The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

3 WATERLOO CHRONICLE The Watertoo Chrorucle is published / every Wednesday by the Faiway Group, owned by CityMedia Group | Inc . a subsidiary of Torstar Corp. The cuntent of ttis paper is prutected by | vopyright and may be used only tor personal nonâ€"commerctal purposes All other tights are reserved and . | commercial use is protubited. To â€"â€" make use of this matenal you must first obtatn the permission of the ! owner of the copyright ; editorial@waterloochronicle ca sports@waterloochromicle.ca sales@waterloochronicle.ca composing@waterloochronicle ca 279 Weber St., North, Suite 20 Waterloo, Ontaric N2J 3H8 Phone: 886â€"2830 Fax: 886â€"9383 The views of our columnusts are their own and do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper Group Publisher Group Sales Director/ Associate Publisher pubbshed. Submissions may be edirei for length. so please be bract (Copytight in letters and other matemals subminied to the Publisher and arcepted for public ation semains worh the author bur the publisher and its heensees may freehy reproduce them in print electrams or ather forms Our mailing address is 279 Weber Sr. N Unir 26 Warerloo. NZTIP? Canadian Prblications Mal males Prod uct Agreement Number 40050478 International Stamdard Serial Numort n Phannl Standon Mar Szella Special Projects Special Projects Mgr 623 3050, 623â€"3050, tau. 206 Hxt. 210 Advertising Sales txt. 222 The Waterlac t hromite wele omes lerrers to the bdrtair Thev sheald he signed with tame. addtess aud phoue namber and will be veriied for accoracy No unsigned letrers will be Bub Leuschner Dwayne Weidendort Manager, Ext. 230 Sales, Ext. 223 Andrea Bailey Bob Vcbanac Editor, Ext. 215 . Sports Editor, Ext. 229 www waterloochronicle ca Gerry Matnice Bnik Zontn o Letters Policy 95!"‘ a [SSN 0832 3410 Auniited erenlahen 2 Â¥an Matihiws Composing Norma Cvca At any rate, we took a look around and checked out some of the neighbourhoods sprouting up around Waterloo. We have friends who live in the Eastbridge area of town who got into the market three years ago, just before the neighbourhood took off. Homes that were r‘â€"“â€"*‘â€"â€"‘â€"’ going for $225,000 in 2001 | WISE | are now selling for more If bldels | Stick to the plans, please! With the threat of interest rates creeping up from historic lows, my wife, Tara, and I thought there was no better time to buy, and got serious about getting into a home we could afford. But even with interest rates at allâ€"time lows, findâ€" ing something affordable isn‘t always easy. Especialâ€" ly in the resale market, where affordable often means spending more money than you originally thought to fix it up. And when we found a resale home in our price range, we soon found that it would take up to $20,000 to get it looking the way we want. Call it the curse of all those home decorating shows on out there, but every time we see wallpaâ€" per these days we just want to pull it down. Our developer had options of his own, but we didn‘t like the cookieâ€"cutter approach to home building you see in some areas of town. â€" s than $300,000. Well, that was a little bit out of our league. When it came down to it, we decided to start from scratch and buy a little bit of land of our own and build our own modest little dream house. Buying the land was the simple part. What to put on it proved to be much more difficult. But build anything that breaks the mold and it‘s going to cost you. _ â€" â€" _ When Tara found a nice little plan on the Interâ€" net, we couldn‘t resist and got the builder to take it to his architect. Chaâ€"ching. Of course those architect costs were rolled into the cost of the home. Then comes the purchase agreement as to what‘s standard in a home. Well, the builder‘s definition of standard is much different than mine. Putting in an extra window? No problem, we‘ll just amend the agreement. Hlooring, any different paint colour, even insulaâ€" tion in your garage is considered extra. But what the heck. You want your hame to look just right. ell, I‘ve decided to take the plunge and do Wome!hing that a lot of other people in Waterloo Region seem to be doing now â€" jump into the hot housing market. And don‘t get me started on ceiling fans. â€" You see. no matter what picture you have of your home in your mind, translating it from paper drawâ€" ings to brick and mortar brings about a whole new set of problems. Like having the foundation flipped from how you originally envisioned it. Sure, nothing is lost now that the layout is flipped. But in your mind‘s eye, things that were on the right are now on the left. Like the garage. But at least they didn‘t fip it front to back like they did with my friend‘s home. It‘s all about curb appeal, and the helpful builder‘s agent will tell you it will help sell your home down the road. That‘s if you ever get the chance to move into your home. And I‘m a big believer that bad things happen in threes. So after they flipped our home, discantinued our flooring which matched the whole colour scheme of the house, and installed the hydro meter practically on our front porch, I think we‘re safe for now. Now we‘re just waiting to move in this summer How hard can that be? VIEWPOINT BOB Drama and comedy at every turn Maybe it‘s the iffy weather we‘ve been having, but summer seems to be comâ€" ing with a rush. . I don‘t understand why people like June so much. Where is it in February when we need it? _No, l don‘t summer in the country; mostâ€" ly 1 simmer in the city. Anyhow, it‘s too hot to do the jobs it was too cold to do all winter. Whither the Polls: Maybe I was too quick to pick a clean winner in the federal elections, More and more it is looking as if the Grits could wind up with a minority win. But, heh, they mightn‘t wind up with that if the Tories and Bloc Quebecois broker a deal to head up a minority regime. That mounds like a mismatch, but stranger things have happened. There‘s talk that the Bloc would set pretty stiff terms, and I‘ll bet some strange things could happen legislatively if they ever got together. Their minarity government would find it tough to assert a philosophy which represented both sides. It strikes me that this elecâ€" tion will solve precious little, that sooner or later [and itll be sooner}. we‘ll have to do it all over again. W‘ll be enough to blow the dust off the old parties and make them refigure their leadâ€" ership. Well, all we can do is wail and see what happens. I think a minority government in which Jack Layton has a rote to play with the Liberals would be something to see. Or not see. {Which is more to the case.] So save the signs from your front lawns. and save any printing which came up surâ€" plus. Speeches? Well, maybe you‘d better crank up a new one, By the way, the odd candidate says he doesn‘t believe in polls. That‘s like a jockev saying he doesn‘t beheve in horses. Nevermind the Stratford Festival, every crossroads has drama and comedy to offer. And there are playgoers who take in every It may well be that Steve Harper feels that prices for a minority government would he high for him. And i‘ll probably be too high for Paul Martin. t00. Ever the Big Draw: Seriousiy, it‘s amaz ing what our three cities and their hamlets offer by way of summer entertainment. ANOTHER WARM WEATHER PESIT ... SANDY BAIRD spot, and, what‘s more, take the opportunity to dine at the nearest opportunity in whatâ€" ever is close by. â€" Thus, they get specialities such as roastâ€" ed pig ears and marshmellow sauce, corned sauerkraut with chocolate garnish, and all good stuff like that there. That‘s for food. The places where they do the dramas are secondâ€"hand schools or deluxe driving sheds. It‘s great how they‘ve transformed them. In addition to the drama spots, every centre has special weekends. Waterloo, as just one great and glorious example, offers something special on a lot of weekends. Although, if I recall correctly, a few spots rent cushions to ensure the seats are made Still, as a summer worry I fret when I see a swimming pool with a 16â€"yearâ€"old lifeâ€" guard presiding. They always look as if they got their lifeguard‘s badge in tanning. Looking Good: Golly. it‘s great how the ‘ city looks in just a few weeks. It M wasn‘t that long ago that it \rFR i looked forlorn wfih waste TLY ‘ vvyerywhvr(- and lawns nonâ€" existant. Passing Glories: It looks as DY if George Dubyah is passing on D some of the glory of his onceâ€" great military victory. Uniil the victory was hbadly tarnished by insurgents. Dubyah claimed it as his own. Now that it has been discredited, he‘s willing to share it with the rest of the world. How come he isn‘t doing worse in the election he‘s facing in November? Well, he‘s starting to fade and his descent will no doubt continue. You‘ll note that he‘s been speaking to troop musters. cadet graduations and any where clse where a couple thousand ser vicemen (or servicewoment can rally. And he keeps proving too that more peo ple are thoughtless than speechless. And don‘t you feel his TV speeches should be interrupted at frequent intervals for balonevy commercials? Now the properties have been slicked up. The waste and assorted junk is gone. The lawns look as green as pool tables. Windows sparkle and walks have been swept. Things look splendiferous. Say, if the flowers don‘t talk to me. is it because they‘re mums?