GEORGE LUCK

So, once upon a time, way back in 1998 we had an ice storm here in eastern Ontario. It wasn't just an ice storm. It was an ICE STORM. It ended up knocking out the power from Eastern Ontario all the way down through Qebec to parts of the American east coast. I can remember going outside the next morning to total silence. No cars. No trains. No farm machinery. The world seemed to have stopped.

And then the trees came down. At first there was that ominous crack of branches. Then the sound of shattering glass as the ice smashed off the branches. Then the crash of branches hitting power lines, houses, cars, roads and anything else that couldn't get out of the way.

The lights at my house stayed out for 15 days. But as bad as that was for us, it is incredible to think that there were those poor people who had no electricity for a month or more. I can tell you that 15 days was 14 too many for me and my wife.

So, "what is the point?" you may be asking. Well the point is that we are now having similar weather to 1998 and there is a 'substantial' ice storm forcast for Sunday. After 1998 one cannot help but get nervous at the mere mention of an ice storm.

It will probably amount to nothing more than an inconvenience. If not, I'll be back in 15 days!

Kingston Ontario has an anti-idling bylaw. The aim of this bylaw is to prevent vehicles from excessive idling. So, when you are waiting for your Wife to emerge from the grocery store on a cold winter night, you may idle your car for three minutes to maintain the heat. After that start piling on the blankets or a cat or two, because you have to wait an hour before you can start up that heater again!

It seems that the 'city fathers' have decided that even in the dead of winter it is more important to fight 'global warming' ( a dubious theory at best and despite the last ten years of planetary cooling) than it is to survive winter in Eastern Ontairo. This brave stand by the 'P.C.Police' has armed the local parking authority with the ability to ticket you if they feel that you have idled for longer than the precious three minutes. Of course their word in court carries more weight than yours, so protestations that you only just arrived at the parking spot and hadn't had time to shut the motor off will fall on deaf ears.

And why is it that the citizen who accosts you for idling and poluting the atmosphere, always seems to be doing so with a cigarette hanging out of his / her mouth?

Worse, it has empowered every citizen ( see description above) in the city to turn in their friends and foes alike. If your neighbour doesn't like you, you are a call away from a ticket for excessive idling. If you offend someone by actually signaling a turn (God forbid!) , in goes the call. And out comes the ticket. In these days of reduced income to both the citizenry and the municipality who will be surprised when the 'powers' recognize this as a new income stream?

Now, buried in the bylaw somewhere is a provision for 'work vehicles'. These are vehicles that must run to operate equipment, or to maintain the temperature inside the vehicle to protect equipment. Now one would think that a van loaded with computer equipment ( lap tops, PDA's, test equipment etc) such as the van operated by your author) would fall under this provision.

Well here we are, months into the winter and I cannot get anyone at city hall to rule on this issue. Further more, if they do decide that my van is a 'service vehicle' there is, apparently, no method of indicating that to the Parking Police or to the do-gooder busy bodies who want to exercise a little power over someone else. It appears that the city wants someone to go to court, contest a ticket, and have a judge make that ruling for them.

If that is what they want then, as Rooster Cogburn said "FILL YOUR HANDS YOU SON OF A . . . . . . . . !"

See you in court.