Mark-Alan Whittle Consulting

11/17/2021

My wife Laurie sent this letter to the editor.

Dear Editor,
Just over 15 years ago I lost my special needs Son, he was nine years old. He was at home with his Dad as I was working a few more weeks until I retired to be a full-time Mom and caregiver for my Son Logan, which I would have loved but never had that chance because my Son never woke up from his nap, his Nurse found him unresponsive, my Husband Mark Whittle began cardio-pulmonary resuscitation until The Paramedics arrived.

Unfortunately Logan's vital signs were absent.

The first thing I heard on the phone when I called home to check on his day was that Logan had passed away. This ripped my heart out, my Son Logan was gone forever. Let's talk about the stages of grief I went through.

First, I hated my Husband Mark, he was home while I was working. I felt guilty, I asked myself what if questions.
The pain in my heart will never go away, he was my life, a child with special needs. From day one my life was his.
Then I felt relieved but guilty for feeling this way.

Finally I began to eat and sleep again and started to grt my life back. Don't get me wrong, there's not a moment goes by without me thinking of him. I'm sure he would have wanted me to get on with my life, but boy do I miss him. There is no getting over grief, and there's no greater grief than losing your child. Always keep them in your heart and memory, it makes it easier.

I will always miss you Logan.

Respectfully,
Laurie Elizabeth Northrup

11/04/2021

Admitting you need help the first step in addiction recovery

Beating addiction is never easy, it takes a lot of hard work to stay clean and sober. I was addicted to opioids for 10 years to help me sleep after suffering post traumatic stress disorder when I tried to revive my disabled son, Logan, when I went to wake him up from a nap. I tried my best, I have CPR training that helped, but ultimately my son died, sending me into a depressive tailspin.

After trying to tough it out on my own, I ended up in the hospital. It took six weeks to get my brain chemistry under control, I was prescribed an opioid sedative to help me sleep, over the 10 years I took this medication I became addicted. My doctor decided to slowly wean me off and prescribed a non-addictive antidepressant and suggested I try medical-grade cannabis to help me manage PTSD and get a good night’s sleep. It worked. I sleep like a log now.

The secret to my success was admitting I needed help. The hard part was staying clean and sober. This I have done and continue to do, one day at a time.

Mark-Alan Whittle, Hamilton Mountain

‘Stop buying huge SUVs and pickup trucks unless they are a true necessity.’

11/03/2021

Admitting you need help the first step in addiction recovery

Beating addiction is never easy, it takes a lot of hard work to stay clean and sober. I was addicted to opioids for 10 years to help me sleep after suffering post traumatic stress disorder when I tried to revive my disabled son, Logan, when I went to wake him up from a nap. I tried my best, I have CPR training that helped, but ultimately my son died, sending me into a depressive tailspin.

After trying to tough it out on my own, I ended up in the hospital. It took six weeks to get my brain chemistry under control, I was prescribed an opioid sedative to help me sleep, over the 10 years I took this medication I became addicted. My doctor decided to slowly wean me off and prescribed a non-addictive antidepressant and suggested I try medical-grade cannabis to help me manage PTSD and get a good night’s sleep. It worked. I sleep like a log now.

The secret to my success was admitting I needed help. The hard part was staying clean and sober. This I have done and continue to do, one day at a time.

Mark-Alan Whittle, Hamilton Mountain

‘Stop buying huge SUVs and pickup trucks unless they are a true necessity.’

10/18/2021

Just finished coloscopy preparation. Scary, but I survived the purge. Tomorrow at 9:30 am I get sedated and will wake up when it's over. Thank God I have a Spa, that's where I will be when I get home tomorrow. Life is good. Bonus, a friend will drive me there and pick me up in exchange for a world famous loaf of banana bread my wife Laurie makes. They are already cooked and ready for tomorrow, and she made extra to take to work, she has two jobs now and is fully vaccinated, as am I. I have my passport, the full size on my home office wall, the other in my shoulder bag.

10/13/2021

Food Centre Redux: Feeding the 450 homeless, shelter gives out a dozen meals

Only 12 breakfasts? The poverty Industry is alive and well. The statistics below had me wondering as a single gets $380 per month for a maximum housing allowance, and another $320 for personal needs, like drugs. 98% of the homeless are drug addicts, that’s why they are living in tents. All the shelters are full because nobody is leaving. People are actually living this way for over 4 years on average. The only way is rooming houses, there are at least seven of those tenements downtown. This is a basic income program now, a cheaper version. City Staff serve two masters. And all recipients sigh a participation agreement whereby they have to do something for the money, like volunteer work. This is how the poverty industry operates. Feeding on it’s own, while executives running these outfits make huge coin. Look at bikeshare, been losing money since day one. Cogeco gave them huge coin for basket advertising. There are two non-profits, one rents bikes, the other gives out free memberships. They run on government grants that run out next year. The two companies are burning through $80,000 a month in just wages and rent on their offices. And nobody at city hall has seen their books to assess their viability. All secret, as it’s a money pit, with very weak revenue streams. Seriously, who rides these bikes as daily transportation? I have never seen anyone riding them. Even when I’ve been downtown. The biggest lie ever told is their claim to have 26,000 members. If they have 200 daily riders, it would be a miracle.
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We’ve gathered data on # of homeless residents in receipt of social assistance. For August 2021 this equals 428 individuals and highlighting that this represents a variety of individuals who do not have permanent housing.

Hamilton OW Caseload numbers as of July 2021 is 8865.

Demographics for OW June 2021.
· Singles without children 4962
· Singles with children 2832
· Couples without children 114
· Couples with children 645
· Temporary Care cases 446

Time on assistance average to June 2021 is 49 months.

09/23/2021

My Mom came over to get lessons on how to use the laptop I got her. She was able to get about 10 Facebook friends, many relatives in England. She was able to video chat with her sisters in England here's a picture and short video clip. She's 95 and living at the Villages of Wentworth Heights. She rocks.

09/18/2021

Had my first dose of the Moderna vaccine. Yee-haw, life is good, Paramedics came to my house, waited 20 minutes after to ensure I didn't croak. All paid by my property taqxes via Public Health.

09/03/2021

Today is my final radiation treatment for lung cancer. Amen to that, boy am I tired.

08/07/2021

Dear Editor,
After reading about Hamilton’s opioid crisis I’m left wondering why we have so many Intravenous drug users if the Consumption and Treatment Service offers to get addicts clean and sober? I can tell you, from first hand experience, that this is not easy. I was hooked on opioids for over ten years to fight the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, after my Son Logan died. I tried to revive him, I was not successful. My Doctor became concerned so he slowly weaned me off. It was hard, but I survived. All I see happening here is classic enabling. This has to stop.
Respectfully,
Mark-Alan Whittle

05/22/2021

Testing out the Rogue vaporizer from Healthy Rips out on the back deck. Life is good.

01/05/2021

Bring back the strap
It’s shocking to learn that 97% of teachers employed by the Hamilton-Wentworth District school Board have witnessed acts of bullying and did nothing about it, and now require training to identify this behavior? Back when I went to school we had the perfect antidote to bullying, it was called the strap, it was brutal but effective in changing behavior. Without discipline, there is chaos, as we have seen.
Mark-Alan Whittle, Hamilton

‘I have just lost my dad and my heart breaks. Needless to say, I am saddened and distressed by the outbreak at the home. But when reflecting I try to ...

11/20/2020

I'm always amused reading columns by Deirdre Pike, an executive within the poverty Industry, who claims "60,000" people in Hamilton are collecting social assistance (It’s not about charity, it’s about justice). According to city hall statistics, 22,327 people were collecting Ontario Works benefits (OW) and another 26,221 people collecting ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Payments). By my mathematical calculation that's 48,548 people receiving Social Assistance payments, not 60,000 as claimed by the author. Pitting people who work hard, and managed to gain wealth, against those that don't is an argument long used to try and leverage money from those they envy for their wealth. Every Doctor and Professional makes hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. This is called free enterprise, unleashed from the chains of poverty, self-made individuals of great value to society. "Poverty" is a relative term that has been distorted by all manner of groups who make up the industry that enabled poverty to become an epidemic, or so they say. I, for one, am not buying it.