Ottawa – Page 25 – a sibilant intake of breath

Diesel and axles

Every morning, I get woken up at 6:30am as the first major rumblings of morning traffic overwhelm my earplugs. You would expect this to be a negative feature of my new dwelling, but it is actually quite a wonderful one, in its way. You see, I get woken up, look at my phone, and realize that I can sleep for another hour and a half and still have time to shower, eat breakfast, and be at my desk by 9:00am.

Even when I went to sleep just two hours before the truck-induced waking, having those ninety minutes feels like a luxury.

Thou shalt not stir a foot to seek a pho

One truly great thing about where I live: Pho Bo Ga (A-12 Lebreton Street). Two blocks from my front door is a Pho restaurant that is open until 4:00am. That means tasty, spicy Vietnamese soup at crazy times of night. You can get a huge bowl of tofu Pho for $6.25 and ridiculously huge bowls for a dollar or two more.

Of course, this would be more in keeping with my lifestyle if I were still a student – feeling good about myself if I was up before 10:00am. Even given my new salarydom, it is a valuable bit of local knowledge.

Arisen

Having corrected some errant DSL settings, I am now online. I can now properly say that I have a place to live, rather than simply an area in which I am storing my stuff.

Now that I am off the EC network and can freely access sites of a social nature, I can announce the following: Emily Horn, dashing young woman who I met at Cabin Fever 3, has a new blog emerging: thebeanery.wordpess.com. I look forward to seeing what evolves there.

Ottawa sights

During the next three weeks, in the lead-up to a friend’s visit, I am undertaking a survey of touristic sites in Ottawa. It should involve the major museums – war, civilization, the National Gallery, the small Museum of Contemporary Photography – as well as Parliament and possibly the Supreme Court. This pre-screening is meant both to familiarize me with the city a bit and to help identify places of interest to show to others.

What else might be appropriate for a three-day-visitor? Culinary suggestions are also welcome. For the benefit of anybody else who is new to the city, it may be worthwhile to know that a collection of MetaFilter members are meeting up on August 9th.

oint(Musca domestica)ment

The 6:15am rumble of heavy trucks is one limitation of living three metres from a busy road. They are joined in cacophony by commuters in cars and on motorbikes, building into an intense parade by the time when I need to walk to work. The level of sound is more than sufficient to make attempts at sleep fruitless.

I am considering switching the placement of my bedroom and living room. It would make the flat somewhat awkward, but it would allow greater privacy (especially while I have no blinds) and hopefully sounder sleep. In any case, I need to pick up a box of industrial strength earplugs for myself and any guests who I have in the future.

Flat pack furnishings

This has been a big day. When I woke up, I owned no furniture. Now, I own two wardrobes, a desk, two chairs, a sofa, a large bookcase, a bed, and a kitchen table. I also have pots and pans, flatware, glassware, a reading lamp, bedding, and the keys to my new flat. All told, I now have about ten times more weight and value in home furnishings than ever before. I still need to get some drapes or blinds, unless I want to leave everyone walking or driving up booth street with constant visual access to my bedroom.

Tomorrow evening, IKEA will be delivering the sofa, bed, and bookcase. A few hours with an Allen Key later, I will have myself a furnished apartment. Definite progress is being made, in relation to Maslow’s hierarchy.

Looking around the half-furnished flat, I am already half thinking that it would be a shame to leave when this contract expires in a year.

Sustainable transport required

Now that I have a flat leased and am starting to collect furniture, the next target for a search is a bicycle. I am open to either a new or a used bike of a reasonable price. A hybrid is probably the correct formfactor, since I am unlikely to always use it on the road, but will generally be doing so. Picking up a pannier or two is also probably a good idea, especially given that I plan to commute to and from work by bike – at least until the snows begin.

Local intel is always valuable in these situations. Anyone who can speak to one of the following is encouraged to let me know: the relative merits of local bike shops selling used bikes, the same information on places that sell used ones, any specific opportunities to buy a good bike from a private individual. Having sold my Oxford bike in desperation, shortly before my departure, I know that relocating individuals with a moderate lack of foresight can be an excellent source of such vehicles.

Ottawa River hydro

Right near the complex where I work, there is an unusual hydroelectric system on the Ottawa river. On either side of the main channel are large concrete canals with blocks of turbines. From those, high voltage power lines extend. In the middle of the river, there is a long arc of gates. These are to manage the degree to which water flows through the side channels, and the degree to which it flows over the uneven stone surfaces that were once natural cascades.

Since the water level in the river is high, there is pretty much always some degree of overflow venting through the gates. The little building you can see above them actually moves along the arc, raising and lowering gates. I am not sure if there are people inside or whether it is robotic, but everyone with an office on the south side of my building has a constant view of the whole installation. Those on the north side must content themselves with the fountain at a Gatineau casino.

Unbowlerized and hatless

Working in a complex of government buildings, I feel as though I should be part of a parade of men in dark pinstripe suits and bowler hats, walking in from a train platform every morning. There should be large steam-driven clocks around, and everyone should have a crisp newspaper under the arm.

Though thousands of people must work in the four towers, the place never actually seems like a flow of people is moving in or out. This is especially curious given how pretty much everyone can be expected to vanish within ten minutes before or after 5:00pm.

Perhaps there should be an annual ’emulate a scene from a film like Brazil‘ day.

New social networks

As the process of getting settled continues, it seems time to consider aspects aside from the simple physical realities of life. Specifically, I am thinking about finding some places aside from work where I can meet my fellow denizens of this most governmental city. Some sort of club may be ideal, whether photographic, literary, oriented towards the outdoors, or interesting in an entirely different way.

Can anyone more familiar with Ottawa think of any stand-out examples? Once fall arrives, there will probably be some prospects through Carleton and the University of Ottawa.

PS. Sorry for the dearth of posts with substantive content. Unsurprisingly, I have been busy with work, commuting, and the apartment hunt. I will have something non-narrative to say soon. In the interim, take a look at this fisheries blog that I found: Shifting Baselines, writen by Jennifer Jacquet, a member of the Sea Around Us project at UBC.