Wednesday November 3, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER A7 COMMENT Montreal lifestyle clashes with reality I love Montreal, I'll be honest. But I have one question: just how do these women look so great? Do their feet never blister? Do they never get a bad haircut? Is their skin always so lumi nous? Do they always choose style over comfort? In a word, yes. I've come to the realization that when it comes to choosing anything over style, there's really not much choice with most Montrealers - style always wins out. And that's why every one on this island looks like Vogue magazine and I'm the Sears catalogue. I am com fortable, to be sure. Dowdy, but comfortable. My sister-in-law was asked once to accompany my brother-in-law to Paris and she refused. "W hy?" I asked, mouth agape. "I don't have the clothes for Paris," she said, matter-of-factly. Guess where she hails from... .y up.. .Montreal. I mean, it's almost in the blood, this sense of style. It's in the way Montrealers are rarely found schlep ping through the streets carrying take out coffee in a cup hurrying to the next meeting. Cell phones may be every where, but when it comes to proper enjoym ent o f the cup of coffee, Montrealers know how to enjoy it bet ter than most. You don't carry coffee in a cup and sip it along the way. Not at all. You buy a paper, choose a seat that looks out over the street, ignore the fact you block the doorway because you have the best seat in the house, so to speak, and sip. Slowly. Leisurely. As if you have all the time in the world. And if you feel like having a tiny little pas try or putting real cream in your coffee, rather than the milk water they use in Toronto, then you just go ahead and do it. Live a little. But not only do these women have fabulous hair and m ake-up and a wardrobe to die for - they even look good riding about town on bikes, for heaven's sake - and they all have the time to sit and sip the morning away but the attention to detail in what they put on their feet is mind-boggling. Leather shoes with a matching satchel hanging loosely over the back paired with a long skirt and sweater and eyeglasses. That's the look: and perish the thought of ever appearing in public in anything less. Runners? You must be joking....go back to Toronto. And there I was in my blistered feet crammed into runners and, ever the height o f fashion, sweat pants. Milan, here I come. But I have to wonder, truly wonder how they do it. Do they spend untold hours in these spas that are on every comer....is that how their skin manages to upend the ravages of age and city life? Or do they spend untold hours at the gym working off the fabulous three hour meals that are another part of this great city. Just how is it done? A friend of mine from Montreal says it's easy. Everyone is interested in fash ion and hair and food and books and plays and films and art. "So, what's the problem?" she says with a shrug. Well, the problem is, most of us have lives that are not made up of leisurely three-hour, five-course meals Picture V ourselF $1 ,0 0 0Richer served with style and subtlety. Our lives are filled with missed dental appointments, piled up laundry, frigid hockey arenas, sweaty school gyms, mismatched shoes, outdated jeans and dogs that get sick on the rug. Who, can anyone tell me, has the time to be styl ish? Well, enough. I decided as we rode the train out of that chic city that I was no longer going to choose comfort over style; that was it. The key, as in all changes, is to make it a priority. My husband snoozed beside me as I made plans. Change was imminent, I knew it. I announced the new regime as soon as we got home. No more rushed meals, or hurried trips and appoint ments and practices and games. We were going to be organized. The family groaned, but I was adamant. We were going to do what every corporation heading into the millennium wants from its employees: we were going to embrace change. And that's what we did. Dinners are slightly less breathless; we are slightly more organized about evening duties. So what if the kids groan. My husband just tells them to take their complaints to the landlord. One problem though: I kind of like my old runners. I think I'm a lost cause. Vou could be - just by entering the Oakville Millennium Book P h o to C o n te s t! $2 ,0 0 0 in prizes - including th e grand prize o f $ 1 ,0 0 0 cash - is up for grabs in th is once-in-a-lifetim e contest. Entrants could a lso see th e ir photog ra phs p u b lishe d in the M illennium Book in th e foil o f 2000. fill you hove to d o is pick up on entry form and p u t your camera to work! Entry forms ore a v a ila b le a t many locations, including: · McCutcheon's Camera & Video, 226 lakeshore Road Cast · Oakville Municipal Building (front lobby or Parks & Rec lobby) · The Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Road · Oakville 2000 office, Granary Office Complex, Lakeshore & Navy Or coll the O akville 2000 office o t 337-2141 and uue'll fox you one. UJRNTMOR INFO? Check out the uiebsite o t umiw.oakville2000.com Deadline for entries: January 15, 2000 Random Early Bird Draw December 15th for $100 Dining Certificate Finalists requires to submit details release form. 0 * O A K V IL L E T O W N O F O A K V IL L E C o u n c il & S t a n d in g Saturday, Novem ber 6,1999 8 4 5 -6 6 0 1 C o m m it t e e M e e t in g s Tuesday, Novem ber 9,1999 CLASS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT LAKE ONTARIO SHORELINE REHABILITATION FOR DINGLE PARK AND ADJACENT MUNICIPAL LANDS REVIEW OF ALTERNATIVES AND PREFERRED SOLUTION 2000 Budget Committee Oakville Room 2000 Budget Committee Oakville Room 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Thursday, Novem ber 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Saturday, Novem ber 13,1999 11,1999 2000 Budget Committee Oakville Room 2000 Budget Committee Oakville Room 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. In accordance with the Class Environmental Assessment for Municipal Water and Wastewater Projects the rehabilitation of the Dingle Park shoreline and the adjacent municipal lands is being planned under a Schedule `B' process. (If Required) 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (If R equired) C o u n c il & C o m m it t e e T o u c h t o n e P h o n e L in e 815-5959 THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF OAKVILLE QUOTATION FOR THE SALTING/SANDING AND CLEARING OF BUS STOP LANDING PADS AND BUS SHELTERS QUOTATION NUMBER: Q-35-99 SEALED QUOTATIONS on forms provided will be received by the Purchas ing Department, 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville, Ontario until 12:00 noon. Local Time, on An initial meeting was held on September 30th to review possible shoreline treatments for the project study area and to solicit comments from the public. This follow-up meeting is an opportunity for the public to review evaluation of proposed alternatives and to comment on the preferred solution. TIME OF MEETING: LOCATION: November 4,1999 7:30 to 9:00pm Oakville Club-Dining Room 56 Water Street Entrance at Foot of William Street THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11,1999 Specifications, quotation forms and quotation envelopes are available at the offices of the Purchasing Department, telephone (905) 338-4197. The Town of Oakville reserves the right to reject any or all quotations and the highest or lowest as the case may be will not necessarily be accepted. R. J. Coumoyer, C.I.M., P. Mgr. Director, Purchasing and Office Services Voice mail a curse for all consumers N ever m ind Y 2K ... T h in k ab o u t v o ice m ail! T he other day, I tried to call the O akville branch o f my bank, so that I could transfer som e m oney into another account. It was im portant, but after nearly an hour o f various voice mail m essag es, I could not find a hum an. O ne of the options was to press `4 ' for the m anager. T hat I did and guess w h at? Voice m ail. He w ould call me back w ithin two hours. But d id n 't. A call to another extension gave me the m essage that she no longer w orked at the bank and gave me another extension. I decid ed to call after lunch, when perhaps som eone m ight have woken up. I did get a return m es sage but could not m ake contact with the lady who had given it. As a last resort, I call the cus tom er service o f the bank's head office. But they also could not get through. L ater in the day, and too late to do w hat I w anted to do, som eone finally called me. I am still w aiting for a letter of apology from the bank. If not soon, my next co m m u n icatio n w ill divulge their four-letter name! ______ _____ The meeting format will include a short presentation starting at 7:40pm covering the planning process and an overview of the proposed alternative and the preferred solution. Public input and comment are invited, for planning and design of this project and will be received until November 10,1999. Subject to comments received and receipt of the necessary approvals the Town o f Oakville intends to proceed with the planning, design and construction of this project for completion by the spring of year 2000. If you would like to be present at this meeting but are unable to attend or if you have any questions in regards to this project, please call: Erik Zutis, C.E.T. Engineering Design Technologist Department of Public Works Telephone: (905) 845 - 6601 ext. 3312 Fax: (905)338-4159 E-Mail: ezutis@town.oakville.on.ca This Notice issued November 3, 1999 R. G Green, P.Eng., Director of Public Works : Letters to the Editor THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF OAKVILLE QUOTATION FOR ROOF REPLACEMENT AT OAKVILLE ARENA AND AT GAIRLOCH GALLERY QUOTATION NUMBER: Q-32-99 SEALED QUOTATIONS on forms provided will be received by the Purchas ing Department, 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville, Ontario until 12:00 noon, Local Time, on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15,1999 Specifications, quotation forms and quotation envelopes are available at the offices of the Purchasing Department, telephone (905) 338-4197. A certified cheque or Bank/Trust Company draft for the amount specified in the quotation document MUST accompany each quotation submission. The Town of Oakville reserves the right to reject any or all quotations and the highest or lowest as the case may be will not necessarily be accepted. R. J. Coumoyer, C.I.M., P. Mgr. Director, Purchasing and Office Services & 1225 T R A F A L G A R R O A D · O A K V IL L E , O N T A R IO · L6J 5 A 6 John C aird