... he just looked at my belt and was like "Take off the belt." I'm like "Okay whatever." So I went and put the belt away, but it sucked because he only singled me out when like there's three other people wearing high- with hoodies, like right beside and I was the one that they- like he picked on. Stupid.

Um, because it was his friends, you-know he'd meet his friends you-know couple of times a week and then go for lessons, they had group lessons and ah their teacher from Halifax was just a- a hooj. She was the greatest person. And ah they were just loving her and- and taking lessons from her so- Ethan went the formal route with violin and we were going to- then Bernie came, he was born in nineteen-ninety-one and we were thinking what are we going to do with him.

Interviewer: ...a lot of other generations here in Timmins did have this as well, but we used to say growing up um if we stepped in a puddle on accident and- and water just seeped right through our shoe and sock and our foot just got all wet, we would say that we got a- Speaker: Hot foot. Interviewer: A hot foot? Speaker: Yeah. Interviewer: You're no-- you know what? That's ah- you're not the first person to say that to me actually when I said that. I believe missus-Palizeri ah said hot foot as well.

Interviewer: That you'd step in a puddle and you'd say "I just got a hot foot"? Speaker: I got a hot foot, yeah. Interviewer: Wow, okay. I didn't even know that one at all.

Speaker: It's supposed to be a cold foot though (laughs). Interviewer: Right. Speaker: We say hot foot yeah, every time we get wet.

And ah- and as soon we got the transformer up and the hydro gives up power, we hooked it because you don't want a transformer sitting idle.

But when my older kids, when my older cousin went to school they had a tough time because they didn't speak (laughs)- speak English at all- I mean you-know a little bit, not much. ... 'Cause there's no radio. The farm (inc) there's no hydro.

... if things don't work out, I'm hoping that, like, ah like with ah like a forester or something. ... Like in- in that line, like a- like a- a hydro, or at the da-- like at a power dam. All- like O-P-G, like, they all have lines. That'd be my best bet.

The trees were producing the food. The water was producing the food. They were probably far better off that the- the poor people here who had to pay for heat and hydro, all those things. They didn't actually need it there.

... I often think, "What about some of these poor people who don't speak English that well? And you pick up a phone now-- and all you want to do is talk to somebody from Hydro or a gas-company?" I-mean, by the time- push a button, one for this, two for that, I-mean, they must get so confused. You-know. By the time you're finished, you just hang up and get a friend to come and help you.

Speaker: Yeah I- a guy died on me one night- not me, but I had men working underground. And (inc) and ah these guys told me- he called me up on the phone. He was a shift boss, Gerard. And Gerard says to me "Benedetto, call the ambulance" you-know. And I says- we're taking this guy- called- his name was Andrew. We're taking Andrew out. He was a miner, a drift miner. And he had a bad habit after a blast.

Painters one time- the guy was painting up- and he's painting you-know- I was watching the young kid he was painting. And I'm looking he's going up up up. I said how high are you going, all up-- (inc) I says "See up there, another ten feet, don't touch that." It's high voltage for a big (inc). 'Cause that's how you go up there and you probably hold onto to it to (inc).

But like I says from South-Porcupine to here talking n-- no. But I know down Toronto yeah some guy has a little saying, downtown Toronta or-something. Or that ah or the bus ride it would yell out (in Toronto accent) "Spadina."

He looked like something like Perry-Como, except he wasn't that- yeah I- you know Perry-Como on T-V? Oh yeah, nice short hair eh? He was- he was a crooner. Yeah Perry-Commo- oh yeah he was- he had his own show as well. He was a- anyway I says- and we ended up bar-- ah bunking in with an Italian guy.

I call them tin-knocker- tin-smith, the guy who put furnace in all-that. She says "You boys getting along pretty good eh? Making your way around pretty good." "Oh yeah." I says. We take the streetcar down and ah you-know. But we saw guys leaving would get a piece of paper. We looked (laughs) what's the paper for? You-know like two hicks?

Speaker: They gave you so small wires that incase you hooked up wrong, you won't burn the generators up, you'd burn the wires up. Interviewer: (laughs). Speaker: And how many kids would burn- and I hooked up- and the teacher says "How come these guys hooked them okay?" And I says "I did them in high-school already." (inc) compound, long (inc), short (inc), series mount generators. I did them all. So I had a good training at (inc).

Speaker: I'd um I went as far as grade eleven. Interviewer: Okay. Speaker: And during exams, I did my English exam and I knew I'd flunked it, so I just went t-- to the principal and I says, "I quit. I can't do this."

And now there's all the newer families moving, I see more kids on the street now so, it's a little bit more alive now anyway, with all the kids running up-and-down. So I says, "Kind-of nice to see kids outside playing", 'cause there for a while, pretty quiet. Never saw anybody around.

... his name was Sam-Mackenzie and he was a Constable Mackenzie and he just looked at me and he said "For Christ sakes Silvio," he says, "What are you doing here?" I says, "Just having a little fun." And he says, "Get lost!" You-know and he let me go and I said, "Oh-my-God, thank God." And half my buddies got busted that night and charged and because I knew the cop I didn't go in.

When they got out of hand, she used to say like ah "Hey Den the kids are not listening." And all I have to do is speak to them. That- that's it. They n-- knew that I was ah serious just by ah the- h-- I says- ah i-- w-- ah my dad never had to- even have to lay a hand. All he does is look our way and say "That's enough now," and that's it. And they stop. Yeah, basically that's all I used to do.