Suddenly, I get a new title

In the year 2010, I will become a great-grandfather. This will take awhile to digest. Being a grandfather was strange enough, but this….

The news was announced last night as a bunch of us were sitting around a campfire at Wildlights. It’s an exciting thing, of course, and there’s almost a sense of immortality in knowing that a part of you is already guaranteed for a couple of generations after you’re gone.

At the same time, it adds a new dimension to aging. I never knew any of my great-grandfathers, because they were gone long before I was born. In fact, I never knew either of my grandfathers, either — again, both died before I was born. I’ve always regretted that, because I came to know them only through family stories and they were both fascinating men. I would like to have sat around and chewed the fat with them and learned from them.

I know a little about my mother’s grandfather, from her descriptions of him, and from studying up on family history. A picture of him standing in front of our house with other of our ancestors hangs on our wall. But he seems like a shadowy figure.

Here and now, I will suddenly become a great-grandfather myself, and hopefully will be here to see my great-grandson or great-grand-daughter grow. Quite a way to start a new year.

Our Boxing Day with Greyhound

I must share my Christmas Season Greyhound Experience with you, as I’m curious to know whether it was an anomaly, or common place. As Greyhound has not been reaping the best of public relations recently, I found our Boxing Day visit to the Kamloops bus station quite instructive.

We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Syd’s folks from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, and, in late afternoon, drove them into the station to catch their bus back home. The place was packed, and I mean packed. There are four gates in the station, but trying to figure out if you were in the right lineup was a challenge.

My father-in-law, who is in his late 80s, succeeded in getting tags for their luggage and we got into what we figured was the most likely bet for the right lineup.

“Is this lineup for Gate 2?” a pleasant woman asked?

“Yes, it is,” said Syd. “More or less.”

“Thank you,” she said, and proceeded to jump queue by a dozen or so people. I was, I admit, agape. I hadn’t seen such a stunt since a rude passenger shoved in front of me at the Beijing airport and chewed me out when I objected. This time, I went up the line and tapped her on the shoulder and told her she’d just shoved in ahead of a couple of seniors.

To her credit, she looked apologetic and moved back behind us.

The gates, as it turned out, were little more than suggestions. Every once in awhile, a driver would appear from outside and yell, “Anybody here going to Vancouver?” or “Anybody for Chilliwack?” A chorus would come back from the lineup, “Yes! Chilliwack!” or somesuch thing.

One guy came in and shouted, “Langley, Gate 1!” Then he looked at the door and added, “Or Gate 2 — whatever!”

Well, we were in the Gate 2 group and we certainly weren’t looking to go to Langley, so there was some confusion and head shaking over that one. Fifty minutes after the scheduled departure time for the Okanagan bus, our house guests finally made it through the gate and were directed toward their bus.

We received a call yesterday assuring us they hadn’t ended up in Langley and had actually made it back home.

My observations are these:

1. Greyhound bus passengers are very patient and forgiving people.

2. Greyhound doesn’t have much of a challenge ahead of it in improving holiday service — a functioning PA system, something to separate the lineups, that’s all it would take to make things better than they were that evening. Even buses that run almost an hour late wouldn’t upset anyone if they had just a little more information on how to go about getting through the station.

Agree or disagree?

Four days later, we’re back

If there was a lesson to be learned from this Christmas season, it’s that a daily newspaper should not wait four days between publications.

I enjoyed the extended four-day holiday myself, but returned today to find that a lot of people had called the office yesterday wondering why they hadn’t received their Monday edition of The Daily News. The reason was that because Christmas Day fell on a Friday,Boxing Day Saturday, and so on, and it made practical sense — largely for our staff’s statutory holidays — to resume publishing today rather than yesterday.

We provided notice of that last Thursday on the front page, but many readers missed it and, when the paper didn’t arrive on their doorstep yesterday morning, thought there might be a delivery problem.

The fact so many people called is a good thing in that it indicates they depend on their daily paper and miss it when it doesn’t show up. Four days is the longest period in my recollection that we’ve ever gone without publishing and I doubt we’ll do it again. And we’d be wise to print notice of any future holiday publishing schedules a little more prominently, as well.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’m having trouble focusing today. A lot of Daily News staffers have taken well-deserved days off to prepare for tomorrow. Those who are working today were invited by management to bring their kids to spend the day just hanging out and taking part in activities.

A moment ago, as I was part way through that last sentence, one of them came into my office and said, “You used to be president?”

“Well, not exactly,” I replied.

“Did you like being president?” he asked.

“It was pretty good,” I said, deciding to go with the flow.

That, however, was all he wanted to know — he turned on his heels and marched out into the newsroom.

So, here I sit, trying my best to get some meaningful work done but more focused on the end of the day, when there will be a crisp Chardonnay with my name on it, a crackling fire, and family. Not being a man of religion, I nonetheless have enjoyed this Christian celebration my whole life, and continue to do so.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Frootloops council gets good news for Christmas

It’s the last meeting of Frootloops council before the Christmas-or-if-you-prefer-Holiday- season. Mayor Peter Milkbar is anxious to get things going. 

MILKBAR: Call the meeting to order. This is a totally transparent meeting, no secrets, no hidden agendas. Talk as long as you want, don’t pay any attention to me, I’m just here to listen.

COUN. NANCY BABBLE: I’m just wondering, Your Warthog, but you’re not the only one nobody’s paying attention to. We’re down to one TV camera and the only reporters who show up any more are Michele Yatter and Angelo Yakabaloney. I bring up as many nitpicky things as possible week after week but I’m not getting anywhere.

COUN. TINA TOAST: Your Mumblefest, I think this is a general problem. The public gallery hasn’t exactly been full, and I think it’s because we need to spark a little more controversy. Last year we did the chicken dance, the backyard burning, stuff like that. This year, it’s been kind of dull around here. It was more fun when your predecessor was fighting with Betty Hindrance.

COUN. MADGE SPIRULINA: Coun. Toast is absolutely right, though not as right as I am, in fact she’s totally wrong but there’s nothing wrong with that, right? What we really need is some good, positive news. I feel great just thinking about it. After all, it’s Christmas. Group hug!

MILKBAR: Never in this lifetime.

COUN. DENIS WATCHDOG: I’d like to make a motion — if someone would second it for a change — that we workshop this issue, consult like crazy, commission a survey and then hold a referendum.

MILKBAR: I don’t see a seconder. Anyway, we just spent 18 grand on a survey and everybody thinks we’re wonderful. As for referendums, I’m not a fan — they just gum things up when we want to go ahead and do the opposite of what people tell us.

RANDY DOODLE, Chief Administrative Guy: Your Warship, I think we, your faithful Froot Staff, can help on the issue of positive news. Byron McSnorkle, our Main Fun and Games Guy, has pretty exciting plans.

McSNORKLE: I think there’s a win-win opportunity here, Your Drollness. I will defer to Jeff Putman, our Chief Sports Development Honcho, to explain.

PUTMAN: Hey, how ya doin’? Is this a great Fun and Games Capital kinda day, or what? OK, here’s the drill. Some people say the Olympics aren’t going to benefit us here in the Loops, but boy are they wrong. Already, we have the Swiss Winter Parcheesi Team training here, and we’ve almost sewed up the World Masters Crokinole Championships. We’re set to announce these just in time for Christmas!

COUN. JOHN DeCAPPUCCINO: It will take more than a couple of new tournaments to stop people being mad at us, Your Grumbleship. They come into the shop, they say, “John, what’r we gonna do about Abby the dog, why is she in jail?” I say, “I dunno, I’ll find out.”

PUTMAN: No problem, we’ve got that one covered, too! I’ve been discussing it with the Dog Police and they’re willing to give her a pardon with full sidewalk privileges. Then, you, your Twaddleness, proclaim her our official Frootloops Fun and Games Ambassador, and we’re good to go,.

COUN. PAT WARHORSE: Your Rambleship, I remember back in 1893 at the first-ever meeting of council, we dealt with a similar issue. Somebody’s Texas Longhorn kept bothering people on Victoria Street during rutting season. ‘Course, there were no sidewalks, but we never had a problem with people owning too many dogs back then either — the sheriff packed a Colt .45.

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MILKBAR: Let’s focus, shall we? I, too, am worried about the lack of public interest. Nobody bothers to come to our meetings anymore.

COUN. JIM HYDRANT: That’s actually a good thing, Your Boywondership. I’d have to call in the fire marshall if too many people showed up.

MILKBAR: Coun. Offline, are you going to add anything to this discussion, or just sit there?

COUN. JOHN OFFLINE: Sorry, Your Washtub, I was busy texting McHappyJet about their new glidepath. Their new twin-engine Dash 47 weighs 674 tons with a maximum thrust per engine of 82 thingamahjiggies per second and a cruising altitude of 20,000 ft. If you multiply that times the temperature in celsius, I figure we’ll need another .23 miles added to our runway. That will mean building a serious wharf onto the river. But never mind, I’ll email it in from my Blackberry

COUN. SPIRULINA: I think I’m right when I say we all agree with Mr. Putman’s recommendations. Am I wrong? I move we accept, plus we invite Abby to our annual Frootloops Council Christmas Bun Toss. I’ll pay for her ticket out of my expense allowance, if you don’t mind approving it since I’m already way over my spending limit. But that’s a good thing, right?

COUN. WATCHDOG: Shouldn’t we consult first?

ALL: No!

MILKBAR: The motion is carried. Have a good one.

So, how happy are we?

We’re all just one big happy family pleased as punch to be living in the Tournament Capital of Canada, according to the just-released 2009 Citizen Satisfaction Survey.

And that’s a good thing. But then, we’ve been happy campers for quite awhile now. In fact, not much changes in the two to three years between surveys, going back to when they were started.

How close to the truth is this survey? First off, I’ve heard it said the sample is too small to get a good reading.

In fact, though, 400 is an awfully big survey in opinion-poll terms. The science of surveys indicates that, in a city of our population, a larger survey would not yield much different results.

The margin of error in the survey was plus or minus 4.9 per cent, 19 times out of 20, which is another way of saying it’s pretty darn accurate.

It’s not the last word, though. It provides only the most general direction for City Hall. Plus, it gives our civic politicians and staff some bragging material — if people say they’re happy, those who run the city must be doing something right.

Mayor Peter Milobar seems to like this year’s results, as did Terry Lake in 2006. A handy point for mayors and councilors come budget time is that — according to the survey — more people would rather see taxes go up than services go down.

Which is good, since we haven’t seen a tax cut in more than a decade.

Overall satisfaction always ranks in the high 90s, but the story is in the detail. For example, this year, 34 per cent said they felt less safe than they did five years ago. That’s about average for such surveys in the province, but it’s interesting that, back in 2003, the number was considerably higher, at 47 per cent.

This is a good trend, despite the off-stated concerns about needing more police.

There’s lots of stuff in this year’s survey about spending priorities, what people like most about living here, about what issues are top of mind, and so on.

Which raises the question, is the $18,000 bill for the survey worth it? I think it is. Politicians are supposed to ask people what they want, and the survey is one way of doing it.

It’s not the only way, though. While the satisfaction poll gives some direction, the City takes many other surveys during the year on specific issues, such as neighbourhood plans, transit, pesticides and planning measures.

I don’t see the survey posted on the City’s website yet, but try logging on in a few days and give it a glance.

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Thompson-Nicola Film Commissioner Vicci Weller recently saw the movie 2012, filmed in part locally, and pronounces it worth the price of admission.

“I saw 2012 last night and was thrilled to see what was ‘envisioned’ when I scouted for this film versus the reality in the film,” she comments in a memo to TNRD staff. “Keep in mind that the script was ‘top secret’ and I was only given verbal descriptions as to what they were looking for.”

Lac du Bois stood in for Yellowstone Park in the film, a campsite near McLean Lake was used for a scene with Woody Harrelson, and John Cusack drives an RV along Haywood-Farmer Road. Perry Ranch, Red Lake Road, and the Ashcroft hills were among other locales.

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Wayne McRann of Developing World Connections, the local do-good agency that does work in countries around the world, spends a lot of time away from home.

Lately, he was back in Tangalle, the small Sri Lankan town that Kamloops signed an aid agreement with in the wake of the tsunami.

While there, he attended a meeting of the local committee working with Kamloops on rebuilding the town, including housing, economic and infrastructure issues.

To get an idea of what Tangalle is facing, the education department there has the use of just one toilet described by McRann as “disgusting.”

A group from DWC and the Kamloops-Tangalle Friendship Committee will be over there in January to help celebrate the fifth anniversary of the signing of the protocol, and it’s expected they’ll go to work building a new four-toilet facility.

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AROUND TOWN: Kamloops’ best-known barber, Coun. John DeCicco, celebrated his 65^th birthday Monday with wife Darlene and a group of friends at their home. . . . Phil Gaglardi is in the Christmas spirit. A wreath has been placed on the outstretched arm of his statue at Gaglardi Square. . . . I see City council’s expense numbers have been released, with Coun. Marg Spina topping the list. It’s an annual tradition now for mayor and council to justify their expenditures by pointing out they’re lower than what they budgeted. Hmmm — I suppose all they’d have to do to make them lower still would be to increase the expense budget. . . . WinterLights judges arrived in town this week for a busy round of events, including yesterday’s very nice luncheon at St. Andrews. City staff received special praise from Kamloops Downtown BIA manager Gay Pooler for all their work. Coun. Pat Wallace took top prize in council’s wreath-decorating contest.

‘I just got the word today’

I ran  into a friend at the bakery today. “I haven’t seen you for awhile,” I said. “How are you?”

“I haven’t been well,” she said. “I just got the word today.”

I was afraid to ask, “what word?” but I did. “What is it?” I asked.

“Two months,” she said. “It’s the Patrick Swaze thing.”

Pancreatic  cancer. She told me how it had hit her a few weeks ago when she was in Vancouver. She felt ill, collapsed, and the next thing she knew a bunch of emergency guys were surrounding her. Then, it was raining. That’s what she felt next as they loaded her into the ambulance to take her to hospital.

What was out of place in this story is that she laughed as she was telling it, emphasizing not the tragedy but what she saw as the amusing little pieces of it, the bizarre nature of the whole thing.

She’s been writing a book about her fascinating life and she’s been having trouble getting it finished, even though she’s had offers from three publishers. She has to write faster now, she said. I offered to do anything I can to help her with it, and when I told her how devastated I was at the news, she laughed again and said, “Shit happens.”

That’s typical of this amazing woman, to be thankful for what she’s been able to do in her lifetime, and to accept what she can’t change. I doubt I could be that strong.