Jill Browne, from home and away

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

In addition to deciding to stop adding fluoride to Calgary’s drinking water, the City Council approved (by one vote, I understand) the building of a tunnel underneath the airport.

Without such a tunnel, the expansion of the airport will create a kind of barrier for those who want to get in and out of north-east Calgary.

The Mayor said it will cost more not to build the tunnel than it will to build it. I suppose the more comes from dealing with the stress on the rest of the infrastructure.

Now the city engineers and outside contractors have got a big job ahead, though in radio interviews the city’s engineer seems calm about it. Building a tunnel in and of itself is not an extremely difficult feat of engineering, and the city staff have already got a lot of the preliminary work done. The kicker is that the airport, which is federal property leased to the airport authority, is going to build the new runway starting soon. Barlow Trail closes in April 2011. It’s now February.

Expect lots of digging.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

I confess, I’m writing this after the fact and the events may not match the dates perfectly. History may never forgive me.

Calgary City Council voted to stop adding fluoride to the water supply.

This is one of the hottest issues, perennially, in Calgary. We got fluoride added after a couple of plebiscites said, “No” and then one said, “Yes”, about 25 years ago. Before then, people who wanted fluoride for themselves or their children had to get it in little bottles and add it in drops to their water at home.

I was taught that fluoride is essential for strong teeth and bones, but that too much or too little is harmful. There is an optimal range, and that is what the addition of the fluoride to the water supply was aiming for.

One lady called in to the radio and said that by boiling water for babies’  bottles, parents were changing the fluoride concentration, I think by a factor of 40. I don’t know how that fits within the optimal range, or whether it’s true, but it’s certainly something to check out if you’re in that position.

Which we now won’t be.

I expect the health unit will advise us to add fluoride into our water at home if we have kids or perhaps if we are at risk of osteoporosis.

I don’t mind. I want it, and I’ll add it. I am happy to let people who don’t want it make their own informed choice.

I also hope those same people are scrupulous about their children’s diets and dental hygiene, because the absence of fluoride will mean extra care is required to keep the teeth and bones healthy.

Wonder how long it will be before we have another fluoride discussion.

Cattle liner. Photo by Jill Browne, Calgary, February 4, 2011.

Cattle liner, close up. Photo by Jill Browne, February 4, 2011.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Took these pictures on Friday, driving down Blackfoot Trail.

I thought this cattle liner was empty because I couldn’t smell it and couldn’t hear any cattle. When I looked harder, I saw fur and then one cow looking out at me. All I could really make out, since it’s dark inside the trailer, was the cow’s eye.

In this picture, the eye actually looks sort of tame, but in real life it had that alarmed look cows get when anything upsets their ruminations.

It was a horrible moment, me thinking about how I happily eat beef (and enjoy it), while looking into the face of a helpless animal.

A big hardware store and parking lot, Shawnessy, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, February 5, 2011.

Grey sky with snow lightly falling, Shawnessy, Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne, February 5, 2011.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

A colder day with light snow falling and a very grey sky. The camera flare exaggerates the sun; really it was just a dull yellow hole in an even duller sky.

I didn’t mean these pics to be depressing but they really don’t have much life to them!

We had to go out foraging for food and office supplies, thus ending up at this mall in Shawnessy. The mall is at MacLeod Trail and Highway 22X, but there is a lot more of Calgary even south of there. If you haven’t been here for a while you may be surprised at how much the city has expanded. This is the last shopping I can think of this far south on MacLeoad, though.

Calgary provides free sand to residents in winter. Photo by Jill Browne, Calgary, February 4, 2011.

What passes for sand in Calgary. Photo by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 4, 2011.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

It’s Melting! The snow is melting today, as the temp has been above zero (freezing) and sunny all day. This is my favourite weather, actually: from zero to ten degrees C, sunny and calm. Very uplifting.

But the melting snow turns to ice at night or when the daytime temp goes back down, as it will do again and again. We have to put “sand” on our sidewalk to prevent people from falling.

We get the sand free from the local fire station. It’s a help yourself arrangement, and there is a limit on how much you can take, but a pail full at a time is well within the limit.

Take a look at what we call “sand”. It’s angular grit! Gives good traction but a real irritation when a pebble hits your windshield.

Hey, should I apply for work as a hand model?

Calgary's Fish Creek Library looking like a pyramid at night. Photo by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 3, 2011.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

I didn’t go out looking for a picture of a pyramid today. As I walked across the parking lot, the silhouette of the library made it look like a classic Egyptian pyramid. This as Egypt is in the middle of turmoil.

Usually, this is just a library, and usually it looks silver. It is not a pure pyramid in shape. What you can’t see here is a kind of bisecting gash designed in the top one-third or so.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Today is Groundhog Day. We haven’t got groundhogs and I’ve never heard of Prairie Dog Day, so nothing to report on the rodent meteorology front.

Another bright sunny day, even warmer than yesterday. Up to about 5 above zero, I think. Celsius.

The pictures I took yesterday of the new LRT and the downtown skyline show something of how parts of Calgary are getting high off the ground.

I remember being quite charmed the first time I encountered a quiet European tram at ground level. It was in Bremen, Germany. More recently, I had the horrible experience of driving in Toronto on the elevated expressway (not for the first time, it was just a particularly yucky ride). There is something so unbecomingly dominant about a road that puts cars above people, literally.

I like the new Vancouver rail line from the airport to downtown, and it’s elevated.

So, what’s the difference between the elevated car experience and the train experience? It must be the feeling of being about to be killed by other drivers that ruins the whole car thing for me. I feel safe in the train. I’m looking forward to riding the new C-Train when it’s ready.

Section of LRT just east of Crowchild. Photo by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 1, 2011.

Calgary's new LRT under construction. Photo by Jill Browne. Calgary, February 1, 2011.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Beautiful sunny day! Started out at -25 C and reached -6 by evening.

Last week I was surprised to see how far along the building of the west leg of the LRT (our above-ground light rail transit) is. The chunk they are working on now is massive. I hope the pictures give at least some idea of the size.

Plus 15, by Jill Browne, Calgary, January 31, 2011.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

It’s about -25 Celsius today for the high. In Medicine Hat, where it gets quite hot in summer, it was -41 with wind chill this morning. (At 40 below, Fahrenheit and Celsius are the same: bloody cold).

I’m grateful to the late Harold Hanen, architect, who promoted the Plus-15 walkway concept here in Calgary, as part of trying to make us a “livable winter city”. As shown in the picture, the Plus-15s are walkways, 15 feet up in the air, connecting many of the downtown buildings. Admittedly, it can take quite a bit longer to go a few blocks via Plus-15, as compared to going outside, but for any distance, they’re great when the weather isn’t so nice.

There has been debate about these things since the idea first came up. “They’ll take away pedestrians from street level! Downtown will be dead!” is the gist of the anti-Plus-15 argument. (Here’s a recent Calgary Herald article about it.)

I beg to differ. Downtown is not dead; the pedestrian life is happening inside when the weather’s poor.

I also take exception to the point in the Calgary Herald article that the Bow building is somehow a better element of “livable winter city” design than the Plus-15.

The article says:

“Calgary planners are starting to think more about the entire year in their work. David Downs, a senior architect and the co-ordinator of urban design and heritage with the City of Calgary, points to The Bow tower under construction downtown as an example. It was designed to maximize sunlight year-round and was aligned to minimize the impact of winter winds. That makes it more energy-efficient, and cosier.”

The Bow building (and I will try not to get started on a rant here) may have its good points, but it is out of scale with the rest of downtown and casts a massive shadow. Shadows = cold. Not a nice thing to do to your neighbours in winter.

More Bow building rants on other days. For today, YAY Plus-15, and thank you, Harold.

Snow on the tree looks like a Christmas card. Photo by Jill Browne, Calgary, January 30, 2011.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Home: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The snow continued, though not all day and not as much. But for a little while today THE SUN CAME OUT and it was a beautiful sight.

I think I am getting cabin fever.

Will report on advancing hallucinations etc.

By the way, that lattice thing in front of the tree is almost 2 metres high. The snow is about (very approximately) 30 cm to 50 cm deep, depending where you stand. In other places, there’s almost none thanks to the shelter of the tree.