Archive for June, 2014

Below is an excerpt from a article about freelancing mothers, that the blog thought would be of interest, as there is a considered amount of mothers seeking this route or already pursuing it.

Ok all his can pertain to fathers too!

The text below and numbers therein  are from a UK based newspaper.

The number of freelancing mothers in the UK has risen by 24% in the past two years, with many citing the need for more flexible hours, according to research published on Monday.

The thinktank Demos  (due in August 2014 the blog will post them) said its findings should act as a wake-up call to big employers that parents will choose to work for themselves if they cannot secure a working pattern to suit their family lives.

again UK numbers below!

More than two-thirds of women surveyed, or 69%, rated flexibility of work-life balance is very important to them, compared with 55% of men, Demos said. Women were also more likely to want greater control of their hours, while men were more likely to have chosen freelancing for the money.

“For parents who want to spend time with their children, self-employment can provide the flexibility to ease back into work in a way that many workplaces do not offer,” said Duncan O’Leary, Demos research director.

Full Article here

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Shocking as it seems the CPR yard in the Junction is all but gone. The lone CPR railroad building we have left is a simple office building at Runnymede RD.

How did it come to this , just back in 1996 we had a roundhouse, a maintenance buildings, a yard full of railroad stuff and allot of rail activity.

It has the blog thinking – what did the community ever do the to the CPR railway that they deserted us.

All we have this weekend is a few interesting tanker cars.

It’s spring!

Her name is Daisy and She loves to meander on Clendenan Ave, north of Dundas, and she been missing since Wednesday.

 
 
  25 June, London – A new report by Arup, the global engineering and design consultancy, reveals a vision of the future of rail travel in light of trends such as urban population growth, climate change and emerging technologies. Future of Rail 2050 foresees predictive maintenance of rail lines by robot drones; driverless trains travelling safely at high speed, freight delivered automatically to its destination, and smart technology able to interface with mobile and wearable devices to improve passenger experience and enable ticketless travel.
 
 
 
 Arup has been involved in many of the world’s high speed rail, metro and driverless train projects including HS1 and Heathrow PRT in the UK and Cityringen Metro in Copenhagen, as well as the creation of Beijing South Railway Station and the redevelopment of St Pancras International Station. The report is based on developments from current Arup rail projects, as well as insight from Arup’s Foresight + Research + Innovation team and global contributors.
 
 
 
 Convenience: a reliable network
 
 
 
 With the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, the report looks at future construction and maintenance techniques to reduce travel delays and shape railway resilience. It predicts intelligent robots building new, and retrofitting old rail infrastructure. Swarm robotics, a theory based on swarm behavior amongst ant and bee colonies, could see small robots working collaboratively on major railway repair and structural testing. Monitoring drones would enable rail operators to perform advanced maintenance on tracks, eradicating lengthy journey delays and line closures.
 
 Full article here
 
 
 It’s spring!

Article from the National Post newspaper.

Link to the article at the newspaper site.

Mayoral candidate David Soknacki proposes banning all street parking in the Toronto

Peter Kuitenbrouwer
Thursday, Jun. 19, 2014

David Soknacki, the former city budget chief who is running for mayor, wants to remove all parking from main streets in the heart of Toronto to make room for cyclists and help move traffic faster.

“On arterial roads, we ban on-street parking at all times,” Mr. Soknacki said in an interview this week. “That would free up real estate to allow for cycling and better flow of traffic.”

Asked whether the suggestion would remove thousands of parking spots downtown, Mr. Soknacki replied, “probably.” He said he would phase the ban.

Mr. Soknacki said he defines the core, for this idea, as the area between Spadina Avenue and Jarvis Street, south of Bloor Street.

In a campaign for the mayor’s chair that has so far been somewhat short on radical ideas, we finally have a radical idea. And it didn’t take very long for a politician to pounce.

“David should see how difficult it was to have a discussion with the businesses on Harbord,” said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the city’s public works committee. He was referring to the pitched battle with the Harbord Bakery and others over the city’s plan to remove some parking spots to connect the missing link on the Harbord-Hoskins cycle path. That is a busy bike route between Wellesley Street east of Queen’s Park and points west of the University of Toronto.

The Harbord businesses “were at the point to get out pitchforks and axes and march down to city hall,” Mr. Minnan-Wong said. “The businesses flipped out.

“You take parking away from a road, businesses and residences will be very vocal.”

Cutting that many parking spots would also “have a significant financial impact on the city” in terms of lost parking meter revenue, Mr. Minnan-Wong added.

Janice Solomon, executive director of the Entertainment District Business Improvement Area, pointed out that the city recently extended no-parking hours on King, Richmond, Adelaide and Queen Streets until 7 p.m. Before, people could park as of 6 p.m.

You act to solve one problem and you create another. Streets need to be designed for multi-modes. I’m not sure if a one-size-fits-all approach will work. I don’t know whether it’s a great idea

Mr. Soknacki’s idea, “sounds a little out of step,” Ms. Solomon said. “To me banning it altogether doesn’t make sense because that wouldn’t help people move faster. Because we’re a 24-hour neighbourhood, it’s nice to have that on-street option” outside of rush hour, she said. “I’d like to know the logic behind the thinking.”

Even Franz Hartmann at the Toronto Environmental Alliance, a cyclist commuter who encourages active transportation (cycling, walking and transit), didn’t immediately leap to support the proposal.

“There’s always the law of unintended consequences,” he said. “You act to solve one problem and you create another. Streets need to be designed for multi-modes. I’m not sure if a one-size-fits-all approach will work. I don’t know whether it’s a great idea.”

National Post

Posted in: Posted Toronto Tags: Comment On Toronto, David Soknacki, Denzil Minnan-Wong

It’s spring!

 
 In Denmark,
 
 Several supermarkets have begun to sell food very cheap or give it away for free, if the item is nearing its sell-by date.
 
 The shops are simply tired of throwing away tons of food out.

 
 A ad about the dangers of speeding, were children can be.
 
 Irish DOE Road Safety “Classroom”
 
 The video has purposely not been embedded into the post as it is full on real.
 
 View away from children.
 
 YouTube link
 
 
 
 
 
 It’s night time.

Work Continues on the Saint Cecilia’s Catholic Church on Annette St. with the waning of the stone front entrance way.

Last year the roofing slate was replaced along with extensive brick restoration.

www.saintcecilia.ca/

The annual Indigenous Arts Festival at Fort York National Historic Site from June 20 to 22 celebrates traditional and contemporary music, dance, theatre, storytelling, visual arts, crafts and food created by indigenous artists from across Ontario and British Columbia.
 
 “This festival shows the deep range of talent that exists in Canada’s Aboriginal communities, extending across the performing and visual arts into crafts and food,”

 
 Community Council Decision
 
 
 Caution: This is a preliminary decision. This decision should not be considered final until the meeting is complete and the City Clerk has confirmed the decisions for this meeting.
 
  Transportation Services is requesting approval to enact one-hour time limit parking regulations on Edith Avenue, Hugo Avenue and the section of Franklin Avenue, north of Dupont Street. The time limit parking will be in effect at all times outside the overnight permit parking operation. Additionally, the Thursday alternate-side parking regulations on Franklin Avenue, south of Dupont Street, will be rescinded.
 
 
 Full city report