The Annual Skunking of Molly

Every year, sure as the sun sets in the west, my dog Molly gets skunked. The first year it happened was the worst. She took it full-on in the face. Apparently the skunk didn’t realize or care that Molly only wanted to play. So, there I was at 2 a.m. drenching my year-old puppy in tomato juice. The timing was horrible as I was scheduled to get up at five and be on the road by six to drive across the province.

The next year I was in Montreal when it happened. My wife had to deal with it. When Gloria Steinem famously said that “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” she obviously had never had to bathe her hound in tomato juice. Two things I have learned after many years on the road – first, don’t leave your wife at home staring at walls that need painting. Either take her with you or paint the walls before you leave. Secondly, when you’re on the road for extended periods of time, it is almost guaranteed your wife will need to deal with a crisis that should have been yours to handle.

This year the skunking wasn’t so bad as Molly is starting to catch on and she high tailed it away so that the skunk only caught the back end of her. High tailed it right into the house, up the stairs and under the bed. We just got our carpets cleaned less than three days ago.

At least I was home to crack open a case of Leamington’s finest.

Good things in Windsor - The Optimist Youth Band

If you read enough Windsor blogs you would think that there’s nothing to do in this town but complain and find fault. I blame that on the fact that... no, just kidding.

And so bloggers are the only source of dissenting opinion, it seems.

That said there are a lot of very good things happening in our fair city. Although it is my profession to sell this city as a destination, even I forget the small wonders that make it more than just a great place to visit; this is a great place to live for most.

Last night I took in a concert at the Peace Fountain on Riverside Drive. The Windsor Optimist Youth Concert Band performed. The setting was beautiful, and the exuberance of the talented youth in the band was contagious. We don’t hear enough about them. They are an award-winning marching band that represents our city very well indeed.

While most of the audience was obviously parents and grandparents and family, my wife and I were there because we enjoy a good show in a peaceful setting in the company of good friends. Congratulations to the Windsor Optimist Youth Concert Band for being such fine ambassadors for and good neighbours in our city!

Employee on Sick Leave has his reputation tarnished by an elected official in the press

The CEO of the Windsor Public Library is on sick leave. This is public knowledge. The Chair of the Library board has an issue with what the CEO is doing on his sick leave. Fair enough. Why not approach the employee on sick leave and talk to him about it? Because the attention grabbing Chair of the Board is a city councilor who has never passed up an attention grabbing antic that would put him on the front page of the local rag. So instead he runs to the press. Shame on you, Mr. Councilor. Shame.

"Free" tank of gas with a new car?

My son got a new car. It’s a very sweet car. He deserves it; his mother and I agree that any kid that puts himself through University and comes out debt free has earned the right to drive a nice car, after he’s got himself a nice job of course. Just minutes after he left the lot the warning chime sounded that the hatch wasn’t fully closed, and upon inspection he discovered that it couldn’t be closed properly. He didn’t have time to get back to the dealership as he was on his way to work. So the annoying chime continued all the way to work and his car sat with an unlocked hatch (with 60/40 folding back seats allowing access to the cabin of the car) overnight.

I suppose it’s possible that the Dealer drove 400 kilometers to bring in this dealer trade from Pickering and didn’t hear the chime. I suppose it’s possible that the latch malfunctioned right after my son left the dealer’s lot.

I also suppose that the reason they give you a full tank of gas with a new car is that you may need every drop of it going back and forth to the dealership for warranty issues. Let’s hope not.

IN Support of Chauvin

Our town is in an uproar because Mr. Frank Chauvin is considering returning his Order of Canada after learning that Morgentaler will be similarly honoured.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=cae01509-d70b-4616-8065-ac4e5b2b28ab

Frank is a man of good faith who has dedicated the latter part of his life to helping the poor in Haiti. It's ironic that our Governor General, originally from Haiti, would forget the sanctity of life and recognize a man like Morgentaler, who with all best human intentions, has done great evil in our world with the taking of so many innocent lives.

I have never met Frank Chauvin, but I believe that whether or not one agrees with him on the Morgentaler issue, the man has seen the beauty of human life even in the most terrible of conditions in the slums of Haiti. He may not have carried a child in his womb, no man has, but this man has carried God's children in his arms and was moved to fight for the lives of the most unwanted of humankind, by our shameful societal standards.