Almost four years auto-free and a new relationship as a plus

Some months ago I wrote about trying to get a relationship started in a car free environment - well the relationship did not work, not due to the lack of a car though.

For the last month I have once again tried the relationship thing, this time things seem to be working out much, much better. Yes, she does have a car and yes she does commute to work in it every day - but that is ok ! One of the things I did learn from the relationship that failed is that I was too preoccupied with how other people lived their lives. I have come to the conclusion I can only be responsible for myself; as a result I do what I can do, I advise others but I don't get too fanatic about it or freak out too much.

My new relationship is full of positive energy, full of vim and vigor and did I mention the energy ?

No longer am I trying to change people, my life is that much better for it. In January I made the decision not to run for the Green Party in the May election. It is somewhat ironic that I was asked to not run for the party at about the same time. So I have left the political arena behind, supposedly to concentrate on my band, well also to get my social life back in order.

I am involved with a beautiful, energetic woman who lives about five blocks away. We have known of each other for many years yet never formally met. It was during our second date we know what had something going on, the second date was at the Old Admiral Pub in Burnaby. In the last few weeks we have seen some great bands there, highly recommended for those 40 plus or anyone in to good old soul tunes.

The band is coming back together, looks like this time we will have some pedigree in our new singer, who's name I cannot announce as yet, but he comes from a well known family of Vancouver soul singers - things are looking good band wise as a result.

My only major beef with anyone at the moment is with the Vancouver Auto Co-Op. Little did I know when my x-wife split a year ago she would leave me hanging with her bill with the auto co-op. Because I am the major share holder I got lumbered with her portion of the bill. something I did not read in the small print when I signed up in 2006. I have not used a co-op car in over a month, yet I ended up with a $500 plus bill this month thanks to this little clause in the agreement - so watch out for this people.

So with the summer on us and nothing but blue skies and flat smooth roads ahead I enter my fourth year living the car free lifestyle. So much water has passed under the bridge in the last four years I could probably qualify as a private hydro development with the provincial government - enough to power Adanac Village at least ! I have a feeling a smoother path approaches - I have never so proud of myself as I continue my life without an automobile.

$10 billion to save GM - the Titanic has set sail yet again

As many of you know the government of Canada has decided to bail out GM Canada to the tune of approx. $10 billion.

Whilst I recognise the largest corporate bankruptcy for what it is, there is no way on this Earth, the gov't of Canada should be parting with our tax dollars to the amount of $10 billion !

And today Prime Minister Harpers announces

"Clearly taxpayers will get some money back when the day comes that we begin to sell our equity share, but to be frank we are not counting on that,"

Harper said. Google News

If there was ever a time an international corporate megasoar was to bring down a government, surely that time is now. The numbers are mind-bogglingly large, the concept of so many dollars being thrown at essentially is a dead duck company is so bizarre and freak-ish, it does all but confirm the end of the world is just around the corner.

Why not just give the employees a simple pay out ? Why not create a new company that creates a decent product, not vehicles that are gutless and prone to break down ?

The Calgary Herald's Mark Milke concludes the cost of the bailout, if added to the average cost of a GM vehicle would be $14,705; Calgary Herald Now I'm not a great business leader by any stretch, but even to me this makes no economic sense. Even if sales remain constant, there is no way Canadian taxpayers will ever recover from this.

If anything this gives Canadians an excellent opportunity to look in to the corporate world and see how it directly influences government policy. I wonder how many phone calls and back room meetings it took for Stephen Harper to bend to the wishes of his buddies at GM Canada ? I wish I could have that kind of influence on the prime ministers office !

The loss of 10,000 jobs in Canada would eventually be dealt with, especially if that $10 billion was invested in retraining and some entreprenurial programs. You can bet some of the 10,000 have some excellent ideas on how build a better wheel or how to build a better vehicle.

For the record my last vehicle I ever owned was a GM vehicle. It was a leased vehicle and it had a really bad habit of not running at all on hot days, I finally gave it back to GM with a curse attached.



The taxpayers of Canada should not be shouldering the largest ever corporate bankruptcy. If Harper believes it necessary, his reasons must be related to avoiding a complete and utter economic meltdown. If this is the case, then bailing out GM is not going to stop such a meltdown, in fact it is going to perpetrate such a disaster even more. Harper is so entrenched in the corporate world he simply cannot see this reality. This bailout could have been stopped by the NDP, Liberals, Bloc and Greens, had they all joined together to stop Harper at some point in the last six months. Instead, we the tax paying citizens of Canada have been pushed to the brink that much more by an ineffective gov't and mutually beneficial sad and pathetic opposition.

If there is any true opposition left in Canada, surely they must call for a vote of non-confidence in Harper's gov't and take us to yet another election - do it quick before the ink dries please !

As a society we have to recognise this a positive sign the days of car ownership are starting to run short. The symbolic place the automobile has in our society is changing; the personal freedoms we associate with car ownership are changing. Stephen Harper recognises this and by investing such a grand amount of tax payers dollars in to the sinking ship of the automobile industry, he too has announced the day in the life of the automobile has reached its sunset.