WHAT IS TIME?

 

Ten days ago I had cataract surgery on my bad eye; the fifth surgery on  my eyes in the last eleven months and, hopefully, the last.  My opthalmologist tells me my retinas will need monitoring but, for now, everything is good.  With my bionic eye, I can see right through womens’ clothes, which isn’t always a good thing, by the way!  I've observed that people my age look way better with their clothes on.

Five short months from tomorrow, I’ll be flying to Toronto after my last official day of work to cycle in a Gran Fondo with my good buddies, the Over the Hill Gang.  It’s hard to believe.  It got me thinking about the subject of time and what it means to us at various stages in our lives. 

 

The drawing below illustrates what physicists call the ‘arrow of time’.  I don’t pretend to understand it, but it’s a nice picture!

 

 

Wikipedia defines ‘time’ as a dimension in which events can be ordered from the past through the present and into the future.  Time is also the measure of durations of events and the intervals between them. 

 

A physicist by the name of Sean Carroll explains the relationship between the passage of time and something called entropy.  ‘Entropy’ is defined as a measure of the degradation of an object or system, sort of a gradual decline into disorder. 

 

Here are two other definitions of time: “Time is what clocks measure”, and “Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.”  But, I don’t think anyone knows what time really is; just what effect it has.

We know that time has passed when a clean house gradually gets dirty.  We know that time is irreversible; like not being able to turn an omelet back into an egg once it’s become an omelet.  Time is a measure of the way we humans age.  At this stage in my own life, I call it ‘furniture disease’; that’s when your chest falls into your drawers!

In my case, time has meant different things at different times in my life.  When I was younger, I couldn’t wait to grow up: to get real skates instead of bob-skates; to move from la petite école to la grande école; to graduate from high school.  As a young adult, I couldn’t wait to land my first real job, to have children, and to see them grow up. 

But then things happened that reminded me time can go by too fast: my Mom left us too suddenly; my children grew up too fast; I didn’t get to spend enough quality time with my best friend, the mother of my children; the interesting jobs ended too soon and forced me to move on to something else.

I’m surrounded by people my age who can’t wait to retire; they’re counting the days.  I ask them: “Do you realize that you’re wishing your life away?”  I work with colleagues who are in poor health and can’t seem to get their heads around the idea that quality time spent doing something you like is worth far more than the money you make doing something you don’t.  I tell them that’s why I’m pulling the plug in five months’ time.  They look at me strangely.

As I prepare to enter the third phase of my life, le troisième âge, I do so with a great deal of enthusiasm and anticipation.  Despite a bunch of eye surgeries and two carpal tunnel releases in the last eleven months, my old carcass is holding up quite well.  I like to think of myself as a well-maintained old car; the body’s got a few dents and scratches, but the motor’s good!

Within my extended circle of friends are a couple who are battling very serious illnesses.  I wonder how they define time, or if they even think about it.  Maybe they don’t want to...

I’m at that stage in life when I’d like time to slow down, so that I can savour every moment.  I’m well over my materialistic phase and into the experiential.  I can’t wait to see the world and to knock a few more items off my bucket list.  I figure I’ve got at least fifteen good years left and I can’t wait to get started.  Ah shit!  There I go again!

REMEMBERIN’ STOMPIN’ TOM

One day in 1969 when I was in my last year of high school, Mom asked me if I’d heard this ‘crazy’ song called Bud the Spud by a guy who used to live ‘Up West’.  She said they’d been playing it all day on CJRW in Summerside and that I should listen to it.  In those days, we teenagers listened to Honky Tonk Women by the Rolling Stones, Suspicious Minds by Elvis, and the Beatles’ Come Together.  I really had no interest in a hick cowboy from Skinner’s Pond.

Eventually, I heard the song and laughed my way through it, too embarrassed to admit to any of my friends that I kind of liked it.  And when I saw Stompin’ Tom Connors on the Tommy Hunter Show one night I was hooked.  I’d never seen anybody dress like him, talk like him, or sing like him; not on TV anyway!  I thought: “This guy’s nuts, but there’s something about him!”

So I thought I’d share a few stories about my favorite Canadian troubadour.  The first takes me back to orientation week at the University of Prince Edward Island in September 1970.  I was a country kid living in the big city of Charlottetown for the first time, and more than a bit overwhelmed by the experience.  Knowing that Stompin’ Tom was headlining the Saturday evening bash was somehow reassuring.

The day before the big party, I noticed a couple of strange-looking hippies driving around campus in an old van with California license plates.  They both had long hair and beards, and wore beaded headbands.  Saturday night came around and, next thing we knew, the two hippies are on stage, opening for Stompin’ Tom.  Seals and Crofts, no less!  Those of my vintage may remember them for their million-selling album, Summer Breeze, and another pretty good song they wrote called Diamond Girl.  They might have been good but we couldn’t wait for them to get the hell off the stage!

The next time I saw Stompin’ Tom was in Fredericton where I attended UNB and he played in the Lord Beaverbrook Arena.  I got myself in a party mood with the rest of the Island contingent and we got as close to the front as we could.  Tom came out with his Mason jar of ‘shine’ and his stompin’ board and soon had the place in a frenzy.

He told his joke about the drunk guy who staggered out of the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, leaned on the open front window of a taxi and asked the driver: “Hey buddy, ya’ got enough room in yer’ cab for a pizza and a 2-4 a’ beer?”  “Sure”, says the cabby.  “Blahhhhh! goes the guy”, Tom said, “Threw up all over the seat!”  And he had an answer for the heckler in the crowd at UNB: “Buddy!” says Tom.  “The last time I saw a mouth that big it had a hook in it!”

I watched Stompin’ Tom on TV every chance I got and I listened to his music, learning the words to Tillsonburg, Sudbury Saturday Night, The Ketchup Song, Muk Tuk Annie, The Coal Boat Song, Margie’s Cargo, The Hockey Song,The Mule-Skinner Blues, and one of my favourites, Big Joe Mufferaw.

One day just a few years ago I was walking to a meeting in Gatineau just across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill and I noticed a sign on a high-rise Québec provincial government building: “Édifice Joseph-Montferrand”.  As I walked along, I mumbled to myself: “Joseph Montferrand; Jos Montferrand; Joe Mufferaw.  No!  It can’t be!”  So I looked it up on the internet and, sure enough, the guy Stompin’ Tom wrote about was a legendary logger, strongman and hero of the working people who lived along the Ottawa River in the early 1800s.

My last Stompin’ Tom story goes back to the Canada Games in Corner Brook in 1999.  My son, Clément, was a member of the PEI hockey team playing against Newfoundland and Labrador.  One of the parents, our ‘spiritual leader’, Sandra Ellis, decided she’d barge into the TSN broadcast booth and ask them to play Bud the Spud every time our boys scored a goal.  They did!  To the opposing team’s great consternation!  Our boys won 6-3 and the PEI team was featured on the daily TSN broadcast.

I bought Stompin’ Tom’s first book, Before the Fame as soon as it came out.  I was fascinated, finding his life far more interesting than I’d ever imagined.  A friend of mine believes there are two kinds of people in this world: victims and survivors.  Stompin’ Tom is the epitome of survival.  Those who haven’t read the book should do so.  If you don’t find it inspiring, you’re beyond hope! 

One of my favourite stories is about the pick-up line he used to lure his future bride, Lena Walsh.  It seems he was returning to the stage from having a few beers in the second-floor lounge at J.R.’s Place, a famous watering hole in Charlottetown where Stompin’ Tom often played   He's shown in the picture below with the proprietor, Johnny Reid.  He met the barmaid, Lena, coming up the stairs with a tray-full of beer.  They stopped, their eyes met, and he asked her: “Are those real or did you get them outa’ the Simpsons catalogue?”  Not my kind of line, but it worked for him!

Like many, I was saddened by the news of Stompin’ Tom’s death and I’ve read the many tributes in his honour over the past week.  Last evening I viewed his memorial service in Peterborough on TV, the town that added the brand “Stompin’” to his name.  I watched proudly as prominent Canadians like Adrienne Clarkson and Ken Dryden told how much he meant to them and to Canada, and it made me proud to be Canadian.  I listened to a wonderful poem by Island MP Gail Shea and watched intently as Tom Connors, Jr. offered a heartfelt tribute on the family’s behalf.

It reminded me once again that our country’s real leaders are not the pretenders on Parliament Hill, the Bay Street financiers, the Calgary oilmen, or the overpaid NHL brats our kids look up to.  No, the real leaders are those who inspire us with their courage, their sincerity and their love of country.  They understand what it means to be Canadian, and they teach us by their example.

Stompin’ Tom wasn’t perfect by any measure, and he didn’t pretend to be.  He didn’t have the best voice and he didn’t write the kind of lyrics that will elevate him to the pantheon of great performing artists.  But he was an original, true to his style, and true to his fans.  You either liked him or you didn’t.  He had a voice that made Johnny Cash sound like a soprano, and I loved it.

I’ll miss you Stompin’ Tom…

LANCE’S ADMISSION – WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

I didn’t watch much of Oprah’s interview with Lance Armstrong this week.  He finally admitted what all of us already knew.  So what?

What does it mean when the man who won the toughest sporting event in the world seven times in a row admits he couldn’t have done it without doping?

Why did he admit it?  Why now?  Is he remorseful?  Or is he trying to limit the damage from the many pending lawsuits filed against him?  Does he want to kindle interest in a book and a movie about his life as a way of getting out of the financial hole he’s dug for himself?

I think the answers can be found in the questions.  You just have to look at the way celebrities conduct themselves these days to understand where this is going.

I started cycling about thirty years ago, by myself, and to keep in shape for cross-country skiing.  Over the years, it’s become my favourite form of exercise and a wonderful pastime.  In a good year I pedal 5,000 kilometres, and I plan to stay in the saddle for as long as I can stay up on two wheels.

Since 2004, I’ve spent many pleasant hours cycling along Island roads with my buddies, the Over the Hill Gang.  We’ve gone from North Cape to East Point together, around the Cabot Trail, and on century (100-mile) rides all over the Maritimes, in Maine, and in Québec. 

In 2006, Russ Melanson, Gerry Ridgeway, Richard Birt, Ira Birt and I travelled to France to climb Mont Ventoux, a 1,600-metre high monster that’s been included in the Tour fourteen times.  It features an average gradient of almost 8% over 22 kilometres and is a brutal test; not for the faint of heart (or lung!). 

We took a couple of breaks on the way up, one in front of the Tom Simpson memorial, just short of the summit.  Simpson died of a heart attack on Ventoux in the 1967 Tour de France.  The autopsy showed he had alcohol and amphetamine in his system.

Elva and I visited France in the summer of 2005.  Quite by accident, we happened to be staying in a small town in the Pyrénées called Saint-Lary the very day the Tour de France cyclists rode up the Pla d’Adet, a climb that reminds me of North Mountain on the Cabot Trail.  We saw Lance ride by right in front of us, wearing the leader's yellow jersey

That year’s tour, the last of Armstrong’s seven wins, took place over a twenty-three day period, with two rest days.  The riders covered almost 3,600 kilometers in that time, an average of 171 kilometres per day, at an average speed of over 41 kilometers per hour.  These guys are machines, whether doped up or not!  We’ve since learned that all three men who stood on the podium in 2005, Armstrong, Ivan Basso and Jan Ulrich, were doping.

The organization that runs cycling, the Union cycliste internationale has declared that no one won the seven Tours from 1999 to 2005.  Of the 180 riders who raced each of those years, so many were doping that it would be impossible to find even three who were clean!

The only one who seemed to be above the rest was Lance; until now.  What happened?  The simple answer is: like all the rest he got caught!  That he managed to escape for so long is simply a reflection of his vast resources and the network that protected him.

Why did he do it?  Lance’s team, the US Postal Service, decided they would do whatever it took to win the Tour.  And they did, seven times.  Armstrong was the leader of the eight-rider team and every other rider and team support member catered to him; including the doctor.  It’s suspected that all of his teammates who rode in the Tour were doping.  It was expected of them.

So, if everybody was doping, why did Lance win seven times in a row?  We don’t really know the answer to this question.  It may be that Lance, doped or not, was the best of the lot.  Or, as many now suspect, he may have been on something better than the others, provided to him by the best team doctor in the business.

I’ll never forget where I was when Ben Johnson beat the snot out of Carl Lewis in Seoul, South Korea, in the 1988 Summer Olympics.  He shattered the world record for the 100 metres in 9.79 seconds!  It was one of my proudest moments as a Canadian.  And I’ll never forget where I was when I learned he was on the steroid Winstrol.  No wonder he ran like a racehorse!

Poor Ben was disgraced; but only because he got caught.  His doctor wasn’t as good at hiding the doping as other runners’ were.  It is a fact that only one of the top five runners in that race never tested positive for a banned substance.  Maybe, just maybe, they were all doping in that race.  Maybe, in a distorted way, our Ben won fair and square.

Contrast these so-called athletes with, in my opinion, the greatest athlete Canada ever produced, Terry Fox.  He ran from St. John’s to west of Thunder Bay on one leg, covering a distance averaging almost a marathon a day, in all kinds of weather, and in great pain.  He ran 5,373 kilometres in 143 days and stopped only when he could go no further. 

Contrast the Terry Fox Foundation with Livestrong.  Which are you prouder of?  The answer for me is quite clear.

Unfortunately, we'll never know whether Lance Armstrong was the best professional cyclist of his era.  Not even he knows the answer to that question.  From what I know of the man, that must be the toughest question he faces.

Is he sorry because he cheated, or is he sorry because he got caught?  Time and Lance’s actions will provide us with a better answer.  I’m willing to give the man a chance at redemption.  Everybody deserves that.

ARSENAULT & GAUDET LTD.

 

My grandfather, Emmanuel Gaudet, is the ‘Gaudet’ in the company known as Arsenault & Gaudet Ltd. People of my vintage and earlier knew it as one of Wellington’s most prominent landmarks and a thriving business in its heyday. I have my grandfather’s copy of the agreement that formed the joint stock company in 1906. I’ve decided to incorporate it into this blog, although it makes for labourious reading.

The agreement was drafted by Albert C. Saunders of Summerside. My research indicates that he was a four-time Mayor of Summerside and sixteenth Premier of Prince Edward Island; serving from 1927 to 1930 when he was appointed to the provincial Supreme Court. A smart man he may have been, but punctuation was not his strong suit!

Here’s a bit of context. Prior to the formation of Arsenault & Gaudet Ltd. two stores operated in Wellington: one owned by Fidèle T. Arsenault, the other by Joseph-Félix Arsenault. Fidèle T., nephew of Senator Joseph-Octave Arsenault, managed his uncle’s store from the time it first opened in 1874 when the railway arrived in Wellington. Shortly after Joseph-Octave’s son, Joseph-Félix, entered the family business in 1897, Fidèle T. crossed the street and opened a store of his own.

In 1900, Joseph-Félix Arsenault opened the magnificent three-and-one-half storey structure pictured below. A healthy gathering of village citizenry appears in the photo, and lumber strewn about indicates the store is barely finished. An advertisement in the November 23, 1899 issue of the Pioneer states:

“In a short time we will be moving our large stock of general merchandise into one of the largest, if not the largest, and best finished country stores of this Island. We have no hesitation in saying that when our goods will be displayed in their respective departments in the new store it will please the eyes and tastes of the most fastidious.”

Unfortunately, the business soon fell on hard times. It was acquired in 1904 by James A. Sharp of Summerside, probably for the amount owing on the mortgage. James’ son, Herbert (pictured below), a shareholder in the new company, was an 1890 graduate of Mount Allison University.

 

 

Emmanuel Gaudet (pictured below), a native of Miscouche and graduate of the Charlottetown Business College, worked as a clerk and bookkeeper in the store when it was owned by Joseph-Félix Arsenault. He stayed on in that role when the Sharps acquired the business.

 

 

In 1906, Fidèle T. Arsenault (pictured below at his granddaughter's wedding), his son, Edmond, and the Sharps decided to merge their two mercantile businesses, and to take in Emmanuel Gaudet as a fifth partner. According to the agreement Fidèle T. and his son owned 60 shares, or one-half of the new company, and the Sharps owned 55 shares between them; Gaudet owned the remaining 5 shares. The new company was valued at $12,000, incidentally, the same amount it cost to build the Mont-Carmel Catholic Church. In today’s dollars, the business was valued at approximately $300,000.

 

 

The agreement indicates the Sharps were interested in getting their money out of the business as quickly as possible. The full value of their stock was to be determined according to a formula, and anything over $6,000 was to be secured by promissory notes from the new company to James A. Sharp at 6% annual interest, to be paid in full within one year. The same rule applied to stock owned by Fidèle T. Arsenault; anything worth over $6,000 was to be secured by a promissory note, payable within eighteen months.

The agreement includes a few other interesting details. For example, stock in both stores was valued at 80% of the invoice price, except for grain, flour, coal, cheese, corn meal, egg cases, and goods on order, which were valued at 100% of invoice.

James a. Sharp's shop furniture was to be priced separately and acquired by the new company "at a price to be agreed on between the parties." His safe and Simpsons Computing Scales were not included in the agreement.

 

Interestingly, dress-making supplies and equipment were exempted from the agreement. I suspect this was because they were owned by someone other than the partners, possibly my grandmother, Mannie (Cormier) Gaudet. Also, the new partners agreed that they’d buy fire insurance from Herbert S. Sharp, but only if he offered it at a competitive price!

The final clause in the agreement specifies that neither Fidèle T. Arsenault nor James A. Sharp can offer merchandise at a reduced price between the date of the agreement and the date of the granting of letters patent. In other words, they agreed that neither could liquidate his stock for a quick buck before the new company was up and running! Just in case ...

The picture below may have been taken at the time of the official opening of the new business in 1907.  It shows the Wellington Cornet Band and dignitaries gathered for the occasion..

 

Dated 29th Octob 1906

 

 

Fidele T. Arsenault

Emmanuel F. Gaudet

James A. Sharp

Herbert S. Sharp

and

Edmund Arsenault

 

Agreement respecting formation

of Joint Stock Company and

Sale of Stocks in Trades

 

This agreement made and entered into this twenty ninth day of October AD 1906 between Fidèle T. Arsenault of Wellington in Prince County in Prince Edward Island Merchant Emmanuel F. Gaudet of the same place Clerk Edmund Arsenault of the same place Clerk Herbert S. Sharp of Summerside in Prince County aforesaid Accountant and James A. Sharp of Summerside aforesaid Merchant trader whereas the said mentioned parties have agreed with each the other of them respectively to form a Joint Stock Company under the name and style of Arsenault and Gaudet Limited under the Joint Stock Companies Act of this Province with a paid up capital of twelve Thousand dollars divided into One Hundred and twenty Shares of One Hundred dollars each for the purpose of carrying on a general mercantile business at Wellington aforesaid with all the parties hereto as directors of the said proposed Company. And whereas the said James A. Sharp is at present engaged in a mercantile business at Wellington aforesaid and has a large stock in trade of the value of Six Thousand dollars and upwards and whereas Fidèle T. Arsenault is at present engaged in a general mercantile business at Wellington aforesaid and has a large stock in trade of the value of Six Thousand dollars and upwards and whereas the said James A. Sharp has agreed with the said Fidèle T. Arsenault, Emmanuel F. Gaudet, Edmund Arsenault and Herbert S. Sharp to sell and assign his said stock in trade to them on the terms hereinafter mentioned and the said Fidèle T. Arsenault, Emmanuel F. Gaudet, Edmund Arsenault and Herbert S. Sharp have agreed with the said James A. Sharp to purchase his said stock in trade on the terms hereinafter mentioned and whereas the said Fidèle T. Arsenault has agreed with the said Emmanuel F. Gaudet, Edmund Arsenault and Herbert S. Sharp and James A. Sharp to transfer all his stock in trade to the said proposed Company on the terms hereinafter appearing and whereas it is understood and agreed between the parties hereto that the stock in trade so sold by the said James A. Sharp and purchased by the remaining parties hereto and the stock in trade so to be transferred by the said Fidèle T. Arsenault shall form the paid up Capital of the Company and the Capital Stock of the said proposed Company shall be held in the following proportions by the parties hereto namely the said Fidèle T. Arsenault fifty six shares and the said Edmund Arsenault four shares the said James A. Sharp thirty five shares the said Herbert S. Sharp twenty shares and Emmanuel F. Gaudet five shares now this agreement witnesseth that in consideration of the premises the said parties hereto doth hereby covenant each with the other of them in manner following. The said James A. Sharp will sell and assign to the said Fidèle T. Arsenault Edmund Arsenault Emmanuel F. Gaudet and Herbert S. Sharp and the said Fidèle T. Arsenault, Edmund Arsenault, Emmanuel F. Gaudet and Herbert S. Sharp will purchase the said stock in trade for the sums or prices following namely Eighty percent of the invoice price for the goods wares and merchandise including costs of transportation excepting thereout grain, flour, coal, cheese, corn meal, egg cases, and goods ordered and in transitu which are to be taken at invoice price including cost of transportation (it being expressly understood and agreed that p heads, trimmings and dress stays are not to be included in this agreement) and to be paid for in manner following that is to say the surplus over and above Six Thousand dollars of the consideration money is to be secured by two promissory notes to be made by the said Company when duly incorporated in favor of the said James A. Sharp one of the said promissory notes to be for the sum of Nine hundred dollars and to be payable on the first day of July AD 1907 together with interest thereon at the rate of Six percent per annum from the first day of January AD 1907 and the other promissory note for the residue of the said consideration money and to be payable on the first day of January AD 1908 together with interest thereon at the rate of Six percent per annum from the first day of January AD 1907 and also the said James A. Sharp will sell and assign to the said Fidèle T. Arsenault Edmund Arsenault Emmanuel F. Gaudet and Herbert S. Sharp and the said Fidèle T. Arsenault Edmund Arsenault Emmanuel F. Gaudet and Herbert S. Sharp will purchase the shop furniture of the said James A. Sharp excepting the safe and Simpsons Computing Scales at a price to be agreed on between the parties hereto and also the said Fidèle T. Arsenault’s said stock in trade to be purchased by the said proposed Company when duly incorporated excepting any dead or unmerchantable stock for the sum or prices following namely Eighty percent of the invoice price for the goods wares, and merchandise including cost of transportation and to be paid for in the manner following that is to say the surplus over and above Six Thousand dollars of the consideration money is to be secured by a promissory note made by the Company when incorporated in favor of the said Fidèle T. Arsenault and to be payable on the first day of July 1908 together with interest thereon at the rate of six percent per annum from the first of January 1907 and also the said Fidèle T. Arsenault Edmund Arsenault Emmanuel F. Gaudet and Herbert S. Sharp further understate and agree with the said James A. Sharp that the said proposed Company when duly incorporated will give to the said James A. Sharp the free and exclusive use and enjoyment of one of the two sections of the warehouse at present in the occupation of the said James A. Sharp and more commonly known by the name of the Railway warehouse situate at Wellington aforesaid until the first day of June AD 1907 and also the said parties hereto when the said Company is duly incorporated will keep the stock in trade fully insured against loss or damage by fire and also the said parties hereto when the said Company is duly incorporated will do their insuring in a company or companies represented by the said Herbert S. Sharp provided the rates of the said company or companies so represented by the said Herbert S. Sharp are equal to those of other good and reliable insurance companies and also stock taking of the said James A. Sharp’s stock in trade is to begin when and as soon as letters patent are issued by the Lieutenant Governor in Council authorizing the said proposed Company to do business and delivery of James A. Sharp’s stock in trade is to be given by the said James A. Sharp to the said Company immediately on completion of the stock taking and the giving of the said promissory notes by the said Company to the said James A. Sharp and also the James A. Sharp will not from the day of the date hereof until the letters patent are issued as aforesaid sell any of the goods wares and merchandise at a reduction of his usual and regular price and also the said Fidèle T. Arsenault will not from the day of the date hereof until the letters patent are issued as aforesaid sell any of his goods, wares, or merchandise at a reduction of his usual and regular price. In witness whereof the said parties to these presents have hereunto their hands and seals subscribed and set the day and year first above written

Signed sealed and                                                          F. T. Arsenault

delivered in the presence                                               Emmanuel F. Gaudet
of                                                                                    Edmund Arsenault
Albert C. Saunders                                                         Herbert S. Sharp
                                                                                       James A. Sharp

I don’t know what the Sharps or Fidèle T. were paid, if anything, for stock valued over and above $6,000 since the company’s books have not survived. Neither do I know when the Sharps sold their 55 shares to Emmanuel Gaudet. What is clear is that Gaudet owned 50% of the company by the mid-1920s when the value of its capital stock was increased to $48,000.

Arsenault & Gaudet Ltd. operated until 1972. Like many other rural country stores, it succumbed to competitive pressures from other businesses. The Wellington Co-op gradually increased its share of area customers, and residents were attracted to new stores in Summerside where they travelled increasingly to work and to shop.

My grandfather died on May 30, 1949. According to my late Aunt Bernice, he visited the store for the last time on May 17, 1949, the day the picture below was taken during the federal election campaign. It shows the local MLA, J.W. Arsenault, Prime Minister Louis St.-Laurent, and the local Member of Parliament, J.W. MacNaught.

 

 

When my grandfather’s will was probated in 1949, the estate’s 24,000 shares of Arsenault & Gaudet Ltd. had an audited value of just over $37,000, approximately $350,000 in today’s dollars. For the sake of argument, assuming he bought Sharps’ shares for $8,000 in 1915 and invested an additional $18,000 when the capital stock of the company was increased in 1921, his return on equity would have equalled approximately 9% per year by the time of his death in 1949. Not bad!

THE YEAR THAT WAS

 

I’ve decided to record these few thoughts on the year that was for me and mine.  As my New Years resolution I decided to start blogging, and posted eighteen entries in 2012.  I don’t know if anyone else is enjoying them, but I am!

Our family began 2012 by spending a week together in Cancun in February.  My memories are of leisurely breakfasts followed by mornings in the pool with Samuel and Natalie, walks on the beach with Elva, and family dinners where we shared details of our lives and reminisced about good times growing up together.  The week went by too fast and soon we were back to the reality of four busy households.

 

 

I travelled to Peterborough my first week back to work.  While there, I decided this would be the last stop in my seventeen-job career.  Something about flying to Toronto, hopping a bus to Peterborough, staying in an ugly hotel, and slogging around in the snow made me realize that I should reflect on how to approach the rest of my time on this planet. 

So I asked myself two questions.  How many good years do I have left to do the things I want to do?  How much money will it take?  I know the answer to the second question.  No one knows the answer to the first.  I’m anxious about adjusting to life after a busy career, but I’m going to give it a try and follow the example of many of my friends and relatives who’ve made the transition successfully.

As I near the end of my career I look proudly on those of my children and their life partners.  Sylvie began working with the Canada Revenue Agency last spring and just completed her first Accounting course.  Ghislain is applying for a new job at NB Power’s Point Lepreau nuclear plant.  Clément now works for Van Leeuwen Pipe and Tube, a Dutch-based supplier of steel pipe to petroleum refineries.  Julia began her new career as a Nurse Practioner in September.  Jacques continues to pursue his dream of a career in opera and Isabelle is taking time away from being a radio broadcaster to be a full-time Mom.

On May 26 we welcomed the newest addition to the Arsenault clan, Lucie Camille, daughter of Jacques and Isabelle.  She’s a doll.  I’ve met her a couple of times and see her on Skype regularly.

2012 was marked by minor health setbacks for me.  In May I suffered a detached retina and almost lost the vision in my right eye.  Fortunately, I was able to have the retina reattached in an operation performed by Dr. O’Brien in Halifax.  I was laid up for six weeks and prevented from riding my cherished bike for the months of May and June.  All I was allowed to do physically was walk.  I’ve recovered about 60% vision and am still hoping for some degree of improvement, possibly following cataract surgery.

To top it off, I had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands, the left on December 21.  I’ve been putting it off for a while, but now it’s done.  On the bright side, my blood pressure is that of a teenager, I have no signs of arthritis, and the prostate’s fine!  I’m like a used car: the body needs work but the motor’s in good shape.  So I figure I’ve got a few good years in me yet as long as I get the oil changed regularly.

Because of the eye, I wasn’t able to ride as much with the Over the Hill Gang and only cycled 2,500 kilometres in 2012, about half what I usually do.  We did have a great ride in Québec in August though.  I was able to get back in the saddle in time to train for the Gran Fondo Garneau and keep up to the boys.  It was one of the best rides we’ve ever had.  I also bought a new bike, a Specialized Tarmac, which should keep me going until I’m 65.

 

 

Last Christmas I readied myself for a busy spring of trout fishing.  But the eye problem interfered.  In early July, before the water got too warm, I was able to get in a few good days at the trout.  I re-acquainted myself with tried and true spots on Barlow’s Pond in Wellington and left many happy, well-fed mosquitoes in my wake.  Closer to home, I discovered the joys of mackerel fishing from the bottom of the Hillsborough Bridge.  Now, I can’t wait for spring!

I pursued my passion for history by putting together an illustrated lecture on Wellington entitled Remaking the Image of Quagmire.  I gave two talks, the first in Abram-Village in April and the second in Miscouche in July.  The research was a lot of fun and feedback from the lectures was very positive.  I also wrote a family history booklet for a reunion of the descendants of Aubin-Edmond Arsenault and Bertha Gallant.  Arsenault is the only Acadian to have served as premier of this province.

I shared my first two attempts at fiction with the readers of this blog: The Bamboo Drum and Growing Up with Jacky.  The feedback from you was encouraging.  I decided to submit the children’s story and an abridged version of Jacky to the Island Literary Awards and won first prize for the Drum and second prize for Jacky.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Jacky will be published in 2013 in an Island literary review.  I’ve also started work on a historical novel based on a fictional Island community called Green Valley that will remind in-the-know readers of my home community of Wellington.  I may include a few excerpts from the draft in future blogs.

I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts about things that are important to me like religion, history, travel and education.  Because of my work, I’ve been unable to comment on politics, but that will likely change after I retire.

Every week, I receive emails from travel agencies and discount cruise sellers, and I drool as I peruse the list of exotic places, many of them on my bucket list.  Elva and I plan to travel as much as we can afford to and for as long as our health will permit.  Speaking of Elva, she was jealous of my new bike and decided to get herself a new convertible, a 2012 Mazda MX-5 hardtop.  It’s in storage for the winter and we can’t wait to take her for a spin in the spring.

 

 

Happy 2013 everyone!

MY THIRTY FAVOURITE MOVIES

I just finished watching one of my all-time favorite movies on Netflix, The World’s Fastest Indian.  Sir Anthony Hopkins gives a marvellous performance as Burt Munro, a 67-year-old Kiwi from Invercargill, New Zealand, who broke the speed record for his class of motorcycle at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in 1967; the record still stands.  Hopkins is best known for The Silence of the Lambs but I like Indian the best.

It’s time to list my top thirty movies.  Not all of them won Oscars and not all made it into the big cinemas.  Elva and I have been avid patrons of City Cinema for as long as it’s been in operation, and we’ve seen many excellent movies there that would not have made a nickel for Empire Theatres.  Whittling down all of the excellent movies I’ve seen over the years to make a top-thirty list is not easy. 

I had to include a movie directed by the Coen brothers, those masters of ironic comedy.  My favorite is O’ Brother Where Art Thou with George Clooney. 

When it comes to low-budget independent movies, the list includes The Straight Story and Amal.  The Straight Story is about a man, played by Richard Farnsworth, who must travel to see his dying brother on a lawn tractor because a visual impairment prevents him from obtaining a driver’s license.  Amal is a touching love story of a poor auto-rickshaw driver, Amal Kumar, and the young beauty he hopes to marry.  It’s set in crowded, chaotic New Delhi. 

The Rocket falls into this category as well, starring the intense Roy Dupuis as Maurice “The Rocket” Richard.  It offers as good an explanation of Québec’s Révolution tranquille as I’ve seen anywhere.  Then there’s Les Intouchables, the story of a down-and-out African immigrant who finds his calling as caregiver for a wealthy French quadriplegic.

I chose the Deer Hunter because it’s one of the first big-budget movies to question America’s participation in the Vietnam War, and because of Robert De Niro’s Oscar-winning performance (Meryl Streep played his girlfriend).  Good Morning, Vietnam is on the list because of Robin Williams, and also because of the way it deals with the Americans’ failed war effort. 

Deliverance is the first movie I saw that deals with sodomy, including overtones of incest, as well as how easy it is for a group of good ole’ boys to get themselves into a heap of trouble.  By the way, Burt Reynolds is damn good in this movie, and the tune Dueling Banjos must be both seen and heard to be appreciated fully.  

The first Australian movie I saw was The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.  It’s on my list because of the way it employs humour to deal with the then-sensitive subject of trans-sexuality.  Other Australian films that impressed me are Rabbit-Proof Fence and Muriel’s Wedding, the latter featuring Toni Collette.

Dustin Hoffman’s Rainman ranks as one of the best performances I’ve ever seen by an actor, and Tom Cruise doesn’t do too bad a job either as his brother. 

I love it when Clint Eastwood spits tobacco juice on the dog in The Outlaw Josey Wales.  Caught in flagrante delicto with a much younger woman, Chief Dan George is priceless peeking out from under their shared blanket.  If I had a top-one-hundred list, it would include several more of Eastwood’s; at least The Unforgiven and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

One of the most powerful movies I’ve seen is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  Jack Nicholson didn’t win an Oscar for his role as Randall Patrick McMurphy – Louise Fletcher did as Nurse Ratched – but he was amazing.  So was the Chief, played by Will Sampson.  Nicholson’s obsessive-compulsive character in As Good As it Gets did win him a much-deserved Oscar.

Meryl Streep can pull off any role.  I had a hard time narrowing down all of her great movies to two: The Devil Wears Prada and Hope Springs.  I also love Julia Roberts’ movies; she gives an amazing performance in Erin Brockovich. 

I had to include a James Bond movie, and the newest one is the best in my view.  There have been many good 007s over the years (and some awful ones), but no character has impressed me more than M, played by the incomparable Dame Judi Dench.  Too bad Skyfall will be her last.

Few consider Sylvester Stallone to be a serious actor, but I loved his first Rocky.  He wrote and starred in the movie, made on a shoestring in 28 days.  It won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1976. 

To Sir, with Love is an old movie; 1967 vintage.  It starred Sidney Poitier and was the first movie I saw with a black actor in a lead role.  The Cider House Rules is on the list because I love John Irving’s novels.  This movie adaptation is over-the-top, thanks to a superb performance by Michael Caine.

I’ve seen many biopics over the years; the Iron Lady and Walk the Line are among my favourites.  But the one I liked best was Ray, with Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles.  The music score is incredible.

I chose The Shawshank Redemption for one reason: Morgan Freeman.  I also loved him in The Bucket List and Seven.  I’ve included Invictus because of Freeman and an incredible performance by Matt Damon.

The Godfather is my favorite Marlon Brando movie, although I loved his character in The Missouri Breaks.  I’m not attracted to movies about the Holocaust, but Life is Beautiful is the exception to this rule; Roberto Begnini is incredible as the director and lead actor. 

Al Pacino gives a command performance as a blind man in Scent of a Woman.  The Dirty Dozen features an all-star cast, including some of my old favorites: Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Telly Savalas, Charles Bronson, George Kennedy and Canadian Donald Sutherland.

I chose M*A*S*H because it was one of the first movies I watched as a young university student, and it left quite an impression on a teenager who’d led a sheltered life until then.  My Left Foot with Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the most inspiring stories I’ve seen in a movie.  It’s the true story of an Irish boy afflicted with cerebral palsy who learned to write with his left foot and became a famous author.

Here’s my list!

1.    The World’s Fastest Indian

2.    O’ Brother Where Art Thou

3.    Amal

4.    The Straight Story

5.    The Rocket

6.    Les Intouchables

7.    The Deer Hunter

8.    Good Morning, Vietnam

9.    Deliverance

10. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

11. Rainman

12. The Outlaw Josey Wales

13. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

14. As Good As it Gets

15. The Devil Wears Prada

16. Hope Springs

17. Erin Brockovich

18. Skyfall

19. Rocky

20. To Sir, with Love

21. The Cider House Rules

22. Ray

23. The Shawshank Redemption

24. Invictus

25. The Godfather

26. Life is Beautiful

27. Scent of a Woman

28. The Dirty Dozen

29. M*A*S*H

30. My Left Foot