On the DEWLine 2.0: Dwight Williams

This could further inconvenience our own respective lives:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/truck-convoy-fundraiser-gofundme-1.6346639

On the other hand, we've got global organized pro-fascist terrorism to stomp into the ground.

On the third hand, Snyder's First and Seventeenth Points:

1. Do not obey in advance
17. Listen for dangerous words

Sidebar: GiveSendGo is getting attention in the courts now, too:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/freedom-convoy-2022-donations-frozen-give-send-go-1.6347345

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.

This news came as a minor shock this morning. Back in 2002, when my Dad died, we had the freedom to release him directly to the funeral home of our choice because he'd died at home and the cause of his death was fairly clear and we had some time to brace for the need to make that choice. Not every death can be handled that quickly, though...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-hospital-morgues-full-conference-rooms-1.5416916

Have a look at this:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/oc-transpo-overtime-costs-rising-1.5200845

Noting this quotation in particular from the article:

"The city handed layoff notices to 345 transit operators last August. At the time, the Confederation Line was expected to be up and running by November. That deadline and several subsequent ones have come and gone, and it's now hoped the trains will be running by September.

Many of those layoff notices have since been rescinded, but some drivers have moved on to other jobs. As of June 1, the city had 76 fewer drivers than it had in April 2018, and overall there are 140 job vacancies."

I am thinking that those layoffs were a mistake in themselves. Also, the long-standing assumption that OC Transpo will need fewer buses once the trains are up and running is an error that's going to backfire on us passengers. If the O-Train lines work as we hope, there's going to be more passengers on those buses feeding into and out of the Trillium and Confederation Lines. And more people needing to get around those portions of the city that don't get directly served by the train lines, as well.

So, they'd better not shed those buses and drivers.

Just how busy was that sector in May 2256, anyway? When Adm. Anderson sent out the "red alert" call in "Battle of the Binary Stars", he was able to get 10 other ships to show up within the space of however many hours...

Filed an application for a different job before I left the day-job office today. Seemed like the thing to do when I came across that particular ad on the website this morning. Especially after having to turn down another offer from a place where I'd really like to be working even in the face of a slight pay cut because of transit logistics and sleep issue aggravation resulting therefrom.

"Transit logistics"...a polite way of saying that buses can't handle everywhere I'd like to go in the region, for reasons of physics, budgets and physical safety of staff and passengers alike. And our light rail component isn't yet as far-reaching as the most ambitious of us in such matters would like yet. Ottawa-Gatineau has one line right now, with a second under construction. That second needs two more years before they'll certify it as safe enough for passengers to use on a daily basis. Track is still in the process of being delivered and laid down. Since the winter hasn't completely freed us from its grip yet, there's a lot of preparations yet to be made to resume the process.

And that's just for the Ottawa side's "Phase One" projects. Never mind our "Phase Two" still on the drawing boards. Gatineau is still playing catch-up on the "bus-rapid-transit" front. Their STO service just opened up a dedicated "Rapibus" roadway a year or two ago, and while there's a way to connect the O-Train network to the Rapibus line, there's a lot of paperwork and haggling between city halls, and the feds and provinces, before it can be done.

We're making progress and people can see that progress as it happens. But it's still not as fast as a lot of people need it to become. Employment, commerce, governmental logistics, recreation, family connections, a lot of stuff could become easier...but we have to wait. And persist in pushing for things to move.