a peek inside the fishbowl

Saturday was all about rest. And nice weather. And kites.

Note the trees in the far background.

Sunday was not about rest. It was all about General Home Improvement*.

Mark cleaned out a big closet.

I spent most of the day dangling precariously atop a ladder, scraping flaking paint off the wooden ceiling of our back veranda. I am amazed I didn’t hurt myself, either by falling backwards off the ladder, scorching myself with the heat gun (a.k.a. very hot hair dryer designed to melt paint) or taking some skin off with an array of sharp scrapers or pointy steel brushes. No eyeballs or fingers were lost yesterday, but I did manage to slice my thumb open on the edge of a tin can this morning. I have a photo gig tomorrow and a million things to do today, many of which involve the use of my right thumb.

* There is more to reveal about this veranda re-do but a few things need to be finalized first. Stay tuned!;)

Concerned about proposed changes to public transit in Ottawa (there are some doozies in there). Today is your last chance to comment.

Want to win a lovely bundle of goodies from Lavish & Lime? Entries need to be posted by noon on Sunday the 25th.

This crossed my desk the other day and I thought it was interesting enough to pass along. It’s a website called FixMyStreet.ca.

Inspired by a similar site by in the UK by a group called MySociety, FixMyStreet.ca allows you to report problems in your neighbourhood, such as potholes, graffiti, missing streetlights, or dangerous pathways. FixMyStreet.ca will post the problem on our website, and email the report to Ottawa 311 on your behalf. You may also browse through reports that other people have submitted, and subscribe to ones you would like updates on.

We believe that making civic problem reports public and visible is a valuable communications tool for both the City of Ottawa and its citizens. Providing the ability to browse problems that have been reported avoids having many people report the same issue individually. Further,
the site keeps public records of when reports were filed, and when they were fixed, giving citizens access to richer information about their community and municipal council.

I think it could be a useful tool if (a) people start using it (b) the City of Ottawa pays attention. What say you?