Here’s to everyone like me… and especially to all those who think that we can’t make a difference.

 

 

It isn’t always easy, or fun, or rewarding in the traditional ways that “normals”, sheeple and a cynical & apathetic (or simply blissfully ignorant) public think are the keys to success… What others don’t realize is that it isn’t usually a choice. I don’t think I CAN change the world, I know that I must because it isn’t the world that will provide a prosperous, just, most excellent future for everyone including myself. I don’t need to do it all, but I’m responsible to do what I can and so is everyone else (they just don’t realize it yet). The rewards are far greater (if different) than giving silent assent to all the evils and manipulations that hold us down and convince us we can’t do better.

There’s a time when we have to suppress these efforts, in order to survive in the world we find ourselves in. Doing that is probably the single hardest thing for me, and at times I really struggle with what I “should” be vs. what I “need” to be. Maybe others do too…

THIS is what makes me fear for the future of everything.

 

No different than “back to work, slaves” or “enjoy your Fox news, suckers”. I had a physical reaction when I saw this on my Facebook feed not long ago. Think about the message this conveys!

RESIST, or support those who do.

 

(Maybe it isn’t that some people think you CAN’T make a difference but that they’re afraid of the differences you might make. Change is scary, recognizing that you’re part of the problem is even scarier.)

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Help me donate my full size, fully serviced working truck to a worthy charity, organization, or person/family in need…

 

Last time I did a charity donation via my blog I donated a huge jar of change to iHuman youth society in Edmonton AB. One of my blog readers won the contest (based on my 100,000th visitor timing) and he made the suggestion. I wrote about it here… Thanks again to Mark and Apollo propane for matching my contribution of $110.56 for a great bunch of people.

Now, thanks to a good Union brother of mine I have a perfectly good 1996 Dodge 1500 pickup with a low mileage engine and 5 new tires sitting here. I did him a favour and helped him service it when he was in a pinch so when he was ready to upgrade he just gave me the truck. Now that is brotherhood. His name is Andrew Leppard (also known as “Stretch” to those of us who work with him in the electrical trade). I want to express my most heartfelt thanks to him for allowing me this opportunity. He’s a pretty cool character and I’m sure he will like what I decided to do here.

I thought, what a great chance to put a truck to good social use! I felt it would be dishonest to flip it for $2,000 when someone was kind enough to give it to me. Think of the good you could do for someone with a whole truck! So what do I do with it? Some thoughts…

Like most used vehicles, it needs a couple things. My friend Pooky (yes, that’s the name he goes by) and I both do a lot of automotive repair work so we will be doing any minor/moderate work it might require. It seems to be pretty solid overall though and shouldn’t need much.

Have you got a suggestion for how I might put this to best use?

Is there some organization or group that could make use of it? Do you know someone in desperate need of a vehicle that has suffered some vehicular failure that they can’t afford to pay for? Should I fix it up a bit and sell it then donate the money? Local charities, international organizations, community groups? Give it to a school to turn into a project truck and build skills for youth? Sell raffle tickets and draw for the truck and use the raffle ticket proceeds for charity? Something else? I want to get the most bang for my charity dollar here and involve other people… How can I use this opportunity to make the most positive impact directly and will you help me do it?

Please send me your suggestions in the comments below or by email to adhdcanuck @ Gmail.com and I will post a list of them for people to see.

Personally, I had thought to do whatever minor repairs it needs, then repaint it (we do a really good flat black bed liner paint job here) and donate it to whatever best or most suitable organization or charity we came up with. I’m going to seek help from my community businesses (or whoever) to cover some of the material/parts costs if possible.

The more I think about it the more I want input from other people, is there some place that could really use the truck or should I sell it then donate the money? This could be a really fun project and charity effort combined!

So please, tell me what you think and share this around to encourage others to contribute ideas or offers.

Maybe someone with kids recently suffered a vehicle failure and job loss, and can’t afford the repair bill. Maybe there is a group who needs a truck to deliver supplies, or a charity that would really benefit from the proceeds… maybe some company would want to sponsor the work and donate the truck together to some group who would use it in exchange for their name on it or a little positive press. The possibilities are endless… brainstorm with me?

By “most positive impact” I mean lots of things. Where will it get the most value financially for someone/group in need, or where will it make the most personal impact on a persons life or the operations of some charitable or community group. There are a few things to consider.

I’m in the brainstorm stage here, lining up ideas, tentatively seeking support from others who want to contribute to this project, looking for ways to promote it so others might be encouraged/inspired to do things like this, I plan for a mid spring conclusion to this effort. I’d love to see other bloggers pick up the idea and re-blog this to their readers.

So what do you think? Comment, tweet, email, Facebook share, and like this so we can get the idea in front of others.

Doing stuff like this after a really rough year makes me feel even better about myself and the world than actually getting back on my feet and getting ahead.

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ADHD Life: The physical. Tiger tendons and writing difficulty.

When I was in school I could never get the hang of proper handwriting. As long as I went super slow and did one letter at a time it would look nice but always ended up turning to crap by the end. I found myself unable to break the habit of “death gripping” my pen or pencil.

This is me, note the whitening of the fingertips and slightly extreme knuckle angles. Yeah that’s real life angry birds. The cat loves it

Consequently, my handwriting is brutal and I mostly print. I have developed a blending of capital/lower case with a little script mixed in for kicks. It more or less indicates which letters have been easier for me to make and get me through the task of writing sooner. There are a few letters that I can’t even do any more in proper script from lack of practice. My mother pushed to get me a computer (over $5,000 back then for a 486 with about a thousandth the processing power of my current cellphone) and I used to do all my projects and reports on it for school. It provided a world of access to intellectual stimulation (though I have to be honest, my first stimulation was playing DOOM followed shortly by bikini calendar pictures of Cindy Crawford in her prime back when supermodels were healthy).

Click the two images below to compare my handwriting…

As a child, the psychiatrist I saw (a brilliant specialist in childhood ADHD and hyperactivity named Dr. Arnott) explained to me with a kind of story that I’d like to share. It really demonstrates how “normally wired” people versus my particular embodiment of ADHD contrast physically. I’ve developed the idea since childhood a bit, but you can imagine how this is a brilliant way to explain it to a child frustrated and upset that he can’t master such a simple task that everyone around him seems to do so easily.

How do I say this… Help me ROB Bell Canada FOR SCIENCE! (specifically mental health) Lets Talk :)

On Feb 8 2012 Bell Canada will pay 5 Cents for every text message sent and long distance call made on their network. If you don’t use bell, talk to your friends and share this article. I’d appreciate help getting more action (and corporate money) spent on this day. I don’t often ask directly, but please tweet and Facebook share this article (buttons at the bottom). Tell people you know… let’s spend some money.

I’ve written before about how much crap I’ve suffered at the hands of Bell and TELUS. I am sort of running a tally in my head and in the end I come out quite well (if frustrated), mostly due to my rare ability to work the living hell out of their retention department for free features and discounts off my bill. I can’t decide which company I like or dislike more but frankly I think I just love to hate them as examples of corporate greed and oppression sometimes. They often make VERY good examples.

This time I get to write about something Bell does that I support!

Bell is allowing their customers to dictate the amount of money they donate to mental health by basing that contribution on our text message & long distance usage on Wednesday Feb 8th. That’s a cute way of increasing usage on their network on one hand but also a way for the regular folks out there to engage and spend some big corporate bucks. They have specific plans to support anti-stigma, research, community efforts, care & access to services & workplace mental health. Click the image below, take a look at the website for details. It’s more than just donations though… It’s expanding how we think about and see these issues.

Edmonton Freecycle is a GREAT idea, but they are hindered by censorship & control issues. Grow/Change?

I’ve never been afraid to speak the truth or say my piece even if it means exposing a flaw in an otherwise positive organization. Rational criticism can be helpful, I feel that we stop looking at our faults too easily and by being forced to sometimes we can save what we love from destruction or decline. I’ve got an important caution about Edmonton Freecycle. On the surface it is a brilliant community idea. The concept is something I’ve long supported and participated in. Unfortunately I’ve had to scale down my participation recently over some issues I have with over-reaching, volunteer moderators who enjoy being powerful on an internet website designed to facilitate giving away free stuff. This is an explanation and a review of the site as well as my take on how Freecycling/Earthcycling applies to me. It remains true that if I don’t agree with their policies I can simply not participate, however improving is better than abandoning and taking responsibility to help make these things better makes more sense than tuning out and “voting with my feet”. That whole concept is a cancer that infects Alberta thinking. Only lazy quitters “vote with their feet” IMHO.

If you have things, don’t toss them, offer them up for free to someone else! If you need something, don’t buy it right away post about it and see if someone will give it to you! It works. It’s also a great way to avoid the landfill, most of the time. Question is, are you JUST avoiding putting it in YOUR trash, or are you actually trying to do some social good along the way. Freecycle is perfect for the former and there is value in that, but not so good for the latter as you can see below.

Where it falls apart is, waste. Yes believe it or not there’s a lot of waste on Freecycle. The *new* Freecycle recently split into a proper commercially viable entity away from its roots on yahoo groups. I really like the new website, unfortunately they are so restrictive that it is impossible for me to make full use of the service. A trained moderator team which doesn’t understand the difference between moderation and censorship is an issue that I take exception with as a matter of principle.

The moderator enforced rules state that everything must be given away on a first come first serve basis with absolutely no qualifiers or other communication. That’s fine if I want to get rid of some lumber or a teapot or an old microwave and don’t care where it goes. I like to know people though, and they will not allow any sort of encouragement to share with each other the stories behind your offer or request. They actually CUT it out of your ad. That means there is a ton of stuff that gets taken and not used. People are generous and offer many useful items and then other people act on impulse and collect them without real need at least a fair amount of the time. Many ads have noted that the item was something they picked up from another Freecycle user and never used. That is an “impulse freebie” which is no different than trash except it’s stored at someone else’s house and they burned gas to go pick it up. This issue keeps good stuff out of the website, and people who want to do social good with their donations have to go elsewhere because affluent middle class people form a strong core of the Freecycle community. That core is also part of why it can be a great service too, management is the key.

When you have higher value items on offer, it’s good to make sure they’re going to at least an acceptable home or to someone in actual need. At the very least it adds to the community to share a little bit about what it means to you to give away or receive something. I want to know that the LCD TV I’m giving away is valued or I might as well sell it, because I KNOW that I at least will appreciate what I get for it. I’m not affluent, I’m fairly low income so these are not thoughtless contributions from me and I often put a lot of work into them. Maybe it’s going to someone who needs something for her kids to watch cartoons on, or a student with a small dorm room and not much money, or someone travelling in an RV where portability is useful, or someone just tossed a Nintendo WII remote thru their TV and needs a new one.  On Freecycle you are not allowed to ask for or offer such helpful information and so DVD players, computers, LCD screens, and other expensive items are no better treated than a specialty coffee mug or bag of rags for sewing. That can screw over community organizations and the truly in need who don’t troll the website daily for good scores, and it reduces the ability of the person giving to screen at all. We go from doing social good to simply passing the buck.

 

ADHD Life: Restless everything syndrome, build-up of energy, and letting it out!

Note, by using the term “restless leg syndrome” I refer casually to the tendency of myself and other ADHD people to have involuntary minor muscle/limb/body part movements unconsciously. There is an actual nervous system disorder which is separate and distinct from what I talk about here.

Ever notice your leg or foot twitching or have someone point it out (perhaps in annoyance)? It’s something that happens to me and has since I was a child. I can stop it once I notice but as I stop paying attention it often starts up again fresh. This is one of those occasional tics that can be very characteristic of ADHD people, and sometimes it can get you in trouble with the girl you’re snuggling quietly with on the couch watching a movie. Sometimes I “vibrate” with energy that I can’t explain and often internally or consciously I would describe myself as calm despite appearances. It’s a cue that I’m in a hyperactive state.  If this vibration is localized, it can be kind of just a minor restless body part. It happens randomly but more frequently when I am focused on something (a textbook, a movie, a specific task) and not physically moving for a length of time. If your kid studies best laying on the floor with his/her legs flapping in the air behind them idly, let them as long as it works.

“Restless leg syndrome” has been part of the diagnostic process for ADHD since before people really even called it ADD/ADHD. What did they call it before? Some of the same things they still do, such as “your crazy goddamn kid” or “annoying little…” and occasionally complementary terms like “high energy”.

It doesn’t have to be a foot though, it can be a hand or an arm. Sometimes after a while of being completely still I might have an entire arm or leg spasm. The severity may be as mild as a small twitch/flex to as harsh as several inches of “jump” while the rest of me remains still.

I’ve learned to sort of channel, sometimes if I need a physical outlet for some energy (or excitement, or anxiety) I may direct it through a limb that won’t cause a disturbance or be obvious to those around me. If people will see my fingers dancing on the table or my arm jiggling maybe my feet can just shift around a little instead. If you have a kid with Autism or Asperger’s who will compulsively do some physical action to calm him/herself, or to express stress then you might consider that a more extreme and less controllable but similar trait.

So I got into the candy last night……

I’m seeing someone, and she left her candy in one of my shopping bags after we went to a movie. Then reminded me of it… I avoid candy for the most part because it can have a particularly “energizing” effect on me. Especially the really bright colourful kinds.

Reducing refined sugars is one of the most logical steps to take in mitigating ADHD. But cmon, we gotta live a little right? What’s a little high fructose corn syrup between friends… our little secret.

So I started watching versions of this video on YouTube… all of them in fact. Trust me, it gets in your head and when half cooked on gummies it starts to be pretty cool. Yes I can do the dance and the cat thinks I’m nuts.

 

 

She was quite adamant that I not eat her candy, somehow that turned into a kind of challenge. I had a few wine gums and before you know it plans were hatching in my mind… The rest of the evening is sort of a blur.

The reign of the evil dino-sours had to end sometime. Eventually their slaves, the gummy worms had to rise up and make them extinct.  Here we see a ritual, with virgin sacrifice, the heads of their vanquished foes on pikes nearby where warriors dance, and worshiping the grape bear god! I was in kind of a sugary zone, and did a whole storyline on Facebook for the photos. I have such a sugar hangover today.  Ever wake up on the living room floor surrounded by candy corpses and a cellphone with pictures? Ok, maybe not that bad I did manage to make it to bed once I started crashing.

 

Afterwards, they had a cannibal cookout.

 

 

If you’re going to steal someone’s candy, make it awesome. They can’t be mad if it’s awesome. That’s like a rule or something.

Now to ruin a few childhoods…

That 300 gram gummy bear has 24 grams of protein. Did everybody out there know that gummies (and marshmallows) are made from hooves, bones, and skins of animals like pigs, cows and horses? It’s the gelatin. Yes, that includes Jell-O.

 

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Dramatic changes to Union training at IBEW 424 may short change thousands of members. Will they listen?

I hope they listen. If they fix this, it would show that we still have the ability to do good for our own people. Sometimes, pushing the publish button doesn’t feel good it just has to be done.

I’ve been waiting & looking for something positive to write about from inside my Union. Unfortunately things like this come up more often. Have you ever just had to shake your head and wonder if people in charge just think up ways to screw with stuff that works for the sake of hurting the people they are supposed to represent? It can’t possibly be accidental, a child could see the holes in this thinking. There is usually more to it than that, but that’s what runs through my head at times like this…

I had one of those moments with regards to some changes in how our training facility operates. I tried to sign up for a couple of courses one morning this week. We have this amazing building, with good instructors, and really valuable courses. Union members can take courses like first aid, or advanced skills like Variable Frequency Drives and Programmable Logic Controllers, high voltage splicing, hoisting and rigging, even solar (photovoltaic) system installation. There are courses for supervision and leadership too. They have just changed some of the rules which govern eligibility to take these courses and it both angered and concerned me. Particularly since it seems my union leadership (Business Manager Kevin Levy who I have had reason to question in the past over being caught covering up financial issues and making it very difficult to participate in my own union) seems to have interfered in the supposedly independent process by inserting his own rules and influencing the board of trustees directly. That is the impression I get from the trustees, the training centre staff, and past Union executives familiar with the process.

The training centre is run by a board of trustees. Two from the Union and two from the employers, which work together to come up with rules and manage the operations of the training centre. In order to take a course for free a member must have worked for 3 months and then served a 1 month wait period. After that, even if you stop working you are allowed to take courses free until August of the following year. That is pretty fair. If there is no work in the Union and you can’t take a job (like now, the situation is brutal) you might lose your benefits. If those benefits expire you could still take a course by paying a fee of $70. That allows a worker to renew a certification, take an upgrade, get trained on something they require to get a job, or just better themselves while not working so we can provide better trained workers to our contractors. It is part of the Union advantage and is a great selling feature for Union labour. No one in the non union sector has this kind of training available in house.

They just changed that rule, to remove the possibility of paying for a course.

What this means is that if you are out of work (as thousands of us now are) or you have taken time off to raise a child, start a business, recover from injury, or heal your family after working up north for a few years which can take a toll on a marriage… you can NOT have any opportunity to take any courses even if you are a fully paid up dues paying member of the union. You MUST get a Union job, and hold it for 3 to 4 months to even be eligible again. Times like this make that almost impossible especially if you are unable to work in Fort Macmurray. The trust fund is healthy, we can afford to train our people. Why are we looking for ways to cut more people out? Sounds like an American insurance company not a Union training centre.

To take responsibility for my opinion, I’ve written a letter to the trustees which can be seen by clicking this link to my Google docs file. I think I put it into language that is appropriate for that venue. The trustees I spoke with seemed open to hearing my concerns.

This rule change hurts workers, and creates a barrier to education. Unions have always stood and fought for their workers to be trained, safe, and have good access to education.  It’s a principle of fairness and equality that is universal in the labour movement and my Union I feel is shamefully taking that away from us. I needed to take some courses a while ago but could not afford the $70 fee, so had to wait. Now that I’ve worked a little and can afford the fee I tried to sign up and found out that the new rule effectively tells me that I (and thousands like me) despite paying into this system for years now are considered worthless in the eyes of our training centre bosses. That’s how it feels to be told there is no way I can take a course even if I’m willing to pay.

First, our Union leaders do very little to get us work then they punish us for not being able to work Union. How does that make sense? What they’ve done in effect is lose an opportunity to connect with out of work members, and no longer offer them a point of contact with the Union. We can not offer our long time unemployed chances to improve their skills and better themselves, and we can no longer engage them with opportunities to become involved. There’s a lack of vision here that comes from a lack of LISTENING. We have brilliant minds and interested members willing to help, but not in an atmosphere of repression. I don’t want to be just exposing things, I want to be fixing them.

The excuse is that it is troublesome to deal with the accounting, income and refunds and such. I don’t think that is legitimate, they are providing a service to our membership and should be prepared to deal with such issues. It is not that complicated.

Sorry this post is longer than usual, education is a wordy subject.

They changed another rule. Union dues are a cost of doing business with a Union and are tax deductible. Dues go to important things and I don’t mind them generally. However, the new rule is that if I book a course three months in advance because the classes are full, I must immediately pay ALL my dues for those future months in advance! That is over $300 just to be able to book a “free” course that I might be required to take. That is if I can qualify at all. What about our apprentices who make less money and get less work than journeymen, or family types with limited income and time…. that is a financial barrier to education that no Union should ever tolerate. The argument that it will limit “no shows” is baloney. A simple cancellation policy with penalty more than deters such lazy students and frankly this is the construction industry, we have to be prepared to be flexible because our work comes and goes. When it comes, we have to take it. If the training centre kept accurate records and wait lists, and didn’t pre-book so far in advance it wouldn’t be a problem. Rather than punish everyone in advance for a few irresponsible people, why not start developing responsibility into our members and work towards making each other more respectful of our Union benefits? It’s harder, but it is a lot more rewarding. This particularly harsh rule was the result of the personal wishes of the Union boss, our business manager Kevin Levy. Kevin runs the Union (some might say into the ground if we don’t start to get smart right away) but he is not a trustee for the training centre. He should not be dictating rules to the board or making suggestions of this nature. We all know that no changes get made at the union training centre without the knowledge and consent of the Union business manager, because the two organizations must work together. Historically there has always been communication, but we should be progressively minded not oppressive. There appears to have been no real study or consultation outside of these few top level administrators as to how to better address potential problems.

Education is the key to life, whatever kind of education you get… We have to constantly be helping each other and developing our Union membership into something more than it is otherwise we lose ground even faster to outside contractors who compensate for lower skilled workers by cutting wages and costs. If we fail to be well trained and highly skilled, we will only end up being the mindless cable pullers and tray installers that we sometimes joke about.

I could offer some suggested improvements. I believe Union members must ALWAYS have access to their training centre. If our benefits have expired we should share in a reasonable cost for our training and face some penalty for not showing up when we commit to training. That was working just fine, but if they want to stop accepting payments the TIME FRAME must be lengthened from 1 year to 2 years so that during times like these we have ample opportunity to develop ourselves. Sometimes a course is only offered 2 or 3 times a year and we have to wait, other times we are busy trying to survive and might not be able to get into a course right away. Our Union is in trouble for work and it is very easy to go a year without a job, especially if you cannot or will not go to Fort McMurray. We must diversify and not be just a labour pool for a few large corporations in the oil patch. We should respect and encourage different lifestyles and work life balances within our ranks.

It feels good to punish people, to hurt them and make yourself powerful. To think about Union members who are forced to feed their families by working in the non union sector as criminals or traitors and members who fail to show up for courses as lazy and irresponsible. Making a rule that punishes them feels good, even if it hurts everyone and assumes we are all guilty when really it is a narrow few who are less than reputable. Retribution instead of rehabilitation is why the Americans spend more on prisons than on universities. It’s short sighted and never works out the way you wish it would.

We must not fall into the trap of negative thinking, of assuming the worst at all times and forming policy based on that. We should build the good, develop opportunity, and treat all Union members with respect. If controls need to be put in place let them be reasonable and not hurt everyone who walks through the door. Let us be equitable and fair, and not force our Union brothers and sisters into awkward and embarrassing positions because of family or financial distress.

I thought we were progressive thinkers, working towards a more just and fair society, instead it looks like we are cutting costs on the backs of our least fortunate members. I was told once that we are judged based on how we treat our least fortunate…

It’s not like there are serious money problems, the training centre trust fund is fat with millions of dollars and they do have income both from members and employers. We need to be responsible, but austerity measures are never the way to encourage growth, look around us at the world falling apart anywhere we find right wing cost cutting at the expense of working people.

While we have no work we should be running courses 7 days a week and developing new ones. Making some courses mandatory isn’t a bad idea for Journeymen even if we have to pay our people to go like many other Unions do. We should be breaking into new markets and training our people in new fields. We should be offering modern courses on leadership and counselling and communications as well as technical courses on design and install of complicated electrical systems. We should be ready with a fully trained workforce, and offer education to those we are in most danger of losing… the ones who need it most. Down time is when you build up! Do it now because when there is tons of work no one has time for training even if they need it.

The worst part of all this, some of us have been brainwashed or beaten down so much, and so exposed to the poisonous right wing “everything by the individual” thinking that they make excuses for these kind of policy changes. It’s as if many people believe they don’t deserve the fruits of over a hundred years of labour struggle… that we should lose our benefits and be no better than beaten slaves. Consequently they don’t fight, even make excuses as though they aren’t affected by these changes… and as a result we watch our hard earned benefits bleed away. We even help it along sometimes… Negative incremental change must be resisted every bit as hard as radical change.

Indeed, for good men (and women) to do nothing is not the greatest evil… it is for good men (and women) to actively support the evil which confronts them in the belief that it is for their own good. Not only falsely believing they are free, but participating in their own oppression.

We should be responsible, but above all we should be fair, and just. If we don’t set the example, who will?

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Ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? Playing with my kitty at night in the dark = playing for keeps!

I just had to share this… writing it up gives me something to do while applying the polysporin. Here is my little beastie.. Mz. Meowz the F2 Savannah cat.

Here she is recently helping us install bathroom tile. Very important that we remember to clean the sponge! She put it back in the bucket every time we used it.

 

 

Ever played with your cat at night with all the lights out in the house? It’s freaky. They take on a whole new level of ninja. It’s great exercise for them and can be really exciting (and more than a little unnerving) for the human participant. The toilet in the background is there in theliving room for a reason, trust me it comes in handy in a few moments so read on! This is Ms.Meowz posing, I think she’s daring me to do something. Love that she perks a brow at me.

 

 

 

 

 

One second she’s there.. then she’s gone. A moment later she’s tearing through the living room right between your ankles and leaping over furniture up the walls to her high shelf. This is about 7 feet in the air.

So I hide in the kitchen, til she comes looking and pounce at her. She tears off into the bathtub and lays flat. I go hide behind the corner of a wall in the living room and she full on CHARGES MY FRIGGIN POSITION then tears away into a cardboard box. Not being foolish enough to put my arm in there, I hide at the end of the box and softly tip it over.

 

 

 

 

I’ve been tearing around after her and then she turns the tables and comes after ME. Trust me, when it happens you run. I hide when she’s not looking and am trapped in my corner wrapped in an eerie silence. She’s been thundering around the house like a full grown tiger (when in reality she is a 20ish pound F2 Savannah) so I figure I have her movements pegged via audio. I know she was out in the hallway at some point, so after a couple minutes I peek out around the corner BAM there she is standing right there at the corner in full attack mode close enough to lick my nose. I’ve never felt so hunted, and a little ashamed at the realization that I’m only top of the food chain so long as her dish gets refilled every morning. I dive back around the corner and when I peek again moments later she’s midair somewhere across the room heading for higher ground.

There’s this badass move she pulls, where she puffs herself up and turns sideways like a Halloween cat then runs at you crab-walk style. It’s too cute to miss. I got a picture of it when she was younger. In the near pitch black, with only a little background glow from streetlights and a nightlight it’s downright terrifying. Love it!

I have this nagging feeling like I am thoroughly outmatched here. She’s pouring on speed and crazy airborne trajectories like you rarely get to see in the light and it seems like she’s even MORE sure-footed than usual. Know those crazy sounding super fast ground attacks cats do all around themselves when excited? When your cat has almost a 3 foot arm span and it’s dark they’re pretty impressive.

So I’m hiding behind the toilet for a minute, (that would be the one I keep in the living room, while I tile the bathroom) waiting for her to go ripping past so I can vault it and surprise her when all of a sudden there’s this flash of fur and growling going past my head at a million miles an hour in the darkness… I TOSS MY CELLPHONE as a distracting light grenade and in the dim light of the screen can make out golden fur and tiger stripes assaulting my smartphone IN THE AIR then settling down to inspect it before disappearing as if via a puff of smoke (where? I know not…for the dim glow hath stolen my night vision momentarily!).  I hear the bathmat in the hallway skittering around as she loses traction and viciously makes it pay for it’s frictionlessness and allow myself half a breath while she rolls around wrapped up in the hallway rug biting and kicking it like prey.

I think I’m so clever, it’s quiet now so she’s surely off somewhere waiting for me to chase her. Out I come from my new hiding spot behind the loveseat carefully. TOO SOON!!! Before I can even figure out where she might have been laying in wait wiggling her bum in anticipation of the kill she’s floating (yeah, its like she doesn’t even touch the ground and its freaky) across the living room to land on my cellphone JUST as my hand is about to grab it. So now she’s rolling around with my arm as her meaty chew toy and I’m just wondering if the neighbours will find it strange that I haven’t called in a few days and get curious enough to come see what became of me. Clean underwear? Check. As I start to recover from the initial shock and figure I can beat her at wrestling there’s a puff of air by my side and she’s gone. Figured me out I guess! It’s like they know your next move.

I see a twitching mass of shadow on the dining table, and having not even noticed her vault the 12 feet across the room to get there I switch on the lights.

Instantly, my shadow ninja becomes a lovable little furball, innocent as can be. There’s a strange disappointed look on her face as if I’ve robbed her of some precious moment but a scratch behind the ears elicits a throaty purr and happy smile… letting me know I’ve been let off the hook this time. As the lights turn on, it takes her just long enough to settle into her relaxed innocence pose that I can tell I was in for some kind of special attack there and made it just in time.

Remember this moment? Clever girl….

She’s still in the living room playing with her toys as I lick my wounds and try to find photos of her that are sufficiently clear for posting. She’s so active I need a high speed camera sometimes.

More crazy pics and video can be seen in this article I posted a while ago. She’s grown since and is a really marvellous creature. She was wild (near feral) when I rescued her, and is a pretty special breed (being an exotic hybrid of felis domesticus and the African Serval.

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Using Union or Non-Union businesses, Shouldn’t there be more to deciding where to spend my money?

I have a logic beef with, well… with a whole segment of the Union/Labour/Leftie movement of which I am a proud (if dysfunctional) member. So I want to make my case here…

My beef is with ideology (which exists on all sides of our system), and how certain things are expected (demanded) within these groups with social and professional consequences for being “out of line” with the accepted thinking. We discriminate against people who quite possibly have a better idea of how to operate. It’s “clique” building, and it happens everywhere. Fight it!

Am I expected to restrict as much of my business as possible to Union companies simply because they have Unionized employees?

The short answer is yes, and this extends right up to many large political and labour organizations which have official policies to direct their business to Union companies even at extra expense and reduced quality of service unless there is NO Union option available. Does that make sense? Does it make more sense for an organization than an individual? It should be a part of the decision for sure, but the sole deciding factor? That strikes me as isolationist. There’s a good argument to be made for not punishing Union employees for the behaviour of their parent company and I encourage you to make that argument to me in the comments, but I think reinforcing a cycle of abuse and rewarding bad corporate behaviour does them just as much a disservice in the long run. Bottom line, the company wants to keep operating and turn a profit. Threaten that, and you have them by the balls. Play the long game. Explore the WHY not just the WHO.

I feel that it’s my duty as a free thinking person with a more highly developed (and broad) sense of ethics and social justice than average to pay attention to more than just whether the staff is covered by a bargained agreement. Non Union companies have learned a lot from Unions over the years and are now putting that knowledge to use against us, while Union companies have often faltered and regressed. Who knew that paying and treating staff well, providing high quality service and product, and succeeding in customer service would be tools to keep Unions out of a workplace? They are. They should be hallmarks OF a Union workplace, but they’re not and that is not the fault of the Union. Fixing it just might be our responsibility however. I’m not perfect, I have a long way to go to have a “harm free” and socially equitable lifestyle… but I have to be realistic and reasonable within my means.

So I ask you, what motivates a company to change more… Continued large scale support on the basis of Union affiliation or a complete lack of patronage and withdrawal of business? Why would they do any better if they can always count on our unequivocal support?

I have been looked down on for generally refusing to patronize Safeway & Superstore. Now and then I pop in for milk and to talk to staff/managers casually. Have you talked to staff at Safeway recently? I have, carefully and for years. The management is abusive, the front line workers are mistreated, harassed, and are often downright miserable. The quality of food and products at Superstore is pathetic and often unsafe (i.e. meat). The prices at Safeway are insane and their employees face some of the most anti-worker management in the country. Why would I support that when my neighbour across the street runs a Sobeys where prices are fair, products are higher quality, and the staff are well treated and happy to work there. They do more in the community every year than Safeway hands down around here. I also shop at Costco sometimes, where the staff are well paid and taken care of in many ways including negotiated salaries and good benefits as well as low prices and happy staff. I try to shop at local businesses in my area first like the family owned plumbing shop recently passed on to the son from his retiring father where I get expert advice and good prices, and the eco friendly products small business across the road from it. Neither are Union so should I buy inferior products from much more evil multinational world destroying corporations instead just to be able to shop at a Union store?

I fly WestJet and I’ve taken flak for it. Over the holidays I had to change my ticket (last minute and on boxing day) and they charged me only $10 for the service. I was able to fly with my firearm at no extra cost, and their customer service people were well versed in policy as well as friendly and helpful above and beyond my expectations. They also answered me promptly on Twitter.  The in flight staff are friendly and professional. Over at Air Canada they wanted to charge me $75 including an extra bag fee just for the privilege of checking my rifle as my only checked bag. The cost of the ticket was far higher, the employees on the flight and customer service reps were miserable and horrendously treated by their nasty big corporate bosses. The service is garbage, and all throughout the airport all I hear about is how terrible the flying consumer is treated by Air Canada. I can see how restrictive and mean spirited many of their policies are towards staff as well as customers. They cut costs and outsource jobs, and are just an overall crappy company. WestJet employees are owners of the company, and nothing develops pride like a stake in something. A Co-Op would be nice, but nothings perfect. Also WestJet has way cuter (and younger) flight attendants <3.

Even more than this “Shop Union” issue, I think in a rapidly changing world those of us who are progressive (even VERY progressive) need to think rationally about our choices. We should not simply spout rhetoric and toe the party line because people smell that kind of thing a mile away and it only hurts us with the public. It isn’t just about Union jobs, it’s about what the company does, how they run, what they produce and where, do they help the community, are they a safe and equitable employer, do they serve me with respect and do they make an effort to represent my values at all? If more Union employers (at least that I’ve come across) met even some of these conditions, it would help me justify the extra time and cost of dealing with them.

If we all exercised a little more critical thinking, and were more able to see the bigger picture around us then maybe we could make some real headway with new segments of the population that currently don’t see us as legitimate or necessary. Maybe we could even force Union employers to start playing fair, because suddenly maybe every Union organization in the country isn’t necessarily going to buy FORD trucks anymore, maybe Safeway isn’t going to be able to count on us for all our events and meetings for food. Maybe we could actually USE our purchasing power to effect change, fighting with dollars instead of losing at the negotiating table all the time. We could encourage and support new businesses run by our own people who uphold these values even if they aren’t Unionized with an eye to them becoming Unionized down the road?

What might be the biggest stick in my craw (fly in my ointment?) is the discrimination in the left leaning political world and in some Union circles when you (even for good reason) don’t dedicate your entire consumer power to Union stores. I hate Wal-Mart and never set foot there for good reasons of my own, but should I not be free to apply the same clear judgement to all retailers and not be blinded by the demands of others? Myself and others do not deserve to suffer scorn, social isolation, professional limitation, or ridicule because we have a newer take on things that reflect specific realities instead of passed along chants. Amazing how many hypocrites have hated on me for not buying only Ford or Chevy or Dodge, but their “Union Made” truck is parked at Walmart at least once a week.

I wish more companies were Unionized, and I wish many Unions could provide a stronger membership with better working conditions for their people. That said, I will not reward a bad company simply because they have Union employees. If the product/service is terrible or the company has a seriously poor record for labour relations or social justice or environmental destruction why would I patronize them? Are those things not part of what Unions support? I know that they are, but I think we’re on the defensive so much we resort to “close ranks” before “think clearly”. It’s important to me that if I take a principled stand, it is not for ideological reasons. Through issue-based decision-making, and values based on merit instead of inherited rhetoric we could become legitimate and strong with whole new groups of people. I’ve organized for TWU, where I directly affected tens of thousands of TELUS workers as well as for IBEW where I’ve been trained and have participated in many levels of Union democracy and growth. I’ve been involved with the Alberta Federation of Labour, the local and national NDP, and various cause or issue specific organizations as a volunteer or coordinator or planner. I’ve learned that making progress here means less banging of the drums and more appealing to people on clear specific issues that come in understandable bite sizes. Less RAH RAH and more reason! Even people who dislike us, at least pretend to be reasonable enough to talk as long as you’re not chanting cheezy slogans at their face. Facts sink in.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still better being a realistic pragmatist leftie than being one of the poor bastards on the right side of the political spectrum that believes in publicly funded AND delivered healthcare, is pro-choice, and feels that fair taxation includes increases for the rich and corporations. They do exist, (though rare) and they are a fearful bunch of closet centrists entombed in the intolerance of conservative dogma and hatred.

What I worry about, is that we on the left may go the same way, we must be prepared to offer clear logic and rational reasons for our chosen policies and ideals. ANY decision made blindly because you’re expected to by others of your own political class, social group, family unit, religion, or what have you is a poor decision. There is partisanship (which isn’t necessarily bad) and then there’s over polarization. Thanks to Stephen Harper we are highly polarized right now and should focus on reason and reality. Specifics, not rhetoric should carry the day if we could just be true to it.

My decision making process contains but is not limited to the following criteria (in no order of preference):

1) Reputation of company

2) Quality of service & product

3) Treatment & overall satisfaction of staff

4) Systemic attitude of management towards staff

5) Price and availability of product or service

6) Environmental & ethical merits of the company & their products

7) Status of Unions in the industry & availability of a Union alternative

8) Existence of small, independent, family owned business alternative

9) How I (and other customers/clients) are treated by staff

10) Fairness and sensibility of company policies towards staff and customers.

I will stand that matrix of decision making against anyone of any stripes who holds firm to an ideological line instead of looking at the issues case by case.

There is more to this issue, I can’t possibly address it all without writing a book. Hit me with your comments, ideas, thoughts and arguments… If we did more talking about points like this, they wouldn’t raise so many heckles

Be your own dawg.

 

 

 

 

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