In my youth I thought that if I studied earnestly, worked hard and was honest I would charge forth with a great career, family and life. This is what I was told by all and I believed them. The last 10 years here in Toronto has shown me otherwise. I am a racialized Canadian living in Toronto. Raised and educated (multiple degrees in computer science and business) in Toronto, Canada, ready and willing to work, I find it difficult to get a break back into full time employment.
Mobile phone service is unquestionably complex, needing a lot of research about both the phone and your service provider. After an exhaustive search of all the providers in the Toronto area, we found that Wind Mobile had the best cell phone plans to suit our needs. Yet the devil is in the details. Choosing a phone and the specific plan is trickier than we initially thought. There were other issues to consider, including cell phone coverage, unlocking the phone, buying the phone outright, and how Wind does their tab. Specifics of the Wind plan can change at any time, so this post is valid today in August 2013 and will change in the future.
Like most large cities, Toronto, Canada has storm drains. These drains help remove excess water from the area after a heavy rainfall. Usually forgotten until needed this unsung system requires very little maintenance. Here is what is done in Toronto.
Storm drains are located on both sides of the street, about 6 houses apart, or 120′ between drains. In the past the storm drain cover was parallel to the road and sidewalk, but this was problematic for cyclists, who would get their tires caught in the drain cover. Now the cover openings are diagonal from the curb to the middle of the street. Storm drain covers are cast of heavy iron and do rust.
Safety is not something that I feel rates as very important in Chinese culture. There are numerous instances where, if the situation were in Canada, regular Canadians would be up in arms. Chinese people are, instead, chill. I really do not understand this mindset, as the results could be disastrous. Having lived and traveled in China, then returning home to Toronto, Canada, I have seen so many examples. In potentially dangerous situations I see nothing to gain and much to lose.
It is pretty rare to have a blackout in Toronto, Canada, rare enough to catch people off guard. Without warning at 6:30pm we lost power for 5 hours. As we have lived in China before, we had automatically shifted our state of readiness so that in such unlikely events we are always ready. This time we really did need it.
Blackouts here in Toronto are indeed pretty rare. We have the occasional brownout, where the lights flicker and maybe the computers need a reboot, but the last full on blackout happened around 10 years ago in 2003, when some software glitch in a power plant in Ohio took down the US eastern seaboard and much of Ontario and Quebec.
As a nation Canadians talk large about the need to conserve energy and treat Mother Nature with more respect, i.e. let’s not continually hurt her. In many examples, recycling of food and consumer packaged goods comes to mind, here in Toronto I feel we are doing a very good job. Yet when you look around out streets I continually see a large proportion of very big personal vehicles such as SUVs. These new vehicles, while professing energy efficiency, do the exact opposite when used only by a single driver.
Who knew that buying Italian bread would be so educational. Today I made a purchase of bread at a local Italian store here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and they refused to take my money: specifically my pennies. After I made a fuss about refusing a Canadian legal tender, they relented. All this drama for $0.03CAD! If that is not value for money I don’t know what is.
Some things should stay the same, and this is particularly true for money. You work, you get paid, then you spend your money. This money should not be refused by stores, for if it is then you would not know where your money can be used. It gets confusing. Money, in this case the Canadian dollar, should be freely usable here in Canada.
With four fancy pieces of paper from three universities and one from a college, I consider myself educated. It is with dismay that I find obtaining employment difficult, both for myself and for many around me. It is not that we are lazy, oh no. We are at risk of sacrificing a generation of workers, in what I see as a structural change in long-term employment. We must critically look at the implications of high unemployment amongst young people. Whether there should be changes, or not, I cannot say, But to do nothing is unacceptable.
Feeder goldfish, after quarantine, make excellent fish. Seen here eating Chinese veggies. Photo by Don Tai
Not having money and wanting to keep fish had me researching all the possibilities. On one hand, I knew nothing about raising fish, so the possibility of killing a few would be a near certainty. On the other hand fish can be $3-4 each. Since I do not like to waste money that I do not have, I turned to feeder goldfish, sold for $0.18CAD each, here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Feeder goldfish, as I read on the internet, are full of diseases and will quickly die, so do not bother. On the other hand there were others who said they raised feeders to become large fish that were strong and healthy. I am decidedly in the latter camp. Feeder goldfish are goldfish, just that they have been badly treated. Overall feeder goldfish can be beautiful, graceful and easy to care for.
Lint in my Ralph’s Hard Dough bread: Found four pieces embedded into the dough, Photo by Don Tai
Furious was I when my daughter took out two pieces of Ralph’s Bakery hard dough bread, from the bread bag, to eat and there was some unidentifiable foreign objects embedded into the bread. These objects needed to be physically pulled from inside the bread. It looks like some white lint mixed with human hair. We later found two more slices with these fibers. I am unhappy. Here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, this is not acceptable practice. I will stop buying Ralph’s Bakery bread.
