Friday, 8 June 2018

Pretty dry May!


MAY HISTORICAL DATA LANARK COUNTY

   YEAR          (mm)
2013 117
2014 166
2015 68
2016 20.6
2017 192
201829.5

May 27 – clouds, but no rain!

Meanwhile in the USA... Tropical storm Alberto.
Hurricane Watch

May 25 



May 20 – 16.8 mm


May 15 – finally, rain: 4.8 mm



May 11 – frost warning

May 10 pouring rain into OGH: 3.8 mm


May 7 – Power outages remain: ~26,000 still out

There were 30,000 out in Hydro Ottawa, 180,000 were out in Toronto Hydro territory.

May 6


Hydro One has restored approximately 370,000 customers across the province. There are approximately 138,000 customers without power. We estimate about 80,000 customers may be without power overnight. All available crews are responding to outages as quickly and safely as possible and additional crews have been mobilized to the hardest hit areas. We appreciate your patience while we work to repair the significant damage these winds caused to our system.

May 5 clean up

Two are dead. One man tried to moved live hydro wires. Another man, an employee with @MiltonHydro, was killed by a tree.

 7 minutes ago
Update WB from Wilson ST W to Lanark CR 511. All lanes remain closed - hydro crew on scene. EB lanes are open to EB and WB traffic using one lane in each direction.

Mother Nature’s fury took the truck and spared the dangling bird feeder. #ottawa #onstorm2018 #WindStorm pic.twitter.com/yLpADiIGNZ
— Heather Badenoch (@HeatherBadenoch) May 5, 2018
 5 a.m.
UPDATE: power has been restored to 1,200 customers. As of 5:35 am, crews continue to make progress restoring power to 9,700 still without service due to high winds.

May 4 - wind storms

 5.30 p.m.
120,000 customers currently without power in S.Ont. Even The Weather Network is running on a generator currently.




 14 hours ago
High winds and thunderstorms are causing power outages for over 126,000 customers throughout Ontario. All available crews are responding to outages as quickly and safely as possible and additional crews are being mobilized to the hardest hit areas.


From Hydro One:
The storm has not moved as quickly as forecast through southern Ontario and has left behind significant damage. Central and Eastern regions are still feeling the full force of the 90-110 km/h gusting winds and we will not have a handle on the full scope of damage until the morning when the wind has passed into Quebec overnight. Damage assessment and safe movement of crews in the morning will be our first priority, so estimated times of restoration may fluctuate as we gather more information.

 At this time, all available crews are being mobilized in each region, and we appreciate your patience while we tackle this extreme damage.


May 3 - rain moved north east: 2.5 mm.


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Thursday, 7 June 2018

I packed my stuff!

Do you remember George Carlin?! He's quite vulgar, fair warning, but this monologue stuck with me.

As I write this, I am packing for our vacation. As you read this, we are nearly home.
I began with a nice, new suitcase.

Whoops, nope, that's my regular purse. I took it to my vacay with the grandies last November. (Trip to the Dominican Republic) It's perfect for carry on. Lots of pockets, holds everything. I use it all the time.
From my last trip, I realized I needed a suitcase with wheels. The other one got wrecked when our hot water tank exploded, anyway! (What a day, a flood!) Jan. 22nd I bought my new suitcase. Isn't it cute?! 

We've been looking at the weather. As I write, May 28th, it 30 C. here. We were going to Vancouver (YVR) Thursday. They are having 15 C. temperatures at the end of the week. Then, on to Calgary, and Lake Louise for two days, and home. They had 10 - 15 cm of SNOW in Lake Louise and Banff.

I had to haul my bigger suitcase out of the basement, and bring my winter clothes upstairs, and repack.
Look at this!!!! This is JUNE!
There are flood warnings in Calgary, where we are renting a car.

Last week, JB and I have been walking. I tried the first day wearing my new runners. No problem.
The second day, my Birkenstock sandals. Blisters. We have to walk 2 km from where we are staying to Jess' house.  They've been lovely walks, though.



Monday, prior to the election, we voted. "Vote early! Vote often!"
 

The election is today, June 7th! Let's see if the pollsters got it right. Doug Ford (yes ,brother of the infamous, late Rob Ford), is shooting himself in the foot with no planks in his election plan, and no costings.

Wednesday, May 30th, I had my mani-pedi at the spa! I won't be wearing sandals, though...

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Wednesday, 6 June 2018

Book Review: Excessive Force

Authors: Alok Mukherjee, Tim Harper
This is an amazing analysis of Toronto Police Services (TPS). In the light of police violence, carding, racial profiling, and the evidence that people of colour are pulled over far more frequently than those who appear white, this book is a must-read for anyone who cares about North American society.

What the author points out, is that police are more worried about police safety than community safety. This is why they are armed to the teeth. The G20 fiasco is a prime example.

Alok Mukherjee was the chair of the Toronto Police Services Board. He details his attempts to bring policing in Toronto into the new millennium. There is so much to manage on the streets these days: road rage, road racing, mental health issues, as well as criminals, loon wolves, and angry white men.

Mukherjee's premise is that things must change. Police must work harder at education, having a police presence, and to reduce the military-type equipment common on the force to prevent issues in the community. With cell phone videos, body cams for cops, and other community engagement, police must be held accountable.

Mukherjee points out how he tried to change the excessive costs of policing, by stopping those who earned overtime by working festivals, and other for-hire opportunities, not policing per se. He wanted to stop carding, and that took years of effort, as he was blocked by Toronto Police Service (TPS)chiefs.


Mukherjee details:
  • inherent racism of policing on both sides of our borders,
  • during the G20 in Toronto, what was agreed to by TPS went for nought as the RCMP came in and took over. 
  • the horrid G20 kettling event that occurred, with victims locked up for hours,
  • the terribly negative way police officers treat one another when they face internal issues, such as PTSD,
  • special investigations of police actions, and the lack of convictions, i.e. *Sammy Yatim. (SIU)
G8 fencing in Huntsville
This is an excellent read. He has amazing perspective and an understanding of policing around the world. He details that research, as well as looking at the history of TPS. I just hope it will make a difference.
There is no shortage of “inside” police books written by former cops. Here is a rare title—not only in Canada but the Western world—written from the community’s perspective.

Click icon for more
book review blogs
@Barrie Summy


The news is full of vicious raids, and Black live do matter.

Women on the Force

I think things are looking up. There were women involved in presenting at the press conference.

Bonnie Crombie, Mississauga mayor and the Peel Police Chief: Jennifer Evans. This MUST make a difference in the Blue Wall people speak of.

TPS was formed in 1834, surely we can move into the new millennium.



Gun Violence & Mass Shootings




*Sammy Yatim
Yatim, an 18-year-old Toronto male armed with a pocketknife, was shot at nine times, and was hit by eight of the shots fired by 30-year-old Toronto Police Service (TPS) officer James Forcillo. He later died from the injuries.[3] The incident occurred after Yatim, brandishing a 12 cm (4.7 in) switchblade knife in a Toronto streetcar,[4] advanced on a passenger,[5] threatened other passengers, and exposed himself.[6] The confrontation between Yatim and the police was recorded and footage of it was released publicly, prompting strong reactions across Canada.[7]


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Book Review: Made for Walking

My faithful readers know how important boots are to me, living in a wetland! What an idea for a book, showing the changes in fashion over time! I think the title clever, too. My fave is the 1964 French designer André Courrèges boot, AKA the Go Go boot!

🎶🎶🎶These Boots Are Made For Walkin', I can just hear Nancy Sinatra singing it!

In the words of renowned designer Beth Levine, "Boots moved into prominence the same time The Pill did. Both were symbols of a woman’s new freedom and emancipation."

 You can view a few pages on the publisher's website: Made for Walking: A Modest History of the Fashion Boot. They sent it to me for review.

The book is an interesting one. There are lots of photos, as well as a pictograph, which compares boots and boot shapes and styles over time: the riding boot, Edwardian ankle boot, the Russian boot, rain boot, Cuissarde boot (over the thighs).

There are end notes, a bibliography, and an index. Peake has done his research! The author, Andy Peake, is a writer and a museum curator. He also writes a blog.


ATGLEN, PA - Social meets fashion history in the tantalizing story of the boot from the Roaring Twenties and Prohibition to online shopping and fashion blogs. Weaving together such unlikely elements as Glam Rock, the martyrdom of Joan of Arc, and the Iran-Contra scandal, it shows how the modern fashion boot plays with our ideas of gender, straddling the line between practical and stylish, between fashion and fetish.
MFW-042.jpg
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Tuesday, 5 June 2018

Mallards on the pond

https://vimeo.com/271886139
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