Category Archives: Philosophy

Featured on Toyota Canada’s Facebook

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Scott and I were featured, today, on Toyota Canada’s Facebook for their Earth Week campaign.  This started about a week before we even knew we were trading in our old 2009 Prius for the 2012 Prius.  Toyota was asking for people with Hybrids to tell their stories, to be picked.

They fell in love with our story because Scott and are I pretty big guys and we fit really well in both the 2009 and 2012 Prii.

As I have said before, I have no problem supporting Toyota this way.  My partner and I chose Toyota initially, in 2001, because Toyota was the only company, we thought, doing anything really significant around fuel economy and technology in line with my beliefs.

Some people have argued that it’s possible that some hybrids and even plug-in hybrids (Prius PHV, Volt) could be more polluting than their petrol counterparts.

  •  In the case of the hybrids because of the battery production, and potential wastage and environmental hazards when the car no longer runs, etc…  Well, Toyota has setup recycling programs for the battery so that when a car is at it’s end of life, or when the battery is at it’s end of life, there is a mechanism to get it recycled.  I would also hope that my car could be used for spare parts, allowing it to live on if you will.
  • The plug-in case is difficult.  If you get your power from a coal or natural gas power plan, then it could be possible that you’re adding unnecessary pollutants to the air.  At the same time, it doesn’t take much to charge a plug-in Prius – I’ve heard about 3 hours.  On the flip side, I know in Ontario you can select greener choices like Bullfrog Power that divert power in your home to greener sources.  You’ll have to do your homework in other places.

To people who say “It’s not enough”, “We need to do more” – I believe it’s something people need to make baby steps on but I do agree people need to take the time and make changes – global warming is a fact not a theory and the politics of gas is out of hand.  I’d say Scott and I have done a fair bit to help.  We always recycle, we’ve always chosen greener cars, I’m now using EV mode as much as possible, we’ve completely switched to efficient LCD TVs (my Samsung actually tells me how much power it’s drawing!), we’re using dimmers where needed in our condo, and switched to long lasting fluorescent bulbs in some of our rooms (not that there is much of a choice but I would have switched anyway).

There is more we could be doing, for sure.  I wonder if our condo building would consider switching to Bullfrog Power, and if it could help with cost savings?  Could we get solar panels for the building to drive our hot water heaters?  And the questions go on…

Construction and a sense of entitlement

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Scott and I live in a condo building built in the late 70s and completed around 1979/1980 in Etobicoke.  As such, the building has gone through a number fixes since we’ve lived here in 5 years.

The biggest project to date is the repair to the parking garage under the ground.  This involves completely scraping up all of the parking surfaces above ground, some of the park as well.  The project is being completed in three phases with the first two phases complete.

During each phase, owners have had to vacate the garage and park on the road, or if lucky, in visitor spots.

I’m noticing a sense of entitlement building up as owners duke it out for parking space in the visitor lot so they don’t have to park their car on the road including

  • People sitting and waiting for a parking space to open
  • People parking their cars in non-parking spot places including fire routes.

Scott and a friend of ours noticed an Audi in the parking lot with a $250 parking ticket.

Now, I admit, after tomorrow when we pick up the new car, I want to ensure the car is going to be safe, not going to be in an accident, scratched all to hell, etc…  But I’m not going to sit in the parking lot waiting for spots to open and I’m sure as heck not going to park in a fire route.

I accept that the construction is happening, I know it will increase the value of the building, and it’s necessary.  Having a sense of entitlement and an inflated ego because you’re feeling like you’re inconvenienced is not.  All of us have had to deal with the construction at some point.

As far as I’m concerned – shut up and deal. It’s going to take about three months to finish the project.

Treating the inner geek

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On top of getting the reservation system for Scott sorted out, I’ve been working on getting back to the gym.

Since my trip to Nicaragua, my back has been screaming and twinging (if that’s even a word – it’s mine and I’m copylefting it) and it’s held me back from getting any exercise.  Of course, may doctors will say, if you don’t exercise your back will get worse.  Fair enough, but how do I get to that point?

Going to the Chiropractor has helped but it’s not the end-all cure, and no Chiropractor would say that.  Enter Scott with his magic hands and my other RMT who both use vastly different techniques  which are complementary – Scott is harder and turns me into a pretzel and my other RMT uses more of an energy work modality; which has helped quite a bit.

Enter swimming.  It got to the point where lifting weights was getting boring for me and it really felt like everything was tightening up in a bad way, so I’ve completely stepped away from lifting weights.  I was even humming and hawing about swimming.

Three weeks ago I decided to start building up and take my time getting back to swimming – I went once; two weeks ago twice and three weeks ago – three times.   That first time I went, my back felt considerably better.  As my back gets tighter during the week, I go swimming and it feels better.  Add in the massage therapy and such, I’m doing better.

Now waiting on the completion of my ergonomics assessment at work…

But between the project I’m doing for Scott and swimming, I’m seeing this as treating myself on so many levels:

  • If I go swimming, I can then start coding as a treat for getting exercise
  • If I do a bit of coding, I can treat myself to go swimming for a job well done
  • I am starting to lose weight again which is definitely a treat in itself as I’m living the tips and tricks learned
  • My back hurts less which is a major bonus.

This is all good and I’m glad to be where I am right now.