Garbage In Garbage Out

That is a common expression that is used in computing all the time and certainly applies here. We elected garbage in the Provincial Liberals and it looks like we are going to get some garbage out of them.

The fear here in Ottawa is that Michigan will soon stop accepting Toronto’s garbage and it will be shipped to our landfills. The city has no control over the landfill and the province can decide where it wants to ship Toronto’s garbage without input from any city it decides to send it to.

Residents here in Ottawa are very upset and plan to protest the planned expansion of “Garbage Mountain” formally known as the Carp Rd Landfill. They are very upset as the site was supposed to close down but now it look like it will be expanded to three time it’s size and will have a life expectancy of another 25 years.

I think it is time that the province and municipalities take a serious look at the way we dispose of garbage and come up with alternatives to landfills. There is a pilot project that will be commencing here in Ottawa at the Trail Rd. Landfill that will be using Plasma Gasification Technology to reduce waste and generate electricity and slag that can be used in road construction. If this project is successful I don’t see any reason why every city in Canada would not construct a similar facility if not several. We need to do something as a country to reduce waste and this is the best thing I have seen so far. Increasing the size and number of landfills across the country is defiantly not the way to go in my opinion.

Trip to Spain...What the problem?

With all of the stupid things that the City of Ottawa spends money on, why are some councillors so obsessed with this trip to Spain? One councillor and 3 city staff are going to Spain on Plasco’s dime to get a first hand look at a plasma facility, which our city will soon have. I don’t see the problem; this is not a pleasure trip and can give city staff some valuable insight into how this facility will operate in Ottawa.

What bothers me more is the fact that our council has no appreciation for our tax dollars. Why not let this company foot the bill for this trip…after all they are trying to promote their technology. If this technology is sound and the pilot project is successful then it will go along way to reducing our reliance on Land Fills and also contribute to the production of some clean energy for our power grid.

If our City Council were a bit more diligent with regards to other projects and expenditures then maybe we wouldn't’t be facing tax increases every year when budget talks start. I hope this will be an eye opener for this council and this city so that they can be a little more responsible and thoughtful when it comes to spending our money.

How Stubborn Are People?

Last week I was standing outside my office building with a group of people when we were watching a couple of cars trying to park. Normally it would not be a big deal but this one was hilarious. Now you have to picture this ok because it is going to be difficult to describe. First of all there was a guy getting ready to pull out of his parking spot and a lady was pulling into the lot. He motioned to her to go ahead a pass, more or less being polite.... however she motioned to him to go first, also appearing to be courteous. This is where it gets interesting. He then indicated to her to go ahead...she said no and told him to go. This went back and forth for about a minute at which time a car pulled up behind the lady and she put her hand out the window and told them to pass. Now you have to realize that the guy is half way out of his parking spot on an angle and the lady is sort of on an angle to pull in there. There was enough room for the car to pass so they did. Now back to the exchange between the two drivers. The guy again singles for the lady to pull ahead and this time she reaches over to the passenger seat and picks up a pile of papers and starts flipping through them. Not to be outdone the guy opens a magazine and starts reading it. By this time about 5 minutes have passed and my friends and I are cracking up at this display.

Just then the lot starts to get busy because it is lunchtime and several cars start to line up behind the lady. At this time I figure she expects the guy to pull out and go because the people in the waiting cars are starting to get upset and blowing horns. She rolled down her window and waived to the guy to come out of his parking spot indicating to the cars behind her that it was his entire fault for the tie up. Not to be out done the guy pops the hood and gets out of his car, raises the hood and looks at the engine then gets back in and sits down. Well the lady lost it, she yelled and screamed at him through the window and finally had to pull ahead to let the other cars pass...she tore across the parking lot with her tires screeching and rocks and salt flying all over the place. Once she left the guy got out of his car, closed the hood and calmly drove out of his spot and left the lot. He saw us watching and was laughing his ass off the whole way. Not to be completely outdone the lady tried to speed around the lot to get back to the parking spot but was cut off at the last minute as someone pulled into the spot ahead of her.... again she cursed out the window and sped off. I guess it just wasn't her day. This whole episode took around 10 minutes and when you think about it that is an eternity when you are blocking traffic and having to put up with honking horns and angry stares from other drivers.

What would posses two people to act so childishly over something so trivial as to whom should make the first move? I mean how could an act of common courtesy turn into such a blatant power struggle between two people that don't even know each other. Well I guess that is Ottawa...how I sometimes long for my home town of Torbay, NL where acts of kindness are accepted as just that and not something that needs to be justified.