Don Tai (Canada) Blog

As an experience project manager I often see the planning of projects before they start the actual work. Often I can predict when a project will go off the rails before it actually happens. Small red flags dot my brain and the warning lights go off. If I feel I have a duty, a gentle reminder is extended. Most of the time the leader feels more than capable of running the project to completion. My advice is relegated to the garbage pile of idiot verbiage and life goes on. I then sit back and watch the train wreck become reality. It is all so unnecessary.

Blatant as blatant can be at the Toronto G20 Summit in June 2010. Police abuse and brutality, much caught on video or photos. Police use of the crowd control technique called “kettling”, which is not approved nor part of the training of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Abuse of the legal system to create a law that was not disclosed to the public and then abused by the police. Numerous cases of abuse of our rights to free speech, as documented by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Frivolous spending of over $1 billion Canadian taxpayer dollars. Yet at Canada’s federal and Ontario provincial governments, refusal to call a public inquiry. We Canadians deserve much better. These politicians should be removed from office immediately. What more is physical abuse, political manipulation and financial bungling is needed to prompt a public inquiry here in Canada?

Scarborough LRT vs Subway station map, Toronto, Canada

Confusing is the watchword for the Scarborough LRT. Metrolinx, the provincial organization with the mandate for regional transit has put in a plan called “Transit City”, and has allocated funding for a Light Rapid Transit, or LRT on Sheppard Avenue East. Environmental assessments, financial funding, purchase of rolling stock has been completed and construction work on the line has already started. In comes Rob Ford, the new Toronto mayor, who wants to put a subway on Sheppard instead. All the Transit City plans, decades in the making, are put on hold. Major Ford’s vision is to have the Sheppard line funded by the private sector, based on increased densities, namely condominium development, along the Sheppard line. Today I have no clarity on what will or should happen. There is a vacuum of information on the current plans for the Scarborough LRT.

Here in Toronto we get lots of snow in the winter. The City of Toronto has heavy equipment such as snow plows that remove the snow from the road and sidewalk. They do an excellent job. Citizens of Toronto also remove snow from their private driveways and the sidewalk. Unfortunately some citizens think it is Ok to simply dump their snow into the street, which creates a hazard to their neighbours and others that use the street. Not only is it very unfriendly to neighbours, it is also illegal.

GBC 450-KM binding machine: Maintenance is required for smooth and reliable function

All machines need maintenance or they will break down. My GBC 450-KM binding machine is no exception. My machine uses common plastic combs, will punch comb rectangles and bind into a booklet of varying thicknesses. Given use it will jam and will refuse to bind, so you need to open it up, trouble shoot, tighten and grease. The user manual also does not fully explain the left side controls of the machine nor any maintenance, so I thought I would embellish here.

Sometimes you meet a person that you feel is so out of touch with the world, you wonder how they live. This is what I feel about Tommy, whom I met yesterday. Tommy advertised a guitar and an amp on Kijiji in Toronto, Canada, so I went to take a look. When I got to his door, he wanted to hand me the guitar and amp and take my money, transaction completed. His Dad seemed to not want to let me into his house to test the guitar and amp. The guitar was severely damaged in multiple ways, not disclosed in the ad. The amp he handed me was not remotely close to the brand name amp shown in his Kijiji ad photo. On top of that he cussed off his Mom when I was there, and his Dad was swearing like a drunken sailor in a nearby room. Misrepresentation of the ad shows you are a real douchbag, Tommy.

Something catches my eye. it may be a piece of clothing, a familiar movement of the body or gait, a look or other similarity. I become hopeful for something that I undeniably know cannot happen. When he turns, alas, it is not as I wish. Reality meets expectation. The two worlds seamlessly merge together, like they should, the wish now a mere thin thought that slowly vanishes. Still I feel genuine disappointment.

This is not the first time, and I am sure it will not be the last. Still, these encounters cut like a knife. The scar does eventually heal, but slowly. I must busy myself or it will get worse. Who am I to wish for the impossible? I continue to search, without end.

The Chinese character Dai/Tai: the earth/dirt, a field, to share, a saber (weapon)

dai/da4i (Mandarin)/Tai (Cantonese, Japanese)/Thài(Gan, Jiangxi)/Tè (Hokkien)/?ái or ??i (Vietnamese)/Dae (Korean): Ranked 57 of the 100 most common Chinese surnames (2006), gaining from 64th in 1990

1. put on; wear: put on one’s gloves, wear glasses
2. respect; honour: love and respect
3. Da4i: a surname

So Canada is much better off than all other OECD countries? We have economic growth of supposedly 2%. How can this be? Statistics magic saves the day. Lose well paying full-time jobs, gain low wage part-time jobs, and call it even. Unfortunately your average citizen here in Canada knows first hand that job and economic statistics do not put food on the table. Long-term joblessness, as I know first hand, is a common and growing problem. We need to overstate that this personally decimates the job seeker but society overall. The negative implications long-term joblessness or unemployment are widespread and damaging to society in general. The newly jobless scale back discretionary purchases. The long-term jobless change their philosophy of life and spending, resulting in radical systemic changes to our retail and marketing environments. Health deteriorates, resulting in higher long-term health costs. No matter if you are currently employed, long-term joblessness will affect you directly or indirectly.