The events of October 22nd occuring as close as they did to Remembrance Day probably make it seem more important to some people this year, but I think that it is just as important as it was before those horrible events — that is to say it is still extremely important to stop and remember those who have fought for their country and too often made the ultimate sacrifice.

To all those who have served, are serving, or have lost someone who was serving: thank you.

Sunday is the first Sunday in November. That means that most of North America will be turning their clocks backward by an hour at 2am (or whenever they remember).

“Why?” you might ask.

Very good question!

If you were to ask most people why we’re turning the clocks back the answer you get will probably be something like “because it saves energy”, “because it gives us more sunlight in the {morning|evening}”, or “because it helps the farmers”.

All good explanations, but all of them are wrong. The real reason will probably surprise you. (more…)

My day started off as it often does: stopping off for a muffin and a bottle of juice on the way to work. It was a little nippy this morning so I entered the first building of the three connected buildings in the complex I work in and walked the rest of the way inside instead of walking  outside. I arrived at my office and proceeded to go through all of the emails that arrived yesterday (I was off). After a while, I overheard a couple of words from a coworker’s phone conversation — something like “shot at the War Memorial?” — and then a news alert popped up on my phone.

I read the news article in disbelief. At the same time, there was a buzz going through the office as more people found out about it.

I texted a friend who works in one of the buildings not too far from where things were happening and told them to be careful because there were “reports of shots” near there. At that point they’d only heard that, too, but I think they were already being discouraged from going outside because the smokers were getting “jittery” from the prospects of not being able to take a smoke break. This was maybe 20 minutes after the first shots at the war memorial.

Then I saw a raw video clip that showed the officers running through the halls in the Centre Block, culminating in all the shots that were fired just before the shooter was taken out. I think my jaw dropped when I saw that. It was unthinkable that something like that had just happened inside the Centre Block!

Maybe an hour later we were informed over the PA at work that we were locked down. No one could enter or leave the building.

In the roughly 15 years I’ve been a civil servant I’ve never been in a lock down, and that includes September 11th, 2001.

When I told my friend about this, they asked if we’d been told to “stay away from windows”. Whoa.

I spent most of the rest of the day trying to focus on work while listening to the radio and wondering how this would end for everyone. While I did accomplish some things, it’s fair to say that it wasn’t my most productive day in the office. There were emails and more announcements over the PA advising us to stay in the building over the course of the rest of the day.

Eventually, the lockdown was lifted for my building, so I eventually finished what I was doing and left the building, glad to see that the guards and security people weren’t blocking the way out. I listened to the radio on my way home, but at some point I had to turn it off because it wasn’t really giving new information and frankly I felt “saturated”. The tv was on in the pub before trivia this evening and let’s just say that I was glad when someone changed the channel to something else.

So, where do we go from here?

Well, if we ratchet up the paranoia, increase security everywhere and restrict access to previously accessible places we will be admitting that the terrorists have won. And that is something that we can’t afford to do. We need to fix the things that went wrong (if we can), but generally avoid giving into the urge to become completely paranoid about everything.

I must admit that I was very happy to read earlier this evening that the Speaker of the House of Commons has issued a statement that included, among other things, a confirmation that the House of Commons will sit as originally scheduled tomorrow morning.

Going forward we mourn Corporal Nathan Cirillo, who was murdered in cold blood when he was standing on honour guard duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, keep his family in our thoughts, and be grateful for the brave first responders, police, security guards and people like the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons, Kevin Vickers, who drew his weapon inside the Centre Block and did something horrible but necessary on a sunny Wednesday morning on Parliament Hill. And then we get on with our lives as best we can.

And we do not give the murderer the legacy he was looking for by not mentioning his name in the media, though we do not forget his actions. But we do not let his actions cause us to live in fear or limit our liberties.

We do not let the terrorists win.

A friend on Facebook mentioned a tweet by Matt Young (@mattyoungpc), a local PC candidate who was not elected during yesterday’s election, that is worth mentioning for posterity’s sake in the event that when someone from the OPC party demands he takes it down:

https://twitter.com/mattyoungpc/status/477396930343878656

Classy, eh?

Hey… can you believe it? I almost forgot to post my semi-annual rant about having to change to daylight saving time. Fortunately for you, I remembered. 🙂

This evening most of North America sets its clocks forward an hour in a vain attempt to save energy. I say vain attempt because there hasn’t been any sound evidence that adjusting the clocks to chase the sunshine has actually resulted in any reduction in the demand for energy. There is, however, evidence that shows an increase in accidents in the days immediately following the switch.

Research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham published a couple of days ago reveals that there is a 10% increase in the risk of having a heart attack on the Monday and Tuesday following the time change in March. (The risk decreases by about 10% for a couple of days when the clocks are set back an hour in the fall.)

If you want to learn more about the history of daylight saving time, check out David Prerau’s book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time (hardcover: 1560256559; softcover: 1560257962). It’s actually more interesting than it sounds. (more…)

Though I never met him, I was sad to learn yesterday of the passing of Roger Tomlinson a couple of weeks ago. Though I never met him, it’s safe to say that I would not have the job I have today were it not for him.

You’re probably asking yourself: “Why?”, to which my response is “Roger Tomlinson is the father of GIS“. (more…)