Milton blog

Today, many good boys get caught up in a path they may not have chosen if they had a mentor to help see options, weigh consequences and make positive choices.

Like many Little Brothers, 11-year-old Kevin lives in subsidized housing with a single non-working parent. He is used to going without and each day can be a struggle to fit in around kids who live in better circumstances.

About six months ago, Mike became Kevin’s Big Brother. It didn’t take long before both realized the relationship was helping Kevin discover and develop his individual strengths, talents and gifts.

To illustrate how important it is for a child to have a role model for validation and direction, Mike recently related a story about a trip to a local ice rink he took with Kevin back in February. Although Kevin had never skated before, at 11 he was bold enough to think he’d master the sport as soon as he hit the ice. Little did he know that hitting the ice was more of a reality that skating circles around his Big Brother.

“He held my arm tightly as he moved a few feet and then – splat – he fell on to his butt,” recalls Mike. “His spirits were hurt more than anything else but he managed to get up.”

Mike says it would have been easier to have taken Kevin home and considered the day a right-off. Fortunately he recognized the strong spirit inside his little brother and both agreed to give it another try. After quite a few more attempts, Kevin was able to move around on his own.

“Kevin spent the next couple of hours practicing his skating on his own and trying out his new hockey stick,” notes Mike. “I eventually had to drag him away from the rink!”

While Mike realizes this is just the beginning of Kevin’s “skating career”, he says he’s thrilled the book isn’t yet closed and Kevin has learned a valuable lesson about not giving up.

Mike’s message to other men considering becoming a Big Brother is that the role is easy, figuring out what to do with your little brother is simple, and it’s fun.

“You don’t need to give a lot to have a lot to give,” he adds.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton has launched a campaign to find 100 good men in 2008. If you are interested in finding out how you can make a difference please call (905) 339-2355 or visit www.bbbshalton.ca.

Look for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton monthly feature on MiltonSearch.com

Some of the following “hypermiling” tips may seem a bit over-the-top, but hey, with gas at $1.30+/litre, every little bit counts, right?

Maximize your gas mileage by “hypermiling”

Hypermiling tips: How to hypermile, according to expert Wayne Gerdes:

Maintenance

• Inflate your tires to the recommended maximum.
• If it’s not already equipped, install a fuel-consumption display gauge in your car.
• Switch to synthetic oil.
• Remove excess weight from your car and roof racks when possible.
• Change your air filter annually.

Basic driving habits

• Don’t let your car warm up in winter – new technologies have made it unnecessary.
• Avoid heavy braking.
• Avoid quick acceleration.
• Always drive the speed limit, or just below.
• Always drive in the right lane.
• Turn off your car’s air conditioner, or use it sparingly.
• Plan your route to avoid congestion, hills and left turns.
• Avoid idling.

Advanced driving techniques

• Drive without braking: Imagine that your brakes are limited or degraded. This means driving slower, creating buffers between your car and the vehicle in front of you, and looking far ahead to predict traffic flow.
• Drive with load: Instead of using cruise control when driving in hilly territory, keep your foot locked in the same position on the gas pedal. Allow your speed to drop as you climb a hill and rise when you go downhill.
• Drive with buffers: To drastically improve fuel efficiency in congested traffic, leave three car lengths between you and the car in front. As traffic speeds up and slows down, the buffer allows you to avoid braking and fast acceleration.

Parking tips

• Park in back corners to avoid braking for pedestrian traffic near entrances.
• Park in the highest spot of a parking lot to take advantage of gravity – coast to a stop, and roll downhill to get started.
• In double rows, roll through the first spot to park facing outward.

What do you think, Milton? With soaring gas prices and assuming a large percentage of Miltonians drive into Toronto every day (I’m basing that on the huge increase of traffic along Hwy. 401 through Milton), do you see yourself employing any of these techniques?

Those familiar with taking the GO Train into Toronto from Milton are well aware of all of the trials and tribulations involved. Those of you thinking about or who have recently moved to Milton and plan to commute into the city via the GO Trains might be interested in this recent article on why you can just throw that handy, dandy train schedule out the window when the temperatures heat up…

From Tess Kalinowski, Transportation Reporter at the Toronto Star:

GO Transit is warning of 15- to 30-minute delays on the Milton line in light of today’s extremely hot weather.

But based on last summer’s experience, which saw delays usually in the two- to three-minute range, those delays could be much shorter, said GO spokesperson Jessica Kosmack this afternoon.

The Milton line is owned by Canadian Pacific, which slows its trains to 64 kilometres per hour (40 miles per hour) once the temperature hits 32 degrees C, she said.

That allows the engineer and conductor in the locomotive to see if a kink has developed in the rail ahead due to heat expansion, explained CP spokesperson Mike Lovecchio.

CN also slows its passenger and freight trains once the temperature hits 30 degrees C but the delays in the Toronto-area tend to be insignificant, said company spokesperson Mark Hallman.

In many cases, because of the number of stops on the GO lines, the trains wouldn’t normally exceed the hot weather speed limit of 105 kilometres per hour. ( 65 miles per hour)