rursumg 2

. THERE’S NO place like
home. Those words sure
sounded good when
Dorothy .uttered. them in
The Wizard of Oz, row
they ring hollow.

By Winona Bond
Contributing Writer

For years my husband and 1,
native Winnipeggers, dreamed
about relocating to the West
: “Emerald City’? Coast.

Because we were doing well as
realtors, our move only came to
fruition at the start of 199},

At that point, the housing mar-
ket was so glutted with listings
that we never attempted to sell
- our modest Winnipeg home.

‘After sinking thousands into it
over a few short years, the home's
market value dropped below what
we originally paid.

*. But that glitch wasn't going to
stand in the way of our quest for
the yellow brick road,

Luckily, we found someone to
move in until the market picked
up, even if it meant subsidizing
the mortgage payment by $350

each month.

... But-who really cared? My hus-
_ band; Len, and 1 percolated: with
anticipation, and | didn't mind
‘sleeping ‘onthe apartment., floor
sans furniture.

We had. our 30-pound } cat,
Benny, alongside and we were ex-
- cited, especially since 1. had al-
ready passed the B.C, real- estate

) exam,

« * “Just in case,’? Len renewed his
«> welding . certification. while:
readied myself for a sales career,

All of this was’ to the tab of

“séveral thousand non-refundable
dollars in computsory fees.

; ‘Len managed to: stretch out a
few months - of permit work but

that: was*>a_ short-lived success. ..
‘The «flying: monkeys were begin.’

ning to hover.’
‘But things would improve. ‘They

Daas Editor: ™

Citizen’s alert: Chainsaw: mas-
sacre could be; coming to .your
trees soon!:

If this; warning ; seems ‘a ‘trifle .

drastic; . you should se¢.what’s left
of our weeping willow tree.

nce the graceful focal point of :

r...back yard,’ now ‘stands
misshapen with: aif its branches
chopped off by. the Tree People (a
misnomer if.ever there was one),
hired : by::B.C., Hydro to keep
branches of f the ‘power lines.
‘Well, you could - fly. a 747
through the gap they created.
“My. complaints to Hydro - and

* neighborhood,”’

had to — we were living in the
Land of Oz, somewhere over the
Rockies.

In addition to the mortgage
subsidy, our credit card balances
steadily inched upwards. Plus,
there was the car loan set at 18%
financing.

“Don't worry,’’ crooned our
friendly banker. ‘‘With the way
you've banged out sales in the
past, you'll pay off this puppy in
18 months.”

Eighteen months
four-door puppy grew into a
full-grown dog, complete with
maintenance fleas. Len tried but
couldn't even sell it for cnough to
pay off the loan.

The once-abupdant factories
throughout Oz were disappearing
overnight, admittedly or not, as a
result-of Free Trade. Many were
moving south and leaving behind
a long trail of jobless welders and
assorted tradespeople.

But we still had ovr real estate
tuby slippers and we'd manage,
tegardless of the emptying hour-
glass sands.

We felt renewed confidence
after landing a venture to sell new
homes in Surrey, Finally, a chance
to pay off our overdue and grow-
ing debts,

“Relax,” ovr, manager mun-
chkin said, ‘‘because the GST
won't be a problem. The used
market is adjusting their prices up

later, the

to meet ours,"'

He. was another optimistic
transplant from Winnipeg!

So we waited, worried, and
waited some more. Sure, some of
the lots did sell, but those were
sold directly by a Hong Kong rep-
resentative.

The trickle of shoppers that we
met ended up purchasing one-
and two-year-old homes around
the corner from us (no' GST).

But hope is an integral part of *

survival.. Thus, next: stop on the

yellow brick - road was with the

banker wizard.
Interest rates

were . rapidly

dropping and our goal was to

the. Tree ‘People have ‘been met

with a multitude of rationaliza-

tons, meant to assuage my. anger,
hey’ze not working. :

This botched . job. was done
without , consultation, They assert
that a- notice was. mailed two
months: defore' informing ‘me the
Tree People would be .“‘in the

‘ing-trees overhanging the power
lines. - :

I did not receive this notice, but
having: been shown it, 1 must crit-
icize its generic format.

It does not provide | the. house-
‘holder with any specific informa-

Ernie, listen to the majority!

Year Editor:

Coun. Br ie’ Crist, (NSN Jan. 1)

isleading when he refers only
:Sleft=turn, ; restrictions from

Sueens ‘to. Thorneliffe, as these
€Strictions also apply to Colwood
ind Woodbine. ;

I would” have’ thought: ‘that’ the
minority. of, - residents” with. a
‘higher?’ level of ‘social con-
ciousness: than the completely
incaring © majority should better
ave: applied their

stricting traffic’ on Colwood’ be-
ween Queens‘and Highland where

Wi the children . of . Highland °
choo! are affected by the ¢ danger,

energy. to .

noise and - air. pollutions of, an

almost continuous ‘stream’ of traf-.
fic.no doubt increased” by the left -
turn restrictions in question.

I wish to remind - you, Ernie, -
* neighborhood, . phone

that you were. elected by a majori-
ty of voters even if they:do have a
“Iow’’ social conscience, and |

really thought the responsibility of
/government was to serve the :ma-..”

‘jority ‘of people, . not . small

pressure groups with “their own.
agenda, however high their social .~
... ‘and’ your trees from a similar

disaster, (0 * .

conscience is,

. D. Corby

North Vancouver

ostensibly prun-°

‘to The E

consolidate our bills into one tidy
payment,

After a two-week wait, we were
told that a) your debt ratio is too
high (‘‘but that's why we're
here!*'); b) your jobs are too new;
and c) why don't you try the
Winnipeg branch since they know
you?

We waited another week for
Winnipeg to tell us a) no; and b)
tty the Vancouver branch since
you live there.

The fatal catch-22, and from
the very people who kept granting
us more credit: they said we
couldn't afford a consolidation;
we said we couldn't not afford
one,

Now we started borrowing from
one credit: card to pay off
another, Then we borrowed to
keep up with the rent — it was
getting scary.

With thanks to Brian, the wick-
ed witch of the East, the GST
problem didn't go away,

The result? We sold a total of
zero homes, a far ery from the 50
we were accustomed to selling an-
nually,

We arrived at the sales trailer to
find our office packed, phone
disconnected, and ‘For Sale"
signs gone.

Since we no longer play the real
estate game, we didn't ‘mind
returning the car to its rightful
master, the bank,

- At least we don't have to sub-
sidize the high payments on our
Winnipeg home, now that the
bank owns that, too. C'est fa vie.

Len continues to pound the
pavement, clicking his hecls and
dreaming of better times. :

Alter paying for a bartending
course (and serving licence he’s
never had a chance to use) and ~
more money yet for an alarm sales:
ticence, Len decided to try for onc
more.

. After inching to the front of the
fine at city hall, surrounded by
homeowners applying for building
perinits, the clerk ‘yelled, ‘‘Hey,.

Lisa, where does this guy go for a -

“pruning?

tion on which to gauge his or her

response. .
It left to question the qualifica-

tions of the tree service crew,. the’
“trees'in question, the date sched-

uled, and most importantly, the

guidelines set. by Hydro which -

may determine the extent of the
pruning. .

Our. willow had at most. a-

half-dozen terminal branches
nearing the power line. There were
no large branches over-hanging or
touching the line. So why saw off
half the tree?

They told me deciduous’ trees
require: more aggressive pruning
because they grow so quickly. In
this case their aggression was ex-.
cessive.

- So Vi tell my husband to retire:
his pruning equipment as he won’t

. be needing it for several: years.to |

come, and leave you with’ this.
caution: if. you receive a notice
from the Tree People indicating
they. ‘will’ be “working in your
them at
once and insist. upon a personal
consultation.’

Find out exactly what they plan
to do to your trees, and be there
to ‘supervise. the work, You may
spare « yourself, your ‘neighbors,

Dorothy Crowter
North Vancouver

: AG
ae FNS

“eek ot)

AN. om

social escort licence?"

Me, the supportive partner
holding down a nondescript cleri-
cal job, said, ‘‘I'm sure there are
tons of ladics who need a good-

looking ‘guy to escort them ‘to-

social functions, Just think of ail
the free eats!”
After placing one’ very straight

classified ad, and receiving eight’,
male. callers, -Len decided to file .
‘his escort licence with the rest of

the dust-covered stack.
Luckily our trustee, Glinda the

Good © Witch,

Lis, patient? We'll.
eventually pay her for,“ handling
our bankrupicy. She? i Says she's”
having an excellent year, .

But then the temperatures: are
mild, the ocean and ‘mountains arc,
within walking , ‘distance, and we...

5 still have Benny,

Although’ ‘Sunshine isn't edible,. :
we still

emerald ‘Opportunities’ in the: Land YS
of Oz Right, Toto? :

Seymour- area fr resident
thinks District council
ignoring community

, Dear Editor:. | .

I have been a resident of the
Deep. Cove/Seymour area for
the last seven years.

When we bought our home,
we were assured that schools
“and recreational facilities ‘were

to follow immediately. °

*. Well, in the past few years,
. the area has grown by leaps
and bounds, as have our taxes,
while our facilities remain at a
‘ nonexistent level!

Since we have had to fight
and, petition to: get. schools, «I
was very excited to hear about
a recreation centre being built
at Parkgate. — ‘that is, until I
heard the centre consisted of a

gym, youth centre, library and -

a daycare wing. ;
_ The original proposal. in-
cluded an -ice..rink but the
district. planners said they had

surveyed - our community and.

“an ice rink was not wanted so
they cancelled it.

Many’ of us attended the
meeting: and were told that the

“(adult

Karen McBride .

area did not. require’ an ice. rink :
until 2010 at the very earliest.”

- Parents camped overnight to”
try and get their children: into
hockey. Skating lessons . are.

completely booked the first day,
. Of registration and waiting lists

for the next session are created.
Public skating gets so busy

ithat families and children . are .

turned. away...” Hockey -rOUps —

and: children) are.

fighting for ice time. .
This sounds like -a. serious’

, need. for.an ice Tink to me...

If there are: others who. feel
an ice‘rink is a necessary “facili-

‘ty in the Seymour area, let-the’

district council know.” Write ..
letters, phone . or -attend: ‘the ee
council '.meeting “Feb: 1. at 47 ‘
p.m. at the municipal hall. :
It ‘is - time ; to: speak . as: a :

‘community, and - let our repre-.

sentatives know. that we are.’
tired of being ignored.

!

‘North Vancouver.

yhave our ..dreams of":