Pre-Strike Posting #3

The union local had a meeting this evening to talk about the status of contract negotiations. Held in the Legion Hall under the watchful eyes of a rather youthful-looking Queen. I’ve been through this before and don’t want to go through it again - but most likely will. I went in feeling anxious and very much against a strike. I came out feeling relaxed and a little more open to such a possibility.

Rafts of donuts and soft drinks were available. The diet we may have to get used to, I thought. The room filled up and after the formalities of going through the agenda and the meeting from the last meeting, we got to the topic that everyone showed up. One of the “sisters” - for that’s how she kept referring to everyone - got up and provided us with the details of the non-progressing negotiations. The employer hasn’t offered anything and has even asked to remove some things of benefit to the employees. They’re being unfair and uncaring.

And so on. Coming from her, it just sounded like more union rhetoric. I’ve already had enough of that. Then a “brother” stood up and talked about the actions we could take now to prevent a strike from happening. He was the one I referred to when I wrote earlier that a co-worker had signs out stating the number of days to a strike. I was ready to be annoyed.

But he spoke well. Plainly, clearly, reasonable and relatively free of the usual union-speak. When he finished, I was actually impressed. I had changed my position somewhat. I no longer felt worried but instead felt that what happens, happens.

I left early because the talk devolved into the particulars of what we could do now. “We need a street presence, something that people will notice!” Why not just park a car festooned with union signs in front of the building and pay the $10 parking ticket? It’s certainly cheaper and you’d definitely be noticed by those in the building.

What happens happens. But the worry is still out there - a strike is a significant financial strain on anyone, particular when both spouses are employed by the government.

An emotional rollercoaster it is. Join me for the upcoming ride.

A Political Dilemma

What do you do if someone you like and respect is running for a political party that you would probably never vote for? Local lawyer, fellow church member and potential Canoe Boy Bill Hampton is seeking the nomination for the Conservative Party in Peterborough. I was asked tonight if I'd consider signing up as a member and voting for him in the nomination vote. I could do that but I don't know if I can stomach supporting the Conservatives in any fashion. Now that Peter Adams, also fellow church member, has announced that he won't be running for the Liberals in the next election, I suspect that whoever gets the Conservative nomination will be the next MP.

The Next Thing: High-Precision Geocaching

Trimble is releasing a GPS unit with 20 centimetre accuracy. Now you'll be able to tell what side of the sidewalk that geocache is hiding - provided that conditions are optimal for your GPS receiver. No word on cost, of course.

An Open Letter to Leah Casselman

Dear Ms Casselman:

I have been working for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources at its Peterborough office as a cartographer since 1997. During the 2002 strike I joined the OPSEU picket lines in front of my work location and wrote a regular striker’s journal about those events. The 2002 OPSEU strike was the first strike I had ever been involved with and, because of that, it was an interesting and enlightening experience. I was able to work alongside my co-workers in an entirely different environment. As a result, I came to know and appreciate many of them in a way I would not normally have. In that regard, the strike was a good experience.

On another level, the strike hit me and my co-workers very hard. Fifty-two days on the picket line comes to about 14% of one’s annual salary - in my case about $8,000. I was fortunate to have a caring family and community that enabled me to weather the strike better than many of my coworkers. However, I’m not sure if I could do that again. Many of my co-workers are still paying off their debts that they accumulated the last time.

I am writing to you because it seems another strike is imminent. A co-worker at our building proudly displays a sign that reads “Days to a Strike.” Today the number is 26. Each day of the countdown sees my heart get heavier and I wonder: “Is this already inevitable?”

I and many of my co-workers are not interested in displaying the union’s strength in numbers at this time. Most of us are more interested in keeping our lives financially afloat. Going on strike does not help us in that manner. Some issues are worth striking for - but not all. Reviewing the key issues on the table, I feel that for, at least, there is nothing worth striking for, nothing worth losing 15% - or whatever that amount turns out to be - of my income for. I and many of my co-workers do not want another strike, especially one that is just 3 years from the last one.

Please listen to your union members and do all that you can to avoid a strike. Remember that the union’s purpose is to serve its members and improve its members’ work environment. Take control of the negotiations and do not fall into management’s trap of “forcing” us to go on strike. We would only be doing them a favour and saving them money.

OPSEU Strike #2?

The union has been without a contract since December 31st, 2005. Not an exceptionally long time, as far as negotiations go, but I guess the union is getting restless. According to the union, the employer is moving too slow for them - although those of us who were on the picket line 3 years ago know that the union brass received a lot of flak for forcing a strike in March when it was still cold. So now they've waited until May - pleasant enough and designed to interfere with people's camping holidays, no doubt.

The buzz at work - even though I haven't been there since last Friday - is that management will provide the union with a really bad offer that the membership will have to vote on. Of course, this is what the union is saying. They are always looking for a strike mandate even though they don't always intend to go on strike - or so they say.

Why is it that I find my own union difficult to believe? Why is it that I find the entire labour contract negotiation process flawed? Does the union leadership not realize that its members are not in the mood for another strike, especially so soon after the last one? Perhaps I'll need to write a letter to Ms Casselman and let her know.

Appendectomy

I had a sore stomach on Monday afternoon while going out on my first canoe trip of the season down the Indian River. A beautiful day for a canoe trip: not many bugs, warm but not hot, with water levels high enough. The sore stomach I attributed at first to a lack of food. I got home and had a copule of burgers but still didn't feel well. Perhaps I was coming down with the flu.

I was up every hour on Sunday night because of my sore stomach, a pain in a horizontal band across my mid-section. Still no diarrhea or vomitting. I woke up on Monday and the pain was more localized to the lower right side. I searched for "abdominal pain" on Google and went to the first site on the list. Appendicitis was a possibility but I still thought it might be a flu bug.

I had called a meeting for 6:30 at the church that evening and I thought I'd better show up so I went. At 7:30 it was finished so I went directly to the Emergency department of the local hospital. I got in checked in by 7:37 PM. I managed to catch an episode of Corner Gas on TV before being called in. Into a classic hospital gown, a quick assessment, a urine sample, a blood test, a visit from the doctor, then from the surgeon.

"Looks like you have appendicitis," he said, novel in hand, obviously on call. And off the races I went. A quick call to my wife to pick up the car and let her know what was happening. By 10:15 PM I was being wheeled up to the operating room. The hospital orderly told me the anaesthesioligist would be along shortly and disappeaered. The anaesthesiologist showed.

"That was quick," I said.

"Well, we were all waiting for you," he said as he wheeled me into the operating room. The operating team was all there. They had been on call and I had put a damper on their evening.

After getting me settled in, I was given the anaesthetic and within 20 seconds I was out. Forty-five minutes later I woke up and it was all finished.

I was brought down to a room that I shared with two other men - one was an older man with diabetes. His circulation was so bad that he had to have his toes amputated. The next morning when I woke up the doctor came to speak to him and told him that he would have to his left foot amputated below the knee. I felt queasy at the thought and was thankful that I only had to deal with an appendectomy.

My surgeon came by and told me that my appendix had been ripe and ready for the picking. I spent the resto f the morning at the hospital and part of the afternoon. Less than 24 hours after entering the hospital I was out and home. My experience with the Canadian medical system was satisfactory and fast. Are there really problems with the system? Possibly, but I didn't experience them.

And now I am sore and tired but not much more. A few days at home, watching movies and reading books should do the trick.

How to turn your backyard into an amusement park

Well, for starters, build a monorail. Like this guy in California. As for the rest, well, the rest is easy after this.

Monorail

Free geocoding

For the geographically minded out there . . . there has always been a free geocoding service on the web but over the years they've made it more difficult to extract geographic co-ordinates. First, there was no limit to the number of address you could plug in (well, except for the tediousness of it all - you could only do one at a time). Then they put a limit of 10 addresses per visit. You had to open up a new window to be able to continue. Now, they ask the user to enter a code provided on an image. Too much work for a cheap Dutchman, I say.

Now comes Google Maps. Not just is it the best looking map service around but it is hackable. I tried this and it didn't work - but I'm an impatient fellow at times and not a programmer. Nevertheless, you can use Google Maps to give you latitude and longitude coordinates and a map, to boot. Type in an address in the search box - let's say 100 Yonge Street, Toronto. It provides you with a map, of course (smaller towns will require a province or state name behind it). To get at the geographic coordinates, click on the "Link to this page" link and voila! The coordinates appear in the address bar (in this case 43.650085,-79.378290).

This only seems to work with Mozilla; Internet Explorer doesn't seem to provide coordinates.

People are an endless source of wonder

Open something up for people to look at and inevitably someone will start tinkering and come up with something new. Sure, there are an endless supply of new gadgets produced by any number of companies every day (see engadget for starters). But its the regular folks tinkering in their basements and garages that come up with sometimes useless, sometimes wonderful but always interesting inventions that surprise me. Check out hackaday. I'm going to have to try hooking up my gps to Sam's gameboy. A fine nerdy father and son thing to do.

The Pope

Well, everyone else is talking about him so I thought I should to. I'm not Catholic but I am a Christian. I have no doubts that the Pope was a very spiritual man and that his views on the world and how things should be all stem from him spirituality. He has done alot for the Catholic Church and has certainly placed the role of the papacy on centre stage. People are mourning his passing and so it should be. But, let's face it - the guy was 84 years old and not well. He was expected to die. Let's move on. The incessant media coverage is astounding. Must be a slow news day.