Rent Increase, Transplanting Hope,

Apart from my big refund yesterday, we had our annual notice of rent increase to take place in January. When I read it, it scared the hell out of me, they are proposing a rent increase of $66 a month because of all the expenses on the building. (I didn't ask for new balconies!). They did tell me they had submitted this to the Rent Tribunal and I would be notified of the hearing. This would be a 4.8% increase. The standard is 1.8%. I phoned the Rent Tribunal office and they told me that our landlords were very unlikely to get more than 2%. Better. He also told me to discuss it with others in the building. I phoned one friend and she told me that a mutual acquaintance was under the impression the approval had already gone through. I assured her that it hadn't and told her what the Tribunal had told me.  I have been complaining for years that rent goes up $20 odd per month/year but pensions rarely go over a couple of a dollars. This kind of increase would really hurt. One very good  thing about this building, we do not have to pay for what is referred to as hydro in Canada, i.e. electricity and water.

Just watched an incredible programme called Transplanting Hope all about organ donations. I must admit I had never really thought about it in detail before. I was aware that finding donors was extremely difficult, as one surgeon said, they lose 1/4 of their patients because of lack of donations. Maybe everyone should see this documentary. The surgeons who do the transplants are absolutely incredible, a lot of the work shown was of Canadian hospitals. However, both in Canada and in Texas work is being done on reviving hearts which were originally considered unusable, often through being deprived of oxygen too long. A heart, for instance, is only viable for a few hours on the death of the donor.

The picture of this recipe attracted me, thought a number of people would find it interesting. That toasted cheese looks absolutely delicious.

Michael's Pizza Soup

2 Tbs olive oil
2 onions, chopped
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 Tbs dried oregano
3 cups or so your favourite pizza toppings (such as sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, olives, cooked bacon)
4 oz spicy pepperoni, thinly sliced into rounds and halved
4 cups rich chicken broth or plain old water
lots of freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat your broiler.

2. Splash the olive oil into your soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic. Cook, stirring, as the onions soften, 2 or 3 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes, then stir in the oregano, your pizza toppings and the pepperoni.

3. Pour in the chicken broth and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a vigorous boil for a moment, then immediately reduce the heat to a slow, steady simmer and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the flavours brighten and the textures soften, 10 minutes or so.

Yield: 4-6

Author: Michael Smith

Have a great day