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Times Advocate, 1989-08-16, Page 41 Page 4 4• Times -Advocate, August 16, 1989 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 5iA-235-1331 ROSS HAUGH Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager IIM BECkET1 • Publisher & Advertising Manager DON SMITH Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $27.00 Per year; U.S.A. $68.00 Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 • Published by 1.W. Eedy Publications Limited Engineers should be accountable T he schmozzle Exeter council finds itself in 'regarding the lettingof a recent tender con- tract may take a long time to be settled. It all started when a tender from Van Bree Construction was accepted for re- construction of Huron and Market streets in the south-west corner of town. On the recommendation of the engi- neering firm, council accepted the Van Bree tender of $280,206.75. Inns -..the lowest bid received and everybody ap- peared to be happy. Not so. After the tender was accepted, it was learned Van Bree officials had made an error in calculating the cost of a sewer unit. In doing• the multiplication one zero was left off ;_and the recorded figure on the tender was $2,286.00 ins - stead of what it should have been at $22,860.00. This resulted in anerrorof $20,574. When discussions with Van Bree and the B.M. Ross engineering firm did not lead to an agreement it' was Sugg est:d that the town and Van Bree share a loss of $3,505.94. This would make up the difference between what the town would have paid and the second lowest bid. Council quickly rejected the proposal that they share the extra costs. They were absolutely right. The engi- neering firm certainly should shoulder some of the blame. They are paid to check all tenders and make a recommen- dation to council as to which one should Hayfever is funny. It has noth- ing to do with hay, and it isn't a fever. Nevertheless, it's an an- nual curse that strikes millions of people between the middle of August and the middle of Sep- tember. I probably had to think if was a' The symptoms a runny nose, itching misery. Antihistamin the dis asked: "Do you h I had heard of it, lately, and since �bavc..hayf mine rills. i do hayfever for years before I re alized it. I used "summer cold". re similar: un- controllable sneezing, zing, stuffy or Itg and watery eyes, and a gen eral feeling of es as bad as ease. Finally, after a particularly ob- noxious sncez c, somebody ave hayfever?" of course. But since I hadn't rol led in any hay my temperature was normal, I didn't sec how I �ver:_.Just-to-h� on the safe side, I took antihista- mine knew wthe N-rh_ disease- ,r the-- cure. The pills made -rife so drowsy that I kept falling asleep tors, and walking to the corner store. One day I woke up and found myself driving the car, not knowing where i was or where I was going. I decided to head for the nearest allergist. He tested me for every allergen known to man or beast. My arm looked like a riflemen's practice target. The only stuff to which I showed a reaction was ragweed. I had hayfever alright. The allcg- ist explained in simple terms what an allergy is. Not simple enough for the likes of me. I vaguely remember it had to do with an allergen entering my blood stream, with antibodies mucking around and disrupting the cells that release histamine. I might have ;Lail hackw.ards Ambrosia - the enemy be accepted. That's exactly what council did. They accepted the Van Bree tender, subject to approval by the engineer and MTC. Under normal circumstances the error possibly could have been corrected. But, in this case the work started almost im- mediately and was underway before the error was spotted. Deputy reeve Lossy Fuller said she didn't think anybody had the right to change the contract price without.council approval. Council's decision was to hold back some payment and ask the engineers to attend a council meeting.with an explana- tion. We hope they get the answer they want with some financial assistance in eluded. The engineers receive aood dollar for their work and they shoild be held accountable. Council did nothing wrong and the taxpayers are the ones that will suffer. A similar situation exists currently in Zurich where a different engineering firm has submitted bills on the Zurich drain which exceed the estimated fees by about $10,000 and the job has not yet been completed. In that situation, councillor Herb Turkheim was adamant in requesting that funds be held back until at least an explanation is received. Hayfever It's much easier to understand what ragweed is. Th are three species, all belonging to the -genus Ambrosia. Every one of them -is an ugly, weedy - looking thing with greenish flowers producing poisonous pollen. (Pollen is the stuff that makes plants feel oh so sexy). A little hayfever brochure put out b: gi iculture Canada tells us tha�.1 igweed grows in all Ca- nadian provinces. But it is far worse in some areas than in oth- ers. In general, people with a ragweed allergy should stay away from the populated areas PETER'S POINT • By Ross Haugh bort National Park, Sask. (0.0); Russell, Man. (1.0); Sable Is- land, N.S. (0.2); St. John's, Nfld. (0.1); Timmins, Ont. (0.2). No need to suffer But before you pack your bags and move to Sable Island, con- sider this; there is an alternative. Believe me! I was one of the guinea pigs. My hayfever used to be truly terrible. Each year I dreaded the 15th of August, when it usually started to hit me. I'd be minding my own business, not doing anybody any harm, when out of the blue the pollen would attack and fill my sinuses with poison. I'd be useless for about a month, reduced to a sneezing, snivell- ing, droppy zombie. About 10 years ago, my alter- gi • fij d'_ Me _about a ;1%-;:" it ac - cine. He was looking for volun- vi--frers.'to, test-thc�torit1:'Yjtiiiiped at - the opportunity. The novelty; In- stead of year-round immuniza- tion. I needed only faur_inirr-__ (Yf Quebec and Ontario like the plague and move to Newfound- land; :'ticx-riarctr'iR:t: quiiuOt)'i" and Saskatchewan are mixed bags: some places are "safe ha- -yens", others grow ragweed in competition with. wheat. The booklet tells us that Cana- da has a "ragweed pollen air in- dex." Places with an index above r 0 are the pits, while anythin below 5 is tolerable. Here ale some of the areas to stay (01 run) away from this August. if you're a potential hayfever sufferer: Famham, Que. (64); London, Ont. ,38); Montreal (23-48); Morden Man. (12); Morris, Ma. (18); Ottawa (10); Peterbo- rough, Ont. (33); Toronto (33- 54). Among the best bcts: Algonquin ,Park.: Ont. (1.5).: - Gaspe, Que. (0.2); Prince Al - ,s Mail that letter Have you ever written a letter and then discovered a week or two later that it had not been mailed? That happened recently when Lynn Woodhart of Manildra in Australia sent along to our house a well stacked envlope containing photo copies of various newspa- per articles regarding her family. But, the envelope didn't in- clude a letter. She had forgotten to include it. The letter arrived this week with an accompanying poem to explain the situation. Here it is: Just a line to say I'm living That I'm not among the dead, Though I'm getting more for- getful And mixed up in the head. I've got used to my arthritis, To my dentures I'm resigned, I can manage my bifocals, But, oh dear, I miss my mind! Sometimes I can't remember . When I'm standing by the stair, If I should go up for some- thing Or have I- just come down from there? And before the fridge, so of- ten My mind is filled with doubt - Now, did I put the food away Or come to take it out? If it's not my turn to write, dear, S I hope you won't get sore. Perhaps I may have written But I'd hate to be a bore. So, remember that I love you And wish that you lived near And, now it's" time to mail this From the editor's disk by oss Haugh ED So I'lesay goodbye, my dear. Now I stand beside the mail- box And my face is very recd, Instead of mailing this to you - I've opened it instead. • We don't have space here to relay all the information included in the first letter, but will relate on incident. • Lynn's husband Jeff is the manager of the Manildra Flour Mills and he and his company are very uspet that the State Rail Authority has decided to elimi- nate the staff at the Manildra rail- way station and close off the passenger service. Jeff has pointed out to gov- ernment that 'the flour mill spends ov.;r $1 million each year on freight and said he felt that warranted staff at the Manildra station. - He pointed out that the SRA had not done its homework be- fore deciding to close Manildra station and that it had only looked at the size of the town and not the volume of freight. The rail authority has ac- knowledged that the flour mill is a valued customer and gave assu- rance that level of service would be maintained as rail crews would be able to shunt in and out of the mill without help from sta- tion staff. Jeff maintain that the station! staff plays a major role in co- ordinating the supply of railway waggons, and he has grave doubts that the service would be maintained if station staff was withdrawn. Believe it or not, the very "sec- ond we were finishing writing this column, we received a FAX message indicating that CNR had received approval to abandon op- eration of its subdivision rail line between Forest and Lucan, a dis- tance of 15.5 miles. It's a small world. Pun of the Week — We begin cutting our wisdom teeth the first time we bite off more than we can chew. eletons in the closet, 1 wish Clearing old clothes out of the closet is something associated with• spring cleaning. World class procrastinator that 1 am, I finally got around to it last week- end. In fact, I was wondering when the last time was I did the job. The ultimate conclusion after the ordeal was that there is much to be teamed about ourselves just by what we keep in our closets. Some things we'd rather forget Fdi11.han ng.inih'.ctc ^CS- _....�•- �ticils each June. In the first year there was a marked improve- ment. In the second year, 1 had very few attacks. And I haven't seen the allergist for a number of years now. Each hayfever sea- son I might have an occasional sneeze now and then, but it's nothing: I though I might pass this in- formation on to my readers. If you're like me, allergic to rag- weed only, you don't have to suffer •from hayfever. It's too late for this year. But before next spring, go and see an allergist. As�k about a Polincx-R treat- mcr1t '1 may work for you. Do you have any hayfever ex- perience? Tell me about it. If you've never heard of hayfever, - �n -yaus blessings. Gesund- heit! fe• napped by terrorists, starved for months and released,\that shirt will be waiting. Tell me though, is there anyone out there who knows for sure why clothes seem to get smaller Like brown for instance.I was positive I got rid of every scrap of brown I ever wore about a decade ago. But no, there were brown things in my closet. Not the off- whites, khakis, taupes, or that fashionable colour in vogue these days. I'm not a fashion slave by any stretch of the imagination, but I had no problem getting rid of the brow. There ire things we cling to however, through thick and thin. i have this French shirt. Euro pean clothing is rare in.these days of Hong Kong, Malaysia, India etc. That's why I'm keeping this pa►ti.Alar"shirt. It's a little-dieTt,: but who knows? if I'm kid-, • J 1-1-4cn1 A #-1.1 thought... by -. Adr, a'i Tiarte _-.. with age. Is it some plot by the garment industry to make certain our wardrobes become obsolete? Some of the things I was toss- ing out were too small, but were, sure enough, labelled as the same sizes as what i buy now. Did these clothes really get smaller with time or were they sabotaged by some diabolical shrinkage chemical incorporated into the fabric during manufac- ture? That's my excuse and i think I'll stick to it. Our closets do contain some of our saddest mistakes. i finally parted with a cotton rugby shirt t have baggier lycra cycling cloth- • ing. Why I bought it I'll never know. Then there was the sports jack- et made of what looked like a Volkswagen car seat cover. I probably wore it twice - there had better not be any pictures of me in it. , i iter mnct.,peopie, i have Try closet arranged like a television dial. At the far end is the stuff for cultuccd events like TV Ontario - suits, ;jackets and silk tics. Clos cr to the door are the garments for a special evening out - like watching a CBC special, In the very middle arc the everyday CTV and Global clothes. Tucked up the side are the seldom used shopping channel and American independent stations - only wom while working on the car or painting. I might imagine my closet fol- lows some semblance of order like that, but if it were so then why can't I ever find what I'm looking for? Never mind. i won't worry about it because there are more pressing things to consider. Like when I'm going to get around to Sorting th-n-u b !71y crveoterv'in-. the other closet.