Snow removal information in Prince George

Looking out my 7th floor window this AM and seeing 6 floors of snow out side really made me depressed. OK, perhaps I am exaggerating the 6 floors. it's more like 1/2 a meter (1.5 ft roughly) deep down there. Anyway, it would be tough on my electric mobility scooter, who's name is Marlene Julie Scoot (Or MJ Scoot for short). Anyway, MJ and I had a discussion this AM and decided to look online for Snow removal instructions for the city MJ and I love so much. We were spurned into action by a story that Opinion 250 printed on their site, and I had problems logging into the site to comment!

I found this link to a media release that the city put out in December concerning the 2007-08 "plowing year"
http://www.city.pg.bc.ca/pages/media2006/2006_12_08.pdf

I also figured out who to call:
http://www.city.pg.bc.ca/pages/contact/ although, that department is for transport (roads and conventional vehicles moron, don't give a ratz azz for walkers, scooters and Sidewalks)

If Prince George was truly concerned with efforts to make Prince George Physically fit, they would increase efforts to plow walk areas as the top priority so folks could walk to their destinations if the big machines don't get to the areas fast enough. That equipment must be cheaper and faster then the graders and trucks and it is a visible effort in all areas!

Ever have storage problems?

Check out this Wiki "how to" column! An innovative, inexpensive, easy to set up and recyclable filing system!

Just a short reminder-

Unless you want only my blogs featured in our printed version and complain about us ignoring yours, please submit your BLOG URL's to content@pgwalknroll.com . The best of however much space we have left in the Walk-N-Roll around Prince George issue when u send it!

We would like to eventually promote some enviromental blogs particualrly on any production of hemp materials that could (should) replace plastic, iron, oil, cotton, gasoline, ect... Don't worry, we will view any blogs sent to us through content@pgwalknroll.com and publish the ones that catch our eyes! Any on hemp uses will get top viewing time! *******Please note that PG WalkNRoll does not openly support legalizaition efforts for the contriversial uses of the femail hemp plants; but will support other uses like being CO2 sponges!*)

www.pgwalknroll.com

Interesting link

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/01/16/braille-astronomy-blind.html

It should interest visually challenged astronomers :)

www.pgwalknroll.com

lol I have read loads of boring stuff on "Dog bites man" "Man Bites Dog" even "Man Shots Dog"... This story might interest you... The dog lived apparently awaiting trial.

Have a grat day; We are www.pgwalknroll.com

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Hunting_Death.html

What is Freecycle?

the website anyway :)
Freecycle international

Based on a story by Vicki Smith of”The Associated Press” and posted here by WalkNRoll publications

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - When Laura Gernell heard about a place where people gave away perfectly good things to strangers - no money changing hands, no questions asked - she figured it was too good to be true. But husband Ronald had lost his job as a truck driver and she was temporarily unemployed, at home in a rented, unfurnished apartment with her infant son. With nothing to lose, she joined The Freecycle Network, a web-based community swap program, and asked if anyone had a sofa to spare."I wasn't looking to furnish my whole apartment," says the 32-year-old mom from Marmet, just south of Charleston. "I was just looking for the basics, just something to sit on." Three people e-mailed with offers, and Gernell used the sofa from that day in 2004 until last summer, when the springs broke. Today she runs West Virginia's largest Freecycle group, 2,100 members strong and part of a far-flung forum where people can find homes for things they no longer want."It just has completely floored me, the generosity of people," says Gernell. "Especially in West Virginia because West Virginia is considered one of the poorest states in the nation. But people are very generous. It's amazing." Freecycle is a global recycling phenomenon. Since it started in Arizona in May 2003, it has grown to more than four million members in more than 4,100 cities, from Istanbul to Inwood. It boasts of keeping 300 million tonnes of trash out of landfills every day and has inspired imitators.There are, says founder and executive director Deron Beal, as many heartwarming stories as there are groups: the American Indian tribe that collected used prom dresses for girls in need; the hurricane Katrina evacuee who furnished a new home; the 98-year-old man who collects and assembles bicycle parts, then gives what he's built to children; and the woman in Austin, Texas, who collected items for an orphanage in Haiti, then got FedEx to deliver the shipping container for free."It's not like a get-rich-quick scheme. You're not going to get everything you want every time you want it," Freecycle user Laura Gernell says. "The more offers you post, the better outcomes you're going to have." Founder and executive director Deron Beal began his experiment with an e-mail to 30 or 40 friends, inspired by his Dumpster-diving adventures on behalf of homeless men trying to get back on their feet. When his nonprofit group's warehouse was full, he realized he needed a new way to unload.His network grew to 800 members almost overnight, after a newspaper story started spreading the word. "From the get-go, it absolutely snowballed, and we're basically doubling in size every year," Beal says. About 30,000 people join weekly, with the single largest group in London, some 40,000-strong. Though Freecycle caught on first in progressive cities like Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Madison, Wis., Beal says Chicago, St. Louis and New York followed quickly. Then word of mouth took over, with people in the cities telling people in small towns. "It's very much a viral sort of growth and randomly beautiful," he says.It's also self-policing, patrolled by 10,000 volunteer moderators who ensure that items are being swapped legally, and that all are G-rated. Playboy collections and porn tapes are a no-no. "West Virginia was probably one of the slowest states overall for it to really pick up," Beal says, citing lack of Internet access as a likely reason. Earlier this year, the Public Service Commission estimated that less than 35 per cent of West Virginia households had broadband service. A June survey by the Communications Workers of America measured the state's median download speed at 1.12 megabits, one of the slowest rates in the country. However, West Virginia has more than two dozen Freecycle groups, with thousands of members offering a service Gernell says many people need. "Even at Salvation Army and Goodwill, you still have to pay for things," she says "With the cost of living the way it is and gas prices the way they are, the prices there are still way more than some people can afford."Heather Edwards, a moderator of the Martinsburg-Berkeley County group in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, finds great deals for her four children, who range from nine months to 15 years old. "I got a humongous plastic playhouse for the kids," she says. "It costs about $400 new." Edwards, 35, often drives to Hagerstown, Md., to gather her Freecycle finds. "They have everything from Sunday coupons to refrigerators," she says. "Yesterday it was a whole dining suite: a table and six chairs." She urges novices to post more offers than requests, to avoid being greedy and to use common sense in arranging pickups to ensure personal safety.Andi Bassett, a Morgantown mom with five children ages 20 months to 10 years, says she'll soon be donating a batch of baby clothes. "The most appealing thing to me is finding someone who wants my 'junk,' that it's useful to them and they are thankful for my unwanted stuff," she wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "And the same is true of other people's 'junk' that is useful to me: I am thankful for it. Freecycle just puts people together."
Freecycle is built on principles that work: One person can make a difference. Giving is better than receiving. One person's trash is another's treasure. Commit an act of kindness and it will be returned. We have a local Freecycle chapter in Prince George. Every other community across the globe has access via the internet! Sign up on the Freecycle Network at http://www.freecycle.org/. Please do your part for the environment and help someone else survive a rough point in their lives.

World News; Provided by PG Walk-N-Roll and linked to Walk-N-Roll Publications, Prince George BC Canada

Ken Biron & Lorraine Young

This issue's BLOG is based on a story by John Dunbar of "The Associated Press" and is featured in www.pgwalknroll.com 's Walk-N-Roll around Prince George. Enjoy!

WASHINGTON - This will be coming to Canada someday in the near future and many of you will have heard it here first! Those of you still surviving on "pheasant vision" (In BC Canada; that is CBC English affiliate, CBC French affiliate and Global National on the public airways) would be wise to start preparing for the day our Free TV will be taken away from us (perhaps petition for these coupons in Canada)!

Millions of US$40 government coupons become available Tuesday to help low-tech television owners in the United States buy special converter boxes for older TVs that might not work after the switch to digital broadcasting. Beginning Feb. 18 2009, anyone who does not own a digital set and still gets their programming via over-the-air antennas will no longer receive a picture. That is the day the television industry completes its transition from "old-style" analog broadcasting to digital.

The converter boxes are expected to cost between $50 and $70 and will be available at most major electronics retail stores. Starting Tuesday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will begin accepting requests for two $40 coupons per household to be used toward the purchase of the boxes. Viewers who have satellite or cable service will not need a box.

To request a coupon, American consumers can apply online at www.dtv2009.gov starting Tuesday. The government also has set up a 24-hour hotline to take requests, 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009). The U.S. Congress, in ordering the transition to digital broadcasting, has set aside US$1.5 billion for the coupon program. This will fund 33.5 million coupons and other costs.

The giveaway basically works under the honor system. The first 22 million coupons will go to all households that request them. That includes a residence that gets cable service for one television but has a spare TV that still uses an antenna, for example. The rest of the coupons, however, are meant only for those who do not subscribe to a pay-television service. The Nielsen Co. estimates that 14.3 million households (or about 13 per cent of the 112.8 million total television households in the U.S.) rely on over-the-air television broadcasts for programming.