So it turns out it's bad if the drains from the flat roof of your 100-yr-old factory building are tied into the municipal sewer line, especially from the perspective of the ground-floor tenant (i.e. me).

Imagine a home renovation where nobody thinks to schedule the electrician BEFORE the drywall.

Has anyone tried lighting the reflecting pool on fire? #justasking

"Father’s Day Gift Ideas for Dads Who Love to Grill," says the email. "Dads and grilling go hand in hand!" or "Father's Day gift ideas for men whose concept of gender roles only allows them to participate in food preparation if meat and open flame are involved" As a dad, I find this so bleak.

It's a shame then that the city spent every nickel on helping one particular big business succeed.

Repeating this query I get a wife named Rachel, then Zenda (former intern), then Laura (former tenant at my studio), then Kate (my daughter, and apparently we have children together 😬) then "he's private and doesn't disclose his wife's exact name". Canada's AI Strategy should be "burn it down".

The existence of my wife Rachel comes as quite a surprise to me (and to my partner, not named Rachel, wondering what I'm snickering at). Remember when Google was useful?

Dreaming of an Ottawa where street trees survive long enough to create any kind of canopy, kissing or otherwise.

Just got back from Italy, rode my bike the length of Calabria. Was great. Recommended. AMA if so inclined.

Flight attendant giving the pre-flight safety presentation has "MEMENTO MORI" clearly tattooed on her forearm. Mixed messages.

Scoping out OC Transpo options for a mid-day trip to the airport, and even if I'm **already at the Carleton O-Train station** the top two route suggestions involve using a bus. How is this possible?

Riding past the Tulip Festival on the way home today I observed a melee happening between a flock of seagulls and a 5-year-old boy who was wielding a baguette like a longsword. Multiple ways that could have played out?

Oh hey it's Mark Sutcliffe campaigning as though he hasn't already been in charge of this file for the last four years. "I will fix transit" he vowed in 2022.

TIL: Costco sells caskets. Seems you can buy them one at a time, at least. "Expedited Shipping" (to clarify, as far as I know I am not in the market for a casket)

I can't wait until Metrolinx is running the Ottawa LRT, yep, they'll solve all the problems!

Carney talked a very progressive game during the campaign but what we're seeing in action now isn't living up to it, and my "thank god it's not Poilievre" glow has long since worn off.

The thing about being stuck in a downward spiral is: you're always turning a corner.

Just donated to this campaign because dear god this city needs a real mayor for a change. www.leiper2026.ca/donate?recru...

Frog happy to announce new river-crossing agreement with scorpion.

Same author just a few years ago: "Justin Trudeau believes he is entitled to his entitlements and you are entitled to pay for them."

Uploading the LRT to Metrolinx is 0% about making the system more reliable and 100% about letting the mayor, council, and OC Transpo wash their hands of it. The latter is extremely appealing to them even if they know the system will be worse off.

Can't help but read this as a "Dearest Martha..." letter.

Nice bridge, but: still officially closed for winter, only being used right now because frustrated residents forced the gate open a while ago.

Glebe parking garage vs. Nepean Costco & parking lot, for all the "my customers won't walk all the way from the garage" BIA doomers.

This genre of AI slop is wild to me. "Here's a real thing that happened and there are tons of real images available but I wanted to tweak the composition to suit my tastes or agenda, so I made my own version in AI and I'm passing it off as real."

Side bar: I fantasize about being able to afford a blissful ignorance about US politics. Imagine not knowing the names and backstories of the entire SCOTUS, or the cabinet, or the worst dozen governors/Congresspeople. Being as detached as the average OnTAHrian is about their own government.

Listening to the Artemis feed it was jarring to hear Jeremy Hansen's home pronounced as On-TAH-ri-o. Then yesterday I was on the phone with someone in upstate NY and they did it too. How do they not know how to say this? We know how to say all the US state names, even the weird ones like Arkansas.

Does anyone have the link for the Turning Point USA Alternative Moon Mission?

Is Trump mad that none of these lunar features were named after him? "This massive crater represents your popularity all around the world, sir."

Meta's bullshit AI moderation system recently nuked my 88-yo mother's Instagram account. No recourse, no "click here it you think this was a mistake". What an absolute dogshit company.

Good Morning Ottawa

Yay to our city (maybe) not being perpetually held hostage by a handful of business owners who don't even know how most of their customers find them. ("This will kill our business" is giving me a big flashback to when indoor smoking was banned.)

From the brain trust that brought us "no fines for speeders on our roads".

Good morning Ottawa, still. The ragged line of crumbling jersey barriers is still there, more than a year after the opening of this station. Best we can do!

Local heron not impressed with spring so far.

March 27-29 of this year? Just checking.

Nooo don't remind him.

Reassured to see my colour perception is OK!

Huh, so the NCC is putting bike lanes on QE Dr and CB Dr, to supplement the overburdened MUPs. The catch? Summer only, and worse, unidirectional: QE Dr for northbound, CB Dr for southbound. #ottbike oldottawasouth.ca/news/2026/03...

The last project took a decidedly blockier, more brutalist form: a black wardrobe cabinet with a thin band of reclaimed copper set between the doors. The interior is a deep blue-green colour.

No way this album is 30 years old; I remember buying the CD like it was yesterday.

Latest work: a big curving console table created in collaboration with artist Jason Baerg. I designed and built the structure and sent Jason a box of bare wooden slats. He painted them with this vibrant design and sent them back. I attached reclaimed copper over top, and put it all together.

Thanks to the @shawnmenard.bsky.social team this is being addressed (I hope) but I can't help but imagine a world in which a construction contractor (and their city overseers) wouldn't just dump signs in a bike lane and say, "yeah, that's a good spot for this sign for the next 5 years."

Every time I read about this cranky old billionaire who owns the only river crossing my mental image is Walder Frey.

Speedskating sure has a lot of events, but they should take a medalmaxxing tip from swimming and add a whole set of races just for backwards skating.

Me: oh phew, the bike lanes are finally open again! City: screw you, cyclists! The recent lane closure was not Lansdowne 2.0, it was bridge work, but these stupid construction signs are for Lansdowne. Two signs blocking the bike lane plus another sign taking half the sidewalk.

Our mayor sure does love using his personal website to promote city business.

The Conservatives can always address this at the Leadership Revi- [touches earpiece] wait, what? just had one? he sailed through?

The dreaded revert-red virus has infected the signals at Trillium MUP and Gladstone. Wait for a green light, watch it get taken away just as you start to cross. I thought we'd eliminated this disease but it keeps coming back! (councillors have been emailed) #ottbike

That's my space in the bottom of that little brown building... Wondering if they're actually thinking about breaking ground on this project; it (and us tenants) have been in limbo for several years now. capitalcurrent.ca/agreement-ai...