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6 Oakville Beaver Weekend Sunday August 27, 2000 Editonals Waiting game With the opening o f the new school year rapidly approaching, it appears that the fall will mark another season o f tension for students, parents and educators. Secondary school teachers w ith the Halton District School Board are poised The uncertainty o f whether , to strike if contract negotiations falter, public school board high and that's a real possibility. W ith a strike loom ing, som e public school teachers w ill strike board supporters are hedging their bets this fall has had a ripple and enrolling their children in Separate Board schools. This has produced plan effect on separate schools. ning d ifficu lties fo r a d m in istrato rs o f these schools who really don't know who will or w on't show up for classes in two weeks. And this is no small problem. In the case o f St. Ignatius o f Loyola in north Oakville, all places have been filled and there are still 85 students waiting for spots that don't exist. A nd h ere's w here the situation becom es untenable. If L oyola wants to accommodate tfiesc extra students, they must have Town of Oakville permis sion to move portable classrooms onto the school site. Regardless of the Town's response to any request, that call w on't be m ade until the start o f school. Following a positive reply from the Town, the school will still have to wait for the installation o f the classrooms. That means two classes would have to be housed in the school's library-hardly the most positive learning environment. But this entire scenario could change quickly if the public board's high school teachers sign a new contract soon. We can't see that happening very quickly and that's bad news for everyone. Crookedbricksandloosescrews arecipe fordisaster It started innocently enough: replace a few interlocking bricks that had heaved up over the years, thus providing friends with easy excuses when they'd trip and fall while drinking. The bricks, I found out, were being pushed up by huge, sinister tree ro o ts w hich creep through weeping tiles on their way into your house and up your toilet drain from which they attack you, where and when you least expect it, giving Stephen King yet another best-sell ing plot. So the old bricks would be used for a path from the cottage to the breakwall and new squares would be purchased for the patio area which must now be expanded and okay, laid h a lf way around the house while I'm at it and oh sure, down the other side of the house to hook up with the ratty-looking path to the lake. All this according to the experts, also known as neighbour hood forepersons. But before the squares can be put down, I need a solid straight edge to anchor them and since I always wanted a little privacy at the front of the place, let's build a wall. No Bill, a wall made of beach stones, which happen to be plentiful and free would in no way match the four pallets of Triple "H" pea gravel aggregate patio squares at $6.10 each that I and a steering committee of nearby busybodies had already selected for the patio surface. No, W IL L IA M _ T H O M A S A DThe W orld's AC ircus what I needed was 170 Decor terra force, earth blend retaining wall blocks at $4.20 each. Then o f co urse, I needed a m ason to build the wall and an excavator to dig the footing for the wall and a cement truck to pour the footing for the wall and a patio expert to lay the patio squares and an electrician, because w hat's a wall without two pillars and a very, very expensive pair of brass lamps to adorn these pillars. Let me tell you: Rome was not built in a day. Rome was built by a poor, unsuspecting rube like myself who one day decided to tile the dirt floor of his hut and unable to say no to well-meaning neighbours, creat ed one of the world's largest and most congested cities in the world, complete with its own Pope. And it's not easy to find skilled labour in this highly prosperous North American economy which, according to second quarter figures from the Bank of Canada is being driven and fueled largely by my patio project. After days on the phone, I final- P u d B y S te v e N e a s e PUP?, H O WW A S megafest sum m erblast W E IL ,T H EB A N D S W E R EW IE, T H E *,, A M F SB R O K E z"D O W N ,T H E portable T o ilets B A C K E D , Up,,, T R A IN E D ^ AU S O TW E T A M DM U D D Y , ;A N D T R A F F I C W A SB A P C O M IN G ITWASTHE BEST TIM E ly found two masons who were at least willing to come out and take a look at the wall project. In stead o f using th e ir real names, I will call these two Italian m asons G iuseppe and A lb erto , because who knows, they could be connected. I love these guys - gentle, funny, talented - and watching them work so smoothly and effortlessly is truly a treat to behold. B u t... A lberto gave me the list o f materials which included building b lo ck s, m ortar, th ree b ag s o f cem ent and a bag o f m ezzanine cement. Sounded complicated, so I wrote it down and showed Alberto "mezzanine?" "That's it," he said and I was off calling every building supply com pany from N iag ara F a lls to Dunnville. Everybody had every thing except the mezzanine cement. And yet to me it made sense. It m ust be the special cem ent that holds your first floor to your second floor at the mezzanine level. After a couple of days of calling aro und, I w as sure I 'd have to import the stuff directly from Italy. M y last hope w as F o n th ill Building Supplies. As usual every thing was fine right down to the "mezzanine" cement. "W h at?" said A ndrew , the counter guy. "Mezzanine cement," I repeat ed. (S e e `P ro je c t' p a g e 9)