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The Citizen, 1997-07-02, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 2,1997 PAGE 5. So it goes Work fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. Anon It's an old bromide but a true one. There is nothing quite as delicious as having something to do; knowing you have to do it eventually; realizing that you should get started right now... And then not doing it. I don't wish to brag, but you are reading the lazily pecked out words of an expert in Idleness. Psychologists divide mankind into Type A and Type B personalities - Type A being the up-and-at'm go-getters who can't sit still; Type B being the more laid-back easy­ going folks who take life as it comes. I am Type "L". For lazy. I'm so laid back, total strangers come up and take my pulse. Birds check me out as a possible nesting site. Gangs of kids invite me to join their hockey games. As a goal post. My Grade 5 report card said it all under "Teachers Comments" Can do better but is lazy it read. It's true. That's just the way I am. And then there's Jean-Dominique Bauby. Mr. Bauby, aged 42, was pursuing a very successful career as a journalist - chief editor of Elie magazine in Paris - when life threw a little cross-check his way. One minute Bauby was tooling down the highway, driving his son into Paris when he began to feel...queer. ■International Scene Cheap or costly countries Each year we wait breathlessly for the Big Mac Index, which tells us just about as efficiently as the much more sophisticated economic models, what countries are expensive and which are cheap for Canadians who feel up to a foreign holiday. For any readers who feel that perhaps I am kidding about the whole thing, let me assure you that, for more than a decade, the relative price of the Big Mac in a large number of countries has turned out to be one of the best indicators we have as to purchasing power parity, or what the rate of exchange has to be in order for someone to buy, say, $1,000 worth of goods in Canada, or change it into another currency and buy the same amount of goods in that country instead. First of all, more people are likely to go to the United States than to any other country so what can we expect if we cross the border. The Index tells us that our dollar is about 15 per cent undervalued as far as our American counterpart is concerned. This means that, for purchasing power parity to take effect, the Canadian dollar would have to be in the 81-82 cent U.S. range. What this means is that shopping in the States is by and large no bargain for Canadians. I took a quick look at some groceries the last time I was across and found butler at $3.45 Canadian and bananas at 79 cents. Gas, is of course, cheaper but that is something of an exception. In short, do your He pulled to the side of the road and sent his child for help before collapsing in the back seat of his car. Bauby emerged from a coma three weeks later. Sort of 'emerged', the new Jean- Dominique Bauby was totally deaf, utterly mute and all but completely paralyzed. So paralyzed that all he could move was his left eyelid. So it goes. One minute you're a hyper- energetic magazine editor surfing the wave of Life; the next you're a helpless, hopeless hospital vegetable. What would you do if you awoke one day to find yourself deaf, speechless and all but totally paralyzed? I’m not sure what I would do, but I know what Jean-Dominique Bauby did. He wrote a book. A best seller called Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (The Diving Suit and The Butterfly). It's a fantasy novel about the mental voyages a man embarks on after his body is rendered immobile. Bauby wrote of driving a Maserati down a Formula One Racetrack. He imagined what it was like to land as a soldier under withering fire on Normandy Beach on D-Day. He wrote about the haunting, savory taste of a Lyonnais sausage, the bouquet of a glass of Provencal wine. He wrote about grinding up mountains as a cyclist in the grueling Tour de France race. Well, hold on a second, I hear you saying. You thought this guy was paralyzed. How does a deaf-mute quadriplegic write a book for crying out loud? No problem for Bauby. He wrote it with the By Raymond Canon shopping at home. While the situation in Europe is somewhat better than it was at this time last year, it is still not good at all in Western Europe. For us, Switzerland is still the most expensive country with its currency overvalued, in terms of the Canadian dollar, by about 75 per cent. I will be there in August and am not expecting much in the way of improvement before then. Other countries are not much better - Denmark, 70 per cent; Sweden, 55 per cent; France, 45 per cent; Italy, 26 per cent; Spain, 20 per cent and Great Britain, 35 per cent. I have found the British pound to be the most volatile of currencies in that part of the world so you may get a better rate than that, if you go there. On the other hand, it may be worse. Going to Eastern Europe is somewhat better since the currencies in that region are undervalued in terms of the Canadian dollar. The Czech Republic comes in at 15 per cent; Hungary, 50 per cent; Poland, 60 per cent and Russia, 33 per cent. Since, after my visit to Switzerland I will be working in Eastern Europe for a while, perhaps my excessive spending in the former country will be offset by lower spending in the latter group. The cheapest country for Canadians, that is, among those studied in the Big Mac Index, is China where the yuan, the currency, is about 65 per cent undervalued compared to our dollar. While you are in that area, you should find Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia cheaper than here while New Zealand is more or less on par with our dollar. Australia comes in a bit cheaper while only part of his body he could write with - his left eyelid. First, he invented a simplified alphabet in which the letters were represented by eyeblinks. Then Mr. Bauby "dictated" - i.e. blinked - the entire 137 page text to an editor friend. They worked at it three hours a day, six days a week all last summer. His friends estimate that Mr. Bauby blinked more than 200,000 times to 'write' his novel. Not content to rest on his laurels, Mr. Bauby turned his attentions to other concerns. He founded an association to help other paralyzed victims and their families. He even started a newsletter for paralytics. I wish there was a happy ending to this story. I wish I could say that Jean-Dominque Bauby won the Nobel Prize for Literature and that some French medical genius discovered a miracle cure and that Mr. Bauby today can be found behind his chief editor's desk at Elie, barking out orders and negotiating with writers and photographers. But I can't. Life's Department of Dirty Tricks wasn't quite finished with Jean- Dominique Bauby. One week after his novel was published and received wonderful reviews, Mr. Bauby got hit with a second massive stroke and died. It is tempting to hang one's head and moum Jean-Dominique Bauby's terrible luck. To rage against the injustice and mutter about the tragedy of it all. Except it would be wrong. There was nothing tragic about the short, fruitful life of Jean-Dominique Bauby. He wouldn't permit it. those going off in the direction of Israel will find it rather expensive. The rale is actually so high that the Israeli authorities are trying to find ways to lower it. Singapore is the only place I could find where the purchasing power is, according to the index, exactly the same as in Canada. While the Asian island does have its attractions, such as the glimpse of hell that I described in an earlier article, it is not a place that I would stay for any length of time, parity or no parity. Given that it is so expensive even to get to Asia, unless you are determined to go off to Eastern Europe, this might be a good year to stay in Canada and see what our country has to offer. May I suggest the Maritime provinces, especially Nova Scotia. Take a trip up to Moosonee and see what the northern part of our province is like or even go to Quebec. Regardless of the threat of separatism, you will be pleasantly surprised at the friendliness of many of the people there. My trip to Gaspd was a real delight for me. Happy holidays wherever you go! A Final Thought I fancy when I go to rest, someone will bring to light Some kindly word or goodly act, long buried out of sight; But if it's all the same to you, just give to me instead. The bouquets while I'm living and the knocking when I'm dead. — Louis Edwin Thayer To a carefree summer Today it's his birthday. Twenty-five years ago, I was given the first of four special gifts and my life as I knew it had changed forever. Like most parents, once I had children, I noticed a drastic shifting of priorities, some by choice, some by necessity. I had to grow up, be a little more responsible. Late nights for me didn't seem to matter to my little one, who, after hours of sound sleep was ready for a little attention in the early morning hours. My actions, especially the bad ones, made me particularly sheepish when mimicked by my little lamb. I have been a parent for so long I have, I suppose, forgotten what it was like not to have the responsibility of another life. What I do remember is not a day has gone by that their protection, their health and happiness has not been my reason for being. And though some of my kids sure aren't kids anymore, I've found the worries are still there, they've just changed. Parents are always concerned about their children's safety, especially when they're young, and with school out and summer here the worries take on new proportions. The national streetproofing program Stay Alert...Stay Safe (SASS), sponsored by the Canadian Tire Child Protection Foundation and founded in 1987, has listed a number of tips for parents and kids to follow through the long, hot, and hopefully carefree summer. •Know your child's summer world: A child's routines will change for the summer. Parents should make sure they know exactly where their job, camp, play areas and other activities are located. •Know your child's summer friends: New friends may come and go during the holidays. Post a list of their names, addresses and phone numbers for emergencies. For extra reassurance, get to know the friend's parents too. •Check out your neighbourhood: Parents should take a walk around the neighbourhood with their kids, pointing out the potential hazards, as well as the Block Parent homes and other safe places. •Create an information centre: Establish a single information and message centre in the house where you and your kids can routinely leave notes detailing where you are and when you'll be back. And while they may never need it, making sure your kids have street savvy is important. SASS also offers some helpful streetproofing ground rules for kids to follow. • Always avoid hanging around lonely parks, woods, parking lots or even school yards after dark. • Always work out the best routes to your activities and stick to it • Always go places with buddies when possible. • Always say no If a grown-up invites you alone into their home or car, unless your parent has given you permission and knows where you are. It's easy, living in a rural area, to become complacent about safety. The world is constantly changing, however, and an insular view is a dim one. There is no danger in caution. Besides, for a parent, even a small piece of peace of mind is a bonus.