I'm envying all you people who still don't have snow...

Yup...I'm just not a winter person. I'm not. I dislike snow. The other day the snow was blowing soooo bad...when I went to the store to get smokes ( a block away), I could barely see 2 feet in front of me and the snow was so powder fine, it gt into my lungs and sent me into a coughing fit. I get to the store, and the owner saw me and laughed because I had a good two inches of snow completely coating my hair. Oh yeah. The weather has dipped to -30 already with the wind chill, and have had snowfall so bad that Highway 614 was closed. Oh yeah. I was a little miffed at Mother Nature as this week I was to take driving lessons in preparation to getting my Driver's Licence...yeah yeah...I don't have a drivers license...I know. I figured if I get it, I'd like to take lessons because I don't want to learn other peoples bad driving habits. Plus, if I learn in the winter, I have the chance to learn how to handle adverse driving conditions. Soo, the classes have been bumped to Dec. 9. Okay, that's provided that we don't get yet another 3 feet of snow dumped on this little town. Lessons are expensive here...these classes are costing me $700. Yup...it's steep, but I can afford it Thank God. So if all goes well, by end of January, I'll be a driver. Sweet. I have driven around town with my Dad, and my Aunt actually let me drive 54 kilometers on Highway 614...but that was in the summer, and according to her, I did great. So, I don't have that fear behind the wheel that I used to have. I can see why some people enjoy it, and why others despise it. Wish me luck. I really want to do well. And get people to stop asking me why I never got one when I was 16, or looking at me like I have 3 heads.
So, seeing as I don't share the same interests as the majority of the townsfolk (which is to get drunk on a nightly basis at the local watering hole) I have taken to getting involved with town issues. Lately we had water meters implemented inour Township, which was decided on without a public vote, and we were told after the fact that water would cost 98 cents per cubic meter. Okay, so I went to the last town meeting, where our Mayor broke the news during question period that there will be surcharges added to that sum, bring the total cost for a cubic meter of water to 1.98-2.05. Yikes. The surcharges include sewer, and intrest on a 2.5 million dollar debt that the Mayor wants the people to pay off over a 10 year period. Uh huh. Okay..keep in mind we already pay for water and sewer thru our taxes, so basically we pay for these services twice. For the local businesses this spells bad news. One restaurant here in town used over 150 cubic meters of water in 6 days! Considering how small our town has become, and also considering it will get even smaller once Newmont mine shuts its doors for good at the end of this year, the sum we pay for water is simply unacceptable, regardless of the fact that the Township stated that we would get 18% taken off taxes. Because when you do the math, only those who pay over $4000 a year will see any difference.The rest of us have to suffer. And this town is trying to promote itself as a retirement community...well, I don't know too many retirees here who can afford the cost of water...not when they're on a fixed income. Soooo...this isn't the only thing the Mayor has been sneaking around with....he's also "entertained" the idea of using the old Geco mine as a storage facility for (drumroll please) low-to-high level radioactive waste. Yup. Geco is not far from the community, and the prob with this is that this could potentially cause more problems if this shit was to end up in our water. Disgraceful. He (the Mayor ) said (and I'm quoting him here) "It would mean 25 Billion dollars infused into this community". I replied "I don't care...not when it concerns my health!". Come on! As if anyone wants to live with that shit literally buried in their backyard! I know he doesn't care because as he said earlier in the Council meeting, he was going to be gone next year anyways. So there is another Public meeting coming up, and it will include these topics as well as proposed usage fees for 2006 for the residents, and I'm sure the atmosphere in the room will be worse than the last Public meeting. At the last meeting, a guy standing at the back ofthe room hollered out "I'm gonna punch you out, fuckin asshole!" and another guy was taken away by police. Oh yeah....there will be loads more angry people there. I think the Mayor and Council should stand behind a chain link fence, in case people start throwing things. Like chairs and rotten fruit. I've been spreading the word to everyone to attend this meeting, not because I intend to start a riot, but to tell people that complacency will kill this town...if they want to save it and make it a prospeous place again they need to let the Town Council know that they are supposed to be working for those who elected them in office in the first place. The Mayor apparantly said out loud and in earshot of people that "the townspeople are easy to fool". Some are...when people refused to let the contractors into their homes to install the meters, the Town said they would pay for them, and so once people quieted down, there goes the Mayor proposing hikes to the water charges. He's ruthless in my opinion.But this is one gal who can see thru the bullshit. I know that whenever theMayor opens his mouth, he inserts both feet. This is one gal that won't stand idly by and let him do this to the people who have called this place home. It's not fair to them. So I feel good that I'm letting my voice be heard. I don't give a shit what the Council thinks of my displeasure, and I'm going to do what I can to help fix my corner of the world. More and more people have put their homes up for sale, and its harder for those who have elected to stay to make a living. Wish me luck in my little crusade eh Bloggers. Like the lyrics in a well known song state..."If you don't like what you got, why don't you change it? If your world is all screwed up, rearrange it!" Peace!