There are a handful of people in this world that I can talk politics with, and on a really good day that number includes my wife. Which isn’t to say she’s not interested and informed in politics, she is, it’s just that given an opportunity to talk politics I’m likely to dominate the conversation with it until a) I get hungry or b) sleepy.
So, unless a particular issue is really sticking in her craw she’s liable to leave that topic of conversation alone, to preserve her sanity if nothing else.
But I tell you, with what passes for informed discourse these days I’m becoming more and more disgusted with the whole process.
It’s a point of pride with me that no one knows how I vote. Although my father likes to take the piss out of me by pretending that I’m some hard core left wing socialist I’ve never told anyone, ever, how I’ve voted in any given election. Part of that is because I don’t want to be pigeon holed as some sort of one party sycophant. Once someone identifies you politically in their mind, that’s who you’ll be to them forever more, despite how your political needs and opinions might change over time.
But I’ve wandered off topic here.
What spurred this post was my growing annoyance with the Toronto Star’s recent decision to allow comments on all their online new stories. Now every time a political story is run the comments section heats up almost instantaneously with idiots hiding under the guise of electronic anonymity, blasting writers and political parties simply for being ideologically different than they are.
Even the most objective information is blasted with partisan vitriol and hostility.
What the hell happened to mature debate? I’m old enough and mature enough to look at all the political parties out there and see something in each platform that appeals to me.
Green Party – Environmentalism
NDP – Urban Issues
Conservatives – Smaller Government
Liberal Party – Um. Environmentalism
I can respect a different point of a view from own, as long as it’s presented to me in a mature and grown up manner. It’s called life. Someone is always going to disagree with you, that doesn’t automatically make them the anti-christ.
And yet the bashing continues as if anyone who thinks differently is a criminal of the worst sort. If you identify online with one political party, then a free for all dog pile of hate, scorn and public shaming begins. It’s impossible for anyone to engage you like a human being. It’s not just the anonymous yahoos either. Or political leaders, our so-called role models, routinely bash each other or any special interest group they deem unlikely to support them.
Take a look at the sustained Conservative attack on Ontario. Feeling unlikely to win many seats in the province the Tories feel like its open season on our politicians, our policies and our province. The only way they can make themselves look big is by knocking around someone else who can’t compete with them at the same level.
I’m not naïve. I know that politics is a blood sport, built more around political parties staying in power, as opposed to a nobler calling. It takes a strong stomach to wade into the mess and separate the wheat from the chaff, finding parties and policies that work for you, rather then just picking one party and sticking with it – cause, you know, it’s easier to do that than put any real thought into what’s happening around you.
I just can’t help but feel like this sustained e-bashing is designed to make the whole experience even more exclusionary, driving the moderates and the mature into the shadows, unwilling to take on the ravenous partisan appetites of those who troll the internet looking to make a point. And that’s a shame, because democracy is about hearing from all voices, espeically the ones you don’t like.
Showing posts with label complaining? again?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label complaining? again?. Show all posts
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Ch-ch-ch changes...
Trust and confidence are sticky widgets.
I’ve played on enough Frisbee teams where everybody studiously avoids throwing to the newbie because they don’t know the skill level of the new person. And let me tell you, when that new person is you, it sucks. In most cases these new fish have the skills, but when they’re never given an opportunity to showcase them it weakens the team (unable to make proper use of all players on the field) and it’s fairly insulting to odd wo\man out. And sometimes the situation gets proportionally worse, the longer you don’t pass to person X, the more the habit of avoiding them altogether gets reinforced.
S has frequently run into another problem, co-ed teams that don’t throw to their women. You want to piss my wife off? Charge her a hundred bucks to your join your team, then imply she’s not good enough to play on it. I recommend you duck and cover or find a good burn unit. Sexism is alive and well my friends.
Unfortunately I’ve run into a situation at work that has shaken up my neat little kingdom. Recently my office hired another person, with the same job title as me. It’s a move that was long overdue. The department was originally staffed by three people, but for the last 4-6 months the only person holding down the fort was me. I’m competent, not Superman. I needed the assist.
During that solo time period what I did was build up a system that worked really well for me. Now someone else has been added to the mix, the system is being disrupted…and I’m not handling it all that well.
I don’t loathe change. I just loathe it when its not on my own terms.
Part of the problem is she’s really smart and good at her job. So part of me feels threatened. She also knows my manager socially. So they have a bond there that excludes me. As such, he tends to trust her and rely on her. A couple times now I’ve attempted to tell my manager why something, that was poorly worded, needed to be fixed. He resisted my suggestion until, independently, new staffer brought the same issues to his attention, which he then fixed. So, in my eye he either trusts her more, or trusts me less. (A third option, more nuanced, but less satisfying, is that he simply recognized the need to make the change after two separate people brought the issue to his attention)
To me there’s a loss of prestige (king of the hill!) and a suggestion that my opinions\abilities aren’t quite as valuable as I thought they were. It’s been difficult to part with some of my responsibilities and have to include another opinion in something where I’ve had much more independent discretion.
Honestly, I don’t like it. (Forehead. Hand. Duh!) It’s much easier to be a team player when there’s always been a team. It’s a lot harder to willingly accept a forced partnership when you’ve traditionally been the lone wolf. (Think Will Ferrell in Anchorman)
I don’t know what the future will hold for me and how I will deal with the evolving nature of my job. But it continues to kindle the need in me to be my own boss and work under my own terms. Only, until I finish my PR certificate, there’s a great case for staying where I am just a little longer.
I’ve played on enough Frisbee teams where everybody studiously avoids throwing to the newbie because they don’t know the skill level of the new person. And let me tell you, when that new person is you, it sucks. In most cases these new fish have the skills, but when they’re never given an opportunity to showcase them it weakens the team (unable to make proper use of all players on the field) and it’s fairly insulting to odd wo\man out. And sometimes the situation gets proportionally worse, the longer you don’t pass to person X, the more the habit of avoiding them altogether gets reinforced.
S has frequently run into another problem, co-ed teams that don’t throw to their women. You want to piss my wife off? Charge her a hundred bucks to your join your team, then imply she’s not good enough to play on it. I recommend you duck and cover or find a good burn unit. Sexism is alive and well my friends.
Unfortunately I’ve run into a situation at work that has shaken up my neat little kingdom. Recently my office hired another person, with the same job title as me. It’s a move that was long overdue. The department was originally staffed by three people, but for the last 4-6 months the only person holding down the fort was me. I’m competent, not Superman. I needed the assist.
During that solo time period what I did was build up a system that worked really well for me. Now someone else has been added to the mix, the system is being disrupted…and I’m not handling it all that well.
I don’t loathe change. I just loathe it when its not on my own terms.
Part of the problem is she’s really smart and good at her job. So part of me feels threatened. She also knows my manager socially. So they have a bond there that excludes me. As such, he tends to trust her and rely on her. A couple times now I’ve attempted to tell my manager why something, that was poorly worded, needed to be fixed. He resisted my suggestion until, independently, new staffer brought the same issues to his attention, which he then fixed. So, in my eye he either trusts her more, or trusts me less. (A third option, more nuanced, but less satisfying, is that he simply recognized the need to make the change after two separate people brought the issue to his attention)
To me there’s a loss of prestige (king of the hill!) and a suggestion that my opinions\abilities aren’t quite as valuable as I thought they were. It’s been difficult to part with some of my responsibilities and have to include another opinion in something where I’ve had much more independent discretion.
Honestly, I don’t like it. (Forehead. Hand. Duh!) It’s much easier to be a team player when there’s always been a team. It’s a lot harder to willingly accept a forced partnership when you’ve traditionally been the lone wolf. (Think Will Ferrell in Anchorman)
I don’t know what the future will hold for me and how I will deal with the evolving nature of my job. But it continues to kindle the need in me to be my own boss and work under my own terms. Only, until I finish my PR certificate, there’s a great case for staying where I am just a little longer.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Condo Corp hi-jinkery
It looks our dysfunctional condo corp is at it again.
Based on a unspecified number of requests the corp is cutting the party room in half in order to expand the building's gym facilities. This means they're getting rid of the party room pool table, which is the only aspect of the party room I actually used. So the party room will now be the size of a small walk-in closet and only hold a single Foosball table on top of a mini bar fridge stolen from your kid brothers dorm room. I know I can't wait to try it out.
Of course this new construction project, beginning in two weeks, is likely to be a somewhat costly venture. So look to see yet another small increase to your condo fees the next time they come up to renewal.
Actually, when you consider the building wide wall painting, carpet replacement, new tile floor, underground parking light fixture upgrades and keyless entry retrofits this small increase could actually be quite substantial.
So. To recap. Condo corporation, under the guise of good governance, spends residents condo fees like drunken sailors just back from sea, on a multitude of make-work construction projects. Then, bass-ackwards corporation proceeds to raise condo fees to pay for aforementioned unneeded renovations all while rubbing five dollar bills over their naked and bloated bodies.
What really bugs me about this whole process is how they've completely overlooked what the building's tenants think. They've gone and decided on a course of a action, along with a timetable to implement said course of action, but they haven't bothered to seriously poll the building to see how much support there is for this endeavour. And because this thing is already in the works it, and assumed to be going forward, it makes it harder for me, or anyone who agrees with me, to stop it or at least have an open conversation about whether this is what the majority of tenants want.
It's a lot harder to effect a program that's already in motion than it is one that's still in the planning stages. Which is what I suspect the corporation wants, it's just smart politics. If you open up the whole consultation process to the building as a whole, who knows what we might agree to? We could decide that we don't want the gym at all and that the space could be better used as a library. What then?
Better to just commit ourselves to a course of action and deal with any problems as they arise. It's easier than the much more messy and less easily controlled group consultation.
If the majority of the building's tenants want a bigger gym than I'm content to go along with that majority. I don't use the party room enough to really care. But don't tell me an unspecified number of people want a more gym facilities. Is that number 2 or 200?
If you're going to embark on a significant construction project that may have real implications on my condo fees. The absolute least you can do is be open, honest and transparent about what you are doing and why. And that includes giving me an opportunity to disagree with your decision.
Based on a unspecified number of requests the corp is cutting the party room in half in order to expand the building's gym facilities. This means they're getting rid of the party room pool table, which is the only aspect of the party room I actually used. So the party room will now be the size of a small walk-in closet and only hold a single Foosball table on top of a mini bar fridge stolen from your kid brothers dorm room. I know I can't wait to try it out.
Of course this new construction project, beginning in two weeks, is likely to be a somewhat costly venture. So look to see yet another small increase to your condo fees the next time they come up to renewal.
Actually, when you consider the building wide wall painting, carpet replacement, new tile floor, underground parking light fixture upgrades and keyless entry retrofits this small increase could actually be quite substantial.
So. To recap. Condo corporation, under the guise of good governance, spends residents condo fees like drunken sailors just back from sea, on a multitude of make-work construction projects. Then, bass-ackwards corporation proceeds to raise condo fees to pay for aforementioned unneeded renovations all while rubbing five dollar bills over their naked and bloated bodies.
What really bugs me about this whole process is how they've completely overlooked what the building's tenants think. They've gone and decided on a course of a action, along with a timetable to implement said course of action, but they haven't bothered to seriously poll the building to see how much support there is for this endeavour. And because this thing is already in the works it, and assumed to be going forward, it makes it harder for me, or anyone who agrees with me, to stop it or at least have an open conversation about whether this is what the majority of tenants want.
It's a lot harder to effect a program that's already in motion than it is one that's still in the planning stages. Which is what I suspect the corporation wants, it's just smart politics. If you open up the whole consultation process to the building as a whole, who knows what we might agree to? We could decide that we don't want the gym at all and that the space could be better used as a library. What then?
Better to just commit ourselves to a course of action and deal with any problems as they arise. It's easier than the much more messy and less easily controlled group consultation.
If the majority of the building's tenants want a bigger gym than I'm content to go along with that majority. I don't use the party room enough to really care. But don't tell me an unspecified number of people want a more gym facilities. Is that number 2 or 200?
If you're going to embark on a significant construction project that may have real implications on my condo fees. The absolute least you can do is be open, honest and transparent about what you are doing and why. And that includes giving me an opportunity to disagree with your decision.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Here's mud in your eye...
I live in a townhouse which is smack in the middle of a larger condo complex. As such our place is governed by the complex’s condo corporation.
S and I pay fees to gain access to the condo’s services and facilities such as snow removal, mailboxes, gym access and underground parking. The condo fees aren’t onerous but, sure as shit, every year they’re guaranteed to go up. (And yet try to book a party room for your fiance’s wedding shower and watch the machinery break down)
But what I really don’t like about the condo corp is how it embodies the worst aspects of a gated community. Last summer, the corp declared that all exterior doors would now be painted black, to keep visual look of the doors consistent with that of the railings and exterior light fixtures.
Ooooooookay.
This summer our exposed concrete wall has become a test canvas for the corp to experiment with finding the perfect shade of red for all the exposed concrete in the complex. (Incidentally our next door neighbour is the condo president which is why we got saddled with this particular honour)
As we own the townhouse, it bugs me that the corp is free to redecorate our entire exterior based on their bureaucratic group think. Um, the last time I checked we were paying the condo fees and should therefore be the final arbiters of what our own house looks like.
Do I really care if our door is black and our wall is red?
No. Not really. I think it’s an improvement to be honest.
But what if I didn’t like the new colour scheme? Then I’d be stuck with someone else’s design choices and a long uphill battle to preserve a status quo that’s already been changed.
What I care about is how someone else gets to make decisions that affect my property without even consulting me on it.
I’m tempted to paint our entire front porch neon orange, throw up some broken Christmas lights and maybe even throw out a pink flamingo or two in the front flowerbed, just to what would happen.
It may trigger an interesting conversation.
S and I pay fees to gain access to the condo’s services and facilities such as snow removal, mailboxes, gym access and underground parking. The condo fees aren’t onerous but, sure as shit, every year they’re guaranteed to go up. (And yet try to book a party room for your fiance’s wedding shower and watch the machinery break down)
But what I really don’t like about the condo corp is how it embodies the worst aspects of a gated community. Last summer, the corp declared that all exterior doors would now be painted black, to keep visual look of the doors consistent with that of the railings and exterior light fixtures.
Ooooooookay.
This summer our exposed concrete wall has become a test canvas for the corp to experiment with finding the perfect shade of red for all the exposed concrete in the complex. (Incidentally our next door neighbour is the condo president which is why we got saddled with this particular honour)
As we own the townhouse, it bugs me that the corp is free to redecorate our entire exterior based on their bureaucratic group think. Um, the last time I checked we were paying the condo fees and should therefore be the final arbiters of what our own house looks like.
Do I really care if our door is black and our wall is red?
No. Not really. I think it’s an improvement to be honest.
But what if I didn’t like the new colour scheme? Then I’d be stuck with someone else’s design choices and a long uphill battle to preserve a status quo that’s already been changed.
What I care about is how someone else gets to make decisions that affect my property without even consulting me on it.
I’m tempted to paint our entire front porch neon orange, throw up some broken Christmas lights and maybe even throw out a pink flamingo or two in the front flowerbed, just to what would happen.
It may trigger an interesting conversation.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Hell's Kitchen Bitchin'
Oh Petrozza.
You wuz robbed buddy.
I thought you had the better menu, ran your service well and handled all the ups and downs that the night threw at you.
I wuz rootin' for you.
You wuz robbed buddy.
I thought you had the better menu, ran your service well and handled all the ups and downs that the night threw at you.
I wuz rootin' for you.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Boo-friggity-hoo
I’ve been re-examining my relationship with Ultimate Frisbee, that fickle bitch, for the last couple weeks or so.
It hasn’t been fun times for me on the Frisbee circuit lately.
Back in April I was complaining about how most of the people I started out playing the game with have had to retire or move on to other things. As I continue to play without them I realize how lucky I was to fall in with the group in first place. I might never have stuck with the game through those gawd-awful first months, where I was fat, out of shape and coughing up the remnants of my lungs after a decade of huffing the smokes, without the camaraderie and spirit the originals brought to the sport.
We were never, EVER, powerhouses but we won enough games to keep us happy and we were always competitive enough to at least challenge the other teams.
I play twice a week in the warmer months. This summer I joined a Tuesday team that’s a little more competitive than most. But in order to inflate some of our numbers a little, and mitigate our playing costs, we picked up some players who can’t at the same level as the bulk of the team. That means the handlers on the team avoid passing to them if they can avoid it. This, rightly so, leads to hurt feelings, bruised egos and team friction. So instead of tipping a pint or two after the game we all sullenly slink back to our cars and repeat the whole process again next week.
I captain Thursday’s team which is a sort of Longshot’s lite. Over the last four years we’ve been adding a new player here and a new player there and now I’m the only one left from the original group. This new group lacks the cohesion of the original bunch. They come or go as they please and quite often the team is very different from season to the next. We’re barely one step up from a bunch of individuals who’ve just gotten together to form a team. And right now we’re losing, a lot…and badly to boot.
After a great winter finish we had our traditional turnover and we lost a couple of out better players. This means that we can’t compete like we used to. So people are less interested in coming out or sticking around and it’s getting hard to keep anyone with any skill around. Add to the fact that the Thursday fields are as hard as hell to get to and people just don’t want to bother with having to struggle to get to a game they’re destined to get their ass kicked at anyway. It wears them down mentally.
I don’t have to win. I just want to be competitive.
We’re a rec team in an intermediate division.
So what can I do? Right now I’m speaking to people well in advance about putting together a fall team. I’m not writing off this season, but if I want to avoid another stinker I need to start lining things up now.
And on Thursday I’m going to call in every ringer I can. If I can get some serious handlers and players to come out then maybe we can start being competitive again and turn people’s spirits around. I’m also going to try to switch divisions so that we can play on fields that are a little more accessible.
It may not work, it may fail horribly and I could find myself in an even worse situation when the fall comes around. If that’s the case I’m going to need to blow up the team and see if I’m lucky enough to strike gold as an individual (avec S of course) a second time out.
We shall see.
It hasn’t been fun times for me on the Frisbee circuit lately.
Back in April I was complaining about how most of the people I started out playing the game with have had to retire or move on to other things. As I continue to play without them I realize how lucky I was to fall in with the group in first place. I might never have stuck with the game through those gawd-awful first months, where I was fat, out of shape and coughing up the remnants of my lungs after a decade of huffing the smokes, without the camaraderie and spirit the originals brought to the sport.
We were never, EVER, powerhouses but we won enough games to keep us happy and we were always competitive enough to at least challenge the other teams.
I play twice a week in the warmer months. This summer I joined a Tuesday team that’s a little more competitive than most. But in order to inflate some of our numbers a little, and mitigate our playing costs, we picked up some players who can’t at the same level as the bulk of the team. That means the handlers on the team avoid passing to them if they can avoid it. This, rightly so, leads to hurt feelings, bruised egos and team friction. So instead of tipping a pint or two after the game we all sullenly slink back to our cars and repeat the whole process again next week.
I captain Thursday’s team which is a sort of Longshot’s lite. Over the last four years we’ve been adding a new player here and a new player there and now I’m the only one left from the original group. This new group lacks the cohesion of the original bunch. They come or go as they please and quite often the team is very different from season to the next. We’re barely one step up from a bunch of individuals who’ve just gotten together to form a team. And right now we’re losing, a lot…and badly to boot.
After a great winter finish we had our traditional turnover and we lost a couple of out better players. This means that we can’t compete like we used to. So people are less interested in coming out or sticking around and it’s getting hard to keep anyone with any skill around. Add to the fact that the Thursday fields are as hard as hell to get to and people just don’t want to bother with having to struggle to get to a game they’re destined to get their ass kicked at anyway. It wears them down mentally.
I don’t have to win. I just want to be competitive.
We’re a rec team in an intermediate division.
So what can I do? Right now I’m speaking to people well in advance about putting together a fall team. I’m not writing off this season, but if I want to avoid another stinker I need to start lining things up now.
And on Thursday I’m going to call in every ringer I can. If I can get some serious handlers and players to come out then maybe we can start being competitive again and turn people’s spirits around. I’m also going to try to switch divisions so that we can play on fields that are a little more accessible.
It may not work, it may fail horribly and I could find myself in an even worse situation when the fall comes around. If that’s the case I’m going to need to blow up the team and see if I’m lucky enough to strike gold as an individual (avec S of course) a second time out.
We shall see.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Time has come (and gone) today
I was talking with my grandfather on the phone last night and one of the few conversations we have is 'what's new'.
Well there's not much new, but as we started talking we discovered that things are pretty busy nonetheless. I have a lot of things on the go, long term, short term, similar time frames and due dates. It's exactly like University, I finish one project only to rush on to something else.
A quick breakdown of what's going on in my world.
1. Mag planning
2. Awards planning
(Sadly these two things have almost identical timelines, which is reallllly frustrating because on their own they're both challenging projects, together they verge on being overwhelming)
3. School
4. Wedding
5. Frisbee
That may not sound like a lot. But look at it in the sense that Numbers 1 and 2 take up the majority of my work day, and a portion of my work night. Number 3 takes up three nights a week, Number 5 takes up two and Number 4 is kind of like the time sprinkles on a no-time sundae. It's something that's always on the go.
Right now I'm trying to deal with things in a very male oriented type of way. One project at a time, completed in its entirety before I move on to something else. Multitasking and me? We talk, but we aren't really friends.
Anyway, pressure release is done, on to the actual work.
Well there's not much new, but as we started talking we discovered that things are pretty busy nonetheless. I have a lot of things on the go, long term, short term, similar time frames and due dates. It's exactly like University, I finish one project only to rush on to something else.
A quick breakdown of what's going on in my world.
1. Mag planning
2. Awards planning
(Sadly these two things have almost identical timelines, which is reallllly frustrating because on their own they're both challenging projects, together they verge on being overwhelming)
3. School
4. Wedding
5. Frisbee
That may not sound like a lot. But look at it in the sense that Numbers 1 and 2 take up the majority of my work day, and a portion of my work night. Number 3 takes up three nights a week, Number 5 takes up two and Number 4 is kind of like the time sprinkles on a no-time sundae. It's something that's always on the go.
Right now I'm trying to deal with things in a very male oriented type of way. One project at a time, completed in its entirety before I move on to something else. Multitasking and me? We talk, but we aren't really friends.
Anyway, pressure release is done, on to the actual work.
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