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6 - Orono Weekly Times 1937 - 2012 · Celebrating 75 Years Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Basic Black by Arthur Black C hurCh D ireCtory Orono United Church Sunday, February 12 - 10:30 a.m. service `Bring a Friend`Valentine lunch follows the service - everyone welcome Includes Sunday school program Everyone welcome - Wheelchair accessible 111 Church St. N. 905-485-5502 - orono.uc@rogers.com If the phone rings, it`s not for me People ask me if I have a cell. Trillions, I think. But I know what they mean. I tell them yes, I have a cell. Oh, good, they say, and they ask me for the number. It doesn't matter, I tell them, because I never have my cell phone on. Then why do you have one, they ask me. So I can call someone if I need to, I say. But... if somebody wants to get hold of you ­ they can't, they point out. Exactly, I tell them. The reason I carry a cell phone is that I'm a geezer who likes to walk in the bush, sometimes on pretty sketchy trails. One of these days I might slide on a root, trip on a rock or fall down a hill. If my luck continues to deteriorate, chances are I'll break something. When that happens (assuming I survive) I'd like to be found by Search and Rescue, not Turkey Vultures. Ergo, my cell phone. It's for emergencies. Contrary to popular belief it is not that life-threatening to be `out of touch' with the rest of the world for brief periods of time. Humankind managed brief forays into solitude for millennia before Samsung and RIM and Nokia came along. For most of my life it's been the norm to rely on land lines, Canada Post, a loud wolf whistle or a polite "ahem" when one wanted to make contact with somebody else. Otherwise, you were on your own. Nowadays people are seldom on their own except when they're asleep. People check their BlackBerrys in restaurants and theatre lobbies, on buses and subways, in elevators and waiting rooms. When my plane touches down ­ as soon as the wheels touch the tarmac ­ there's an in-cabin frenzy as passengers paw for their smart phones to see if they've missed any calls or text messages while they were temporarily aloft and out of contact. What did they do before cellphones? They thought, I suppose. They daydreamed and fantasized, stargazed and wool-gathered. They retained some mental space in their life. Seems to be out of fashion now. Recently we had a guest (I'm not naming names but you know who you are) ­ over for dinner and a TV movie. The dinner went well; the movie not so much. Said guest sat hunched over his smart phone furtively text-messaging for an hour and a half. Such behaviour would have been considered boorish even a decade ago, but it's rather commonplace now. People think nothing of being in your company and talking to somebody else who's not present. Weird. Once I saw a young couple in an intimate bistro sitting at a table adorned with a candle and a lovely white rose in a vase. Very romantic. Except they were not holding hands or murmuring sweet nothings to each other. They were each bent forward, peering into their handhelds and text messaging ...who? Who the hell would be important enough to talk to at a moment, in a situation like that? How has such a tiny piece of technology come to have such power over us? We should have seen it coming. More than a hundred years ago, when the clunky old telephone was a brand new invention, a forwardthinking Frenchman had one installed in his chateau, then invited the painter Edgar Degas to dinner. He also pre-arranged to have a friend phone him during dinner, so that he could impress Degas. Dinner was served, the phone rang, the Frenchman rose with a flourish and talked on the telephone for a few minutes, then returned, glowing with pride to the table. "So that is the telephone," Degas said gloomily. "It rings and you run." with Reverend Ceri Rees Anglican Churches Rev. Ann Smith St. Saviour's - Orono 23 Mill Street · 905-485-5594 9:30 a.m. - Worship, Sunday School outh Group · Holy Communion - 1st & 3rd Y Sunday · Morning Prayer - 2nd & 4th Sunday · Coffee and Fellowship to follow. St. George's - Newcastle 250 Mill St. S. · 905-987-2019 8 a.m. - Commumion 11:15 a.m. - Worship , Sunday School · Holy Communion 1st & 3rd Sunday · Morning Prayer 2nd & 4th Sunday Coffee and Fellowship to follow. www.stsavioursorono.ca Classified Business Directory LARRY JACKSON Debra Inglis Interior Design PLUMBING & WATER CONDITIONING Automotive Specialties BRIAN COUVIER Licenced Technician 117 Mill St. Orono L0B 1M0 "Look to us for all your general repairs to most make & models" Rims · Tires · Brakes · Tune-Ups Custom Exhaust Systems Castrol Engine Oil & Filter Service Specials Car & Truck Accessories Professional Installation Custom Drapery "Energy Saving Specials" Dealer & Fine Finishes by T. Osmond LDr CoNtrACtiNG * Snow Removal * * Bobcat & Minihoe Service * Dump Trailer Service * * Tree Planting & Stump Removal * · Backhoe Work/Trenching · Pump Repairs & Installation · UV Lights · Water Softeners · Free Estimates For Friendly, Expert Service 905-983-9919 Furniture Repair and Restoration Caning · Veneering · Carving French Polishes & Wicker Repair COMPLETE Luke or Lindsay Porter H. 905-983-9924 C. 905-914-6979 905-983-6214 905-983-5900 www.inglisdesign.ca 4312 Conc. #6, Kendal Experience You Can Trust 905-786-2477 I&T Carpenters · Licensed · 27 Years Experience · Custom Homes · General Contracting · Additions · House Trim · Stairs · Decks ·Windows ·Doors · Barns And all carpentry related work. Orono Veterinary Hospital Complete Residential Renovations, Additions and New Structures Windows · Soffit · Interlocking Waterproofing · Doors · Roofing Ceramic Tile · Siding Eavestroughing · Chimney Repair ~ Specializing in Stone Facing ~ Dr. Derrek de Haan Dr. Mathew Stephenson 30 Cobbledick St., Orono L0B 1M0 Tel: 905-983-9010 Fax: 905-983-5308 · ADDITIONS · RENOVATIONS · DECKS DOOR & WINDOW REPLACEMENTS · EXTERIORS · CABINETRY Authorized Consumers Gas Dealer Independent Lennox Dealer Furnaces · Air Conditioners and Appliances Main Street, Orono 983-6221 Heating · Electrical Air Conditioning ROBERT E. JACKSON "We're here to serve you" Dan Zegers 905-983-9543 TYLER SMITH broker "KRACO" CARPENTRY & CONTRACTING Since 1976 · Custom Built Homes · Renovations/Additions · Designing IVAN JONES TONY FANARA Newcastle 905-987-5819 Hampton 905-263-9988 FREE ESTIMATES Call Mike Bonneau 6495 Leskard Rd., Orono L0B 1M0 Nails & More By Becky... 905-983-9883 32 Mill St., Orono 905·697·1900 * Residential * Farms * Rural Properties * Investment Mobile: 905-435-4181 Home: 905-983-9005 Rudy Kraayvanger www.homesmiths.ca 905-623-1101 www.kraco.ca