Don, I see you're trying to make a connection. Today there were 71 comments about unkempt medians and I still haven't bothered to read them. As you know, I did post a short comment in the Hallmark's blog that you provided a link for above. I see that Cal and MAW made an appearance there as well.
What I see is a city hall scrambling for some fast cash and cutting corners. We (Tracy and I) just learned a month ago that the previous owner of our home, which we purchased last year, was over $500 delinquent in the water bill. No problem, the city went directly to our mortgage lender for it without notice. Technically, this utility should not have been in arrears when the house transferred to us. We have no recourse except perhaps a long drawn out and expensive legal battle which is always a lose or lose-more situation.
The truth is that our city is just as broke as we are as individuals. Everyone is getting squeezed and we're all about to burst our pipes.
The trouble is that our leadership is not being upfront with us while the depression truly sets in. We're rationed falsehoods like this:
Flaherty: Canada not in recession
http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/378140"There's some brightness on the horizon and certainly reason for confidence," he (Flaherty) said.
He also added that the rest of the economy is doing well with 120,000 jobs created in the first four months of 2008, wage increases at an annual rate of 6.2 per cent and corporate profits rising by 9.9 per cent.
His assessment was backed by Quebec Finance Minister Monique Jerome-Forget, and to a lesser extent by Ontario's Dwight Duncan.
The biggest deception is a faked annual wage increases at 6.2%, because unless you're a government employee on the taxpayers dole, the private sector wages have been flat lined for a couple of years. The Canadian Auto Workers accepted a wage freeze for the next few years. And because of this, consumer confidence is ultra low and people aren't buying anything. The banks are also feeling the squeeze:
Canada's big banks take earnings tumble
http://thespec.com/News/Business/article/378113- The real reason for not cutting medians is not enough cash
- Something big requiring a superhighway's capacity is just up the road
- It is trivial to bury large capacity pipes during gigantic road construction
- In the business of water, plumbers are the masters
- The fastest way to Kansas, is to click your heels three times and say, "There's no place like home"
- Contrary to what we've been told, the future isn't friendly for little fishies.
- Carp are greasy but tasty like pork, that clings to yore fork.
So in knowing a little bit of what lies ahead, the question for us now is, what can be done to lessen the hurt and heighten the hope as we plunge into our forlorn future?