Arkay's Ramblings: Preview "Whole Wheat Bread"

Arkay's Ramblings: Preview "Whole Wheat Bread"

What's it tell you

The Lone Ranger and Tonto went camping in the desert. After they got their tent all set up, both men fell sound asleep. Some hours later, Tonto wakes the Lone Ranger and says, 'Kemo Sabe, look towards sky, what you see? '

'The Lone Ranger replies, 'I see millions of stars.'

'What that tell you?' asked Tonto.

The Lone Ranger ponders for a minute then says, 'Astronomically speaking, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo.Time wise, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning. Theologically, the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What's it tell you, Tonto?'

'You dumber than buffalo dung. It mean someone stole the tent. '

TFSA Farce on Canadians

Is there really anybody (normal family income earners) out there who has sufficient income to maximize their RRSP deposits and have $5000 left over to put into an account that will allow them to earn $125 tax free.(actually saving approx. $30 in taxes.) Perhaps 10% of the total population. So, if these 30,000 people did ( and I strongly doubt that anybody that has that kind of money available would invest it in that poor a return) invest it in a TFSA that would be a total of $3,750,000.
Now, think of this from another light. We all watch TV, some more than others, so some see the advertisement regarding the fantastic TFSA more than others, but we all know that it is getting lots and lots of airtime. Also, if you do a fair bit of browsing on the Internet, you no doubt occasionally come across a similar ad. Not being in the advertising business, I would only be guessing at what it must be costing the govt. to air that many ads. Now think about this. If only the top 10% earners are able to take advantage of this amazing offer, who is paying for the advertisements? And I would be willing to wager my percentage of TFSA earnings that the bill for said advertising is a whole lot more than $3,750,000.
To add more insult, the people who have the ability to make the $3,750,000 are also the owners or shareholders in the advertising agencies that promote the scam that we pay for. I guess if you don't have the available cash to invest in a TFSA after you pay the ad bill, you might be lucky enough to be able to borrow it from the same 10% at 12% interest (if you're lucky).
Ahhhh! It doesn't really matter anyway. They're gonna find a way to take your money anyhow. I just thought that we might have saved a little if the govt. had just sent the 10% the $125 each and saved the advertisement money.

Out behind the barn

Nope! My education wasn't from out behind the barn. Perhaps not far from it but a long ways from the education system of today. I'm not sure if that's for the better or worse. My education was based on the teachings from a small town, Nova Scotia, Roman Catholic parochial school.


While the nuns where strict disciplinarians, they were also avid teachers. Their lives being devoted to teaching rather than acquisition of wealth. Perhaps that's why so many of their teachings are still valid today. Almost daily I am reminded of some classroom discussions pertaining to events from today. As my education took place from mid 1940s to the later part of 1950s this is rather amazing, or at least it is to me. Things like the internal combustion engine being the single largest contributing factor in the destruction of the ozone layer. That there were companies back then that were striving to perfect the advent of the ultimate electric car. They advocated the use of wind energy as well as solar. I am sure that the nuns in small town Nova Scotia didn't invent this stuff.They must have garnered these bits of intelligence from forces supposedly in the know. So I have to ask myself, why is it, more than 50 years later, that we are still facing the same problems? Could it be that the nuns were forward thinking while our politicians are always covering the other end. Why have we allowed ourselves to become slaves to the oil industry when it was predicted by those same nuns half a century ago that the oil industry was corroding not only our atmosphere but also the minds of the people who had the ability to change it.

Is it going to stop somewhere?

It has recently been touted that PEI will soon be a world leader in wind energy. This is supposed to be a good thing. I am all for wind powered energy. However, I have concerns as to whether PEI is going about this in the right way. Is this another ill fated attempt by our political leaders to garner undeserved world recognition? I would like to how this attempt at world leadership is being financed. By reading my light bill over the past year I would say that I am totally financing the project all by my lonesome.

From Oct./07 my rate for electricity was .1155 cents/kwh. In Oct./08 my rate had increased to .1553 cents /kwh. I'm not sure how they do their math nut according to my calculations that would amount to an increase of just under 35% in one year. Now, taking it a step further My bill in Dec. of 07 had increased to .1179 cents /kwh. A modest livable increase, if it stayed there. Obviously we know it didn't. Upon reading my bill for Dec. 08 I see my rate has moved up to .1604 cents./kwh. Again, according to my calculations that would be a 36+% increase in a year.

It keeps going up.

According to Statistics Canada, PEI has about the highest increases in cost of living. For sure our pay increases and pensions can't keep up to it. The last time I checked, the cost of living index for PEI was sitting at 6-7%. Our pensions and pay increases sit at around 1-3%. This is one of the basic reasons why the rich get richer and the poor pay for it.

I want to know if the increases in our power bills is going to finance the wind energy project, from which we get little, if any, benefits. Who actually benefits? Who actually gets paid for the energy that gets shipped off island, which more than 80% is destined to go? and who gets the accolades for being world leaders in wind energy, regardless of the cost to the citizens of the province?

Does PEI have a public utilities board? If so, what do they do? Is there anybody on the board who does basic math? Is there anybody on the board who cares about the citizens of PEI, who they are supposed to be protecting?

It won't be long now, the way these monopolistic companies, who are protected more so than the average Joe, before we will no longer need to go to the bank with our paychecks. We can just sign them over to the Govt. and let them send is a loaf of bread every once in a while. From where I am sitting, it doesn't look like that possibility is too far away.

Who is out there to answer my questions? Who is out there who cares enough to question their MLAs?

The joke's on us

Canada's health care system has been a work in progress since its inception. Reforms have been made over the past four decades and will continue in response to changes within medicine and throughout society. The basics, however, remain the same - universal coverage for medically necessary health care services provided on the basis of need, rather than the ability to pay.
Canada's publicly funded health care system is best described as an interlocking set of ten provincial and three territorial health insurance plans. Known to Canadians as "medicare", the system provides access to universal, comprehensive coverage for medically necessary hospital and physician services.
Health Canada's Role
The federal government, the ten provinces, and the three territories have key roles to play in the health care system in Canada. Health Canada's mandate is to help Canadians maintain and improve their health. Among other activities, Health Canada's responsibilities for health care include setting and administering national principles for the health care system through the Canada Health Act and delivering health care services to specific groups (e.g., First Nations and Inuit). Working in partnership with provinces and territories, Health Canada also supports the health care system through initiatives in areas such as health human resources planning, adoption of new technologies and primary health care delivery.
What Information is Available
In this section, you will find an overview of Canada's health care system. More detailed information is also available on specific elements of the health care system, including health human resources, primary health care, home and community care and pharmaceuticals coverage. There is also information on studies examining the health care system and links to further information.

Re; Government of Canada web page regarding Health care.

Hahahahahahahaha!

What a joke, eh?

Try telling that to one of the hundreds of thousands of people who have lost their family physician and are now on a waiting list of indefinite length. Or to someone who has been suffering in great pain for the best part of a year to see a specialist. I have to wonder where the author of the above blurb got their information. They obviously did very little research. According to them our system is better today, when it is nearly impossible to get a family doctor, than it was when you could get a new doctor every hour of the day, if you had the time to visit that many. It used to be advised that you got a second opinion before accepting a serious diagnosis. Let this person tell me how you get a second opinion today when it's almost impossible to get a first opinion.

I'm not sure if it would do any good or not, but everybody should ask their local MLAs and MPs exactly what they have done to improve the health system. It was at one time considered one of the greatest systems in the world. Today it is a sad joke. And even sadder is that the joke is on us, the people who elected the buffoons who are laughing at us for expecting adequate health care in return for the tax dollars that we provide for it.

Shame on them for not caring. Shame on us for not daring to reproach them for it.

Holy Crappola! It's Christmas again! Where the heck did 2008 go? I guess I was too busy to notice it passing by. Now I can't say if it was a good year or not. I'm still here, so I guess it wasn't really bad. And we did manage to get a fair bit done on the house so it wasn't a wasted year. Anything not wasted is good I suppose. H0wever, even though my year has been rather productive and fruitful, Kathryn has had a less than enjoyable year with a hip out of alignment and causing a great deal of pain by pinching her siatic nerve. A Chiropractor helped for a while but his manipulations have worn thin as of late. She has waited since Feb. to get an appointment this past Monday to see a specialist only to find out her appointment had been changed to the previous Monday, so she had missed it. Luckily for her that tears still work, and they found an opening for her this Friday. Our present day politicians, seeing little possibility in garnering public recognition from the health care system don't hesitate to steal from it in order to fund projects that have a better chance to immortalize them. Sorry! Didn't mean to go off on a rant.

Here is some of what I did this past summer. I started off by stripping off the old, improperly installed cedar shingles. What a shame. I would have preferred cedar shakes to any other type of siding. However, these shingles had so many nails in them that they were unsalvageable. This was not a complete waste though, as the shingles make great kindling for anyone with a wood stove. Aaaaaahem! We replaced our wood stove with a pellet stove. However, the neighbours were glad to help us get rid of the shingles as they all still have their wood heating elements.

There were a few surprises along the way. After I had removed the cedar shingles and the black fiber board underlay I discoverd that the house had originally been covered by white masonite clapboards. Oh my! Something else to get rid of. The neighbours didn't want this stuff. Even thogh it burns, it's too bulky to handle for the fireplace. So I loaded it, the black fiberboard and the tarred felt into my utility trailer and off to the waste management plant we go. Now I had taken stuff there before, and it was always free. Not this time though. They let me in with my load of perfectly good refuse, but when I tried to leave after unloading, they wanted me to pay them. The lady said 35, and I was sure she wanted 35 cents as our waste management is supposed to be free. Being embarrassed that I didn't have .35 in my pockets as I very seldom carry any cash, as was the case on this day. I felt rather silly handing over my debit card for a .35 cent charge but it was all that I had. When I got my card and receipt back I saw i had no reason to be embarrassed as the charge was for $35 n ot the .35 cents. I made the decision from there that any furtherwaste would be burned in a outdoor fire pit or the old woodstove I had put out in the yard. The neighbours weren't really happy about all the black smoke emitting from our yard so I began waiting until after dark to burn so they couldn't see the black smoke. Some of the things you have to do to keep your neighbours happy.