This was a lovely surprise.

The little guy managed to re-activeate my Netflix subscription. At the end of the month, I’ll have to remember to uninstall the Chromecast app, because it’s apparently too easy for him to just click buttons until Blippi shows up.

K-Pop Demon Hunters is pretty great. I needed something to put on in the background while I was doing housework, and this was that. But I ended up being really drawn into it.

It reminded me a lot of Seeing Red, but also that K/DA Pop Stars video I’m still kind of obsessed with.

I guess I’m not the only one…

Anyway, recommended. The songs are still stuck in my head. I could criticise the autotune and the script maybe needed a polish, but honestly, it’s silly fun. It seems to be finding its audience, which is great, cuz I’d love to see more stuff like this.

Cover image by @monicomic

♦

Last Friday, I sat down and tried to write about the season’s X Page workshop. Our 6th season.

It is hard to pin down the value of this project, this PROCESS. You almost have to live it. It’s the truth of collaboration. It is not a solo journey. We are stronger together. Cliches!!! And yet — have I ever been hugged so fiercely? Have I ever shared such wordless pride? Leaning into Maha as we watched this season’s performers join hands and bow at the end, some faces beaming, others streaming with tears. I was weeping, almost sobbing, like a witness to a holy act.

I know. It sounds like an extreme response. But let me not back away from the ecstasy. Let me not minimize it when it reveals itself.

♦

In that discrete moment, I could see — or glimpse — at last, what I’d hoped to make, something much deeper than I could ever have imagined. It didn’t feel like I’d burdened anyone with a madwoman’s vision (which at times I’ve wondered about!); instead I understood the project’s POTENTIAL for profound meaningfulness in the lives of those who take the leap of faith and join the adventure.

The X Page Storytelling Workshop is a true ART project, truly multidisciplinary, truly ambitious, truly visionary, truly risky, demanding and hard. And. It has a pull, a light. It magnetizes its participants. And we are all participants — that’s the truth of it, and the magic.

♦

What we experience, as participants, is COLLABORATION—messy, risky, inefficient, complicated by conflict, conflicting ideas, competing visions, different ideas about what this all means or what it’s meant to represent and be. And yet somehow collaboration, through the vehicle of this project, also proves itself to have coherence, to be cohesive, durable, bound together by a shared goal and deadline—the performance!

Don’t get me wrong. The PERFORMANCE is not the whole of the project, but it is necessary. It gives purpose to our trials; energizes our efforts; lifts what we’ve tried to achieve into the light. Art wants this. It craves an outlet. It longs to be seen.

As a vision, the X Page workshop has a wholeness to it, a logic that is forceful. Yet its component parts are flexible.

It’s like seeing my self, my freed artist self, embodied in a process or EXPERIENCE that is translatable, intended for others to enter into. It’s not remote, or special, or precious; it’s invitational. Witnessing its phases and stages, its preparatory and planning periods, its hesitance, its fundraising efforts, its nervous energy, its excitement, its delight at welcoming each new cohort, its surprises, its endurance, its changes, its learning … it feels as though it’s given my life coherence. Or that its collective nature expresses a coherence that I can only glimpse with my solo work.

♦

We have to go to extremes to do this thing together—that is the truth of making art. Art-making has its disciplined middle ground where much of the work gets accomplished, but that balanced “healthy” working state is fed by highs and lows (in moderation; too much of either poisons the ground). The middle wouldn’t be tolerable without a dose of both extremities to modulate the flow, and help us to change course as needed, to keep us present to the present moment, the context of the larger environment in which this is all happening. To wake us from being lulled, attune us to the needs of those around us: our collaborators, our witnesses, our fellow artists, our co-creators, our questioners, our allies.

The middle ground is where the work gets done, and the extremes are where we change and grow. Cliches!!! Again, I know!

Upon reflection, I don’t want to live a completely balanced life. I want the challenge of SURPRISE, I want to be off-balance on occasion, so I can strengthen those muscles that keep me grounded; and I want also to feel so much joy and gratitude that I overflow in tears; to feel is a great gift.

♦

Summer holidays are here. I’m sick (again). I’m worn out. In need of replenishment. This summer, I want to dabble with a schedule that invites all the sensations and states, including rest. Focused reflection. Creation. I want the whole of my self, all my parts, integrated, as witnessed through the X Page. I want my life to make sense way down deep, the way that the X Page made sense on Wednesday night—Playfulness. DELIGHT. The power of mingling together grief and joy, friendship and frailty, generosity and autonomy, need and giving.

There are layers of deep structural muscle built and maintained over time that create a framework of strength, patient knowledge, and experience from which to build relationships of abiding trust.

That word! TRUST! Trust the process, we repeated, and in the end, we believed it because it was true.

How can I trust the ground under my feet if on some deep level I do not trust myself?

In abiding trust is love. Judgement falls away. AMBITION becomes collective—ambition for mutual thriving, ambition for forums in which one’s strengths can be used, one’s gifts may shine. Ambition that is not for the self but for the healing of communal wounds, ambition that trusts in the power of story to repair. And story needs its tellers, story needs its voice; and it needs its listeners, its audience; story needs attention and care.

♦

A STORY exists in words. But also in the body, way down deep, and that’s where we’re going when we step into the X Page—underneath, to pause and sense the hum that is crying for attention, and quite possibly inflecting our interactions / lives / relationships with hurt and grief and pain. To repair is to relieve ourselves of suffering by aligning story with its container. Stories can be used for profit, to manipulate and harm, I know, I know; but so can every sacred thing be exploited and abused. So this workshop is a risky undertaking. I know, I know. It can’t be exactly all that I’ve claimed here, not all the time, nor to all.

Like all spiritual undertakings it eludes description. It could go sideways in so many different directions; when I lose trust, others step in because this is not a lonely undertaking.

Trust the process.

I believe. Story heals like nothing else on planet earth. Handled with attention and care, story is holy. I believe that.

xo, Carrie

The post Boulder Night appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

The HydroGeoSphere Revision 2853 (July 2025) software update is now available for download.

This month’s update focuses on runtime performance, with a major overhaul of the data layout of all binary output files for vector/tensor fields (e.g., prefixo.v_pm.XXXX, prefixo.ElemK_pm.XXXX, etc.) to use a structure of arrays format. This update will result in significant increases to model runtimes by improving the read/write operation to these files. As well, users can expect a significant reduction in total file size for these binary output files (40% reduction in size for files with 4-byte real vector field with three components, 25% reduction in size for files with 8-byte real vector field with three components).

If you have any custom scripts or tools that require you to keep the legacy file format in place don’t worry, we have introduced a simple command (use legacy file format) that causes grok and HGS to generate binary output files using the original (legacy) data layout

You can find details about these new features in the HydroGeoSphere Reference Manual. And as always, we are committed to the continued improvement to the user experience. Do you have suggestions for new commands or improvements to the user experience? Send your ideas to support@aquanty.com!

The latest installers are available on the HGS download page and a full list of changes/updates can be found in the release notes.

Download the July 2025 release of HydroGeoSphere here: www.aquanty.com/hgs-download

Review the release notes here: www.aquanty.com/updates

They desperately need to convince the skeptical public that their government is in control. What with Global Warming and ever increasing rates of cancer, citizens are losing confidence and faith in their governments. Promised cleanups simply are not happening in any reasonable length of time. Species are disappearing as are arable land and clean drinking water. 

Jason Rice of the MECP wants to incorporate the old Control Order into a new ECA (Environmental Compliance Agreement. Of course as we have all seen both Control Orders and ECAs are paper tigers. They will be written in such a way that even the most pathetic compliance will take decades to sort out. More decades of more excuses and failures which will be blamed on absolutely everything except government and industry corruption.

Bless Hadley for telling the truth on one matter. She admitted that if the new ECA relies on pump & treat technology only that it will take more decades to clean Elmira's groundwater.  You can curse her if you wish for her comments on the downstream Canagagigue Creek. Five minute wonder Hadley is offended by the term "hot spots" She feels that the term unfairly characterizes some higher concentration areas. I do not. It merely points out where more sampling has indicated more exceedances of health criteria. Perhaps Hadley and Lanxess would prefer the term "increased environmental damage due to Uniroyal Chemical contempt for both human beings and the environment".

So at TRAC meetings Hadley, Luis and other crap simply are counting on TRAC members not remembering  all the dioxin results in the Creek SEDIMENTS. Generally they seem to prefer quoting Soil results and especially soil results not much higher than the 7 pg/g which is according to Jason Rice (MECP) is the Background screening result for dioxins. 

Both the 2017 and 2020 Canagagigue Creek sediment results far exceed  the SEDIMENT criteria for dioxins of .85 pg/g. all over the place and often by huge factors for dioxins. Of course the dishonest don't point that out.  

They are counting on the TRAC members not rereading the technical results so that they can cherry pick the ones they like.

When I came back from maternity leave, I expected the usual: pick up where I left off, rejoin the meetings, slide back into productivity mode.

But that’s not what happened.

Instead, I found myself rediscovering a different rhythm that wasn’t about balance or catching up but about growing forward, not just as a professional but as a partner.

Before, our home setup was efficient. My partner and I had separate corners, separate calendars, separate chaos. It worked. Sort of.

But something felt transactional. We were two productive machines under the same roof, operating independently, quiet, focused, and a little lonely.

One day, almost on a whim, we moved our desks next to each other.

Suddenly, the energy changed from Isolated Workspaces to a Shared Desk

He’s building AI-driven products at Canvas. I’m deep in the trenches of DevOps engineering: automation, infrastructure, CI/CD pipelines.

Very different fields. But when we started working side by side, curiosity kicked in.

I’d glance at his screen and ask questions about workflow, models, LLMs, and productivity hacks. He’d lean in to understand how deployments scale in production( not really :D).

It wasn’t about becoming experts in each other’s fields. It was about engaging, listening and learning something new every single day.

There’s a kind of admiration that only grows when you see the work someone puts in. Not just hear about it in passing, but witness the tough calls, the creative breakthroughs, the quiet persistence.

That’s what working together did. It gave us access to each other’s professional selves, the version most people rarely see, even in long-term relationships.

We started lifting each other up in ways we hadn’t before, cheering through chaos. Troubleshooting blockers. Offering perspective when things didn’t click.

Even a silent coffee break between back-to-back meetings began to feel like a pause that mattered.

That table became more than just furniture. It became a mindset.

A space for shared momentum. For building alongside someone, even in entirely different domains. For learning without ego and collaborating without structure.

We didn’t plan for this. But in that small shift, sitting beside each other, we unlocked something big.

Partnership isn’t just about managing life together. It’s about being curious about each other’s world. It’s about making space: physically and mentally to grow together, not just coexist.

And sometimes, the most powerful kind of love shows up quietly. In shared screens. In sync schedules. In the way you lean over and say, “Hey, that’s actually kind of cool, tell me more.”

Try sitting beside each other. Not metaphorically. Literally.

You might just find that learning, connection, and love can all exist in one space, if you let them.

Working Beside My Partner Helped Me Rediscover Love, Learning, and the Power of Partnership was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

♦

♦The Kitchener Blues Festival Needs Volunteers! The festival is coming up August 7 to 10. This 4-day festival envelopes Downtown Kitchener from City Hall to Victoria Park and everywhere in between. There is music, food, shopping, workshops and more! It is a lot of work to put on a big festival like this so they will need lots of volunteers with all sorts of different skills. From Setup Crew to Merchandise Sales to Donations Collectors and Bar Servers. There are lots of jobs to be filled.

Information Associates are needed to hand out festival schedules and maps, answer patrons’ questions and take initiative to help out wherever needed. Before the festival even starts, they need volunteers to fold the volunteer t-shirts and assemble the volunteer packages. The Setup and Teardown Crew is needed before the festival for setting up tables and chairs and cleaning up garbage as well as tearing down items at the end of the festival. You can learn more about all of the different volunteer roles here.

No matter whether you have experience in retail or are CPR certified or you have no experience at all, you just need to have lots of enthusiasm! This is a great way to make new friends, get new experiences and give back to your community. Sign up to volunteer at Kitchener Blues Festival today!

Click here for more info

♦

♦Momma’s Cookout & Music Festival
Saturday, July 12
1:00 PM – 10:30 PM
FREE
Gaukel Block – 44 Gaukel St. Kitchener

Rooted in the rich traditions of African, Caribbean, and Western Black cultures, Momma’s Cookout honors heritage through rhythm, flavor, and unity. While the festival proudly centers Black culture, it is a joyful, inclusive space where everyone is welcome to connect, celebrate, and be inspired.

Click here for more info

♦Cruising on King
Friday, July 11
5:30 PM – 9:30 PM
FREE
Carl Zehr Square – 200 King St. W, Kitchener

Classic cars will line King Street between Water and Frederick Streets joined by live entertainment, food and a licensed bar area. Downtown Kitchener will ring with favourites from The Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, Elvis and Roy Orbison with a hit-packed tribute show. Wander up and down King Street enjoying all the classics at the year’s first street party!

Click here for more info

♦Hawaiian Beach Party
Sunday, July 13
12:00 PM
FREE
The Gaslight District – 64 Grand Ave. S, Cambridge

We’re bringing the Polynesian tropics and the spirit of Aloha to The Gaslight District with our next Sunday Funday in The Gaslight District. This event will include a screening of Moana at 12:10pm, a hula show on the main stage and Elvis Presley Tribute: “Aloha from Hawaii” at 2:30pm. The concession team will be giving out free leis from 2pm onward.

Click here for more info

♦♦♦

Skills for Self-Advocacy♦
Tuesday, July 8
2:00 PM
FREE
Health Caring KW – 44 Francis St. S, Kitchener

Join us for discussion on how to be a strong self-advocate so that you can reach your personal and health-related goals. Topics will include medical self-advocacy, boundary setting, and effective communication skills. Snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Click here for more info

Zumba in the Park
Tuesdays July 6 to Aug 26
6:30 PM – 7:25 PM
FREE
Hewitt Park – 269 Seabrook Dr.

Zumba combines Latin and international music with dance moves, creating a high-energy, fun workout. Come to Hewitt Park to enjoy a great Zumba dance workout provided by the Williamsburg Community Association. Bring your neighbours! No need to register just come and join the fun!

Click here for more info

Bike Repairs with Red Raccoon Bike Rescue
Wednesday, July 9
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
FREE
WPL McCormick Branch – 500 Parkside Dr. Waterloo

Red Raccoon Bike Rescue is back at the McCormick Branch to help you with your bike repairs this summer! Volunteers will be available to help repair your bike, but be prepared to get your hands dirty and learn some new skills. This is a drop-in program so no registration is required.

Click here for more info

Movie Night: There’s No Crying In Baseball
Wednesdays, June 25 to Aug 20
6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
FREE
Central Library – 85 Queen St. N, Kitchener

Don’t get caught napping – join us every Wednesday night starting June 25 for our Movie Night series. We’re swinging for the fences with this line-up of great baseball movies. July 2 will feature the movie 42 followed by Moneyball on July 9 and The Bad News Bears on July 16.

Click here for more info

Independent Living Waterloo Region Picnic
Thursday, July 10
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
FREE – Registration Required
Victoria Park Pavilion – 90 Schneider Ave. Kitchener

Join us for an afternoon filled with food and fun. In addition to BBQ hotdogs, sausages and hamburgers, we will be recognizing our valuable staff celebrating a milestone anniversary at ILWR. Make sure you register at the link below so we have enough food for everyone.

Click here for more info

The post July 2, 2025: What’s Happening in Your Neighbourhood? appeared first on KW Habilitation.

♦

GUELPH - Yadian Martinez was a wizard for the Kitchener Panthers, and the offense did the rest on a Canada Day down the road in Guelph.

Martinez struck out seven in seven innings of work to lead the Panthers to a 7-4 win over the Royals.

Martinez gave up five hits and three runs (one earned). Two of those five hits came in the first inning, and at one point retired 16 of 18 batters in a row.

The Panthers took advantage of a plethora of errors by the Royals defense.

Jamie Cabral and AJ Karosas both recorded triples. Cabral actually circled the bases, as his line drive deep to right field in the eighth got him to third, and a throwing error got him home on the same play.

Danny Garcia collected his second save in as many games with a perfect ninth.

Edgar Garcia gave up five runs (two earned) in 4.1 innings of work in the loss.

Kitchener has now won two straight and host Chatham-Kent on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW and #PackTheJack!

While solving an interview question, I came across this part of Machine Learning that was asked in a BCG Gamma Machine Learning interview. So, I’m sharing it in this post. Hope this would be fruitful for all the readers.

Describe precision and recall, and give their formulas. What is their importance, and what is the nature of the tradeoff between the two?

Both are evaluation metrics used to measure the performance of classification models, especially when classes are imbalanced (like spam detection, fraud, disease prediction, etc.). They become especially important when dealing with imbalanced datasets.

Precision tells you:
Of all the predicted positives, how many were actually correct? It is a is a metric that measures the accuracy of positive predictions made by a model.

Precision refers to the number of true positives divided by the total number of positive predictions (i.e., the number of true positives plus the number of false positives).

Recall tells you: Of all the actual positives, how many did the model catch?

It is a metric that measures the ability of a model to correctly identify all relevant instances (true positives) from a dataset. It measures how well the model finds all positive instances in the dataset.

Recall is crucial when minimizing false negatives is critical. For instance, in medical diagnoses, a false negative (missing a disease) can be more dangerous than a false positive (incorrectly identifying a disease).

Recall is about finding all the actual positive cases, while precision is about how correct the positive predictions are. If recall is high but precision is low, the model is catching most of the real positives, but it’s also including many incorrect ones. On the other hand, if precision is high but recall is low, the model is making very accurate positive predictions, but it’s failing to identify many of the true positive instances.

A good model is one that achieves a balance between precision and recall, depending on the goal of the problem.

While studying about it, I got a good response from Chat GPT, so I have pasted it here to know in which scenarios we can use the mentioned ones.

They ignore the true negatives, and focus on: How well the model finds positives (recall) and how correct those predictions are (precision)

Yes, even when the dataset is balanced (like 50% spam and 50% not spam), precision and recall are still useful if making the wrong prediction has different consequences. For example, in a spam filter, marking a good email as spam (false positive) can annoy users, while missing a spam email (false negative) lets junk into the inbox. So, even if the model gets a good accuracy, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Precision and recall help you understand how well your model handles the important cases.

Imagine a disease test:

• 100 people have the disease.
• Model identifies 90 people as positive.
• 80 actually have the disease → True Positives (TP) = 80
• 10 don’t have it → False Positives (FP) = 10
• 20 people with disease were missed → False Negatives (FN) = 20

Then:

• Precision = 80 / (80 + 10) = 0.89 (89%)
• Recall = 80 / (80 + 20) = 0.80 (80%)

The model predicted that the person has the disease, and in reality, the person does have it.
Example: The model says the person has the disease, and the person is actually sick. This is called a true positive. It means the model correctly identified a positive case.

The model predicted that the person has the disease, but in reality, the person does not have it.
Example: The model says the person has the disease, but the person is actually healthy. This is called a false positive. It means the model raised a false alarm.

The model predicted that the person does not have the disease, but in reality, the person does have it.
Example: The model says the person is healthy, but the person actually has the disease. This is called a false negative. It means the model missed a real positive case.

The model predicted that the person does not have the disease, and in reality, the person is healthy.
Example: The model says the person is healthy, and the person is actually healthy. This is called a true negative. It means the model correctly identified a negative case.

A trade-off means that when you improve one thing, another gets worse. In machine learning, there’s often a trade-off between precision and recall when one goes up, the other goes down.

Most models (like logistic regression or neural networks) give you a score between 0 and 1 for each prediction, not just “yes” or “no”. You have to choose a threshold, like 0.5, to decide what counts as a positive prediction.

The nature of the trade-off between precision and recall is that as one increases, the other usually decreases, because of how models decide what counts as a positive prediction.

• High precision, low recall → Model is very careful, but may miss positives (e.g., only predicts spam when very sure, but misses many spam emails)
• High recall, low precision → Model catches almost everything, but with many false alarms (e.g., flags too many emails as spam, even good ones)

You can’t usually maximize both precision and recall at the same time.
Improving one often means sacrificing the other.

The goal is therefore to find a balance that fits your use case:

• Medical tests? → Maximize recall (don’t miss sick people)
• Spam filter? → Maximize precision (don’t flag good emails)

• The model becomes less strict
• It says more things are positive
• So you catch more actual positives → Recall increases
• But you also get more wrong positives → Precision decreases

• The model becomes more strict
• It says fewer things are positive
• So you get fewer false alarms → Precision increases
• But you might miss real positives → Recall decreases

To balance both, we use the F1 score: F1 is high only when both precision and recall are high. The F1 score is the harmonic mean of precision and recall:

This formula only gives a high value when both precision and recall are high. If either one is low, the F1 score drops significantly.

The ideal case is when the model is correctly identifying almost all positives (high recall), and Most of its positive predictions are actually correct (high precision)

But sometimes the models may seem too good to be true — like scoring 95% precision and 95% recall — especially on small or imbalanced datasets.

That could mean:

• The test data leaked into training
• The model memorized the data
• The problem was too easy or not realistic

In a nutshell High F1 score is what we aim for, but if it’s unusually high, we should always double-check for model problems (like overfitting or data leakage).
Otherwise, it’s a sign model is doing great!

I have taken the content from the websites of Google and ChatGPT

If you found this helpful, follow me on Medium and give the post a like!

Your feedback means a lot and motivates me to share more 🚀. Thanks for reading!

Precision vs Recall: Trade-offs, Importance, and the Role of the F1 Score — A Must-Know Interview… was originally published in Code Like A Girl on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

NVIDIA Image Scaling SDK

C 553 Updated Aug 22, 2022

The other week, the City of Waterloo turned down a temporary home for arts studios and an arts incubator in the closed St. Columba church. I believe that a large part of the concern was that only the main floor of the former church was accessible. It still could have added a new temporary location for the arts.

Before I continue, as a long time board member of the Button Factory Arts Centre, I must point out that Waterloo does have a non-profit centre for the arts in Uptown Waterloo. The city owns the building and also supports the centre in many, many ways. BFAC has classes, programs, a small gallery and juried exhibitions for artists. It is presently undergoing very expensive elevator and washroom upgrades for accessibility funded by the city. So I understand the concerns about St. Columba. Unfortunately there is no space for artists’ studios at the BFAC, both floors being taken up by programs. BFAC is extremely busy. Thank you to the City of Waterloo.

The 404 Wing building is another temporary space for artist studios but has a long waiting list. There is a great need for space for artists, whether fine arts, playwrights or chorographers. Like we have incubators for technology, we also need an incubator for the arts. A thriving arts scene is one of the attractions for workers in the technology sector.

Despite the disappointment that St Columba will not be used as a temporary centre for the arts, Waterloo staff said they will bring back a report in the fall that will hopefully accelerate the building of affordable housing on the St. Columba site. They will also include an arts and community centre on the site.

The fact that staff is looking at including a community centre on the St. Columba site is exciting. If you follow my blog, you know that I have taken the City of Waterloo to task for the lack of community centres throughout the city compared to Kitchener, Cambridge and even Guelph. We live in a community centre desert.

My church actually built a community centre in Lakeshore North when we rebuilt All Saints. The non-profit, non-denominational Sidewalk Centre has had approximately 24,000 visits in its first year of operation, showing the great need for community programs.

Most artists are not rich or able to afford private studio space whether rented or in their home. Affordable housing is rented by people who need community programs. I sincerely hope the city will include an arts and community centre in the St. Columba build.

I believe that it was only six months ago or so that Allan Deal (GHD) reversed the position taken by Dr. Neil Thompson of the U. of Waterloo. Dr. Thompson was working on a Conceptual Site Model for the Lanxess property (formerly Uniroyal Chemical) here in Elmira. Dr. Thompson plainly indicated that there was excess chlorobenzene in the Elmira Aquifers relative to the quantities that Uniroyal Chemical had calculated. I believe that there was also a suggestion that some kind of isotope determination was undertaken which suggested that some of the chlorobenzene was not from Uniroyal Chemical. I am not sure of this last point because it was very poorly explained. Later evidence disputed this.

For me this was a major breakthrough as it at least partially explained some discrepancies involving chlorobenzene being discovered one hundred feet below ground surface very close to pumping well W4 near the Water Tower on Howard Ave. This chlorobenzene exhibited many characteristics of DNAPLs  yet Conestoga Rovers and Chemtura dogmatically and pig headedly refused to even consider it.

Later as mentioned Allan Deal and other mouthpieces for GHD/Chemtura bluntly reversed their positions claiming that available isotope analysis did not clarify whether it was chlorobenzene solely from Uniroyal or not.. When asked directly by myself from the gallery Mr. Deal categorically denied that there was more than one source of chlorobenzene in the Elmira Aquifers. Now Lanxess have again reversed themselves!

At the June 19/25 TRAC meeting Jesse Wright of Arcadis (on behalf of Lanxess) both stated and showed a map indicating multiple potential other sources of chlorobenzene just south and a little west of Lanxess. The map is very small but appears to have Varnicolor, Borg, Nutrite and one or two other companies contributing to the chlorobenzene contamination.

Firstly this explains why after 27 years of pump & treat there is still lots of chlorobenzene in our aquifers.  DNAPLS dissolve very slowly and are recalcitrant at best to pump & treat. Secondly I have to ask the following question: 

Today (July 2025) is almost thirty-six years since our water supply was shut down by Uniroyal Chemical and it's allegedly taken that long for our authorities to realize that Uniroyal never was the sole polluter. I don't believe that for a second. Yes they are stupid but more importantly they are dishonest and they participated in a coverup of major facts in order to make the polluter, the Ministry of Environment and themselves all look less stupid, incompetent and self-serving.  

The post Canada Day appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

The post Canada Day appeared first on Grand River Rocks Climbing Gym.

Why am I calling them shameless? I attended the June 19/25 TRAC meeting. I sat in the front row of the gallery to ensure that I could both hear speakers as well as see any maps or Figures put up on the overhead screen. Just now I have sat watching the first hour and twenty minutes or so video of that TRAC meeting as it is available on the Woolwich Township website. The overheads are much clearer and I am almost speechless.

One particular map was put up on the overhead screen that was very relevant. Unfortunately it was difficult to read in particular the tiny little yellow rectangles representing POTENTIAL OFF-SITE CHLOROBENZENE SOURCES.  It was at the 50:38 (fifty minute 38 seconds) mark of the TRAC video. Holy crap but Lanxess can't get their story straight! That map of Elmira has four or five potential off-site source areas for chlorobenzene. They appear to be close to or within the blocks of Industrial Dr., Union St, Howard Ave. and First St. It appears as if both Borg and Varnicolor are coloured yellow as well as others .

Keep in mind that I've stated for at least the last fifteen years that there are other sources of chlorobenzene than just Uniroyal Chemical. Perhaps eight years ago Dr. Neil Thompson of U. of Waterloo wrote a Conceptual Site Model (CSM) in which he agreed that others had leaked chlorobenzene into the groundwater besides Uniroyal. Then last summer/fall I asked Allan Deal (GHD) publicly if he agreed or not. He was presenting a new, updated CSM. and he emphatically denied any second source of chlorobenzene to Elmira's groundwater.

Keep in mind that I am not conflating a second source with what Jesse Wright of Arcadis (working for Lanxess ) referred to as secondary sources. These are not direct infusions of contaminants from an industrial source at the surface but are back diffusion (leakage) from the aquitards (clay & silt) which occurs as the aquifers (sand & gravel) concentrations of chlorobenzene slowly decreases over time which induces the chlorobenzene in the adjacent aquitards to then release their chlorobenzene back into the aquifers. 

I used to think of councillor Bauman as Mr. Flip Flop. This is a breath taking flip flop by Lanxess.

♦

Roughly two years ago today, Metrolinx announced that it would end its pilot project of running one GO Train in both directions between Toronto and London, effective October 2023.

Two years on, I'm annoyed that the end result of this pilot project has been worse service from VIA Rail.

Before the London pilot project, VIA ran two trains a day, each way, between Toronto and London via Kitchener. One left Sarnia at. 6:10 in the morning, passed Kitchener at around 9:20, and got into Union at 10:50. A second train departed London at 7:51 in the evening, stopped at Kitchener at 9:45, and arrived in Toronto at 11:15 at night. Return trains from Toronto departed Union at around 11 a.m. (admittedly this train was kind of useless) to London, and at 5:40 in the afternoon, getting into Sarnia at 10:20 p.m.

Today, that's only one train, leaving Sarnia later in the morning, passing Kitchener at noon and getting into Toronto at 1:40 p.m., with the return trip departing Union at 5:40 p.m. This had the effect of reducing train service between Kitchener and Toronto on the weekend from two trains each way to one. And while I have no proof that the Metrolinx pilot project caused VIA's cutback, the fact that this change at VIA happened just weeks into the launch of the Metrolinx pilot project suggests a considerable cause and effect.

By all accounts, the Metrolinx pilot project was something of a failure. Ridership was low. The problem was, the trip was an excessively long run for a so-called commuter train. At close to four hours, the seats were uncomfortable, and tthere were no provisions for snacks and drinks. At least there were washrooms in every car. People in London wanting to commute to Toronto had faster and more comfortable VIA Trains operating to Toronto via Brantford. However, the service still provided an important second daily link between Toronto and the communities of Stratford and St. Mary's. Now they have only one. Similarly, Kitchener has lost the opportunity of an evening trip home after visiting London.

Whoever is responsible, it's shameful that an attempt to improve public transit in southwestern Ontario has ended up making service worse, and I call upon the Ontario government to step in. I believe there is a demand for improved train service into southwestern Ontario and if Ontario wants it, Ontario should pay for it. However, they should pay VIA to provide it.

Train travel to southwestern Ontario won't be commuter-based. It will be intercity based, and the equipment should reflect that. The trains should have more comfortable seating for those longer journeys. There should be a cafe car for snacks and meals on these journeys. This is the sort of service VIA runs, and Ontario should help out with funds to purchase the equipment needed for VIA to expand. You could add to the Siemens Venture order that Ontario Northland has already piggybacked off of for its restored Northlander train. Or GO's bilevels could be retrofitted with the long-distance seating and cafe car equipment which is already available from Bombardier.

There is plenty of precedent for this sort of arrangement in the United States, where states can top up Amtrak's subsidies to run increased state-based service. Just as there is Amtrak California, we could use VIA Ontario.

At the very least, let's restore the missing VIA services that Metrolinx left behind as it pulled its train out of London. The communities enroute deserve nothing less.

When I worked for consulting firms before I was self-employed, there were benchmarks consultants had to meet for billable hours per year, and often some metrics for non-working time as well. As an independent consultant, I haven’t really set targets for myself in the same way.

Last fiscal year, I booked all of my time, accounting for every hour in a standard work week (or more than standard if I had more billable time than the standard in a given week). In previous years, I often only tracked billable hours or CPD (continuing professional development) hours (for CPA reporting). My timesheets are for billing, not for payroll, so there was no need for accounting for a set number of hours, except for my own analysis.

My fiscal year ends on Monday (June 30th), and I’m at the point where I have reviewed last year as well as working on planning for my next fiscal year. I already knew what I’d be doing on Monday, so I booked that time in Harvest ahead of time and finished my analysis over the weekend. It was my worst year on record for utilization and billable hours, by a lot. Ugh. Next year’s target is higher than this year's, even though I missed last year's target by a mile. I expect to have fewer distractions this year than last year, and have a few more “irons in the fire” in terms of potential work to fill the gaps I had this year.

I created targets for my time in various buckets to track billable time vs. administrative activities vs. non-working time. I broke out non-working time into 4 different categories with a “budget” (target number of hours), but made the mistake of having some ill-defined categories where my time could go in more than one bucket, so it was a bit of a “garbage in, garbage out” situation in the end. I altered the categories for next year and re-allocated some of my time to where they should have been so it will be somewhat more consistent with this coming year for a comparison year over year.

My time buckets (other than billable time) are now: administration, time off, family time, self-improvement time, and idle time, aka “on the bench”. For those of you not from a consulting background, if you don’t have work to do in a given day, you were often referred to as being “on the bench”, as in “put me in, coach, I’m ready to play!”.

Last year, I originally had sick time in with family time (I had called it “family and personal” but some things I had booked as personal time were just days off). I also had split Admin out into business development vs. everything else, which seemed like a distinction I didn't need to isolate for tracking.

The biggest challenge I had was my inconsistent human behaviour: it was too easy to manipulate where I booked the time based on how I felt that day. For example, if I felt bad about booking idle time to “on the bench”, I often would convince myself “I took the rest of the day off” and book it as time off. It was easy to blur those lines. I have an idea on how to approach that differently next year. Bench time should be an indication of lost revenue, ultimately, which is different than a conscious decision to take time off from work.

I have a PowerBI report emailed to me daily where I pull my data from Harvest APIs to monitor several pieces of information, one of which is hours vs. these targets. I’m also using it to track outstanding invoices (how many and their amounts), utilization rate, year-to-date billable hours vs. total hours booked, billings by month compared to the previous fiscal year, and active client projects' hours vs. estimates. I review it every evening, and it works nicely to keep me aware of where I'm at throughout the year.

Here is a screenshot of my daily report, with the details blurred for confidentiality.

I’ve set targets for the same general buckets noted above, covering the 261 weekdays that make up my next fiscal year.

• Billable hours: I had a target number of days in my head, but to confirm whether it was realistic or not, I took a look at how much I've billed my various clients over the past year or two. Based on how much I'm aware of their plans and projects for this year, and the trends recently, I created a low, high and budget estimate for each active and potential client on where I think I’ll end up which helped me see where I’m trending vs. the number in my head I started with.
• Time off: There are 10 statutory holidays in Ontario where I live, plus a vacation day allotment that would be equivalent to what I might have if I were employed elsewhere, and then a small buffer for sick or other time off scenarios that are not “fun”. I’m not going to differentiate why it’s time off, just that it is different from “on the bench”.
• Family time: If I did not have power of attorney duties to fulfill, I would not even have this isolated in its own category, but it took up a lot of my time last year. I set a target based on how often I plan on visiting, as each visit takes up most of a day, with it being close to 2 hours each way in travel time, plus the visit and any other business I have to attend to while I’m there.
• Learning time: I’ve set a target for time spent on self-improvement, whether it be at conferences or learning in other forms. I’m often learning on my own time, but if I have time to do some of this during business hours, that time will be booked here.
• Administration: I’ve set aside some hours per month for the regular activities surrounding a business, plus a bit extra this year for some specific system and process improvements I started making last year. I know I have the time available, so I may as well use it and track against it.
• Idle time is "on the bench", and there is no target, as I expect that it is zero hours. When work is slow, I should be scheduling my time to focus on admin and learning if I'm not otherwise off for vacation or family time.

As far as changing my tracking approach, I will be more deliberate in planning time off this year than I was last year. What I hope to do - as much as my imperfect human behaviour will allow (LOL) - is regularly review my schedule and workload, schedule my time off where it fits, and if I end up with idle time that wasn’t planned for, it will get charged to “the bench”. That’s my theory anyway! 😄

Some areas I’m not going to track are where the time flows into my personal time. I will track CPD hours for my CPA designation separately since it is often a mix of business and personal time that it’s done on. I am only trying to account for my standard work week now, not all other kinds of non-billable time that I need or want to track. If CPD occurs during business hours, it would just get booked to "learning" like any other learning, but I won't capture all of it this way.

Ultimately, some of the time buckets are only there to book my time against when I have time during business hours to use for them. When client work is busier, many of those activities move to evenings and weekends and thus don’t get tracked anymore: visits to my relative shift to a weekend, bookkeeping gets done after hours, learning is done on my own time, etc.

I don't want to be 100% billable, that's not my goal. If I approach that level of busy-ness, then things I still need to do for my business inherently will be after hours or on weekends. I'm at the stage of my career where that's not a trade-off I'm willing to make anymore. I do some client work on evenings and weekends occasionally, some things just can't always be done during business hours, but those are typically scheduled, and I trade off business hours where I can, so I still am booking to the same standard work week overall.

I'd be curious how many other freelancers or independent consultants go through a similar exercise in planning their fiscal years. I really don’t tend to do a detailed financial budget for my overall spending, but I did enjoy working through managing my workdays and accounting for all the hours, not just the billable ones.

KITCHENER - A pitching gem from Owen MacNeil and a home run parade led to a 1-1 record for the Kitchener Panthers over the weekend.

On Saturday, five home runs from the Panthers weren't enough to get the job done as Chatham-Kent won in a walk-off.

On Sunday, MacNeil gave up one hit in seven scoreless innings as Kitchener got some revenge over the Brantford Red Sox.

Yosvani Penalver homered twice, while Charlie Towers, AJ Karosas and Ayad Ansari all went yard.

But it wasn't enough, as Lee Kucera hit a walk-off RBI single in the ninth to put the Barnstormers on top.

Kitchener had a 5-1 lead at one point, but the Barnstormers came through late.

Evan Elliott struck out seven in six innings of work in the start. He gave up four runs off eight hits, but walked six batters and charged with four wild pitches, the first four he's been charged with all season.

Yadian Martinez took the loss, while Eric Pettapiece got the win.

MacNeil the magnificent.

MacNeil the magician.

MacNeil was plain amazing in shutting down the Red Sox, giving up one hit in seven innings in the win. The defense was also spectacular, as MacNeil struck out just two batters.

Meantime, Kitchener got all three of its runs in the third inning, and rode the hot hand the rest of the way.

Yordan Manduley kept strong in the batters box, going three-for-four and extended his hitting streak to six games. 

He had three of Kitchener's six hits on the day, as Connor Irvine also had a strong outing.

He went seven innings, giving up three runs off six hits in the loss. He walked three and struck out three.

Up next, the Panthers are on the road in Guelph on Canada Day against its Highway 7 rivals. First pitch at Hastings Stadium is 7:30 p.m.

The next home game is Thursday, July 3 against Chatham-Kent.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW and #PackTheJack!

Carrera-Hernández, J. J., Mendoza, C. A., Devito, K. J., Petrone, R. M., & Smerdon, B. D. (2012). Reclamation for aspen revegetation in the Athabasca oil sands: Understanding soil water dynamics through unsaturated flow modelling. In Canadian Journal of Soil Science (Vol. 92, Issue 1, pp. 103–116). Canadian Science Publishing. doi.org/10.4141/cjss2010-035

“For the virtual experiments developed in this work, the adaptive time step option of HydroGeoSphere was used. The output was processed through a series of awk scripts to get daily and/or monthly data, because for some days HydroGeoSphere required 50 or even more subdaily time steps to converge.”

Figure 1. Location of the oil sands regions and the boreal plains within the Canadian boreal forest, with disturbance in the Athabasca region illustrated through the use of a LANDSAT-5 colour composite for (a) August 1985 and (b) September 2010 with coordinates given in meters, UTM-12. The Alberta inset shows the Utikuma Region Study Area (URSA) where evapotranspiration data for aspen were measured.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE.

We’re pleased to highlight this older publication authored by researchers at the University of Alberta, Wilfred Laurier University and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The paper focuses on understanding soil water dynamics in reclaimed landscapes within the Athabasca oil sands region using unsaturated flow modelling. The study explores how different reclamation strategies affect soil water availability and water table fluxes— critical components for supporting aspen revegetation, a key species in boreal forest ecosystems.

Figure 9. Daily soil water dynamics for different depths of capping material used on top of tailings sand: (a) 0 m, (b) 0.5 m and (c) 1.0 m considering different water table depths commonly found on the boreal plains (2, 4, 6 and 12 m). The top plot shows the variability of the climatological conditions for the simulated period (1919–2006).

In this research, HydroGeoSphere (HGS) was used to simulate soil water movement under various reclamation scenarios over an extended period (1919–2006), integrating long-term climate variability into the analysis. The study tested combinations of reclamation cover thicknesses (0.0, 0.5, and 1.0 m) and water table depths (2, 4, 6, and 12 m) to determine the conditions most suitable for sustaining vegetation, particularly trembling aspen, in reconstructed post-mining landscapes. The virtual experiments captured daily soil moisture profiles and fluxes at the water table, offering a realistic representation of hydrological processes over both wet and dry climate cycles.

HydroGeoSphere’s robust modelling framework allowed for a fully integrated simulation of variably saturated flow under each reclamation scenario. The model incorporated adaptive time-stepping and dynamic boundary conditions, such as net atmospheric fluxes derived from evapotranspiration and precipitation data. Importantly, the simulations demonstrated how the presence of a reclamation cover— especially with a thickness of 0.5 to 1.0 m— could buffer against moisture loss and promote water retention, making it more available to support plant growth.

Results showed that reclaimed landscapes generally experienced less fluctuation in water table fluxes compared to natural settings. The addition of fine-textured reclamation material helped moderate water movement and created more stable conditions for vegetation establishment. Notably, upward flux from the water table— critical during dry periods— was only significant in scenarios with shallow water tables (2 m) and adequate reclamation cover. This highlights the importance of maintaining a water table depth of at least 4 m in order to minimize the risk of salinity impacts from upward groundwater flow, especially during prolonged dry cycles.

By using HydroGeoSphere to analyze these complex interactions over decades of climate variability, the study provides valuable guidance for designing effective reclamation strategies in oil sands regions. The findings emphasize the importance of soil texture, cover thickness, and water table depth in developing sustainable post-mining landscapes that can support long-term forest regeneration and minimize ecological disturbance.

Abstract:

Reclamation of mined areas in the Athabasca oil sands region is required by law, with the ultimate goal of revegetating to species characteristic of predisturbance native plant communities. To develop adequate reclamation strategies, an analysis of soil water dynamics is of utmost importance, as is understanding the impact of the thickness of the reclamation cover. In this work, soil water dynamics and fluxes at the water table were simulated for three reclamation scenarios and compared with the fluxes obtained for natural conditions assuming that aspen is the target reclamation species. According to the simulations, a reclamation thickness between 0.5 and 1.0 m can be used to provide water for revegetation. The numerical simulations show that the reclaimed landscapes have fluxes at the water table that exhibit less fluctuation than natural conditions. To limit the interaction between the water table and atmospheric fluxes, and to limit upward flux, the water table should be deeper than 2.0 m on reclaimed landscapes that use aspen for revegetation, particularly when reclamation takes place during a dry climatological cycle.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE.

The AGM for the KW Granite Club is scheduled for Wednesday, July 16, 2025 at 6:30 pm.

The quote above comes from an anonymous commenter here of two days ago. To this day the Stroh Drain will be draining contaminated groundwater from both the Uniroyal/Lanxess site as well as overland rainfall flow. It was installed after the massive bulk of toxic liquid waste dumping into RPE 1-5 was ended approximately in 1970. It is fair to say that the Uniroyal property and soils were saturated with their liquid wastes to a great depth. Now do keep in mind that the Stroh Drain will be only draining shallow aquifers such as the Upper Aquifer (UA). 

Think about this carefully. The massive volumes of liquid wastes pumped into the five east side pits were done. Yes various swales on the Uniroyal site would still assist southerly flow of rainwater that would be less contaminated than when the pits were operating. Groundwater on the other hand might remain highly contaminated for a very long time. The former low lying swamp on both the Uniroyal and Stroh property originally consisted of both overland flow of liquid wastes as well as of groundwater.  That swamp has been drained by the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm (SDDB) hence there no longer is water at the ground surface as the Stroh Drain is dug well below the water table (surface of the shallow aquifer). 

I view the SDDB as a reward to the Stroh family for services rendered. They had allowed, for consideration, toxic liquid wastes from their next door neighbour to flow through their property  and then via the Martin Creek into the Canagagigue Creek. It left however a stinking chemical laden swamp behind. The SDDB drained the swamp on both properties by lowering the water table. It certainly would have been much easier to install the Stroh Drain after the ending of the use of the east side pits for holding massive volumes of toxic liquids. Perhaps the brain trust at Uniroyal thought that the swamp on both properties would dry up when the pumping of liquid wastes to the east side pits ended. That might explain why they waited thirteen years or so to build the SDDB.

Regardless the Stroh Drain as the commenter pointed out "...is brutally damning evidence.".  This Drain is located on the Stroh property in the lowest lying areas which of course is where the overflowing original liquid toxic wastes ended up. As we all know contaminated groundwater takes much longer to attenuate than does surface water. Surface water basically begins cleaning up as soon as the contamination pumped or dumped into it ends. Contaminated groundwater on the other hand can take decades to centuries to clean up. 

I am a year-and-a-bit into my "on-the-fly" education of acting as Power of Attorney (POA will be used as the abbreviation for the rest of this article) for a relative, and let me tell you, it's been a journey and a half. Let me share some of the things I've encountered, in the hope that you, someone who might be writing one up for the future or has already done so, might see this and wonder if there are things you need to consider that you hadn't thought about before.

ALL of the things I have encountered are because of a specific situation:

1. The POA was written and based on New York State law for a U.S. citizen and resident of New York State. She signed her copies in New York with her lawyer.
2. All of the agents named on the POA are Canadian citizens and residents of the province of Ontario. We signed the copies of the POA in Ontario with a lawyer in Ontario (who is also a notary).

Lesson #1: If you can, name a co-agent that is a resident of the State/Province and Country you are in, along with the relatives who are not local, if you have no other option. There are firms that provide these services if there are no people you can trust. "Why" will become apparent further along here.

This relative's father was Canadian, moved to the USA as a young man, lived there the rest of his life, got his US citizenship, got married, had a child, etc. The relative herself is a US Citizen, has always lived in New York state. No siblings, no kids, never married, and no living relatives in the USA, just her cousins in Canada are all she has left, my mom & I included.

When she drafted her Power of Attorney forms a few years ago when she was healthy, it was a natural decision for her to name my mother and me as her agents, since we were the two closest relatives she had (literally and figuratively).

Fast forward to last April when she had a stroke and was unable to care for herself, and quickly lost the cognitive ability to manage her finances. My mom was actually the sole named agent on the POA, with me being the successor agent. The successor agent in this case became "the" agent if the named agent was deceased, unable or unwilling to accept the role (paraphrasing a bit there). This was far too much for my mom to take on, so she signed a letter, we had it notarized, where she essentially handed over the reins to me.

I was fortunate here: my mom and I have a good enough relationship that this transition was within a couple of weeks of us needing to start managing the relative's finances so I have effectively been acting as POA from day 1 even though I wasn't actually able to sign anything on her behalf until a few weeks had passed.

Lesson #2: Here is another "I'm not a lawyer" thing, but if it is possible to name co-agents that can act independently without co-signing everything, ask your lawyer about that to make an educated decision. Some things would have been far simpler if my mom and I were co-agents, especially if we could act independently, not co-sign everything. With the primary/successor setup, I could do nothing until my mom relinquished her obligations under the POA, even though I'm the accountant with the financial acumen and background suitable for this task.

Picture this: everywhere I needed to submit the POA paperwork, which already was complicated by the fact that my mom wasn't a US citizen or resident, now needed to be accompanied by another letter - notarized - that my mom signed indicating (essentially) that she was unable to perform the duties of POA. If I had a dime for every time I had to explain why I was giving them multiple documents to prove who I am in this scenario, I might be able to buy a nice dinner by now.

My relative had accounts all over the place, mostly credit cards. Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Tompkins Bank, US Bank, etc., I had to contact a lot of banks to be able to pay off and close these cards.

Bank of America specifically was a massive pain in the ass. I initially called them with her sitting beside me to verify that she allowed me to speak on her behalf, to close the account. They screwed up and didn't close the account. Next time I called without her, they said I couldn't talk to them without her approval, even if it was on record already. I provided the POA just like I did to all the other banks, but it wasn't accepted. She still technically has a credit card there, so at least I was able to log in to inactivate it from being used, since I still can't cancel it. I provided:

• A faxed copy of the original (most banks accepted this, and I quickly closed most of the rest of the accounts).
• Proof of my citizenship and Social Insurance Number (which they needed, apparently).
• A re-notarized "certified copy" which I paid a notary in Ontario to prepare. I watched him take a copy of the original document, of which I had 1 copy of, stamp every single god-damned page, and sign and date every page. I mailed this in. They rejected it.

I gave up. The best I could tell was that this was because I was a non-citizen/resident of the USA, and that's as far as I could get from multiple calls to their call centres.

If at least one agent was a resident/citizen, I suspect this would not have been an issue.

This was a VERY frustrating lesson, but thankfully one that is behind me now. Her investments, minimal as they were, were with Edward Jones USA. During the "draw-down" period in the initial few months, when I needed money transferred to get to the point of eligibility for Medicaid, her advisor got it transferred. Then he was terminated. The new advisor stated he was unable to take direction from me because they are not licensed in Ontario, Canada, where I live. "FINRA" rules they said. Bullshit I said, but apparently it is true.

Here is where Lesson #1 above would have solved everything. No matter what I tried with this advisor, including hiring and paying for a lawyer to try to sort this out with Edward Jones USA corporate lawyers, they were not going to accept the POA because the named agent is in a jurisdiction they are not licensed to operate in.

The biggest issue with this situation is that I had no control over her funds, the majority of her assets were with Edward Jones, and when Medicaid was approved, I owed more money in the "true up" to the long-term care facility that I had no funds to pay with. Additionally, under Medicaid, a person is limited to how much "wealth" they can have, and I would have to prove annually that she is within those limits. Without being able to direct the investments, I had no control over whether something ended up with significant gains and would put her back out of being eligible for Medicaid again. Talk about being in stress city!

Initially, they offered to allow me to transfer the funds to Edward Jones Canada if I opened an account for her here. Problem #1 Her POA prohibits me from opening accounts outside of NY State. Problem #2 In order to move her funds to another account, even in the same broad firm, the funds would need to be liquidated first, and since I was unable to authorize the direction to do that, transferring the funds was therefore impossible. Little known fact: you cannot hold US mutual funds in a Canadian institution's account, even if it's a USD account, just like you cannot hold Canadian mutual funds in a US institution. I didn't know that either.

Ultimately, they told me that this would be resolved when she dies. Just fucking lovely isn't it?

THANKFULLY, I talked the advisor into meeting my relative with me. She has lucid moments, and while I'm not religious in the least, PRAISE THE LORD that the day we met together, she was having a great day, and she confirmed for him that she agreed with my decision to close her account and move her money to her primary bank instead. OMFG I never had as big a victory dance as I did earlier this month when that money was deposited into her bank account. What a shit show.

I ran into this issue twice (so far).

In the first instance, I changed her Medicare Advantage provider to one that had a great plan specific for people in long-term care facilities. I needed to submit the POA to be able to transact on her behalf and get her registered for this, etc., but their legal team said there was no expiry date on the notary's seal. Little did I know that in the US, or at least in NY State, notaries have terms and their seals/stamps have expiry dates. In Canada, or at least in Ontario, lawyers specifically are automatically also notaries public, and it is for life, so no expiration date applies. The POA notarization of my mom's & my signatures originally was done in Ontario with a lawyer here, with no expiry date. I needed to send in proof of her legal licence and another thing proving the fact that there is no expiry date for notaries in Ontario if they are a lawyer. They accepted that, and we moved on.

In the second instance, it is her primary bank asking for this in order for me to open new bank accounts in her name. The money I reference above from her investments is sitting in a checking account that earns 0.01% interest. Not a typo. The POA is already on her account, all is good with that; however, in order to set up new accounts in her name, they needed to prove the validity of the notary. I know she doesn't have much, but I would like it to at least earn a bit more money.

I communicated with the bank that I want to purchase some CDs (Certificates of Deposit), which are kind of like GICs (Guaranteed Investment Certificates) here in Canada. They questioned the validity of the notary. While the POA on her existing accounts is valid and accepted, I was confused at why I needed something new now but at this point in the journey, little surprises me because nothing has been easy.

Initially, I responded with the same 2 supporting documents that I sent to the Medicare Advantage provider, but they were not accepted. They requested an "Apostille". WTF is that, you ask? That was my question two weeks ago!

An Apostille is an authentication for a document to be used outside the jurisdiction in which it was notarized. This would be for authorizing any public document, like a birth certificate or diploma or powers of attorney. I had to ask my lawyer who was the original notary because, honestly, I didn't know what this was or how to obtain it.

Lesson #3: The process of getting the Apostille for the POA was actually pretty painless. For my specific scenario, it was a Service Ontario function. I went here www.ontario.ca/page/authenticate-document-use-outside-canada to start the process, then I went to Toronto to the 777 Bay Street location where "ODS" (Ontario Document Services) is located to get the Apostille. It cost me $16. It also cost me $23 to park for 2 hours, LOL, but that's Toronto for you. I went and waited, and end to end took me an hour to get this done (and an hour+ drive each way I should add!). Well worth the drive to just get it done in my opinion, as the alternative was to mail the original POA to them, and the chances of it getting lost were too high for me to risk.

In my specific instance, a document notarized in Ontario for use in the USA was what this Apostille is for: to validate the notary and authorize it for use outside of Canada. What was fascinating to me is that it is now permanently attached to the original POA I provided with this clip in the upper left-hand corner, such that I cannot take it off or it invalidates the Apostille.

I say that with more than a bit of sarcasm in my voice. I think of how little I understood what was involved in being a POA, let alone this US-Canada stuff, and I am amazed at what I have learned this past year.

Lesson #4: If possible, when you draft your own POA, have multiple copies of it with original signatures and notaries. Scanning it in will work for numerous scenarios, but some places will need "an original". Bank of America requested 'the original' and I said no, because I only have one with the original ink signatures and seals. I still only have one, and it now has the Apostille attached to it, so it is forevermore joined into a single document that I would be unable to take apart if I needed to. Ideally, if I had a second (or more) "original" versions, that would be useful in case it needed to be sent somewhere.

Lesson #5: If possible in this situation, I would have (could have, should have) gone to NY State to sign the POAs there and be notarized in the US, but overall, that was the least of the issues. The citizenship was far more of a hassle than the authentication of the notary in the end. Fortunately, the letter my mom signed relinquishing her role as agent we did have notarized in the US, so I did not need to get an Apostille for that document.

This has been a long, trying year of struggles, mostly with things relating to the POA acceptance. Admittedly, this scenario is unique; most people in the US don't have a Canadian POA and have other options. For those in my scenario, if you can revisit things now before you need the POA, great. If you are in my scenario and planning to draft your own POA, possibly this may give you some things to consider. The majority of these issues were because I don't live in the US and am not a US citizen, full stop.

Some lies are white lies as when a friend asks you for feedback on something they've done and you really don't want to hurt their feelings hence you soften your comments  somewhat. Everybody "lies" at one point or another. Pathological liars however get a rush out of telling lies and "fooling" whomever they're talking to. Sometimes the lies are for the purpose of self-aggrandizing other times to avoid censure for actions or mistakes made.  

Then there are corporate and or business lies. These are the lies whereby an employee, manager or director feels an obligation to protect his business or employer. Perhaps there is also a loyalty to the shareholders as well as the others putting staff into a conflict of interest situation. These are the situations whereby staff are often expected to view the situation as them versus us. When the "us" is providing your food and shelter and the "them" is either the general public or even some authority (eg.  Min. of Environment) the choice is easy. 

These are the realities of corporate control over their staff. Especially in a non-union environment corporations can fire at will provided some notice or pay in lieu of notice is given. Take the example here in Elmira, Ontario. Any number of staff or employees could have ratted out the company (s) over the years albeit the risks to career and financial stability would be extreme. This is why both the public and the government (MECP) need verification of all facts and statements provided by the corporation. Many of the issues here could have (and should have) resulted in many more millions of dollars to clean up their mess. This ongoing corporate lying unfortunately needs to be expected. 

Here in Elmira the corporation (Lanxess) has the best of both worlds. Not only can they lie at will but their lies have mostly been given the green light by the MECP. These lies not only save the company millions of dollars but they also protect the Ministry of Environment (MECP) and the government of the day from public condemnation. Corporate lying backed by elected officials both locally and provincially is very difficult to beat. Just ask Uniroyal Chemical, Crompton, Chemtura and now Lanxess Canada. 

Stephen received vital support while homeless through ShelterCare.

You might not realize it to look at him today, but Stephen has always been a hard worker. He used to work six days a week at Food Basics in shipping and receiving.

“Now, I couldn’t even do a day,” said Stephen.

Stephen, now 66, was diagnosed with scleroderma three years ago – a fatal autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks the body, causing scarring and lasting damage.

For Stephen, that damage led to a badly damaged esophagus, making it impossible for him to eat regular food. He receives most of his daily nutrition intravenously, through a catheter.

Stephen was hospitalized shortly after his diagnosis and spent nearly a year living in Grand River Hospital because he had no place to go. Stephen lost the lease on his apartment during this time.

“It was hard in the hospital,” said Stephen. “I kept wondering, ‘Am I ever going to get out?’”

But because of House of Friendship’s unique ShelterCare program, which provides onsite health care and other support, Stephen finally left his hospital bed and moved into our program in 2024.

“I had a room with a little mini-fridge to keep my antibiotics in, and the Gatorade that I needed to drink to stay healthy,” said Stephen. “And I appreciated it, but it wasn’t the best place for me long-term.”

Stephen worked with Crystal, his support worker, who worked hard to find permanent housing for Stephen – and ensure that his healthcare support would continue.

“They kept on pushing and pushing for me to get housing,” said Stephen. “Crystal was a lifesaver.”

Finally, after receiving a letter from his doctor outlining the severity of his condition, Stephen was bumped up on the regional housing list, getting an
accessible apartment in Kitchener.

In his new apartment, Stephen has nurses visiting him regularly, along with a personal support worker who helps him shower. He also lives near a medical lab, making it easy to keep up with the regular bloodwork his condition requires.

Stephen is thankful for the support he received while at ShelterCare.

“It was nice knowing I had someone in my corner fighting for me,” said Stephen. “I don’t know what I would have done without that.”

Thank you for your faithful, compassionate support of our ShelterCare program, where men like Stephen get the help they need while struggling with homelessness. You are providing stability, dignity, and hope – thank you

The post Getting Vital Care While Homeless appeared first on House Of Friendship.

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KITCHENER - Call it a missed opportunity.

The Kitchener Panthers, down by two, had the bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth.

Former Panther Jorge De La Cruz came in, and other than a wild pitch to score a run, was able to limit the damage and close out a 4-3 win for the visiting Brantford Red Sox Thursday night.

Yosuke Fujie hit a two-run single in the fourth to give Kitchener a 2-0 lead.

But the Red Sox got it close, an RBI double from Christian Ortega made it 2-1.

In the seventh, Rene Tachioka hit a ball deep to right field. 

It looked as if Yosvani Penalver made a catch at the wall, sacrificing his body. Turns out the ball was over the fence for a two-run home run, and Penalver was down for several minutes but would stay in the game.

Brantford added an insurance marker in the ninth.

Runta Osawa was consistent, nabbing three hits for Kitchener, who had trouble with the Brantford pitching staff.

Nicholai Arbach struck out eight in five innings of work. Colbey Klepper got the win, fanning five more in three innings and only gave up two hits.

Andy Vargas took the loss. He gave up three runs on six hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking three.

Kitchener heads out on the road for three games. Saturday in Chatham-Kent, Sunday in Brantford and Canada Day down Highway 7 in Guelph.

The next home game for the Panthers is Thursday, July 3 against the Barnstormers at 7:30 p.m.

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW and #PackTheJack!