our marital relationship (tenuous in the best of times). been no garden left. nOld�sy Re , Don has many sterling quali- 1 ties, but horticulture is not one of them. He doesn't know a blue- bell from a cowbell, nor an aster from a chicory spike. He digs up thriving plants, and fertilizes noxious weeds, and pulls up the carrots to thin out the plantain. While living in Ottawa, I fool-, ishly planted some daffodils around a little birch tree. They wcre'doing well until the spring day Don decided to cut the grass. He mowed right around the trunk of the tree before 1 realized what he was doing. When ac- cused of not being able to distin- guish a daffodil leaf from grass, hc admitted hc had thought the blades under the tree were rather thick! He never seems to learn. For - Rap by Yvonne Reynolds • First, I discovered that Don had chopped right through some hol- ly plants in the course of work- ing up the garden beside thc house. I squelched his plaintive "Why didn't you mark the place with stakes?" by reminding him, through clenched teeth, that he had planted the holly in that spot last fall. On the weekend I made two gruesome discoveries. On the advice of a neighbour, hc applied j a lethal herbicide to both the tunatcly, my mother did. Only strawberries and a young patch once did she accept her son -in- of sweet rhubarb. Oh yes, he law's offcr to mow her lawn. killed the twitchgrass, but he 1 killed everything else too. The strawberries are turning yellow, and I have spotted one single, solitary white blossom inthe whole arca. Thc rhubarb is meet- ing its fate with leaves bowed low on wilted stalks. In a moment of inspiration, I harvested about two pounds of tender asparagus on Saturday - from plants Don put in five years ago. I use the word "inspired" advisedly. On Monday Don spent a couple of happy hours discing and harrowing the back garden. I thcn went with him to help plant potatoes. Thc soil had been expertly pre- pared. It was as smooth and as fine as a length of taupe velvet. Closer inspection showed no trace of my burgeoning aspara- gus, except for some chopped -up hits of green stalk. Mr. Magoo had disced and harrowed right over the springtime delicacy. I have .found a new name for my husband. As his presence in a garden is synonomous with death, he is hereby known as the grim reaper. If you prefer a brand name, you may call him thc Inter- national -Harvester.