Summer Holiday

Ah, the long weekend is almost here. Mel and I are taking Maddie out on her first proper canoe trip this week, to Lake Anima-Nippissing, a beautiful little lake just south-west of Latchford, Ontario. I'm very much looking forward to getting out of town for a few days, and into the bush for a bit of a re-charge. I think Maddie's pretty eager to go too. Melanie has been doing most of the planning and preparing, which is a relief to me as I'm not nearly as good with the lists as she is, and when I plan a trip, things tend to get....forgotten.

The Problem with BP

I'm sure nobody needs to be told about the terrible environmental catastrophe that happened in the Gulf of Mexico; unlike most media stories, this one steadfastly remains in the news and on our collective radar, and with good reason. The sheer magnitude of this disaster is unlike any other environmental catastrophe in recent memory.

But why did it happen? I think the root causes of this catastrophe are very much like the root causes of so many other disasters that happen when a big corporation cuts corners to save a few bucks. The root of the problem isn't greedy executives or a global conspiracy, or even the Religious Right, who prefer to "drill, baby, drill" rather than properly manage the resources of the Earth. The root of the problem is that no matter what kind of executives run the corporations, whether they're greedy, or sociopaths, or good honest people trying to do the best job they can (and there's more of this kind than you think), they are all bound by their legal obligations to their shareholders.

We hear about this all the time; when pushed to the last shove, some harried executive who's been called on to explain his bad behaviour will finally say with some frustration "I had to do it to maximize profits, for the shareholders." And all of us look at him on our flat-screen hi-def t.v.'s and roll our eyes, thinking "what a bullshit excuse THAT is." But as bad an excuse as it sounds, that legal obligation does exist, and it's almost the strongest obligation under the law. It overrides pretty much everything else, with only a few exceptions.

So whether the executives at BP truly are greedy bastards doesn't matter, because even if they're not, they still have to act like greedy bastards, or risk being sued by the shareholders. And who, pray tell, are these shareholders? Well, they're you. And maybe me. Probably me, since I have investments in RRSPs, and some of that money could easily be invested in a (formerly) secure blue-chip stock like BP. We know from the news that there are many pensioners in Britain who are taking a bath right now, because their retirement savings plans bought into BP in a big way.

Now there are probably a few very rich people who own very large chunks of BP, hidden from the prying eyes of the public by numerous shell corporations, and they probably own a big share of the blame, but we have to acknowledge our own complicity. We all want what's best for the environment, but most of us, when push comes to shove, will put our money into investments that pay the best amount of money for the least amount of risk, and up until a few months ago, BP was a very attractive purchase. As a society, we're bent on maximizing our gains, and paying as little as possible for our consumer goods, and this shows to disastrous results when companies cut costs to give us the best price or the most return on our investments. Sooner or later, this attitude is going to have to change.

A New Day

I'm feeling better today, after a round of complaining and chicken wings last night. I got to have some wine, and do some whinin'. We have a workout scheduled for tonight, and maybe a bit of canoe shopping to do in the morning, so hopefully this spate of physical activity will help chase the blacks away for a while.

One of those days....

I'm having a rough go of it today. Despite my daily dose of SSRI, I seem to be sinking into the black again. I had similar trouble last summer (hence the introduction to SSRI's....) but this summer seems to be tougher. It's getting progressively harder to live at the in-laws' house and not have a home of my own. It's hard on my wife too, but it's her childhood home, so I don't think she feels the same sense of dislocation. And as for the young'n, It's virtually her only home, so I'm anticipating some troubles for her when we move out next summer.

Anyway, life is painful today, despite my wonderful family.  And there seems to be no easy solution anytime soon.

Father's Day

It's Father's Day, I'm sitting in the living-room, listening to my wife practise piano in the basement and my little girl singing and playing in her room (instead of napping like she should be). Life is good.

Why the Lucky Commuter?

You might be wondering why I picked "The Lucky Commuter" as the title of my blog. If you are, then you're in luck, because I'm going to tell you. I'm the Lucky Commuter because my commute to work every day (in Northern Ontario) is 10 minutes long, and the road I take runs along some of the prettiest lakeshore in the province. Traffic is always light, and almost always moving in the opposite direction.

Of course I pay for this luck in the winters, with my weekly 5 hour commute home from Toronto to see my wife and daughter, on the Highway 400/11 corridor. That certainly makes up for the great summer commuting I get to do.

Frrst Psst!

Welcome to this, my first post as a blogger. I know what you're thinking, "Why do we need another blogger, anyway?" Well, you're right to think that. The world doesn't need yet another blog by yet another yahoo who thinks he's profound. So you'll be comforted to know that this blog isn't written for you, Gentle Reader, but for me.

Aside from all my other interests and activities (law school, fatherhood, being a husband, working) I've found myself a Co-editor in Chief of my law school's student newspaper. Which means that I'll be moving from doing the layout and staying in the background, to writing an article, column or opinion once a week (or maybe more). So this blog will be my rehearsal space, musing place, and hopefully source of inspiration for my writings in the paper.

Which isn't to say that I'll give up blogging after my school year is done and I head back into the working world, quite the opposite in fact. I'm hoping to eventually make this blog a more permanent and stable part of my life, and re-introduce the concept of writing-for-fun to my life.

So stay with me, Gentle Reader, and hopefully I'll take you along with me on my adventures, and maybe provide you with some laughs and deep thoughts along the way.