NIce try JAY....not a doritos fan at all...but throw a bag of Wavy Lays or Kettle Chips in front of me and...well....it's not a pretty site!

Chips - any kind, any flavour - are my achilles heel. ARRRRGH!

The dance performances in the park were good! Two were totally comical and the other two were more "arty". And I liked that there was a range of different body types and sizes (though everyone was in top shape of course) among the dancers. DH remarked that several of them looked like me!

Good Friday (how can it not be - it's FRIDAY) all!

Dagmar

Oh, boy, wasn't somebody else on this thread interviewing people for jobs at one point, and feeling physically wrung out by the experience, because you can feel how much they need it? (Was it you, Shannon?) And yet you know you're not likely to hire them? I was just on a phone interview with someone who became a manager in my organization about seven years ago, but lost the job after just three months' time, partly because he was so disorganized and unsuited and partly for political reasons. Now he's back, hat in hand -- so to speak -- looking for a regular writing position. There are so many reasons he won't be a good fit in this job ... but he was so honest about desperately needing it and, now that he's in his 60s, tiring of being a freelancer.

Thinking soberly of his predicament. And the weather's bright and crisp-ish, like back-to-school weather. I can feel the day tipping toward the weekend. I'd be happier if I hadn't seen an upsetting number on the scale this morning. I wish that had no effect, but it is somehow inhibiting.

Saef - yes, that was me with the interviewing. I had several weeks of it, and by the time it was over I felt like I had run several marathons. It wore me out. It is so hard when you are talking to someone who so desperately needs the job and you know that you aren't going to be able to give it to them. I'm sure it was harder knowing that at his age he is going to have a hard time finding anything anywhere. Not an easy task to start the day with.

I'm so ready for the weekend.

Saef, that must have been a tough interview.

I had quite an interesting day. This morning my boss was frustrated about some things going on at work, so to help relax he decided to take our whole team (7 people including him) out for lunch. I did okay at trying to be relatively healthy with the lunch -- half a burger on wheat bread, green beans instead of fries, took the other half burger home. Then on our way back we were waiting at a red light about a block from the office when all of a sudden a guy goes flying straight through the red light and smashes into a big rig. The guy was knocked unconscious and his car drifted out of the way and then stopped. We pulled over and called 911 -- my first time ever calling 911 -- and waited until the police arrived to give a statement. The guy started to come to while we were waiting for the ambulance to arrive and when they got there they were able to get him to climb out of the car pretty much on his own. It's lucky he was driving alone because if a passenger had been in the car they would have been killed. The entire side of the car was completely smashed in. The big rig driver was okay, just shaken up.

I was suddenly reminded of one time back when DH and I were driving somewhere and we had a green light, and I saw a car coming that looked like it was going to run the red light so DH slammed on his brakes just in time for the other car to go flying past in front of us. I shudder to think what might have happened if he hadn't been so quick on the brakes.

WHOA! Jessica, talk about suddenly feeling one's mortality and fragility in the world. What shakes me up is thinking that I could be the most careful driver in the world ... and I still could do nothing about someone distractedly or deliberately running a red light at the wrong moment.

Nothing requires cooperation and consideration and paying attention -- not to mention being a team-player -- as much as the simple act of driving someplace.

And still, some of getting there remains luck.

You were lucky at least twice, Jessica.

Jessica Glad everyone was ok! it does take a lot of concentration to drive (at least for me ). DH and I were talking about multi-tasking vs parallel thought processing yesterday and I mentioned to him how I found it difficult to drive and talk at the same time.

I once went on a 5-hour drive with someone to pick up a puppy. It was winter and there was snow falling. She was, at one point, driving about 140kph on the highway, eating a burger, and talking on her cell and to me simultaneously. That was the point where I had to start looking out of the window and invoking some deity to intercede for us.

Dh and I are going to spend part of the weekend fixing things at my/my dad's house. The city has now made it mandatory for all downspouts to be disconnected so we will do that.

I sent DH a long email yesterday about what I would like to see happen with our relationship in the next couple of years. It appears I did catch his attention, at least for now.

Too bad I had to binge eat for a couple of hours prior to sending the email. ARRRGH! Old habits and all that.

Dagmar

Jessica That's dreadful. Glad you are OK.

Dagmar - you've mentioned this before. What's the reasoning behind the city's decision? I can't think that downspouts are bad as they direct water into the drains quite effectively. No, I'm mystified.

Food really could be better. And so could exercise. The school summer holidays are hard.

I was wondering about the downspouts, too.I always thought they wer a good thing, preventing water damage to the house.

Re downspouts: This is a bit of a rant against Toronot's municipal government who have become a bunch of incompetent slobs.

Toronto's sewage system is no longer up to date. All the stormwater during a big rain overwhelms the current system. Disconnecting the downspouts means less water in the sewage system and more water draining into the soil. And it's at no cost to the City because they don't have to upgrade the sewers.

Of course a lot of the soil in Toronto (being a former lakebed) is heavy clay and sand and doesn't drain well. A lot of people are now experiencing damage to their houses due to poor downspout disconnection done free by the City. One of my clients keeps getting water leaking into his basement.

The house we rent is another example of this. The driveway slants toward the house (instead of away) and the downspout, which is disconnected about 4 inches from the house, sends water toward the house. We have a wall in the basement which is going to buckle and crumble due to water damage during the 5 years we've been here. The downspout is right outside that wall.

I can run an extension on to the lawn at my dad's for the front downspout and hope that it will take the water far enough away from the house to prevent damage. It will make lawn cutting difficult.

The back of the house would require reslanting the whole upper eavestrough (on the second floor) and redoing all the drainage pipes to emit the water on the other side of the house. The deck is in the way for either end. I am leaving the back in the hopes that any random drive-bys by the City will only look at the front of the house. If they decide to go after me for the back I will try to enlist the aid of the media (who hate the current mayor who is an imbecile) to bring awareness of the plight of householders too poor to undertake these costly changes.

The City is offering us no financial assistance. They are pretending to do so but I imagine the process of applying for a rebate will take years. Meanwhile we have to have the work done by November or risk heavy fines (and they won't tell us how much the fines are).

I am really looking forward to moving away from this City. It has deteriorated to the point that I really don't enjoy living here any more. It seems that everyone who makes less than a gazillion dollars really can't "live" in Toronto.

The good news is that DH has decided to do the front downspout himself. So all I have to pay for is materials. DH worked as a labourer in various aspects of contracting for several years and he knows what he's doing. I trust him to do a much, much better job than the City or the guys I've spoken to about the job.

End of rant.

Dagmar

Thanks for the explanation, Dagmar. The idea doesn't make much sense to me. Yes, rant! I can see how you must.

I didn't understand the downspout thing, thanks, Dagmar.

Thanks for the downspout lesson. Toronto needs to do some serious infrastructure changes IMO.

As for accidents/close calls-- I was on my way home last week when I came out of a round-about near my house and spied a car coming down a street to my right. For some reason I understood that car was not going to stop despite it having a stop sign whereas I have the right of way. Yep, she didn't stop. I did, in the middle of the road and gave her the "arm" (not just the finger!) and stared at her like "WTF?". Granted I was only going 20 and she was probably only going 15, but the point being--SHE was supposed to stop--not me.

Happy Sunday, folks. Contrary to the title, this thread runs until August 7.

In my area, the old houses had downspouts piped directly into the waste water system just like toilets and kitchen sinks - which required all roof water to be treated at the waste treatment facility. We are now required to redirect them onto the ground so that the water flows into the ground or off the property into the storm water sytem - where all the other rain goes that hit the streets. That water flows directly into the ocean, untreated.

As stated by others, directing downspout water away from the foundation prevents erosion and water in the basement.