The Price of progress?

I came across a situation yesterday that made me feel older than I should. In the village of Baltimore there was a works crew consisting of 1 heavy truck and trailer, 2 light trucks and a water tanker, all manned by workers and two flag people all watching a backhoe fitted with a sweeper take gravel out of the gutters. The total cost per hour would be immense. Now for the flashback. 30 years ago there would be one man and a wheelbarrow and a stiff broom. The pace of work would be the same as the sweeper tractor but the overall cost would be about $30.00 per hour at todays rates. Just made me think that's all.

What is a curmudgeon?

This muse was posed by encountering a rant about the Cobourg Beer Store's parking lot by a poster on another blog only known as the "cobourg curmudgeon" So what is one?

definition from JON WINOKUR (someone in a Google search)

What is a Curmudgeon anyway?
A curmudgeon's reputation for malevolence is undeserved. They're neither warped nor evil at heart. They don't hate mankind, just mankind's absurdities. They're just as sensitive and soft-hearted as the next guy, but they hide their vulnerability beneath a crust of misanthropy. They ease the pain by turning hurt into humor. . . . . . They attack maudlinism because it devalues genuine sentiment. . . . . . Nature, having failed to equip them with a servicable denial mechanism, has endowed them with astute perception and sly wit.
Curmudgeons are mockers and debunkers whose bitterness is a symptom rather than a disease. They can't compromise their standards and can't manage the suspension of disbelief necessary for feigned cheerfulness. Their awareness is a curse.
Perhaps curmudgeons have gotten a bad rap in the same way that the messenger is blamed for the message: They have the temerity to comment on the human condition without apology. They not only refuse to applaud mediocrity, they howl it down with morose glee. Their versions of the truth unsettle us, and we hold it against them, even though they soften it with humor.

from the Merriam Webster online dictionary
curmudgeon

One entry found for curmudgeon.
Main Entry: cur·mud·geon
Pronunciation: (")k&r-'m&-j&n
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknown
1 archaic : MISER
2 : a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man (I love this definition)
- cur·mud·geon·li·ness /-lE-n&s/ noun
- cur·mud·geon·ly /-lE/ adjective

And if you want to know everything that references curmudgeon on the Internet click here

A new piece of business on the web

Cobourg Council's agenda for Monday evening has been posted on the Town's website. Nothing new here except that an addendum, an extra piece of business that was added to the agenda has appeared. I wonder if the administration follows usual practice and adds something at the last last moment will that be called an addendum to the addendum!

Two things come to mind

Two things come to mind these last few days: one is the increasing number of people who have began to question the ability of the Deputy Mayor in his handling of local democracy and the other is the sleeper question of what the OPP told Council about policing costs and when are they going to release it in Council.

Both issues if not handled correctly by Council will continue to dog them and drag them down, but see if they care, there's another 3.5 years before the next election and the four dead white men will not run again so the public be damned. I just don't understand who's driving the agenda!

Busy weekend too busy to post but look at these - I do

An interesting email from John Draper the other day telling me about his blog read it here The Cobourg Blog. Pretty presumptuous but hey first in gets the name. The other blog I look at, mainly for the political info not the Liberal crap, is Garth Turner's here

Anybody who is confused by the US Gonzales Enquiry should read this as background

Read this and weep if you believe in free access to the voting booth, watch for the same from the Harpocrits! Campaign against alleged voter fraud fuels political tempest

BTW I have just enjoyed a break in my favourite place - you may have wondered why no posts this week

Naked Rambler Cleared By Court

A quirky little read here

Lt. Frederick Burd's last hours

Being the 90th anniversary of the 1917 battles in the Vimy - Passchendale region I have been working on a webpage to commemorate the only member of my grandfather's generation to be killed in the Great War, actually in this region on the 20th of September 1917. The reconstruction of his last hours is here. Some of you may find it interesting to read, I certainly enjoyed doing it despite hearing accusations of obsession and being an "anorak" (English term - look it up)

You should check out the rest of the site here

Next year we must do things differently

This year we have a Town tax increase above the rate of inflation. Add the education and County levies and we will have a tax increase of at least 5%. Way too much.

Next year we must aim for a Town increase of 0% or less. How can we do that you ask? "Zero-based budgeting" that's how. Each coordinator must instruct the staff to deliver a budget that cuts items out in order to deliver a budget of 0% (less that than the rate of inflation). If there are projects or programmes that need to be funded (in the opinion of the staff and coordinator) then those projects go on a list that the Council as a whole will consider at the first consolidated meeting.

So when Council sits down to discuss the budget they will be faced with a budget that requires no tax increase to fund and a list of projects to be considered for funding. If a programme is deemed worthy of funding then Council will have to justify to the public why we should have a tax increase to fund it.

That's my idea and I'm sticking with it! I'll bet nobody else will support such a radical suggestion

Is the Cobourg Council meeting on Monday or Tuesday?

We finally have an answer - it's on Monday. Never mind that Town Hall is shut down all day for a designated holiday, the powers to be will open up the doors on Monday at 7pm for a couple of planning meetings and a regular Council Meeting. Now the question is - will the people needed to staff the meetings, below the rank of Director, get double time and a half for attendance. After all they will be working on a designated holiday! If that's the case this will be a bloody expensive night, and Council will try to preach frugality to the rest of us!

PS, I will be speaking as a delegation about the problems of public communication. Look for me on channel 10