Bus Strike

Back when I was working in the grouphome, city bus driver's threatened to strike. At the last minute, they came to an agreement with the city, and the strike was called off. Recently, there was another threat to strike, and once again, at the last minute, a tentative agreement was developed. However, after consideration, the drivers decided that the agreement was not satisfactory, and last Tuesday, they decided to strike.

So it's been five days without busses. Their accessibility service, Mobility Plus is also unavailable. It hasn't impacted me too badly, because surprisingly, the Ion drivers are not striking. I had assumed that all transit workers would be allying together, but that appears not to be the case.

I am in the  very fortunate position that, despite using buses regularly, pretty much everything I need to get to professionally is on an Ion route.  I've got to walk maybe ten minutes to my train stop in the morning, and ten minutes after I get off when I go to WALES. The Men's Group I run and all my Direct Support Work are all accessible by train. However, not everyone has the privilege of living and working near an Ion station.

After living through seven years of construction, with the city spending over a billion dollars on something little more tha a streetcar, I wasn't expecting to champion the project less than a year after it's introduction, but here we are.

If anything, the treatment that the Ion drivers have received seems to have exacerbated how the bus drivers feel. The last time they striked, they demanded a pay raise and shields between themselves and passengers. This time around, the demands are the same, and it's hard to ignore that the Ion drivers are paid more and they also have barriers put in place.

Last I heard, the city offered a 6% pay raise for bus drivers and shields next to every driver within the next three years, and I have also heard rumors that the drivers want security cameras on their vehicles taken down, but I don't have a credible source to back that up.

Before I get into the city buses, let me go on a bit of a tangent regarding our Light Rail Transit.

When you're riding Ion, there are these buttons dispersed thoughout the car. At every stop, this electronic voice will tell passengers the station that they're approaching. If you push a button, a signal will light up to stop at the next staftion. Since most stations are quite busy, it toook me awhile, but eventually I came across a situation where no one was boarding or exiting, and the entire train still stopped. Just as I suspected! They have to stop at every station or else they will throw off their schedule, so what's the point of the buttons and the stop alert?

They even have an accessible alarm system that can be reached from a wheelchair, but it just sounds the same alarm. In Toronto, the accessible stop pulls out a ramp, but the Ion is accessible at every door. One of the few advantages we have over Toronto's streetcars.

Anyway, back to the buses. Honestly, I'm not sure if the drivers should win this time around. I'm on record saying that they have a difficult job. No on-site security, people trying to cheat the system all the time, people expecting them to be on-the-minute according to schedule when there are a ton of variables in what they do.

But I think what the city offered them is fair. It's anecdotal, and I'm sure I've said this before, but back when I was working at the grouphome, I was being paid $13.50 an hour and being assaulted regularly. This made the bus driver's concerns about wages and security seem laughable to me.

While we're on it, I just haven't had a great experience with Grand River Transit over the years. We have some really great drivers, but I have also personally seen multiple cases of drivers being discriminatory based on  race, level of ability, and language and country of origin. I've personally been mocked and yelled at for basically nothing by drivers.

And the social worker in me can't ignore the fact that by striking, they're putting vulnerable populations at risk. People that take the bus include the poor, the elderly, and the disabled, and they are using them as leverage to get what they want, even after being offered a deal by the city. TGhey don't even have any talks scheduled to come up with a new deal, at this time.

Rest in Peace Uncle Steve

My extended family received some sad news this morning. A beloved family member passed away.

I won't lie, I didn't know him well. I think the last time I saw him in person was at a family reunion back when I was fourteen. That's over half my current lifespan, and I don't feel like I can meaningfully contribute to the discussion of his passing.

But Steve had a close relationship with a number of my readers, and his condition has been a source of tension throughout the family for some time. I felt bad that I made a fun little update about dating my girlfriend and showing off cute cat pictures last night, and that my readers, on receiving the news of Steve's passing, would see that as my follow-up post. To be clear, I hadn't learned the news when I updated.

Technically, I think he was my Great Uncle Steve, but I think a lot of people called him Uncle Steve. He was also known as Uncle Cheese, although I'm not sure what the story behind that was.

I mentioned in a previous update that Uncle Steve had suffered from liver and kidney failure unexpectedly, and that despite his diagnosis being one that usually proves fatal, he had pulled through. I think that's one thing that sort of contributes to how painful this is, he had already pulled off a miracle recovery. Unfortunately, the source of his initial diagnosis turned out to be cancer, which was already advanced, and because his body had already taken damage, surgery and chemotherapy were considered to not be viable options.

There was still some hope, and we thought we had a little more time with him, but this morning we learned that this was not the case.

I'm going to be real... I have only four concrete memories of him. I remember him talking about the normalcy of divorce throughout the family, I remember him talking on the inconveniences of ageing, I remember him offering some sympathies to me regarding some issues my mother was going through, and I remember him talking to his struggling sister, urging her to get help and saying that it's never too late for a person to get better.

At the time, he came across as someone who would speak straightforwardly. He seemed stable, honest, practical, hardworking, compassionate, and he seemed to have a sense of humour.

I know he was a fire fighter, and in the later stages of his condition he received some support from other fire fighters, his reputation still holding influence in that community.

Even if I didn't know him well, his conditioned has weighed more heavily on me than I think I deserve to feel, and I still tried to donate my energy to that metaphysical web that Aunt Laura said she opened up for family members.

I'm sure that I am underselling his legacy, and as I've said, I'm not the guy that can speak best to who he was, but I wanted to at least make a post in his honour and to pay my respects. Rest in Peace Uncle Steve.

I have 20/20 on 20/2020

Hello everyone,

Happy 20/2020, which is just a really fun number to say.

In December, me and Lee-Anne went to Pioneer Village in Toronto, which is a recreation of early 19th century Ontario. It's one of those places where all the employees dress and act like they are living in that time. They had a tinsmith shop, a leather shop, a blacksmith, a print shop, a church, an upper class house, a bakery, a grainery, a fire station, a barrel-making place, a doctor's house, a school, and some farm-like places.

The first place you reach when you enter is the tinsmith shop, and the person there set the bar really high. You could hear her working before you got in, and when you talked to her, she made it clear that she was legitimately apprenticing. She did a demonstration of how tin lanterns were resistant to wind based on how they were grooved, and gave examples of some early fire-prevention mechanisms.

The bakery was legit, and you could buy product. We got a couple of blackberry tarts, which were pretty good. You could also buy stuff at the print shop. As an aside, I decided that if I lived in that era, I would want to be a journalist.

There was a Scottish house. My last name is Scottish, but my father was adopted, so I'm not genetically connected. Still, some people have guessed me to be Scottish before knowing my last name, somehow. When we came to this place, the actor from that house was describing what a "Proper Scotsman" looked like, before the influence of invaders. She wound up describing me pretty much one-to-one, and capping it off by saying things like "This is the Scotsman that would attract many women" "He's the one the girls would want to introduce to their parents" "This is the Scotsman that would protect his woman". I maintain that I have no real Scottish roots, and I wouldn't ever claim to have them, but this woman wound up wing-womaning me in front of my date, to which I am grateful.

They didn't have many of their animals out, except for a smattering of birds, and somehow, some people were getting horse-and-buggy rides. But they did have geese, and the geese had waddles, or whatever those things are that hang from the throats of roosters. Got a picture down below.

There were these cards at each location that showed the journeys of significant people of that time, and they were framed in choose-your-own-adventure format, such as "Should you decide to protest, go to the print shop, Should you decide to maintain the family business, go to the grainery". Near the end of the trip, there is a house where each historical figure's life journey is described. They then had a wall for people (which would mostly be children) to describe how their generation would impact society.

The notes they offered started things off with, "My generation will..."

It was really depressing how many of the notes said something along the lines of "My generation will... be dead due to climate change"

It sucks to see such a pessimistic generation, but hopefully this means that environmentalism will be taken more seriously in the future generation.

Here are some photos I took:

I also got a proper eye check, somewhat inspired by my girlfriend's family having a background in optometry. I remember a few years ago, when I was having an ear/nasal/eye infection because of a recent ailment. I was unable to read to bottom line on one of the eye charts, only in the eye that I perceived to be uninfected. When I couldn't read the final line, the nurse tried to tell me it was okay, but I was like "I CAN SEEEEE ITTTT!!!!"

Me and Lee-Anne also did something called a Paint Night. This was actually a birthday gift from her, since she knows that one of my hobbies is painting. She gave me an "I Owe You One Paint Night" homemade ticket, which she honoured. I had never done something like this, but it turns out that it's pretty common for up-and-coming artists to host sessions like this at local cafes, bars, and eateries, in which there is a painting, and the artist helps teach the audience in a step-by-step format how to recreate the image.

Without giving you guys the reference image, here's how mine and Lee-Anne's paintings turned out.

I'd like to test which you guys think is which, but I have no way of verifying that, so I'll just tell you that I am on the left and she is on the right.

I had a blast. I think everyone taking the session made their foreground forests larger than they intended. I wish I had made my cosmic interruption, or clouds, or white accents, more horizontal and less vertical.

And here are some random cute pics of my cat

New Year 2020

Happy New Year!!

On the night of the event, Lee-Anne came to Guelph and me, her, and Mom celebrated together. She got to partake in our tradition of jumping off of something, to "leap into the new year". Duncan was at a party, because he's a cool guy.

This year wasn't so hot for me in terms of how many times I managed to update this blog, but was fairly accomplished in other respects. I got my contract renewed at work, along with a little wage increase and an increase in hours, as well as getting some benefits. I adopted a cat, and I got a girlfriend!

Family cat in Guelph, Luna, also passed away near to the end of the year.

Last year I resolved to update this blog more times than 2018, which I failed to do. I even failed to beat 2017, which was the previous lowest-updated year.

I also resolved to get my G2 License, which I also failed to do. In fact, my G1 expired and I had to get it renewed this past year.

Some people are recapping the past ten years, since this marks the turn of the decade, but I'll spare you all, since you should know my history if your follow this blog.

Actually I won't. Let's do a point form recap of 2010-2020.

-I took the Katimavik Program and lived in Summerside, PEI, Thunder Bay, ON, and Chisasibi, QC. During this time, I worked at Community Connections, a day program for people with developmental disabilities and the Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA)
-I did Canada World Youth and lived in La Pocatiere in Riviere de Loup, Quebec, and worked as a horticulturalist, and then in Karadie, Mali, as an agriculturalist in a subsistence village of 800 adults without English or electricity
-I did the Human Services Foundation Program at Conestoga College and got an Ontario College Certificate
-I did the Social Service Worker Program and got an Ontario College Diploma
 -I worked as an Info Desk employee, booking study rooms and answering questions regarding college events
 -I became a Student Life Intern, helping run the Respect Campaign, hosting volunteer events and overseeing their implementation
-I've worked as a Direct Support Person since 2015, providing one-on-one support to people with disabilities
-I did four years over a span of five working as a Summer Program Leader
-I did a year of Independent Facilitation with Facile, later known as Bridges to Belonging
-I became a Safe Management Instructor, which I've been doing for almost three years, teaching crisis intervention and prevention techniques
-I was a Child and Youth Worker with Hatts Off, doing  night shift at one of their group homes for about half a year
-I did a year of University at U of W
-Then got a job offer at WALES and ditched everything to join that team
-This wound up getting me a girlfriend, Lee-Anne
-This past decade, I have lived in eleven places, and had thirty five roommates (not including family, Katimavik PLs, host families, or long-term guests)

Even if I failed last year, I'm going to keep steady on my resolutions. I resolve to have 40 or more updates for this blog in 2020, and I want to become more health-conscious. Having an out-of-town girlfriend who can't get her license will hopefully be the motivation I need to finally achieve that goal. Also, having expended the invincibility of my twenties, and having established myself in my career, hopefully I will be able to prioritize my own sense of wellness this coming year.