Oakville Blogger

The best place to get your hair cut, for men, in Oakville is at Sandy’s.   Bar none.  It is so traditional that Sandy still uses a straight blade to shave your beard or to get hairs at the back of your head.  He even sharpens the blade on a piece of leather attached to the barber chair.  Sandy’s is a single Italian Canadian man operation.  If you stop by and someone is in the chair and people are sitting, reading a playboy and waiting, then you might face a bit of a wait.  He is least busy during the week, especially Monday as the shop is closed.   

I popped by the shop yesterday, but it was surprisingly closed.   Upon further inspection there was a sign on the door that said the barbershop would be closed for the next five weeks.  What had happened was Sandy took a spill and broke his right arm.  The doctor advised him to stay home and said it would take about 5 weeks to heal. So you’ll have to hold off and grow it a little long before seeing him.

For people who have never been to Sandy’s; he is located downtown Oakville on the corner of Trafalgar and Robinson St next door to the TD bank.   You can see his sign out front from Robinson St. 

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As everyone is well aware the new recycling program is in full effect.  We have to sort our garbage into three different groupings.  The blue box(regular recyclable items), green cart(Kitchen food scraps) and regular garbage.  Please click on those highlighted words for more details.  With this new recycling program comes the additional expense of lining our new green cart and kitchen catcher(see the top left picture) with compostable bags.  These compostable bags are the topic of discussion for this post. 

This post will look at three companies which  manufacture and supply retail outlets with the proper 100% compostable bags for the green cart and kitchen catcher.  The three companies are GLAD, BIOSAK and bio*life.  We will explore price, size, color and quantity. 

GLAD

Kitchen Catcher                Green Cart                                  

Quantity: 20 bags                  Quantity: 10 bags

Size: 16.3in  x 16.6 in             Size: 23.8 in x 26.5in

Price: $5.99                             Price: $7.99

100% Compostable

Colour of bag: White and somewhat clear 

Purchased at Sobey’s

bio*life

Kitchen Catcher                Green Cart

Quantity: 20                           Quantity: 10

Size: 17in x 16in                      Size: 24in x 30in

Price: $4.49                             Price: $5.99

Colour: Clear and see through

100% Compostable

Purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart.

BIOSAK

Kitchen Catcher                Green Cart

Quantity: 20 bags                  Quantity: 10

Size: 16.75in x 17.5in             Size: 25in x 30in

Price: $4.99                             Price: $5.99

Colour: Brown for both kinds of bags

100% Compostable 

Purchased at Home Hardware

There you have it.  When Green Carts and Kitchen Catchers were originally sent to homes they were equipped with BIOSAK’s brown compostable bags. Any kind of bag will do, so probably going for the cheapest kind is best.  I prefer convenience and I usually do my grocery shopping at Fortino’s located downtown Oakville.  However, they had no compostable bags left in stock this morning.  I guess many people have been hurrying out and purchasing some. 

 If you have any comments or would like to share some information about this new Halton Region compost program please leave a comment. 

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Guest Post by Nancy

The waste management is about to change inHalton…which Oakville is a district of the Region of Halton…!! In a few weeks time all residences will be delivered a green bin - one to keep outside and one to have on your kitchen counter…well I will probably keep it under the counter. This green bin is to help you separate out your garbage…you are going to put all sorts of compostable items in the green bin. The weekly waste collection will change once the green bin program commences. First they will only be picking up those 6 bags of garbage every 2 weeks…they will be picking up the green bin and the blue boxes every week. Already I find with the blue box program that I am totally overloaded by the time the second week roles around…as currently the blue box (recycling program) only gets picked up every other week…so now with the blue box and the green bin pick-up going weekly and the regular trash pick-up bi-weekly - hopefully we will begin to see a reduction in the amount that actually goes in the regular trash and subsequently into the landfill site will last us longer…!!!

I have to admit that we have only in the last year or so really gotten into recycling…I think it was because of the kids learning so much about it in school…anyway we literally put out less and less in the garbage every week…I can only imagine how much more we can reduce those bags when we are dividing out the compostable items.

I was at a friends cottage last summer and they don’t yet have a recycling program up there…and every time I threw a plastic bottle or a tin can into the trash…I got pangs of guilt…as I know there are solutions now for those products to be recycled and every little bit we can do to save the planet is a good thing…!!! Just my recycled two cents…!!!

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In an attempt to compete with the Running Room, Nike has opened a new store downtown Oakville.  It is located right on Lakeshore Rd; two stores west of Starbucks.  The building it’s in has been beautifully renovated.  The front is covered in brick with a large orange Nike swoosh above the storefront window.  The store itself is not so big, but is fully stocked with all kinds of apparel.  It looks like its target market is runners as the window display shows different kinds of jogging clothes and accessories. 

Speaking of runners, haven’t you noticed an influx of runners in the community?   Almost daily you can see a gaggle of joggers lumbering through downtown Oakville.  Each one masterfully decked out in the latest running clothes.  There must be some running clubs.  My guess is the Running Room organizes and hosts these group runs.  I think it’s great that people come together,  meet one another, go for a run and stay in shape.  Maybe the new Nike store will set up group runs, where people come and meet at the store before runs.  I imagine it would produce a lot of continuous weekly foot traffic from loyal customers.  Anyway, please enjoy the new Nike store. 

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The weather in Oakville was very peculiar today.  It started off dreary and then sunny and very mild.  It was so mild, in fact, that one didn’t need a coat early in the afternoon.  In the evening it became cool and extremely windy.  It had become so windy that the weather network sent out a wind warning.  West winds were gusting to 90 km/h.  Those strong winds have since subsided.

I was down at Dingle park with my son and I can attest to the strong winds. Have you ever been to Dingle park?   It is located just east of the Oakville pier.  It is a small park right on lake Ontario.  It is a beautiful spot.  A great place to go for a walk or grab a coffee, sit on a bench and look out onto Lake Ontario.  I have posted some pictures of Dingle Park in this entry.   You can see in the pics that grass still needs a lot of  greening to do. 

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In a stunning upset over the Vikings, the Gators walk away with the Oakville Minor Peewee White League Championship.  It was a packed house over at the Joshua’s Creek Areanas, the host for the 2008 MOHA championship house league games.  The place was alive as the crowd was roaring.  Standing room only at one point.  The final game pitted the Vikings versus the Gators. 

The game got under way and the Gators looked strong from the get-go.  After a chippy second period, and the Vikings spending most of their time in the penalty box, the Gators headed into the third period with a two goal lead.  Both teams battled back and forth in the final period only to see the Gators put the nail in the coffin with an empty netter.  The final score was 4-1.  The award ceremony followed and good sportsmanship from both sides was shown.  Way to go boys.

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England might not be viewed as a country that has contributed much to the culinary world.  There food has even been labeled unsophisticated and unattractive. However, when it comes to fish and chips they hit a home run.   Canada, being a commonwealth country, has many fish and chips restaurants and this post looks to explore one such restaurant in Oakville.  It’s called Caz’s Great Fish. 

This is an award wining restaurant that has many different kinds of fish on the menu.  This fish selection includes Halibut, Haddock , Salmon , Sole and Orange Roughy. The recommend dish on the menu is called Caz’s Best.  Of course, it is fish and chips.  The fish is Halibut and it’s served with a large portion of chips and coleslaw.  You can see a picture of the exact dish at the top left.  It costs $11.49.  If you’re particularly hungry, you can upgrade to a large size and that costs $17.99.

I was there for dinner last night, before going to my nephew’s minor peewee white championship hockey game.  The entire meal was satisfying and I left the restaurant a happy customer.  I had Caz’s Best (picture at the top left).   Great value for money and delicious.  The service was good too.  Everyone was welcoming and friendly.  The decor is how you would imagine any fish and chip’s restaurant; nothing to write home about.  I would definitely go back to Caz’s again.

Miscellaneous Information:

Hours: Open Daily for Lunch and Dinner

Accepted Payments:Cash, MasterCard, Visa and Interac

Attire: Casual

For reservations call: 905-338-0602

Address:  Dorval Crossing 270 North Service Rd W (QEW & Dorval)

Have you been to Caz’s Great Fish?  Please leave a comment and tell us your experience.

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I’m back in Canada.   After an 11-hour flight and another 45-minute flight we’re back in this chilly country.  The weather is unbelievable.  There was a light dusting of snow last night and we are only a few days away from April.  Wow! 

The flight was good.  We brought home a lot of stuff and had to pay some extra money for an overweight suitcase and my mountain bike.  When we arrived to Pearson airport and collected our luggage from the baggage claim, I noticed two items were damaged.  First, the baby stroller had an improtant clip busted off, which attaches the base to the seat. Second, the frame on my mountain bike was dented.    Oh well, the damage isn’t that bad. 

Before departing Nagoya and while checking in for our flight a Northwest airline staff saw my mountain bike and approached me.  She said that since my mountain bike was not in a bike box, I couldn’t take it with me.  My mouth dropped to the floor and I quickly directed her to the special items page at NWA.com.  It states on their website that: “Northwest accepts bicycles only if the handlebars are fixed sideways and the pedals removed or if the handlebars and pedals are wrapped with protective packing material. Northwest recommends bicycles be placed in a bike box.” I had done the bolded and met their requirements, so in the end they accepted my bicyle. 

For people who are bringing their bicycle on a flight I recommend turning your handlebars sideways, removing the pedals and placing it in a bike box.   You can go to any bicycle shop in your area and they should have old bike boxes that you can take for free.  Here is a great website that has a written description on how to box up your bike with pictures.

Now that spring has almost sprung, it is time to blow the dust of your bike, take it to your local bicycle shop and have it tuned-up.  There are many bicycle shops in Oakville, such as Cyclepath and Oakville Cycle and Sports to name a few.   I have used Oakville Cycle and Sports in the past.  Always helpful and attentative.  Their cycle shop used to be located in Trafalgar Village. Do you remember that small shopping mall?  Now it is still a part of Trafalgar village, but the place is no longer a mall.   It is more like a strip mall.  I think tune-ups run about $30.  I am going this weekend, so I’ll post how much. 

Anyone ride in Oakville?  Leave a comment and let us know the trails you like to ride on. 

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