Stepping off the bus at the last stop ( 10 minute layover ) time-point this afternoon. The radio dispatcher calls "code 50" says Ottawa Police Service is asking for assistance 2 different missing individuals. I stopped to listen at the door - the driver & I were alone on the bus. For those not familiar with OC Transpo protocol, Code 50 is an "Everybody Listen Up"!! It is used to broadcast important information ... Being myself I heard it & that the police were looking for "Eyes Wide Open". Some elderly woman was out there ... I personally hope it wasn't my or your mother, and here is why.
Halfway through the description of the first the driver expresses his inconvenience ... he was dissatisfied with the fact that I was not disembarking. I guess it was cutting into the time he would have alone to fantasize about eating donuts, or whatever fat people do when they are alone on a bus making $28.00/hour or more. I told him I was listening to the code 50 ... but stepped off the bus before they started the second description. He closed the door pulled the bus ahead thirty feet and parked. He remained on the bus - alone.
At first I was enraged! Then I began to wonder who this fat fu_k was and who he might care about enough to pull his head out of his ass. Would he have listened to the descriptions if his mother were missing? If his teen daughter were long overdue to return home, would he then desire that every available pair of eyes be on the lookout? If, heaven forbid, he were being assaulted would he want someone like me or you to care enough to intervene? If the nice girl from the MacDonalds drive through were in trouble ... would he care? Would he care if it meant that he'd have to get out of his car and drag his sorry fat butt to the counter to order the crap that is slowly killing him?
My point is that the ATU, his union, frequently try to convince us how valuable they are to our society. They want us to think of them as caring and effective assets to the community. They want us to think that they are invaluable to us - when they are not on strike. But this man does not care enough to listen to a missing person's description ... because it cuts into his break time. He is part of the problem. He and the ones who would rather run a rail crossing than put the safety of their passengers first ... the problem, not the solution.
He is special; the rules do not apply to him - he wears his hands free unit on his phone; probably to conceal that he answers his phone while he drives a city bus. ... I am wise enough to see through his fat ass.
But just last week an old man died .... I don't know the circumstances but maybe one more pair of eyes might have made for a different outcome. Maybe one more pair of eyes ... maybe a bus driver getting paid more for his 10 minute break than some people make in an hour.
But maybe not ...
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I know you might find it hard to believe but I took a vacation. I went to NFLD; Newfoundland for those of you who didn't get that.
I don't have time to tell you all about it yet but I am trying to link to some images
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My name is Rick, but I have answered to many names over the years. In fact there was a time when I prided myself on being "whatever it was you needed me to be" but those days are long gone. Now I am much more comfortable in my own skin. When I am not busy being a web-application developer, I like to run. L really enjoy eating & am a fairly competent cook. I know the value of, and meaning of LOYALTY, INTEGRITY, HONESTY and a few other words. I have some strong opinions & have been known to offend people when I express myself without thinking.
The Other Guy ... we'll call him Kilroy ... because that seems to get his attention. He is a bit odd at times; mostly harmless unless provoked and generally more fun than I am. Kilroy would have made a great soldier ... or a Borg - he would have made a pretty good Borg too. As it is he is a son, brother, an uncle, a friend, a traveler & a guardian; he is a witness and an observer, a teacher & a student, a drop-out and a genius ...
Oh and he is a long time "friend of Jimmy K"
We look forward to getting to know you ...
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I ranted a little yesterday on the F B about how our society has become a bit skewed. We permit the food-producing industry to casually include poisonous chemicals in the food-chain, without repercussions ... and prosecute individuals for sharing fresh, whole milk from a cow. We readily accept offerings from the pharmacological industry that claim rare side effects including fatality ... as being acceptable possible consequences of of taking medications for relatively minor infirmities .... and not the industry, the bureaucrats who sign off on those products ... nor the government of the day responsible for looking out for the best interests of the people are held accountable for those fatalities. Ironically we continue to hunt down peon guards from war-era European camps and parade them through dog & pony show trials in the name of justice. We regularly drag officers from some third-world country conflict before international courts ... and I'm not saying those are wrong but how many have died at the hands of government sanctioned industry? And more importantly, how many were taken to task for those crimes?
Do you see where this is going? Do you get it? If government was honestly concerned about the well being of the people ... would they not legislate these unsafe industrial practices and behaviours. Would they not ensure that the safety and well being of those same people? Instead we get these puppets who look out for the agendas of various special interest groups who claim to represent the people and push through questionable legislation ... regardless of the possible adverse outcomes. We get the robFords and other clowns ... And those clowns mistakenly or conveniently forget the destinies of all the despots that have gone before them.
Let Them Eat Cake?????
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Email ... the bane of the internet. It is worse than porn; more annoying than warm-fuzzy eCards and more useless than a smart phone with no service. Yes email is crap with a capital C.
And because it is crap, I have no idea why most business is gravitating towards adopting it as a primary means of communication. Just this morning I deleted an email from my bank. It was likely legit, but in the message the bank advised me not to reply to the message because, and I quote, "because email is not a secure method of communication". Now before we get too deep, I know that there have been attempts at making email more secure & safe. Not widely accepted and barely adopted ... but there are ways - have been for years. But you see, I have a PHONE on my desk ...
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