Zenn and Now

Last November, I came across some information about the ZENN car and wrote a brief blog entry about it. Two weeks or so after that, Rick Mercer did a bit about the ZENN on his show.

Shortly thereafter, I took a moment to write to the Ministry of Transportation, inquiring as to why the ZENN car was struggling so much.

I received a response this past February which I'd intended to comment on at the time, but I misplaced the letter so it ended up slipping my mind. I've located the response again and the long and short of it is that the delays are safety-related. Here's an excerpt:

...In reality, there are major safety difference between LSV's (low speed vehicles) and passenger cars - difference that could cost the LSV driver or passenger serious serious injury or loss of life. Our concern is that LSVs must only meet three of the 40 federally mandated passenger vehicle safety standards...

1) Vehicle Identification Number (VIN)
2) Seat belt assemblies
3) A specially-created umbrella standard for LSV's that includes various lamps, mirrors, reflectors, parking brake and a windshield.

Only the VIN, seat belt assemblies and windshield components of the LSV requirements must meet performance standards. The other items are only required to be present an operational.

The lack of safety features and performance standards is a cause for concern...

It would seem that Ontario has a five-year pilot testing period that began in September 2006. It allows park officials to operate LSVs in provincial and municipal parks, as well as conservation areas. The ZENN can participate, according to the response (and presumably does?) so that they it can be determined "where these vehicles should be allowed to operate and who should be allowed to operate them".

LSV. VIN. I believe that by 2014, written words will no longer exist. Everything will be abbreviated that way and all communication will look like retarded text-talk such as CU L8R.

Bloody hell, like the suggestion of school classes in ebonics a few years ago wasn't bad enough, now people are deliberately writing like imbeciles to the point that they don't appear able to get our of the habit, judging from the hieroglyphics that clutter message boards now, posing as a language.

But I digress...In truth, the low speed of this vehicle immediately threw it out the door as an option. The Mrs has to take a very busy road to work and having a car tht maxes out at 55 (by memory) just wouldn't cut it.

But the mention of parks is interesting. I think of times I've gone camping and the park staff would pass by in their trucks. What better place to make use of such a vehicle? It's quiet in a place where you want quiet, slow where speed isn't an issue and doesn't have to travel long distances.

Hopefully the ZENN because more common-place in uses such as that one.

Randy Pausch

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw

Olympic Games or Global Sleepover?

Yikes. I'm struggling with these.


HBC, and Roots before them, were quite reliable for Olympic wear prior to coming up with these monstrosities. You couldn't make me wear that outfit on the right if you held a gun to my head.

Here's another:


A little better. The lady at the left end did okay for herself. But I agree with Mrs THIT that this is reminiscent of that brutal Zubaz phase in the 80's, which was garish even by 80's standards.

There's some heat over the fact that these were made in China. Never mind the whole deal about how Team Canada's gear should probably be made in Canada, considering the quality of toys and pet foods to come out of China lately, if I started getting a little itchy while wearing them, I'd dial up a doctor pronto, Tonto. Being that I'm making every effort to avoid buying Chinese-made products, and preferring to not look like a dancer from Elton John's "I'm still Standing" video, I shouldn't have to face that issue.

The news is not all bad though. CTV explains...

...About 80 per cent of the uniforms will be made in China, and that number goes up to 90 per cent for Olympic wear sold to the public.

Critics say Canadian athletes should wear clothing manufactured strictly in Canada.
/
Liberal MP Denis Coderre said Canada is missing a "tremendous opportunity" to promote this country's textile industry on the world stage -- and called it an "unacceptable" snub considering the industry's struggles.

HBC stresses the uniforms and gear are "100-per-cent" Canadian and designed by a Toronto-based team, and that uniforms the athletes will wear on the podium and during the opening parade will be 100-per-cent Canadian-made.

But manufacturing the rest of the clothing required the company to turn to the Chinese market, said Hillary Marshall, director of corporate communications for HBC.

"There are some unique aspects to this collection. In particular, it's the first eco-friendly Olympic collection that's been designed for Team Canada, perhaps for any Olympic team," Marshall told CTV Newsnet on Friday.

"It required that fabrics be sourced -- fabrics that are made of things like bamboo, cacona, organic-blended cotton. These are items that help with the technical nature of the product. They help to keep the athletes cool, they have moisture wicking properties, they have cooling properties. Because those are items that are hard to find in Canada, they're sourced mainly in China, (so) we made the product there as well."

Marshall acknowledged cost was a factor, especially considering the quantities of clothing required -- enough to fill 600 stores, including the Bay, Zellers, Home Outfitters, as well as those sold online.

Chris Rudge, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, told The Canadian Press the government has not raised the issue of uniforms with the Olympic committee, adding the government likely believes it's impractical to insist on 100 per cent Canadian-made uniforms.

"The reality is that there's no longer manufacturing capacity in Canada that can meet the volume needs that are necessary to manufacture particularly the replica clothing that is sold to the public,'' said Rudge.
/
Canada's manufacturing industry has been hit hard by the rising Canadian dollar and the flood of cheap foreign imports, especially from China.

Dewar, the NDP's foreign affairs critic, said he hopes the government and HBC will make sure the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver will feature uniforms that are made in Canada.

"Wouldn't that be an embarrassment to have our uniforms made in China or anywhere else for the upcoming Vancouver Olympics? So hopefully someone is doing their homework on that," he said.

Marshall said HBC has already started to design the uniforms for Vancouver, and told CP that the company would be "very happy'' to sit down with Canadian textile and garment manufacturers to explore their ability to provide the volume of clothing needed at competitive prices...

Good to know. Now take it away, Elton!

140 / 100

So it would appear that your THIT has high blood pressure. Allegedly.

Son of a bitch! That can't be! Just thinking about it makes me so mad I could...

Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean...

All right, I'm better now.

I say "allegedly" because I'm not convinced by the results. This was a test provided by my work place. I'd signed up for it because...well...because I could.

I went a few minutes after being critisized for my handling of a situation. I don't know if that put me on edge a little or what, whatever. I arrive in the testing area which turned out to be the cafeteria on the floor above mine.

I joked right away that I was nervous about the whole thing. The ladies were quite nice, but one was particularly loud and didn't seem too reserved about barking out people's results. Hey, this is hardly a cavity search but nonetheless I expected SOME privacy.

The quieter of the two ladies conducting the tests strapped me up then listened in on my pulse. She then turns to the other one and says "Huh...Can you come listen to this?"

Yeah. THAT will help me relax. *grumble*

The loud one comes over and strats fretting right away. "Oh dear. Oh yeah. I can see why you called me over. Right. Yeah."

The suggestion was that I "relax" some more and they'd try again in five minutes. I enjoyed being given breathing instructions in front of the folks waiting in line, those waiting for the folks waiting in line to be done, and the old lady reheating the previous night's pasta meal. Relaxing was a little tricky right then.

The second test was no better. They then proceeded to quiz me on my sleeping habits, eating habits (vegetarianism went over well), family medical history, etc. I considered offering to turn my head and cough for them but thought that may come off sarcastically.

So due to the methodology and my discomfort in front of crowds and strangers, I question the results. However, rather than being one of those dumb-asses that lives in denial and makes excuses, I shall assume it's accurate and work on the areas that I can improve on.

Wish me luck but I don't need it. ;-)

I'm not a Protest Singer...

Dramarama was by far my favourite band in the late 80's / early 90's. They broke up for a spell but there's still a version of them floating around, however one of their key members (in my opinion) is no longer with them and that takes away some of the appeal for me.

They released an album in 1991 called "Vinyl" which included the song "What Are We Gonna Do?".

It's April 21st and everybody knows today is Earth Day
Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday to whoever's being born
And now I'm trying hard to think of something
meaningful and worthy, kind of earthy
to make everybody ask themselves just

What are we doing here?
and what are we doing to her?

There aren't a hell of a lot of songs about Earth Day, and Dramarama did not typically write songs like these (the title of this post is another line from the song). They were a rock band heavily-influenced by, appreciative and respectful of, the bands they grew up listening to.

Not being particularly environmentally-minded at the time, I found that the song stood out as being a little unusual for them, but I also liked it just fine. In fact, it's on my MP3 player now. It wasn't until years later that I understood it a little better.

Dramarama had broken up by then but I knew of a compilation album which included three new songs. Being that many of my Dramarama recordings were on cassette rather than CD, I had to get my hands on this thing! I ordered it from CD Warehouse (Clyde Ave.) and waited patiently for it to arrive.

There was a bus strike in Ottawa that year wouldn't you know it, I get the phone call that my CD has arrived on a day that we're getting about a foot of snow. To quote comic Steven Wright, everything's within walking distance if you have the time ;-) so I told the girl who called from the store I'd be there within the hour and off I went.

This was probably in 1997 now. Information wasn't quite as easy to come by as it is now and for a band that was largely unknonw here, it was even harder. The album had lengthy liner notes which I couldn't wait to read so I started on them on the way home (at one point, I dropped the booklet in the snow because my fingers were so damn cold. If you recall hearing a tremendously loud profanity in December 1997 and wondered where it came from, it was probably me).

In it, one of the band members explained the inspiration for the song a bit more fully.

The strong follow-up single "What are we gonna do?" parodied late period Beatles pop to cynically skewer the bumper-sticker mentality of all to many armchair environmentalists.

/

(Singer/songwriter John) Easdale recalls the song's genesis: "We played at the festival celebrating the 20th anniversary of Earth Day. Forget about the last 19 that nobody celebrated; 'It's the 20th anniversary, let's have a party!' And they did, at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

/

When everyone left we looked at all the garbage left behind and wondered just what we were celebrating."

I know that there's an "official" video for this song but I haven't been able to locate it, or at least now in a format I can download. But the song still gets used, by those who are aware of it, to help "send a message". Best to click on the screen below to open the video in a separate window.



All right. Now it's April 21st and everybody knows tomorrow is Earth Day. Happy Birthday to whoever's being born. Those of you planning on participating, party responsibly. :-)

Run For One Planet

Staggering.

Actually, impressive. Staggering is more descriptive of what I'd do if I attempted this sort of thing. Man alive.

The Run for One Planet 2008/2009 North America Tour is our kick-off initiative – a carbon neutral year-long run around the continent by two Canadians, Matt Hill and Stephanie Tait, to inspire Environmental Action. Our goal is to run 1 marathon each a day, to inspire 1 million new actions for Earth and to raise $1 Million for our Foundation. To do this, we will be running 11,000-miles into communities, towns, and cities where we will run, speak, and inspire people to take simple daily actions, individually and corporately, to make a positive difference for the health of our planet.

I've joined their mailing list and I look forward to hearing about their progress. Last year I was hampered a little by our housing situation when it came to such activities but I'd like to be able to commit to a few of them this spring and summer. Maybe this is what "spring fever" is like for treehuggers. ;-) I'd like to maybe try to plan for one a month, whether it's a physical activity such as this one or a neighborhood clean-up event, something along those lines. Another caught my eye recently which I'll post more about later.

Upon return from our tour, all funds donated to the Run for One Planet Foundation will be used as seed money to launch subsequent Run for One Planet Marathons to serve as a Legacy of Action in some of the cities and towns we originally ran through.

In the unlikely event that either one of them is reading this, best of luck to you.

Click on the logo to reach their website.

It's All Good

Earlier this week, at work, I took the elevator down to the lobby with a co-worker. Someone had obviously just taken their breakfast up with them seconds before, because there was a strong bacon smell lingering in the elevator (which was a nice change from the smell of second-hand cigarette smoke, but that's a post for another day). I commented about how great it smelled.

"How can you like the smell of bacon? You're vegetarian!"

Ugh. Just because I won't eat something doesn't mean I can't appreciate its smell. I like the smell of gasoline but I never feel the urge to drink any.

Truthfully, I find these little moments funnier than I do frustrating. It's really just a matter of people speaking without thinking first. I can at least see the reasoning behind that comment, unlike those by folks who seem to assume that I eat nothing but pasta and lettuce.

Now I don't know if it's a spring thing or what, but I'm becoming more interested in learning how to cook. We've just bought a new BBQ (being delivered Monday) and the farmer's markets are going to be opening soon, so I'm getting the bug.

But man, am I ever brutal in a kitchen. I actually get stressed out, especially if I have to wait for something to cook. I become a wreck. It's just strange.

The problem with wanting to learn how to cook is that many books assume you already know the basics. But I don't. It's all I can do to make toast. Heaven help me if the butter's hard!

Here's an example from a meal I botched once; The recipe said to cook on "medium heat". Fine, off I go.

Before long I'm running around trying (and mostly failing) to prevent half my meal from being charred all to hell. Mrs THIT later tells me that I had the heat on too high.

Well, let's see...The twisty thing on the stove goes all the way to ten. Medium then, to me, would be, oh, about five. But no, apparently, that's too hot for "medium". Who the hell came up with this Klingon math??

Luckily, we may have found a nice little meal which will help me in both counts. It appears to be easy to prepare and if I bring it to work for lunch, it may help kill the perception that I live off carrot shavings.


Listen to these preparation instructions (or better yet, read them):

Add pouch to boiling water and boil for five minutes. Remove from water, carefully cut the package open and serve.

That sounds...manageable. It can also be prepared in the microwave in about two minutes. Three grams of fat, 26 grams of protein, 170 calories but look out; 20% of your sodium intake.

These are made from a product called gardein, which I didn't know existed until the first time we bought one. And wouldn't you know it, the package is apparently labelled with vegetable-based inks!

Is it identical to chicken? No. I always make it a point to state that because I would hate for someone to try it expecting no difference and being immediately turned off. It's a substitute and in my opinion, a pretty good one. If you're looking to reduce your meat consumption (for whatever reason motivates you) and/or seeking a quick meal option, you could do worse.

Garbage Warrior

Every town needs a theater like the Bytowne Theater.


Unashamed to reveal my continued climb towards "grumpy old bastard" status, I don't mind stating plainly that movie theaters are one of those things that were better "in my day" (and perhaps before, but I don't really know. I wasn't there).

The Bytowne is "old school", as the kids that I'll soon by yelling at to get off me lawn would say. It's huge in comparison to the current Silver City type of theaters that have more screens than total seats. They also carve out their own niche by often playing artsy-fartsy, foreign, obscure films.

I picked up one of their schedules the other day because I needed something to read during my lunch break at work. I saw one film that I thought sounded interesting. It is called Garbage Warrior. Not to be confused with cult b-movie The Toxic Avenger.


Garbage Warrior is about an American named Michael Reynolds who builds homes from, well, garbage (old tires and empty pop bottles) . Apparently the homes are self-sustaining in that they generate their own power, heat and water. They have been, however, a work in progress and learned through trial and error as the man has made some mistakes during the 30 years that he's been at it. And, of course, he's had to fight against his government.

The man sounds like quite a character. I scanned the schedule and it was not THIT-friendly; Monday to Thursday between April 21st and 24th until it hit me (about three weeks later) that I'm on vacation that week.

So THIT family, if you're reading this, try to keep those dates open if you're interested in attending with us.

Trailer:

Earth Hour...Day

Well, I blew it. I signed up for Earth Hour over a month ago, went on my merry way, then a week or two later committed to attending a pro wrestling event on the same night.


Earth Hour. Pro Wrestling. Oddly enough, the former didn't jump to mind as I confirmed I would be going to the latter.

Mrs THIT will be participating, if you can call it that, in my place, as will the Official THIT mascot, Oscar.

I must admit that initially I thought this thing would be a bomb here. Most of the editorials I'd read about the event were negatively slanted, focused on making the entire endeavour appear to be a useless, unimpactful waste of time.

Then I heard that the city announce that "we" would be participating. About two weeks ago, riding the bus home from work, I spotted that city hall had a huge Earth Hour banner across its front. Then arriving for work earlier this week, I saw that a sign had been erected in the lobby announcing the building's (and company's) involvement.

All right! Now the day has arrived and this article in the Ottawa Sun seems to indicate greater participation than I'd anticipated.

Earth Hour advocates are hoping the city will be plunged into darkness tonight as part of a global effort to reduce energy consumption and battle climate change.

Mayor Larry O'Brien jumped on board the eco bandwagon last month, urging residents to flick off light switches between 8 and 9 p.m. tonight.

"We flicked a switch on in our own heads and it caught on like wildfire," O'Brien told reporters at city hall, where a giant Earth Hour banner was unfurled last week.

Experts predict actual energy savings will be negligible, but applauded the symbolic movement that highlights a surging demand for power in the province that contributed to rolling brownouts and blackouts during peak consumption periods.

"Most people remember where they were during the (August 2003) blackout," said Peter Love, chief energy conservation officer with the Ontario Power Authority. "We're hoping people will rethink their electricity consumption in their homes, their workplaces and in their daily lives."

The corporate community, which often shoulders much of the blame for wasteful consumption, is also joining the cause.

McDonald's restaurants across the country will observe Earth Hour by extinguishing their iconic "Golden Arches," and many other retail chains, shopping centres, banks and office complexes will follow, dimming all non-essential lighting for the hour.

"There was a lot of interest expressed when we talked to our members," said Richard Clayman, chairman of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. "We look at this as a trigger to increase general awareness about how people can conserve energy, not only in their businesses but in their homes as well. It costs nothing to turn off your lights for one hour and participate."

The movement started last year in Sydney, Australia, where more than 2 million homes and 2,100 businesses combined to reduce energy consumption by 10%.

This year, word has spread worldwide, with hundreds of communities participating, including 150 in Canada.

Yesterday, more than 500 Ontario schools showed their support by cutting lights for one hour. Even Parliament Hill will join the cause by dimming the lights on the Peace Tower.

Parliamentarians are predictably jumping on the event as political leverage.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May both seized the opportunity to blast Prime Minister Stephen Harper's environmental record.

Before, during and after Earth Hour, Hydro Ottawa will monitor the impact on power consumption in the region.

A poll on the paper's website would indicate that about 40% of people plan on playing along. I consider that pretty high. Not exactly scientific data, I know, but still...

I could get in the habit. Two weeks ago, when we were hit with almost two feet of snow, the power went out here around 10PM.

So what did I do? Well...I went out to shovel the driveway. It was a snow storm. Pay attention! ;-)

But prior to that, Christine and I went through the standard conversations when something like that happens.

"Where the hell do we keep the candles?"

"Damn it, the lighter's out of fluid!"
"I think we have another one"
"Where?"
"In the bathroom"
"...What the hell is it doing in the bathroom?!"

"Don't we have, like, a gazillion flashlights?"
"Yeah, they're in the office closet"
"Christ, I'll never find them in that mess..."
"Wouldn't matter anyway, we don't have any batteries for them"

I don't think the above is unusual. But aside from making it a semi-regular habit for the sake of preparedness, when I was out there shovelling until nearly 11PM with no lights on, I was struck by how peaceful everything was. I could hear a few cars in the distance and that was it. And I was basically working by moonlight.

I liked it. Of course, it may be a little extreme to attempt to knock out power in the entire neighbourhood but perhaps I can recreate it at home.

ReStores

Earlier today, Mrs THIT and I visited the Ottawa Home Show.

To no one's surprise I'm sure, I can admit it was her idea. Not that I was opposed to it, mind you, it just wouldn't have occured to me to suggest it. It's not something that you consider ultra-cool, like a comic book convention.

*ahem*

Though ultimately eager to go, I can also admit that I was disappointed. I must have been in a significant minority mind you because the place was crawling with people even as we arrived an hour after opening time. That didn't help my cause since I detest being in large crowds.

Personally, I was hoping to find some green inspiration but I found very little. Not knocking the Home Show for that really; it never made that promise. I thought that the whole "green" thing was in the public eye enough to encourage its inclusion, however. It wasn't to any significant degree so my interest in the whole thing dipped quite rapidly.

Nevertheless, Mrs THIT pointed out something to me that I found interesting. The ReStore...huh...stores.

What is a ReStore?

The Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a non-profit retail home renovation centre that accepts quality new and used building, home renovation and home décor products. These items are sold in our 10,000 square foot ware house to the public.

Sales generate funds to support Habitat's home building programs, while reducing the amount of useable materials that are headed for overflowing landfills!

I once posted about Habitat for Humanity, though I believe they are fairly widely known. But at the time, I was not aware of this part of their operation, and I quite like the idea.

I also did not know that my sister-in-law used to volunteer for them! If you're reading this, Kathy, you go, girl!

If you're interested in finding a Restore near you, check out this page.