A great day for this country. A historic one, really. And I agree with one poster who said the best quote of the day was (perhaps surprisingly) from Paul Martin:

We’re a nation of minorities.
And in a nation of minorities you don’t cherry-pick rights.

It will be a happy Canada day indeed. The next question, though, is what will Martin do now that he actually has to make something up himself rather than do what Chretien laid out for him (Gomery, SSM, Marijuana, etc). Does he have anything of himself to offer?

 › normative     2005-06-29 11:14   ...0 comments

I am getting very frustrated and irritated by the hurt tone the conservatives have been pushing in the past few weeks.

When they had majorities and teamed with the Bloc to close the house they were the saviours of democracy, defending us from our elected parliament. Now, when the Liberals have the support of the NDP and the Bloc we are seeing ridiculous statements in the media:

Harper: “I think it will lack legitimacy for a lot of Canadians. The truth is, most federalist MPs will oppose this legislation.”

MacKay: “I suspect that the Liberals may invoke closure, which they’ve done as recently as last week. The Liberals have banded together with the Bloc and NDP in the past to shut down Parliament and that strategy may unfold again.”

This kind of strategy insults our intelligence. All political parties expressed positions on same sex marriage in the last election campaign. The liberals, NDP and Bloc all came out in support of the legislation. Only the conservatives opposed it during the election. If we want to find out what Canadians supported at the polls then the matter is simple: Let’s look at the election results, then, and see what the national support for the issue is.

2004 Canadian Election Results
(from the CBC and Parliamentary Web)

Now, when we look at these numbers we will easily see that the three parties who are “banding together to shut down parliament” have not only the traditional mandate to pass legislation (a majority of seats) but have a further mandate from the people: In an election campaign partially fought upon same sex marriage these parties together captured 64.7% of the popular vote!

In fact, if you look at the data, in every province and territory except Alberta the Liberal/NDP/Bloc group captured more of the popular vote than the reform alliance conservatives.

Armed with this information, perhaps we should look at the conservative statement that three parties are ‘banding together to shut down parliament’ in a different light. It seems they are ‘banding together’ to satisfy their election promises and to satisfy the majority of Canadians… federalist and otherwise.

And while I’m ranting, I think that the fact that the liberals and NDP together had a majority in virtually the whole country means that it is quite appropriate for us to have a Liberal-NDP budget. One which, I point out is fully balanced.

It seems like we sent Parliamentarians to Ottawa to accomplish some stuff, and now they are doing it for a change. Good for them. And I wish the Cons would develop a sense of honour… not everyone agrees with Alberta and we don’t need to be slammed for it.

 › analysis     2005-06-27 17:51   ...1 comment

While I’m on the topic of busybodying… here’s two short notes recently written to city staff.

 › letters     2005-06-26 00:56   ...0 comments

After a morning of signing papers at the lawyer’s office (double duty because your partner is in France) and then working most of the day you pick up your keys to your new house. In the envelope with your keys is your first property tax bill.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you don’t even get to step onto your new property, much less open the door, before the government serves you with notice of your obligations.

Luckily I am a Glebe resident and therefore a meddling busybody. Therefore I do believe that I get something for that money. The provincial land transfer tax, though, that is a different story.

 › domicile     2005-06-26 00:42   ...0 comments

I’m going to put a series of entries out about interesting/irritating/funny things that happened while preparing for the move. However, how about a general update?

We are in our little house. Almost all our stuff is in our little house with us. We have repainted about 30-40% of the house I would say, and that was quite an undertaking. We have installed a 30 litre dehumidifier in the basement and that is bringing the humidity down really well. We have lots of projects to do, but lots of time to do them in.

Now we are surrounded by boxes boxes boxes. We have developed an unpacking plan which will hopefully keep us from going insane as we unpack all these items. We’ve done the bathroom stuff, although the previous owner’s kitty litter was in the cupboard we want to put it into. We’ll have to try to clean that out before our extra kleenex boxes (etc) go into there.

The next task may be to tackle the kitchen. We had a lovely big kitchen at the last apartment, so downsizing here may be a challenge.

In any case, we are in and happy. Soon it will be time for you to visit.

 › domicile     2005-06-24 10:11   ...2 comments

Well, we are in our house. There will be full disclosure of this event in the near future, along with some of the adventures along the way. Suffice it to say for now that we are very happy.

This blog entry is brought to you by my need to bookmark manageyourcellar.com. A free tool to help you keep track of the various wines you may have. No time to play with this today, but I want to remember it for the future.

 › food     2005-06-23 17:29   ...1 comment

Like that Carlsberg commercial says… “You and the bank own a lovely home”.

The house deal has come to a happy ending today. I had a meeting at the lawyer’s at 8:30 am (ouch) and signed our lives away. (Since Jen is away at present I signed piles of papers on her behalf.) The process seemed straightforward enough even if our lawyer was a bit plastic himself. (He seems to have a patter and repeated a bunch of his statements verbatim from our initial meeting.) We didn’t get to keep copies of anything we signed today, although he reassured me that this was because his staff will collect everything into one big report (rather than being handed a paper here and a paper there).

His staff seem to be quite competent and around 3:30 his clerk called to say that the deal was done. Around 4:30, after finishing a few work tasks, I went over there and picked up the keys. In the envelope with the keys was a property tax bill for $1700. You can’t even own a house for 30 seconds it seems before the bills start showing up. (The tax bills were issued last month, but they are due on Monday! And it is our place now!)

Got to the house around 5:30 and found everything perfect there. The house was spotless. The floors, the bathroom, even the oven was sparkling clean. We have had a few days of rain here this week but the basement was dry. (A bit of condensation on walls and floor but no running water. No visible moisture on the dirt floor area either.)

I went through the house checking things out and all the rooms were still there. Manuals for everything from windows to fridges to carbon monoxide detectors were provided. About a billion keys.

In terms of the work before we move in. I think we will have to do a bit more painting than we planned. The downstairs is painted a light yellow colour which is actually a bit grimy now that her stuff is out. Also, there are a lot of nails in the wall for hanging her many items. I think that space is going to have to be pained. Luckily the paint cans in the basement list the colour number so I’ll call the paint store tomorrow and see if that colour can still be made up. I still want to get the wallpaper off my office, but we’ll see how much gets done before we move in.

My dad came over in the evening and got a grand tour. He seemed to really like the house (which is great). Looking forward to showing it off to all of you. I am hoping Jen will have the energy on her return for an evening of tours on Friday night. I’d like her to be able to share in the grand tour excitement.

The house was as cool as I remembered it. I think I will really enjoy it. Of course, it is a little bittersweet though. As I write this from the balcony of our current apartment I am feeling slightly sad to be leaving our current home which we love so much. There is a season for everything, however, and it is the season of home ownership now. And the home we own is a wonderful space.

 › domicile     2005-06-16 00:22   ...1 comment

The National Film Board is looking for people to vote on which of 5 short animations is the best. They were done by Canadian youth and I think there is a connection to the world’s fair in Japan. I liked them.

In Vivo (Click the ‘Enter’ link, then on the weirdly gray ‘The Films’ to get into it.)

Which one is your favorite?

 › movies     2005-06-14 23:51   ...5 comments

I wrote in my pellet entry about my need to avoid making mistakes, and why it is such a big deal for me; I explained that part of my self-image is that I am a good planner, and when I screw up it’s easy to beat myself up about it. I went on to say that I sometimes take this as far as planning on behalf of others, and left that topic for another day. Today is another day. Another day with the humidex nearing 40° (104 °F) and I’m holed up in the bedroom with the window air conditioner. A perfect time for introspection.

Part of the way that my brain takes in information is by taking incoming facts and connecting them to existing ones. Thus, as people tell me about what they’re doing, or as I review an organisation’s plans, it seems very obvious to me where the pitfalls or potential problems are. It then seems kind of mean to just let the person fall into the traps along the way… of course I should point out the problems and save them the trouble.

The problem is — as you may already have surmised from the tone of the last paragraph — this position is a bit patronising (if well meaning). It’s funny how I haven’t thought of it this way in the past, but trying to help really requires you to take up the position that the other person cannot do it themselves. Stepping in to help when asked is one thing, but jumping in to a situation to give advice can be problematic. It is problematic for both the helper and the helpee.

Why problematic for the helpee? The helpee can go in one of two directions in this case. The first direction is to be frustrated that the helper is not providing the desired response. The helpee, for example, may be upset that something isn’t going well, and instead of providing the desired support the helper starts analysing the situation and looking for a solution. The other possibility, especially in close relationships, is that the helpee steps back from all planning and responsibility — letting the helper take over.

Why problematic for the helper? For one thing it is a stressful life: You walk around seeing the problems in everything, feeling dread for others all the time. With organizations you pass the point of being an activist for positive change, and take setbacks as personal affronts. For another thing it is ultimately a thankless task (no one is asking you to do this, or they are taking advantage of you) and likely a futile one as people do what they will.

Those are obvious helper drawbacks, but what if you become obsessed with this helping behaviour?

You may be familiar with the term co-dependency but may not know its origin. It comes from looking at alcoholics, and is a pattern of behaviour exhibited by partners and families of the addict. The canonical example is of the co-dependent wife becoming fixated on solving the addicted husband’s problems, often winding up in situations she doesn’t want to (like making excuses for his behaviour to his boss) because she feels she has to. It is a complicated issue, frought with circular patterns of behaviour on all sides. (The term Co-dependent is rooted in a sense of being also dependent on alcohol, even if you’re not the addict.)

Why have I brought up co-dependency? Because this type of relationship is the logical extension of the problems of the helper and helpee above.

Consider a scenario where the helpee starts to step away from planning and control, and the helper takes over these tasks. Then what happens when the helper sees that their interests are at odds with the interests of the helpee? If they are obsessed with helping, they may satisfy that obsession instead of furthering their interests.

If that last paragraph went by a bit fast, here’s an example of what I mean: Let’s say the helper has taken over the task of doing the helpee’s dishes, but is tired one night and doesn’t feel like doing them… This is a no-win situation for the helper because if they don’t do the dishes they feel like they are doing a bad job in their self-appointed role (as aggrieved dish doer) but if they do clean them then they are doing a bad job of taking care of themselves.

In short, serious co-dependents do everything because they believe they should rather than doing what they want. They often wonder why no one is reciprocating… and it is because what they are doing is unreasonable. (It’s just that it doesn’t feel unreasonable to them to intervene to avoid the disaster they fear will unfold if they back away.) They also fear backing away from the helper role because it defines their social lives and makes them “useful” to their friends.

So, let’s get back to the case at hand: me me me. I identify with the somewhat disconnected and selective picture of co-dependency that I’m painting. But where does this all intersect with my trajectory in life? It clearly is not coming from contact with addictions, and I think it is coming more from my pellet-fleeing behaviours and the planning system that underlies them. I also feel I’m useful to people and liked because I am helpful to them, which is likely over-simple, but feeds the need to “help”.

Now, there’s loads of information out there on co-dependency, much of it uncomfortably cult-like and it all points to a weird proselytising 12-step program which (at least for me) is taking this whole analogy and coincidence of behaviours way too far. However, it does make me think a bit… will the world really end if I don’t attend the AGM of the co-op? Are my relationships really built on being needed? And is it really true that others are incompetent and need my help all the time? The answer to all these questions is no.

So, just as I am trying to be less self-critical and hyper-careful (I’m trying to settle for self-aware and reasonably cautious) I am also trying to see others as competent and capable. Trying to self-monitor less. Trying to identify things that I like and want, without always trying to identify their felicitousness to the “projects” I have been making out of those around me. It may not happen overnight, and likely won’t ever happen 100% but just being aware of it is changing my outlook. And that’s a good thing.

 › self     2005-06-13 23:35   ...2 comments

Tonight — while eating a snack at the lovely Siam Thai Noodle on Mason St. in San Francisco — we saw a local news broadcast.

The first news item concerned a high speed police chase. During this chase the driver of a stolen car led the chase through city streets, hit two other vehicles, then plowed the car into a light standard hard enough to knock the two front tires off and knock the signal head off the light standard. Then the car smashed into a wall and burst into flames. Two police officers rescued the driver they’d been chasing.

The second news item concerned the arrest of some terror suspects at their bay area home. There was little information in this piece except to say that the FBI had been watching these guys for a little while. They were not arrested on charges of terrorism, though, it was immigration violations for them.

In the first piece (where the cops rescued the driver they’d been chasing) the guy was referred to as the suspected thief. The second piece referred to Al Qaida arrests. How can the guy you pull from the flames of his crime be suspected while the Muslims you detain on immigration violations because of some FBI theorem be Al Qaida?

 › normative     2005-06-10 02:40   ...1 comment

I am at Apple’s developer conference in San Francisco this week. Of course, the big announcement of the week is that Apple is going to transition away from IBM’s Power PC processor line and move to Intel’s microprocessors (the same ones that generally run Windows).

While here I’ve been scanning Google News and it seems that a lot of pundits out there are venting a lot of hot air about this. I have to say — from the point of view of someone at the conference — this issue seems to be a bit overblown!

I think that IBM has not been able to deliver. We’ve been waiting for a 3 GHz G5 processor for two years now. Did IBM really think Steve was going to stand up at the keynote and apologize again? Plus, the G5 processors we’re seeing are still way too hot to put into a laptop. The G5 server requires eight fans, and the dual processors feature liquid cooling. You’re not going to want to cart those babies around too much.

Now most readers know that I came to Apple’s world through the NeXT world. Apple’s takeover of NeXT was truly a reverse takeover. NeXT’s CEO returned to head Apple, and the main technical team at NeXT took over the Apple positions. Apple’s technologies are NeXT technologies or NeXT-inheritors. What people don’t seem to remember is that NeXT’s OpenStep technologies ran on four platforms: Motorola m68k, Intel i386, Sun Sparc and HP PA-Risc. That worked boringly well, and all the operating system tools to support fat universal binaries that we used then have been shipping in Mac OS X since release 1. So supporting multiple architectures is no worry for us at all.

Apple has survived because they could convince a few people that their computers are better than Dell’s. Their computers are no longer much better than Dell’s from a performance perspective and the only way to resolve that issue is to get off the chips that are slowing them down.

As for other definitions of the word better, well Apple will likely be shipping computers that look identical to today’s machines except with custom Apple-designed motherboards that happen to feature Intel processors. Few buyers will know and fewer will care that the technology inside is different from last week. I do not believe Apple will let their OS run on crummy off the shelf machines, so Apple will continue to be a leader in design and great hardware.

So, no worries!

 › technology     2005-06-09 17:59   ...1 comment

The race weekend hires a cool service that tries to take photos of as many runners as possible. When the event is all over they put up a database which you can search by bib number. This year, they emailed me with a link directly to my photos online. How cool is that?

I love that in these photos my feet are not touching the ground. It kind of reminds me of Calvin’s TV.

Read the Complete Entry

 › sports     2005-06-05 09:56   ...1 comment

Chris and I have an ongoing rant about stupid icons that you can’t understand. Someone somewhere decided that the little man/woman bathroom sign was a great idea and that whatever concept they themselves are pushing will also be identifiable from some random diagram.

I’ll be at Apple’s WWDC conference next week and we are staying in a SF business hotel in the heart of downtown. The desire to know if they have a pool resulted in an attempt to decipher all their little pictures. What do you think these mean? Our interpretation is given for each one.

	- Danger! Weightlifters in your room!
	- Obscure cult chops the lower bodies off people! - Warning! Yogic Flying!
	- Caution! Chopsticks secured by spider webs!
	- Danger! Staff with bad breath! - Smelly concierge at your service! - The captain of the Titanic as it’s burning!

The site is headlined with this great photo. Talk to your pals on cell phones… from right next to them!

 › funny     2005-06-04 23:16   ...7 comments

Jen’s experience must have been a pilot here in town because now TD is offering a free iPod shuffle if you switch your chequing account to them.

They do the work for you to change the accounts over. There are a few conditions (like you need direct deposit or pre-auth bill payments) but I can confirm that Jen did in fact get a free iPod shuffle from them.

It’s interesting to me that the iPod is such a consumer phenomenon that even banks are now giving them out for free.

 › technology     2005-06-01 18:08   ...4 comments