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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-07-08, Page 4D 0. PAGE 4 --GoDouctisamm;sua, wEawsiwr. JULY It 10.111 dove. • sykes Wir-441,144. • There is a deep rift developing at the Sykes' household that threateos to turn naafi on this meek and mild reporter: To date, the point of contention hasn't caused either side to put up a defensive front against a barrage of bloats but, war could be imminent. I have sought refuge behind the eve:darned couch just in case projectiles are launched in my vicinibt. A fellow can't trust anyone or take overt chances in a domestic dispute. The source of madse between ,...91- trepid reporter and the life partner comes in the him of an alluring 12 -pound little boy. I was totally unaware that any problems ex isted within the family setting until recent- ly. Let me set the scenario. Not long ago in this space, I offered a semi -truthful (and hopefully semi - humorous) anecdote relating to the fratitic antics of two parents attempting to solicit BLUE RIBBON AVYARD Second class' mail registration number -0716 SINCE 1848 THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT E, Wounded 1. UM and published every WohlAssaulay et Dederick Ontario. hbareber of the COWS and OWNS- Admix - thing rates ea request. Subscriptions payable in advance .17..Se in Canute. '33.01 to '33 -ell to ell other cum - May stogie copies SIP. Display alive:thing relies evallable on 111114111/11“. Pleases& for tete Card No. le effective Oc- tober 1. 111111. Seated der mail Segistration Pitsr 111711e. Advertising is accepted oss the counties thief le the. event of typographical ewer. the advertisleg specs exampled by the erroneous Item. together natit S1INS0111•1411 allourance far signature. rill not be charged for but that balance of the adrerthent sill be paid for at thas pliceldes rate. Ea theevent of a typographical error eavertishig gonads orservites et a arson, prim. goods or services mew not be said. Advarthing is seemly .n offer to sell. and may be withdrawn .*.ay thine. Ilse S11-SIer is not responsible far the Ines or *mega of seasoildted 'manuscripts. photos or other mentarials used for reproducing pur- poses. PUBLISHED BY:SIGNAL-STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIER-President and Publisher DONALD M. HUBICK-Advertising Manager DAVID SYKES-Editor P.O. BOX 220, ttte A e HUCKINS ST. Golix iNputat PARK GODERICH N7A 4136 SI FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES please phone (519) 524-8331 the first smiles from the little guy. Despite substantive effortt on our part, that includ- ed some darn goad facial contortions and elaborate body postbag's, the wee one was conthnt to offer his affections to inanimate objects. Bradley regarded the relentless efforts with cool ambivalence and the wife and I - submitted tothe realization that, as patents, we were totally ineffective and pessibba However, the wee cinelmsprogressed con- siderably in the are of tailing, slobbering, smiling, giggling, gurgling and other neat baby stuff. But, apparently I have become the crux of the malcontent. Now, whenever this dad engages in a playful' relationship with the antuagster, he breaks into fits of laughter, giggtes, chatters incessantly and generally appears to enjoy himself. The very thought breaks his' mother's heart. The tittle lady camp for meg Wadley daily with a warmth and tenderness that all mothers provide She feeds hinr, changes him, plays with hint, allows him to slobber on her blouse all day and checks on him at all hours. And yet, despite that expert care and at- tention, young Bradley maintains a cool in- difference.tows his 1119M. "All you have to do is look at him and it breaks hull up" dit has lamented. "I do all those things for him m* day and he doesn't even Re me. It's just not, fair." To be honest, I think the life partner. is crushed at the prospect of dad ci30,mandlng more respect from the little guy. The life partner took the problem serious- ly, though, and took the initiative to consult 'ari paper& opinion in a beole The expert sug- gested that such behavior is common in babies of that particular age group. icor some reason, this doctor ofteredl in ex- planation, wee ones will quite often respond more readily to the male side of the Take a firm stand The country is again crippled by a mail steam and if the tough talk of early negotiations can be used as a barometer, it may, be a lengthy one. Treasury Board President Donald Johnston', said the. government would not legislate the inside postal workers back to work. But Johnston only commented that the .government would not introduce binding legislation at this time, which means it is a possibility:little. future.: , It puts the government in adiffictdt position and binding legislation essentially, takes the sting out of a union's right to striae. But it leads to the question of whether or not the federal government should_ have the right to legislate its employees back to work. Operation of the postal system must be considered an essential service in this cOuntry; although the service has been repeatedly plagued by strike action. Unfortunately, many people across the countrydepend on the mail system and a strike means loss of revenue and jobs in small businesses and can be disastrous for mail order rums. lithe government takes a firm stand, the inside workers could be on the picket line for quite a while. The Canadian Union of. Postal Workers recently rejected,, an offer to return to the bargaining table and the country's letter car- riers were forced into a layoff situation. If the strike con- tinues, the entire postal system may be shut down. The talks broke off when the .government failed to recognize the recommendations of the conciliation board chairman. Pierre Jasmin had recommended that a new deal with CUPW include 17 weeks paid maternity leave, a 12th statutory holiday on January 2, four weeks vacation after - five years service and an improved plan for premium!' pay for shift work. The Treasury Board was not willing to make any con- cessions on the -recommendations of the Conciliation board chairman but indicated it was willing to negotiate the maternity leave issue. But that didn't entice the union backto the bargaining table. , • Canadians have had to live with strike action in many sectors of business and industry but in few cases does a strike affect an entire nation. And a mail strike will have an effect on, the majority of Canadians. Paid maternity leave, if the union is serious about it, is an unreasonable demand and four weeks vacation after five years service is most generous by comparison to vacation benefits afforded most Canadians. The Treasury Board is in a sticky position in this strike and its decision is not likely to be a popular one. Many Canadians will undoubtedly welcome an expedient end to the maitstrike, if it adversely affects their business. - - But if the board concedes to negotiate the demands of. CUPW, if will be a tough contract for Canadians to • swallow.D.S. House buyers be careful With mortgage rates at record high levels, it is vital that house -hunters be careful shoppers. Though 'many people hesitate to take on mortgages of more than 18 per cent, they should remember that houses chosen for good valueliave a record of keeping ahead of the inflation rate. This gain in value also has the major ad- vantage of not being taxable, when you sell at a profit, providing' the home is your principal residence for tax purposes. That's why buying a home may still make sense for you, providing you can afford the mortgage payments. Some tips to ease the burden: + Tilt arrange to take possession early in a new year, so that you can make that year's contribution (up to $1;000 a year to a lifetime maximum of $10,000) to your Registered Home Ownership Savings Plan. When a cou- ple, each with separate incomes, saves for a home, these figures double, and the money is never taxed providing it is used for its intended purpose. -I-. Timing can also work to your advantage in choosing an unfinished homein a new subdivision. In arranging to take possession some months from now you don't have to pay the mortgage or property taxes for these months but the increasing value is yours. Witha new home it is a good idea to choose one of the first houses in a subdivision: you'll get a better choice and will likely pay less than for those built later. + With a resale house, try to find a mortgage taken out at 11 to 13 per cent two or three yearsago. That way it will cover the major part of the value of the house today and provide you with a comfortably low interest rate, at least until it comes up for renewal. (The mortgage Must be assignable to a new owner, but virtually all of them are.) You can sometimes . get low rates on new houses in outlying areas where the builders have been forced to of- fer the lower rates to attract buyers. Such a mortgage is no bargain if the house is impossibly far from your work, but it could be good value to someone who works nearby. There are exactly four hours, twenty-two minutes, and fourteen seconds before my vacation begins. I love holidays. They are right up tliere on my list of favorite things to have. Especially summer holidays. • I &oft know if other people are like me, but when 1 know . that I have a vacation coming up, I have So conditioned myself to the expectation of them that I can't possibly visualize not having them. In Other words, if that four hours doesn't end pretty soon, I'll . go a bsolutely mad. It -isn't that I loathe my job or anything. It's just that I relish the thought of having two weeks to do anything my little heart desires. However, there's a slight problem. We all live in an area where people dome to for their vacation. Now where the heck are we supposed to go for our vacation? We're already here. .1 feel cheated. Sailin' on a breeze netsecrScfMOSSIMuMstieN twosome and smile and giggle at a face and voice that. are familiar .but !tot seen con- stantly. Of course, mother still contends that the entire situation is unfair while accepting the professional opinion on the matter. In defence, I suggested that Bradley maintains an obvious affectionate bond with his mother and that, perhaps, he looks on his father as some sort of joke or jester. Which would at least explain the mirth, merriment and jocularity that pervades our relation- ship. Or, anti have given this passibility just fleeting consideration, is it that my mental .capacity is an the same level as my son's? Mother is appeased at the moment but I have detected a slight distrust in her stare. But lately there has been a suspicion that my face is simply funny to look at. Which would explain Bradley's fits of laughter in my presence. Nah, it couldn't be. ,ammiesassur By Jason Ainslie EAR READERS Some of the community's unsung heroes are the boys (and gals?) who staff the ambulances. These men in blue work round the clock to ensure that the sick and injured get professional, safe and efficient interim emergency care all over this province. This past weekend, our family had an indirect brush with the drama unfolding inside one of the county ambulances. Our daughter, trained in the cardio -pulmonary resuscitation procedure, found herself assisting inside an ambulance which was,speeding a heart attack victim to the hospital. Two things impressed her and were the topic for discussion around our dinnertable that even- ing. In the4irst place, the average ambulance in this pram -ice carries a driver and one attendant. This ' means it. is virtually impossible to discharge. proper resuscitation procedures while the ambulance is in motion. Pumping the heart by hand and blowing air in - tit the victim's lungs ideally requires two persons under the best of conditions. And it is exhausting in the bargain. But when you are in a moving emergency vehi- cle and needing to maintain the vital rhythm for the quarter of an hour or more it often takes to drive to the nearest hospital, it is essential that there be teamwork. When that teamwork is not there, the risk to the victim is much greater. Ambulance attendants understand this better than most people. They live with it from day to day. In Goderich, we're better off thanin most towns:Our ambulances are among the very few in the proviiice that have transportable support equipment available. And because the service operates out of a hospital, a doctor is.often ready at a moment's notice to travel with the am - bulance if the nature of the emergency is known to be serious. • AS well, Goderich's two -vehicle ambulance service has five fulltime and two part time staff which makes it more possible to get additional trained personnel aboard in the event of a serious emergency. - But there are financial limitations. And these too are well known to ambulance attendants. Goderich service ,has about 1400 ambulance calls per year. Of these, about 700 are calls of an emergency nature. Of those, about 10 percent - maybe 70 calls per year- need a resuscitation team. The question: Is it reasonable to expect that the government should ensure sufficient staff so that two attendants could accompany the driver for the safety of about five percent of the patients who will travel by ambulance? Ambulance attendants are realistic enough to guess the taxpayers of this province might not see this as a legitimate extra expense - unless of course, the taxpayers were among those 70 per- sons in cardiac arrest within the ambulance. +++ The second thing our daughter discovered was the number of drivers,on the highways who don't get off the road when an ambulance is racing with death. Ambulance drivers confirm ourdaughter's fin- dings. But they say it applies to all emergency vehicles. Motorists don't discriminate against ambulance drivers. They don't get out of the way of policemen or firemen either. A call to the provincial police station netted the information that it is provincial law that vehicles imist give the right of way to emergency vehicles. There is a 428 fine to those »who fail to Nonetheless, I plan to have a swell time. I have a long list of things I'm going to get accomplished during my two weeks of euphoria. Number one on the list is to get a tan. At present my body is made up of several shades, the face and lower arms being of a pleasant tanded shade and the rest is the color of di Getting a tan ontLaximum amount of body requires the utmost in concentration, gymnastics, and privacy. But I'll have two weeks to do it. When I come hack totwork, the whites Of my eyes and my teeth will be the only recognizable parts of me. The nice thing about getting a tan is that you can do things at the same time. I have about 45 letters to write to people who aren't sure whether or not I am alive. Everybody has this kind of letter to write - the kind that starts 'out, 'flow are you, I am fine, the weather here is fahtastic; the garden is doing well, the_ dog died, any arthritis its acting up, hope you can get downfor a visit sometime in August, have a nice day, mutt be off as the oven timer is going.' Next on my list is seeing several mpvies. I don't go to movies very often, but when I do, I like to see three or four of them all in one day. This may seem silly, but there's a method in my madness. I pick an extremely hot, Muggy day and gold London and sit in air-conditioned theatres all day. I want to see Superman II, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Great Muppet Caper, and Histopy of the World Part I. After I see all of thetaimovies, I will go to Macponalds and feast out on several Big Macs etc. At the end of the two weeks, 1 also plan to tell Liona Boyd to eat her heart out. I am attempting to learn how to play the guitar and with two weeks' of constant practice I should be star material. I have already mastered Old MacDonald's Farm, Jirmny Crack, Coen, and This Old Man, and in two weeks I expect to know Stairway to Heaven and everything Bruce Cockburn ever wrote. But of course, every silver lining has a cloud. Holidays wouldn't be holidays without that Job List tacked up on the old bulletin board in the kitchen. Realistically, I will be happy if I can get the dishes done, but my sights are set a little higher. The list says things like: Clean all the guck out of the car, Defrost the fridge, Refinish, old steamer trunk, Write a novel, Make jam, Clean out the cat's litter box, Untangle coat hangers and so On and so on. It's a very impressive list, and it's been up there for several years now, but I doubt if I'll do any of it. Holidays are for holidaying, not jobbing. I think that in about three hours now, Ill tea out to the beer store for a case of Bud, and tear to the drug store for a case clf suntan and so on and soon. comply - providing someone catches them at it Ambulance attendants are just too busy to , make notes of the licence plates on cars and trucks that won't move over. But the law is explicit. Whether the emergency is approaching from the front or the rear of your vehicle, if its lights are flashing and -or its siren is wailing, you are required to pull over onto the shoulder until the emergency vehicle is past. The newest ambulances have the word 'ec- naliihma' printed on the hood. That's for drivers who glan6 in their rear-view mirrors. They see the word 'ambulance' printed there and ate im- mediately alerted. "Every little bit helps," commented one am- bulance attendant. „ +++ - It was comforting to learn that about 60 per- cent of the time, ambulances out of Goderich have extra trained staff available in case of a serious emergency. It was comforting to find that ambulance at- tendants are concerned provincial employees who are well trained to keep their heads despite the pressure of day-to-day emergencies and ac- companying financial limitations which can hamper their effectiveness. And it was good to discover that ambulance at- tendants are truly appreciative of courteous drivers who know their duty - and get out of the path of speeding emergency vehicles. But we can be more aware of the great job these folks do every day all day. And we can be more co-operative in so many, many ways. 'So here's a special bouquet to all ambulance attendants. Nobody really wants to ride with you on one of your backseat cots, but thanks for being there just in case we do need you.