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Words and Phrases Words and Phrases
Oct 12, 2019 Words, all important words, some times misleading words, multiple meaning words. As usual this is just me sounding off about nothing really important, just making some observations and committing them to paper. When we run out of eggs at our house we head out to a local Amish family farm to buy “farm fresh eggs”, often so fresh one of the kids has to go to the hen house to retrieve them. That’s fresh! I’m sure everyone is familiar with the term farm fresh, bought from the farmer, either at a roadside stand or from the farmhouse. Then you may have market fresh. Bought from a farm market booth, often sold by a non farmer who did not grow the produce but has purchased it from a warehouse and is nothing more than a reseller. Sure enough, the items are market fresh because they are being sold at a market. What we don’t know or even think about is how long were these vegetables warehoused before coming to market and how long were they on the truck during shipping from who knows where. Fresh is such an important word in marketing that McDonald’s uses the term “freshly cracked” giving the impression, subliminally, that their eggs were laid this morning. Think about it, they're not claiming freshness only a time frame as to when the eggs made their way onto the skillet. Economy, another great word used to help consumers make choices as they purchase goods. Economy is a word with one meaning that applies to both ends of the selling spectrum. If you purchase an economy box of cereal or laundry soap you take home a large box in order to stretch your food or laundry budget as far as possible. On the other hand, if you buy an economy car you come off the lot with a small compact car. Aren’t words fun? If you are my age or maybe a bit younger and certainly older, you will have heard the term “It’s a doozy”. Not knowing just what that meant I thought it meant a dud, no matter if you were referring to a car, boat, house or an old catcher’s mitt. Come to find out it’s a doozy is a compliment, comparing an item to a Duesenberg car, a car revered by collects as second to none. No longer being manufactured the Duesenbergs that have been restored are valued into the multi millions of dollars. You may find one that’s “just” or “only” a fraction of that, two more words used when pricing goods for sale.
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Accessibility October 7, 2019 Let’s talk accessibility this time around. My guess is accessibility is likely not a subject most people spend much time thinking about. Sure, when you see someone who is in a wheelchair or perhaps a blind person, if you’re like me you think it would be terrible to live that way. Then it passes and you lose that thought until the next time someone with an obvious handicap crosses your path. So what’s got me going on the topic? Today on a web based news source I saw a piece about a deaf woman being rejected at the drive threw at Tim Hortorns. It was clear from the video that the drive threw workers were under pressure from the longer and longer line up waiting to get their order. Additionally they were frustrated by their inability, unwillingness or lack of patience to deal with the young woman. Tim’s has been in decline for a while now, unless they manage this situation correctly they may experience further decline. Accessibility training and an apology is needed to say the least. Until about five years ago I had little idea what accessibility was. Handicap parking spot and a sturdy bar next to the toilet in an over sized stall and I thought this establishment has it covered. Five years ago however, my knees began to get progressively worse, bad enough that I had to take time off work which eventually forced me to retire. Now with two canes and most often a walker, I have a much better idea what accessibility is really all about. Stairs without railings, even two stairs is too many. Water on the floor, even with a yellow warning sign often seen in stores, creates a slip hazard for a person with canes or crutches. A floor mat with ripples or a turned up corner is a trip hazard for anyone, it’s worse for a person trying to navigate with crutches, canes, walker or wheelchair. Another accessibility feature often missed by architects and builders alike is a handicap washroom. I’ve been in new buildings that cost multiple millions of dollars to erect that do not have a truely accessible washrooms. I can’t blame the designers of these structures, they simply haven’t thought it through. So what is a proper handicap washroom? I would not have known until I found myself in this situation. A real handicap washroom is one in which a person with the handicap can be accompanied by his or her spouse or care giver into a separate washroom. It can be embarrassing and awkward to recruit a waiter or waitress to stand guard at the door to ensure privacy. How bad can it be to build a separate private handicap washroom when millions are being spend anyway? Until next time, I’ll be out and around Planet Earth
October 1 2019 For several years at our house we have recycled our recyclable trash in hopes of leaving our children, grandchildren and their children a healthy environment to live in. We placed our trust in the government to handle the bottles, plastics, cardboard and metals in the blue box. At about the same time a program or should I say tax, of a buck a bag for garbage pickup began. On the surface it seems a logical way to encourage recycling. Less bags of garbage less money spent. From the get go one truck with just one compartment picked up all classes of recycle materials. When the program started we sorted our plastics from glass and so on in order to make easier on the driver that gets little thanks for a year round job, in rain or shine, in too cold or too hot conditions. Several years into the program it’s obvious the government can’t do it. What misguided fools we have been thinking this would be a plan that we should buy into. The oceans are full of plastic, and toxic chemicals. I’m near certain one could hike to the furthest reaches of earth and find a Coke can, McDonalds wrapper or Tim Hortons cup. We are all guilty. You may never have knowingly littered, perhaps you would never ever consider illegal dumping. Yet, if you repeatedly buy water in a plastic bottle you are the problem. The water bottling companies don’t sell water, they sell plastic bottles. Many countries don’t recycle they dump onto anther county, another country or another continent. This still pollutes the earth! In our household we have vowed, no longer will we allow plastic water bottles in our home. For years we have had a sign on the door, “welcome to our smoke free home” we now will have one about plastic free environment as well. Every little bit helps, today I called Canada Dry and asked them to consider using non plastic rings for holding six packs together. There are now many large fields of hemp going in rural areas of Ontario, hemp is a well proven, strong and versatile material, once used for cloths, sails, rope as well as plenty of other commercial and domestic purposes. Anti cannabis and big oil company propaganda put a stop to that. Please think about what you do today and how it will affect your Great Great Grandchildren. Not just plastic but all trash. Until next time, I’ll be out and around! Saturday September 28/19
I'm starting this blog as a creative outlet to keep my brain working and to fill a void until my next photo shoot. Photography, writing poems and blogging are of interest to me. When I'm between photo sessions or if my creative photography and poetry juices dry up, this blog will be a reason to write. I will try a weekly schedule. It may appear more or less frequently according to my day to day activities or what's happening in the world. Until next time, I'll be out and around
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