Posted on April 29, 2014 under Storytelling with no comments yet

Bergengren Credit Union

 

 

By and large, women are running the economy.   By and large, men are ruining the economy.  The good news in Canada is that many of our governments and businesses are led by women.  They are trying desperately to mop up some big messes.  A new broom sweeps clean.

I made a trip to my local credit union the other day.  My mission was quite simple; to empty the contents of our safety deposit box and shut it down permanently.  We hadn’t used it in eons and thought that it was time to pass in our keys.   It had been so long since we visited it, in fact, that we weren’t quite sure what was in it any more.  “Did you find anything valuable?” queried my wife.  “Lint” was my reply.

I must admit my bias towards credit unions, as my father was the long-time manager of our local institution.  Even though it usually isn’t necessary to visit the teller most of the time, with ATM’s and on-line banking at our fingertips, I still find myself being drawn to the wicket and will even patiently stand in line on ”cheque day”.   This is when senior citizens receive their Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security cheques.   I now have a legitimate right to be in this lineup.

In a world that is becoming increasingly cold and impersonal when it comes to business, credit unions have somehow managed to retain the personal touch.  This, of course, is born out of the roots of the cooperative movement which, sadly, has seen better days.  Our local co-op grocery store fell victim to the times not too long ago.

On a busy day you pick up a lot of news while standing in the lineup at the credit union.  When it is quiet, you can engage the teller, who feels almost like next of kin.  Once the topic of the weather has been covered, the conversation usually moves to family and community.  And even though the credit union has grown and competes with all of the major banks, there is still a feel to the place that makes it different.

All businesses should have an information desk.  As a male consumer and a non-shopper, there is nothing more disconcerting than entering a store and being unable to find someone to give you directions.  It’s almost like I have a sign on my back which says “please ignore”.  The women who staff the information desk at the credit union are like air traffic controllers, carefully guiding young and old (increasingly the latter) to their final destination.  And when you need a few minutes to rest, they have a comfortable chair and the morning newspaper.

I still collect loonies and toonies in a small steel container.  Every few months I roll the coins and carry them down to the credit union.  It gives me an excuse to chat with the women who run the place.  Let me make it perfectly clear that women are the backbone of all financial institutions, not just the credit union.  Let’s give them credit where credit is due.

 

 

Posted on April 28, 2014 under Monday Morning Musings with 4 comments

Saltscapes

 

 

I promise that this is the last word on the fundraiser. Those of you who read this column regularly, know that I take a shot at whiners from time to time. Most of us have much to be thankful for so when I hear people complaining for no good reason, I am apt to take a shot at them.

The following paragraph does NOT constitute whining…. It is merely observations. There’s a difference, you know!

The bottom line is that the show to raise money for the Community Hot Meal was a financial success. We are still accepting donations ( see me about this if you would like to make a tax deductible donation) and I expect when all is said and done that we will top the $6,000 mark. I am still in shock at the relatively low turnout for the show. As far as I can tell, there wasn’t anything else big going on in the community that night. We had a terrific line up of performers and artists and those in attendance seemed to really enjoy it. The cause was worthy. The weather was a bit dicey but I don’t think that was a major factor. If I organize another show like this, I might try something radical like having it on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. What do you think?  Any comments or suggestions are always welcome.

There. The end of the whine.

I attended the tribute for the late Blaise MacInnis at the R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home last Saturday. Blaise was obviously very well liked as the place was packed for an afternoon of country music. Ty Tyke Wallace and Robert MacArthur cranked out just about every country classic. You could feel the warmth in the room. It was a Saturday afternoon and it was sunny but that didn’t keep people away.

The pen was busy this weekend.

Did you go and line up at the pumps the day before the latest price increase? I did the math and I would have saved $1.20 if I had joined the ranks of the crazies ( apologies if you are one of those! ).  I did some other calculations and decided that the cost of idling the vehicle while waiting in line might be more than the gas savings. This prompted me to write a slightly sarcastic piece called “Pandemonium at the Pumps.”

Let’s face it. People are crazy about their dogs. I had friends over for coffee on Saturday morning. Both couples have dogs and one couple  was on their way to pick theirs up after travelling to the States. A short while later , I was walking along Main Street and noticed several people walking their dogs along side a dog trainer. It was quite impressive watching him putting the dogs and their owners through their paces. One of these people was my neighbor and I jokingly said that maybe Betty should be out here trying to train me. Without batting an eye, she said that she had an extra collar and leash at home.

These two seemingly unrelated incidents prompted me to run home and pen a story.  Are men trainable? Find out when I publish the story “Off Leash Men” coming soon at Week45.

Have a great week.

P.S. Congrats to the businesses from Antigonish who had booths at Saltscapes on the weekend. They did a great job showcasing our area of the province.

Posted on April 26, 2014 under Storytelling with 12 comments

Wrapping – Child’s Play

 

 

I just shipped out a box of my books to Wisconsin.  I should be elated that the good folks who bring you the Green Bay Packers and some of the best cheese in the world read my material.  I headed down to the post office earlier today and presented the large, heavy package to a pleasant clerk.  She weighed it; I paid the shipping costs and was leaving when I saw a grin cross her face.  “Did you wrap this parcel?”

Some things I do reasonably well.  I can make a mean omelet and a pan-fried haddock to die for.  During income tax season (my wife’s line of work) I take care of the laundry chores.   However, I was advised recently that if I put her bra in the dryer again, I will be forbidden to do the laundry in the future.  There’s an offer I can hardly refuse.  I regularly load and unload the dishwasher.   I can sing the tenor line in our church choir.

There are some things I do poorly and, as a result, don’t do them anymore.  I can’t assemble anything, even when the instructions are in English.  I can’t repair anything.   If I encounter technology problems at home or at work, I run screaming into a corner.

And despite my best efforts, I simply don’t know how to wrap presents, or anything else for that matter.

Back when I was young, naïve and smitten, I tried to impress my wife at Christmas.  I actually went into a store and picked out a gift.  I took it home and after a few feeble attempts, managed to hide the contents.  I quickly found out a few things.  The gift was poorly chosen and poorly wrapped.  The following year, I got smart and picked out a gift and had the store wrap it.  It looked fabulous.  But I soon found out that I had morphed into phase two of gift giving: well wrapped and poorly chosen.  This was closely followed the next year by unwrapped and poorly chosen.

In year four, I shelved the notion of a gift altogether.  Now, she buys the gift and wraps it.  There is nobody more surprised on Christmas morning than me when she opens her present … from me.

Which brings me to my most recent attempt at wrapping a parcel.  I tried to ship one book, one lousy book, to a reader in Alberta.  After a few minutes of futility, I went to the stationery store and got a bubble wrap envelope.  But you can’t put a large box of books in a bubble wrap package so I decided to wrap this latest shipment in brown paper and send it along.

Have you ever been to a day care centre just after “arts and crafts” hour?

The first piece of brown paper was too short.  The next one was too long.  Then I was flailing away trying to get the paper in place while extricating the scotch tape from the roller.  The angles of the folds weren’t perfect, but eventually it looked like a real parcel.  Just to make certain that things didn’t fall apart, I wrapped the extra wide, heavy duty packing tape around and around the box.  It probably added a pound to the shipping weight.  They may never get the damn thing open in Wausau but it will be in one piece when it arrives.

I am encouraging my readers to go to my website in future and take advantage of the digital download version of the book.  No packaging or shipping required.