It's Alive!!!

Okay.

So this blog died for a bit while I've been living in London, my hometown. I wrote a few blog posts there which you might want to check out to see my thoughts about London's Planning and Works Departments.

Now it appears that I will be moving back to Toronto to work on the Mayoral Campaign of Glen R Murray, should he decide to run. Glen's a fantastic and dynamic individual who I got to know during my work with Skymeter Corporation. He is a big believer in getting the consent of those who are active in the community as he sees community partnerships as a big part of making a successful City. Glen's the former Mayor of Winnipeg and current CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute, a do-tank that works on Urban Issues in Canada and in developing nations.

Glen and I have hit it off quite well. He has seen me as someone who requires a big challenge and if you read previous blogs you may see what he has seen (without having read my blog which at times gets way too introspective.)

I'm happy to say that I have recovered from my momentary loss of self. I have been doing a ton of reading and self-improvement work - you can also check my 3rd blog (actually 4th) www.jppersonalwellness.blogspot.com .

Glen has very interesting ideas about what Toronto needs in order to grow out of the financial mess it finds itself in. He does not have any illusions about the difficult job that lays ahead of him and will challenge Torontonians to think bigger about their place in a growing Global City that must continue to attract and enable the Creative Class in order to thrive at the heart of Canada's economic success.

I am back. With a whole new lease on life, a sense of purpose that comes from within, not based on any outside expectations and a true sense of happiness!

NAMASTE!!!

Dead

This blog is now dead. Follow me at citythinkLondon if you are interested in similar City-focused issues but in a slightly more suburban context.

A crisis or an awakening?

So...most (all 3) of my followers, lol, will have seen me go through some interesting things of late. I'm not sure what it all means at the moment and I'm not exactly sure what is on the other end of it. I am, at a bit of a loss at the moment as to where my life is headed and what it all means, what I should be doing with my life and whether or not I'm truly happy with my life.

Let's back up. Waaaay back. Waaaay back. 15 years ago, (holy crap) in 1992/3, I started a 5-year stint at CHRW, Radio Western. I started volunteering around the station, as most new volunteers do but quickly found myself thrown into a show on Friday mornings from 7am to 10am. 3 Hours of morning drive-time and I had a pretty cool co-host for a while. The show was called the Break-a-Dawn show, owing to both the early start and to the then fairly recently released song by De La Soul, which became the theme.

I quickly grabbed the reigns from the original host and as I recall, within a few months the show was mine as he left for summer vacation. Can't even remember his name, damn. I wasn't totally on my own, new hosts would come in, trainees and it became a bit of an interesting rotating lineup of cohosts, some of whom would go on to host their own shows. James Rocci was Program Director under long-time Station Director Mario Circelli (still one of my best friends and mentors.) Eventually, I was given a prized Wednesday afternoon 3-6 slot and that started Mullethead's Revenge!

For almost 3 years, Sean Mayville and I would have a blast, play countless 2 and 3 minute songs, rarely interrupting sets to give out the names of what we'd played. I am pretty sure we developed a pretty loyal following of listeners and were able to present a couple of shows along the way - Trigger Happy/Lagwagon being a pretty cool one. We did some pretty wicked interviews too; New Bomb Turks, Judah Bauer from Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (and 20 Miles), Face to Face, Ten Foot Pole and countless Canadian bands among others. Unfortunately because, I suppose I was a good interviewer and host, we would get some of the major label bands - I still remember making fun of Zuckerbaby! lol

It all culiminated with Warped Tour '98. CHRW was able to co-present the show or at least have a presence under the lame local Modern Rock station that had recently discovered Pop-punk (Blink 182 was in the line-up.) I was able to finagle a Press pass for me and a photographer's pass for my then fiance, now ex-wife Gillian who was just learning to take good photo's with a new SLR. I still have the best photos on my wall - Mike Ness of Social D, Fletcher from Pennywise, Joey Cape of Lagwagon, Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones...awesome black and whites.

At any rate and not to digress to far, it was my goal to enter the Music Industry using the connections I had developed at CHRW as Music and Promotions Director. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that the Music industry was going through some pretty major changes and my lack of retail experience definitely didn't help my chances.

I took my time with University. I took 2 years off in the middle, just to live and experience life away from home, even if it was in my own hometown. Getting out of the house was a big step for me but also meant that I would be taking time off as I had no money (a common theme it appears.) I had a blast in those two years, prior to returning and completing my degree and taking the job at CHRW. I cooked in restaurants in the tri-bar area, for some reason never able to get a serving gig. I was a good cook though and restaurant managers are loathe to give up good cooks to the floor. Plus I had attitude (another common them.)

So...once I got the gig at RW, I quit the cooking gig and lived with Gillian who'd eventually become my fiance during our last year in London in '98. Prior to that though, I had lived a pretty meek existence. I have never been a saver, always a spender, something I come to quite naturally from my own family history. Gillian was from a wealthy family though and so..things got much better for me financially. I was also sucked-in. My ex Father-in-law was a highly successful Lawyer, negotiating Mining deals in Venezuela among other things. The hair-dying stopped, I studied hard, got better grades and decided it was time (at 26) to grow up! Oh what a mistake. I don't regret it, other than to say that I wonder if Gillian and I had taken more time whether we'd still be together or whether we would have avoided the marriage thing altogether. Bygones.

So we moved to Toronto in the fall of 98. In fact, we moved to Toronto the weekend before we got married. That was a pretty crazy summer but Jill was never one to wait for what she wanted. We had been sweethearts in High School, broken up, gone out during University, broken up again and then reunited when she moved back from McGill. It seemed the logical thing when getting back together to go ahead and get married. So on New Year's Eve, 1998, Gillian said "Let's get married this year." An hour later, in the square behind Centennial Hall, I got down on one knee and asked her. There was no ring because we didn't really feel we needed one. I hadn't asked her father for permission as I was a punk and didn't think I needed to. Nowadays I wonder about all these things. I do so without regret but I still wonder if things could have been different.

Once in Toronto, I worked at Sam The Record Man on Yonge Street until I got some work at Canuck Creations doing camera-work for classic animation line tests. It was very cool and I worked with friends who I'd met through their band, the Mercurymen. I screwed some stuff up along the way though and without going into details (I was working on computers though, hint, hint) I got into a bit of an embarrassing situation that I do regret to this day. I was immature, little town boy in the big City and things just started to get away from me. I wasn't a great husband.

I then got a gig at Toronto City Hall with a City Councillor through my friend Neil who remains a very good friend and someone I can always count on for support and friendship. Neil is salt-of-the-earth. I did very well at City Hall, finally finding a challenging job that rewarded me well and allowed me to grow as a political scientist and as an employable individual, or so I thought. I lasted 7 years in City politics before the attitudes of the public finally pushed me out. There really are far too many whiney Nimby's in this City and not enough who stand-up for the poor and/or tenants and for those who someday wish to own property.

After that and a struggle to find work, I eventually landed at Skymeter Corporation where I also enjoyed some pretty major growth, gaining new skills and learning under several mentors, Bern Grush and JD Hassan chief among those. I was sent all over North America to sell the concept of GPS-tolling as developed by Skymeter. The job was incredible, I met amazing and brilliant people, made new contacts and friends and learned a great deal about transportation. Unfortunately, in August 2008, at my own advice, I was laid-off due to slow market development and lack of funding for Skymeter's work elsewhere.

Since then I've bounced around and been in discussions with 3 different employers that just recently came crashing to a halt. I've pursued all 3, none have worked. I was offered a position in Maryland leading Sales and Marketing for another new technology firm but was precluded from taking the position by the arduous US Visa system. The third potential employer just went weird and I'm still lost as to why.

After months of talking, the CEO asked me "Why are you alive? What are you here to do?" This made it pretty clear that he didn't feel, after 3 separate invitations to apply/join his organization, that I was a good fit...or something? The disturbing part is that I would be very happy doing the work that we had discussed as it involved Skymeter - which matched my skills with my passions. Fuckin' 'Ell!

So...left with that...I said Fuck it and started to look for other work but at the same time, his question stung me. What am I here to do? Am I really happy? For a week and a half I have struggled with this question. I wonder if its too esoteric. I wonder if I shouldn't just ignore it and continue to search for a paying gig that will, well, pay the bills regardless of my happiness with the job. I can't afford this either - I'm about 2 weeks from personal bankruptcy and I'm living on borrowed time and borrowed money. So much that my personal debt is now higher than it's ever been - around 30 Grand in total.

So...I am lost. That's why I bleached my head again I think. I wanted to just give up for a week on the job hunt. I came home to London to sort things out. I'm behind an eight ball though, damned if I don't get a job and not sure how I'll ever move my stuff anywhere if I can't even pay my rent.

The question I now face is....Do I pursue gigs that my skills apply to and that can earn me some coin while I get sorted. Is it Toronto or should I move to London to be closer to family and perhaps to get back into some of the activities that made me happy and healthy in the past? Or do I just plug away? On a personal note, I am incredibly lonely in Toronto. I often cry. I love Toronto but wonder if like many relationships, it's just not meant to be? I also met a fabulous woman recently and was ready to dive head first into love. I was totally smitten. Then she called it off.

So now...what do I do? Do I keep the bleached head, which seems to make me very happy. Do I return to Toronto, shave the head, put my suit on and charge downtown looking for work. Do I go after any work? Do I hold-out for 'the right job' in the face of personal bankruptcy? I know only I can answer these questions but I really have no clue. Am I a regular joe who has over-achieved or a brilliant person who has under-achieved? Where do I find a partner? lol

I need help, advice, a mentor or 16 perhaps. Comments more than welcome! More on this whole process to follow but this is already a lengthy post and I'm fading fast.

City of Toronto Strike Strategy

Wait it out. In due time, enough money will be saved to pay for the benefits.

It may sound cynical but there really is no other logical explanation for what is happening in Toronto with the municipal workers' strike. Don't think for a minute that Mayor David Miller is standing on principle against a benefit that has become the target of widespread public derision. While those on the left would quickly argue that this is a symbol of 'a race to the bottom', I'd argue the City's position reflects a new global paradigm that has caught North American Unions stuck in their own concrete boots.

There really is no logical explanation for a 3-week strike against a left-wing led City Hall or for the City to take such a principled, centrist stand against the continuance of a policy that enables workers to collect up to 130 sick days for cash out upon retirement, the equivalent of a half-year's salary. Mayor David Miller is a Union boy. The Mayor has repeatedly said outrageous things like 'open shops kill workers.' So there is no real concerted effort to break the Union's will on this issue but merely a game being played to portray a Mayor hell-bent on doing the right, or 'right' thing, damned be the political consequence!

The City imposed a 4 percent tax increase on Toronto homeowners this year, around 2 percent higher than last year's rate of inflation and one percent higher than the Mayor's promise of 3 percent increases. This is at a time when the City is getting some long overdue uploading from the Province of Ontario for social programs and ancillary Health Care costs such as land ambulance services. When one adds the cost of an increased Welfare caseload due to the economic downturn, on top of the other impacts (less growth in assessments, less building permits) of a slowdown, the City must be hurting. Why is City Hall keeping so quiet in the face of what appears to be damaging negative reaction to this strike?

What is Mayor Miller hiding? An old colleague from the City of Toronto and I had a discussion earlier this year that there was something missing from the Budget puzzle this last year. The numbers simply didn't make sense to this former top bureaucrat. Given the upcoming cost, she speculated that we might be headed for high single-digit property tax increases in 2010, the year of the next election. Imagine a double-digit increase?

Another former colleague is baffled. The blood is in the water and the sharks are circling. To their credit, the Mayor's right-center opposition has allowed this strike to just be; nothing they could say would top the ugly drama of mounting, smelly garbage. The Mayor has been graced by luck that the hot summer that meteorologists were predicting has yet to arrive! There really is nothing that can be said either as the Mayor seems to have cooked his own goose, or had it cooked for him by Collective Agreements of the past and with other Unions.

David Miller and his team have learned the lessons of the 1991 recession and the way Unions repaid Bob Rae for his rational, sensible approach he took to reducing government spending in a downturn. The Unions deserted Bob Rae, stayed home in the next election and we got Mike Harris' big blue machine. So Miller is not about to drastically slash City work-forces or to take away benefits to avoid massive tax increases. It's much less painful to endure a strike, even a long one, than to face such a massive tax increase in an election year!

There can be no other explanation than that the Mayor is truly struggling to avoid what most certainly could be his undoing. The public demonstration that the Mayor is truly a tax-and-spender with former Mayoral Candidate, conservative business uber-god and all-around nice guy John Tory waiting in the wings could be Mayor Miller's fatal error.

But strike or settlement, it's a bleak time for the Mayor. The choice is to hold out today and by election time, people will have largely forgotten and perhaps a tax increase can be minimized to 6 percent or allow the benefit and keep business as usual and face a double-digit tax increase in 2010, where Miller will already most certainly face some tough opposition? If you were Don Wanagas, what would you do?

Bored of waiting

I'm over-tweeting. Replying to 3rd party comments on Facebook offering free advice on how to navigate City Hall and get information. I'm commenting on Twitter on nearly everything I see, whether invited or not...though figure if you're following me, you want to know?

I'm listening to the new NoFX and once again feeling like as hard as it is, speaking out, poking fun of society, even going as far as to suggest that I'd eat babies (that's really just to say something to a certain overly-sappy friend that I seem to have lost though not really just figuratively to adulthood) Fuck it. lol...I like swimming against the grain. I like challenging people's assumptions. Running uphill seems more natural.

I'm an intellectual snob but I'd never pretend to know everything and most often its simply fun to stir it up with those who pretend they do know everything. People who's perspective is contained to their own anal orifice...yep, you got your head up your ass! (not you if you're reading this since you clearly have an appreciation for the finer things in life!)

I poke fun of things so much though I'm not even sure where I stand. Ha. In fact, I'm not even sure of that last statement. Maybe I know exactly what I'm doing. Maybe I'm just a contrarian? Why doesn't spell check approve contrarian? I hate that - it's a word and I'm pretty damn sure I've spelled it right and used it correctly.

I am pretty confident that I am poised to get a new job with a specific employer at a place I'd really enjoy doing work that I'm passionate about. It's been on the table and in discussion for months and I took other offers since they were, well, offered. This job would be like playing in a sandbox I think. Remember...two significant 100 percent marks in my elementary school record...Australia and Transportation. I won't say which this is related to but throw a shrimp on the barbie (cause I'll be able to afford a Foster's!)

I'm thinking of pursuing creative writing. It's been said too often by too many people that everyone has a book in them. I'm not sure that's true of many people but I'm pretty sure I could pen something quite interesting, given the twists and turns of my own life. I'm also sure that penning some not-so-fictitious fiction would be quite therapeutic. Who knows...I might produce the equivalent of 10 monkeys typing for 10 days but on the other hand, it could simply be a fun process. At any rate, I do enjoy writing (when I have the patience and inspiration) so yeah, glad I worked that out.

Well there you go. The rest of my thoughts, as always, are scattered through Twitter and Facebook. Time for coffee I think.

Back on the unemployment line

Hey folks,

Just a quick update to my (3) loyal followers. I think I may now have the shortest career in multi-media history! My gig with H3B Media has not worked out. Chalk it up to tough times in the economy. Businesses looking to expand right now absolutely need a plan, something we lacked on both sides of the Atlantic.

Publishing a Trade Magazine isn't a science and so Thinking Highways found it easy, if hard work, to survive in the thriving, pre-meltdown economy. With shrinking advertising budgets and government funding now being directed to 'shovel-ready' projects, many transportation firms have not seen traditional advertising as a necessary expenditure. I'm sure, well, I know having talked to a number of them, that they are also nervous about the length of time that it may take for us to recover from the current economic crisis. Who can blame them either.

President Obama is being quite bleak about the future right now and to be sure, there are significant fundamental problems in the American economy that cannot be fixed overnight. With a health-care cost driven bankruptcy every 30 seconds in the US, these are not easy problems, nor is there consensus on how to best operate on the patient. Economists like Paul Krugman are urging more action while Republicans seem to want only to further deplete government resources with Tax Cuts and to allow natural market corrections by letting banks fail.

I do have two great opportunities right now and will hopefully have my pick of them by week's end.

So keep posted. I will not promise to blog more but will say that since I'm not being paid to work for anyone right now and have two good possibilities, I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time in front of my computer in the short-term.

Now the Pressure is on!

Well, another fine mess I've gotten myself into. With all my work, facebook, LinkedIn and now Twittering it seems I'm creating a very short leash for myself between my MacBook, my Crackerbarrelberry and well, me.

Lots of exciting news on the work front. I continue to reach out to new potential contributors and of course advertisers for Thinking Highways and Thinking Transit but seriously, who wants to sell advertising in this economy? That being said, that's how we pay the bills in the world of publishing and media.

While this is not a corporate blog, it seems my life is becoming one - little separation of work and personal. That's not entirely a bad thing since I would love to develop a fine reputation for myself in the world of Transportation. The more I learn about the Flattening of the World through technology, the more confident I feel in my ability to become part of the new middle. My skills have always been in communications (even if I'm a bit short with people sometimes) and in translating complex ideas and concepts into everyday language that the rest of us can understand! I've had a great few years learning more about technology, US politics and government and of course, Transportation.

Just wanted to do some jotting. That's all for now - aren't I being so much more diplomatic these days?

Now on Twitter!

For what it's worth, you can now follow my daily and sometimes minute-to-minute activities through my tweets on Twitter.com...For those of you (Mom) who may not be up to speed, Twitter is the newest, latest, greatest social networking tool (though Google has a new Twitter-style app with GPS-based location updates) that allow people to keep in touch in a brand new way.

Imagine you're out for a walk in a neighbourhood you aren't familiar with and you post a tweet or update to your page that you're out and about. What do you know but your best friend was there two weeks ago and knows a great restaurant. Perhaps through your network someone also knows a great art gallery and since you've also updated your Facebook page recently someone also lets you know that they are heading to the same hood if you'd like to grab a coffee.

That's just one of the potential ways that Twitter and other programs will change our world. Put all in the place of your hand too through a great share-ware program for your Blackberry that can be found at orangatame.com - check it out!

So...go to Twitter.com and you can view me at justincpeters .

Cheers Yo!

New Job, New Blog

Okay. Many of my loyal (3) followers maybe disappointed to hear this but I am going to be changing the tone of this blog significantly. The past has been filled with fun but snarky, cheeky, professionally unwise blogs. One information interview I had in November revealed this - that I needed to watch my tone.

SO....Thinking Highways North America~

The last work day of January, if you only work weekdays. It’s taken some time to get to my feet as the newly minted President of H3B Media. I’m having a bout with sleeplessness and learning the ropes and pitfalls of working from home – gosh the cat is cute and needs a pet and a cuddle just now.

The month has not been without significant progress on a number of fronts for H3B. While Luis recovers from a procedure (I don’t care what anyone says, size doesn’t matter THAT much) we wage on in our battle for world transportation media domination. The new website has launched www.thinkinghighways.com and looks fantastic though I’ve also heard it be described as very European. Actually that is both what attracts me to H3B and gives me rise to think that I can help North American-ize the magazine and online versions. I welcome thoughts in this regard from friends on this side of the Atlantic.

I’ve had a quick re-visit of my English-to-English translations, remembering that tyre is spelled as such, that a boot is a trunk, a bonnet a hood rather than a hat and that tea is now known better as splosh – and only includes those beverages that actually contain tea – sorry chamomile, you’re not tea, er, splosh.

TRB was extremely exciting this year. This was my third edition, which pales in comparison with those who were attending their 33rd or even 53rd! It was exciting first to be working the floor for a new company, one with a much easier business model that while pushing for change does not require change to be viable (if you know my last job, you know what I’m talking about.) It was exciting to be able to give away free schwag – a mark of the world of media. And it was exciting to discuss and ‘vision’ new ideas and partnerships to advance the world of intelligent transportation from thought through technology to public policy and implementation.

Work still needs to be done to get us running smoothly and that may take some time – bare with us as we grow. These are exciting times at H3B Media North America. Thinking Transit is occupying much of my time and attention though spreading the gospel of Thinking Highways is also of high importance.

Well, enough of this slacking. Back to work.