Tom Young

A few short years ago, the city of Saint John and the province of New Brunswick collaborated on the total reconstruction of Rothesay Avenue in the city. 

For those of you who don’t know, Rothesay Ave is a four lane road, and other than the thru-way, is perhaps the main link between the city centre and the uptown.  It could best be described as “the auto mile,” because most car dealers in the city are located on this stretch of road.

The road was in terrible shape and many folks claim it was because it was never built right in the first place.  So, for weeks on end, what looked like at the time, “open pit mining” was carried on.  Traffic was reduced and often stopped, businesses were inconvenienced and in general — the entire thing was a pain in the ass.  But, we were told at the time, that this rebuilding of the road is absolutely necessary and when it’s done “you’ll be able to drive on it forever…”

I’ve checked every dictionary I can find and no where does it say that forever means five years or less.  Because you can’t imagine what they’re doing to Rothesay Avenue –  they’re rebuilding it!  In some areas, traffic is down to two lanes, one in each direction and being stopped by the movement of heavy equipment is not unknown.

I have to ask the question, if the last rebuilding of Rothesay Avenue was to last forever will this one last forever and a day?  Or, is this another of those great plans that five years from now will be rebuilt again?

I’m Tom Young. 

Over the past 20 years as I’ve aged and my bones and joints have deteriorated.
 
I’ve had a number of surgeries and I’ve recently discovered something about them –  the doctors have been doing it wrong.

As I face minor dental surgery, I’ve opted to have it done under full anaesthetic. The simple reason — I’m a coward!

I have a very low pain tolerance and crying in the dentist chair to me is NOT an option. So, they’ll put me to sleep.

My dentist, (who by the way is a great dentist) will do the deal — then I’ll wake up and my son will take me home where I can spend hours feeling sorry for myself.

Now here’s what’s changed — Today, as I was undergoing what’s called “the pre-op consultation,” the anaesthesiologist pointed to my goatee which been there for the better part of 10 years and said, “That’s got to go…”  And then, much to my amazement, he pointed to my moustache, which has been there for nearly forty years and said “That’s gotta go too…”

I have been put to sleep on a number of previous occasions and the goatee and moustache always survived. 

I said, “If you don’t mind me asking, please tell me why?”

The doctor replied, “We have recently discovered that facial hair can interfere with the oxygen mask which we will place over your face,” and in fact he said, “If you don’t shave them off, we may not do the surgery.”

So, my two options are, 1) leave the goatee and moustache as they are and tough it out in the dentists chair.  Or, 2) shave them off, go to sleep and do it the way I really want to.

No choice here, the moustache and the goatee are going to go.

One blessing even at my age as my hair has moved from dark brown to light brown to grey and in some cases white, it still grows — very quickly. 

So, I shouldn’t have to wait too long to again look like I do right now, a guy with a perfect face for radio.

I’m Tom Young.

How come we can send a man to the moon and bring him back safely, we can build a space craft which can land on the surface of the planet Mars, internet on our computer that gives us information in seconds and yet I can’t get clean drinking water in my house?

A number of years ago, the Mayor and Council of the day in the Village of Renforth, (now Rothesay, NB) signed an agreement with the City of Saint John for the city to provide clean drinking water to a segment of our community.  To this day, I can’t tell you what we pay each year, but I can tell you that I’m waiting for my latest refund.  I think the initial agreement called for the city to provide this drinking water 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Over the past little while there have been three substantial interruptions in that 24/7 agreement.

The ugly sign is up on the side of the road entering into my subdivision saying “Boil Water Order in Effect, Call town office at etc, etc…”  The latest interruption began earlier this week and is expected to last until at least Friday at the earliest.

The rub in this whole thing is that you don’t mind paying for the water, (if it is drinkable) but since it isn’t — I would hope the accounts payable department at Saint John City Hall has discovered the names and addresses of those living outside the city who have been let down, and the cheque will soon be in the mail.

You often hear people boasting that Canada has the largest supply of fresh water in the world, and I’m sure that’s true.  I’d just like to see the city discover some way of getting this water from their reservoir into our homes.

As many as 50-thousand people may be effected by this latest boil order. 

Please, if you’re not going to live up to your agreement, a small refund would be greatly appreciated.

I’m Tom Young.