Homeless

The Core is the Problem

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Sometimes it just seems that the little bit of rain that must fall into everyone’s life is turning into a deluge. With my knee/hip/back putting a serious limit on the distance I can walk I depend on my car to be able to get around to accomplish the varied tasks of the day. When the heater core/coil on my car decided to start leaking on Thursday it was a major problem; a threat to my ability to accomplish anything.

A quick consultation revealed that replacing the core was a $900 job. $900!!! If I had that kind of money to spare … but these days having that type of cash is something I can only fantasize about. Even the suggestion that something could be done for around $100 to get the car running again was well out of my reach. Fortunately the assumption of most people that the members of the homeless or recovering addict communities are stupid is totally incorrect. In fact the members of these communities have a wide variety of skills, experience and intelligence that reflects the great diversity of the people in the community. The result was that my car is currently running perfectly well, although without a functioning heater. I was only required to spend $7 (just under the actual cash I had available) for parts. Labour charges were taken care of by assumption of debt by me on behalf of the person performing the repair, a not usual financing tool in the world of corporate takeovers – or on the streets.

So I have a car that I need that now runs and although it did take all the cash I had, given my budget it was an effective use of cash. On the positive side it did ensure that I got a lot of rest and relaxation over the long weekend. R & R I really needed. So when Tuesday rolled around I was ready to go. Still I certainly hope that any further ‘rain’ hold off until I have the opportunity to acquire some spare cash – just in case it decides to deluge again.

Homeless

Bikers Roar through Abbotsford

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Saturday May 13th, 2006 at the Crossroads, the morning air was shattered by the roar of motorcycle engines as the bikes were fired up and the bikers headed for the highway. As they headed down the roadway the growl of their engines seemed to hang in the crisp morning air, only slowly fading into silence. All this ado was not about nothing, but was about raising money for the cause of helping the homeless to find homes and regain their joie de vive. The bikers had gathered for breakfast at Crossroads before heading out for their ride. A bag was passed at breakfast and several hundred dollars were raised. To those that organized the ride and to those that participated, I extent my thanks on behalf of my fellow homeless. They hope to make it an annual event, one of the many small contributions needed to address the issues and problems of homelessness.

It is upon this type of involvement and community support that the success or failure of any homeless initiatives will rest, for without the support of the community any initiative will fail. So if you are wondering if/what you as an individual can do here is the example of what resulted when one of your fellow citizens felt she needed to do something to contribute to the homeless and her community of Abbotsford.

Consider

Deductive reasoning?

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Reply to www.somethingcool.ca about welfare issue May 8, 2002

Say there Fred … Did you really mean to write the third example of: “Deductive reasoning is the key element… Sadly, this special ability given to us by whatever force is often misused, or in the case of some us living in British Columbia, not used at all. This was clearly evident in the newspaper at least twice this week” in your logic piece in the May 1, 2006 issue? Because you clearly demonstrated a lack of deductive reasoning in the statement: “Which is, of course, why welfare is at $510 a month. The purpose of this program is to give only the amount needed to acquire the most basic of necessities: as in rent, and a little bit of food. While collecting these meager funds, the welfare recipient is expected to be looking for a job, the acquisition of which will provide the person with the money to live that comfortable, happy lifestyle we talked about earlier.” Even if one chose to accept your premise that $510 is enough to provide the most basic of rent and food, and I would challenge you to demonstrate that $510 could meet those basic rent and food necessities, There is a hole in your reasoning, not to mention a total absence of the logic required to qualify as deductive, sufficiently large to fly a 747 through. Toiletries, garment cleaning, transportation, newspapers, communications are only a few of the costs required to find a job. How do you propose that the welfare recipient be looking for and acquiring a job when you provide no funds to accomplish this task?

Now it seems to me that anyone capable of “deductive reasoning” would immediately recognize the reality that if you want someone to accomplish something (employment) you need to provide them the tools (expenses) required to do the job. To expect job seekers to be successful, you need to provide them sufficient funds to cover the expenses that must be incurred to find accomplish said success. Requiring job seekers to rely on ‘abilities’ such as telepathy to communicate with prospective employers or teleportation to travel to submit résumés or attend interviews seems irrational and most definitely illogical. Clearly demonstrating a total lack of “deductive reasoning”.