Has the fox returned?

I took this photo some time ago. It's a fox strolling through our backyard.

The other day, during a snowfall, we spotted mysterious tracks below our kitchen window. The tracks were quickly buried by fast falling snow. We wondered if the fox was back.

There are usually mouse tracks in our snow but there are none right now. Foxes love mice. Mice aren't so fond of foxes.

We don't all seem to be on the same page.

I admit I don't keep up with what is available when it comes to cell phones. I'm still using a simple flip phone which costs me only $100 annually. And so, I was surprised to see the large Huawei sign in the Bell store.

As most Canadians know, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, 47, is detained under house arrest in Vancouver on Canada's west coast. Meng is the daughter of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd’s billionaire founder, Ren Zhengfei. Meng was arrested at Vancouver’s airport back in December on a U.S. warrant and is fighting extradition.

While the Trump government has Meng firmly in its sights, Canadians are buying Huawei products and both Great Britain and Germany have announced that Huawei will be allowed to be involved in the introduction of 5G technology.

5G will be part of the urban fabric around the world in the coming years. It is looking as if, despite the best efforts of the U.S., Huawei will play a big role in the worldwide roll out of the new technology.

I asked the staff at the Bell store about Huawei and was told the Huawei phones and pads are among the best that Bell stores carry.

Post a municipal building day

I've always just called this the fire hall. But in researching this municipal building I learned it is also known as the Byron Emergency Operations Centre. Apparently, the City of London Security and Emergency Management Division hosts an annual Emergency Management Open House at the centre.

I simple must find out when the open house is being held this year. I'd enjoy touring the place and I know my granddaughters would love seeing how   firemen live and they do live in the fire station. Being a working firefighter, as opposed to a volunteer firefighter, is a job unlike all others.

The newspaper where I worked used to have a food column where the writer traveled about the city visiting forgotten kitchens. One night we visited a fire hall and documented the firefighters preparing a dinner together. Everything firefighters do is aimed at team building and that includes making meals.

Firefighters are famous for their talents and for their incredible strength. It may surprise you but the men firefighters are often excellent and very imaginative cooks. All the firefighters take turns as head chef and no one wants to bore the team with a "what-again!" dinner. And the women firefighters never call a man for help when a bottle cap is jammed on tight. The ladies are firefighter-strong, as they must be, and they easily twist off tops that most men would find a challenge.

A lingering sign of last night's snow storm

There was a lot of snow last night. Folks up and down the street were up early digging out driveways and sweeping off cars. I cleared my driveway long before the bright sun appeared to complete the job. But one car stood out in the neighbourhood. It was still bearing witness to the now long-gone winter storm. It was the lone car still snow covered with icicles hanging from the bumpers. A lucky soul, my visiting daughter, didn't have to work. She could afford to stay inside, stay warm and enjoy another cup of coffee.

A beautiful home gets its second wind

This neighbourhood was the one in which to live when I first moved to London. That was back in the mid '70s. This home was glorious at that time but its day came and went. It became dated. Stale. And then the present owner gave the place its second wind with a fantastic reno.

New windows, a great new entry with substantial columns, a new garage door and an addition that extends right over the attached garage. The homes looks great with classic appeal but with a freshness that works.

This is not the only home in the area that has an extensive upgrade. The increasing home prices in London are making improving one's home a financially attractive option. Many people are deciding to love it rather than leave it.

If snow closes schools, the strike is off as well

It's snowing in London today and it is forecast to continue through the night. If it does, the school buses may be canceled. If that happens, school may be canceled. And if that happens, then the school strike walkout, slated for tomorrow, may be canceled. Striking on a full snow day hardly inconveniences the school board but it does cost the teachers a day's salary.

Toys R Us Lives on in Canada

Stores are a big part of a successful urban landscape. I feel the small, family owned shops and businesses, like the kind I grew up with as a boy, were a big part of what made a neighbourhood, or even a city, unique. Sadly, most of those shops are gone.

Toys R Us when it folded in the States and United Kingdom was neither small nor family owned but it had been around a long time. The closing of the stores in two of its markets caused a great deal of distress to the thousands of folk who counted on the chain for their livelihood.

Many believe the Toys R Us chain should never have failed. Its hedge fund owners take a lot of the blame whether fairly or not. Before the hedge funds entered the picture, the business had low debt levels—a smart move for a most companies. But not for hedgefunds.

The Atlantic looked at this problem. Private-equity owners often operate a business for a relatively short time before moving on. Low levels of debt present a get-rich-quick opportunity. It allows the private-equity firms to put up very little of their own money in aquiring a retail chain like Toys R Us. Many accuse hedge funds of bleeding the companies they acquire. Many claim the Toys R Us chain was bled financially and left mortally wounded by its private equity owners. And often those owners are not shy about putting their hands in the till to pay themselves exorbitant dividends and large bonuses.

But the Toys R Us story took a surprising turn in Canada. A Canadian billionaire, often referred to as the Canadian Warren Buffett, saw the impending closure as a buying opportunity. He scooped up the 82 stores of the Canadian division for a mere $300 million. Fairfax Financial, led by Prem Watsa, said the purchase was for less than the value of the Toys R Us real estate holdings alone.

Prem Watsa is not known for bleeding the companies he owns. The Canadian workers are hoping their story will have a much happier ending than the one their U.S. counterparts were forced to watch unfold. Toys R Us may not be a small, neighbourhood store, but for my granddaughters it is a big part of their urban landscape.