Council Puts the ME in Mediocre

This post has been written and deleted a few times in the last week.  I was going to lament the lack of vision that City Council has for Hamilton, I was going to decry the lack of decorum among certain members of our Council in the face of withering criticism online and I was going to outline all of the reasons that I decided to move my family away from downtown Hamilton after being there for over 10 years.

If I did all of that this would be an incredibly long post and I am convinced I would just delete it again halfway through due to how much anger it evokes.

I will, however, start with something the City of Hamilton primarily got right.  The reason I start with it is that it coincides closely with my decision to move downtown originally.  It was the World Cycling Championships.  Never have I been prouder to be from Hamilton.  It was the first time I ever felt that people outside of this City got to see it for it was:  A gorgeous canopy of green at the head of Lake Ontario.  The live TV shots of the Queen Street Hill were stunning; the bikes flying down James Mountain Road were terrifying.

This was my City as I saw it and the rest of the World got to enjoy it along with me.  How incredibly exciting.  I lived on Bay Street South at the time and had to get a special parking pass that would allow us to park outside of the race zones.  I had to walk 3 blocks to get to the car over Thanksgiving weekend because if we parked in the zone we weren't allowed to leave.

Who cared?  I sure didn't.  The City had got it right and I was living in the middle of the most urban experience you could have.  I loved being downtown at that time.

Fast forward a few years and my wife and I decided to buy our first house.  We were priced out of Durand and Kirkendall but were able to find a lovely Worker's cottage in Strathcona that retained all the original workmanship with a few modifications to allow for plumbing and electricity.  When I stepped out on my porch and looked left I had a view of Dundurn Castle every day which you really can't beat.

I had bought into a walkable, easy to negotiate neighbourhood.  We were within walking distance to most of our needs and I eventually began working at Bay and King so I could be at work in 15 minutes if I walked briskly.  The neighbourhood could have been considered "up and coming" because we had a mix of low income families, newcomers and elder neighbours but when we took the kids to Victoria Park playground none of it mattered.  The kids played together and everyone enjoyed what the neighbourhood offered.

During our time on Dundurn I was able to participate in the Truck Off campaign and enjoyed the removal of Dundurn Street from the Master Truck Route.  The change in quality of life was immediate.  Our house used to rumble from the trucks going down the street.  I would not say it was quiet by any means but it was much more manageable.

Over time I became more attuned to what was happening at Council.  I was always disturbed to hear about efforts to keep things at the status quo.  I was excited to hear about plans to modernize the streets and convert them back to two-way.  The idea of livable, walkable streets was exactly what we were looking for.

I was excited for the bicycle lane to be implemented on Dundurn.  The sidewalks are so tiny that having that extra buffer between you and traffic was a godsend.  It also removed an unnecessary lane and slowed traffic down.  Everyone talked about how terrible it would be for traffic and there were serious concerns that it would not go through.  I honestly believe that without Brian McHattie's leadership on that file it would not have happened.

During all this good I was dismayed to watch the City go through the Pan-Am Stadium process.  It was easily one of the most infuriating things I have experienced as a spectator to Municipal politics and processes.  To this day I am baffled at how we allowed a sports team to dictate planning and policy when they would only be using the stadium for a maximum of 11 dates a year.

Remarkably as of the writing of this the stadium is now not anticipated to be complete until at least February 2015 when it was supposed to be done in June of 2014 and the professional soccer team that was supposed to be negotiated to play in Hamilton as part of the underhanded deal for the stadium site is nowhere to be seen.  No one on city Council is being held accountable for any of this and that is mind-blowing.

I watched from my office as the City allowed the Board of Education to walk away from the Downtown and sell land that was GIVEN to them by Hamilton.  How did this happen?!?!  It was supposed to be given to the Board for them to use in perpetuity for the Education Centre.  At the least it should have reverted back to the City when they deemed it no longer necessary.  Instead I watched that beautiful building be tore down.  The new Education Centre is in the middle of a neighbourhood off of local transit lines on the East Mountain.  How is this responsible leadership?

The straw that broke my back was when I contacted Brian McHattie's office to see about having the cross walk that was right in front of my house on Dundurn repainted as it had slowly eroded over the years.

Imagine my shock when I was told that the City was no longer replacing the painted lines for fear of litigation from people being hit by a car crossing the road.

Imagine the thought process that brings you to the conclusion that it is safer to not repaint those lines. I hope that the few people who actually read this find it impossible to come around to that rationale.

My love affair with living downtown underwent a death by a million paper cuts.  There were so many instances where City Council just didn't get it and my patience with the renaissance that I believed downtown was going to have had run out.  After long discussions with my Wife we decided it was time to move our family out of downtown Hamilton.  We listed our home and said goodbye.  Dundas was to become our new community.

During our time in Dundas I have continued to wave the flag for downtown.  I believe strongly that it needs to be healthy for the rest of this City to thrive.  To that end there are various things that need to be done to create that health.  I firmly believe that Rapid Transit in the form of LRT is an absolute necessity.

I take the bus daily and applauded the introduction of a Transit Only Lane (TOL) through the Core.  One of the real struggles that I had before that lane was that buses were rarely reliable.  I always had a real problem estimating when I needed to be at my stop because there was no consistent schedule.  The TOL brought schedule reliability to the 10,1, 5 and the 52 which was amazing.

This week in their infinite wisdom, despite overwhelming support by transit riders, facts, figures, support from the HSR Director, City Staff reports and the fact that we are going to need a transit only lane during the PAN-AM games Council killed the TOL.  If at any time I had waffled on my decision to move out of downtown this is the sort of decision that just verified that I did the right thing.

It really is heartbreaking to see Council so unmovable amidst so much proof against their opinion.  I cannot stress this enough, Chad Collins, Lloyd Ferguson, Tom Jackson, Scott Duvall, Terry Whitehead, Doug Conley, Arlene VanderBeek, Robert Pasuta and Judi Partridge voted to kill the lane based solely on their feelings about it.  Not due to the fact that it was ineffective or inefficient but because in the suburbs it took some of their constituents 5 extra minutes in the afternoon to drive home.  And I find it difficult to believe that they were inundated with calls about this since most of their constituents wouldn't be coming through downtown from the beginning of the TOL to Dundurn to get home.

I have a message for those Councillors.  Now that the HSR schedule reliability is set to be rubbish again, I and THOUSANDS of fellow bus riders face the possibility of getting home anywhere from 10 - 15 to maybe 30 or 45 minutes later than normal due to missing transfers and the like. Too bad for us transit users though eh?

The amount of disdain that those Councillors have is remarkable.  They are the reason that the City of Hamilton will take longer than it should to reach its potential, they are the reason that people are resigned to fact that this City may never get better and they are the reason that despite getting amazing press from the media such as The Star, The Globe and Mail and The National Post that internally we feel that aren't good enough to be a World Class City.  It's because we have Councillors who are so backwards as to be laughable.

I am so incredibly sick of it.

Giving Thanks

It's that time of the year again.  We gather with our friends and family and give thanks for what we have.  For some reason I have been reflecting a bit more this year than in the past.  Maybe I am just getting sentimental or just plain old.  In the end I have so many things to be truly thankful for.

First and foremost I am thankful for my family.  They are the anchor that keeps me from drifting out to sea, they keep me grounded and remind me what is really important in life.  I have learned so much from my boys in the last 5 years.  I am constantly amazed at how they see the world and how they interact with their surroundings. 

I am thankful for my wife. Her patience, understanding and belief in me over the years has been inspiring. Allowing me to take a leap of faith last year and change jobs, while she was on maternity leave, was a huge risk. It hasn't been without it's challenges but in the long run I think that it was the right thing to do for us. Having the patience to live in a house with what amounts to 4 kids, all of them male, borders on courageous. Watching how naturally amazing she is with our kids is heartwarming. Her confidence in me and my abilities makes me want to be a better person at all times.

I am thankful for my in-laws.  I won the in-law lottery hands down.  I don't think that there are many like them out there and I can say with all sincerity that the unconditional love and support they have provided us with over the years has been overwhelming.  I almost feel bad because all I have been able to give in return are three kids that continually trash their house, eat their food, occasionally break stuff and wake them up before the sun rises when they have a sleepover.

This summer especially I was thankful for the time that we were able to spend up at the cottage and the freedom that it provided the kids.  I watched them poke and probe their world entirely on their own and it reminded me of being a kid and being able to discover things on my own.  I have watched Declan grow into the role of big brother and laughed as Rhys and Leighton both follow him around like puppy dogs.  I am thankful for the time spent fighting big waves in Lake Huron with Declan and Rhys and time spent snuggling under the huge trees with Leighton.

All in all I have a lot to be thankful for.  Today I am thankful for being able to be around the people that I love and care about and share some food, stories and laughter with them.

Summer Lovin'

Beginning of the summer

Summer is officially done and I think that I can safely say that the kids loved it.  More time was spent at the cottage than at home which for them is pure heaven.  There were day camps, long walks, swimming, swimming and more swimming, parades and generally tomfoolery.

Declan spent 3 weeks doing day camps both in Kincardine and Hamilton and loved every minute of it. Canoeing at the RBG was a hit and swimming at camp in Kincardine was his favourite.  I think Rhys loved his snuggles with Grandma Shirley at the cottage the most and will miss them terribly.  For Leighton it was a summer of discovering what he could get into and where he could go.  He is now in a forward facing car seat and he is just about to start going to daycare.  They are all growing up so fast.

I turned 35 this summer.  From what I am lead to believe I am now old.  There are certainly days when I feel it.  Today was not one of those days.  I was down at the beach with Declan and Rhys running around in the water and trying to catch minnows in the shallows of Lake Huron.  It was hilarious how bad I was at it.  Leave it to Andrea to upstage me and catch 2 in the span of minutes when I was trying for about half an hour!  At least I know I can count on her to forage if required!  In my defence I had Rhys' huge feet splashing around and scaring the fish.  Yeah, that's it, that's the reason I sucked.

One of the best memories I will have of this summer is watching Declan and Rhys play Crazy 8's with Andrea's Grandmother.  How incredibly lucky these boys are to be able to spend time with their Great Grandmother and at this point in their lives they will remember doing it.  Rhys' enthusiasm when we would pull up the drive with her in the car was absolutely enthralling.  He would almost physically pull her out of the van after opening the door for her with a hearty "Hi Great Grandma!"  Amazing.

On the nights when I would drive her back home we would normally have a quick discussion about the  way things were when she was young.  How amazing is it that I can speak to someone who remembers her Father being out on the ice in the winter on Lake Huron with the horse and sled, cutting ice to bring back to the ice house.  She remembers the first time she left town on a train bound for Toronto.  She remembers what it was like to live without cars, plumbing, electricity and so many other things that we take for granted.  On top of that all she is as sharp as a razor when it comes to Euchre.  She never misses a trick and I have learned more about the game from playing on that old table in the cottage with her, my Mother-in-Law Shirley and Andrea than I have playing with anyone else.  If that makes me old than so be it.  Unless you have had the pleasure of that company you will never understand.

Andrea and I also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on September 2nd.  We have certainly packed a lot into that time.  3 kids.  Wow.  Time is flying by so quickly.

Last long weekend at the cottage in 2012

Time to pull up stakes

I am sitting on my porch right now missing my family. This is longest I have been without them in years and it sucks. The only thing that it has done is give me some time to reflect. Andrea and I moved to this house almost 7 years ago. We weren't married yet and kids weren't anywhere on the horizon. I thought this house was perfect. In hindsight maybe I was rash and pushed too hard but at the time it felt right. I wanted to be downtown, close to what I considered to be a slowly revitalizing Hamilton so we purchased on Dundurn north. I can see the Castle from my porch, walk to the waterfront trail and be downtown in minutes. Sure Dundurn is a bit of highway but so what? I could live with that. Fast forward seven years. We have three young boys who ache for running space and I can't give it to them without supervising them the whole time. I want more for them. I think it's time to sell. Scary thought.

Sunsets

This post is about a picture.  This past weekend we had the pleasure of going up to the cottage and getting it ready for the season.  The first couple of days were spent getting the grass cut and doing some simple repairs.  The evenings were spent relaxing and watching the sun go down. 

Kincardine is home to some of the best sunsets I have ever seen.  Bar none.  When you see the sun go down on a cloud-free evening it is easy to understand how religions have been created to honour it.  For the first time that I can remember we had cloudless sunsets 4 days straight.  The sunset was never the same and it never gets boring to watch.

On the the third night we were there Andrea asked Rhys if he would like to go for a walk with us on the beach.  He enthusiastically said that he would.  We went out and walked along the beach for a while.  This entailed slowly walking, picking up sticks and stones and throwing them into the lake.  Huron was like glass, aside from the ripples that Rhys was creating.

For those who don't know Rhys let me explain.  At almost 3 years old he is an impressive little guy.  He is a totally different personality from Declan.  Where Declan has always been very sensitive, Rhys just kind of ploughs through everything.  He is a big boy and likes to play rough.  Recently, he has become much more gentle which has been great.  You don't worry that you are about to get a Glasgow Kiss when he goes in for a hug, you don't worry that he is going to hurt Leighton when he pats him on the head.  He loves to snuggle and is genuinely full of love.

While we were on our walk Andrea walked to the edge of the water where Rhys was throwing stones and crouched down.  Seeing her do this he thought he should as well.  I wish I had a better camera to capture that shot but I did what I could on my Blackberry.  It may be one of my favourite pictures.  I wish Rhys was old enough to remember that moment years from now.

I think that it encapsulates everything that I love about being up at the cottage.  Being there with my family, knowing the history that Andrea's family has in Kincardine and seeing how important it is to both her and our boys makes it easily one of the best places in the world.  Watching Andrea with Rhys at the lake as the sun set is one of the best memories I can take from this weekend.

I sincerely hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Get Thee to the Garden

For the second season in a row we are helping Andrea's Mom with a community garden plot.  I am by no means a gardener and have not fully embraced the whole organic revolution that seems to be picking up steam.  The reason we participate is in part practicality and in part learning experience.

From the practical side there is an argument that it is a cheap way of getting fresh, healthy food throughout the summer.  Throughout last summer we always had fresh lettuce, beans, cucumber and beans as well as tomatoes.  In fact, we just finished the last of the tomatoes that were saved through the winter.  The return on that investment is pretty good if you ask me.

I honestly feel that it is also important for the kids to have the experience of getting a garden prepared, planting the seeds, weeding, tending and then eventually reaping the benefits.  I first thought this when we planted beans and peas in our back garden two years ago.  Once they were ripe for the picking Declan would come home from daycare and would go into the garden, pick a few pods, pull them apart and have a fresh, healthy snack.  You can't beat that!  We also have raspberries and last summer the boys and I would get up early and pick them before breakfast to go with their cereal or pick them after supper for dessert.

The plot that Andrea's Mom has is huge!  It is 20 by 30 feet which is more than large enough to feed us for the summer.  There are quite a few plots in the area and they are run by everyone from casual gardeners like us, to very experienced and dedicated gardeners who have obviously been doing this for years.

Sifting rocks out of the dirt.  Hard work!

Amazingly they have to be a bit careful about security because apparently there are people who come in an steal from the gardens.  I thought initially that this is pathetic but in the end what can you do about it?  Last year even Andrea's mom's was the victim of a theft.  She had grown one perfect watermelon that ended up being stolen the week she was going to pick it.  Unfortunately nothing can be done about this.  Hopefully something can be done about it this year.

Lots of space!

I am going to document how the garden does this year as it was a lot of fun.  Like I said we are not gardeners by any means and are learning as we go.  I will let you guys know how it goes.

Snip Snip

After some discussion with Andrea it was decided that it was time to have the big snip. No more kids for us. I have to admit there is a pang of regret that the three perfect monsters that we have will be it. That isn't a longing for having a baby girl believe me, but more just a realization that we have been incredibly fortunate being able to have three amazing children.

I have heard absolute horror stories about vasectomies in the past few years from friends. Everything from people developing hematomas to smelling the cauterization that they perform. I figured I was ready for this whole experience. I was wrong.

My day started out with Andrea dropping me off at the hospital to check in which was done fast and efficiently. I then checked into the surgery clinic and after being given my gown I settled in for a bit of a wait. I was in the pre-op area and was easily the youngest person there by 40 years. The complaints I was hearing are certainly not anything to look forward to as I age.

When I was finally ushered into the operating suite I was done so by a young, good looking nurse and my first thought was "you couldn't be old and fat could you?"

We chatted while waiting for the Dr. who I had met for the first time about 30 minutes earlier. I am sure that to be a Urologist for 40 years you have to develop a unique sense of humour. Mine certainly did. He joked around and had a good laugh throughout the procedure.

From what I had read there are plenty of different ways that a vasectomy can be done. I wasn't given a choice. I had the old fashioned needles in the groin, cut and stitch. The needles are no fun and I had warned him that it takes time for freezing to work on me. Consequently I felt the first cut in full. Let me repeat that: I FELT THE FIRST CUT IN FULL.

All the guys that are reading this can now unclench and relax, it really wasn't as bad as I expected. After some further freezing and some time I didn't feel anything else. The procedure was done in about 45 minutes. After being given the most comfy mesh underwear ever I was ushered to recovery.

There was never any real serious pain while I was recovering over the next week. I was uncomfortable and had some weird muscle pulling which wasn't fun but otherwise with the understanding from Andrea that I needed to rest everything healed up pretty well.

Andrea wouldn't let me do much of anything just in case I strained or popped a stitch. I really appreciated being allowed to recover properly as I am sure it helped out immensely. The boys were really good as well and not once did they jump on me or act too crazy for fear that they may do some damage. They fully understood that Daddy had stitches and could not be silly with them for a little while.

I don't think that you can really be fully prepared for a procedure like a vasectomy. It is full of anxiety and I am sure that for some it is full of doubt and potential regret. Now I just have to find time to get my tonsils out and have some work done on my nose so that I can breathe properly. I am sure that will be a bucket of fun!