April 2017

Oasis Fun Night at the condoOn October 22, 2016, the Oasis Residents Club held a Las Vegas Fund Raiser in support of the SickKids Foundation. SickKids partners locally and globally with organizations to improve the health of children through the integration of care, research, and education. The evening included slot machines, roulette wheels, blackjack, lucky draws and auctions. The event raised $2,680. A cheque was presented to the SickKids Foundation by Josie Sandrin and Loretta Fines.We would like to thank our owners, volunteers, and sponsors.

Garage Door take a beatingOur entry garage door has taken quite a beating with cars crashing into it. Failing to stop, trying to beat the descending door, tail-gating down the ramp, or tweeting have caused vehicles to take their toll on our garage door.

It is costly to repair and drivers are personally responsible for paying for repairs or replacements.

Speeding up the exit ramp and failing to stop at the top to avoid pedestrians has resulted in some near misses. There are two (not one but two) STOP signs at the top of the exit ramp. So please obey them. And pedestrians, take care when passing the ramp and watch for cars exiting.

Suite Talk Editorial Board

Peter Bahry, Joe Fazari, Marian Leslie, Manny Radomski

E-mail address:

4SuiteTalk@gmail.com

CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE -

www.islington2000condo.com

2017 Social Calendar

Springfest, Sat May 27, 7:30 pm

Art Show, Sat Jun 03, 3 pm

Pool Party, Wed Jun 14, 5:30 pm

Canada Day, Sat Jul 01, 4:30 pm

MTCC 570 Directors’ BBQ, Aug (date to be announced)

YCC 531 Directors’ BBQ, Aug (date to be announced)

Cornroast Festival, Sun Sep 10, 1 pm

Crafts for Charity, Sat Oct 14, 10 am

Octoberfest/Halloween, Sat Oct 28, 7:30 pm

Christmas Carols, Fri Dec 01, 7:30pm

(Dates and times subject to change)

Broken elevators reaching crisis pointEvery day of the year, Canadians across the country are finding themselves trapped in faulty elevators, while countless more are suffering through inconvenience and isolation because of elevators that are out of service — and the problem is worsening, according to The Canadian Press. Does this sound familiar!!!

Last year, firefighters in Ontario alone responded to 4,461 calls to extricate people from elevators — more than a dozen a day — and double the number from 2001. The steep rise in problems is partly the result of more elevators — Ontario has seen a 10 per cent increase over the past five years. But the real culprits, experts say, are aging equipment and structural issues within an industry dominated by four huge multinationals: Otis, Schindler, Kone, and ThyssenKrupp.

Property owners and managers — particularly those looking after older buildings — are increasingly dealing with an expensive dilemma as parts and technicians familiar with the aging equipment become hard to find or disappear altogether, or come from China. Elevator modernization can cost between $150,000 and $300,000 each — and keep the lift out of service for months.

About 1,550 of Ontario’s 18,000 residential building elevators are more than 50 years old and another 10,000 are between 25 and 50 years old. But even those shiny elevators in new condo buildings are not immune from outages.

Routine maintenance has gone by the wayside as overloaded technicians attend to only the most pressing problems. Thirty years ago, a technician would typically service about 35 to 45 elevators a month. Nowadays, each technician is responsible for 100 elevators.

British Columbia has also had about three fires over the past decade — most caused by electrical or mechanical failures — while Ontario sees an average of about five elevator fires a year, half of which are believed to be the result of a problem with the lift itself.

So when any one of our elevators is out of commission, it isn’t because our management is not trying to fix it.Exerpt from Canadian Press. For full article, see:http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/elevator-broken-1.3689394

How our elevators workOur elevators work just like a pulley. A very strong metal rope is joined to the top of the elevator car and goes up through a “sheave” in the engine room above the elevator. The sheave is like a pulley wheel with grooves in it to hold the rope tightly. On the other side of the rope is a weight, which is about as heavy as the elevator car when it is half full. This balances the car, so that not too much energy is needed to move it.

Both the weight and the elevator car are held in place by guide rails at the sides of the elevator shaft (the tun-nel the elevator is in). A motor can turn the wheel in either direction so that the elevator either goes up or down (with the weight doing the opposite). When you push the button inside the elevator, you activate the motor. When the motor stops, the grooves in the pul-ley wheel keep the rope in place so the elevator stops moving.

The buttons in the elevator car and the buttons on each floor are all wired to a computer . When you press one of these but-tons, the com-puter selects the optimal elevator car to send in response to your pressed button, or which floor to stop at. The call button and the alarm but-ton are hooked up to the gate-

house. If you push the call button the security guard on duty in the gatehouse will reply and call for help.

Our automatic elevator doors have an infra-red beam which sits inside the doorway. If the beam is broken as the door closes, the door stops from getting closed and reopens so you don’t get squashed.

Fragrances and environmental sensitivities

Thousands of fragrances have invaded our air space and become a part of our daily routine. But some people with respiratory problems might say that their homes and work places have turned into virtual gas chambers. Many Canadians suffer from environmental sensitivities, that can make people very

sensitive to low levels of contaminants in the air or water, and be extremely debilitating.

Symptoms vary from individual to individual, but can include headaches, shortness of breath, hives, nausea, abdominal pain, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, difficulty concentrating, and anxiety and depression.

The chemicals and fragrances in hair spray, deodorant, soap, shampoo, perfume and cologne, laundry detergent and fabric softeners can make hallways, laundry rooms, elevators, swimming pools and other common areas toxic for many residents. Fragrances may trigger symptoms that mimic allergy, including runny nose, nasal conges-tion, sneezing, post-nasal drip, cough, headache and watery burning or itchy eyes.

Asthma control may worsen after inhaling certain fra-grances, magnifying symptoms. The most common skin reaction to fragrance is a rash caused by direct contact (contact dermatitis). Severe reactions to fragrance can not only encompass all of the above symptoms, but may also become life-threatening.

Allergic reactions are typically triggered by organic substances - pollen, food, mold spores, dust mites, ani-mal and cockroach dander, feathers. These are capable of inducing white blood cells to make IgE antibody which is what makes them allergic trigger factors.

Fragrances, in contrast, are usually synthetic chemicals that generally don’t stimulate IgE antibody produc-tion. Thus, they are not allergens, but irritants. Irritants (which also include smoke, odors, fumes and other chemicals) disrupt the inner surface of the nose, eyes, throat, or lung, but will not cause anaphylaxis.

A study in 2004 found that 11 percent of people had a reaction when patch-tested with a standard mix of fragrances used in cosmetics and grooming products. Another study found that 44 percent of people who suf-fer from migraines say strong fragrances can bring on an attack.

One thing is certain: In the last five years, scent-aware-ness policies have increasingly been posted in public spaces, and it is not uncommon now to see ‘Please, no scent’ signs in many Canadian hospitals, universities, li-braries, doctors’ and dentists’ offices, condominiums and workplaces. Management at our complex has received several complaints of residents wearing fragrances in our indoor swimming pool. A shower prior to entering the swimming pool area will alleviate the problem.

Premature pruning of our trees!!

High winds at Islington 2000/2010 are becoming the norm and are not only blowing over some of our resi-dents, but recently on April 7, one of our large trees on the Dixon Rd side. The tree fell on hydro and cable wires not only disrupting traffice signals but our Rogers tele-phone and cable feeds. Crews were here for a day remov-ing the overhanging branches.

Being NeighboursLiving in a high-rise building is easy, and also complex. Together we share amenities and services that enrich our daily lives, but sharing means that we are frequently called upon to compromise and to comply with common rules and expectations. There is always a balance between give and take.

Similarly, turning a high-rise building into a vibrant and caring community requires a balance. Certainly we all want our personal space at times, but at other times it’s good to know who our neighbours are, to be able to call on them in times of trouble and to know we’re surrounded by friends.

Belonging to a community provides real security and peace of mind. We frequently think about policy for the building, and making sure it is structurally sound, financially solvent, safe and secure. Being good neighbours requires us to spare some thought about how to make a friendly and vital community.

Luckily we already can rely on our buildings’ staff, who are always courteous and responsive, managing to keep everything pleasant, clean, safe and secure. While there are occasional lapses, we residents are generally a considerate bunch who try to follow the buildings’ rules.

We have the Oasis Club helping us by organizing party events and excursions, most recently our annual Mimosa

brunch and champagne cocktails!! And there are long-standing social or sport clubs, open to all, that allow us to mix and mingle.

Most of us have exchanged first names with the people on our floor. This is a good first step. Some of us have exchanged phone numbers in case of small emergencies. Some have gone so far as to give a spare key to a trusted neighbour. When we go away on holiday, a good neighbour will pick up and save the flyers, etc. left outside our doors.

Our recreation centre has a wealth of untapped potential for more casual socializing and getting acquainted with our neighbours. One idea that is

frequently mentioned is to have a coffee time or drop-in for a few hours each day. With a little organization, this could be set up Monday to Friday in the party room, which is so rarely used, and it could be open to anyone who might feel like a little company over their morning coffee break.

Another common way that condo residents could mingle is to hold a movie night once a month in the fireside lounge and movies could be projected

on a screen or even the wall. Again, a small group of residents would need to take some initiative in choosing the movies, posting a flyer and setting things up on the night. There’s no advantage in making this too complicated.

Ask yourself if you would be likely to attend coffee time or movie night. We need your feedback before we take any first steps with either of these ideas. You are also invited to think of any other simple ways we can promote a sense of community. Forward your good ideas by email to 4SuiteTalk@gmail.com or in an evelope addressed to ‘Suite Talk’ at the management office.

How much sleep do we need?

The importance of sleep ranks with food and water as crucial to our health, safety, and survival. The average adult needs 7.5 hours of sleep, while children need 9 to11 hours. Some people may need only 6 hours, yet others require 10 hours of quality sleep. If the amount of sleep continually falls below the amount needed, a sleep debt is built up. If an individual’s daily sleep is one hour less than needed, an average of 28 hours of sleep debt each month will be accumulated. Sleep debt has serious negative effects on health, perfor-mance and safety. Excessive sleepiness may lead to an uncontrolled sleep episode, called a micro sleep lasting 6-10 seconds, which can occur at any time without warning. Micro sleeping can be deadly. If a driver is travelling at 48 Kilometer (30 miles) an hour, the vehicle will have traveled more than the length of a football field before he/she wakes up from the momentary blackout. According to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 40,000 in-juries and 1,550 deaths occur annually because of drowsy drivers.