Random Rants 94 I rant at the thread title and shake my fist menacingly.

Ah, gutting public healthcare so that the masses will more easily accept gradual privatization of it? My province is doing it too.

She got a start on doing it with education, as well. In her first year in office, she couldn't throw money fast enough at private and charter schools, while at the same time threatening to fire the entire public school board in Calgary over some phantom "wrongdoing" with their budget. She ordered an audit, in spite of one having already been done recently.

Her post-secondary colleague (who is the current MoE) couldn't throw money fast enough at faith-based post-secondary institutions, while cutting funding for public institutions.

Her issue was that it was an "NDP audit" so she didn't trust them. The entire ATA (Alberta Teachers Association) is a corrupt NDP union, y'know, and her daft curriculum (not a typo;
'daft' is the politest word I can think of for it) was meant to replace the "NDP curriculum".

Thing is, there is not, and never was, an "NDP curriculum". The curriculum that had her so upset was actually developed by a succession of PC (Progressive-Conservative) Education Ministers. The major change the NDP did in their 4 years was to make it mandatory for schools to establish GSAs (Gay-Straight Alliance groups) if the students asked for them. The UCP did away with that, of course. There's now a "pronoun bill" coming into effect soon, where the teachers aren't allowed to call a student by their preferred name/pronoun without a permission slip from the parents (some of whom won't even know their kid is LGBT as they haven't come out).

So Adriana LaGrange is unfit to manage anything. I wouldn't even put her in charge of a lemonade stand (with or without the business license some municipalities require for a 6-year-old to sell lemonade).

I belong to a couple of political groups on FB, and people keep saying "contact your MLA if you have a problem with ______ ." I tell them my MLA is Adriana LaGrange, who blocked me years ago on FB due to my criticism of the daft curriculum (impossible questions, inaccuracies, openly racist, open religious bias, recipe for a major Charter challenge if that pile of (censored) had ever been put into actual use in the schools), I didn't vote for her, and they say, "My condolences."

She's so thin-skinned, that she tried to have people charged when they got frustrated at being blocked and ignored, and resorted to leaving messages for her on the sidewalk in front of her office. It's actually not illegal to write on the sidewalk with chalk, as long as you don't write hate speech or threats. Even the equally-useless other MLA we have (in Red Deer South) tried to have people charged (guess they left a message outside his office in chalk). He called the cops, and they openly laughed in his face and told him no crime had been committed.

The Calgary branch of the Raging Grannies* made a video about this.


*protest group comprised of senior women


As for health care, yeah, their intention is to privatize as much of it as possible. Some clinics got the notion to charge patients a "subscription fee" on a per-person/per family basis, costing thousands annually, for access to the doctors. People protested having to pay this for services that are supposed to be covered in accordance with the Canada Health Act. The problem is that we have a lot fewer doctors than we need (a problem all across the country), and more are leaving or retiring early or switching to other careers, so these ones in Calgary tried to take advantage of desperate people, knowing that at least some would pay - and they didn't care that the others would then be forced to go to walk-in clinics or the ER (assuming one is open when they need it).

I know the health care situation is desperate across the country. But in Alberta, it's as though the government is openly hostile toward the people who need it most.
 
3 times in 2 days I have a device not working, and I open it up, and the batteries weren't just dead, they were corroded.
 
So tired yesterday, I blew a deadline on two online quizzes for an economics course because I just forgot to do it, and they are not insignificant quizzes. I don’t have a better excuse :/

I really need to take a breather; the last week I felt continuously tired and I mostly read The Secret History just to keep myself awake. Not great for my studies though. We will see, finals are soon…
 
Today, I rode my bike 35 miles to a favorite spot. Tourist trap, but scenic. I thought I'd have the place to myself.

Wrong. They were holding a harvest festival. Cost 8 dollars to get in but I didn't bring any money. Hundreds of people there. Looked cool. Rode 35 miles back home.

Tomorrow I'm gonna ride my bike a total of 70 miles just to attend this thing. It's now a matter of principle. Their festival vs my will. I will walk those touristy streets regardless of difficulty.

Bleep the sunk cost fallacy.
 
So… still you got the 70 miles™ of biking done anyway?
 
Not all is lost. btw is this harvest festival also a fair and/or market? You might get some shopping done there.
 
Well...not if you are creative.

Spoiler :

touring-bike-fully-loaded-with-panniers-skaftafell-national-park-iceland-europe-X5FFYD-2145041...jpg


bike_load22443-2070649972.jpg


bicycle-loaded-with-goods-in-street-in-saigon-CBND9A-703637061.jpg
 
Yes, the trick is balance. I'd never be able to manage that on a bike, even when I used to be able to ride one.

It was hard enough today to balance my shopping on my walker, and thank goodness I'd brought a couple of extra bungee cords to tie stuff down and make a makeshift handle when one of those "reusable" bag things didn't work right.


Thank goodness the bus today was one of the old ones with sensible seats. The new ones have seats that make NO sense. They're not wide enough, and the one I had to sit on the other day when I went for my flu shot was so high that my feet couldn't reach the floor. No, it was not adjustable. Some idiot thought it made perfect sense to put seats in a disabled transit bus that only work for people who are at least 6 feet tall. There's no way to brace or balance in that seat, and I felt unsafe the entire trip.

The driver concurred that it was an unsafe situation, and advised me to make a complaint. By law, they have to investigate these things, so I did. I expect an answer next week.
 
Well, that's handy to take the kid along, but it does limit how much else you can put there.
 
In Christchurch it’s a common sight to see bikes made with a storage tub in front of the rider; sort of like a wheelbarrow mixed with a bicycle.
 
I have prevailed on my second go.

Little easier than the 1st. Woke up the muscle memory and got some fresh proteins on the fibers yesterday. I've made long rides before, shake off the rust and that old mechanical efficiency comes back fast.

Didn't buy anything. Worth it, though. Saw some attractive people. At least 15 of them. I regrettably don't see many where I presently live, so it's a big refresher to get a reminder that the larger world exists.
#3 is insane. There's no way to haul that much with that weight distribution safely unless you know in advance that your path is flat and unobstructed.
Bike trailers are really common amongst the Amish here. They mostly use e-bikes and haul absurd amounts of weight with the electric assist.
In Christchurch it’s a common sight to see bikes made with a storage tub in front of the rider; sort of like a wheelbarrow mixed with a bicycle.
Never seen it in the US. Or heard of it. Not made its way here yet.
 
Clocks change in Europe last night - this anachronism means I was woken before 6am on a bank holiday weekend.
 
I think we have another week here on daylight time. It's really annoying, having to change all the clocks.
 
I hate standard time too. But I am willing to tolerate it so the kids walk to the bus in the light before school. Ung. Here it comes.
 
Clocks change in Europe last night - this anachronism means I was woken before 6am on a bank holiday weekend.
History of Ireland: from the Easter Rising to the Early Rising.
 
I look forward to setting the clocks back.

I'm doing the no heat till November thing. It's not really going well. 30 outside, 47 degrees in my bedroom this morning. Clocks back mean I'm close.

Supposed to be an absolutely hellacious 52 degrees tonight. Much easier. Won't have to sleep under four blankets.

I will say that low temps improve sleep quality greatly. The rest is a drag. I don't think I'm built for high temps either. I should move to the Pacific Northwest. Ideal climate. 60 and raining. Or the UK or NZ.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom