Local The Prince George Citizen - Friday, December 22, 2000 - 5 Christmas has gone high-tech The closing of PG Hobby Centre in Spruceland seems to mark the end of an era. Letters to Santa now ask for video/computer games instead of trains and models. Microsoft Flight Simulators have replaced radio-controlled airplanes. Need for Speed III has replaced racing car sets and by this time next year, Microsoft Train Simulator may replace the train set. Board games have been replaced by electronic versions of the same. We now play games over the Internet instead of the kitchen table. Instead of mailing Christmas cards we send e-mail directing people to our home page to see our electronic Christmas card. We used to spend our time assembling bikes and the like. We now spend the time installing software, which is a kind of magic where somehow we try City considering extending Airport Plaza water-line deadline a month by BOB MILLER Citizen staff In response to a request by Airport Plaza promoter Keith Raddatz, the dty is considering extending by one month its deadline on a deal to share costs for a water line to service the proposed development on Highway 97 South near Ritchie Bros. Development services director Bob Radloff said the city needs an answer from Raddatz whether he will proceed with the water line. They notified him Nov. 29 by letter that in keeping with an agreement reached in July, additional design information from Airport Plaza Ltd. was required to complete the agreement. In his letter, Radloff says the city is committed to making the Airport Plaza development a reality, but is concerned grants available for the water system might be compromised by further delay. Some of the money earmarked to replace the Danson reservoir was to be redirected to the water line, Mayor Colin Kinsley said when the compromise was reached last summer. The deal needs to be concluded by Dec. 31, Radloff said, or the city will proceed with construction of the Danson reservoir, eliminating the need for the city to participate in offsite water mains serving Airport Plaza. Raddatz asked for for time and the city is willing to extend the deadline to the end of January, Radloff said. “The ball is in his (Raddatz’s) court. We’ve provided him with what he needs to make a decision,” Radloff said, adding the city needs this information so it can make its own decision. Raddatz could not be reached for comment. The dty must provide additional water capacity to the Danson industrial development (south of the BCR site), Radloff said. This can be accomplished either by replacing the damaged reservoir located on Sintich Road or extending a water line through the Airport Plaza property to continue on and service the Danson area. Providing water to Airport Plaza has been a stumbling block since the proposal was first made several years ago. In a related matter, Airport Plaza Ltd. and Raddatz are being sued in B.C Supreme Court by Gibraltar Mortgage Ltd. of Calgary for $1.4 million, plus interest on a mortgage that was due to be paid this summer. Lindsay Goldberg of the Vancouver law firm of Lang, Michener, Lawrence and Shaw, which has been retained by the mortgage holder, said they are awaiting an appraisal of the land, expected sometime in January, before proceeding with the case. Zayonc new president of Reform B.C. Bob Zayonc of Prince George became president of Reform B.C. this week after Chris Delaney stepped down. Delaney has chosen to stand as a candidate for the leadership of the newly-created Unity Party of B.C. Zayonc, who had been the vice-president, said he will continue working to unite voters from various right-wing parties of B.C. “I am committed to insure the voice of the people is obeyed in Victoria. Their wishes must be followed,” he said. “Regardless of a politician’s personal view, or views held by political parties, it is important that the needs of the people are heard.” Reform B.C., Social Credit and the Conservatives had been working together last summer to form a new free-enterprise party. Those efforts fell off the rails after some organizers broke off to form the B.C. Unity Party. MY ANGLE Del Laverdure to arrange a bunch of electrons on a magnetic or optical media. Of course, before we even install the software we need to set up the computer — a challenge by itself. At least with the bike we knew where the wheels went even if we couldn’t find the correct nut to attach them with. We used to purchase televisions and just plug them in. I remember not only our first colour TV, but also our first TV, period. The worst part was installing the antenna on the roof — if you are not at least 40 years old you likely have no idea what I am talking about. But in the new millennium we have the home entertainment system. The home entertainment system is the ultimate Christmas assembly project. It makes assembling the bike look like spreading cheese on crackers. A typical system is composed of a cable/satellite converter, a television, six speakers, a videocassette recorder, CD/DVD player and receiver/amplifier (the mystery box that ties them all together). Thankfully, most of us have abandoned the turntable and cassette deck. Setting up this system with those components would be even more complicated. Most people think “home entertainment system” refers to those components mentioned above, but they are incorrect. The phrase “home entertainment system” refers to the entertainment value of watching someone with no knowledge try to wire this monster. Usually, the person setting this up is a male, which means a couple of things: one, they will refuse to ask for help and two, they will not read the instruction manual until they absolutely, positively have to. If you are reading this on December 22nd it’s not too late. Having just spent more than two days getting such a system to operate please take my advice: hire someone! Here is what you are up against: five manuals, all with different instructions on how to wire the system; five remote controls; yards and yards of speaker wire; at least 25 connections to and from all the components, not including speakers, to the receiver (take my advice and purchase the longest wires you can afford); determining what all the “techno talk” means (what the heck is Dolby 5.1 and should I wire my system for it?); and last but certainly not least, the setting up of each component using the “user-friendly” onscreen set-up. Heck, there was less equipment used in the invasion of Normandy and it likely took less planning. The hardest part of the installation is training the family to properly use the five remotes so that they can enjoy the system when you are not around. Heaven help you if someone touches the wrong button on the wrong remote because it will take the wisdom of Solomon to fix it. I am currently in the process of writing my own manual — thank goodness my computer works so I can do this. Gone are the days when the hardest thing to do was to make sure the power was connected to the train track and all you had to do was move the dial to the right for forward and to the left for reverse. Progress sure has made life simpler, hasn’t it? Again, I ask you to take my advice: dust off that old Monopoly game — it’s much easier to install. Merry Christmas everyone. Del Laverdure is the Publisher of The Citizen. His column appears in this space every Friday. Call 960-2756 or e-mail dlaverdure@prg.southam.ca GIFT IDEAS UNDER $200 98 Case Logic CD128 12-Disc Portable CD Case. Case Logic CDV12 12-Disc Car Visor Protective Case I Perfect for P.G. Cougars ^"tiodtey games. SONY s»« Compact AM/FM Radio with high sensitivity, good sound, single battery operation, fm stereo/am radio. 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