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The Times Advocate, 2006-03-15, Page 76 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, March 15, 2006 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 huge commotion inside the hall, followed by loud applause and shrill whistling. The smiling and naked old lady came through the exit door surrounded by a cheer- ing crowd. "What happened?" asked her waiting friend. "I won first prize as Best Dried Arrangement." How Consumers Can InsulateThemselves From Higher Energy Prices: With increasing demand for all energy sources in the North American market, Ontario homeowners can take comfort this winter knowing that reducing energy con- sumption can help insulate them from higher prices. The Union Gas Wise Energy Guide is a great way for homeowners to kick-start their home energy reduction plan. It provides a number of solutions to improve a home's energy efficiency, such as reducing air leaks and installing a programmable thermostat, low -flow shower - heads and faucet aerators. Consumers can visit the "Your Home" section on the Union Gas website to down- load The Wise Energy Guide and learn more about energy efficiency at: www.uniongas.com/wiseenergy And there are other things homeowners can do to conserve energy around the home such as washing clothes in cold water, installing an Energy Star® rated natural gas furnace, regularly replacing gas furnace air filters to improve airflow and insulating the hot water heater and pipes with pipe wrap insulation. By following some of these simple steps, homeowners could reduce their annual energy bill up to $175. Cold air leaking into the home can cause the average cus- tomer's energy bill to increase up to 40 percent. This can be problematic in homes where older or inefficient windows and sliding glass doors waste energy by letting cold air into the house. Also, if a window is not often opened, caulking instead of weather-stripping is the cheaper, faster and more Hospital Happenings Make Wise Food Choices,WhereverYou Go! EXETER —This year's Nutrition Month theme is "Make Wise Food Choices Wherever You Go." The theme reinforces the importance of healthy eating whether you're at work, in the grocery store, or dining out. Nutrition and health are among the most important factors influencing people's food choices. However, despite their interest and willingness to make health- ful food choices, many Canadians fmd it difficult to do so, in part due to conflicting messages about healthy eating. Canadians are looking for clear, trusted advice to help them make informed choices about the foods they buy. For Nutrition Month dietitians will be serving up just the kind of reliable nutrition information you need to make the right choices! Here are their sug- gestions for getting involved: Put Nutrition Labels and the ingredient listing at the top of your reading list! Standardized nutrition labeling is now mandatory on most pre-packaged food. Use the % Daily Value, which is found in the Nutrition Facts Table, to compare foods and see if a food has a lot or a little of a nutrient. To learn more about nutrition labeling and visit a Virtual Grocery Store, go towww.healthyeatingisinstore.ca Visit the most popular nutrition website in Canada: www.dietitians.ca/eatwell. It has so much to offer. Check out this year's fact sheets on Supermarket Smarts, Eating Out Smarts and Crossword Puzzle. Sign up to receive regular updates from Dietitians of Canada. Get a personal assessment of your daily food and activity choices with "EATracker" and find meal planning help with "Let's Make a Meal." If you don't have access to a computer, contact the dietitian at your hospital to get a copy of the Nutrition Month fact sheets. Check out the March issue of Chatelaine for the tear sheet LSI - Label Scene Investigator. Are you looking for individual nutrition counsel- ing? With a doctor's referral you can get counsel- ing from a dietitian in a health setting. During Nutrition Month, and all year round, Dietitians look forward to helping you make wise food choices, wherever you go. Get the facts from a source you can trust. For more information call Harriet Vandeborne, Dietitian 235-4002 Ext 5160 OUTH efficient way to put an end to air leaks. Energy savings can also be found in the bathroom. The installation of a low -flow showerhead in the shower and faucet aerators on the taps can lower flow rates by half, saving up to 7,500 litres of water per year and the energy required to heat it. There is a number of other no cost steps homeowners can take to reduce energy consumption. Opening the drapes during the day to let the sunshine in is an exam- ple of how to improve energy efficiency in the home. Water: # 1.75 per cent ofAmericans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population.) # 2. In 37 per cent of Americans, the thirst mecha- nism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger # 3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as three per cent # 4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100 per cent of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study. # 5. Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue. # 6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80 per cent of sufferers. # 7. A mere two per cent drop in body water can trig- ger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page. # 8. Drinking five glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45 per cent, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79 per cent. And one is 50 per cent less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day? COKE # 1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident. # 2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days. # 3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china. # 4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled -up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola. # 5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals. Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion. # 6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes. # 7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for sumptu- ous brown gravy. # 8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and rim through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield. FORYOUR INFORMATION: # 1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contrib- utor to the rising increase of osteoporosis. # 2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use hazardous material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials. # 3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years! Now the question is, would you like a glass of water? Or Coke? (Information not guaranteed) WHAT ISA GRANDPARENT? (-taken from papers written by a class of 8 -year-olds) Grandparents are a lady and a man who have no little children of her own. They like other people. A grandfather is a man & a grandmother is a lady! Grandparents don't have to do anything except be there when we come to see them. They are so old they shouldn't play hard or run. It is good if they drive us to the store and have lots of quarters for us. When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars. They show us and talk to us about the color of the flowers and also and why we shouldn't step on "cracks." They don't say, "Hurry up." Usually grandmothers are fat, but not too fat to tie your shoes. They wear glasses and funny underwear. It's funny when they bend over, you hear gas leaks and they blame their dog." They can take their teeth and gums out. Grandparents don't have to be smart. They have to answer questions like "why isn't God married?" and "How come dogs chase cats?" When they read to us, they don't skip. They don't mind if we ask for the same story over again. Everybody should try to have a grandmother, espe- cially if you don't have television, because they are the only grown ups, which like to spend time with us. They know we should have snack -time before bed- time and they say prayers with us every time, and kiss us even when we've acted badly. A 6 YEAR OLD WAS ASKED WHERE HIS GRANDMA LIVED. "OH," HE SAID, "SHE LIVES AT THE AIRPORT, AND WHEN WE WANT HER WE JUST GO GET HER. THEN WHEN WE'RE DONE HAVING HER VISIT, WE TAKE HER BACK TO THE AIRPORT." Thanks for the coverage Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Huron would like to thank Scott "Twinkle Toes" Nixon and the T -A Team, as well as Crystal "Bowling Queen" Stewart, and Lynda "I am so going to have the highest score" Hillman-Rapley and the L-A Team for their great participation and support in our `Bowl for Kids' fundraising campaign. Little did we know this invitation to participate in our annual fundraiser would raise such passion and past history! The media is in an enviable position to raise awareness and focus the spotlight upon their community. We cannot thank the Times -Advocate and the Lakeshore Advance enough for their support of this fundraising campaign and for their year round coverage of our agency. This truly is community part- nership at its finest! Thank you! DIANNE BEACH Executive Director Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Huron what he wants to say in the paper?" The answer to this question should be yes. Employees of the munici- pality for the most part are also citizens (shareholders of the corporation) and have every right to voice their opinions in any way they deem fit. This should not affect the employee's job status. There is also legisla- tion that protects employees if they witness activities not befit- ting of a public corpora- tion and make this information public. The current council and administration have for the last five plus years been attempting to micro - manage this municipality. --Nre We as a municipality need to have competent, principled and reasonable staff allowed to oper- ate freely using clear, fair, competitive and consistent bylaws and policies. These bylaws and policies need to be written with the input of local citizens and business- es. This is the only way that this fine community will be able to sustain its current citizens and businesses as well as attract new ones. There are a number of individuals who are fed up with the status quo in South Huron. To date two infor- mal well attended meetings have been held. If anyone else is interested in becoming involved and affecting change in this community (as well as having a little fun) please contact Dean at hurcon@cabletv.on.ca or Wally at wpf13@hotmail.com for information on the next meeting. Letters to the Editor Public should have input At the last council meeting on March 6 council had a discussion in regards to an individual who was requesting remuneration for tasks that are currently being done voluntarily. It was said that in paying for these services this individual would then be an employ- ee of the municipality. Mayor Rob Morley then made the comment "Can an employee of the municipality say DEAN DUCHARME, Exeter