Justice

The summer I turned 10 a fourteen-year-old named Steven Truscott in far off Ontario was accused, and convicted to hang for the rape and murder of his classmate Lynn Harper.  To a farmboy in Nova Scotia in 1959 rape was an unknown concept and murder was something that happened in sin cities like New York or Chicago.  In 1971 I read Bill Trent’s The Steven Truscott Story.  After learning the facts of the case I remained as mystified as I had been twelve years earlier. 

 

Fifty years later we may think the Young Offenders act allows teens to get away with murder but in 1959 Steven Truscott, an “army brat” from Clinton, Ontario came within a hair’s breathe of being railroaded to the gallows.  Had this been the hanging state of Texas this would all be history.  Since preserving fifty-year-old evidence was not the top priority of a small municipality such as Clinton we will never know whether Steven Truscott is guilty or innocent.  What we do know is that kicking and screaming Ontario’s judicial system this week finally had to admit that given today’s standards the case presented in 1959 would not stand up in a court of law and therefore it acquitted him of that murder.  They stopped short of declaring him innocent. 

 

In the past decade here in Canada the news has been full of prominent cases of miss-carriage of justice notably those of Donald Marshall, Steven Milgaard, and Robert Baltovich.  The latter is still unresolved and whether or not there is a connection to Paul Bernardo we may never know.  Miscarriage of justice works both ways mind you.  In California “the juice” has all but admitted that he got away with murder.  “Fracture” a movie just released on DVD shows that in theory it is possible to brazenly defend yourself against a confession of murder. 

 

What our Canadian cases have in common are police forces under pressure to make an arrest, prejudice, and young men in the wrong place at the wrong time who lack the financial resources to hire a lawyer such as Edward Greenspan.  Whatever the status of their innocence or guilt the trauma involved in being subjected to the legal system and incarerated during their formative years is such that only a very tough-minded individual could survive it or a pathological liar.  Regardless the experience is one that cannot possibly be repaid by financial recompense. 

 

When defending society trumps human rights we get Guantanimo.  To ensure the safety of consumer products we must now fight our way to them through safety seals.  To ensure airline flights are safe we consent to be collectively treated like criminals.  In an attempt to ensure their safety the rich live in “gated” communities and send their children to private schools so that they not be exposed to the wrong kind of people.  Right-wing conservatives may consider society soft on crime and advocate hiring more cops but can we deny the connection between Middle East refuge camps that have housed generations of many families and the desperation that has fueled terrorism.  Is it really cheaper to overfill our prison system with minorities than to give them an opportunity to better there socio-economic status.  Is it just that the minimum wage is kept so low that the working poor would be better off if they went on welfare?  Is it morally just to claim that crime is not a social problem? 

Owning a Computer?

The first thing that one learns when one acquires a computer is that you don’t own it; it owns you.  You may press the on button but it starts itself; and takes it’s own good looking time doing so.  And you don’t shut it down; you ask it to shut itself down.  Violate that basic law and you pay the price as Windows got back at me today.  It decided to hang rather than shut itself down so I was forced to use the off button—to work it must be held four seconds.  It’s not as if I had much choice but in retribution Windows misplaced the ‘turn off computer’ command on the start menu and disabled win keys—those shortcuts for show desktop, Windows Key + D; show explorer, Windows Key + E. 

 

Windows has many ways to let you know who is boss.  Just try naming a file with a ?, /, or !.  If you ask windows to do something it doesn’t want to do it tells you in no uncertain terms and then gives you a button to click that says OK.  It’s not OK but you have no choice but to click it if you wish to go on using your computer.  Windows is forever broken and in need of a fix, update, patch, or repair.  It’s files need scanning, defragmentation, and backing up.  Computers are in constant need of new programmes, firewalls, anti-virus systems, anti-malware programmes, root kits….  Mice and keyboards wear out, hard drives fail.  And they need printers, modems, blue teeth, backup power, surge protectors, scanners, speakers and enough wires to wrap a mummy. 

Beauty to Enjoy

Botanical Beauties

I'm going to give this a try. This is an example of the kind of travelling I'd like to do. Forgot to include my camera in the list of things I'll take when I go trekking.

The Rain in Spain is Mainly in the Plain

Yesterday we finally got the rain that the forecasters have been threatening all week. Nature took a few practise runs at it Friday night but on Saturday the Heavens opened up. Rain, thundershowers and wind driven rain. Pity the poor smoos who decided to go camping. It was an excellent day to be curled up in a comfy chair with a good book.

This morning, Sunday, the air has that just-scrubbed feel about it, it's cool and there are only a few wispy clouds high in the sky. Early this morning a blue jay was raucously calling.

I seem to have entered an extended period of deep cynicism. A friend yesterday asked me if I planned to participate in a Town of Oakville sponsored focus group. I fear my immediate reaction is why waste my time. It is in the nature of such groups that there is sufficient divergence of opinion that those who actually make the decisions will receive justification for the choices they planned to make in the first place. Those who take the time to participate only serve to legitimize those decisions. For the same reason I also have distaste for surveys and their forced-answer questions. Those who hire pollsters do so because the experts are professionals at framing questions that will elicit the responses those who hired them were looking for in the first place. Put another way, to get the right answers you have to ask the right questions.

I’m not a fan of policy by poll in the first place; we have too many politicians who do what it takes to get them elected next time and too few who possess a vision of what needs to be accomplished long-term whether it is popular or not in the short term. The same leaders who cry that the economy can’t afford the measures necessary to fight global warming seem to be turning a blind eye to the long term consequences of doing nothing. Carbon taxes and green schemes may make those driving gas guzzlers sleep with a clear conscience but they do nothing to help the environment in general. Whether I burn coal to heat my home or use coal-generated electricity to do so; the only difference is in where the CO₂ is concentrated. We need government legislated insulation standards and cities planned in such a way that people can walk to the services they need rather then get into an SUV to drive there. Here in Oakville a population of c. 162,000 is about to spend a month drinking bottled water because our city fathers will not spend a million or so dollars to invest in a system to filter the swamp smell generated by the algae bloom on Lake Ontario from our drinking water. Consequently taking a bath will feel like entering a stygian swamp until Lake Ontario cools enough to suppress algal growth. Of course it is quite another issue that this algal growth is made possible by the overload of phosphorus entering the Great Lakes basin from the communities that surround it. The long-term drought and heat we’ve experience this year only serves to exacerbate the situation. Which serves to bring us back again to global warming.

As I wrote in my book blog yesterday, the trouble with the political process in general is that it contains too many lawyers. It appears that I have become guilty of total distrust of the political process in general. I’m sure that there are honest politicians out there or at least those who attempt to be despite the process they’re mired in but I wonder at how effective they can be at moulding that process. I vote, mind you, but for the lesser of the evils; not with any hope that things are likely to change.

All this comes from one who has spent his life serving on committees, often as their chairman. Don’t know who said this but I like it: “A committee is a gathering of the ignorant, elected by the unwilling, to do the unnecessary.” Also, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” And Sir Winston Churchill, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” And here are a few of my own. The best foundation for having an opinion on any subject is total ignorance. In any enterprise those least willing to help will have the strongest held opinions as to how things should be done. Never start anything that you are not willing to see through totally unaided by anyone else. There are always plenty of people around to tell you how things should be done but they seem to disappear into thin air when the work begins. Finally, if you get stuck doing a task the road of least resistance is to do it the way you wanted to in the first place. Those who don’t like the result should have been around to see it done their way in the first place. Am I describing the why of how our political process got where it has?

As I head toward retirement I seem to be in the process of withdrawing. I seem to have a need to get away from it all. I’m looking at the possibility of acquiring a motor home, packing it with the CD’s and DVD’s from my collection I’ll want to enjoy, a selection of the huge library of books I plan to get around to reading, and go trekking. Before I go I suppose I’ll need to get a laptop computer with WiFi and a cell phone of some description but otherwise I’m pretty much ready to go. This raises the question of where to head. Reading the news leaves one with a feeling is dis-ease. Hurricanes plague the East Coast and the Caribbean region in particular; forest fires and their smoke plumes beset large areas world wide; cyclones and freak storms are spreading beyond the traditional tornado alley; large geographical areas are experiencing flooding; earth quakes rock many fault lines; political unrest, road blockages, civil disobedience, and riots mar the peace and quiet of even the remotest locations.

“Stop the world; I want to get off.”

To Everything There is a Season

I’m beginning to feel like the writer of Ecclesiastes whose thoughts are so translated in the King James Version of the Bible; the original Aramaic being incomprehensible to the majority of Christians. It’s a sad thing that organized religion is so mired in orthodoxy and dogmatic thinking. Among theological writings the Holy Bible stands out in having been written by salty dogs and free thinkers. Not long after the flood Noah’s daughters-in-law get him drunk and hop into the sack with him; Lot’s wife turns into a pillar of salt; Solomon writes about how white his harem favourite’s breasts are; Deborah sneaks into the enemy general’s tent and hammers a spike through his head; Delilah shears Samson’s locks. The writer of Ecclesiastes is suffering from a middle age crisis and expresses his ennui with life in detail.

I was deeply saddened to read recently that the present Pope has declared that the Holy Catholic Church is the only true Christian faith—while the rest of the world is attempting to cope with the 21^st Century his thinking is mired in the Dark Ages. But then the conclave of Cardinals who elected Benedict opted for orthodoxy, dogma and reactionary thinking. It is in the nature of ecclesiastical organizations that only those who toe the party line get advancement and it is rumoured that the one truly free thinker who made it to the papacy was murdered in the Vatican by his own curia. For similar examples look at the attempt to impose Sharia Law in Canada or the actions of Hassidic Jews in Israel.

Outside my windows as predicted it is raining and today was torrid and steamy; similar weather is promised for tomorrow. Oh well, if it does it long enough the soil can use the moisture. I suppose we can be thankful we’re not in the path of a hurricane and receiving a flood of Biblical proportions.

Boring is Good

But send me a letter.  Alas, my personal mail inbox is a sorrowfully empty vessel and remains so.  While I remain under house arrest to avoid asthma-inducing pollens others it would seem are outdoors.  I did get to tour a friend’s perennial garden last Friday. 

 

I fear I’m at that stage in life where boring is good.  When I arose from my afternoon nap last Friday I learned that my neighbour dropped dead in our parking lot while walking her dogs.  It would seem that at this point I can still sleep through anything including ambulance sirens as I’d have been home when it happened.  A week later I still expect to see her sitting on a curb with her dogs puffing on a cigarette. 

 

Last weekend we had a definite taste of fall.  It got cool enough that I switched off the Air Conditioning temporarily.  Of course by week’s end the hot, humid, muggy air has returned and at midnight Friday morning we’re still enjoying 75º temperatures.  We’ve had an entire week in which overcast skies have portended rain and thundershowers and that trend  is to continue through coming weekend.  Although it’s made it uncomfortable for those who must work outside there has been very little moisture that we’ve gotten for our crisping lawns and trees are sporting premature autumn colours as a result of the drought. 

 

Managed to make pizza last weekend along with a batch of French Toast.

 

One has to wonder at Corporate mentality.  We have an obsolete laser printer that has been throwing us paper jams with disgusting regularity for the past month.  IBM techs have attended upon it eight times in the last 4 weeks and replaced every single part inside its case, several twice and still it jams.  Considering the cost of parts and service calls we could have bought several printers for the same money.  This week I jibed with the latest young tech that he needed to perform an exorcism and he replied that he was using holy water instead.  Running an office seems to involve all the upkeep of running a home.  Clogged toilets, abandoned cars in the parking lot, broken drains, malfunctioning doors and locks, loose screws, even wallets dropped in outgoing mail slots.  At the Post Office add customers who lose their mailbox keys, can’t find their mailboxes, can’t find their mail because another family member picked it up, can’t get their address right and expect us to track a parcel mailed 2 months ago.  Just when you think you’ve heard of everything someone comes up with something even more outrageous. 

 

Had my shift changed this week so I could help catch up on some paperwork.  I can turn off my alarm but telling my bladder that I don’t want to get up at 2:30 AM is another matter.  Adjusting my circadian clock so that it doesn’t expect an afternoon nap is no mean feat either.  Hence here I am just after midnight contemplating whether I should watch TV or read myself back to sleep with a book. 

 

 

Summers Almost Gone

Sunday morning coming down. Checked the TV schedule and decided there’s nothing on I’d want to watch. In passing I’d note that CBC is showing the second Harry Potter movie stretching its original two and a half hour length to three and a half. If there are any children out there who don’t already own a copy of the DVD it’s a lucky thing they don’t have to get up for school tomorrow as it ends at 11:30. I wonder how much was cut to make room for more commercials. Thank goodness for DVD’s. Last night I watched the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes which was paired with Quest for Fire as a twofer. See sister blog for my reviews.

Outside dawn is slowly breaking on what Maritimers would call a Mackerel Sky—one that looks scaly portending rain—and indeed the forecast for the next week contains nothing but rain; the one consolation being that the increasing cloud cover will make the overnight lows warmer than the present 10º C. Balmy mind you compared to the single digit temps in Halifax and Calgary. A bit early for fall rains but moisture is badly needed though for many farmers it’s probably already too late to salvage their crops. Just opened my window and pulled in the screen to cool my apartment and save the A/C; a rare event as I would normally keep it closed to keep out pollen and highway noise. Traffic noise is negligible at 7:00 AM on a Sunday.

I should be going grocery shopping but just can’t seem to get the enthusiasm for the task this morning. I’ll manage somehow with what I’ve already got in stock until at least mid-week. I would not have said that I was typically male in most senses but I take no delight in shopping. I suppose that’s why I have taken to online shopping to the extent I have. No crowded aisles, surly salespersons, and check-out lineups or the struggle to find parking. Have you ever tried to use Chapter’s in store computer terminals? If their servers were any slower customers would take root on their dirty carpets.

Just finished French Toast made on the griddle insert of my waffle iron. It’s one easy way to use up stale bread. It would seem that Sympatico’s servers are down again as my last two files failed sending. Guess I should be thankful that I have online alternatives as this is at least the forth time this week they’ve been down.

Dog Days of Summer

Mind you the end may be in sight. I go from my apartment directly to my car in the second basement of our building so that it is not until I get out of my car at work that I'm fully aware of what the weather is like. Friday morning when I got out of my car there was a distinct chill in the air for the first time in weeks. This is not to say that it didn't get warm later but the worst of the humidity appears to be over. When I awoke from my nap Friday a stiff breeze was rattling my window screens and blowing dried leaves around. This Saturday morning sees a cool low of 12º C.

This past week I got a practical demonstration of why tropical countries do not sell chocolates or chocolate bars. Milk chocolate starts to melt at temperatures just above 80º F a temperature that has been all too common this summer. I went to my favourite bulk foods store and picked up carob chips for my baking needs. When I got home the chips at the edge of my plastic bag had congealed to sludge rather than chips. Guess I'll have to take more care about my shopping times in future.

On my way home dropped by East Side Marios for dinner Friday as I didn't think I'd muster the energy to make it otherwise. Luckily so as when I made my after nap constitutional to check out the progress the new restaurant was making across the road and go throw out my own junk mail--ironic that considering how much other peoples' I handle at work--I learned that my neighbour of 30 years dropped dead walking her dogs in our parking lot. An intensely private person, Hannelore Krammer began her gradual decline with the death of her husband over 2 decades ago. For the last 8 years her one consolation was the two dogs she acquired when a neighbour abandoned them. As her health made walking more difficult she used to sit and smoke with them on our parking lot curbs and had been derisively referred to as "that homeless lady", in part because of her 'stoop and scoop' bags; a private joke we shared. No one ever claimed life was fair; I have now lost both my long-term neighbours.

In the world outside my narrow local view things remain much the same in Afghanistan and the Middle East. In Africa those not already dying of Aids continue to kill one another off. In Utah after a mini-quake led to the death of three rescuers the attempt to find earlier victims has been called off. Lacking food, water, and even light if any of those men remain alive it must be heart-rending to realize that the digging noises that mark their release have ceased. In space the Shuttle crew face the possibility of a fiery death if the experts on the ground are wrong about the danger posed by ice damage to their heat tiles. In the Far East Earthquakes have damaged a nuclear power station in Japan; in the Caribbean Hurricane Dean roars across the island chains with peak winds of 150 mph and rising. As the price of gasoline rises after dipping to nearly 90¢/L stock markets have hit a downward spiral.

Back here in my own living room iTunes failed to download an interview with Brian Mulroney on CBC's The Hour. Actually, it shows good sense; don't know why I was permitting it to access the Jaw the Walks like a man in the first place--morbid curiosity I guess.

My internal clock woke me up this morning at 2:30 but I managed to wrestle the sheets until 4:00 AM. After browsing and typing here for a while went back to bed and managed to sleep until 7:30. Outside the air is quite cool. I am reminded of the way the air seems to cool off just before school starts again here in the Northern Hemisphere of the Americas. Dropped by a friend's home Friday around 10:30 and was told quiet was required because all three of the resident children were still asleep in bed enjoying the last of their freedom before the drudgery of school starts again. Somehow burning daylight like that--as Jack London wrote--violates my sense of propriety. I don't equate lying in bed with freedom.

More Discontent

It's a commentary on my weekend that the high point of my Saturday was a trip to the garbage chute. On Sunday I managed to do six loads of laundry. Actually managed to get the sheets dried in time to get the bed made up again the same day--the joys of bachelor's hall.

What is it about that radio coming to life to awaken one on a Monday Morning? Nothing pretty when it happens at 2:30 AM! When I left work Monday our clerks had 15 binneys of mail backed up that they hadn't processed including at least a couple from Friday of the previous week! At least I had staged all the mail we'd received for Monday and the five monos of Tuesday's mail--I felt rightly tired when I was finished.

Is it bad luck to have a black cat with a stripe running down the center of its back cross your path on the way to work? This isn't a hypothetical question, it happened on the way to work Tuesday morning though I have to wonder at whether a skunk crossing the QEW has a death wish. Luckily we didn't make contact and I don't have to hold my nose when I use my car.

In the things can always be worse department there is always a first for everything. Having done all my own work the day before I got co-opted into sorting Double X mail. What can I say.? That not being enough I got dragged in to help John put out his householders; worse yet the guy who styles it "his department" buggered off to a doctor's appointment and left me holding the bag. Put in a nine and a half hour day then decided I deserved dinner out at Swiss Chalet.

Feast or famine I spent today cleaning up the office as I had no mail. After I got up from my nap yesterday spent time applying the latest patches to the ever-broken Windows. At least I can report that so far none of those new protocols seem to be preventing me from using the programmes on my computer. While I was at it decided to install Open Office rather than invest in MS Office. I'd already done the 100 MB download but I do wish they'd do a better job of explaining the fact that the word-processor does not natively come with an installed dictionary for their thesaurus and spell-check programme. Also tried out a new defragger programme that is both lightening fast and efficient; it's free and its only drawback is the fact that it is totally manual in operation.

http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/

I'm now two-thirds of the way through Harry Potter and would be making better progress were I able to stay awake when I sit down to read. Watched a couple episodes of Gunsmoke before retiring last night.

Across the road from me Laurice, the Mediterranean Restaurant inches toward a projected weekend opening. Regrettably their decor continues to look like something out of American Graffiti that would make the Fonze feel at home. Hope their food is less sixtyish!

Learned today that the building freeze north of Dundas Street has been lifted so that we get to learn how many of the projected 70,000 homes the developers are going to get to build. Most of that growth will end up in our office until mother corp goads itself into planning after the fact. I'd expect they'll be establishing a new postal code for the area but who knows? Perhaps it's time I gave notice of my retirement.

The Summer of My Discontent

If anyone out there is actually reading my scribblings here please drop a comment to let me know I'm not just talking to myself--not that I don't do that in any case.

Here in Southern Ontario the air continues to be hot, humid, and smoggy. In the last couple days we've gotten just enough rain to be annoying to people who have to work outside for a living but insufficient to do lawns or gardens any good. I'm sure our farmers are suffering.

I've lost track of when I got my last personal E-mail. Probably my sister last week who sent me a picture of my Grand-Niece in England--Poor Tyke, she's cursed with my hair:

I've been working this week to catch up on my shopping chores--I do consider shopping a chore, not a pleasure trip.  I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to discover that gasoline had dropped five cents a litre overnight.  Sometimes it actually pays to procrastinate.  Last fill-up I paid fifteen cents more.  Dropped into the evil empire, AKA Wal-Mart to pick up Folgers Mountain Blend Coffee and their Simply Smooth Blend.  I used to grind my own coffee beans but lately I've gotten lazy in my old age and it is good coffee at a good price. 

Speaking of old I have been feeling creaky lately.  Something about having yet another birthday pass reminds one about the challenge of getting up again when one gets down on one's haunches.  Recently I've been experiencing aches in my wrists and elbows.  These things used to be associated with allergy flare-ups and go away when the system ceased to be inflamed--hope that still holds. 

I've just passed the twelve months to retirement point so I'm now under one year to that jubilee event.  Suppose I have to start making distinct plans, in six months or less I must start the paperwork--wish I was joking about the latter.  In the shorter term I'm just three weeks away from a Month's worth of holidays--annual leave if you will, I have the entire month of September off.  I really should plan to get away for a while but being from New Scotland if not Scottish the cost of renting a motel room for even one night scares me; even camping in a provincial camp ground can cost up to $35.00 a night!  And to think that in the Sixties we stayed in the Hotel/Motel Sur la Mer in St. Anne Du Monts, PQ for $3.00 per night but then I remember when interior camping in a national park and the firewood for your fireplace were free.  Am I dating myself, of course I am.  Sometime I have to do an entire entry on the way things were. 

One more day to go this week and this weekend I simply must break down and finally do laundry. 

Homesick?

Outside the sun blares down with temperatures approaching 90ºF while inside the air conditioner roars away attempting to beat the heat like the post-industrial monster it is as I husk corn for my supper.  In my mind’s ear I hear a chorus of “My Old Kentucky Home” in the background. 

 

It is not late summer by any means but on the radio they’re advertising the ‘Ex’.  It’s been so dry despite the constant threat of thunderstorms or worse and the hot humid weather that the Great Lakes water levels are at historic lows.  Even at night the crickets sing lazily in the warm summer air and small critters disturb early fallen rustling leaves.  The air is hazy and the breeze barely disturbs the leaves on the maple outside my window. 

 

It’s the kind of day that makes one wish one could head for the old swimming hole.  Alas here in Oakville the lake smells so bad no one would want to go near it even if one dared swim in it.  I’m thinking of the Mailman fishing rock just below the water falls on the West LaHave River and how pleasant to be perched there with a line drifting in the foaming backwater.  Up on the Hirtle Hill the blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and huckleberries are ripe for the picking.   Or they would be if someone took the time to cut the brush that has grown up since the owners neglected the berry patch.  Alas, being the present owner I bear some of that responsibility. 

 

I dream of watching the light fade as the sky turns rosy red in the west and the first stars come out.  As the sky darkens the first night birds begin stirring.  The chimney swifts depart their colonial roust and start their coordinated flight while the nighthawks patrol among the trees.  As darkness falls the bats come out and in the distance a barred owl makes his call.  If the black flies don’t drive us in we’ll find a comfortable spot to lie back in an open field and watch for shooting stars as the Milky Way splashes across our Northern Sky.  As the night deepens the mist will start rising off the river and soon the fog bank will spread inland off the Atlantic.  Those pictures of sunsets over the water are fanciful as more oft than not it settles into a fog bank.  Just before the air becomes too cool to remain out without a coat on the fire flies will come out to light our way home. 

 

 

Lord Simco Day

Today’s the holiday we celebrate in honour of Upper Canada’s first Lieutenant Governor; the man who gave us Yonge St and abolished slavery. 

 

I’ve recently written two notes that I’ll share here.

 

The first to MacLean’s Magazine questioning why the wife of convicted felon Conrad Black—AKA Barbara Amiel—is still writing for them.  Never took any stock in her right-wing opinions but they are now tainted by the fact that even if she were not complicit in her husband’s crimes she certainly lived off the avails. 

 

My local Saturn dealership excited my ire by insisting I get quarterly oil changes for my car.  The petrochemical industry toots their superior high-quality oils as making frequent oil changes a thing of the past.  A selling point of GM’s Saturn is the onboard computer which monitors oil quality and advises the car owner on when servicing is necessary and this is reinforced by the owner’s manual which makes it clear that the parameters are miles driven, the onboard computer, or once a year.  Since I don’t meet the mileage requirements and the service light has never come on I fail to see why quarterly visits are necessary except to enrich Budd’s Saturn to the tune of $40.00 per oil change.  They can’t have it both ways. 

 

 

Just Parking

I’m running out of titles for these blog entries.  Guess I have to come up with a new system. 

 

Out of the blue this morning I received the first update in over 8 months from Version Tracker by E-mail.  I’d given up on ever hearing from them again.  Guess they finally got their database restored or something.  Don’t know about you but I treat every E-mail from a bank with extreme prejudice.  I’ve gotten 3 now from TD-Canada Trust and I just keep deleting them. 

 

I keep trying to tell myself not to fix what ain’t broke but I’m not good at taking my own advice.  The latest version of Mozilla Firefox makes it impossible to play youTube videos or run scripts; just when I’d gotten it working again.  I can’t even get it to run NPR’s Pipedreams stream.  In fact things are so bad I had to return to Maxthon as my default browser even if it is slower—at least it works. Archos’ recently released new version of their Link programme collapsed immediately upon install and every time thereafter—I just restored the old version.  Just downloaded the latest iTunes/Quick Time update—almost 50,000 Kb.  I haven’t gotten brave enough to go to work on that one yet.  That install takes some time and some watching. 

 

In the last couple weeks I’ve been warming up to Google’s new iGoogle homepage.  It seems to work well with Mozilla Firefox and is easily configured, features drag and drop arrangement of the page’s elements and widgets for radio, search, weather, time, calendar, mail, comics, and games.  Interestingly the radio plugin doesn’t work in Flock.  Started using the latter browser because in integrates so easily with Google’s Blogger. 

 

I should be getting ready to go shopping but I just can’t manufacture the enthusiasm for the task.  I should also be doing laundry but see above sentence.  Watched two movies on VCR yesterday and worked at Harry Potter. I’ve finally reached mention of the Deathly Hallows of the title. 

More Lazy Hazy Crazy Days

I’ve been making frequent contributions recently to this blog most probably in consequence of the fact that no one has written me of late.  You might say I’m feeling neglected. 

 

I’ve been sleeping a lot lately and given my 4:00 AM start time at work that rest is taken at odd hours.  When I can keep my eyes open I’ve been plugging away at Harry Potter.  I was amused to see that employees at the Ministry of Magic enter the building by flushing themselves down the toilet.  Last night I passed the half way point.  My neighbour showed me a book someone loaned her being a biography of Eva Braun in the original German.  Even were I fluent in German I don’t think the subject interests me. 

 

Despite the heat, humidity, smog, and drought in our area we have to be thankful for the lack of floods, hail, collapsing infrastructure, war, kidnappings, murder, and mayhem occurring elsewhere on this planet.  Boring is good.  I seem to have slept blissfully through the thunderstorm that marked the cold front that came through overnight.  I know it came about because my microwave timer and kitchen light were off this morning indicating a temporary break in power.  All my other appliances have backup batteries or capacitors to protect their memories.

 

It has just occurred to me that with all this heat we are barely weeks away from the point at which the load of algae in Lake Ontario will reach critical mass and turn our drinking water into a smelly concoction that tastes like essence of Northern Swamp.  Time to stockpile some drinking water. 

 

I’m continuing to fight a losing battle with the growing backlog of podcasts I’ve downloaded to iTunes.  Apparently I have 336 hours worth stored on my hard drive.  When they come on sale I’ve also been collecting DVD’s faster than I can watch them.  At the moment I feel the need for lighter fare so I’ve been watching Paradise with the pint-sized Elijah Wood and Melanie Griffith; he was ten at that point and come to think of it he hasn’t grown that much since that time. 

 

Got my car serviced mid-week; now I have to put all that crap back—mind you the snow scraper and my winter coat could go into storage.  Having sold me a car with an onboard computer that determines when servicing is necessary I’m in dispute with the service manager who wants the pleasure of my cash infusion to his department quarterly.  The computer has been confirming my assertion that I don’t drive enough to justify that kind of outlay. 

 

Also wrote MacLean’s to enquire why Barbara Amiel the wife of a convicted felon is still writing for them.  I never have had much interest in anything that right-wing would be aristocratic snob had to say and even less so now.  

Disaster Footage

Security camera footage of the collapse of the 35 Bridge in Minneapolis can be viewed online here:

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-070802bridge,1,5546538.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

 

Not sure of the ethics of this but we can’t help ourselves can we?  This bridge collapse and that in Montreal last year serves to highlight the fact that North America has billions of dollars worth of infrastructure that was built often by the lowest bidder that has already exceeded it’s planned life-expectancy and is in urgent need of repair and replacement.  If you can find a safe and legal parking space near any major bridge and a vantage point to view it from below what you see will scare you.  The latest disaster happened in America.  Expect the finger-pointing and lawsuits to go on for the next decade.  Bottom line: highway taxes have to start maintaining highways and stop getting swallowed up in general revenue. 

 

The Worker's Lament

It’s too damn hot!  So goes the weather.  Let’s consider religion and politics taboo. 

 

Today our office was blessed with a brand new stacker with all the latest high tech gizmos.  The warning alarm is ear-splitting but otherwise it runs silky smooth.  Too bad about the fact that we have no way to charge it though! 

 

Took my car for its yearly servicing today.  In five lifetimes I’d never pretend to understand car dealerships.  One of the selling points of newer cars is the onboard computer which monitors the need for service and new high-quality engine oils that negate the need for frequent oil changes.  Why then, do I get service reminders every 2 or 3 months?  They can’t have it both ways.  Someone is lying here.  I have no interest in bolstering the dealership’s bottom line with needless service and the concomitant inconvenience and expense. 

 

The brown paper came down off the windows of the new Mediterranean Cuisine Restaurant across the road from me.  Laurice or something I believe.  On can only hope their chef is superior in quality to their interior decorator.  The décor is redolent of 60ies burger joint—the Fonze would have felt right at home.