HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-06-23, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, June 23,1993
pt J Luer: Jim Beckett
Weive,iditor: Adrian Hone
11,114111188 Mstlttger: Don Smith
:Alltion Manager: Deb Lord
Number 0986
km.) addressed
11111ptwn letter eurtleradIkeeeee 130.00 pies 12.10 Q.S.T.
alibleeide 40 miles (SS itm.) or any latter osMsralkkose
.10100 plus 130.00 (total 80.00) + 4.20
Outside Csroda 01111.00
A
•
4P
To DHC or not to DHC
re we all to conclude Huron
County hospitals are in a shambles, the
seniors in nursing homes go wanting
for care, and all the other Huron Health
care groups are running around disorga-
nized and underfunded - all for the
need of a district health council (DHC)
to unite them and administer them.
What, :not true you say? Hasn't the
system has got along pretty well so far
without a DHC? County council's
board of health, although-none:oftnam
4 eahh care professionals on the
-province's payroll, has -actually done. a
passingly good job of knowing what
-Huron taxpayers have come to- t
from local :health care -their continents
amn't Always popular, and not always
politically correct - but they do . ask
questions and don't just -rubber stamp
Queen's Park policy.
They -also administer. a $400,000 year-
ly contribution from Il uron taxpayers
'so the health system and they like to
-make sure they get -their money's worth.
The conclusions • of -the steering corn-
-mince examining the need for_aIHC
were predictable enough. What else
could -be expected from a provincially-
:appointed=croup that has been inundat-
ed •with paperwork and studies to prove
that health councils are the only way to
go.
The Ministry of Health is also pre-
sumabl}Om& tp with dealing with}-
ordn's health agencies separately. -A
s j -IC will .coordinate and forward :the
needs and requests of each group and
forward them to the ministry on•a priori-
tized basis, we assume - and that makes
the ministry happier.
So why did Huron County Council go
on record as opposing the DHC. There
are several reasons, but most are tied to
the questions of cost. If the county con-
tributes $400,000 a year to health care,
they don't want to lose control of how
that money is spent. Also they are wary
of the fact that a joint Huron -Perth DHC
is expected to cost about $300,000 a
year.
No .doubt health care adminif
will run smoother uader_aDHC,-but will
it run $300,000 worth smoother? Drare
we -just -paying for°moro buteraucratic°of-
fice space, photocopiers, and -boardroom
tables?
-All -the same, there is much to say for
having a:DHC, and the steering.:rommit-
:tlee is -meeting with the. county to :help try
and ease -r vingsabouttheproject.
Will the connty;:government change its
tone and sing /he praises of he DHC?
Or will they continue to put :their foot
down, convinced :that the -present board
of health can mid on its own -record as
having 'done well for Huron's -58,000
people?
More importantly, will anyone be .able
to come up with conclusive -proof that
$150,000 (Huron's share) will be :3noney
..,well spent on .a:n ewadministrative level
•tile cont taer.- i
long?
A.D.H.
U -bracket P over bar Q
Assembly instructions give me
the willies. Or even a nervous
rash. I break out in a cold sweat
even before I open the package
containing the thing I have to
put together.
I was born with a multitude of
thumbs. And whatever side of
the brain it is that helps to solve
mechanical problems, it's the
Other side that functions in my
head.
Way back in the golden days
I'd go to a store, see an article I
liked, buy it, take it home and
use it. But manufacturers and
merchants have figured out , a
way to make more money. Now,
instead Pc -^fling me the article,
they"' • a bundle of parts
plus . written in Japa-
nese and 11z other languages in-
cluding "technical English".
"Place a bolt with slot through
base plate over ring with brack-
et, ensuring that clip under fas-
tener is inserted before strap
connecting slide -pin to rod -
wheel is slipped through loop
around holding -anchor."
When t bought the desk lamp
recently, 1 asked the clerk:
"Does it come assembled?"
"Yes," he lied, "all you have
to dais stick a couple of screws
through some holes. A child
could do it in five minutes."
Past experience has taught me
that what takaa a child five min-
utes will take me an hour. It
looked like a useful lamp, and i
figured it was worth an hour's
frustration.
At home i took the carton to
my office, opened it, and
reached inside to get the lamp
out. There was no lamp. What I
had purchased was a collection
of rods, springs, plastic finings,
a shade, a bag of nuts and bolts,
and - oh, yes - a two-page in-
struction sheet.
I should have followed my in -
Peter's
Point
•
Peter Hesael
stinct to drive back to the store
and dump the lot in the manag-
er's lap. But an inner voice told
me: "You can do it. Just follow
the instructions step by step. It's
only a simple lamp, for Pete's
sake."
I had been led astray by that
voice on previous occasions,
and once again I fell into the
trap. 1 got my tool box, spread
the instructions out on the floor
and sorted out the components
of my lamp -building kit.
This particular cluster of pans
had been made in Canada, so
the text was in English and
French only. 'I here were 7 dia-
grams and one blurred illustra-
tion of what the lamp was sup-
posed to look like if anybody
should ever get it together.
I tried. 1 even succeeded to a
point. i managed to snap nylon
proargirt,A,through aperture 13,
and I was particularly proud of
the way I connected swivel arm
F to intermediate tube H (as per
diagram 3). My problems began
when I couldn't get spring -
holder J to hold spring K as 1
fiddled with U -bracket P that
was designed to slide easily over
bar Q as per diagram 4. When
easy sliding proved to be out. of
the questions, I applied a couple
of hammer blows. That's when
spring -holder J flew all the way
across the room, while spring K
sprung into my face. In great
pain I let go of twin -bar Q. artic-
ulating several , expletives that
are definitely unfit to be printed
in this paper.
I am still debating whether I
should abandon my project and
either return the fragments of
metal and plastic to the merchant
of unfinished merchandise, or
tum the job over to Duncan to
sec whether he might salvage
anything. Perhaps the clerk was
right: a child could do it in 5
minutes.
In the meantime I'm storing the
embryonic lamp in my closet,
next to my unfinished tie rack
and my incomplete exercycle.
That way I won't have to admit
to anyone that I'm a failure as an
assembler.
I've managed to work without
a desk lamp all this time, and
God willing I'll be able to fum-
ble in the dark for another few
years. Or maybe I'll go and stock
up on candles. Before it occurs
to somebody that more money
can be made by selling candle -
making kits.
Speak or!!
i•.,1
The Times Advocate continues to wOIGOaue /eters to the editor as a lenew$01
sues, concerns, complaints, and kudos. The Times Advocate reserves the
Please send your letters to P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario, NOM 136. Sieh
address. Anonymous letters will not be published.
Jmw iWth.,ptl h gatttnkand
'F
is
"Men are never so likely
to settle a question rightly ;i
as when they discuss it ,..
freely."
... -Thomas MeosuMey
PuUNpwd EaehlVeilerkkly Membig et 424 Mein It.,
Exeter, brat.rlo,llLee by J.W. nods Publications Ltd.
Tslsjr!rbno tans-ass1s91
*JET. tlRioitiOns6
....ice..
The wax -cologne ratio
I'd had my can of car wax for
justabout four years, and it was
getting a little empty. The time
was nearing when I would have
to _make that crucial decision:
do I 3ry..a Mew brand or stick
with *that I'veleen using?
The wax, actually a polymer,
was quite good. One of the best,
:in Wit: I, was-,-
/earn
as-,/yearn for a return to a ge
• wax - a product to repel water
and din the way nature intended.
I Wien you own a black car,
you have to be just a little obses-
sive about these things. There
ought to be some kind of quiz at
the showroom.. If you aren't se-
rious about your waxes and pol-
ishes, then they should refuse to
sell you anything in black.
I figured I had found my an-
swer when I discovered a new
brand that comes in not one, but
three bottles. Here was a prod-
uct that cried out •►o my obses-
sive-compulsive nature about
polishing my car. I would be re-
quired to not only clean the
paint, but glaze and seal it be-
fore I could open the bottle of
wax.
I plunked down nearly $30 for
the stuff, and • then proudly
showed it to Don Smith here at
the Times-Advtcwaatc, whom 1
knew to be, an aficionado of fine
automobile surface treatments.
Don was impressed with the
three bottles, and then wondered
aloud about the weird relation-
ship men seem to have with car
waxes.
This was all beginning to
sound like an episode of Home
Improvement. Don then pointed
out there was probably more
kinds of car waxes on the mar-
ket than was reasonable. I ha-
zarded a guess there would be
more waxes than men's co-
lognes. He suggested it should
be something I should look into
Hold that
with explicit instruction sheets
demanding -precise application
steps that must be followed to
the letter, and once a week.
Once I even read about a car
wax you have to send away for.
You takea.paint drip off the car
you loved slightly more than
your ex-wif • ' I4 '
tt ,
.� 1rC -
.- ;;,tgtalyzed sp, ,1 tt
"By
Adrian Harte
in more depth.
So I trotted up to Big V ;cud
saw all the different brands of
men's colognes on the shelf. I
counted 21, which I figured was
a pretty decent selection, enough
for any guy to find something to
express his individuality and
personality through scent. .
Heading over to Canadian
Tire, however, I found no fewer
than 25 different ways to wax a
car. MacLeans even had 27 dif-
ferent waxes, or variations on
the theme on the shelves. They
also had a water repellent for car
windows, so 1 bought that too.
I don't want to suggest this is. a
; male -only thing, that women
don't care about shiny cars, but I
;somehow I can only see guys
getting worked up about select-
ing from all those waxes, poly-
mers, silicones, sealants, or tef-
Ions. The wax -to -cologne ratio
seems to prove it.
You can take the easy way out
with those once -a -year waxes,
or those that wipe on and hose
off, but for gung-ho types like
myself, the best waxes come
*Hiro -formulated for your llnish.
It costs several hundred dollars a
bottle and has to be massaged
into the paint with the finger tips
- no rags allowed.
I'm not quite ready for that,
:but I definitely felt,I had gone
-too far last Wednesday night.
:After polishing and buffing the
?entire car three times in a row
(with each bottle's contents) I
wasn't sure if all my fingerprints
'iwere still intact. I womed 1
,might be hallucinating when I
broke the seal on the final wax
linish and thought it smelled
?tike bubblegum.
Was it worth all that effort'.' is
my car any more black than it
was before? Can i park it in
bright sunlight without revealing
any swirls or scratches?
I can't answer those questions
well .enough to convince any-
body. The paint looks good,
very good, but is it any better
than my last wax? Heck, after
• all that work I'm going to tell
everyone it's the best it's ever
looked...better than the day it
was new...blacker than
night...shinier than a black glass
mirror...passers-by will gasp at
the gloss...and I'm going dizzy
from the fumes of the polish...
Of course, it rained 00 it 00
Friday.
Firefighters thank citizens;
Dear Editor:
On behalf of the Exeter Firefight-
ers Association i would like to
thank all the citizens in Exeter and
surrounding areas of Usborne, Ste-
phen and Hay who so generously
donated canned goods, cereals and
monies on our third Food Bank
Drive.
We would
like to extend a ` I
Special Thanks '- I
to Nabisco Brands
Canada Ltd. for
the two iailais of
canned
to the linter 1,4 -
,press for .their donation of $500.00
jxining the cash donation to
:4 .90,
)Sincere thanks to all who partici-
Wad. Your thoughtfulness made
this Food Drive the best yet.
K.Kirk, President
Exeter Firefighters Assoc.
GrtzkyJp9 btor
Dear Editor:
The June 9th (totter to the editor)
by Sue Wilson, "Hats off to the To-
ronto Maple Leafs" was very en-
lightening.
Presumably, only someone as
well-known as a Wayne Greiaky is
considered a traitor.
Hopefully,
the Canadians
of a lesser stat-
ure, both pat
and present, who
earned their bread
and butter playing
hockey in the United States
Wouldn't be lurupod under the same
umbrella. Pretty scary thou kt
when you consider how aialy
miaht►t be out there!! At
This Canada versus "them" atti-
didc is just ludicrous.
F. Chipchase
1xe j