I Have a Dream...

Actually, it's more like a gripe and I'm not quite sure where/who I'm going to take it to but starting with the Miramichi Enquirer (aka. Miramichi Leader) and our City Council would definately be a start.

First off, let me fill you in on a little bit of T'ainville's history. We're between Chatham and Loggieville, "T'aint Chatham, T'aint Loggieville," T'aintville. We were a happily unincorporated piece of land, about one mile long for as long as I can remember. Even as a kid, they tried to incorporate us in with the Town of Chatham. I was too young for my signature to have counted but there were forever petitions going around to fight it. We knew, even then, that no good would come of it.

Unfortunately, on january 1st of 1995, the two former townships and outerlying communities became one sleepy city. No vote taken. By the time we realised what was happening, it was too late with budgets and councils divvied up.

Being unincorporated had it's benefits, one of them being that the property taxes were markedly lower, much, much lower. We were ok with that 'cause we didn't get anything for it anyways other than guaranteeing we'd be the last subdivision to be plowed in the winter.

Now that our property taxes have tripled, the only thing I've seen change in the 12yrs. we've been a city has been street lights on every second pole on Wellington St. (I mean, really, is that necessary?) and garbage pick-up, not to mention we're still the last subdivision plowed. Boy oh boy, aren't our tax dollars being put to good use? Oh yeah, almost forgot. We finally got our sewage hooked up last year which was at our own expense and we would have had to start paying for it the following year whether we were using it or not! No sign of water hook up for at least another couple of years either. It makes sense to me but apparently our council doesn't see that it makes sense to run through both water and sewage at the same time. Made even more interesting when the people that are doing it don't know where your underground wires are (even after telling him for the 10th time) and catch them, literally pulling them out of your fuse box, some even right out through the foundation... I kid you not!

Thought I was kidding, eh?



The latest thing to really gripe my ass though has been the state of Wellington St. Any of you travelling it can attest to this. I was going to try to stretch my shock replacement out 'til the summer but the mess of that road unfortunately made me spend $300 dollars not too long after vacation. The thing that pisses (pardon my swearing, usually don't) me off even more about it is the fact that they took all friggin' summer paving the McKnight road! For any of you not familiar with that route, it's the one that connects Loggieville to Napan. I know, pointless, eh? Rumour had it that it was supposed to extend and include Wellington but either time or budget didn't allot for it as it's still a mess. Yes, the McKnight road was a mess but nowhere near as bad as Wellington St. and certainly not used the amount that our main drag is.

I know, I know, I'm prone to exaggeration but I kid you not about the state of this road. Speed bumps have nothing on that mess. The bumps are so big that they have shadows... SHADOWS! So now I'm reduced to driving the shore road which would be nice if it weren't a bumpy, icy mess and I don't even get to enjoy all the lights on the poles. It also means I have to chalk on a few more minutes for my morning commute. That may not seem like much but when you have to be there 15min. before your shift and you got stupid people ahead of you that insist on ordering a sandwich for everyone they work with at the drive through, it means the difference between on time and late. Oh yeah, that's another thing that gripes my ass to no end so if you're one of those people, please stop doing it it drives those of us getting just coffee, crazy.

I guess a big thing for me to do is to write a letter to the editor of the local paper and work on getting some signatures and head to a council meeting. Frig, I can't even stand to watch them on TV let alone having to sit through one. Could be interesting but it'll be worth it as it's certainly necessary. I'll have to break out my tripod and get pictures of it or video would certainly get the point across. Unfortunately, that means having to drive it. Here's hoping I get it right on the first try as I won't be travelling it until well after the spring thaw.

Phew, that was like therapy, I almost feel better now!

'Til next time...