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Mother Nature was more dignified. as is her wont. but equally keen. "The ungra- teful variets have been having their way with the for the past century or so. They're destroying my beauty with their acid rain. their strip mining, their ugly northern developments. their tinkering and trifling with the bounties l have bestowed on them. Old Man Winter caekled jubilantly. “Lordy. Lordy," (he was allowed this familiarity because of his extreme "el, "I ain't had a good dust-up fer nigh on ai years. Last year's winter was so easy they thought I'd gone to sleep or got senile. But I was just savln' up some snow squalls. wind chill factors and blizzards to show 'em, one of these days. that there's plenty of life in the old boy yet." When the Lord revealed that he was peeved, each was delighted. Jack Frost rubbed his hands together. not to keep them warm, but in glee. "Let me at 'em. Lord. I've got a whole freezerful of cold fronts and record lows that are just settin' there doin' nothin'." For some-reason ouytse something to do with the increasing commercialization of Christmas) the Lord became wrathful. and when he does, it is something. He called a meeting. Present were Jack Frost. Old Man Winter. and Mother " ture. "COLD nuff fer yuh?" "Ain't she a cotter?" "Don't that beat all?" These and similar rhetorical questions reverberated across Canada during most of January. The answer to each of them was in ttualiried."Yup". ' . In order to give incoming students added opportunities and avoid disrupting presently-enrolled students, perhaps the board could consider beginning the program as proposed, but letting current students opt to remain in their home schools. The job market is becoming increasingly tougher. Therefore, students who plan to enter the work force immediately after secondary school (such as those in basic level) deserve to get the best possible hands-on experience to improve their chances of landing jobs. Such opportunity exists for students willing to travel a few miles a day to learn their trade in well-equipped,'unerowded shops. Statistics show that basic leVel programs are becoming more popular in the region. Board officials report that 1,501 students are now enrolled in such studies and that by September the figure will jump to 1,710. HoweVer, before a decision' is 'made on the matter believe students of the future should be considered. As pointed out by parents and sympathetic school board trustees, this action could have negative social and psychological effects on current students who don't want to be taken out of their present-environment. And these factors certainly shouldn't be taken lightly. We can understand the concern of parents of local students enrolled in basic level programs at Bluevale and Waterloo collegiates over the, Waterloo county board of education proposal to transfer these pupils to facilities outside their home communities. PAGE a - WATERLOO women. “may T, SEIRUMIY a, an: It might be worth a try. What about _ future students? (Good)? oldtime winters established 1854 published every' Wednesday py Fairway Press, a division of Kitchener-Waterloo Record Ltd., owner 225 Fairway Rd.S., Kitchener, Ont. address correspondence to Waterloo alike: " Klng MSouth, Waterloo. Ont. telephone “2830/ t_tootTtramtrNoHtrmt.tacat.-tttttooeottttootte Whaling WWW”... "amtrt1toet$umt8troqttse law-3mm. Ono" ) MttodartoFrttm, 900 In tos'00pm _i',i.'il Publisher: Paul Winkler - _ Manager: Bill Karges ., Editor: Karla Wheeler Shutters broke loose and banged against outside walls like poltergeists trying to scare the daylights out of you In the middle of the night. Ours did, anyway. Oil and gas bills soared. Tow trucks and car body shops enjoyed a harvest, People sat in the dark and froze when power lines came down. Skiers were stranded and snowmobilers got frostbite. courtesy of Jack. Flying was foolish, considering icing. gusting winds and long waits for the fearsome threesome to ease on the bit. Driving was dangerous: ice underfoot. whiteouts across highways. the chance of being blocked off and sitting all night in a car. freezing your butt and wishing you‘d listened to Aunt Mabel, Besides the howl of the wind the air was filled with the rumble of overworked furnaces. the grinding and grunting of frozen starters and dead batteries, the thump and clatter of snowplows. the hacking and sneezing of people. and the lamentations of the arthritic. Wave after wave of winter rolled across the land without cease, and the once-proud and scorntul people of the land, who had come to the conclusion that they could keep Jack at bay with their new-tangled devices, meet the Old Man on his own terms, and lie and cheat Mother with their public relations gimmicks. whimpered. whined, and were brought to their knees. The Lord spoke, in a mighty and menacing voice. "So be it." and so it came about. I'll go along, I believe the expression is with these gentlemen." But ttnttnciaily, the weather hurt. Money for the snowplow man, money for the boy next door who shovels the walk, literally digging me out in the morning, an oil bill that hurts like a sore tooth. We got through comparatively lightly. The old furnace, bless her. labored on like a guy with one lung swimming the Channel. Old coats and blankets at the bottom of doors kept our feet from turning into bricks. we a thing. Pivén the faith wooiri't Gk them through. They turned and came home. Another lot of friends set off for a religious meeting 30 miles away. It wasn't stormiryr They got six miles and couldn't A colleague was huddled by her fire, place on one of the worst Sundays, when she heard the thumping at the door. Bewildered that anyone would be out in' that maelstrom, she opened it and found another colleague standing there, shaking and shivering like a dog excreting razor blades. The guy had been out cross country skiing. had cot back to his car, almost paralyzed. and found the cops wouldn't let him no home. The road was blocked. She had to hurl him into a hot tub and ply him with coffee and whiskey to bring him around. toes and legs crossed to keep our ancient furnace from cooking out, r was scuttling about the house, stumng socks into the holes in the basement windows. putting on the weatherstriping I'd bought last 0c- tober, pursued by the voice of my wife reminding me of that fact. When I.wasn't sitting with my fingers, The garage bills for about $400. The old w%I_ 0...] In...» n_-<.~_J A, B, . _ - - BILL SMILEY Next time I hear somebody say. "we never get those oldtime winters any- more," I'm going to punch him right on the nose. Provided he's over M and not too spry on his feet. Got groceries in. Four hours later. neighbour informed that my inside lights in car were on. Battery absolutely flat. By twisting the lights knob. she'd turned on the inside lights. and neither of us had noticed. Saturday, naturally. nobody to give me a booster. Towtruck again. Total damage: two dents in car for body work of over 3350; two calls to towtruck. Mutual admiration society not working too well at our place these days. Next day We shopped. came home, drove into garage. I jumped out, told her to pull on the lights so I could see to plug in the block heater. She turned the light switch instead of pulling it, until I yelled. "PuU it. dummy". This time, I said cheeriiy. well, fairly cheeriiy, "No problem“. Got the keys, went out and wiggled the car around without hitting the tree and sailed into the garage triumphantly. Stupid women. I started to back out, inoving smartly. skidded, and wedged the car securely, half in and half out, on my side. Tuwtruck. lady came home one day, skidded going into the garage and wound up with the car half an inch from the side of the garage door. This time she had enough sense to gel out and leave it there. Last time. she kept trying and wound up wedged solidly halfway into the garage.