Days of Summer

Tags

Beach, climate change, life, Rome, Summer

I promised myself this year that we would go out of town on any sunny day. This is not happening after 7 years on the Island. Stuck in town with the tourists and their garbage.

Hopefully come 21 August for 2 weeks we will escape to the beach where we have rented a cottage. I am looking forward to that vacation. Tomorrow Thursday is our 15th Wedding Anniversary. We got married just before leaving for Rome to live for a few years.

Apparently the heat in Rome is around 40C and very difficult for people, AC is not common and the streets are paved with volcanic cobble stones that retain a lot of heat.

Same story all over Europe this Summer. Here it will be around 30C tomorrow but the wind is up around 40Km so with such a breeze, you still have to be careful but it is bearable. I read today that the UV index is a Canadian invention.

Reading stories about Rome vandalism of ancient monuments is always big news. Just a few days ago someone spray painted a portion of an ancient marble wall of the Pantheon. The wall was under the eye of a surveillance camera but it was discovered that the camera had not been functioning for some time. Using a laser technique the cleaners/restorers were able to erase the damage. But you have to think who is so thoughtless to do such things.

The Pantheon was built at the time of Augustus some 2000 years ago and it is very well preserve, still functioning as a house of worship. Every Summer there are incidents with tourists who do not appreciate where they are or what they are looking at, simple ignorance. It is also often a case of being drunk or on drugs and misbehaving. Drunk tourists is nothing new.

At doom’s doorstep:It is 100 seconds to midnight

Tags

Canada., climate change, covid, life, nuclear war, PEI, Russia, Ukraine, war

Since January 2020 things have not gone well in the world. COVIC has taken it’s toll on all of us and many are beyond tired of the disinformation and the general selfishness, me first attitude of many. Climate change is ever present and the weather is becoming weird and dangerous.

I thought that 2022 would be different but no, now we have the threat of Nuclear War which comes from Vladimir Putin. His language is more and more bellicose and you cannot afford to think that he may be bluffing, the consequences are too dire for us all. Canada is a sitting duck, we have a long border with Russia in the Artic region, and the USA on the 49th parallel. Both great nuclear powers and it is easy to believe that Canada in the middle could be sacrificed. Few believe that nuclear war could happen given that this would mean death to millions of people in a few minutes and make life on Earth impossible for the survivors. Because it is so unbelievable most prefer to think that no it is just a Russian bluff. Canada has the largest Ukrainian population in the World at 1.3 million people outside of The Ukraine. Living mostly in Western Canada, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Canada has closed its airspace to all flights from Russia, European Union and the UK have done the same. We also closed our waterways and ports to all Russian ships. Politicians are hoping that DEFCON and NORAD which is in need of upgrading will protect us. Canada does not have much of an airforce our planes are old F18. Same with the navy and our army. As for emergency preparedness we saw in Ottawa a few weeks ago how unprepared the city was to occupation by a small group of Qanon and anti-vax individuals, the city’s administration collapsed, the police collapsed and the Chief resigned. No one knew what to do in a city of 1 million people and the capital of Canada. The Opposition party in Parliament gave their support to the so called Freedom Convoy, called on the Prime Minister to resign and go talk with the protesters. A terrible situation, not to mention all the US right wing media and Trump attacking Canada.

Here is PEI the little racist drama of PEI HOCKEY continues, some 16 yr old and their parents using racist language towards other players of colour, Hockey PEI at first pretended they did not know or where unaware, but in the glare of the media were forced to admit wrong doing. Many Islanders resent deeply the presence of non-Islanders as permanent resident of their Island Province. You will not encounter this in other parts of Canada where large populations drown out such voices. The population of the Island is growing quickly and the new comers are from other parts of Canada or immigrants. Investments in general come from Canada or is international. There is a continuing whining about the good old days before the Bridge over the Strait was built in 1997, when only white people lived here. It is said that Islanders are generous but not kind, that is true. It’s the ugly side you don’t see covered up by the myth of the cradle of the sea.

So yes life is somewhat complicated right now, but one can always remain optimistic, Spring is around the corner and COVID is retreating now. So let’s keep smiling, what else can we do, walk on the sunny side of the street. However one cannot help worrying about nuclear war and an unstable dictator in Russia, the repercussion of economic sanctions, the position of China and India in this crisis both are hedging their bets either with Putin or with the West.

Tomorrow is another day.

Life in Early Fall

Tags

Canada, climate change, computer, life, PEI, thanksgiving

Well the question here is are we still in Summer with 22C and sunny it’s nice beach weather but wait we are in late September when it should be much cooler like 16C. The weather guy is now talking openly of Climate change and the number of hurricanes that are coming our way in the form usually of tropical storms with very high damaging winds. It has still not sunk in for a lot of people until it falls on their heads.

We also have a lot of hot humid days which is not normal for an island like ours.

So today we have new owners to our building and our old landlord came to say goodbye, they were good people and attentive. We will no doubt see them again for sure.

Today I also bought a new computer to replace my 11 yr old one, which was starting to have problems and a line in the middle of the screen. I bought online from Apple and it will be delivered in a week. I am looking forward to this new computer. It would appear that it is easier to order online than buy in store, both Best Buy and Staples were out of stock and did not know when they would have any in store.

We spoke with the Bank and got pre-approve for a mortgage. I had no idea we were that rich. There is a lot for sale right now, but the prices do not match the quality. Many properties appear over valued and this is the same all over Canada. Is a correction coming to the real estate market, possibly. How can a house appreciate by 80% in 6 months without doing anything to it. There are also a lot of listings where home original price has been dropped by 25%, it says they were overvalued to start with, I think that in some cases they could drop another 15% percent. The pandemic created a rush on Summer Cottages and the prices went up accordingly. The CMHC is the body that governs the market in Canada sounded the alarm for the second time this year, saying that the housing market is overheating and overpriced and a very sharp correction is going to happen, this would leave a lot of people who paid too much out in the cold. We are in no rush at all.

Thursday all will be closed in PEI and in some other provinces but not all, a new Federal Statutory Holiday for natives called the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is being celebrated for the first time. Many private businesses are closing not because they want to but because out of fear of bad publicity if they don’t. Ontario the most populous province in Canada is not observing this holiday. Provinces and territories observing the Holiday are the Yukon, North West Territories, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and PEI.

Upcoming Holiday will be Thanksgiving on Monday 11 October, so far we have no plans to do anything. Maybe we will just keep it quiet this year. Stay tuned as they say.

41 C. = 105.8 F

Tags

20 years, Afghanistan, climate change, life, taliban, war, Weather

Well after freezing at 12C in July now in August we are broiling. The last 2 days have been at 41C it is unpleasant and you cannot escape the heat even at the beaches all around us, the sand is so hot it is like broiling as you lie down. So get into the water quick and stay there.

For our two little Dachshunds all they want to do is drink water and sleep in a drafty area. They do not want to go out or walk, we still have to go but we make it quick for their sake.

What is troubling is the number of people driving around in joy rides with huge motorcycles or their big F-150 trucks making noise and playing loud music. After the report of this week on Climate change and the dire predictions, the flooding and forest fires around the world and numerous other problems like crop failures here in Canada due to the drought the worse ever in our history and other disaster, many people seem uncomprehending and have not changed their behaviours. I may see what is going to happen in 20 years but I would rather not. As for the people who think this is just a phase well I feel sorry for their children who will have at best a blighted future.

The news from Afghanistan is terrible tonight, the Taliban are 70 miles outside Kabul encircling the City. There is no hope and reports are already emerging of wholesale massacre of those who surrendered. Their victory will be a blood bath and now China is their supporter, arming them and helping them achieve this victory. Why would China do this? Because it uses Afghanistan as a proxy in its conflict with India. Some 40% of the Taliban fighters are mercenaries from Pakistan and Northern India. This is all part of the plan of Communist China to control Asia and impose its will. Chinese Troops are massing on the border in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The Chinese army is also with the help of Pakistan in the pakistani occupied portion of Kashmir, which is of great concern to India. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan has met with the Chinese Foreign Minister a few days ago in Chengdu to forge a military alliance. China believes that by playing nice with the Taliban they will avoid problems in their province of Xinjiang Uyghur with a majority muslim population of Turkic origin. I tell you diplomacy is fun and complicated.

The Canadian Plan to evacuate people who worked for us is not going well and there is little to no time left, the Government of Canada announced it would take 20,000 Afghans. The other problem is that Sunday, the Prime Minister will most probably visit the Governor General H.E. Mary Simon and ask for Parliament to be dissolved so we can go into a General Election with voting day on 20 September. It is important to note that in Canada, during the election campaign Justin Trudeau continues to be Prime Minister until after voting day when the results are known. It would appear now that he will win a majority or 170 Seats in the House of Commons. However despite what the media loves to say, we vote for our Member of Parliament where we live and not for the Prime Minister. We do not elect Prime Minister’s in Canada. We elect 338 Members of Parliament individually. I already know who I will be voting for in my riding. You get to be Prime Minister because the Governor General offers you the job believing that you can hold the confidence of the House.

Military helicopter evacuating westerners to the airport and out of Afghanistan. 15 Aug.2021

Thinking…

Tags

2020, climate change, covid19, disasters, New Year, thinking, virus

Late last night I was thinking,  as Will would say to me; what have I told you about thinking. This is our little inside joke we share. I was thinking that this Covid19 Pandemic has change fundamentally the way we live and it is unlikely we will return to the way things were before March 2020.

It has been 10 long weeks of staying at home and only going out for essentials. The word essential has become the key word in our life. Someone is essential or not, shopping is essential or not, businesses are essential or not. All Government directives are based on what is essential or not in terms of services etc.

These 10 weeks which upset our lives are lost forever, we followed the rules because this is what was required in order to stay healthy and not infect anyone if we happened to be Asymtomatic. I believe in Civic Duty and responsibility in such cases so we did it.

However this pandemic also revealed the ugly side of many people, the selfish, self-centred attitude, ME first is their mantra. That is very disturbing to see and hear. People who place the economy first and foremost and do not care how many will get sick and die. The economy is more important, really? Obviously such people do not know that you can’t take the money with you when you die. We have them here on PEI, and such people are a sad spectacle.

But my thinking was more about how our lives had changed, we went in just 24 hours on 11 March from having lots of social activities with friends to nothing, zero, zilch to do. Could not meet anyone, ok will do zoom instead, well it’s not the same. Also having nothing to do plays on your mind. We did try to keep busy and that lasted all of one week. I started to forget what day of the week it was and had to look at the calendar and my iPhone for confirmation. It all looked the same, nothing had any order, time became irrelevant. Streets around us were deserted, no one anywhere, we took the dogs out for walks but it was eerie, no one anywhere, the silence. We have two large parks by the house and the Hillsborough river in front but seeing the snow melt and then the grass grow, the City employees were not coming, garbage collection was cut back, all businesses closed including the bank branch. All of it was very strange and unsettling. The only distraction was going to the gas station to fill up and going to the grocery stores but we were told only once every 2 weeks. Lucky us, we never really had any shortages, though on 13 March we had the great toilet paper caper, that was silly and we all laughed at it, within two weeks that was resolved.

Now since 1 June we are in phase 3 and businesses have re-open and so has restaurants, but we are not going. We will do take out but that is it. Our Club is also re-opening but no we are not going there either. Because of the frustration of being limited in what we could do, far to many people are now behaving thoughtlessly, not observing social distancing, no masks or gloves.

I miss seeing our friends, good conversation, cocktails, birthdays or having dinner parties. I joked in March that this would last 8 months, looks like I was right about that one, it may be longer. What we have now is fear, the fear of getting sick. The fear that something may go terribly wrong. Fear for the future, fear for the economy, though so far nothing major has happened. Yes there is a lot of unemployed, in PEI it’s 20% but it is not apparent so far. Our tourism Season will not happen and fishers are complaining of no markets. People are fearful but what can we do. Everyone is hoping that life will return to some kind of normality, even if this means a new normal. I can see it with the Dentists and Doctors, procedures for patients is very different now. Wearing a mask is not mandatory but strongly recommended. Everything is done through a plexiglass window and there is lots of cleaning going on. It really feels like a twilight zone, a bad dream.

Climate change has not gone away and we see signs of it with strange weather no one remembers ever happening before. We have to reconcile ourselves to the fact that we may have this pandemic for a long time, it may not go away and coupled with worsening effect of Climate change, quite the combination.

So on New Year’s Eve I thought to myself what will 2020 bring, I thought well for sure there will be some disaster or incident, something to make us pay attention. Well we had our load of disasters for the year in the first 3 months, from the downing of a commercial airliner over Tehran by the Iranian guards with all those Canadians on board, the month long railway blockades by native groups across Canada over a pipeline in British Columbia, the price of Oil in Alberta dropping to almost zero, the crisis with China over Meng of Huawei and her possible extradition to the USA and then Covid 19.  Now our border was closed with the USA in March and will remain so for the time being and all our seaports are also closed until 31 October. Maybe it is a good thing we cannot see what the future holds. I do hope to see our friends this Summer, I miss them and I hope that we will remain safe and healthy.

 

US Pronouncements

Tags

Canada., climate change, Kelly Craft, US Embassy

The out going US Ambassador to Canada who got new assignment as US Ambassador to the UN in New-York had this to say about Canadians while she was on posting in Ottawa.

A letter to the Editor of the Ottawa Citizen, a reader answers her.

Ambassador Kelly Craft also said when asked about Climate change, ignoring consensus among scientists to suggest those who deny man-made global warming have equal credibility. I believed there are “good scientists on both sides” of the climate debate.

Happy to see her at the UN.

September 1

Tags

climate change, elections, Food, harvest, tourism, USA, Weather

This is the long Labour Day Weekend, the tourism season is drawing to a close, though the cruise ships are still coming until end October and more tourist restaurants are staying open until either Thanksgiving weekend on 8 October some until mid-December.

We certainly did not have the crowds of last year for the 150th Anniversary of Confederation and I was happy that the numbers were more manageable. Charlottetown is a small capital of 36,000. people and when a cruise ship disgorges 1000+ passengers you really feel it. The weather also was far more humid and well above normal range for the Summer at 35C usually the temperatures are more around 25C in the day time and around 18C at night. So this Summer climate change was very apparent and many felt it was a bit weird, get use to it people this is the future. Some days in fact it was too hot to go to the beach and even the sea water bath water warmish.

There are 65 days left before the Municipal election and I can’t wait for the campaigning to end. At the moment things remain very fluid, tonight one candidate withdrew and another one came into the race. Just in my Ward 1 we are 4 candidates for Councillor. In the other 9 Wards there is either the incumbent or one challenger or no one. Ward 1 attracts a lot of attention because it is the original footprint of the City, the old downtown with all the attractions and activity. It is also a very mix neighbourhood in terms of population. Lots of businesses, government offices, historical sites and the harbour.

We have been promised or I should say the predictions are for a warm Winter, last year we got a lot of rain instead of snow and it made for a miserable gray Winter, more like Northern Europe.

What is nice about this time of the year is the harvest of vegetables and potatoes, prices tend to be good.

Now this coming week we will find out about the results of the NAFTA negotiations with Washington DC. Now that Trump has said he is not negotiating in good faith and does not care if Canada does not accept his terms, many Canadians are starting to think that maybe we should pull out of NAFTA. There was life before this trade agreement and as our Prime Minister said ”better to say no to a bad deal than having to live with it”.

I am afraid that after all the insults of the past year from Trump many Canadians including myself will never be able to see the USA in a favourable light again. It appears that Trump believes that the USA can live without Canada, well let him believe that, eventually he will find out it’s not that simple.