I find it ironic that every time I come out to stay with my folks for a bit, to relax, something comes along from back home in Toronto to disturb my peace.
This time round it’s an announcement from Leslie Booth, whom after stalling and blocking my every attempt to find out the results of the bidding war for private contracting firms that manage some of the communities within TCHC, letting us know that at the end of this month, although Greenwin Property Management will still be handling the day to day running of our building, that we will be transferred from out of CHU 25 Davenport-Midtown to CHU 16 St. James Town.
I’m admittedly upset. Who wouldn’t be in the same place? Tenant Representatives are supposed to act as the communication link between TCHC and it’s residents, and we’ve been stonewalled this entire time. We could have been ready for this, set plans into motion to make the transition easier, had answers to the questions that will be demanded of us by the residents we are supposed to be representing.
Instead, poor Michelle and I have a rather large mess to deal with. I’ve done my best so far since I got the news late Friday, emailing just about everyone our community has been working over the past couple of years, trying to determine just who will be staying on and what part they will play in this transition.
Now that I’ve finished venting over the past couple of days, I’m trying rather to consider this as an opportunity.
This could be exactly what our community here needs! A chance to start over again fresh, without the general bias that has plagued any of our endeavours due to our being overseen by CHU Housing Manager Leslie Booth and her apathy.
Watch out CHU 16, here comes 250 Davenport Road, and we have no intention of getting lost in the shuffle.
Quincy rests now in peace forever. He was kept company up to, and beyond his final moments on this plane by his most cherished loved one, my parents.
Noreen’s back from the Lakeshore General Hospital after being released despite her protests on Saturday afternoon. She then had the dubious pleasure of having her Medi-Bus Get stuck twice in that snowstorm which pretty much dominated the weekend, en route the 1/10 km it takes to get Noreen back home to le Vivalis.
Got back an hour ago from a trip on and off the Island. Sub-section really called Ile Bizarre. We dropped off the snow blower, which has been rendered useless all winter due to maintenance issues. Hopefully, this welder will be able to put everything back together proper. Of course, it would have been nice to have the machine prepared long before this sensational winter had come along.
Mom’s back. She took the other car with us to go in and see Noreen, who’s now feeling so much better, now that she’s been relieved of the pain that’s been besieging her for the last three weeks.
I saw Nana today. She’s doing really well, for a woman fast approaching her 90th birthday, as so she often reminds anyone around her that’s willing to listen.
There are plans in the making. I’m not certain if I’ve mentioned them in a previous entry or not, so I’ll just mention them again in any case. The family will be gathering, come June to celebrate her life. Fortunately, I believe that most, if not all of us are still located on the eastern side of the continent. It will be nice to see so many familiar, if somewhat older faces again. It’s been so long. I think the last time we all gathered would have been at Laura and John’s wedding four years ago.
My arms hurt, but that’s a good thing. Physical work gets the blood singing and keeps the mind from overstraying it’s boundaries.
Just wish it hadn’t have needed a 20+ cm snowfall to take care of that, Oh, and guess what?!! There’s more on the way. Woot!!
Just a quick update on the previous entry. Weather Network is saying Montreal’s coverage should be anywhere from 30-50 cm of snow.
Maybe we’ll set a new record. The previous high was 385 cm and set the year I was born, in 1971. Mom tells me that the snow piles were so high that the Guertin family’s three boys, John, Bryan and Peter who lived next door, were using the roof of our old house on Vincennes Avenue in Pointe-Claire, as a toboggan hill.
Noreen’s heading back to a hospital. we’re not quite certain which one as of yet. Her back is causing her so much distress, and the doctor who normally comes to Le Vivalis has not able to come in for over 3 weeks now, for various reasons.
Mom can’t go in to see her right now. The first reason being that she doesn’t want to get trapped in the City over the weekend because of the storm. The second reason is that later today, an appointment has been made with the veterinarian to put Quincy down.
It’s been decided that it’s just no longer viable for him, or my parents, to keep the charade going that everything will get better.
I’ll be staying home to keep Chelsie and Corky company. This is something that Mom and Dad want to do by themselves.
I’m out here again, safely in St Lazare QC. thanks to my parents and sister Laura, who graciously made the arrangements to get me from my apartment to the halfway point along Highway 401 in Joyceville, where my Dad waited to drive me the remaining distance.
I had to get away again. I felt trapped, like the walls were closing in on me. I was tired all the time, yet couldn’t sleep properly, and a general feeling of…. Well, let’s call it "ugh" was becaming my daily companion. So, for a change I just decided to pack it all in and leave for a bit, rather than sit and wait until everything becomes overwhelming again.. Last thing I need is to go back to my illicit drug activity to get me through these times.
Admittedly, I have still some responsibilities to attend to, what with my being the Tenant Representative and an executive member of the Davenport Tenant Association, but the majority of what needs doing can be done from where ever I might be sitting at a given time, providing I have a computer with internet access.
The Newfoundland & Labrador (NL) Section began as a subsection in 1974. Full section status was achieved by 1978. Since then, membership has steadily grown and the Section continues to play an active role in the growth of IEEE and in particular, IEEE Canada (Region 7). The Section received (along with the London Section) the IEEE Canada award for Best Small Section in 1998.
An annual success for the Section has been the Newfoundland and Labrador Electrical and Computer Engineering Conference (NECEC), which completed its 18th year in 2008. Held in cooperation with Memorial University (MUN), NECEC provides a forum where professionals from electrical, electronic and computer engineering along with information specialists from business and academia present their work to the local community.
The NL Section enjoys an active relationship with the Student Branch at MUN; each hosts complementary technical and social events that bring the community together on a periodic basis. In 1998, the Branch received an IEEE Foundation award to help create a McNaughton Resource Centre focused on audio engineering and signal processing.
The Section is active at the Regional level, planning and hosting many national and international conferences. Among these is the Canadian Conference on Computer and Electrical Engineering (CCECE). The Section has successfully hosted this conference in 1997 and 2009.
Newfoundland’s electrotechnical community shares a rich and active history in the development of Canada's international presence. Since inception of the IEEE International Milestones of Electrical Engineering program in 1984, the NL Section has had the privilege of dedicating three Milestones; of which two were among the first.
The first honors the landing of the first transatlantic telegraph cable in 1866 at the Heart's Content Cable Station. This station and many subsequent cables served communications between the old and new worlds for almost 100 years.
The second recognizes the reception of the first transatlantic wireless communication by Guglielmo Marconi on the 12th of December 1901 at Signal Hill, St. John’s, Newfoundland. A century later, the IEEE, ITRE (Tasmania) and Memorial University of Newfoundland along with Poldhu Amateur Radio Club and the Marconi Radio Club of Newfoundland hosted dignitaries and student competitors in a special centenary meeting and crystal radio contest to mark the occasion of the wireless experiment.
Newfoundland’s third IEEE Milestone honors the completion of the first transatlantic undersea telephone system, TAT-1, in September 1956 operating between Oban, Scotland and Clarenville, Newfoundland. The system operated until 1978.