my rant ; a new direction needed

i guess i should say up front that i have been spoiled by living most of my life in mississauga with canada's most popular mayor who i admire greatly. as a recent resident of kitchener i was to say the least shocked with the poor services this city offers in as far as street, sidewalks, and bridges are maintained. the housing dept. has a waiting list for affordable housing and with the recently finished assisted living building filled with 31 units in the last month there is a waiting list already.

the building next door the regional nursing home has a waiting list of 3 to 5 tears. the streets look like a patchwork quilt with all the patchs and potholes that could swallow small cars. the sidewalks look like each slab of concrete was laid by a blind crew, the city recognizes the problem as crews have been spray painting and shaving the edges of each slab.recently a disabiled lady in a wheelchair was hit and killed on victoria st, this road for those who don't know cuts accross kitchener with 4 lanes, however rhere are no sidewalks over a large area of one of the more driven roads with many retaial outlets.

i find it facinating that some of the largest corporations are on this road and not a whisper to the press about correcting the problem, and the region has a role here as well as the city as some of these areas are controled jointly or by each other. i find that the has been alot of silence both levels of government when the feds. and the prov. threw open the bank vault doors for infrastructure money it appears we got in the wrong line.

i believe we should make some changes this november as these professional polititions need to be replaced by fresh people with fresh ideas and believe that to run is a calling to serve and not a job because they couldn't cope in the private secter. you know all politions have a shelf life and i think we should check the expirly date on the entire group as i play no favorites.

you know sadly nothing will change till people get mad enough and say " I'M MAD AS HELL AND I WANT CHANGE" however at the local level most citizens couldn't pick their member out of a police lineup, people will bitch and moan but when it comes time to make your vote count 30 to 40 persent don't even bother to vote and i'm being generous withthose numbers,

so if the same old professional polititians are returned for 4 more years i don't want to hear any complaints as you only have yourselves to blame, so please contact me with your thoghts and please pass my blog on to your friends and co-workers.

see you next time.


you know sadly nothing will change till people get mad enough to say

the beginning of frustration

it's april 2004 and i'm visiting the o.d.s.p (ont. disability) office and meeting my advocate for the first time, and before we even discuss my case she informs me i made it under the wire by $4 dollars to qualify for there services. i was recieving a little over $700 dollars on my federal disability and told i'm almost not qualifing for financial and medical help from the ontario government.

my rep tosses a file on the table and tells me to apply for everything and see what i receive, what a cruel joke as the file was as thick as the book "war and peace" it was upsetting to find out that your advocate really wasn't. it's now 6 years later and i'm stilling learning about things i qualify for, thankfully if you talk with others on o.d.s.p you learn more than you'll ever learn from those who are suppose to speak on your behalf.

it seems to me the job of these social workers are not there for us, their main job function is to avoid providing assistance to the weak. the government is running a large debt so the belt titaning is only going to get worse, for those of us between 21 and 65 we really need to organize politically since children and seniors are well represented. all you have to do is look in the quarterly service books and there is activities for seniors and children however if your lucky you will find a couple of activities for those of us in between.

one other thing you may not be aware of is when the feds give you a cost of living increase in january the ontario gov. takes away the equal amount which sucks but thats not the worst of it, the region applies 30%to your fed pension to arrive at your rent. this for those having trouble understanding this your monthly monies stay the same and your rent continues to go up. what i don't get is waterloo region is the only region using fed pension alone were as others use your total income, i do understand as your total dollars never go up neither would your rent.

so long for now, please leave your comments i look forword to hearing from all of you at some point.

rant of the week

this is my rant of the week, restaurants that i can't get into with my wheelchair. you would think the majority of places would make it as easy as possible, from this point forward i intend to list every place i'm not welcome and it's my hope that everyone reading this boycotts these companies.when someone asks why your not frequenting these companies you tell them why and ask that they stop doing business with them till they change their practices.



as an example the harvey's on fairway has 2 double doors that are manual there counters are above my head in my chair and if my friend who is also in a wheelchair decide to eat in we have to block off a section and sit in an aisle because they have no tables for wheelchairs. the sad part is this facility is relatively new and i could understand if the store was 20 years old but it isn't and it's painfully obvious they don't care about my business, so it's important they don't get yours either.



please don't laugh this off as the only way we effect change is to hurt them in the wallet, when you and i work together we can effect change whether it's here or were you live. it's time to speak up about all injustices every where.



let me know your thoughts on this or any of my blogs and plese pass on my address to your friends and family

moving daze

when i stopped last, iexplained that the feds back dated my pension i received a cheque for i think 8 months adding up to about $4600 and the very day it arrived ontario works calls and says you must sign over that cheque to which i ask housing has found a place for meand how do i pay my rent my hydro deposit, my rogers deposit,and my bell canada deposit plus find furniture as well as kitchen equipment. u forgot to mention eating for the month!!!

the response was well your getting $799 as a start up,what a joke. what they dont tell you is your better off to keep that cheque and end up paying it back monthly. in 2004 i kept the cheque and by september 2010 it will be repaid thank heavon after that it means $42 extra for me every month.

i got lucky with housing as housing found me a handicaped apartment after only 4 months on the waiting list, normally you wait up to 24 to30 months. the next break i got was moving into a new buildyng on the first floor with a patio. you have to know here in this region most of the buildings are between 30 and 50 years old with almost little or no wheelchair access. thats it for now, dont be afraid to send me your comments.

first day of the rest of my life

june 29th,2003 the day that changed everything. i sat on the bed at the cambridge hospital when dr. colin told me she would have to remove my left leg , my first reaction was to cry like a baby and tell her kill me now. the only gratifing thing was my 2 sisters and brother were forced to cooperate fully with each other for the first time since our mother pasted away in august of 2002.

you would think that the pain and suffering would have ended with my rehab. yeah !!! first off you need to know a good social worker is nessesary to walk you through the mine field your headed fore. if you own a home and money in the bank your on your own which means you must i repeat you must bakrupt yourself to get any help, all i had was some savings. i had to dispose of those funds right away, ontario works then kicked in.

i recooperated at avonlea retirement home at their expense while i applied for my disability pention and apply to ontario disability for my medical coverage. this took ruffely 8 months and i hope your sitting down reading this because the first shock was abouy to hit.

i will elaberate further next time.