Comforting connection cools as danger abates

Better friendships begin with a better you

Our friendships are among the most important, formative, joyful and fulfilling relationships we can have as humans. As the saying goes, friends are the family we choose.

Still, despite how vital those social bonds are, there’s not much of a framework for when our friendships are emptying our proverbial cup instead of filling it. There’s all manner of advice — and formal therapy — for navigating romantic relationships, but what about our best friends forever?

How do you manage conflict — or even simple disagreements — constructively with your pals? How do you navigate (instead of avoid) difficult conversations? How do you make new friends outside of school or work, especially as an adult?

And how, if it comes down to it, do you break up with your friends?

Inner-city candidates concerned about basic issues

When the Manitoba electoral boundaries commission redrew constituency lines last year, Union Station, which stretches from The Forks to the core of West Broadway, was created.

The electoral district (mostly consisting of what was once called Logan) is one of several newly named constituencies in the city, but the issues it faces are as old as the cracks in the sidewalk.

There’s the matter of income-geared housing — nearly half of its residents spend 30 per cent or more of their pay on shelter. There’s poverty and substance abuse; many outreach organizations are stretching every penny to support community members and city residents who rely on their services. And, right smack in the middle of the district is the provincial legislature, where elected officials craft policies that will help dictate the future of the area itself.

Seeking to tackle these issues is a crop of new candidates. Uzoma Asagwara, a community activist and psychiatric nurse, represents the New Democratic Party; Andrea Shalay, a community organizer and communications specialist, will look to paint the riding Green; and Harold Davis, a former commodities and trading executive who’s lived in Union Station for nearly a half-century, is running for the Liberals.

Decorative coverings solve exterior problem

After completing a massive feature wall that includes a beautiful, floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace structure with a large flat-screen TV above the mantel and an electric fireplace below — and a symmetrical array of shelving and cupboards on either side — all that remained was the finishing touches on the exterior side of the wall.

Before the project began, three windows had been filled in to accommodate the continuous vertical surface required to complete the interior project. Early this summer, I had occasion to finally address the final steps.

Unlike breaching an exterior wall for the introduction of a window, filling in an opening is far less complicated. With the lintel already in place, framing within the opening is not structural — it simply serves to provide a nailing surface upon which the drywall can be mounted along the interior side, and the exterior sheathing (in this case, three-quarter-inch plywood) can be fastened outside.

Once the stud cavities were filled with insulation and the separate areas were sealed with vapour barrier inside and Tyvek on the outside, the interior processes continued with coats of mud, the required sanding and two coats of matching paint.

Weed control increasingly important part of harvest

We often think of harvest as an annual “rush,” but in reality, it moves at more of a rhythmic pace, especially when the sun is shining, the fields are ripe, and the equipment is running smoothly.

Operators and machinery steadily grind away at the unharvested crops, moving from field to field as needed. Grain carts and trucks roll back and forth, hauling the grain into storage, often sidling up to the moving combine so it can unload on the fly.

Of course, the equipment needs servicing, and the people need food, but every operation has a system that minimizes the downtime and maximizes the effort. So far this season, Manitoba farmers are running ahead of the five-year average for harvest progress.

However, a brief reference in the latest crop report urges producers to break up that synchronicity and pause to closely examine patches of weeds in their fields before they push them through with the combine.

Bearing other people’s burdens

It might feel like an honour to have a family member or friend place tremendous trust in you to be their voice when they can no longer speak for themselves.

Whether they’re physically or mentally unable to do so, or deceased, being in charge of fulfilling their wishes often can’t be fully grasped by those taking on the roles of executor of their will or power of attorney.

These important jobs may not be the most onerous on the planet, but for the uninitiated, they probably involve more twists and turns than anticipated.

There’s not many playbooks on how to be an executor or serve as the attorney-in-fact named in the power of attorney document, says Philippe Richer, lawyer and principal at TLR Law Office in Winnipeg.

Free Press Field Trips

The Free Press is hitting the road this summer — back roads, primarily — in search of little gems of stories from small-town Manitoba.