Author Archives: CKirkby

“This question could end up in court and is beyond your pay grade”

Posted on 2024-04-22 by CKirkby

I was thinking again today about the decision that held Air Canada responsible for the garbage spewed by its “customer service” chatbot, as I tried repeatedly to explain a very precise question to a call-centre agent. Likely under-paid. Definitely under-supported. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Employment | Tagged | Leave a comment

Punishing individuals for societal failures

Posted on 2024-04-18 by CKirkby

We do, as a society, love to punish people for things that are beyond their control. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Law | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Paying people for their work

Posted on 2024-04-05 by CKirkby

I was very stubborn at someone today re: the principle that they deserved to be paid for their work. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Employment | Tagged , | 2 Comments

A short chronology

Posted on 2024-04-02 by CKirkby

The outcome I wanted was for Voilà to uphold the fine print in their email and stop forcing expensive waste on customers, but it looks like at best I have annoyed them into deleting a sentence that could be used against them. Continue reading →

Posted in Projects, Language | Tagged | 2 Comments

Societal untruths

Posted on 2024-04-01 by CKirkby

On this April first I’m thinking about some of the different ways society encourages or enables us to deceive each other.

There’s April Fools’ Day, of course, and there’s Santa Claus. Government entities like NORAD and Canada Post even get in on that “benevolent” lie.

And then there’s Parliamentary privilege… Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Arbitrary deadlines

Posted on 2024-03-29 by CKirkby

In case anyone is interested, there has been no activity on the pharmacare bill the federal government introduced a month ago and bragged about as a “giant step forward for our health system” and “a concrete step toward true and lasting gender equality.” Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Employment, Health, Politics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Some good sentences

Posted on 2024-03-28 by CKirkby

I have written some good sentences in relation to ongoing projects. Continue reading →

Posted in Projects, Language | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Empty words

Posted on 2024-03-27 by CKirkby

I don’t actually want to spend all my time fighting with people.

Ideally, when I raise concerns to someone, they would respond from a place of compassion and act promptly for the well-being of other humans and the planet. Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Health, Projects | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Change and anger

Posted on 2024-03-26 by CKirkby

One of the conclusions I’ve reached lately is that we need drastic changes starting immediately if we expect society and the planet to survive. I’ve been trying to volunteer my time towards practical changes but it seems to me like … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Community | Tagged | 1 Comment

Admin

Posted on 2024-03-23 by CKirkby

I haven’t posted in a few days because I’ve been working on a lot of other writing and admin, some pretty huge personal and financial stuff. I’ve added a few comments to earlier work though. Continue reading →

Posted in Projects | 5 Comments