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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-10-28, Page 4PAGE 4 ----GmeRtetiSigNALesSTAR, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28,1981 dove sykes CD cn BLUE RIBBON AWARD Second class mail registration number -0716 Reversion to standard time is definitely a conspiracy. And I am .completely trusting that the conspiracy is aimed directly at this correspondent, to contain my life In total darkness. Co-workers are convinced, or at least are eager to suggest that I rarely make a foray out of darkness. They make the unsubstantiated claim that I axe in the dark or not totally together as the slang expression implies. Has it not ever occured to anyone what the rationale is behind turning docks back. Personally; I find it difficult at best, to cope with dark either in the morning or evening. Many people find' it much nsore com- fortable to cope ,with me in the dark, eliminating much of visual sensation of personal contact. The only thing that' time changes ac- complish, is tat it totally screws up everyone's schedule and sense of day and r,irrh+ A little in lection of variety is essential SINCE 1848. THE NEWS PORT F01! GODERICH & DISTRICT Founded In IMO end published awry Wednesday et (Seder's's. CMterlo. Atomiser of the CCNA and OWNA. Adver- tising rates on request. Subscriptions payable 1n advance'11.N In Canade.'96,1111 to U.S.A., °MS.N to ell ether coun- tries, single copies W. Display advertising rates available on request. please ask for Rete Card. No. 11 affective Oc- tober 1. 1111. Second class moll Rgtstretlon Number one. Advertising Is accepted on the condition that In the event of typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous Item, together •with reasonable allowance for signature, will not be.charged for hot that balance of the advertisement will be paid for et the ap- pllcable rate. In the avant of a typoerephkel error advertising goods or services et a wrong price, goods or carrlces may not be sold. AdwrttsIng Is merely an offer to sail, end may be withdrawn at any time. The S1gnel-Star Is not responsible for the loss or damage of uswolldted manuscripts, photo. or other materials used for reproducing Fur. pats, PUBLISHED BY:SIGNAL-STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIER-President and Publisher DONALD M. HUBICK-Advertising Manager DAVID SYKES-Editor P.O. BOX 220, HUCKINS ST.' INDUSTRIAL PARK GODERICH N7A 486 but I could do without time changes. It seems to take days for my mind and body to co-ordinate the change and reach a stable agreement. My body has a definite penchant for flopping on the couch when darkness prevails and my mind suspect at the best of times, regardless of the at- mospheric conditions. Today, however, both my suspect thinking apparatus and slender bod have reached consensus. This boy is tired. And as far as I am concerned, the time change is the culprit. My mind is totally at odds with the body and until now, the two couldn't reach a compromise on sleeping ` habits since Standard Time was imposed upon the nation. On Saturday evening, yours truly paid big bucks to indulge the little woman's appetite for dancing. After several comforting beverages and a few delicate swoops, twirls and intricate manoevers around the dance a floor, the evening was squandered. At the insistence of management, the dancing duo was home in time to salvage a few hours sleep and the kitchen clock was adjusted accordingly to coincide with Standard Time. Now everyone in the household was aware of the reversion and the extra hour of sleep contained therein. Except, of course, for the little guy. Kids apparently, don't turn their clocks back, or ahead for that matter. Despite the fact that mom and dad wiggled and gyrated unused muscles on the dance floor andrequired copious amounts of recuperative sleep, Bradley forgot to turn his clock back. The little sucker figured it was time tobe up 'and at 'em by 6 . a.m. Now, if the youngster ever has visions of borrowing my car in the future, he will have to learn that at ��►imeisd'adupandat'emby6a.m. But as far as Ns little brain could figure, it was time to start the normal proceedings and daily routine. In an effort to salvage some sleep out of . the night, mother was convinced he might grab a few more winks in our bed Well, the kid b obviously king and first he stretches out in the middle of the bed with arms extended on either side, leaving mom and dad barely room to hang on the side. And since he Was already awake, he thought it only fair to engage in playtime with dad by smacking my lifeless face and sticking his pudgy little fingers in my eyes and nose. For three days since the reversion, the little guy is ready is to go at 6 a.m. and each day mom has hauled him back to our bed, hoping he may grant us precious few minutes sleep. It hasn't quite worked out that way and experience has finally taught us that Standard Time means trouble. • FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES please phone (519) 524-8331 t must help it :is becoming increasingly difficult, it seems, to at tempt to purchase, inafntain and own a home. .Canadians; had :pretty 'much taken ownership for granted and just a9•rour predecessors, grandparents and parents, had built or bought homes, Canadians have lookethitatheright toowna ho+me'as a bade right. • S► "as'a lofty"and out of•reach•teal for hascb'een a conentious issue -in the - f cottions forseveral months. • While scores, of. people' may abandon their homes in the dace: of **interest rates in the neat few' years, others are pleading with the government to differ compensation to replace,a defective insulation product. • he government hasn't moved or even hinted that compensation will' be offered to homeowners with urea formaldehyde insulation And only last week, after con- sistent cajoling and badgering by the opposition, did the government, and most , notably Housing Minister Paul • .Cosgrove, offer a sympathetic ear to the home owning public. Recently it was predicted by CMHC that 100,000 Canadians would lose their homes due to high interest rates by 1984: The figure is staggering but with mortgage payments at 19 and 20 per cent, mortgage payments are doubling and a large segment of the populace siinply can't . handle the payments: • . It's not easy to walk away from a dream but Canadians are faced with that dilemma. The numbers are increasing and will continpe to escalate as long as interest rates maintain a lofty position. What Cosgrove has done now is offer personal • assurance that he will intervene on behalf of Canadians faced with theprospect of losing their homes. That help should appear in the federal budget, scheduled for the second week of November, but what form it will take is a guarded secret. ()gehapt' ik $ ff ering reduced rates and the goyernmenn eimAgage,otheriestitotione to follow suit. The len- ding institutions:will,,not come out on the short end of the deal though. • While reduced mortgage rates may be offered, the reduction . is simply .tacked • on to the principal. The homeowner still pays but the scheme makes it a little more comfortable and manageable. The only equitable soliition;is•in the lowering of rates and financial institutions recognize that. If people . do abandon , their homes, . rental ac- commodation. will become even scarcer and it will lead to other problems. The housing industry is sadly lacking and thesame holds true in the rental business. Budget promises can be misleading and people faced with the loss of their home should not hold their breath until mid-November. The budget is not likely to cure all that ails the interest game and the Canadian public must. not be misled into thinking that substantive cures are but . a few weeks away. The recent decline in interest rates is starting to level off and realistically, the winter will. be tough on homeowners. D.S. Ministers agree to meet If the 11 first ministers can agree to anything sub- stantial at a meeting Monday, then a full constitution package may be sent off to Britain. Trudeau and the premiers have at least agreed to meet in Ottawa and give the patriation package one last ex- plicitly vaguekick. One of the biggest challenges was finally getting everyone together for tale meeting which is not likely to produce any substantl�a1 support for the Trudeau patriation bid, unless major concessions are granted to the provinces. Trudeau only has the premiers of Ontario and New Brunswick on his bench and others aren't likely to join the fold. Without increased support, the charter of human and language rights may have to be abandoned. The Prime Minister •has offered minor changes an the wordmg of, certain clauses, the premiers are looking for more sub- stantial changes. The hassles and game playing over meeting dates is nothing short of childish, and basic human rights and personal freedoms should take precedence over patriation. The provinces have been allowed a two-ye'«l`r period to agree on an amending formula from the date the constitutional package is passed by the British Parliament. Realistically, far too many Canadians probably aren't familiar enough with the constitutional debate, or don't understand it, to care one way or the other. And childish games only hurt the image of everyone involved. D.S. Family outing By Cath Wooden LETTERS Scheme would reduce interest rate Dear Editor: In view of all the concern . over high interest rates I was wondering if you would print this resolution in your letter to the editor column. As high interest rates real- ly affect everyone I would encourage the •readers of your paper to drop a line to Mr. Trudeau or Mr. Cosgrove supporting •this type of solution. Recognizing the financial burden placed on. Canadians in the renewing of their mor- tgages and -or attempting to own a piece of Canada, more specifically a Home of their own, and whereas, the REALTY WORLD - Brokers Council Group, at their re- cent meeting held in Brant- ford, Ontario, October. 22nd and 23rd, 1981, have en- dorsedthe following resolu- tion. "That the Federal Govern- ment pass or extend legisla- tion of the Small Business Development Bond and ,create a vehicle for the general public to .invest their savings .in long term bonds with the funds designated specifically for Residential Mortgages". It is' suggested 'that the designation be Residential Mortgage Bonds. These bonds to be in Multiple units of as low as $1,000. This will give many, Canadians an op- portunity to assist other Canadian citizens to own their own home. The Bonds to be the five (5) • year maturity type at two-thirds of the 90 day Term Deposit Rate. The income earned on the said Residential Mortgage Bond, held by the private in- vestor, to be treatedas a dividend for tax purposes as opposed to interest income. Funds raised by these Bond Investments to be designated and ad- ministered by any Trust Company who will par- ticipate at a fee of 1 percent to P 2 percent over the rate paid for the Bonds. It is further suggested that although the Government's tax revenue will be. depleted as a result of the Dividend designation as opposed to the interest income for tax pur- poses, the additional disposable income, . and the potential welfare liability' will be offset, by additional spending by the homeowner for such necessity items as food, clothing, appliances, etc. This would allow business and possibly the Construction Industry to be activated again and thus get the country rolling and per- mit businesses to become more profitable and pay more income tax to compen- sate the government for any reduction in tax revenue due to the ,declaration of Dividends as opposed to in- come for'the investors in the Mortgage development Bonds. We, the REALTY WORLD members in southwestern, Ontario agree and endorse ' the fact that citizens at large S should not complain unless they have a workable and ac- ceptable solution to solve the problem. We believe the above suggestion will solve the problem. The above resolution along with the added covering remarks is urgently and respectfully submitted to the Housing Ministerand the Federal Cabinet for im- mediate action and legisla- tion to take effect as- of January 1, 1982. D. J. Shewfelt Auxilitry needs members Dear Editor: As members of the Hospital Auxiliary we are concerned about our small membership. At present we have thirty-two active members and of these more than half are seniors. With the rising health eosts of to -day, we believe that the need for a strong auxiliary will be even greater in the future and that the hospital staff may require more volunteer help. Therefore, - we hope to encourage more residents of .this area to become involved in Auxiliary work. The Auxiliary to Alexandra Marine and General Hospital held its first meeting in 1921. During the sixty years since then many ' have worked as volunteers in various areas such as the Gift Shop, with Candystripers, sewing and . mending, knitting and fund raising. In the current year we have already purchased a refrigerator, an ambulift, a to page 5 • Turn How does one jam an apartment full of stuff into one little bedroom? It poses problems, to be sure. The plan was this: I would move out of my apartment and move in with my sister who has a house with a lawn andeverything. The advantages were obvious. I would save muchos buckeroonies on rent, have someplace to put my lawn chair, have somone who can cook well, have a wonderful stereo system at my disposal, etc. etc. The disadvantage became obvious on moving day: where to put all my stuff? Ybu see, sister Sue's little yellow house was already full of her stuff. Being quite at- tached to my stuff , our first conflict became apparant. "Hey, why don't we put these directors chairs in the living room?" I suggested. "The living room is already full enough! Put them in the cellar!" she demanded. As load after load of my belongings en- tered the house, load after load of my belongings were marched into my bedroom. It became a challenge, fitting it all in there. Kind of like completing a Rubik's Cube. I'm not very good with puzzles. Load after load of my belongings were eventually marched down to the cellar. Finally, I was settled into my little cozy nook off the kitchen. I developed a, system: upon entering room, step up on bed in order to get to dresser, climb over trunk in order to get to stereo, don't open the closet door unless carrying protective shield, move boxes of files and books onto bed when trunk is required to be opened. Well, the system does have a few bugs to iron out yet. There's no problem in the bathroom. It is the biggest room in the house. That's where Sue holds all her parties. Tess the Cat was a little confused. Her litter box and food dish kept getting moved and her exasperation began to show. Also, she was getting ,used to living with a dog. Sue has a mutt named Spook who is slightly LOWIlm=MMSSOntwmatadorrar==orazam armsosortrawormensworn. weird, which means the two of them are wellmmatched. Spook eats Tessie's food and Tess eats Spook's food. They get along fine. I hope Sue and I get along as well. I have been living alone for a long time and one forgets what it is like living with someone. 1 haven't lived with my sister since I was about 13, and now that we are back under the same roof, I fear she may still think I am 13. After the moving -in crisis, things have been fairly smooth. We never see each other. She is a nurse and works different shifts. I'm asleep when she leaves in the morning, and she's asleep when I get home at night. Our only major crisis was with the cat. I put her out to explore her new neighborhood yesterday morning, and when I got home, she wasn't anywhere to be seen. 1 woke Sue up in a panic and was ready to phone the police department. After a fruitless search of the neigh- borhood, I came, back a neurotic mess. Sue lectured me, said cats should stay in the house and went back to bed. I said, "She is probably dead and you don't even care!" Spook cared. He wandered around looking lonely and worried. He woke me up at 5 a.m. with his barking at the door. I opened it and there was Tess, wet and hungry. She im- mediately headed for the dog's food and everything was back to normal. That is, until 5:45 vhen'Sue got up and offered to share her breakfast of fried potatoes. No thanks. Then at 6:45, the dog decided he needed to go outside. If he eats the cat's food, why can't he learn to use her litter box? Oh well, you can't say no to a dog who needs to go outside. It's all kind of nice, though - having somebody else around, even though they do get up at 5:45 a.m. A