from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sat, Feb 1, 2014 at 12:55 AM
subject Justin Trudeau se défend d’agir en dictateur; Federal parties report record donations in final months of 2013
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived the week of work, and a Barbie invasion at the house, and a post-daycare suppertime visit with Femke and family. The girls were ecstatic with the secondhand Barbie treasures that we inherited from Sylvaine and Bernard. There is a house, horses, clothes, ponies, more clothes, mermaids and of course, Barbies. I’m not a fan of Barbie but Rose is, despite us not allowing her to watch the videos. Tonight the girls had a crisis when it was time for Femke to go home; they were watching a bit of Muppets Christmas Carol and they both ended up screaming repeatedly “I want to see the Future!” because we stopped the video just before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas to Come.
Apparently Obama made a promise to young people when he vowed to reject Keystone if it would harm the climate, telling them, “I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that’s beyond fixing.” I saw your new ads asking for my support of Keystone, but I think you know that I’m not really a believer. And the Future is already evident in the landscape of Northern Alberta.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Feb 2, 2014 at 10:56 PM
subject Industrie Canada met des semaines pour publier un gazouillis; Russia’s staggering security presence and days of rain add to pre-Games gloom
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived Groundhog Day, and the Skol board retreat at a cottage south of Mansonville. There were eight of us. We ate well and had fruitful discussions about membership, fundraising and the future. The future looks bright! There was a moderate amount of booze, but no drugs or kinkiness. Clo and I are continuing our MLS searches in both the Laurentides and the Cantons de l’est. There are lots and lots of places for sale. Tomorrow I have to be at work at 7:30 to meet the company that will be tearing up and laying new floor to replace that which was bleached by the sun.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 11:12 PM
subject Le CSTC défend la collecte de métadonnées; Accusations of partisanship fly as refugee health debate turns nasty
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday. It was an early one; I had to be at work at 7:30 to let the flooring guys into the building. By end of day they had managed to rip up all the sunbleached flooring. I worked on plans but there was also the annual Smoked Meat lunch in honour of Phoebe’s recent birthday and then cake later in the afternoon. Picked the kids up from their respective daycares and then after they had eaten took Rose to Kim and Jean Michel’s for homemade Indian food (Kim is an amazing cook) and a playdate for Rose and Thomas, who ran around lots but also fought over the same toys. Kids will be kids. In other news, I saw a job posting for program officer with Arts NB that I might apply for. Could be good practice.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 12:21 AM
subject La réforme de la loi électorale inclut un registre des appels automatisés; Russia’s staggering security presence and days of rain add to pre-Games gloom
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a sudden shutdown of the metro as I was coming home to collect both kids. I feel I have a right to bill the STM my $18 cab from berri-UQAM. The flaws in the metro pile up on all my Montreal doubts: the crumbling infrastructure, the corruption, the SPVM, the lame politicians, the lack of vision (still no composting in our neighbourhood except for the private service we subscribe to). BTW I saw the “super-poutre” on the Champlain Bridge and though it seems smaller than I had envisioned it is scary that it exists at all. So I don’t know what the answer is, continue to look for work closer to Ottawa (to be closer to Clo’s folks) and continue to look for a summer home…continue continue continue…on and on and on…
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 12:13 AM
subject Nouvelle stratégie d’approvisionnement militaire; Rob Ford won’t be attending Pride (again)
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived swim lessons, a mild snowstorm, and moving the car for a snow removal operation. Parked on Gary Carter Drive then walked back to get the car when the operation was completed. I’m still mad about the $18 taxi yesterday because of the stupid metro. It makes me want to move. I did have a somewhat productive meeting with HR today. It was a bit of deja vu as we covered a lot of the same territory as the last meeting back in October, though this time round they asked more pointed questions, which can only be a good thing. As I am the only employee in all the companies with a strange hourly salary contract it is hard for them to figure it out. I’d be moving to regular full time as of May 1 but the burning question that remains unanswered is: will they pay me my current hourly wage? Stay tuned, as a draft is in the works. In other news, work is getting very busy. The next show is giant.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 11:52 PM
subject Le DGE critique sévèrement la réforme de la loi électorale; Mexicans still smarting over visa restrictions as Harper prepares for ‘Three Amigos’ summit
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another day of work, making budgets, lists, meeting with engineers, making plans, getting the kids, spending the whole evening with my kids, which I love, actually. Clo had workshops at the 2-22 and then was at the openings at Vox, then the supper afterwards, but I love it when she comes home and wakes me up. Except now I’m awake and she’s fallen asleep and I keep thinking of different strategies for how to get The Sum Of All Evil safely into our gallery spaces.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 11:43 PM
subject Baird veut favoriser l’utilisation des médias sociaux dans les ambassades; Harper government was warned of ‘risks’ of not finding residential school files
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a half day at work, where I received news concerning the next show that is definitely considered a ‘game-changer’. I’ll fill you in on the details next week suffice to say the estimated shipping costs are rather large. Today is Claudine’s birthday and to celebrate I had Victoria come babysit and Clo and I went to L’Express for supper. It was good but we didn’t drink much, had no desert and took the metro home and now we’re both exhausted and in bed. I need to put my mouthguard in.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Feb 9, 2014 at 11:30 PM
subject Infrastructures: Flaherty devrait dévoiler d’importants travaux; Infrastructure, job creation expected in risk-free budget
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived the bouillabaisse, and a dozen or more guests and some kids all managed to visit and sit around 2 tables one added to the other to make one very large table, it was crowded but fun and I think it was a success. Vincent was the chef but I think is very inexperienced cooking for so many people but lucky Kim was there and she had in fact prepared the broth in advance (which I forgot to defrost in the morning but it thawed OK on the stove), and though she was credited as sous-chef I think she did more. Lorna helped organize and Clo herself had borrowed a table and dishes and utensils from oboro so that we could feed everyone at once. Sol even went down to sleep just as we were serving around 8:30 and he slept all night. Rose on the other hand was wired and awake until 2am. Today we survived a day trip to Val David to look a property that was too decrepit for us, then on to Val Morin and Sophie’s 40th birthday party, with their house full of almost twenty guests and as many children. It was fun, but we are all a little overwhelmed now and seek some quiet. Internet research for a chalet continues. Jean-Michel had a great idea for me that may solve a lot of the problems I had regarding my infiltration project with the Conservative Party. I had often wondered how I would be able to coordinate real fundraising activities and how much of my time and efforts I could contribute towards maintaining the façade of a real campaign, and J-M had a great solution. I could sell art, my art, and the money in exchange for the art would go to the campaign! Even better, the collectors who would be buying my work would get a great 75% tax rebate because their purchase would in effect be a donation to a political party, no? It’s genius, and has me excited about continuing to 2015. I’m even meeting Gerry our financial agent for Papineau this week to discuss the returns and our upcoming AGM. I’ll see what he thinks about me running as candidate.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 10:40 PM
subject Ottawa ne prendra pas partie en cas d’élections au Québec; Union raises security concerns over $400-million federal email deal with Bell Canada
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday. We had an emergency budget meeting to discuss just how huge the shipping estimate is for Chapman. Aside from reducing the number of large sculptural works, hoping for alternate flights and possibly changing the date of the exhibition we didn’t decide on too much. Also I have yet to see a global budget but that is just the way we roll. In other news I see that CIMS will be down next week but I haven’t even loaded it onto my computer at home. Jerry and I will meet next week and I broached the idea that I may run myself in papineau and he said I had better start campaigning. I wonder if I can get time off from work to campaign? Oh, and this morning I survived a super-efficient trip to the hôpital Notre-Dame for pre-surgery blood tests and an ECG. Now I just wait for the call.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 11:57 PM
subject L’opposition dénonce un budget sans substance; Federal budget: Flaherty promises budget surplus in 2015 but won’t spend ‘recklessly’
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived the weekly meeting, at which time it was unveiled that our shipping costs were hitting $$$ and that the project was at risk to being $$$ over budget. The weird thing with working in a private foundation with one principal donor is that no one is really accountable for us getting into this situation except for $$$, and if $$$ is willing to dig deeper then $$$ will make it happen. I find it affects us all as we continue on as if everything is normal when in fact if we worked in a normal environment we would be discussing in depth to unpack how we arrived in this situation, what could have been done to avoid it, what are the principles at play, whatever. Not arranging deck chairs on the ship. We just hit an iceberg people! Whatever. Maybe Tammy’s idea about chartering a military transport plane could actually work out, who knows. I am not surprised by anything anymore.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 12:46 AM
subject Pension des sénateurs suspendus: Clement défend l’éventuelle loi; Tax sharing confusion: Finance minister showing signs of needing a rest
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. Still waiting to hear from HR if my proposition that my title at work be changed from Chief Technician to Registrar will be accepted. The wheels turn slowly. There is talk of a charter flight to handle some of the oversize freight for the next show; someone has connections. While waiting for numbers to come in I made a Sketchup of all 72 crates expected, just to see what 6,000 cubic feet actually looks like. Met with our heavy lifting specialist to plan a route for bringing The Sum Of All Evil into the building. He makes it sound easy. Had both kids tonight as Clo was out at the Artexte donor appreciation night. Went smooth, though Rose woke up and came into bed with us a few minutes after we started watching True Detectives. I hardly watch any TV and shows about murders and serial killers are not on my radar but the performances by Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey look really good. May take another shot at it tomorrow night. For now, it’s off to bed.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 11:54 PM
subject Fractionnement des revenus: Harper pourrait reculer sur sa promesse; Cities say they weren’t consulted on new federal infrastructure funding rules
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another day. Of work. Of kids. Of family. Of public transportation. Of laundry. Of cleaning. Of making valentines with my daughter for her daycare classmates. Of reciting Pinocchio from memory before falling asleep. Of being distracted by life from making or doing anything outside of the ordinary.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Fri, Feb 14, 2014 at 11:13 PM
subject Les Canadiens ont une mauvaise opinion des politiciens; ‘Three Amigos’ summit expected to focus on trade, Mexico visa dispute, Keystone XL
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a day off wherein I worked from my phone from the market for about three hours straight this morning, then off and on again throughout the afternoon as I tried to do errands around the apartment. There are lots of options floating around regarding transport so there were emails, calls and and even a conference call to deal with. So it was nice that Clo took the night off from her monthly yoga class and stayed in, made supper and even bathed Sol. Not exactly a romantic Valentine’s Day, but nice to spend it as a family. We’ve got a few good leads on some summer cottages, some old, some new, some more spacious, some with lake access others no, we’ll try to see some next week perhaps.
I’m looking through the CPC candidacy nomination application forms that just arrived in my inbox tonight. It is a very detailed questionnaire! How am I going to respond to this:
“Is there anything in your personal, professional or business background that could cause embarrassment for the Party, hinder your ability to perform, adversely affect your candidacy or the Party, or demonstrate a lack of integrity, if it became public knowledge during the campaign or if you should become a Member of Parliament?
If yes, please give details”
I think I will be straight up and honest with it. Holy smokes there is a lot of stuff. The CPC is nothing if not thorough. Pre-written release letters to more Canadian security agencies than I even knew existed. This is going to be a lot of work!
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Feb 16, 2014 at 10:00 PM
subject Un ex-général accuse les conservateurs de le discréditer; Elections watchdog says Ted Opitz exceeded campaign limit in 2008
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive I survived the weekend, which included but was not limited too: taking the metro to music lessons, shopping and cleaning the house for guests and a playdate for Rose on Saturday, sledding at Parc Jarry, a few bottles of wine, reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and appreciating more and more the Tim Burton cinematic take, IKEA on Sunday for breakfast and lunch (this is what happens when one becomes lost at IKEA), a quick birthday hello to Louis, then a birthday supper for little Sol, then some Facebook, and some laundry, and some dishes, and then this my letter to you and then a shower and then bed. Tomorrow we hit the ground running with many time-sensitive decisions to be made regarding shipping the Chapmans. Fun fun fun!
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Feb 17, 2014 at 10:43 PM
subject Déménagements onéreux: un autre ex-général sur la sellette; Canada, Mexico expected to sign deal increasing air travel routes between countries
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday. Worked on numbers and quotes and ended the day with a bunch of charter quotes that ended up moot as the lender vetoed that mode of transport, and the conventional route ended up the exact same price, which is wont to happen when you add work back into the list and remove other pieces of approximately the same volume. As of today the plan is to source about 24 life-like male mannequins with blue eyes.
Have you ever seen the Kid Snippets videos on Youtube? They are hilarious. Kids recite the scripts they themselves create and then adults act them out. It’s really silly. Much sillier than an unwanted pregnancy.
Other things that one can find on Youtube are science videos. Have you ever seen the one that portrays the universe as a loaf of bread?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Feb 19, 2014 at 10:36 PM
subject Harper a discuté du projet Keystone XL avec Obama; Harper focuses on pipelines as Keystone XL project hit with legal setback
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. Sorry I didn’t write yesterday; Rose didn’t go to sleep easily and I ended up asleep with her until about 11:30. Then Sol was up, then Rose came into out bed, then I took her back, then Sol was up again. He had gone to sleep at 6:30 but had 3 vaccinations yesterday so was a bit out of sorts the poor little guy. He weighs just over 25lbs now.
So today was another stressful day as changes to shipping estimates come in and the amount of money we are dealing with on this show is taking its toll on my mind. It’s staggering to me when adding a couple thousand kilos adds almost the amount of my yearly salary on top of an already hug transport bill. My contract is still in limbo and I now have to strategize to continue to keep the ball rolling, to see a draft before the install becomes too crazy. My new job title (Registrar / Registraire) has yet to be approved, and of course we have yet to see the bloody organigram. Morale is a little low at the moment.
In other news I managed to make time to have a shower tonight, I should get an award.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Feb 20, 2014 at 11:10 PM
subject Obama aurait fait peu de cas du sommet des <<Trois amigos>>; Superbugs slipping through ‘gaps’ and ‘loopholes’ in Canadian regulations
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. Survived another day at work, finalised the list, insurance, loan documents. Met with T about HR stuff to get a sense of timeline but it is really a waiting game. So I’ll wait until May and see what happens then. But things are starting to move. Just as we start seriously considering a move to a smaller apartment, such as a co-op, we hear from our landlord Tarik and he is going to sell the building. He’s told us first to see if the three tenants might consider co-ownership, so we whipped up a meeting of all of us for tomorrow. Our priorities are still to find a house outside the city, and to that end we are going to look at a few properties on Sunday. Money, loans, mortgages, rent, and salaries are going to be a big focus for the next while. In other news we trundled up the kids after daycare and went to eat at a new restaurant called Ballpark. They specialize in meatballs. We were in and out in record time. The food was good, but service so-so, the restaurant not the most child-friendly. No highchairs. I liked the décor, the table lamps on the ceiling, the wood accents and minimal design. And the waitress had a great ass.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Feb 23, 2014 at 10:09 PM
subject Postes Canada doit étudier de nouvelles voies, dit Boulerice; Ukraine plunges into new uncertainty
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived the weekend. Today we drove out to Lachute to meet a Royal-Lepage realtor and he showed us four properties, which was maybe one too many with a carload of kids. The last property the owners had locked the deadbolt and not provided a key so we couldn’t even get inside for a look. It was all a bit moot as our tenants meeting on Friday proved to be full of enthusiasm for us to investigate becoming co-owners and so this is another avenue to pursue. It could be a great investment for us, or a big chunk of money wasted on an old crumbling triplex. If we move ahead with the apartment option I don’t think we can get a summer home as well. But if Tarik accepts our offer then we can stay in the neighbourhood… and I remain the EDA President, at least until the AGM in April. Speaking of which, I had better get CIMS installed so I can see how many members are left. I need 24 to sign my nomination papers. If I still consider running. Lots of “ifs” in our lives right now…
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Feb 24, 2014 at 10:28 PM
subject Blague sur l’Ukraine: Trudeau sous le feu des critiques; Days of uncertainty for Ukraine — and its ousted president
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday. Brought both kids to their respective daycares, went to work, worked, came home, picked up Sol, fed him, helped make supper, ate, washed some laundry, put Rose down (she requires us both to take turns helping her sleep. I recite the short or long version of Pinocchio; Claudine does minouche). Now researching the ways of going about a non-divided co-ownership of our building.
In other news: I received a cheque from the Canada Council for the Arts. No, it was not a grant (I think those results come out next month). It was $25 in my share of royalties from sales of The Golden Book of Bovinities. It’ll help buy groceries, as with Sol’s daycare bill (my share is over $200) and rent coming up…
AARG! I am supposed to write a welcome letter to new and returning Skol members, but Facebook got in the way!
I wonder, am I Middle Class or in the Middle Income range?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 12:05 AM
subject Plus de 50 000 signatures contre le projet de réforme électorale; Conservative attacks on Justin Trudeau not working, says Stephen Harper’s former campaign manager
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another day at work, an expensive lunch at Pub Victoria with the boys, making supper for the family after Rose and Clo came home from the cinema (they went to see the new animation Le Coq de St. Victor), laundry, and falling asleep with the kids. Glad to know the Middle Class is doing so well, I think I’m in the middle class, not quite sure. I guess if we’re about to buy a percentage of our triplex we must be doing OK! No time like the present to borrow a shit-ton of money from the bank…now I’m off to bed.
Shit.. I was off to bed, then Facebook grabbed me, and now it seems maybe Rose has peed the bed…again…maybe not. Just a mild night terror.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 10:46 PM
subject Ottawa rejette un projet de mine d’un milliard de dollars; Preston Manning becomes elder statesman for conservative ideas
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. Survived another day of work. Got into a spot of trouble by changing my job title to that of Registrar on my LinkedIn account. Sandra saw it and asked why I had changed it as I had not yet received authorization, which is true. I responded that I didn’t think LinkedIn really counted, but Penny weighed in to say that if everyone in business changed their job titles on social media it would be anarchy. I am sooooooo tempted to keep playing with this but perhaps I should just shut up and wait and see what happens on may 1, which is when a brand new contract and whopping raise go into effect (going from 28 hours to 35 hours per week counts as a raise for me). We shall see, we shall see. In other news I picked both kids up from daycare, made supper, washed laundry, put Sol to bed, hung out with Rose, helped her go to sleep. I should now be writing my letter for members at Skol but a new New yorker came and I’m tired and feeling lazy. A couple more minutes trolling Facebook and then bed. I promise.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Feb 27, 2014 at 11:30 PM
subject Joe Clark déplore la politique étrangère du gouvernement Harper; Main estimates: Budget cuts pressing down on federal departments
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another day of work, work where I felt all I do is administrative in nature, and what is it worth really? How can the value of art really keep it all going? I left early to meet Karen at the MBA and check out the Peter Doig show. A real painters painter. I hadn’t realized that he spends so much time in Trinidad. Reminded me I should be in touch more with Krishna, who is there until mid or late March. I survived a talk at McGill on the hidden Mexican influences on Chinese modern art, then we walked the underground city to the Fonderie Darling and Thomas Begin’ massive sound and light installation which really commanded the space in a cinematic way. Reminded me of the soundtrack to that Ridley Scott sci-phi flick from last year, or 2 years ago. Then Karen and I ate out at B and B because the new restaurant at the Foundry, The Serpent, was full. It was a decent price and good food and it was nice to catch up.
I heard that Laureen is gay and you two have had an arrangement since before 2008 to pretend to be a happily-married couple. Is this true? Not that I care either way, just seems to be a pretty specific rumour.
Off to bed. Tomorrow our day starts with a massage (after dropping kids off) then a visit to the Caisse Poplaire, one of only 2 banks that offer mortgages on non-divided co-ownerships. And that is with 20% down!
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 11:28 PM
subject Le Canada a exporté plus de 80 000$ en armes durant le régime Ianoukovitch; The Manning Networking conference is a gathering of the Conservative party in exile
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a massage in the morning and then lunch at le Vieux Velo with Clo and then a cleaning blitz at the apartment. Then there was a bunch of urgent work emails and phone calls about the travel dates of the cargo and the insurance and all that and then our meeting with the neighbours and then I went to get the kids from daycare, then Tarik came over and there was a lot of discussion as we laid out a tentative timeline towards us making an offer on the building. Still a lot of variables at play.
I called CIMS tech support and no, it cannot run on a Mac, unless there is a virtual windows machine running on the Mac and I am not about to do that. I have to find a PC. Maybe I will borrow the backup tech PC laptop at work?
-chris
DEAR PM 