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Formerly the BACK BUMPER
Collecting Ontario licence plates for 42 years
2CENTS ARCHIVES
First started as "My 2 Cents" in 1997, I have written posts numbering into the hundreds. New posts arrive continually. Find an article by clicking the tag cloud below, or selecting a category, doing a search (see magnifying glass below on the right), or just scroll down to see the articles in chronological order.
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Collectin' one plate at a time
I was waiting at the curb with my overnight bag and a small cardboard box. My skinny house stood warmly behind me, its light shining out...
Oct 29, 2017
Not quite what the doctor ordered
It’s the first Friday after Labour Day. I’m tired. It’s been a frenetic week at work, but I’m finished there for the day, and I’ve...
Sep 10, 2017
All-Red Route tour of 1912
In 1912, two men named Thomas Wilby and Jack Haney travelled across Canada in a 1912 Reo automobile, on what was the first trans-Canada...
Aug 31, 2017
Minus 26 on highway 60
Over the Christmas holidays, I received a message from a person in the Huntsville area. They had a batch of licence plates, given to them...
Jan 22, 2017
More flea, less auto in Barrie
My present weekend-after-Labour-Day ritual is to escape my city life—by driving for a few hours through the wilderness, so I can camp for...
Sep 12, 2016
Field of dreams
For the first time, I’m writing a My 2 Cents article about a plate-collecting journey before it actually happens. That’s because changes...
Jun 11, 2015
Landing in Lindsay
The first weekend in May is ordinarily when I make the drive to Stirling, to attend their big flea market at the town fairgrounds. Up...
May 2, 2015
Acton 2015
The winter of 2014-15, unbelievably, was even colder than the year before. It took a lot of mental energy to cope, but we’re finally...
Apr 28, 2015
G-R-I-M-S-B-Y spells relief
I’ve got it figured out. That is: Why the fall plate meet in #Grimsby feels different from the spring meet in Acton. I was e-mailing a...
Oct 28, 2014
Rochester 2014
THE MONDAY Five years in the making: The waiting since I attended my previous ALPCA Convention. 17 years in the making: The complete...
Jul 21, 2014
Daddy - daughter - Barrie
My kids are front and centre when it comes to most aspects of my life. They both take swimming lessons, one has soccer in the summer, and...
Jun 8, 2014
Acton in the arena
#Acton in the spring… the trees are still bare. The snow is gone. The sun is out (usually). The air is cool. And the plates? Don’t get me...
May 5, 2014
Bleak midwinter
I have trouble writing articles for this column during the winter months. License plate collecting seems to be a summer pastime, for the...
Feb 15, 2014
Peoria '96
I joined ALPCA in the summer of 1995, as soon as I learned about the club. My registration materials and the newly-printed August...
Jan 18, 2014
Northern Ontario road trip August '97
In the years that I’ve been writing 2 Cents articles for probably no one but me, I’ve made a point of retelling the story of each swap...
Nov 23, 2013
Long time coming
Grimsby 2013 was a long-awaited event that was a year-and-a-half in the making—for me, anyway. You may wonder: How can an annual event be...
Oct 29, 2013
Opeongo-Monck travelogue
I’ve managed a quick escape to the September 2013 edition of the #Barrie Automotive Flea market. The weather hasn’t been cooperating over...
Sep 11, 2013
Overcharged in Oro
I’d been spending the spring being a good husband and father, in order to earn enough brownie points to go to the #Barrie Automotive Flea...
Jun 16, 2013
Why I skipped Grimsby
By now, many of my faithful readers know that I wasn’t able to go to the fall Tinchasers’ swap meet in Grimsby. It was an unfortunate...
Nov 11, 2012
Let it rain, rain, rain
Friday evening: Rain beginning overnight. Risk of thunderstorms. Amount 15-25 mm. Saturday: Rain ending in early evening. That ain’t what...
Sep 15, 2012
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