Levi Breederland @levisan@social.cleverlibre.org

What a year it's been

@harvhat I am working on a letter to the mayor to see. I’d like to know if it’s been considered and if they’ve done an estimate… there’s other similar towns around here that take care of it all so it’s not a completely foreign concept

@harvhat if I were more friendly with the neighbours, I’d love to do something like have a pool of kids who are paid to do the whole block. I don’t mind shoving myself, but there’s always that one guy who doesn’t shovel and I’d rather have consistency along the street.

That being said, I’m guessing it would be a 3-4% increase to the budget to do all the sidewalks. They already own equipment for it. But I don’t believe they actually care enough to see if it’s feasible.

Why does the town put sidewalks in residential areas? Presumably so residents are more comfortable going places without a car.

Why does the town shave off bits of sidewalk that have buckled, making the path smooth yet again? Presumably to make it easier to walk when unstable or using wheeled assist-devices.

Why does the town not clear sidewalks? Well, you see, residents can shovel their own snow and we threaten to fine them if they don't.

What about those people for whom we keep sidewalks smooth and safe? Well that's too bad.

Why doesn't the town clear all sidewalks? That would increase property taxes, and taxpayers wouldn't like that. Oh okay so it's my fault.

Fully distributed blogging/microblogging/social media solves the "freedom of speech not freedom of reach" issue

My latest list of links you're likely to like https://buttondown.email/levisan/archive/66/

@mike I should be specific and point out I haven’t tried any paid ones because I’m a cheapskate.

I was using Metatext (and tried a bunch maybe a year ago) and it’s fine, but this feels very “current” in how it looks/behaves compared to iOS tendencies

People are so willing to point out that a daddy longlegs is not a spider but afraid to argue that a tomato is a fruit

New favourite Mastodon client on iOS: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/ice-cubes-for-mastodon/id6444915884

@freemo that makes me wonder if quicker deadlines and harsher penalties would make a difference. Anyway, I’m writing to the mayor to find out how much they really care

@freemo I find it rather odd. At least for a place where it snows 50 days out of the year and 120cm per year. If sidewalks are important enough to have bumps smoothed and other maintenance done every summer, why do we just ignore them in the winter?

Every year I see people in wheelchairs (we have a decent elderly contingent) on the street because that gets cleared the day after it snows. The 3 day requirement to shovel sidewalks and the $100 fine if you don’t isn’t enough to motivate people to keep up with it!

@Bishop considering they haven’t yet done so it’s not like I’m expecting a change. I just want them to tell me, in writing, why they won’t do it.

Really just looking for more reason to dislike them!

@Bishop
There's other nearby towns of similar size and resources that clear all the sidewalks. And the town does have some equipment already, maybe even enough to handle the work…

But I don't have very high hopes.

Here's a wild idea: how about the municipality takes responsibility for keeping the sidewalks that it installs — and maintains in the summer months! — for the sake of the people who travel on them instead of guilting the townsfolk into helping people so they don't get fined?

Did some back-of-the-napkin maths and it might require a town budget increase of 3-4% to have them cover the cost of keeping sidewalks usable. I'd be fine with that.

Maybe I should write to the mayor and ask if they've considered it.

@geordie This just in: Canada is also not a grown-up country.

No one is surprised.

We do have a few solid free web-based options for personal tax prep now, at least.

Long shot but who wants to dox themselves so I can send them a 35mm film canister opener? I have an extra one. Message me.

#ibelieveinfilm

@mike I'm very curious if it'll actually happen… but it seems like it's inevitable at this point. We all just might need to find friends in the EU to buy us gift cards with 😝

@mike Maybe like the iTunes store did (does?), based on the region in the billing address attached to the Apple ID