Please read the original post

There are so many times that there are comments on a post that don’t have anything to do with the original post. What is important is if you are replying to a post on social media is that you need to read the original post and then comment on that.

Recently there was a post that asked people to clean the dead leaves from the curb in front of your house. This person was simply asking everyone to make sure that the water could drain alone the curb to the city drains to make sure that there was no flooding on any of the streets.

What happens was a lot of people decided to complain that they were asking people to rake their lawns which this person never asked for. It is amazing how many times people make assumptions and don’t read what the original post was about. Of course, I tried to manage it the best I could by repeatedly saying it wasn’t requesting people to rake their lawns just clean the curb of leaves. 

It is amazing how many people only see a few words that are written and don’t read the entire post and then they complain that the original poster is wrong. What we need to do is look at and read the original post to make sure that we understand what they are saying before we post a comment. 

If there is a post that you don’t totally understand, maybe try and ask a question or two before you complain that the post isn’t correct. In this case someone was simply asking for leaves to be removed from the curb to ensure that water could drain to the city catch basins.

Canada Day

 Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the National Day of Canada. It celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which happened on July 1, 1867. It is a statutory holiday, and everything is closed (outside of Quebec). You can sometimes hear it referred to as Canada’s birthday

There are usually a lot of fairs on Canada Day which can include parades, fireworks and some rides and food. Also, on this day it is quite common for new Canadian citizens to be sworn in during a ceremony. This ceremony can take place in different locations and sometimes can even happen before the start of the Blue Jays Baseball game if the Blue Jays are playing at home. 

A lot of cities and communities plan their local Canada Day celebration, and they can be a lot of fun to attend.  Here are just a few locations where you can find an event

• East York, Toronto, Ontario

• Ottawa, Ontario

• Vancouver, British Columbia and region

• Calgary, Alberta

Each event is going to be a little different than the next one and it all depends on if it is a big city organizing it or a local community. No matter where you are in Canada (except Quebec) you will find some sort of festival celebrating the Confederation of Canada. If you happen to be driving around on Canada Day, why not stop in at a celebration to see what is going on. They can be a lot of fun and a great way to celebrate with others.

Ice cream trucks

When do ice cream trucks think it’s ok to pull into an apartment driveway to sell ice cream but block access to and from the underground driveway. 

So, recently we had an ice truck decide that the driveway in our apartment building was a great location to sit and sell ice cream to various members of the community. Well, there was a major issue about where this truck was parked. It wasn’t in a parking spot but in part of the driveway which is used for both cars turning from dropping off people at the front door and cars coming up or into our underground parking garage.

The ice cream truck was in this same location for over 1.5 hours, and it didn’t seem to register to them that they were causing a major issue for people coming and going from our property. It seemed like selling the ice cream was far more important to them.

We did place phone call to our security to let them know of the issue, but after them telling us someone was dispatched, we didn’t hear anything or see anything so that wasn’t a great experience. After we made that call, we decided to call 311 which is the city area that we can report issues, but after an extremely long hold and then being placed on hold again when the person looked up how to manage this, we were told that because it was on private property there was nothing that the city could do.

So, the results of hearing an ice cream truck for over 1.5 hours was not results at all, so now we are going to be heading down to talk to our superintendent to see if they can report the issue and maybe get some results. We do have the vehicle method license so hopefully that will help keep this vehicle from setting on private property and seeing ice cream.

Sitting and trying to enjoy a nice summer evening on our balcony can be an issue and knowing how to handle each issue is very important.

Shorelines Casino Belleville

If you are someone that enjoys spending a little bit of time in a casino to try your luck on some slot machines here is a location that I would recommend.  This location has 500 slot machines and 18 table games but besides that it has a restaurant which I would recommend. There was a buffet prior to Covid but it doesn’t exist anymore, but the restaurant is located that you need to try out. The restaurant is open to anyone 19 years of age or over as it is within the casino.

The casino is not open 24 hours a day so that is something that you are going to have to understand before you go. The Belleville hours are something you are going to have to check because most times over the weekend it is open 24 hours but during the week there are limited hours. 

Now the restaurant that is within the casino is a spot that you need to check out because the meals can be outstanding depending on when you go. We went just after the New Year, and we were lucky, and I was able to enjoy a hot turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce because the casino has a special dinner for all the staff that had worked over the holidays. I was so happy to be able to get this special because I love turkey dinners, so this was exact special.

We have found that the meals are a reasonable sized portion so don’t be afraid to ask for part of your meal to go. The last meal I had was a stir fry and there was enough leftover that I was able to have it for another meal. This meal was so good and I wasn’t able to find the rice easily until I did some digging so it was worth having the leftovers.

This casino is located right beside the TownePlace Suites Belleville so that means that you can have breakfast in the hotel and walk over to the Casino to have a very nice dinner. Of course, the restaurant isn’t fancy, and you might have to wait for a table but honestly the meal is so worth it. When we are in the Belleville area we will stay here because it means that we know that we will have a good dinner and might have some leftovers depending on our meal. Normally, I will also spend a little bit of money ($20) on the slot machines and see if I can come away with more than I put into the machines.

For more information about what to do on your way to Belleville and while there check out this blog (A Weekend Escape to Belleville posting July 15th, 2025)

Saying goodbye to someone that was important to a community

There are so many times that we see someone that has passed, and it has been felt within a community or multiple communities. This past week Canada said good-bye to a former MP and someone that wasn’t just a MP but was the first Canadian Astronaut in space. 

Marc Garneau within the East York Community was someone that was recognized by having a school named after him and it was because of who he was that the school decided to rename itself from Overlea Secondary School to Marc Garneau Collegiate. I was happy to see that renaming because it was the East York Community recognizing someone that did something special for Canada.

Marc Garneau was the first Canadian Armed Forcer officer, astronaut and politician that went into space on October 5, 1984, and flew on three Space Shuttle missions. After doing this he became a member of parliament and served from 2001 until he retired from parliament in 2003.

The school in East York was renamed in 1987 from Overlea Secondary School to Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute and he regularly visited the school and the students. I know that the community around Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute is going to miss who the school was named after because he someone that a lot of the students were able to look up to.

Marc Garneau passed away on June 4, 2025 and he will be missed within the community and all of Canada.

Why?

 This seems like such a simple word, but it can have so many meanings, and we just have to look at why someone is saying the word why.

Why? This can be a question that so many people don’t know how to answer, and it can really depend on the contents that it is being said. I know that when I say this work it can be taken so many ways, and we need to figure out what the true mean of this simple question is.

Here are some ideas of what why is being asked:

• Why is this happening and can you please explain the issue that you are trying to resolve.

• Why can’t people understand what I am trying to ask them to do? Maybe because you haven’t cleaning defined what you expect someone to do.

• Why is this issue not resolved? Maybe because the issue hasn’t been cleaning defined so there isn’t a method to resolve the issue.

It is amazing how many times we hear the word “why” and there isn’t a definition associated with it. When we try and say the word “why” we need to understand that the person that is hearing it needs a definition to help resolve an issue. The simple question of “why” doesn’t really help resolve anything because what we haven’t done is explain the reason, we are using that work. 

I know that when I ask the question “why?” it is followed by a lot of other words as I am trying to resolve an issue and want to understand the entire issue that we are trying to resolve. It is so amazing how many times I hear it just doesn’t work, and they expect me to have a solution without them telling me what is really happening. The question “why” is something that needs to be explained and also understood because it can help answer a lot of questions if people are just willing to explain what is happening and maybe why they are looking for in an answer.

Why to me is just a start of a conversation and it isn’t a solution because why doesn’t answer the overall question, it is just the start of a conversation.

Jack's Family Restaurant

Here is a restaurant that is located very close to the St Jacobs Farmers Market, and I am going to tell you it is a place that you need to go and have a meal. The staff are extremely friendly and are going to make you feel welcome as soon as you walk in the door. The restaurant itself isn’t fancy, but I must tell you that the food is wonderful, and it will be worth the wait.

Jack’s mission is simple, they want you to feel right at home when you are in the restaurant and that is something that I can say they achieve. Their menu is something that you need to look at and my one warning is that the meals are large, so you better be hungry when you go and have a meal there.

My husband and I have been to Jack’s a number of times and our visit experience let us know that the meals were going to be extremely large, and we were going to have to be hungry when we went. I decided to order a Hot Turkey Sandwich and from experience in a lot of other restaurants I felt I would be able to finish it without any problem. What I didn’t expect to have was a sandwich that was extremely large and full of turkey and something that became a challenge to finish. I ended up finishing the meat but left quite a bit of the bread because it was that large. The meal was so good, and we knew that we would be returning for other meals.

The breakfasts are Jack’s are also something that you are going to have to be prepared for because depending on what you order you may have an issue finishing it. During the week they have a breakfast special that it is the classic Jack’s Traditional Breakfast which is 2 eggs, hashbrowns and toast with baked beans as an optional addition with no additional charge (pictured).  On weekends you will have to pay to add bacon or sausage but during the week those meats are included. If you want to add Peameal bacon, or turkey sausage or polish sausage you will have to pay for the upgrade. The other options include waffles or wraps but be prepared that these meals are going to arrive rather large, so you better be hungry.

In the evenings Jack’s can, be extremely busy given that they do close early (8 pm) so be prepared to get there early and be prepared to wait for a table. The dinner menu also is wonderful, and the meals are large so again be hungry when you arrive for dinner. What we have found works for the two of us is when you are staying at a hotel that is within walking distance we will walk over and order one meal that the two of us will share because there is enough food for two in one of their meals. One of our favourite meals is the Cattleman Chicken and rice (pictured).  By the time we have that we are both full and happy with our choice for dinner. The other option we have found is grabbing one of their burgers and upgrading to a Caesar salad and that once again is a meal that two people could share.

The meals are Jack’s are all homemade and you are going to be extremely happy with whatever you order. We haven’t had any meals that have disappointed us and this time we are thinking that we might order a Chicken Stir-fry to share.

If you are visiting the St Jacobs Farmers Market and you are looking for a homemade meal that will leave you full, Jack’s Family Restaurant is a location you need to visit. It is located just down the street from the Farmer’s Market, and it is across from the Outlet Mall. I know that when we visit St Jacobs next time, we will be going to Jack’s at least a couple of times and maybe doing takeout a couple of times so we can share our meals.