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Parker’s Pen – June 2022

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David Parker

I’m glad to be human as I couldn’t afford to be a dog.

Had the pleasure of doggy sitting our daughter’s pet for a couple of weeks and was given a list of necessities. Important was the pill to be given at 7:00 a.m. every morning. Important as they cost $80 per month.

I can buy enough pills for blood pressure and cholesterol, plus aspirin, Tums and vitamins for less. And it was a lot cheaper to visit my doctor than to get advice from the vet.

Then there’s the food. One mid-size bag of gluten-free duck cakes showed a tag of $86.

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Not that I have a doctor anymore.

Two toughies in one day. My barber said he was going back to Europe and later my doctor of 20 years informed me he was retiring.

Now, it’s easy to find a barber and a vet, but try getting a new GP. I don’t understand why I can’t find a doctor who is willing to take more patients.

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Something surely has to be done to re-fill those downtown office towers and renovating a number into residential units makes sense. But I have to wonder about the wisdom and fairness in giving government (i.e. taxpayers) money to a select group of owners.

When tenants move into the first 400 or so new apartments, they could be pulling up stakes from where they have been paying rent to a small building owner.

And I have to be a bit concerned for the other residential towers under construction in the downtown and beltline districts. They are being built on private investment and will also be competing for renters.

Hopefully there will be enough attraction to living in the core that all will be satisfied.

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Aren’t we all getting a little fed up with people wanting to look after us? Leaf/snow blowers do make a noise, but I can put up with them for the time it takes to do the job. And anyone who has been to a Flames game has to put up with – and perhaps enjoy – much louder din for hours at a time.

Wanting to ban things is becoming a popular game, but, as yet we are not as crazy as the Brits where a council in Cornwall is banning daffodils in its parks because if children dig up the bulbs and eat them, they could get sick!

Although I loved rhubarb dipped in sugar, I never ate the leaves because I was told by my dad they were poisonous. Simply his responsibility to warn me.

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We can pat ourselves on the back for creating a city that is becoming a hi-tech centre. A big reason is the amount of brain-power here, particularly in software engineering. But another plus is the association many of our newcomers, like John Marshall, CEO of Userful, retain with former colleagues in the Silicon Valleys of this IT world.

Our industry is now recognized by giant hi-tech companies as well as leading venture capital funds.

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Final words: He doesn’t know what he wants and he won’t be happy ‘til he gets it.

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