Elections are coming…
Oct 8, 2008 Environment, Miscellaneous, Rant
The Canadian election is coming and I have a harder time than I wish deciding who to vote for.
I WILL vote. That much is certain. I don’t understand how some people can pass up the right to vote as if this was some unimportant chore that someone else can do for them. Voting gives you the right to complain about your leaders afterward if they’re doing bad. People have died around the world for the right to vote. All WE have to do is get informed beforehand, and then on voting day, get our asses off the couch and vote. That’s not too much to ask.
I am not voting for the Conservatives. That much is easy to decide. I think that Stephen Harper is a dangerous, scary man who sets Canada back years and years in terms of environmental and social policy. I am deeply ashamed of him and of his position on global warming and on crime, to name but a few. Just thinking that he could get a majority gives me hives. I just can’t stand this possibility!
Now who is left? Last election, I voted for the NDP because I really like their candidate, but this time, I’m not so sure. To be fair, I don’t know much about their candidate in my riding. But the NDP’s environmental policy is pretty much that of the Conservatives. And environmentalists around the world have shown that the cap-and-trade system (proned by the NDP) is not as effective as the Liberal’s carbon tax.
If I was in Quebec, I would probably vote for the Bloc Quebecois. But I’m not in Quebec. Enough said.
I would probably vote for the Liberals, even though I don’t like Dion much, because I really like the Green Shift idea an I think that the Liberals would best govern us at this time. The problem is, I really hate the candidate in my riding. She has been here forever, she hasn’t done anything, and last election I saw her at a town hall meeting and her personality really got on my nerves. She arrived (very) late, she acted like a diva… No thanks! She will probably win anyway, though. She always does, and by a landslide. Which means I don’t have to vote for her even though I want the Liberals to win. And that way I will still be able to live with myself the morning after.
The only choice left is the Greens. I don’t agree with some of their social policies, and frankly, I certainly wouldn’t want them to govern the country! But I figure a vote for the Greens would register as a vote for the environment. And that’s the main issue for me right now. I would like to have an Earth to pass on to my son. I really don’t get why people don’t figure this out: sure, the carbon tax may hurt the economy a bit (I’m not even sure that’s true, but let’s pretend it is). The planet’s implosion will hurt more than that, won’t it? We need to protect the Earth, or else there won’t be any economy left to complain about.
So I will most likely vote for the Greens, unless someone convinces me otherwise before next Tuesday. By the way, have you noticed? Tuesday is a full moon. I wonder if Harper is superstitious. Maybe he figures superstitious people won’t want to bring about any change on a full moon. Hopefully we will surprise him. Because if he’s elected with a majority, I’m the one who will turn into a werewolf…
Maybe this time, if Obama is elected, it’s Canadians that will be moving to the States!
How long is too long?
Jul 16, 2008 Family life, Rant
How much time would you expect the paramedics to take before they show up if you called for an ambulance?
Recently, we had an emergency in our house. Zak had a really bad headache on one side of the head and it wasn’t going away, then his face started going numb, so he called the nurse line. After talking to him for a bit, the very nice nurse told him to call 911 because he had all the symptoms of shock. So he did, then he passed me the phone as he was starting to find it hard to talk. His breathing became labored as I was on the phone with the 911 operator, who said that the ambulance was on its way and, and I quote, to “reassure him that help was coming and call back if he got worse”.
Shortly thereafter, Zak started shaking from head to toe and was breathing increasingly faster. He asked me to call a neighbor who is a doctor, and she graciously accepted to come help us out. She examined Zak and reassured us that nothing seemed wrong with him, and eventually his breathing and shaking calmed down. His head was still hurting a bit, but he didn’t look like he was going into shock anymore. With things looking better, our neighbor went home and we just wanted to go to bed. But the paramedics hadn’t arrived yet…
All in all, it took them an hour and a half. Granted, if our neighbor hadn’t come, I would have called back and maybe it would have bumped us up in the 911 priority system. Maybe. But it scared the hell out of me, because I thought that I could count on an ambulance (or a fire truck – aren’t they first respondents in BC?) to show up within minutes of a call. Did I mention we’re a 5-minute walk away from the nearest hospital? I guess in a real emergency, we’ll run to the ER instead of waiting for an ambulance…
The thing is, I told them that Zak looked like he was going into shock and he was having more and more trouble breathing. And that he passed me the phone because he was finding it too hard to talk. Shouldn’t that have warranted a relatively quick arrival? Are we on a black list of hypochondriacs? It is the first time ever we call for an ambulance, although we have called 911 before when the fire alarm was going. It did turn out to be a false alarm, but the fire department itself says to call in such cases. So we shouldn’t yet be considered trouble!
Anyway, I learned two things that night. Good neighbors are priceless, and the 911 system is not foolproof. I just hope they had bigger emergencies to take care of.
What’s up with the weather (again)?
Jun 10, 2008 Environment, Family life, Rant
Last night, I had to turn the heat back on in our baby’s room. It was chilly and his hands were quite cold when I went to feed him at 3 am. Not sure exactly how low the temperature was outside, but it barely went over 10 during the day, with lots of rain.
Yesterday, in Ontario, the temperature went up to 41 degrees in some places. In Montreal, my mother was complaining about this intense heat wave. Even in a tank top, she said, we’re sweating like pigs (well, ok, she didn’t quite put it like that, it’s only my interpretation).
Don’t get me wrong: I’ll take 8 degrees weather over 41 any day. But isn’t it unusual to be heating in June? I admit that I am looking forward to being able to leave the house without having to layer sweaters and jackets onto my son. Not to mention that I bought him some really cute sandals he hasn’t had a chance to wear yet…
Oh well… As long as noone gives me their “And they say there is global warming” crap, I’ll still be happy!
Tale of a stroller
May 1, 2008 Family life, Gear, Rant
There are two places in Vancouver that sell the stroller we wanted to buy, and only one of them is within walking distance from our house. It’s called Crocodile and we don’t really like it because we feel that they sell fancy, snobby, overpriced items, but they do say on their Website that they will match the price offered by other stores so on Sunday we walked the 30 minutes needed to go there. We looked at the stroller, liked it, and wanted to buy it, but they sold it for $10 more than their competitor. Unfortunately, we were told that none of the 2 people authorized to match prices were in on that day, so we would have to come back another day.
We should have went to the other store (TJ’s Kids), but that would involve taking the bus or booking a car (and they don’t have a wonderful record either when it comes to customer service), so on Monday I walked back to Crocodile to buy the stroller (after calling first and being told that they would, indeed, match the price). When I got there, I spotted an older saleslady (which I hoped was the one I talked to on the phone) and explained that I had called earlier about a price match. She seemed really doubtful, but another saleslady said that she heard the conversation and that such-and-such had authorized the price match. The first lady then went to the computer.
- What color do you want it in?
- Yellow and black.
- Do we have yellow and black?, she added with a frown.
- Well, I was told you had it!
A few seconds passed, then:
- Oh, we do have it.
She seemed really disappointed!
She went to the back-store, came back with a box and as she was taking the stroller out to show me the color and verify that it was what I wanted, she asked:
- So where did you see the stroller?
- TJ’s Kids.
- Did they have it in stock?
- Yes!
To be honest, I have no clue if they have it in stock. I didn’t go and I didn’t call. They advertise the brand new 2008 model on their Website, and that was enough for me. But I was thinking that it was a little bit late for that lady to change her mind about that price match! Anyway, I liked the color of the stroller and the saleslady went to the computer to finish the sale.
- Can I have your first and last name?
- No.
Call me paranoid if you want, but I don’t like giving my personal information away. Not only can they use it for bad purposes or sell it to other companies, their computer system can also be hacked into and I just know that they don’t need it. But they don’t know that I know…
- I need your name and phone number for the warranty.
- No you don’t. I’ll have to keep my receipt and if I loose it I’m screwed, but I don’t legally have to give you my personal information.
That’s when another older saleslady (this time, I assume, the one I had talked to over the phone) intervened and said it was ok, even though they did need it and MacLaren was going to call them to obtain it (!!!), but they’d deal with it. That’s when the first saleslady dropped the last bombshell.
- So you know it’s a final sale…
- Emm… Sorry? Why is that?
- All sale items are a final sale.
- That’s not a sale item!
- All price matches are considered sale items.
- Well, I guess I really should have bought it at TJ’s kids!
So am I the customer from Hell, or am I in my right when I refuse to give my personal information and when I find it exagerated that they make it a final sale for a rebate that really comes down to 5,5%? Anyway, I bought the stroller and made it home, and I have to say it is an excellent stroller, but I will really try to avoid buying stuff there from now on. On top of everything, I realized that on Sunday the saleslady gave me false information (she said that the 3 lower models of MacLaren strollers had the same wheels, but comparing my stroller to that of my friend I can see it’s not true). So I am not a satisfied customer.
And I encourage all three or four readers of my blog to consider this if they ever travel to Vancouver!
You stink!
Apr 8, 2008 Less toxic, Rant
My husband is allergic to perfumes. At first, I thought he was exaggerating when he complained about the smell of some laundry detergent or cleaning product. I was so used to those kinds of smells that I thought they were nice. I was almost sad to switch to a scent-free laundry soap, and I couldn’t understand why he made me wash my clothes again after a trip at some scented-laundry-using relatives’ house. But over the years, two things happened. First, his condition worsened, and now if he’s exposed to chemical perfumes for too long it can push him into what looks like a full-blown cold. No one who sees him could ignore the very real effects of perfumes on his body. Second, I got used to living scent-free and started developing a new awareness of and intolerance to perfumes.
I don’t have a physical reaction to perfumes. They just get on my nerves. After doing some research, I now understand that chemical perfumes are actually bad for your respiratory system. You can see it right away in people like my husband or like my cousin, whose asthma gets worse every time she cleans the house with scented products. In people like me, you don’t see the effects, but it doesn’t mean there ain’t any. Perfumes are irritants, so why use them? I now wish I could educate everyone to the fact that those store-bought smells do nothing for us, quite the opposite!
I have learned to appreciate the clean, fresh smell of scent-free laundry. I clean up with scent-free products. But it’s hard to avoid perfumes, and it’s amazing how strong they can be. Some days, my laundry has a smell just because someone else washed their clothes with stinky perfumy soap at the same time as I did my clothes in the laundry room, and my husband gets a physical reaction just by walking in front of the laundry room. I had to re-wash clothes several times when I don’t notice that someone has left a piece of scented fabric softener in the drier after doing their load. Some people wear so much perfume that our dog (or our baby) smell after being petted by them. And all that for what? What is the use of perfumes?
If there is any, let me know!
Slightly disappointing
Mar 30, 2008 Environment, Rant
Apparently, Earth Hour 2008 was a success. People around the world turned off their lights, landmark buildings went dark, etc. Yet it left me slightly disappointed. I guess I was expecting too much of the event. Vancouver was participating, and although I heard about it for the first time last Tuesday, it has been in every paper and on every radio show since then (and probably on TV too, I couldn’t tell, I still don’t watch TV). But at 8 pm, when we looked outside, we saw… nothing.
Well, actually, we saw lots. Lots of lights. I live in a densely populated area of the downtown core, and I can see hundreds or more likely thousands of apartment windows from my living room. At 8 pm, we turned off our lights. Yet I didn’t see any major change in the landscape. People near or far had their lights on. Of course, I wasn’t expecting everyone to turn off their lights. But I though enough people would participate so that I would see a change outside. Nope.
Worse, there is so much light pollution here that we didn’t even need our candles. With all the lights out, we could still see enough to keep doing our spring cleaning (we just rearranged our living room and papers that needed sorting were scattered all over). By the window, you could even read without the candles. Good luck to those who were talking about watching the stars. Not a chance in hell.
I can’t help but find it sad. I though people were starting to realize that global warming is a pressing issue and that we need to do something about it now. I guess I’m still naive…
Grrr…
Feb 6, 2008 Family life, Gear, Rant
We are expecting a high chair, delivered by FedEx. Yesterday, I was home all day. When I went to get the mail, I found a FedEx notice saying that they “didn’t have the buzzer number”. What? They had our apartment number, which is the same as the buzzer number. I know it’s not always like that, but it is often enough that you’d think they would at least try that, no? No. They called me though, but apparently I had given my cell phone number, and since I was home I didn’t have my cell on me and I didn’t hear it.
So they will be coming back today. I was supposed to go to my fitness class, but I will stay home because I won’t be home tomorrow, so if I miss them today and tomorrow, we’ll have to go God knows where pick up our huge parcel. I called and gave them the buzzer number and the home phone number, and I’m sitting by the cell phone as well just in case. Hopefully this time, I’ll get a high chair!