This fact alone gives me reason to write several posts (e.g. about the wind turbine protesters!) but I currently am too busy writing job applications so they have to wait. But a few quick remarks can be made.
It's so much greener here, it rains more too but I am so happy about the green. Even when I left Edmonton a month ago it was not anywhere near as green as Kitchener-Waterloo is still now. K-W is much smaller than Edmonton which is great for walking and cycling - in only my hubby did not have a flat tire already. The old neighbourhoods looks so cosy with their old front-porched houses and tree-lined streets. I like it. The new neighbourhoods look similar to Edmonton's with wider streets, no trees along the street and not as cosy houses. I have spotted lots of cycle lanes on the roads and there are trails like the Ironhorse or Laurel Trails that also connect parks.
Our new apartment is in a high-rise (6 floors) and there's some concrete in the construction. It seems that keeps the building warmer since we have barely used the heating, actually less than half an hour per day, and the apartment stays at around 20 C. The windows are two separate panes again and absolutely lousy. One of the windows has not been caulked and during a stormy night it was "raining" in our bedroom. Hopefully the contractors come soon.
I am very disappointed that none of the supermarkets here sells organic produce. They do have packaged organic food but no produce. Even at the Farmer's Market organic produce is rare. Thanks to Pfennig's we will be receiving an organic box though starting next week and I look forward to it. I also found an organic food store in Kitchener's city centre but regularly shopping there will only be convenient if I was to find a job in that area.
Yesterday I came across the Waterloo-based organisation World Accord that amongst other things currently runs a Sustainability Tour in the area. The competition is about to finish but reading about it I found out about businesses in the area that stand out for their environmental commitments and buying/ living local policies. Very interesting!
Last but not least I recently came across Living Cities, a company that started out in 2008 in Kingston (hey, we almost moved there!) and is now expanding into other parts of Ontario. They developed products and run programs that encourage local food production, which also benefits the environment of course. I am thinking about applying for a job with them but the job would not start until April 2012 ... unfortunately that's 5 months from now and I could do with the money earlier. I am sure I would enjoy this job more than any other one I have applied for.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
More ranting about politics
I started writing this a while ago too so it's slightly outdated but the government is still in place.
A while ago I read this article Consumer group files complaint against 8 retailers and I just loved, loved, loved the comment from a Ruy Lopez who writes: "Since when did right wing gov't's start caring about the little person? I wish I could get treated as good as a Canadian company instead of just a lowly human being."
In my husband's latest CGA (Certified General Accoutants) magazine the editor's note talks about Parliament returning for the fall session. The article calls for "strong leaders who do not compromise on ethics and integrity." One of the MPs well known for "ethically intelligent leadership" was Jack Layton who will be missed. I think his death is the worst that could happen to Canadian politics! In German there's an idiom that says "Unkraut vergeht nicht" (meaning 'weeds never die') and that's why it probably did not hit that irresponsible leader of this country.
Did you read the articles on protests against the oil sands outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa. One politician said he could not believe that 200 people gather together to object to something that gives thousands of people a livelihood. What's wrong with that? These people had all right to protests. Let's see what will happen to the Wall Street protests - they have all reason for protesting too. After all our corporate-ruled capitalism does not keep us or the planet healthy.
A picture of skeletons posted by a friend on facebook reads: Get a job. Go to work. Get married. Have children. Follow Fashion. Act normal. Walk on the pavement. Watch TV. Obey the law. Save for your old age.
Now repeat after me: "I am free'
Are you free?
A while ago I read this article Consumer group files complaint against 8 retailers and I just loved, loved, loved the comment from a Ruy Lopez who writes: "Since when did right wing gov't's start caring about the little person? I wish I could get treated as good as a Canadian company instead of just a lowly human being."
In my husband's latest CGA (Certified General Accoutants) magazine the editor's note talks about Parliament returning for the fall session. The article calls for "strong leaders who do not compromise on ethics and integrity." One of the MPs well known for "ethically intelligent leadership" was Jack Layton who will be missed. I think his death is the worst that could happen to Canadian politics! In German there's an idiom that says "Unkraut vergeht nicht" (meaning 'weeds never die') and that's why it probably did not hit that irresponsible leader of this country.
Did you read the articles on protests against the oil sands outside Parliament Hill in Ottawa. One politician said he could not believe that 200 people gather together to object to something that gives thousands of people a livelihood. What's wrong with that? These people had all right to protests. Let's see what will happen to the Wall Street protests - they have all reason for protesting too. After all our corporate-ruled capitalism does not keep us or the planet healthy.
A picture of skeletons posted by a friend on facebook reads: Get a job. Go to work. Get married. Have children. Follow Fashion. Act normal. Walk on the pavement. Watch TV. Obey the law. Save for your old age.
Now repeat after me: "I am free'
Are you free?
Just a story out of my life
I started writing this post a while ago and got side-tracked by packing up our apartment in Edmonton. But the story is still great.
Leaving Edmonton my husband and I both agreed that we will most miss our "hillbilly" friends H&J from the farm. The ones without running water in the house, and without electricity until recently when they installed solar panels to power their radio and lights around the home. The ones that heat with a wood stove, cook on a gas stove, carry water in for their every-day use from a pump outside the house.
On a weekend in August we visited them and they took us to a German couple that came out to Alberta 13 years ago in the search of more space and privacy. We had a BBQ with vegetables from their garden and organic beef. They don't trust the supermarket meat either. We had a heck of a great time, like-minded as we were, talking about our values, food, life, raising kids. While I was roaming the yard with my outdoor-loving daughter he made me a compliment. Women like me were hard to find. No surprise I often feel like an alien! The looks I got for CYCLING across Edmonton with a trailer (up to 4 times a week working at a school). The 3-month-trip I took on my own to Europe with my 1 1/2-year-old. The way I raise her: it's not perfect but it's much appreciated that I "know" when to say no to her. And obviously I'm not on the prudish side.
We stopped at Pembina river provincial park on a hot day. There were lots of people out, the whole car park full, most of them floating on rafts on the river. Since this was an unplanned stop we had no bathing suits with us. I only waded in the river although I was dying to dive in but thought it would be too offensive if I did so naked. But we stripped the toddler naked to play in the river. When a raft with people came by we heard them say "Look, there's a nudist in training". Children walked along the river and shouted something like, oh no, a naked baby, don't look! -- Excuse me?? Talking to other foreign mums I know it has not only happened to us. Apparently, we don't have enough shame to keep our kids covered up. Ah! But imagine all the fabric we saved if I did not need a new bathing suit every year (they wear out way too fast), and if everybody else did not wear one either?
Did I mention I got my skinny dip in a beaver pond of our friends's neighbour's acreage. The neighbour was out in her inflatable canoe when H and I rode past. We joined her and dived off the canoe into the pond. So good!
Leaving Edmonton my husband and I both agreed that we will most miss our "hillbilly" friends H&J from the farm. The ones without running water in the house, and without electricity until recently when they installed solar panels to power their radio and lights around the home. The ones that heat with a wood stove, cook on a gas stove, carry water in for their every-day use from a pump outside the house.
On a weekend in August we visited them and they took us to a German couple that came out to Alberta 13 years ago in the search of more space and privacy. We had a BBQ with vegetables from their garden and organic beef. They don't trust the supermarket meat either. We had a heck of a great time, like-minded as we were, talking about our values, food, life, raising kids. While I was roaming the yard with my outdoor-loving daughter he made me a compliment. Women like me were hard to find. No surprise I often feel like an alien! The looks I got for CYCLING across Edmonton with a trailer (up to 4 times a week working at a school). The 3-month-trip I took on my own to Europe with my 1 1/2-year-old. The way I raise her: it's not perfect but it's much appreciated that I "know" when to say no to her. And obviously I'm not on the prudish side.
We stopped at Pembina river provincial park on a hot day. There were lots of people out, the whole car park full, most of them floating on rafts on the river. Since this was an unplanned stop we had no bathing suits with us. I only waded in the river although I was dying to dive in but thought it would be too offensive if I did so naked. But we stripped the toddler naked to play in the river. When a raft with people came by we heard them say "Look, there's a nudist in training". Children walked along the river and shouted something like, oh no, a naked baby, don't look! -- Excuse me?? Talking to other foreign mums I know it has not only happened to us. Apparently, we don't have enough shame to keep our kids covered up. Ah! But imagine all the fabric we saved if I did not need a new bathing suit every year (they wear out way too fast), and if everybody else did not wear one either?
Did I mention I got my skinny dip in a beaver pond of our friends's neighbour's acreage. The neighbour was out in her inflatable canoe when H and I rode past. We joined her and dived off the canoe into the pond. So good!
Are all magazines a waste of paper?
I have spent more than two weeks now at my mother-in-law's waiting for our stuff to arrive from Edmonton. We are currently moving from Alberta to Ontario, well not really, there is not much moving right now or I would not be so damn bored. The moving company has turned out to be very incompetent despite the fact that we could find lots of "10 out of 10"- type reviews for them. I give them 1 out of 10 if they manage to actually deliver our stuff before the end of the year. Receiving lots of quotes from moving companies was interesting too. One touted that they only used trucks, no trains. Weird, I thought immediately. Why do they think that customers may prefer that? Personally I think my stuff was better off in a container on rails instead of in a truck. Imagine how many truckloads of belongings you could move on a single train, cutting down emissions too. Next time I require a moving quote I should ask if my stuff can be transported by rail.
Back to me spending lots of days unsure of what to do. I miss my bike, the bike trailer, my household, ... I miss getting up in the morning having in my mind things that I want to get accomplished. So I took to skimming through the towers of glossy magazine pages in the house. They are called Chatelaine, Best Health, Reader's Digest, Canadian Geographic, Our Canada, Opera News ... The latter 3-4 are pretty okay but the first ones to me are definitely a waste of paper. Every second page is advertisement. Sometimes booklets are inserted and the magazine then comes in a plastic wrap to prevent loss of the inserts. The articles are basically promoting consumerism, talking about the must-have fashion items, the must-have cosmetics, the must-have nutrional supplements ... go get them, it is the only way to stay healthy and beautiful. Once in a while there is an article on how to save money advising you to avoid big brandnames but, besides the brandname advertisements, a few pages later the recipe sections suggest to use Robin Hood flour, Heinz Ketchup, Kraft mayonnaise etc. I prefer forests alive over all those beauty, fitness and gossip magazines, that tell us lots of lies any way.
The Canadian Geographic should use recycled paper, those grey pages without gloss so it's obvious. In the Our Canada magazine an article started off pointing out that a country as vast as Canada is perfect for road trips. Really? I don't see that connection. For me, because it is so big I hate going on road trips. You drive for days and don't get anywhere. A train at 300 km/h would be my choice if it existed.
Back to me spending lots of days unsure of what to do. I miss my bike, the bike trailer, my household, ... I miss getting up in the morning having in my mind things that I want to get accomplished. So I took to skimming through the towers of glossy magazine pages in the house. They are called Chatelaine, Best Health, Reader's Digest, Canadian Geographic, Our Canada, Opera News ... The latter 3-4 are pretty okay but the first ones to me are definitely a waste of paper. Every second page is advertisement. Sometimes booklets are inserted and the magazine then comes in a plastic wrap to prevent loss of the inserts. The articles are basically promoting consumerism, talking about the must-have fashion items, the must-have cosmetics, the must-have nutrional supplements ... go get them, it is the only way to stay healthy and beautiful. Once in a while there is an article on how to save money advising you to avoid big brandnames but, besides the brandname advertisements, a few pages later the recipe sections suggest to use Robin Hood flour, Heinz Ketchup, Kraft mayonnaise etc. I prefer forests alive over all those beauty, fitness and gossip magazines, that tell us lots of lies any way.
The Canadian Geographic should use recycled paper, those grey pages without gloss so it's obvious. In the Our Canada magazine an article started off pointing out that a country as vast as Canada is perfect for road trips. Really? I don't see that connection. For me, because it is so big I hate going on road trips. You drive for days and don't get anywhere. A train at 300 km/h would be my choice if it existed.
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