Tree Company HHH

Since the wind storm I have been faced with a 35 foot tree which was in danger of falling into my neighbor's yard. When I require help I always phone my son Henry to give me a hand. This time I figured that we could take the tree down in sections and avoid my other trees and the gazebo.

Henry arrived here with his son Henry so we set out to get the job done. With three Henrys there should be little problem. Our plan was to drop the tree in three sections between my small utility barn and the gazebo I had several ornamental shrubs and a inukshuk in line for damage as well but with the rope guiding the fall we were able to get away without any damage at all.

The cleanup after the cutting went well and Henry III did most of the hauling of the branches. Theresa and I are pleased to get this chore finished with help as the city is picking up all the downed branches from the recent storm.

After the work we were joined by a daughter and grandson for dinner. A good visit and a job well done makes for a happy situation. Many thanks for the help H and H!
H

   

Building a Cottage Bed

My eldest daughter has a cottage which has the need of some rustic touches. She wants to rid the bedroom of some old iron single beds and replace them with some wooden ones. She saw a few pictures on the web and I volunteered to try to build  them with the help of my son.

I purchased the wood and had a very difficult time getting the quality I desired so rustic will be the name of the game. This was a labour of love as a day with my son on any project is a bonus.

The plans were simple enough and the tools required were available so any errors would be man made. I had help the other day from a grandson who is competent with power tools and loves to do projects. He is so busy with baseball, work and other events it is special when he can come by to help.

Part of the work is interrupted by a great lunch of baked chicken and we all love to eat good food. There is only a few little details left before Theresa and I deliver the beds to McKellar Lake and their new home.

Project Beginning

Today was the beginning of my basement project. I wished to build a wall unit in my basement museum but was unable to due to my surgery.With Father's Day on the weekend and my son unable to come to see us we decided to get together today. My son worked his early shift getting up at 2am and working to 10.30 am decided to come for a visit. He had dinner with us and we went to work.

There was a time when I directed him as my helper to become a very proficient worker around the house and in earlier times on our boat.Henry now directs me as I am amazed at the ability he shows in building skills. We set out today to just rip out the old wall unit and prepare the space for new construction.

I had all the material ready in case we did a little of the new work. On the hottest day of the year we went to the garage and set up for cutting materials and designing my unit. I had drafted plans for the construction but he helped to make changes that improved the design and we were off. During the next five hours we worked together sharing ideas and working with careful cuts with our power saws and ended by completing the first phase of the wall unit.

It is such a pleasure to work with Henry as he is cool and works quietly but with authority and we made progress for beyond what I expected. During our work together we had the usual father and son conversations but on a more equal level. I respect his ability and strength to carry out tasks that I no longer can do at this time in my life.

It always brings me back when I worked with my Dad and I remember the difficult and hard work of loading coal on weekends and helping with whatever jobs Dad took on. I learned many things about my Father when I worked with him and now as a senior citizen I realize the importance of working and demanding quality service when working with young people.We do no good service to our youth by not expecting them to contribute to family. Lessons learned from Mom and Dad are life lessons and stay with you all the days of your life.

My time with my children and grandchildren are precious times and I only hope that they value the work ethic and rewards one receives from honest efforts and a sense of pride from work. Today was just one of many with Henry and I am thankful for that privilege.

Minister Raitt

Nobody likes a strike, specially if it impacts them. During the past months the government has intervened in the labour movement in a way like no other government ever dared to do. In the name of economic growth and stability, this government has once again stepped in and taken away the working man's right to fair negotiations and protection of his wages, health benefits, and pension. The right to strike was always meant to be the last resort in labour negotiations, but if corporations realize that the government is going to side with them, the need for true negotiations is negated.

Minister Raitt has been in  the front line for this government trampling the rights of the working people and will be rewarded. What she has done is wipe out a century old right for workers to strike when all else fails. I realize many people are anti-union but our country would be a lesser place were it not for the men and women who made gains  for the workers against tremendous odds. This government is embarking on a policy of feeding the corporations and the rich with their policies, and watch the fallout from the real plan for EI. This program is being sold as a program to help unemployed people to get work. That is the selling point. The real plan is for corporations  to be able to bring foreign workers into our labour force at wages far below the union rates.

This legislation will bring the government into the position of placing workers in jobs where they will have to accept wages at 30% less than their usual rate. Sounds good and looks good on paper if you are not one of the workers involved.

We hope that the government will get out of the business of labour bashing and start serving the country by helping the working class, and not only the rich and powerful.

Quiet New Year

After the hectic days leading up to Xmas, New Year's Day was a welcome retreat whereby we were able to lay back and enjoy doing very little. We did manage a few phone calls and had some of the kids drop by but in large we vegged out.

Theresa managed to have a little project started when she mentioned the storage room in the basement. It was not long before this project involved the front room, stairs, my pool room and the entire storage area. We are fortunate in so much as we have ample storage for everything we own but the area needs a little care every so often. Doris got in the act and attacked the sun room with a fury and would have stripped it of any Xmas symbols had we not intervened.

So the quiet day came to an end and we had to settle down and plan our work. We did manage to complete a task which should have been done years ago. So much for a quiet day .

Back To University

In 1960 I was to have a dream fulfilled; I was going to university full time. I had attended Teachers College and taught for six years, five of those as a principal. During these days I managed to get married, fathered a child and saved a few dollars. It was always my dream to attend full time but with a wife and child to support I could only do just that; dream. Circumstances changed quickly as I was invited to attend Olympic tryouts for the half-mile. At the same time, I was offered a full time position as a teacher in a new federal program called Program 10. I would work evening shifts at the local secondary school between the hours of 5pm and 11pm. This was a well paying job and I had to make up my mind in a hurry.

In your life there are times when a decision will have a tremendous impact on your future. This was one for me as I always dreamed both about the Olympics and university. But this decision would clearly cut one of these options out. After discussing this dilemma with my wife I had to make the decision to go back to university with a stable position and a definite future. The truth of the matter was that even though I was invited to the Olympic trials I would never have made the team. My times were poorer than three others that I ran against in the past so it wasn't a matter of giving up a podium finish.

I had only a matter of days before I had to report to Laurentian  University and work for the Sudbury School Board. Because we lived in Northern Ontario we decided to sell our worldly goods, and this was difficult, and purchase new items when we found a place to live.

This decision was possibly one of my best ones as we moved to Sudbury and I achieved two main goals. One was returning to university and the other was being able to support my family during the process. We found a small apartment and settled in and I prepared for my tasks. I was so nervous the first day of university with the registration and coping with the new surroundings. Laurentain was a new bilingual school with a small enrolment and you quickly got to know most of the fellow students. Small classes were a definite advantage and as I was taking philosophy and religious studies I was surrounded by books, books and more books. My problem was time to read all these.

My new teaching position was something else as my assignment was new to me. Mechanical drafting and science  so I had to keep one step ahead of the adult students. It was fun and a challenge.Within two months I was asked to be the on site principal and this gave me a little more money and some freedom as I had one less class to teach.

During this new year of adventures I discovered that education was indeed my niche and philosophy my passion.We as a family grew to realize this arrangement came at a cost. I was too busy and this placed a great deal of responsibility on my wife and family. This would be my fate for the next thirty years until I retired.

As I look back I still wonder if I could have won that race in Saskatoon and what would have been but the moment is temporary and I never regretted for a moment going back to university.

Miners Rescued in Chile

During last evening and late into the night Theresa and I watched, glued to the TV as men were taken from the jaws of death in a mine in Chile. After what seemed like a lifetime men were brought to the cold air to freedom because of modern technology and a will to free the miners trapped below. Most of the world watched live TV coverage of this exceptional feat. I was torn between watching this dramatic rescue and a memory of days long ago when another rescue was taking place in Nova Scotia.This mine rescue was a feat which could not have been even imagined years ago when a mine disaster occurred in Springhill in 1956. At that time many coal miners were trapped underground after a bump collapsed the mine killing many and trapping more. After 14 days when the mine was to be sealed to put out fires tapping sounds were heard and one of the most memorable rescues took place.

My family were coal miners and made their living in the deepest submarine coal mine in the world. Princess Mine ran miles out under the Atlantic Ocean and was a dangerous place to work. A number of my extended family were injured and some perished eaking out a living digging for black gold, coal.

I was teaching in a small company town in Temiscaming, Quebec when the Springhill Mine rescue operation was played out on radio and TV. Immediately fund raising programs sprung up and money was collected for the families impacted by the disaster. Even in far flung communities this rescue captured the imagination of the country. It was the media which brought live coverage of the event which made everyone get involved. Our school raised over $600 alone and the town more than $5,000. All of this for days on end because it was a human drama played out before our very eyes. TV became the great media giant and events like this were carried to the corners of the world.

As the rescue in Chile continues, millions of people breath together in synch with one purpose in mind. How wonderful it would be if we could do the same for peace in the world. We can only hope that the exposure of this mine disaster will bring attention to the safety practices carried out in many countries which puts lives on the line every day.

Mining is big business and makes some people very rich. We hope that better and safer working conditions will be one of the outcomes of this dramatic rescue.

Skilled Workers From Central America

Yesterday I had a new roof put on my house. Not a complete roof but a portion not considered bad enough to do when we had our shingles replaced eight years ago. My son and myself planned to do the work ourselves but a good salesman for the roofing company convinced me otherwise. He promised to do the work quickly and professionally for a good price and I was sold. The temperature was 32 degrees and with the high humidity it felt like 38 C.

I received a phone call from the boss and he said the workers would be there at four o'clock. A white van appeared in my driveway on time and five men crawled out and instantly began the job. One came to the door and asked for water and that was the total conversation. Everyone in the crew knew his job. Without words they ripped off the shingles and laid the new fabric after clearing and nail heads. I was quite amazed at the smooth transition from one stage to the other.

Ladders were placed at crucial points and the bundles of shingles were carried up the narrow ladder and placed in the proper places. Everything was done by hand. No machines here and not a complaint. This was the third house they were doing this day. At seven the work was done and cleanup over. As they were packing their equipment I had a conversation with the leader. He and two of the others were from Costa Rica and the other two chaps were from Honduras.

They were here in Canada on a work visa but planned to become Canadian citizens at the first opportunity. Their quality of work and their cheerful attitude made me appreciate the contributions immigrants make to our country. In the few minutes we talked, I was won over by these hard working men from Central America. Before leaving, the leader took me for a quick tour of their work. They were proud of their completed job and I was satisfied that I had a good roof over my head.

Project Heatwave.

I promised my grand daughter that with my sons help we would lay down a new wood floor in the first floor of her condo. The condo does not have an elevator so everything had to be carried up three flights of stairs.With her very good help we pulled up the carpet and underlay and carried it away to the dumpster. We worked to remove some of the rubber underlay with a shovel and after bagging it too was carried to the dumpster. The thirty boxes of flooring were then trucked up those same stairs. With the help of my wife, daughter and grand daughter we managed it despite the high temperatures.

The days for my son to come to help were the hottest days on record with humidex readings in the middle forties. Our thermometer read 101 for a time. With a portable air conditioner we started the job and what could have been a hard job turned out to be a pleasure. The rooms were square and the cutting was minimum and the floor looks beautiful. New baseboards completed the job for us but my grand daughter will cover the nail marks and cracks and paint again. Her home looks beautiful and she was such a good help.

We like doing little projects for the family and look forward to the next one which is a new shingles on part of my roof. Hope the weather is cooler.

Saturday

Being retired should make every day pretty much the same as the next. This is not the case as Saturday is always special because we have a mind set that tells you that it is the end of the work week so get all that work done that you couldn't get done because you were at work. People always look forward to Saturday because they do the things around the house and yard that must be done. You are prepared to work until your muscles ache but it is not work because it is Saturday.

Francis Bacon wrote a essay on what constitutes work. He told of people in Old England who lived in cities and toiled at jobs that bored them but on the weekend they went to the country and did strenuous tasks for fun so it was not considered work but pleasure.

Today men and women who work in those crowded work stations cannot wait until 12 o'clock to get to their fitness center to work out. That is not work but pleasure although by any standard it is work to the onlooker.It is a happy marriage when your work is your pleasure. Many people find a career that involves efforts that would be considered pleasure to many so their work is their pleasure. These people live a less stressful life and it would be the ultimate goal for all of us who work for a living to make their work pleasurable.

I personally know people who worked all their life in a job that they hated and riled against at every opportunity. This negative energy made a poor job situation even worse. This stress takes its toll and the person suffers along with those who have to live with this unhappy person.

If every person who has this situation would put forth energy wasted in negative stress, to improve their outlook things would be better. Attitude is so important to cope with the stress of workplace challenges.

One man goes to work happy he has a job, and makes the best of it. Another man goes to work with a face of anger and hatred towards his work - and guess who lives the better life. There are so many jobs today that are boring and meaningless to the worker that people have to find ways of coping and making it better.

Building a Pegola with a Friend

What is a pegola? I didn't know until my wife placed a picture on the kitchen table and told me that is what she wanted on our patio. In the picture I saw a beautiful structure surrounded by professional landscaping making a perfect scene right out of homes and gardens.

I studied the picture and quickly became excited for the prospect of a project such as it was. I got out my sketch book and drafted a plan and listed what I should need in materials. I was satisfied that I could build the thing but how much better it would be if I could coax my son to help. He is always there when I need him for big jobs. He is strong and can see ways of improving my thinking in a way as to not rattle my ego and to make me think it was my idea anywhere.

I asked my wife if she would like to come to Home Depot to price the project and see if all the materials were in stock. She declined the offer and told me I needed time alone so get on with it. I love shopping in hardware stores where I can handle the good tools and dream of owning them come Fathers Day.

After a half hour I had the list priced and was amazed that the price came close to that which I quoted Theresa earlier in the day. Under $400 for a pegola 12 by 14 feet. The one at the store was 10 by 10 and cost nearly a $1000. Wow - I was saving $600. I never think of the labor cost or the volunteer help.

After the phone call to my friend, my son, we planned to get started next morning when he was off work and would complete the task in a day and a half. I was responsible for getting the materials to the sight and I made two trips with my van and loaded it to the roof. The hardest part was getting good product. I needed 6 by 6 timbers and went through two piles to get good ones. When I finished it looked like a disaster in the store. Getting 2 by 8s and 2 by 6s was even more difficult.

My son and I work almost without communicating about the task. We seem to know how to work together; sharing the different skill jobs and working at a fast pace we erect the timbers. My son does the measuring and I do the cutting. We do make mistakes but these mistakes become plan B and we move on.

All through the day we move from one stage to another. We plan to cook supper on the barbecue but we have lost the sense of time. It is seven pm when we finally take a rest.We were so engrossed that time did not matter. My son realized that we have practically completed the job except for a few small items.

We kind of laugh and start to prepare our steak and potatoes remembering the past when we did the same thing on another project. I lose all track of time when working on a labour of love. On this day the labour of love was being united with my son for a whole day by myself. We ate heartily and talked of the work completed and how we could have made changes for the better but we were satisfied. The next morning after a long breakfast we finished the unfinished and called Theresa for a final inspection. Her smile told us we did well and we were satisfied.

My son was off home in the early afternoon and we made plans for our next project, laying a hardwood floor in my granddaughter's condo. I hope the projects never end so I might call on my friend to spend a little time alone with his father.