Tag Archives: Ottawa
Duck Cleaning Again
Alex called a few days ago. I’d forgotten his name. And he had forgotten me. On the previous occasion Alex called I had a very enjoyable conversation. That’s not the way he would have described it. He was so upset with me that he hung up without saying goodbye. Alex is a telemarketer. I understand […]
The Renovation
They don’t make them like they used to. Probably because they can’t afford to. Just refurbishing Ottawa’s Wellington Building, opened in 1927 as the headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, cost $425 million and took seven years. That’s a lot of money; my guess is about $424 million than it cost to build it […]
More Mailbox Woes
It seems almost wrong for me to keep taking shots at Canada Post. I’m sure they mean well, it’s just they have a competency issue. Or perhaps that is an incompetency issue. I’ve already written about the frozen locks on community mailboxes in my area, and how I was without mail for a couple of […]
Police Logic
Read in the newspaper yesterday that Ottawa Police have issued 29 per cent fewer tickets this year than in 2015. It’s not that residents are breaking fewer laws and bylaws, but the police are upset. The police union says fewer tickets are being issued because the officers’ feelings were hurt by something the mayor said. […]
The Harvest
Snow in the forecast, but it was a sunny Friday afternoon and unseasonably warm. I had a long list of things I wanted to accomplish. They didn’t get done. My wife sent a text: “Are you done work? Want to enjoy the weather and go for a walk?” So it was out into Ottawa’s urban […]
Fall Colours V
It looked like a perfect picture. I was in a conference room on the fourth floor of Centre Block on Parliament Hill. Through the gothic arched windows I could see the Gatineau Hills alive in a blaze of fall colour. “I must get a picture of this” I said to myself. “As soon as the […]
Experimental Farm II
It was dusk when we arrived at the Central Experimental Farm. Or maybe it just seemed that way because it was overcast. Whatever the reason, a row of greenhouses stood out as a blaze of light. I guess the lights help stimulate growth. I’m the wrong guy to ask horticultural questions. I know plants need […]
Experimental Farm I
We were visiting a patient at the Ottawa Civic Hospital, and afterward walked across the street to the Central Experimental Farm to wander through the paths there. The farm is somewhat of an anomaly – a thousand of acres of farmland in an urban setting. Mind you, in 1886, when the land was set aside […]
Fall Colours IV
I took a lot of pictures on our Sunday afternoon walk, which may turn out to have been the last day with double-digit temperatures this fall. Yesterday afternoon we had a snow squall, quite an intense one. My wife and I will still walk in winter, though maybe not for as long each time. When […]
Fall Colours III
After two days of torrential rain the sun finally broke through the clouds Sunday. With winds gusting to 70 kilometres per hour, I wondered if there would be any leaves left on the trees. Surprisingly there were still a few, and even more surprising to me is that many are still green. To me the […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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