Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Post 2948 - A Few Things

This past Sunday, on the way to the hospital to visit Ron Roberts, we took a roundabout route. We ended up on Creighton Street. As we snaked our way along, Patricia noticed a little storage area that had books in it. She said it looked like one of those "Little Free Libraries" that are sprouting up in the oddest of places.

On my way to Toastmasters this evening, I chose to drive up Creighton Street again, in order to get to Cogswell Street and then downtown, where my meeting would be. Sure enough, in the block before Cogswell, there was one of of those libraries.

I looked at the books and selected a true crime paper back called "Doc", by Jack Olson. A little light reading about a doctor in a Mormon-based community who sexually assaulted women, many of whom were too naive to know what was happening to them.

I just checked, and the little free library website doesn't know about this particular little free library. Which is weird because the library I got my book at invites people to go to that website for more information. The website only knows about 4 of them in all of Nova Scotia. I find it hard to believe that I have only found the 5th little free library. There must be quite a few more of them in the province, and several more in the greater Halifax area.

The next time I go there, I will drop off a book or two.

In other news, Service Canada sent me a letter today. It was regarding my late mother. I half-heartedly applied for the death benefit as a way to defray the cost of her funeral in January. I knew that she would not qualify for anything because she had not worked outside the home. The letter confirmed my suspicion, which is to say that there would not be any money coming from the government to help pay her funeral.

This got me to thinking. Surely to frig there are people in this country who die and leave such a modest estate that there is no money to bury them. Their family members are similarly shallow-pocketed and can't afford to contribute to the persons' funeral. What happens then? Are there really pauper's graves where the bare minimum cost is expended to put them in them? Do funeral homes step up and eat the cost, but keep the costs as low as they can? What is the deal with this, anyway? What about homeless people who die? Who pays for their funerals? And what kind of sendoffs do they get? Is there a fund for this kind of thing?

Does anybody know the answer to my humble questions?

Lastly, when I returned to my car following Toastmasters, I could not help but notice that there was a big police presence on the block of George Street bounded by Hollis and Lower Water Street. What was going on there this evening? I wish I had wandered down there to take a look.

My, I am a nosy little so-and-so this evening, aren't I?

You guys have a good evening. I will talk at you tomorrow.

Bevboy

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