Back in town again

Well, it's been a busy audit. Sadly, we're going back there next week.

Wednesday wasn't too bad; the materials were collected within Pembroke and there wasn't that much- we were done by 3 PM. On Thursday we collected over a metric ton of materials from the curbside in Petawawa. It was also very badly sorted; presumably the folks in Petawawa think that conservation is part of the dreaded peace agenda and thus something to be avoided.

On a (slightly) happier note, the new van seems to be working okay. It is much quieter and smoother than the shitmobile, though its instrument panel seems to be a bit wonky (the speedometer and oil pressure gauge jump around in a disconcerting fashion for no apparent reason). We had both vehicles, and the difference is like night and day.

The Human Sawmill's girlfriend was with us on the audit. She did a fine job, but on Friday she was feeling ill, culminating in her passing out. I imagine the bosses will be privately thinking "that's what we get for hiring a woman". It is, of course, beyond them to think of a better explanation like, say, "that's what we get for working our people too hard".

One thing that strikes me about Pembroke in particular is that it's a pretty damn desolate place. The entire city resembles a small part of the downtown of a real city; imagine downtown Kitchener, or the strip along Main Street in Winnipeg, but with smaller buildings. The same kinds of businesses dominate (pawn shops, tattoo parlours, etc). It's maybe a bit cleaner, but it looks almost deserted. And there's nothing but a few blocks of residential housing around it. Furthermore, the area is represented in Parliament by the despicable Cheryl Gallant, whose character is admirably summed up by this:

She is largely viewed as one of the strongest social conservative in the House of Commons, and is a popular figure among the Christian Right, yet has occasionally drawn the ire of opponents. In 2002, she was accused of making anti-gay remarks to then Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham, when during a heated exchange, she kept interrupting "Ask your boyfriend" or "How's your boyfriend?" Graham's sexual orientation has been occasionally the subject of rumours, though he is married to a woman, with children. Gallant later apologized for her remarks.^[2]

During the 2004 election, a controversy erupted when Gallant compared abortion to the beheading of Iraq war hostage Nick Berg.^[3] The Conservative Party then announced that she was suffering from laryngitis, and after this, she did not appear at some scheduled debates. Her opponents criticized this as a move to avoid criticism of her comments.

Sounds like a real charmer, eh? Of course, her type is a dime a dozen in the federal Conservative party.

The guy from the MRF told us that two of his employees have committed suicide in the last year. I guess the combination of working in a MRF and living in Pembroke is too much for some people.