When
· Naughties
· · 2004
· · · September
· · · · 19 (2 entries)
Fionnuala · The names in my kid’s kindergarten class: Brennan, Edinah-Rose, Fionnuala, Gabriella, Isaiah, Isaiah, Jacob, Joseph, Hennessy, Michaela, Nicolas, Noah, Patrick, Ronan, Sam, Sean, Sophie, Sophie. That’s poetry of a kind, written in the language of parents’ dreams. Sitting down together to start the day, still unsmudged for a few quiet minutes, words can’t describe their beauty. Think you might be able to match ethnic groups with names? Forget it.
Market Failure · Right now we are encountering an irritating failure of the free market. We had some ductwork done a couple of months ago, and have a chunk of missing drywall in our living room. There are some other bits and pieces of drywalling that need doing here and there around the house, too. No problem, call up an expert, right? Wrong. At this moment in Vancouver, no drywaller can be bothered to take on a job that’s only one or two days’ work; they’re all coasting along doing ten-thousand-dollar-and-up mansion renovations. Drywalling is tricky, irritating, messy work best left to professionals... but it looks like we’re going to be taking it on. At any Vancouver social gathering, the general unavailability of tradespeople is a reliable conversation-starter. Hey kids, consider staying away from that expensive and arduous college education and taking up a trade; for damn sure your job won’t get outsourced to another continent.
