Going to the Polls – Civic Election Langley

November 3rd, 2011 Thomasso

One would think that there is an election going on with the sudden crop of election signs that just popped up along every roadway and field throughout town. According to my sources on Twitter, and verified on the various webpages that I read, we have one coming up on November 19, 2011, a Saturday. If that was not enough, I have being approached by two friends who have friends of their own who asked if I would help out planting election signs with them. I had to decline becuase of my super busy schedule, but they gave me the “dirt” based on their perspectives and ideologies about the upcoming election, and why it is so important to get the word out and get people to vote.

You need the information about this civic election?

Well, here is a good place to start: Township of Langley Elections.

I am not going to go into a big long spew about why it is so important to vote, and why those who do not vote are saying that democracy has failed us, and that your vote does not matter. Nor am I going to go into the whole morel and ethical reasoning of why living in a democracy is better than living under a dictatorship, or regime. The choice is really yours to make. However, I do encourage everyone who can vote, get out and vote, especially for a civic election.

Why is voting in a civic election so important?

Of all major levels of government, your municipality is going to effect you the most. Everything from business to property tax, your schools, fire departments, policing, street cleaning, (to name but a few) these are huge areas of costs and services, and they effect you directly. Yes, even those who rent are directly effected by how your municipality runs and operates!

So on November 19, 2011, get off your butt, out from your arm chair, and head down to the polling stations to cast your vote(s). Do some research on who you want to run. You will be faced with a number of choices, unlike provincial and federal elections where you pick “one of the above;” civic election you will be choosing a number of candidates to run for a number of seats and boards at once.

Vote!

By the way, I do not represent any of the candidates, or political parties that are running in this civic election for Langley Township.

Posted in Around Town, Events, General, Photographs, Socail Media, Social economics, Social Justice | Comments Off

Halloween 2011

October 31st, 2011 Thomasso

With night-time so early this time of year, the kids did not have long to wait for their time to hit the road and start pillaging the town for treats. Almost as soon as I got home from work I could see parents with their little ones walking the streets in their costumes knocking on doors asking for treats. What struck me this year was the low-key Halloween decorations and lack of the festive atmosphere in Fort Langley that normally takes place. I have some theories.

Fort Langley, in my experience, is a agrarian based society of which Halloween seems extra special becuase it got everyone out to dances, and brought the neighbours together on the cool fall nights that otherwise would keep people inside. The changing face of this little town is that it is going through a growth-spurt, and I believe that this is causing the shift in how people are celebrating this festive time. Farming is almost gone, or, they are now a very small segment of the population. The middle class home-owner now dominates this town, and dances and gatherings are all but a thing of the past now. The down town area is almost void of people, and I see many heading away from town for tonight’s events.

Halloween on a Monday just does not work either. I say make this a statutory holiday! Whose with me?

So this year I was surprised to see only a few establishments showing off their pumpkin carvings, and they seem to have less people than pumpkins inside celebrating. When I say that this town is dead, I mean, very quiet, not zombie dead.

I did not have to walk far to see the latest building development site in town. I live not too far from it, so I can see it every day; I also walked down to it, taking some photos to record the progressing changes in this part of town. Anything on the North side of the tracks people here call Bedford Landing, while everything else on the South side is Fort Langley. But, if you live in Bedford landing, well, then, this is Fort Langley–pure and simple. Again, very little Halloween activity going over there too.

So, about the only scariest thing I saw in town were these story-book mushrooms. Why I think they are scary, well, they just are?

So, a boring Halloween in Fort Langley (so far, as the night is still young). And what am I doing this year? Well, I do not know yet. A part of me wants to leave and go partying, but I do have work tomorrow, so a Monday Halloween may mean me staying home watching TV, or something like that. I will think of something, I am sure.

Happy Halloween!

Posted in Around Town, Events, General, Photographs | 1 Comment »

One More Sleep…Halloween!

October 30th, 2011 Thomasso

Yes, it’s that time of year. I just went through two Halloween parties in a row over the last two days, and I am feeling it today. I’m off to Aldergrove, BC, to work on some computers this morning, but I have a really strong feeling that I will be sleeping very early today.

I will be blogging tomorrow. As usual, I’ll be taking my camera with me, capturing the sites of Halloween in Fort Langley and surrounding areas. So get your costumes on and have a great time!

Posted in Art, Events, General, Photographs | 1 Comment »

Received Notice to Vacate

October 9th, 2011 Thomasso

I was just told minutes ago that the park I live in is going to be sold, and that my notice has been given from my landlord that I have until May, 2013 to vacate the property before then. This gives me 19 months to make my choice as to where I want to relocate.

I guess being told that you have to move is a scary thing, but to be quite honest, I was prepared for it. Fort Langley it a town of very unique qualities, and due to its proximity to the major urban areas, it has garnered the reputation as the secret hidden Jewel of the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. We all knew that the trailer park and the property behind the Fire hall is “the undeveloped land resource” and that it is fit for the next building boom to hit the town. I do not know what will be built here, but from the talk that I had with the current land owner, it sounds big.

Perhaps the real shock value will go to the property owners of Fort Langley who live here around the property. I can see condos being built here as the market seems to be supporting that kind of development.

Posted in Around Town, Events, General | 2 Comments »

Fort Langley Cranberry Fest 2011

October 8th, 2011 Thomasso

This year the Cranberry Festival caught me off guard. Normally I am up to speed on these things becuase every year since I have lived in Fort Langley, I have been asked to participate in it in some form or fashion. I guess I can truly say that I am “busy” enough to not see this coming this year. If it were not for my twitter friends, I would have been wondering why the town is shut down to traffic?

So because I live a block away from the down town area, it was nothing for me to walk to the Post Office and snap some photos as I walked. Here is just a sample of the images I captured while walking through town at 2:00pm today.

For Information on the Fort Langley Cranberry Festival, please go here: Fort Langley Cranberry Fest

Until next year!

Posted in Around Town, Events, General, Photographs | 2 Comments »

Great, Fall Already?

September 23rd, 2011 Thomasso

When I got up this morning and I look outside, I thought to myself, “great, it’s fall, and I miss summer already.” But the day turned out really muggy and humid. It felt like 30C, rather than the 23C the outside thermometer was reading. I was sweating when I was moving stuff outside today. It also explained why the office had the air conditioning turned on during work too.

Even tonight it is really, unusually, warm out. Here it is, almost 7:00pm and it is twilight, and yet, the air and humidity is still warm enough to complain about the muggieness.  This is a screen shot of my Gnome  Calendar/Weather apt., from my Desktop:

What is cool about the screen-shot (above) is that it shows the night time period in real time, or dark side of the Earth, and it is a perfect rectangle, meaning that the Sun is right over the Equator. Usually either one of the poles is completely dark.

So, prediction time: What will this fall/winter be like? Comparing it to last year, I hope we get a better (shorter) winter for 2011-12. I am still bummed out from last winter.

Posted in Astronomy, Bitching about weather, Diatribe, Events, General, Photographs | Comments Off

A Trip to Sooke, BC

September 12th, 2011 Thomasso

This was my trip to Vancouver Island on September 11, 2011, in photos, when I went to buy my sister’s SUV. So me and a friend went on the long trek from Fort Langley, to Sooke, BC, to drive a vehicle what may, or may not have, made it back under its own steam. We made it, with minor issues with a dead battery, but the trip was great. Lots of stories for the dinner table now!

Yes, JM, I made it back! Safe and sound. The Pathfinder did die on us while on the Ferry, but they were nice to help us with the jump-start. We did get home, although hours latter than expected, but it was worth it. The truck passed Air-Care, and Cam had a blast while on Vancouver Island. If I did not know him better, I think he really likes Southern Vancouver island–a lot?

So, here are some photos I took of the round trip while on the Ferry.

Posted in Events, Family, General, Holiday, Photographs, Vacation and Travel | 1 Comment »

The Labour Day Weekend

September 5th, 2011 Thomasso

Well, this is it, our last weekend of unofficial summer. From here on in we must start bracing for fall, or winter, which ever comes first. Right now it seems that summer can go on for ever, but experience tells me that all of this wonderful weather can end in a day, and the Northern hemisphere can be enveloped into darkness for the next six to seven months. What a dismal thought?

As a precursor to the fall season, I have already started on my Halloween costume. I want to have it done well before the festivities start. This year I will have the lights, the mannequins and scary photos adorning my home. I know this will spark a holy war with my neighbour who believes that anything pagan is punishable to public prosecution, but last year, we, as in the rest of my neighbours, asked him to mind his own business and stick to himself, and we would do the same. So far we are one big happy neighbourhood, but that could end at any moment. But that will not put a damper on my Halloween—he can move!

My friends are going back to their classes for their fall semester starting tomorrow. I already miss those days. Yes, I miss the new classroom smells, and that feeling of starting off a new term, and getting new textbooks and supplies. OK, I am happy that I have no more classes, and that I have money in my wallet because I do not have to give it to admissions, but damn it, I had so much fun back then. My friends look at me with envy, and I look at them with nostalgia. School, it conjure up both hell and happiness, I miss it.

So tomorrow, I go back to work. It will be a super busy day, like having two Mondays wrapped up into one. Fall is also a busiest time out of the year for us, so extra pressure will be on us to get the job done. In a way I am looking forward to it. I guess part of old age is knowing what to expect based on having been there and done that—the philosophy of a Gen-X’er. I am also mindful that our economy it still hurting, and that at any moment North America could come crashing down into a economic abyss. I listen, watch and prepare, while working as hard as I can but knowing that this could be a harsh year if the wrong path is taken. “We will see,” as my optimums friend says.

Now for some summer fun relaxation before the clouds roll in!

Posted in Around Town, Bitching about weather, Diatribe, Events, General, Holiday, Humour, University classes | 1 Comment »

Filming of Super Natural in Fort Langley

September 2nd, 2011 Thomasso

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, August 30th and 31st, Fort Langley was a buzz with filming crews shooting the hit TV show “Super Natural,” which is seen on the Space Channel here in Canada. We were given lots of advance notice of the filming. This played a huge impact on my life for those two days–I live less than a block away from where all of the filming was done. This effected my coming and going from home, my walks into town and dealing with the bright lights during the evenings. They kept the noise down, and it appears, for the most part, most of the neighbours were happy with the whole production as they tried really hard not to interfere with our lives.

The only exception were the trailer park owners how are never happy when film crews shoot in this area of town anyway. People block their driveway.

What was funny/interesting was all the activity in the twitter universe about the filming of “Super Natural.” It has a huge cult following–I found out! I mentioned once, to a friend who I knew was a die-hard “Super Natural” fanatic on Twitter, and that tweet seem to have set off a chain reaction with five or six other Twitterers who were also fans.  They wanted photos, details and locations – up to the second play by play. Way more time and effort than I was willing to give. I was swamped with requests.

On my way from work I seen about twenty women sitting on chairs on the East side of Glover Road facing the Community Hall where they were filming. All were armed with cameras with telephotos lenses. True fans!

Some did get their “money shots” and posted them on Twitter. I seen them posted online. Although I never saw the actual shooting on their set at the Hall, I did see the actor who plays Dean. He was walking across the lawn along the side of the Community Hall; it was for a split second. They had tarps and large screen that blocked the view from the main street.

Seeing the town transformed into a small American one is normal around here. It seems we get about ten or more movie productions shooting in various location in Fort Langley per year, so we are use to it. Some are big, and take days and block traffic, while most are small, and you hardly notice them. When watching TV, it is a weird feeling seeing a scene that is shoot right on my street. That is what is so cool about Fort Langley.

Posted in Around Town, Events, General, Photographs, Story Telling | 1 Comment »

Bad Bad HST

August 26th, 2011 Thomasso

This morning as I was driving into work, I had the radio tuned to CBC Radio One, and I was listing to Premier Christy Clark Talking about the results of the HST Referendum. What was odd, from my point of view, was her focus on the “Plan B.” This was odd because the results were not yet released, and she was talking about her pending defeat four hours before the results were to be released. Suspicious, but she is government, so sure; I’m sure hundreds of people knew well before the release of the results.

So I as listened to her babel on about how the government is going to listen to the people and obey the results, it dawned on me that it does not matter. The tax, whether this one, or a new one, the likelihood of an increase is inevitable because the government only needs to ramp up the old PST to match revenue lost from the HST—so simple—and yet so true. As taxed beaten as we are now, I believe we have not seen anything yet. Sure the voters dealt a shot over the bow of the Liberal’s ship, but they hold us hostage with their majority government in Victoria.

As news officially hit the Twittervers that the HST was overwhelmingly voted out of existence, my colleagues, most from the political right, were somewhat confused. It is funny because, they choose the HST because it was the best out of the two evils for them, yet, fighting in favour of a tax goes against every fibre of their been. It was cute to see because, as our accountant put it, “what does this mean…?”

Like good sports, they all agreed that they were going to put their faith into the government, and they hoped that the next eighteen months would be a smooth one for them. Yes, “faith in government…?”

My take on this—I am glad that the British Columbia Government got a taste of the voter anger from the 1.6 million voters who took the time to mail in their ballots. With 54.73 voting to scrap the HST, not for one second was this referendum about the practicality and good government management of the HST and its affairs. This was about a sloppy, megalomaniac Premier who resigned because he lied to the people of whom he represented. This was a vengeance vote, a vote directed at the confidence of the government by its people. I was stunned when the tax appeared back then, right after I heard our leader say at the time that he would not implement the HST. So now, here we are, as one of the only jurisdictions that have recall legislation, we used this valuable tool at our own government, and it seems to be a bitter pill to swallow, but for most us, this was the medicine that we needed.

Do I regret what we have done?

Not really. I see a silver lining out of all this. As a consumer, my buying habits have change a lot since the 2009 meltdown. Buying gas in the US, shopping for bargains and making due with less, has already created a more adaptable environment based on living with the HST. Reverting back to the old style PST only means that old customs of living will easily become reacquainted ones again. I think businesses who are crying about the loss of HST should really look forward and think about the future—their survival depends on it.

Some cool links about the Vote, and the HST.

B.C. votes 55% to scrap HST

Interactive map shows breakdown of HST vote

Posted in Diatribe, Events, General, Social economics, Social Justice, Twitter | Comments Off