Officially, it doesn't really exist

The North End that is. Today the City released their new "Neighbourhoods of Winnipeg" section of their website (ok, for all I know it's always been there, but I saw people talking about it on Twitter today so I think it's new). Did you know that Winnipeg has 236 neighbourhoods? I sure didn't.

Interesting, because as we all know, whenever anything bad happens it is generally blamed on one of 3 areas: the North End, the West End and Downtown. According to the interactive map, none of these "neighbourhoods" actually exist. Their map is drawn on top of a Google map and even though Google (and the rest of us) calls it Downtown, it's actually South Portage.

Now, of course, I don't necessarily expect anyone (read: media) to always be super specific when detailing where an event happened, but maybe that's the way it should be, for accuracy. That way we avoid the many slip ups that erroneously blame one neighbourhood for another one's troubles. Because it's pretty much always related to troubles. Take for example the sinkhole that happened in Garden City, which for the record actually does exist as a neighbourhood called Garden City.

Now, the CBC reported the story saying it was in the North End. I believe they originally had it in the body of the story as well as the caption of the photo, but I'm not 100% sure because when I saw it, it was just the caption. But the comments section makes me think it was probably the body at first as well. One comment, by GoodN1GHT stood out to me in particular (after another commenter pointed out that this intersection was not in fact in the North End):

"If there is a shooting in Tuxedo, Tuxedo temporarily becomes part of the North End. It helps to keep outsiders thinking that Winnipeg's problems are in one small area."

I agree with this statement, but would also add that it keeps locals thinking the same thing.

I've been harping about this for literally years. Now, CBC did change their story/caption, but the internet, like an elephant, never forgets. This screenshot shows all the various other agencies, websites and so on that picked up their story - their stories never got changed. Also notice that I didn't bother to capitalize "North End" in my search - neither did the CBC in their original caption... I realized technically someone could refer to any part of the city by its direction, yes, Garden City is in the the north end of Winnipeg. However, in a city that has two neighbourhoods that already unofficially go by North End and West End, the way to state this without confusion would be to say "on the north side of the city" or something like that. I'm also about 99% certain that this story (like every other) didn't mean to inform people that it happened somewhere in the the northern part of the city. Obviously, when talking about a sinkhole it's not horrible to "accuse" the wrong neighbourhood, but the same can't be said for crime.


Winnipeg, especially in the core areas, has a huge PR problem already. Our media needs to realize that they are the ones who can help change that. People who choose to remain uniformed about what is really going on around them will keep reading headlines and making snap decisions based on that information. It's very easy to hate the North End or West Broadway (okay, well it was easy to hate it back in like, the 90s) when that's all you hear before or after the words stabbing and murder.

Challenge people and their perceptions. Maybe we do need to utilize the boundaries of the 236 neighbourhoods. In which case, I really don't like Eric Coy and all of its ditches. Or Elmhurst for that matter. If this isn't the way we go (because it would be very tedious to figure out every time, that's why we already have the broader neighbourhood terms), then we need to have the media adapt a standard format such as the ### block of Any St. (kudos does go to the Winnipeg Sun for often doing exactly this). This will slowly help retrain the brains of those that make their decisions based on media headlines.

As for defining those broader neighbourhood labels, I think asking organizations that have those labels in the name what their boundaries are - like the West End Biz, or the North End Community Renewal Corporation and so on would be a good start. If there are differences then maybe everyone just needs to sit down and hammer it out, once and for all.

Holding a grudge

Someone I follow on twitter commented today that a neighbour who wouldn't help with a boost the other day found themselves needing one today and that it was karma. Stories of neighbours who are un-neighbourly always remind me of my days growing up in the burbs. In particular they remind me of Jeff Stoughton.

See, way back when, when babysitters didn't demand to be paid the same as other minimum wage jobs I, in addition to being the papergirl for my block, would also occasionally babysit. One of the parents I babysat for was Jeff Stoughton. He had the biggest TV I had ever seen.

Now, I only babysat for them a few times, but imagine my surprise when one cold winter day - when I managed to get my car started and backed out of the driveway (avoiding falling in a notorious Charleswood ditch) and onto the snowy street only to have it promptly die - that Mr. Stoughton refused to give me a boost because he "didn't want to ruin his battery". WTF? Is that even a thing? And who would leave a 16/17ish year old girl to fend for herself in the middle of the road (he had to ease around me to NOT help)? I acutely remember being confused and hurt that he valued a battery over me as a person.

I have secretly decided that although he has had many successes as a curler over the years, that the reason that an Olympic medal still escapes him is because of the resulting bad karma from this incident.

On a very random note, I either owe Jeff Stoughton an apology after this blog post because although I have been 100% sure of this story for many years, when wanting to confirm his lack of Olympic wins I went to Wikipedia to research. According to Wikipedia, he only has one daughter, born in 2004 - but that is, oh, about a decade past my babysitting days. So, if somehow I actually babysat for someone else, who also happened to be a curler and wouldn't help me boost my car, I'm really really sorry for always cheering for the other guys whenever Jeff Stoughton's team is playing.

Of course, I'm pretty sure it was him, so someone needs to get on updating that Wikipedia article. And maybe, just maybe, if he gives someone a boost this winter his luck will turn around and he will eventually get to the Olympics.

A quick note about...

...Office etiquette.

Don't worry, I shall return to bitching about garbage again soon.

For many many MANY years, I worked solely in restaurants, which have their own set of "office politics". I now do both office and restaurant work (because I am a glutton for punishment apparently).

Being a team player: The office I work in has about 15-20 staff members, organized over two floors. We have a receptionist who is often away from the front desk and it then becomes a battle of wills to see who will answer the bell at the front desk. I basically always lose this game. There are two reasons for this, firstly, I receive slightly more visitors than other employees and therefore feel a tinge of guilt that it might be for me; secondly, with as many years in the service industry as I have I can't be that rude. Clearly none of my coworkers care about our visitors.

Slacking: If you work in an office there is a good chance that you have access to the internet. There is also a chance you access the internet for non-work related things (like, y'know writing a blog post). Keep it to yourself people! None of us want to know what great video you just saw on youtube, what your friends are doing on facebook or have you read out "silly laws that are still on the books". We are all pretending to be working over at our desks. When you verbalize your misdeeds it is likely to eventually draw the attention of others, resulting in over-reaching silly policies being implemented. Don't be the one who ruins it for everyone.

Coffee: If you take the last cup, or even the almost-to-last cup of coffee, brew more. As a side note to this, after all those years working in a restaurant where many times I had discovered that a coworker had taken the last of the java without brewing more, thus screwing my service to my table over, I take great joy in NEVER brewing coffee at the office - I'm a tea drinker, so you know I didn't take the last cup!
Oh, and...
Wash out your damn coffee cup!

Bathroom use: If you take the last of the toilet paper, freaking change it. Leaving one square is the equivalent of leaving a sip of coffee in the pot. If you need to do some, uh, secondary business, while you're in there, that's okay, Everybody Poops. Please do not then spray half a can of air freshener in the bathroom and then close the door and leave the light on. We will all keep presuming that someone is in there, and man, I gotta pee!

Of course there are many other things that could go into an office etiquette guide, I quickly checked the Oatmeal but didn't find one to go with this post, but I'm sure something awesome exists somewhere.

*For the record, this was written on my lunch break. Mostly.

A few things...

A round up of some random things in my head:

1. Why is there no way to find out what the official rules are for The Amazing Race? I know this is a departure from my usual topics, but seriously, why? As an avid traveller I watch the show and spend a lot of time thinking that I could kick all of their butts if it weren't for the whole being physically fit and having no gag reflex thing. For example, at the start of a leg of the race they will open up their little envelope and say "oh wow, we have $xxx for this leg of the race". What the hell does that money go towards? I mean, we see them pay for cabs and such, but in countries where you have to negotiate the cab fare we never seem to see them do that, they just seem to throw money at the driver at the end of the ride (although I did see a terse exchange one time at the end of a ride). If they are only given $xxx for the leg, how does that affect them when they get a cabbie that takes them to the wrong place first? With the limited funds they wouldn't have enough to get to their final destination. What about food and water, is that provided? When are they allowed to ask strangers for help and when can't they? Obviously they ask people for help on the street for directions, but when they are doing a task for example the other day when they were trying to look things up in the library card catalog why couldn't they ask for help? So many questions! I have not been able to find this information online and it drives me a little crazy.

2. Why are we even talking about raising the speed limit on certain streets? As in, why is it even up for discussion? Two lanes in either direction separated by a boulevard should be 60km/hr, no brainer. Regarding the section of Pembina (figures 6.2 & 6.3) anyone who has ever driven it, and especially those who have gotten a ticket can tell you that it's bizarre that it's so slow. It's a total of 4 lanes, with fields on either side and a big old boulevard in the middle. If you have chosen to live on a major thoroughfare then you should expect that traffic will flow accordingly.

3. Gas prices in Churchill, MB - Yes, it sucks that gas is so expensive there. However as such a remote community it can't be entirely unexpected. In Churchill you can also get a special Remote Area registration, which I do believe costs substantially less (I couldn't seem to find actual costs on the MPI website) for residents of Churchill who will only be driving their vehicle in and around Churchill. If a resident doesn't have that type of plate, it would likely be because they take their vehicle on the train down to Thompson or wherever else it is that they need to go, and I imagine that just as those of us from "down south" do when we cross the border to the USA they fill their tank before they head back home.

4. LITE annual Wild Blueberry Pancake Breakfast. I love this event for so many reasons. Besides the chance to see people I might not see as often as I might like AND have a delicious breakfast, it is (or at least has been the past 3 years) an environmentally responsible event. There is a huge focus on recycling and composting, and all of the cups/plates/utensils are compostable. It is an excellent demonstration of leading by example. There is also an opportunity to purchase some great locally made crafts and foodstuffs. Hope to see you there! 45 Robinson St., Indian and Metis Family Centre (corner of Dufferin and Robinson, in between Main and Salter).

Hallowe'en (sour) Apples!

Tonight is Hallowe'en. You might be wondering why I have enough time to write a blog post when I should be answering the door for 100's of little ghosts and goblins. It's because I'm sitting in my room with the rest of the house lights turned off. Especially the porch light, which stays on the other 364 days of the year. Although I suppose to be technical, this year it's 365 other nights...

First, lets get a few things out of the way. Do kids today (good lord I'm old) realize how good they have it? It's above zero and there is no snow. There was not a costume I owned that didn't go over a full snowsuit and Sorels were the mandatory footwear for the FOOT OF SNOW we had to wade through. Oh, and there were no pillowcases and giant reusable bags for collecting candy in. No no no, we had these:

This meant that inevitably you had to return home several times (losing precious candy gathering time) to dump out your haul and start again.

Moving on. So, I was feeling a little guilty for not handing out candy yet again this year. This is my 7th Hallowe'en here in the North End. I missed my first one because I was working in Churchill, MB (where, as an interesting fact, they have volunteers circling town on snowmobiles keeping an eye out for any polar bears looking for a seasonal treat) but in 2007, look out world, I was prepared!

I laboured over my candy choices and when I finally felt I had the perfect variety I spent time putting together little perfect Hallowe'en themed ziploc bags full of candy. I was prepared.

What I was NOT prepared for was to be overwhelmingly disappointed.

Instead of adorable little kids (yes, me, I just referred to children as adorable. I'm unlikely to do that again so maybe mark this down) in costumes I got sullen teenagers in hoodies and masks from Dollarama holding open pillowcases. Generally not even a "Trick or treat!" or "Hallowe'en Apples!" just a doorbell ring. The small children who did (sort of) come to the door were usually under about a year old, fast asleep, being pushed in a stroller by their teenage mother who was not in a costume. Call it a hunch, but I don't think the candy was for the babies. The even cheekier ones would hold out a second bag "for the other kid, who's at home". Yeah. Right.

I seriously almost cried when it was all over, this was not the Hallowe'en I had dreamed of! Now, I am very aware that my neighbourhood has some economic constraints. A six year old in a mask from Dollarma (or no costume at all) will of course get candy. Hell, a 47 year old in a full costume will get candy - the trade off for spending my hard earned money on candy is getting to see the costumes; I have my own economic constraints too.

I decided to go and evaluate my block, perhaps I could be shamed back into giving out Hallowe'en candy for next year?

Not likely. For shits and giggles I counted how many houses on my block had the "I'm home vibe". FIVE. And one of those is borderline. I think maybe their sheets as drapes just didn't block out all of the light from their living room. 5/40. I suppose to be fair, one of those 40 is boarded, and another one is the abandoned one with the rear section of the house caving in, but that doesn't really make it much better.

So, while Hallowe'en only seems to get even more popular (how that's even possible I'm not sure) it seems as though at least my street has basically given up. This makes me feel less guilty but more sad.

Well, it's 50% solved

So you'll recall this time last week I was a little choked because of the lacklustre garbage and recycling services being provided around my neighbourhood.

You'll be thrilled to know, that after many many phone calls and emails to 311 by myself and neighbours (at least 3 neighbours that I spoke to reported the same garbage all over the boulevard from where the bin used to be) this morning it was FINALLY being picked up. Of course, that was as I left the house, it remains to be seen how good of a job they will do. I say that because, while I'm thrilled that someone was finally dispatched, it seems as though it was a man with a giant claw machine - not sure if he's going to manually pick up the festering dirty diapers that the claw doesn't quite manage to snag.

Please pretend I have awesome graphic design skills and was able to create some sort of crazy graphic merging the claw of garbage into the claw toy machine. Ideally the end result would depict the falling garbage morphing into the toys left in the machine to have full dramatic effect.

So, I suppose for now, we will call that a win. However, the fact that my recycling was not picked up AGAIN last Friday is a big tick in the losing column. It also was not picked up on Saturday. Or Monday. So based on my call with 311 a few weeks ago, I guess today is my last hope, other than waiting for my next scheduled day, Friday. At which point my bin will almost be overflowing.

I was also told that the contractor would provide reasons for missed pick-ups but that it could take up to 24 hours for that comment to be entered into the system. I requested that reason to be emailed to me, and it still hasn't been (and that's for the August 10th pick-up).

I know it may seem petty to be quite so obsessed with the garbage and recycling pick-up (not the bulky waste pickup, as I don't think anyone thinks that is unjustified) but it's a very steep, slippery, slope. Imagine if you will, in my slightly more crime infested neighbourhood that you need to put a easily meltable bin full of combustibles out for pick-up. Now, sure, you could get up at the crack of dawn so that it was out for the 7am start of collection, or, you could be like most people, and put it out the night before - and then toss and turn with every siren that drives by hoping that its not your bin (and then your fence/garage/house) on fire. Now imagine that it doesn't get picked up and you have to repeat that the next night. Imagine, that since some genius decided that the North End would have Friday pick up, this means that it might need to sit out on a Friday night to be picked up on Saturday instead because of a missed pick-up. Picture Friday night. Yup, way more bored, wandering youth who might decide to burn it (to be fair, that could probably be said for most neighbourhoods as I remember getting up to my fair share of trouble in Charleswood back in the day). I don't know about you, but I EXTRA don't want to get up at the crack of dawn on the weekend to put out my bins because some contractor was not doing his job the day before. I have emailed my City Councillor asking for details about the contract that they City has regarding these pick-ups, however, it has been a week and I still haven't gotten a reply (not even a "I'm looking into that for you"). Must be awesome to have a contract with no accountability.

Dear cyclist...

Dear lady cyclist on Osborne yesterday at about 415,
You or your child are going to get killed if you keep riding like that. Why you would choose to bike down construction filled Osborne during rush hour, towing a child-trailer behind you is beyond me, but I suppose your choice to make. I mean, I don't like kids at the best of times, but even I wouldn't tow a kid (anyone's kid, let alone my own if I had one) behind me in bumper to bumper traffic where said child-trailer was effectively my bumper, but I guess that's just me. Never mind the fact either that Osborne in the village area is barely wide enough for the two lanes of traffic that it almost holds sans construction, biking down it solo seems scary even then. Add a two wheeled, wide trailer into the mix and it just seems suicidal, but again, your choice.

My beef with you trendy legging with skirt wearing hipster mama, is that, after assessing that you seemed to have a death wish for you or your child - ok, to be fair I didn't actually SEE your kid in the trailer thing, but since that is what is was designed for, and you were of child bearing age and not a scrap metal collector (the other common use for those trailers, at least here in the North End) - I treated you as I believed I should and I changed lanes to pass you. I did this because it was not safe for us to try and "share the lane" in this narrow, construction laden zone.

Then, much to my horror, after I respected you and your child and I had passed you safely, you seemed to want to try and edge up next to me and pass me as we came to a stop for a light. So, this is a letter from the woman you probably thought was a "mean, aggressive typical Winnipeg driver" who pulled herself even closer to the curb so you could not pass. May I suggest, that perhaps next time, you get off your bike, and walk you and your baby safely down the sidewalk in this stretch of road, because, if you don't, you will be but a mere tragic story lining a birdcage.

Sincerely,
The Winnipeg Girl who tried to respect you.

Free Birthday stuff, updated

It's my birthday - what can I get for free? 

(This is a mildly updated post to my previous free birthday stuff post - I kept the rant in as it's still relevant sadly). Variations of "free birthday dinner Winnipeg" has become one of the biggest drivers of traffic to my blog ever since I took the word "h00ker" out of previous posts.

This post will serve as both a mini-rant and a genuine post. Being a Winnipegger, I of course love free things. However, as someone who has spent years working in the service industry, I hate people who just want free stuff because it's their birthday. I mean, really, it should be your mom that gets something free - she's the one who had a tough day xx years ago. As a server, there is almost nothing that you dread more than a squeal coming from the table and someone saying "like, omg, it's his birthday, do you guys like do anything for birthdays???!!" Assuming it's someone middle aged, the omg and like can be omitted, but the vibe is the same. The more the table expects you to do for them is directly related to what they are likely to tip. For example, the table that wants you to dress up and play some silly character that's part of a running joke (this really happened to me, and yes, I went along because in theory it should have paid off well for me) and sing/dance/give free everything will tip 7-10% if you're lucky. The table that quietly celebrates a birthday complete with cards/presents etc. but never specifically tells the server that it's someones birthday - probably more in the range of 15-20%. Yes Winnipeg, 15-20%. Get over it. That is what it's supposed to be. Not 10%. However the longer version of this rant is for another post. Update: last night I served a table that when I offered dessert specifically said: "It's her birthday, does she get free dessert?" When I said no, no one ordered dessert. They tipped $12 on $175. Proof that my theory above is still going strong.

So, the reason you're really here, where to find some free birthday goodies. Of course most of the chain restaurants will do something - Montana's might make you wear the cootie infested moose horns, sing and give some sort of dessert if memory serves (they used to offer your friends the chance to pie you in the face with whipped cream, glad that's over), CRApplebee's used to make their poor servers sing and then bring free dessert, Old Spaghetti Factory same deal (bonus points if you get the guy with the crazy fun booming voice as part of your serenade) Tony Roma's is slightly more clever, they give you a card to come back for a free appetizer on your NEXT visit, and The Keg, my general exception to my "I hate chain restaurants" rule, will give a slice of their fantastic Billy Miner Pie. If I was in North Dakota I could visit every Manitobans favourite quasi-Mexican restaurant, Paradiso. Paradiso gets points from a server standpoint for only providing free dinner on the actual day of your birthday, ID required - I don't know if you've noticed, but on Friday/Saturday night at a chain restaurants it's EVERYONE'S birthday.... coincidence? Not likely.

One of my absolute favourite places in the city to nosh, fude, also does a free birthday dinner, but I keep putting off joining their VIP club thing (which you need to do) because my friends are all to cheap frugal practical cheap to ever want to eat there on a regular basis, so I always figure I won't get to take advantage of it. I seem to recall a few years ago that a car wash somewhere in the South End would give you a free car wash on your birthday, and I think Dutch Maid did free ice cream.

Update: I've recently discovered that Boon Burger on Sherbrook (not sure if the new East Exchange location is open yet?)  will give you a free burger, even the biggest meat eaters will love Boon, a vegan burger place. Boon is also smart enough to say that ID may be required. I also believe that Johnny G's does a free birthday dinner, but if I recall there are a bunch of conditions besides having ID - I think maybe you need to have at least 4 people having dinner at the table to get it?

It seems to me that years ago there were a lot more places that offered something free on your birthday, maybe I'm wrong, please comment if you know of one that I have missed, or a favourite from days gone by.
So what is the moral of this post? Well, basically if there is free stuff out there because it's your birthday, obviously take advantage of it, after all, it would almost be wrong as a Winnipegger not to; however, don't be obnoxious about it, take your free stuff with no singing and dancing (the staff will appreciate it, you're not 7 years old after all) and tip appropriately and we can all get along :)

School Zone speeds

I am mostly needing to rant and a 140 character tweet just wasn't going to cut it.

Just this morning a motion was put forward to reduce the speeds in school zones to 40km/hr; and then another motion to reduce ALL residential streets to 40km/hr. None of this is news as such, discussions have been ongoing in the papers for a little while about this concept. There have been some good responses to this that I have seen, however I don't remember where, so sorry, no links - if I paraphrase what you wrote somewhere else, please forgive me.

So, first of all, does this seriously mean that they are wanting to lower stretches of major arteries like Grant, Pembina and Henderson to 40 near schools? Grant is already ridiculous enough being set at 50 - it's two lanes with a boulevard in the middle - why on earth is it 50 in the first place, it should be 60.

While I'm ranting, why on earth is the freaking number one HIGHWAY 70km/hr when the residential strip of Roblin in the same section (roughly the perimeter to Headingley) 80km/hr??

So, my proposition is this: since, as someone else already put it (somewhere) - perhaps 40 on residential streets wouldn't be the worst thing in the world due to the condition of our roads, lets say that any street that has two lanes in either direction must be at least 50 (school zone or not) and if those two lanes have a boulevard in the middle? Well, then it would be a 60km/hr zone.

I don't know how many children are injured near schools every year, but I do know that children are freaking everywhere not just near schools. Never mind the fact that the two options would then make the speed enforceable only during "school hours" (sorry kids with after school activities, no safety for you!) which would involve a lot of confusing signage, OR enforceable ALL the time, which would mean cash grabs galore as photo radar would be set up nabbing speed demons clocking 51km/hr on a Saturday night.

How about we teach kids about street safety instead? When I was growing up it was impressed upon me to look out for cars, that they couldn't stop on a dime. To this day, even after I push the crosswalk button (or especially at crosswalks without the lights) I wait until I make eye contact with the drivers of the oncoming cars, or at least confirm that they're slowing down for me, before I head out into the street. I constantly see people push the button and blindly walk out into the street; yes, technically people are allowed to do that, as drivers we are supposed to be scanning ahead for that sort of thing. Of course, if you end up dead, being right doesn't do you much good.

Here I go again...

In a post that ties in with my last one about boundaries and how they relate to the perceptions of crime in this city, I have another example of how the media often gives a negative bias to the North End. In this article from the Free Press on Saturday, there were 6 fire incidents reported (well, 8, but two were 2-for-1 deals). The two fires that were OUTSIDE of the North End simply had their approximate address given, no neighbourhood. 3 were listed giving both the xxx-block of xxx AND pointed out that was in the North End, and one was listed as being in Shaugnessy Park (so, they do get points for not calling it the North End, since, y'know, it wasn't).

I've taken the liberty of tweaking this article for the Free Press.

THERE were two house fires and six garage fires in the city overnight Friday.
The first fire broke out in the 400 block of Boyd Avenue in the North End St. John's in a garage late Thursday, causing $8,000 in damage. This was followed by a fire at a home in the 1300 block of Raleigh Street in Munroe West at around 12:40 a.m. There was a total of $20,000 in damage to the home and contents.
Hours later, police were called to a garage and shed fires on Magnus Avenue in the Shaughnessy Park area at around 2 a.m.
An hour later, another fire broke out in a home in the 600 block of Selkirk Avenue in the North End William Whyte* (*could have been Dufferin, depends what side of the street it was), causing $80,000 in damage. Soon after, at around 3:30 a.m., there was another garage fire in the 100 block of Enfield Crescent in Norwood, causing a total of $35,000 in damage.
At around 6 a.m., firefighters were called to another two garage fires in the 200 block of Pritchard Avenue in the North End William Whyte. The total damage from the first fire was $10,000, while there was no damage estimate available for the second.
No one was injured.

Of course, it also could have been written in a more simple way that would force those hell bent on coming up with a negative attitude towards a particular area to do some research:

THERE were two house fires and six garage fires in the city overnight Friday.
The first fire broke out in the 400 block of Boyd Avenue in the North End in a garage late Thursday, causing $8,000 in damage. This was followed by a fire at a home in the 1300 block of Raleigh Street at around 12:40 a.m. There was a total of $20,000 in damage to the home and contents.
Hours later, police were called to a garage and shed fires on  in the XXX block(s) of Magnus Avenue in the Shaughnessy Park area at around 2 a.m.
An hour later, another fire broke out in a home in the 600 block of Selkirk Avenue in the North End, causing $80,000 in damage. Soon after, at around 3:30 a.m., there was another garage fire in the 100 block of Enfield Crescent, causing a total of $35,000 in damage.
At around 6 a.m., firefighters were called to another two garage fires in the 200 block of Pritchard Avenue in the North End. The total damage from the first fire was $10,000, while there was no damage estimate available for the second.
No one was injured.

 See how easy that was to stop shouting NORTH END?  I am no dummy, I know there is crime here, and I'm not against it being reported; the crimes are a fact, facts should be reported. All I ask is that in a city already so biased against a particular part of town is that the media don't fuel the fire. As you just read, we have enough of them here already.

Let me elaborate...

This is a follow up post to my last one, because I realized that I had left out some very important information that I had planned to put in that sort of post one day ("one day" turned into the day when I either needed to vent here or tell off the gift card toting table and lose my job).

When it comes to tipping there are basically 3 types of people: those that tip decently pretty much all the time (15% ish or more), those that tip 10% (seriously people, 10% is so 1970's) and those that tip anything less than that, which frequently is about the equivalent of throwing pennies at h00kers. Oh, wait, sorry, there is a 4th type - the person who when this sort of conversation comes up claims to be around the 15% mark but is really a 7-10% sort.

Now, giving my lovely readers credit, I shall presume you all are in the "15%+" category, but in case you know someone who isn't this post is for them, please pass it on. I think that most of the people who are in the 10% or less category think that servers already get paid to do a job, and they don't get tips at their job so why should they have to tip, blah blah blah. I will do my best to explain why (dad, I hope you are finally listening!)

Their job probably offers some sort of security in the form of a guaranteed number of hours per week. Servers don't get that. A "full-time" server probably averages 30-35 hours a week, often taking 6 days to reach that many hours, or numerous split-shifts that essentially make their work day 11+ hours as there isn't really enough time to do anything in between those shifts. Servers only get raises when minimum wage goes up. Imagine if after years and years of service you were at the exact same wage. Servers don't get health care. I know not all other jobs do either, but servers almost exclusively do not. Servers, with few exceptions are not "allowed" to call in sick. Many restaurants will demand that a server fill their own shift if they want to call in sick - you try doing that while exploding from both ends.

Servers, particularly in chain restaurants have very shaky job security. As corporate almost always tends to err on the side of the customer being right, even the most untruthful complaint can cause a server to lose their job, god forbid that lying customer come back and see that that someone wasn't fired for the supposed injustice. Thankfully I work at a pretty decent place now, with good management that trusts their staff, but I have seen this sort of thing happen at other places many times.

A big thing that you may not realize is that most servers have to pool their tips, so you are not just subsidizing their wage, but also that of the cooks, hostesses, bartenders, bussers, dishwashers and expediters (the people who put the finishing touches on your plate before it hits the table). I love when I have a table that hands me my tip (usually a really sweet senior citizen type) and says "now, this is just for you dear, don't give any to anyone else". If only it worked that way. I always take the opportunity to explain it to them and usually they are quite surprised.

Restaurant owners underpay almost all of their staff because, in theory, etiquette in Canada dictates that customers will tip 15-20%. Let me give you an example, it is a bit of an extreme, but I want to make sure everyone understands just what I mean...

Flo (as that is such a fantastically stereotypical server name) goes into Chainy McChainigan's for her Friday night shift. She sees that she has a party of 10 coming in for dinner as well as a couple of other tables in her section. The timing of everything goes well that night, the party is in celebrating Grandma's 75th birthday and everyone is having a good time. Food comes as ordered, refills on drinks are prompt and Flo even makes a special birthday moment for Grandma*. Number one son picks up the tab for the whole table, joy! One bill is so much easier and means that service doesn't suffer for Flo's other tables while she processes multiple payments. The bill is $439.61. Flo quickly calculates in her head that the host should probably round that up to $500 even** The host hands her the billfold and tells her to keep the change. There is $450 in it. Oh yes, this happens far more often than you would think. Especially at the holidays.

Thankfully Flo has other tables tonight, some days aren't as lucky. This table just cost her money out of her own pocket to serve. What? How you ask? Well, let's break Flo's table down, using tip out at my restaurant.  Their bill was $386 before tax, Flo will have tipped out $4.82 (1.25% of all sales) to the host/cook/dishwasher tip pool, $3.86 (1% of all sales) to the bartender, the expediter gets a minimum of $2 (however, on a Friday night, $5 is generally the amount given) and there are 3 bussers on so at a minimum of $2 each that is $6. So, the $10.39 tip that Flo received does not cover the $16.68 that Flo is tipping out (minimum), if this was her only table for the night she would have gone home with $6.29 less in her pocket than she came with.

Obviously with this example it is a bit extreme, and yes, servers usually have other tables and it mostly balances in the end, but how would you feel if you came to work and your wage for the day was at the whim of the patrons? Serving is like a form of commission sales, but without a guaranteed rate. At least if you sell cars you know exactly what commission you are getting, the customer can't lower the price of the car by deciding that they don't want you to get commission on that sale.

So if it's so horrible, why don't we all go get "real" jobs? Well, some people genuinely enjoy serving and they are very good at it and why would they not deserve to earn a living wage? Sure, if you're a good server, serving is pretty easy and can be pretty good money, but most certainly not everybody can do it. Yes, a trained monkey could physically bring you food, but when it comes down to it, that's not what serving is. Just because an engineer finds their job easy (as it is a skill set that may come easily to them) does that mean that they should only be paid minimum wage? A bunch of you just piped up with "but they went to school for years for that!". Please don't underestimate the humble server - many of them have university degrees as well - perhaps serving is just what it turns out they are best at. Plus, if we all went out and got "real" jobs - who would serve you dinner?

So, and I promise this will be my last "world's colliding" post for a while, if you are out for dinner, please keep this post in mind. If someone else picks up the tab, don't be afraid to discreetly pull the server aside and confirm that they received a proper tip; don't use an open ended "did my friend tip ok?" that is very awkward to answer, a better question is more specific - "did my friend tip at least 15%", and top up if they didn't. And on the off chance that you genuinely received poor service (remembering rule #1 from my last post - Intend to enjoy yourself) speak to a manager. If it was a food issue rather than a service issue, again, speak to a manager, chances are they will adjust the bill accordingly and then you would still tip for the service on the amount of the original bill.

*Do not make your server do this. No one likes birthday songs/announcements/moose antlers etc. If you just want whatever is free for a birthday the server will still be obliged to bring you the dessert, and seriously, so long as you tip well, they don't care if you ask for the free dessert, it doesn't come out of their pocket. Just don't ask for the damn song.

**I believe that in theory tipping occurs on the before tax amount, however in practice I think that most people, myself included, tip on the after tax amount as it is the number in large font at the bottom. On smaller cheques it is sort of neither here nor there. With Flo's large table it means the pre-tax was about $386, so a $58 tip would be 15%, on the after tax amount it would be almost $66. When this happens, I am okay with rounding to whatever makes sense, in this case $500 total would make sense.

How to dine out in Winnipeg

After this post the world may end as it will be a case of worlds colliding. That's right, I am letting a little bit more than usual of Winnipeg Girl's "real life" slip into this post. When I'm not busy writing my little blog, scouring second-hand stores and estate sales, up-cycling crap treasures from same, working at my regular 9-5, I am but a humble servant server at one of the many eating establishments here in the 'Peg.

Before I get on to the real meat and potatoes of my post though, a question: Is Stella's the new Grapes? Branigans? Now before any Hipsters spit out their fair-trade, locally-roasted java and start camping out in protest, let me explain. At one point, we'll call it the ninty-eighties, Grapes was King of the Locals. In the years leading up to my 18th birthday I dreamed of the day when I would finally get my turn to dance the night away on a Sunday (!) night at Pier 7 or Grapes on Main. Even when I started my first serving job, lore of the bartenders for Grapes was legendary. If I'm remembering correctly, in its heyday there were at least 6 Grapes locations, including bizarrely 2 barely 500m from each other downtown (at Main and on St. Mary where Pony Corral is now).

Stella's, while an entirely different concept is also expanding quicker than you can blink an eye. What was once a quaint little place that needed no explanation as to which location, simply "Stella's for breakfast?" Branigans, which for the record, the worst restaurant I have ever worked in - by far, is another one-time local favourite that expanded too big for its britches - even having a location in Grand Forks at one point! If you've ever wondered why the employees at Branigan's at The Forks tried to unionize I will offer this as one example: It was demanded that I be at work 15 minutes early, unpaid (or they would write me up for being late) and then, on their whim they would change my start time to later because it wasn't busy enough to start paying me.

So, while I wish Stella's the best, and I hope they enjoy their surge in popularity, I also hope they don't end up wearing out their welcome. Most of the hipsters will inevitably turn into boring assimilated adults with middle-class lives that keep them from sitting in coffee shops for hours on end and going for brunch every Sunday and Stella's will either need to adapt or the next local mega-chain will be ready to take its place. Although, perhaps in their case an expansion to Grand Forks would give me somewhere to dine besides the soulless theme and chain restaurants that dominate there.

Which brings me to the instructional part of this post which was prompted by the recent influx of diners using gift cards they received during the holidays. Near as I can tell many of these people have never dined out before. How nice of someone to give them the chance.

How to dine out in Winnipeg (in no particular order except #1)

1. Intend to enjoy yourself and not find fault with everything. You'd be amazed at how much of a difference this makes.
2. If you are dining at a chain restaurant do not get annoyed with the server for constantly interrupting you to ask how everything is or introducing themselves by name. We don't really want to do that but management makes us. If, for some reason a server does not interrupt you to ask how everything is and you have a problem, please politely get their attention and tell them what is wrong, your server genuinely does want to make it better. You are an adult, part of the onus of enjoying your dinner is on you. You may not eat everything on your plate and then complain that it wasn't good. Yes this happens. All the time. Oh, and all the "you guys" haters, get over it, we have limited ways to address mixed company.
3. This goes hand in hand with #2, do not order your steak well done; that is why you did not enjoy it. Further to that, do not specify you want it "well done, but make sure it's not burnt". I love that at fude on Osborne they won't cook it past medium-rare.
4. Do not come in 10 minutes before close. If you notice that there is only one staff member around and one other table in the restaurant, this is a good indicator that they are closed soon. Ask.
5. The entire point of a reservation is so that the restaurant can prepare adequately for your arrival by staffing properly and having tables available. Hold up your end of the bargain and show up on time with the amount of people that you reserved for. A reservation for 25 where only 15 show up probably means that someone got scheduled for a shift that they weren't needed for. Yes, this also happens all the time. One day I will write a more detailed post as to why proper reservations are so important.
6. Say please and thank you.
7. Tip. I didn't invent the way our society works, but sufficed to say, if tipping wasn't a common practice in our society it would be built into the price so that the staff could be paid more. I know all of the cheapskates out there are referencing Mr. Pink in their head right now, but I assure you, if I was only paid minimum wage with no chance for tips you would actually see what bad service was like. Why on earth would any server or bartender play mediator/psychologist/babysitter/mindreader etc. when for that same 10 bucks an hour they could __________________ (I don't want to undermine any other job in particular, but there is more than one minimum wage job where being alive is about the only qualification).
8. Let me expand on Tip. This means that you tip on the total of your bill before any coupons/discounts/gift card amounts were taken off. According to Trip Advisor, you should be tipping 15-20%. Just because you drank 7 free refills of pop and the 8th one came after #7 ran out, you did NOT have poor service. So, if you went out for dinner and it was $100 and you used the $75 gift card you got from Grandma for Christmas when the debit machine asks what you'd like to put in for a tip, in this case you wouldn't want to use the "%" button as it will only calculate it on the remaining $25. I dare say if you had a gift card/coupon tip more to the 20% side, heck, you had a nice dinner out for not much out of your own pocket - pass on the good tidings.
9. You are not allergic to _________. You may not really like _________, or it may give you the shits later, but you are not allergic. Tell me that you don't really like it and I won't take you any less seriously and I will still try really hard to make sure it doesn't end up anywhere near your food. However, now my cooks will not have to stop everything, clean off all of their tools and grill so that you don't die. See the difference? Ever wonder why sometimes your food takes a little longer, it might just be because someone is lying about an allergy. That said, if you have an allergy please don't be afraid to tell me so that I can make sure we take all the proper precautions. Dead people don't tip.
10. Intend to enjoy yourself. Seriously, you have no idea how big a difference it makes. I have served people where all sorts of things have gone wrong (as I am a human and so are they) but because they weren't looking for excuses to save a few bucks on the tip they still had a great time, rolled with the punches and probably couldn't have remembered the next day what had gone wrong. It's just dinner people, not the end of the world.

Now, these rules are by no means an exhaustive list, and if you have ever worked in the service industry they are probably pretty redundant. However, if you haven't, please pass it on. For some additional reading may I suggest pretty much anything by the Bitchy Waiter or this exquisite response to a bad customer at Fuck My Table.

It's an uphill battle

Well, this one isn't as clear cut as some of the other examples, but crime from other parts of town are being attributed to the North End again. The shooting of Mohamed Ali Omar on the weekend apparently happened in the North End. But didn't that happen on McPhillips you ask? McPhillips near Mountain? It sure did. Now, the boundaries of the North End are different depending on who you ask, although I can pretty much guarantee anyone who lives right by where that happened doesn't consider themselves to be living in the North End, for example, almost all real estate listings near there on the MLS attribute it to Shaughnessey Heights. So why don't we use the boundaries that the NORTH END Community Renewal Association uses - seems like they should have an idea of what constitutes the North End. According to a map I found on one of the old newsletters I have kicking around, their work in the North End ends on the East side of McPhillips, so therefore the West side would be another community.

Yes, I am splitting hairs a bit with this one, but it's just so frustrating knowing that if something good had happened there it wouldn't have happened in the North End. I don't think McPhillips Station Casino ever is billed as being in the North End, that wouldn't be good for business, and one could argue that the closer to Selkirk Ave. that you are, the more "North End" it is. So I didn't bother reporting the "error" to the FreeP, because I suppose, in a bit of a stretch it could be considered the North End. Of course I don't think that's where suburbanites would think to be afraid as they head through the city on their way to Highway 8 and the Interlake, so if it's reported as the North End* they can feel safe because goodness knows, they don't go to the North End.

*to be fair, the article does mention the approximate intersection where the Lincoln Hotel is located, but after first mentioning that it was in the North End, which I think is the only part people tune in to since they all know they avoid the North End anyway, doesn't really matter which murder filled intersection it was at.

WAR ZONE!!! Uh, probably not.

I, like many Winnipeggers was born and raised here.  I mean, I love it here, but fair enough if I was from somewhere else I would probably need a pretty compelling reason to move here, and that's mostly because of winter, not any other reason.

With the election happening tomorrow, and I dare say I'm looking forward to regular commercials on the radio again, there has been a lot of talk about crime in particular. Well, that and health care, but I know nothing about health care really, so I'll focus on crime. This morning as I hit the snooze button one last time I caught a snippet of  John Vernaus, the PC candidate for Point Douglas telling me I live in war zone. A war zone? Really? Again, I'm very lucky to have grown up in Winnipeg, a city smack dab in the middle of one of the best countries in the world to live in, so I have been very blessed to have never actually seen war, or so I thought, so maybe I have the details wrong on what exactly war entails.

This just seems so insulting to so many people - all around the world and immigrants who have come to Winnipeg to escape real wars at home. Wars where hundreds of people might be killed in a certain day. Innocent bystanders killed by bomb blasts on a regular basis. People murdered because of their religion or skin colour, murdered by strangers - not wannabe gangbangers playing what they seem to think is a video game. I guess I don't know for sure, but I would be surprised if a soldier who has returned to Winnipeg from serving in Afghanistan feels as though they haven't left a war.

Yes, Winnipeg is on track to rack up the most murders ever this year, but I don't think that the average person needs to quake in their boots about it; and I don't think putting 50 new police officers or whatever your party is promising on the beat would have changed the murder count one bit. Money for youth programming so that maybe these youths who are committing these crimes don't end up criminals in the first place? Yup, I'll buy that. But how would those 50 officers have saved the lady from the suburbs who was killed and stuffed in the trunk of her car? Or the grandmother who was killed by her granddaughter, or stopped the woman who set fire to the house on Austin St. and killed multiple people? Or even the 15 year old stabbed to death - unless they were there at exactly the right moment, it still would have happened. I'm pretty sure that all other conditions (the mindset of the murderers in particular would likely not have changed if a different party was in power) remaining the same that Winnipeg would have the exact same number of murders no matter what political party had been in power for the last 4 years.

Back to me living in a war zone, well, based on recent events I live in the epicenter of this war we are having and I imagine folks who are living in a real war zone would trade me places one million times over - this weekend I saw families having BBQ's and children playing in the streets and not one person being persecuted or killed for their beliefs. Even compared to the London riots in August, for which likening that to a war zone may have been closer to the truth, we really have little to complain about.

So, John Vernaus, please do not tell people that I live in a war zone, it is insulting to the survivors of war and the residents of the community that you hope to be elected in. Your commercial has only served to perpetuate the negative beliefs about a community that is indeed wounded but that will bounce back because it is filled with hardworking, resilient, caring people.

Okay people, if you didn't already vote at one of the ridiculously accessible advance polls, don't forget to get your vote on tomorrow, starting at *shudder* 7am!

A little ashamed to be a Winnipegger

I'm back, I know you have all been missing me! It's a total cliche but, how about this weather we've been having?? This Winnipeg Girl is in her absolute glory - it's like summer in the "olden days" (you know, when I was a teenager). I just can't get enough of this hot, sunny weather and I have been doing my best to get out and enjoy every minute of it, either in a park or just puttering in the yard. Which reminds me - the Wolseley Project suffered a few minor setbacks lately; one day I came out to find most of the heads popped off my orange marigolds and a few plants trampled on - so I replanted what I could with some replacements, including a new centerpiece giant white marigold. Well, I returned from the long weekend to find that someone has plucked the marigold and absconded with it, which is a bit of a shame. I hope they replanted it in their yard and didn't just toss it on the street somewhere.

The long weekend is actually where my story starts... I went down to the States for the long weekend, including a stop in Fargo on Friday and Saturday (beautiful downtown in Fargo if you've never been) and then back up to Grand Forks to spend Saturday and Sunday nights. The reason for Grand Forks vs. Fargo on the Saturday night, even though hotels in Fargo seem to be cheaper was that we wanted to head to Red Lake Falls on Sunday morning for a day of tubing down the river.

Downtown Fargo

If you have never been before, let me tell you, it is one heck of a good time. You could basically look up "quintessential perfect summer day" in the dictionary and get a picture of Voyageur's View in Red Lake Falls, MN. You rent tubes for people ($12 each) and for your cooler ($8) and then take one of their converted school buses up the road about 5 minutes where they drop you off at a riverside landing. Before you hit the water you lash yourselves together with the provided twine so that you can float en masse down the river. They are no slouches when it comes to trying to make sure that tubers don't use the river as their own personal garbage dump - drink containers are counted when you start the day and then again at the end when you return your tubes. You also can't bring any styrofoam or glass on the river - this includes styrofoam coolers - handy heads up, if you were as ill-prepared in the cooler department as we were, they rent coolers (we bought a styrofoam one on the way to the town, not knowing the rule) for $5. Also, if you plan to imbibe in adult beverages while floating down the river, note that Minnesota does not seem to sell liquor on Sunday so if you are heading from N. Dakota stock up there, although you will have to wait until noon for the liquor stores to open.

Ah, alcohol, this is where the situation get embarrassing for Winnipeg.

After speaking with two of the three siblings that now run Voyageur's View, I was told that the August long weekend is by far their busiest and rowdiest weekend. With all of the insanity and mayhem that was around, I give extreme kudos to them for being quite so gracious with regards to the hundreds of young Winnipeggers that were going out of their way to seemingly damage as much as possible while breaking every rule that was out there. Taking a walk through the campground you could be forgiven for thinking you were somewhere in Manitoba - probably 95% of the cars sported Manitoba plates.

I don't know if I can paint the picture accurately enough, but I'll try.  For those of you around my age (30's) who remember the sh*t-show that Oktoberfest turned into - the extreme drunkeness, the fights the everything - it's like that but half or more naked and involving a potentially dangerous body of water.  I would peg most of the campers to be middle class, university students, so certainly not a hopeless uneducated bunch in the ways of social norms, yet there they were, drunk and belligerent (and that was at lunch-time) swearing and throwing things.

Now, I am not at all against the idea of a few cold adult beverages, especially on a nice summer day, but I like to think that getting drunk while floating down a river, a river, not a swimming pool with a lifeguard that can save your sorry ass (not that that is the best idea either), is not the best plan of action. The level of drunkeness is by no means accidental, these kids (dear lord, I'm getting old) binge drink like they're seasoned alcoholics told that today is the last day that booze will ever exist. Basically, most of them seem to have crossed the line from having a good time over to the dark side.

Now, back to the two owners that I met (and before I realized they were the owners) - while in line for our first float down the river, the brother that I met took the time to ask our group if we had been down before, and since I suppose it was obvious that we weren't part of "that crowd" he even apologized for their behaviour.  His sister was our bus driver for our second departure of the day, and again, she took the time to ask us if we were familiar with the process. Voyageur's View had dozens of staff on, including security staff with a no-nonsense behaviour and yet these horrible over-privileged young adults from Winnipeg were doing everything they could to make their lives difficult. The end of the run down the river is at a landing just under a bridge that is next to the campground, and the bridge itself has more than your usual guardrail - it actually has about an 8ft. fence to keep stupid people from jumping off the bridge into the river below, yet while we were there, we witnessed one guy climb OVER the fence so he could possibly break his neck jumping into the shallow river.

Basically, the whole thing makes me so mad I can barely get my words to make sense. These stupid kids are who ruin things for the rest of society. People have been floating down that river for years and years (Voyageur's View has been around for 27 years) and most people are smart enough to remember that they are in a river, that has currents and rocks and whatever else might be unknown and they take appropriate precautions and follow the rules that have been outlined for their safety however I have a sneaky suspicion that drunk twenty-somethings are going to get this sort of idyllic summer activity outlawed. Apparently last year two friends drowned (drunk, of course) and the families have their knickers in a twist because they think Voyageur's View should be held responsible.  What ever happened to personal responsibility? It reminds me of the knee-jerk reaction of creating minimum pricing for liquor in Manitoba because some idiot drank too much and wandered into the river.

Ok, rant mostly over. So, I'm not sure how many of you are parents of people who went down to Red Lake Falls on the long weekend, and even though they are very likely an adult, in theory capable of making their own decisions, it might be a good idea to have a chat about what constitutes acceptable adult behaviour.  And if you haven't been to Red Lake Falls - go! It's such a great way to spend a day, and with this awesome summer we've been having it's pretty much a must-do.

Don't ever put the word h00ker in a blog post

No really, don't. Not unless you want to be completely intrigued/grossed out by how many people are putting that into Google on a DAILY basis, and stumbling on my blog post. Yesterday there were SEVEN variations of that as a Google search. SEVEN.  First of all, who Googles where to find h00kers? Are these locals who are somehow out of the loop? Is there a tourism niche that needs to be filled - maybe at the information desk at the airport? Seriously though. Ew. My only consolation is that while they may be looking for gross anonymous sex, they are instead reading ramblings by me and maybe reconsidering strolling residential neighbourhoods for their next h00ker (note: in case you didn't pick up on it, please do not go to residential neighbourhoods looking for sex, it's not appreciated by the neighbours, well, except my one neighbour who all my other neighbours have just told me is a h00ker and brings her tricks in the back door, but that's a post for another time).

Now on to a more typical generic conversation topic - how about the weather?! I am female which means I'm cold about 95% of the time - but not the last few days let me tell ya! This weather is fantastic - loving it. This makes up for last summer and maybe even the summer before. The flowers in the Wolseley project are still going strong although I'm accepting volunteers to come and weed them for me...

That's it. Shortest blog post ever for this girl. Too hot to come up with brilliant ideas. Plus until I figure out that "World Peace" thing, I think my solving how to get more people to take the bus is going to be hard to top.

When gunshots don't sound like gunshots

First some random housekeeping...

For the person who googled Root Beer Slurpee (a close second to Dr. Pepper) - if you're still looking, try the Sev in EK by Rona, just off Panet. They had them a week or two ago.

For the person looking for VW hubcaps - send me a message, I might have what you need if you didn't already find it. I, and most of my friends seem to hoard VW's.

For all of you that are looking for some variation of Winnipeg and h00kers (streets for h00kers in Winnipeg, Winnipeg h00kers, where to find Winnipeg h00kers and so on), please consider not looking in my residential part of the North End. I'm genuinely a little disturbed as to how many hits my blog gotten based on people who seem to be googling for h00kers.

To expand on a rant from way back when, Geography, where I expressed anger at negative news being attributed to the North End when it didn't belong there. At the time I didn't really have evidence that I could link to (as my own memory doesn't record details like dates and times that I get angry. Ok, well, now it does a bit more that I have a blog, but I digress...) so every time I come across something now, I try to add it to the list. So, Mike McIntyre, this one is for you. The intersection of Ross and Isabel is NOT in the North End. Thanks. While I'm thanking people, thanks to Winnipeg Cat for a daily chuckle and the link that led me to the story.


Oh, and the Wolseley project? Well, we're two weeks in and going strong. Only a little disturbance to the flowers and one lost due to natural causes.

Now on to my attention grabbing post headline...
Picture it, Saturday night in the North End. It was a nice enough night out, which generally means it's a little bit loud, but this past Saturday night was actually pretty quiet.  At one point, we'll say, maybe around 1130, I hear a series of noises that "sounded like gunshots". Or at least slightly less identifiable than most of the other noises that people claim sound like gunshots. For the record, most of the noises that are "gunshots all of the time" (see almost every story involving a shooting in the core area for this quote) are fireworks, backfiring cars, cars driving over glass bottles, cars driving over juice boxes, or pretty much any other noise besides gunshots. Of course, sometimes they are gunshots.

So Saturday night I hear a series of noises that didn't quite sound like the usual fireworks, but I wasn't really sure what they were either. Since there were no sirens immediately after I didn't really think about it too much. About half an hour or so after that, there was a loud BANG! sort of noise, but more like the sound two train cars make when they're joining up. I thought it sounded like it came from the government housing units across the street so I looked out the window, saw nothing of note, listened for a minute or so and went back to watching tv. Another minute or two later I heard the same sort of noise again so rushed to the window to try and figure out what the heck was going on. Was someone tipping over autobins again? There was not a soul in sight and no other noises to be heard. Back to my PVR I went.

About ten minutes later a vehicle tore down my street, like it was in a NASCAR race - it went by so fast that by the time I jumped up to see what kind of vehicle it was, it had already passed. I returned to the TV only to jump up like a jack in the box like 20 minutes later to the sound of a bunch of voices outside my window. This time I meandered outside to see what was going on. There were numerous cop cars milling about and the neighbours said there had been gunshots. Wait, you mean the banging noises half an hour ago?

Apparently. I wandered up to the next block where the most police activity was and asked one of the few officers who was not looking all over the ground with a flashlight, what was going on. I was asked if I heard anything, I repeated the above story and was very amusingly given a "ma'am, I can tell you that there has been a gun fired, perhaps it's best you return home". Eventually the intersection was closed off with police tape. Now, I can see most of that intersection from the window I was looking out, it can't be more than 50m from my house, and there were no people milling about after I heard the sound that didn't sound anything like what TV, Movies and my own one confirmed account of gunshots have told me that gunshots sound like.

Interestingly, right around the time they were closing off the street with police tape, about 25m to the other side of my house there was a number of cop cars all of a sudden and they had stopped a car and had 4 people down on the ground. I was led to believe (can't know for sure of course as the police tend to be tight-lipped on these sorts of things) that the two things were connected however the time delays between all of the events confuses me.

Oh, and Choppy (forgive me, I don't remember which blogger called the Police helicopter that, but it amuses me so I'm going to use it too) was there circling around for quite a while. Well surely an event of this magnitude made the papers and you're just desperately searching for where I've hidden the link to the article... nope. Nothing. Nada. No hint of a story.

I don't write this post to highlight yet another negative thing that has happened in the North End, I mean, I don't want to hide the negative either, but more to point out two things. One, we need more information from the Police. When something of this magnitude happens there should be a website that explains at least the basics so we can arm ourselves with the most powerful weapon out there - information. Perhaps a rule such as if more than XX cars are dispatched (I would say 4 is a good number) to a call, a brief summary should be made available to the public. Two, sometimes gunshots don't sound like gunshots.

Oh, I'm going there

What a great title for a post. I could be talking about weighing in on the neverending discussion regarding Winnipeg getting an NHL team - will the big announcement about the Atlanta Thrashers coming to Winnipeg be tomorrow? Maybe the next day? Was it all just rumour after all?

It could be about the fact that I'm going to freaking Copenhagen, Denmark for a mere $475 roundtrip. Yeah, seriously. How could I not for that price? It's with Iceland Express, and yes, they had their issues last summer and screwed over some folks, but even if they cancel service halfway through the summer again, I'll be safe because I'm going in June (*knocks on wood). However that is more a post for my other admittedly less frequently updated blog Small World, Big Travels.

So what is this mighty issue that I'm going to force my opinion on you on? Socials. Yup, the great Manitoba (and pockets of NW Ontario and Saskatchewan) tradition. For some of my random far flung readers (I'm looking at you Qatar) who may not be Manitoba expatriates, a social is an event that many young couples put on as a fundraiser for either their wedding itself or for starting their new life together; it is also sometimes held as a fundraiser for things like sports teams. It is generally held in a community club or banquet hall and tickets are sold *only* in advance (due to Manitoba liquor laws) or secretly out the side door (technically that's before they get in).

Tickets are usually $10 and for that price include a DJ that usually kind of sucks but plays just enough modern music and oldies to keep every age group from rioting. It also includes a selection of meat, mustard and rye bread at about 11pm. Watch out for the meat shoulder. More modern food selections (I'm pretty sure the whole food thing is something to do with the liquor laws too) sometimes include perogies or pizza, but even though I'm not a fan of socials I'm a fan of tradition, so if you have perogies you'd better have the meat and bread too.  Your choices of beverages generally include rum/rye and coke, gin and tonic, vodka and clamato juice (poormans caesar) or beer. Notice I did not say Bailey's.

Even drunk it's easy to tell if you won

You also generally can't pay for your drinks right at the bar. Oh no, you need tickets. Conveniently*, you can also buy tickets for silent auction prizes at the same time! *mental note, develop sarcasm font*  If you live in Winnipeg, as I do, this inevitably means a gift certificate from Discreet Boutique or Fabutan as part of one of the auction prizes. Nothing says good times like vibrators and tans. There are also usually one or two bigger prizes, like TV's and BBQ's and those silent auction tickets of course cost more. Back in the "olden days" most if not all of the social prizes were donated and it was a task of the wedding party to help round them up from local merchants. Now couples typically buy a lot of their prizes (or parts of them) with the hopes of recouping the spend in their ticket sales.

So what's my beef with socials? Well, there are a couple of things. First, they almost never have anything that I actually enjoy drinking and I refuse to drink just for the sake of it. Second, I'm pretty sure that socials used to be mostly a country thing and that I'm still pretty much okay with. In the country it's a chance for a small town to have a lively night with dancing as even a crappy DJ is better than none at all, and chances are, in the country you actually know the people getting married.  Here in the city socials have become so expensive to put on that people are desperate to sell tickets and it becomes a guilt thing rather than a supporting thing. No, I don't want to go to your sisters co-workers brothers social.

Why do people even need to raise money for their wedding anymore? Back in those "olden days" couples were probably only moving in together after they got married and quite possibly moving straight from their parents place into their first place together as a couple. Nowadays the couple has either already been living together already or at the very least have likely been living on their own for a while which means that they don't need to register for pots and pans and toasters and towels for their actual wedding, they have all of those things. No, most weddings I've attended over the last few years have just wanted the presentation envelope; and everyone should be presenting at least enough to cover the cost of their own attendance at the wedding, everything else is just gravy. Weddings are about love and other mushy crap, they are not supposed to be about turning a buck.

Socials are just a way to raise money so people can spend more money and in the city I can think of a bunch of other things I'd rather do on a Friday or Saturday night. Socials also used to be only in the winter - winter was social season, summer was wedding season. Now, they go all year round! At least in winter I may not have the argument that I have something better to do.

So to sum up my position on socials, if you live in the country, give 'er, you really may not have anything better to do. If you live in the city, skip the social and just have the wedding, unless you are both still living at home and actually need to get a toaster as a wedding gift (thus not being able to use your presentation to pay for the wedding). The exception to this rule is if you're Filipino. Filipino wedding socials are generally superior in my opinion; the food is out all night, I don't usually know what any of it is, but it's darn good and plentiful (and they'll send you home with leftovers if you're lucky!) - I think my stupid $10 ticket as dinner.

MPI - no, not a post about the cheques

Okay, a wee shout out about the cheques to get the ball rolling... yes, get over it, we were overcharged on our insurance. However, unlike if we were all using private insurance, we got a refund. If a private insurer took in too much in premiums I'm pretty sure it would just go to the shareholders as profit. I also put the details for one of my cars into an online multi-carrier insurance calculator for Alberta and the rates had a range of about $300 between the companies, and my MPI rate fell in there (to the lower end if they also have something similar to the registration charge that gets tacked on to ours - more to the middle if they don't).  Plus, for all the people that say they would rather have had the money in 2009/10 and just not paid too much in premiums, blah blah blah, would any of those people actually noticed the difference? Especially if you pay monthly? I would not have appreciated the paying $35.50 less every month, probably never would have noticed; I totally appreciate a nice big cheque for $426. Most people can't save money worth a damn, just thank MPI for helping you learn to save.

But like I said, this post isn't about the cheques. I don't know if what I'm going to talk about is a North End issue or a city-wide one, but I notice it one heck of a lot here on my side of the tracks, probably about twice a day.  Temporary insurance permits. Have you ever been out and about and seen a car with no plates and wondered what the heck was going on? Well, hopefully they had their temporary insurance papers taped in the front window on the passenger side, and hopefully they were still in date.

Now, there is a very legitimate use for the temporary insurance, I needed to use it myself last year. I purchased a car out of Province and I needed to be able to take it to get safetied, and obviously couldn't put regular insurance on it until I had received my safety certificate. So I got temporary insurance for a couple of days and was able to take it to the inspection station.

My beef is this: there are any number of cars running around the city, and it seems in particular in my neck of the woods, that are able to speed through red-light cameras (no back plate) and in general are missing the most vital piece of identification. It seems as though temporary insurance permits are like the Money Mart of insuring your car - it generally costs way more than it would if you renewed your regular policy, but if you don't have the cash to pay for the whole month/year the usual way, you can at least get your car on the road for a few days. Now, you are probably thinking I'm just being cynical, but I have actually heard numerous discussions by people that that is exactly why they get their insurance that way. You also get out of needing that pesky safety inspection on your car.

Now I called MPI to get a little more information on this whole concept and see where the loopholes might be. Apparently they claim that a person cannot get this maximum 30 day permit "more than a couple times" on a certain car per year, but there doesn't seem to be a finite amount, just that they would start questioning further should a person try it more than that. The car cannot have failed a safety inspection previously, however methinks that since these folks are not using it to go and get a safety on the car anyway, there is no risk of that. It seems as though it would be quite easy to just keep passing a car around between friends and family members and therefore being able to drive a potentially unsafe car around town.

As for the Money Mart comparison, it is $36 for a 5 day permit and a whopping $174 for the full 30 days, and that's with a $500 deductible! If you want the more reasonable $200 deductible you're looking at $48 to $236! Now I don't know what you pay for insurance, but I can insure almost my whole "fleet" (Winnipeg Girl has an addiction to cars) for that much! But hey, if all you have is fifty bucks it'll get you a few days, and many of the cars I see on this system are barely worth the $500 deductible.

Ok, so what's my point? Well, first of all, I'd like to see these cars be required to have a rear plate within 24 hours of entering Manitoba (people can get this insurance via fax, which is useful for purchasing a car out of Province - a legitimate use). People should also have to pay at least a $100 deposit to get that plate - this should keep people from using it instead of regular insurance and would provide a means of identifying the car.

Okay, now off to spend my MPI windfall!

Spring cleaning

Has anyone else ever wondered why a jug of windshield washer fluid has about *thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis* much too much liquid in it based on the size of the reservoir? Now, being human, procrastination is deep seeded in my veins, which means that I usually remember to put in washer fluid right about the time I hear that horrible dry pumping whir coming from under the hood when I pull on the lever.  I then purposely drive near puddles in an attempt to clean my windscreen until I get to a gas station and purchase some overpriced stuff; despite the fact that I remembered to stock up the last time Canadian Tire had a sale on the stuff and it's sitting in my garage

Why is it not in my car you ask? Because inevitably it would have tipped on its side and leaked out all over the car, leaving a lingering stain and smell. Those caps SEEM resealable, but let me tell you, not so much, heck, even new ones have leaked in my car! So instead, I find myself, glaring at my car with about 1/8 of a jug of washer fluid in my hand, wondering who came up with this design anyway!? My solution? Well, if a frustrated Winnipegger ever thrusts you a bit of washer fluid at a gas station and tells you that you might as well use it, that might just be me.

'Tis also that time of year for spring cleaning, an annual (ok, I attempt for annual) tradition of going through the house, room by room and either cleaning or getting rid of crap previously cherished items. Well, this year as you and your friends and families conduct this laborious, time consuming cleansing ritual may I pass on a suggestion or two as to where you bring those unwanted items.

Ideally, one day, I'd like to compile an extremely comprehensive list to distribute the the masses, but here is my personal short list (feel free to add your suggestions in the comments). I have often offered to pick things up myself from friends just to keep it from going to Value Village. There are two main reasons for that, neither of which being a dislike for Big Brothers & Big Sisters or Canadian Diabetes (the charities that they support).

It is my understanding that Value Village essentially buys the donated goods from those two charities (different charities are supported in different regions) and then sells them - for profit. I have read (see this link, read down to the comments section - a reply by someone named Jeff Smail who claims to be a regional director for VV), but have never have been able to verify personally (as these things seem to be kept hush-hush) that they pay the charities by weight, which would make sense - they win some, they lose some. If in those donations are things that are broken, stained etc., VV can't sell them, they suck it up and take the loss. On the other hand, if you donate Grandma's entire estate to the Canadian Diabetes Foundation because she died of complications due to diabetes and you think that you are giving to a cause dear to her, you might not be doing as much good as you had hoped.  For example, lumped into Grandma's things was some costume jewellery that everyone in the family thought was hideous, but it turns out that it was a bunch of signed pieces that are worth hundreds of dollars.  So, Canadian Diabetes gets maybe a dollar (exact amount unknown, that's extra hush hush) and the large multi-national chain gets hundreds.

Example of expensive jewellery that also looks like it could have bought at the dollar store (ok, maybe Claire's)

My second major dislike for VV is because of their prices. Seriously, $7.99 for a used Old Navy shirt? $12.99 for a pair of jeans that were originally from Giant Tiger?? They do know that this stuff isn't new right?? I remember back in the day when VV really was a good deal, now it seems as though if they recognize the brand it is instantly double the price of something without a label. Of course, I have gotten the odd deal there, even in recent years - I got an amazing coat that retails for $400 at boutiques like Cake and October (I saw one of the brand once at Winners and it was still $289!) for $34.99 and it was only a year old (Google knows everything). Clearly it was because it was an obscure brand that I lucked out. So sure, it's handy to bring your stuff to VV, they have long hours and through their "partner" organizations they will even pick up but that warm fuzzy feeling that you're getting from the donation is akin to feeling loved during a one night stand.

If you would like to feel a little less cheap and dirty after your spring clean out, here's my shortlist and a little blurb/link as to what they'll do with the proceeds (if any):
M.C.C (Mennonite Central Committee): Beside all of the work that their thrift stores support, I would in particular direct you to the store on Selkirk Ave - as I believe all of their stores are, it's staffed almost entirely by volunteers who put things at a price point that makes it very affordable for some of Winnipeg's most disadvantaged families.  In particular at the moment they could use some nicer furniture, bric-a-brac and housewares. Go to 511 Selkirk Ave or call 204-586-2527 - They may be able to pick up.
Goodwill Industries - Furniture/Clothing/Housewares - Locations on Portage Ave (near Unicity), Regent Ave (past Plessis), Downtown (Princess St.), Pembina Highway (near Tony Roma's) and St. Annes (just south of Fermor).
Salvation Army -Furniture/Clothing/Housewares - Various locations, personally not a huge fan of giving there due to their fairly high prices. Yeah, it likely goes to a good cause but they could help more people by having lower prices and helping those folks clothe themselves even cheaper. Plus, I'm pretty sure in our over-consuming society they are hardly likely to run out of clothes to sell.
Andrews St. Family Centre (clothing), North Point Douglas Women's Centre (clothing),  Oyate Tipi (clothing/furniture/housewares) - some of the many organizations in the North End that have a clothing room where people can get items they need. Of course, if you have mens clothing both Main St. Project and Siloam Mission would probably appreciate them the most.

A special shout out if you have a recent female grad or maybe even past bridesmaid - Gowns for Grads doesn't seem to have any details available about the program yet for this year, but I imagine a phone call or two could help you find those frocks a fantastic new home.

So, go on, start sniffing the Pine-Sol and bring that stuff down to somewhere where it can do some good! Oh, but if what you were getting rid of includes old arborite kitchen tables or furniture made of fiberglass or acrylic maybe send me a message first... I'll take it off your hands :)