A Wreckhouse warning is still in effect here and for days now the winds may not of diminished below 100 KPH. No Ferries crossing the Gulf because of the high winds and still Truckers try and run the Wreckhouse gauntlet. Latest two casualties Pictured below. The new Digital signage is either being ignored or displaying the wrong info. I have noticed it's not giving wind speeds in real time but posting that the winds are either 60 or 80 KPH and asking people to pull over.

Here in the above photo you can see how the Wreckhouse Winds are formed. The wind funnels down through the Table Mountain Valleys picking up speed as it travels. Winds on the mountain may be only 30 - 40 KPH but below in the Wreckhouse it may of accelerated  to 150 plus KPH. The water in the Pond here is funneled up several hundred feet by the force of the winds.

January 16-2010

A January Walk.

Hardly any snow and the Temperature around minus one so we did a bit of Beach Coming and later walked around the small stream at Cheesemans Park. Hopefully the Weather will continue to cooperate so we can take a stroll in the Wreckhouse tomorrow.

Wiseman Out as Health Minister
vocm news:

The province turns over a new leaf in health care today as Premier Danny Williams switches a pair of cabinet postings. The cabinet shuffle comes as Eastern Health prepares to release final numbers on ER/PR testing....

The embattled Ross Wiseman goes from health to business while Paul Oram goes from business to health. Wiseman faced controversy during his time as health minister, particularly over the handling of the ER/PR testing problems at Eastern Health. Many critics called for his removal much sooner. Premier Danny Williams maintains that he would have wanted nobody else in the health portofolio during the difficult period.

ABOUT FRIGGIN TIME!

The Telegram: January 22-2009

Raise salaries for home care workers, NAPE demands


The province has to start showing more respect for home-care workers and take action to increase salaries, says Carol Furlong, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees (NAPE).
Otherwise, she said, the home care industry could collapse because of a shortage of workers.
“The minister announced late last year that a government report on home care would be released in the fall and months later it still isn’t ready. This is unacceptable,” Furlong said.
The report was to have dealt with, among other things, salaries and benefits for home care workers, Furlong explained.
In the absence of the report, Furlong added, the government should maintain the differential in the minimum wage back to Jan. 1, when the minimum wage was increased.
“That increase was promised but has yet to be aid out to home-care workers,” she said.

Seymour Schulich who looks a lot more relaxed in Western attire then some suggests our Federal Government start a few mega projects and the Lower Churchill Hydro Development should be one of them.

From VOCM today:

Business Billionaire Says Develop Lower Churchill Now
January 8, 2009

One of Canada's most successful and influential business leaders believes now is the time to get the Lower Churchill Hydro Development started. Billionaire Seymour Schulich of Toronto says there is no doubt that the economy in Canada, and around the world, is in tough shape so it is extremely important that the Federal Government get some mega projects under construction around the country. He says this includes the Lower Churchill Hydro Development. Schulich says the sudden downturn in the economy in recent months is destroying some energy projects that take 5 to 7 years to build, so when the demand does pick up there will be enormous shortages. He suggests if this happens the price levels on the next cycle will make past levels pale by comparison. Schulich says it could mean 300-dollars U.S. for oil; 50-dollars U.S. for nickel; and 10-dollars U.S. for copper.

Happy New Year !


Looks like the ATV ride i made to the top of The Table Mountains yesterday will possibly be the last one until May of 2009. A winter storm is slowly approching and i suspect it'll dump a whole mess of snow on that mountain trail today. Captured that blog photo yesterday on the trail. An added bonus to be able to access it at all this time of year. I do look forward to the winter months to go capture a few winter photos and soon i'll get a new digital camcorder with a harddrive.

The child in me or childishness?
Merry Christmas from Table Mountains.

The sky is falling!

Lower oil prices could mean deficit: Williams

From CBC:

Newfoundland and Labrador has just become a have province when it comes to equalization payments, but Premier Danny Williams warned Thursday that dropping oil prices could send the province into a deficit again.

The province's coffers were filling up due to record high prices for oil this summer. However, the price has dropped to less than $60 US per barrel in the last week.

"A word of caution is that if oil stays down around those numbers, then it's quite conceivable that we could run deficits," Williams said.

Will Mr. Premier,a lot of people gave you praise when the coffers where filling and i noticed you loved to take credit so hopefully you'll not get upset if some now give you a bit of flak. For some of us in NL the fall in oil prices is actually a blessing. This morning i filled my car at 97.5 per litre. A while back it cost over $1.50 per Litre and that hurt me as a Home Care Worker who averages 90-100 kilometers per day. I figure this break at the pumps is much better for Home Care Workers than anything we can expect from your government in the form of a pay increase or benefits that never seems to come despite all the trickling down effects we hear about. I sure like the sound at the pumps much better then the sound of whining about a deficit.

Wood Pellet Subsidy
November 5, 2008

There's a new way to heat your house, and the provincial government is going to subsidize it to get it going. The province will put up $500,000 to provide a 25 per cent rebate on the installation of a wood pellet appliance. The objective is is to create a local market to enable sawmills in the province to diversify into wood pellet manufacturing.

The appliance must be purchased by the end of next February.

The minister, Kathy Dunderdale, says producing wood pellets from sawdust, tree bark and shavings will improve the financial position of sawmill operations.

The stoves cost between $1500 and $4500 with the province putting up 25 per cent of the cost.

It's not a new way to heat your home as the article suggests. The Wood Pellet stoves have been around for decades but now it looks like it may be more affordable to purchase one and those that work in the forest industry may benefit also. Thumbs up to the Government for this release. Hopefully if Pellets are manufactured here in the province they'll be much cheaper to purchase then the ones that are now shipped in.

From an environmental point of view i think it sounds great. No new trees will be harvested and the residue from the saw mills that are usually left to rot or put into land field sites will now find a use and create jobs. So government,lets see if we can start soon!

Two Stories in The Weekend Telegram on the same page.

One about suffering and another about dirty laundry.

You make the connection.

Keep Seniors Out of Nursing Homes

From VOCM News today:

The Association of Registered Nurses is out with a report on ways to get seniors recovering from hospital procedures back into their own beds. They recommend a shift in spending away from long-term care facilities and into rehabilitation and community-based programs and services. Their research has shown that, in many cases, if services were broadened to community-based, many seniors would be able to get back into their own homes instead of occupying a bed in a long-term care facility. To do that, nurses recommend that home care workers be paid more and that family members also be compensated through respite care.

Jim Feltham, President of the Association.
“With news that there are plans to move patients to personal care homes to free up beds, we saw an opportunity to draw attention to a gap that exists in the level of services provided to seniors as they transition from hospital to home,”

“Currently, our system is very institutionally based and once seniors enter the
hospital system they tend to experience a decrease in functional independence which leaves them with limited options on discharge (i.e. they have recovered from their illness but have not been rehabilitated to a point they can return home without supports and must therefore be moved to either a Long Term Care facility or Personal Care Home).“However, our research has shown that, in many cases, if services were broadened to include strong rehabilitation and community based support services, we would see many of these seniors back in their homes enjoying a higher quality of life instead of occupying a bed in a long term care facility.”

Here's research done that would make much needed improvements in the Health Care system of NL and free those needed beds. I wonder why our Health Care Minister ignores any outside suggestions?

Now, i'm not sure of the accuracy on this one but here's my Math. If i'm wrong please step in and tell me.
Yesterday on CBC's Here & Now we saw yet another story on Home Care in NL and like the rest it was about injustice. Angie Clarke, a single mom with two daughters,age 3 and 8 has cerebral palsy and needs home care to bring a decent life to her children. Ms. Clarke had been receiving 56 hours per week. Recently home care workers received a raise of .50 per hour bringing their total to $9.29 per hour. This would of cost $28 more per week on the system. Those in charge decided not only to cut back but do so and actually make it look like a profit. Ms. Clarke's hours have been cut from 56 to 44. So if i'm wrong on my Math,please correct me. I will appreciate it.

At 56 hours per week it would of cost $520.24 with the raise.
cutting back to 44 hours the cost is now $408.76
that's a savings of $111.48 but minus the $28.00 increase with the raise it would be $83.48 ????

Did Ross make a profit on the suffering of this poor lady and her home support worker or not?

Happy Canada Day.

DRAIN Says Disabled Treated As Second Class Citizens
July 1, 2008

The President of a local disability advocacy group says the current system is all but failing the disabled people of Newfoundland and Labrador. Disabled Rights Are Indeed Neglected, or DRAIN, held a demonstration on Confederation Hill yesterday. President Helen Hillier says from home care to income support programs, members of the disabled community continue to be treated as second class citizens. Hillier says it takes its toll. Chairperson for Homecare Newfoundland and Labrador, Anne Whelan, says agencies are losing workers almost on a weekly basis. Whelan says agencies are providing their own training for workers, who are then offered jobs within the provincial system.

When will Ross Wiseman realize that the system has collapsed?

"This is like deja vu all over again."
-- Yogi Berra

Couple of trucks blew over in the Wreckhouse today. No matter the warnings issued, some will try to run the gauntlet. Here are a few shots i captured this evening after the winds went down.

In the first shot you can see one overturned in the distance.

YO? Tom my man,WHENS THAT THEIR BUDGET COMING DOWN?

Inquiring minds want to know. You remember the one you promised us when you ran around the province with that cool debt clock of yours ticking? We all know how you guys and gals just hate going to the house of assembly recently with the mess in the Health Care system, but come on,do we really have to wait for the 24 th. of May weekend for it?

A chance to be a leader.

Butts and Babies Don't Mix
April 5, 2008
(from VOCM News)

The Minister of Health and Community Services says he is keeping an eye on what is happening across the country as a number of provinces have moved to ban smoking in cars when children are present. Nova Scotia was the first Canadian province to enact a ban for cars carrying children under the age of 18 years. The Yukon recently followed suit and the issue is up for debate in the Ontario legislature. Wiseman says until the issue surfaced in Wolfville, Nova Scotia some time ago, it wasn't something that was discussed here in this province.

Mr. Wiseman, here's a chance to be a leader, not a follower. Why not make it illegal for anyone in a car to smoke when there is a passenger? There are those over 18 who can't speak for themselves. They are the developmentally delayed. Even quite a few of our non smoking seniors out there have to breathe it in because they sometimes have no say in the matter.

One of the best write ups i have seen on the NL Wild Blueberry is featured on NL Interactive's March feature. An article by Sharon Martin gives the reader quite a bit of information on the provinces Blueberry - Vaccinium angustifollium.

From CBC News, NL, Feb. 14/2008

T'Railway bridges, trestles ordered closed

Last Updated: Thursday, February 14, 2008 | 5:50 PM NT

In an unusual move, the Newfoundland and Labrador government ordered the closure of dozens of trestles and bridges on an island-wide trail.

The T'Railway Provincial Park was built along the former railbed of the Newfoundland Railway after it was decommissioned in the late 1980s.

In a statement Thursday, the government said federal inspectors found significant safety risks with trestles and bridges that are often used by hikers and riders on all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles.

"Transport Canada indicates that 18 structures pose an unreasonable life safety risk to the public," the government said in a statement.

"The report also indicates that many other structures should be examined for life safety issues."

The remaining trestles and bridges will remain closed until engineering studies prove they are safe.

The government said it will erect warning signs and barricades to keep the public away.

here are a few shots of some bridges in my area. All structures seem safe and well maintained to me. Hopefully the list will become available to those of us who use the trail frequently.

Woman killed in TCH collision was pregnant: RCMP

(CBC NEWS) The woman killed in a weekend highway collision in eastern Newfoundland was pregnant, police said Monday.

The RCMP said Lisa Jennifer Crann, 31, was the woman killed after a tractor-trailer rear-ended her vehicle Friday night on the Trans-Canada Highway, near the Southern Harbour turnoff.

Crann's vehicle had broken down, but was still in the way of oncoming traffic, RCMP Const. Trevor O'Keefe told CBC News.

"From what we can determine, it was right in the driving lane, the inside lane of the highway," Const. Trevor O'Keefe said.

"The car had broken down — we don't know if it was a battery problem or an alternator problem — but there was no emergency lights, and that's pretty much what caused it," O'Keefe said.

The vehicle has been seized as the RCMP conduct their investigation.

Road conditions were slippery at the time, O'Keefe said.

"It was one of those really dark, black, wet nights. You couldn't see much on the highway," O'Keefe said.

A 25-year-old female passenger in Crann's vehicle was injured. She was treated in hospital and released on Saturday, O'Keefe said.

Cpl. Rupert Baker said motorists should be cautious when driving on the highway, especially at night.

"In a situation where somebody breaks down or you have a problem on the highway, you have to either move as far as you can to the right of the highway or if you can get off the highway, I certainly recommend that you do that so that something coming behind you won't strike you," Baker said.

I drove home last night in whiteout conditions. Like many nights if i broke down there was no place for me to pull of to the right. The right did not exist. If i broke down all i could do was stay there and hope the vehicles behind me saw me before it was to late. My cellphone might of helped and i wonder if The RCMP would of came to my assistance? Im sure no tow truck would of last night. With 24 hour coverage by Works & Transportation some accidents might be avoided if they could assist and keep our highways cleaned better. After 10 pm in this province your very much on your own out there and outside of the Avalon or Corner Brook area don't expect to call 911 and seek help. It just does not work. Maybe in the 2008 budget we might finally see that in NL