Little Things Can Add Up, Trees, Grass

Only the big dollar spent gets attention. This is when we tend to complain the most. I complain when I see small dollars spent over and over again. Jobs are not done right the first time around anymore. We seems to accept that, but not me.

Lets run by through few examples how little things we may not pay attention to can add up to a big dollars. Please note these are examples, and have nothing to do if it is a charitable donation or service money maker.

• People ask for donation. $1 a day for a month sounds good and affordable; however, it is not when it is really $30/month.
• At the store at the register a clerk asks you to donate a dollar. Sounds good and affordable again, but with 500 customers a day, a store can collect $500 in donations per day.
• Let say its a small cost if you buy a coffee for $1.5 every day for 250 days. Sounds affordable daily, but if you balance your books by the end of year, you drank $375 worth of coffee only.
• Telephone company called me and offered me free long distance. I asked absolutely free? Yes, they told me. I received my next bill, I get charged $1.25 per month. I call back and asked them to explain that charge. Its a network charge, everyone pays that. Not me, please cancel my long distance, I asked. If they sold this concept to 1,000,000 customers, then its $1,250,000 per month in their pocket – for what?

Examples are endless of how deceiving and effective that small charge can be, but not so deceiving when you do your math.

Now let me give you couple of examples from our town.


If you drove on the St. John’s sideroad on May 10th, 2011, you probably noticed a sod being replaced on the Atkinson Park Wetland side and McKenzie Marsh side. Or not noticed. There was a substantial damage done by the snow plow on the both sides. Now, lets back track to the last October 2010. A fresh sod was replaced, just in time for winter. Probably not enough time to root. Just in time for the snow plow to destroy it. I didn’t even need a crystal ball to predict replacement work was going to happen again in the spring. I was lucky enough to witness being done twice. A total, total waste.


I cannot tell who is responsible for that work, town or contractors. However, wouldn’t be just easier to have it done right in the first place.

Its funny how my photography sometimes goes in line with some articles in THE AURORAN. On Friday, I was reading ‘Town should keep planting options open: Downey‘, an article on page 8 of THE AURORAN, Week of May 24, 2011. Let me quote this: ‘We know that trees do a lot better if the Town of Aurora plants them because they care more about them than developers.‘ – she said. She is Councillor Wendy Gaertner.


Now look at this photo above of the tree I took along the St. John’s sideroad. I hope Town of Aurora can do better than that in the future. Repetition is really costing us money, or if not us then contractors.

Something to think about. And now I am feeling sorry for the tree …