Living in the Future

Category: Blog

  • Proposition 2: Handguns

    Proposition 2: Handguns

    I am strongly against guns and violence in every way. I realize it’s a means to an end in circumstances of defending your freedom, but carrying or owning personal firearms for the ‘purposes’ of self-defense or security just seems completely backwards to me.

    So, you’re probably thinking to yourself “Rob, why didn’t you put strongly agree?”. I see where you’re coming from. But I read the question and it talks about banning handguns, with no limits whatsoever, and I think that only works in principle. Would I love to live in a country with zero handguns (or other guns)? Absolutely! But if handguns are banned, but the law is only loosely or selectively enforced, it will be the lawless who own guns, and police will be at a disadvantage (again, the question could, and should, clarify).

    I think that the police having guns is kind of important, but I also think that they need a LOT more training on how to use them safely, and especially on cultural sensitivity, issues around racism and mental illness, and de-escalation.

    I do think that people should have the ability to purchase guns for some reasons, but that training to get a permit should be long and challenging, and that it should be renewed regularly (like lifeguarding or CPR training). And I also think that military-style weapons or automatic firing features on all guns should be made illegal, and that improper storage of firearms should also be severely punished.

    Similarly, I think that you should need extra training if you want to own a gun and store it in an urban area, where things are very different than rural farms or places where you might actually need to protect yourself from wildlife or for other such uses.

    Summary: After all of that, do I support the ban of handguns? Yes, clearly, but I also think it’s not that simple, and knowing what policy proposals parties have on this issue is very important in determining how I vote.

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    Proposition 1: FTHBs

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    Proposition 3: Child Care

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  • Proposition 1: First-time home buyers (FTHBs)

    Proposition 1: First-time home buyers (FTHBs)

    As somebody who just bought a house in June, I know surprisingly little about what help the government offers to FTHBs. We didn’t qualify for the benefits that exist for FTHBs, since for my wife this is her second home purchase, and that meant that I didn’t even look at what would have been available, since it didn’t apply.

    I think FTHBs get a tax credit, or a loan from the government at a lower interest rate, or something to help them be able to afford a house. My understanding is that most people use these incentives to buy a bigger house than they otherwise would have, which doesn’t necessarily help them financially, as it just gives them a bigger mortgage payment, which under equivalent circumstances means that while they may be more likely to buy a house, they’re also more likely to buy something they can’t actually afford.

    In terms of policy, I would support helping young families to buy/rent housing, but perhaps through subsidized housing rather than cash/tax breaks which really help people who can already afford to buy more than those who still can’t under the FTHB policy. My own personal views are that for essentials like housing, nobody should be refused on the basis that they cannot pay, but that subsidies shouldn’t exist for everyone, they should ramp down as a person or families income ramps up.

    Summary: I don’t actually know what the FTHBs policy is right now, but I think there’s definitely more than can be done to support young people in securing affordable housing that is sustainable and safe for them. In giving my answer, I went with my gut, without knowing what each party actually plans to do on this issue.

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    Making the CBC Vote Compass Even Better

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    Proposition 2: Handguns

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  • Staying warm through the fall on a bike

    Staying warm through the fall on a bike

    Earlier this year, I moved in to a new house, which meant my commute went from being about 20 minutes by bike (~7 km) to a little over 40 minutes (~17 km). Fortunately, the area we ended up buying in has a nice, relatively calm ride in, most of the way on 60 km/h roads with a shoulder, or 50 km/h roads with a bike lane.

    Through the summer, when biking is easiest, I’m mostly wearing shorts and an athletic shirt in the morning and evening, so nothing too specific or hard to find. As the temperature begins to fall, though, it gets to a point where you need to layer up, or you’re gonna have a bad time.

    Over the last month or so, I’ve found a few nice cycling accessories that specifically lend themselves very well to biking in the colder weather, which I thought I’d share here. I bought all of these at Costco in Ottawa, but I’ll share as much detail as I can about them since they’ve all made it way easier (and warmer) as we march steadily towards winter.

    Gloves

    These gloves were under $20 at Costco, HEAD brand, and the fingers work with touch screens. They’re thick enough that I didn’t feel the need to double layer even at 0 degrees (Celcius), but not so thick and warm that my hands were all sweaty when I was done. The palms are also quite grippy so I wasn’t worried about losing control of the handlebars.

    Shirt

    This long-sleeved t-shirt is Rough Dress brand, and it was only $12 at Costco. I ended up buying two of these, and I consider them nice enough to wear as a regular shirt, but warm and cozy enough to use as a layer in cold weather or as my only layer in warmer fall weather. The shirt is 90% cotton, and 10% spandex, so it’s quite stretchy but not so much that it feels like it’s skin-tight or confining.

    Balaclava

    This is a piece of gear that I should’ve gotten a long time ago. I’d been using a combination of a neck warmer (used for skiing and very thick/itchy) and a hoodie hood under my helmet, and this is a huge improvement in so many ways. It was $12, BULA brand, and is incredibly versatile in varying weather. For example, you can wear it around your neck only, or independently control the hood portion and neck portion depending on conditions and your temperature.

    This is a much less bulky option than my neck warmer/hoodie combination, and kept me just as warm, if not more so, while also letting me easily cover and uncover my mouth and nose as needed depending on temperature. It fits just fine under my helmet, barely requiring any loosening as compared to a hoodie hood, and it’s not so tight that you can’t fit headphones (mine are wireless, YMMV) under the helmet if you like a podcast or album while you ride. My hearing of the environment was not impacted at all by the balaclava either, and I could actually fit my glasses over the fabric, in stark contrast to my hoodie which is very baggy in comparison.

    Conclusions

    Biking in the winter isn’t for everyone. In addition to what I’ve picked up above, I’ve also ordered a pair of cycling glasses with different sets of lenses, including a clear pair for biking in the early morning when the sun is just coming up. It’s a real challenge trying to see through sun glasses at that time of day, but you still want to keep dust and bugs out of your eyes, and to protect the top part of your face from cold as much as possible.

    I’ll share my thoughts about the glasses once they come, but if you’re considering biking in to the fall, I’d definitely check out Costco, as they seem to be specifically catering to this kind of thing in their options for fall/winter clothing. Safe travels, everyone!

  • The Fable of the Caterpillar

    The Fable of the Caterpillar

    Imagine this scenario for a moment: You’re out driving your car, on a residential street, well under the speed limit, when all of a sudden you smush a caterpillar under your wheel. Picture something like this little guy, hairy and about an inch long ⬇️.

    Photo: Andrew Hill

    I’m willing to bet that you didn’t see the caterpillar, and that now that I’ve told you about it, there’s a good chance you don’t really care all that much that it’s dead now. If you feel bad, it’s OK. These things happen. It’s possible that you have no regard for life at all, and in general, most decent people wouldn’t go out of their way to kill a harmless caterpillar minding its own business. In this case, there was no real way for you to avoid this happening, your car and the road it’s on are not designed or built with caterpillar survival in mind.

    When I was out riding my bike yesterday, there was a caterpillar in my path. I was on the shoulder of a road (the Sir George-Étienne Cartier Parkway, if you’re interested) where the speed limit is 60, and I was going about 30 kph. Because of the differences between cars and bicycles, when I was about 15-20 feet away from the caterpillar, I noticed it and adjusted my path to avoid hitting it. As somebody who tries to be mindful about the environment and my surroundings, this small act triggered something in me that I haven’t been able to shake since.

    As a society, I think we can learn a lesson from the fable of the Caterpillar, about respect for those we interact with in our everyday lives, about how we design our transportation systems, and about mindfulness when it comes to how we treat those around us who wield less power than we do.

    For me, this comes in to focus most obviously when considering the comparison between getting around in large motor vehicles (cars, SUVs, and trucks, for example), and more person-centric modes of transportation like walking, cycling, or inline skating. On city streets, these large vehicles have all the power, both literally in terms of their weight, momentum, and protection from collision, but also metaphorically, in that city streets have been built to prioritize cars around the world since shortly after they were invented.

    Safety systems in vehicles have come a long way in recent years, from seatbelts and airbags to more advanced technology like lane assist and emergency braking systems. However, all these systems are optimized primarily to protect the people inside the vehicle, and less so anybody outside. And while these safety features help increase the safety of driving, other technology lets drivers pay even less attention to the road around them, like in-car entertainment systems, and adaptive cruise control which by human nature leave drivers with less reason to pay close attention.

    The other major factor that shifts the balance of power to the side of cars over human-powered transport is the shape and design of the car itself. With trucks, SUVs, and crossovers, passenger comfort and looks drive the design of the car, which leads to SUVs with hoods that hit shoulder height on a regular adult, and which leaves kids effectively invisible standing in front of a car.

    Another big issue with car design is blind spots, which can be helped with rear-view and side-mirror cameras, but the view from the driver’s seat of most vehicles is obstructed in the front and back corners very effectively. This doesn’t matter too much with proper shoulder checks when dealing with other drivers, but when cyclists and pedestrians are involved it’s all too easy to miss somebody who has inadvertently found themselves in your blind spot.

    Can you imagine trying to see a caterpillar on the street out in front of you while you’re driving an SUV? Of course not, it’s ridiculous to even ask that question, right? But what if we designed not only our transportation, but our streets to protect the most vulnerable road users at the cost of a little efficiency for its most comfortable ones? To me, it’s well worth the trade-offs. At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to get where we’re going safely, and don’t we all deserve that?

    By the way, later on that same bike home, I saw another caterpillar out in front of me, this time on the bike path. And when I saw it, I thought to myself “Nice to see you, caterpillar.”

  • Day 1 of real LRT in Ottawa

    Not a whole lot to say here, but this feels like a big day in Ottawa! I rode the LRT today just before it ‘officially’ opened, and was surprised and impressed with how normal it all felt!

    I’m really excited that my daughter will get to grow up with a real, volume public transit system, something I had in Calgary that proved to be so useful to get me around. The train likely won’t be perfect (no system this complicated ever can be), but it’s such a huge improvement in reliability over buses that I can’t believe it took as long as it did to finally get it up and running.

    I’m not sure exactly when I’ll get to take the train to work for the first time (still biking while I can for the time being), but I’m actually looking forward to this winter and getting to commute on the train again!

  • What a Difference 5 Years Makes

    What a Difference 5 Years Makes

    Left: The view from our front bedroom window, shortly after moving in, on April 27, 2014. Right: The view from our front bedroom window, 1 day after moving in to our new house, on June 7, 2019.

    We finished our move on Thursday, June 6 in to our new house, and we couldn’t be happier about it! The view at our old place has changed quite a bit since we first moved in (the lot across the street is fully developed now, and the building you can see has been demolished, for example), but you seriously can’t beat our new view!

    Our new house was a can’t-miss from both of us mostly because of the excellent location, and since moving in, it’s been just as excellent as we expected! Who knows what the next 5 years will bring for our family!!

  • Spider-Verse: My Favourite Movie of the Last Decade

    Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is what I’m calling my new favourite movie since Forgetting Sarah Marshall [2008] (and they’re so different, don’t even bother making me rank them). I’ve spent a lot of time talking with my friends about how much I love this movie, and so far nobody I’ve met in real life has really come to the same obsessive conclusion about this movie as I have.

    I love the YouTube channel FilmJoy, and Movies with Mikey is such a wonderful video essay series, I just have to share this entry with you (but honestly, go pick any movie you love from the back catalogue and you’ll appreciate his take on it). There are lots of great video essays about this movie, this is but one recent example too.

    Spider-Verse is a fun and unique movie in just so many ways. It has a great cast, flips expectations on their heads at every turn, it’s hysterical, and is SO beautiful in a way that I’ve never seen in any movie, animated or not. This film won the Oscar for best animated picture, and in a year with other GREAT movies, it wasn’t even close.

    I could talk for weeks about the animation style, the amount of detail and passion that so clearly made it in to every frame of this movie, the characters and story which show off stories which have never been seen in Hollywood before. The way this movie is able to carve out a niche for a ‘different’ Spider-Man , while only heightening the ‘legend’ and legacy of the Peter Parker Spider-Man we all know and love is something that other adaptations could only dream of.

    I’ve always loved Spider-Man as a character, and the emotional, humourous, and suspenseful moments just hit you SO hard. The soundtrack and musical cues are perfect, the lighting and colour are vivid, imaginative, and visually pleasing in a way you have to see to believe. And the way that the different comic book styles blend together seamlessly makes the world of this movie so immersive you believe everything it asks you to without question.

    I could watch this movie over and over again, and it would never get old, or feel stale, because there’s something new or interesting or beautiful to focus on in every single frame through the entire movie. I love everything about Spider-Verse, and I hope that you’re excited to go watch it again reading this, whether you’ve not yet seen it, or whether you’ve seen it a hundred times.

  • Mom in Style

    Mom in Style

    I had never been to the Tulip Festival 🌷 until this year, and what better occasion than on Mother’s Day with the family?! Not all the flowers were blooming, but it was lots of fun with these cool cats 🐱 !

  • Evie on her first birthday! 🎂🎉

    Evie on her first birthday! 🎂🎉

    Evie doesn’t sit still for long, but here she is doing her best impression of a buddy cop movie poster.

    Happy birthday Evie! 🎉😍

  • Cell Phones, And The Amazing (Non-) Exploding Gas Pump

    Have a look at the following news story and tell me if you notice anything odd about it:

    Now, it’s difficult to get the full scope of this news story without looking at the report, and unfortunately it got taken down as of the writing of this piece (unclear why, but the page is a 404 now).

    However, we can still use this news article as an example of why it’s critical to think about where a statistic comes from any time you see one. In this case, the report and the article both mention a ‘1 in 10 billion chance’ of a cell phone causing an electric spark that ignites a fire at a gas station.

    The report itself uses this language, citing that there are approximately 1 billion gas fill-ups at stations in Canada in a given year, and the length of time that cell phones have been around (~20 years). However, the report goes on to mention that there hasn’t been a single reported case of a cell phone causing a fire at a gas station, anywhere in the world.

    This seemingly tiny difference totally changes the meaning of the report, and sets the absolute maximum risk at 1 in 10 billion, not the overall risk. Something that has a 1 in 10 billion chance of occurring, which is also something that millions of people do every week, would lead to multiple occurrences every year. And since gas station fires due to cell phones are not constantly being reported (and in fact have *never* been reported), the risk is surely a LOT smaller than 1 in 10 billion.

    It’s critical to take news stories as presented and think critically about them, because people who write the news aren’t necessarily experts in that field (and usually, they aren’t). One neat thing I’ve heard to try is to read a news story that relates directly to something you know extremely well, whatever that may be. Look for inaccuracies, simplifications, or outright factual errors in the story, and you’ll surely find plenty that doesn’t quite hold up.

    It’s a good practice to expect every news story to be about as factual as that, but it’s a lot harder to spot those inaccuracies when you’re not an expert at what’s being presented. The important thing is not to take everything you read or hear on the news at face value.