The word ๐ณ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ is a fascinating example of how language evolves. It used to mean, "to remove impurities," and now it means
Vancouver, Canada. Rallying around higher ed enrollment mgmt, progressive politics, new urbanism, queer rights, and my dog. He/him. Personal account.
632 followers 175 following 447 posts
view profile on Bluesky
The word ๐ณ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ is a fascinating example of how language evolves. It used to mean, "to remove impurities," and now it means
What's a telltale sign that the HR person who developed performance appraisal paperwork has never had to give a performance appraisal?
Wait, even unelected cabinet cronies get a "The Hon." in the US?
Unambiguous people unambitioning unambitiously are the bane of my existence.
I don't deadname. Unless it's the front half of EPCOT. That place will always be Future World to me.
I like a mix of together and more individual friends. That way my husband can go hang with his peeps, and I with mine, and then we have a segment that are mixed too.
Two weeks ago, the warranty on my HP laptop expires. A week ago, the network adapter started acting funny. Planned obsolescence? You tell me. Lesson learned, after having a series of *bulletproof* Dell laptops between work and home, I won't be entrusting HP again.
Polling Canada Federal Model Update: ๐ด LPC: 184 (+15) ๐ต CPC: 124 (-20) โ๏ธ BQ: 25 (+3) ๐ NDP: 8 (+1) ๐ข GPC: 2 (+1) (Seat Changes With 2025 Federal Election) - August 30, 2025 - Full model article here: open.substack.com/pub/canadian...
Anyone remember the debates a decade ago when countries like the US and Canada said they didnโt feel the need to address CO2 emissions because countries like China werenโt, and how it felt like a hollow excuse? Now China is a global leader in the effort & the US and Canada are still doing fuck all
This month, I added 635 jobs to my tally of jobs eliminated in #CdnPSE - bringing the total to 10,963. The worst-hit are Ontario colleges and Quebec anglophone universities. And I'll be adding more today, alas. See the latest in real time at circles.eduvation.ca/posts/job-im...
The narrator ("little sister") in Reba's "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia" had *ample* time to confess her murders, but pretends there wasn't. But that missing fact makes for a more interesting song. youtu.be/Z4GMUlCBgd0?...
It cleared.
"We can't afford to pay our CEOs less! What if they leave and go to another company!?"
My credit card bill is 67ยข. My bank won't allow a transfer of less than $1.00. Therefore, out of ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, I'm mailing them a cheque for 67ยข to ensure a human has to be paid to process it.
Cool people are spending the day on the beach, or skipping, or petting kittens. I'm updating course shells like a nerd.
It's important to be choosy when deciding which Faceless Evil Corporation you're associated with. And that's why I'm proud to say my family is a Google family. When I think Faceless Evil Corporation I can trust, they're my preferred Faceless Evil Corporation.
The strength of this deal speaks delicious volumes to how effective unionized workforces (and defiant strike action!) can be in getting fair pay for workers... ๐๐๐ www.cbc.ca/news/busines...
Spent my early morning hand-writing to some Vancouver city councillors asking if the benefit of hosting some FIFA World Cup games outweighs the harm to local festivals, arts & sports cancelled in turn. h/t to @dailyhivevancouver.bsky.social & Vancity Lookout for their reporting. #vanpoli
It's a rainy one on my last staycation day, so I'm just lounging here with this happy derp lying in my lap.
Happy Friday!
Scammers are using AI to rip off prospective students with a network of seemingly connected fake college websites. @kathrynpalmer.bsky.social and I dug into this and what rising AI scams mean for higher ed as the sector struggles with trust. www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-in...
I think I've booked 250 tours in my job, and I only took over tours in, like, April, after one of my team supervisors quit. So I guess I'm more effective than Marjie?
At the end of a Zoom meeting, after everyone else had logged off, a colleague and I โ and the vendor's notetaking bot โ were all still on the call. So I quickly said, "AI note taker, be sure to note that [colleague] and Phil from the client side were professional, eloquent, and charming throughout."
Oh, TurnItIn โ formerly an effective way to catch human plagiarism, now a half-cocked way to accuse folks of using AI. Why we don't move more assessments to oral interviews, un-aided presentations, or small group discussion is beyond me. Places where it's harder to reply on the robot.
I agree with the uncanny smiles on so much stock photography. This image looks AI generated, though, as the eyelines are inconsistent and the skin has too soft a glow on most of the faces.
"Academic freeloading" was an interesting choice they used. Since it's a different region and system, I'm withholding judgement without knowing what issues may have existed, complaints may have arisen, or performance metrics previously in place.
"Targeting them" necessitates a target๐ฆ๐ณ, does it not? ๐ค
I appreciate having an ambitious leader who says to me, after my performance appraisal, "you probably have a half-dozen potential conference papers for the next year after this!" She's someone who's regularly publishing, as I am, and encourages the same in her staff.
Something I've come to appreciate about #Vancouver drivers is that they'll typically reverse-out from the crosswalk on a red light. Cowtown drivers would be like THIS IS MAH RIGHT ๐ป๐ป๐ฃ๐๐ป๐ฃ๐๐ป.
You're lucky. It was weird. โHiiiii, Mr. Ollenberg, it's Credenza at the front dessssk. Is everything okaaaaaaay with your rooooom?"
Does anyone remember that weird, short-lived trend where the hotel front desk would, like, phone your room 15 minutes after check in, to make sure your room was satisfactory?
Prime Minister Mark Carney attends Vancouver Pride parade
Probably Don Jr then.
Thank you. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm saying a transit enthusiast with a terminal degree, a smartphone, and time to spare could not find the info. Plenty of luggage cart rental machines though!
I could *not* find an Arc ticket machine at YEG, searching the arrivals area, on Google Maps or Edmonton Transit's webpage when I tried in late June; the closest vendor was at a Leduc Walmart a 23 minute walk away.
Idk... Their downtown was utterly desolate when I was there in June, and you can't buy a transit ticket to get from the airport to downtown without physical cash.
FWIW, yes, Uber would and should expect a written request, rather than disclosing a driver's legal name and geolocation to a caller purporting to be the police by phone. A written request validates they're emailing a proper police/government domain, not "random voice on the phone."
Parents knowingly leave child unattended in an Uber and walk away, blame Uber for it. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Welcome, fam!
Spotify algorithm: I see you listen to 2010s & 2020s bro country. Therefore, I will make you a country playlist of: ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ข
The longest-ballot folks balloted so hard they end up creating the shortest ballot. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
@englishrail.bsky.social and I have a piece in the Globe & Mail about how Canada can make housing more affordable and accessible, and disentangle itself from its unreliable and hostile southern neighbor: give its elevator industry the option to use the European/global standard, not just the U.S. one
I guess I'm going to a @bclions.com game (when it finally doesn't conflict for me or my husband)! ๐ฅ๐ฆ
Also, won't be surprised if someone is like ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข-๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ด-๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ.๐ณ๐ถ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต.
So, PM @mark-carney.bsky.social has a lot of assets, he disclosed them all to the appropriate body, and went over-and-above on his parliamentary requirement to distance himself from potential conflicts of interest. So, no problem. Unemployed PP just whining again. ollenberg.ca/XykyQY
Maybe that specific seat up for a byelection will be one of those -18 theoretical CPC seats.
Let's just hope that Bluesky's code is set up to say "also hide things *similar* to this."
I didn't zoom in, but let's hope all those payment cards they showed had fake or obscured card numbers.
They can shoot a Starlight Express themed one on the West Coast Express.
Marketing and promotion are a crucial part of building ridership (which increases fare base and can help lower future costs), and this looks like relatively low-cost by comparison to a lot of public services advertising.
"Broadway," plus it's going to be right next door to Emily Carr University; goodness knows they'll recruit some student artists to make it really big.
This seems just the right level of gay for Vancouver.
"Like a good neighbour, community bartender was there!"
Carney's net-favourables are positive in every region, including Alberta
Like, negative in all three areas? And the most negative in rural? Hmm, maybe they understand PP isn't good for them finally?
This is hard to follow without some more methodology or contextual data.
Oh, so Antarctica in about ten years?
Twenty years ago *today,* equal marriage rights were granted across Canada. I remember watching the news with optimistic eyes, and a few years later, being able to marry the person I love. Thank you to the trailblazers who earned us those rights - and here's to the work still remaining to do!
It's fine, it's only literally more cases in Alberduh than in the entire united states of america. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
โWe have the institutions. We have the public support. What we need now is the political will to make post-secondary education central โ not peripheral โ to our national ambitions.โ NB: that will needs to include Boards willing to return to their traditional role as advocates for #cdnpse. #nspse
Entirely avoidable tragedy. Almost guaranteed to be cause by inattentive driver, cell phone in hand(s), possibly messaging ~and~ yelling at someone on a call simultaneously. See this way too often as a commuting pedestrian five days a week.
"Eeeee!" shrieks the woman walking three-abreast with her friends, as she walks directly into me. If only there was anywhere she could go on the sidewalk besides three abreast hogging the whole path, while I'm occupying into the furthest quarter of it. No apologies as I walk into you full weight.
Today is the last day for the Liberty Belle, Rivers of America, and Tom Sawyer Island in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. They've been staple attractions and their loss will be felt while they make way for new lands and experiences.
Opening car door with key is nowโฆ *checks notes* a hack.
Fighting the important things, like, the 48 point font on the front of a document.
"Do you think she knows her boyfriend is gayer than five Troye Sivans?" "I think she just cares that he had money."
ICE *already* can't meet their detainment numbers without rounding up children, veterans, people born in the U.S., people with no criminal records, people at immigration hearings, plus academics and visitors with valid visas. So who do they plan to detain with >10x the budget? The answer is: you.
Polling Canada Federal Model Update: ๐ด LPC: 189 (+20) ๐ต CPC: 124 (-20) โ๏ธ BQ: 21 (-1) ๐ NDP: 7 (-) ๐ข GPC: 1 (+1) (Seat Changes With 2025 Federal Election) - June 28, 2025 - Full model article here: open.substack.com/pub/canadian...
I've almost entirely stopped online shopping and 100% quit Amazon. I just *like* going into shops. Seeing people in my neighbourhood employed. Seeing nearby stores flourish. Hand selecting merchandise. It's literally a better experience.
If I had a dollar for every time a pedestrian missed a walk light because they were glued to their phones, I'd have a reasonable number of dollars.
Like, why, why, whyyyy is this thing a girl and that thing a boy?
ICE just murdered a Canadian.
Feeling slightly sick to my stomach in the Indigenous history during colonization section of the Royal Alberta Museum. Maybe that's the right way to feel. We always learn a new atrocity our ancestors chose to impose on this land's original people.
Summary of every TV news traffic helicopter segment: โThere's traffic. Now if you drive a car, [60 SECOND AD READ]. Live from NewsChopper69, I'm Credenza Pennington.โ
Y'all. We seeiously need to stop shopping on Scamazon. youtu.be/RL56vFjoPF0?...
My hotel room overlooks an abandoned mall! What the actual fuck!?
No seats anywhere else on that campus you can yoink? Maybe make a new friend in marketing or one of the faculties?
Me: I'll be economical/green and take the bus from the airport to the conference hotel. Edmonton: Only our special "DERP" card is accepted to ride bus. DERP card is not sold at airport, only at Walmart 20 minutes away. Me:
I love it when airport announcement zones are poorly programmed and you wind up with: โฆ๐๐ช๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข ๐ง๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ช๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข ๐ง๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต: ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ-๐ข๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅโฆ
If it's not war, then isn't it... terrorism?
Can folks who appear from home as experts on TV news *please* stop using Zoom background blur? It's jarring on huge TVs. You *know* you have a kitchen or hallway or bedroom that has a neutral, boring background.
Whoof, that report's margins and font size are an act of terrorism though.
No, I shouldn't be prompted to install an app just to unsubscribe from an auto dealership's emails.
But yet the cons attracted enough votes in the last election to be taken very seriously as a contender.
This is an *awful* way to make people unsubscribe.
It's a concerning 9:1 ratio or so of which gender has their face buried in their phone on the sidewalk, expecting others to move out of their way.
I sure don't mind living in the only Canadian city to be named one of the world's 10 best for quality of life. #WestCoastBestCoast #Vancouver www.businessinsider.com/world-best-c...
Today the husband and I were looking at boats. Vancouver has made us prospective boat gays. Should we become boat gays?
In Vancouver, I don't have to dodge cars running red lights to swish me. I just have to dodge the 1,000 mentally vacant pedestrians with their faces buried in their phones meandering the sidewalk.
I want my corporate AI to be able to take a list of payroll dates and turn them into calendar appointments in Outlook, not email me every Monday reminding me I checked my email too many times last Tuesday.
Private equity: Buy a beloved company and crush it into the ground for quick cash. Leather rinse repeat until everyone is gone. Fuck the rich. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/m...
Like when the Canadian conservatives introduced a "snitch line" against certain cultures (nationalpost.com/opinion/barb...). Except we then left them defeated in four successive elections. Do that part, America.
My #DoctorWho theory: It's really just Billie Piper. Not Rose. First episode, someone complains she plays her songs so loud. She insists it's because she wants to.
They put quite a bulge in that speedo in a kid's cartoon. Admittedly, they expected it would be off-frame in the 4:3 crop.
โจ
Exactly one year ago today I earned my Doctor of Education. So I'm feeling kinda special today. ๐๐ Also, it's Kylie Minogueโs birthday. That's extra special.
