Streetcars in Ottawa

 History, Local Ottawa, Transportation  No Responses »
Oct 022012
 

A few days ago, I was reading a Hungarian language blog about how over the decades the streetcar systems of Budapest and other Hungarian cities were decimated or outright eliminated. While many blamed the communist regime for this, unfortunately there was a worldwide trend back then to get rid of “obsolete” surface light rail and replace them with “modern” motorways.

Take the case of our fine capital city. Ottawa is about to embark on its costliest public works project yet, a more than two billion (!) dollar project to build a light rail network. The sad thing is that Ottawa once had a respectable surface light rail system. After searching a bit online, I was able to find a system map from 1948. How lucky we would be if this system were still in existence.

 Posted by at 5:06 pm

A not quite electric streetcar in the Far North

 History, Local Ottawa, Transportation  No Responses »
Sep 252012
 

How do you operate a streetcar line that is not electrified? Why, you can always have the streetcar pull its own generator.

This is how the streetcar line in Whitehorse seems to operate. Something I stumbled across as I was reading about the sad history of Ottawa’s long defunct streetcar service.

Curiously, the color scheme of this former Lisbon streetcar happens to be nearly identical to the traditional color scheme used for streetcars in the city of my birth, Budapest. Another city with a streetcar network that, while not completely destroyed, has been much diminished over the years by misguided urban planners.

 Posted by at 5:46 pm

Off the charts

 Local Ottawa, Weather and Climate  No Responses »
Mar 182012
 

The Weather Network has this neat plot every ten minutes, showing the anticipated minimum and maximum temperatures for the next two weeks.

The forecast for Wednesday is off the chart. It is going to be so much hotter than the two-week average, it did not fit into the plot area.

Of course it could be just nonsense. They did predict 7 degrees Centigrade as the overnight low. It went down to 2 in foggy areas (most of Ottawa, I guess). Then again… even if it turns out to be 10 degrees colder than the predicted 24, it’s still a remarkably mild winter day. March 21, after all, is supposed to be the last day of winter. And I may have to fire up the A/C.

And it’s not just Ottawa. For Winnipeg (Winnipeg, for crying out loud!) today’s forecast is 28. A once in a thousand years event, says The Weather Network. Either that or the new norm, if global warming is to be believed. (Not necessarily bad news for many Canadians.)

 Posted by at 8:53 am

Humane(?) Society

 Cats, Local Ottawa  1 Response »
Nov 032011
 

The Ottawa Humane Society runs the municipal animal shelter, which is where responsible citizens are supposed to take animals that they find. As a municipal shelter, they sometimes have to accept animals that are in bad shape and, unless their owner claims them, must be euthanized. But, they assure us, they only do so as a last resort; their priority is to find the animals a new home, not to kill them.

This January, we took a lovely cat there. We believed he would be adopted quickly, as he was young, friendly, and beautiful. Instead, he supposedly caught a respiratory infection at the shelter, and he was euthanized.

So this autumn, when a friendly little calico cat showed up, we were in no rush to take her there. Indeed, one of our neighbors eventually decided to adopt the cat, but that same day, the cat disappeared. A few days later, we found that another neighbor took the cat to the Humane Society, who assured our neighbor that the cat will be well taken care of and if not claimed by her owner, she will soon be up for adoption.

Except that she wasn’t. Instead, the cat was killed due to a supposedly severe health problem: gingivitis.

I don’t think I’ll ever be wanting to hear the name “Humane Society” again.

 Posted by at 6:15 pm

Waste

 Food, Local Ottawa  No Responses »
Jul 242011
 

The city shut down The Fresh Fruit Company at the Byward Market for non-payment of rent. But what about all the food still in the store that is now left there rotting?

 Posted by at 6:23 pm

Fire

 Local Ottawa, Personal  No Responses »
Mar 172011
 

Today, a Home Hardware store just across the Rideau River here, one we visited frequently, went up in flames, along with several other businesses, as the whole building was demolished by firefighters combating a toxic column of smoke. I don’t yet know if my favorite barber shop, Lester’s, which is right next door, survived or not.

 Posted by at 1:25 am

The Standard case

 History, Local Ottawa  No Responses »
Feb 172010
 

I’ve been reading about a 60-year old show trial, the so-called Standard case (link in Hungarian), held in Communist Hungary, and decided to search for contemporary English-language articles. In the process, I came across something delightful: A 1953 issue of the Ottawa Evening Citizen. Its front-page headline: An incredible “Red offer” to free an imprisoned British businessman in exchange for a female Communist terrorist awaiting the gallows in Malaya.

The British businessman was eventually released a year later. I have no idea what happened to the Malayan woman. As to the other accused in the Standard case, several were executed, others received heavy prison terms… after the 1956 revolution, they were all released, but not rehabilitated until 1990, when Hungary’s Supreme Court declared the convictions null and void, as “no crime was committed”.

Meanwhile, I learned for instance, that in 1953 Ottawa, the daily newspaper listed two television stations: one in Montreal, one in Syracuse, N.Y., both of them broadcasting only in the afternoon and evening hours.

 Posted by at 4:42 am

CJOH

 Local Ottawa, Television  No Responses »
Feb 082010
 

The newsroom and possibly, significant portions of the archives of CTV Ottawa turned into smoke last night. Newsrooms can be rebuilt, equipment can be repurchased, no lives were lost, but the archives may be irreplaceable.

What’s up with all these big fires here in Ottawa this winter?

 Posted by at 5:15 am

More Rogers madness

 Communication, Local Ottawa  No Responses »
Oct 292009
 

Yesterday, I phoned Rogers, basically because I wanted to give them some more of my money. At the same time, I also wanted to complain; several analog cable channels still have just one side (left or right) of the stereo audio (I first reported this almost a year ago, still unfixed), and I wanted to know why they’re suddenly charging me more, claiming that a bundle discount I used to get “expired”.

To make a long story short, after being interrupted and lectured about matters of life by an impertinent representative (one example: “Why do you want to have the analog service repaired when it will be discontinued in a few months anyhow?”) I asked for his supervisor. Predictably, I was told that the supervisor was not available, but they’d phone me back in 24 hours.

That was more than 24 hours ago. Needless to say, I’m still waiting… and I’m not the only one. I am getting more and more fed up with monopolies.

 Posted by at 6:52 pm

Friday’s

 Local Ottawa  No Responses »
Sep 272009
 

Back when I used to work late evenings in an office in downtown Ottawa, one of my favorite retreats after work was the bar upstairs at Friday’s Roast Beef House. Although I have not visited this fine establishment in ages, it was still shocking to hear on the news tonight that Friday’s is closing, after 37 years.

 Posted by at 3:40 am
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