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WATERLOO CHRONICLE Carolyn Anstey Amy Hachborn Circulation Manager .. Circulation 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J IP2 (A division of Southam Inc.) Publisher: Cal Bosveld B86â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail: wehronicle@sentex. net Lynn Barto! [aune Ridgw Regional Classified Classified The views of our columists are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper Mailed subscription rate: $65 yearly in Canada, $90 yearly outside Canada. +GST The Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group, a division of Southam Inc. Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement Number 136379 International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0832â€"3410 The Waterioo Chronicle welcomes letters in the Editar They should be signed with name. address and phone num ber and will be verified for accuâ€" tacy. No unsigned letters will be published Submissions may be edited for length, so please be bmef Copyright in letters and ather materials submitted to the Publisher and accepted for publicanion remains with the author, but the publisher and its hicensees may freely repmduce them in print. electromc or other forms Our mailing address is 75 King StS . Suite 201. Warerinn N2 LP2. our e mail address is wchromicle@sentex net. and out fax number is RRA 93R\ Letters Policy Andrea Bailey Bob Vrbanac Reporter Sports Editor Iim Alexander Gerry Mattice Director of Sales Supervisor Advertising Cal Bosveld Publisher Audited circulation: 26,056 Manager Deborah Crandall Editor Laune Ridgway hanks to popular demand â€" three people to be Texact â€" I‘ve decided to try my hand at a second opinion column. After reading my last, um how should I say, rant, I‘m sure most of you know 1 do have definite opinions. This notion came to me last weekend when I was covâ€" ering â€" the â€" Superwalk _ for o ie Parkinson‘s at Victoria Park. reore en After introducing myself to a | l [\\[(1“ | | lady and asking if she and her ‘ UP ‘ nephew would pose for a picâ€" | * ture, her response hit me right [ vegie | between the eyes. [ f ‘ I feel I have to explain this since a prominent member of the community congratulated me last week on my "promotion". She thought that just because Deb was good enough to let my mug grace her regular column space the week before, that 1 was the new Deb. But in reality, Deb‘s Deb, I‘m me, and that‘s that. Onto the next clarification. l am NOT a vindictive jourâ€" nalist who rubs her hands together and wonders who she can look down her nose at next. Yet, on the other hand, I don‘t want you to think I‘m just some selfâ€"righteous brute who takes advantage of this column space to give others...heck. _ fes So there are a few things I would like to clear up before you get to know a little more about me. _ ______ _ _ _ First, no 1 am not the new editor of the Chronicle. Deb is still alive and well down the hall. "Oh, you‘re the redhead who gave all those people crap in that story last week," was what she said. "Come on Jamie, we‘d better do what she says. We don‘t want to make her mad." _ But I do call a spade a spade; and if I see someone wronging someone else, I will speak up, whether it be a verbal thrashing or in writing. No doubt about it. . _ Okay, now that my cards are on the table, can‘t we all just get along? Actually I‘ve found myself asking a lot of folks that question lately. It‘s funny how pettiness can get the better of people, and actually ruin relationships. I myself had to learn that fact the hard way. I used to be the type who let a lot of anger build up and bother me. And believe me I paid for it dearly in the form of losing my bestest friend in the whole wide world, and same other pretty nice people too. Stunned, all 1 could do was nod and chuckle. But you know what? I needed that kind of wakeâ€"up call to realize life is too short and people are too precious to take for granted. As they say, you don‘t know what you‘ve got until it‘s gone; and I‘m living proof. I don‘t wake up every mornâ€" n BAILEY | ing and wait anxiously for someone to get on my bad side. Really, I‘m actually pretâ€" ty easyâ€"going and patient. I‘m happy to report though that after 10 months of soulâ€"searching on all our parts, my bestest friend in the whole wide world, as well as thase other pretty nice peoâ€" ple are back at my side. For the first time in a long time, I‘m actually happy. Wait, I‘ve got something in my eye. Okay, good to go. Now the main thing worrying me is, in one word, Daddy You see, Daddy‘s a great guy and a wonderful father He has given my mother, my sister, my puppy and me all we‘ve ever needed to have happy, healthy fulfilling lives. The problem is, I‘m afraid he‘s not taking as much care of his own life. I‘m going to cut to the chase, he‘s got a weight problem and shows no signs of solving it. That, however. is not the only issue. A heavy load of stress from the workplace. along with a history of heart and stroke in his family is what‘s really starting to worry me. I was talking to a coâ€"worker the other day and he recited a saying that has some validity. "Eat right, keep fit, die anyway" How true, but why rush into the great beyond? Food for thought. But I‘m at the point where I‘m starting to realize l can‘t live my father‘s life for him. and what will be will be I just hope he realizes all my harping and badgering is out of love and concern. rather than control. See, I do have a softer side (not one word Mr. Vrbanac). and hopefully three more people will see that and request my presence back here, same place, same time, in a couâ€" ple of weeks Until then, be not afraid to approach me on the street. There‘s no bad side to worry about, and I cerâ€" tainly don‘t bite _ hard anyway The real me VIEWPOINT re you tired of reading and hearing Aibout Karla Homolka? 1‘ll bet that lot of us are. Let‘s hope we don‘t get a story a week when she does get sprung. _ Will justice be done? She‘ll probably get out of the can and peddle her story for a piddling million bucks. â€" â€" Money Brags: Ever since the Phoenicians invented money there‘s been a solution to most problems. Thus the Waterloo Region school board is able to settle its high school teachers with a fiveâ€" perâ€"cent increase. _ Now a pay boost like that is either niggardly or healthy depending on whether you‘re getting or receiving it. _ But the big mystery to some people was where the board was going to get the gelt to fund the raise. Anybody who finds a mystery in that doesn‘t know the histoâ€" ry of the board. The board may plead poverty, but the fact is it‘s always able to find the funds when it finds something it wants to do. Always. Always. . mmanias ways Thus it had no money to rescind _ the â€" horrendous rental increase to Scouts, Guides and so on for using the schools. But it had a wad of money for fees in an impotent, impudent trustees association. Anyhow, the answer to where the board always finds the money is this: Each year it‘s stashed a couple of milâ€" lion in a cache on a hillside near Plattsville. The trove is guarded night and day by an overâ€"age custodian and a particularly nasty Rottweiler in one eye. And there‘s no use going out to Plattsville seeking the treasure. The overâ€" age custodian may be infirm, but the halfâ€"blind dog is just a terror. When he licks your face, he‘s not being friendly He‘s just basting you. Yes anybody who has a hint of know!â€" edge about the board knows it always has money. Scads and scads of money. A bankroll that makes Ken Thomson and Conrad Black look like paupers by comâ€" parison The school board pleads poverty only when it suits things will reaily start changing leaves or the Oktopertesters ?! colour and falling to the ground. £ Ein Prosit Again: Well. it‘s too late to Ah, in the next week or so, who‘s blind get out of town to avoid Oktoberfest, but 1 suppose we can stop driving at nights to avoid the drivers who avoided the road checks. We must always remember: The big festival isn‘t obligatory; it‘s voluntary. If you don‘t want to ziggyâ€"ziggyâ€"ziggy, you don‘t have to. Threeâ€"quarters of a million folks or so will slurp and burp at the annual beer bash, a lot of folks like it. It‘s everyone to his own taste, as the man said when he kissed the camel. It‘s claimed that $18 million is pumped into the community by patrons of the nineâ€"day event. That‘s a lot of the old happy cabbage, you‘ll have to admit. And the Thanksgiving Day parade is the finest such cavaicade in these parts. By any yardstick, it‘s worth seeing. _ Finally, 1 suppose we should strike a medal of courage for the chaps who spend nine days in lederhosen. Next time you‘re feeling sorry for yourself, just be thankful you don‘t have to wear a pair of the leather shorts. fi l The conversation swung to immigration and John and 1 found ourselves in a lively discussion â€" in some circles they‘d call it an argument â€" with Pierre. Still, maybe we should have been flattered. It‘s always been said that he couldn‘t tolerate thickheads at all, and he took enough pains with us to prove we were reasonable opposition In retrospect, it may have been that the PM was just baiting us, but at times I felt like a popgun arrayed against a batâ€" tery of howitzers Still, it‘s beyond question that he invigâ€" orated Canada with the new spirit and the new confidence it sports today. And he inspired a generation of Canadians Are you taikin‘ about the I suppose the incident 1 enjoyed most was having dinner in Niagara Falls with him, the late John Muir, pubâ€" lisher _ of _ the Hamilton Spectator, and a radio execuâ€" tive whose name I forget. The Legend Lingers: Enough tributes have been paid fo Pierre Trudeau â€" along with the occasional criâ€" tique or a mix of both â€" that anything more would be superfluous.