Cells fulfill our compulsive need to know

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We call them Smartphones but our habitual device syndrome (HDS) has less to do with the phone than a compulsive need to know. The time, the news, the weather, video counts, where-is-she-now and on and on. A poll done for Rogers reveals that with HDS (we  made that up) it isn’t the phone that occupies Canadians, its the capacity to review information of all sorts in a glance — a sneaked glance if necessary. We apparently check phones as frequently as once an hour and most of us keep them with us 24 hours a day. Kids don’t phone they text, of course. We take our personal news tickers to the washroom, check them in church and glance at them in company, much as we used to check our watches. Just to know. The Harris Decima poll says you  keep your phone within reach for 90 to 100 per cent of the day.  Three in four respondents between 16 and 44 said they do it all the time or often. Smartphone owners were also asked how often they usually find themselves trying to sneak a peek at the screen in various situations. Just over half of the respondents said they’d check their phone at least once while on a date, while one in four said they’d find a way to see the screen at least once an hour. 

Preferential repairs in Leaside? Surely not!

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Some will say it just had to happen and so here we go. Desperate (apparently) and without power in Scarborough’s M2J forward sortation postal area, Kclairmo is tweeting complaints that there is favoritism in the Hydro repair process. He says there is video showing Toronto Hydro crews fixing “large houses” on Leaside’s Heather Road on Sunday, December 22, 2013 at 11.15 a.m. area. Now most of us can cast our minds back to last Sunday and remember how downcast we were about everything. At 11 a.m. power had been out in South Bayview generally for about 9 hours. Kclairmo, who seems to have a tweeting penpal in Councillor Shelley Carroll (Ward 33), does not say where he saw this video or why he knows about it. The Bulldog has reached out through the ether to ask him. Feels good that ether. Really though, Heather Road is a nice street but if you wanted to curry favour with the rich there are other places that might be better. Where does Hydro CEO Haines live? Kclairmo tweets

West subway down, ice falling on your head

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There is no subway service from the St. Clair West subway station down to Union. That’s because a transformer exploded near Bathurst Street and St. Clair West Friday afternoon. And by the way, this nice sunny day has caused ice to start falling in the darnedest places. It can come crashing down on you on a nice dry walk across the street if you happen to be under a line. Just so you have something to think about.  

Ford says 32,000 customers in dark Friday

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The joint news conference on getting power restored is underway. Mayor Ford says that some 32,000 metred customers are still without power. This is attested to by the complaints seen on Twitter DarkTO where many people say they are a still waiting. It is unclear whether the efforts yesterday restored all of South Bayview, Notwithstanding the one-off homes like those on upper Airdrie north of Millwood. 

Skateboard firm Roarockit a Leaside asset

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Norah and Ted 

The East York Mirror’s Daniela Piteo has written a feature on Norah Jackson and Ted Hunter, owners of the unique skateboard manufacturing company on Millwood Road at Sutherland Ave. A curious revelation is that neither of the two skateboard. And yet their imaginatively named company, Roarockit, has earned a place in the industry.  Ted is a member of the Ontario College of Art and Design Design Faculty.  Daniela Piteo 

Accessories store Homefront to close in 2014

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Homefront will close its last remaining shop in the New Year. Homefront has operated both on Eglinton Ave. W and, until May of 2012, at 1579 Bayview Ave. The home accessories store has been in business for 20 years at the Eglinton location. The owners, Trish and Ted Stuebing have decided to retire from retailing. “It has been a wonderful time and we are deeply indebted to the friends and customers who patronized our shops over the years,” said Mrs. Stuebing. “But change is necessary and good. It is time for us to say goodbye to this time in our lives.” Beginning December 27, 2013, the Homefront store at 371 Eglinton Ave W. (just west of Avenue Rd.) will be on sale.  All inventory will be marked down and store fixtures are also for sale. Many of the services which were offered by Homefront will not be available from that date. There will be no gift wrapping, no gift certificates and  no returns or exchanges. The company continues to have substantial inventory of signature lines such as Michael Aram, Emma Bridgewater, Lamp Bergere as well as kitchen and bar glasses, linen, soap, baskets and many other items. (416) 488-3189 

Hydro army goes street by street in Leaside

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Like an army going street by street in an embattled town, Toronto Hydro crews are making slow but steady progress against the ice storm power outages. These pictures show the repairs to a transformer on Sutherland Drive and Bessborough Ave. Along Sutherland west to Bayview Ave. wires lay on sidewalks and lawns while residents wait to be re-connected. Just a block away on Rolph Rd., a man paces back and forth in front of his home about noon Boxing Day. “I still don’t have power,” he grumbles. Swinging north on Sutherland just a half block from Millwood Rd., a man and his son are smiling as they clear the snow. “It came back on this morning” the father says happily. And so it goes through the neighborhood of many curved streets.  Rumsey Road, well noted in the  tweets at “dark leaside”, seemed to have power on either side of Millwood. At least that’s what a number of people out on the street were saying. They show neighborly spirit, always asking “And how are you doing?” On Airdrie Rd. between McRae Drive and Crofton Rd. there are clear cases of houses — one, two or maybe three — still in the dark because of the cables laying across the street.  About 145 pm. Boxing Day Brett Boertien tweeted from Leacrest Road that Hydro trucks had been spotted on the street. “Better late than never,” said Brett.

Boxing Day 2-alarm fire guts Elvina Gdns. apt.

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This graphic picture by Marc Apollonio reveals the extent of damage at a small apartment building on Elvina Gardens. That’s the little street that runs east of Mt. Pleasant Rd. one block north of Broadway Ave. The place was apparently vacant because of the the power failure. The fire department was summoned about 5.30 a.m. Boxing Day to what became a two-alarm fire. There were no injuries.