On the DEWLine 2.0: Dwight Williams

My current work contract ends tomorrow. The morning afterward, I will return the equipment loaned me by that employer and the job search will begin again.

Nothing I haven't coped with before. Hopefully, I'll recover faster this time.

So there's this lady in Cornwall, Ontario who's looking to find new homes for a whole lot of books...and I'm thinking that I have something in common with her. I'm operating on a much smaller scale - for now, at least - in terms of my virtual yard sale via Facebook Marketplace.

That may have to change. I may need to start officially operating a second-hand bookstore.

One trouble is that I'm dealing with what I suspect is ADHD in my own skull, with trying to work out my housing future, and trying to get and hold onto steadier work. Also a tonne of other crap to deal with on an ongoing basis.

Another is that there's already two such stores within walking distance of my current home. One's operating in connection with the Ottawa Public Library. The other is one of the remnants of the Book Market chain that used to dominate the city. Both are swamped with product of their own, as Myriam Gaudet's Red Cart Books is in Cornwall. Add in the Chapters/Indigo first-hand bookstores at Place d'Orléans and on Innes Road and the situation is more complicated.

Third: I don't think I've got enough product to really get going.

Fourth: financial paperwork that might ensue? I don't even want to think about it because panic attacks.

Fifth: Pandemic.

So I'm likely to just add a relative handful of titles to my Facebook yard sale for now, and put off that bigger question to April. At the earliest.

I'm not going to make any resolutions for 2022. It's going to be too easy to break any or all of them in a second.

I can't say I didn't keep looking. I can't say I didn't keep trying to learn new skills and update old ones. I can't say I didn't have help to keep going throughout this whole year no matter what. And yes, I've been making mistakes throughout this whole year.

You've been some of that help that's kept me going in spite of everything this year. I am grateful to you all for that.

Making a note of these links about the language around space exploration that we have right now, as well as about the language we need from now on.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/09/manifest-destiny-trump-space-exploration/612439/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/11/we-need-to-change-way-we-talk-about-space-exploration-mars/

And this is just for Anglophone humans. What about the other languages we humans are speaking, or will speak?

Houses that used to be storefronts. There's ways to look for them, depending on the history of your neighbourhood. Dylan Reid discusses some of them - applicable in Ottawa and Gatineau as in Toronto - over at the Spacing Toronto blog:

http://spacing.ca/toronto/?p=61839

Yes, I just saw the reports on Variety and THR, and some discussion on TrekBBS.

Perhaps this isn't the surprise that I first thought.

Between the spinal injuries on the set, the allergic reactions to costume-related make-up, the similar and more permanent injury of a production assistant on location, the constant abuse from toxic "fans" that she's certainly been dealing with, whether the abuse is because she's "out" or because her character is...and then, there's the simple fact of the "60-80 hour work weeks 9 months a year in the Vancouver rain" before any of the rest of that gets factored in.

Whatever the reasons for her choice, I hope Ruby Rose has a good life, that she lives long and prospers with peace of mind and heart through it all. Thank you for your performances. You brought joy and wonder, danger and excitement, and a set of ideals behind it all. Thank you for taking this chance.

To whoever's next up to wear that cape and wig and ride those motorcycles: whoever you are, I look forward to seeing you do your best with the people around you on both sides of the camera. I hope you find your own joy and wonder in this work in progress, and that it will keep you around for the long term. And I thank you for taking this chance.

I know that we've officially got a handful of days left to go, but I noticed from Environment Canada today that our local day here in Ottawa is three minutes longer than night-time. It seems a good idea to not let this go by unnoticed.

So this is the new lineup for the next few months. There's been some changes because of last month's federal elections. Some of the names remain familiar, although some of those are in new jobs now.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-full-cabinet-complete-list-1.5365026

So we're winding down an era of public transit history here on the Ottawa side of the river this weekend.

Route 95 was part of my life from the day I started taking classes at Algonquin. Since I live on the other end of the city - even pre-amalgamation, this was true - from the Baseline campus, Route 95 was an essential component of getting around town. Officially, I lived in Gloucester for the first year, Cumberland for the second, and my classes were in Nepean. But, still...it was all Ottawa, or it was all going to have to become one Ottawa eventually. Mike Harris' shotgun civic marriage plans in the works or not.

Route 95 was the glue that was binding them together. And now, supposedly, the O-Train Confederation Line is taking over from that. The vision is incomplete for now, but Phase 2 pre-construction tree-clearing and suchlike is underway. So that's going to happen. Barring a total disaster in federal and provincial funding not coming through, which...I suppose is possible in the next three weeks once the 2019 federal election is done.

It makes getting around town a little more complicated than it was. No more single-route bus-rides straight into Centretown and Lowertown West/ByWard Market and Sandy Hill.

It's going to take some adjustment.