The reason my column is titled “Piece of Mind” is because that’s exactly what you get. Thoughts, stories, matters on my mind.
This week as you’re reading this column we shall be comfortably settled into a resort in Algonquin on the edge of a lake surrounded by wildlife and nature. It’s a relaxing get away; no motorboats, no Wi-fi, television or radio coverage. It’s our annual trip where we enjoy swimming, reading, and kayaking or canoeing in a quiet beautiful resort 9 km from the main road.
We hope it’ll put the recent inconveniences we’ve been unfortunate enough to deal with back into perspective.
Our car, an eight-year-old Blue Subaru Outback drove into the cement base of a lamp in a parking lot. That moment of inattention caused considerable damage to the front and grill. No- one was hurt, no major catastrophe had occurred, but it was a huge inconvenience. Trying to find the positive was not easy.
After calling CAA for a tow the follow up was to the insurance company. For the first time in 62 years of driving, my husband David had to call the adjuster.
What a performance. Of course being a Friday afternoon before a long weekend did not help. None of the options of “if you want …. push 1, if …. 2, answered our question.
A strong mumbled accent spoken very fast is not easily understood when hard of hearing. In frustration David demanded that a live person call him back. Eventually one did.
By then the tow driver, who had not heard immediately from our insurance company had gone home and had left our car in the compound. A charge of $65 per night. No more action until Tuesday.
The body shop we wanted the car to be taken to in Blair was apparently not on the insurance company’s list. We have the greatest respect for the ethics, pricing, and detail that Cochrane’s Auto Body offer, having seen their work. We insisted that was where we wanted the car to be towed.
We also needed a rental car. We were allocated a given dollar amount. Since we had been advised the insurance adjuster could not come out for a week, it looked like a long rental would be required so we needed to get a smaller vehicle.
There were some positive moments. One friend graciously offered to drive me to the farmers' market and back early on Saturday morning. She even pulled my rolster (wheeled roller bag) and put my purchases in it. It's nice to have such a helpful assistant as well as chauffeur.
Later, my daughter Helen drove me downtown for a coffee with another friend who drove me home. Three chauffeurs later and my errands were complete.
With the dollar amount given, our rental car was selected, a small Kia Rio, adequate but so low to the ground that getting out is not easy for me. It was only later we realized my disabled permit, our garage door opener, sunglasses, shopping bags and a few other items were now locked in the compound!
Within a few days the situation improved. We were able to retrieve items from the car. The car was towed to Cochrane auto body, the insurance adjuster was due to inspect the damage within a few days.
We’ve all had incidents that are inconvenient, this one made me appreciate friends and our car more than ever.
Once my normal routine resumed, I was able to attend a luncheon meeting for the CambridgeToday community advisory board where I learned more troubling news.
For the more than two years I have been writing for CambridgeToday, they have continually worked to improve their coverage, and the circulation numbers continue to increase. It's a free news site supported by advertising and readers like you, but recent federal legislation designed to force tech giants like Google and Facebook to pay Canadian media outlets for use of their content has the potential to weaken the news industry even further.
Facebook's parent company Meta responded to Bill C-18 by saying it will remove all news content from the platform. It means CambridgeToday, along with every news site in Canada, won't be shared or seen on Facebook once the bill takes effect. Google has threatened the same.
In trying to help increase their circulation, which enables CambridgeToday to pay their reporters and cover more happenings in this community, I always post my latest column on Facebook in the hopes it will attract readers who would register to receive their free daily e-mail.
Anyone who registers will get the newsletter in their in box at 3 p.m., no Google or Facebook required. Of course, readers can always visit CambridgeToday.ca anytime they want by simply bookmarking the site on their desktop, or mobile device, but the free newsletter allows you to connect daily to read what you choose, whenever you want. The more readers means larger circulation and continued support for their journalists.
I may be biased, but Doug Coxson is a hard-working, dedicated editor, as are the reporters. They deserve our community support. Please consider registering with CambridgeToday.
My next column should contain my usual positive outlook, but once in every 50 columns my negativity can probably be forgiven.
