WHITBY FREE PRESS. WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1987, PAGE5 It is a beautiful morning in late June. The birds sing. The sun shines. Cars sit in the Pickering GO station parking lot, gleaming in the morning dew. It is ten minutes before nine. I know it is ten minutes befôre nine because the clock radio in the car says it is nir minutes before nine; that minute is my cushion. I sit in my car in the parking lot, the motor running, hoping, waiting, praying, for a parking spot. You see, the rapid transit system known as the GO train does its job so well that people literally fight to get on the trains. Well, not on the trains, exactly, but into the parking lot. Specifically, the Pickering parking lot. Before eight o'clock, most mornings, cars jam the parking lot full. For the eight twenty and the nine o'clock trains, then, the only solution lies in hoping, waiting, praying. If someone gets of the incoming train, you follow him to his parking spot and play dodge 'em cars to squeeze in.' The losers of the game get to drive into downtown Toronto via the Don Valley Parking Lot and pay to park all day. The trip takes as long, and the parking in Toronto alone is equivalent of return GO fare from Pickering. In such a game, I am a sore loser. So I sit, motor running, breathing deep of the June sun- shine and car fumes, wateing the minutes tick over. Then, success! Two, three passengers disembark - that's bureaucratie for get off - and start the traditional sprint for their vehicles. I make eye contact with the nearest and give a little signal. It is four minutes to nine. Plus, of course, my cushion. A ringed finger taps lightly on my window. "Sorry," says the girl, smiing in her uniform. "These other cars have been waiting twenty minutes for those parking spots." LShe is young, and looks so innocent in her GO uniform, that I cannot vent the vocabulary welling within me. A WITH OUR FEET UP b y Bill Swan GO parking and bad language word bubbles to the surface. But already I am writing this column in my head. The censuring self wins. 'You can't print that,' he says. I agree. So would you. I slam the car into gear and do a tire-squealing patrolof the parking lot. Again. I stop again to speak to the parking lot attendant. "Where else?" "Try the Art Thompson arena." "'It's fuil." "Usually is. You could try the supermarket parking lot." "No time.' "Not much." It is now one minute after nine. I arn cur- sing the sunshine. "Ill bet you get called ahl sorts of namnes," I say, trying Queen and king WALTER PRIESTLY adjusts his king's cap after being crowned, aloni with queen Mary Napier beside him, at the family barbecue at Sunnycrest Nursing Home last week. Free Press photo Siding stolen from Arden Aluminum siding, valued at $5,000 was stolen from Arden Vinyl Products at 440 Hopkins St. Thur- sday night. Entry was gained by prying open a door. The thieves then drove a truck in and loaded the siding. Two machines, used for bending the siding, were also stolen. They were valued at $2,000. Board tables Andersonrenovations A $2-million addition and renovation project at Whitby's An- derson Collegiate has been tabled by Durham Board of Education trustees until September. The move to place the work at Anderson on the back burner tem- porarily was spurred by concerns over the lack of knowledge of what other schools in the region might require. Trustee Ian Brown said the board wanted to look into the needs of all secondary schools in Durham before any work was started at An- derson. "Anderson is in the most need Tires, rims are stolen Four rims and tires, valued at $2,000 were stolen off a 1987 Camaro at Nurse Chev Olds at 1530 Dundas St. E. on Thursday night. Durham Regional Police are in- vestigating the theft. 2 CAMBRIDGE COURT WHITBY • FIRSTTIME ADVERTISED PRIVATELY • Asking $269,000 • FEATURES 4 bdrms., 4 baths, sunken living room, solarium kit., main floor laundry, central vac, intercom, electronic air cleaner, ceramic & hardwood floors and upgraded carpets throughout on fully landscaped oversized lot, heated pool, ex- tensive decking and more. 868-4104 82 OLDS Toronado, loaded, $9,895 82 CAMARO 2.5L, p.s., p.b., certified $5,995 80 CUTLASS, 350 auto. air, Landau roof, cert., $3,495 78 CAMARO Rally Sport, V8, auto., certifled $2,495. 78 PONTIAC LEMANS, V8, auto., p.s., p.b., local Trade-in, as Is $1,295 hIII;i and will definitely go ahead" said Brown. "But we just want to make sure all the needs of other schools are not negiected." The $2-milnion price tag would in- clude enlargement of the present gymnasium and library facilities at the school. Work is currently underway for the construction of new science labs for the school and recladding of the exterior walls. The work was star- ted in May and should be completed when classes begin in September. Two seriously burned Two youths were taken to Oshawa General Hospital where they were treated for second degree burns followinga kitchen fire at a Whitby home on Saturday. Durham Regional Police report the two youths were cooking french fries when the fire started. After attempting to douse the fire with baking soda, the youths tried to carry the burning pot outside the house. Once outside, a neighbor saw the fire and called the Whitby fire department. Damage to the kitchen of the home is valued between $7,000 and $8,000. One of the youths received burns to his left arm while the other had oil splash in his face while removing the pot. Mailman dies A 43-year-old replacement letter carrier died while delivering mail in Whitby last Wednesday. It is believed Kenneth Zepp, 43, of Thornhill suffered a heart attack. He was found on the front lawn of a Regency Cres. home shortly after 6 p.m. by a passerby. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Whitby General Hospital. VANDER MEER NURSERY & GARDEN CENTRE SOD AVAI LABLE NOW! $1.35IRoll THIS WEEK'S SPECIAL PORTULACAS /Box of 6. Reg. $1.20 NOW .35¢ GERANIUMS Buy 2 - Get 1 Free WE HAVE A LARGE SELECTION OF IMPATIENS BEGONIAS • PETUNIAS • MARIGOLDS & MORE WIDE VARIETIES TO CHOOSE FROM TREES & SHRUBS ALSO AVAILABLE WE SPECIALIZE IN QUALITY ANNUALS & PERENNIALS BOX PLANTS OPEN 7 DAYSAWEEK 8:00a.m. - 9:00p.m. DRIVE A LITTLE - SAVE A LOT 427-2525 AJAX WHITBY BAYLY AVE. VICTORIA ST 'u " Yeah. People get prettyexcited." Again I slam the car into gear and do a quick patrol. Suddenly! Two spots, right before my eyes. As I head for them, a Volvo pulls into one; I slip quickly in beside it before it has even stopped. My clock says three minutes after nine. I fumble with the car door, slam it once into the door of the Volvo, and we have a little tussle to see who gets out first. I win. Briefcase swinging, I start running, a leggy stride that will take me to the train infifteen seconds. Too late. Before I make the main entrance, the train is moving westward, toward Toronto. I say that bad word again. The people from the Volvo are right behind me, a couple and a young girl. "Darn," says the husband. Such restraint. On the hour-long drive into Toronto I shout my anger at the traffic, the construction crews, the sunshine. The Don Valley is under construction, and even at nine thirty, the frustrations are enough to give even the best vocabulary a work-out. At work, I first phone GO transit. "Compalint depar- tment," I request. From the Toronto Star building I can look down on the traffic on the Gardner expressway and watch the GO trains doming and going. "Public relations," says a voice at the other end. You don't want to hear what happened next. But if you have problems finding a parking spot at Pickering, then the officiai word from the public relations department of GO transit says it's really your own fault. You should get up earlier; you should take the bus. Be assured, however, that the same official assures me that once the GO train is extended to Whitby, ail the GO problems wiii be solved. It must be Marigold Magic. L