Dream Job?

Kottke:

After one year of work, each employee receives an ownership stake in the company and a free custom bicycle. After five years every employee enjoys an all-expenses-paid trip to Belgium -- the country whose centuries-old beer tradition serves as a model for the Fort Collins, Colo., brewery. Oh yeah, and employees get two free six-packs of beer a week.

Working in a brewery, a custom bicycle, ownership stake. Yes, please. And a trip to Belgium, which not only has a centuries-old beer tradition but is also home to the hardiest and most insane of professional cyclists. Belgium Knee Warmers? Yeah.

Vampires on wheels

Vampires on wheels, Vampire autoist. We need to bring this term back into common use:

The democratization of the automobile in the late Teens and Twenties was not without its social costs. Neighborhood pedestrians conditioned to horse-drawn traffic were slow to adapt to the new speed of life; drivers didn't know what the fuck they were doing. The consequent death toll gave rise to the journalistic concept of the "vampire auto," which basically meant a hit-and-run car.

Mandatory Helmet Law

It's bike month in Vancouver, and there are lots of reports of the police hanging around giving out Informational Tickets to scofflaw cyclists who have the temerity to ride around without a helmet.

Now, CBC: Vancouver police shock 'distraught' woman with Taser

A 55-year-old woman fell to the ground and hit her head after being stunned by a police Taser Tuesday morning, Vancouver police said.

Non-ideal situations like this could be avoided if helmets were mandatory for the entire population. That way, head injuries would be greatly reduced for citizens that must be tasered. Wouldn't it be worth it if even just one head injury was avoided?

Public Transit

A comment on public transit, attached to this CBC story (SkyTrain scammers exploit lax security, busker says):

When you hand over your personal transport to a bureaucracy you open yourself to all kinds of abuse and neglect. Buy a car, learn to drive properly, lobby for automotive road rights, improved infrastructure, and the end of city sanctioned traffic impediment or traffic "calming". Stay free and safe. Benson2175

Emphasis added. Yes, someone must lobby for automotive road rights. Because automobile drivers are persecuted and are basically third-class citizens in Vancouver.

Status Quo

As a rich white man I heartily applaud the four out of ten elegible British Columbia voters who got off their arses yesterday and maintained the status quo.

Our entire political system (nay, our entire society) is designed to cater to my needs and whims. Sometimes I get nervous at election time -- will something change this time? Thankfully, the rich white men with close-cropped salt and pepper hair spoke soothingly to you about how great things are and how great they will be in the future, and you responded wonderfully. Or you just didn't respond, and did not bother to vote at all, which is perfectly fine as far as I'm concerned.

And no, I have not forgotten about electoral reform. A big thanks for defeating Single Transferable Vote! The system we have now (which, as I said earlier, is GREAT for me, a rich white man) is basically guaranteed to be in place for the foreseeable future. You have really put a bullet in the pathetic head of electoral reform once and for all, I think. No worries for me from now on.

Now please excuse me, I'm going to celebrate by purchasing some energy stocks with some of the money I have laying around.

Insurance Companies

Love 'em. Settlers Life Insurance Denies Claim For Widow Of Gunshot Victim Due To Pre-Existing Medical Condition.

Allergies

Vancouver Sun: Allergy sufferers on guard against storm of pollen

For at least the last week I have had what I initially thought was a cold. It went away and then it came back on Monday with a vengeance. Itchy eyes, runny nose, a weird feeling in my throat.

The weird, itchy feeling in my throat got worse, and I started to think that I had asthma. I have never had asthma. Why do I have asthma now, all of a sudden?, I thought to myself. In my distressed state of mind I concluded that my asthma was the result of toxic black mold in my walls. Sometimes I become very dramatic and arrive at very negative conclusions with a feirce certainty.

Stephen Rees saved me. I sent complaints about my symptoms out into the twittersphere and he responded with a link to this Vancouver Sun article about seasonal allergies.

I hope the rain pulls some of the excess pollen out of the air.

Also, maybe this post will cause people to arrive at this blog from google searches for allergies. Right now I'm the top result for anemia self diagnosis.