Merry-Go-Sorry

As Plain as the Nose on Your Face - Hail to the POTUS

2009-02-03T16:12:00.004-06:00

I am so impressed with the POTUS. He is a wise and great POTUS, and if he can do all that he is done in 14 days - a mere fortnight - then Saints Be Praised - the next 4 years plus 4 more years will truly be the New American Revolution.

I've been watching the House vs Senate / Dems vs GOP stimulus bill tennis match with great interest. It's the first time in history that you have a doubles game like this going on. I don't know what to watch/read/listen to first.

But here's the thing that seems to have escaped everyone - in all the hue and cry about bipartisanship and stimulus and all the handwringing about waste and pork ...

He's got them talking. He's got them working together. Everyone is focused on the same thing - making this bill the best it can be. The Dems and GOPs who agree with him. The Dems and GOPs who don't. The Senate and the House.

Its the weirdest game of four handed bridge I've ever seen.

Here's the other thing that it seems everyone is missing. Stimulus jobs aren't just the jobs that have a blue collar - or a pink collar - even putting sod on the National Mall will put people to work - people who need to build skills. Family Planning allows counselors and other health care professinals to keep their jobs - and helps people manage their lives without being the unwilling victims of a treacherous biology.

All jobs are good jobs. All strata of workers deserve to be "stimulated" - because it will boost the economy at all all levels.

I just wish I could tell the POTUS that I know his wiley plan. He's amazing. Wish we had one. Our own - and home-grown - but a visionary leader is an amazing thing.

Especially one that can get all four sides of a debate working together.

Incognito, Ergo Sum,

Jane Doe, Citizen

Today in the Paper ...

2009-01-12T16:21:00.005-06:00

Hey There, Hi There,

It is Monday. Felt like a Monday all day, too. On to the news.

A member of the Royal family makes racist comments. Yawn. What healthy 20 something British soldier laddie doesn't use a bit of misplaced profanity now and then. Get over it.

The war continues in the Gaza - a tragedy for both sides, but brighter lights than I have not been able to either adequately describe the problem, or offer a remedy with sticking power. My heart bleeds and breaks for the people caught in the crossfire of history and religious politics.

American car makers hire 100 monkeys to create names for their new cars - randomly typing in a warehouse/zoo in Detroit - and the legible words that appear most often get put on a carnival wheel and become car names if their lucky number comes up -

the GM Spark - better from GM than Ford (Pinto, anyone?)
the Ford Fiesta (cause every car is a party - better Fiesta than Siesta),
the Kia Soul'ster (because you pray every time you get behind the wheel - when they say driving a Kia is a religious experience, it's not necesarily a good thing)
the Dodge Circuit EV - (let us conjugate the verb Dodge - dodge, dodgey, dodged as in avoided - mmmm..... subliminal reason for car sales - the name means "to avoid")

So - they finally get the idea that small is better and hybrids or electric cars are what the public and the planet need. All it took was the looming spectre of bankruptcy and a government bailout. Nicely done, gentlemen. All three CEOs should be replaced immediately, the companies merged, and Ralph Nader put in charge of the auto industry. And the CFO should be the guy that writes the Lemon-Aid books. Al Gore can advise from the sidelines.

What about the ZENN? If the Big Boys of Detroit are going to make electric cars, and the provinces open up the roads for them, then why haven't they already done so for the ZENN? Time to find out what' up with that.

Incognito Ergo Sum,

Jane Doe, Citizen.

A Paper in Hand...

2009-01-05T16:06:00.006-06:00

Hey there, hi there...

I've decided to try something new this calendar year - I am going to open a blog post when I start reading my daily paper (which is not always daily, just to be clear) so I can capture my moments of brilliance amidst the mountains of fodderall that churn through my mind when I get my daily local news update. I will try to keep my observations germaine, witty, ascerbic, and thought provoking. I will try. And if I don't have anything to say - then I won't.

So here we go. Wonder if I'll find anything to blog about today:

Easy Peasey!

the headline is "are they worth it" and it refers to the salaries paid to some top Winnipeg executives. It is fair to line-list all the CEOs in Winnipeg and list their salaries. I'm sure these guys are nice guys - this is about the position, not the person. (are they all men? or am I missing something here? I'll have to reread the list).

They should also list the number of employees who make minimum wage working for these companies, how many pay bands of employees there are, and what the average wage is per worker. That plus a performance factor - how well does this guy do his job? Do the staff have everything they need to do their jobs well?

I am a believer in the 6-Step system of Compensation - the lowest paid employee should make 1/6 of what the highest paid employee/owner/ceo makes - and there are only 6 incremental pay bands between Joe Labor and Jane CEO (that has a nice ring to it, doesn't it - Jane CEO).

so, if Mr. McFeeters (cause he's the first guy on the list) makes $5,294,772 (which is the biggest number on the list) so Joe Laborer should make a cool $882,462. Sound completely unrealistic? It is. Both sides of the equation need to be making a lot less to have a sound business model, in my humble opinion.

Who do you think is doing more on a day to day basis to make the company profitable, dealing with clients, dealing with sales, dealing with complaints - than the staff? Who have to put up with fear of being fired, due to the global recession? How many job grades are there at Great West Life? Or at any of these companies?

What exactly would Mr. McFeeters or other C-Suite Dwellers have to do to be given their two weeks notice? Just curious. I wonder how that compares to the rank and file in this very large and very non-union shop. What does the average employee have to do to get canned, in these tough economic times. It is the worker at the lower end of the pecking order that is the cannon fodder in times of economic challenge - just take a look at the Three Stooges of the US Car Industry. Even when GM was losing money like water over Niagara - the CEO got higher compensation. Give me a break (only if I have medical benefits).

Lots of good questions ... to be asked of the C-Level suite all down the list. I'd love some answers - but there is no way to get them from all the CEOs. That's because, too often at the top of the big pyramid of the workplace, the C stand for Crap - and crap runs downhill. Profit, like power, stays at the top.

Incognito ergo sum,
Jane Doe, Citizen.

My Cat gets Better Medical Care

2008-09-28T20:21:00.002-05:00

Hey There Hi There.

Recently, a man died in a local hospital waiting room after sitting there unattended for 34 hours. All he needed was to have his catheter changed, and get some antibiotics into his system. He was in plain site in the waiting room, having somehow bypassed the usual triage procedures - and sat there dead long enough for rigor mortis to set in.

I cannot express my outrage in words strong enough. His invisibility to the staff of the health care facility appears to be due to a variety of incidental factors -his being aboriginal, his being "of the street" in looks, his being in a wheelchair as a double amputee, his having a speech impediment that inhibited his communication, his passivity (no doubt a product of years of being in one gov't system or another as a disadvantaged and vulnerable person). He was there for HOURS, unattended, unmonitored, uncared for. The ticking of the clock and the beating of his heart were not in time.

Hospitals need a "patient advocate" that literally lives in the emergency ward, and helps the health care workers manage the expectations of those who are sitting for ridiculously long amounts of time to receive urgent or emergency medical care. We need to put the URGE back in URGENT. AND if there were more general practitioners available to take new patients, we wouldn't have people using the emergency wards as a 24 hour walk in clinic - because they need medical attention.

He had a name. Brian Sinclair was a vulnerable person and the system that my tax dollars pays for failed him. Completely. No one will be held accountable, no one will be punished. There will be much hand wringing, much regret, some apologies, something restorative, and likely a Health Care policy called "Sinclair's Law" that ensures that people sitting in a hospital waiting room must be accounted for in addition to any supposed registration at the Triage Desk. And it will happen again and again because we as a nation of compassionate citizens have lost our way. And we are wandering blind without a compass, a map, and our vision of the North Star. I am ashamed.

In sharp contrast - I had to take my cat to the vet. He had a sore on his paw, aggrivated by his licking at it because it is sore. The vet examined him, sedated him, did a needle biopsy, aspirated the inflammation, did a paw smear, did a slide of the matter taken from the biopsy, gave him antibiotics and a steroid shot - and presented a full range of diagnosis possibilities from "a simple allergy" to "contact dermatitis feline style" to "cyst" etc... depending on how the cat responds to the medication given.

I was asked to call the office with an update on Monday, and then two weeks later, if things were healing up well. I got my cat back, slightly doped up, and paid my bill, and left feeling that he had been well cared for, that I had been given a wealth of information and options, and that there was genuine concern for both my well-being and the health of my cat.

I am so fortunate that I have a great general practitioner for my personal health care - and I am active in advocating for a better medical system. I believe in two tiers of medical care. It is the only way to take the strain off the system. Here is what I propose:

graduates of Canadian medical institutions have to do 3 years as a GP in a major metropolitan area, or 2 years in a rural/remote setting. They get significant tax breaks on their student loans for this period of public service.
A fee guide be set for standard medical practices, similar to the dental fee guides that exist in that industry.
up to 40% of any GP or specialist's practice can be for paying clients under the fee guide. These paying patients get no special status or privileges other than access to those 40% app't slots on the daily calendar.
Support technology (radiation, ultrasound, mri, etc) are run 24 hours a day, and these technicians are fairly compensated for taking the midnight shift. Same for diagnostic labs, etc... medicine becomes a full time business in public service.
Diagnostic services can be purchased by any client willing to pay the full rate, but those privately paid appointments are scheduled during that later shift, so public health patients get their tests done first. The paying patients are paying for the extra time/costs of running the overnight shifts, essentially. If there are no paying patients, then public health needs fill up those slots.

Does any of this need to be complicated? Sure, there would be push-back, but for the sake of people like Brian Sinclair, can we please fix the problems in the medical system to protect those people who need medical attention and can't speak for themselves. Money has to start changing hands. But those who can pay don't get priority sequencing, daylight hours, or percale sheets.

My cat can't speak for himself either, but the system in the veterinary world supports a pay-for-services model that allows me to provide him with the best care I can afford (thanks to the miracle of credit cards). He's worth every penny. I'm worth more than my tax dollars are getting me when it comes to the medical system as it stands.

To the spirit of Brian Sinclair - as a citizen who paid for your neglect, I apologize. To the family of Brian Sinclair, as a citizen who has a voice to speak, I offer the hollow comfort of these words of outrage as a sympathy card - and I share your grief. To the medical staff who looked through a vulnerable person, and then didn't see the dead man that replaced him - you should be ashamed of yourself.

Incognito, Ergo Sum,

Jane Doe, Citizen.

Water Water Anywhere?

2008-08-23T10:12:00.003-05:00

Greetings, Fellow Citizens,

Doing my weekly blitz of the newsprint media - and shocked to learn that newsprint is generally NOT made of recycled paper fibre - something has got to change there as well.... but here's what set off the alarm bells and made me dust off the keyboard and get back to the business of blogging.

Water Shortages Looming - by Steve Rennie (Canadian Press)

Talk about the glass being half empty. And what are we going to do about it? Try to get a complacent population to implement some water conservation? That would be the only way to keep the Federal Government's hands of managing another resource for us.

How can we instill the concept of personal responsibility - civic responsibility - the responsibility of citizens to manage their own lives to the extent that they are doing the right thing for the greater good - this isn't a noble concept, but a survival skill that ensures there will be enough fresh water, enough power/fuel, enough food for everyone to share the resources of the planet.

Glad to see that our Fair City is thinking about imposing restrictions on the sale of bottled water in civic institutions, BUT this will simply force people to buy soft drinks or sugar-filled juices THAT COME IN THE SAME DISPOSABLE BOTTLES - which may or may not recycled.

Hello - McFLY - ITS NOT THE CONTENT THAT ARE THE PROBLEM - its the delivery medium.

Forest - trees - what is so hard about thinking it through. And why can't medical science or Big Pharma discover a cure to the Political Knee Jerk Reaction? That would be as much a benefit to the human race as The Cure for All Diseases. Maybe we need to pay our politicians based on performance, and reward them for Gold Medal Level Stewardship of our culture, our nation and a sustainable way of life. Don't even get me started on the Olympics, the investment in sport versus arts & culture - and the amount of jet fuel and resources required to make the Olympics happen.

Incognito Ergo Sum,
Jane Doe, Citizen

Pass the Salt, I've got a Raw Wound.

2008-03-05T15:50:00.003-06:00

Yes, Jane has been a very bad blogger. But at least - we haven't taken a full trip around the sun since I last posted. Almost.... but not quite....

but now, down to business.... I'm reading a week's worth of newspapers and having apoplexy.

We aren't banning plastic bags or implementing any definitive strategy to discourage their use.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/local_picture/story/4136750p-4728838c.html

We're increasing the speed limit to 110.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/story/4133506p-4726279c.html
in complete defiance of every good reason to lower them, if anything
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/westview/story/4110866p-4707149c.html

WAKE UP MANITOBA -and live up to your name. Keystone - the linchpin that holds it all together - be a leader for the rest of this nation rather than an apathetic follower of the lowest common denominator and the path of least resistance.

I hang my head in shame. I am too angry to be eloquent. Time to think about some form of political action that has impact.

Incongnito ergo sum,
Jane Doe, Citizen

No Sweat - applause for the MB Gov't

2007-04-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

Hey there, Hi there

Yes I know its been a while. Sorry 'bout that. Today, here I am.

In a stunning move amidst other "no, we aren't going to call an election' glad-handing of funds to an eager and willing to be bought off public - the Government of Manitoba got something right. I applaud this move that keeps my tax dollars out of the sweat shops - and might even help bring some off-shore apparel manufacturing jobs back home to Manitoba - or Canada if every other province, city, territory, and government or publicly funded agency will step up to the plate and do the right thing.

HEY - you out there - anybody in government making buying decisions - Do the Right Thing! That means YOU! If you are spending from the public purse - SMARTEN UP! And while you're at it - use recycled paper and stop drinking bottled water!

It is truly "un-Canadian" to expect people in the developing world to accept less than a living wage and less than a healthy work environment while the middle men/women reap the profits. Children need education, women need equitable pay and safe working conditions, and there needs to be a Global code of workers rights that is enforceable. Ah Utopia.

Made in Canada - not by a multi-national with offshore interests - made with quality - not paid by piecework - made by workers with benefits, not made at the expense and exploitation of the developing world.

Buy Canadian. Look for the Union label or the hallmark of the Independant Tradesperson. Vote with your dollars, and speak out.

Now, if only we could get drive-thru windows closed as a key source of environmental pollution due to the idling cars that line up to roll up the rim. (not meaning to single out any one chain - honest!)

Another day, another crusade. Someone's got to keep rattling the cages and giving the monkeys bananas when they do their tricks well. Might as well be me. I'm just one Canadian trying to shed some light where I can. And not afraid to rail against the darkness. Got a match?

Incognito Ergo Sum,
Jane Doe, Citizen

Of Fresh Folkies and Aging Rockers

2006-07-13T18:17:00.000-05:00

Hey There, Hi there,

Local (adopted) native son Neil Young made good on his "I've got a headache like you wouldn't believe" promise to play a concert for the hometown crowd with all lobes intact - at least the lobes belonging to Mr. Young. We are grateful for the continuing good health of Sir Neil of the Flannel, Canada's expat elder statesman of Truth, Justice and the Way. Unfortunately for his fellow Canadians, his way is to live in California, and rail against the Republican Right, when we really need him to come home and rail against the lobe-less Reforming Regressive Neo-Cons on our own Parliamentary doorstep. But enough about politics (for this small moment.) Reading the announcement of the impending concert by Messrs Townsend and Daltry "and friends", and following my most joyous weekend at the 33rd Annual Winnipeg Folk Festival - I want to talk about music and the industry.

I, like most music lovers I know, couldn't afford to buy a ticket to hear CSNY - even by justifying the ticket price by dividing the value by 4 stars made it beyond my means. Who wants to sit in the nosebleed section and watch the show on the big screen - if I'm going to be in the presence of Giants, I want to be able to count the stitches on Steven Still's recent hand injury, or his chins, whichever is greater. If I wanted to "watch,” I could rent a DVD.

The Rolling Stones are supposedly playing Regina - and tickets are between $100 and $300 - that makes it between $20 - $60 per Stone - not a bad deal if you're buying them dinner (they have to cover their own bar tab), but to sit in an arena and share them with 25,000 other suckers who paid the same amount? I can buy a fair chunk of their back CD catalogue for $300. Given that I bought their High Tides and Green Grass album at a Kelly's ROCKtober Record sale for $2.99 back in the 80's - I just can't bring myself to put down $300.00 plus tax and agency fees for a distant seat to watch people I've been listening to all my life. For most of us working poor, that's half a mortgage payment.

I've been referring to the upcoming Pete and Roger show as the Semi-Hemi-Who - without the Madman Moon on drums and Boris the Spider on bass, (and with all due respect to Kenny Jones, who can keep time with the best of them), its a half a Who concert. Don't mean to Grinch out on any of you - but all has not been "well" in Who-Ville for quite some time. Their last top ten hit was .... Anybody? I'd have to go look it up. This is a nostalgia tour a very few cuts above a gig at Club Regent by other Rock Legends of Another Era. If they lose one more original member, it will be a Tribute to the Who, featuring The Last Man Standing (or windmilling, if it’s Pete).

At least the Stones have continued to roll; Mick's mouthy logo continues to eat the world at large, with fans into the third generation. The Stones still party - poor Ronny Wood knows when to throw in the towel. They inspire Pirates to Academy Award Nominated Performances, and get cast in Supporting Roles. They marry beautiful women, have supermodel children, and make the papers with their wit, wisdom and fashion sense (or arrest/pardon records). The last time we heard from Uncle Pete, he was defending his honor about his internet browsing habits. Mr. Daltry, a would-be thespian, has not had any Academy Award Nominated Performances on the silver screen Kenny Jones continues to keep time with the best of them, and I don't even know who the new bassist is. (Apparently he's from Jools' Holland's "Millionaires")

In comparison, the "Y" of CSNY continues to be a strident and nasal voice for sober second thought in the Excited States of America, and inspires others to use their magical musical powers for Good (like Farm Aid) instead of Evil. I'm sure he sent the Dixie Chicks a nice note, and maybe an autographed copy of "Let's Impeach the President" the Valerie Plame remix. You GO, GIRLS!

Bruce Springsteen records an album of protest songs, The Grand Dragon of all Folkways, Pete Seeger himself turns 80-something, and there is a covert Woody Guthrie revival happening, carefully nurtured by players like Ellis Paul, Billy Bragg, and Wilco - the Coal Holders. Why is it in times of turmoil, the music of the folk rises up to meet the tension of the times with such alacrity? Woody wrote of his own observations and experiences, and spoke for many who shared those observations, but who were silent. (Know that no one is silent though many are not heard. Work to change this).

Would that there was more singer songwriters like Jeremy Fisher, who puts 2 and 2 together to make the observations of everyday life into a political manifesto of conscious awareness. Subtle, like mallet, music of the heart and mind. Lulls you into a complacent state of toe tapping harmonizing, and then moves in slowly for the "Big Thought" - but never so big a thought that there isn't room to turn it over in your head, and maybe change your mind. And you might not even know that it needed changing.
http://www.jeremyfishermusic.com/home_hi.cgi

Folk Festival was not "the best fest ever" - it was good, but not great. Saturday night was a great disappointment, but I'd do it all over again for the main stage power packed punch of Steve Earl (Thursday) and Fred Eaglesmith (Friday). Ah, Steve - you were so right about us missing our chance to revoke The Evil PM's Steve's passport while he was down on the farm visiting Uncle W Bushie. In spite of the crowd's insistent shout outs for Copperhead Road (and Steve said "if you don't think that its a political song, then you're not listening") you held fast to your own agenda, played more songs that mattered, gave us a cold splash of clear thinking on a hot summer night, and finally tossed the crowd their bone with a revved up acoustic version of one of the most political songs ever written.
http://www.steveearle.com/blog.html

Fred - you make me proud to be Canadian. You must be from South Ontario, with that drawl of yours. Tell me, do you wear that white Stetson so there is at least the smallest hope in hell that the Powers that Be, with their torches and pitchforks, might think that you are a Good Guy - until you open your mouth and tell it like it is and prove that yes - folk heroes tell the truth to real folk - and while you may not be popular with the Establishment, I can tell you that the rank and file love you - all they need to do is hear you. Fredheads, unite.
http://www.fredeaglesmith.com/about.html

One concern about the Folk Fest - for the first time, I wish that there had been Security on Site. Not the happy sunburnt Volunteer Site Security folksters, but someone who made sure that people were not crossing the line of good folk festival behavior. But who is causing the problem of non-compliance with the unspoken rules of successful Festing? It certainly is not the 2nd or 3rd generation Folkies, who learned the protocols at their Granola-munching parent's knees, who wore tie-dyed diapers and who happily dreadlock the baby's hair "just like momma used to do". It’s the "new arrivals" - those who don't understand that the reason that they are the only two dweebs dancing in the front of the main stage all alone what good fortune! in from of 20,000 people who are all shouting "Down in Front" - - is that the dance area is roped off on the right side, and the rest of the dancers, a half a million strong, are infused by the muse, and are dancing with joy and celebration.

I understand that we cannot police people for good manners, but I am losing hope that we, when out for a day in the sun with 20,000 of our closest friends, can all stay on our best behavior. Especially with the booming business of the beer tent. That's one thing that irks me - every bag, box, cooler, bottle, and backpack that enters the festival site is hand checked with TLC and extreme politeness by happy volunteer Door Wardens, with big signs posted that anyone caught with Alcohol (and other contraband) will be Rejected from the Bosom of Mother Folk, and sent on the Pariah's path of the Unfolklike. However, it isn't about minimizing intoxication - the spirit of Hank Williams knows that I was jostled, stepped on, bumped into by many an inebriated fellow Folkie over those few days. It is about the Folk Festival Inc being the recipient of the revenues of our sinful behavior. For a family friendly festival, with children running about, it makes me wonder. I like a cold beer just as much as the next overheated sunburned music lover. And I understand the need to generate revenue to balance the books.

How do I talk about something that I observed without sounding paranoid, or alarmist - but if someone doesn't mention it, then it may never be looked at as a potential issue. The following will sound like guilt by implication, by proximity, by assumption - and because there are many children in my life whom I love dearly, I'm going to speak to what I observed.

Did anyone else, in their repeated wanderings through the folk festival site, notice that there were a number of adult to middle aged men, who never seemed to be "with" anyone, but who were always lying in the shade, near the children's designated play areas, or the areas that were a bit distant from the music stages where families seemed to congregate to let their children play freely? I have a good memory for faces, and I swear, some of these men were in essentially the same places for the entire weekend - no matter when or how often I wandered by, when enroute to the next stage, or to the nearest bathroom. Or perhaps I'm just imagining things - but I don't think so.

I hate to cast fear, doubt or blame on innocent music lovers. I'd like to believe in the intrinsic good of all people. I'd like to believe that music can change the world, and that we can live in perfect harmony, the real thing. And I look around, and see, and know, and it makes me wonder. Oohh, it makes me wonder.

Incognito Ergo Sum,
Jane Doe, Citizen

Green Transit Blues

2006-07-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

Hey There, Hi There,

So, do the people who work for Public Transit actually "take" public transit to work? I think that it should be mandatory for them to do so. In fact, I think that everyone who works for the City of Winnipeg should have to take Public Transit to work to prove that they are indeed WORKING FOR the betterment of the City. Doesn't this makes sense? What a wonderful role model we would be to other cities. Just like London England - which simultaneously taxed cars that used their downtown core, and greatly reinvested in their transit system - with the result of fewer cars downtown, and increased transit use - this makes sense to me. Draw a 2 km perimeter circle around City Hall and say that if you work "here" (city employee or not) - you should be taking the bus to work. BUT IF you get a civic paycheque - you take the bus to work. Be a responsible city employee - we the people are your employer.

Hey, let's extend this to the Province as well - Big Daddy Doer can be an example of environmental responsibility and governmental partnership - Promoting the Transit corridors. Maybe if we called the curb lanes "Transit hallways" - and said that these hallways we want to fill (unlike the hallways in our hospitals - which are supposedly empty, but have more citizens in them some days than in our Transit corridors)... - but I'm getting off topic here.

If the increased use of the public transit service is vital to our city's Green Health, and if it offers such great service that they can raise our one-way bus fare to $2.00, shouldn't the Mayor be able to take the bus to work?. We can even put a bush shelter (standard non-heated, open on one side shelter) at the stop closest to his house. He might enjoy the ride, and the view - and he can "Take Pride" that he is using the mode of transportation that will help our city be greener, cleaner, less congested with traffic, and increase the "Cool Factor" of a public service that the city invests millions to promote. He may have to stand with the rest of us at rush hour (sorry, no reserved seating - but you do have a driver, just like a limo) and he will actually get to rub elbows with the unwashed masses - but if we're good enough to be asked to vote for him - aren't we good enough to stand with? Hey, Mayor Katz - "Standing With Winnipeg" - there's a campaign slogan for you.

Do the people that schedule the bus routes and times take the bus? It might help determine the issues of "route fit" that occur so often - they can share our daily triumphs (ah - MADE IT!) and our frustrations (JUST missed it) and their bosses will be with them on the same buses - so they will understand why their employees are just a little bit late some mornings. Making connections between bus routes is both an art and a science. Some drivers are great - considerate, compassionate, and they get to know their regulars, and make sure that they make their connections. Others seem to think that the transit route time schedules are "guidelines" and that it doesn't really matter if they make their connections to get their passengers to work on time.

Its kind of like transit roulette. Some days, my commute is very wet, or very cold. I have to strategically plan when I take "extra stuff" to work - and hope I make my connections. Makes me want to buy a Smart Car - except that I take the bus to avoid putting another car on the road - but I'm starting to feel backed into the corner of an unheated open-on-one-side bus shelter here. Maybe if the Smart Car came in Purple.... but I digress.

Then there's the Segway. I see that there is a "dealership" at the Forks. I've been a fan of these things since their very first introduction, back when they were still "Project Ginger". In today's Sun - http://www.winnipegsun.com/Business/2006/07/05/1668789-sun.html there is an article where the Manitoba Safety Council opposes their use on roads or sidewalks because they do not have straps or belts or buckles - JUST LIKE A BICYCLE - so they are considered too dangerous. Give your heads a shake, people. I am allowed to walk, skip, run, jog, sprint, and jump without a safety helmet. The skateboard brats certainly don't have a seat belt. Neither do those twerps on the scooter boards. Maybe we need to give the Mounted Police-People a seat belt on their saddles, helmets under their headgear and knee and elbow pads. Never know when that horse could get out of control .... safety first......

Here we have a safe sane sensible human transportation option that is so fool proof that the Shrub only fell off it once during his White House Test Drive. Does it get much better than this? Doesn't the San Francisco Postal Service use it for all their routes? I'd take a Segway to work in the spring/summer/fall - tell me that it is more of a road hazard than those crazy all-weather-all-winter cyclists?

Winnipeg needs to embrace and explore green options - not play the "danger danger Will Robinson" card every time there is a new idea that challenges the "norm" (by the way - normal is just a setting on the dryer - nothing more). Licence the Segways for urban use. Make me wear a helmet. Guaranteed I'll be given more respect in the curb lane than the skateboarders, and the cyclists can eat my dust.

Maybe there's something in our beloved Muddy Water Supply that squashes innovative thinking. Forward Planning. Trend Setting. Something for the CDC North to take a look at. But hey - I'm immune, I've got a reverse osmosis filter on my home water system - so I can "see clear". I'm sure that the water supply is also the source of all the Spirited Energy that is flowing through our province these days, but that's a potential topic for another day

Got to dig out a bus ticket and get to work. Check the schedule, check the clock, check the weather - its the Transit Three Step.

And the beat goes one................

Incognito Ergo Sum
Jane Doe, Citizen

In the Beginning, there were some Words .....

2005-12-04T10:14:00.000-06:00

Hey there Hi there,

This blog is a perfect example of - "You want it, you got it". I have finally succumbed, after much internal debate and external denial, to the myriad suggestions made by my friends to start writing down, and putting forward my views on life, the universe and everything. A particular shout out to The Witch-Doctor for his persistent and humorous encouragement on a weekly basis. I'm not sure why people are interested in what I have to say - but that's not mine to figure out (yet).

So here, you will have it.

I feel we need to put human needs and environmental concerns first on the list, but not at the expense of a healthy and vibrant economy based on rational and responsible choices with solid awareness of long term impact. There is a balance to be found between social responsibility and fiscal accountability. We need to find ways to celebrate diversity, encourage personal and community-minded growth, and build sustainable systems that do not cause unnecessary harm to the planet, or its inhabitants - with the common sense awareness that you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. Mutual respect, personal responsibility, cause and effect ... Just the standard utopian vision of what humankind could possibly do if we really wanted to. I am willing to learn more about just about everything - as long as I am learning from both sides of the issue so I don't get swept away by propaganda - or at least I have a paddle to control how far and how fast I go merrily merrily merrily merrily downstream.

I can't promise that there will be consistency, depth, profundity, or logic to anything I post in this space, but I will do my best. If all I make you do is think a little bit differently about a few things - then this is a labor of love that is time well spent. And hey - its your choice to come back and read it or not. I'm not asking you to agree (but really, how could you not?) I'm just asking you to think with me for a little while - and see if anything makes sense to you.

About the name - its an archaic word that means "something that makes you laugh and cry at the same time." Once upon a time, my friend Carol and I were going to start a band, and thought that would be the perfect name. The band never happened, but I kept the word on mental file for future use. It seems the perfect name for a place where I can "hold forth"on current events, passing fads, other people's ideas, and the world as I see it. Some posts will be happy, some will be sad. Some will be a call for action, some will be honoring that which has been done.

I hope you like what you ordered. There is no return policy on this one. And now that I've got a forum ..... (rubs hands together with glee) .... There is no telling where this might go.

"Sincerity is not enough"

Incognito Ergo Sum
Jane Doe, Citizen