South Bayview Bulldog Admin

Will “smart watches” cause more accidents?

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Curved TVs, smart watches and robot fridges are among the devices on display on day one of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “Right now you can buy a curved TV, but if you can’t decide if you want it flat or not you can choose a flexible ones,” explained Bridget Carey, an editor with CNET, the online tech site. “Curved is supposed to be a more immersing experience when it surrounds you. Not everyone wants curved all the time.” And there is the “”smart watch.”  Will it make you blind? In this age of growing resistance to the use of smart phones in cars, will it even be legal to strap on a smart watch and hit the road? 

Penechetti sets storm costs at $171 million in 2013

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Penechetti
City Manager Joe Penechetti has run the numbers carefully and announced this evening that the storms that hit Toronto last year will cost taxpayers $171 million. Between the floods in July, and the ice storm in December the city works meter just kept on chugging until it hit this staggering figure. It seems like a lot but anyone who has ever prepared a budget will know how salaries and overtime drive up the cost.  All those hundreds of extra people working to restore power are the biggest thing. During the two days of solid rain that resulted in the July flooding, hundreds  of men were called out to physically assist hundreds of people stranded on a GO train. Penechetti said he will be suggesting that Toronto ask the Ontario government to help. 

Toronto’s Vivian Bercovici named envoy to Israel

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Bercovici

It is an appointment that will re-ignite the arguments about just how Canada should conduct itself in the Middle East. Our new ambassador to Israel is a fervent supporter of the state. And it gets down to where each of us find the moral high ground in that benighted part of the world. The U.S. took an interesting approach to what many will call the key point yesterday. John Kerry, the secretary of state, asked the Palestinian authority to recognize Israel’s right to exist and to exist in peace. It goes to the heart of what Canada’s new ambassador, Vivian Bercovici says, namely that the interminable conflict is caused by the refusal of some governments to recognize Israel on any terms.  Ottawa Citizen 

Polar bear cub takes first wobbly steps at Zoo

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Forget the polar vortex  Let’s go with this polar bear cub instead. He has been generating absolute gurgles of love and affection since the Toronto Zoo released this video early Wednesday. Adorable, Huggable. Put him in your pocket. Just remember, he’ll grow up. The sole surviving polar bear cub of three born in November is growing and is now taking his first steps forward. The video shows the cub taking a few steps and making sounds. The cub, now growing whiskers, is kept in a permanently air conditioned room and receives six bottles of milk each day. He weighs just 4.4 kg but according to a Zoo press release, has started to bite things — his blanket being one of his main targets. “He is beginning to teethe and likes to bite objects such as his blanket. His canine teeth, incisors and some of his molars can now be felt.” 

China tourist with H5N1 flu dies in Calgary

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Calgary Herald 

Salt at Valu Mart, bags limited 2 to a customer

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There is a supply of road salt at Tremblett’s Valu Mart at Bayview and Davisville Aves. The 10 kg bags are nicely priced at $5.99 and the limit is two to a customer. Wednesday afternoon there was still a stack outside the front door. They were saying inside that this was first road salt they had seen in nearly two weeks. Previously, people were taking bags by the cart load. None of that today but apparently the old husband and wife trick of each going through a separate check-out to buy four is fairly common. We love our salt. 

Ice storm work thaws Rob Ford’s approval rating

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Toronto Sun 

Bayview Bulldog’s Secret Road Salt Diary

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Dear Diary, They were very nice at Sobey’s over in the Smart Centre on Wicksteed. It’s just that one girl had a kind of smirk when I asked about the road salt that Ian said was there. But, that was two days ago. It was already gone and there had been another order of several skids since then.  However it was sold out too. People were taking them in 50 bag purchases, they said. Gee.  Then Marcel beeped me that there was some at Tru Valu Hardware on Bayview Ave. but it was $39.95 for a 10kg bag. Sigh. I guess that’s private enterprise, Diary. It’s not like the old Soviet Union where it didn’t matter if there was road salt because no one had a car and if you complained about it they sent you to mine salt. Canadian Tire Corporation had some salt but they seem very weary of people like me asking them if there’s any left. Probably the best chance of getting some salt is to keep an eye peeled for yellow bags piled up by the gas pumps at the local service station. Don’t you  think so, Diary?

So why a total ground stop at Pearson today?

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Many sources including the Toronto Star have raised the question of why a paralyzing ground stop was necessary at Pearson Airport this morning.  It has been a frightful frigid day and anyone can understand how the cold will slow down human activity. After all, humans have to ensure their survival before they can work. So there was a real issue. But other airports continued to function. Why a shutdown? Here is a medley of photos showing the jammed luggage carousel, crowded  halls and sleepy passengers.  Robert Palmer, a West Jet spokesperson, said the ramp was dangerous and it was not safe to put ground crew on it.  He called the cold weather extraordinary and unpredictable.   

Wreckers demolish Coke bottling plant on Overlea

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Backhoes are working in record-breaking arctic temperatures this week to knock down the abandoned Coca Cola bottling plant at 46 Overlea Blvd. Next door, the former Coke office building at 42 Overlea remains intact, the subject of a pending decision by City Council on a request to demolish the 1965 structure to make way for a Costco store. Tuesday, the bottling plant was crumbling in front of workers inside the heated cabs of their machines. The bottling plant is seen inset right under demolition Tuesday, January 7, 2014. The top photo shows it behind the Yarwood bronze and steel sculpture (which will be saved) and below is the view from the East York Town Centre across the street. Skin was freezing at a minute’s exposure in the former Coca Cola parking lot, site of last September’s large barbecue held in support of  the Costco bid. The office building is said to have certain desirable architectural features in the Midcentury Modernist style. The buildings sit on a huge property which held all the vehicles associated with Coke’s business, including its fleet of trucks. The office building has been designated a heritage site but the matter will be discussed further by council. There is substantial support on council and in the Thorncliffe community for the construction of a Costco store. 

Ten dead from flu, 300 in hospital in Alberta

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A sharp uptick in flu cases in Alberta has caused a bit of a rush to get a shot. Here is a lineup yesterday in Edmonton. Note little guy on the left who doesn’t want to get a needle. There is a lesson here for us. Twitter photo Edmonton Journal. 

Cops called as flight delay upsets travellers

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There has been an unusual “ground stop” at Pearson Airport.  The problem is blamed on the frigid weather and has stalled the unloading and loading of planes. CP says passengers became angry and  airport authorities called the Peel Police to restore order. It seems unusual for cold weather to cause a ground stop in the way the term is normally understood. While the cold might slow down machinery on the ground it should not impair the ability of aircraft to take off or land. The latest tweets from the airport (at 9.15 a.m.) say that incoming flights are delayed to 10 a.m. Tuesday January 7, 2014 at the earliest. Canadian Press